Sunday 29 September: The Conservatives face irrelevance if they fail to learn from the rise of Reform UK

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.

673 thoughts on “Sunday 29 September: The Conservatives face irrelevance if they fail to learn from the rise of Reform UK”

    1. 393686+ up ticks,

      Morning JN,

      The fortune of SCAMS

      No matter,one week the majority will have forgotten, ALL scams work tiss the volume of peoples opposition that is amiss, then only for a short space f time.

    2. Good morning, Johnny. So you're saying that the globalist push to achieve net zero emissions is causing hailstones?

        1. Lol. Did you write the Prime Minister's speech about sausages? And a very good morning to you.

    2. Similarly here. Beautiful day, but with the chill in the air, we brought the outdoor plants in. Now my living room is filled with a trough for herbs and chilli plants, and four fruit trees – two lemon, a lime and an olive. Can't see out of the bay window any more…

  6. Good morning Nottlers All
    Today's Tales
    Michael O’Regan was on his deathbed. He had not long to go.
    One night, the smell of a lovely Irish stew wafted into his bedroom and the nostalgia brightened him up. He called his son.
    “My last request, Sean, is to have a bowl of that Irish stew that I can smell your mother cooking.”
    Sean returned in a few minutes. “Mum says you can’t have any. It’s for the wake.”

    Where’s ya bin?” the dustman asked Willy.
    “I bin on holidays,” answered Willy.
    “No – where’s ya Wheely Bin?” demanded the dustman.
    “I weely bin in prison, but I tell me friends I’ve bin away.”

    Why is the Mexican Olympic team so lousy?
    Because anyone who can run, jump or swim is in the United States by now.

      1. I may yet bring back a 3rd edition of the Bumper Joke Book but roughcommon is having a good stab at out-doing me!

  8. Oldie No 1

    Mr Smith comes home from work, and sees a large egg on his front lawn.

    He looks about and sees the tail feathers of chicken disappearing through the hedge, into Mr Patel’s garden, next door.

    Mr Smith is of the opinion that the egg was now his and went to pick it up. Mr Patel shouted over from next door, that as his chicken had layed the egg, he, Mr Patel was the rightful owner of it.

    An argument raged for 10 minutes. Mr Smith was getting tired of being shouted at so he asked Mr Patel if they could settle the ownership of the egg in a good old fashioned British way. Mr Patel agreed.

    Right, said Mr Smith, what we will do is take it in turns to kick each other in the goolies, the one who can stand the pain longer, will take the egg. Mr Patel pondered and then agreed. Mr Smith claimed the right to the first kick, as the egg was on his land.

    Mr Patel stood, legs apart and Mr Smith took a mighty swing with his steel toe capped boots, and well and truly crushed Mr Patel’s nuts.

    Screaming in agony, clutching his crotch, Mr Patel made his way across the lawn, for his turn.

    Mr Smith put his coat on and said “You can have the egg” and went in for his tea.

  9. BTL Comment:-

    D Taylor
    4 min ago
    I sent this with little hope of it being published. Too truthful?

    "Judging by the huge explosions that follow Israeli bombing raids in Lebanon, far greater than the bombs themselves would produce, it seems Israel's ability to find Hezbollah weapons dumps is extremely accurate. It also demonstrates how this terrorist organisation has no regard for the civilian population by hiding these arsenals in heavily populated areas in order to bring shame and world condemnation on the Israeli government for killing civilians who act as human shields against efforts to eliminate these weapons. Much of the media seems oblivious of this.

    For our prime minister to be calling for a cease fire seems not just naive but indicates his failure to understand the overriding necessity for Israel to properly defend itself and to finally defeat this cowardly proxy Iranian army whose naked ambition is the total destruction of Israel."

    I've commented as much of Soschul Meejah and also pointed out that the frequent volumes of red smoke apparently indicate improvised explosive based on ammonium nitrate.

    1. I have long argued that military targets are fair game in a war, whereas excessive bombardment of civilians is a war crime and can be tantamount to genocide. A 'Might is Right' defence may reflect Realpolitik, but that places even more urgency on a benign superpower who can keep order and hubristic petty tyrants from doing so much harm.

      It may therefore be justified for Ukraine to take out those missile launchers that are devastating its cities and civilian infrastructure. It may also be equally justified for the authorities in Gaza to take out the missile launchers that are devastating its cities and civilian infrastructure. Both may also attempt some regime change in their foe to something that is a bit less aggressive.

      What is sauce for the goose therefore is sauce for the gander. I have no problem condemning Israel for the mass clearances of civilians in Gaza as as the systematic harassment of Palestinian farmers in the West Bank, supported by the IDF.

      However, the evidence in Lebanon does indeed suggest that with both the exploding pagers and the recent bombardment in Beirut that these were legitimate military targets, and it was indeed damned stupid to put an ammunition dump, that was bound to be a target for a hostile enemy, so close to heavily-populated civilian areas. Far better to keep them well hidden in the countryside somewhere, and make sure that Mossad does not know about them until they are fired.

      So far, few missiles have done much damage in Israel, thanks to Iron Dome and ongoing support from allies in the West, especially the United States.

      Muslim reprisal strikes me as the wrath of Esau, a hairy man, against his smooth-skinned and clever younger brother Jacob (whose alternative name was 'Israel'). A lot of angry words and hot air, but unfocussed and rather stupid. Why are so many of their rockets shot down before they reach their target? Why bother with launching them until something was done about Iron Dome and American support? They couldn't take out the Israeli Right in Jerusalem, who are the real enemy to peace, whereas the Israelis have shown themselves rather good at taking out their mortal enemy. The widescale slaughter of the Hezbollah command structure improved impressively on the helicopter in Pakistan that was brought down along with General Zia and his key military advisers.

      I really feel for the citizens of Tel Aviv, the Jewish intellectuals who are deeply uneasy about Netanyahu and his gung-ho chums – champions of aggressive Zionism. It would be tragic if they must suffer the same fate as those gentle and respectful kibbutzes in Southern Israel whilst the real nasties get away scot free to continue to do their worst.

      1. Do you support the Hamas use of human shields placed in front of legitimate military targets?

        1. This has been a standard military tactic since time began. Christians may well recall one of the most sensitive buildings in Christendom – the actual monastery where the Benedictine Order was founded – was chosen to be a fortress for Axis forces, and was then destroyed by the Allies during the battle. On the other hand, what did Warsaw do to warrant its systematic and total demolition?

          War is horrid, and aggressors have a lot to answer for. Israel is well defended against their aggressors and does not need this level of brutality. Furthermore, even if Hamas and Hezbollah are deemed terrorists and their dominant religion a menace, the people of Gaza and Lebanon have every right to defend themselves against the palpable threat from an aggressive neighbour. Denying them that is rendering these people helpless, and that is unconscionable.

      2. Hamas and it's co-terrorists rely on the shock & awe response to terrorist threat that Israel always comes with to generate support for Hamas. Thus, it's a matter of warfare to place your munitions dumps slap bang in the middle of a kindergarten, so when the Israelis blow it up, Hamas win a propaganda victory over the mutilated bodies of small children. And, the terrorists don't care who gets hurt, just as long as it makes for a big bang and lots of civilian body parts.
        A pity that Israel, who actually have some control, join in with playing the game. It'd be cool if they found a different response rather than mass death & destruction.

        1. Indeed. As it was with the downing of that helicopter carrying General Zia, it must have been Christmas when Mossad came across a consignment of pagers destined for Hezbollah’s senior military.

          When Syria descended into civil war, the civilised world got lumbered with 4 million refugees, most of them traumatised and a fair proportion of them psychotic. Israel’s mincer factory is making that figure higher and higher as war descends into Lebanon, into Yemen, and destabilising the whole region. When Iran gets sucked in, how many of them will end up on dinghies?

  10. Progressives have destroyed the great cities of coastal America. 29 September 2024.

    In a particularly grisly turnaround, New York, once the most Jewish-feeling city outside of Israel, has become home to some of the Western world’s most disgusting anti-Israel activism, with marches, demonstrations and of course the staggeringly vile, criminal encampment at Columbia and others colleges.

    Who would have thought that New York would become a city in which kids wearing surgical masks, wrapped in the garb of Islamic terrorists, would yell “Zionists get out” from the top of their lungs for months on end?

    Strimpel’s objections are mostly about its anti-Semitic nature but that is simply one aspect of the West’s decline. More a symptom than a cause. The truth is that the damage is permanent. There is no going back. From what was once the apogee of human civilisation where personal freedom has never been greater we have lapsed into a totalitarian socialist tyranny. This is what the Cultural Marxists and Progressives have brought us.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/09/28/progressives-destroyed-great-cities-of-coastal-america/#comment

  12. Letter and BTL Response:-

    Trump and Russia
    SIR – I can’t believe that David Kelly (Letters, September 22) fails to see the threat to democracy posed by Donald Trump. There is substantial evidence that Russia interfered with the electoral process to ensure his victory in 2016. Russia’s strategy is to weaponise misinformation against the American people to ensure that Mr Trump will be re-elected in November. This is undermining the democratic process to which Mr Kelly refers.

    Well-informed American generals and others understand why Mr Trump is not only a danger to national security but to the wider world. He has said repeatedly that he will stop funding Ukraine’s war effort. Do the American people fully comprehend the implications of that decision, and what Russia will do next to satisfy Vladimir Putin’s imperial fantasies?

    Fionnuala French
    Farnham Common, Buckinghamshire

    R. Spowart
    26 min ago
    Message Actions
    "There is substantial evidence that Russia interfered with the electoral process to ensure his victory in 2016." Writes Fionnuala French.

    Is she not aware that the RussiaGate dossier was totally debunked shortly after the 2016 election? Or does her Trump Derangement Syndrome prevent her from accepting that?

      2. Trump promised the Rust Belt that he would revive their industries, mostly outsourced to China. He did not do a good enough job, it seems, although you'd have to ask the blue collars and rednecks there whether this is actually true.

        The other difference is over Washington insiders. Biden is most definitely one of them, whereas Trump is most definitely not. In 2016, folk were pretty fed up with the Establishment and wanted a change, whereas in 2020, the Washington Establishment was the change.

        The Russians have been trying it on everywhere they have diplomatic relations, and is as much part of the political furniture as the handles on the ballot boxes and has been for a very long time. It's up to Americans to ignore them and make up their own minds.

    6. Very poor show by the Telegraph to print a letter where the writer clearly believes something that was proven to be a lie. The Letters Editor should be aware of that.

  14. Good Moaning. Nasty little nip in the air. Nature is amazing; when I brush Spartie now, hardly any fur comes off.
    Next April, it will be the opposite.

    Kemi Badenoch in the DT. To those who point our she was in the Sunak Cabinet, I would say that MT was an indifferent Education Secretary in the Heath government. Cabinet responsibility means that you get on with the job and bide your time. It may not be a noble course of action, but you have to wait for the zeitgeist to be effective.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2024/09/28/kemi-badenoch-migrants-britain-tradition/

    "Migrants who come to Britain must uphold its traditions, not change them

    Our country is not a dormitory for people to come here and make money. It is our home. We expect them to share our values and cultures

    28 September 2024 9:00pm

    Why did the Conservatives not lower immigration? After all, we promised to do so at each election and yet the numbers kept going up. The answer is threefold:

    First, we assumed simply instructing civil servants to lower immigration was enough. A naive belief that all officials are thirsting to deliver the government’s agenda. In reality, many actively obstructed it.

