Sunday 23 August: What happened to Boris Johnson’s inspiring brand of Conservatism?

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2020/08/22/letters-happened-boris-johnsons-inspiring-brand-conservatism/

658 thoughts on “Sunday 23 August: What happened to Boris Johnson’s inspiring brand of Conservatism?”

  1. Morning Folks. Here’s another thought provoking piece from John Ward:

    “In what is being widely seen (by me) as a miracle up there with Red Sea partings and water into wine, The Times today has finally managed to shake off its self-imposed D-Notice and point out how Contrick19 NHS obsession is going to kill far more people than Coronavirus could ever manage:”

    https://therealslog.com/2020/08/22/covid19-only-deadly-as-an-instrument-of-unregulated-propaganda/

    1. Turned on to LBC, first time for a while, and caught some male advocating the wearing of visors when going out. His argument was based on the idea that the virus cannot both penetrate the visor material and defy gravity, ergo the virus will fall to the ground. If his thesis is correct then we should by now be knee deep in all the virus particles that have been attracted to the Earth’s surface and Sage’s next advisory package should ban bending down to tie your shoelaces.😎

      1. Good morning, D F-P

        James Dyson should invent a special vacuum cleaner to suck them all up.

      2. Therefore ‘taking the knee’ should be encouraged it might rid us of morons.
        How are you Korky?

      3. Superb; I can hear all those viruses scraping down the visor, like finger nails on a black board.
        Followed by a scream and a thud as they hit the desk.

  2. Good Morning, all.

    What fun….!

    SIR – A colleague, emigrating with his family to New Zealand many years ago, noticed a prolonged absence of his children.

    He finally found them, taking turns to dangle each other by the ankles over the side of the ship. The one who made the lowest mark with a crayon was declared the winner.

    Anthony Gales
    Henham, Essex

    3. As a (idiot) child i used to climb silver birch as high as i could and then swing backwards and forwards in ever increasing arcs.

    4. Hopefully, this was when crossing the Equator, when down would become up, thus ensuring that they would not fall down, but back up into the ship.
      Many years ago we noticed that our eldest child had a scraped knee. She had tripped she said. It was not serious and a wash and an application of ointment sorted it. A number of years later, we learned the whole truth. On returning from school one day our child realised that she had forgotten her house key. She had left her bedroom window open so she climbed on to the roof of the extension from where she could access the window. She slipped and fell off the roof at the first attempt. She then succeeded at the second attempt. She swore her siblings to secrecy. The secret was kept for many years.

  3. ‘Morning All

    Hitchens on form

    “I’m used to being treated with contempt by

    insolent officialdom, all over the world. I don’t take it personally

    because they don’t mean it personally. It is what despotisms are like,

    and it always will be. The individual counts for nothing against the

    state and don’t you forget it. Go home and stay there till we tell you

    that you can come out.

    But I still

    treasure a dying belief that this country is different. Here, I like to

    tell myself, we have an independent, honest Civil Service. Here we have a

    Government that is – in theory – answerable to a free Parliament and

    restrained by a strong, free press.

    But all this has gone, in the space of a few fear-dominated weeks. So they

    can mess up your life without consequences, and they no longer worry

    about being held to account for it.

    This is what makes this whole business so sinister and dark, the way in

    which an over-hyped virus is being used to gather unaccountable power in

    too few hands.

    Why does

    everyone miss the single most important point about the exam crisis?

    None of it would have happened if the Government had not, quite

    needlessly, closed the schools.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-8654265/PETER-HITCHENS-holiday-wrecking-quarantines-worth-Government-havent-clue.html

  4. Sigh,I’m shocked,shocked I tell you
    SIX MILLION furloughed workers broke the rules by doing their jobs
    from home during lockdown, as a major report finds the ban on working
    was ‘routinely ignored’ and people were ‘compelled’ to work by bosses
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8654405/SIX-MILLION-furloughed-workers-broke-rules-doing-jobs-home-lockdown-major-report-finds.html
    Government spraying free money around with no checks leads to rampant fraud,who could possibly of foreseen this…………..
    Now about this meal deal scheme………………
    Fuckwits,fuckwits everywhere

    1. What is the point of government?
      To protect the borders and promote law and order within them, so that citizens can go about the business of creating wealth and raising the next generation in peace and stability.

      Our government seems to think that its point is to relieve us of as much wealth as possible and re-distribute it among various criminals.

    2. Day after day, day after day,
      We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
      As idle as a painted ship
      Upon the Covid ocean.

      Fuckwits, fuckwits every where,
      And common sense did shrink;
      Fuckwits, fuckwits every where,
      Nor any dare to think.

      The very deep did rot: O Christ!
      That ever this should be!
      Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs
      Upon the Covid sea.

      (With apols to ST Coleridge)

      1. Was the eponymous hero of the original poem a very bad goalkeeper or a very bad wicket keeper as he only managed to stop one in three?

  5. Morning all

    SIR – I am becoming disappointed with Boris Johnson. After dealing so stalwartly with the “rotten Parliament”, he now appears to have lost all his fight, allowing himself to be captured by cautious statists as the country slides ever further into economic decline.

    Where is the inspirational confidence that got Mr Johnson where he is, and which is so sorely needed to lead the country out of its seclusion? Where are his radical Conservative instincts? He must get a grip.

    Nicholas Dobson

    Doncaster, South Yorkshire

    SIR – This terrified Government is already losing credibility and will pay heavily at the next election for its craven policies.

    The exam fiasco, for example, was entirely of its own making. Was it not able to see that preventing students from taking their exams would bring dire consequences? It would have been possible for social distancing to be observed – after all, candidates have always sat apart in order to stop plagiarism.

    Brian Clarke

    Canterbury, Kent

    ADVERTISING

    Ads by Teads

    SIR – While Boris Johnson apparently refuses to consider sacking incompetent Cabinet ministers such Matt Hancock and Gavin Williamson, he exposes himself to considerable political and public ridicule.

    These ministers may try to blame civil servants and Quangos, but the fact is that the buck stops at the top, and they have clearly demonstrated that they do not have what it takes to lead their departments. Sir Graham Brady needs to remind Mr Johnson that loyalty to political allies cannot come at the price of public confidence.

    Kim Potter

    Lambourn, Berkshire

    SIR – Allison Pearson argues that, if Gavin Williamson won’t go, he must be sacked.

    I was a diplomat working in London when Lord Carrington resigned as a matter of principle after what he saw as his department’s failures over the Falkland Islands. He didn’t seek to shift the blame. He behaved honourably.

    The Prime Minister is admirable in his support of those close to him. But the time has come for him to recognise the damage that is done to the country, the Government and his party when he continues to back someone who is manifestly not up to the job.

    Christopher Wilton

    Petersfield, Hampshire

  6. SIR – Given that some of the main consequences of Covid-19 have included a reduction in commuting and rail travel in general, along with a massive expansion of the public debt burden, time is surely up for HS2.

    It is now a bigger white elephant than ever – and the saving on the capital cost would be useful to the Government as it attempts to get its finances in order.

    Dr R G Beddows

    Kingsbridge, Devon

    1. I suspect they are hoping HS2 will provide a few jobs, plus of course they can’t say no to the Chinese now.

    2. HS2 was nothing to do with public transport, and everything to do with opening up the Chilterns to lucrative executive housing development business opportunities as soon as they neutralised the pesky nimbies in the local authorities by relaxing planning regulations there for their cronies.

      Everything going to plan – they used the lockdown when everyone was stuck at home to bring in the diggers to tear up any protected sites, presumably without needing themselves to comply with lockdown rules.

      I understand Robert Jenrick is preparing the Phase Two legislation, which will be rubberstamped through Parliament whilst everyone is stuck at home with their appropriately-censored Zoom links.

  7. Morning again

    SIR – Tom Bliss (Letters, August 16) is spot on with his critique of the strawberry situation.

    I was a wholesale and retail greengrocer from the early Sixties to the end of the Nineties. The strawberry season was short but certainly sweet. The priority was to buy them and sell them on the same day. Hopefully they would be eaten that day, too.

    As Mr Bliss writes, shelf life is now considered more important than taste.

    David Hughes

    Llandudno, Conwy

    SIR – Alpine strawberries are delightfully sweet and full of flavour.

    They are also known as Queen of the Valley – an appropriate name, as they are grown on Balmoral estate for the delectation of the Queen during her summer sojourn.

    Patrick Tracey

    Carlisle, Cumbria

    SIR – What has happened to tomatoes? There used to be greenhouses near my home in North Wales, where my family were able to buy tender, just-ripe ones. They were wonderful.

    Today’s very red, over-ripe offerings are so inferior in flavour and texture that I fear young people will never know the pleasure of eating a really luscious tomato (unless they have grown it themselves).

    Dorothy Edney

    Walton-on-Thames, Surrey

    1. This chap may be very good at ridiculing those things and people who need ridiculing but he is too convincing and gives me the creeps in the same way that Ricky Gervais does.

      1. I saw “The Office” on Swedish TV. I missed the first few minutes & for quite a while I thought it was a real-life documentary.

  9. SIR – Douglas Murray likens our universities to “indoctrination camps”.

    He may well have a point. In some ways universities seem hell-bent on imitating the medieval church in implementing rigid, prescriptive attitudes and thinking – when they should be upholders of free speech.

    Students should not be clones: they should be encouraged to debate, amicably, and submit contentious essays. They should also resist the puerile temptation to put their hands over their ears in “safe spaces” or – even worse – attempt to have banned those books which they find intimidating.

    Duncan McAra

    Bishopbriggs, Dunbartonshire

    SIR – Mr Murray rails against university students being “factory-farm[ed] to have the same boring and malevolent views” regarding politics and ideology.

    I graduated almost exactly one year ago, and I must say that I do not recognise this argument, as compelling as it no doubt sounds. I cannot speak for universities in cathedral cities, nor can I profess knowledge of degrees in the subjects Mr Murray bemoans, but my experience as a student of English literature couldn’t have been more different from the picture he paints.

