Sunday 23 March: Ignore Shakespeare’s ‘decolonisers’ – his universal genius brings joy to all

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

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

506 thoughts on “Sunday 23 March: Ignore Shakespeare’s ‘decolonisers’ – his universal genius brings joy to all”

    1. He missed out, muslim.

      It reminded me of my father, decades ago he use to smoke a pipe.

  3. Good morning, chums. I hope you all slept well. And thanks to Geoff for today's new NoTTLe page.

    Wordle 1,373 4/6

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    1. Good morning Elsie and all
      Wordle 1,373 5/6

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  5. Good morning all.
    Overcast with a light, misty drizzle but, with tad over 9°C almost warm.

    An interesting X-Tw@ter comment on things USA:-

    Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the quiet part out loud. The resistance to Elon Musk’s DOGE in DC is because lobbyists want our tax money “to keep flowing into their pockets”

    “I am completely aligned with what Elon's doing”

    Scott Bessent says if you don’t move as quickly as Elon Musk is moving, the lobbyist will stop DOGE

    “Everyone says, do you have to do it so fast? Like I said, I've only been in this business for 7 weeks. I've only been in DC for 8 weeks. The thing I can tell you is if you don't move fast, the vested interest will weigh you down — Everybody's got lobbyists, I mean think about it, within a 10 mile radius of here, 25% of the GDP of the US pulsates through here every day. And everybody wants to just skim a little.”

    “I said to Elon, people are mad at you because you're moving their cheese. It's not their cheese, it's the American people's cheese. 100%. Every dollar spent goes into someone's pocket and that person's going to fight tooth and nail to get that dollar to keep flowing into their pockets”

    “There is no winning in Elon's role. Every single time he takes action, there are people that are going to come after him”
    https://x.com/WallStreetApes/status/1903589750285742118

  6. Putin will weaponise the ECHR against British troops in Ukraine, Starmer warned. 23 March 2025.

    The Prime Minister is facing calls to authorise a blanket exemption from the European Convention on Human Rights for soldiers sent to deter Russia.
    It comes amid fears that Moscow could look to exploit Britain’s adherence to the ECHR to pursue soldiers through the courts and undermine military morale.

    The only legal force the squaddies have to fear is in Westminster.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/03/23/putin-weaponise-echr-british-troops-ukraine-starmer-told/#comment

    2. Projection 101 from #TwoTierKeir. It's not Putin who continues to hound HM Forces through the courts for actions taken over 50 years ago (actions that have already gone through unit inquiries) and up to 30 years ago, when his predecessor handed out pardons and 'get out of jail free' cards to the terrorists those squaddies were protecting the public from.

    3. "The Prime Minister is facing calls to authorise a blanket exemption from the European Convention on Human Rights for soldiers sent to deter Russia."

      These people are mad. [

  8. A Letter and a couple of comments:-

    Disaster in Sudan

    SIR – Far too little is being reported about the world’s worst humanitarian disaster, unfolding in Sudan, where countless millions have been displaced with no more than the clothes they stand in. Famine and death by starvation are rampant, caused by a vicious civil war. The world stands idly by as widespread ethnic cleansing, mass murder and rape continue unabated, with negligible aid or medical assistance getting through. There is an immediate need for international Band-Aid-style action, which saved much of the population of Ethiopia decades ago.

    Unfortunate Sudan has a sad cycle of recurrent horror. Acting for the Egyptian khedive in 1869, Sir Samuel Baker attempted to improve “a picture of utter misery and desolation”, as did Charles Gordon as governor-general from 1877-79. However, a revolt against hated Egyptian rule in 1881 brought the Mahdi to power, who massacred thousands and demolished Khartoum.

    His successor, Khalifa Abdullahi, reigned over “a 13 year era of cruelty, terror, misery and famine rarely equalled in history”.

    Peace came to Sudan in 1898, when Kitchener overthrew the regime and the country became a prosperous Anglo-Egyptian condominium until independence in 1956.

    The current civil war has returned Sudan to a land of torment, misery and famine. The world must act now.

    Roger Croston
    Chester

    Tom Archer 6hrs ago
    Re. Sudan

    When Band Aid hit the headlines, the population of Sudan was 19 million – today it's 51 million

    So for any wannabe Bob Geldof's out there, think carefully – every life you save will be more lives lost later

    1. A further comment:-

      Band Aid was Ethiopia, but yes, I agree the principle is the same. Take a region with periodic famines, on average every seven years, then send in food aid to protect the people from that natural culling mechanism, then sit back and watch the population explode.
      Then, as with the Sudan, throw in the incessant Civil Wars and bingo!
      Yet another cash cow for the Emergency Aid Boondogglers.

    2. Several hundred years ago, the region's population served as a reservoir of unskilled labour for Arabian employment specialists.
      Whitey decided to upset the apple cart.

    3. Hello Bob

      Re trees , lots of deforestation here , but I expect they are thinning broadleaf forests and also clearing pine trees from heathland .. piles of wood everywhere.

      I liked this comment re the Roger Croston DT letter

      PM

      Perigo Minas
      10 min ago
      Apparently Africa has received more money in aid since WW2 that was spent rebuilding Europe after WW2.

    4. Hmm, Roger, so when a white man took charge and ran it (thanks, Richard, for your family's service) it was a prosperous country. We gave them independence and look at them now. The "world" – ie white nations – should stay out of it and let them get on with it. Can't be colonialist, can we?

      1. He must have got a whiff of one of Winston's (the beagle, not WSC) Silent But Deadlies.

  10. Reeves to cut £2bn from Civil Service as unions warn of massive job losses. 23 March 2025.

    The Chancellor and Pat McFadden, the Cabinet Office minister, will tell all government departments they must cut administrative costs by 15 per cent over the next five years.

    Mr McFadden will set out in a letter that the cuts must target roles in HR, office management and government communications to spare front-line services.

    Right you turkeys. Who’s for a Merry Christmas?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/03/22/reeves-to-axe-thousands-of-civil-service-jobs/

    2. Wasn't there an episode of 'Yes Minister' when they tried this? It ain't going to happen.

      The best McFadden can do is to get them to do something useful.

    1. Hey, ogga1, I've just spent precious minutes checking yesterday's column to see if this had been posted, and here you are, today.😉

      Miss Mander is receiving a well deserved battering BTL for her creepy woke action. A number of replies highlight her stupidity i.e. she claims to desire inclusivity but excludes Christianity. How does that work?

      1. Inclusivity means excluding the majority.
        DEI, for example, hiring someobe based on DEI means discriminating on job hires based on irrelevant characteristics such as skin colour (not white), gender (not male), sexual orientation (not hetero). Reverse those and see how quickly the perpetually offended scweem and scweem until they are sick.
        Turned down a job hunter this month because the job was DEI… I said that I wouldn't work for an outfit that hires based on characteristics that don't include being good at the job.

        1. Not necessarily. The Women & Equalities Department specifically excludes men, who are a minority the last time I checked.

    3. Cancel Ramadan for the same reasons? She can fuck right off, get in her electric car, and fuck off some more.

      1. She wouldn't get far in her electric car – barely make a hundred miles, let alone as far as Calais.

  12. This letter gets quite a bit of BTL Support:-

    Leave the ECHR

    SIR – Michael Ellis (Comment, March 16), a former Attorney General, shines a light on the problem of the European Convention on Human Rights. In one short sentence, he accuses it of “protecting not the rights of society but the rights of the antisocial”. Those few words carry as much punch as a whole thesis.

    This is a most compelling indictment of the ECHR, and should set the alarm bells ringing all over Europe, especially in the United Kingdom. If decisive action is not taken by our Government to leave it behind, we shall find ourselves ever more short-changed as the antisocial increasingly dominate society.

    Duncan Reeves
    Lindfield, West Sussex

    By protecting the rights of the criminal the rights of the people are ground into the dirt.

    1. These 'migrants' (invaders) are being sponsored by the countries of the middle east. Recyclable oil money.
      A great promotional thought for millipede if he's got half a brain cell…….

    1. Good morning Rik and everyone.
      You laffed, but I know of someone who worked for a big electricity provider years ago, and part of his job was to key in the daily requirements for a continuous-process factory somewhere in England.
      The keyboard being sticky, he somehow managed to type 7000000 kilowatts (or equivalent) without noticing the absence of the vital first digit.
      The screen prompt asked for double confirmation, Y/N, so he naturally pressed Enter.
      0000000 kw.
      Whereupon the factory lost all its supply and shut down, causing a certain amount of anguish to managers, accountants and insurers.
      A Gerard Hoffnung moment.

          1. I enjoyed that, Rastus, it was very funny. On a totally different matter, since you keep a record of every NoTTLer's birthday, do you by any chance have the date for that of a previous NoTTLer, Peddy the Viking? I have his address but unfortunately not his birthdate. Best wishes, Elsie Bloodaxe.

