Sunday 22 May: The NHS is not beyond reform – but it needs to be taken out of politics

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

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

548 thoughts on “Sunday 22 May: The NHS is not beyond reform – but it needs to be taken out of politics”

  1. Günaydin, arkadaşlarım!

    Caroline has assured me that this means:

    Good morning my friends

    in Turkish.

    1. Got Morgon, min vanner.

      Swedish version – I think. Very rusty these days

    2. Have you noticed that apart from the pictures of young black children with the disease that the most common images feature whites?

      https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/05/22/01/57884247-10841357-Monkeypox_is_a_rare_viral_infection_which_causes_unusual_rashes_-a-16_1653180544283.jpg
      https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/05/22/01/57884251-10841357-Nurses_and_doctors_are_being_advised_to_stay_alert_to_patients_w-a-17_1653180544315.jpg
      https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/05/21/11/58078913-10839877-image-a-24_1653130557708.jpg

  4. We will see more cases of monkeypox, warn British scientists. 22 May 2022.

    Monkeypox does not spread easily between people, so doctors have been puzzled by the outbreak and by the appearance of cases on different continents at the same time. The virus is only transmitted from person to person through close physical contact – including sexual intercourse.

    Yes it makes you wonder if someone is going around upending test tubes in crowded places. I did have the same thought about the covid virus and its seeming miraculous ability to leap barriers but never said anything because there is absolutely no proof, apart from its spread, that such a thing happened. Still keep an open mind!

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/21/we-will-see-more-cases-of-monkeypox-warn-british-scientists

    1. Is it intelligent enough to know whether we are walking round a pub after 10.00 pm?
      And whether we are in Westminster or Walsall?

    2. It is not the actions that are visible but the outcomes. When one sees the outcomes one can reverse engineer the actions needed. One can construct the necessary actions required to produce the outcomes, logically and by “thought experiments”. Consider also whether we have previously observed similar outcomes. How did they come about? Is our current situation comparable?

    3. The choice of Monkey Pox for the next pandemonium is sheer genius!

      Vanity will guarantee mass hysteria?

    1. The problem with Hunt, other than,on this evidence, being a political revisionist, is that he is first and foremost a politician in an era of lies, obfuscation, incompetence and interference from NGOs funded by oligarchs who meddle in subjects in which they have no qualifications, except a great deal of money.

      He served as Health Secretary but his Wiki shows no indication of medical training but he did study PPE and gained a ‘First’.

      If Hunt really believed in the elimination of the ‘disease’ he would have spoken to a range of working experts from across the globe e.g. Geert Vanden Bossche, Dr Robert Malone, Dr Mike Yeadon etc. in addition to the views of those ‘experts’ who had become government advisors. Had he done so he would have refused to to issue the “vaccine” to the masses and allowed the human innate and adaptive immune systems to sterilise the virus and build true ‘herd immunity’. That was the only way to get close to eliminating the virus. Hindsight is a wonderful tool for revisionists.

      That the use of the “vaccine” was more a political, and not solely a medical decision, is IMHO, now no longer in doubt.

    3. British politician tells porkies.
      Which leads to a thought; what is Peaceful People’s slang word for lies?

    4. What a sneak! He just wants to be Prime Minister and carry on the agenda!

  9. ‘Putin is the Hitler of the 21st century – we are fighting for the future of the free world’. 22 May 2022.

    Ukrainian medic-turned-MP Oleksii Goncharenko is determined to catalogue and share his growing dossier of Russian atrocities.

    Atrocities may be committed by Russians or Ukrainians or indeed any one. This does not make them Russian or Ukrainian atrocities which is an attempt to politicise and propagandize them. Crimes committed during wars are paradoxically not War Crimes. They are just crimes. Vladimir Putin is not the Adolf Hitler of the 21st Century and the Free World is no longer Free!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/05/21/putin-hitler-21st-century-fighting-future-free-world/

      1. Morning Bob. In the choice between Mr Darcy and Wickham, Elizabeth Bennet observed, One has got all the goodness, and the other all the appearance of it! So it is with Putin and Zelensky; Russia and Ukraine!

      2. Morning Bob. In the choice between Mr Darcy and Wickham, Elizabeth Bennet observed, One has got all the goodness, and the other all the appearance of it! So it is with Putin and Zelensky; Russia and Ukraine!

    2. Good morning Minty ,

      What I really don’t understand is how a relatively modern wealthy white country lie Russia could resort so quickly to pure wickedness and barbarism .

        1. Morning Rik

          I am as naive as ever being totally unaware of certain types of nastiness especially those who possess murderous intent in this modern day and age .

          Now I am so shocked that the West turned a blind eye to pure and applied thuggery since 2014.

          1. Morning, Maggie.
            You’ve not been to Tower Hamlets recently? (Other Shiite Holes are available.)

  10. Main Headline in The Observer

    “PM to sacrifice top official over Partygate to save himself”

    For a brief moment I had visions of an Aztec Altar on the steps of No 10 and thought that might wake up the Civil Service…..

    Morning folks. Today I intend to sow my seed…..

    1. Good morning, King Stephen. What exactly are the seeds you plan to sow – wild oats? Lol.

      1. Morning Elsie. Given all the headlines are forecasting ‘The great Putin Famine’, sowing wild oats at this time would be completely irresponsible….

          1. Indeed and having had ‘the snip’ not so irresponsible after all! :-))

    2. Damn. The mound by Marble Arch is no more.
      Now that would have made a good stage.

  11. Here we go,buckle up……

    Breaking: Belgium becomes the first country to introduce mandatory

    “21 days quarantine” for the people tested positive for Monkey Pox.

    “Those infected with the monkey pox virus must be in isolation for 21

    days,” the Dutch publication Standaard reported. “Not high-risk

    contacts, but they’re best watching over any symptoms. In the meantime,

    virologist Marc Van Ranst wants to investigate whether the virus can

    spread airborne.”

    https://theparadise.ng/monkeypox-outbreak-leads-to-first-mandatory-quarantine-in-country-that-hosted-massive-gay-pride-festival/
    “Spread airborne”you say,I’m sure Billy Boy has a variant waiting in the wings that can do just that,gotta get that power grab treaty through…….

  15. ‘Morning, Peeps.

    11°C and another sunny day in prospect.

    Today’s letters are generally disappointing.
    Here are those about the NHS:
    SIR – Week after week, decade after decade, I read that the NHS needs “radical rethinking”.

    Yes, it does – but for far too long politicians have simply thrown more money at the problem in the hope that it will get better, and in order to avoid upsetting the electorate.

    The answer is a Royal Commission, but with strict, non-political terms of reference. It must be time-limited, rather than open-ended, and contain recommendations that all parties are committed to accepting.

    The naysayers will scream that it can’t be done, but with the right approach, and a willingness to learn the lessons of previous failed Royal Commissions, reform is achievable.

    Alan Ferguson
    Hadleigh, Suffolk

    SIR – Management in the NHS has more than doubled in the past two years, while nursing numbers have risen by only 7 per cent.

    When, in 1967, I started my first house job as a junior doctor at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Bournemouth, it was run by a medical superintendent, a (proper) matron and a small number of clerical staff working from three rooms.

    In my two years there, I witnessed few problems, good morale and great teamwork – even if I was on call on alternate days during my six-month obstetric job.

    Dr Malcolm Freeth
    Bournemouth, Dorset

    SIR – I was an NHS clinical director for several years, in orthopaedics. I also ran a private-practice organisation.

    My wife is a GP. She works impossibly hard. There does seem to be a chasm between the frontline and the management of the NHS.

    However, this vast organisation cannot succeed. No business could, with limitless demand and staff shortages. Doctors are being asked to do the impossible. Perhaps, in the end, individual users will have to pay for at least some of the services we all want.

    Peter J F Wade FRCS
    Coventry, Warwickshire

    1. The answer is a Royal Commission, but with strict, non-political terms of reference. It must be time-limited, rather than open-ended, and contain recommendations that all parties are committed to accepting.

      What possible difference would a Royal Commission make Mr Ferguson? All these Departments and Ministries of State are facing an existential crisis! They are no longer fit for purpose!

      1. I was taught that a Royal Commission was a good way to achieve nothing, slowly…..

        1. Royal Commission is the posh way of saying “kicking the can down the road”.

      2. Divide into districts and hospitals.
        Sell to highest bidder.
        Govt uses NI contributions as health insurance for individuals. Under 16 or retired, is all covered by NI. Over that, you pay top-up.
        Emergencies covered by NI but subsequently billed if no contributions have been made.

  16. ‘Morning, Peeps.

    11°C and another sunny day in prospect.

    Today’s letters are generally disappointing.
    Here are those about the NHS:
    SIR – Week after week, decade after decade, I read that the NHS needs “radical rethinking”.

    Yes, it does – but for far too long politicians have simply thrown more money at the problem in the hope that it will get better, and in order to avoid upsetting the electorate.

    The answer is a Royal Commission, but with strict, non-political terms of reference. It must be time-limited, rather than open-ended, and contain recommendations that all parties are committed to accepting.

    The naysayers will scream that it can’t be done, but with the right approach, and a willingness to learn the lessons of previous failed Royal Commissions, reform is achievable.

    Alan Ferguson
    Hadleigh, Suffolk

    SIR – Management in the NHS has more than doubled in the past two years, while nursing numbers have risen by only 7 per cent.

    When, in 1967, I started my first house job as a junior doctor at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Bournemouth, it was run by a medical superintendent, a (proper) matron and a small number of clerical staff working from three rooms.

    In my two years there, I witnessed few problems, good morale and great teamwork – even if I was on call on alternate days during my six-month obstetric job.

    Dr Malcolm Freeth
    Bournemouth, Dorset

    SIR – I was an NHS clinical director for several years, in orthopaedics. I also ran a private-practice organisation.

    My wife is a GP. She works impossibly hard. There does seem to be a chasm between the frontline and the management of the NHS.

