Sunday 22 September: This divided Labour Government is already mired in accusations of sleaze and hypocrisy

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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733 thoughts on “Sunday 22 September: This divided Labour Government is already mired in accusations of sleaze and hypocrisy”

  4. Dozens of terror suspects have crossed Channel in small boats, says Jenrick. 22 September 2024.

    Mr Jenrick had access to sensitive security information when he was a senior minister in the Home Office. He said his time in charge of immigration policy had made him realise that the state was not doing “everything we can to protect our people”.

    Wow. Imagine that. This revisionism does more than simply reveal their (they are all at it) duplicity but the absolute contempt that they have for the voters.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/09/21/dozens-terror-suspects-crossed-channel-small-boats-jenrick/

    1. Dozens? Do me a favour!

      Jenrick has to acknowledge the situation, to deny it would be foolhardy but he thinks talking the problem down isn't foolhardy. These legacy politicians are still at it; that is lying, obfuscation, denial, distraction, deceiving. Literally, they can't help it, it is their modus operandi: it's all they have.

      1. Their Time is Up! The sooner that Jenrick and his fellow absurd Conservative Party leadership candidates realise that the party is dead the better.

        They must just admit the truth, resign, go back to their constituencies, sign on for the dole and make room for a a proper right of centre party.

    2. Hamas, Hezbollah and Isis are already here. Did i leave anyone out? Oh yes. The Revolutionary Guard

  5. Why is Labour doing this? EVs, hear pumps – the public doesn’t want them and yet this new Government carries on, rigging the market. Why? Ideology? Or money? Who is beibing them?

    “HEAT pump targets will be imposed next year in a move that amounts to a “boiler tax” on households, industry sources have said.
    Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, is expected to introduce the policy from April, despite warnings that it will drive up the cost of a new boiler.
    Under the plans, boiler makers would be hit with hefty fines if they fail to achieve targets on the number of heat pumps they have to sell every year. They have warned that it would force them to add up to £180 to the price of a boiler, although campaigners have accused them of profiteering…”

  6. Why is Labour doing this? EVs, hear pumps – the public doesn’t want them and yet this new Government carries on, rigging the market. Why? Ideology? Or money? Who is beibing them?

    “HEAT pump targets will be imposed next year in a move that amounts to a “boiler tax” on households, industry sources have said.
    Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, is expected to introduce the policy from April, despite warnings that it will drive up the cost of a new boiler.
    Under the plans, boiler makers would be hit with hefty fines if they fail to achieve targets on the number of heat pumps they have to sell every year. They have warned that it would force them to add up to £180 to the price of a boiler, although campaigners have accused them of profiteering…”

    1. And this, a few pages later:

      “NEW eco “incineration tax” risks pushing councils to the brink, local authorities have warned.

      Emissions from burning waste will be taxed from 2028 as part of Government efforts to encourage the uptake of greener technologies.

      About half of all household waste collected by councils is burned every year in facilities that produce the same greenhouse gases as around three million homes.

      But the carbon tax could cost as much as £6.5 billion by 2036, and £747 million in 2028, according to research by the Local Government Association (LGA), the County Council Network (CCN) and the District Councils Network (DCN).
      The tax, which currently applies to aviation, power and industry, adds around £65 per ton of carbon produced. Councils could be forced to raise taxes or cut other vital services unless the tax burden is shifted, the LGA warned…”

    2. There is no good reason other than that the PTB are sadistic control freaks and bullies who take delight in inflicting pain and distress upon those who seem powerless to resist.

    3. They are doing what they do because they have no concepts of reality.
      The Blah blah blah agreement amongst them reveals that they are all particularly ignorant and rather stupid.

    4. Let's have a survey of government offices which are equipped with 'heat pumps' and a list of all MPs who have heat pumps in their own homes, used as a primary source of heating.

  8. Two-tier justice? Seems you can ride an uninsured motorbike and kill someone and get away with it because prisons are full. But not so full they can’t stuff white working-class protesters into them for hurty words on Facebook and X.

    “An uninsured teenage motorcyclist who killed a dog walker avoided jail because of prison overcrowding, a court heard.
    CJ Fitt, 17, was described as riding his Yamaha 125cc motorcycle like an “idiot” as he overtook cars and drove at 50 mph in a 30 mph area before hitting Lucy Machin, 55, on a pedestrian crossing….”

    1. I looked at the DM version of the article and it makes no mention of points to be added when he gets his licence or a speed awareness course. Or having to train properly under IAM.

      So in essence he did get off scot free.

  9. Good morning, all. High overcast and calm here.

    I've been up since just after 5 and I've made a comment or two, listened to a couple of Reform speeches and now I'm off to make some Rosemary flavoured crab apple jelly – it has been dripping through the jelly cloth all night – to be followed by preparing this year's mincemeat. Later, with Hunter's Chicken on the dinner menu, I'll be preparing the meat and vegetables.

    Busy morning ahead and the garden will have to look after itself until tomorrow.

    I hope to be back this afternoon.

    Behave yourselves.😎

    1. Hunter's Chicken was about the only dinner my late Father cooked. I'd forgotten it existed – thanks for the reminder.

    2. AKA Korky's Chicken. Lol. (Good morning, btw, Korky.) PS – Don't worry about gardening today. Non-stop rain is forecast all day.

  10. 393285+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    That is the beauty of black evil tactical voting it has no conscience or moral fibre, surely that has been practised over the last three decades to be well known by now.

    Sunday 22 September: This divided Labour Government is already mired in accusations of sleaze and hypocrisy

    1. I believe this simply emphasis that our political classes are just a complete bunch of absolute DHs.
      They are obviously unable to carry out the duties of government although they have all made applications to be in Parliament.

  12. Good morning all.
    After last night's thunderstorm and overnight rain, it's a grey, dull low cloud start with 9°C on the Yard Thermometer and a light drizzle.

    1. Morning, Bob and all. We missed the storms of Friday and Saturday. We basked in sunshine but we are paying for it now. It's hammering down but no thunder and lightning yet. As I write that I hear thunder.

      1. The light rain is due to pause in a couple of hours, then restart mid-afternoon.
        I might get the chance to get the chainsaw up the hill during the pause.

      2. Good morning DB

        The rain has a rhythm , just after we let Pip out into the garden at midnight , the rain sheeted down like stair rods for half an hour , and that was it , then restarted after 5am , not clattering rain just soft voluminous wet rain , now just rain , dog towels, plenty of those , it will be that sort of day.

        No thunder here in South Dorset, yet .

        Hope you and your dear wife are more comfortable now?

      1. It attracts a pedantic argument that I don't particularly support.

        If night is the opposite of day, which most people accept, why can one have longer nights but not shorter days?

        1. "Night" means the hours of darkness.
          "Day" however has two meanings, the hours of daylight or a period of 24 hours.

        2. We most certainly have shorter days – measured in daylight, that is.
          Norwegian makes a distiction betweed day, the 24-hour time period (døgn) and day, the lighter part of the day (dag). Saves excessive pedantry.

          4. What has all this to do with the late Mr Hammerskold, one of the United Nations Secretary Generals?

          5. Sh*tty sheep shearings.

            Dag: Originally a word meaning the dried faeces left dangling from the wool on a sheep's rear end, The word dag is more commonly used in colloquial Australian/New Zealand English to refer to someone's unfashionable, often eccentric or idiosyncratic style or demeanour together with poor social skills and amusing manner.[

            I knew a particularly obnoxious person nicknamed Dag who thought the world of himself. He emigrated to New Zealand. I would have loved to have been there when he introduced himself to his new workmates and neighbours. "I'm Dag!"

    1. Free Gear Starmer & Local Authorities want to tidy up & fine tune the process of liquidating your assets.. to offset the costs of carehomes. The average length of time in care is 6.3 yrs for Males and 7 yrs for females. This costs about £500,000, and can be extracted from your estate on death.

      Gen Z prefer bringing this forward, and plan to pop a few drops of Nembutal in Granny's bedtime cocoa.

      1. Mother's home costs £5,000 a month. We sold her house a couple of summers ago to pay for it.

        1. Just professional students pursuing classroom politics following the Blairite practice of displaying Union Jacks everywhere, in the hope that this will fool people into thinking Labour is a traditionalist, patriotic party.

          A Government filled with so many lightweights. No charisma, no eloquence.. not an original idea between them.

      3. I have to say what I feel and think.
        WhoTF do politicians think they are?
        What has it got to do with anyone outside a family how the terminally ill are treated. We are all eventually heading in the same direction.
        What has anything that are private family matters got to do with any of them ?

        2. Because, sadly, in the UK most families dump their parents & grandparents on the state to care for them. In most cases they have no option. Sir Keir wants them dead.. and the sooner the better.

      4. My two children, who are millennials not young enough to be Gen Z, disowned me as teenagers and refuse to have anything to do with me. I am a man; I can make my own cocoa. Who does that leave to put Nembutal in my cocoa? The voicemail on my GP's answerphone gets ever longer, with huge spiels about going online to access the NHS (I cannot because the latest app they insist on downloading onto my system won't work on a decent OS), and requests to ring back between 12 noon and 2pm Monday to Friday.

        I would go the pharmacist for my Nembutal, but all the pharmacists in Great Malvern have closed down, which leaves Boots in the shopping centre, but they haven't got it in stock. There's been a run on it lately.

        2. Even more reason for you to take control and avoid seeing out your last days in a carehome waiting to have your nappy changed by nurse Checkwuebka Akaboga Kanyisola Akintope.

          Strongly suggest keeping healthy, good diet, stop drinking.. perhaps a daily shot of of Marianne Faithfull's Elixir of life as she calls it.. beetroot & carrot juice.
          Then, in the words of Woody Allen go out the way you came into this world.. call up a Filipino and.. "Voila! You finish off as an orgasm!”

          1. Tiny portion of tactlessness there: Jeremy's ex-wife may have been partly of ethnic minority origin, though I am uncertain!

    2. Free Gear Starmer & Local Authorities want to tidy up & fine tune the process of liquidating your assets.. to offset the costs of carehomes. The average length of time in care is 6.3 yrs for Males and 7 yrs for females. This costs about £500,000, and can be extracted from your estate on death.

      Gen Z prefer bringing this forward, and plan to pop a few drops of Nembutal in Granny's bedtime cocoa.

        1. There you go…me2…I’m much better than I was, but now four/five years older..time I won’t get back. I’ve been asked by GP around a dozen times to go for Covid/Flu combined jab, must have quite a stock – likely to be destroyed at some point, which of course we’ve all paid for.

  17. Morning all 🙂😊
    My word it's been raining overnight and a heavy down pour for at least 40 minutes just now.
    We were lucky yesterday afternoon and evening sitting out side to eat. Eight adults and four lively youngsters.
    Another wedding anniversary, 5 years, eldest and wife. And my lovely wife's trombone birthday.
    Headlines regarding the latest mob of incompetents in Wastemonster are probably very accurate. I also see a huge construction company known as ISG has collapsed leaving thousands out of work. And many subcontractors will probably not be paid. With more unemployment spreading.
    But there is hope, for a display of possibly some common sense, the ban on new log burners has been postponed for a few weeks ?
    months ? years ?
    It seems some one might have discovered that ground/air source heat pumps dont really have the expected effect and results. Who knew ?

  18. Morning, all Y'all.
    Raining.
    I never thought I'd write this, but I agree with Diane Abbott – Britain really is in the pockets of millionaires.
    The UK press has some lovely headlines this morning! Priceless!

      1. I read that that Eton Mess chap who bought Twitter has recently become the first trillionaire.
        I wonder if he'd lend me £100.

    2. That was included in a clip on my PC websites on Friday. I was hoping to post the link but half an hour later it had vanished.
      So she must be telling the truth.

    4. She is incapable of thinking for herself. I wonder how much she was paid to authorise ownership of that comment?

    1. It was coming down in sheets when I got up and I think had been like that for most of the night. Eased off now but forecast to start again soon.

  21. Good Moaning.
    Rats in a sack; Episode 1.

    "Sir Simon, the head of the Civil Service, has also been locked in a battle with Ms Gray for access to the PM. Sir Simon has been tasked with investigating the leaks about Ms Gray, leading one of the few allies of Ms Gray – without any proof – to say he ‘should start by investigating himself’. Case is widely expected to leave Downing Street by the end of the year, but is reluctant to hurry out the door."

      1. No privileges first-class airfares or train fares. No government limos. No flunkeys opening doors. No bowing and cringing to someone with power. No posh restaurant tables without a long wait for a resrvation. No more flights in the UKs "Presidential" jet, and avoiding all the immigration hassles.
        Bye-bye all the perks of power, hello Mr Hoothefukareyou?

  22. Good morning! Getting irritated with all this talk of politicians accepting freebies. Will no one be honest. They’re not freebies, they’re bribes. People don’t shower politicians with very expensive gifts without wanting anything in return. They buy influence.

    1. It's been happening for decades.
      A past housing minister suddenly moves into a new property that's a bit of a mansion compared with the previous address. And declares someone in the family had come into some unexpected money.

      1. The evil Mrs May received the better part of $ 1,000,000 for lecturing to empty halls in the USA. Why?

        Reminded me of that line from Waiting for Godot :

        Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it's awful.

          4. Samuel, as you well know I meant , Grizzly:-D Although a lifelong socialist, he was very much in the Trump mould ‘Fight…Fight’…Luckily I didn’t inherit that tendency…

          1. Nothing missing – I have 'O'ed up!

            When we first came to live in France 35 years ago Caroline did a certain amount of translation work and had to make it clear that the American billion is a French milliard.

          3. Good morning, Rastus. Is the converse true, i.e. is an American million a French billiard? Lol.

          4. I still call 1,000,000,000 i.e a thousand million (properly) a milliard; and 1,000,000,000,000 i.e. a million million (correctly) a billion.

