Sunday 8 June: Keir Starmer’s failure to tackle the people smugglers betrays Britain’s vulnerability

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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607 thoughts on “Sunday 8 June: Keir Starmer’s failure to tackle the people smugglers betrays Britain’s vulnerability”

  1. Good morning, chums. And thanks, Geoff, for today's new NoTTLe site. First today!!!

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  3. Morning Geoff and all NoTTLers.
    It’s early, so had a go at today’s Wordle:

    Wordle 1,450 4/6

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  4. Morning Geoff and all NoTTLers.
    It’s early, so had a go at today’s Wordle:

    Wordle 1,450 4/6

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  10. England football fans chant ‘Keir Starmer is a c—’
    Supporters took aim at the Prime Minister during a dull first half of a World Cup qualifying match against Andorra
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2025/06/07/england-fans-keir-starmer-chant-world-cup-andorra-barcelona/

    England supporters called Prime Minister Keir Starmer a “c—” during the World Cup qualifier against Andorra.

    Around 7,000 England fans travelled to Barcelona and with the match goalless, the foul-mouthed chants about the Prime Minister were clearly heard. To the tune of KC & The Sunshine Band’s 1982 song Give It Up, fans sang: “Na-na, na-na, na-na, na-na-na-na now, Starmer is a c—, is a c—, Starmer is a c—.”

    Starmer was also in their sights when they sang: “Keir Starmer, is a w—-r, is a w—-r.”

    Makes a change from smashing up bars in foreign countries.

  11. Mr Davies
    7h
    Apparently Jonathan Ross has been arrested for stealing a kitchen utensil from Tesco.
    He said afterwards "It was a whisk worth taking"

    1. Jonathon Ross only flashed up on my radar when he insulted an American army officer in the early '90s.
      Shortly afterwards, walking from Brum New Street to Quayside Tower to run a computer course, I passed a poster with a massive picture of his face on it.
      I did not, at that time, know the German expression "Backpfeifengesicht", but looking back now, his simpering expression summed the word up perfectly.

      1. I believe the 'Brexity books' allusion is the recent case where a retired Special Police Constable was arrested for making 'hate' posts online. He was handcuffed in his own home while police officers searched his belongings. During the search, police scrutinised his collection of books by authors such as Spectator columnist Douglas Murray, describing them as "very Brexity things".
        https://www.gbnews.com/news/free-speech-row-kent-thought-crime-tweet-police-brexit-books

    3. Why don't feminists show that they have the balls to come out in solidarity with oppressed Muslim women and campaign to have the burqa banned?

    4. On a work trip to Tunisia 12 years ago, I saw no face coverings and only a handful of headscarves. On my return home to Birmingham…

    2. Getting what you want can often be the very worst thing that can happen to you.

      Rachel Reeves's longing to be Chancellor was more like insatiable lust than mere longing: the destruction it has wreaked on her is almost syphilitic.

    3. Satan Claws
      2h
      Worker's hilarious reaction to Rachel's speech.
      Did she really have a tantrum? "I want that man found!"

      Does he and his mates still have jobs?

      These are the questions that interest me.

  18. Morning, all y'all. Planned garden activity postponed due to torrential rain. Bugger. Lots to get done.

    2. A waxwork of Starmer would exude more charisma and sound more convincing than the 'real thing'. It is a 'thing', isn't it?

    3. They considered a wood carving instead but they couldn't find a piece of wood thick enough

      1. Send in the Clones
        Edmund Waller
        40m
        Bit like the Doncaster Races crowd shouting w…..s at Spanner and Vic Sponge.
        She’s hardly been seen since.

        No 10 later said the crowd were shouting winners. That’s why people don’t trust them. Spin doesn’t work.

    5. Pity. Tussauds should have made the dummy then put the real thing on display whilst placing the waxwork in the House of Commons. It would do a better job there than the real Starmer.