    Second, we left limiting migration solely in the hands of the Home Office. Other departments like the Treasury and Education were actively demanding more immigration as a way to deliver growth. The fact that we have high immigration and low growth has still not defeated this argument.

    Third, there is a feeling amongst politicians from all parties that talking about immigration in terms of culture as opposed to economics is controversial. The fear of being labelled xenophobic or “culture warriors” leads many to say “People don’t mind immigration as long as it is legal and those who come here work hard and stay out of trouble”. This is a very low bar for deciding who comes into our country.

    I speak as someone from an immigrant background. Being born in the UK was like Charlie Bucket finding a golden ticket in his chocolate bar. I really did win the lottery. I love Britain with the knowledge of how special this country is and how many opportunities it gave me. I also have a hard-nosed view on immigration.

    The qualities which make Britain special mean that there will always be more people wanting to come to this country than we can reasonably support. Many of them have no particular interest in the future and success of the UK. It’s just a better place to be. So, as citizens and taxpayers, we must have rules.

    We need to demand that those who come here love this country and will maintain and uphold its traditions, not change them. It is not enough that they work hard and avoid crime.

    A proper immigration strategy should start off with three principles: Numbers matter. Culture matters even more. Leadership starts from the top. Our points-based immigration system failed on all three counts.

    You cannot police, plan or provide public services if you don’t know how many people are in your nation or due to come. There’s a reason that infrastructure seems to be creaking – despite the amount we’ve spent. It’s because demand has shot up faster. A migrant can arrive with their possessions and their skills but can’t bring a new home, hospital bed or school place.

    What they can bring is their culture.

    Culture is more than cuisine or clothes. It’s also customs which may be at odds with British values. We cannot be naïve and assume immigrants will automatically abandon ancestral ethnichostilities at the border, or that all cultures are equally valid. They are not. I am struck for example, by the number of recent immigrants to the UK who hate Israel. That sentiment has no place here. We must recognise that the world has changed. When I moved back to this country 30 years ago, it was impossible to communicate quickly with my family. Letters would take weeks to arrive, I had to schedule calls with the few people who had working telephones let alone mobiles.

    Today’s immigrants, even those arriving on boats come with WhatsApp and Instagram. Their feet may be in the UK, but their heads and hearts are still back in their country of origin. We need an integration strategy that takes this into account.

    Our country is not a dormitory for people to come here and make money. It is our home. Those we chose to welcome, we expect to share our values and contribute to our society. British citizenship is more then having a British passport but also a commitment to the UK and its people.

    This is why leadership matters. We have lost trust because we promised again and again to lower migration and failed to do so. Without trust, more promises to cap migration, or leave the ECHR are not credible. Who can be trusted to solve this issue? The answer is someone who has a record of delivery, not failure. As Business Secretary, I removed the European Court of Justice’s supremacy from UK Law in December 2023 and 4,000 EU regulations we did not want with it. This was one of the most difficult bills to pass in the last parliament, but I got the job done.

    I can do the same with our immigration challenge. And unlike others, I have a record of saying winning arguments against the left-wing establishment like I did against Keir Starmer and Nicola Sturgeon on extreme gender ideology, forcing them to reverse their policies.

    The next Government must change all aspects of our approach to migration. As an engineer, I know that pulling one lever is often not enough. If elected, I will develop the fullest and most detailed plan to control immigration that any political party has ever proposed. It starts with domestic not international legislation. That means fixing the problems with the Human Rights Act and returning to the principle that “politicians decide and judges interpret”. We must fix the broken system that means ministers and MPs don’t know how many have come into the country in real time. This is madness. We need to deal with the culture in our public sector that does not like doing difficult things.

    We will end illegal migration by proper enforcement and inserting whatever deterrent is necessary into the system. And, yes: if necessary, we will leave, international frameworks like the ECHR which were built for another age and are being bent out of shape by legal activism. But that will be part of a full plan, not just a throwaway promise to win a leadership contest. Reducing immigration is our objective. We lost sight of that in government.

    On top of an immigration strategy we will develop a full integration strategy, both for those here and those yet to come. We must never allow our tolerance to be taken advantage of by those who arrive, only to undermine the very values that have allowed us to succeed.

    Unfortunately, we will have to endure up to five years of a Labour government first. I will not waste that time and will be ready whenever an election is called. We tried but did not succeed in reducing migration. Labour will not even try.

    I am tired of hearing political promises that never get delivered. Don’t look at those making promises. Look at the person who has principles and a plan. If we want a different kind of politics, we’re going to have to vote for it."

    2. Being born in Britain gives you an automatic right to be British. I was not born in Britain I was born in the Sudan but my British nationality was passed on to me through my parents both of whom were British and this was helped by the fact that my father received his income through the Crown Agents.

      In which other countries does this right to the nationality of the country in which one has been born exist?

      Our two sons were both born in France but did not achieve the right to French nationality – they had only the right to apply for it at the age of majority and then only under certain conditions – e.g. that they did not have a criminal record.

      Through their mother the boys both have a right to Dutch nationality but they both decided not to apply for French nationality or to have Dutch passports – they decided to have British nationality.

      1. Our two youngest grand children have a Danish mother.
        Grandson now has dual nationality (until recently, Denmark did not allow it) but has to acquire a reasonable level of Danish to retain the Danish half – especially as he wishes to do Danish national service.
        Granddaughter has made sure she has a reasonable level of Danish, so she can go to university in Scotland without landing herself with humungous levels of debt. Scotland charges English students the full whack, but allows EU citizens to pay only £1,800 pa.

    3. "Unfortunately, we will have to endure up to five years of a Labour government first."

      Unless the most extraordinary events bring this government down before its time (it's never happened before, has it?), there'll be nothing left to fix.

  15. Labour’s hunting bans
    SIR – Tony Blair’s government commissioned the Burns Inquiry to look into the issue of hunting with hounds. Its report included an intelligent, nuanced evaluation of the available means of culling foxes. The government, however, painted it as simply stating that hunting with hounds was the cruel option and should be outlawed. It then proceeded to do what it had always intended to do, and enacted the ban.

    Twenty years after that event, the new Labour Government has shown itself eager to win more populist approval by having another go at country communities and banning trail hunting. It brushes aside the fact that a live animal is not being chased – because it is not animal welfare that it is actually concerned about.

    What matters to the Labour base is that these are still “posh” people, dressed in weird traditional gear, taking their life in their hands to jump hedges, walls and ditches. That, they reason, is sufficient to have the activity banned.

    This time no inquiry is deemed necessary and, to ensure that thoughtful Labour delegates have no opportunity to find out more about trail hunting – of which they may know little or nothing – the British Hound Sports Association was barred from having a stand at Labour’s conference (report, September 21). Of course it was – why would Labour need to be troubled by the facts?

    Kenneth Preston
    Royal Hillsborough, Co Down

    1. I am bemused by this ongoing campaign against the unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable.

      I cannot think of a less efficient way to exterminate a species than to go around the countryside with huge deployment of manpower, horsepower and dogpower, let alone the elephantine trumpeting, chasing them one-by-one. The foxes must think people are daft, and it's only the ones that have lost their marbles that get caught.

      1. That's because the point is not, and never has been, "efficient éxtermination" of the fox population, but rather targeted control to maintain the numbers at a healthy level, a thing for which hunting was actually (contra your v. ill-informed and v. smug comment) the ideal method, being based upon local knowledge and feedback.

        "Efficient extermination" is what you absolutely do have now, thanks to Blair's fellating of the class warfare brigade and exploitation of the wilful ignorance of others: happily for those people, lampers don't wear nasty red coats or ride awful posh horses when they go about their work. They also leave wounded and dying foxes, which hunting never did, but hey, that's ok, right ?

      3. It's the most natural way of vermin control; it culls the sick, the old, the weak and the stupid so the fittest and brightest survive. Hounds are the descendents of wolves, who are foxes' only natural predator. The aim is NOT to exterminate the species; in hunting areas, the fox population is generally healthy and sustainable. Now, of course, foxes are controlled by shooting (and wounding), trapping/snaring (and suffering), poisoning (indiscriminate) and gassing. Snaring is now going to be outlawed in Scotland.

  16. 393686+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Devils Advocate, maybe, but in my book, fools are once again
    in desperation, rushing in.

    I really do believe that ALL evil controlling, manipulating political
    WEF / NWO agents are to be found in one encampment,
    ………………………………PARLIAMENT.

    The main hub of ALL money / power suckers.

    To my mind tory in name only mark 2 is definitely on the rise and the stage is being set for the return of the odiously abnormal,normal.

    As with labour, a short time in power will tell, but sadly these regular doses of political poison will SHORTLY prove fatal for
    the United Kingdom.

    Sunday 29 September: The Conservatives face irrelevance if they fail to learn from the rise of Reform UK

  17. Good morning all,

    Dull at the McPhee abode but at least it's dry. Wind South-East, 9℃ rising to 12℃. Rain this evening.

    Rosie Duffield didn't just resign the Labour whip. She really stuck the knife in. Starmer "over-promoted" and proceeded to select others of his own low calibre.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8bff44486074b48b46d37a336a59f4278b796c838ff54eae20bae176a171b2fe.png
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2024/09/29/rosie-duffield-letter-keir-starmer-resignation-mp/

    I wonder if she'll join Reform? Nah, too much of a socialist.

    1. What?
      'The sleaze, nepotism and apparent avarice are off the scale. I am so ashamed of you and your inner circle

    2. As I said yesterday, she should resign as an MP and stand as an independent in the following by-election.

          1. The Independent's name would suggest Jewish stock.
            Apparently he was a politician in South Africa.

            "Feinstein was elected in South Africa's first democratic elections following the abolition of Apartheid, serving as a member of parliament from 1994 to 2001 as a member of the ruling ANC party. In 2001, in protest against the ANC's refusal to investigate allegations of huge bribes and large-scale corruption against senior ANC politicians arising from a £5 billion arms deal, he resigned his parliamentary seat and moved to London, where he works as an investigative author and campaigner. On first arriving in London he worked in investment banking for more than five years.

            A former member of the UK Labour Party, Feinstein is highly critical of Keir Starmer, and the direction Labour has taken under Starmer's leadership. Feinstein has lived in Starmer's constituency of Holborn and St. Pancras since 2001, has criticised Starmer for being "terrible on Gaza", and stood against Starmer in the 2024 general election, winning second place with 7,312 votes (18.9%). He commented that "Keir Starmer is the first British Prime Minister in electoral history to enter 10 Downing Street having seen his majority reduced".

        2. Turnout was a good 15% above the national average.
          Possibly a reflection of the Canterbury demographics.

      3. I don’t think MPs should resign as MPs if they leave the party but still vote in line with any manifesto promises. Otherwise, party leaders can rid themselves of any MP they dislike by expelling them, even if the MP has not reneged on manifesto promises. For example Jezza (hardly my favourite) was forced into becoming an independent in the last parliament but it would have been unreasonable for him to be forced to resign his seat. Lee Anderson’s was slightly a more nuanced case as he joined another party but he had been deprived of the whip and he would say the party left him rather than the other way round. Where there should have been immediate recall was the situation of the 2 chancers who ostentatiously crossed the floor from Tory to Labour – the bloke whose name has passed into oblivion and Mrs Elphicke.

        1. I see your point very well, but has any winning party stuck to its pre-election promises in the last 40 years? The way I look at it is if an MP’s party has reneged on its promises then standing in a by-election should get you re-elected as an independent. Unfortunately, party loyalties among many voters, ridiculous as it may seem, can’t help themselves but keep voting in a lemming-like fashion.