          5. For that sort of fee, Caroline must have been an outstandingly wonderful translator! Or was the invoice in old francs?

    5. I'm getting beyond irritated, Sue – now I'm just laughing at them, see today's reports about Reeves 'de-toxifying' her office by removing all male traces, paintings etc. Wtf. The more mockery the better, especially if it slides into rage.

    7. Bribes generally consist of money, so gifts they are. But why would anyone (except possibly the Good Samaritan) treat a stranger to a meal in a restaurant, or an expensive seat at a cultural/sporting event?

  25. Good morning everyone.

    New on Free Speech today is a very good article by Iain Hunter, the second part of his piece on the Fabian Society, to which Kneel Starmer (and Blair) belongs. This article emphasises the Society's sinister eugenicism, as promoted by HG Wells, George Bernard Shaw and Bertrand Russell.

    Hope you'll read and leave a comment.

    freespeechbacklash.com

  26. I’d usually wait til five but Wordle today made me laugh. All the right letters but in the wrong order.

    Wordle 1,191 3/6

    🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜
    🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

        2. I have twice sailed south across the Bay of Biscay. On both occasions I left St Mawes at the beginning of September in order to try and avoid the equinoctial gales.

          In 1984 it took us a week to get to Corunna aboard Raua and there was so little wind that we saw the light of the Ushant lighthouse on three consecutive nights – the first night it was 25 mile to the south of us, the second we were adjacent to it and the third it was 25 mile north and astern. The equinoctial gales came later and we had meandered down the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsular as far as Lisbon where, after a week in port we headed off toward Madeira. We had got about 80 miles west of the mainland when we were hit by a Force 10 storm which ripped our mainsail in half so, with just the storm jib up, we had to tack north and then south to keep a safe offing from the mainland. When the wind abated to force 7 I decided to return to Lisbon to get the mainsail repaired and we surfed into Lisbon at very high speed.

          In 2004 Caroline, Christo (aged 10), Henry (aged 8) and I set off across the Bay of Biscay. This time we were hit by a gale near Ushant and having heard on the radio that a fishing trawler had just sunk off Corunna I decided that it was more prudent to return to St Mawes with the wind behind us. A few days later we headed south again and reached Muros – to the South of Cape Finisterre – in 3½ days.

          2. I wrote a song about the Bay of Biscay which stated

            "I've got the sitting in the middle of the Bay of Biscay Blues
            There's not a wind cloud in the sky
            There's just a fleet of cargo vessels chugging by
            From Ushant down to Finisterre
            But we ain't going nowhere!

            Yes, I remember the poem from my schooldays.

            The Burial of Sir John Moore after Corunna (1817) – Charles Wolfe

            Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note,
            As his corse to the rampart we hurried;
            Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot
            O'er the grave where our hero we buried.

            We buried him darkly at dead of night,
            The sods with our bayonets turning;
            By the struggling moonbeam's misty light
            And the lantern dimly burning.

            No useless coffin enclosed his breast,
            Nor in sheet nor in shroud we wound him,
            But he lay like a warrior taking his rest
            With his martial cloak around him.

            Few and short were the prayers we said,
            And we spoke not a word of sorrow;
            But we steadfastly gazed on the face that was dead,
            And we bitterly thought of the morrow.

            We thought, as we hollowed his narrow bed
            And smoothed down his lonely pillow,
            That the foe and the stranger would tread o'er his head,
            And we far away on the billow!

            Lightly they'll talk of the spirit that's gone
            And o'er his cold ashes upbraid him,
            But little he'll reck, if they let him sleep on
            In the grave where a Briton has laid him.
            But half of our heavy task was done
            When the clock struck the hour for retiring;
            And we heard the distant and random gun
            That the foe was sullenly firing.

            Slowly and sadly we laid him down,
            From the field of his fame fresh and gory;
            We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone,
            But left him alone with his glory.

          3. Sends a shiver down my spine.

            Moore was fatally wounded at the Battle of Corunna, being "struck in his left breast and shoulder by a cannon shot, which broke his ribs, his arm, lacerated his shoulder and the whole of his left side and lungs"
            Like Admiral Lord Nelson, he was mortally wounded in battle, surviving long enough to be assured that he had gained a victory.
            Before succumbing to his wounds, Moore confided to his old friend and aide-de-camp, "You know, I always wished to die this way, I hope the people of England will be satisfied! I hope my country will do me justice!"
            He asked if his staff were safe and was assured that they were. Casting his eyes around the room, he spied Charles Banks Stanhope and said to him: "Remember me to your sister, Stanhope." He was then silent and died shortly afterwards. A true soldier.

          4. Sir John Moore – founder of The Royal Green Jackets' antecedent regiments.
            Developed the modern form of soldiering – skirmishing and camouflage instead of the advancing red line.

      1. Good morning, Rastus.

        Unusual to hear Americans calling it Autumn instead of 'Fall'. Also, I've also never heard Equinox pronounced ēk' wi-noks. I was always told to pronounce it ek' wi-noks.

          3. The best thing about the term fall is the time change. 'Fall back, spring forward.' its the only way I remember. apart from completely ignoring the clock in the kitchen which is to high for me to reach, so it is always set to spring time.

          4. I have never been able to get my head around all this 'clock-changing' utter nonsense. Why, for instance, do the clocks change at the start of spring (just after the vernal equinox) yet wait for over a full month (well after the autumnal equinox) until the end of October to revert to normal time? This gives the UK seven months of artificial BST but just five months of normal GMT.

            Noon should be the middle of the day all year round, not 1:00 p.m. (1300 hrs).

          5. In the winter of 1969 – 70 we had BST all winter and it was dark and gloomy. The faff of changing in the clocks is worth it for that.

          6. The 'British Standard Time' experiment actually lasted for three full years, Jules, from 1968 until 1971. Twas a dismal time indeed, especially for the Jocks.

            During Second World War, Britain suffered 'Double Summer Time' when the clocks went forward two hours each summer.

          7. I believe it was something to do with giving farmers more daylight. Bit archaic now since we are destroying our ability to farm.

          8. The stupid thing is there is no 'more daylight'.

            The sensible thing would be for people to adopt a 8–4 working day by setting their alarm clocks an hour earlier for the duration of the 'summer period'. That way the middle of the day would remain, properly, at noon.

            Anyone objecting to this would be simply told, "When the clocks are artificially put forward an hour, your normal 9–5 actually becomes a de facto 8–4, so why waste time moaning about it?"

          9. Wasn't it Scottish farmers in particular? If so, shouldn't Scottish independence allow England to have the same time all year round?

          12. Was that true? Or did you read it on the BBC…

            The Scottish farmers didn’t come out of nowhere and I’ve seen that many places (that doesn’t make it true either). But I view anything that the BBC puts out with considerable circumspection.

          14. Wherever we were and no matter the season my boat's clock was always set to GMT. Our wrist watches were set to local time as this was practically more convenient.

          15. The Noddy car is permanently on GMT.
            It's easier to make the mental calculation than fiddle with the blasted dashboard clock.

          17. I don't know so much about fruitful, but I'm certainly more mellow in the autumn of my life.👍🏻

          18. But now the days grow short
            I'm in the autumn of the year
            And now I think of my life as vintage wine
            From fine old kegs
            From the brim to the dregs
            And it poured sweet and clear
            It was a very good year

          19. When I was seventeen it was a very good year
            It was a very good year for small town girls and soft summer nights
            We'd hide from the lights on the village green
            When I was seventeen

            When I was twenty-one it was a very good year
            It was a very good year for city girls who lived up the stair
            With all that perfumed hair and it came undone
            When I was twenty-one

            Then I was thirty-five it was a very good year
            It was a very good year for blue-blooded girls
            Of independent means, we'd ride in limousines their chauffeurs would drive
            When I was thirty-five

            But now the days are short, I'm in the autumn of the year
            And now I think of my life as vintage wine from fine old kegs
            From the brim to the dregs, and it poured sweet and clear
            It was a very good year

            It was a mess of good years

          20. When I was nobbut a sprog, there were zebras in Kenya ['zebbras in Keenya']. When I grew up they had become zebras in Kenya ['zeebras in Kennya'].

            For some other obscure and unfathomable reasons, Mao tse Tung became 'Mao Zedong'; Thomas à Becket became 'Thomas Becket'; Hercules became 'Heracles'; Boadicea became 'Boudicca'; Peking became 'Beijing'; Lyons became 'Lyon'; Marseilles became 'Marseille'; Piedmont became 'Piemonte'; the Koran became the 'Quran', Gaddafi became 'Qaddafi'; and the list goes on …

            Why? I'm not a Luddite (i.e. against change), but I'm much more comfortable with what I was taught.

          26. I used to like Treets. Much better than those disgusting Yank things with the idiotic name (‘M&Ms!’).

          30. Indeed I did, Katy.

            No need to run, I’d be buggered if I could catch you, especially since you’re a very fit Tangoista.😘

        3. Fall: The sense of "autumn" (now only in U.S. but formerly common in England) is by 1660s, short for fall of the leaf (1540s)

          3. Yesterday, our silver birch was almost 100% green leaves. Today, most are yellow, and falling quickly.

          4. All that sweeping – don’t remind me. Our neighbour planted about 20 silver birch trees, some of them very close to our fence. Guess who has to clear up the leaves…

      2. Good morning, Rastus.

        Unusual to hear Americans calling it Autumn instead of 'Fall'. Also, I've also never heard Equinox pronounced ēk' wi-noks. I was always told to pronounce it ek' wi-noks.

          1. When he was Welsh Sec. They just had a go at him all the time could not speak welsh and all that sort of thing. Like they treated Portillo calling him far right then he did the train thing for the BBC. and he came over very well and reasonable.

          2. Thanks. I know some people don't care for Redwood – I find him honest (as far as any politican is), he tells it as he finds it. I'm not the biggest of BBC fans. Just watching A Very Royal Scandal on Amazon – not turning up anything new or more informative than previously, so far, and I doubt it will.

          3. MSM is all far left propaganda I avoid all of it if I can. We tend to watch You Tube and DVDs. never BBC.

          4. I still listen to World Service, often whilst I’m doing something else. I watch YouTube, Amazon Prime (family acccount), never BBC. Family football fans don’t watch MoD anymore, can’t take Lineker (or his salary). I’d cancel TV Licence but it’s not just for BBC, it’s for anything on terrestrial tv , or so I’m told. The propaganda likely to continue for foreseeable 🙁

          5. I ended the TV licence years ago. You cannot watch live TV on any chanel or i player. I never do but do not miss it at all. The World Service used to be good but its not any longer and just follows the BBC left wing agenda. Pity.

          6. Completely agree, Johnny. My husband refers to it as ‘Binted Broadcasting Company’ (i.e. been taken over by women, who promote their own agenda). As a woman myself, I’m sorry to agree with him but nevertheless I do.

          8. Last few minutes been reading TCW, Johnny – the piece about Andrew Bridgen, it’s both excellent and alarming. Recommended.

  29. Good morning all,

    Wet in Cornwall. Got fooled by a sucker’s gap. Went out for a walk on the Coast Path before breakfast – and got soaked!

    What do I find in The DT/ST this weekend? The real reason for their putting all the puzzles under a button at the bottom of the app. You can now only get at the crosswords if you sign up for puzzles to be added to your subscription for an extra £29.99 a year. They’re very kind, though, we can have three months free as a trial first.

    First it shadow-banned me; now it wants to charge me more for puzzles. Well they can foxtrot oscar. Far from paying more to do the crossword, I’ll not renew my subscription when it falls due. It’s become a globalist propaganda rag anyway.

    1. From a seaside village in Valencia

      Rainfall Warning State Meteorological Agency 22°C
      Sunday 11:47 Sunny
      High 25°C

    2. How long have you had a DT subscription, Fis? I had the option to sign up for the puzzles for £1 and again when I renewed my subscription.

  30. SIR – Mike Graham is wrong to disparage electric vehicles (“Green zealots will come to regret their war on motorists”, http://telegraph.co.uk , September 11). They are exciting to drive, more economical over their lifetime than the fossil-fuel equivalent, and the clear conscience when driving something less polluting is a bonus.

    I’ve driven mine for seven years, my daughter-in-law is thrilled with hers (“so much fun”), and my son has recently bought a three-year-old EV with a range of 250 miles for less than £15,000. None of us would ever go back to smelly, slow, petrol cars. That’s probably why EV sales have increased 10 per cent over the last year. The number of chargers is increasing even faster – up by almost 50 per cent.

    Mr Graham should have some fun and take an EV for a test drive.

    Jill Bruce
    Colne, Lancashire

    We cannot afford an EV car, and if we could , we wouldn't .

    Who on here remembers the power cuts we had during the 1970's.
    Who on here was affected by the great storm in the eighties and early nineties .

    The great storms , both of them left us with out electric power for five days and three days , collapsed green houses and holes in our roof .. We were living near Wimborne in those days , there was a run on candles , matches and coal .

      1. I don’t think I’ll be around to see it happen. Hasn’t hydrogen and tidal power been on the verge of a breakthrough for umpteen years?

        2. Storage is the main problem with hydrogen (explosive – have a friend works in hydrogen business, tells me brightest and best minds working on the problem). Tidal – similar due to intermittency?

          2. Thank you Alf…there again storage possibly to be overcome. My husband installed solar panels when they first came available, good number of years ago, he gets a FIT payment. Also a Tesla battery to store excess. Two guys turned up in a Tesla car, like something from the future, black n sleek, tinted windows, leather seats, totally silent.

          3. Neighbours drive Tesla. Anything other than silent – loud whining from the control modules & VFDs, especially as they manoevre to park. Diesel – not so bad.

