Sunday 5 March: The country needs assurance that a future pandemic will be met with rational measures

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

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

619 thoughts on “Sunday 5 March: The country needs assurance that a future pandemic will be met with rational measures”

  1. Good morrow, Gentlefolks, today’s story

    Cricketer

    An English lady walked into a Police Station and the desk Sergeant said “Can I help you?”

    “Yes” she said, “I’d like to report a case of sexual assault”.

    “Where did it happen?” the Sergeant asked.

    “In the park just down the road” she replied.

    “Can you describe what happened?”

    “Yes, I was walking along the footpath in the park near the trees when a man jumped out of the bushes and dragged me into them.”

    “He removed my underwear then he dropped his pants to his knees and had his way with me”.

    “Could you give me a description of him?”

    “Yes, he was wearing white shoes, long white trousers, a white shirt and he had these two big long pads from his feet up to and over his knees, one on each leg”.

    “Sounds to me like he was a cricketer, most probably a batsman”, said the Sergeant.

    “Yes”, said the lady, “He was an Australian Cricketer”.

    “That’s very observant”, said the Sergeant, “You worked that out from his accent?”

    “No”, she replied. “I worked it out because he wasn’t in for very long”.

  6. Nicolae Ceaușescu, who rejoiced in causing genocide to his own people, was captured by the military, hastily tried in a kangaroo court, then summarily executed by firing squad the same day.

    Matthew Hancock, who rejoiced in causing genocide to his own people, is fêted and paid a fortune to appear on a banal and idiotic television programme called, “I’m A Celebrity: Get Me Out Of Here”.

  8. Morning, all Y’all.
    Bright, clear sky, and chilly.
    Now time for breakfast!

  9. The country needs assurance that a future pandemic will be met with rational measures

    A future pandemic? and not a made up one.

      1. Morning all.

        “ The country needs assurance that a future pandemic will be met with rational measures”. This is all about to be taken out of HMG’s hands. HMG is going to hand over to the WHO all responsibility for our health at the meeting in late May.

        WHO will be in a position to declare another scamdemic at the drop of a hat and impose, yes, legally impose any sort of measures it wishes, jabs, quarantine, lockdown, masks etc.etc. Any time they want.

  10. British tourist spots three species thought to have been extinct

    Michael Smith’s three discoveries in Papua New Guinea have been verified by experts, who are amazed at his efforts

    By Allan Glen 4 March 2023 • 8:18pm

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/world-news/2023/03/04/TELEMMGLPICT000327630651_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqzawSNr0Cwiwo_C0xl1eAU3rgBuqsKTiBY18Hdi6MTIg.jpeg?imwidth=680
    The Louisiade pitta bird

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/world-news/2023/03/04/TELEMMGLPICT000327630666_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqpVlberWd9EgFPZtcLiMQf0Rf_Wk3V23H2268P_XkPxc.jpeg?imwidth=1280
    The Telefomin Cuscus

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/world-news/2023/03/04/TELEMMGLPICT000327630658_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqALc_t5KjuK6SvfNY518gx0t0ltp_3igTnC7enoD-KpY.jpeg?imwidth=1280
    The Wondiwoi tree kangaroo

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/03/04/british-tourist-holiday-papua-new-guinea-spots-three-species/

    BTL

    Tim Brown
    10 HRS AGO
    Maybe he could find the Conservative and Unionist party thought to be extinct since 1990?

  11. Matt Hancock wanted to “deploy” a new Covid variant to “frighten the pants off” the public and ensure they complied with lockdown, leaked messages seen by The Telegraph have revealed.

    The Lockdown Files – more than 100,000 WhatsApp messages sent between ministers, officials and others – show how the Government used scare tactics to force compliance and push through lockdowns.

    In another message Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, said that “the fear/ guilt factor” was “vital” in “ramping up the messaging” during the third national lockdown in Jan 2021.

    The previous month, Matt Hancock, the then health secretary, appeared to suggest in one message that a new strain of Covid that had recently emerged would be helpful in preparing the ground for the looming lockdown, by scaring people into compliance.

    They talk about this as if it were something just discovered. There were numerous references to “Project Fear” on Nottl from the very beginning and all the way through the Covid Panic. It was perfectly obvious that it was a deliberate tactic by the MSM and the PTB!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/03/04/project-fear-covid-variant-lockdown-matt-hancock-whatsapp/?li_source=LI&li_medium=liftigniter-rhr

  12. Oh dear, train fares are going up to pay for all the pay rises, cue calls by travellers for re-nationalisation or the railways.

    After all when they pay doctors, nurses, teachers, civil servants, ambulance workers, fire service workers more money it cost us nothing.

  13. EU chief says Sunak’s Northern Ireland deal fails to take back full control in leaked recording

    Maros Sefcovic said the Prime Minister’s pact was simply designed to avoid negative headlines in the British press

    By Joe Barnes, BRUSSELS CORRESPONDENT
    4 March 2023 • 2:21pm

    As Rishi Sunak hailed his Brexit deal that “takes back control” of Northern Ireland, the European Union’s chief negotiator told a private meeting in Brussels a vastly different story of who controls the province.

    Debriefing the European Parliament’s Brexit committees on the freshly-minted “Windsor Framework”, Maros Sefcovic said the Prime Minister’s pact was simply designed to avoid negative headlines in the British press, and would not hand back full sovereignty over the region.

    The burly Slovak diplomat, not one to bite his tongue, poured cold water over any suggestion Britain had secured an effective veto over new European laws that affect Northern Ireland, and insisted the bloc’s top court would still rule supreme.

    ‘Stormont Brake is very much limited in the scope’
    Of the Stormont Brake, which Mr Sunak claims will allow Northern Ireland politicians a veto on new EU rules applying to the province, Mr Sefcovic assured MEPs that Brussels would have powers to react to any decision with trade sanctions, such as customs levies against British exports.

    The mechanism was created to address Unionist concerns about the imposition of Brussels regulations over which the Belfast assembly currently has no say.

    “This [Stormont Brake] is very much limited in the scope, and it’s really under very strict conditions,” Mr Sefcovic told them, according to a recording obtained by The Telegraph.

    “On top of that, if we do not feel convinced, we have our joint bodies to deal with this issue, or eventually this case could be presented to the arbitration.

    “If we don’t feel the third parties perspective, we will have the possibility to take limited remedial measures because we can tell them it’s affecting the functioning of our single market.”

    His words won’t offer any comfort for members of the Democratic Unionist Party and the European Research Group, who are holding off on deciding whether to back Mr Sunak’s Brexit deal.

    The European Commission vice-president’s claim that the European Court of Justice still oversees swathes of EU rules that continue to apply in the province will only make the Prime Minister’s job harder.

    Maros Sefcovic said the Prime Minister’s pact was simply designed to avoid negative headlines

    “Be under no impression that there will be a diminishing of the role of the European Court of Justice,” Mr Sefcovic said.

    “We’ve been very clear from the beginning until the end, the role of the ECJ as the sole and final arbiter of EU law stays in place.”

    The eurocrat said the political agreement brokered between Mr Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen, the Commission’s president, was simply designed to prevent future disputes over EU rules in the province from reaching a “level that would generate political headlines”.

    He also urged MEPs to ignore various claims by Government ministers to sell the new agreement as a move away from the ECJ in the British newspapers.

    “We’ll see what we hear from the UK press,” he said.

    ‘The tunnel’
    Nonetheless, Mr Sefcovic was happy to see the back of the row over the Northern Ireland Protocol.

    He had been bruised in previous talks with Britain, most notably his dealings with Lord Frost, the UK’s former Brexit minister, and Boris Johnson, the architects of the original agreement in October 2019.

    Both men have concluded the Windsor Framework leaves Northern Ireland under EU laws, with Brussels still able to make regulations, albeit reducing the bureaucratic processes that had created a trade border in the Irish Sea.

    But the current Prime Minister hasn’t exactly made convincing them to support his deal a priority.

    After months of intense, secret discussions – nicknamed “the tunnel” – both the UK and EU reached an agreement to tweak the Protocol.

    During that time, Mr Sunak was able to form a close bond with Mrs von der Leyen, significantly improving UK-EU relations after a meeting on the fringes of the Cop27 climate summit in Egypt.

    A shared love of Yes Minister, the political comedy, helped Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Mr Sefcovic ease the tensions between Brussels and London.

    The negotiations, mainly carried out in the Commission’s little-known Philippe Le Bon building, had been restricted that just two-thirds of staff at the UK’s mission in Brussels had been kept in the dark.

    Sir Tim Barrow, Britain’s former ambassador to the EU and now national security advisor, and Stephanie Riso, Mrs von der Leyen’s deputy chief of staff, had been drafted in to oversee the process.

    The Prime Minister decided not to brief the DUP and Brexiteers on the details of the talks, while the Commission agreed to keep them from national capitals.