  20. Good morning all.
    A fine morning with hazy cloud but dry at the moment with 11°C outside.
    More cloud and rain forecast for later, but given the failure of yesterday's forecast rain to arrive, I'll wait and see.

  22. Good Morning!

    As we learn that one four schools has a non-white majority and many schools contain no white British children at all, in The Centre Cannot Hold , Xandra H looks at the mess created by the Globalist 'elite' and concludes that Britain is not a healthy society, let alone a free one and that Britain cannot exist as a concept without its white population.

    The first part in a series on the war in Ukraine No War With Russia! looks into what it's all about – and it has nothing to do with defending freedom and (excuse the laugh) democracy.

    Energy Watch: Over the last 24 hours: Britain's electric power was sourced from Gas, 20.6%; Solar, 6.6%: Wind 23.9%; Imports, 21.5%; Biomass, 7.5%; Nuclear 16.7% and Miscellaneous,3.2%.

    PLEASE SIGN The petition to stop supporting asylum seekers (aka as illegal aliens). This one needs to be signed by millions. None of us wants to pay taxes to support these people. Please get signing and sharing. https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/705383 now at 330,090 signatures

    AND

    PLEASE WATCH Tommy Robinson's new (short) documentary, squeezed out between his release from jail and his court appearance yesterday, is very much worth watching (Youtube, Tommy Robinson v Daily Mail). If you had any doubt as to how vile the low-life vermin of the MSM is, this will dispel your doubts for good. And Tommy needs our support.

    freespeechbacklash

    2. The fundamental problem the country has is if the people paying for everything, building, repairing, maintaining, driving, carrying, designing everything are erased the 'diversity' who follow after simply won't have the ability to keep things running, so the country will continue to slide backward.

      Hopefully then the diversity pollution will leave once this beautiful country is rendered into Mogadishu and the white folk can repair and rebuild it and next time keep the damned diversity out.

  23. Good Morning!

    As we learn that one four schools has a non-white majority and many schools contain no white British children at all, in The Centre Cannot Hold , Xandra H looks at the mess created by the Globalist 'elite' and concludes that Britain is not a healthy society, let alone a free one and that Britain cannot exist as a concept without its white population.

    The first part in a series on the war in Ukraine No War With Russia! looks into what it's all about – and it has nothing to do with defending freedom and (excuse the laugh) democracy.

    Energy Watch: Over the last 24 hours: Britain's electric power was sourced from Gas, 20.6%; Solar, 6.6%: Wind 23.9%; Imports, 21.5%; Biomass, 7.5%; Nuclear 16.7% and Miscellaneous,3.2%.

    PLEASE SIGN The petition to stop supporting asylum seekers (aka as illegal aliens). This one needs to be signed by millions. None of us wants to pay taxes to support these people. Please get signing and sharing. https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/705383 now at 330,090 signatures

    AND

    PLEASE WATCH Tommy Robinson's new (short) documentary, squeezed out between his release from jail and his court appearance yesterday, is very much worth watching (Youtube, Tommy Robinson v Daily Mail). If you had any doubt as to how vile the low-life vermin of the MSM is, this will dispel your doubts for good. And Tommy needs our support.

    freespeechbacklash

    2. Possession of garden gnomes should be a crime in itself. Along with those pretendy wishing wells…

      1. I was quite surprised to discover a garden gnome at the Lord Lieutenant’s place.

      1. 'If you can afford the school fees, you should pay privately. If you had kept your child at the local authority primary school, she would have been supported.'
        The mother then discovered that the specialist unit had written a letter to her GP saying: 'We are unable to see this child as we do not provide a service to school age children who attend an independent schools         https://x.com/DailyMail/status/1931484392477565410

  26. Good morning, all. Bright and breezy start.

    Came across Steven Woolfe on the Lotus Eaters Podcast a few weeks ago. Woolfe's take down of Lucy Powell MP in that podcast was brilliant.