          4. Mine makes a whining noise too…hang on tho, think that might be me. Yes, husband has diesel (Land Rover, old and noisy but work horse, also tractor) and modern estate, comfortable, economical. Would you drive a hydrogen fuelled car…I think not..

          5. The single molecule is a real problem too. Being so small, it easily diffuses through all kinds of materials, and in the case of steel, makes it brittle as well.
            Need an awfully low temperature to liquefy.

          6. A huge amount of energy to extract the hydrogen and another huge amount to cool and compress it.
            I wonder what the energy equation of Kw in to Kw out looks like?

    2. I rejected them some years ago, fine as a runaround but not enough range for real motoring. They are the stop gap, but will fail in the end.

    3. I have written online a number of times, re my husband trading in my Golf behind my back and buying a Zoe. It drives quite well, annual inspection easy and quick, no queuing at filling stations. Have a home charger. Biggest downside is range (milometer useless indicator), can lose a few miles just getting out of drive. He says 'it's a local car', yet never drives it 😀 There may well be electricity cuts (rationing) this winter. That should be fun.

    4. My petrol car is neither smelly nor slow, and I confidently expect it to last a lot longer than Jill Bruce's EV which at 7 years old is surely near the end of its battery life?

    5. "[C]lear conscience when driving something less polluting"? Where does the woman think the electricity comes from (hint even renewables aren't green, but the reliable form is diesel generators and gas fired power stations)? What about the lithium for the batteries, not to mention the carbon footprint made by being transported here? The amount of CO 2 involved in steel production is high and the seats are probably plastic. Then there is the transport from China … The woman is deluded.

  31. 14 min ago

    "My son bought his wife a second-hand piano a couple of years ago"

    I still have a bag that used to have cake in it.

    Will telling you, as a BTL, make it to the letters page

    1. Indeed.
      But if the 300,000 mile claim is true it removes one of my concerns.
      Not enough to tempt me yet, but moving in the right direction.

    2. EVs just shift the pollution from being mobile to the power station, not forgetting the 'holier than thou attitude'

  34. For those of you who travel the M25 here is the list of access restrictions coming up.

    M25 Junction 10 slip road closures
    National Highways South East are closing the slip roads on junction 10 of the M25 for two weekends in October and one at the start of November.

    While the A3 and the M25 will both be open, the slip roads off and on the junction won’t be. This means you won’t be able to leave or join the M25 or the A3 at junction 10.

    Slip roads on and off the junction will be closed on:
    4 – 7 October
    18 – 21 October
    1 – 4 November
    As part of this scheme, they need to construct a new central gyratory to improve the capacity for vehicles moving between the M25 and A3. This work requires closing the existing roundabout, finishing building the Jet Lanes and connecting the new bridges into what will be the new roundabout.

    Please think about how this will affect your journeys and what alternative routes you should take.

    This may include using the M3, M23 or A24 to get on to the M25.

    Full diversion routes and a map can be found on the National Highways M25 J10 webpage

  39. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/09/21/harrods-mohamed-al-fayed-sexual-assault-survivors/

    Mohamed Fayed , just another groper , groomer and a fat wealthy wog .. No different from the thousands of wog groomers who inhabit our towns and cities , who violate young girls and women .

    Was the late Diana Spencer groomed and touched up by those disgusting people .
    I suspect she was .. poor girl , her stupidity and desire to be adored and loved , ensured her dreadful cruel end .

  40. Late on parade again today. Good morning, chums, and thanks for the NoTTLe site, Geoff.

    Wordle 1,191 4/6

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

      1. Good morning, Maggie. Many, many, many, many moons ago I posted as Zahara de la Sierra, but I have been Elsie Bloodaxe now since time (virtually) immemorial. My avatar (if you mean my picture) used to be a photo of Queen Elizabeth the Second looking rather grumpy, but I soon realised that one day HM The Queen would pass away and that photo would then be construed as being in very bad taste. And so that is when I changed it to the picture of Giles' Grandma which is the one which I now use. Unlike (say) Pretty Polly who I believe does appear under other guises from time to time, I only ever post as Elsie Bloodaxe. Hope that helps.

          1. I have never ever posted on TCW, JS, but I confess that I have from time to time posted on a radio station using a different name in order to request a tune from my youth be played. Although in that case I never ever make political comments, either expressing approval nor disapproval. Hopefully that clarifies matters even further for both Maggie and yourself.

    3. Husband and daughter compete daily who can finish first and in number of moves. I can't do it at all, go for Spelling Bee (at which neither of them can beat me, for once in my life winner winner chicken dinner).

    4. Wordle 1,191 4/6

      Me too, Elsie.

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

  43. NIGEL FARAGE AND REFORM HAVE BETRAYED BREXIT

    John Major, while still wrong on illegal migration, is right in his critique of the politician and his party

    The Sunday Telegraph, 22 Sep 2024, Bill Cash CH served as a member of Parliament from 1984 to 2024 and was long-standing chairman of the House of Commons’ European Scrutiny Committee.

    What a turn up for the books. I am very much in agreement with John Major’s recent remarks about Reform UK and Nigel Farage, when he warned Conservative voters to beware of them both.

    As I said during the general election and as it turned out correctly, Reform, in taking over 90 seats away from the Conservatives but without gaining a single shred of influence in Parliament, has betrayed Brexit and handed Starmer a substantial majority, which has also cost us dearly in terms of Select Committee representation. Reform has betrayed Brexit and betrayed Britain, as I predicated, and with a massive majority, the Labour Party is now intent on “resetting” (as it puts it), our relations with the EU.

    The consequences of this are dire, not least of which is Starmer, who described the referendum result as a catastrophe and who also argued for a second referendum to remain in the EU. The very notion of this is grotesque, considering that we have now regained our self-government, our democracy and our sovereignty. Starmer does not seem to have noticed that Europe itself, as everyone can see, is imploding economically and politically, as country after country is reasserting its national identity and voting with their feet against EU political integration.
    In a matter of months, Starmer has demonstrated one failure after another, including letting down pensioners with the winter fuel allowance and surrendering to the unions, and has now sullied the office of prime minister, swaggering around in expensive suits paid for by his cronies, like a third-rate Burlington Bertie.

    With the prospect of massive taxation to come in the Autumn Budget, many voters who either abstained in the general election or voted against the Conservative Party are now beginning to realise what a mistake they have made. It was the Conservative Party, with its values and principles, which delivered Brexit in the 2019 general election, which endorsed the 2016 referendum result. Reform and its predecessor, the Brexit Party, claim to have delivered Brexit but it, like the Labour Party, merely obtained a fraction of the vote and on a derisory turnout.

    However, on the question of illegal migration in particular and the Rwanda scheme, I profoundly disagree with John Major in what he said in his BBC interview. Of course, as I have always argued, we should protect genuine refugees, but that is not what we are faced with through the criminally organised and lethal small boats operations. What is needed is a renegotiation of international treaties, which are now some 70 years old. It is an illusion to conflate the current global and European crisis of migration with the kind of protection needed for refugees of the Holocaust in the 1940s.

    With our uniquely unwritten constitution and as the Rwanda Supreme Court judgment dismissal of the case of an Iraqi national demonstrated, on the principle of legality, where our statutes are clear and unambiguous, the Supreme Court will support that statute even when it overrides international law, including the ECHR and international treaties. This is not possible in the EU because of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and many of the countries, such as Germany, have constitutions that put international law above domestic law. They are tearing their hair out over illegal migration and are imposing compulsory fines and quotas, which do not apply to us because of our own constitutional arrangements and because we have now left the EU.

    The Rwanda Act needed to be clear and unambiguous, but Starmer’s abandonment of the policy has increased the small boats problem and John Major is wrong.

    Over to you, NoTTLers. What say you? Is Bill Cash, an ardent Conservative Brexiteer, correct; or is he simply another failed Tory whingeing about their loss of power?

    1. I believe it was his parties inaction that ended up with Reform taking seats from the Tories. Bill Cash is just another privileged hypocrite blaming others for his own parties incompetence and lies, it would help them if they discovered honesty and stopped having such utter contempt for the people, promise one thing and do another. Long may the Tories rot in the hole they dug for themselves.

    2. Cash s simply another failed politician. Farage was not, is not, and never will be a team player.

      1. Farage, in my opinion, is a well-practised orator/gobshite but that is all. I would never want such a self-interested individual running the country.

        All current politicians are self-servers, first and foremost, with nary an altruist among them.

        1. Apparently he has relinquished control over Reform, so that's a good thing. I assume it means he can be ousted if necessary. So that's a promising development because, like you, I do not trust Farage. I think he is out for his own ego, nothing else and he has not the courage to tackle the real monster in the room, Islamification. But there are people in the group that command as much loyalty as he does, Ben Habib for one, but they have been kept largely silent due, I think, to Farage's need to steal the limelight. But we shall see, I suppose, as the party develops, or doesn't!

        3. But some of Farage's ambitions are the same as those of the general public. The Greens, Labour, Tories et al are not interested in the wants and ambitions of the common folk.

    3. The Tories paid the price for their incompetence. Labour is clearly far worse. But Reform will have its day eventually.

      1. "But Reform will have its day eventually."

        Nowt like an eternal optimist, Jules. 😉 Will Reform 'have their day' in the same manner that The Referendum Party, The Reclaim Party, the United Kingdom Independence Party, and a good many others were promised that they would also 'have their day'?

        The only 'day' the Reform Party will have (courtesy of the voting public of the UK) will be the day they disband.

        1. They had a pretty good couple of days recently, Grizz…credit where it's due. How long that lasts remains to be seen.

        3. At least there are 5 voices now in the HoP speaking out against the crimes against British humanity that are being pushed or allowed through parliament.

          1. Indeed, but there have been countless times in British political history when tiny factions, with just a handful of MPs, have made their voices heard in the Commons.

          2. My hopes are for a vote of no confidence on the current PM, followed by another vote of no confidence followed by another GE. Times are becoming interesting.

          3. I’m quite happy to be viewing the goings-on in a Muppet country from the safe enclave of another … er … Muppet country!😉

        4. In the long term especially because of the unequal FPTP system the Tory party will triumph and Reform will be left by the wayside.
          It will however have served its purpose just as Farage triggered Brexit, so his party will have changed the direction of the Conservatives.

          2. Hope springs eternal, but I'm afraid I think it is an unfortunate fact that all of the LibLabCon are beyond direction-changing. In the meantime, Labour will do their worst, and if the electorate can't see that fact by the next election (and by that time the demography will have changed even more to the detriment of the indigenous) then there is no hope for us at all.

          3. Well Farage changed the direction of the Tories and triggered a referendum about the EU.
            The LibLabCon spent years supporting UK membership. Sometimes in opposition the Labour Party or the Conservatives would express opposition to membership but this was always rapidly forgotten on winning an election.
            Farage changed all this and one imagines that he may change things again

        5. Nowt like an eternal optimist,

          Heard it all before..
          Farage will never get a referendum..
          We'll never leave the EU..
          Farage will never be an MP.. failed seven times, seven times I tell you.. seven times.
          Farage will never be PM..

      2. I seem to recall a letter in today's Torygraph along the lines of … "the last government made me angry, the current one makes me depressed. I'm not sure which is worse". I think he has a point, although both of them made/make me angry!

      1. My thought exactly! Without Farage the wouldn’t even have been a Brexit – of any description! Talk about deluded!

    5. "another failed Tory whingeing about their loss of power"

      That's precisely it. 14 years of Tory misgovernment. He was/is one of a tiny number or Tory Brexiteers, but the Tories failed Brexit.

      Edited tint to tiny.

    6. "another failed Tory whingeing about their loss of power"

      That's precisely it. 14 years of Tory misgovernment. He was/is one of a tiny number or Tory Brexiteers, but the Tories failed Brexit.

      Edited tint to tiny.

    7. Good morning, Grizzly (great new photo btw, are you at the North Pole, I think I should be told…). As for Farage, it was always his stated intent to destroy the CP following their refusal to let him stand. CP today is in disarray, they can't even decide pdq on a new leader – all off on jollies. No wonder most of us think they're a set of buffoons (Badenoch didn't help recently in that regard). To many, Cash comes across as an upper class twit. Starmer has a free run, and he knows it. Meantime, the CP grinds ever more slowly to a new leader – they'd have more success resurrecting Thatcher – who can now only be seen on Frost/YouTube, she's never mentioned unless to disparage her and her record. Sorry if I'm ranting…Yours ever, Kate x PS Reform is currently on a roll, that may or may not last – the Conference was excellent imv.

      1. Good morning, Katy. No, I wear the boater in spring/summer, and the beanie in autumn/winter. I need to protect my non-hirsuit bonce, me duck.

        That photo was taken in England during the bad spell of winter weather in 2010. I've since lost the whiskers and gained more creases.😲

        1. Man, it's a long time since I heard/read "Me duck". My great-Aunt (closest I ever had to a grandma) used it, but then, she came from Birstall, north of Leicester. Lovely, tiny, round battling Granny, so she was. Leicester Council used to go in fear and trembling.

          1. It's a special greeting from the East Midlands. Just nip over the border into Sheffield and it changes to "Owd Love" or "Flower".

      2. Good point.
        The goalmouth is open, the goalie is away trying on new threads, but there's nobody taking a shot at it.
        Are they all in the same boat, I wonder?
        What about Farage? He seems silent, too.

        1. Reform Conference is still running I think, Paul – perhaps you’ve seen it? I suspect Farage is taking a bit of a back seat to show Reform isn’t a one man band (e.g just watched Matt Goodwin), but I doubt he’s gone away, they’ll want to keep up the pressure. I’d like to see/hear more Habib, too.