    In my classes, students were always encouraged to think for themselves, and to come to their own conclusions, whether about politics, philosophy or economics. I never knew of anyone being castigated for expressing an unpopular opinion.

    Perhaps I was lucky, but my friends at other universities say likewise, so I’d simply caution against an assumption that all universities, all courses, all lecturers and all students are somehow all the same.

    Sebastian Monblat

    Sutton, Surrey

    1. Part of the problem is that when we see students protesting , pulling down statues or defacing monuments they seem all to be as dim as a TocH lamp.

    2. If Sebastian Monblat only graduated a year ago, how can he judge? He may not have realised how students were manipulated to reach their own “right” conclusions.

  10. SIR – Apropos of Samantha Cameron giving unwanted items of clothing to charity, I intend to move home shortly and have cleared out the loft.

    Since the relaxation of lockdown, charity shops, eBay and Freecycle have been inundated with things. Does anyone have any useful suggestions as to what to do with 
items like trouser presses, riding boots, decorative bowls and record players?

    Francine Gee

    Purley, Surrey

      1. And, by all means, leave any Cameron outside your house with a sign saying “Free – help yourself”

  11. When will this Government accept the fact the BBC is now consumed with a left wing globalist agenda and as such should be consigned to the dustbin of history in its present form.
    The paragraph I highlighted in bold is an example how out of touch this Government is.
    If it is to survive it must be as a subscription service, you want to see and hear the BBC’s agenda, you pay for it.

    Next BBC boss must tackle bias, say ministers

    By Harry Yorke, Political Correspondent 22 August 2020 • 6:00pm

    The next chair of the BBC must help restore the broadcaster’s reputation for impartiality, ministers believe, as they prepare to publish a job advert for the role within days.
    Amid mounting frustration within Government over the corporation’s news programmes, The Telegraph has been told the successful candidate will be tasked with reviving trust in its reporting. Whitehall sources involved in the process of replacing Sir David Clementi, the outgoing chair, also believe applicants for the role will need to be help guide it through “significant reform.” This includes the potential decriminalisation of the non-payment of the licence fee, a move which would place further strain on the corporation’s finances.
    The focus on the BBC’s impartiality follows a fresh row last week after Newsnight’s policy editor Lewis Goodall was accused of “off the scale” bias for writing for a Left-wing magazine attacking the Government’s handling of the exam crisis. While the BBC insisted the article had met its impartiality guidelines, it comes just months after presenter Emily Maitis was reprimanded over a monologue attacking the Government’s handling of Dominic Cummings’ lockdown trip to Durham.
    The new chair will be expected to work closely with Tim Davie, the new director general, who ministers believe is in the “mood to be radical” in shaking up the BBC at a time of major upheaval in broadcasting. It is understood that the £100,000-a-year role will also be “beefed up”, reflecting the Government’s desire for the next chair to play an influential role in driving through changes.
    It comes after the Telegraph last week revealed that former Tory Cabinet minister Nicky Morgan had been touted as a contender, with another believed to come from the tech sector. However, Government insiders have played down suggestions there is a firm favourite to land the job, insisting that ministers are waiting to see who applies before making any judgement.
    Speaking to the Telegraph on Saturday, a Government source said: “There is a considerable concern around impartiality and objectivity. It’s not that the BBC is left-wing and Labour supporting, it clearly isn’t.
    “But lots of people think its news programmes seem only to be interested in picking holes in the Government or digging up embarrassing quotes.
    “They are far less interested in listening to what ministers have to say than trying to trip them up in a way that is not entirely relevant.
    “The job of the Today programme is not to chase headlines, but to ask probing questions. Newsnight is no better. It’s a relatively recent trend.”
    Previously, Downing Street temporarily ordered ministers to boycott BBC Radio 4’s Today programme over anger at the broadcaster’s general election coverage. The BBC has also come under intense criticism from supporters of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. While critics of the BBC believe it should switch to a subscription model, the source suggested instead that the new chair would need to work with its senior leadership to help it become “leaner, fitter, and concentrating on doing fewer things and doing them better.”
    “In the new world of broadcasting where there is so much choice the BBC doesn’t need to be doing everything. There are big questions about size and scope,” they continued.
    They also suggested that there was a “greater opportunity” for the corporation to generate greater revenues from its overseas services, such as BBC Worldwide.
    The Royal Charter states that the appointment of the chairman may only be made “following a fair and open competition”. The Secretary of State must consult the BBC on the process for appointing the chairman, including on the job specification. The search for a new candidate has to be conducted in line with the Governance Code on Public Appointments, a lengthy process which involves a selection panel shortlisting candidates and conducting interviews before preparing a report on the preferred candidate and submitting it to the Culture Secretary

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/08/22/next-bbc-boss-must-tackle-bias-say-ministers/

  14. An elderly fogey writes: Am I the only person who does not find Caitlin Moran remotely funny?

    1. I have yet to find this ‘Caitlin Moran’ – but I’ll take your word if she’s Moranic……..

        1. I’m on record as not knowingly subscribing to any Murdoch product since the **** promoted Blair in 1997.

        1. From the comments it sounds as if she needs to be taken off it as soon as possible……

      1. Au contraire – it has descended from being a great newspaper of record to a tawdry, gossip filled red-top.

          1. Years ago when Chris Tarrant had a breakfast show he said he felt sorry for people who bought the Sun as they couldn’t write in and complain.

          1. “Me – me – me..aren’t I just too cute and funny for words?”

            She wrote a “hysterical” autobiography which has been made into a “kooky” film – to loud acclaim for her fellow witterers.

          2. From Wiki.

            Feminism

            In 2011, Ebury Press published Moran’s book How to Be a Woman
            in the UK, which details her early life including her views on
            feminism. As of July 2012, it had sold over 400,000 copies in 16
            countries.[17]

            Moran is a supporter of the Women’s Equality Party.[18]

            In March 2017, in an article she wrote for the Penguin
            publishing house, Moran suggested that young girls should not read
            books written by men at all, or “at least” until they are “older, and
            fully-formed, and battle-ready”, singling out the books written by:

            …the Great White Males; Faulkner, Chandler, Hemingway, Roth. The canonically brilliant. The men
            in them are brilliant, clever, awkward, compelling, complex – their
            stories drag you in, their voices are unstoppable. The dazzle and flair
            is undeniable.[19]

            Moran claimed that the fact she never read books by men when she was
            younger made her, “perhaps”, happier in herself, more confident about
            writing the truth, and less apt to run herself down for her appearance,
            weight, loudness and unusualness “than many, many other women”.[19]

          5. She is deranged. Just reading that she avoided books by men and was happier for it. How does she know?

            I think she started from the premise of being man hating and then justified it in reverse order.

  15. Good Moaning.
    Even the hysteria hyping DM is beginning to think. This from Dr. Ellie Cannon:

    “Life would be harder in a zero-Covid UK

    Zero-Covid – or eliminating Covid-19 from the UK almost entirely, with barely any cases detectable – is the strategy Boris Johnson must adopt if we’ve any chance of beating the pandemic. So said the All Party Parliamentary Group on Coronavirus last week.

    And it might sound desirable… but it is not only a deeply unrealistic approach, it’s harmful too, when you consider what we’d have to sacrifice to achieve it.

    It would involve stricter, more frequent lockdowns, the obliteration of the economy, more delays to vital cancer treatment, less access to healthcare and crushing insecurity for all Britons.

    It’s a pointless goal too. We’ve never got to zero measles or zero tuberculosis, despite successful vaccinations – and we cope just fine with the few cases that crop up every year.

    There’s nothing to suggest Covid-19 wouldn’t end up following the same manageable path. We must lose the meaningless buzz-words and focus on accepting our new reality instead. It’s the most realistic, and healthiest, option.”

    1. How much longer can the get away with using the Pandemic cover story as a ruse for bringing in revolutionary change to save the planet.

      2. We are now getting the ‘second wave’ hype.
        Which includes block booking spare beds in care home from October 1st.
        So we now have to undergo the same farrago to save the government’s increasingly expensive face.

      3. If “they” want to save the planet “they” should let the virus rip through the world’s population and allow it to kill as many as possible. That would reduce demand for almost everything and leave a lot more natural resources for those who are left.

        Assuming of course that it wipes out the sickest, most ignorant and naturally the oldest.

        Those that are left should learn from the past, but won’t of course..

        1. They will need something far worse than covid if they wanted to do that, then there is the danger that the elites will get it as well.
          We are going to end up with tens of millions of unemployed people that are surplus to requirements by the time they have finished saving the planet, you know what that means, a major world war or a cull.
          I think our elites are mad enough to carry it out.

        2. They will need something far worse than covid if they wanted to do that, then there is the danger that the elites will get it as well.
          We are going to end up with tens of millions of unemployed people that are surplus to requirements by the time they have finished saving the planet, you know what that means, a major world war or a cull.
          I think our elites are mad enough to carry it out.

    2. 322938+ up ticks,
      Morning Anne,
      You mean we must allow Mr Common Sense to re-enter daily life, example, above all polling booths a question
      What has your party done to you / done for you since the last GE, then vote accordingly.

    3. Good morning Anne

      I agree with you. But have there not been some ailments which have been completely eliminated? What is the position with polio and smallpox in Britain? And am I correct in suspecting that mass immigration seems to be bringing tropical diseases into to Britain?

      1. In my view, claiming that any disease has been eliminated is hubris on stilts.
        The diseases may mutate, but they are always there.
        The Sweating Sickness (possibly a form of flu) seems to have lasted from approx. 1490 to 1560. Even allowing for medical terms (“rising of the lights”, anyone?) it is far more likely that it simply reduced in virulence and continued on its merry way. No virus or bacterium survives if it is too efficient in killing its hosts.

        1. ‘Morning, Anne.

          15 Historic Diseases that Competed with Bubonic Plague …www.mentalfloss.com › article › 15-historic-diseases-com…
          Physicians and scholars have debated the origin of the term rising of the lights. According to the OED, the condition indicated any kind of illness characterized by a hoarse cough, difficulty breathing, or a choking sensation. Croup, asthma, pneumonia, and emphysema were all culprits.