          2. 7th or 11th of September, I recall – but then, I'm not good with numbers. It's definitely September! 🙂

    2. Good morning Rik and everyone.
      You laffed, but I know of someone who worked for a big electricity provider years ago, and part of his job was to key in the daily requirements for a continuous-process factory somewhere in England.
      The keyboard being sticky, he somehow managed to type 7000000 kilowatts (or equivalent) without noticing the absence of the vital first digit.
      The screen prompt asked for double confirmation, Y/N, so he naturally pressed Enter.
      0000000 kw.
      Whereupon the factory lost all its supply and shut down, causing a certain amount of anguish to managers, accountants and insurers.
      A Gerard Hoffnung moment.

    4. In the 1970s my brother worked as a programmer for the DVLC in Swansea. At around that time, there was a major outage with the computer systems there that led to chaos organising driving and vehicle licenses that went on for about three years.

      There was a Civil Service EO with a notorious reputation for bringing chaos to any system he administered, and was quickly shunted out of anywhere he could cause mayhem, prior to fattening up the agency for privatisation.

      It was with great satisfaction that I heard he was working his magic with the Child Support Agency.

    5. In a similar vein

      All in all, I think my first few months as a Novice Prime Minister at Westminster have went really well.

      Starmer the Harmer

  16. Morning, all Y'all.
    Sunny, -3,5C, but clouds rolling in.
    Now equipped wih a bacon butty and coffee, beginning to resemble a human.

  17. Britain is turning into a battleground for the world’s problems. Isabel Oakeshott. 23 march 2025.

    Shortly before Rishi Sunak called his snap election, there was a shocking outbreak of violence in Sheffield. As panicking politicians left parliament for their constituencies, a pitched battle between Eritreans brandishing brickbats and metal rods attracted next to no attention.

    Isabel Oakeshott has moved to Dubai with her children so this is written at something of a distance . This said I don’t doubt its basic truthfulness. I am much more interested in the reasons for her departure. She is the partner of Richard Tice of Reform fame. Her explanation that it was to safeguard her children’s education has always struck me as inadequate. What I think; and I have no
    evidence as to its truth, is that she has moved to provide a safe haven for her family and Mr Tice himself should it become necessary. She fears, as many sensible people do, the future of the UK, and has taken out an insurance policy against it.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03/22/there-is-no-reason-for-people-to-riot-in-britain-over-forei/

    2. All societies collapse .. my goodness , the Colonial days where most things were perfect , people moved away fro Britain post war , into pleasant expat communities , relatively peaceful well ordered countries under the British flag / easy sometimes difficult living ,work rest and play , the heat , and some sort of security thanks to Governors and peaceful happy natives who were looked after , because there were masses of jobs for them !

      What happened ?

      Down to earth with a wallop !

      Tribes quarrel , and it wasn't anything to do with whitey .

        1. Indeed they are, I read of the Eritreans in Sheffield having another spat this past week (unless of course some churnalist was just regurgitating some old newz for effect) between pro-independent Eritreans and their 'remainiac' brothers. Baseball bats deployed. It's just not cricket.

  18. Good Morning!

    John Hamer is back with an article in our Covid Remembrance series, Covid – Summary and Conclusion – which sets out our worst nightmare, the very worst of all possible worst case scenarios: it’s part of a cull and control campaign.

    There have been wishful thing whispers about a military coup to rid us of the despotic Starmer regime. In his ‘A Very British Coup’ Iain Hunter explains why a coup is most unlikely, and what happened the last time there were rumours of a one in Britain. And if you missed it please read our important article – Personality, and How They Are Shaping It – from professional psychologist Xandra H on how the globalist elite is trying to use the development process to create an unthinking, conformist general population. It really does explain an awful lot.

    Energy watch 08.00: Demand:  25.26 GW. Total UK Production: 17.8 GW from: Hydrocarbons 18%; Wind 28.1%; Imports 30.9%; Biomass 4.4%; Nuclear 13.6. Solar: 3.3%.

    Today’s breakdown demonstrates the government’s priority, and it is not providing cheap electric power. We are currently importing  over 30% of our electric power requirements, while gas plants are paid to shut down, just because Miliband and his gang of zealots and declare today a ‘low carbon intensity day.

  19. Morning all 🙂😊
    Foggy today, government weather control again.
    Off out to lunch later with a group of now sadly diminishing friends.
    Headline today….If it is found that Russia was responsible for the Heathrow Fire. It is an act of war. I wonder who might like to promote this ridiculous theory. Oh yes……..that lot.

    1. I wouldn't put it past the Russians trying it on, if only for the hell of it.

      They might argue that a sovereign nation worth its salt needs to be adequately prepared for all possible scenarios. Failure to do so creates an unviable State, ripe for opportunistic exploitation. "Realpolitik" I think they call it.

      1. I know what you mean but……..more likely our own mob doing something like that the blame game seems to be the mode at the moment.
        I still think they replaced the old standby diesel generators with batteries.

        1. Having standby generators WITH batteries, at least for essential equipment, to stop computers going down etc. for that brief period between the power going off and the generators coming on line is a wise precaution.

        2. How long was it still burning? They can usually put out a diesel fire in a couple of hours at most, less if they use foam.

          Playing the blame game is a bit like blaming the tiger for eating the child.

  20. Good morning everyone ,

    Sunshine , dry garden , slight breeze and son has trotted off for another very lengthy run !

    This article is interesting , don't get bored reading it please , try not to skip it either .. but this is where some societies are heading .

    The "Universe 25" experiment is one of the most terrifying experiments in the history of science, which, through the behavior of a colony of mice, is an attempt by scientists to explain human societies.

    The idea of ​​"Universe 25" Came from the American scientist John Calhoun, who created an "ideal world" in which hundreds of mice would live and reproduce. More specifically, Calhoun built the so-called "Paradise of Mice", a specially designed space where rodents had Abundance of food and water, as well as a large living space. In the beginning, he placed four pairs of mice that in a short time began to reproduce, resulting in their population growing rapidly. However, after 315 days their reproduction began to decrease significantly.

    When the number of rodents reached 600, a hierarchy was formed between them and then the so-called "wretches" appeared. The larger rodents began to attack the group, with the result that many males begin to "collapse" psychologically. As a result, the females did not protect themselves and in turn became aggressive towards their young. As time went on, the females showed more and more aggressive behavior, isolation elements and lack of reproductive mood.

    There was a low birth rate and, at the same time, an increase in mortality in younger rodents. Then, a new class of male rodents appeared, the so-called "beautiful mice". They refused to mate with the females or to "fight" for their space. All they cared about was food and sleep. At one point, "beautiful males" and "isolated females" made up the majority of the population.

    According to Calhoun, the death phase consisted of two stages: the "first death" and "second death." The former was characterized by the loss of purpose in life beyond mere existence — no desire to mate, raise young or establish a role within society. As time went on, juvenile mortality reached 100% and reproduction reached zero.

    Among the endangered mice, homosexuality was observed and, at the same time, cannibalism increased, despite the fact that there was plenty of food. Two years after the start of the experiment, the last baby of the colony was born. By 1973, he had killed the last mouse in the Universe 25. John Calhoun repeated the same experiment 25 more times, and each time the result was the same.

    Calhoun's scientific work has been used as a model for interpreting social collapse, and his research serves as a focal point for the study of urban sociology.

    We are currently witnessing direct parallels in today’s society..weak, feminized men with little to no skills and no protection instincts, and overly agitated and aggressive females with no maternal instincts.

    1. I was wondering what God's alternative technique for culling overpopulation was, were humanity to devise ways to avoid pandemic or war as the traditional methods.

    2. Fascinating, Belle. Concerning, as you say.
      Of mice and men, perhaps.
      We also see the "…loss of purpose in life beyond mere existence — no desire to mate, raise young or establish a role within society." with endless youtube videos on how women are being too picky about dating with men. My two haven't a steady girl, despite both being over the age when I was married (and still am).

    3. There is an inherent assumption that a population of mice living in an artificial environment that is not replicated in nature can be used as a model for human behaviour. This assumption doesn't seem to be tested.

      2. My thoughts too. Humans have free will, we are not animals. Our societies are not as closed as the environment in his experiments.

    4. Older son , similar .

      He says that he hasn't met a woman yet that he could love, support , have children with .. He says that modern women are selfish , self absorbed and unreliable .

      He had a distressing 1990's experience .

      Son no 2 has a male partner , theirs is a solid happy relationship .. loads of hobbies and strangely compatible .

      We thoroughly enjoy their company when they visit .

    5. Sounds like just the sort of experiment comrade Michie and the 'independent' SAGE cabal wanted to run during the scamdemic.