    However, this vast organisation cannot succeed. No business could, with limitless demand and staff shortages. Doctors are being asked to do the impossible. Perhaps, in the end, individual users will have to pay for at least some of the services we all want.

    Peter J F Wade FRCS
    Coventry, Warwickshire

  17. SIR – It beggars belief that leading universities are “using Covid as an excuse” to keep exams online. Are those in charge living in a different world from the rest of us?

    For the majority of people (including at schools) life has practically returned to normal. Letting students complete their examinations online – and, in the case of Durham University, giving them 24 hours to do so – is ridiculous. What kind of test is it when students have access to the internet, notes and perhaps even help from others?

    Mary Marshall
    Ilkley, West Yorkshire

    I find it breathtaking that (some?) university students are taking exams online. Talk about a cheat’s charter! Those degrees seem to me to be even more worthless now.

    1. Ah Durham,that paragon of academic excellence and rigour that puts Oxbridge to shame….

      “Durham University awarded
      28.5% more first-class degrees at the end of the 2019-20 academic year
      compared to the previous year, statistics on the University website
      reveal. 41% of those graduating last year received a first-class classification, compared to 31.9% in 2018-19.”
      If I remember correctly back in my day about 8% got firsts,the improvements in standards since then is staggering,well done everybody!!
      Sigh………

      2. I’m so glad I no longer have to interview any of these graduates…it was bad enough in the mid-80s and things have surely got even worse since then.

  18. SIR – The low-traffic neighbourhood measures in Dulwich are a disgrace. They have failed to reduce pollution or provide safer routes to school.

    Traffic has been displaced to surrounding areas, where there are also schools and health centres.

    Buses are delayed by being held up in traffic jams (one route’s service has been reduced).

    Businesses have suffered from lower footfall. There are no concessions for the residents or the disabled. The installation of planters in one street has resulted in the traffic blocking the only access road.

    Southwark Council sent out information letters, followed by a survey showing that most residents wanted the LTN measures abolished. This has made little difference. There have been slight concessions but the lack of democracy is worrying. Pollution has to be reduced, but LTNs are not the way to do it.

    Linda Bird
    London SE21

    More greenie virtue-signalling, when the effect is the very opposite of that intended. And that slippery toad Khan is extending his money-raising scam (Ulez) even further. It is high time his wings were clipped, but his powers seem to be unlimited.

      1. I’m sure it is for the poor sods who live in or near Greater London…

        ‘Morning, Stephen.

    2. Plenty of excellent real ales available from small breweries in my area – Mauldon’s, Nethergate, Red Fox, Colchester Brewery etc. There is one particular ‘wet’ pub, the Albion in the village of Rowhedge, where the landlord changes the beers regularly. There’s a quartet of us retired BT folk who have set aside Thursday evenings for a glass or two. Very agreeable.

  20. No letters so far about the ‘Labor’ win down under, but prolific BTL poster Martin Selves isn’t having any of it:

    Martin Selves
    21 MIN AGO
    Well Boris has a new and powerful Green Friend in Australia, but the Queen doesn’t. It will only be a matter of time before a Referendum on Republicanism is moved. Who would bet on this Aussie and Labour PM winning? I would not bet on it, but Prince Charles might be the deciding factor. If Australia left Commonwealth, then Canada would surely follow. Our History Book is being attacked by WOKE, and our strength through numbers
    in the Commonwealth is being slowly depleted. I guess Australia would like to remain in it as a Republic, because a great percentage of the population love and respect the UK for what they have done over the last 100 years.
    We still are a Great Nation, but being diluted and our national changed by immigration, and within a growing minority that hate us. Why they have gained such strength and momentum is puzzling, but our MSM and national broadcaster seem to be happy in the direction we are going. Nigel Farage is a wake up call, but he seems to be alone. I am 76, not in great tucker, and I would love to see this out by living another 20 years. I would hate to see our wonderful country driven into the ground by overcrowding, net zero and Politicians who cannot see, for whatever reason, what is happening. We can help Ukraine, but we cannot help ourselves or the NHS.

    And the absence of any ‘global warming’ letters hasn’t stopped Edwin Pugh either:

    Edwin Pugh
    31 MIN AGO
    The opening paragraph from a book by Tim Ball called ‘Human Caused Global Warming’ –
    “There is a big problem once you decide to use science for a political agenda, especially if the scientific hypothesis is untested. If it fails when tested going forward, the only options are to admit it doesn’t work or make the evidence fit the story. The people who formulated the human caused global warming hypothesis chose the latter and the deception began.”
    And further down –
    “If you want to test the idea [AGW] just say to people that you don’t accept the idea that humans are causing global warming. You will be amazed at the vehement reaction you get from the majority of people, all of whom know nothing about the science.”
    This last quote so very true as witnessed by exchanges here on ‘letter’s comments’.
    It is available from several sources for under a tenner and on kindle for less than five.

    Edwin Pugh
    6 HRS AGO
    Mr Albanese issued a clarion call for action on climate change on Saturday night, saying: “Together we can end the climate wars. Together we can take advantage of the opportunity for Australia to be a renewable energy superpower.”
    Wonder how long it will take him to realise there is no war. Australia’s climate, like the rest of the world’s. isn’t changing.
    https://reality348.wordpress.com/2021/02/24/the-absurdity-of-climate-hysteria/

    1. Australia is free to do whatever they like about climate. Who’s stopping them? Commonwealth is irrelevant to the issue.

    2. “Wonder how long it will take him to realise there is no war. Australia’s climate, like the rest of the world’s. isn’t changing.”
      I’m afraid that’s rubbish. The earth’s climate is changing. In fact data from the Mars probes indicates that the climate of Mars is also changing.

      1. The climate is changing as it always has and always will. The change in climate and weather is due to that, sometimes, elusive orange ball in the sky and maybe a teeny weeny bit of human activity.

    3. “Wonder how long it will take him to realise there is no war. Australia’s climate, like the rest of the world’s. isn’t changing.”
      I’m afraid that’s rubbish. The earth’s climate is changing. In fact data from the Mars probes indicates that the climate of Mars is also changing.

  21. No letters so far about the ‘Labor’ win down under, but prolific BTL poster Martin Selves isn’t having any of it:

    Martin Selves
    21 MIN AGO
    Well Boris has a new and powerful Green Friend in Australia, but the Queen doesn’t. It will only be a matter of time before a Referendum on Republicanism is moved. Who would bet on this Aussie and Labour PM winning? I would not bet on it, but Prince Charles might be the deciding factor. If Australia left Commonwealth, then Canada would surely follow. Our History Book is being attacked by WOKE, and our strength through numbers
    in the Commonwealth is being slowly depleted. I guess Australia would like to remain in it as a Republic, because a great percentage of the population love and respect the UK for what they have done over the last 100 years.
    We still are a Great Nation, but being diluted and our national changed by immigration, and within a growing minority that hate us. Why they have gained such strength and momentum is puzzling, but our MSM and national broadcaster seem to be happy in the direction we are going. Nigel Farage is a wake up call, but he seems to be alone. I am 76, not in great tucker, and I would love to see this out by living another 20 years. I would hate to see our wonderful country driven into the ground by overcrowding, net zero and Politicians who cannot see, for whatever reason, what is happening. We can help Ukraine, but we cannot help ourselves or the NHS.

    And the absence of any ‘global warming’ letters hasn’t stopped Edwin Pugh either:

    Edwin Pugh
    31 MIN AGO
    The opening paragraph from a book by Tim Ball called ‘Human Caused Global Warming’ –
    “There is a big problem once you decide to use science for a political agenda, especially if the scientific hypothesis is untested. If it fails when tested going forward, the only options are to admit it doesn’t work or make the evidence fit the story. The people who formulated the human caused global warming hypothesis chose the latter and the deception began.”
    And further down –
    “If you want to test the idea [AGW] just say to people that you don’t accept the idea that humans are causing global warming. You will be amazed at the vehement reaction you get from the majority of people, all of whom know nothing about the science.”
    This last quote so very true as witnessed by exchanges here on ‘letter’s comments’.
    It is available from several sources for under a tenner and on kindle for less than five.

    Edwin Pugh
    6 HRS AGO
    Mr Albanese issued a clarion call for action on climate change on Saturday night, saying: “Together we can end the climate wars. Together we can take advantage of the opportunity for Australia to be a renewable energy superpower.”
    Wonder how long it will take him to realise there is no war. Australia’s climate, like the rest of the world’s. isn’t changing.
    https://reality348.wordpress.com/2021/02/24/the-absurdity-of-climate-hysteria/

  22. Headline in today’s DT:

    ‘Amazing sports’ Charles and Camilla to make cameo in Eastenders Platinum Jubilee special
    The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall will attend a street party thrown by Albert Square’s residents in an episode to air on June 2

    * * *

    It seems that no stunt is too tacky for Brian!

      2. ‘Morning, ‘Belle. I never saw the attraction of this load of carp, and cringe at the thought of this programme being sold overseas if they think it is typical of the East End!

        1. Good mornoing Hugh

          Once upon a time we used to hear the bong of Big Ben on the box, nowadays all we hear is the thump thump of the Eastenders theme opening , a warning to turn over ..

          I cannot believe the BBC are flogging it overseas.. Is that sort of dross representative of the social mores of the UK?

    2. How on earth will they find their way to “Albert Square”? It doesn’t appear on any London A–Z, nor does it feature in The Knowledge of London taxi drivers.

      1. Ah, as you probably know, it also goes by the name of Elstree Studios, Borehamwood. Headline writers at the DT are doubtless both stoopid and catering for stoopidity.

    5. Apparently it was filmed two months ago – as is normal. The trees have leaves stuck on them to make it look like summer. I have only viewed it a few times, in the mid 1980s, which starred a real-life murderer and a real-life ‘dizzy blonde’ gangster’s moll running a bar. I’m sure you know who I mean.
      As I often say of the BBC – The anal sphincter of broadcasting and of entertainment.