          “

      2. I presume the drive to eliminate polio and smallpox was because they were such lethal diseases and were, I would guess, a major cause of death at the time they were prevalent. Covid19 just isn’t in the same class. 90% of deaths in the UK today are cancer and heart disease (the illnesses doctors aren’t treating at the moment).

      3. From Wiki.

        In 2018, Newham had the lowest life expectancy and the highest rate of heart disease of all London boroughs together with the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.[10]

        In 2019, the BBC reported that Newham had the highest rate of tuberculosis in the UK at 107 per 100000 population, which was higher than Rwanda (69) and Iraq
        (45) according to WHO figures from 2013. More than 80% of TB cases in
        London occur in people born abroad. The UK average was 13.[11]

        I bet you can guess which demographic are the most diseased.

    3. 322938+ up ticks,
      TB,
      “Has london been given away”
      Most certainly has,pearly kings & queens dethroned
      & capital city gifted via the lab/lib/con coalition party
      as a submissive / appeasement package.

  18. Devon council maybe finding out that rash (?) virtue-signalling has consequences.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/841ba0abde15724eb40b396bf7eec10796df90f78fc162fb57ebb77e1f26c620.png

    https://twitter.com/i/redirect?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FDawnWestcott%2Fstatus%2F1297315676336594944%3Fcn%3DZmxleGlibGVfcmVjcw%253D%253D%26refsrc%3Demail&t=1+1598167121981&cn=ZmxleGlibGVfcmVjcw%3D%3D&sig=568fb1e88ddf3d221ea540872f9c4c1a05afa561&iid=5bdb5542082245cbaa14791c52d149b1&uid=501022996&nid=244+272699399

    1. Dorset has welcomed 82 Syrian refugees as part of the national resettlement scheme in nine different locations across the county. The most recent family arrived on March 3. However, all resettlement is now suspended due to the coronavirus.

      1. Morning T-B – This must be part of the Government’s integration plan which could backfire.

      3. The 28-30year olds that are coming in claiming to be children should, IF being allowed entry, be made to attend school until they get some qualifications.

  19. Finnish female conductor and a load of bames to wreck Last Night of Proms. Said Finn wants to “play down nationalism…”

    2. BBC source said “Dalia is a big supporter of Black Lives Matter and thinks a ceremony without an audience is the perfect moment to bring about change”.

      Presumably the worry is that if an audience was present they might make their feelings pretty clear, as some sportsmen have found to their cost in USA when kneeling.

    3. Quite right, Finland should have been incorporated into the Soviet Union. If you see her, tell her.

  21. Bill Gates – SAGE – conflict of interest alert !

    Mail to a Tory MP…………..

    I see that Oxford University, Imperial College, the London School of Tropical Medicine and the Welcome Trust are all participants of SAGE, and Chris Whitty.

    I’m really surprised you didn’t mention in your topic that multi billionaire Bill Gates has poured money into the first three, works closely with the fourth and knows the fifth personally from as long ago as 2008 in connection with malaria research.

    Shouldn’t an interest be declared here ?

    Because it looks like Bill Gates is consequently a participant of SAGE, in effect, and he has a financial interest in mass vaccination from UK government purchase involving huge sums of money.

    So now we know that in addition to pouring money into the UK media and having friends in the UK government, Gates is in effect in SAGE.

    Nobody ever mentions this of course, and I’m sure you will want the foregoing to remain secret along with everything else relating to multi billionaires!

    I wonder why ?

      1. True, Sir, but in mitigation I did send the mail below on August 20 having stolen the content from one of your posts!

        —

        How interesting that certain UK media organizations have been given vast sums of money by the Gates Foundation in recent years.

        https://www.theguardian.com/info/2018/oct/02/philanthropic-partnerships-at-the-guardian

        https://unitynewsnetwork.co.uk/revealed-bbc-charity-receives-millions-in-funding-from-gates-foundation/

        I totalled the grants I could find given by the Gates Foundation to Guardian News & Media, approx $12,000,000, and BBC Media Action, approx $50,000,000, and that might be just the tip of the iceberg.

        Even the Daily Telegraph picked up approx $3,500,000 in November 2017

        https://www.gatesfoundation.org/How-We-Work/Quick-Links/Grants-Database/Grants/2017/11/OPP1179441

        The BBC also took payment from the International Organisation for Migration amounting to approx $1,750,000

        So there is a lot of funding here which deserves much closer analysis.

        Polly

  22. The Skripals were ‘frozen like statues’: Hamish de Bretton-Gordon. 23 August 2020.

    I took my phone out of my pocket and quickly gave it a glance. There were 52 missed calls and 108 WhatsApp messages. This was unusual. Something was clearly up.

    Quickly finding a quiet corner after having come off a stage in Abu Dhabi where I had been delivering a keynote address at a security conference that day in March 2018, I noticed that, most worryingly, one of the missed calls was from a number I knew to be from friends in the intelligence world.

    Morning everyone. If I ever had any doubts (which I don’t) that Bre-Go is a member of that gang of ex-MI6 morons who actually carried out the attack on the Skripal’s this piece of rubbish would confirm it. According to this self-penned account he diagnosed Novichok from a hotel in Abu Dhabi sometime around seven o’clock GMT on the evening of the attack. This is no mean feat since they had only been in hospital for two hours but modesty has never been a hindrance to our Hamish. There is also the minor point that the conference he refers to didn’t start until March 6 2018, two days after the attack! The whole thing is riddled with similar lies and inconsistencies.

    My own view is that there is probably a thread of truth at the core of this story. Bretton-Gordon did indeed receive a phone call from his co-conspirators in the UK but it was one of panic. They had attempted to kill the Skripals on the suspicion that Sergei was returning to Russia, failed and the roof was now going to fall in. Bretton calmed them, advanced the Novichok story and then returned (missing the Conference entirely) to the UK and set about organising the Fake Official Narrative that exists to this day.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8654425/Britains-chemical-weapons-expert-provides-gripping-account-Salisbury-attack.html

    2. “Quick, Watson. Hail a hackney cab for Liverpool Street. With luck, we should catch the 8.51 for Stock.”

    1. ‘Defund the police’ they say.
      Who are they going to call when some equally extreme knobhead with opposing views decides to take the law into their own hands, and stabs a couple of them, or one of them gets pick pocketed during the rally or one of them gets raped on the way home?

      Just askin’.

    1. Precisely. If the hired hand is not prepared to do our bidding, sack her. She should do as she is told (perhaps that is what the treacherous beeb is telling her to do).

    3. It is similar to the bame who refused to sing “On the road to Mandalay” in honour of the Forgotten Army on VJ Day = because the tosser objected to one line in one verse.

      These barstards are out to kill off the whites.

  25. ‘Morning, Peeps.

    Like the Daily Fail yesterday, Charles Moore is getting stuck in to the National Trust and its latest load of old bolleaux:

    “The National Trust: could an organisation want a better name? To be national and to be trusted is the ambition of every major British charity, institution, business and political party*. Since its foundation in 1895, the National Trust has, on the whole, lived up to its name. It is the most successful heritage organisation in the world. That is why it has more than 600,000 acres and nearly six million members.

    It is interesting to recall the trust’s full name. It is The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty. This title links buildings with gardens, landscapes and coastline. Whenever people within the Trust have tried to break that link, there has been trouble. Whenever they have strengthened it, there has been success.

    Historically, there has always been a tension between what a great former supporter, Sir John Smith, called “the Lilies and the Boots”. The Lilies were the aesthete curators who cared about the collections and fabric of the more than 200 historic houses. The Boots were the land agents who wanted to make the estates work and preferred the great outdoors.

    This tension was usually more creative than destructive. The relationship between what is built by man and what is grown by harnessing nature is a glory of the British landscape. The National Trust has maintained this relationship, and sometimes improved it. That is what ensures its appeal to people of all classes and widely differing tastes. Members understand that it is all one thing – what Beatrix Potter, inventor of Peter Rabbit and Tom Kitten, called “a noble thing”. Because she believed this, she bequeathed the trust 4,000 acres of the Lake District. Its current headquarters is called Heelis – her married name – in her honour.

    But in recent years, something else has entered the fray. Now Covid-19 has brought it out into the open.

    This week, two documents have found their way into the public domain. The first, from the NT director, Hilary McGrady, introduced a “consultation” on the “Reset Programme”. In plainer English, she means job cuts. The trust is losing £200 million this year, caused, she says, by the coronavirus.

    There is the usual patter about biodiversity and carbon footprint, diversity and inclusion, “community”, Equality Impact Assessments, “unconscious bias” and “how the collections came to be” (which I take to be a coded reference to the profits of slavery). But in essence, the paper is lists and charts of lost jobs and new ways of working, mainly by centralisation. Food, for example, will come from “Whole Trust Delivery Teams”, not from the land and gardens the trust owns.

    Although the curators – the trust’s unique knowledge bank – will be cut by less than some areas, their expertise will diminish. Instead of being experts on one big thing, such as paintings, furniture, or textiles, they will be allocated to cover everything in a single century. This makes no sense when great houses have usually developed architecturally, and in their collections, over centuries. Blickling Hall, in Norfolk, for example, is Tudor, Jacobean and 18th century, with 19th-century alterations as well.

    Behind Ms McGrady’s 41 pages lies an implied admission that the trust has overreached, nearly doubling over ten years. It has been the Cecil Rhodes of heritage colonialism, grabbing too much, too fast. Now it has suffered a non-fatal but worrying cardiac arrest.

    The other document is called “Towards a 10-year Vision for Places and Experiences. Version 2.1”. It is written by Tony Berry, the Trust’s Director of Visitor Experience. The first thing to note about the Berry plan is its visuals. There are pictures of children building sandcastles, a family travelling in a driverless car playing with screens through a futuristic urban landscape, robots, wheelchairs, and a mock-up of the Houses of Parliament being flooded by global warming. Nowhere is there an identifiable picture of a trust property. There is no photograph of a trust house at all.