  22. SIR – Kemi Badenoch remarks that Nigel Farage is not fit to run my life (report, March 19). Conservatives don’t seek to run anyone’s life; they get out of the way and allow us to run our own.

    Philip Usherwood-Bliss
    Elvetham, Hampshire

    Well said, Phil. This is the basic tenet that socialists — and other detritus — cannot assimilate. Every aspect of their miserable lives is controlled by the state. Individualism and self-sufficiency are simply beyond them.

    1. Morning Griz.
      Let's be honest and face the facts, there doesn't appear to be any one of our political classes that are capable of even running a bath. They are only almost literally 'going through the motions' making sure of their salaries and pensions.

      1. Morning, Eddy.

        Agreed in full. However, my main point was about the good people of the country who are self-sufficient and do not need nannying by any party. Dimwit socialists are always on the lookout for handouts and guidance on how to exist.

        1. I look for guidance sometimes. Maybe the trick is spotting when the satnav is directing you over a cliff, and having the courage to put up with its "recalculating" nag.

    2. This comment points out the stark difference between Liberals and Socialists (or Conservatives for that matter).

      Conventional thinking insists on there being a choice between being controlled by the State or not being controlled by the State. Always a top-down presumption.

      Liberals flip the argument by suggesting that it is the State that is the servant of the individual, working co-operatively and symbiotically. The presumption is bottom-up, only passing power upwards when the lower levels fail. It does not deny the importance of the State, as a facilitator and a co-ordinator, but never as a master.

    3. Except that so far, so-called Conservatives have tried to run our lives. The nanny state was alive and well even after we got rid of Blair and Brown.

  24. Well well.. this one was hidden amongst the celeb tittle-tattle in the Daily Mail. No other "journo" bothered to cover it.

    Israeli music producer lured to a remote Welsh cottage, handcuffed and brutally beaten by masked armed jihadis from Bradford.

    He escaped only because the taxi driver who had taken him there had helped him in with his bags and, seeing the violence, escaped to raise the alarm.

    1. Great emphasis was made on the religion of the hero taxi driver.
      Phew, that's Ok then.. as you were.. carry on as before.

    2. Great emphasis was made on the religion of the hero taxi driver.
      Phew, that's Ok then.. as you were.. carry on as before.

    4. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2ljglvv842o
      https://news.sky.com/story/it-felt-like-my-own-personal-october-the-7th-gang-jailed-for-kidnapping-jewish-israeli-music-producer-13328883
      https://www.lbc.co.uk/crime/music-producer-jewish-israeli-plot-wales-kidnapping/
      https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/kidnap-plot-failed-when-israeli-victim-freed-himself-from-radiator-p99x5fkdc
      https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/masked-gang-lured-music-producer-31198637

    1. Same crew of wreckers, it seems. I have lost all faith in them to actually make anything useful happen politically.
      Example – how many partys has Farage been the leader of, that are now down the toilet – and what's the common denominator?

      1. Let us hope that the imminent new hope for the right is The Near Age — the dead, washed-up alternative is The Far Age.

    2. You needn't worry about splitting the centre-right vote.
      It's irrelevant. A civil war is now baked in.. Kemi, Farage & other wet Tories are just a diversion.

      1. I’ve just finished listening to Ben Habib explaining his position and why he believes that Farage isn’t the man to turn the UK away from destruction. Habib states that what is required are ideologues with the character and determination to turn the tide.

        Could be you’re correct about a civil war, the question now is, if war does break out where will Farage, Badendoch et al. position themselves? Fence sitting will not work, they will be forced to pick a side.

        1. forced to pick a side.

          Nah, inevitably it will be a multi-decade process with Farage et al stating "that violence isn't the answer.. place trust in the system.. stick with the status quo". A centre-right government will have to exist in exile in a country like the USA where they can launch a barrage of truth bombs on X.

        2. forced to pick a side.

          Nah, inevitably it will be a multi-decade process with Farage et al stating "that violence isn't the answer.. place trust in the system.. stick with the status quo". A centre-right government will have to exist in exile in a country like the USA where they can launch a barrage of truth bombs on X.

        3. They will choose the side of the diverse, because there will be more of them in the fighting age ranges.

    1. Who trained those firefighters?

      I would have thought that spraying an electricity substation with water was somewhat hazardous.

      1. From the photos I think they sprayed foam – still dangerous I'd have thought

  28. THERE'LL ALWAYS BE AN ENGLAND

    I give you a toast, ladies and gentlemen
    I give you a toast, ladies and gentlemen
    May this fair land we love so well
    In dignity and freedom dwell

    Though worlds may change and go awry
    While there is still one voice to cry

    There'll always be an England
    While there's a country lane
    Wherever there's a cottage small
    Beside a field of grain

    There'll always be an England
    While there's a busy street
    Wherever there's a turning wheel
    A million marching feet

    Red, white and blue
    What does it mean to you?
    Surely you're proud, shout it aloud
    Britons, awake

    The empire too, we can depend on you
    Freedom remains
    These are the chains
    Nothing can break

    There'll always be an England
    And England shall be free
    If England means as much to you
    As England means to me

    I wonder what the songwriters — Ross Parker/Hugh Charles/Alan Mossford — would make of the fact that there is no longer the England they wrote about. Would they actually believe that the present-day population of that once-Great country had lost their bottle as well as their balls and their brains … in just 85 short years?

    [Personally I was always discomfited about their reference to "Red, White and Blue" in their lyrics. There is no blue in the English flag, and 49 other countries use that tired and banal combination of colours.] https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/countries-with-red-white-and-blue-flags

    1. I was thinking, last night, about the future if Islam takes over. Most of us here will be dead but St Pauls and Westminster, along with Canterbury cathedral will have minarets as the Hagia Sophia does in Constantinople. The art galleries will be gone, so will the libraries, attacking libraries is a favorite pastime of Islamic conquerors. Nelsons column will be gone and all statues, they are forbidden in Islam. Our history will have been erased. Islam does that in every country it invades, deletes history prior to Islam. If you are still a Christian at that point you will, like the Coptic Christians of Egypt, be able to work in garbage collecting, sewage and any menial job you please. Your daughters will be vulnerable to kidnap, forcible conversion and marriage to any Muslim man that decides to take her. If nothing is done soon, very soon, we are finished. Already the sun is setting on our island home and it will not rise again.

      3. It will be as though we had never been. No sign at all. I take a crumb of comfort from the fact that historically the British do not mobilise themselves until the very last minute: "It came to them very late……"

      4. If Islam does take over then it will be the fault of the indigenous population who sat by meekly permitting it to happen, i.e. 60-odd million feeble wimps. No previous generation would have dreamt of allowing it.

  29. THERE'LL ALWAYS BE AN ENGLAND

    I give you a toast, ladies and gentlemen
    I give you a toast, ladies and gentlemen
    May this fair land we love so well
    In dignity and freedom dwell

    Though worlds may change and go awry
    While there is still one voice to cry

    There'll always be an England
    While there's a country lane
    Wherever there's a cottage small
    Beside a field of grain

    There'll always be an England
    While there's a busy street
    Wherever there's a turning wheel
    A million marching feet

    Red, white and blue
    What does it mean to you?
    Surely you're proud, shout it aloud
    Britons, awake

    The empire too, we can depend on you
    Freedom remains
    These are the chains
    Nothing can break

    There'll always be an England
    And England shall be free
    If England means as much to you
    As England means to me

    I wonder what the songwriters — Ross Parker/Hugh Charles/Alan Mossford — would make of the fact that there is no longer the England they wrote about. Would they actually believe that the present-day population of that once-Great country had lost their bottle as well as their balls and their brains … in just 85 short years?

    [Personally I was always discomfited about their reference to "Red, White and Blue" in their lyrics. There is no blue in the English flag, and 49 other countries use that tired and banal combination of colours.] https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/countries-with-red-white-and-blue-flags

  30. I always find it bemusing (if not simply interesting) how ostensibly ordinary people will beg for votes from their peers then, immediately after acquiring the power that those votes provided them with, use that power against the very people who voted to have them look after their interests, their welfare and their country.

    Call me naïve and you could very well be right.

    1. I did my A levels in a technical college in the early 1970s, which in those days had a Liberal Studies department, similar to that parodied by Tom Sharpe.

      One of the games we played was precisely as you described. There were three groups, an upper, a middle and a lower, with each member awarded power points according to their group status.

      The upper group were determined to hang onto their privileges by setting rules keeping the lower orders out. The only way someone in the lower group could hope to change the rules was by pooling their points together, so that one of their sort could make it to the top table and set the rules.

      What actually happened though was that as soon as the lower group representative got to the top table, he lost any loyalty to the lower group that got him there, and voted according to the interests of his new-found class.