      Leslie Grantham – did ten years for murder Barbara Windsor was married to an East End gangster for 21 years.

    7. Edward was the driving force behind It’s a Royal Knockout. That went well, didn’t it?

    2. Have you noticed how few black sheep there are but lots of black & white cows…..?

      1. Scrumpydudes Dog
        @StewartWilsonF1
        Replying to
        @cold957
        and
        @SkyNews
        Many farms in the UK have been in family hands for 100s years, those families are white mainly, therefore a pointless story. What you suggesting a land grab… give our land away to the boat people.!!!
        6:43 AM · May 22, 2022·Twitter for Android

    3. Just found the article:-

      Why farming in UK is predominantly white – and what’s being done to increase diversity
      Analysis by Sky News finds that 97.2% of workers in agricultural, forestry and fishing are white, excluding seasonal workers, making it the least diverse job sector in the country.

      Dan Whitehead
      News correspondent @danwnews

      Saturday 21 May 2022 16:10, UK

      The Royal Agricultural University (RAU) is launching a new scholarship scheme to encourage more British students from ethnic minorities to enter the farming sector.

      The RAU, one of the leading agricultural institutions in the UK, hopes the two undergraduate scholarships will increase diversity and equality in the industry – which is predominately made up of white workers.

      Analysis by Sky News has found that 97.2% of workers in agricultural, forestry and fishing are white, excluding seasonal workers, making it the least diverse job sector in the country.

      Dan Todhunter, director of academic services at the RAU, told Sky News increasing diversity in education could reduce barriers.

      He said: “We definitely think there needs to be space for everyone to play a part in agriculture in the land-based sector.

      “If we can educate more people, train more people from a broader range of backgrounds, then they’ll be more people available in the future who’ve got the skills and qualifications and interests to make a difference in that sector and jobs.

      “It’s about reducing barriers, that might be financial barriers as well, to bring students into the RAU.

      “I think we also know, let’s be realistic, that the land-based sector is a rural sector, and we also know nationally that ethnic minorities are more often in urban areas and that also plays a big role.”

      There are some obvious reasons why farming is predominantly white.

      Firstly, rural parts of the country are far less diverse.

      Secondly, many farms tend to have been handed down through generations.

      But there are some who believe that more should be done to ensure those from ethnic minorities view farming as an accessible job.

      ‘We need to break the mould’

      Ped Asgarian, from the organisation Feeding Bristol, said: “We do need to break the mould of it being ultimately an old white man and a tractor working the field and that’s what a farmer is.

      “I think in food and farming in particular, we have a very multicultural society now, and what we do need to see is a better diversity in the food we are producing and those people with the skills, knowledge, expertise, and many migrants, refugees, second generation as well as first generation.

      “Those skills are being lost if they’re not being invested into our food and farming sector.”

      ‘I called myself a British Muslim farmer’

      Sky News spoke to Muhsen Hassanin, a Muslim who 10 years ago left his life working in marketing in London to buy a farm deep in the Welsh Valleys.

      He said: “It’s not really something that people from ethnic backgrounds look at because it’s a very, very closed group. Even just going to the auction house, for example – you don’t know what’s going on.

      “I never saw myself as someone who’d bought land.

      “It just dropped a few years later; I’ve got cows, I’ve got goats, geese, ducks, chickens, I’m farming, this is farming – so that’s when I called myself a British Muslim farmer at that point.”

      https://news.sky.com/story/why-farming-in-uk-is-predominantly-white-and-whats-being-done-to-increase-diversity-12618103

      1. It’s probably because this who are not white prefer living on generous benefit payments.
        If you pay people not to work, why will they bother.
        It is those who profess to be anti racist that promote racism.

      2. I also suspect that there might be a subconscious effect in their minds of associating working on the land with slavery or peasantry.

    2. L’Enclume in the Lake District! The patron said it was inflation, not the third Michelin star! Aye right, pet!

      1. That’s the one. It’s called cashing in, plain and simple!

        ‘Morning, Sue.

        1. ‘Morning Hugh! He’s one of those ‘foraging’ chefs! Pretentious prat, moi??

        2. They work damned hard for those accolades but if people are prepared to pay their prices the fools and their money will soon be parted.

      2. If the table and tasting menu was booked at the lower price then that is what they should pay. Chef Simon Rogan should have given them the lower price as a goodwill gesture.

        Good morning.

        1. ‘Morning Phizzee! Of course he should have, but he’s a pretentious foraging prat! One of the trip advisor reviews cancelled their db&b booking because the price had gone up by £130! And the hotel wouldn’t let him just have the dinner he had booked! Simon Rogan is a charlatan!

          1. I have a booking coming up. If they try that trick on me i’ll do an Amber in the middle of the bed.

      3. Ahem. Anyone who goes to a restaurant called L’Enclume in deepest England deserves all they get!

      4. There’s a racehorse called L’Enclume – I hope it didn’t feature on the menu!

      1. I can recreate a “greasy spoon” in my own kitchen. There used to be one at Heage that had half a JCB parked on its flat roof. Is it still there?

    4. Knowing the mark-up on food I refuse to go anywhere near a restaurant. I prefer my own home cooked grub anyway not these ‘artistic’ offerings with a ‘drizzle’ of this and that etc. Foodwise , restaurants are poor value

  25. Good morning, all. The bright sun at 6 am has been replaced by clouds.

    Nothing in the papers, again.

  26. I have long believed that everyone has racist tendencies and that evolution has hard wired it into us. I also believe that we can overcome those tendencies, but that forcing people to do so makes matters worse not better.

    Labour-run Islington Council say children as young as three months old can be racially biased – despite being unable to talk and unlikely to have socialised with any other children

    Perhaps I’m correct.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10841415/Labour-run-Islington-Council-say-children-young-three-months-old-racially-biased.html

    3. Maybe not. Is it possible that racism was brought here by darkies from the 50s onwards? I do not remember racism as a child or young man. I do remember the Brixton riots.
      Has the footballer featured in the Radio Times this week, Troy Deeney, who is fighting against “racism”,and wants “black history” taught in our schools ever read about this, – see link? He does not really want black history taught. He, I am sure, does not want to hear how Africans sold their relatives and prisoners taken in war, or about the Rwanda civil war that killed a million Hutu and Tutsi. Maybe how the tribes of East Africa fought non stop, the Matabele and the all-conquering Zulu. Or maybe a dispassionate assessment of the African blacks contribution to agriculture, science, manufacturing, culture, literature and the arts? (See programme Channel 4 Monday 10pm. for more.)

      https://theconversation.com/black-troops-were-welcome-in-britain-but-jim-crow-wasnt-the-race-riot-of-one-night-in-june-1943-98120

      1. It’s possible, but even then people were inherently suspicious without ever having mixed with them.

    1. In an ‘O’-Level maths exam, you have to show your workings.
      Where is your chart?

    1. We get dozens of that class of bike going past the house up the Via Gellia every weekend! We call it the Via Gellia Grandprix.

      1. I gather ride outs are popular , they do that for charity .

        Number one son traded in his Royal Enfield and his 2 year old MT10 for the newer version , he had to wait a while , long waiting lists for motor bikes as people cut back on their car trips .

        I straddled a small powerful whizz bang Honda , and it is quite difficult getting one’s leg over , but I did it .

          1. Well done, Belle! We used to call Hondas ‘wing wing bang’ bikes because of the noise they made! One summer working on a farm, outside Scarborough 3 of us rode 49cc trials bikes when we were getting around the place. I have a 10” scar up my shin where the kick start lever scraped it! Oooh! It was painful!

          2. I am sure you must have had great fun Sue ..sorry about your shin though.

            Moh and son encouraged me to sit on the Honda , I don’t ride , but my goodness what with my dodgy hip and knee , I thought I had split my difference and my jeans …

            On the whole , it was a different experience and I enjoyed my trip out with my guys .. I didn’t feel 75yrs old for an hour or so.

          3. Good morning, Maggie.

            Serious question: are you an “old lady” or just a “mama”? [Hell’s Angels terminology! 🤣]

          4. 🤣😉

            Morning Grizzly

            Dunno , there is something nice about the smell of leather and the roar , smell and vibration of a nice motorcycle , and the hunkiness

            Damn, I am going back to fanciable Burt Reynolds again.

          9. In that case I guess that you would be Burt Reynolds’s “Old Lady”.

            A “Old Lady” was the dedicated sole girlfriend of a member of a Hells Angels chapter.
            A “Mama” was one of the unattached hangers-on who may be ‘used’ by any chapter member.

  30. Good morning all. Slightly late on parade because we slept in! What the hell, it’s Sunday and I am retired.
    Bright overcast and dry so far with not quite 10°C outside.

  32. Now here’s a funny thing. One of Putin’s sons-n-law is called Zelensky.

    I wonder if, by chance, he is related to the “Hero” of Kiev….

        1. In the UK an engineer is a skilled individual who designs and manufactures complex mechanical devices.

          In the USA an engineer is a bloke who drives a steam locomotive.

  35. The BBC Radio 4 has been awarded another prize – 🏆 – The Monkey Pox of National & International Broadcasting.

    How proud they must be.

    1. He may well look shame faced, trying to laugh it off. So scared of one little word ‘racist’. Disgraceful.

      1. Imagine if that policeman gave the “attention” to those women in the same way the women are giving “attention” to him.
        Imagine if the colours of the participants had been reversed.

          1. Indeed.
            But it is the preposterous rainbowing that has encouraged such behaviour

          2. and dancing when they should be removing obstructionists. Standing about supervising vandalism of statues.

    3. These are not middle class black people…their trashy behaviour shouldn’t be tolerated just because they are black. The racism of low expectations.

  37. Hello gardeners,
    what’s the best way of getting rid of white mould from the leaves of a Japanese holly? (Variegated, smooth, evergreen leaves)

      1. I just did! NOTTL knows everything…doesn’t it??

        Thank you for the link – they more or less say, chemicals. I was hoping someone would report an infallible remedy with washing up liquid and baking powder…

          1. That one is new to me, thank you. I’ve saved it. Actually, I seem to remember having this discussion last year, and as that website advises, milk and water is the answer, but more preventative than curing.
            I guess I have to get busy before it takes over my garden.