    Steven Woolfe is an English barrister, writer, commentator and former member of the European parliament. Born in Manchester he has a radical background championing the liberty of the English people, their history and struggles from the levellers to the Brexit movements.

    https://x.com/StevenWoolfe1/status/1931439675870236840

  27. 406974+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    The political tool and kit (rodent & cabinet)have a
    never ending supply of every known trade and career
    awaiting in Calais the rats call.

    Arrivals on invasion beach, doctors & nurses
    Mondays ,Wednesdays, and Fridays.

    Favouritism will be shown to those medical staff carrying their own tools of their trade, monkey sculls,voodoo equipment,etc,etc.

    Dt,
    NHS ‘to rely on migrants’ as Government cuts British nurse training
    University funding freeze for medical courses will leave UK more dependent on foreign workers

    1. 406974+ up ticks,

      O2O,

      The above post is in no way a put down on medical staff that arrive via legal channels, and not the English illegal unchecked invaders channel.

      1. I don't much mind that. I think 3 of the surgeons who operated on me were British. The nurses weren't- Spainish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Nigerian, Kenyan, Iranian – you name it, but they weren't Britons.

        1. 406974+ up ticks,

          Morning W,
          As I explained in my O2O post, the 5 month treatment I received was via a Spanish oncologist Consultant and much appreciated, plus the half a dozen eye jabs on another occasion, she was English, and also the hospitals ladies dart team captain

    2. They should train nurses the traditional way – on the wards. Degree optional.

      1. 406974+ up ticks,

        Afternoon N,

        The polling stations dictate we get batches of
        illegal ready made medical staff, off the shelf waiting in a big depot in Calais.

  28. Indeed but one happy by-product of this decision is that it is likely to mean the importation of more folk likely to look favourably on and willing to vote Labour……

    1. 406974+ up ticks,

      Morning S,

      Makes little difference on account they combined. form the lab/lib/con pro eu coalition party.

      1. Hello Phizzee

        Super excited , all systems go go go for Thursday lunchtime 12th June .. How many will be present?

        Are you still on F/B re messages ..

          1. Okay , if you like , yes . What a shame not Nottler group, but I don’t want to interrupt your social arrangements, if you are sure , I will come along! Will you be a mixed bag?

          4. Perhaps i should have said there is one space left as opposed to what i posted. It is a table for six after all and i have five victims guests already.

          5. A left over from my time in the hospitality industry.

            Though i think i would prefer where you live compared to what is happening here.

            Don't you have any neighbours? That you could network with. Dinner parties and the like…

          6. Norwegians make friends at school, then the door is closed. It's weird… but there's a large expat Brit & Oz community, so it's not so bad really.

          1. Hi Phizzee,

            Will this be okay?

            I don’t drink either , well maybe a sip , but that is my current state .. if I am being too fussy , tell me to pull out!

            I am a light eater , due to innard probs ,

            I like the idea of starter Carrot and butternut squash with poached egg,

            Sea bass sounds lovely , and I expect it tastes delish .

            So that will be my advance order !

          2. I am surprised you didn’t go for the Dorset crab. You don’t have to order all the courses. Just what you would like.
            It isn’t a booze up. Would love to see you there.
            The other guests are millionaires so don’t come in Burberry or Addidas. That’s a joke!!!

            Your order is now made.

            Now i have to deal with a French person!

            The Bass is one or two fillets. Which would you prefer?

          4. Have to let you know when i create these new circles of lunches the newbie pays for all.

            Just kidding

            Don't panic. It will be lovely to meet you. The others are people who haven't become Nottlers yet.

            If in any doubt ask Annie Allan, Stormy, Rik, HarryKobeans…

            I bribed them all !

          5. Re bass , There are small bass .. the ones they don’t put back in the sea , and there are large bass .. if large bass , one fillet, , but if smallish bass 2 fillets .. Just thinking back to Rick Stein !