      The Liberal Studies department came to grief in the second year I was there. One of its lecturers got carried away, egged on by a gaggle of female catering students. It was about challenging gender stereotypes (which in those days before woke was considered rather daring). He got it into his head, when asked why strippers were predominately female, that there was no credible reason, so took his clothes off in class. The students loved it, but after a complaint from some of the parents, the governors took a somewhat dimmer view and got the entire department closed down.

      1. I also attended a technical college in the early 1970s but, in my case, it was work-related as I was studying, on day release, qualifications for my then job as a fabrication and welding engineering technician. Each week we had a half-hour session in a class called ‘General Studies’ (?). No one ever explained what it was for and why it had relevance for us (it didn’t, of course). This class was taken by a tall thin chap with beard and elbow patches on his jacket. It was, ostensibly, a conditioning period for Liberal thinking. I just sat through this pointless idiocy, clock watching.

  31. See you later folks – going to help do refreshments at a junior table tennis tournament. Then a concert this afternoon.

    1. Nice assortment of cakes, sausage rolls, quiches , sandwiches, tea and coffee. All done by Jim’s sister.

  33. Good morning, all. Very late on parade because of sheer idleness!

    For NoTTLers who are bird watchers:

    Last evening we watched a prog on BBC TV about an Irish chap whose aim is to record the song of every breed of bird in Ireland. I was tempted by the blurb in the listing but very nearly DIDN'T record it because it referred to the chap "being able to talk about his autism.

    I am glad to say that I recorded it anyway – and it was superb. Here is the link. One of the best TV documentaries for a very long time.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0028x6c/birdsong

    And, at the end, when it looks as though the film has ended – DON'T stop watching. The last three minutes are spell-binding

    1. Sorry, BBC iPlayer isn’t available in your region.

      Pity. I will not be here for the rest of the day. Going out to diner with a friend then visit a couple of Bars.

    2. Bears are interesting eaters. They’re omnivorous and like us can do without meat but are healthier with than without. Giant Pandas are the woke vegans of the bear world. Stoopid creatures.

      1. Giant pandas live in China so they must be pinkoes [if not true reds under the beds].🤣

        1. Good morning Grizzly

          You ought to post all your avatars on one post here and invite us to rate them from 1 -10.

          The one you used yesterday was a high scorer – today's not so high.

          1. I may be a tad vain, Rastus, but not that vain!

            I’m just celebrating, currently, that ephemeral period of my life when I had hair on my head.

            The current photo being taken on a visit to the Gimcrack Stakes event at York racecourse in 1972. It was the longest I ever grew my hair. The following year it was nearly all shorn off at the barber’s shop at Pannal Ash Police Training School, Harrogate.

          8. Yes, I know that, hence the race named the Ebor. I spent a year in Hell – sorry, Hull – and used to go up to York (and Beverley) to escape as often as I could.

          9. I have attended race meetings at York, Beverley, Thirsk and Ripon, but not at Doncaster or Catterick.

      3. Apparently bamboo creates havoc with their digestive system but they still keep eating it.
        And they are antisocial and don't like other pandas. The female is fertile one day a year.

      4. I believe they can eat a lot of fish – think I saw a nature programme with bears waiting in a river to catch fish swimming by.

        1. Yes, I’ve read that even Giant Pandas when sick will eat fish and berries. More nutritious than bamboo.

  35. https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/30ed080cc1a91955adf3251ffae00cf366f127cd/0_0_5334_3604/master/5334.jpg?width=700&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=d872f58e77774a5a02fcc67ecd51152d Edinburgh, UK
    Images featuring famous artworks such as The Monarch of the Glen by Sir Edwin Landseer, The Skating Minister by Henry Raeburn and Olive Trees by Vincent van Gogh are projected on to the National Galleries of Scotland to encourage more people to come to see the nation’s art collection

  36. A fiver this wet morning:
    Wordle 1,373 5/6
    🟩🟨⬜⬜⬜
    🟩⬜🟨⬜⬜
    🟩🟩⬜⬜🟨
    🟩🟩⬜🟩⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Reeves to cut £2bn from Civil Service as unions warn of massive job losses

      "That is a very brave promise, Minister."

      Sir Humphrey Appleby.

      2. Not many people had beards in their early teens. Indeed I did not have to shave every day until I left school at 18.

        There was a boy at school with me who needed to shave every day at 13. He also was covered in body hair to the extent that the hair on his chest and back was so thick that you could hardly see the skin underneath.

          1. The hirsute fellow went on to BRNC Dartmouth and became a naval officer.

            Esau House was for the hairy while Jacob House was for the smoothies like me.

        2. School: No beards, no facial hair and no long sideboards. One boy slowly let his sideboards grow, until his housemaster noticed, reached out, tweaked said sideboard – hard, and told him to not come to school looking like "an out of work Spanish guitarist". Plus of course the CCF forced "short back and sides" appearance on all of us.

    2. Same as today. Sports jacket Cav twill trousers, shirt & tie. Not a follower of fashion. never worn plumbers blue jeans.

  43. How considerate of the North Yorkshire council to install a resting place on a quiet country road in the Dales.
    https://scontent-cdg4-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/486387774_10236061924664576_3608207272791978758_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s600x600_tt6&_nc_cat=107&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=aa7b47&_nc_ohc=SEOTBRgnfdIQ7kNvgHiM2-1&_nc_oc=Admm9qVWs7tTMFNhJouUzWKFQ9Wrqg-qRZhTVIuSGg8nXoLQNoymkfkuS4eDpx5U7p2ZymebgTkgLl8Ozh9_yzBQ&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-cdg4-2.xx&_nc_gid=p1FaB4TEx5esKSNGGxJHQg&oh=00_AYHVD1Y_dViogEI8kIq0xCgKKhu_sP_8SmtqL_ab7kFxjQ&oe=67E5C664

    1. The sheer spite of closing paths if the Trust loses the appeal is beyond belief – what utter scum

    1. 403712+ up ticks,

      O2O,
      All politico's concerned sing from the same songsheet

      🎵,
      We gotta ticket to lie ii , we gotta ticket to lie ii, we gotta ticket to lie, and and we don't care.

    1. It does seem questionable that in possibly chasing funding for displaying diversity, the only major religious celebration that the school chooses to ban/cancel is Easter.

      Easter is the most important event in the Christian calendar.

    2. If she had cancelled Ramadan I suspect there would have been protests outside the school and probably those would have turned violent.

      1. They would have nailed her to a cross in the playground and then burned the school down.

      2. Something I really miss from California is grilling meat with Mesquite, it's absolutely delicious. You can't get it here can you?

      1. Ayup Pip
        If you fancy some nice light fantasy look up a series "Penric and Desdemona"
        By Lois Mcmaster Bjold all good fun

    3. Many things missing from this recipe.. (refer to Salt Bae).

      uber pretentious name..
      sea salt cascading down hairy arm..
      shades..
      edible gold flake..
      Leftie sanctimonious frauds queuing up at restaurant to pay a couple of grand£..

      The restaurant's signature dish – a giant tomahawk steak covered in edible gold leaf – will set you back an eye-watering £1,450.
      .
       https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9405b8179892655d6b718255e34cad05926c8b8a8c738167c5619360e0c1be5a.png

  50. 403712+ up ticks,

    May one ask,

    Are everybody up to speed on the governing leadership of reform, has everybody asked themselves " could we all be working for BIG MO MAN or at least 50% of us",

    Could the name of the wooden horse stabled currently in parliament, be "nige".

  52. Theodore Dalrymple
    Would Richard III have claimed PIP?
    23 March 2025, 5:10am

    Looking at the list breaking down the reasons for which people are granted Personal Independence Payments (PIPs), up to £180 a week to help them with their daily living and mobility, one cannot help but be reminded of the London Bills of Mortality of the seventeenth century, when some people died ‘frighted’, or of ‘grief’, or ‘lethargy.’

    Of course, our nosology – our classification of disease – is far more scientific than it was nearly four hundred years ago, except perhaps in one important respect: that of psychological difficulties. This is important because such difficulties are responsible for by far the largest category of claims for PIPs. This, in turn, is alarming because it is often relatively young people who make such claims.

    It seems almost as if the volume of PIP grants is inversely related to both the severity and certainty of the diagnosis. Some of the psychological diagnoses are solidly founded, but others, such as anxiety and depression, can be easily simulated. This is not the same as saying that the majority of the hundreds of thousands who claim to be anxious and depressed to the extent of needing financial assistance are faking it: the relationship between what is genuine and what is faked is far more complex than such an assertion would lead one to believe.

    To see how and why, it is worth considering Richard III’s opening soliloquy. William Shakespeare was, of course, a very great psychologist, and understood the workings of the human mind as well as anyone who has ever lived.