    Agreement was ‘unravelling’
    When a deal seemed likely, Mr Sunak quietly flew into Belfast to convince the DUP to give the looming pact the safest possible landing.

    News soon leaked out when he was spotted by a local journalist walking through the luxury Culloden Hotel, which rests on the Hollywood hills overlooking Belfast Lough.

    Originally, Mr Sunak had hoped just to meet his Unionist doubters, but with the word out, Sinn Fein soon demanded to be a part of the talks.

    And like that, his deal was suddenly on the rocks, with the DUP refusing to come out in support for it.

    Days later, Mr Sefcovic became gloomy and warned US ambassadors the agreement was “unravelling”.

    The mood was so dark, the EU’s Brexit chief suggested opening a bottle of whiskey when meeting with Micheal Martin, Ireland’s foreign minister, to ease their sorrows.

    Negotiators had toiled away for months trying to end the years-long dispute over the Protocol.

    British officials spent entire weeks in Brussels, often negotiating late into the night, trying to find fixes to the agreement brokered by Mr Johnson.

    “There were orange walls, soulless rooms with often-broken coffee machines,” a UK official said. “We’d sit there battering away on things like the export of seed potatoes and plants for garden centres.”

    Other senior officials told colleagues they’d have to consider a career change if UK-EU talks continued at such an intensity.

    But then, on February 26 after a Sunday afternoon phone call with Mrs von der Leyen, Mr Sunak opted to move forward regardless of the lack of backing for his deal.

    The Prime Minister believed there were significant splits between the lowly-paid MLAs in the DUP and the richer members of the Houses of Commons and Lords, who can afford to trigger a stalemate over the pact, to proceed without them.

    The EU’s top official was invited to Windsor, where they unveiled the pact in front of a portrait of King George V, and lined up for a meeting with the current monarch for tea, to add to the lure for the pro-British unionists.

    Their pact could have come earlier.

    The trade issues were largely hammered out by Lord Frost, while Liz Truss, the former prime minister and foreign secretary, was credited for the concept of the Stormont Brake to address the democratic deficit.

    But it was Mr Sunak that the EU had found enough confidence in to put pen to paper, largely because of their ongoing frustrations at his predecessors’ refusal to drop the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, which would have handed ministers to override the Brexit treaty.

      1. Before the Brexit Referendum in 2016 David Cameron said we would be voting on either leaving or staying in a Reformed EU. This was a lie because his attempts to get any reform from the EU had produced absolutely nothing. The electorate saw through this lie and voted for Brexit and, having said he would not resign, Cameron resigned.

        After the Referendum Mrs May said “Brexit means Brexit” and “No deal is better than a bad deal”. These utterances were lies because she had no intention of getting a proper Brexit done and appointed Ollie Robins to thwart Brexit. This led to the Benn Act which made it illegal to leave the EU without a ‘deal’.

        At the 2019 general election Boris Johnson said he had a brand new, oven-ready withdrawal agreement. This was a lie because it was just a rehash of Mrs May’s sell out deal. And, as we know the Boris Brexit was not a proper Brexit because the EU could still plunder UK fishing waters and had the ECJ installed as the final arbiter in Northern Ireland.

        In 2023 Sunak claimed victory in his negotiations. This was a lie because the ECJ is still the final arbiter and all the so-called advantages are illusory and can and will be systematically removed by the EU and, because there is no longer the Article 16 escape clause, there will be absolutely nothing the UK can do and Brexit is over.

      1. In which case there must be a referendum

        If the vote is to leave the UK then leave it must and the UK should immediately cease all financial, legal and moral responsibility for Northern Ireland.

        If on the other hand the vote is to remain in the UK then the EU and the ECJ must get out of Northern Ireland completely. We cannot go on with a foreign court having superior power in British sovereign territory.

        Funnily enough the great impediment is that the Northern Irish are so heavily subsidised by the UK that the Republic of Ireland could never match this level of support and the people would be poorer.

        1. As would Scotland be if independent – but the SNP thickos never consider that

  14. HMV dog breed ‘on brink of extinction’

    Nipper, HMV’s dog, is believed to have been a Smooth Fox Terrier, a breed which has suffered a 97 per cent collapse in annual puppy births

    By Joe Pinkstone, SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT
    4 March 2023 • 6:34pm

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2023/03/04/TELEMMGLPICT000002244502_1_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bq56SURFa-j0RBa9h9sFlLKYh-1OKnoApjyaprnWnv9tw.jpeg?imwidth=680

    The HMV dog is on the brink of extinction after suffering a 97 per cent collapse in annual puppy births, official figures show.

    Nipper, the HMV dog, lived in the late 19th century and is believed to have been a Smooth Fox Terrier which data shows is the breed to suffer the biggest swing in its fortunes in the 150-year history of the Kennel Club.
    *
    *
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2023/03/04/TELEMMGLPICT000327631145_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqhlCnsL6jVOYyIwioUMU1bKdYhe4__E_NaBvU1j_cb4s.jpeg?imwidth=1280

    1. I cannot remember the time when I last saw either a Smooth-haired Fox Terrier or a Wire-haired Fox Terrier.

        1. I bet they have plenty of Cairn Terriers, Scottish Terriers and West-Highland Terriers up there too.

          2. Border terriers are very lively and intelligent little dogs. They seem to have become rather fashionable nowadays but I had one which I adored when I was little boy.

            We never managed to teach him to be wary of motorcars as he always wanted to chase them and he was finally run over and killed which broke my heart.

          3. I have a Cairn crossed with a Westie. He’s a bit of a wimp. I used to have a border cross and a Patterdale cross. They were lovely dogs.

      2. There are lots of the powder puffs on legs round our leafy suburb. Lovely characters, but I just see hard work.

        1. I’ve had a couple of poodles, immensely intelligent and wonderful company.

          People seeing them refused to believe they were poodles since they were never trimmed into ridiculous pom-poms. We had them cut the same length all over and they looked just like a normal dog. A trip to the ‘poodle parlour’ four times a year was more than adequate compensation for not having a breed that moults all over the furniture.

          1. Can their fur be used as wool with which to knit pullovers and things?

          2. My brother used to breed poodles. They were, to a dog, loopy. Same with my aunt’s poodles. The pom pom cut was to protect their joints. They were, after all, hunting dogs.

    2. Australia is a big place, but not if you’re a cat. Strict curfews banning pet felines from prowling the streets at night are springing up across the country to protect native wildlife. Some councils have forced owners to keep them permanently cooped up in their homes or in enclosures outside.

      Australia is thought to be home to almost five million domestic cats as well as three million strays, classed as pests and routinely culled. Together they have helped wipe out 27 native species, from the pig-footed bandicoot to the desert rat kangaroo, since being brought to the country by European settlers in the early 1800s.

      With dozens of other species from the greater bilby to the night parrot now under threat, many councils have banned households from allowing their cats to roam free. Owners face a patchwork of red tape, including restrictions on the number of cats per household and rules stipulating that owners must exercise them on a leash if they want the animals to leave the property.

      •Councils also have the power to introduce curfews or full cat lockdowns in South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory, Queensland and the Northern Territory. Western Australia and New South Wales — the only states where there are no such provisions — are under growing pressure from wildlife campaigners and local officials to fall into line.

      https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cat-curfews-creep-in-as-australia-clamps-down-on-wildlife-killers-sbnxgbzjp

      2. My Australian friend who had Scottish Folds kept hers behind a mesh enclosure. They could roam, but not get at the wildlife.

    3. Oscar is a wire haired fox terrier, now nearly bald after a visit to the groomer. Nipper looks nothing like a fox terrier (think Milou/Snowy in Tintin or M. Bob in Dumb Witness).

  15. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f363eb65abafbbc4cc14d190352e88c7c5694084a341ccb3e36cac23fd81fd47.png Holding a table knife like you would hold a pen is not just bad manners and terrible dining etiquette, it is intrinsically stupid and makes the culprit look like an idiot.

    Holding the knife correctly — with the end of the handle embedded in the cup of the hand — is an ergonomically and physically sound practice, since you have total mastery of the implement to easily control the pressure required to cut the food successfully.

    Those clowns who hold the knife like a pen have no control over it, cannot exert the necessary pressure, and tend to rip food apart instead of cutting it. It also looks ridiculous.

    1. BTL Comment

      Steve Jones
      7 HRS AGO
      It’s Sunday so it is OK to be frivolous.
      Margaret Ellis of Far Westhouse, North Yorkshire is worried – I suspect very worried about how some fantasy TV rubbish shows the Duke of Edinburgh using a knife.
      Allow me to suggest – turn off the television and buy a good book – in fact take the advice of this letter writer also published today, Tim Oldfield of Wye, Kent.
      I know I will be.