            Er , OMG , yes .. well anyway will be nice to eat at the Les Enfants Terribles , Weymouth’s highest-rated restaurant

            shower curtain
            7th June 6:55 am
            User ID: 126715
            Chef Eric is a passionate and engaging individual. His culinary creations are exceptional. Several years ago, Mr. David Beckham dined at the establishment. You should reserve a table for yourself!
            Last Updated: 7th June 10:49 am

            https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/comments/25216244/

    1. "…..Let's see what happens!" [Richard Tice]

      Hardly a decisive attitude by a politician who wants to be in government and whose party is supposed to be more than just nominally concerned with immigration.

      Why did Yusuf come back?

      He saw that if he remained in the party he could stop anyone in the Reform Party getting a backbone. After all he succeeded in getting rid of Rupert Lowe and he will be better placed within Reform to do the same for anyone daring to question Muslim deportation of illegals from the UK and Muslim immigration into it.

      By the way, did Farage demand that if Yusuf was to come back he would have to accept that banning the burqa is definitely part of Reform Party policy?

      1. They're just weathervanes, spinning to the comfortable wind.

        If they have no conviction, if they've no guiding principle they will keep to what's the point of them?

      2. 🎶…all about the money, money, money, Rastus 🎶 Yusuf bankrolls Reform.

    2. Well, there goes Reform. Clearly back pedalling on being anti immigration so just another uniparty. I imagine that comes from Yusif demanding that change.

      I get what he means by long gone. Tice is 60, so in 2060 he'd be 105. However we do need to reverse the incomer pollution. If Reform won't pursue that there's no point to them. Yes, it's about jobs, but massive uncontrolled immigration affects wages, food prices, fuel prices, house prices. Too many people means too high costs. We need far, far fewer people and, frankly, those who don't work should go first.

  31. All my on work – Another threesome:
    Wordle 1,450 3/6

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    1. There is a new form of wordle. You are given the first and last letter and must work out which unacceptable word has been used to cancel a celeb. I failed miserably and had to look at the DT comments BTL.

  32. Britons must be prepared to fight for their country. 8 June 2025.

    Officially, it is an instruction to the Government. But at another level, it is addressed to us, the British public. The message is stark: how much are you prepared to sacrifice to make this country safe?

    Why should we sacrifice anything for a Political Elite that hates and despises us? An Elite that is opposed to all the traditions and beliefs that have motivated the British People for centuries? That suppresses individual Freedom and is opposed to Democracy. We should do nothing to help these people. They are our enemies.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/06/08/lord-robertson-world-volatile-britons-fight-country/

    1. As you say, the real enemy the country faces is the government and state itself. If I was recalled I can guarantee the first group I'd mobilise against would be the Labour party.

    2. Is Lord Robertson not aware of the difficulty the Armed Forces have in recruiting? Does he not realise that this could be due to soldiers facing prosecution for doing their duty in places like Northern Ireland 50 years ago? Has he spent the last twenty-odd years living in isolation and has not heard the constant denigration of the UK, its history and our way of life?

      Does he really think that Britons would be willing to lay down their lives for a country and government which does not value them?

      2. He needs to get out more, into Northern towns and cities for a start. Get himself into a barber's whilst he's there.

    4. Edited and posted:-

      I don't know if this has been said already, but why should we sacrifice anything to fight for a Political Elite that hates and despises us?
      An Elite that is opposed to all the traditions and beliefs that have motivated the British People for centuries?
      An Elite that suppresses individual Freedom and is opposed to Democracy. We should do nothing to help these people. They are our enemies.

    5. Not having seen this comment earlier, my first comment today is on similar lines regarding the awful mess being made of our country by these self opinionated self supporting idiots in Wastemonster.

  33. 406974+ up ticks,

    Sunday 8 June: Keir Starmer’s failure to tackle the people smugglers betrays Britain’s vulnerability

    Britain's main vulnerability these past thirty plus years has been via the polling stations and the tribal stupidity of the voters party before Country repeat actions.

    This political starmer creature is not in the least bothered by indigenous peoples feelings regarding him.

    In the eyes of the WEF / NWO hierarchy he wants to shine as first among equals of the same treacherous ilk, dating back to november 1990, all PMs voted into power,the only thing getting stronger as we progressed
    via the polling stations was the rod we were forging for our own country's back.