          1. Goalmouth still open – where's the attack dog (Tebbit?)
            Metaphors mixed by Kenwood… 😉

          2. Ah..Tebbit, what a number he was, remember the cartoons as skinhead wearing a long leather coat…those were the days, Paul…

    8. Boo-hoo.. They took 90 seats away from us wet-Tory Liberals preventing us from implementing; More record mass migration.. More managed decline. How dare they.

      1. Look, we have got a God given right to rule the country, including you plebs.
        Never mind the fact that for the past 14 years we have betrayed so many of you with nearly every broken promised made to you every time we sought reelection, we deserve to be in government. How dare you, all 4 million plus, have the temerity to hold us to account.

        IMHO, this is the thinking of the Conservative MPs, past and present.

    10. It's a bit late to be blaming Reform. The Cons were in power and could have delivered a proper Brexit and some conservative policies. Then there would have been no need for Reform and we wouldn't be suffering Starmergeddon.

  44. NIGEL FARAGE AND REFORM HAVE BETRAYED BREXIT

    John Major, while still wrong on illegal migration, is right in his critique of the politician and his party

    The Sunday Telegraph, 22 Sep 2024, Bill Cash CH served as a member of Parliament from 1984 to 2024 and was long-standing chairman of the House of Commons’ European Scrutiny Committee.

    What a turn up for the books. I am very much in agreement with John Major’s recent remarks about Reform UK and Nigel Farage, when he warned Conservative voters to beware of them both.

    As I said during the general election and as it turned out correctly, Reform, in taking over 90 seats away from the Conservatives but without gaining a single shred of influence in Parliament, has betrayed Brexit and handed Starmer a substantial majority, which has also cost us dearly in terms of Select Committee representation. Reform has betrayed Brexit and betrayed Britain, as I predicated, and with a massive majority, the Labour Party is now intent on “resetting” (as it puts it), our relations with the EU.

    The consequences of this are dire, not least of which is Starmer, who described the referendum result as a catastrophe and who also argued for a second referendum to remain in the EU. The very notion of this is grotesque, considering that we have now regained our self-government, our democracy and our sovereignty. Starmer does not seem to have noticed that Europe itself, as everyone can see, is imploding economically and politically, as country after country is reasserting its national identity and voting with their feet against EU political integration.
    In a matter of months, Starmer has demonstrated one failure after another, including letting down pensioners with the winter fuel allowance and surrendering to the unions, and has now sullied the office of prime minister, swaggering around in expensive suits paid for by his cronies, like a third-rate Burlington Bertie.

    With the prospect of massive taxation to come in the Autumn Budget, many voters who either abstained in the general election or voted against the Conservative Party are now beginning to realise what a mistake they have made. It was the Conservative Party, with its values and principles, which delivered Brexit in the 2019 general election, which endorsed the 2016 referendum result. Reform and its predecessor, the Brexit Party, claim to have delivered Brexit but it, like the Labour Party, merely obtained a fraction of the vote and on a derisory turnout.

    However, on the question of illegal migration in particular and the Rwanda scheme, I profoundly disagree with John Major in what he said in his BBC interview. Of course, as I have always argued, we should protect genuine refugees, but that is not what we are faced with through the criminally organised and lethal small boats operations. What is needed is a renegotiation of international treaties, which are now some 70 years old. It is an illusion to conflate the current global and European crisis of migration with the kind of protection needed for refugees of the Holocaust in the 1940s.

    With our uniquely unwritten constitution and as the Rwanda Supreme Court judgment dismissal of the case of an Iraqi national demonstrated, on the principle of legality, where our statutes are clear and unambiguous, the Supreme Court will support that statute even when it overrides international law, including the ECHR and international treaties. This is not possible in the EU because of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and many of the countries, such as Germany, have constitutions that put international law above domestic law. They are tearing their hair out over illegal migration and are imposing compulsory fines and quotas, which do not apply to us because of our own constitutional arrangements and because we have now left the EU.

    The Rwanda Act needed to be clear and unambiguous, but Starmer’s abandonment of the policy has increased the small boats problem and John Major is wrong.

    Over to you, NoTTLers. What say you? Is Bill Cash, an ardent Conservative Brexiteer, correct; or is he simply another failed Tory whingeing about their loss of power?

  46. Good morning everyone.
    Sad news, David Graham has left the studio.
    The voice actor, aged 99, passed away two days ago.
    Mr Graham helped to give voice to the Daleks, Parker in Thunderbirds and many other characters.
    Those Nottlers with grandchildren may also be familiar with Grandpa Pig and the Wise Old Elf.
    It is amazing that David Graham's dulcet tones have been a presence on television for a period of more than sixty years, and yet he is only well known within the industry, and of course fans of the late Gerry Anderson. (edited slightly)

    1. Good morning, Tim, and thank you for post. Sadly, I don't recognise the name but certainly do the voice. A good age, and a wonderful legacy, RIP David Graham.

        1. I found the information on which actors voiced which puppets online. If you watch Thunderbirds and listen to Gordon Tracy’s voice, it is very clear it is the same actor (David Graham) who also voices Aloysius ‘Nosey’ Parker, and Hiram K Hackenbacker ‘Brains’.

    3. Very sorry to hear that. Grandpa Pig is a favourite of my grandchildren.
      I didn’t realise he was also a Dalek.
      99 years of course give great possibilities.
      Sooner or later you have to let go and 99 is as good an opportunity as any.

      1. “you have to let go…” reminds me of 99 Luftballons… though the English version is more cheerful.

    4. I believe that he also provided the voices for Bill and Ben, the flowerpot men in the 1950s children's Listen with Mother TV series.

      1. That would have been Peter Hawkins, who became friends with David Graham when they were working together on ‘Dr Who’. It is the longevity that fascinates me, with his being able to work creatively for more than sixty years.

        1. I think you are correct, tim5165. Perhaps a bit like "Walter Gabriel" in The Archers, who many believe to be voiced by Chris Gittins. Mr Gittins did indeed voice Walter, but only after the demise of the original creator of the character.

          2. Not sure, Annie. I was enjoying listening to the radio adventures of Dick Barton, Special Agent and his pals Jock and Snowy, in the months before my first trip to Argentina as a seven year old. So I was not aware that the series had been cancelled to make way for a new nightly series called The Archers in my absence.

  47. Good morning everyone.
    Sad news, David Graham has left the studio.
    The voice actor, aged 99, passed away two days ago.
    Mr Graham helped to give voice to the Daleks, Parker in Thunderbirds and many other characters.
    Those Nottlers with grandchildren may also be familiar with Grandpa Pig and the Wise Old Elf.
    It is amazing that David Graham's dulcet tones have been a presence on television for a period of more than sixty years, and yet he is only well known within the industry, and of course fans of the late Gerry Anderson. (edited slightly)

  50. There are none among the current bunch that I would touch with a bargepole.

    I would certainly hit them with that bargepole though.

      1. From Coffee House, the Spectator

        Starmer approval rating hits record low
        Comments Share 22 September 2024, 8:51am
        Sir Keir Starmer is having a tough time of it, what with his ongoing freebie fiasco, the cronyism row and bad briefings about his chief of staff. Now his fortunes have got even worse — literally. It turns out that the PM’s approval rating is at its lowest level yet, dropping a whopping 45 points since Sir Keir’s lot won the general election. It’s hardly the news Starmer would have hoped for as his Labour conference kicks off today…

        New polling by Opinium reveals that the Prime Minister’s approval rating has dropped down to -26 since Sir Keir became the country’s leader. It now makes him — by a point — less popular than former PM Rishi Sunak which, er, after his party’s electoral defeat just three months ago says quite something.

        Less than a quarter of those surveyed approve of how Starmer has run the country, while 50 per cent don’t like how the Labour leader is doing things. Nearly two-thirds of people think the Labour government has been unsuccessful while a third of those who voted for Starmer’s army in July don’t think they’ve performed well so far. And, to add insult to injury, almost half of the public now have a more negative view of Sir Keir and Labour since they came into office. Great work, guys!

        Things aren’t looking up for Starmer’s cabinet either. Winter fuel payment-cutting Rachel Reeves has seen her approval score plunge 36 points since the election, while Deputy PM Angela Rayner has seen a 23-point drop. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has seen his favourability score drop 18 points — the same as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper — while gaffe-prone Foreign Secretary David Lammy’s rating has fallen by 15. Good heavens. Talk about getting the day off to a bad start, eh?

        1. Thanks, I think I saw that earlier – still on a crazy sub offer, £1 per month or similar. Not at all certain I'll renew, it's a bit stale now, perhaps wait to see if new owner makes any changes, seems to need a shake-up.

        2. Starmer's 'approval ratings' may plummet even further; however, that will not alter the status quo. It will continue to be, plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

    2. Be careful that you don't approach them from behind with your bargepole, they may think you are making friendly advances.

      1. That's true, Dukke. As long as I hold a franchise I shall use it. Where I place that cross, though, remains a moot point. One thing will always remain clear, though. It will never be placed against the name of a candidate from any Left-leaning Pinko party.

        I don't do socialism/communism/cretinism.

  51. 393285+ up ticks,

    The lord alli has certainly done good by the politico's forty thieves department, the politico's concerned could just pull out now well in pocket, they won't though greed will see to that.

    Dt,

    Cabinet has accepted more than £800,000 in donations and freebies this year
    Telegraph analysis reveals David Lammy has received most since start of 2024

      1. 393285+ up ticks,

        Afternoon HL,
        There lies the problem” clubbing together ” AKA unity.
        The nearest I got was in UKIP under the Batten / Braine successful leadership.
        It had to be stopped otherwise integrity and decency would return to these Isles.

        ALL those ( no exceptions) in parliament, and a great many family tree voters knew this and voted accordingly.

  52. 'Morning All
    Pound shop Blofeld
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/79ea79e22488b14154b4c6752fe9343351f32701654b2d7422096a6c885682e4.png
    Rest
    http://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2b7304c65e70cfb8e1fb1d50c0f693589e8bb9fbcf96f20957651e84ca233b71.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b0693112ebcf523a2640e6e32197708a14251e6659ac9055e3e60cf07d7957d5.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/925b29d4be6ee8cba1c940ec1e4e4e579628b91cbf5cda951d8cec80bb3b1667.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/32f532027d9866815dd52959afeb0eba01153876dca0325e5f647e2cfce61240.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/82b914402b7de3ae111b8cebf57061d318513ffbca939a0ce7a8507f9c10b406.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8cb18c0b376d74db78a91be5279075fbcc54c3b9da4edc260888aa1222c7e2ae.jpg

    1. Kitten abuse if ever I saw it. Joker film excellent, government of jokers not so much. Didn't Ms Phillips recently have medical treatment?

    2. Excellent as usual.
      As I have pointed out many times, the average politician takes home more in 'expenses' every two weeks than the old age pension amounts to in twelve months. And they can't see the Black Hole ?

    4. Upvote for the last one.
      I reject the one before last. We aren't going to survive this unless we unite against sociopaths.

    6. We have a friend who is absolutely clueless and uncomfortable around any pet animals.
      (Which, of course, dogs and cats always sense and make matters worse.)
      TTK's strained expression is identical to the one we see every time chummy visits the Dower House.

  53. Just started to try & find Mother's other bank accounts – that I know she has, but no idea where.
    In http://MyLostAccount.org.uk , they come with the idiot questions: Do I have the pass books / cards / cheque book / letter relating to the account / bank statement…
    My God, if I had any of these, then the account WOULDN'T BE FUCKING LOST! Would it, you numpties! Dear God…. no wonder my alcohol consumption is so large, dealing with dumbasses like these.
    All this after it didn't like my choice of password to create my account there, but with no explanation as to what is wrong.

    1. I know exactly how you feel Obs, I spent two hours yesterday morning trying the find out why the bar stewards have stolen money from a pension withdrawal I recently made. I don't work, I don't pay tax and my state pension is derisory. It's never happened when I have had to make withdrawals previously.

      2. When you withdraw pension [edit: as a lump sum payment] then if you haven't already taken out all of your tax-free lump sum, 25% of what you withdraw is tax free and the rest is added to your income, and will be taxed if that brings your total above your personal allowance of £12,750 pa.The trouble with such withdrawals is that the initial calculation is based on the premise that you make the same withdrawal every month (even if it is a one-off) in that tax year – which is almost always bound to bring you into taxpaying bracket if you are already receiving state pension, or even into a higher bracket if you have other income.

        You may need to write to HMRC and ask for a refund. If so, you don't have to wait to the end of the tax year if you send in the appropriate form now (it should be on the HMRC website).

      3. WHen you withdraw pension (if you haven't already taken out all of your tax-free lump sum) then 25% of what you withdraw is tax free and the rest is added to your income, and will be taxed if that brings your total above your personal allowance of £12,750 pa).The trouble with withdrawals is that the initial calculation is based on the premise that you make the same withdrawal every month (even if it is a one-off) – which is almost always bound to bring you into taxpaying bracket if you are already receiving state pension, or even into a higher bracket if you have other income.

        You may need to write to HMRC and ask for a refund. If so, you don't have to wait to the end of the tax year if you send in the appropriate form now (it should be on the HMRC website).

    2. Know the gig..
      Like I posted the other day.. when Men die you'll likely find a folder marked "Death" with numerous spreadsheets itemising instructions, accounts & passwords. Women.. no folder..

      And so, perhaps, when the final run is becoming obvious.. it's a grand idea to get a pen and paper and gently prise the info out, one password at a time.

      1. I have left our sons detailed instruction about the dog's feeding and medication regime.
        For some reason the 'boys' thought I should do the same for their father.

    3. I empathise. Recently tried to find a couple of National Savings a/cs (the paper books having been lost). No joy. Someone told me Martin Lewis has a helpline, no idea if it's any help or not. Good luck.