      And the Tim Oldfield letter referred to:-

      SIR – For many years I have bought books from a global network of online booksellers. I tend to buy hardback editions that were published many years ago.

      As well as displaying the lovely patina of age, these books often have some interesting inscriptions from a previous owner, and are usually cheaper than brand-new paperback editions.

      In this era of books being re-edited to accommodate overly sensitive readers (“The woke censors are not going anywhere”, Comment, February 26), I recommend that others also start buying their reading material second-hand.

      My latest purchase was From Russia, with Love by Ian Fleming, which I am re-reading for the first time since I was 11 years old.

      I do hope I survive the experience.

      Tim Oldfield
      Wye, Kent

    2. Good morning, Grizzly. Bad manners don’t only exist with cutlery at the table, chum. They are as scarce these days as the HMV terrier.

    1. Good morning Sweden, and everyone.
      I have always been a bit confused about official dates for Spring.
      Nature seems to awake earlier in Morocco and Southern Spain than in parts of England.

      Either way, Spring will be most welcome after a long Winter with too many viruses.

  18. Listening to GBNews (on the telly in the adjoining room) I have just heard a woman say “when the King gets coronated…” This must be the third or fourth time I have heard such a phrase. Is he going to get dowsed in fizzy-pop rather than crowned?

    1. It seems to be a neologism. I’d never heard it before until a few weeks ago.

  20. ‘Morning All

    As another unflushable turd tries to remake his image once again remember no matter how much glitter you sprinkle it still stinks…….

    https://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/1420116018433859588?s=20

    https://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/1458907510006591491?s=20

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4f57573db22bfa6a26254d5313b4f183976ed6bd3d7690c293ba8da95c4f72e6.jpg

    He’d have been right there qwith this loon baying for concentration camps…..

    https://twitter.com/goodfoodgal/status/1631993898653593600?s=20
    Never forget
    Never Forgive

    1. Jeremy Clarkson once, famously, punched Morgan. He didn’t hit him hard enough.

      2. I wonder if it makes Celia Walden’s flesh creep whenever her husband touches her?

    2. Let’s also remember the faked pictures of war crimes that Moron published!

  21. 371807+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Sunday 5 March: The country needs assurance that a future pandemic will be met with rational measures

    No can do, the footings for any future man made pandemics has already be laid and with amendments such as it being planned that in Ma,y, the WHO, ( the meds cartel NOT the pop….) seemingly will be taking up the reins in a mandatory fashion leaving the individual no say.

    Sunday 5 March: The country can rest assured that a future pandemic will be met with irrational treacherous, deceitful measures as with the last.

    For all this to be achieved the electorate need only to follow their regular voting pattern.

    https://youtu.be/lRr11lqpx0U

    2. The chef one would be me; I cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food 🙂

  23. Medley

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6b2b6db91e63e82773ba5720144d04b61f1798ec2c55c5194c2acd1bdb0b873d.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6286c4be9472c50e27371e5be042d281f6050beb2e8b218a332b06fe4bc6ce23.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/590cf29344162dd20d739ad3561a2a8e55c4929a509e8ac2bc21fe1c5be2701f.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a00772c44c2971e0ac9863225af079094e893e47e2fbf8321dab608cb37717d3.jpg

    https://i.imgflip.com/7d98rm.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7edfa9fc39ba072110fccd2e995d64ae9695f484790a59cdab9bf11e6117cc80.jpg

    1. I’m sure grateful Oxfam clients in Africa and other benighted continents really appreciate such open mindedness.
      After they’ve chucked deviants off high buildings or staked them out on an ants’ nest.

    2. What about all the misandry?
      And why is it all about men-who-would-be-women? What about the women-who-would-be-men? Or is it thta, being women, they don’t count?

  25. Good morning all,

    Grey morning , 2c, still and quiet . Son preparing to run Weymouth bay 10k this morning .

    He ran in the Weymouth 5k Parkrun yesterday morning and did it in 20.21.. another personal best .

    I really do believe that reaching 50+ is one of the best periods of one’s life .

    Son no 1 is now 54.. he has reshaped his life after a few disasters , a mid life crisis can have huge benefits .

  26. Good Moaning.
    Well, have I had a cultural experience; or have I had a cultural experience!
    Lakeside IKEA on a Saturday. Grateful thanks to Danish D-in-L who is taller, fitter and younger than me. And instinctively understands foreign measurements.
    Today, we psych ourselves up for practical grandson to do whizzy things with a screwdriver – and, no doubt, an Allen key.

  27. More Greeniac Lunacy……..

    From 2002 to 2022, the offshore wind industry in the UK has

    received about £20 billion in subsidy, charged on consumer bills and

    mostly under the Renewables Obligation. If offshore wind is not yet

    showing real cost reductions it is unlikely ever to do so. The

    Chancellor should stand up for consumers and taxpayers and say that

    enough is enough.”

    https://www.netzerowatch.com/the-shameless-blackmail-by-the-wind-industry-is-a-golden-opportunity-for-the-chancellor/

    1. “The Chancellor should stand up for consumers and taxpayers”? You daft or summat, Rik? Lol.

  28. Good morning, all. Overcast, calm and dry this morning.

    https://twitter.com/JimFergusonUK/status/1632154731098304520
    https://twitter.com/JuliaHB1/status/1632158545188642822

    Whatever Oakeshott’s real motive was for releasing the ‘Hancock Files’ she has lifted the lid on a sordid period of government action. The ignoring of the pandemic plan and its replacement with the disastrous lockstep actions that appeared around much of the World is an indication of outside interference, an agreed narrative of sorts.

    Closely following a narrative was always going to be a trial for the incompetent shower in authority at that time. The ludicrous rules around masking that were imposed clearly to annoy and control; the heavy handed police actions on peaceful protests and on people walking in the countryside; the closure of playgrounds and forbidding people from sitting on park benches only made the more sceptical of us suspicious. And rightly so.

    That scepticism rolled over on to the inoculation programme. A safe and effective “vaccine” produced in less than a year should have woken up more than it did. That “vaccine” has failed completely to live up to its billing and this useless government remains in denial with regards to the coincident effects with the onset of the “vaccine” programme, especially a suspicious growing toll of excess deaths.
    More, so much more, especially around the “vaccine” needs to be exposed and focus the spotlight of truth on the politicians and everyone else who got the pompoms out (Rick’s reminder of Morgan’s stance is timely) in support of extreme measures and mass inoculation.

    Next up, the 15 minute cities and our fight to remain free of local politicians wishing to act beyond their station.

    1. Hartley-Brewer nails it, and that’s why I don’t trust the MSM (nor pay for it) any more.
      What’s all these whatsapp revelations hiding?

  30. 371807+ up ticks,

    May one ask,
    Are they ALL expected to become politicians & civil servants
    then ?

    breitbart,

    School Kids Taught How to Masturbate and Virtues of ‘Rough Sex’ in Lessons Hidden from Parents

  31. It’s been a busy old week for the world government.
    Brexit has been proven to be a hoax all along
    The Pandemic is being proven to tb a hoax all along.
    And now climate change is being proven to be an ongoing hoax with every day that passes.

  33. Prince Harry: A lot of us in Army ‘didn’t necessarily agree or disagree’ with war in Afghanistan. 5 March 2023.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ee567c514195bf2e40763159d4fc2e49d4e8f846c272fce4ab9ca45e90ac293d.png

    The Duke, 38, took part in the 90-minute programme to promote his memoir, Spare, which was published in January.

    The conversation with Dr Maté, a Hungarian-Canadian Jewish Holocaust survivor, touched on subjects including his drug use, the importance of therapy and his wife, Meghan, who he said had “saved” him.

    The Duke admitted that he has “lost a lot” by turning his back on royal duties and relocating to California.

    Advertising much?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2023/03/04/prince-harry-gabor-mate-spare-afghanistan-royal-family/

    1. Morning Minty
      How interesting , and how he bragged off about his kill rate .. that chap is an absolute nutter .

      He will be posing naked next .

  34. Prince Harry: A lot of us in Army ‘didn’t necessarily agree or disagree’ with war in Afghanistan. 5 March 2023.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ee567c514195bf2e40763159d4fc2e49d4e8f846c272fce4ab9ca45e90ac293d.png

    The Duke, 38, took part in the 90-minute programme to promote his memoir, Spare, which was published in January.

    The conversation with Dr Maté, a Hungarian-Canadian Jewish Holocaust survivor, touched on subjects including his drug use, the importance of therapy and his wife, Meghan, who he said had “saved” him.

    The Duke admitted that he has “lost a lot” by turning his back on royal duties and relocating to California.

    Advertising much?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2023/03/04/prince-harry-gabor-mate-spare-afghanistan-royal-family/

    2. Morning, Maggienificent.

      Nearly right. BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation) merged with BEA (British European Airways) to form BA (British Airways).