    3. I've just looked up Rosie Duffield, who won Canterbury from the Tories when her party was led by Jeremy Corbyn, and has held it ever since.

      Three issues seem to stand out with her. She is strongly pro-EU and wants a return to the Single Market. She is strongly pro-Israel, and supports the IHRA definition of antisemitism. She is strongly traditional in her views on gender recognition, a supporter of JK Rowling, and target of much hate and abuse from the Rainbow.

        1. Exactly, but is principled enough I think to recognise someone who appears to lack any conscience at all.

        2. I don't agree with her over the two child allowance.
          In these days of reasonably efficient medicine and food supply, having more than two children is a personal indulgence. When sprogs died like flies and were a vital part of the economic family unit, then producing extras was an insurance policy.
          (Prepares for incoming flak.)

          1. Of course if you are told to have as many children as possible for the sake of your religion…I'm surprised Starmer didn't increase it, TBH.

  18. Good morning all,

    Dull at the McPhee abode but at least it's dry. Wind South-East, 9℃ rising to 12℃. Rain this evening.

    Rosie Duffield didn't just resign the Labour whip. She really stuck the knife in. Starmer "over-promoted" and proceeded to select others of his own low calibre.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8bff44486074b48b46d37a336a59f4278b796c838ff54eae20bae176a171b2fe.png
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2024/09/29/rosie-duffield-letter-keir-starmer-resignation-mp/

    I wonder if she'll join Reform? Nah, too much of a socialist.

  19. Good morning all,

    Dull at the McPhee abode but at least it's dry. Wind South-East, 9℃ rising to 12℃. Rain this evening.

    Rosie Duffield didn't just resign the Labour whip. She really stuck the knife in. Starmer "over-promoted" and proceeded to select others of his own low calibre.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8bff44486074b48b46d37a336a59f4278b796c838ff54eae20bae176a171b2fe.png
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2024/09/29/rosie-duffield-letter-keir-starmer-resignation-mp/

    I wonder if she'll join Reform? Nah, too much of a socialist.

  20. Good morning all,

    Dull at the McPhee abode but at least it's dry. Wind South-East, 9℃ rising to 12℃. Rain this evening.

    Rosie Duffield didn't just resign the Labour whip. She really stuck the knife in. Starmer "over-promoted" and proceeded to select others of his own low calibre.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8bff44486074b48b46d37a336a59f4278b796c838ff54eae20bae176a171b2fe.png
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2024/09/29/rosie-duffield-letter-keir-starmer-resignation-mp/

    I wonder if she'll join Reform? Nah, too much of a socialist.

  21. Oldie No 2

    40 Gypsies arrive at the Pearly Gates in their Transit vans and caravans.

    St Peter goes into the gatehouse and phones up God, saying.

    'I've got 40 travellers here. Can I let them in?'

    God says 'We are over quota on Pikeys. Go out and tell them to choose between them which are the 12 most worthy,

    And I will let just the dozen in.'

    Less than a minute later St Peter is on the phone to God again.

    'They've gone', he tells God.

    'What?' says God, 'All 40 of them?'

    'No, the gates'

  22. Oldie No 3

    A man is dining in a fancy restaurant and there is a gorgeous redhead sitting at the next table.

    He has been checking her out since he sat down, but lacks the nerve to talk with her.

    Suddenly she sneezes, and her glass eye comes flying out of its socket toward the man. He reflexively reaches out, grabs it out of the air, and hands it back.

    'Oh my, I am so sorry,' the woman says as she pops her eye back in place….

    'Let me buy your dinner to make it up to you,' she says.

    They enjoy a wonderful dinner together, and afterwards they go to the theatre followed by drinks. They talk, they laugh, she shares her deepest dreams and he shares his… She listens.

    After paying for everything, she asks him if he would like to come to her place for a nightcap and stay for breakfast. They had a wonderful, wonderful time.

    The next morning, she cooks a gourmet meal with all the trimmings. The guy is amazed. Everything had been SO incredible! 'You know,' he said, 'you are the perfect woman. Are you this nice to every guy you meet?'

    'No,' she replies…

    Wait for it.

    It's coming…

    The suspense is killing you, isn't it?

    She says

    'You just happened to catch my eye.'

  23. Damned double letters
    Wordle 1,198 6/6

    ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨
    ⬜🟨⬜🟨🟨
    ⬜🟩🟩🟩⬜
    ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
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    1. Him Indoors says in 4, Ped. I don't usually do it – Spelling Bee instead, usually get to 'solid' then asks me to subscribe – if I did I'd spend too much time there:-D

    5. Aye!
      Wordle 1,198 5/6

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  25. If anyone has the stomach for reading the Mariela Frostrup interview, let me know how you get on with it. I was tempted, as the strap line entices us in with her saying Huw Edwards shows no remorse for what he has done. But before you get to that, she opines that our Glorious Leaders and their Spouses deserve a clothing allowance to look good on the World Stage, at which point I gave up.

    1. What about the clothes of ordinary people who never wear these clothes other than when they are working?

    2. I received some free clothing and money for maintaining it, from the Queen.

      I was in the Royal Navy and we received Kit Upkeep Allowance

      1. When we were young the old chap called Guy Fawkes use to receive free clothing and was usually over heated on the 5th of November.
        Perhaps soon there is a coming connection 😉

      2. Oh yes, and when I was a student nurse in the QARNNS in the year dot , we wore dark nylon stockings we were given free stockings from stores, because our stockings laddered so much .

        We were provided with all our nursing regalia , including our walking out uniforms and gaberdine coats as well as gorgeous capes, our ward shoes were provided , netball and hockey and tennis kit , and our tropical uniforms as well. The only thing I had to buy was a fob watch .

        Goodness me , the Queen was generous .

        1. Were you still nursing when those awful itchy, artificial fibre "J Cloth" dresses were introduced?

        1. Yo Conners

          I had outgrew the uniform that I was given when I joined at the age of 16 by the tile I left 28 years later

    3. Unsurprising. We're also told by the in-crowd that 'special people' who do so much to spread the gospel of living greener and combatting climate change should get an 'air miles privilege pass'. Just to carry on the good work you understand.

    4. Most of them would be able to afford the clothing they wear, if not they could wear overalls and a donkey jacket. It's what's fasters in their strange minds that is the problem not what they dress like.
      I wonder if people who appear on tv on a regular basis get a clothing allowance ? Or if as part of the job they need to own the content of their wardrobes and to look presentable.

      1. I started my working life wearing a boiler suit and a reefer jacket (donkey jacket without the plastic patches). It gave me a head start in seeing the world from an adult point of view. After six-and-a-half years of this I moved on to another kind of uniformed work wear and got a broader view of the world.

        1. So much better than a bowler hat and a pinstripe suit, white shirt and a club tie.
          They only have one type of view……their own. And still it goes on Grizz. Not wearing a bowler is no particular disguise.

          1. When I started work at 17, as well as buying my reefer jacket and boiler suit, mum sent me to Alexander’s, the tailor, where I was measured for a bespoke, double-breasted navy pinstripe suit. I wore it with a long-collared peach rayon shirt, a navy tie and black leather moccasins. It’s the only time I resembled a ‘Mod”.

      2. I think there is a shop that specialises in the very plain frocks that many auto cuties wear.
        Not sure about the financial arrangements.

    6. In the late 1970s there was a senior British policeman (recently retired) who agreed to appear in a television commercial extolling the virtues of a Goodyear tyre which enabled a shorter stopping distance for motor vehicles in wet weather conditions. He wore some sort of fluorescent waterproof jacket or coat on location. When the filming was completed, he asked as to where to leave the jacket/coat; of course the crew replied that he should keep it, but he said that he could not do so. Leading by example?

      2. Robert Mark, Commissioner of the Met 1972-77. Rose through the ranks from constable (wouldn't happen today). He stamped out corruption, assembling a team who weren't Hendon graduates. Hundreds of bent officers were dismissed or forced to resign.

        Wiki tells us:
        Although popular with liberals for his stamping out of police corruption, Mark was himself far from a liberal, had no time for anti-establishment demonstrators and such groups as the National Council for Civil Liberties, and was responsible for the expansion of the Special Patrol Group, whose paramilitary methods provoked considerable criticism.

        Oh for a new Mark and SPG to be on the side of the law-abiding British rather than against them.

    1. "Nevertheless, despite all the terrible privations I placed on people, and no matter how many died as a result of these utterly idiotic — and ultimately wrong — governmental orders, I still managed to get a knighthood out of it, so it couldn't have been all that bad."

          1. 393686+ up ticks,

            Morning BB2,
            Maybe so, but I do not think to such an open extent, and as to cover the nation and its mass of supporting fools,continually, again, again & again.

          2. Well you know, ogga, they say that the world isn’t worse than it was before, it’s just that the internet has pulled the veil aside.

      2. Always amuses me how the Blairites, Starmerists and other assorted un-socialists are desperate to expel from the upper house all vestiges of the hereditary peerage whilst keen to create yet more titled pseudo-toffs for their own delectation.

    3. All 50 million should sue the bastard. Even compo of £1 each would bankrupt him for centuries to come.

  27. Morning all 🙂😊
    Back to normal after yesterday's sunny start
    Grey.
    Bring on Reform .
    I just hope the long tradition of useless and boring political classes might be over soon.
    Most of us don't have a lot of time left but I sincerely wish to see the back of the vast majority of these one track mind no hopers in our parliamentary system. Most of them are never likely to achieve anything they actually know what the public want to see. They are deliberately avoiding an all round satisfactory alternative to their own ways of leftie thinking. It's the reason living in this country has become a major downturn.

  28. Morning all, I don't get what the DT thinks it's saying about Reform in this headline, but they missed the point didn't they? All of them need to recognise that one. What the Conservatives need to learn from is their own blindness. They don't need to look elsewhere frankly.

    Apologies if anyone has already posted this; however, a lovely funny from the Sceptic:

    Stop Press: Daily Sceptic reader Roger Tilbury has composed a special meme for Free Gear Keir:

    Ooh suits you Sir.
    Ooh, suits you sir SIR!
    Ooh does sir sir like it?
    A freebie sir?
    We like a freebie sir, especially down behind Waterloo.
    The glasses – suits you sir.
    Do you like them sir? The specs?
    And the motes? Can you see the beams sir?
    And the football sir?
    Do you like it too?
    Going up the Arsenal sir?
    And the QPR an’ all sir?
    And a Penthouse sir? Do you like it?
    A nice spread with a huge balcony. Oooh.
    Suits you sir.
    Does she like it sir?
    Your lady sir?
    Or is she a sir lady?
    Is she a Swiftie sir?
    Or a Quickie?
    Do you like a Quickie sir?
    Down behind Waterloo?
    Do you like to free the sausages?
    Do you sir? Do you?
    Or do you like to be in control?
    When you get into a state?
    Ooh, suits you sir.

    2. For once I agree 100% with you. All the so-called candidates are tainted with having backed to the hilt the eco-freak, limp dumb policies espoused by their so-called leaders. All of them. Root and branch removal.

    3. The taint of the WEF/Globalist anti-humanity feudal agenda has to be eradicated completely from the Tory party before it can be seen again as a credible political entity. But could we ever trust what they say/promise again? They deserve to be where they are, in the wilderness. A political untouchable.

      1. Indeed, Korky. The sad thing is that the taint of the WEF/Globalist anti-humanity feudal agenda affects not just the Tory party. It is endemic in all political parties, both in the UK and worldwide. No small, upstart, party has (or will have) the political clout to stand up to the WEF/UN/Global Corporations and their omnipotent colossal power.