    4. Usually the password requires 8 or more characters, including upper and lower case, a number and a symbol (!$&? etc). Make a note of the one that's accepted before you lose it!

      1. Indeed, but when you type in ******** and confirm with ********, it’s difficult to see if you made an error (a space, failed the capital, that kind of thing. No “eye” symbol to check if the two were the same!

  57. Martin Hewitt – BBC Radio 4

    Some call it one of the trickiest jobs in the country. How do you stop the small boats trying to cross the English Channel and smash the smuggling gangs?
    The government has appointed Martin Hewitt to the role- he’s leading the UK’s new Border Security Command. It’s a tough job, so can he do it?
    Martin Hewitt is a former senior police officer and chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council. He is also the man who oversaw the policing of Covid lockdowns.

    More shit for the immigration fan?

    2. Just commission a few privateers to 'rescue' the migrants and return them to France – They'll soon stop trying to cross…..

    4. Not at all hard; tow them back to France and sink the boats. Round up any that make it and send them back – no benefits, nothing. Word will soon get around.

  58. Soup for lunch, with a couple of pints of locally-brewed IPA (By Hansa: Top brew for a canned beer – good, strong, hoppy flavour, and 8% alcohol! Now we're talking… and about to be sleeping). Cats are asleep – maybe they had their beer earlier?

    2. On my recent 12-day visit to Norfolk, Paul, I re-acquainted myself with some superb cask-conditioned English ale of a few utterly delicious varieties.

      It is funny how you (nearly) forget the wonderful mouth-feel experience of a proper ale served direct from the cask. Woodforde's Wherry remains a favourite but I encountered a few other new gems. One in particular was a stronger ale (50% ABV) called Cheeky Jack, but I forget the name of its brewery. I had a glass of another new (to me) delicious strong ale, in The Murderer's Pub in Norwich, called Amilié.

          1. Are you sure it wasn’t 5%? Most beers are in the 3.5 – 5.5% range with things like barley wine being 8%.

            Yer gins and whiskeys are only 37-40% and I wouldn’t like to drink them neat by the pint.

          2. I must have consumed far too much of the stuff on my latest sojourn. Of course it’s 5%. WTF was I thinking?🫣

        1. That’s the one, Moongazer. It was new to me, living in Sweden I’ve never experienced it before, whether from keg, bottle or damn can. I can certainly vouch for it freshly drawn from the cask in a well managed cellar.

  64. Now that Sir Jasper has finished recycling his Joke Book, may I offer some extracts from my own?
    ———————————————————————-
    She had been left on the shelf and was resigned to a life on her own.

    One afternoon as she was strolling through the park, a man jumped out from behind a tree and said “This is a stick-up.”

    “I haven’t got any money,” she said giving the would-be robber her handbag.

    “I’m going to search you,” growled the robber.

    He put his hand inside her blouse and felt inside her bra – then ran his hands up and down her legs and his fingers searched inside her knickers. Finding nothing, he turned to walk away.

    “ Don’t stop searching,” she said.

    “ I can write you a cheque.”

  66. In addition to yesterday's toll of eight ships, North Atlantic convoy HX-72 lost this day in 1940 a further five ships and their cargoes.

    M.V. Frederick S. Fales.

    Complement:
    49 (21 dead and 28 survivors).
    13,849 tons of Admiralty fuel oil.

    At 01.52 hours on 22nd September 1940 the Frederick S. Fales (Master Frank Ramsay) in convoy HX-72 was hit on the port side aft by two torpedoes from U-100 (Joachim Schepke) and sank by the stern within 5 minutes about 340 miles west of Bloody Foreland. The master 19 crew members and one gunner were lost, most of them died when the sinking ship capsized to starboard and hit a lifeboat lying alongside. 28 crew members were picked up after about 12 hours by HMS La Malouine (K 46) (LtCdr R.W. Keymer, RN) and landed at Belfast on 25th September.

    Type VIIB U-Boat U-100 sank at 0318hrs on 17th March 1941 in the North Atlantic south-east of Iceland after being rammed by the British destroyer HMS Vanoc and depth charges from this destroyer and HMS Walker. 38 dead and 6 survivors.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/92cfe586b1432c81fc7121ff63d2c8329105f96777bf179561ed924fdb76481f.jpg

  67. Thank you, Paul. Of course, I didn’t know that, but I’ve made a note and will mention it to my friend when I next hear from him. If I hear back, I will post his response:-)

      1. I’ve sent him a message, will let you know any reply I receive 🙂 he’s usually pretty quick to reply.

  68. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2ffe3aa3a93bcc0b4b7c6f1b5191c6ff84caf6a1de50378e9bdb41367960a417.jpg Well, I just enjoyed my Sunday dinner [Yes, dinner. Up North (as in Cockneyland) we still use the old traditional word for our midday meal]. A home-made version of Carl Smith's superb award-winning steak & kidney pudding/pie (from The Windmill restaurant, Mayfair) with a 1" thick, fluffy and crisp suetcrust topping. It was like having a huge dumpling atop the meat and thick gravy. I drizzled it with Colman's English mustard and served it with home-made mushy peas drizzled with mint sauce.

    A magnificent pie-and-pea supper … at dinner time. What's not to like?😋👍🏻

    2. Looks delicious!

      Especially the mustard. I miss English mustard!! The stuff I can get here just doesn't… um, cut the mustard. 😥

      2. I have never missed mustard. I'm sure most Nottlanders have a particular food or drink phobia. Mustard's one of mine.

  69. Well, the expected pause in the rain hasn't materialised so I'm quietly mooching about in the attic.

  70. Some musings from the pit that is the mind of Cynical Rik on the three pillars of the state
    In the UK, the executive comprises the Crown and the Government, including the Prime
    Minister and Cabinet ministers.
    The legislature; Parliament, comprises the Crown, the House of Commons and the House of
    Lords.
    The judiciary comprises the judges in the courts of law, those who hold judicial office in
    tribunals and the lay magistrates who staff the magistrates courts
    The executive………From Charlie and carrier bags of cash to the current revelations of the ministerial bribes,corrupt to the core
    The Legislature……Turnips and lobby fodder in the commons and appointed political cronies in the Lords.corrupt to the core
    The Judiciary……Once our proudest pillar wrecked by Blair's changes in the appointment of judges allowing leftard fanatics to colonise the judiciary applying for judgeships in "areas they have a special interest"
    Hence why Paki child rapists and Ugandan murderers can't be deported but you can be banged up for shouting at a police dog………
    Corrupted to the core
    It's not looking good folks….

  71. Soylent Green and the Final Solution

    in the 1930s a certain individual recognised that Germeny did not have the resources within its national
    boundary to support its growing population and that certain groups of citizens were seen as a burden on the state.

    What unfolded was the plan to enact the Final Solution the theme of which is portayed in the film Soylent Green as discussed in this interview with Nick Buckley. MBE:

    https://youtu.be/zxODkm5o-vg?si=jjXl7L9Flx04ayG-

    Here is the trailer for Soylent Green:
    https://youtu.be/N_jGOKYHxaQ?si=STfHaaignr2L91AH

    1. Bureaucracy is parasitic on the wealth-creating productive part of the economy, and it is taking so much that it is in danger of killing its host organism.

    3. I used to cross the Thames with my bike for free by using the Tilbury to Gravesend ferry (it went both ways).

        1. Yes, the wheels could go round either way.
          When parked in a bike rack it was Raleigh indifferent.

    4. And yet we are apparently going to need a new Thames barrier. Why not kill two or 3 birds with one project and put the road on top of the new barrier and better still use the new barrier to slow the river's flow in order to drive turbines? ….

    6. Probably all of those DEI studies that were required before they assembled the team to develop the application.

    7. I must suggest to my local launderette that they put a notice. We launder everything except money. Go to the government for that.

  74. You bastards, it's an absolute lie, it would have been quite easy for a government department who all ready know everything, to pick out the wealthy pensioners, those who don't qualify for benefits and those who need help in the winter. There is no form of justification for Corralling all of the elderly because the lazy government find it easier to be vindictive rather than thorough.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/anger-as-labour-points-finger-at-very-wealthy-pensioners-for-winter-fuel-payment-chop/ar-AA1qX4Xa?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=7058aec8d98b43cc804737697f656e7f&ei=12

  75. We may joke about health and saftey but it's worth reflecting on how cheap life once was. Today is the 90th anniversary of the Gresford mining disaster. A gas explosion led to the deaths of 266 men and boys. It's a staggering figure but rates as only the fifth worst in the UK. Top of the list is Senghenydd, Glamorgan, in 1913 – 440.

    Colliery disaster remembered on 90th anniversary
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c93pnpz5pxjo

    The video below has been posted on here before. It's a typical British Transport Films production of the 1950s and it starts with the construction of the new Woodhead tunnel (the third) in the early 1950s. The construction of the first cost 32 lives, the second 26, though not to injury but a cholera outbreak. The 1950s project cost 6 lives. Look at the workers being dropped 500 feet down a shaft in what's litle more than an bucket and grip the armrests of your chair. Even in the tunnel there was little protection: hard hats yes, but no masks, goggles or ear protectors. This was post-war Britain. Labour was still cheap.

    Just as bad are the scenes further on from Whitemoor marshalling yard, with hand-braking of wagons, an activity which killed and injured dozens of men every year in pre-WW1 days.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtTK9An2hI0
    Max & Co are about to make life cheap once again…

  76. We may joke about health and saftey but it's worth reflecting on how cheap life once was. Today is the 90th anniversary of the Gresford mining disaster. A gas explosion led to the deaths of 266 men and boys. It's a staggering figure but rates as only the fifth worst in the UK. Top of the list is Senghenydd, Glamorgan, in 1913 – 440.

    Colliery disaster remembered on 90th anniversary
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c93pnpz5pxjo

    The video below has been posted on here before. It's a typical British Transport Films production of the 1950s and it starts with the construction of the new Woodhead tunnel (the third) in the early 1950s. The construction of the first cost 32 lives, the second 26, though not to injury but a cholera outbreak. The 1950s project cost 6 lives. Look at the workers being dropped 500 feet down a shaft in what's litle more than an bucket and grip the armrests of your chair. Even in the tunnel there was little protection: hard hats yes, but no masks, goggles or ear protectors. This was post-war Britain. Labour was still cheap.

    Just as bad are the scenes further on from Whitemoor marshalling yard, with hand-braking of wagons, an activity which killed and injured dozens of men every year in pre-WW1 days.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtTK9An2hI0
    Max & Co are about to make life cheap once again…

    2. He couldn't possibly have a common ordinary cat, he is after all Labour royalty who hobnobs with billionaires…

  79. SIR – The vast majority of people haven’t got a clue about how tricky it is to make money out of farming (“The inheritance crisis facing Britain’s farmers”, Money, September 14). It is difficult to extract even £250 of income from an acre of land worth £12,000 with tractors that cost more than £100,000.

    Farmers have to contend with changing crop, fertiliser and fuel prices, which fluctuate wildly on an annual basis. Then there’s insurance, tax, hailstorms, droughts, floods, disease, machinery breakdowns. They must always conserve cash, in case too much goes wrong at the same time. And that’s before all the paperwork and regulations.

    The pen-pushers in Whitehall wouldn’t know where to start. If they mess with the industry any more they could find an army of tractors blocking the junctions on the M25, holding up their cosy commutes to fancy offices in the city.

    William Mollett
    Ulceby, Lincolnshire

    Good , I know we can rely on tractors and combines and angry farmers.

    Quite honestly , I feel so furious with occupants of no 10 Downing street, and everywhere else , plus all the grace and favour government properties that I would muck spray the whole damned lot of them .

    (I would make sure Larry the cat was somewhere safe first)

    1. If they mess with the industry any more they could find an army of tractors blocking the junctions on the M25

      They will have to.. this is a fight to the death, and the odds are stacked against the farmers.
      For one, there's trillions of £ in tax revenue.. two, the farmland makes lovely new build cul-de-sacs for migrants (as in Ireland).. three, a building boom to keep the sheeple happy.

      1. Are even the sheeple happy with a building boom? Lots of people where I live (now inundated with large estates on what were once green fields) are not at all happy about it.

    2. Our farmers are also being hit with capital gains tax when they try to pass the family farm onto their children. That really takes the profit away.

    3. This nasty and vindictive government are also incredibly out of touch with reality.
      There must be plenty of Tractors close to Liverpool.

    4. They don't commute any more though, they are all comfortably at home, maybe not even in the country they are wrecking.
      IHT on farms is such blatant theft, I can't help feeling it's a teaser so that we won't complain about whatever they do do (which will be bad, but not that bad)

    5. A slow convoy of tractors, spraying muck, up and down Whitehall (but sparing the Cenotaph, of course) would be something to behold.

    1. Bluey is also very popular with the kiddies. As both pigs and dogs are haram, should someone be developing a cartoon about goats?

      1. Bluey is an absolute joy! Beautifully scripted on two levels, and very funny! Duggee is another good show!

      2. Bluey is an absolute joy! Beautifully scripted on two levels, and very funny! Duggee is another good show!

        1. Yes, both favourites for the Children’s Christmas Party at work. One of the worst things about covid was cancelling the kids party. They jump up and down with glee at seeing their fave cartoon characters.

  82. Brilliant start to a review of "art" by some poseur who put a glass of water on a shelf attached to wall and called it an oak tree….

    "Michael Craig-Martin is a hugely influential figure in British art. He has done really well out of it: CBE, knighthood and now a lengthy retrospective at the Royal Academy.

    What a shame he’s such a ghastly artist. His work is a trampling of the delicacies and visual charms of art. World-class insensitivity can, if arrived at in the right epoch, pay out big time."