    1. I worry more about what’s left in than what’s rejected.
      So often laws/agreements are later used for purposes which did not appear to be plausible at the time.
      Look at how Trudeau, Ardern and others have used earlier laws to persecute citizens in so many ways unthought of when the laws were passed.

        1. The Canadian truckers didn’t, but when the State is as ruthless as Trudeau and its agents, police bankers etc are prepared to act as they did, it’s damned hard to resist..

          1. Was referring to the proponents of the treaty. Just dropped 11 out of 12, did they, just like that? That’s not how it works at all. It’s a feint, a ruse.

    2. We are already under the control of WHO through doctors worldwide abiding by WHO common standards of what the organisation thinks the average healthy person should look like. The problem is that noone is average and the susceptibility to any deemed illness is now turning out to a consequence of genetic differences.

      I think a lot of problems are being caused by people wearing genes that are too tight! 🤔

      1. Considering the rate of murder of white farmers in SA, this “news item” is crashingly insensitive and inappropriate.

        1. And what’s the productivity of a black-run farm, compared to a white one? Do black farms send promising employees to agricultural college? Do they have health insurance, reasonable accommodation, schools?
          Trying not to prejudge the answers to these questions, but…

      2. No, it’s not only about hard work. There are plenty of dark skinned forestry workers all around the world. But agricultural workers tend to work locally, within their own community, or come from traditional rural backgrounds. And the traditional general farm worker has all but disappeared within the UK.

        1. Mostly because it’s cheaper to use a (often huge) machine, managed by high tech – such as gps-steered seeding, to be sure there’s the right overlap, and the right seed density given the soil type.
          Firstborns farmer neighbour has dispensed with a stockman, the cows taking themselves to the milking parlour when they feel the need – and the parlour feeds them, washes the teats, couples on, analyses the fat content, weighs the cow, checks the milk for unwanted organisms, detaches, and off she goes.
          Happy cows without great dangling bags of udders with teats that get trodden on, immediate warning by sms of sickness, automatic trending of yield so illness, feeding, etc can be addressed early on – and happy, healthy beasts. And a wage or two less to pay, too.

    3. They’ve only be trained to grow and harvest cotton and sugar-cane and they’ve even forgotten that.

      2. Apparently a few black people have been complaining that there are now far too many of their own kind on TV programmes and especially TV advertising. And It’s beginning to look a bit like modern slavery…….just sayin’.

    5. White man goes to Africa and complains that most of the agricultural workers are black.

  40. NRK (Norway’s BBC) are quitting Facebook 1st June.
    “We cannot let important discussions be managed by algorithms in Palo Alto” said a spokesman.

    1. I thought it was dickheads not algorithms censoring those who could use or not use Facebook….

  41. Cape Town – This week a handful of cases of monkeypox were detected in Britain, Portugal, Spain and the US, with cases rising, the latest virus to engulf the world.

    African governments should surely be preparing to call for travel bans to these countries immediately, remember, just like the US’s Joe Biden and the UK’s Boris Johnson did when they heard the new Omicron Covid-19 variant had been detected in South Africa by our brilliant African scientists?

    Racist much? Double standards? Why is Africa always reportedly the cause of the Western world’s problems?

    Because monkeypox doesn’t sound like a virus from the UK – not at all. It’s not something from the coloniser’s country.

    Monkeypox sounds like something from dirty, poverty-stricken Africa, some white woman is probably saying in London right now.

    More on this
    WHO to convene emergency meeting over monkeypox outbreak – report
    Monkeypox spreads to more countries, signalling global outbreak
    World News Today – Could US baby formula shortage hit South Africa?
    All of a sudden we’re seeing images of black people with monkeypox.

    Africa has enough burdens, so please keep your monkeypox. If this virus spreads like Covid-19, surely it needs to be contained?

    Then again, as Africans we also know what it’s like to be shunned, and we are used to the West cancelling flights to Africa to further weaken, and even destroy, the African economy.

    Story continues below Advertisement
    Monkeypox is a disease that occurs primarily in the tropical rainforest areas of Central and West Africa, according to the World Health Organization, which says the virus is occasionally exported to other regions.

    Italy, Sweden, Australia and Canada have joined a slew of countries with confirmed cases of monkeypox.

    Health officials in Australia have confirmed a case in the state of Victoria and another likely one in New South Wales.

    Story continues below Advertisement
    According to Victoria’s Department of Health, a man in his thirties fell ill after returning from travel to the UK earlier this week. He remains in isolation at The Alfred Hospital in a stable condition with mild symptoms.

    https://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/monkeypox-wheres-the-same-energy-the-us-uk-showed-when-omicron-was-detected-by-south-african-scientists-racist-much-64c5e246-062e-438d-ad75-fa48946c4edd

    Soth Africa has got the hump.

        1. The really scary thing, though, is what will be sold to them in the future. Dengue Fever, Yellow Fever, Nile Fever, Ebola …

          2. And then they’ll “do a Monsanto” and patent the plagues, charge for catching the disease and then charge premium prices for the cures.

    2. Viruses come out of China, not predominantly Africa anyway!
      But all of that’s outdated – nowadays, they come out of US funded laboratories.

  42. Can anyone explain to me why this was called evacuation and not surrender? Peter Hitchens. 22 May 2022.

    Not since the wild frenzy after the death of Princess Diana have I ever met such a wave of ignorant sentiment. Nobody knows anything about Ukraine. Everyone has ferocious opinions about it.

    The other night I shocked a distinguished Oxford academic by informing her that the lovely, angelic, saintly, perfect Ukrainians had blocked off the water supply to Crimea in 2014.

    She was rightly shocked by this nasty, uncivilised act of spite, but it was far more shocking that this highly educated person did not know this important fact.

    In the same way almost nobody, in education, politics or journalism, knows about the nasty, racist roots of Ukrainian nationalism, the horrible history of the vicious Stepan Bandera (now a Ukrainian national hero), or the Kiev state’s discriminatory scorn for the Russian language. If Canada treated its French speakers as Ukraine treats its Russian speakers, there would be international outrage.

    Worst of all is the widespread ignorance of the fact that President Volodymyr Zelensky, in my view an admirable man, was elected on a programme of peace with Russia. But when he tried to do as he had promised, he was blocked by parts of his own army, who publicly confronted him and humiliated him.

    At the same time his political rivals, including the neo-Nazis who very definitely do exist in Ukraine, went on the streets to denounce any sort of deal. President Zelensky crumbled. And the war came.

    I have mentioned here before that the first act of violence in this war was actually the Western-backed mob putsch which overthrew Ukraine’s lawful government in 2014.

    This was the true beginning of all the horror. And while it does not excuse the idiotic and brutal Putin invasion, it very much helps to explain it.

    Look, I respect those who take Ukraine’s side in this war. They have a valid point of view which I happen not to share. But what I object to is the wholly one-sided nature of public opinion here. It is so bad that it is a positive disadvantage to know anything about the subject.

    And it reached its peak last week when the Ukrainian defenders of the Mariupol steelworks, many of them in fact the neo-Nazis of the Azov battalion who proudly wear SS emblems on their official uniforms, surrendered.

    The UK media coverage of this event strove mightily not to mention the neo-Nazis and to avoid using the word ‘surrender’.

    The Mariupol garrison was said instead to have been ‘evacuated’ into Russian-held territory. Pictures showed them disarmed and being frisked by Russian soldiers. But we are so much in the grip of a one-sided view of this conflict that we could not even admit they had capitulated.

    Refusal to accept such obvious reality is a sign of madness.

    I personally have no idea what British interest is served by slavishly backing the American policy of stirring up trouble in Ukraine and goading Russia into combat.

    Perhaps someone could explain it to me, over a plate of ‘Chicken Kyiv’ and a bottle of vodka. But for any debate to take place, we’ll have to start accepting that there are two sides to this argument.

    Mr Hitchens seems to be picking his way carefully around his D Notice; probably to find the trigger point where they Novichok his keyboard!

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-10840777/PETER-HITCHENS-explain-called-evacuation-not-surrender.html

    2. Kiev, in common with Peking, Burma, Bombay, Madras and Calcutta, has never left my personal lexicon. Nor shall it!

      I also strongly prefer Hercules to “Heracles”; Boadicea to “Boudicca”; Piedmont to “Piemonte”; Mao Tse Tung to “Mao Zedong”; Athletics to “Track and Field”; and many more I cannot bring to mind presently.

      1. Track and field – sounds like a steam rally, Grizz.
        I’d use Piemonte to a non-native English speaker, as they’d be more likely to recognise what I’m talking about. München likewise. But not to an Englishperson.

      3. I posted this on Disqus a few years ago:

        I once coined the term: “Bouddicology” for this habit. Definition: “The immediate and enthusiastic embrace of a revised pronunciation of a historic name.”
        Thus, “Boadicea” seemed to become “Boudicca” virtually overnight.
        The true Bouddicologist will then insert the word into conversation with an admirable frequency, such as to suggest that they have “…always known this, actually..”
        How strange that it never applies to Bayern Munich. Or should that be Bayern Muenchen? Or Bavaria Munich? I am confused.

        1. That is so very true, John. These modernist bandwagon-jumpers go to extraordinary lengths to display their zeitgeist kudos, don’t they? I find it strange how the word “Beijing” has universally supplanted Peking, yet we still speak of Pekingese dogs and Peking Duck. Curiously, my old (1977) The Times, Concise Atlas of the World advises on the intrinsic difficulties that westerners have in attempting to approximate the inscrutable Mandarin vocal fricatives. That tome advises that the nearest it is possible for us to achieve is “Pei-ching”, which is closer to Peking than it will ever be to “Beijing”.