    1. The error is 'failure to'. Starmer, and the Tories before him have no interest in stopping the boats. It means leaving the ECHR, which they refuse to do. I imagine it's politically unpalatable and difficult which is why they're putting it off.

      2. ECHR is embedded in NI Agreement to ensure parity with Republic, why Sunak and VDL went to see Queen, to get her appro. Effectively cobbing Brexit. I was told this by a CS, so I guess it must be true at least in part.

    1. I believe he is visiting friends in the UK.

      Maybe he does not travel with a laptop? I always use a desk top so when I am away from home I do not post.

      1. I always take my laptop when I'm on my travels, but getting internet connections is more problematic.

  35. Good morning, all. Very late on parade – sheer idleness.

    Cloudy and blowing a gale.

  36. The Warqueen gave me a lecture this morning about my wound and my diet. She said, very bluntly – "get fat, heal. Get back to gym, get back to diet. You can't diet and heal."

    As it is bothering me.

  37. Badenoch: Let bosses ban burkas in the workplace
    Tory leader also hits out at sharia courts and first-cousin marriage in an interview with The Telegraph
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/06/07/kemi-badenoch-let-bosses-ban-burkas-in-workplace/

    The statistics show that virtually no burqa wearing Muslim women are in work and under 30% of unburq'd Muslim women are in paid employment in the UK and so just banning the burqa in the work place would have virtually no effect.

    And now with Yusuf back in the Reform fold will even the Reform Party dare to suggest a total ban of wearing the burqa in public places?

    1. No boss will do that even if they could. This is partly why unemployment is so high amongst the dindu. It should be banned nationally as divisive, anti social and fundamentally un-British.

    2. Our political classes are absolutely pathetic it's their one and only job to make sure life runs as smoothly as possible for the British taxpaying public.

    3. How many employers, large or small, will decide to take-on the highly-)likely rent-a-muslim mobs at their front gates or shop doors? to say nothing of the anonymous death threats and assaults of non-muslim employees?

    4. Isn't it mainly the niqab which is the face covering? I've no objection to Muslim women wearing a headscarf.

  38. I'm wondering if voting should be mandatory, but with an option of 'none of the below'.

  39. Morning All 🙂😊
    I'm a bit late today.
    Broken cloud windy 13 c but dry for the time being.
    Let's be honest starmer and his mob are happy being horribly subversive towards the people who supply the money they take away as a salary.
    There can be no other example of this type of absolute stupidity on this planet earth. How can such disgustingly horrible people make a power grab and then rub the people's noses in their insane progressive subversive interests.
    The parliamentary system in the UK needs changing and remodeling, it's dreadful.

    1. I wonder why these people are called progressive when in reality they are regressive and want to take us back to the stone age.

  42. In for a cuppa.
    The building site next door has a pile of surplus limestone scalpings I've been tipped the wink to help myself to.
    Because of the amount of rough ground I have to carry them across, I'm restricting the number of shovelfuls I'm putting into each of the sandbags I'm using to six.
    Five sandbags filled and carted up to the steps I'm putting in so far.

  43. I hear you Sue, but I don't think I could put a pin between the policies each party. What happens to votes with swear words, are they still registered as 'none of the above'…..asking for a friend….

    1. I restrict my humorous comments as they are generally a bit dark for these polite pages!

  45. Yo and Good Moaning all, from sunny C d S.

    This year, however, we are celebrating the 200th anniversary of the advent of railways in Britain.

    We can thank the released slaves from the West Indies who came here to live and then designed, invented, constructed and built our railway engines, rolling gear and track.

    Well, so they are now telling us

    1. Immigrants built everything in Britain from Stonehenge onwards. White people built and invented nothing. Fact.

      2. Well the Irish navigators as a result of much dedicated hard work built our canal system…
        But the far left bandwagon are having a huge problem trying to achieve recognition of their hollow disingenuous statements.