    Richard III’s condition was real (I mean as Shakespeare described it, not as found under the car park in Leicester). He was severely deformed but not handicapped. He did not cry at the Battle of Bosworth Field, ‘My PIP, my PIP, my kingdom for a PIP!’

    It takes no great insight, or effort of empathy, to know that Richard’s deformity was no source of happiness to him and complicated his life. No one would rather be born with his deformity than without it; it is necessary only to be a human being, not a psychologist, to know this.

    Richard tells that he cannot take advantage of the peace that has broken out:

    But I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks,

    Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass;

    I, that am rudely stamp’d, and want love’s majesty

    To strut before a wanton ambling nymph;

    I, that am curtail’d of this fair proportion,

    Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,

    Deformed, unfinish’d, sent before my time

    Into this breathing world, scarce half made up,

    And that so lamely and unfashionable

    That dogs bark at me as I halt by them;

    Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace,

    Have no delight to pass away the time,

    Unless to spy my shadow in the sun

    And descant on mine own deformity…

    This all sounds perfectly plausible and indeed pitiable. As I mentioned, you need not be a psychologist, only a human being, to understand and sympathise with Richard. Nor is Richard necessarily insincere as he speaks in this way.

    Yet in the very next scene, he is able to seduce, with less difficulty than a veritable Adonis might have experienced, the widow of a man for whose recent death he has been responsible. It is not true, therefore, that he cannot prove the lover; he is actually very good at making love. Even this, however, does not mean that he is entirely insincere in his lamentation. Common experience demonstrates that, in many cases, no amount of success can assuage the sense of bitterness consequent upon some unfairness or injustice suffered: and Richard’s deformity is nothing if not unfair.

    The point is that descanting on his own deformity does nothing to reduce Richard’s unease; on the contrary, it magnifies it, and keeps it constantly before his mind. This is no surprise. Descanting on one’s own anxiety or depression, as the very process of psychological diagnosis encourages the anxious or depressed to do, only magnifies, not assuages, their unease. The movement toward so-called Emotional Intelligence appears to be at the very root of, and a significant cause of, the epidemic of psychological discomfort among the young.

    We may go further. Richard says:

    And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover,

    To entertain these fair well-spoken days,

    I am determined to prove a villain

    And hate the idle pleasures of these days.

    Having decided, falsely, what he cannot do, he has provided himself with an all-purpose explanation of and excuse for his future behaviour.

    I am not, of course, claiming that we have become a nation of Richard IIIs: it is not villains that those who descant on their own anxiety or depression become because they cannot prove the lover, but people who cannot face the difficulties of life (and life is always difficult) without all kinds of props: props that actually maintain their inability that seemingly necessitates them in the first place.

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

    John Andrews
    7 hours ago
    Fascinating. I'll need to re-read Richard III.
    Let's think about Lord Nelson too. He lost the sight in his right eye due to a cannonball striking a nearby parapet during the Siege of Calvi in 1794. These days he would be invalided out out the navy and pensioned off for the rest of his life. Had this been done, we would not have had a one-eyed admiral to make such use of his disability at Copenhagen. Then we would not have trapped Napoleon's army in Egypt or sunk his fleet at Trafalgar. So I might be writing this comment in French and Nelson would not have been made a Lord.

    1. Being depressed and anxious is part of being young. When you grow up you should have learned how to deal or medicate it. It is not a reason to be paid benefits.

      Going out to work opens your mind. Hiding in your bedroom playing Xbox doesn't.

      My first job in a restaurant was terrifying. I was very anxious. I wasn't familiar at that time as to how the food was prepared and was terrified a customer would ask me a question. I had to walk into a room full of strangers each night and pretend i knew what i was doing.

      1. My first job, age just 16 (ok 60 years and more ago) was in a large office of (mostly) men. First time I walked through, cat calls, singing, whistling…the sort of thing well beyond the pale today. I didn't show any emotion, thereafter they treated me with respect. Anytime someone did step out of line found himself dealing with the others.

        1. I learned from my younger self to walk in as if you own the place (hospitality industry…don't know how that translates to other jobs)

          Was it you KJ asking about Katie? I think she was also asking after you. (I may be confused)

          1. Ashes? was indeed me, hope she’s still singing- that glorious voice…again sing it like you own it (Katie that is, not me!:-) We have the same name, she is Katie, I’m more usually Kate but also get Kathie etc….thanks Phizzee for alerting me x (and yes, drive it like you stole it)

    2. It's probably splitting hairs, but Dr Dalrymple's line "No one would rather be born with his deformity than without it; it is necessary only to be a human being, not a psychologist, to know this" has a weakness; King Richard III suffered from scoliosis, spine curvature, and there must be many people with severe congenital disabilities who might well have preferred to have been born with scoliosis rather than their current condition.

    3. It's probably splitting hairs, but Dr Dalrymple's line "No one would rather be born with his deformity than without it; it is necessary only to be a human being, not a psychologist, to know this" has a weakness; King Richard III suffered from scoliosis, spine curvature, and there must be many people with severe congenital disabilities who might well have preferred to have been born with scoliosis rather than their current condition.

    1. Drizzling here. Just got back from doing the refreshments at the junior table tennis tournament. Off out again shortly for a concert.

  56. Foodie here !
    I would like to know what he thinks is a good steak dish. (me being nosy) Also it will give you a reason to interrogate him. As all mothers should do with their sons. :@)

  57. Not quite the same but I will try it. Actually, on closer inspection that is not the same thing at all.

    1. I am put off by expensive delivery charges. I will check on amazon as i have prime.

      1. Mesquite is a wood. I don't know why that would be called Mesquite when it is a mix of spices.

        1. From Goggle…

          What is mesquite in food?
          As mentioned, mesquite seasoning for dry rubs and sauces comes from the dried, ground pods of the mesquite tree. People report that it has a smoky taste. Because of this bold flavor profile, mesquite is often used to season meat, vegetables, and other foods before barbecuing.20 Oct 2021

          Then there is this… https://wholefully.com/copycat-mesquite-grill-seasoning/#recipe

  58. Not quite the same but I will try it. Actually, on closer inspection that is not the same thing at all.

  59. A savage rupturing of our civilisation

    A new report leaves no doubt: 7 October was a hyper-violent onslaught against Jews and humanity.

    Brendan O'Neill – 20th March 2025

    The 7 October Parliamentary Commission Report, overseen by historian Lord Roberts, is a horrifying and essential document…it lays out all the brutal facts. It tells us that 1,182 people were murdered and more than 4,000 were wounded. Of the dead, 863, or 73 per cent, were civilians. Two-hundred-and-fifty-one people were taken hostage, 210 of them alive, 41 of them dead. That's 41 corpses, mostly of Jews, dragged to Gaza, trophies of the pogrom. More than 90 per cent of the killed and kidnapped were Israeli citizens, including Jewish Israelis, Arab Israelis and Bedouins. Among the remaining 10 per cent were citizens from 44 nations. The largest number of foreign victims were Thai workers. Seventeen Britons were murdered – the highest British death toll in any foreign terror attack since 9/11.

    The youngest victim was 14 hours old. That was Naama Abu Rashed, a Bedouin Israeli, shot while still in her mother's womb. The bullet went through her tiny leg. She was born gravely wounded, and later died. The oldest victim was Moshe Ridler, a 92-year-old Holocaust survivor. He perished when Hamas militants fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the safe room in which he had sought refuge from the rampage. They then shot to death his Moldovan carer, Petro Boscov. Mr Ridler, as a kid in Romania, had survived the Nazi ghetto and deportation trains, but he could not survive Hamas's sadistic crusade.

    In full: https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/03/20/a-savage-rupturing-of-our-civilisation

    1. And yet there are those in the UK who think theat Hamas was justified in committing the atrocities.

      What can be done with Hamas – and what can be done with those who condone murder, rape, torture and kidnap?

  60. A depth charge explodes astern of HMS STARLING. Mk VII depth charges, which were the standard anti-submarine weapon at the beginning of the Second World War, can be seen in the racks on the quarter-deck.

    The British MK VII depth charge had a 150 lbs. cast-iron weight attached to increase the sinking rate. The British claimed this DC would split a 0.875 inch submarine pressure hull at 20 feet and force a submarine to surface at about twice that distance. A 290 lb. Minol charge introduced in 1942 increased these distances to 26 feet and 52 feet, respectively.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c1a14620cdaf390617716ec66d5a96457b8cc4a61e1ecdf4dfd73be95c7f2087.jpg

    1. I 'served' on HMS Starling, Captain Walker's Flagship, for a week as a Sea Cadet in the 1950's

  62. A snippet below of how to get taxpayers to buy you a new Mercedes or BMW if you have ADHD or are autistic.

    https://mailchi.mp/e25aecb65ad8/weekly-bulletin-something-new-net-zero-tax-hikes-beamers-and-mercs?e=aace01f717

    Analysis from the TPA egg heads showed that the numbers of those qualifying for a new BMW or Mercedes citing ADHD has rocketed by 1,600 per cent since 2016 from 2,348 people to 35,115. Those claiming for autism went up by 703 per cent, from 3,509 to 28,225.