    3. Here’s one for you: What would it take for the US to back a putsch in the UK, to overthrow the legally elected government. I recall in the 1960s and 70s talk of such plans if the UK ever became too friendly to the Soviet, so I assume the plans have just been updated with the years – destabilisation first, then encouragement of insurrection, then civil war… my worry is, that many of the elements of this are now in place, viz. the BLM, Insulate Britain, and all the other “peaceful” protests stirring up hatred and conflict, add to that the increasing immigration of (potenially? violent) young men, and the temperature in the pressure cooker is rising. Getting easier to set off serious violence that can be used for a takeover of government.
      And for the tin foil hat folk: Libya, Syria, Ukraine, countless countries in Africa…

  43. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5d196151bfb93e2b080738bb83d363f6f3fbe178b28f7e5afc601594f48db2e5.jpg
    Just now the lilac is in bloom,
    All before my little room;
    And in my flower-beds, I think,
    Smile the carnation and the pink…

    Unlike Rupert Brooke, I don’t have any carnations or pinks in the border. I do, though, have lots of lilac (pink and white) in bloom right now as well as many other delights of the beautiful month of May. Tulips are still at their best and I await for the first emergence of the irises.

        1. Indeed it will, as the dessert to some fresh tomatoes, lettuce and cucumber.

          1. You mentioned your impressive 25kg weight loss. What did you weigh at the start?

          2. I topped out at 116·9kg [18st–5lb–12oz], now down to 92kg [14st–6lb–13oz].

            I’ll be happy to settle for anything between 77–82kg [12 stone summat!].

          5. They have an earthy, musky, meaty, gamey flavour.
            They can be used in many recipes. Normally grated over the top.

            Scrambled eggs are a favourite but don’t over do it.

    2. Newly bult (by me and t’lads) gate opening in the fence has 2 tall planters, with daffodil bulbs and pinks in. Looks rather good – and makes the rest of the garden look even shabbier… I can only dream of a garden as tidy as yours, Grizz. And haave nightmares about the effort required to get there! I must get the mower from Firstborn, and clip the shrubs.
      The lower part was bare soil until now, it’s now bare soil raked flat, stones removed, and wild meadow-seeded. Much of the soil is also now in the house, wedged in the cleats of my boots 🙁

      1. You probably have more land than me, Paul. Our plot is (at max) 1,000m², which makes it around 32m x 32m. And much smaller when you take away the two buildings on it.

        1. We have 1 400m^2 across the surface, but much is at 45 degrees plus, with scrub & stones. Only a smallish area of “lawn” (grass-like stuff) and a small bush bed that conceals the garden railway.

  44. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5d196151bfb93e2b080738bb83d363f6f3fbe178b28f7e5afc601594f48db2e5.jpg
    Just now the lilac is in bloom,
    All before my little room;
    And in my flower-beds, I think,
    Smile the carnation and the pink…

    Unlike Rupert Brooke, I don’t have any carnations or pinks in the border. I do, though, have lots of lilac (pink and white) in bloom right now as well as many other delights of the beautiful month of May. Tulips are still at their best and I await for the first emergence of the irises.

    1. Perhaps civil servants should be required to be sick in the office as they are able to work from home.

    1. There must be more to the charge than is reported in the Daily Mail, surely?

        1. I smell a hint of Bliarshite in the whole thing.

          Is the Blair Witch their barrista?

      2. I doubt it. A mountain out of a mole hill suggested by those who are offended on behalf of others.

        1. The Chef/patron said the two young women were visibly upset and he asked the agent that booked the table not to book them again.

          I can imagine it was quite a noisy table. Probably a bit drunk too.

          You learn how to handle these situations when you have been doing it a while. Not a job for wallflowers when Rugby,Footie and other sporty types are partying.

      3. I doubt it. A mountain out of a mole hill suggested by those who are offended on behalf of others.

      1. I don’t have it on my computer, but I have a photo of the office door of a company of solicitors on the quayside, Ward Hadaway!

  47. Excitement!!!

    First large flower bud on the Magnolia x Weiseneri I bought a few years ago, in Cornwall again.
    It’s still rare and I wasn’t sure whether I’d see it flower. I had read a book, ‘Adventures of a gardener’ written by Sir Peter Smithers, bought because of his garden in Switzerland .This is a good review of the book, from America:

    https://thedailygardener.org/book20191119/

    “It was when he was in his 50s, that Smithers was finally able to focus on horticulture and botany fulltime.

    Smithers loved rhododendrons, magnolias, tree peonies, lilies, and

    wisteria. He developed a garden that didn’t require a ton of work –

    along the same lines as Ruth Stout.

    He wrote:

    “The garden is planted so as to reduce labor to an absolute minimum as the owner grows older.””

    Well,, He didn’t, he would have spelled labour properly!

    Since buying the book , I have attempted to follow his strategy. Unfortunately he spent a lot of time developing the European Human Rights Act, but we must forgive him for that because of the garden he made in Switzerland. Not sure about his end though, I think he was voluntarily euthanised at that swiss place…! https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/efc2a3531aa214ec37bba25329935d83f05413ca3601caaa99689f00e0577370.jpg

        2. Talking of which. Yesterday we went on a tour of the archeological dig on the site of the old Essex County Hospital. Very interesting; there was a large hole where the Clap Clinic used to stand.

  50. Johnny Depp was once arrested for having sex with Amber Heard in his car.
    He was charged with having an offensive person on his weapon.

    Coat?

    1. …and hat.
      (An earlier version of the joke had the woman as Bernadette Devlin).

    2. It’s terribly risqué but a chum of mine made it very clear that now Heard’s known for being a nutter in the bedroom she could earn a fortune in certain circles – vastly more than she has in her films.

  51. A Tory campaigner came to my door earlier. He said, ‘Will you be voting for us tomorrow?’

    I replied, ‘I’d sooner vote for Hitler!’

    He said, ‘Oh shit, is he standing? We’ll lose half our voters!’

  52. Jacob Rees-Mogg and his eldest son are in hospital suffering from severe
    shock after an ASDA delivery driver dropped another customers shopping and
    exposed them to a Fray Bentos Pie and two small tins of Spaghetti Hoops.

  53. How black holes ignite our imagination. Spiked 22 May 2022.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d64ba18a0307a83e2f71e6eb9d0e10d88dd269fb619a35dcf2360ae9ad0f974e.jpg

    The brilliant image of Sagittarius A* should ignite yet more discoveries. The process of producing such images has already led to technological and scientific marvels, which will enable humanity to deepen our collective knowledge further. As WB Yeats once put it, ‘education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire’. And now we have one, at the centre of our very own galaxy.

    PASSWORTHY: “My God! Is there never to be an age of happiness? Is there never to be rest?”

    CABAL: “Rest enough for the individual man. Too much of it and too soon, and we call it death. But for MAN no rest and no ending. He must go on–conquest beyond conquest. This little planet and its winds and ways, and all the laws of mind and matter that restrain him. Then the planets about him, and at last out across immensity to the stars. And when he has conquered all the deeps of space and all the mysteries of time–still he will be beginning.”

    PASSWORTHY: “But we are such little creatures. Poor humanity. So fragile–so weak.”

    CABAL: “Little animals, eh?”

    PASSWORTHY: “Little animals.”

    CABAL: “If we are no more than animals–we must snatch at our little scraps of happiness and live and suffer and pass, mattering no more–than all the other animals do–or have done.” (He points out at the stars.) “It is that–or this? All the universe–or nothingness…. Which shall it be Passworthy?”

    The Shape of Things to Come. 1936.

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/05/22/how-black-holes-ignite-our-imagination/

    1. Looks just like the eye on the end of the stalk in the 1953 War of the Worlds film.

      1. Let’s hope is it just a black hole. if it’s an alien our useless government would set about giving them money.

  54. Some form of ploughmans for lunch, together with an excellent IPA at 6%, good, strong, English hop flavour. Brewed in Norway, too!

          2. I may even venture a small stick of celery but i don’t want to over do it.

      5. I’ve just had an M&S lasagne which was somehow extra to requirement! (I had to eat it to get rid of it!)

      6. All for you?? What about Dolly…I’m sure she can help out…enjoy…envious of M & S food!

        1. It’s a small sausage roll, a thin wedge of quiche and half a scotch egg. Dolly won’t let me get past her until i give her a nibble. She’s like Cerberus when food is about.

    3. Faggots in gravy, mashed tatties, turnip, carrot & garlic & herb mushrooms.

      1. Comfort food. One of my favourites. Second being smoked haddock poached in milk and butter with mashed potatoes.

        1. Just finished it and it was very nice!
          The faggots came from a butcher in Sutton in Ashfield market hall I dropped in on after I’d taken the van to be inspected by the insurers.

          1. Must be a favourite of the BBC canteen. They talk of their love of faggots all the time.

      3. Leg lamb chop, mashed potatoes and broccoli. Sherry before, port after and a Cabernet Sauvignon to wash it down 🙂

  55. “The World Doctors Alliance is taking the UK government to court, so as to prevent them from signing the WHO pandemic treaty.”

    I have no further information about this

  56. A cannibal went on holiday, on his return his friend met him at the airport. The cannibal was in a wheelchair with a blanket covering where his legs should be. His friend asked him if he’d been in an accident. “No” he replied ” I didn’t know it was self catering”

  57. A Merkin on TV has just said that she is “super excited” about a house renovation.
    Apart from being sad, why over-superlativize the expression? Isn’t super-excited the same as peeing yourself with excitement? Or am I needing my coat…?