    3. We’re trying hard to achieve those times again. In fact hasn’t it taken a year or two to reach some of those places recently?

    1. Harwood is correct about nuclear, oil and gas but very wrong about solar and land-based wind turbines.

      The tangled planning process is often part of the problem in getting projects started. Of course, there are some cases where we should be grateful for that.

  40. I don’t know how many of you read about the trial in the States of a lawyer – who murdered his wife and son.

    Well, I know that the US of A is thoroughly weird and their legal system unfathomable – BUT. The judge hearing he case KNEW the accused and his family and had done so for years. Old family friend, in fact.

    The jury convicted the chap – so that’s OK.

    But for an old family friend to conduct the trial??????

    I think that is the most bizarre thing I have read in many years!!

    Still raining…..

        3. I think it is, and from what I have heard, having the case tried by your auntie’s next door neighbour of forty years is the rule rather than the exception!

  45. Sunday 5th March, 2023

    Reposted from last night:

    Sue MacFarlane

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e281877e66f9640965428cfaf7612b736a56b10f037dc7830d6ff3f7e0f8aba9.png

    and Many more Happy Birthdays and all the kicks you want on the Route 66

    With very best wishes,

    Caroline and Rastus.

    You are one day younger than our niece Susie and when she was little sister Belinda used to love this song by the Everly Brothers. Last year we posted Sweet Sue for you – this time here’s Don and Phil:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LojqhHnmyvc

    2. Grattis på födelsedagen, Mrs Macfarlane. Hope you have a wonderful day with lots of treats and much spoiling.😘🎂👍🏻🥂😊

      1. Thank you Mr. Grizzly! The family are descending later! Bizzy Bizzy!💕

      2. Thank you Mr. Grizzly! The family are descending later! Bizzy Bizzy!💕

      1. Many happy returns as you enter a prime year, the last until you’re into your 70’s; enjoy your prime.

        1. Very sensible to have your birthday on a Sunday.
          Organised as ever.
          Have a lovely day.

    5. Happy Birthday, Sue! Have a great day, and many more! 🎉🎉🎉🥂🍾🍰🍰🍰🎂🍡🎉🎉🎉😘

      1. Thank you poppiesmum! Hordes descending shortly – not quite what I planned! It’ll be lovely!😳

        1. Hopefully the ‘hordes’ will be doing all the cooking, washing and wiping up.
          If not send them packing.

        2. Happy Birthday, Sue! Hope the hordes are delightful – have a wonderful day x

    6. Have a lovely birthday, and many more!

      Edit: I hadn’t seen how many people below have said exactly the same – well, perhaps “onwards and upwards”, and hoping that each year brings you happiness will do!

  46. March brings breezes, loud and shrill.
    Stirs the dancing daffodil.

    The Months, Sara Coleridge.

      1. Nor here, Paul. Even my crocuses have not appeared yet. My favourites, the snowdrops are at their resplendent best.

  47. A little something for Our Bob, the Morris dancing maestro

    Morris is a creature of its own’: a dance for a new age – photo essay

    Is Morris dancing becoming younger and hipper? From all-female sides to youth teams and an appearance at the Brit awards, photographer Rachel Adams has been chronicling England’s oldest surviving rural tradition, and seeing how it has found a place in 21st-century Britain

    by Rachel Adams

    https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/c63faa51e5ab78aad61c2177bee194a9eb4e4975/0_42_1957_1799/master/1957.jpg?width=980&quality=45&dpr=2&s=none
    Alex Merry of Boss Morris in Gloucestershire.

    https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/mar/03/morris-is-a-creature-of-its-own-a-dance-for-a-new-age-photo-essay

      1. Are those what they present when the applicant is pretending to be a cross between a cock and a vulva?

    3. To me, these current days it seems to be the trend to invent this sort of nonsense.
      Just to try to confirm the presence of one’s previous insignificance.

  49. Question to all. Has anyone tried the glasses you see advertised that are adjustable? If so are they worth buying. I see they cost around £50.00. advertised on line.

  50. From the Wiki entry for Sue Gray

    Early life and background
    Born in north London, Gray is the daughter of Irish immigrants who moved to Tottenham in the early 1950s; her father was a furniture salesman and her mother a barmaid. She studied[7][8] at a state-funded Roman Catholic school.[citation needed] Following her father’s sudden death in 1975, Gray abandoned her plan of going to university and joined the Civil Service straight from school.[2][9][10][11][12]

    Gray took a career break in the 1980s, a step described by journalist Sam McBride as “strikingly unorthodox”,[13] when she ran the Cove Bar, a pub in Newry, a border town in Northern Ireland, during The Troubles, with her husband Bill Conlon, a country music singer from Portaferry, County Down.[14][15] Peter Caldwell, a former special adviser to several ministers, said it had been speculated Gray was a spy at this time, though Gray denied it.[12] According to the Belfast Telegraph, her car was stopped one night by IRA paramilitaries who wanted to take her car, only for her to be allowed to pass after a voice said “That’s Sue Gray from The Cove, let her go on”.[16]

    The family returned to London in 1987. Gray has family connections to Northern Ireland[17] and is reported to have a fondness for the region, which she visits with her husband.[18]

    [I read elsewhere that her son is a NI Labour party activist. More interestingly, is she or was she a spook? Some aspects of her ‘Reputation’ could be consistent with MI5 practise]

    Reputation
    Gray has been portrayed as relatively unknown but highly influential,[47] and has been described as “an enigma”.[15] In 2015, a profile[48] by Chris Cook,[49][50] then policy editor for the BBC’s Newsnight, claimed that she was “notorious… for her determination not to leave a document trail”, had advised special advisers how to destroy emails through “double-deletion” and made at least six interventions “to tell departments to fight disclosures under the Freedom of Information Act”.[25][51][52] She was described by former prime minister Gordon Brown, in his memoir, as someone who could be counted on for “wise advice when – as all too regularly happened – mini-crises and crises befell”.[30] Rajeev Syal in The Guardian described her as “an uncompromising operator”.[53] Political journalist Andrew Gimson wrote: “All power to the Civil Service is her modus operandi. She owes her allegiance to the permanent government and the deep state.”[17] Former cabinet minister Oliver Letwin wrote of her: “Unless she agrees, things just don’t happen. Cabinet reshuffles, departmental reorganizations, the whole lot – it’s all down to Sue Gray”.[54][55]

    1. Interesting that some documents do need to be retained for certain periods. Not that it bothered Bliar, of course.

    1. Assuming it isn’t this man’s, I hope the owner of the car on the left is very careful when using it in future.

  52. Rishi Sunak to launch bill to stop people arriving on small boats claiming asylum. 5 March 2023.

    Rishi Sunak is to announce new laws stopping people entering the UK on small boats from claiming asylum, with the prime minister saying: “Make no mistake, if you come here illegally, you will not to be able to stay.”

    The prime minister and his home secretary will launch the legislation this week, as part of the government’s drive to “tackle illegal migration”, one of its main priorities.

    The new law, provisionally called the illegal migration bill, is expected to try to make asylum claims inadmissible from those who travel to the UK on small boats. It would involve a duty being placed on the home secretary to remove “as soon as reasonably practicable”, to Rwanda or a “safe third country”, anyone who arrives on a small boat. Those who arrive will also be prevented from claiming asylum while in the UK, with plans to also ban them from returning once removed.

    This is just bumf of course. You can have all the laws you want but if the will to implement them does not exist they are utterly worthless. It’s simply another delaying tactic.

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/05/sunak-to-launch-bill-to-bar-asylum-claims-from-people-arriving-on-small-boats

    1. Plenty of “laws” already. Don’t need to waste Parliamentary time with even more.

        1. Ah, that would be the Blunkett of the “Home Office is not fit for purpose” statement, wouldn’t it?

    3. What did he say about the NI EU renegotiation? Why should we believe him now? Lying turd that he is.

      1. Morning Oberst. Lies are now the preferred medium of political communication in the West! Believe nothing they say!

  53. Morning all 😉 😊
    Oh dear it’s getting greyer by the minute out there.
    I’m so pleased to look out of both front and rear (James Stewart) windows and see the grass looking tidy.
    Mission accomplished. Sigh of much relief.

      2. I’ve heard that Minti, but the job had to be done. 🤗
        I seeded and filled in a 6ft wide gap between the verge and the front patch of garden grass last autumn.
        Kept the neighbours cats from using it as a toilet with bamboo cane and chicken wire.
        The new growth was about 9 inches high.
        Blending in nicely now.
        We have a foe jokey competition with our neighbours ‘verge of the year’. 🏆

  54. Inside the Chinese war machine plotting to transform Putin’s invasion. 5 March 2023.

    Beijing, long a supporter of Russia on the sidelines, is closely examining whether it should take a more active role – and begin sending Vladimir Putin’s struggling armies the equipment they need for a more sustained and damaging campaign against the Ukrainians. Such a decision could transform the conflict – and give China’s manufacturers a crucial testbed as they evaluate weapons amid fears over an invasion of Taiwan.