    (Waldemar Polishname Sunday Grimes)

  83. Had a bad morning. I’ve had tummy wobbles for couple of days but can cope with that as long as I don’t have a hot flush as well. Was serving as acolyte in church when I became hot and started to pour with sweat. While kneeling for the consecration I became dizzy and signalled to one of the guys who immediately stepped in and took the candle.

    My fellow acolyte is a retired doctor and she advised that I go into the cloister, get a glass of water and lie down. Afterwards I asked if it’s the dehydration that causes the dizziness but Jane said no, it’s the drop in blood pressure added to which, kneeling restricts the blood flow. She added that, “When I sent you to the cloister, you were an interesting colour”. I felt my forehead and it was ice cold.

    Just had lunch and feeling much better though the tummy hasn’t really settled. It will of course. These episodes are embarrassing but I’ve had a medical MOT and everything is fine. Just menopausal.

    1. Sounds like Corvid – best test yourself every hour and wear a mask at all times.

      Hope you are better soon.

      1. Woman+stress+age. Embarrassing and inconvenient but not life threatening. One of our young servers did pass out at the altar rail. A member of the congregation caught the candle. The patient was suffering primarily from a hangover though!

    4. I've previously had similar experiences, Sue – one time managed to knock myself out. Apparently something called syncope, a sudden drop in BP which corrects itself when sitting or lying down. Not menopausal in my case, started in my mid 60s. Best thing is for me to be aware it's happening and stop what I'm doing to sit down safely…..good luck x

      1. That's absolutely no fun at all, KJ. Hope you didn't hurt yourself. In 2023 I was 62.
        I had syncope in 2023 & early 2024. Three ambulance rides to A&E after toppling over in the restaurant/street and not waking up.
        Not fun. Resulted in a pacemaker, lots of testing, and a ban on driving (who'd want an episode whilst driving past a bus queue?). The secondary effect was the unconsciousness episodes reset my memory, so remembering anything in short term was impossible – to the extent that I had my desk location in the office on my phone… came in handy after an episode whilst having a dump in the middle of the day, could find my way back to the desk afterwards.

        1. Oh man, that sounds absolutely awful, The inconvenience of losing driving and having to rely on public/taxis/others giving you a lift a 'mare, loss of independence. I've known people have a rough time with pacemakers until the settings are tuned to fit the patient. I'm so sorry you had such a rough time, sounds like you continued working? Has everything settled down now, or are you still having problems? Mine pales by comparison, somehow managed to crack the front of my head on one surface and crack the back on another surface on my way falling down. Found on kitchen floor, knocked out ..two luvverly black eyes. Then covid, loss of memory, gradually recovering. I think online messaging/reading has helped me more than medics. I'm averse to taking pharamaceuticals, rather have a whisky thanks..

          1. The syncope seems to have stopped, thank goodness. Suddenly toppling over, to wake up looking at all those faces looking down at you isn't fun, but it also used to delete short-term memory, that was bad. My first attack was in the kitchen, making breakfast… woke up on the floor. Next – in our favourite restaurant, others outside the pub, elsewhere.
            My licence wasn't taken away, but I wouldn't drive anyway, as the consequences of an attack when driving were too severe. Fortunately, SWMBO drove.
            Hope you're over it: one can get badly bumped wth the toppling over.

          2. Thanks Paul…I think yours is much worse than mine, we don’t know why I suddenly started with it (was pre Covid and vaccines, that’s a whole other shedload), I think possibly age? no idea. I now recognise what I describe as ‘whammy’ and sit me down where I can. Did having a pacemaker fitted help at all?

          3. Seems to have gone away after the pacemaker was fitted, so likely so.
            I never had any warnings, would just wake up all confused. Even keeping a record didn’t reveal anything useful.

          4. I hope so.:-) I keep a notebook, usually drawing ideas or similar, quite often can’t even decipher handwriting. Doh..

        2. Paul, I think it was you re: hydrogen use for energy, I said I would ask my friend currently working in this area, here’s his reply, see what you think? (apologies if not you)
          ‘The Hydrogen molecule is indeed very small and for this reason in industry we call it a searching gas as it will find anywhere to escape, under atmospheric pressure possibly not an issue but stored at 700bar it does become a big problem. For this reason hydrogen for industrial use has been made very close to where it is used to avoid long pipe runs, flanges, joints and other places to escape. I spent a lot of time last year chasing tiny leaks, we test with a nitrogen helium trace gas as being non flammable is easier to work with.
          Hydrogen embrittlement is a problem in steel as the hydrogen molecule breaks down the molecular bonds in steel to cause cracks which can then lead to failure. Most of the pipe work and fittings used is 316 grade stainless steel which can cope with this attack.
          To liquify H2 takes a lot of energy, the temperature to liquify is -253C that’s only 20C less than absolute zero at -273C. I think space rockets use liquefied H2 during takeoff to provide the huge energy needed to get them into space.’

          1. "Hydrogen embrittlement is a problem in steel as the hydrogen molecule breaks down the molecular bonds in steel to cause cracks which can then lead to failure" – it's ferritic iron that's the problem. The crystal structure, allied with stress (from external or just crystal transformation) hydrogen diffused into the steel causes cracking. Austenitic crystal structure doesn't suffer this, and so the 316 doesn't suffer. Martensitic stainless can.
            An old metallurgist rites…

          2. He’s thinks I’m interrogating him now (I’m not and never would), so in the meantime I’m going to keep your note if that’s OK with you, and mention it to him another time. He’s fully onboard with hydrogen. I wouldn’t know, just tend to think – if the alternatives (coal, wind, etc )worked as well and as cleanly as oil and gas, we’d still be burning ’em. Finally DRAX pellets recognised as the idiocy they are.

          5. Coal does work well. I'm sure the technology is available to clean up emissions, too. They don't want to know, though. We've got a lot of coal reserves under our feet. No need to import it.

          6. I agree with you. Dim n distant bell telling me John Redwood may have written something along those lines.

          7. Hydrogen embrittlement is also an issue in Cathodic Protection. We had tp get the level of current applied within certain parameters. Too little means under protection. Too much, the opposite and possible embrittlement, plus coating disbondment.

          8. Yup. Agreed. And the current density varies depending on distance from the anode and local geometry… “shading” effects come in – the pesky bit is, design the system for coverage of it all, but even so you get areas of overprotection and underprotection…

          9. It’s a bit like induced AC corrosion from overheads – it can be planned for, installing additional CP test posts at ground level but we can never predict any effects until the long steel conductor is actually buried and backfilled.

    7. Kneeling is very likely to produce dizziness. I used to get occasional bouts, but now my knees prevent me from kneeling, so I'm less prone 🙂

        1. Art is definitely subjective…have been to an exhibition of hers..nope. Jackson Pollock (aka Jack the Dripper) on the other hand, quite something to stand in front of.

    3. Bournemouth, crikey….some places, neighbours keep snakes, unbeknown to anyone else…they get into the waterworks/pipes, pop up next doors wc's/washbasins (snakes that is, not neighbours)….aaaarghhh…

        1. Agree, it’s too large, likely an escapee from a neighbour. Upside is they eat a lot of rats and mice….relatives in Oz get carpet snakes, but they’re benign..

          3. The angles are awkward; details like the showing back of pictures is a no-no .
            I think you are right; the photos don't have a professional look to them.
            Any estate agent or their photographer would have removed the snake.

    5. A mere snip at £480,000:

      "Hut 303 occupies a beach side location on the end of the terrace and is ABOVE AVERAGE SIZE benefitting from front, rear and side VIEWS and comfortably positioned with space to the side. On entering the hut, the brightness from the extra windows gives a sense of space. Modifications in the past include a toilet (camping cassette) and small sink in a enclosed WC. The sleeping accommodation is on the ground floor and first floor mezzanine and will accommodate 6/8 people. The kitchen area includes a gas cooker, Fridge and kitchen units, together with work top space. A Solar panel provides 12vlt electricity for the lighting and fridge. The hut offers underneath storage, including storage for the water tank.
      The sale is for the hut and transfer of the license. The purchase price includes the transfer fee for the license for the site on which the hut occupies.
      Denisons Estate Agents handle the license transfer, sale and purchase process.
      We do advise any interested parties to read the Information in the handbook ‘Mudeford Sandbank Beach Hut handbook’
       https://www.denisons.com/services
      Annual License fee £3652
      Council tax £716"       https://med04.expertagent.co.uk/in4glestates/%7Bf9c4a55f-74d2-4f0a-884b-fb276f489b2b%7D/%7B496aaad5-5587-40bb-bdf5-019a9f1d4911%7D/main/IMG_2140.jpg

        1. My thoughts exactly Belle.
          One of the selling points is it has beach views.
          These are of the Isle of Wight which is nice, but not, for example, the Sugar Loaf Mountain in Rio.

        2. Half a million knicker for a garden shed with no fucking garden?

          Some gormless twat will pay for it.

      4. My aunt and uncle owned a similar, but one storey, hut on Dawlish. We used to spend our holidays with them and go to Dawlish regularly.

        1. I wish but no, I just googled dog toys as that was my first thought when I saw the illustration above.

  87. "Covid vaccines sharply raise risk of death or heart failure.
    Being vaccinated against Covid sharply increased the risk heart attack patients would die or suffer heart failure after heart attacks, a major new peer-reviewed study [ https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/urgent-a-stunning-new-paper-suggests ]in leading journal Vaccine shows. The researchers examined outcomes [ https://dailysceptic.org/2024/09/20/covid-vaccines-sharply-raise-risk-of-death-or-heart-failure-major-new-peer-reviewed-study-shows/ ]from almost 1,000 heart attack patients from March 2020 through March 2023 in a Madrid hospital. They found vaccinated and previously infected patients had an over 50% higher risk of death or heart failure than unvaccinated people who had also been previously infected – and a 90% higher risk than those who were unvaccinated and previously uninfected. The gap remained even after researchers adjusted for risk factors such as smoking, blood pressure and age. The paper may help explain why post-Covid death rates remain persistently high in heavily vaccinated countries, belying the predictions of epidemiologists who expected death rates to fall below normal after the epidemic ended. Read also [ https://expose-news.com/2024/09/16/scientists-warn-risks-blood-transfusions-from-covid-vaccinated/ ].

    [Hyperlinks inserted to reproduce those in the original that were lost in copying.]
    Source: https://prophecytoday.uk/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=3172:news-and-views&Itemid=183

    1. Having had a TIA 12 years ago was very good all things considered because the medicines I am on such – as Pradaxa – provided me with a very justifiable reason not to be jabbed.

      The worrying question is how many countries will tell the WHO to piss off when it wants vaccines for the next pandemic to be obligatory.

  88. And lo & behold, just after my last post, decrying the non-appearance of the forecast pause in the precipitation, it arrived so I've just done nearly 2h up the hill with the chainsaw.
    I think it is time for a mug of tea, then something to eat.
    Cheese on toast with poached eggs and tinned tomatoes sounds nice!

  89. Just found, whilst tidying, the "Order of Ceremony" for SWMBOs M.Phil and my Ph.D, back in 1987.
    Sir Frank Whittle was awarded an Honoroary degree at the same ceremony. I'm surprised at how proud I still am to read my name on the same piece of shiny paper as Sir Frank.
    Just a daft old bugger, me. Too much IPA…

  91. Israel could face further sanctions, Lammy suggests. 22 September 2024.

    He declared the UK would be a “leading nation in Europe once again” as part of a push for a “reset” of relations with Brussels, while suggesting Russia had been responsible for the disorder that swept Britain last month.

    That would be all those rioters with snow on their boots.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/09/22/labour-party-conference-liverpool-starmer-rayner/

      1. David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, said everyone at Labour conference had their own story, and he grew up “in the shadow of Tottenham’s Broadwater Estate”.

        “Life was not always easy, my mum struggling to put food on our table, skinheads shouting abuse as we walked by, my father leaving when I was 12.

        “He didn’t leave me very much but he did leave me a map, and that was an atlas which I put on my bedroom wall. And from this wall I learned about the countries my ancestors had come from, transported from west Africa to Guyana as part of the transatlantic slave trade, long before my parents moved from Guyana to Britain to help rebuild Britain after the Second World War.

        1. I don't know why but as I read that my mind started hearing Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D Major….

          3. Thing is, Conway, racism cuts all ways, I've worked with them…colour, culture, religion…doesn't cut it..it's 'the other', and if you don't immediately agree you become one of 'the other'. It's really tedious, but then I'm old enough to remember MLK.

          4. For various reasons (largely due to the Diocesan secretary constantly changing the dates of meetings) I haven't yet managed to attend Diocesan Synod. I have a feeling I'm going to be a square peg in a round hole.

        3. What he really means is:

          He didn’t leave me very much but he did leave me a map, and that was an atlas which I put on my bedroom wall. And from this wall I learned about the countries my ancestors had come from, transported from west Africa to Guyana as part of the transatlantic slave trade, long before my parents moved from Guyana to Britain to help rebuild destroy Britain after the Second World War.

        4. If the BBC discusses this (and the EU and Russia statements), it will do so in a dispassionate way, almost academically, without a hint of doubt, let alone surprise.

          If a 'right-winger' [sic] makes the obvious claims that mass immigration has been bad for almost everyone, or dares to suggest that, say, the British Empire wasn't all bad and really wasn't like the Nazi experiment, he/she will be treated with incredulity.

        6. I doubt very much if there was much rebuilding of Britain by the immigrants. I doubt, too, if he knows who was primarily responsible for the transatlantic slave trade (i e bleks selling off other bleks).

          1. If any immigrants did help, it was large numbers of Irish men and women. Contrary to common belief, no invitation went out from any UK government.

          3. And post war too. Here in Birmingham many Irish, including many of the parents of my friends and neighbours, came over during the war and after. I was at Catholic schools and saw this effect directly..