    That last point is presumably intended, since Mr Berry says that the “outdated mansion experience” has to go. He wants “revolution”, not “evolution”. Out goes the “asset-led approach (our primary role is to present the English country house as a distinctive part of our heritage).” In comes the “audience-led approach”: houses should no longer be presented as “country house former homes” but “repurposed as public space in service of local audiences”. “Everywhere… we will move away from our narrow focus on family and art history.”

    As for gardens, they will not just be beautiful places of tranquillity and “heritage”, but places of activity “where issues like climate change are acknowledged and tackled”. Perhaps some ingenious horticulturalist like the chap who produced the loganberry should develop a fruit called the berryberry in honour of Tony and his visitor experiences. It would be green at all times, and run through one’s system with frightening speed.

    If Mr Berry’s ideas were to be pursued, several things would happen. First the donor families, many of whom inhabit part of their former house, or a house on the estate, would rebel. If their gift was being “repurposed as public space”, why should they continue, as many do, to lend its contents to the trust, or, on death, to transfer them to it as “acceptance in lieu” of tax, instead of selling them on the open market?

    Second, the Berry vision might break the great National Trust Act of Parliament of 1937 specifically designed to rescue country houses for the nation. It would also call into question the unique privilege granted to the trust by its original Act of Parliament of 1907, which states that no property once given to the trust can be taken away from it except by the will of Parliament. Why should the trust be allowed to keep buildings whose historic interest it disregards?

    Finally, National Trust members are usually fascinated by the family stories in its properties, as part of the human dimension and historical context. They do not see most of the properties as neutral backcloths for entertainment, let alone for lectures about the environment. They like their romance and their narrative. Mr Berry loves using the word “narratives”. He says people are searching for “narratives to define their own identities”. Yet he never mentions the great common historical, social and geographical identity in all these places – the word “Britain”.

    It should, in fairness, be said that the gleam in Mr Berry’s eye is not the agreed policy of the National Trust. Ms McGrady has hurried to point this out. But his views are not untypical of those who talk of “visitor experience” and “interpretation”, yet seem actively to dislike the real experience of a place with a history – a history which, all too often, they seem proud not to know.

    This is a problem much more widespread than the National Trust – a problem in schools and universities and parts of the public services and the BBC. It is a culture – or rather a lack of culture – which needs to change.

    Here is the full sentence from Beatrix Potter from which I quoted earlier. “The Trust,” she said, “is a noble thing, and humanly speaking – immortal. There are some silly mortals connected with it; but they will pass.”

    *Footnote: The National Trust covers the whole of the UK except for Scotland. The Scottish National Trust is a separate (and much less secure) body.”

    All I can say is…they should take a leaf out of the RSPCA’s failed, and very expensive, attempt to turn itself into a militant ‘animal rights’ organisation. Thankfully the idiots who hijacked it are mostly gone now, but not before I and others cancelled donations and legacies. Since then I give to a local animal charity where there is no hierarchy hellbent on something other than the care of animals. The NT now deserves the same fate. One guess as to which annual membership DD I cancelled yesterday evening…something I very nearly did when the LGBTQWERTY lanyards were imposed upon the Felbrigg volunteers. They voted with their feet, as should everyone else now. If they want to convert the NT to a PC version of Disneyland they will have to do it without my assistance.

    Get woke, go broke.

    1. It is what Minty quite rightly points out is the march of “Cultural Marxism”; and, as the article I posted yesterday from ‘quillette’ points out, it brooks no opposition or dissent.

    2. A few years ago, Sir Roy Strong, who is the current patron of one of the choirs I am not singing with right now, fell out with the National Trust when they refused to consider The Lasketts as part of their portfolio when he died. In a fit of petulance, he then declared that his beautiful garden would be torn down and turned back into a field as a condition of his will.

      Very fortunately, he lived long enough to have a change of heart, and discovered a local charity dedicated to providing horticultural therapy to the disadvantaged to take it on, maintain the gardens from their own resources, in return for all future takings from visitors.

      He is still in robust health, and I hope to see him when the choir is allowed to perform again.

    3. The NT will never get another penny of my money. I’m not interested in a day out to be lectured about white privilege and slavery. It should be broken up and the properties managed by local trusts or sold off. It’s been rotten from the start, judging by Beatrix Potter’s comment.

    4. For a vision of the place to which an emphasis on “visitor experience” leads, Visit the Royal Museum of Scotland.

  26. August 23rd. Judgement day.

    All the power went down across South Hampshire. The Internet was slow in recovering.

    I wonder how driverless cars and Aircraft will function when the uplink to the satellites disappears.

      2. On a cloudy day?

        Compasses will also be useless because the magnetic pole will have shifted again; well not really but the wokels will have decided that it is whitelist to be up north so they will unilaterally declare it to be at mecca.

        For the first time in yonks an old mg will be the most reliable car on the road.

          3. The day when I was young, fit, and smart.
            Some time in 1974.
            It only lasted a day…

          5. But what’s the deviation in the UK? Used to be 6 degrees in the 1970s, IIRC.
            Last I checked, in Norway was 2 degrees.

          6. Magnetic north is estimated to be 0 deg 54 min west of grid north (British National Grid) at Skipton, N. Yorks in July 2020.

          8. If your UK map is aligned with a landmark directly north, magnetic north will be nearly one degree to the left. It doesn’t matter much if you are hiking over the hills but if you are firing artillery over long distances it can be slightly more important.

      3. I still have my Zeiss sextant in its box aboard Mianda.. With the help of the nautical almanac, sight reduction tables and a very accurate watch – which I verified each day with the Greenwich time signal on SW radio – I managed to navigate successful across the Atlantic and back on my boat, Raua, in 1984/85. I now use GPS on Mianda which tends to make me lazy as all you have to do is press a button. Here is a plan of the Van de Stadt designed Pioneer 10 – the model that Raua was.

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9989dad8ca4f0830ea0fdc1f706f1ea77ce8130d6b52d65c547b5188e08c6b7a.jpg

        1. Prior to my first bareboat cruising holiday around the Greek Isles, I decided to do a college course to brush up on coastal navigation. You don’t need it too much dinghy sailing teaching kids to sail on a lake so considered it a prudent thing to do.
          On day two I plotted a course to our next destination and went on deck armed with all required info. I felt rather deflated when the skipper said I see it, it’s over there on the tip of that island.

    2. When we used to watch TV via a signal received by the aerial, there was nairy a problem. Now that the signal comes via an underground cable, the TV seems to go off every time it rains or is windy.
      Wha’s tha’ all abaht?

      2. I used to lose my internet connection in bad weather, but then I discovered Smirnoff.

  27. Somebody posted the Peanuts cartoon about the dogshit earlier this morning.

    That actually happened in real life, but not directly to me.

    The move from Düsseldorf to Sweden was paid & arranged by the Swedish authorities. The removal lorry arrived with 2 men & a boy of about 12. Opposite the front door on the pavement’s edge was a grass strip which was the local dogs’ loo – I warned the Swedes about this. So, the loading continued apace, the landlady, who was starting dementia emerged from her top floor flat to make sure none of her possessions were being removed (I had rented the flat partly furnished) & to get in the way & make a nuisance of herself. When everything was loaded, I took the Swedes across the road & bought them a takeaway pizza each for their supper. Then the inevitable happened: the 12 y.o. stepped in some dogshit lying in the grass strip. I told him to go up to the flat & scrub his trainer with a brush under the sink, I followed a few minutes later & found him crying – he had taken off his shoe but couldn’t bring himself to do the scrubbing, which I did for him. Meanwhile the landlady had thankfully disappeared. Full of gratitude he raced back downstairs to the lorry. I followed more slowly & noticed that when he was making his ascent, his instep had been scraped on every other step, leaving a trace of you-know-what. Meanwhile the stench in the enclosed stairway was making itself very noticeable. I paid the Swedes a hasty Godspeed, jumped in my car & drove up to Kiel, where I had arranged to spend the night in my former Hall of Residence, before driving on to Sweden in the morning.

  28. 322938+ up ticks,
    Morning Each,
    “The johnsons inspiring brand of conservatism” is, especially since major
    put the knife in,and as shown, a complete myth and in rhetorical form only.

    But then the supporter / voters are well aware of this as shown plainly by the nasal grippers, best of the worst, vote & hope brigade.

    I have been seen as an idiot for asking WHY allow oneself to be locked into a voting pattern that guarantees failure and continues to return a proven
    inept / treacherous politico / party to power ?

    The con ( conned) voting punters had years of prior warning as in the wretch cameron / leg over innings, followed by treachery on stilts may.regardless of consequence to Country / future.

    Seeing as there are a multitude of voters out there that ALWAYS put the party first regardless of consequence to others should surely make bloody sure there is a pro English / GB party to rely on when, once again, the
    close shop trio goes tits up.

    Also keep in mind the lab/lib/con were a pro eu coalition of rubber stampers right up until the 24/6/2016.

    IMO king ersatz tory ain’t only got no clothes on he ain’t even got a bleeding wardrobe.

    I still cannot believe the cry that rent the air post victory,we have won
    LEAVE IT TO THE TORY’S.

    1. I’m confused. Does one wake up being gay in the morning, or does one wake up a woman called Gay, in the morning?

  30. Routine GP services remain out of reach

    SIR – David Sampson’s letter (August 16) made me smile.

    Like him, I was told that, due to coronavirus, my GP couldn’t syringe my ears, and advised to contact Specsavers. I did so – and the procedure was carried out within a week.

    Why is the NHS still restricting access to services that we have diligently avoided during lockdown but need in order to carry on with normal life? The system requires root-and-branch reform.

    Jane Hutchinson

    Eastbourne, East Sussex

    SIR – Due to Covid-19, I have been unable to get my essential diabetic podiatry check. This seems bizarre when my wife is able to get her toenails painted in a beauty salon.

    Sqn Ldr David Higginbottom RAF

    Bramhall, Cheshire

    1. I detect a certain lack of NHS-worshipping in the above two letters. The writers must be sent to re-education camps immediately to get their priorities straight!

  31. Good morning, all. Still here. A bit stiff after yesterday’s trek! Still strong gale blowing but now from the north west.