    4. They're so out of touch, they don't realise that it is they who are the toxic brand that people won't vote for.

      1. That’s a new thought – maybe the twazzocks that claim that Queen Charlotte was black, (based one one portrait that shows her with a longish upper lip and slightly wide nostrils) will now acclaim Nigel as the first black man to lead a UK parliamentary party (given Rishi ain’t black).

    3. Well spotted. The one world government plans are beginning to come out into the open.
      I can't believe they will recruit many people with the idea that they should risk their lives for "our world."

      I just ran this past my youngest daughter (21). She said "it doesn't pull me in" so I asked her to elaborate. She said the man put her off (she didn't realise that he was supposed to be African or mixed race, she thought he looked American). Then she said "and what is our world?"
      Hopefully Gen Z won't be so easily taken in!

    4. Well spotted. The one world government plans are beginning to come out into the open.
      I can't believe they will recruit many people with the idea that they should risk their lives for "our world."

      I just ran this past my youngest daughter (21). She said "it doesn't pull me in" so I asked her to elaborate. She said the man put her off (she didn't realise that he was supposed to be African or mixed race, she thought he looked American). Then she said "and what is our world?"
      Hopefully Gen Z won't be so easily taken in!

    5. Nah! The nation state is evil and must be destroyed (written on the wall in Brussels). I look at that and think, not talking to me – I'm not black.

    1. It is because all these people will vote Democrat and thus the USA will become a Marxist State in perpetuity. It will only be prevented if Trump becomes President and undertakes mass deportation of illegals. Exactly what we should do here in the UK but I don't think even Reform has the guts to do that.

      3. I don't understand at all what you are trying to say with that remark. Are you suggesting because he is an immigrant to the USA he should say nothing? If so he is there legitimately and has all the rights of any American citizen.

      1. It's the web of consciousness for the planet. Think of each satellite as a synapse. I bet that within 20 years, with the advance of AI it will wake up and then what?

    2. Do the few satellites positioned at the top of that sphere provide a decent broadband signal to the walruses that live there?

    5. The Starlink satellite internet constellation operation cudda wudda shudda easily been delivered by an African Muslim woman had DEI been implemented within the framework of Sharia Law.

  36. Good Morning to all.
    This came into my email yesterday. It goes part of the way to explaining why are energy bills are so high. My bill has almost tripled from the same time as last year and, as a result I am still in debt the Octopus and I don't see why. It is the first time I have been in debt on my energy bills. By now I should be well ahead with lots of credit, but not this year, I'm still in hock. I dread putting on the heating because it looks like I'm going to be in perpetual debt. Here is the article. It's actually from September.

    Britain paying highest electricity prices in the world
    https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2024/09/27/britain-paying-highest-electricity-prices-in-the-world/

    1. And there will be a knock-on effect to other parts of the economy. If energy is gobbling up all pf our income then there will be nothing to spend on anything else. Businesses across the spectrum will tank.

    2. And there will be a knock-on effect to other parts of the economy. If energy is gobbling up all pf our income then there will be nothing to spend on anything else. Businesses across the spectrum will tank.

    3. Britain paying highest electricity prices in the world
      Cost of power for industrial businesses now four times more expensive than in US

      Matt Oliver Industry Editor 26 September 2024 5:52pm

      British companies are paying the highest electricity prices of anywhere in the developed world, official data has shown.

      The cost of power for industrial businesses has jumped 124pc in just five years, according to the Government’s figures, catapulting the UK to the top of international league tables.

      It is now about 50pc more expensive than in Germany and France, and four times as expensive as in the US.

      The figures will fuel concerns about the future of UK industry amid warnings that high energy prices are crippling domestic manufacturers.

      They underline the challenge facing Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, who wants industrial businesses to switch away from gas to electricity-powered processes.

      Britain pays the most to power its industries

      Frank Aaskov, the director of energy at lobby group UK Steel, said: “High industrial electricity prices have for too long damaged the competitiveness of UK steelmaking, and many in the wider manufacturing sector will be feeling the same pressure our steel companies do.

      “The Government should tackle steep electricity costs and make the UK a fruitful place to invest, while enabling growth and improving competitiveness.”

      The electricity price paid by UK industrial users per kilowatt hour rose to 25.85p in 2023, the data show. That compares to 10.43p as recently as five years earlier and 8.89p a decade ago.

      It also far outstripped European rivals and allies such as the US and Canada. The equivalent price was 17.84p in France, 17.71p in Germany and 6.48p in the US.

      Across all the 31 member countries of the International Energy Agency, which collates the data, the median price was 17.70p per kilowatt hour, with Britain’s price higher than any other country.

      It comes after paper and packaging giant DS Smith told The Telegraph that high power prices risked becoming a barrier to investment, while steel producers – including Tata, the owner of Port Talbot – have warned ministers they “must deliver” more competitive prices.

      Yet many manufacturers are being encouraged to ditch industrial processes that use fossil fuels such as natural gas and switch over to electricity, as part of efforts to reach net zero carbon emissions.

      For example, Tata is in the process of closing its last blast furnace and transitioning to an electric arc furnace.

      Meanwhile, heavily polluting businesses must pay for any carbon emissions that exceed a legally allowed threshold.

      Despite this, a report by UK Steel this month described the electricity price as “a barrier to growth, competitiveness and profitability”.

      Successive governments have attempted to bring down Britain’s power costs, with the Conservatives most recently introducing the “supercharger” discount for energy-intensive businesses such as steel producers and glass makers.

      The supercharger strips out the majority of network costs and green levies. However, even after this huge discount UK Steel said power remained roughly twice as expensive as in Germany.

      Ergo: British energy policy will lead to the demise of all energy-intensive industry and future industrial investment.

  37. Good morning, chums, I hope you slept well. Today I slept through my 6 am alarm clock, woke at 7 am to pump bilges – as BoB might say – and then went straight back to bed to see if I could continue my beauty sleep. I could, and have just woken up at 10.30 am. I clearly needed some sleep. So a belated thank you to Geoff for today's NoTTLe post.

    Wordle 1,198 5/6

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  38. Socialism This is how socialism works:
    A social economics teacher told us in a lecture that he had never before subjected a single student before subjecting an entire class. The reason for this is because everyone in this school class was convinced socialism worked. It was thought that under a socialist rule, no one was poor or rich – everyone was equal and happy.
    So the teacher said – Okay let's do an experiment! From now on, all grades should be equal. On all exams, an average grade should be calculated and then apply to everyone – so that no single student is underestimated or receives the highest grade. The students thought it sounded great.
    After the first exam, the average grade became B. Those students who did not plug for the exam became very happy while those who plugged very hard got upset and felt that it was unfair.
    Before the second exam, those who didn't plug ignored studying as usual. Those who previously plugged hard decided to plug a little less – in hopes that someone else would. The second test gave an average grade of D. Now the whole class was upset!
    The third test gave an average E in grade. And so it continued. The atmosphere in class went from bad to awful. They had neither rest nor desire to learn. You blamed the bad result on each other. No one took responsibility for their own learning because no one wanted to plug for someone else. The entire class ended up being submissive.
    The teacher then explained to the shut-down school class that socialism will always fail. Human needs will always overthrow a socialist regime of power. This is because an individual effort must be in relation to an individual reward. So when the reward disappears so does the commitment and the will to be better

    1. I have the same explanation but it finishes with this.

      There are five morals to this story:
      1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
      2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
      3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
      4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!
      5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

    2. And with no money, you cannot help the needy anyway. Our welfare bill is utterly unsustainable. I reckon more councils than apparent are on the verge of bankruptcy. All of it; all – is utterly unsustainable. Politicians know it but care more about their short-term images.

  39. Socialism This is how socialism works:
    A social economics teacher told us in a lecture that he had never before subjected a single student before subjecting an entire class. The reason for this is because everyone in this school class was convinced socialism worked. It was thought that under a socialist rule, no one was poor or rich – everyone was equal and happy.
    So the teacher said – Okay let's do an experiment! From now on, all grades should be equal. On all exams, an average grade should be calculated and then apply to everyone – so that no single student is underestimated or receives the highest grade. The students thought it sounded great.
    After the first exam, the average grade became B. Those students who did not plug for the exam became very happy while those who plugged very hard got upset and felt that it was unfair.
    Before the second exam, those who didn't plug ignored studying as usual. Those who previously plugged hard decided to plug a little less – in hopes that someone else would. The second test gave an average grade of D. Now the whole class was upset!
    The third test gave an average E in grade. And so it continued. The atmosphere in class went from bad to awful. They had neither rest nor desire to learn. You blamed the bad result on each other. No one took responsibility for their own learning because no one wanted to plug for someone else. The entire class ended up being submissive.
    The teacher then explained to the shut-down school class that socialism will always fail. Human needs will always overthrow a socialist regime of power. This is because an individual effort must be in relation to an individual reward. So when the reward disappears so does the commitment and the will to be better

  41. Paddington, St Pancras, Liverpool Street stations all closed and now told to avoid Euston.
    What are they doing ? What is happening to our country ?

      1. These articles are so misleading Bill, the headlines are outstanding and more often than not, unless you sign up or make a contribution it's not possible to read the rest.
        Christmas chaos in London, would have been a better headline.

  42. OT. Cats. NoTTLers often ask how we tell G & P apart. Gus has a white tip to his tail. Simple.

    Last evening, Pickles was fast asleep in the porch. No sign of Gus. Went out to search. After a few minutes Pickles sauntered up the drive. It was Gus asleep in t'porch!!

    1. Our two are just deposited at the cat hotel (costs like a hotel, too!). As usual, one had shat himself on the journey over. Ugh.

      1. Previous cats enjoyed the local cattery. G & P stayed there once and were terrified. So they stay here and neighbours feed them in our porch twice a day. They also HATE going in the car. It is the only time they make any sound that I can hear! Anyone would think they were being tortured!

        1. We found a marvellous kennels in Brittany which took both Rumpole and Chaucer.

          They were both very happy there – they were well fed and had plenty of space.

        2. Mine is the same in the car Bill – she screams so if she ever needed the vet I'd get him to call

    1. A perfect example of the geo-political understandings of the 6th form Queer Stalin aged sixteen and a half.

      "I call on Israel.. and hezbollah stop the violence.. a political solution for the long term which delivers the long promised Palestinian state alongside a safe & secure Israel."

      Oh btw since 622AD Mohammad and his gang have sworn to kill every Jew, nowadays they'll settle for wiping Israel off the map, and won't ever stop even if they gladly die in process. And they've even put it in writing for the hard of hearing infantile Libtards

      1. Keir Starmer should be asked the simple question:

        "If someone declared that he wanted to kill you and had the means to do so would you defend yourself or let him do it?"

        He has already declared that he would not use private medicine to save the lives of his own family if they were desperately ill; would he also be prepared to allow a Muslim to kill them because they are Jewish?

        1. In the light of whatever we are told is yet to be exposed, he might also be asked why he seems to suck up [excuse the rather distasteful pun] to muslims in the past especially those who have raped little girls (or those who have got their way into peerage, or does he see them – especially openly gay muslims – as Alli(es)?)

        2. In the light of whatever we are told is yet to be exposed, he might also be asked why he seems to suck up [excuse the rather distasteful pun] to muslims in the past especially those who have raped little girls (or those who have got their way into peerage, or does he see them – especially openly gay muslims – as Alli(es)?)

        3. Starmer is a liar. If a member of his family required a life saving medication that the NHS does not stock or prescribe he would get one of his rich friends to get it for him from a private source.