        1. The navvies cannot be classed as immigrants since Ireland was part of the United Kingdom in the 19th century.

    1. I have a passport and driving licence. I don't need an ID card to tell me who I am. Illegal invaders haven't got one but they are taken in here anyway.

    1. Let's face the facts the vast majority of people who are nested in Wastemonster and Whitehall are the biggest problem we have ever had. Including the attempted nazi invasion.

    2. Ben Leo has grown in stature since he was given his own show on GB News.

  48. Morning all,

    The future plan for the NHS is to stop people walking into A&E.
    They will only go in horizontally. Community nurses who are tasked with keeping people with long term conditions in their own homes and out of hospital generally end up with patients horizontally at home.
    Improving community care seems to be a good idea to keep horizontal patients out of hospital and, whilst they can still walk, back into their own homes but saving money by not training nurses is not going to help.

    Labour's plan to train prescribing immigrants won't go down well in the community.

  49. This year, however, we are celebrating the 200th anniversary of the advent of railways in Britain.

    We can thank the released slaves from the West Indies who came here to live and then designed, invented, constructed and built our railway engines, rolling gear and track.

    1. Morning OLT

      Of course , https://www.ice.org.uk/what-is-civil-engineering/infrastructure-projects/stockton-and-darlington-railway#:~:text=The%20Stockton%20and%20Darlington%20Railway,in%20County%20Durham%20to%20Darlington.

      Construct a railway line to transport coal and passengers using steam trains
      The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) was the first passenger railway to use steam trains to transport passengers. The company operated across north east England from 1825 to 1863.

      The S&DR’s first line connected coal mines at Shildon in County Durham to Darlington. It opened on 27 September 1825.

      The company used steam trains to haul its coal wagons from the first day of operation. Passengers travelled by horse and carriage until 1833 when that service switched to steam.

      The S&DR built a line between York and Darlington. It also expanded to Middlesbrough Docks, west to Weardale and east to Redcar.

      The railway was often in financial difficulties and was nearly taken over by a rival in the late 1840s.

      When the company was finally sold to the North Eastern Railway in 1863 it consisted of 200 route miles (320km) and around 160 locomotives.

      One of my Northern Great Greats was an engineer , he also planned tunnels and bridges !

      1. First railway in Britain
        Canterbury in East Kent, almost had this honour, but does have the World's first Season Ticket as well as the first High Speed link (HS1) to London St Pancras.

        From Wikipedia:
        There are a number of other claimants to the title "first railway in Britain", including the Middleton Railway, the Swansea and Mumbles Railway and the Surrey Iron Railway amongst others. Samuel Lewis in his 'A Topographical Dictionary of England' in 1848, called it the first railway in South of England.

        In 1823, William James visited Canterbury. He suggested to Canterbury City Council that a railway to link Canterbury and the Thames Estuary would help alleviate traffic problems in the city. The initial act of Parliament for the construction of the line, the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway Act 1825 (6 Geo. 4. c. cxx), was passed on 10 June 1825. Three further acts in 1827, 1828 and 1835 allowed for the issue of a further £80,000 of stock.

        From the beginning, the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway was a public railway, intended for passengers as well as freight. Indeed, the world's first season ticket was issued for use on the line in 1834, to take Canterbury passengers to the Whitstable beaches for the summer season. Unlike the Liverpool and Manchester Railway which opened four months later, it used cable haulage by stationary steam engines over much of its length, with steam locomotives restricted to the level stretch.
        Construction began in 1825 with George Stephenson as the engineer, with the assistance of John Dixon as resident engineer and Joseph Locke in charge of track.

        In 1827, following the boring of Tyler Hill Tunnel, work stopped through a lack of funds. Robert Stephenson took charge. Money was raised to enable the completion of the line. Dixon left the company, being replaced by Joshua Richardson. The promoters returned to Parliament three more times to obtain authorisation for the raising of additional funds, obtaining the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway Act 1827 (7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. xi), the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway Act 1828 (9 Geo. 4. c. xxix) and the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway Act 1835 (5 & 6 Will. 4. c. lxxxii). The construction of Whitstable Harbour, under the direction of Thomas Telford, was completed in 1832.