  33. When will this Government accept the fact the BBC is now consumed with a left wing globalist agenda and as such should be consigned to the dustbin of history in its present form.
    The paragraph I highlighted in bold is an example how out of touch this Government is.
    If it is to survive it must be as a subscription service, you want to see and hear the BBC’s agenda, you pay for it.

    Next BBC boss must tackle bias, say ministers

    By Harry Yorke, Political Correspondent 22 August 2020 • 6:00pm

    The next chair of the BBC must help restore the broadcaster’s reputation for impartiality, ministers believe, as they prepare to publish a job advert for the role within days.
    Amid mounting frustration within Government over the corporation’s news programmes, The Telegraph has been told the successful candidate will be tasked with reviving trust in its reporting. Whitehall sources involved in the process of replacing Sir David Clementi, the outgoing chair, also believe applicants for the role will need to be help guide it through “significant reform.” This includes the potential decriminalisation of the non-payment of the licence fee, a move which would place further strain on the corporation’s finances.
    The focus on the BBC’s impartiality follows a fresh row last week after Newsnight’s policy editor Lewis Goodall was accused of “off the scale” bias for writing for a Left-wing magazine attacking the Government’s handling of the exam crisis. While the BBC insisted the article had met its impartiality guidelines, it comes just months after presenter Emily Maitis was reprimanded over a monologue attacking the Government’s handling of Dominic Cummings’ lockdown trip to Durham.
    The new chair will be expected to work closely with Tim Davie, the new director general, who ministers believe is in the “mood to be radical” in shaking up the BBC at a time of major upheaval in broadcasting. It is understood that the £100,000-a-year role will also be “beefed up”, reflecting the Government’s desire for the next chair to play an influential role in driving through changes.
    It comes after the Telegraph last week revealed that former Tory Cabinet minister Nicky Morgan had been touted as a contender, with another believed to come from the tech sector. However, Government insiders have played down suggestions there is a firm favourite to land the job, insisting that ministers are waiting to see who applies before making any judgement.
    Speaking to the Telegraph on Saturday, a Government source said: “There is a considerable concern around impartiality and objectivity. It’s not that the BBC is left-wing and Labour supporting, it clearly isn’t.
    “But lots of people think its news programmes seem only to be interested in picking holes in the Government or digging up embarrassing quotes.
    “They are far less interested in listening to what ministers have to say than trying to trip them up in a way that is not entirely relevant.
    “The job of the Today programme is not to chase headlines, but to ask probing questions. Newsnight is no better. It’s a relatively recent trend.”
    Previously, Downing Street temporarily ordered ministers to boycott BBC Radio 4’s Today programme over anger at the broadcaster’s general election coverage. The BBC has also come under intense criticism from supporters of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. While critics of the BBC believe it should switch to a subscription model, the source suggested instead that the new chair would need to work with its senior leadership to help it become “leaner, fitter, and concentrating on doing fewer things and doing them better.”
    “In the new world of broadcasting where there is so much choice the BBC doesn’t need to be doing everything. There are big questions about size and scope,” they continued.
    They also suggested that there was a “greater opportunity” for the corporation to generate greater revenues from its overseas services, such as BBC Worldwide.
    The Royal Charter states that the appointment of the chairman may only be made “following a fair and open competition”. The Secretary of State must consult the BBC on the process for appointing the chairman, including on the job specification. The search for a new candidate has to be conducted in line with the Governance Code on Public Appointments, a lengthy process which involves a selection panel shortlisting candidates and conducting interviews before preparing a report on the preferred candidate and submitting it to the Culture Secretary

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/08/22/next-bbc-boss-must-tackle-bias-say-ministers/

  34. From the TMS commentary

    Peter Coles: Checking the cricket score I see that Jimmy Anderson and I now have 597 Test wickets between us.

    1. What a coincidence. Jimmy Anderson and I also have 597 Test wickets between us 🙂

  35. Jonathan Levenson says “The Prime Minister and his team have followed the best medical and scientific advice available. Hindsight is a luxury” which doesn’t say much for the advice and a bit of foresight would have been handy

  37. 322938+ up ticks,
    Being of old real UKIP stock I find it more of an inconvenience especially when the toilets are shut.
    I suppose many find a safe harbour in a touch of brainwashing & following
    the governance party’s orders without question.

    breitbart,
    Delingpole: From Climate Change to Coronavirus, We Are All Victims of Deep State Hysteria

  38. Has any one involved in re-opening schools been to a children’s playground in the park this summer. From experience in taking my two granddaughters all the dozens and dozens of children inevitably got into very close proximity with each other. Horror of horrors not a single child used a hand sanitiser and no parent attempted to disinfect the swings, slides, roundabouts or climbing frames before the children were allowed to play on them. So I ask you what is this utter nonsense?

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a1e81eb798e568de2e3eccb1d2248b1e5a5ff6e0c2733aec8d634b852a7bd168.png

          1. What in cheap state-school uniforms off the peg from Tescos (other supermarkets also supply)? Don’t be ridiculous!

          2. Not being an expert on such things I don’t know, I was merely commenting on who I thought the children looked like.

  39. Just to deflect you for being petrified about the Plague – the Grimes front page this morning:

    “Brutal deaths of elderly couples spark fears of serial killer”

    Stay at home- you may b slaughtered….

  40. Grizzly asked me to repost this on today’s forum, something I did in the small hours before today’s page was up:

    “I am up in the night again. Woke up at 4 not being able to sleep without worrying again, as always. There is no comfort in the World Service any longer. How I miss John Peel and his world music at 3am that kept me through the night during my divorce. That is how they should be doing “diversity”!

    There was a programme last night on how the Beatles (the real ones, not the jihadis we must all now pander to) influenced the world during the 1960s, the decade of my childhood. I remember Beatlemania right from the start, and followed their music and break-up when I was a teenager, and knew pretty well every one of their songs.

    For me and for the programme, they were like opening the curtains and letting in the fresh air onto the stuffiness and the hornrimmed world of Mary Whitehouse and her pursed lips, her perms and “the done thing”. In contrast to that, the same decade brought in the property developers and the wretched corrupt planners who set about destroying beloved landmarks forever, replacing them with tawdry and ugly concrete. They too went for the railways. In the 1970s, they set about the countryside, and in the 1980s our cultural institutions. How I miss the pre-comprehensive development England as much as those who reflect on how beautiful German cities were before they were trashed by fate and the consequences of the Third Reich!

    Still, the Beatles made music that lifted us all and made us glad to be alive and gave us reason to move on with life.

    What have we today, equally revolutionary? May I suggest, during this time when the revolutionary has become mainstream and old certainties torn down in a spirit of wilful ugliness, as a revolutionary someone about as conservative as you can get, and that is my muse and mentor whom I have often mentioned, and the name I put on my ballot paper in December 2019, Alma Deutscher?

    She is about as far from the Beatles as is possible – very much posh rich middle class, whose parents are both academic doctors of philosophy, and one thing she ain’t is a John Lennon working class hero. Her music is not derived from jazz or rock-and-roll as the Beatles’ was, but has its roots in Mozart, Schubert, Tchaikovski and Beethoven. She is far more like Clara Schumann than Lady Gaga. She can hardly remember the Beatles, when they happened forty years before she was born, Even her long-dead grandmother, a Jewish concert pianist drifting into history, was born two years after George Harrison was and five after John Lennon.

    Her mission is to make the world a beautiful place in the teeth of much ugliness, and her weapon of choice is the violin, the piano, and a laptop with a MIDI keyboard and Sibelius, as if to remind us that beauty need not be divorced from the 21st century in which she was born and its technology.

    In a time of so much that is disturbing, her music is a comfort and a rope to cling to, that there are better things around the corner if only we have ears to hear them. Isn’t this what the politicians and the church leaders should be providing?”

      1. Maybe because it wasn’t ‘his’ to repost. I asked jeremy to repost jeremy’s excellent post.

    1. Isn’t this the same old project fear stuff we’ve heard a zillion times already? Brexit and the plandemic will plunge us into a “Threads” post nuclear scenario.

      1. Indeed.

        I’m fairly sure this is drip-feeding the press more from an earlier leaked document.

        1. Initialy leaked to the Sun it appears.

          A strange paper to chose for such a leak. I would have expected someone with access to the report would have chosen the Guardian unless the leak was sanctioned and aimed at preceived leavers to try to scare them.

      3. I see plenty of “if”s, “could”s and “might”s in that article, although I’m not sure bilge of that calibre actually qualifies as an “article”!!

        2. Millions of brain dead already – mostly employed in public service, politics and education.

          2. Surviving thank you. Still got limbs like lead weights, especially in the morning. I keep taking the ‘medicament’ every night at the local hostelry but the affects have usually worn of in the morning. KBO. 🙂 I asked for another test for Lymes disease but the Doc had me tested for syphilis instead!!! You’ll be pleased to know I don’t have it – not yet anyway.

          4. STD – meant Subscriber Trunk Dialling in my day. I remember it coming to my little home town, Skipton, in the 1950s. The second place to be installed in the whole of Yorkshire.

          5. Indeed. I remember the great excitement when I made the first long-distance call from my parents’ flat in Hampstead – Maida Vale 1215. Must have been early 1960s.

          8. Oue first phone number had only 3 digits – Halifax 422 – and that was also a shared line

      5. My diatribe against the BBC above/below should have a special exclusion clause for you. Nothing personal.

    2. They will make sure covid and no-deal brexit do co-incide, even if it has to be in their heads only. The hysteria and fear will be whipped up like a storm ‘barreling’ up the Western Approaches.

      1. And hopefully, when it turns out to be a storm in a teacup, this will be te last time the public ever accepts over-reactions to such scare stories.

        1. If my young neighbour is anything to go by, people are beginning not to accept the scare stories any more.

  42. Good morning my friends.

    Many of today’s DT letters have a common theme – dissatisfaction with Boris Johnson and his government. Most of these letters express the view that The Conservative Party is no longer practically or philosophically remotely conservative.