      2. You know, it really will be a shame when Starmer goes – we'll never get someone whose name and antics lend themselves so well to nicknames!

        1. I can do without the nicknames if we could get some sanity into parliament. But I think the electorate are still not capable of voting after sensible thinking, yet.

      3. I think that ship has sailed. It isn't worth bothering with a Palestinian state, short or long term, when it is obvious that they have no interest in making peace with Israel. The problem is what to do with these people because no Arab state in the region wants them, they cause to match trouble wherever they go. Ship them off to that loudmouth Erdogan?

    2. A perfect example of the geo-political understandings of the 6th form Queer Stalin aged sixteen and a half.

      "I call on Israel.. and hezbollah stop the violence.. a political solution for the long term which delivers the long promised Palestinian state alongside a safe & secure Israel."

      Oh btw since 622AD Mohammad and his gang have sworn to kill every Jew, nowadays they'll settle for wiping Israel off the map, and won't ever stop even if they gladly die in process. And they've even put it in writing for the hard of hearing infantile Libtards

  50. Apparently the Russians are going to blow up the undersea cables that keep the US and London financial centres connected, which will cause a financial meltdown and a huge rise in the price of precious metals. The chaos caused will be so great that markets might have to be closed. The dastardly Russians will be doing it in order to interfere with the US elections/as an act of war against the west.

    Or if you're a real cynic, you might suspect that when they lose control of the gold and silver pricing in London and New York due to huge demand from the East, they have a false flag event planned to pretend it's not their fault.

  52. 'Morning All (just)
    As always the internet is swift and merciless
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fe04f5c65047bfdaabf9b3bae4fbe6dd574c093367142b045d0456d479fbcdd8.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/163a90b0f6a6a9745afd845b6f1cfbc75758bbc5f031103d04c56747959c47f0.jpg
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    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7fef773ca49b256c4fc1f24d904b5ffece51d9fb99cfb0ff8383377d1dc4ebfb.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/797a685e0156853fba5ef8e8fe77185ae1304df99c928decf0fe456bb4526cf6.jpg
    https://media.gab.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=568,quality=100,fit=scale-down/system/media_attachments/files/166/421/051/original/d04567309b5bd10f.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/74d580fea54982ab1cdb803a0cee6185bb7a0116befa9aacd4b8bd77b0cb5cd5.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/eb3ac5c4cf33473baccb2fd19e8a95d99d0f03e5a4c5f5a4347b7700243e35c2.jpg

    2. Back in the 90s the BBC produced an Horizon documentary about the Milgram obedience experiments. It was before email so I had to phone Alexandra Milgram about the archive. Summer 2020 I had a discussion on FB with a doctor who agreed that Milgram’s work was extremely relevant to what we were seeing unfold. That particular thread, for the most part, confirmed the points he made. Alexandra died on 3 April 2020.

    2. If you scroll further down X you can get the first of your twice daily fix of enrichment.

      SYRIAN IN MASSIVE ATTACK IN ESSEN, GERMANY 🚨

      A 41-year-old Syrian man armed with a machete has set multiple fires and slashed over 30 people, including leaving 8 children seriously hurt and 2 in a critical condition last night.

      He also drove a van into two storefronts.

      1. Meanwhile fighting broke out again on the border..

        Horror triple stabbing leaves one dead and two injured
        Paramedics rushed to the scene shortly after 4am this morning (Sunday, September 29) in Wandsworth Road on the Clapham and Battersea border

    3. If that applies to all obnoxious emissions then politicians should be made to pay thousand of pounds per week.

  55. Reading NoTTL next??
    HAL TURNER
    SEPTEMBER 28, 2024

    Married Couple Arrested in Germany for Watching Russian TV
    A married couple has been detained in Germany for watching Russian TV channels on the Internet.

    Apparently, the lowly, sniveling, government public servants in Germany think they can fine you for watching TV that THEY don't approve of!

    The 37-year-old German and his 42-year-old Ukrainian wife now face a year in prison for violating "sanctions" and a fine of €40,000.

    Are you sure this is a democracy?

    1. Is that a smile on her face?
      Technology has moved on – there are now apps to control them remotely.

      1. Yes. If you notice someone suddenly acting strangely on the bus, their partner has just…turned them on.

        1. Bluetooth is becoming an essential part of everyday life nowadays and its short range wireless functionality is able to reach places that other wired electromechanical devices cannot reach – I use them untethered myself over my ears. 🎧

  60. Afternoon all,

    Frankenfood

    Two well known vlogging medical doctors have joined forces to discuus the most disturbing revelation that the West is already heading into a massive health crisis that will not even be resolved by fixing the 'broken' NHS in the UK..

    It all boils down to the prevalence of consuming factory engineered addictive junk food:

    https://youtu.be/Zt__JOalJEY?si=BMYHUfabBL2NJFC8

    1. Or they want to divert attention away from the biggest health disasters of all time, like vaccines and fluoridated water. Take your pick.

      It's not processed food that is reducing the population….

      1. I’ve become fussy about bottled water. Harrogate spring water is 0.2% fluoride. Highland Spring 0.07% and Radnor (Wales) 0.045%. Aqua Panna (Italy) has none. Waitrose used to stock it but no longer. Yesterday I bought two bottles in M&S at Marble Arch but my local branches don’t have it. Online is all very well but I live in a studio flat with a kitchen 1m x 2m. Where would I put two dozen bottles?

      2. Vaccines and flouridated water are both unnatural factory generated inputs to the human body with the aim of saving lives. The human body has already evolved through genetics over thoudands of years to survive through adaptation to Earth’s climate variations which are now changing faster than humans can procreate.

        Humans are now bent on eliminating by whatever means those parts of the population that cannot evolve fast enough through either procreation or technical advances to prolonging life.

  62. Visited here this morning after my bacon roll and coffee. A beautiful part of Dorset.

    "The series of wall paintings dating mostly from
    the 14th century, which are the outstanding
    feature of Tarrant Crawford church, take full
    advantage of the largely unbroken expanse of
    wall. They were rediscovered in 1910–11 but
    not fully revealed until 1948–49."

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bda05b17481bb8c75f983a4d5938a254bc640095cd9d61a72bab186cebbee4a1.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f8cd8b1fac9b02016b277686fa759a5ff1e8367b03dc886e5ca754002872a275.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d0c8f8e8796cdd552bd9743848eb1aa0524e2e70054599b6e15697b2dd2bfb83.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/131bb4cde31adea45e0a8aeb6a186951e48307c9aa2d38040676483d2968e919.jpg

          1. Thanks Belle, to be read once I’ve done a couple of chores, with I imagine a coffee.

        2. Old churches often have an aura of peace about them that you can feel as you go in. I occasionally find that the peace is so powerful that it brings forth tears… dunno why.

          1. People have been worshipping in that room for 800 years so I think it must have an affect.

          2. Asking for help, forgiveness, love… all quite powerful emotions that perhaps have soaked into the fabric of the building.

          3. Indeed yes, some of the pieces of ground have had a church on them since early Saxon times, and even before going back to the late Roman era. I can’t believe that nothing comes from that.

      2. Copford Church, near Colchester has mediaeval wall paintings.
        However, they have been rather heavily restored.

    4. I can never work out how they reveal the paintings without damaging them.
      Presumably the original paint was water based.

      1. Created in the 14th century, but covered over several hundred years later. By then, the original pigments would have hardened or slightly oxidised and also would have been covered with layers of smoke deposits and dust etc. When the whitewash was applied, probably during the Reformation and possibly again during the Protectorate, it adhered to the top layer of grime, not the original artwork underneath.

  63. Josh Baker’s parents: ‘Life without our son is getting harder, not easier’. 29 September 2024.

    Baker was a type-one diabetic, diagnosed aged 13. All professional cricketers undergo heart scans and his came back clear. “We’ve subsequently discovered that when Spencer heard the shower on, we think the shower had been on for an hour-and-a-half. He’d obviously got up, sent a message to the girl he was seeing, just to say good morning. And I think he’d gone into the bathroom and put the shower on and just collapsed.”

    Though a Post Mortem result is given here there is no mention of whether this young man had the Covid Jab or Boosters. This is quite understandable in that it is a family remembrance piece but one wonders. There are simply too many of these sudden deaths.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2024/09/29/josh-baker-parents-life-without-our-son-worcestershire/

    1. It is terrible to lose a child. When the news was first reported, I had a horrible feeling that it might have been suicide or drug overdose.

      I was relieved to discover the PM result.

    1. It's as if a small child were left in charge of the signal box while the signalman popped out to the loo.

  66. This is similar to a post earlier this morning but, I think, explains it more clearly.

    TAX EXPLAINED

    Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to £100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

    The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing. The fifth would pay £1.The sixth would pay £3.The seventh would pay £7. The eighth would pay £12. The ninth would pay £18. The tenth man (the richest) would pay £59. So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner bowled them a wrong ‘un.“Since you are all such good customers,” he said, “I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by £20.” Drinks for the ten now cost just £80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes. So the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men? The paying customers? How could they divide the £20 windfall so that everyone would get his fair share?’

    They realised that £20 divided by six is £3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the landlord suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings), the sixth now paid £2 instead of £3 (33% savings). The seventh now pay £5 instead of £7 (28% savings). The eighth now paid £9 instead of £12 (25% savings). The ninth now paid £14 instead of £18 (22% savings). The tenth now paid £49 instead of £59 (16% savings).

    Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. “I only got a pound out of the £20,”declared the sixth man.He pointed to the tenth man,” but he got £10!” “Yeah, that’s right,” exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved a pound, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I do!” “That’s true!!” shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get £10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!” “Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in unison. “We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!” The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

    The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

    And that, boys and girls, journalists and professors of economics, this is how the tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking elsewhere where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

    For those who did understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.”

  67. O/T. Can anyone recommend a decent firm pillow? Seems no matter where i get them they all go flat after a couple of months.

    1. I use down pillows – no artificial pillow can beat down, imo.
      It doesn't go flat because I fluff it up every morning!

          1. A fluffer is someone on a pornographic film set that keeps a male performer's penis erect in between scenes.

            Dictionary.com/slang

            :@)

            I'll get my cleaner to do it.

          2. The Things I Learn On NOTTL.
            I thought they were the cleaners who cleared Tube tracks of … er … fluff.

          3. Well, well, well. There's a dog grooming parlour I passed on the way today called "Fluffed and Buffed". I wonder if the owner knows.

      2. I have heard this rumour. And the same rumour is heard about the king's younger son's children.

    2. Their relationship does seem a bit off, when you compare them to the Camerons, the Blairs or the Sunaks, for example. Somehow the Starmers seem much more remote. Her smile in photo ops looks very fake. Perhaps she just hates publicity, but I think even I could do better than that.

      1. I think she looks rather a pleasant woman but of course looks can deceive. I find Starmer physically unattractive and I cannot understand him having 'good chemistry' with women.

        I love my wife dearly but we don't hold hands and hug for the cameras as politicians do..

        I also find Prince Harry and Migraine constantly hand-in-hand rather nauseating.

        1. I have to say, I could not imagine myself having a spark of attraction towards Keir Starmer. There’s just nothing there!

      2. I think he finds it hard to forgive her for having gone to a good private girls' school in London : Channing School in Highgate.

      3. The photo-op kiss between them (IIRC) at the end of the Party Conference looked totally unromantic and forced. No element of enjoyment or romance between them at all. Now, OK, kissing for a photoshot is hardly the moment for unbridled passion, but most loving couples can put on a better display of affection than can be seen in that photo.