    Last week, the US upped the ante in warning China away from arming Russia in its war on Ukraine.

    Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Beijing that Chinese firms and leaders could be on the receiving end of sanctions if they intervene.

    China has not yet made public any decision to support Russia with weapon supplies so this article may be regarded as preparation for such. The Americans obviously believe that they are going to do so; not simply from any secret intelligence that they may possess, but because that is the sensible geopolitical move for them to make. They cannot simply stand by and watch Russia being defeated by Nato’s proxy army in Ukraine because it would leave them essentially isolated on the World Stage and facing the Americans alone.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/03/05/inside-chinese-war-machine-plotting-transform-putins-invasion/

    1. Rhetorical question – why is it OK for America, UK, Germany et al to supply tanks etc [almost certainly with technical support?] to Ukraine but not for other countries to support Russia????

    1. I went to the doctor about my obsession with posting ironic, mockery and sneering comments on FB groups
      He booked me an appointment at the sarkyatric clinic

      1. Of course it won’t be different. Politicians have been promising this for years and years. They just never do it. Anyone who believes what one of the politicos promises needs a reality check.

    3. Sunak’s statement is almost word for word what Cameron said in 2014/15.

      Anybody got a copy?

  57. Glastonbury 2023

    Organiser Emily Eavis suggests that in future a 50:50 gender split is needed and ‘the pipeline needs to be developed’

    As some people, who are teaching your kids in schools, are proclaiming that there over 100 genders, getting the right quotas may be difficult.

    Masturbation lessons and 100 genders: What our children are being taught at school

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education-and-careers/2023/03/04/masturbation-lessons-100-genders-what-children-taught-school/

    Life in UK, 2023

    1. I really don’t like that situation where it is sheer chance that you will get the correct answer.

      Par 4 for me as well.

    2. Similar pattern but a 5 for me

      Wordle 624 5/6

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

  59. Normal service has resumed

    Wordle 624 3/6

    ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜
    ⬜🟩🟨⬜🟨
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. A Birdie Three for me too.

      Wordle 624 3/6
      ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
      ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. All these politicians all seem to have the same slimy look and demeaned about them
      You can instantly tell what they are

    3. Eventhough they coincide with what people have been saying for a long time, are these leaked messages really valid?

      How could any politician really put such damning stuff in writing ?

  61. Reposted

    Before the Brexit Referendum in 2016 David Cameron said we would be voting on either leaving or staying in a Reformed EU. This was a lie because his attempts to get any reform from the EU had produced absolutely nothing. The electorate saw through this lie and voted for Brexit and, having said he would not resign, Cameron resigned.

    After the Referendum Mrs May said “Brexit means Brexit” and “No deal is better than a bad deal”. These utterances were lies because she had no intention of getting a proper Brexit done and appointed Ollie Robins to thwart Brexit. This led to the Benn Act which made it illegal to leave the EU without a ‘deal’.

    At the 2019 general election Boris Johnson said he had a brand new, oven-ready withdrawal agreement. This was a lie because it was just a rehash of Mrs May’s sell out deal. And, as we know the Boris Brexit was not a proper Brexit because the EU could still plunder UK fishing waters and had the ECJ installed as the final arbiter in Northern Ireland.

    In 2023 Sunak claimed victory in his negotiations. This was a lie because the ECJ is still the final arbiter and all the so-called advantages are illusory and can and will be systematically removed by the EU and, because there is no longer the Article 16 escape clause, there will be absolutely nothing the UK can do and Brexit is over.

    1. Not totally.
      The UK can say to Hell with the EU and go its own way in the world.

      It would be very inconvenient for people like you and me, but it isn’t impossible; it’s what we should have done immediately the vote went the way it did.

      1. “This is your decision. The government will implement what you decide” claimed Cameron in the multi-million pound propaganda leaflet sent to every household. Even then, I wrote on it, “but only if you decide to remain”.

  62. Bloody hell, it’s a bit chilly out there, had to come in to warm my finger up!
    Just fitted a new chain brake to my smaller saw and am having a bit of trouble with it as if the chain is the wrong pitch for the drive cog. Not going to fire it up until I’ve got it sorted.

    2. Sorted! I’d swapped chains with my other saw when the chain brake failed. It turns out the two saws, both 18″ EFCOs with different sized motors, also have slightly different sized chains!

  63. Good afternoon, all!

    Article by Robert Hutton in The Critic. Another take on Sue Gray – all I can say is that if not a Labour shill (which is debatable, perhaps, but I’m not convinced) it just goes to reinforce the view that they are all sh!ts:

    Boris Johnson is right. Nadine Dorries is right. You can’t trust Sue Gray’s report into Partygate. You could never trust it. Some of us said this at the time. It was always a stitch-up — but it wasn’t a Labour stitch-up.

    The clue is at the bottom of page 18 of the report, when Gray is discussing the notorious “Abba party” of 13 November 2020. This was a week after the government had once again banned indoor gatherings. There was already a party downstairs in Downing Street that Friday evening. After making a speech at it, the then prime minister went upstairs to his flat, where five special advisers had piled-in with food and booze. There had been reports of a singalong. Gray said she had “considered whether or not to conduct any further investigation into this event but concluded it was not appropriate or proportionate to do so”.

    This isn’t about protecting a party; it’s about protecting the machine

    This was plainly not the behaviour of someone who was desperately digging for dirt on Johnson. Quite the opposite. Gray’s report is the work of someone who was determined to leave stones unturned and questions unasked. Her conclusions were the bare minimum that could be reached. That they were still fairly damning was simply the result of the underlying facts being appalling: that, whilst refusing to let people visit dying relatives or attend funerals, government officials routinely spent the evening getting off their faces together.

    Having done the minimum, Gray stopped. This was why Johnson was able to claim her report as a vindication and tell Parliament that, except when it was impossible to deny the photographs showing him raising a glass of wine at a party, he hadn’t known what was happening in the building where he worked and lived. This was why, despite it being clear that civil servants had behaved reprehensibly, the Cabinet Secretary Simon Case kept his job, as did the prime minister’s spokesman, who had repeatedly given false answers to journalists’ questions for months.

    The Partygate report was a stitch-up, but not a party political one. No, it was an establishment stitch-up: don’t rock the boat; look after the people in power; never, if you can possibly avoid it, name names.

    Sue Gray’s long, long career has taken place in the background of British politics, always well out of shot. Someone who was publishing their memoirs once asked if she wanted to be in the acknowledgements. Absolutely not, she replied. That was the last thing she wanted. She prefers to work in ways that don’t leave records. She was for a long time the government expert on avoiding Freedom of Information requests. This isn’t about protecting one party or another; it’s about protecting the machine.

    There are good reasons for Keir Starmer to hire Gray. She knows more about how Whitehall works than most people alive, and she’s an adept servant of her masters. She knows how to suppress difficult stories whilst staying, more or less, on the right side of the rules. Unlike Dominic Cummings, she won’t try to steal the limelight from her boss.

    You would have to be very dim to think this story would help the Conservatives

    As to whether hiring her muddies the water over Partygate, it’s hard to see why that would trouble Labour. You would have to be very dim indeed to think that putting this story back on the front pages would help the Conservatives.

    For Johnson, the calculation is slightly different. He’s not dim, and he must know that Parliament’s Privileges Committee is fixing-up to come down hard on him. That’s why he’s done his best to obstruct its work, ordering officials to submit evidence “so heavily redacted as to render them devoid of any evidential value” — something that the Cabinet Secretary, like Gray a pillar of the establishment, seems to have managed to go along with.

    With the blocking approach having failed, Johnson is simply trying to confuse matters with his complaints about Gray. He shows no sign of caring whether that damages the Conservatives. As ever, he has followers willing to demean themselves and hurt their own side by helping him.

    Nadine Dorries gave a long, long interview to Radio 4 on Friday alleging that Gray had been involved in some kind of conspiracy with Starmer over Partygate. There is one scenario that would fit the available facts: Labour, desperate to keep the chaotic and toxic Johnson in Number 10 so as to completely destroy the Conservative Party, induced Gray to water down her report so that he would survive. In return, she was promised a less secure job and a pay cut. Well, it’s a theory — but even if it’s true, anyone who knows Gray knows you’ll never be able to prove it.

    https://thecritic.co.uk/the-plot-against-boris/

  64. How family and Libya conflict radicalised Manchester Arena bomber. 5 March 2023.

    Although Salman Abedi was born in Manchester, on New Year’s Eve in 1994, his path to becoming one of the UK’s most deadly terrorists began in Libya, the country of his parents’ birth.