        8. It’s hard to reconcile the sheer altruism of coming to our foggy island to help rebuild post WW2 and the sheer selfishness of abandoning a family of kids.
          Could this be because this is confected mush?

    2. Is there any truth in the rumour that given his penchant for Geography, his school report said: "this boy should go far…..Australia perhaps"?

    1. I had a photo (since binned) of an elderly Pakistani husband and wife with three severely subnormal adult sons lying on the floor. All three were unable to sit up, let alone do anything else.

  94. We went to a parish lunch in the salle de fêtes today and there were about 100 people there.

    The lady mayor of the commune, who knows Caroline, thought I was Caroline's father. I was amused because I look my age (78) while Caroline looks a lot less than her chronological age so it is not entirely surprising but the poor lady mayor was covered in embarrassment and confusion.

    I have recently grown whiskers. Caroline doesn't like them as she says they make me look very old. I like them as I think they make me look seafaring and piratical..

    Caroline wants me to shave them off; I want to keep them. Should I be an uxorious husband and get rid of them or should I refuse to surrender to her indomitable will?

    Fellow Nottlers – I need your advice : please say what you think – be brutal if necessary.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/472d7998622ec65f4c2a4035dd231a7c4f8ed335790f3c790feb2fc84990a451.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3c3cca59fe7b15cad711ec145926c2f5dc13923f6e91aa43d345b9bac0dcd44c.png

    1. Fortunately the photographs are too small to enable me to tell!

      I'd follow Caroline's excellent advice – always best in the long run…

      I do recall that when I was in hospital four years ago, and the MR visited (as she did each day), a bloke in the next bed said just after the MR left, "Your daughter was looking very smart today."

        1. Apropos your comment yesterday about Cleverly…..I can't stand any of the candidates. They are all hypocrites who supported the previous government's eco-freak limp dumb policies to the hilt but NOW say that was all wrong and they realise what now needs to be done. Makes me sick.

    3. Personally, I agree with you Rastus, for the look. However, does your moustache tickle or even scratch Caroline's delicate skin…..if so, she wins. If I were a man, would hate having to shave every day….

        3. I’m sure it must be, Bill, to shave or not to shave. If I were Rastus, I’d want to keep on-side with Caroline….:-))

        4. It used to be. On my recent trip I bought (from Boot's at half price) a top-of-the-range 9000-series Philshave wet-and-dry shaver. It gives me the smoothest shave ever — better, even, than a wet shave — and it accomplishes it in record time.

    6. They are quite aging, Rastush! Alan has a beard and moustache, but not bushy like that and no sideboards!

    9. You are a salty old sea dog. Go the way of your nautical predecessors.

      Maybe a Jack Tar pigtail will suit you. You never know till you try it.😉

    10. You are going to go against your Good Lady's wishes?
      I think we all know where that's going to end don't we?

  95. Modern Life……..
    I come for visit, get treated regal,
    So I stay, who care I illegal?
    I cross border, poor and broke,
    Take bus, see employment folk.

    Nice man treat me good in there,
    Say I need to see welfare.
    Welfare say, "You come no more,
    We send plenty cash right to your door."

    Welfare cheques, they make you wealthy,
    NHS, it keep you healthy!
    By and by, I got plenty money,
    Thanks to you, British dummy.
    Write to friends in motherland,
    Tell them come as fast as you can.
    They come in rags on the back of trucks,
    I buy big house with welfare bucks.

    They come here, we live together,
    More welfare cheques, it gets better!
    Fourteen families they moving in,
    But neighbour's patience wearing thin

    Finally, British guy moves away,
    Now I buy his house, and then I say,
    Find more aliens for house to rent."
    And in the yard I put a tent.
    Send for family (they just trash),
    But they, too, draw the welfare cash!
    Everything is mucho good,
    And soon we own the neighbourhood.

    We have hobby-it's called breeding,
    Welfare pay for baby feeding.
    Kids need dentist? Wife need pills?
    We get free! We got no bills!

    Britishman crazy! He pay all year,
    To keep us illegals in comfort here.
    We think UK is very good place!
    Much too good for the British race.
    If they not like us, they can go,
    There's lots of room elsewhere you know….

    First posted up on another site in 2004.

  96. The bold print is my editing.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/09/22/lucy-letby-hospital-critical-equipment-infant-death-spike/

    "Critical baby monitor at Lucy Letby hospital was broken during infant death spike

    The Telegraph has seen a risk register report from Countess of Chester which shows a blood gas analyser was faulty between 2015 and 2016

    22 September 2024 3:08pm

    A critical machine to monitor babies in the neonatal unit at Lucy Letby’s hospital was broken during the time when infant deaths spiked, a leaked document shows.

    The Telegraph has seen a risk register report from the Countess of Chester which shows that between March 2015 and until at least June 2016, the blood gas analyser was faulty.

    The machine is used to monitor the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood and was “the first port of call” for measuring blood glucose levels, according to the hospital risk register.

    However, the document warns that readings were “not accurate” and that they were having to use heel prick blood tests to provide temporary readings while waiting for laboratory tests to come back with true results. The report warned it was a potential patient safety issue.

    The jury at Letby’s trial was not told about faulty equipment.

    Letby was convicted of the murders of seven newborns and the attempted murders of six infants. A retrial also found her guilty of the attempted murder of another child.
    Commenting on the revelation, Michele Worden, a former advanced neonatal nurse practitioner at the Countess of Chester neonatal unit, said: “The blood gas machine is a vital piece of kit.

    “A blood gas result will enable a clinician to make decisions about increasing/changing respiratory support and oxygen levels.

    “If it is a resuscitation situation it will help clinicians make difficult decisions such as whether to continue etc. Most intensive care units, whether it is adult paediatric or neonatal, will have their own machine.

    “If no machine is available then the blood gas has to be packed in ice and rushed to a biochemistry lab to be processed. The longer this takes the more the sample degrades so you can get incorrect results which may undermine or increase risk of wrong clinical decisions being made, according to experts.”

    The machine is often used when babies are receiving respiratory support to help doctors know when to vary oxygen levels. It is also used to monitor blood sugar and if the results are wrong experts said that it could lead to “the wrong clinical decisions or treatments”.

    Issues of faulty equipment and infections at the neonatal unit at Countess of Chester set to be raised at ongoing Thirlwall Inquiry

    During the Letby trial, the jury heard how babies would often collapse unexpectedly or without warning. But experts said that warning signs may have been harder to pick up with faulty equipment.

    Several of the deaths in the Letby case involved babies whose blood oxygen levels had suddenly dropped.

    One Cambridge professor told The Telegraph that “any trained medical doctor” would know that a broken blood gas analyser “would be of considerable concern”.

    “A drop in blood oxygen is a critical sign of deterioration,” the expert warned.

    In August 2023, Letby was convicted of the murders of seven newborns and the attempted murders of six other infants. A retrial in July also found her guilty of the attempted murder of another child.

    Since the conviction, numerous scientists, statisticians and doctors have expressed concern about the evidence presented to the jury regarding shift patterns, medical conclusions and the standard of care at the Countess of Chester.

    The Telegraph has previously disclosed how at the time when infant mortality rates spiked at the Countess of Chester hospital between 2015 and 2016 – the years in which Letby was convicted of killing the infants – the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa had colonised a tap in the nursery of the neonatal unit.

    Pseudomonas is known to be lethal to vulnerable babies. In 2012, a premature baby died and 12 others needed treatment at Southmead Hospital in Bristol after an outbreak of a water-borne bacterium.

    David Livermore, professor of medical microbiology at the University of East Anglia, said: “The monitor, along with sewage leaks and a Pseudomonas-colonised tap, is more evidence of malfunction in this sub-optimal unit.”

    Issues of faulty equipment and infections on the ward are expected to be raised at the ongoing Thirlwall Inquiry, which is looking into how the deaths at the hospital could have been prevented.

    A spokesman for the Countess of Chester said: “Due to the ongoing Thirlwall Inquiry and police investigations, it would not be appropriate for us to comment at this time.”

  97. CPS twice did not prosecute Fayed over sex abuse claims

    Late Harrods department store owner Mohamed Al Fayed has been accused of rape and sexual assault

    [Thomas Mackintosh BBC News Published 22 September 2024, 08:09 BST
    Updated 3 hours ago]

    The Crown Prosecution Service has said that it twice considered bringing charges against ex-Harrods owner Mohammed Al Fayed but concluded there was no realistic prospect of a conviction.

    Police officers presented the CPS with evidence in 2009 and 2015 "which our prosecutors looked carefully at", it confirmed.

    Fresh allegations are being made about the late billionaire, who died last year at the age of 94.

    A BBC documentary has led to dozens of women coming forward to say they were raped or sexually assaulted by the businessman.

    In 2008, the Metropolitan Police investigated Fayed after a 15-year-old girl said he sexually assaulted her in the Harrods boardroom.

    The force said it handed a file of evidence to the CPS – a step which has to be taken before charges can be issued.

    Three other investigations into claims made by three other women – in 2018, 2021 and 2023 – got to an advanced enough stage that the CPS was called in to advise detectives, as first reported by the Sunday Times, external.

    But, in those instances a full file of evidence was not passed to prosecutors.

    Five things we learned from the news conference

    It feels good to change Fayed's legacy, says survivor

    Fulham 'protected' women's team players from Fayed

    Mohamed Al Fayed accused of multiple rapes by staff

    Watch: Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods

    Fayed bought Harrods in 1985 and sold it in 2010.

    More than 20 women have told the BBC the businessman sexually assaulted or raped them while they worked at Harrods luxury department store in London.

    The legal team representing many of the women making allegations against Fayed outlined their case against Harrods on Friday.

    Harrods’ current owners said earlier this week they were "utterly appalled by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by Mohamed Al Fayed".

    "These were the actions of an individual who was intent on abusing his power wherever he operated and we condemn them in the strongest terms," they said in a response to the BBC investigation.

    "We also acknowledge that during this time his victims were failed and for this we sincerely apologise. We are doing everything we can to fix this."

    1. Will he be found guilty in absentia? Just think if the car crash hadn't happened and Diana had married Dodo Fayed then Prince William and Prince Harry would have had a rapist step-father!

    2. ""We also acknowledge that during this time his victims were failed and for this we sincerely apologise. We are doing everything we can to fix this." ALLEGED victims. As for trying to fix this, what will they do? Hand over the names of Mr Fayed's accomplices, or create a trust fund to reward everyone who claims to have been groped?

    3. ""We also acknowledge that during this time his victims were failed and for this we sincerely apologise. We are doing everything we can to fix this." ALLEGED victims. As for trying to fix this, what will they do? Hand over the names of Mr Fayed's accomplices, or create a trust fund to reward everyone who claims to have been groped?

  98. Rayner attempts to deflect attention from Labour donations row with partygate reminder
    Deputy PM tells conference in Liverpool not to forget ‘partygate, Covid contracts and unfunded tax cuts for the rich’
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/09/22/angela-rayner-not-break-rules-lord-alli-new-york-apartment/

    When you put Sue Gray and Starmer's Beergate escape (Raynor at first lied about whether or not she was there) into the mix is it wise for the deputy prime minister to bring up the matter of Johnson's surprise birthday cake?

    1. Funny, I don't recall Labour making a stink about the covid contracts. All Labour can offer is unfunded spending and increased tax burdens on the poor, so I don't think they have any cause to crow about.

  99. Ah! that's better!
    Fed, bathed and now relaxing with a mug of tea.
    I certainly came in at the right time, 10 min after my last post it was bucketing down again!

      1. I lit a fire in the grate this afternoon and I'm burning wood from the garden. Once the planned power cut is over, I'll light the Rayburn again and I'll be sticking to anthracite, but in the meantime, I'm eking out the house coal.

  101. A brainwashed Birdie Three!

    Wordle 1,191 3/6
    🟨🟨⬜⬜🟨
    🟨🟨⬜🟨🟨
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Par today.

      Wordle 1,191 4/6

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

    2. All the right letters. In the wrong order.

      Wordle 1,191 3/6

      🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜
      🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    3. Very well done Rene! However….however….. get in!!

      Wordle 1,191 2/6

      🟩🟨⬜🟨⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  103. Afternoon, everyone. What a washout today has been. It rained first thing and it never stopped. No chance of doing anything outside so the bulbs remain in their nets. I gave up the idea of going to a local stately home garden that was putting on a display of horse logging because it was bucketing down so hard. The best laid plans, eh? The reading went well at church, I'm pleased to say, but on the way back down a single track road, somebody in a Porsche refused to back into the passing place he'd just gone past. I'd have left him there all day had it not been for the fact another car came up behind him. Then, when I got home, I discovered that, in addition to the leak in my oil tank, the waste trap of the basin in the bathroom is dripping. I wonder what else is going to go wrong? Given that it's now thundering, I just hope the house isn't struck by lightning.

    Why anyone would think that Labour, once it got its trotters in the trough, would not be sleazy, I can't imagine. It goes without saying that it would be hypocritical because socialists always practise do as I say not as I do.

    1. Hopefully things looking better. It's been a washout down here in the sunny uplands of Richmond upon Thames, too (and i note our former MP, Zac Goldsmith, is tying the knot for the THIRD time. It was only a few years ago he deserted wife #1 for the one he has now left. The man is clearly a total cad). I dashed out to the shops earlier for some wholemeal flour with which to make my favourite digestive biscuits, and some potatoes as my daughter is here for dinner, and I snuck a bottle of red wine in for later.

  104. John Major is right: Farage and Reform betrayed Brexit
    For once I agree with him on something, though he still wrong on illegal migration
    Bill Cash : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/09/22/john-major-is-right-farage-and-reform-betrayed-brexit/

    I was sad when Bill Cash left the HoC because he was always very clear-headed and single-minded about Brexit.