      1. Yes. Young. Black. Drug dealers.

        Makes it easy for plod to spot. When they can bother looking.

          1. As wrong now, as it was back in 1969🙄
            Edit : perhaps the word was ‘grifted’?

          2. As wrong now, as it was back in 1969🙄
            Edit : perhaps the word was ‘grifted’?

      2. I'd have thought they'd ask for a Toyota pickup so when the time comes they can mount a gun on the back

    2. I believe the people running this scam get paid bonuses on the more cars they give away.

  64. Nigel is throwing a tantrum and wont go on air at GB News because they are covering Rupert Lowe and Ben Habib. Hope GB fires him.

      3. Not really, he is accustomed to getting his way. This time with Ben Habib & Rupert Lowe, he has blown it and is getting push back that he wasn’t expecting. See my post today on Andrew Bridgen

    2. Fair play to Nige..
      No self-respecting progressive liberal Islam lover would appear on GBNews.
      Stick to the safety of LBC, BBC, Sky & ITV.

  65. Did the gardening required. A small Japanese in the breeze – so have come in.

    Anything interesting happen while I was out?

    Thought not.

    1. Ed wants to know nothing about maths, physics or chemistry – he is a deluded fanatic who wants to destroy our energy system.

    4. Great craftsmanship, but I wouldn't want to be working with glass dust with no mask and dust extraction system.
      Yes, I know that silicosis is less likely from microscopic fragments of glass than from, say, sand, but best to be cautious.
      Not so very long ago that particle board dust was assumed by the PTB to be safe, and woodworkers would develop various health problems.

    1. Using fossil fuels and slave labour are fine as long as they don't stop Millipede from trashing the British economy.

      1. They must be brain dead – all of those morons should have negative approval ratings!

        1. Obviously, some people still reckon that crew are doing a good job – you know, saving the environment, sticking it to the toffs, saving the economy from years of torwee cuts… being kind to poor blecks. And so on.
          No cure for stupid.

        1. He's killing the Britain of all white people. And his Jewish Polish Marxist parents came here for sanctuary. His mother was a human rights supporter. What a boon they have been to our country. I wouldn't expect gratitude but I would expect some commitment to uphold the country which provided them with a home.

          3. True.
            And I would also suggest it was those who didn't vote at all.

            However, if the choice is to eat soft shit or eat hard shit, there's not much of a choice.

      3. Evidence that you have to have your cognitive faculties removed to be a Labour supporter, I would have thought.

      4. What I cannot fathom is why Miliband is top!

        Er… because Labour Party voters are stoopid?

  70. Wordle No. 1,373 3/6

    ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
    ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    Wordle 23 Mar 2025

    A bumbling Birdie Three?

    1. #MeToo – my third guess was really only an attempt to position my 'yellow' letters, but it turned out correct. A highly fortuitous birdie – but I'll take it!!

      Wordle 1,373 3/6

      ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜
      🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    2. Well done. A 3 here as well'.

      Wordle 1,373 3/6

      ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
      ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟨
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      2. Much to my surprise, me too. My explanation is the same as 4G.

        Wordle 1,373 3/6

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

      1. Indeed, Paul. The American elk (aka 'wapiti') is similar to our red deer.

        The European 'elk' is — as you say — a moose.

  72. Allister Heath
    Starmer must sack lunatic Miliband to save Britain
    Red Ed is a delusional fanatic who birthed our ruinous approach to net zero – he will soon destroy both the UK and his party

    Allister Heath 29 January 2025 7:11pm GMT

    Here’s a suggestion for Sir Keir Starmer. If he wants us to take his professed conversion to pro-growth capitalism seriously, he should immediately sack Ed Miliband.

    The Secretary of State for Energy is the author of the dreadful Climate Change Act, a supporter of wealth taxes, and the pro-growth agenda’s public enemy number one. Kicking out Miliband, who more than any other politician symbolises Labour’s pathological hatred of free markets, would do more to rekindle the economy’s animal spirits than any gimmick dreamt up by the Treasury.

    The former Labour leader, who once threatened to resign from government if Heathrow was expanded, didn’t bother to attend Rachel Reeves’s pro-third runway speech: his vision for Britain is incompatible with the Chancellor’s desperate need to boost GDP. Net zero fanatics, of which he is the honorary leader, want fewer of us to travel by plane. They hate cars, and oppose building the Lower Thames Crossing, another good idea that Reeves now claims to support.

    Miliband’s plan to green the grid by 2030, which will lead to even pricier and scarcer energy, will cripple Reeves’s Oxford-Cambridge growth corridor. High-tech firms require cheap and plentiful energy, especially in the pursuit of AI (and this remains true even in the post- DeepSeek era), and they are not going to find any in Miliband’s Britain. Even increased house-building and new towns are a problem for the reactionary de‑growthers, as real-world homes are carbon-intensive.

    Starmer has a massive problem. Even he must occasionally realise his policies are ruining the economy, not least his extension to workers’ “rights”, the phasing out of North Sea oil and gas, the higher taxes on working people, the deranged profligacy, the war on private schools, the wanton destruction of standards in the state sector, and the obsession with tying everything that moves in red tape, even football clubs.

    Reeves is obviously panicking, and could take him down with her: lower gilt yields have granted Britain a temporary respite, but the Chancellor is staring into the abyss. The policies she is proposing this week, if they eventually materialise, would all be positive for the economy over the next decade, though they would not be as transformative as some seem to think, given the scale of the economy’s woes.

    The Prime Minister desperately needs Reeves’s new-found agenda to be implemented, if only to shift vibes, but he also needs some shorter term, more urgent wins.

    This will require choosing between his increasingly panicky Chancellor and his Energy Secretary. While the nonsensical official line remains that “there is no trade-off between economic growth and net zero”, it is obvious that diluting the latter would be the easiest way to eek out gains.

    We need more roads and runways. We can’t ban new petrol cars in four years and 11 months. The five-year carbon budgets that govern all of British economic activity and legislation are too tough. The Climate Change Committee should no longer wield this much power. It would be better to get rid of Miliband now, even at the cost of a massive rift within the Labour party.

    Thanks in large part to net zero, our industrial sector has been plunged into a Great Depression-style crisis. Manufacturing output in September 2024 was down around 8 per cent from its level in 2021, and there were further monthly decreases in 8 of its 13 subsectors. Energy production has crashed 28.5 per cent since 2020.

    Climate levies designed to cut factory emissions are forecast to almost triple by 2030, and what is left of industry won’t be able to cope. The implosion of the production industries will more than cancel out any progress made on house-building or the erection of infrastructure for the remainder of this decade, ruining Reeves’s GDP forecasts.

    The only reason we are so proudly decarbonising faster than other rich economies is because we are terminating economic activity, even in areas in which we should have a comparative advantage. Combined with extreme levels of often lowish-skilled migrants, GDP per capita is falling, the ultimate indictment of a failing society.

    Yet it is not just the radical environmentalist mind virus and absurdly restrictive anti-development, anti-housing planning rules that are dragging down growth. Public spending at 44.5 per cent of GDP in 2023-24 is an almost insurmountable obstacle: the greater the state’s share, the less growth, as numerous studies have shown.

    A sensible government would announce targets to slash spending as a share of national income (while simultaneously growing defence); in a parallel universe, Reeves would also read and adopt Jon Moynihan’s manifesto, as set out in his brilliant two-volume Return to Growth.

    Our insanely complicated and punitive tax system is another drag. The overall burden, close to its highest level since the Second World War, is getting even worse under Reeves, making a mockery of her supposed pro-growth conversion. Marginal tax rates are too high, the 40 per cent band kicks in too early, professionals are hammered by the removal of the personal allowance and the loss of child care benefits. The 45 per cent rate should be abolished. Working hard or seeking a promotion no longer makes sense in Britain.

    The throttling of the City of London, one of the UK’s central engines of growth between 1987 and 2007, is another reason for our paltry performance. The financial services industry was turned into a ludicrously over-taxed, over-regulated quasi-utility by George Osborne after the financial crisis.

    Investment banking required careful reform, but was neutered instead by a pseudo-Tory government desperate to pander to banker-bashers and egged on by Miliband. Osborne’s bank ring-fencing plan was a disaster, the endless shake-downs of the industry a disgrace, and regulatory idiocy has encouraged concentration and risk-aversion. The stock market is in terminal crisis, with start-ups leaving for America. The only hope would be to turn Britain into a tax haven for start-ups and their senior staff, but that isn’t on the cards.