    It was from there that Ramadan Abedi and Samia Tabbal fled in 1993, claiming asylum in the UK on the basis that they faced persecution under the regime of Muammar Gaddafi. The couple went on to establish new lives in Fallowfield, south Manchester, with their children attending local schools.

    But the conflict back in Libya loomed large in the Abedi household, with the family shuttling between Manchester and Tripoli. Ramadan was a member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), an Islamist organisation opposed to Gaddafi, the Manchester Arena inquiry heard.

    It’s surprising how often these snippets of truth emerge in other events long after. Gaddafi was supposedly overthrown because he was the enemy of Freedom and Democracy for his people. His ending would bring on the Libyan Millenium. Well we all know how that worked out! In truth of course he was opposed to the American Hegemony and so when the opportunity offered he was toppled. But here’s the rub. It was he, like Saddam in Iraq and Assad in Syria that kept the Jihadists from power. Had the Russians not saved the latter then that country would have faced the same fate as Libya with a vastly worse refugee problem.

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/02/how-family-libya-conflict-radicalised-manchester-arena-bomber

    1. Claimed persecution in library but then the family shuttled back and forth.

      That’s some kind of convenient persecution.

      1. Why did they come here, why not some Middle Eastern country more in tune with their beliefs?

        2. Because they get everything given to them here – plus legal favouritism. What’s not to like (except perhaps the weather)?

        3. No point in taking over a country that is already part of the caliphate. It needs to be a Christian country to be forced to submit.

  65. Apropos the leftie sleeper Mrs Grey – I wonder, when she was “running the pub” in yer Oirland – just for WHOM she was spying. Us or the iRA? Or as she a double??

    I am sure Cur Ikea Slammer will want the truth brought into the open.

        1. Oh thank you Conway! That’s kind of you. I’ve had a lovely family day with the 4 grandchildren and 2 great nieces, and parents.

    3. Cursed Harmer only wants her for her inside knowledge of all the other Tory dirt she will have dug up during her rooting exercise.

  66. Another aspect of WhatsAppGate – the TIME that these appalling criminally minded wazzocks must have spent tapping out these egregious messages. They must have been at it for HOURS every day. Instead of applying their minds to work.

  71. Sigh
    What was a tightly planned Easter of farm work is now buggered up. Funeral in Beckenham on Easter Tuesday, so travel Monday, back Wednesday or Thursday. Much less work at farm as a result.
    The only potential blessing is we may be staying in Wetherspoons pub. So, it may well be possible to get a decent pint or several.

      1. Back in the 70s I lived just down the road in Bromley. Last time I went back there, Bromley High Street had disappeared completely. In its place was a large car park and indoor shopping mall. Only the Churchill Theatre had survived. Felt weird!

        1. My sister in law lives in Bromley. Yes, I know of that mall. Bromley South station is a right pain!

        2. Went to a couple of productions there, a local (Orpington?) Opera Group doing “Guys & Dolls” was excellent! What they lacked in professionalism, they MORE than made up for in enthusiasm and also the play “The Grass is Greener” that was also very enjoyable.

        2. Same name, same place of birth…..bet your missus is one tough lady! Like wot I am.

      3. You may remember there was a Furriers in Beckenham High Street, just around the corner from the Police Station. In the shop windows there were a few tailors’ dummy models of ladies wearing somewhat moth eaten looking furs. I used to wonder why the Animal Rights folk never targeted the shop. Turns out it was a front for a brothel which operated for decades before finally being closed down…

        1. I was only born there and that young age I had no knowledge of brothels;-)
          Preferred Bromley for shopping later on.

  72. Just back from Sainsburys. Now they have installed barriers from Smartshop area where you must scan your receipt to get out. So I couldn’t get out until Alf came along (he pushed the trolley as it helps with his balance).

    ETA: Daughter and SIL were over from Dubai, he for business and then to celebrate 21st birthday of our granddaughter who’s at Birmingham University. They couldn’t Eli even the empty shelves in supermarkets. (Nit that I know which one they went to or where).

    See, U.K. being readied for “rationing” of foodstuffs. Our effin government needs stringing up for causing utter bloody mayhem in the U.K. They are completely corrupt and malevolent.

    1. I refuse to Self Checkout.

      The staff do not seem to realise that it is putting them out of their jobs

      I also want
      Staff Parking
      Staff Cludge
      Staff Canteen
      Staff Discount
      Staff Chrimbo Party

      1. I don’t go near them now that facial recognition screens are on each terminal.

      1. I did that once at Aldi, there was a huge hold up because some plonker couldn’t get their card to work at the checkout. I’d run out of time all the other checkouts were rammed.
        I just left the trolley in the checkout entrance. And walked.

    3. If you will go to these Socialist havens, what do you expect?

      Herd the cattle this way, let’s make sure they’ve paid.

      Pah, I only go to the Co-op ‘cos it’s the only game in town.

      1. TBF we are loyal to all the supermarkets, some visited more than others according to the offers we want. Co op included.

    3. Thank you King Stephen! Sorry so late but have had a fun-filled family party! 💕

  76. Just cut the grass, took two goes, mower started second pull and then pruned back the buddleias now have a wine or three.

          7. In Laure, we used to preserve our own capers.
            There were two caprier within a few yards of the house. Surprisingly easy – once one got used to the thorns.

          8. Strange things, I’m not keen on them. There are a few dishes where they enhance the flavour but generally I avoid them.

  77. Sorry if already posted:
    SIR – The revelations in the Lockdown Files do not come as a surprise. Our wonderful country, once the blueprint for democracy and looked up to across the world, has become a second-rate state run by average politicians for their own benefit and protection. The public interest does not feature.

    We are the idiots who suffer and have to put up with it all. So many vested interests are arguing over the terms of reference of the official Covid inquiry, and getting their names redacted to protect themselves from criticism, that it will inevitably turn it into a sham.

    Isabel Oakeshott talks about a whitewash (Commentary, March 1). It’s what we got from the inquiry into the Iraq war. We need a citizens’ inquiry chaired by Lord Sumption. It should have a free and open remit and nothing should be off limits. It could report in a year for a fraction of the cost of the public inquiry. Lawyers should keep away.

    Michael Coombs
    Beckenham, Kent

      1. I knew an architect Michael Coombs in the seventies. He was a partner in Sir Frederick Gibberd’s practice in Percy Street. Same chap I reckon.

  78. That’s me signing off for a cold, damp day. Snow forecast in the next few days – but a “heatwave” next weekend.

    Have a jolly evening. A glass or three helps, in case you wondered.

    A demain.

      1. Slightly concerned after his “I’m chucking all the meds away” post three days ago…

        1. Ah…. I’ve not been around much over the past few days – Does anyone have his telephone number to check Phil is OK?

    2. I wondered too. He did mention something about a booked holiday but I didn’t think it was until later in the year.

        1. Well, I think we are all relieved you are OK.
          Last time I visited IOW, alone, I stayed in Ryde and did day trips. I really enjoyed Osborne House and also the Fisherman’s Pub in Shanklin which I first saw as a child and can recall the old fisherman sitting outside mending his nets.

          1. Thank you Ann.

            The IOW comes in for quite a lot of stick as being stuck in some sort of 1950’s time warp. My last trip was a Christmas present ticket for the steam train toot toot !
            It turned out there was a storm that weekend and was canceled. The company rescheduled and included the steam fair. Double plus they also had a Bar ! I remember sitting in sunshine at a table near to the carousel and watching people enjoying themselves.

          2. I love the IOW and spent many holidays there as a child. Have been back twice, alone, as an adult, to revisit memories. This was when I was living in US and wanted time by myself.
            I don’t think it’s as idyllic as it was when I was young but it’s still a nice place.

          1. At least if you went back now you would only need to set your watch back 60 years. That would make you a teenager !

      1. Oi !…You telling me that when i don’t post for a couple of hours everyone breathes a sigh of relief ??? !!!
        You wound me…. I am cut…hurt…bleeding… sobs…

        sobs being …sons of bitches

        Not really….coughs !

    4. I think it’s been a couple of days now, since seeing him here. Hope he is okay.

      1. I’m fine thank you Jill. Just shocked by the callous whatsapps. Their laughing and joking about people’s misfortunes made me want to kill someone. Had to take time out.

        1. I haven’t read that part, Phil. I don’t have the mental strength just now to cope with those utter shites, since I can’t personally shove a shotgun up their arse and blow them away, something in my head might well give way.

        2. Good to see from you, mate. Take it easy – I’m trying, but it’s difficult. Small furry animals (cats/dogs) help.

          1. Small furry animals!!!

            The terrible twosome working together to trip me up on their puddles of pee. Sitting by their bowls pretending they are starving. Banking on my poor memory of …have i fed them or not… Their eyes say…..not !