    This suggests that traditional Conservative voters with such views would, at best, only vote for the Conservatives while holding their noses rather than vote for the appalling Mr Starmer; at worst they would abstain and this would open the door for the Labour Party which would be a total disaster. So it is surely high time that the true conservatives in the Conservative Party split from the main party and formed a truly right of centre political party led by people such as Owen Paterson, John Redwood, Richard Drax and Nigel Farage. Of course the French system of government is very different from ours but Mr Macron, without the backing of any parliamentary party and starting from scratch, became President of the French Republic in under two years. Britain would probably need twice that time to get such a party in place to win the 2024 election and so there is no justification for complacency and delay.

    1. Good morning, Rastus.

      Whilst, in the main, I agree with your sentiments here, I do feel that the people you have chosen to lead this new party are not of the sufficient calibre. By that I mean that they are all career politicians who have little experience of leadership in any sphere outside of politics.

      What we need is a grouping of people who have proven leadership capabilities honed in industry, commerce and the military. Those who have run successful and profitable enterprises (and let’s not forget: free enterprise is one of the founding cornerstones of Conservativism) are the ones who are best-placed to run a country and its economy; not some jumped-up, cotton wool-wrapped, silver-spoon, sociology graduates who have the gift of the gab, but are utterly clueless when let out into the real world, which is what we have at present.

      1. We need a brigade of Army officers in Parliament and a company of serjeants major in the civil service.

        1. RMP running the Police, ex-MCTC Staff running the Prison Service, NHS run by ex-QARNC and RAMC senior NCOs & Officers etc.

    2. 322938+ up ticks,
      Morning R,
      Thereby nasal grippers/ best of the worst party first, voting punters are keeping the political destructive forces alternately in power little wonder the politico’s love the close shop parliament.
      Why didn’t I post this type post before ?

    3. Even Margaret Thatcher at the height of her popularity after the Falklands War only managed 42%, the same popular vote as Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua at around the same time, and less than Clement Attlee did in 1951 when he lost the election.

      The only way Leave prevailed in 2016 was to go beyond their core base of rightwingers and appeal to Leavers on the Centre and the Left, of which there are more than the London pundits care to know about. I was one of their number that swung the Referendum.

      I agree that we need a Reform Conservative Party, but feel that while it is desperately important that it is conservative in the social and cultural sense, dedicated to restoring excellence in place of wokeness, it should also recognise the value of public service, and see that it is properly and honestly funded, something the Thatcherite Right was never willing to do, any more than the New Labour clone did either.

      There should be an Audit Ministry at Cabinet Level (parodied in ‘Yes Minister’, but actually I am serious), dedicated to getting value for public money, eliminating waste and official goldplating, and always asking whether any spending or policy serves the public interest. I would raise Income Tax significantly, and also create a compulsory national savings deposit scheme for those making excess money out of the nation (i.e. more than the Prime Minister’s salary) and not spent on local businesses, invested in charity or voluntary deposited in national savings. This would then provide the cash flow for businesses when they are most vulnerable to being held to ransom by unscrupulous bankers, forcing the banks to act honourably for the first time since Thatcher deregulated them.

      1. In response to the demolition of much of our built heritage in the 1950s because of death duties, I would also allow the maintenance of stately homes to be exempted from the compulsory deposit scheme, on condition that they are opened to the public free of charge one day each year.

        1. The scheme whereby people could use works of art to pay off death duty, but keep the artwork provided they made it available for public viewing was a failure. No one, evening*or morning, or afternoon, got to see the art.

          *Edit: sorted, thanks Peddy.

          2. Is there anyone around from that time who can explain why, and how custodians can be made to keep to their side of the bargain?

          3. There was a TV programme on the subject buy an investigative journalist type (remember them?). His name was, I think, something Thomas. Never heard of again. The programme was on C4, maybe at a time when they were still bolshie rather than woke, and the programme was part of series into shady stuff.
            He described the scheme. He obtained list of artwork and their locations. He contacted many of these locations, posh families in mansions, and asked when he could come ad see the artwork. He could come any time, any day of the year he explained.
            Ah, well. It became difficult, excuses were rolled out, we are redecorating, we’ve got flu’, we’re not here, we need to see credentials etc etc. Despite being very determined and pushy I’m not sure he ever got to see very many, if any, of these publicly owned very valuable artworks “on loan” from the public to a private family.

      1. 322938+ up ticks,
        Morning PT,
        Gerard Batten showed good quality leadership in the short duration in position before treachery struct.

        1. You are the only one on this forum who is taken in by Batten.

          Tell me: what did he achieve prior to jumping onto the political bandwagon?

          1. 322938+ up ticks,
            G,
            Are you still in current law enforcement ,a knee bender etc ?

            I politely ask because you come across as one who condemns before having the facts.

            You have condemned the man & are now asking me for his pedigree,

            Please remove your head from your oven and do some research it is ALL on record.
            Ps
            As for being “taken in” can we bring to mind
            underpants major, leg over clegg, pig husbandry
            cameron & treachery on stilts mayday, johnson
            highly suss.

          3. 322938+ up ticks,
            G,
            As I am yours.
            You have condemned before seeking facts and ALL the facts regarding Gerard Batten are on record. Seek and you shall find, but it is my belief you would find it hard, like many to give credit where due.

            Now, I honestly assume you to be a past / current tory supporter / voter & that is surely your prerogative but can you explain the continuing voting pattern in view of the continuing failures ie, major, cameron/ clegg, may and highly likely johnson ?

            Check your oven temp. before answering.

          4. Just as I thought. He is a career politician who achieved nothing before jumping onto the political bandwagon. Just like all the rest of them he has no transferable skills outside the political arena, just the ability to gob off, frequently and loudly.

          5. 322938+ up ticks,
            G,
            Just as I thought,you are coming across as a discontented tory member / voter, past present who will NOT acknowledge their part in bringing
            these Isles to it’s knee, going on two knees shortly.

            Someone else must be blamed to ease the conscience.

            You resort to bordering on blackening a character
            of a person you have not checked out.

            There are many of the same ilk who do the same to cover their own failures.

      1. Fortunately, Spartie isn’t a morning person.
        MB had to wake him when he went to make this morning’s rocket fuel.

        1. Poppie will happily snooze until 10.30-ish or so. No early awakenings for us. She is the only dog I know who scuttles off in the opposite direction when she hears her harness and lead being taken off the hook, but once it is on she is more than happy for the off. In France, she once went for more than 24 hours without a tiddle – it was raining absolute stair-rods – we were more than happy to get instantly soaked to the skin on her behalf but she took one look, a yard from the open door, head extended from the body, nose twitching; she said “I don’t think so, I’m not getting that wet!” and went off to sleep until, well, 10.30am the next morning.

          1. Now, tiddle is an old fashioned word which I haven’t heard for yonks… It’s one my mother used a lot.

          2. Mine will ask to go out at 02.00 then will usually settle down for the rest of the night and need to be woken up in the late morning. I won’t have gone to sleep by 02.00 so he’s not exactly disturbing me.

        1. Shame teachers haven’t been prepared to put on a show of schooling of the braves.

        1. 322938+ up ticks,
          Morning JBF,
          For many there is a better way of leaving a mark of discontent and that is a kiss X in the polling booth, they will not ignore that one.

  47. Any more news on the migrant Gary Lineker offered to put up in his spacious abode? Perhaps the selection process to find the ‘right’ person is taking longer than expected.

    1. It’s difficult to find someone suitable VOM! He need a Black, Female, one legged, Trans dwarf fresh off a Channel Dinghy!

    2. It’s difficult to find someone suitable VOM! He need a Black, Female, one legged, Trans dwarf fresh off a Channel Dinghy!

    3. 322938+ up ticks,
      Morning VOM,
      Heard he was bloody sick of walkers crisps after being force fed as an experimental unit for new brands.

        2. Apparently she speaks enough English to be able to lie about her age and she’s got a place in the local infants school.
          Free dinners and a kip in the arvo.
          Just right.

    1. Too cute.

      Anyone that harms elephants should be trampled to death.

      The one and only time a visited a zoo was in Dudley. There were two elephants standing in a concrete compound looking bored. No grass or anything. Broke my heart.

      1. Someone coined the phrase “animal prisons” for zoo. Pretty well spot on. Why can’t we do things right? Guarantee habitats for animals around the world?

        1. Agreed, but there are some,such as in the clip,
          that are also rescue sanctuaries. We need more of those, and plenty of funding for them.

  50. I see that Matt Hancock and his new department have plans to move closer to Korky, Elsie, and Anne. They will be pleased…

    Treasury casts doubt on plans for new health body’s £350m HQ

    The proposals are being rewritten by ministers amid concern over design and value for money

    By Harry Yorke, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT – 22 August 2020 • 9:30pm

    The new body set up by Matt Hancock to replace Public Health England has already hit a major obstacle after senior figures in the Treasury savaged a £350 million plan for a new headquarters in Essex.

    It can be revealed that the planned location for the new National Institute for Health Protection has been cast into doubt, with Treasury insiders describing the current business case as “appalling and incredibly expensive”.

    The Health Secretary is said to be personally in favour of the move, which includes the creation of state-of-the-art public health laboratories, although a source close to him on Saturday night said he was ­”ambivalent” about it.
    *
    *
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/08/22/new-350m-hq-health-body-appalling-waste-money-say-treasury-insiders/

    1. Oh, good. Not existed for more than 5 minutes, and they already want oceans of cash for a new HQ.
      Since PHE have been disbanded, there’s a HQ going spare. Use that.

      1. Plenty of shops have shut down.
        But they might be looking for something more acceptable, something with minarets perhaps.

  51. Borrowed…
    “Anyone who doesn’t say their mobile number in the 5/3/3 format is a f*cking danger”

    1. So it”s not just me then? If anyone reads my numbeer back to me without using that 5/3/3 sequence, I genuinely lose track.

      2. I remember the landline number of the house I lived in for my first five years; alas, not much else.

          3. I used to ring 01-230-1212 quite frequently 40 years ago when I was the communications controller on my shift.

          9. UPLands 0965. Chrome won’t let me do it, but UPL should be in bold type, (Provincials my struggle with the distinction.)