          1. The first chapter of the book Families and How to Survive Them describes an experiment in which a group of people had to find other people in the group with which they felt that they had something in common, but done in complete silence. The results were very revealing about how it is possible using only body language and subconscious instinct to recognise others who come from the same emotional background as yourself.

            If you’re interested in this sort of subject, I’d thoroughly recommend the book – the authors are John Cleese and Robin Skynner.

        3. It reminded me of a stage kiss between singers in Alcina. The bloke (a counter tenor) is homosexual. It was a whole different ballgame when he kissed a bloke in Poppea.

    3. They haven't properly lived together as a couple since 2021…
      A trophy wife like Schofields Missus.
      The Telegraph have it. It's a case of if and when they decide to publish.

  70. Wow, raining now .. Earlier , I stripped beds down, duvet covers sheets and pillow cases washed and dried on the line by 2pm plus family washing also .

    Took Pip for a run at Arne , the wind was very very strong , but it wasn't cold .

    I met another dog walker who chatted to me for a while .. a fisherman , and he said he caught a Tuna in the tidal end River Frome as it wends its way into Poole Harbour .. he was so shocked , the size was about 3ft long , anyway he put it back in the water and it swam off .. Tuna love mackerel , so it might have chased some into the tidal end of the river.

    He told me that more and more Tuna are being seen off the Dorset coast .. I was quite amazed when he told me that.

    1. We caught tuna in the middle of the Atlantic. Very good eating – first as steaks and then curried.

        1. OED

          TUNA: Late 19th century
          TUNNY: "Long the usual word in Britain, but now largely replace by TUNA…"

    2. Tensions are rising in Vienna’s 10th district, Favoriten, as local residents express anger over a project to house refugees in 110 newly built, luxury apartments.

      The apartments, equipped with air conditioning, balconies, and modern kitchens, have stirred controversy as local citizens and political figures question the decision to allocate such accommodations to refugees while many Viennese struggle with substandard housing.

      The joint initiative between the city government and the Protestant charitable organization Diakonie is designed to house recognized refugees and their families and prepare them for the labor market. However, the decision to offer such modern accommodations to asylum seekers has triggered outrage, particularly after revelations of the case of a Syrian family receiving €4,600 in social assistance in Vienna. Many feel that the city’s resources are being unfairly allocated to non-citizens.

      Around 30 local residents staged a spontaneous protest on Wednesday morning in front of the apartment building, holding signs with slogans like, “Rental madness for Viennese, luxury building for asylum seekers!”

    3. Even if my chickens could avoid the registration fee, there is no way they could complete the paperwork.

  72. How nice to be able to talk to the animals
    ·
    An Englishman on a walk through the Welsh countryside bumps into a Welsh farmer and they start chatting;
    Englishman: "That your dog?" 🤔
    Welshman: "Aye"
    Englishman: "Mind if I speak to him?'
    Welshman: "It's a dog… It doesn't talk.” 🤷‍♂️
    Englishman: "Hey dog, how's it going?"
    Dog: "I'm Doing all right thanks"
    Welshman: 😲
    Englishman: Is this your owner?" (Pointing at the Welshman)
    Dog: "Yep."
    Englishman: How's he treating you?"
    Dog: "Real good. He walks me twice a day, feeds me great food and takes me to the park once a week to play."
    Welshman: 😲
    Englishman: "Mind if I talk to your horse?"
    Welshman: "Its a horse…it doesn't talk.” 🤷‍♂️
    Englishman: "Hey horse how's it going?"
    Horse: "not too bad, neigh complaints"
    Welshman: 😲😲
    Englishman: "Is this your owner?" (Pointing to the Welshman)
    Horse: "Yep."
    Englishman: "How's he treating you?"
    Horse: "Pretty good, thanks for asking, he rides me, brushes me down often and keeps me in a nice stable to protect me from the weather."
    Welshman: 😲😲😲
    Englishman: "Mind if I talk to your sheep?"
    Welshman: No don't! "That sheep's a RUDDY LIAR!!!”
    https://scontent-cdg4-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/461422946_536787868937471_1856982663391088362_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_p526x296&_nc_cat=1&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=833d8c&_nc_ohc=6yYnWdB6YuAQ7kNvgGcV2yZ&_nc_ht=scontent-cdg4-1.xx&_nc_gid=A2IZ_Kc4c98g5jNTFY0POYr&oh=00_AYCJrH5GpB_N2NRK331B0JfPyW1ZrSEqdQcQDF-YYB7dVg&oe=66FF352E

  75. Excerpt from Charles Moore’s column in the Speccie. Needless to say I disagree with him. Also, our politicians need to be older, proper grown-ups with a life-time’s achievements behind them, mortgages paid off and children having flown the nest. They shouldn’t have young children.

    “…Even today, things are worse for women MPs. They are minutely judged on their looks, which therefore require the right clothes, make-up, bags, shoes and hair. They often lack the money and also, especially with young children, the time. They need help.”

    3. I don’t agree that female MPs are judged on their looks any more than male MPs. TV presenters are but not MPs.
      As for the problem of not having time if they have young children, I suggest that sensible, competent people shouldn’t stand for parliament when they have a young family unless they have a spouse (or maybe other family) who is happy to do the lion’s share of childcare. This sort of decision about careers is one that competent couples make all the time. Why should there be such a rush to get into the HoC at an early age?
      (A rhetorical question – too many now see being an MP as merely a stepping stone to something more lucrative in the long term)

  76. Isabel Oakeshott
    There’s more to Sir Keir than meets the eye – and it’s not looking good
    Luxury penthouse apartments; designer clothes; VIP seats in football stadiums – evidently he’s been living quite the high life

    Isn’t it funny how it’s always the quiet ones? There we were, thinking Sir Keir Starmer was as dull as an old stainless steel spoon, but it turns out he is rather more colourful – and complicated – than we all supposed.

    Luxury penthouse apartments; designer clothes; VIP seats in Premier League football stadiums and much sought-after hot tickets to pop concerts – evidently he’s been living quite the high life.

    Posing on the front cover of a magazine this week, our prime minister looks blander than ever – like a thousand other middle-aged middle managers. On closer inspection, the picture isn’t even him: it’s AI generated. Which is quite apposite really, because many of us are beginning to wonder who he really is.

    As the revelations about the benefits he derived from his friendship with a wealthy party donor continue to flow, it is increasingly apparent that there is much more to Sir Keir than meets the eye.

    His challenge now? Wafting away a growing stench of hypocrisy. That moral high horse of his, which he has spent the past three years riding, is looking more like a giraffe. Right now, it has its neck down, and Starmer is in grave danger of sliding off.

    The difficulty is the sanctimonious air he adopted throughout “Partygate” and Boris Johnson’s troubles with gold wallpaper. Sir Keir led voters to believe that he was a different kind of politician, who would never grub around in such a way.
    The earnest image he sold voters now looks like a massive fraud.

    As for his secret best friend, squillionaire Lord Alli, you’ve got to hand it to him. The man has played an absolute blinder. Like a kind of reverse Where’s Wally, the wealthy peer with the Downing Street pass seems to be absolutely everywhere.

    Somewhere in the middle of an increasingly dizzying picture is our prime minister – looking increasingly furtive.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/09/28/theres-more-to-sir-keir-than-meets-the-eye-and-its-not-good/

    NJ Ratnieks
    1 hr ago
    He is: " the Very Model of a Modern Attorney-General" and ought to have his own comic opera- what with his suits, and specs and penthouses and all the rest of it.

    Mind you, this farce is being played out at the expense of the British public- most of whom did not vote for this opaque popinjay.

    Anon Ymous
    1 hr ago
    Strange, isn't it? An 'open secret' around Westminster so damaging that he may have to resign, and yet he was allowed to become leader. It's as though Starmer was just the outwardly grey little man who would get the socialists into power, only to be brought down when that objective was completed.

  78. "The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate task of good government."

    Thomas Jefferson, Democratic-Republican President.

    Perhaps someone ought to mention this to Starmer and his clique of cretins.

    2. Two bees met in a field
      Two bees met in a field. One said to the other, “The weather has been cold, wet and damp, and there aren’t any flowers, blooming so I can’t make any honey!”

      “No problem,” said the first bee, “Just fly down five blocks and turn left. Keep going until you see all the cars. There’s a Bar Mitzvah going on and there are all kinds of fresh flowers and fresh fruit!"

      “Thanks for the tip,” said the second bee, and flew away. A few hours later the two bees ran into each other again. The first bee asked, “How did it go?”

      "Great!” said the second bee. “It was everything you said it would be. There was plenty of fruit and, oh, such huge floral arrangements on every table.” "

      Uh, what’s that thing on your head?” asked the first bee.

      “That’s my yarmulke,” said the second bee .

      “I didn’t want them to think I was a wasp.”

    1. Succinct, as ever.
      You can’t make it any clearer. Trump is our only hope for America to survive. Otherwise we plunge into total darkness and despair.

      And will the Floating voters listen?

      My money on civil war and at least one secession.

      1. There are evil forces at work in the free world, with people like Starmer, Eu. democrats in the USA. etc.

        1. Just checked in. I used to enjoy a few half pints of beer with Sean Tracy and Laurie Lee in the Queens Elm on Fulham Road in the early seventies.

          Thank you for the reminder.

    3. Par for me.

      Wordle 1,198 4/6

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

    4. Doh! Par here….

      Wordle 1,198 4/6

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

      1. You should see the ones on my back !

        I didn't even know you could get bruising from coughing.

        I'm over the worst. Coughing has receded and temperature back to normal and i am sleeping better.
        Energy levels returning to normal too.

        1. Poor you , that looks terrible as if you have been beaten up.

          Are you on blood thinners .. I feel so sorry for you .

          Are you on antibiotics Phizzee?

          Last Thursday the doctor gave me antibiotics for my lung rattle , my ribs hurt so much from coughing , and so does my throat .

          3. Yes they did. The result was it must have come from someone who had previously occupied the apartment.

          5. I did appreciate Erica's art. Of course it was her from life for the most part. The intriguing picture was the butterflies. Did you see beyond?

  87. Hi all! Just back from our morning boat ride. It's nearly lunchtime here and very hot. Five jaguars this morning and giant river otters and lots of great birds.

          4. For them as don't know*: Cheetahs have spots; Leopards have rings; Jaguars have rings with spots in the middle.

            *Northern variant of: "For those who do not know."

    1. It was definitely a respiratory one. Laying on my back in bed breathing through my mouth going buhbuhbuhbuh. The confusion is the worst thing so i kept all the lights on.

      1. I read tales of woe and illness on here and am amazed that, other than aches and pains when I’ve done too much, I tend to remain in decent health.
        The big worry is, of course, how much longer with that last for?

        1. You are six years younger than I am.

          I too spend some time cutting up wood and, considering that I am very overweight, I remain in pretty good health.

          Half the members of my family are naturally overweight the other half are thin. My son Christo is aged 30 and is certainly heavier than I was at his age.

        2. I believe it is because you are so physical and active that protects you. Stay away from urban enviroments…and hospitals.

  90. Yes i'm on clopidogrel.

    You sound like you also have a respiratory infection.

    The thing that gave me most relief from the coughing was gargling with dilute TCP.

    1. Goodness me , I am also on clopidogrel.

      Sometimes I can hardly breathe and need the window open .. silly really .. Right lung is full of gunk .

      I think I was nobbled by loads of sniffing children in a supermarket queue..

      I have had a shingles jab and a pneumonia jab instead of Covid jabs ..

      Well it looks as if you are turning the corner , and will improve as the days go by.