  58. I received this e-mail, today from a member of our Solar Group, campaigning against Solar ‘Farms’.

    I’m sure everyone has seen something about REPowerEU in the press.
    https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_22_3131
    It includes:
    A Solar Rooftop Initiative with a phased-in legal obligation to install solar panels on new public and commercial buildings and new residential buildings.
    There is interesting material in the solar strategy:
    https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM%3A2022%3A221%3AFIN&qid=1653034500503

    Having read through the links, I replied:

    It is interesting to see the EU are just as stupid as our own buffoon, Johnson, in their believe that solar and wind power will be their saviour and release them from the tyranny of fossil fuels.
    I wonder, once the plans are rolled out, how loud the screams will be from dis-possessed farmers in Germany and France, particularly when the French villagers find their potagers commandeered and they will be up in arms that their beloved Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is in the process of letting them down.
    They obviously have not seen the effects in Britain (the hated, punishable Brexiteers) of groups like Extinction Rebellion (XR) in action.
    This all assumes that this foolish spending does not cause the collapse of the Euro and the ultimate implosion of the EU. There’ll be tears before bed-time.

    1. Sort of happened to me once.
      The pilot’s pre-takeoff announcement went blah blah and then he suddenly mentioned an entirely different destination airport. The surprise diversion was due to thick fog.
      Fortunately as I was trying to disembark through an emergency exit, I met a gent who was happy to drive a couple of us to the intended landing spot, as he had already hired a car.

  60. Haven’t seen Ann, ‘Lottie’ of late, does anyone know if all is okay with her? I am not here as much as I used to be, so I may have missed something.

    1. I think Lottie is a bit stressed at the moment and Sosraboc keeps teasing her. The meanie that he is.

  61. Girl, 17, kidnapped, raped and attacked with nunchucks by two men in horrific 2-day ordeal. 22 May 2022.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/64af004235062dd93a61514619a3d10c4def8f78008ba3f44570eb58b898b9a4.jpg

    A 17-year-old girl suffered a horrific ordeal over the course of two days at the hands of two men, where she was kidnapped, repeatedly raped and attacked with nunchucks. Abdul Howe, 21, and Ajani Williams, 21, were convicted of several offences at Isleworth Crown Court yesterday (May 17).

    In September 2020, the victim, then aged 17, attended Lewisham police station to report that she had been kidnapped and raped. She explained that she had been taken from her home in Ipswich by Abdul Howe, a man she initially got to know over social media before meeting in London.

    She met this man! What can one say?

    https://www.mylondon.news/news/north-london-news/girl-17-kidnapped-raped-attacked-23988744

    2. The victim must have been black. Had she been white, the police would have let her go with a caution not to make racist allegations.

    3. I find myself having no ability to write smething consoling or decent, but I am simply tired of the tired, trite nonsense.

      They shouldn’t be in this country. End of story.

  62. Ticket-holder scoops £184m EuroMillions jackpot to become UK’s biggest ever winner

    Many years ago (mid 1950s) we went to a broadcast of Wilfred Pickle’s ‘Have a Go’ radio programme in an open arena near Heysham Head in Lancashire. The pianist was Barney Colehan, who was also the produce, and Wilf’s wife Mabel was there too.

    Pickles’ presentation style resulted in catchphrases such as “How do, how are yer?”, “Are yer courting?”, “What’s on the table, Mabel?” and “Give him the money, Mabel” or “Give him the money, Barney” Guests were invited to answer quiz questions in the hope of winning a small amount of money. It was the first quiz show in Britain to offer such a prize. If you got all the questions right you could win as much as £1/18s/6d (£1.92p). There would also often be items of local produce awarded in addition to the money, hence the catchphrase “What’s on the table, Mabel?”

    The programme’s popularity was such that at one time it was attracting an estimated 20 million listeners weekly. For six years the pianist for the programme was Violet Carson of Coronation Street fame.

    How times have changed.

    Opening Theme Song

    “Have a go, Joe, come on and have a go
    You can’t lose owt, it costs you nowt
    To make yourself some dough.
    So hurry up and join us,
    don’t be shy and don’t be slow.
    Come on Joe, have a go!”

    Closing song:

    “Have a go, Joe, you’ ve been and had a go
    And you can tell your friends as well
    You’ve been in radio
    So listen in again next week
    And hear another show
    Have a go! Have a go!”

      1. Reminds me of cosy visits to a much loved elderly aunt who lived in Guiseley.

        We would settle down to watch her old black and white TV, decades ago , when I was a girl, cups of tea , fruit cake and a piece of cheese , because she knew I liked that , and a dish of potted beef to spread on buttered toast , watercress. to munch .

  63. The organisers of the Devon and Cornwall Music Festival have been arguing over the first act on the main stage.

    They can’t decide whether It should be Cream or The Jam.

  65. Turd of the Month Jack Monroe

    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/Jackmonroe.jpg/220px-Jackmonroe.jpg

    Hero of the BBC (life story broadcast twice worldwide today) She left school at age 16, “bullied and disillusioned”, with insufficient GCSEs to progress to A Level. She only achieved a low D grade in her home economics GCSE. Monroe left home and worked in a chip shop, before taking a job as a call handler for Essex Fire Service. After having a child, she was unable to arrange the work around childcare responsibilities, and was unable to negotiate adjustments to her working pattern. She resigned the post and sponged off the state. Monroe was diagnosed with autism and ADHD as a child, though was not made aware of this until she was an adult.

    Monroe came out as non-binary in 2015 and goes by they/them and she/her pronouns. Monroe had previously identified as a cisgender lesbian. In a February 2014 interview, she described herself as a “lefty, liberal, lezzer cook” There’s more but I won’t bore you with it.

    Anyone know her?

    7. Anyone know her?

      Surely, as a non-binary, the question should be “Anyone know it?”

  66. The Right want the NHS to work and introduce markets. The Left want the NHS to continue as it is because it’s a whipping stick for the poor, the ignorant and the dim. It is also a monstrous, unionised example of statist engineering at it’s worst. The Left don’t want it to change – ever and for them they shout ‘privatisation!’ at any reforms.

    1. And they are trying their best to ignore the Manchester Bombing anniversary.

      1. ‘They’ think that by shoving it under the carpet it will aid social cohesion. The opposite is true.

    3. I’ll bet my £1 to your brass farthing that Wednesday will see a mass wailing and gnashing of teeth all around Britain.
      Knees will be bent and kneecaps blistered.

    4. Killed by black immigrant Muslims. Why would you expect the BBC to talk about it? They’d probably set out a hit piece to demonise the feellow.

      1. Bogey 5 … again!
        Wordle 337 5/6

        ⬛⬛⬛⬛🟨
        🟨⬛⬛🟩⬛
        ⬛🟩⬛🟩⬛
        ⬛🟩⬛🟩⬛
        🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    2. A Birdie Three for me – again …
      Wordle 337 3/6

      ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜
      ⬜🟩⬜🟩🟨
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    4. Got lucky today.
      Wordle 337 3/6

      🟩⬜⬜🟩⬜
      🟩⬜🟩🟩⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    5. Par 4.
      Wordle 337 4/6

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

    6. #metoo. Only just done it. Gardening am bowls this arvo and then more gardening. Tired now. Off to beddybies for some zzzzz I hope. Night all.
      Wordle 337 4/6
      Forgot to add:
      🟨⬛⬛⬛🟨
      ⬛🟨⬛🟨⬛
      ⬛🟩🟨🟩⬛
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    7. #metoo. Only just done it. Gardening am bowls this arvo and then more gardening. Tired now. Off to beddybies for some zzzzz I hope. Night all.
      Wordle 337 4/6
      Forgot to add:
      🟨⬛⬛⬛🟨
      ⬛🟨⬛🟨⬛
      ⬛🟩🟨🟩⬛
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  69. WTF is going on…
    I was watching a war film on BBC2 3pm – 5pm ‘Escape to Athena’ at 4pm it changed to friggin’ footie…

  70. I had a letter the other day , in fact I had 2 letters from the NHS.

    Significant one for the Spring Covid booster , which I declined , but Moh accepted and he had his on Thursday.

    Second NhS letter from my GP practise requesting I book up an appointment with the nurse for a Shingles jab . Moh did not receive a letter or an invite .

    Experts are likening Monkeypox to Shingles ..

    I am very suspicious and quite confused .com

    ( PS , I will be glad when my cracked laptop screen and keyboard are eventually fixed .. My keyboard letters have faded , and I have to really hammer down hard to even get a word out )

    1. That is interesting. A few months ago poppiesdad got an invitation to go for a shingles jab from the surgery. He had shingles two years ago. He is 80 and the shingles jab is supposed to be ineffective from 80+. I had shingles early last year, 2021, but have had no request to make an appt. We were suspicious too at the time. He declined their kind invitation, it is about £300 a pop for shingles vax. What is going on…? I do not think the nhs is operating in our best interests. It is socialised medicine and as such has become political.

      1. I am taking heed of your words PM.

        Maybe I am weary of everything now.

        Having had bad reactions to the Covid jabs and now have Covid Omnicrom after effects , my head echoes . like being under water , no energy , and IBS .

        Feel much better but still have mind fog ..

        Moh and both sons are fine .. I feel as if my earlier ab reaction has had real repercussions .. all the medics say is , well the alternative would have deprived your sons of a mother .

        2. Discussion on Twitter about this, it seems that it is thought that the covid jab activates shingles if you have had the jab. Strangely, for the first time ever, I had a prompt to get the ‘flu jab (I declined) just as the covid vax prog was being rolled out.

      3. I had shingles in 2019, and it was painful and unpleasant but the anti-viral tablets worked and I had no post-herpetic neuralgia, which was something that affected my aunt for the rest of her life. Apparently you can get it again, so last year I did take up the shingles vac and so so did OH. Neither of us experienced any side effects at all.

          1. I haven’t had any apparent side effects. I had a stiff shoulder after the second covid jab but it may not have been linked and is not a problem now.
            I would not have bothered with the covid jabs had I not already had the trip to Kenya booked. It was clearly going to be a requirement for travel. That may well have been my last trip anywhere, as I’m not having any more.

        2. I had shingles early 2020, I scarcely knew I had it apart from a loss of energy, p’psdad had it 18 months earlier and was really quite unwell and uncomfortable with it for a month with post herpetic discomfort afterwards on and off which has only just stopped troubling him. Although I scarcely knew I had it, it has taken a long time for the rash to heal, I checked it this morning across my shoulder and it seems well on its way to being mended apart from some rough skin over the area which is slowly disappearing. I too had an aunt who was badly affected with the shingles, it affected her eye and her speech, she went blind in one eye and she sounded as though she had had a stroke and her mouth was twisted on the same side as her blind eye. She lived to be 103.