    There is no hope of Reeves cutting tax or spend, or rescuing the City. But the Prime Minister has one last card to play on growth: he should fire Miliband, explain that Donald Trump’s election requires a pause to net zero, and attempt to save Britain’s manufacturers. It’s either that, or guaranteed oblivion.

    1. We DON'T need a house building programme. Concreting over farmland is a seriously bad idea if we expect to feed the population. Get rid of the useless wasters who are costing us a fortune and who have no right to be here. That will free up a lot of housing and help solve the financial deficit.

    1. I thinks anybody who studied biology at school, even up to just 'O' level, understands CO₂ is not a pollutant.

      1. I can still recall the formula for photosynthesis (O Level biology); 6CO2 + 6H2O = C6H12O6 + 6O2 (given off).

          3. When I learned the formula, we were told it was carbohydrate (a mixture of carbon and hydrogen atoms) rather than glucose.

          1. Feeling a bit better after an afternoon nap, thank you. I really am drained of energy of late.

          3. Thank you, Sue. I think it's just that I've had a busy and stressful few weeks. Time to wind down and recharge my batteries (before the next round kicks in!).

      1. Thank God it was NOT the film of that book. His best novel was his first. Subsequently – downhill

  76. Evening, all. Still feeling washed out; I had to go to bed for a rest this afternoon when I got back from church. I don't normally indulge in a siesta. Feeling a bit more human now.

    Never mind, Shakespeare, tell all the "decolonisers" where to get off. It's our history and our culture and there is nothing to be ashamed of. The past is a foreign country; they did things differently then.

  77. From https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62zm4eqvp7o
    Trump envoy dismisses Starmer plan for Ukraine
    Sir Keir Starmer's plan for an international force to support a ceasefire in Ukraine has been dismissed as "a posture and a pose" by Donald Trump's special envoy.
    Steve Witkoff said the idea was based on a "simplistic" notion of the UK prime minister and other European leaders thinking "we have all got to be like Winston Churchill".

    So, they noticed? Good!

    1. If cursed harmer is pushing something/anything, you can guarantee it will ultimately be bad for Britain.
      He's a thief's Blair.

      100%

    1. My nephew was at Hampden with Elia, his elder daughter! He was horrified at the Scot’s booing!

  79. Good Lunch today, 13 old friends. Three good old chaps missing. Two only fairly recently.
    Cote WGC. Fortunately it had stopped raining when we left at just after 3pm.

      1. I was sitting between two of the widows and diagonally opposite the third. Not planned of course, but I hope it wasn’t a gentle and subtle reminder 🤔😏

    1. Just put on a daily ferry, mate. Then the Border Farce boats can go home and RNLI can start saving lives that matter.

      1. 43712+ up ticks,

        Evening BT,

        Currently going against the grain, is saving indigenous lives,the “invasion” is very much inclusive of life takers.

    2. If a video won't run in Disqus (i.e. when you're in NOTTL), copy the url and try it in another tab or browser.

  82. It's been a hard day of choosing.
    Which was better?

    Hamilton being disqualified or Scotland getting thumped.

      2. There's eritreans kicking off in the north. In the south there's a bunch of blacks stabbing kids at a party and pallywallys destroying humus and feta cheese.

        Then there's the above.

        On top of that we have absurd tax policies, moronic green policies, farmers hammered into the ground, a PM trying to continue a war to 'defend' another country from invasion yet waves in foreign savages on a daily basis, a welfare budget that rewards failure rather than supporting the most in need. A bloated state that demands ever more money for ever less return and to top it off, the frogs won't let us use the money we gave them to re-arm because they're using Ukraine as hostage to demand more fishing rights – which they've repeatedly been refused.

        Bluntly, the brown and black sewage needs to be burned out. It has no place in this country and is the root of practically all our problems.

          2. It’s 20.5 degrees C indoors here at the moment, but only because I lit a fire to supplement the oil heating.

    1. Catch them, try them, and if guilty flog them.

      In public until they scream for mercy.

      Every week for a year.

      Pour décourager les autres

  86. Just sitting for a few minutes while dinner is cooking……..
    Super concert this afternoon! Craig Ogden, guitar and Milos Milivojevic (needs diacritics) accordion. An amazing instrument with loads of buttons.
    After Vivaldi, Scarlatti, Bocherini, Rodrigo, and others – they played Tango – Piazzolla! I thought of Ashes dancing to that! Great way to end the season.

    2. How? The guardian asks how? It's inevitable! This is what always happens under Labour. It's because their policies – and the graunds ideology is an absolute pack of rancid rat poo! It's utterly moronic, idiotic, the stuff of childish fantasies that always does incredible harm.

      If they truly are asking why – look at your readership!

    1. I have lived in this benighted country for 50 years and I’m no nearer ‘getting’ the natives! Reading the Herald this morning about the anti-semitism at Glasgow University was real eye-opener. The comments were horrific.

  95. Just because they are not out to get you doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be paranoid.

    I notice my lad is leaving Winchester.

    3. A word to the wise:
      I think you should stop this tracking, you might lose him forever, if you're not careful.

      1. I think its very creepy but the young have been brought up with the technology and think it is normal. . One of my colleagues had cctv throughout his home and could watch his wife going about her everyday life whilst we were in Indonesia.. Uurggghhh.

        3. We've one or two cameras outside the house – two in the back garden so that has two views and one on the driveway.

          I'd note they're off when there's 'us' in the house: they use face recognition to work out the family (the Warqueen or I) are home. If only the dogs are around they stay on.

          1. I have two cameras at the front watching the door and the car. Two cameras in the back garden watching the doggies at play.

    5. I take it that you have become a 'new person'. You can run but not hide from us lot!

    6. I first saw that kind of app around ten years ago when our company was visited by an executive from a well known telephone company. He was very keen to show us the new app on his phone which showed the location of his girlfriend.
      He was known ever afterwards by our team as "X with the girlfriend tracker."

  96. Just because they are not out to get you doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be paranoid.

    I notice my lad is leaving Winchester.

  97. Please, please pretty please.
    Let this be the death knell for Canadian liberalism and Carney's political career as well.

    Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has called a snap election – saying he needed a strong mandate to deal with the threat that Donald Trump's tariffs pose to the economy.

    1. Been there ! I recommend the river cruise at night. Dinner and drinks included. Lovely people.

  104. Because the WEF agenda for global wealth redistribution says they are succeeding.

  105. it’s not a tracker. I am being a bit flippant with you all. It’s the “find my phone” thing. He did come off it, then lost his phone and couldn’t find it, so voluntarily put himself back on the family “find my phone” once he’d bought himself a new phone. It comes up when I check where husband is, which is the only reason I saw he was on the move on Friday. But it saves me calling him to ask him what he’s doing (which used to be the bane of my life growing up). I think he has a pretty sweet deal. I don’t bother him, but I sleep well knowing he is ok. The flip side is they can track me. They would be surprised at what I get up to, if they bother to check.

  106. it’s not a tracker. I am being a bit flippant with you all. It’s the “find my phone” thing. He did come off it, then lost his phone and couldn’t find it, so voluntarily put himself back on the family “find my phone” once he’d bought himself a new phone. It comes up when I check where husband is, which is the only reason I saw he was on the move on Friday. But it saves me calling him to ask him what he’s doing (which used to be the bane of my life growing up). I think he has a pretty sweet deal. I don’t bother him, but I sleep well knowing he is ok. The flip side is they can track me. They would be surprised at what I get up to, if they bother to check.

  108. Afternoon! We're currently in one of my favourite times of year, the transition from North Ontario winter to spring. A wild combination of having the odd day at +10C mixed in with the odd night, like last night, of -18C. Perfect weather for tapping maple trees and white birch mind you – along with the inevitable 'outside' partying with pals after hibernation.

    It's almost impossible not to want to start some seeds, so we've got the first 250 or so of what will be 7500 heirloom seeds in the starter boxes. (49 seedling plugs per 12"x12" Pluggbox. ) Going big on basil and rosemary after the success with the 'Buckets 'o' Basil' last year. They started out as an experiment which went on to be not only the biggest sellers, but also the most profitable SKU. A rare combination driven by the very high prices charged in shops for 'a bubble pack with a sprig' in them.

    For all the fuss over egg prices, we're faced with a moral dilemma. Do we jack up our prices per dozen just because we can sell at retail cost plus for high welfare organic? Or do we continue to sell at input cost + x%? Our input costs are stable, because we aren't big enough to need insurance – which is the driver for high prices from large outfits.

    End result decision: we sell high at retail store price cost +, to people who are happy to pay it. And then use the surplus profit to help folks out who can't afford them. I now get what a lawyer friend of mine said "I don't discount my rates. I charge what I'm worth. Then I can work pro bono on a case by case basis."

    Hope you all are doing well.