    1. Ah, but there’s good nationalism (every other country in the world) and there’s bad nationalism (British).

      1. Even that isn’t correct; there is good nationalism in Wales, Scotland and Ireland, but horrifically bad nationalism in England.

  54. Not a single child was hospitalised with coronavirus after schools reopened in June
    PHE findings come as Britain’s chief medical officers warn that children are more at risk of long-term harm by not attending class
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/08/23/reopening-schools-june-not-single-child-hospitalised-coronavirus/

    Schools reopening in June did not lead to a single child being hospitalised with Covid-19, new figures from Public Health England show.

    The data reveals that despite more than 1.6 million youngsters returning to education, just 70 children tested positive for the virus, and none needed hospital treatment.

    In contrast, 128 staff members were diagnosed with the virus, and PHE said most of the transmission had come from adults. Schools have been told to improve their hygiene to prevent outbreaks.

    The research also shows that cases were far more likely to happen in areas which were experiencing high levels of the virus, suggesting that high levels of community infection were responsible for the outbreaks.

    Proof that the teaching unions have been wrong, wrong, wrong.

    1. Shocking slip up – there must be tens of thousands of them – Prof Branestorme said so…..

    2. “…The research also shows that cases were far more likely to happen in areas which were experiencing high levels of the virus,…”
      Someone actually wrote that. Not the same person that wrote ” …water comes further up the beach at high tide…”? Or was it?

  55. Just spent half an hour being public spirited.

    There is a water leak in the lane between Fulmodeston and Little Snoring. 15 minutes of hanging on (thankfully no muzak). Then a woman. “Can you give me the postcode?” Of a lane in the middle of nowhere…I think not. I gave her details of the main road, the A 148; the name of the village at one end and the village at the other – and the name of the tiny hamlet (Croxton) which is the nearest habitation. “Ah,” she said, “Near Thetford….” No, pet, that is the OTHER Croxton. She wittered on for another five minutes. Finally I asked her if she actually HAD a map. Then guided her from Fakenham to Lt Snoring; then turn right – then go for 1½ miles and that’s where the leak is.

    “I need a bit more detail as so that “our engineers” can locate the place>” I said that as the water is six inches deep, even their sodding engineers ought to be able to spot it.

    Then she said that the leak had already been reported – YESTERDAY – since when thousands of gallons of clean, treated, drinking wate is running dow the lane and, eventually, into a field. And the work will be scheduled “quite soon”……

    No wonder water costs an arm and a leg.

    I’ll go and have a lie down and think of goats.

    PS – They ask you to use their online map to report such things. A completely useless website. Impossible even for experienced people to make head or tail of….

    1. The annoying thing is that a can’t think of any other product in the world that doesn’t cost a bean. It just falls out if the sky. No charge, free, gratis and for nothing.

          7. According to the Docs the first thing to go is one’s taste and sense of smell; so for all intents and purposes the virus won’t smell….

          12. It’ll only be worth something when the ‘artist’ passes away.
            I suspect he didn’t bottle his piss because he would be known as a Piss Artist…..

          13. It’ll only be worth something when the ‘artist’ passes away.
            I suspect he didn’t bottle his piss because he would be known as a Piss Artist…..

      1. Just looked that up – completely meaningless to me. Map – A148. Little Snoring – turn east – 1½ miles – bingo

        1. It is gradually being adopted by a lot of services – especially such as highland rescue. As long as you have an internet connection, you can pinpoint your position a where in the world to a 10m by 10m square on land or sea.

          1. You may well think that – and I bow to your great knowledge. But I simply could not make head nor tail of the “three word” malarkey.

            I tried to apply that to a water leak in a lane in the middle of nowhere. All I could think of saying was, “Water, water everywhere”

    3. I had something similar when I was trying to direct the RAC to me when I broke down, except that I had managed to get to a garage and was stuck on the forecourt. This woman (and it was a woman) in Greater Manchester somewhere was trying to understand my directions about roads in Wales. It took them ages to get out to me.

        1. What, in these days of satnavs? I even gave her the first two letters and numbers of the postcode (the nearest I could manage) and the road number.

    1. Good lord. He was bad enough but you know what women are like…………..***>>>>>runs and hides…

      2. Not sure, I’ll run to catch up with you Phizz so you can tell me what women are like… 🙂

        1. Yes. Delightful. Sugar and spice and all things nice. …… ***pokes nose out of the nissan hut.

          2. True, there is a lot men don’t know, but Phizz said ‘You know what women are like’. Was this a typo by Phizz d’ya think?

          4. But you are a woman, therefore you know. Phizzee and I are men, therefore we don’t. QED.

      3. Those of us who like a good Kipple will tell you that the female of the species is more deadly than the male

    4. This seems to happen once in a while. For some reason. This time it is only a few months since he died.

    1. No deal Brexit only works if there is a realistic and viable plan to keep food in the shops if the EU kicks up really rough.

      Does anyone trust Boros to have such a plan ?

    1. No the BBC rules the UK.

      I hope that this is DM twaddle but this could well mean the end to our annual nostalgia filled habit of tuning I for the last night.

      It is already a long way from the last night that we managed to go to back in the 60s when Sargent gave his farewell speech.

      2. Accorbing to Google and https://www.ricettegustose.it/ingredienti/zucchine-trombetta.php, it’s trombetta – at least, the recipe ingredient.
        Ricette facili, sfiziose e particolari con le zucchine trombetta. Le zucchine trombetta, sono una particolare specie di zucchine, caratterizzate dal gusto delicato e aromatico e dalla forma lunga con la punta arrotondata. In questa pagina, trovera alcune ricette semplici e sfiziose, per gustare questo speciale ortaggio. Ottimo il coniglio freddo con zucchine trombetta, gustoso il pollo in insalata con zucchine trombetta.Ottime le zucchine trombetta al forno, semplici , oppure gratinate.

        1. That’s enough Italian, Ed.

          In yer Liguria – singlular or plural, they are called TROMBETTI. I know – I lived with 20 miles for two years…..

    4. It’s got its eyes closed to fool you, Bill. Then it will snake across the kitchen and bite your throat 🙂

    2. Afternoon Bill,

      Are the goats destined for Halal endings, to supply the local North african appetites?

      Or are they milking goats , cheese etc?

      1. Curry. They are Boer Goats. Very good for eating. The chap who is running the herd is the very LAST person who would have anything to do with halal bollox….

        The goats are almost completely silent; very nosy – VERY entertaining, especially for convalescents….!!

        1. A local chap keeps pygmy goats as pets.

          There is something about their antics which is both amusing and relaxing to watch.

          1. I can watch these chaps for ages! They tried to get the MR’s T-shirt and handbag – then her shoes…

          2. The ones up the road had kids, which liked to stand on their parent’s backs.
            They suddenly leap vertically off the ground for no obvious reason and bounce rather than walk.

            Very strange creatures.

          3. When we were in Laure and went across the border into very rural Spain – there would be flocks of sheep and also of goats being taken through the countryside by lone herdsmen (and, Stormie, they were always men). Fascinating and very calming to watch.

          4. If they are really old breeds one can see why “sorting the sheep from the goats” isn’t quite as straightforward as one might guess.

          5. Apparently, they used to do that at night, before they settled them in different folds in the ground. Don’t ask me why.

        2. Caroline’s elder sister once kept a goat in Holland but it was so vicious and attacked so many people that she had to get rid of it

      1. Evening Bilty.
        Cartoon must have been captioned by a woman. Never heard a bloke saying ‘your wife’ – prevailing idiom used by a male would be ‘the wife’ shurely.

        1. I always thought ‘the wife’ was that of the individual speaking, so could cause confusion if the patient thinks the doctor is referring to his own wife.

          1. Indeed, I’ve always wondered which wife males are referring to when they say ‘the wife’.

  65. I see that far-left, swivel-eyed, foam-flecked millionairess woke Wark – is being given more and more work by the beeboids.

    3. Morning all.
      She must be so excited.
      Apparently she has made a bulk order for Tena Pants.

    4. That’s how she got to be a millionairess.
      On a completely unrelated topic, Scotland is a very small pond. The head of the “Glasgow Life” ALEO* is Dr Bridget McConnell wife of a former First Minister. The Scottish Parliament voted to break the will of Sir William Burrell and allow the collection to be sent on foreign tours. One of the people involved in this was fellow director of Glasgow Life, Sir Angus Grossart. Grossart Investments loaned money to Two Rivers Media Ltd a TV production company owned by Alan Clements, husband of Ms Wark. And so it goes…

      *ALEOs are “arm’s length external organisations” where publicly owned goods, such as art galleries, stadia, libraries and so on are taken out of public ownership and passed to a private charity. (ALEOs are set up to provide sinecures for politicians and their chums as they are entirely unaccountable. – but that is just my personal opinion.

  66. Great-grandmother, 94, is rescued and brought ashore at Dover after becoming the oldest migrant ever to attempt a dangerous Channel crossing
    The woman made 21-mile trip to be reunited with family who had already arrived
    She was taken into the care of social services after being brought to shore in UK
    But it is thought she may not be deported back to France due to her age

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8654923/Great-grandmother-94-rescued-oldest-migrant-attempt-Channel-crossing.html

          1. No swaps for me, matey – deport the whole lot. Tonight (especially if there is a very strong wind in the Channel.

          2. One certainly wonders how many more family could demand reunification off the back of a great grandmother making it to settle.
            Seven daughters, each with seven daughters each with seven daughters, or worse, seven sons each with four wives each with seven sons, well you get the localised population explosion.

          5. Wouldn’t it be sad if social put her in a care home and she caught Covid straight away and died- – after all that getting from wherever, all by herself, living rough etc etc.

          8. This is a great grandma, there could be seventh son of a seventh son of a seventh son.
            Blair in spades? As it were.

        2. Well it’s clear she won’t be looking for a job. Might have her order in for a mobility scooter already. Put her in a care home at £1k a week of our taxes probably.

        3. Life must have been good to her in the place she was trying to escape from .

          If every illegal migrant lives to 100+, one can imagine HUGE troubles ahead.