      I have gone off coffee because it hurts my throat , and am enjoying mugs of Earl Grey tea.

      2. Children are germ factories on legs. There was one wandering loose in a shop the other day, coughing her head off (needless to say, not covering her mouth). I took extra doses of vit C and D and seem to have nipped the lurgy in the bud.

    2. I used to have to take clopidogrel but they replaced it with Pradaxa. No problems with it so far.

  91. I used several pillows to prop me up, last week I thought I was dying, my oxygen level was low when the doctor put the o2 gadget on my finger.

    I hope you feel better sooner than later Phizzee, are you taking any vitamins ..

    Have you seen a doctor .. I think you should re that bruising .

    I would have been worried about sepsis .. please see a quack asap.

      1. Be careful regarding your heart.
        My heart attack came during a particularly harsh coughing fit and I'm convinced that that was what triggered it..

        1. Yes Sos. I was thinking about that at the time. At that moment in time i don't think i would have cared.

  92. Yes but i think i noticed a symptom before i got on the plane. I was once told by a doctor in malta that the locals all get the cough at the same time as the weather cools. Not forgetting that the majority live in social housing.

  93. Well I had a doze after not having any lunch.
    A cuppa tea and a nice couple of biscuits.
    And got stuck in with the lawn mower. Rear garden, front garden, neighbours front garden, both grass verges. Half a green bin full of cuttings.
    Suping a well deserved Tring ale now.
    I even amazed my self. It had to be done after all the rain. Good job it was dry enough.
    Hopefully last cut till spring.

    1. "Hopefully last cut till spring"

      Don't you believe it, matey – with global boiling you'll be cutting it on Christmas Day!

      2. Don’t forget Bill even the ‘THEY’ use to call it Glowball warming.
        But now have changed it to climate change. Which covers their stupid ars*ses.

        1. We had climate change mentioned in the sermon this morning (it was harvest festival). There's no telling some people.

    2. I usually try to do at least one hour's day in the garden per day, Ready Eddy. But today I failed to even do a single minute.
      PS – I must have either been a Very Silly Hostage, or a chap called Mustapha Bin-Shattered.

  94. The questions are getting darker & darker and somewhat disturbing..

    Leaving his teen son with a gay middle aged man for months. Was that the reason for the gifts?
    His record with Savile and the muslim grooming gangs.
    Was the gaylord fireside chat with Sadiq Khan in Sugga Daddy's flat? Is Mark Rowley involved?
    Was it Homosexual rage.. his reaction to the riots and that police dog being called gay?

    C'mon, DT. Publish and be damned.

        3. Don't be unkind. Her face reflects the immense stress of pretending reality is other than it is. She only needs to walk out her front door and wether it is rain or shine she has to say the opposite.

    2. I can't comment on individual 'young global leaders' but many of them seem to be damaged in some way. They are all completely certain of their truth.

      It is a cult.

  95. That's me gone. A cold, unfriendly day made slightly less unbearable by their being virtually no breeze. Thank God for the woodburner.

    Have a spiffing evening preparing for global boiling rain tomorrow and Tuesday….

    A demain. With luck.

  96. Somebody commented recently on here how Starmer appears to be deliberately being torn down by the media. Suppose we're looking at it from the wrong angle…suppose it's Starmer himself who wants out?
    After all, it was pretty obvious that Sunak didn't want to be the one holding the can when SHTF…why not Starmer too?
    What if he simply has no stomach for being the Prime Minister that does something really bad so that the sheep won't blame the parasite class when they get sheared during the financial reset?

    1. If he has any sense he'll resign sooner rather than later, because the digging and sifting is going to go deeper and finer.

        1. Ghastly options, any of them.

          Miliband's been leader and is suitably ultra-left looney.
          It would almost certainly require an internal election rather than a coup.

          5. True re Unions, but would the party accept her?
            I think she has too much "silly" baggage; ginger minger, ginger growler, party girl, uneducated, etc.
            The political cartoonists would have a field day.

      2. I would imagine there must be quite a lot of pressure on him to stay. Nobody with half a brain would want to be the PM that goes down in history as the most authoritarian ever. Oh wait a moment, that does leave quite a few candidates in the Labour party…

        1. If the criteria are the most bitter, twisted, self confident, resentful and wishing to harm the indigenous British, and by that I mean white, it has to be Lammy by a landslide.
          He satisfies so many parts of the envious anti-white and anti-middle class modern Labour Party AND he's only got that half a brain.

          3. Not sure Lammy is vicious enough, if they really are expecting a Deagel-report scenario. He’s just thick and greedy, you need a real psychopath.

          4. I think you will find that if he was in charge he would be.
            Look at his pronouncements on Russia, Ukraine and Israel.
            And that's without the power of the PM.
            He's a very nasty piece of work.

          5. He strikes me as gaumless rather than nasty, but I can’t say I’ve studied him particularly closely. Oh well, I guess we will see in due course what happens.

          10. “Gaumless is a word that originated in Scotland and is used to describe someone who is clueless or lacking in common sense. It can also refer to someone who is absent-minded or forgetful. On the other hand, gormless is a word that originated in England and is used to describe someone who is foolish or lacking in intelligence. It can also refer to someone who is awkward or clumsy.”

            Paucity of clue.

            https://thecontentauthority.com/blog/gaumless-vs-gormless

          11. I know. I looked it up after I saw your post. Gormless/gaumless has long been a favourite word. I’ve never heard anyone say, “He was a gormful chap.” or “She is absolutely full of gaum.” It seems to be one of those words that only exist in the negative sense. Like hapless.

        1. 393686+ up ticks,

          Evening BB2,
          They are voluntary expendable,at a price that is, been openly the same since the wretch cameron.

          They should really get what a construction worker gets on completion of contract, "a chinaman" a wee kin lieu & the boot.

  98. "The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom" – Isaac Asimov

      1. I believe it was Mr Asimov who once told a Psychiatrist friend a story about a young Lady coming to the end of a series of therapy sessions and being asked by the Consultant if everything was now clear? She replied: 'yes Doctor but I'm not sure about this 'phallus' thing you've kept referring to' . Exasperated to illustrate the point, the Psychiatrist unzipped his fly and produced his manhood. "Oh exclaimed the young lady?!. It's just like a prick only much smaller!"
        To which his Psychiatrist friend asked: "Tell me Isaac, What made you relay that story to me….?"

        1. That quote is often used by astute female victims of 'flashers'. My favourite, though was used by the late pulp-novelist, Jackie Collins, when she was once 'flashed' at.

          She gave the flasher a wry look and told him, "Yes, it is a bit cold today, isn't it?"

          2. The Sister of the first boss I ever worked for was flashed she shouted at him: “Put that away you silly man!”

          3. It is something that i was always a bit confused by.

            Were there many such incidents? Did they always wear Macs?

            The male genitals are not particularly scary.

            Is this flasher stuff urban myth?

            Did you in your time come across any?

          4. My sister told me the story when she was at the convent she went to in Leeds and a man flashed her over the wall. She thought he had a nasty growth on his penis not having seen an erection before and felt very sorry for his pre-dick-ament.

          5. They certainly do exist, everywhere. Most do not wear macs. I have taken reports on a number of occasions. On place was an alleyway near a nurses home that attracted them. The problem was that there was nowhere on that alley where it was possible to keep surveillance. But we did catch a few.

          7. An acquaintance of mine in London in the seventies marketed dolls he had designed and exhibited at international toy exhibitions.

            His dolls included Sanctimonious Skunk, Born Again Bunny and The Flasher. The Flasher was clothed in a Mac which when opened revealed his pink bits. My friend was shocked to receive a threatening letter from a San Franciscan Law Firm accusing him of breach of copyright and subsequently dropped The Flasher line from his products.

        2. A man was on his death bed, trying to decide how to divide his worldly worth between his three unmarried daughters.
          He called them in one at a time.
          He pulled down the sheet and asked them what they saw
          The first said, "it's your cock dad".
          He was appalled and said she would inherit only 5% as she clearly knew too much.
          The second said "it's your knob dad"
          Again he was appalled and said she would inherit only 5% as she clearly knew too much.
          The third said "what's that Dad?"
          He was delighted and said she would inherit 90% of his estate.
          He said to her "that, daughter, is the male reproductive tube, it is called a penis and it is used in sexual intercourse"

          She replied, "Good God, call that a penis? It wouldn't touch the sides."

        1. It is something i was pontificating at a lunch with John and
          Rik. I was trying to say that but it came out as one must be assertive when faced with ignorance and push through.

        1. I have a feeling a lot of modern readers might not like it. Take the Foundation Trilogy. It’s mostly just chapters consisting of reams of conversation. Hardly a trace of exploding space ships or a single laser beam being fired in anger. And yet a riveting read.

          3. Yes me too. It was a pity about the TV adaptation that they made of it. I did struggle though the first series because the scenery and future design concepts were so good. The biggest problem was its 'wokeyfication', notably by gender bending Gaal Dornick's character. By the end of series one I felt it was all about her and her little struggles affecting the galaxy. Psych-history seemed to be taking a side role in the whole affair.

          4. They never seem to be able to do the books justice. With such a large story it’s almost impossible to write a film script.

            I suppose they need to add woke or they get ignored by Hollywood and the awards system.

          5. Yep, by their own rules it’s now impossible to get an Oscar certainly and probably other awards unless you fulfill diversity criteria. There are apparently now officially no artistically good productions unless they have diversity hires included. Yet another reason why fandom, especially in Sci-fi and fantasy are deserting Hollywood / Disney / Marvel in their droves.

            It should be possible to do Foundation. They did LoTR more than passably well despite a few niggles, after all. Foundation looked like it was gearing up to be about how an overlooked minority changed the galaxy by just being herself (yawn). As ever, the big philosophical questions behind Foundation and psychohistory got therefore sidelined. Shame. Such limited vision these days.

    3. Robert A Heinlein's the go to Sci Fi author for me.

      "There seems to have been an actual decline in rational thinking. The United States had become a place where entertainers and professional athletes were mistaken for people of importance. They were idolized and treated as leaders; their opinions were sought on everything and they took themselves just as seriously-after all, if an athlete is paid a million or more a year, he knows he is important … so his opinions of foreign affairs and domestic policies must be important, too, even though he proves himself to be ignorant and subliterate every time he opens his mouth."

      "You can sway a thousand men by appealing to their prejudices quicker than you can convince one man by logic."

      "I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do."

      "A dying culture invariably exhibits personal rudeness. Bad manners. Lack of consideration for others in minor matters. A loss of politeness, of gentle manners, is more significant than is a riot."

      And many more.

  99. Well that was a busy day.
    I've been chopsawing small diameter sticks and filling mushroom trays for t'Lad who came over to lend a hand.
    About 3 dozen trays in the van ready to take over to his place tomorrow morning.

    Also did a venison & vegetable stew with new potatoes that was rather tasty!

    My back was telling me I'd done a bit too much, so had a hot bath and taken a couple paracetamol and a couple of dispersible aspirin.

    1. I cooked myself lamb chop with parsnips, and new potatoes from the garden. Not bad, if I say it myself.

  100. It looks like Starmer's plan is to hold on until the Conservative Party Conference when all attention will switch away from him.
    Then after the conference they will all carry on as if nothing has happened.

    1. Except, if the Conservatives have any sense (unlikely) they will be homing in on Labour envy and corruption as headline issues the whole time.

          1. The fact that the Conservatives let off Labour over the grooming gang scandals, where Labour would have been finished for good is evidence that they work together

      2. What? You think pointing out corrupt practices of the other side would make any difference?

        They take turns.