        3. Happy to see that you are okay. Agree, I think we all need to take a break from dismal news every now and then.

  80. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said in a fresh interview with Swiss weekly Weltwoche that his country’s leadership is “strong enough to keep the war away from our country” while also stressing that Washington has become prime the decision-maker over the conflict in Ukraine.

    He further addressed the proxy war nature of the conflict in saying, “There are some who want to force Hungary into the war, and they are not picky about the means with which to achieve that goal.”

    “Ukraine is our neighbour where Hungarians live as well,” he continued. “They are being conscripted and are dying by the hundreds on the front.” The Hungarian government has long protested this practice and presented its complaints to Kiev.

    “Europe has retired from the debate,” Orban complained of EU countries being dragged into confrontation with Moscow by Washington. “In the decisions adopted in Brussels, I recognise American interests more frequently than European ones.”

    “In a war that is taking place in Europe the Americans have the final word,” he stressed in the interview.

    Most recently, Hungary has shown its unwillingness to go along with the rest of NATO by delaying a vote on ratifying Sweden and Finland’s accession bids.

  81. Good evening all,

    Not been here today yet due to having been out early on the banks of a chalkstream strimming, pruning and lopping the vegetation and removing winter debris to make it ready for the opening of the trout season in April. A lovely way to spend the day and some good company too.

    However, while on my journey to the riverbank I couldn’t help but be appalled once more by the disgusting amount of roadside litter along our major highways. It is along every verge and on central reservations on the main roads I regularly drive along and at it’s worst on slip roads and roundabouts. It is a disgrace and shames us all. What do visitors to our country think?

    Quite apart from wondering just what sort of people chuck their detritus out of their vehicles as they roll along it struck me that it hasn’t always been like this. Have we become a nation of pigs? Have the councils and Highways Agency given up on litter-picking? Or is it the millions of recent arrivals who care not a jot for our beautiful countryside. Maybe it’s a combination of the first and last and the councils have decided to leave the litter so we look more and more like a third world country to make the migrants feel at home.

    Whatever it is they needn’t bother me with any environmental concerns they might have until they can clear up the mess and take effective preventative measures.

    1. It’s always a point of note when we’re back in the UK, how the place is even grubbier than the last time. Litter everywhere, country or town, it’s quite horrible.

    3. At the very least the gimmegrants could be put to litter picking for their board and lodging.
      People might not be quite so hostile about them if they did so.

        1. “Hi-Viz” certainly, but why shouldn’t these 1000’s of fit young men not do such work?

          1. Because the moment they got off the vehicle – they’d fuck off never to be seen again. Except in court, of course.

        2. Best idea yet. They’re criminals, they are awaiting deportation so the obvious is to make them work 16 hours a day and then feed them once in the morning – some sort of gruel – and the same in the evening.

          Good grief, rather than treating them decently as non-persons they should be treated as slaves.

          However who else knew the Home Office had fought to stop deportations? That’s the biggest source of resistance and likely the arrogant hate no hopers demanding more gimmigrants are brought in. I say house the ciminals with them. When they scream assault, ignore them.

      3. How do you know that they are not doing some of the dumping? Black market and all that. I have been approached by E. Europeans offering rubbish removal services…

        1. Fly-tipping is a different issue.

          It’s the general level of small scale rubbish that I find so depressing.

    4. I think the legions of underpaid, overworked delivery drivers, who have nowhere to go to the lavatory and deliver parcels to people who look at them as though they are part of the furniture, who spend large parts of their working days in the countryside have something to do with it. They aren’t part of the community and never will be.

      1. I doubt it. A bit of pee and poo are not going to stay for long, and they (the delivery drivers) will be sacked if they do not deliver their designated parcels. Maybe those people who post leaflets through your letterbox that they can clear your rubbish cheap etc. have more to do with it. Or others of similar ilk, many of whom are not from this country.

        1. The littering seemed to start about the same time that people started shopping on Amazon. It’s not their waste products, it’s their fast food wrappers that get chucked out of the window. I have the feeling it has something to do with “take that, you smug rich bastards.”

          2. I think it’s the first job that anyone with a driving licence gets when they come to the UK.

        2. Many years ago, my brother was white-van man, delivering all over North Wales.
          They had a load of packages to deliver, and had to complete that day. Poor signing, poor access and absolutely far too much to deliver meant they had to drive far too fast, no time for a break, and very long days.

    5. The banks of so many major roads are litter traps because they are so overgrown with bramble and hawthorn scrub.

      Not so long ago I met up in Northampton with a friend for a drink. I took the bus from Wellingborough and went on the top deck for a different perspective on a road (the A45 d/c) I’ve driven so many times. The roadside ditches, mostly invisible from a car, were effectively linear fly tips (especially near the caravan park). It was appalling.

        1. A clean-up would be a long and difficult job because the rubbish is so difficult to reach and could only be realistically done during the winter months.

          The Highways Agency deserves criticism for its neglect over the last 25 years.

          1. Here, schools grab black sacks and clear up their locality – chiefly the youngsters. And, it’s a spring activity, as all the yukk is revealed by melting snow.

          3. The population grew from 4 million in 1998 to 5 million in 2018. Not by Weegies putting in effort in the bedroom, that’s for sure.
            BTW, that’s 20%. No wonder there’s a housing shortage, knife and shooting crime…

          6. In the US, the local jails provide trustees, escorted. to keep the highways clear of trash.

          8. Excellent, Conners! Make a bit of a social about it, it’s amazing what can be done.
            (Top tip: Get the young boys into a competition on who colledts the most volume / weight of litter, and watch the wee buggers zip about like crazy. You need some kind of a prize – like a two-pack of Twix, but the eagerness of the male to compete over any damn thing is scary – and your friend!

          9. I used to use that competitiveness when I was teaching. I had a league table with gold and silver stars (two silver equalled one gold) on the wall. The lads were virtually killing each other to earn the most stars! Bearing in mind these were low ability pupils learning French, it did wonders for their motivation. All beyond the pale as far as management was concerned, of course. Can’t have competition, can we? All shall have prizes.

          13. Now be fair, motorists pays almost no tax so how can they expect decent roads, cleared hedgerows?

            Haaanng on….

      2. We noticed that too driving from Bath to North Norfolk avoiding motorways for the most part….

      3. A team has cut and strimmed the verges on a slip road onto the A34 near us, complete with the litter so it is now strewn with shredded litter.

    6. A job opportunity for the gimmegrunts, set them litter picking and no return to the 4 star until they’ve completed the job.

      Those who don’t turn up in the morning are downgraded, so many times that they end up on Rockall awaiting deportation.

          1. What river is in your photo?

            Here’s the Dun in the first week of May last year.

            https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/deaee1d69188c3503c295c67bfb15a98a8013481de4b585715e635339e42211c.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bf85d7288fd5ec4c5838ede2191fe90569f1342095569482ed8d1528e56ac64b.jpg

            Doing this stretch of the Lambourn in a couple of weeks.
            https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9f5ce01f91aae5103b2105cd92e131e6c1531ff8fa69a8f88c657f5246b3601c.jpg

          4. Nice. I think that’s just upstream of our association stretch at Lockerley. We have that and the stretch of the Lambourn. I’ve also got a rod on the Avon. Spoilt, really.

    8. Perhaps we have imported a nation of pigs. Some of them from not that far away.

          1. Sorry, Tine, I should have read Fiscal’s post more carefully. His talk of a chalk stream got me excited.

    9. I’m 71. I noticed litter everywhere (and hated it) from a very young age. The British are a dirty people. On going abroad for the first time, I saw how the streets were much cleaner. In my opinion, nothing has changed over the past 50-60 years, despite campaigns such as ‘Keep Britain Tidy’. It has nothing to do with ‘recent immigrants’.

      1. I think the rot set in after the IRA campaigns in the cities in UK. The litter bins were removed in case some nutter dropped a bomb in one.

        1. Yes I remember those days. Also when living in Essex, there was a chap named “Little Bill” who was employed by the local rural council, who came around the lanes with his hook and cleared out the ditches of debris, no heavy equipment involved.

      2. I think you’re right with respect to the urban environment but the amount of roadside litter is recent.

        1. To a degree it is because NO ONE – parents, teechers etc – dares tell a young “student”* not to leave litter and to pick up and take home any they find.

          * aged 5 upwards….

      3. The British are less dirty than many European peoples. It’s just that our local cleaning (like most of our local “services”) are not always up to much.

      4. The British are less dirty than many European peoples. It’s just that our local cleaning (like most of our local “services”) are not always up to much.

    12. I was thinking the same , the filth on the verges is unbelievable , allsorts of things we pass , and I fret like mad when I see cardboard boxes , worrying that they might conceal dumped pets .