    1. If your trade in eggs is stable and your costs not increasing then keep them where they are.

      Planting the flowers and herbs sounds lovely. I trimmed our hedge and I think I've killed it. I didn't mean to. The advice was to let light get to the middle and bottom but leaves are now turning yellow.

      1. Hullo, GQ! Hope you had a grand time with the lad once you were back from the Emerald Isle. Where are you on your travels this week?

  109. Carney and the liberals have been able to wrap themselves in the Canadian flag in the face of Trump's 51st state jibber jabber.

    I feel sorry for Pierre P – he had the once in a lifetime opportunity to get in, and now he's fucked because he's being portrayed as 'Canada's Trump'.

    I wish it wasn't so, but I think that's how this plays out.

    1. Then you're in the hands of the electorate. If they want a continuation of the last few years then they'll vote for Carney. If Pollivere offers something better they will vote for him. I think he does. His presentation on the few clips I've seen are of someone erudeite, controlled and disciplined. Less Trump, more Milei.

      1. Yes indeed. The hands of the electorate. I do care a little bit about the Federal Government, but ultimately I picked my wilderness bolt-hole with the objective of removing myself from needing to care about the whims of both politicians and the urban majority electorate. It is hard to let go though.

  110. Spent the weekend with family. Built models with Junior and did some coding with the Warqueen. Was all started by her asking 'What's AI?' so I explained. Badly.

    So she started typing on her laptop some ideas for a simple receipt/costs tracking app thing that generates random numbers (UUIDs) that lets people put the last 4 digits on a receipt, automatically recording the day it was generated, the amount (from thingy… OCR and notes (Saturday) and a voice notes as well as a photograph of it if the person wants (Sunday). It took some refactoring but gave her some ideas. I think other apps are out there but they're expensive.

    It won't change the world, but it gave her some new ideas and literally being able to ask for how to do it was impressive.

    The dogs say hello and bless her Lucy saw off Mongo and Oscar from her sausages. They had 3 each and the boys ate theirs in two gulps but Lucy took her time like a proper lady.

    1. Lovely mental picture of family life. It’s amazing how a little thing can change your entire mood.

      1. Yes, but the Warqueen was still going at 2 in the morning, plunking away on her laptop.

    2. I'm waiting for Kadi to see off Winston when it comes to bones. Kadi had no problem putting Oscar under his paw (despite being half his size) but for some reason he is wary of Winston (who has a far less fearsome bite and doesn't want to use it).

      1. I have a feeling Mongo's a bit of a push over. There can't be many dogs who'll lay upside down, legs in the air, with head over your shoulder.

    1. I don’t eat a lot of chocolate so that would have been like giving up cabbage or broccoli.

  114. Same for me with cake. I only eat cake after church when we all gather for refreshments and gossip.

  115. "I gave up eating rotting 2 year old spuds washed down with dogs urine." Praise me.

    1. Ashes did an oil painting of my little dog. It sits on my mantelpiece. I recently asked her if she would do one of my other dog, Harry.
      Then cheekily suggested she do one of me reclining on the chaise like Kate Winslet did in the film Titanic. :@)

      1. I hope she accepted the challenge, and that you’ll consider posting here x my dog is currently sick, current vet thinks liver problem I think IBS – trying to get a second opinion but have to get referral from current vet first. Hoops, as in jump through…

    1. Don't bother detaining. Don't land them. Turn them back to France, get within swimming distance – 2 km – and hole the boat.

  118. No wood sawing or chopping today, but back of the van swept & hoovered out, carpet laid, bunk platform put in and everything more or less ready for my trip to Frome tomorrow.
    Route planned is down to M42, M40 to Warwick turn off, then A429 down to the M4 where it continues South as the A350 and follow that to the A361 which will take me to Frome.
    Pick up from Auction is either Tuesday or Wednesday and, depending on the weather, I plan being away until Thursday.

    A plus side is that I've sold a 7kg pack of welding rods, an unwanted part of an auction job-lot, and the purchaser lives in Malmsbury, so I've got the rods in the van and, provided he gets in touch with me, I can drop them off in passing.

    Hat tip to Upset on Going Postal. A new composer for me, but not too bad at all.
    https://youtu.be/wckmhdcD68Y?si=kEPTxcL7U-7Kitul

  119. Top Tip: Slipping a slice of thick back bacon into a trout with chopped rosemary before bunging it into a the pan (technical term) can remove the muddy taste from those who taste it in trout.

    Unless you're GQ who has given up bacon over beer….. Although, beer can also remove the muddy taste from almost everything other than mud itself – so what do I know.

      1. As in yet another thinly veiled attempt to reinforce the the lack of red wine with the venison the other month after I drank the bottle?

        No. 🙂

        I am still awaiting the pushback from those shenanigans. I’m thinking it will be brought out sometime around May when Mrs DC has a bunch of gals around to bully me comprehensibly.

          1. Yup, I get that. Backup.

            Or it's about making me suffer from doubling down on the thin tissue of lies that I tried to spin.

            I suspect the latter.

      1. Buy?? That's a no, right there. Despite being excellent advice. 🙂

        #starvethebeast

      2. I only eat fish that is pre-seasoned from a life in the sea. I don't go anywhere near freshwater fish.

        1. Hey, Grizzly! Hope you are well.

          I thought I would miss British pubs when I moved up here. That's true, every now and again – but not as much as I thought. I wondered if I could cope with the severe cold, and also the isolation. That's become a virtue, not a worry. I wondered if I'd miss restaurants and mingling with cooks and chefs after a lifetime of doing it. That was easy too.

          But I miss the ocean. I miss its smell, its food, its sound. There's no substitute, there's no getting over it. It's my greatest loss.

          1. Greetings, DC. Hope you are well too.

            I visit the UK nearly annually and I revel in the great British pub when I go. I only live 15 miles from the sea, here in southern Sweden, to I can take a good breath of the Baltic whenever I feel like it.
            As for British food, I make my own. I cure (and smoke) my own bacon; make my own sausages (and sausage rolls), bread, Yorkshire puddings, crumpets and pikelets, Derbyshire oatcakes, and tempt friends with sugary snacks like vanilla slices, Eccles cakes, and Battenberg cake, amongst many other British staples. I tend to stick to the meaty treats these days and it has done my health (and weight) many favours.

            I am not a chef but I do have a career fine-dining chef for a brother.

        2. The best and tastiest freshwater fish I've eaten are perch from Lake Geneva. Oh, and a huge ferox trout caught on a lure from the depths of Lac Neuchatel. Pike and trout yuck.

    3. I.am suspicious of your assertion that beer cannot remove the muddy taste from mud. Are you sure the quantities ingested were sufficient?

      1. In light of this hypothesis I think a detailed study is in order. In the mean time, I shall try a comparative study with gin. I love science….

      1. Heh heh.

        Trout. Trout. Let it all out. These are the things that we cook without.

  123. Well, chums, bedtime approaches. So Good Night all, sleep well, and hope to see you all tomorrow.

    1. G'night, Elsie. Here the air is thick with the sound of Oscar Peterson and Hooberstank, and the whiff of chips/fries with melted cheese curds and gravy, and crackers. Maybe some Irving Berlin later.

      I'm poutine on the Ritz.

      1. I'm not familiar with Hooberstank, D.C., but I admire your taste in Oscar Peterson and Irving Berlin.

          1. (Now a mental soundtrack of Djamgo.and Stéphane playing. Wonderful. Thanks!)

    1. You teach horses how to get dressed? Lol. Anyhow, I hope you – and Kadi and Winston – slept well.

  125. Finished "Old Man's War" on Amazon kindle. I had read it before and certainly enjoyed it. Reminded me of The Forever War and Heinlein's Starship Trooper.

    1. I think i have read that too. It is included in Prime so i have downloaded it. Thanks

    2. It's a really good concept. The way putting wisdom into a young body is handled is very intelligent.

      If you like Science Fiction give Peter Hamilton's Greg Mandel series.

  126. "Turkish President Erdogan's main rival jailed"

    Whoops! Does Zelenski have any rivals?

  127. There I was, proudly proclaiming how amazing i was for being first and….

    Q of the day: if Captain Scarlet is indestructible, what happens if he stubs his toe?

        1. You don’t understand the Voice of the Mysterons, Elsie??
          Good morning, by the way!

        2. The Mysterons were a race of aliens in the 1960s TV puppet show 'Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons' (made by the makers of Thunderbirds, Fireball XL5, Stingray etc.)

  128. No, Sue, and I am waiting for Geoff's Monday page, so don't have time "a ce moment" to Google it. (Bon jour, btw.)

  131. Thanks for that, Aeneas. I’ve just spent five minutes trying to understand the plot via Google, but it was changed so often by Gerry & Sylvia Anderson that I ended up totally confused. Oh for the simpler days of Torchy (Torchy, the battery boy).

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