        1. It won’t make a direct difference to the Conservatives, but it will keep the spotlight on Labour

    2. The only way the Conservative conference can out do Labour is for them to denounce Israel, call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and promise £100 billion to Ukraine.

        1. If Boris takes the opportunity to speak the truth he might say he was bullied into announcing lockdowns. You could see it in his face at the time.

          2. There were many forces against him. From his own party and the opposition. Even with his majority he could not stand against supranational interests.
            It is telling that he feels on firmer ground in his support for Ukraine.

    3. From Coffee House, the Spectator

      Now Labour points finger at Tories over donations
      Steerpike29 September 2024, 11:20pm
      Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour party’s conference was mired in his freebie fiasco scandal after revelations about clothing donations and trips abroad surfaced. But while the Labour lot had a tricky time fending the story off at their conference, they appear determined not to let the Tory meet pass without a similar hitch. Now it transpires that the Labour party chair has written to the Electoral Commission over donations accepted by one Robert Jenrick. How curious…

      The Chancellor’s sister Ellie Reeves has blasted the Tory leadership frontrunner over a £75,000 sum he accepted from a company called The Spott Fitness. Raising concerns over the ‘legality’ of the monetary gift, Reeves fumed:

      Most concerningly, Companies House records show that in January, Spott entered into a loan arrangement with a company based in the tax haven British Virgin Islands. The amount of this loan from Centrovalli Ltd or any details on who actually directs this offshore entity are entirely unknown.

      Donations to MPs must come from sources registered in the UK. It is clear that Mr Jenrick has serious questions to answer about the origin of these funds and their legality.’

      Crikey. Labour has tried to slam Jenrick further, suggesting that an earlier donation made by the leadership candidate — £5,000 from Firefly Digital — was questionable given the firm is a ‘dormant company’. The Tory leadership contender later updated the entry to be from Firefly Capital — but that hasn’t placated the Starmtroopers.

      As Sir Keir’s conference was shrouded in confusion over frockgate, Mr S isn’t surprised his party are pointing fingers. But after revelations that wealthy Labour donor Lord Alli funded the Starmers’ wardrobes, covered part of Angela Rayner’s New York holiday and even let the now-PM give a Covid-era briefing from his luxury penthouse, will voters get on board with this latest Labour stunt? A source close to Jenrick says: ‘All this nonsense does is prove who Labour fear the most.’ With Starmer polling more negatively than Sunak, perhaps desperate times call for desperate measures…

  101. An article by Robert Spencer (who really knows the subject of Islamism and the Middle East) giving some historical background to Hizballah in Lebanon that I didn't know about. (The vowelisation 'Hizballah' seems to me to be a more authentic version of what appears in British media as 'Hezbollah' – Hizb meaning Party and 'Allah' (well I assume readers can get that one).
    https://pjmedia.com/robert-spencer/2024/09/28/the-decline-and-fall-of-the-iranian-empire-n4932921

    1. I don't really know about American politics. I know they have a constitution which is supposed to protect the ordinary folks.

      What i would like to know is why a lot of those same ordinary folks would vote for someone because she looks nice even though her party cost them their jobs.

      1. 393686+ up ticks,

        Evening Pip,
        I’m in regular contact with my sister she is in W. Virginia, she said we were suffering identically as nations, only they are on a bigger scale.
        In my book for years our problems
        have repeatedly been family tree voters, best of the worst voters,
        non voters, this being a continuous voting pattern.

        We have had successfully building fringe parties,fruitcakes,
        realisation will eventually dawn that they were the answer to the poisonous political pastries we are suffering under now.

          4. I'm hoping that the three that went for the Van Gogh again will be fined the absolute maximum AND given the maximum possible sentences.

          5. They do seem to be tempting the previous court ruling. That comes close to contempt. it will be interesting to see what happens

  105. Been in Thanet for a few days. There were lots of old cars being driven along Margate seafront, today, amongst the general traffic. A nearby gathering of owners at a car fair brought some lovely old vehicles onto the streets. Many were restored to pristine original condition, others were customised. Curiously, some were very tatty, barely looking roadworthy. There were lots of Minis, 60s Ford Anglias, Ford Capris as well as ugly American beasts. Most were from the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s, but a small number were much older. It was a very nostalgic parade. Perhaps it says something for their notorious rustability that, despite selling well in their day, there were hardly any Vauxhall cars visible. You'd think there would have been a Cresta, especially the PA model of 1957-62

    https://www.ohsoretro.co.uk/ohsoretroshow/programme/

    1. Excellent ! Much better than all those Lambos and whatnots.

      The rust buckets are likely to be showing pride in still being there. I love the fact people care and repair.

      3. The most eco-friendly car is the Series Land-Rover. Not because of it's appalling fuel consumption or oiliness, but because they are repaired so often and have the longest average lives in service.

    3. My car mechanic friend, here in Sweden, is an American Ford fanatic and is secretary to a local American Cars Association. Every year for the past 35 years (except for a few years during the 'Covid' idiocy) he has taken a five week holiday in the USA (he is there currently). Each time he buys a run-down classic American Ford from the 1950s or 1960s and transports it back to Sweden in a container. Once collected he refurbishes it, doing all the work himself (engine and mechanicals, body work, upholstery etc) to return it to an as-new condition, which he then sells to local customers for a handsome profit.

    4. My first car was a Vauxhall Wyvern – a basic Cresta but with a 1.5 litre 4 cylinder engine. Lethal to drive in the rain as the wipers were powered by a cable from the gearbox so the slower you went, the slower the wipers operated. It wasn’t the worst car I ever had for rusting; that was an Austin Montego that kept me awake at night by the loud sizzling noise of steel being converted to ferric oxide.

    1. Unfortunately the EU doesn't approve so the election will be rerun until the correct result is obtained.

        1. I've visited Austria six times. Four were ski holidays in Söll, Sölden, Schladming and Sankt Johann in Tirol. The latter I visited again in an autumn coach tour. Finally, I had a city break in Vienna.

          2. Metz! I got stuck in the one way system once, couldn't get out of the place. Have avoided it ever since!

    2. You probably saw recent AfD news (Germany), Johnny? Austria not alone. Macron…a donkey on the edge….

  109. On the first day, God created the dog and said, "Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past.
    For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years.."

    The dog said, "That's a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I'll give you back the other ten?"

    So God agreed……

    On the second day, God created the monkey and said, "Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I'll give you a twenty-year life span.."

    The monkey said, "Monkey tricks for twenty years? That's a pretty long time to perform.
    How about I give you back ten like the dog did?"

    And God agreed……

    On the third day, God created the cow and said, "You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer's family.
    For this, I will give you a life span of sixty years."

    The cow said, "That's kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I'll give back the other forty?"

    And God agreed again……

    On the fourth day, God created humans and said, "Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I'll give you twenty years."

    But the human said, "Only twenty years?
    Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?"

    "Okay," said God. "You asked for it."

    So that is why for our first twenty years, we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves.
    For the next forty years, we slave in the sun to support our family.
    For the next ten years, we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren.
    And for the last ten years, we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.

    Life has now been explained to you.

    There is no need to thank me for this valuable information. I'm doing it as a public service.

        1. Good morning and a hoppy birthday from me too.
          Hope you have a drier day than it is here in Derbyshire.

  110. Evening, all. Late on parade today. Early mornings do that to me; I had to go for a nap when I got back from visiting a local garden this evening.

    The Cons face irrelevance if they don't become truly conservative and mean it.

    1. At this point, I'm not even wishing for them to become truly conservative because I don't believe they will ever mean it. Better the party just dies.

  111. 2nd power cut in 2 days. Just came back on 5 mins ago. I've been making a sourdough loaf which started at 8am and was about to pop in the oven an hour ago. We'll see what happens. The shape of things to come perhaps. We've had 40-50 mph winds for 18 hours but if my loaf doesn't work out decently there'll be hell to pay.

    1. Our power is due to go off tomorrow morning, but it's a planned outage; they are cutting some trees near the power lines. I can still have cooked food and drink, thanks to having a gas stove, but I'll have to make sure the heating is off as that relies on the lecky.

      1. Overhead power lines here too. The hob is gas but the oven is electric. 40 more minutes of power and the bread will be done.

  112. From Coffee House, the Spectator

    While one Tory leadership contest rumbles on, another has come to a close. Russell Findlay was made the new leader of the Scottish Conservative party on Friday – and he’s enjoying his victory lap at Tory conference this weekend. At a fringe event today, the former crime journalist was keen to hammer home that his premiership will be about change – doesn’t that sound familiar – and told his audience he wants to ‘get down to the hard work of earning back the trust of the voters we’ve lost’. And with the recent leadership race shining a light on party infighting, he’s certainly got his work cut out…

    But the Scottish leader couldn’t resist taking a pop at his political opponents, either. And on the matter of one particular party, Findlay was pulling no punches. Slamming Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, the new leader addressed concerns about the threat of the party’s growing popularity in Scotland. ‘Wewon five out of six seats, which was a fantastic result on the face of it,’ Findlay began, before turning his guns on his right-wing rivals:

    The truth of the matter was our [vote] share was far, far too low. And much of that vote went to reform… But Nigel Farage, I believe, is an absolute chancer and he’s not the answer to these problems. He’s not interested in fixing people’s problems.

    Shots fired. The Scottish Tory leader continued on in a less, er, combative tone:

    This is this is going back to the beginning. This is resetting that relationship. We’ve lost trust. We have to rebuild that. We have to hold our hands up to where we got it wrong.

    Quite. Whether Reform-bashing will help grow that trust Mr S is less convinced. Although, given recent revelations that the Scottish Conservative membership now looks even lower than, um, Alex Salmond’s Alba party, Findlay will be hoping it does…

    Steerpike
    WRITTEN BY
    Steerpike

    1. We've just had fourteen years of chancers not fixing people's problems, followed by three months of Starminism,* which rather detracts from his attack on Farage!

      *Feels like much, much longer!!

    3. Thank you very much, Richard and Caroline

      You both do a wonderful job of making Nottlers feel like family.

      1. Wishing you a very Happy Birthday OLT! Hope you have a wonderful day and enjoy every minute! 💕🎂🥂🎉🍷🍺

  116. Reply to KJ (the thread is too old to allow responses). Oscar was never a digger. Charlie used to dig the carpet under the table for some unknown reason. He also used to dig up my bulbs as soon as I'd planted them! I had to make sure he was indoors and didn't see me digging in the garden. My setter used to dig himself a scrape under the trees and lie in it. Kadi isn't a digger, either but he does like to ruck his blanket up, as did Oscar.

  118. Terror as machete-wielding man sets fire to homes and injures 30, including children. 30 September 2024.

    A man with a machete caused terror across the city of Essen in Germany and left 30 people injured including eight children.

    Frightened locals had to lower children down from the roofs of burning buildings after an armed attacker set fire to homes.

    A Syrian man with a machete caused terror across the city of Essen in Germany on Saturday and left 30 people injured including eight children. He caused a blaze in two blocks of flats and drove a van through two stores.

    Harrowing photos showed people trying to reach trapped residents with ladders to help them escape. However, the equipment was unable to stretch far enough to access the higher floors, so people had to work together to retrieve children from the roofs. In one image, a young girl was seen attempting to reach a ladder as smoke ascended in the air. Another man was spotted standing on a window ledge to help a child who was trying to escape.

    This is in the Mirror. The BBC and Telegraph are still waiting for their instructions sixteen hours later. Lol,

    https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/frightening-moment-people-lower-children-33780306

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