          Before I developed the shingles I checked out the reviews for the two vaccines available. They were worrying, although shingrix seemed to get slighly better reports compared with the nhs Zostavax (?). Of course, if the vaccination hasn’t troubled you at all and you have not had a reaction, you’re not going to the effort to seek out web sites to voice an opinion. Although you can get shingles more than once it does seem to be rare and I haven’t heard of anybody in my acquaintance getting it twice (yet).

          1. A friend of mine did – she had it on her face and it left scars. she was only in her 40s at the time.
            I was quite unwell with the shingles, mainly due to the pain that started in my right ear – I thought it was an ear infection at first. The rash appeared a couple of days later and the penny dropped – I looked on the the NHS site and there was a photo of my rash – a classic one-sided one on my right shoulder. I phoned the surgery, had a call-back and an appointment to see a very young doctor that afternoon.
            So the anti virals worked – apparently they need to be started within 48 hours of the appearance of the rash. I didn’t feel particularly ill, but the pain was such that I needed lots of paracetamol – and I very rarely take any sort of pain-killer. I had no long-term side effects, but the debilitation and loss of energy lasted a few weeks. I had no reaction at all to the jab.

    2. Hi Belle,

      I had shingles some years ago….brought on apparently by stress!
      Felt lousy…. couldn’t wait to have the jab which
      protects you for some time…

      Monkeypox… WTF…

      1. Thanks Plum ,

        I will give it some thought .

        Monkey pox .. can we get it by handling an apple or pineapple or bottle that some one else has touched ?

      2. Ma in law had shingles a few years ago, and is still troubled by the after effects. A jab might be a good idea.

    3. I agreed to a shingles jab some 2 or 3 years ago.
      Apparently that one jab will see me out.

    5. On my keyboard the E and T have worn away but some, especially G have a habit of going double.
      There is also quite often a delay between what I type and what I can see on the screen synchronising.

      I had the shingles jab last year – see my reply to Poppiesmum.

    1. Time for a glass of beetroot juice…..followed by something more substantial.

      1. I had something more substantial at lunchtime… HIC!
        My intention was to phone friends who also
        hate Sundays and family……..

  72. That’s me for today. Spent a couple of hours shifting topsoil to level out a small part of the “lawn”. Amazing how much you need for what looks like a small job.

    Rain expected tomorrow afternoon and Tuesday – which will be handy.

    Have a jolly evening.

    A demain.

  73. ‘Evening All. Saw the first swallows today, flying very high. Home after the André Rieu concert at Wembley yesterday evening, 75th birthday present for herself. A very enjoyable evening and great event.

  75. Currently waiting for Trevor Noah to start in Oslo Spectrum. 15 mins late, and counting…

          1. No.
            Until today, my favourite comedian after Sarah Millican, but today… unjokes about how white the place is (would you joke about how black it is in Lagos?), unfunny “jokes” about slavery, unfunny routines about pornography, Trump, Clinton, Bush, a load of old material seen many times on TV rehashed into an unfunny version. Only the last set was amusing – all about getting ones come-uppence.
            Had it been on TV, I’d have changed channel. I think I should have stayed at home and pushed pineapples up my arse, spiky end first. Might have laughed more.

          2. My favourite used to be Danny Bhoy who seemed to be really different and very clever. His humour was clean and visual, then we saw him at the (pre-convid) Edinburgh Festival, and he’d joined the ranks of the anti-everything (Brexit, Trump, etc.) with a lot of swearing! Very disappointing. He seems to be very popular in Oz!

          3. No.
            Until today, my favourite comedian after Sarah Millican, but today… unjokes about how white the place is (would you joke about how black it is in Lagos?), unfunny “jokes” about slavery, unfunny routines about pornography, Trump, Clinton, Bush, a load of old material seen many times on TV rehashed into an unfunny version. Only the last set was amusing – all about getting ones come-uppence.
            Had it been on TV, I’d have changed channel. I think I should have stayed at home and pushed pineapples up my arse, spiky end first. Might have laughed more.

  76. Stock up on the sherry or your favourite tipple….

    Genuine risk’ of empty shelves as ‘millions’ face impact of medicine shortages
    MEDICINE manufacturers in the UK fear that potential shortages “would affect patient numbers in the millions”, warning there is a “genuine risk” of empty shelves.

  77. Thank goodness I’d eaten before I read this article.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/horror-stories-going-abroad-dental-work/

    “The horror stories of going abroad for dental work

    Heading overseas for cheap veneers can sometimes turn into a painful and traumatising experience

    22 May 2022 • 5:00pm

    The pain started as soon as she arrived home. As the anaesthetic from her procedure wore off, Lisa Martyn – back from a week in Turkey and bearing a fresh set of shiny white teeth – found the pain from her gums agonising.

    “I nearly went out of my mind,” the 48-year-old says. “I touched down and my mouth was instantly sore. The pain just wasn’t going – in fact it was moving around my mouth, from this tooth to that.”

    The carer from County Kerry, Ireland, travelled to Turkey to get her teeth “fixed” last September.

    Enticed by influencer endorsements and cheap prices, hundreds of thousands of so-called “dental tourists”, like Martyn, flock to overseas clinics every year.

    With parts of the UK experiencing such extreme shortages of NHS dentists that patients are being driven to the private sector – and amid reports last week that one desperate family travelled to Brazil for dental check-ups – it is easy to see the appeal of bargain dental packages in hotspots like Hungary, Poland and Turkey.

    A full set of veneers ranges from £3,000 to £6,000 in Turkey, for example, compared with up to £10,000 in the UK.

    The pandemic prompted an increase in demand for cosmetic dentistry, particularly among the over-40s, and the global dental tourism industry is ballooning. It is estimated that the market size will be worth $5.83 billion (£4.69 billion) by 2025.

    But while many dental tourists have a seamless experience, some are left devastated by the results of their cut-price treatments.

    Martyn had previously had a top row of what she thought were veneers applied by a Turkish clinic in 2011, as she was unhappy with her natural teeth. This first time of receiving treatment abroad, she was happy with the results and suffered minimal pain afterwards.

    However, her problems began when she returned to the same clinic last year after noticing a crack in one of her artificial teeth.

    When she arrived, she was told that it was impossible to replace a single tooth, and that all of them would have to be filed down and replaced, at a cost of £3,500.

    This second round of treatment was a “nightmare”. Having been swiftly X-rayed and ushered into the dentist’s chair, Martyn had 26 teeth filed down to tiny stubs. “I said, ‘They’re very small’, and the dentist said, ‘No, they look fine’ – they didn’t even entertain my concerns,” she recalls.

    Once the procedure was over, with her face numb, Martyn paid in cash. She wasn’t given a receipt, and says when she asked for her medical records it was “like you’re asking them for one of their children… I don’t think they want to give you the forms.”

    Over the weeks and months that followed, Martyn experienced “crippling” sensitivity, shooting pain in her gums and jaw, and an abscess on the side of her cheek.

    She developed an infection, and had to undergo expensive root canal surgery.

    “I went to my dentist in convulsions,” she recalls. Only then was Martyn informed she had a full set of crowns, and not the veneers she had been sold.

    Whereas veneers require some filing of natural teeth beforehand, crowns generally require the entire tooth to be filed down into small pegs – a procedure that can result in complex dental problems.

    Eight months later, lingering pain means Martyn is still struggling to eat. “When I went to Turkey I was 18-and-a-half stone, now I’m 15 stone”.

    She has accrued hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok videos warning other would-be dental tourists of the dangers involved, but declines to name the clinic that treated her – instead, she says, her experience is part of a “much wider problem” affecting the global industry.

    “I just thought, I have to speak out about this… nobody said to me at any stage, we’re going to file your teeth down, so your risk of needing root canals in the future goes up,” she says.

    Martyn has accepted that eventually she will need all her teeth removed and replaced with dentures.

    She is still taking painkillers every day, and requires a further in-depth root canal treatment. It will end up costing her more than £1,500 to rectify the effects of her botched treatment.

    Another woman, Chloe* in her 20s, also says she has experienced excruciating pain after receiving a full set of crowns in Turkey.

    When we speak on Zoom, her dazzlingly white teeth look flawless. But beneath them, her gums are painful and inflamed, and she fears they are harbouring a lifetime of problems.

    The student, who used her savings to pay for the £4,300 treatment in February, said she had wanted minimal-preparation veneers because she was insecure about the appearance of her natural teeth and had seen a glitzy clinic advertised on social media.

    When she arrived at the clinic, she was surprised by its luxurious aesthetic and factory-like efficiency. It was like a “conveyor belt”, she says, with patients streaming in and out.

    There was a lavish coffee bar with free drinks and food, a large garden, and a free chauffeur service to and from her hotel. “I’ve never seen a dentist’s surgery like it before,” she says. “It’s beautiful. But they don’t care about your teeth.”

    Despite explicitly asking for the minimal or “no-prep” procedure, which requires little to no shaving of the original tooth, Chloe says “they ended up fully crowning my teeth and completely filing them down to pegs”.

    When she looked in the mirror and saw that her natural teeth resembled tiny stumps, she burst into tears. “I was in shock, I was crying so much. Straight away I said ‘I didn’t want my teeth filed down this much’ but they said ‘You weren’t eligible for veneers’. Nobody had told me that.”

    Like Martyn, Chloe did not have to sign any forms before the procedure, and wasn’t given a receipt afterwards.

    “I asked for a receipt and she said ‘you can have one if you want to, but you don’t need to’ – but at this point I’d already had my teeth filed down, so there was nothing I could do about it.”

    When she returned home, her mouth was in “loads of pain… it was throbbing all over. It was really bad.”