    2. …it is thought she may not be deported back to France due to her age as none of the others have been sent back either!

    3. …it is thought she may not be deported back to France due to her age as none of the others have been sent back either!

    4. “But it is thought she may not be deported back to France due to her age”

      Is she claiming to be a child migrant?

  67. Vegans are killing the planet……….

    “It calls upon vegans to stop drinking soy milk in order to save the

    planet, and that milk from cows – especially cows grazed on grass rather

    than imported soya beans – is much better for a sustainable planet.

    ‘Vegans and others who buy milk substitutes made from soya for their

    latte and cappuccino, or breakfast cereal, are also harming the planet.

    They would do better to switch to milk from cows… if they want to help

    make a more sustainable planet,’ the report states.Global

    production of soya beans and palm oils has doubled over the past 20

    years and continues to rise. The two account for 90 per cent of global

    vegetable oil production and are used

    in processed foods, animal feed and non-food products. Many of us are

    attuned to the devastation caused to rainforests by palm oil

    cultivation, but less well known is comparable ruination caused by soya

    bean production: and the cultivation of both is having terrible

    consequences.Soya milk is only the most glaring battle-ground between vegans and environmentalism”

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/vegans-your-soy-milk-is-killing-the-planet
    Take THAT you virtue signalling bigots

    1. Too much of the oestrogen in soya products is not good for men (unless they are planning on transitioning).

  68. A CRIME commissioner has defended the handling of the sale of the former North Yorkshire police headquarters to a children’s holidays firm after it emerged more than £750,000 of the £2.5m agreed price has been spent maintaining it during a wait to complete the deal.

    North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner’s office has confirmed it has spent one per cent of the purchase price, or £25,000, owning and maintaining the grade II list property every month since November 2017.

    Commissioner Julia Mulligan has said it was her duty to achieve best value for money for the public purse…

    And it still hasn’t been signed off.

    The money should be deducted from her pay and pensions. She would hardly notice the difference.

      1. To distribute blame until it becomes meaningless.

        Though that won’t actually happen with the Islamic religious police is an official vice squad which enforces religious observance and public morality on behalf of national or regional authorities based on its interpretation of sharia.[1][2] The practice is generally justified with reference to the doctrine of hisba, which is based on the Quranic injunction of enjoining good and forbidding evil,
        and refers to the duty of Muslims to promote moral rectitude and
        intervene when another Muslim is acting wrongly. In pre-modern Islam,
        its legal implementation was entrusted to a public official called muhtasib
        (market inspector), who was charged with preventing fraud, disturbance
        of public order and infractions against public morality. The office was
        revived in Saudi Arabia, and later instituted as a committee, aided by a
        volunteer force focused on enforcing religious observance. Similar
        institutions later appeared in several other countries and regions.[3]
        Powers and responsibilities of Islamic religious police have varied
        from country to country, with the latter commonly including enforcing
        Islamic dress code and prayer attendance, as well as preventing
        consumption of alcohol and public interactions seen as infringing on
        Islamic sexual norms.

  69. That’s me for this slightly odd day, weather-wise. Grey and cloudy now, but a bit muggy.

    Must go and reward the MR for having been to the woke church…..

    A demain.

  71. Re an earlier comment.

    I’m not sure why, but the Urban Dictionary did not like:
    “Lammynation”:
    The process of sticking two short planks together to make something thicker.
    I must have posted incorrectly.

  72. At least 25 per cent of illegal boat migrants claiming to have an IQ of over 100 are
    in fact under 80, Kent Country Council (KCC) has revealed.

    The rest are merely stupid.

    2. Koko the gorilla, according to her owner, scored 90 in an IQ test, though she only had a vocabulary of around 2000 words.

  73. I suspect a number here will say this presentation at about an hour is too long to watch. And that will be a pity because this lady American Surgeon has more balls than the entire British Cabinet. Her exposition on the uselessness of face masks is peerless; and I defy anyone who, having watched this presentation, still believes in the need to wear one to counter her assertions.

    “They are testing people, and calling them “Cases.” That is not epidemiology, that is fraud.”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=31&v=sjYvitCeMPc&feature=emb_logo

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/eb08aca4452d95b9be0acaa033af2ee12ceb3dc085545a8de2be0b491b225af6.png

    1. That more or less echos what most of us on here have determined. Gates, the world elite and the corrupt Clintons appear to be behind this massive fraud. There is nothing scientific about the advice our politicians have swallowed, either knowingly or not, and we are all being taken for fools.

    2. Thanks for posting. That was a very interesting lecture and well worth staying up well into Monday morning to listen to. I feel vindicated about not wearing masks and will not be going anywhere near a vaccine.

      1. Picture round, eight definite, four dodgy guesses

        What categories did you get for the connecting wall? I went for Monopoly, dukedoms, service stations and types of boot,.

      2. Picture round, eight definite, four dodgy guesses

        What categories did you get for the connecting wall? I went for Monopoly, dukedoms, service stations and types of boot,.

          4. And I’m not a team, it’s just li’l ol’ me on me todd.

            I’ll have to widen the doors in my house.

          8. I thought there were a few elephant traps. Did you get the R6 connection? What did you get for Q7 in the picture Round? I thought it was Gorham’s Cave in Gibraltar!

          11. 3rd again 🙂

            Mind you, I’ve looked at the answers and can only see four that I got wrong 🙁
            Steward’s Enquiry!

    1. That has guaranteed to give me a sleepless night. No wonder they are so desperate to come. Bet their neighbours are spitting feathers.

    2. 322938+ up ticks,
      Evening TB,
      This type issue has been ongoing for years, why have we still got indigenous peoples on a housing list and housing
      incomers ?

      Never,ever,ever caused a ripple in the voting pattern.
      Still ongoing as we type, ALL the time the likes of the DOVER illegal intake are being overseen by the governance parties then the indigenous on the waiting list
      will continue marking time.

        1. Aaaah! Thank you Sue – so it is not just me. I thought it might be GCHQ at play, with particular reference to myself!

  77. Good afternoon fellow Nottlers! Another exciting day in the Macfarlane household!
    The twins have left hospital (and the parents have left their comfort zone) after 17 days and have arrived home!
    They are quite gorgeous and feeding very well! They are both over 5lbs now, and are called Lewis and Stefan!
    Guess which is which!

      1. No Belle! Simon and Vic just picked a name each that they liked! The middle names are the 2 grandpas!
        Did you find the photo?

      1. Aw, Sue. x Had all 3 of my great-grandsons here yesterday – lovely – with hugs too!

    1. You were 50+ ahead there, Bill. They’ve only just passed that mark in an over in which England dropped two off Anderson.

  79. Good night all.

    Avoid New York style steaks in W/rose – they’re as tough as old boots. Not even Missy was keen.

  82. Brilliant BTL comment:

    “Somewhere, someone is showering with a mask on. Odds on it’s a liberal democrat.”

    2. I’ve seen several plonkers who have changed their internet names to “xxx is wearing a mask”.

  84. Evening, all. Later on parade than usual tonight. I was invited out to a meal (which was hugely enjoyable) and then I caught up on watching the racing I’d recorded (which was less so as the rain meant my horse didn’t run at Cartmel). As for the question in the headline – it was all a sham to get elected. Shame on you voters!

  86. Goodnight, if anyone’ s still out there. (Or good morning to those looking in for Geoff’s link to Monday).

      1. Any particular cause, Stormy?

        PS: Ozark – tick. BB- tick.

        Nearly through “Better Call Saul” – the prequel, arguably the best of all.

        Be well. x

  87. Boros never had ”an inspiring brand of Conservatism”…. it was always a con…………

    As Max Hastings tells us here……………

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/24/boris-johnson-prime-minister-tory-party-britain

    ”Johnson would not recognise truth, whether about his private or political life, if confronted by it in an identity parade. In a commonplace book the other day, I came across an observation made in 1750 by a contemporary savant, Bishop Berkeley: “It is impossible that a man who is false to his friends and neighbours should be true to the public.” Almost the only people who think Johnson a nice guy are those who do not know him.”

    1. Max Hastings has lost his integrity; his latter-day opinions are vicious, personal and cheap ..

  88. BBC Countryfile. Again.

    This evening’s programme came from Somerleyton Hall near Lowestoft. The owner of the hall with its 5,000 acre estate has embarked on a rewilding project in which 20% of the productive land will be returned to nature although with some wild grazing allowed. He made an offhand remark about cheap meat production. His will be highly virtuous and expensive. He wants other local landowners to give up a fifth of their own land to conversation. I support sensible measures to mix conservation and farming but it is alarming to think that hundreds of square miles of productive land might be given up in this way. Perhaps he thought we should survive on imported avocados.

    Margherita Taylor then girned into view with lots of hearty chuckles as she went on a little tour of flooded former arable land with a nature warden. Chinese water deer, reed beds, otters and eels were featured. The deer graze the newly established reed beds and the once endangered otters are successful because they thrive on the now endangered eels. I’m not sure that helps the eels but it was presented as a triumph for conservation. Apparently the UK has 10% of the world’s Chinese water deer. That sounds to me like there’s a danger of overgrazing so perhaps it’s time for Boris to pick up the phone and come to an arrangement with China which is short of fresh meat.

    Another feature was about electric cars. A few minutes of trite chatter about a serious subject didn’t ask any proper questions but a suggestion for several mega-factories to make lots of batteries was considered a jolly good idea. Where all the metals for this are to come from wasn’t really properly answered but recycling was mentioned. A dopey little blonde thing desperately in need of a few pie-and-mash suppers and who looked as though she talked to the fairies at the bottom of her eco-garden thought that Cornish tin mines might supply us with some eco-lithium.

    Once I regained my composure I had a bottle of Fullers ESB. And then another.

    2. Wouldn’t watch a BBC Countryfile if you paid me. Just got back from fishing Plymouth Sound and catching and releasing 2 decent bass. That’s my country file.

  89. I thought I’d finish the evening off by reading one of Shakespeare’s sonnets, but then I thought s*d it, he never read any of mine.

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