    13. I was thinking the same , the filth on the verges is unbelievable , allsorts of things we pass , and I fret like mad when I see cardboard boxes , worrying that they might conceal dumped pets .

    14. Use all these bloody cameras they have all over the place to identify the miscreants and make them clear it up. Make it an absolute offence with a sentence of 14 days clearing the rubbish.
      The public shouldn’t have to pay for it through council tax.

  82. 371807+ up ticks,

    Bet the lad feels better learning that.

    Sharia Britain: Police Finally Investigate Islamist Death Threats Against Boy Linked to Damaged Quran

    May one ask,

    If sharia law is in the next lab/lib/con coalition manifesto will the member / voters go for it ?

    1. Maybe the news they are investigating has only just come out and they were earlier?

      If they weren’t, ad hoped it would all go away then they’re idiots. The statae has got to stop feting muslims and start treating them as dangerous, violent invaders.

    2. When Muslims have achieved critical mass in the UK, Sharia law will be inevitable.

        1. No limit to the number of children, paid for by the UK taxpayer. Praise Allah!

        2. To all intents and purposes it already is. Although bigamy is illegal, polygamous marriages contracted abroad are recognised and the wives all get benefits. We are building our own funeral pyre and piling the fuel on it daily.

  87. Evening, all. Frankly, they could give me all the assurances they liked and I wouldn’t believe them. Trust, once lost, is next to impossible to regain. Like Sunak claiming on the front pages that he’s going to deport illegals and stop the flood of gimmegrants. Yeah, right and I’m the Queen of Sheba.

    2. Good evening Your Maj- I am the Queen of Romania; I don’t think we have been introduced ;-))

      2. Re my comment, I have posted this before….Dorothy Parker.

        Life is a glorious cycle of song
        A medley of extemporanea,
        And love is a thing that can never go wrong!
        And I am Marie of Romania.

    1. The thing does not play. I studied at Sheffield University 1970-1973.

      Even then there was a lot of evidence of hardship in the communities. As young architects we were inspired by the development of the worst slum areas and the building of Green Park, ideas later taken up by my late Professor at UCL Peter Smithson whose scheme near Blackwall Tunnel proved successful until philistines decided to redevelop it against the wishes of its occupants.

  89. Pretty close to the finest movement in the finest piece, written by the finest Composer and performed by the finest orchestra conducted by the best in the world.
    https://youtu.be/O1VdzzMHYyI
    Forever coupled in my mind to Robbie Coltrane being aerobatted around the sky in a Gloster Meteor (Coltrane’s train and planes). The utter joy on the man’s face… Good one, Big Man.
    Please play this at my funeral. There is no better. I’ll love a send-off like that – pity I would’nt be there to enjoy it.

    1. When you have small hands like wot I do, that’s a very hard piece to play. You need a large scan which I struggled with back then and would struggle even more so now.

    3. There are two possibilities.

      Either one sixteen year old and two fifteen year old London schoolgirls bought tickets to Turkey and marched through Gatwick airport without raising any ‘flags’ (approximately 13 years and six months after the events of 9/11). In term time, on Tuesday February 17th. Using three stolen passports.

      Or the security services knew roughly what was happening and contrived to let them travel knowing that there was a likelihood that the girls would be raped and possibly killed.

      Cynicism bordering on evil, or total incompetence, you decide.

    4. There are two possibilities.

      Either one sixteen year old and two fifteen year old London schoolgirls bought tickets to Turkey and marched through Gatwick airport without raising any ‘flags’ (approximately 13 years and six months after the events of 9/11). In term time, on Tuesday February 17th. Using three stolen passports.

      Or the security services knew roughly what was happening and contrived to let them travel knowing that there was a likelihood that the girls would be raped and possibly killed.

      Cynicism bordering on evil, or total incompetence, you decide.

    5. Wing nut needs to pay for all her legal bills – then let’s see how keen he is!

    1. Krystian Zimmerman. He won the Chopin Competition when I was in Warsaw either 1974 or 1976. Memory constantly falls short.

      Oh and Bernstein.

        1. His playing of Chopin is exquisite. There are other great Polish musicians and composers we barely hear of and particularly violinists.

          Just as I despise Zelensky, the Ukraine too has produced the greatest musicians. I think of the pianist Emil Gilels who brought Scarlatti into the piano repertoire.

        1. Practice I believe and concentration on performing a limited range of repertoire.

          I once watched the great pianist Emmanuel Ax performing with a score of a piece he had not practised, I believe at short notice. You would not really have known, so seemingly automatic his hands, except for the assistant turning the pages of the score.

          We are dealing with that fabulous combination of artistry and technology. Their art has much to do with labour and practice and the attempt at perfection in manipulating the notes and mechanism of a grand piano.

          We have to be wonder at the greatness of the composers who mastered all and heaven life to others to interpret their souls.

        2. Practice I believe and concentration on performing a limited range of repertoire.

          I once watched the great pianist Emmanuel Ax performing with a score of a piece he had not practised, I believe at short notice. You would not really have known, so seemingly automatic his hands, except for the assistant turning the pages of the score.

          We are dealing with that fabulous combination of artistry and technology. Their art has much to do with labour and practice and the attempt at perfection in manipulating the notes and mechanism of a grand piano.

          We have to be wonder at the greatness of the composers who mastered all and heaven life to others to interpret their souls.

        3. I learned to play the Pathetique and Moonlight Sonatas with no score. Mind you, I couldn’t do it now!

  93. Anybody do Wordle today?
    Should have made a birdie but got a bogie.
    Wordle 624 5/6

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

    1. Yes, me too.

      Wordle 624 5/6

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

      1. A Birdie Three earlier today.

        Wordle 624 3/6
        ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
        ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨
        🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  94. Well, that’s me for the night, chums. Good night to you all and sleep well.

  96. Going to bed and hope to sleep.
    Not very confident about the state of things….
    Sleep well, Y’all.

  98. I have for a time wondered why our politicians have been funding expensive yet unproductive wind turbine ‘farms’ coupled with vast acreages of solar ‘farms’.

    It is now quite obvious that these schemes have nothing whatever to do do with ‘clean’ energy production. These schemes require the transference of vast areas of good agricultural land to supposed energy production. Their effect is in reality to deprive us of fertile land, to pollute it and make it infertile by the imposition of these ludicrous faux ‘green’ technologies.

    The fuckers ruling us wish us to be deprived of food and to die of cold.

    It was always the case that when wealth is concentrated in the hands of the few then the democratic rights of the rest are overridden. This is precisely the situation we have arrived at. We see it everywhere: wear masks, be tainted or ‘nudged’ this way and that by narcissistic positions of the ilk of Matt Hancock, a vile creature, take the vaccine or else you will kill granny and so on, over and over.

    We are at a time of reckoning. The full extent of the wicked corruption of the state has been revealed to all.

    1. That’s deep thought, I always assumed that they were screwing us for the money.

      1. Since retiring I have concentrated my own personal thoughts on matters which otherwise I might have noticed but left alone.

        I am convinced that we are being attacked by a small cabal of globalist billionaires. These comprise principally old money bankers and usurers such as the Rothschild family and their ilk, the remains of the American elites such as Rockefeller, other old banking fraternities including J P Morgan and their banking cousins plus the more established American elites such as the Bush, Romney and Newby Clintons.

        In short we in the UK are momentarily fucked good and proper. I hope for an uprising of sorts. This will involve several summary executions of our supposed masters, trials for those committing crimes against humanity and much else.

      2. We assumed that they wished to make food far more expensive……and did you see this mysterious fire lately

        in NZ which destroyed a storage facility of wheat.

        Yet another mysterious fire that the police can’t find the culprit.

    2. Morning (just catching up on last night). The extent … has been revealed only to those who care to look further. The majority are too busy getting on with their lives to delve into the wheres or why fors now it is mostly all over.

  99. I have for a time wondered why our politicians have been funding expensive yet unproductive wind turbine ‘farms’ coupled with vast acreages of solar ‘farms’.

    It is now quite obvious that these schemes have nothing whatever to do do with ‘clean’ energy production. These schemes require the transference of vast areas of good agricultural land to supposed energy production. Their effect is in reality to deprive us of fertile land, to pollute it and make it infertile by the imposition of these ludicrous faux ‘green’ technologies.

    The fuckers ruling us wish us to be deprived of food and to die of cold.

    It was always the case that when wealth is concentrated in the hands of the few then the democratic rights of the rest are overridden. This is precisely the situation we have arrived at. We see it everywhere: wear masks, be tainted or ‘nudged’ this way and that by narcissistic positions of the ilk of Matt Hancock, a vile creature, take the vaccine or else you will kill granny and so on, over and over.

    We are at a time of reckoning. The full extent of the wicked corruption of the state has been revealed to all.

Comments are closed.