    But now I see he had to go because he has become senile and lacking in judgment.

    To be honest the betrayers of Brexit were: the civil servants, the Conservative government, MPs from both sides of the HoC, the majority of the members of the HoL and the MSM.

    Farage helped get Brexit and without him it would never have happened – he was betrayed at first by Johnson, Gove and Frost with their craven surrender deal with the EU and then the rest piled in from all sides to try and demolish Brexit.

    1. Ironically EU states are now guarding their own national boundaries with Hungary ready to send buses full of unwanted immigrants to Brussels, Germany suspending freedom of movement within Europe under Schengen and Italy magically making people arriving in boats disappear from Lampedusa. The French have almost got it right but their government has been left to its own devices.

      How can a left oriented UK Government find the right solution to controlling its nation's borders by consulting the right states in the EU?

    1. Humanity has failed the planet.

      Humanity has failed every other life form.

      Humanity is nature's sole mistake.

      However, nature will recover when humanity goes they way of the dinosaurs.

      A circle of life.

      1. Like it, the structure reminds me of this one, from Hilaire Belloc, I think?
        Radi was a circus lion
        Radi was a woman hater
        Radi had a lady trainer
        Radiator…..

  107. Comment number 501! The old number of the bus that went from Tettenhall to Wolverhampton. Now just the number 1, I'm told

  109. That's me gone. It rained for half an hour midday – nothing since. Some expected overnight and tomorrow morning.

    I'll not be here much tomorrow as there is a "planned power cut" for most of the day. That'll be fun….

    Have a spiffing evening.

    A demain or not.

    2. Good job you don't have an expensive all electric car, then, Bill. Sleep well, and I hope to "see" you and the MR in the morning.

  111. Memes and cartoons from Robert Malone to Substack free subscribers this week:
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/34f9e3feae646d84612991a114e118ce3dad9792194ae9e88e47c8247e907dac.jpg

    This one is already true in software development. People used to read books or ask their colleagues. Then StackOverflow came along! You could ask a question online and someone on the other side of the world would answer it! For free! Then AI came along. Now nobody wants to give away their knowledge for free to be scraped by AI and used by Big Tech to generate profits. And younger engineers just ask AI for answers…this is NOT going to end well…
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e3d6d46d40e83974a630392243033b41cac81e6107ad714ebf17b6e125623d8e.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c596ab02d52c4370202573c75033af80403550011251b2bdce2272ff50a619ca.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/93b6dd9d9ca2552dc26075957481e5cb126e8e1dd655a96acd36e2bac77a4416.jpg

    Lots of wisdom in those old Proverbs…
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d2c64fa2f8e58f7944eec1e925a464613463269f7d330f0f71279182d3e3d273.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3bd406f37ec3924e123dc1a524bf052c5633fad48daf513a8b9d071da95a50fd.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/973cc8d22cea3a062b55e4ba2e5bcbe6586158f2407a64035f83f7f2b40b27d8.jpg

    2. Smirnoff Russian? Nah, I'm sure it used to be made in Warrington. I distinctly remember the advert from a few decades ago: "Smirnoff, the wodka from Varrington." Stolychnya would be more like it.

      Edit to add: I've also read recently an article by someone who tested ChatGPT on a subject he knew well, and found that when it didn't know something it totally fabricated the information, pretending to know it instead of saying the equivalent of 'I don't know'. So the AI cow cartoon is disconcertingly on the money.

          2. Yes, you're right Elsie – definitely from Varrington!

            Amusingly, it was from the Greenhall brewery, who, when they wanted to introduce a 'legitimate' German beer, came up with the quite superb 'Grunhalle'!!

        3. It was Greenalls distillery! They also produced red and white plonk in 2 litre bottles which they asked our Marketing class at Hollings College to taste and compare for them! We drank quite a lot of it but, oddly enough I can’t remember its name! Hirondelle was another popular vino at the time!

      2. Stolly is good. From the freezer – lovely!
        Currently have a glass of Finnish vodka. Good, so it is.

  112. Off topic.
    Silly I know, but whenever certain referees are named as match officials my heart sinks.
    The geyser was old faithful.

    Manchester City vs Arsenal

      1. You damn him with faint praise!
        He has serious "history" with Arsenal.
        Today
        First half 7 minutes added time, Arsenal man sent off at + 8
        Second half, 7 again, City score at + 8

        And just as a matter of interest I would love to know how the off field people came to add so much additional time.

          1. Even THAT wouldn’t change my allegiance, but it’s a close run thing.

            My sons support Dogs’ Breath, just to bait me.

          4. Yes but, do you sing…
            Well I never felt more like gassing the Jews
            When Arsenal win and Tottenham lose!

            (Apologies to those of a sensitive disposition – no offence intended)

          5. Never in a thousand years.
            I believe it was the other way around.

            As far as I’m concerned the “Yids” aspect of the rivalry is offensive.

        2. If you lot hadn’t spent so long rolling around with ‘cramp’ it would have been better, and Crossard is a dumb ass!

  113. Off topic, but pertinent; my computer is displaying a "rain warning"! What has it been doing all day that it's only suddenly noticed it?

    2. Same here, Conners. Torrents of rain forecast from 8 am, so I was working hard in the garden from shortly after 7 am to avoid the rain. But then it only rained (spotted more like) during the day. More rain forecast now to start by 10 pm.

    3. We had a pause in the rainfall this afternoon that allowed me to play with my chain saw, sorting out some of the wood left by the four tree-fellers t'other day.
      Got one tank of fuel used and, after refilling it, came in for a tea and dinner.
      Half an hour later I realised it was bucketing down.

    2. That's where the expression : 'Show us your mettle comes from'… Apparently in the past grinding stones were rather rough and from time to time caused part of the blade to break with metal splinters flying off and embedding themselves under the wrist's skin. An experienced worker applying for a job as a blade sharpener was simply asked to 'show us your metal, before being made a job offer…

  115. It turns out that when asked who your favourite child is, you're supposed to pick out one of your own. I am knowing that now.

    1. It is unwise to have any favourite children at all, Paul, except to make a fuss of each of them in turn on their birthdays.

          1. It hinges on a misunderstanding. “Everybody” knows that you are supposed to name one of your own kids (or, better still, love them all equally), but the joke teller needed reminded.

    2. Who do you like more Daddy, me or Mongo?

      Neither. You're both smelly and needed toilet training.

      This is the WRONG answer!

      Wot I really said 'You're both wonderful and I love you equally in different ways.'

  116. I wrote yesterday afternoon of the storm we had in Wellingborough. Compared with today 'twas but a shower. Rain fell on and off through the small hours, culminating in a 20-minute deluge after 8am. The middle of the day was dry but steady rain set in again at about 4pm and we've just had another torrent, this one with a light and sound show. Fire engines are out and about so someone's been struck.

    Some local weather stations (Northampton-Rushden-Bedford) have recorded 60-80mm of rain since midnight.

    1. I got intro trouble by asking if that was the brother or the sister in the picture wearing the dressing gown.

      I also expect the council to give them whatever they want.

        1. I remember another example wher an Abdul extended his house illegally, his neighbour complained and a Mohammed on the council waved it through and let him off.

  119. 393285+ up ticks,

    Pillow ponder,

    No dredging,No road drain entrance maintenance as in BLOCKED
    on a massive scale.
    In the main the rain can't get down the drain, ALL to give credence to a weather scam.

    Dt,
    Rain warning issued as floods set to hit parts of UK
    Warning for Monday follows heavy rain on Sunday, with some areas seeing a fortnight’s worth of rain in an hour

    Could very well be taken as orchestrated flooding when realising
    the months / years of maintenance neglect

    1. It is the responsibililty of counclis to clear culverts and keep roads open. If the council haven't done that – and they haven't around here for decades – why can't we get our money back?

    1. From Coffee House, the Spectator

      Labour minister: we could be in power for 25 years
      Comments Share 22 September 2024, 5:51pm
      Party conferences are never short of hyperbole. Whether it’s on the conference floor or the late night bar, impromptu speeches and after dinner speeches are often peppered with the kind of comments which come back to haunt a political party as their fortunes change for the worse. And while this year’s Labour jamboree is only a few hours’ old, it seems we may already have our quote of the conference. Congratulations to Darren Jones, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, for issuing this challenge to fellow delegates when he addressed them earlier today:

      I want our Labour Party to become the natural party of government. A title the Conservative party claimed for years, but we can take it from them. We have the chance to prove that we are the changemakers. That our changed Labour Party can be trusted to govern. Not just for one or two terms, but three, four and five.

      Twenty-five years in power? Perhaps they ought to try making it to twenty-five weeks first. Mr S is never one to mock ambition but even Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have only ever talked a ‘decade of renewal’ – suggesting two terms would be their limit. Perhaps after the pre-Budget spending round next month, Darren Jones might consider his conference challenge to be a little bit optimistic…

      1. They have proved within a very short time that they are not fit to govern. Heaven help us with another four years, let alone a couple of decades.

    1. I'm not an 'X' member but I think I've copied and pasted it to my rarely used Facebook account. Too funny not to.

    1. However, Lord Alli decided to attend the conference despite the controversy over his donations of £25,000 towards clothing for Sir Keir and his wife. Lord Alli is not accused of any wrongdoing.

      John Glen, a Tory MP, said it was “deeply concerning” that the Downing Street pass had been issued to Lord Alli at all. Mr Glen has written to Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, demanding to know whether Ms Gray or Sir Kier had authorised the pass.

      “No wonder she’s on a higher salary than the Prime Minister,” he said. “It’s now clear that it’s Sue Gray – not Sir Keir – who decides who comes in and out of No 10.”

      Downing Street has declined to comment on the reports. Last month, it said the pass was “temporary” and had been “given back several weeks ago”.

      The Downing Street pass gave Lord Alli, 59 – who was ennobled by Tony Blair in 1998 and led the party’s fundraising for the general election – unrestricted access to No 10. At the time, sources said it was rare for anyone not formally employed as a political adviser or civil servant to be given such a pass.

      Pat McFadden, the Cabinet Office minister, said Lord Alli brought “a huge amount to the Labour party” and “was an important part of the election campaign”. He added: “I don’t believe there’s anything done here that’s in conflict with the rules.”

      It came as Cabinet ministers rallied round Ms Gray and dismissed speculation that she could soon leave No 10. Asked whether Ms Gray would still be in Downing Street at Christmas, Angela Rayner told BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg “I think so, absolutely”, she replied when asked on BBC One.

      Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, also voiced support. She told Sky News: “What I would say about Sue Gray is that she is someone who brings enormous expertise, particularly in the running of Government, to this role.

      “In the dealings that I’ve had with Sue, [she] has always been highly professional and focused on delivering.”

      It also emerged on Sunday that Civil Service pay bands were set by a panel chaired by a long-standing ally of Ms Gray. Darren Tierney, Parliament’s head of propriety and ethics, worked alongside her in the Civil Service.

      On July 12, less than a week after Labour’s election victory, a paper recommending that Ms Gray earn at least as much as she had in opposition was written by Mr Tierney and sent to Mr Case. He discussed it with Sir Keir and he agreed to the £170,000 salary – £3,000 more than the Prime Minister’s pay.

      Ms Gray has one of the biggest public profiles for a Downing Street insider in recent years, in part thanks to her role in Boris Johnson’s departure as prime minister.

      While still in the Civil Service, she led the Whitehall investigation into claims of parties at the heart of government during Covid lockdowns. Her findings were passed onto the Metropolitan Police, which eventually found that dozens of individuals had broken lockdown laws with events in Downing Street or the Cabinet Office.

      Join the conversation

      Tiberius Caesar
      2 min ago
      Labour in deep trouble less than 3 months in office. Ali, giving freebies to Starmer, Reeves, Rayner and more, obviously influencing political decisions. This is corruption on a massive scale, including Grey. This Government cannot continue, call the election now.

  130. Well, chums, it's now my bedtime. Good night, sleep well and I hope to see you all tomorrow rested and refleshed.

  131. Goodnight, all. My amber "rain warning" has now turned to yellow. I'm off to bed before I'm flooded out.

    1. When judging how attractive a person is the most important thing is the face.

      When Sir Lancelot sees the dead Lady of Shallott he observes:

      She has a lovely face
      God in his mercy lend her grace
      The Lady of Shallott

      And I use the Lady of Shallott scale in my assessments.

      Ingrid Bergman scores 10/10.

  135. Awake in the small hours so looking at this morning's letters.
    The 1st letter is spot on, he's not one of us is he?

    SIR – You discuss “how Covid destroyed our lives, from newborns to pensioners” (News Focus, September 21).

    However, Covid, in and of itself, did not cause many of the problems you mention: the government did.

    The effectiveness of its draconian approach in containing the virus remains unclear. But the psychological effects have been far-reaching – and the financial damage to both individuals and the country as a whole will never be reversed.

    With flawed science began a downward spiral that continues today.

    Simon Crowley
    Kemsing, Kent

    1. Dr David Martin, amongst a number of specialities is an expert on reading, understanding and following patent trails, has uncovered that the virus (from the Latin: poison, venom) is:

      'infectious replication defective' = a weapon that targets an individual but does not have collateral damage to other individuals.

      i.e. it cannot spread from person to person.

      ( Dr Denis Rancourt: analysis and conclusion re Covid-Sars-02 and international borders )

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9dd2c01d4ee17f2cdbae74a31a1f366be9165d9df295d9d7fff3080294fdc369.png
      Denis Rancourt

      This pathogen's patent trail goes back decades.

      The 'containment' requirement was a ruse to create the very conditions that we have witnessed and suffered. It continues to this day with the announcement of yet another "variant" popping up here and there.

      And as for the "vaccines"…

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