    While the pain has now largely subsided, Chloe’s gums remain sensitive and she is terrified of the dental problems she will experience in the future. “I’m in a really bad place, mentally.”

    She is now appealing for a refund, and is afraid that if she publicly names the clinic she visited, they will refuse.

    Chloe attributes the impetus behind young “dental tourists” like herself to the “Instagram effect” – trying to achieve a flawless smile fit for an influencer.

    “It’s just a vanity thing, isn’t it? I know lots of people who have gone to Dubai recently to get their teeth done, but a lot of them are having problems with their gums now,” she adds.

    Martyn agrees. “I have girls myself – I have a 17-year-old, and she’s so conscious of her teeth,” she says. “She said, ‘Mum, should I just go to Turkey?’ and I nearly vomited. I said ‘absolutely not’.”

    She adds: “When I was in my twenties, I wasn’t even thinking about my teeth. But these kids are obsessed with everything being perfect. My girls ask me to make an appointment with our dentist like they would with a hair appointment.”

    NHS dentist Dr Emi Mawson says that she sees a lot of “really young people” getting their teeth “done” abroad, who don’t realise there is a difference between veneers and the crowns that they are given.

    “The problem with crowns and getting your teeth filed down to pegs, especially healthy teeth, is that you’re really likely to have problems going into the future,” she says.

    “If you take a healthy tooth and file it down into a peg, the statistics are that about one in four of those teeth are actually going to die off, and that could cause things like abscesses.”

    Another problem with having cheap treatments done abroad is that if patients return to the UK with problems, they are unlikely to find a dentist willing to treat them, she says. Martyn says she feels fortunate that her dentist in Ireland agreed to treat her, but not all patients have the same luck.

    “As dentists here, any treatment we do we’re then responsible for,” Dr Mawson says. “If a patient came to me having had crowns done abroad and now have an abscess, I wouldn’t then be willing to do the root canal treatment on that tooth because… the root canal treatment would be much less likely to be successful.

    “I could be penalised for that root canal treatment failing – the only thing I’d be able to offer on the NHS is to take that tooth out.”

    “If your treatment is cheaper, corners are being cut somewhere,” she adds. This could include crowns bought in bulk or milled in batches on site rather than custom-made for patients, whereas veneers require more time and skill.

    Dr Mawson acknowledges that there are many skilled dentists practising in dental tourism hotspots, but warns that many people – including young people with healthy teeth – are not receiving the necessary information before undergoing invasive procedures.

    Dentist Dr Len D’Cruz, the British Dental Association’s head of indemnity, agrees. He believes many patients receiving treatments like crowns abroad “probably wouldn’t have been given the information they would have [received from a UK dentist] had they been given that same treatment here.”

    He adds that such complex procedures, so common in dental tourism hotspots, are often the last resort for UK dentists. “In the UK we very much [practise] what’s called MID – minimal intervention dentistry – trying to keep away from crowns, bridges and so forth until we really have to,” he says.

    As dental therapist Laura Bailey points out, “people don’t need 20 crowns to get the perfect smile. There are so many minimally invasive ways that you can get a nice smile.” These include teeth whitening, composite bonding and orthodontics.

    For Chloe, hindsight is “a beautiful thing”. She says going abroad to get her teeth done is the biggest regret of her life. “If I could go back now, I would not have had it done – I would have my teeth bleached more and have composite bonding, or I’d save up more money and go to a dentist in the UK.”

    Martyn says she wishes she had thought twice beforehand. As she points out: “Once you’ve done this once, there’s no going back.” “

    1. At least she lost weight – not enough – but it might encourage her to lose another five stone.

      1. 🙂
        Cripes – and I thought I was uncharitable. (And I thought the same thing.)

        1. Sadly it is relevant though. If you go into a clinic abroad, you’re a woman alone, European and very overweight, the truth is that they are not going to respect you.

    2. I’m told that “yellow” rather than white teeth are stronger.
      Not so pretty, not so flashy, but longer lasting and a lot less trouble.

      1. Mine are like a cross between old piano keys and an old pub ceiling. That must mean they are bullet proof! Result!

    5. I posted this BTL comment below the article:

      I had a considerable amount of dental work done for me in Marmaris Turkey in 2006: six crowns, three bridges. an extraction and a deep filling. The dentist was very competent and all the work he did is still in place. The total cost of this was €1200.

      Denys was an excellent and pleasant dentist whose surgery was very well equipped – and the work he did for me was far better than anything I have ever had done in either England or in France.

      If ever I require more dentistry I shall fly out to Turkey again and book an appointment with the same dentist, stay in a good hotel and save money and time into the bargain.

        1. I suspect that is about as welcome as someone suggesting you ‘dip a toe in the water’?

    1. What they are saying is that any woman or girl who isn’t dressed as a post box will be regarded as fair game for the inmates of the asylum centre and if they don’t dress appropriately it’s their own fault if they are assaulted and raped.

      1. Then it is about time the punishment for Rape is a damn good public flogging followed by imprisonment.

        1. Stop it before it happens.
          Why should women be threatened in this way? I’m so furious that I can barely type.
          Fuck the MCGB with pigs.

    2. It’s funny, that we’re always forced to tolerate them, but it’s all one way.

      It’s long past time that we told them to shut up, publicly and loudly. They should be reminded that Muslims are guests, and ones that have out stayed their welcome. Our culture is not compatible with Islam. Islam either changes, or goes away.

          4. Neat – 10/10 plus 2 for neatness.

            When I was very young I was given half a crown by my grandparents to go and watch the above football team play a home game at the Valley. I can honestly say it was one of the most depressing days of my life on a dank dreary November day. The Charlton Goal keeper managed to let the opposing team put the ball between his legs to score the winning goal. Curiously I’ve never been to watch a football match since….

        2. And no politician in Britain has the integrity, strength and grit to deal with the problem.

          The demographic timebomb is ticking more and more loudly. Only a couple or so more decades and Britain will be majority Muslim.

          And then what?

          2. All those moderate, just the same as us, religion of peace, slammers will bare their teeth alongside their true brothers.

      2. We had a vicarette (who is nice, but woke) this morning. The prayers were all about tolerance (and the Ukraine, of course). My personal prayers were that we swept islam from this island and restored Christianity.

    3. And the Daily Mail carries a story about Afghan women being forced to cover their faces on TV. How about looking a bit closer to home?

    4. Does anyone seriously believe that the cowardly Boris Johnson and his woeful government would lift a finger to protect Britain from Islamic tyranny?

  81. A brief return because I refuse to be “woke”. Salford University is banning sonnets in an attempt to decolonise or some such shit.

    Brace yourselves:

    How do I love thee? Let me count the ways
    I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
    My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight.
    For the ends of being and ideal grace.
    I love thee to the level of everyday’s
    Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
    I love thee freely, as men strive for right;
    I love thee purely, as they turn from praise;
    I love thee with the passion put to use
    In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
    I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
    With my lost saints- I love thee with the breath
    Smiles, tears of all my life- And if god choose
    I shall but love thee better after death.

    Elizabeth Barrett Browning- Sonnets from the Portuguese. (And wonderful!)

    1. Some Nottlers were asking after you today. Glad to see you back posting. We have a contract out on Sos if you would like to contribute to the crowd fund !

      1. I don’t care if Sos teases- that I can deal with. It was something else entirely which caused my hiatus.

        1. Speak harshly to sos
          And beat him when he teases
          he only does it to annoy
          because he knows it displeases!

    2. Hope you’re OK, Ann. I bought a hard back copy of Sonnets from the Portuguese with my very first pay packet from my first full time job. It was a little brown envelope with cash in it on Fridays back then!

      1. Did it also have the notes folded over and a corner exposed so that could be counted without actually opening the packet in case there was a mistake?

        1. Probably. I remember it being a window envelope and only about the size of a folded note. Does that seem right?

    3. It took me several decades to realise there is an ocean of love inside all of us. Not only to give but also the capacity to receive. Sadly for many it seems that ocean merely laps at the shoreline,

    4. Good to see you back, we need you to keep us on our toes with English Lit. that some of us olduns have forgotten!! Cheers, just had my glass of Pinot Grigio poured….slurp…

      1. Bottoms up Jill. And you are not old. Enjoy the Pinot – I am on my ……glass ;-))
        Anyway, off to bed soon.
        All the non Woke here better bolt their doors tonight….sonnets- how dreadful.

  83. A quieter day today. I tipped a couple of barrowloads of topsoil, the last of the reserve I had, against the bit of wall I did yesterday, (see photos on yesterdays page) and then, apart from doing the dinner, not a lot else!

    Might get some more wall built tomorrow.

    1. I’ve got this mate, Adrian wall builder, he could use a chap like you….

  86. I’m going to take a sleeping pill and go to bed – was up most of last night so, Goodnight all and God bless.

  87. Moh watching the golf and I have enjoyed an hour of an old 1970s favourite …’ Secret Army ‘ on channel 306.

    Next is the WinslowBoy. .. might doze off

    1. The Winslow Boy by Terrence Rattigan is a great play. Many versions have been made. I believe it is based upon a true story.

      2. I have enjoyed seeing several Rattigan plays on film, television and the theatre.

        The film of Separate Tables starring David Niven is marvellous and The Browning Version brings tears to one’s eyes. But Rattigan could also handle comedy as with French Without Tears

  88. Moh watching the golf and I have enjoyed an hour of an old 1970s favourite …’ Secret Army ‘ on channel 306.

    Next is the WinslowBoy. .. might doze off

  89. Just listened to Bbc News at 10, which mentioned the anniversary of the Manchester Arena mass murders. No mention of terrorism or the name of the bomber. If you didn’t know, you would have thought the explosion was caused by a gas leak.

    1. They don’t want to prod the Wasps nest do they?

      We have so many Muslims here , the media are terrified of upsetting them .

      1. It’s about time we seriously upset them – the Nazi’s hounding of the Jews springs to mind.

        We need rid of our weak-kneed politicians first.

Comments are closed.