        The line finally opened on 3 May 1830, with a single track throughout and passing loops at Clowes Wood and the entrance to Tyler Hill tunnel.

        MY EDIT: The Tyler Hill Tunnel (that used to carry the ‘Crab & Winkle’ Line) runs under the University of Kent campus, less than a mile from where I live. It is still there and can be visited once a year during the Canterbury Festival. After several tries to obtain one of the maximum of 12 tickets for the walk I managed to get one this year but was unable to use it due to a family emergency.

        Oh well, try again in 2026.

        1. I see how you came by your name now! My daughter graduated from the University of Kent in 2008. Apparently part of the Tyler Hill tunnel collapsed beneath the University campus in 1974 and had to be filled in.

  50. Islam, the poison that keeps on killing.

    An asylum seeker who set fire to the Koran while shouting anti-Islamic slurs has been warned by police that he is the target of an 'imminent' terror plot to murder him, it emerged today.
    Hamit Coskun, 50, was woken by officers at 2am on Saturday and told his life was in danger, according to his lawyers.
    'Like everyone else, I am afraid of being killed [and] I am very worried because I know that I may face security risks. This is the reality of the 'religion' we call Islam.
    'It does not respect different beliefs and cultures, it does not recognize the right to life. But I am not a coward. I am ready to pay the price.'
    Social media posts sent to Mr Coskun and seen by the Mail include one that states: 'You should sacrifice yourself to Koran. You will die'.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14791305/Man-burned-Koran-Islam-faces-terrorist-plot-murder.html

    1. Interesting that the 'Officers' had time on their hands at 2am to make house calls…

          1. “Threat to life warnings’ are a police response to the human rights court’s requirement that the state sometimes has to be proactive in protecting people from threats.”

            But not protecting society as a whole from the illegal gimmegrants.

  51. Completely OT. But interesting!

    You may remember about 18 months ago I posted that I had seen an article in The Times about a young man's journey to trace the escape route of his great-grandfather after he had been shot down in 1943 over France. I immediately realised that the aircraft was the same one in which my cousin's father was navigator. He was killed. My cousin never knew her father. Her mother didn't know she was pregnant. She was my mother's niece.

    I contacted the young man via The Times and put him in touch with my cousin. They met several times while the young man was writing the book. On 6 June this year, the book – Operation Pimento: My Great-Grandfather's Great Escape by Adam Hart was formally launched at a dinner at the RAF Club. My cousin – now 80 – was there with her two daughters and grandchildren and had a wonderful evening.

    After the war my cousin's mother married my father's brother. Thus our two families were united again.

    A heart-warming story, I think.

    2. Yes , a heartwarming story Bill.

      Your kindness and perceptiveness helped create a happy connection via the six degrees of connectivity , yep that sounds silly, but I do believe in that sort of thing .

  52. Brendan O'Neill socks it to 'em

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/leo-varadkar-and-the-real-story-of-the-imane-khelif-gender-scandal/#comments-container

    Leo Varadkar and the real story of the Imane Khelif gender scandal

    8 June 2025, 6:10am

    Canada's former prime minister Justin Trudeau and Ireland's ex-prime minister Leo Varadkar (Credit: Getty images)
    Remember when Leo Varadkar egged on someone with male strength who was punching women in the face? It sounds made up, I know. Varadkar, the former Taoiseach of Ireland, is painfully PC. He might have started his political career as a small-c conservative. But he ended up guffawing with Justin Trudeau over their shared penchant for virtue-signalling socks, slamming Israel like a Trinity brat in a keffiyeh, and getting so lost in the weeds of transgenderism that he once said his government had ‘no official position’ on how many genders there are. (Leo, bro: it’s two.)

    Surely a man like that would never whoop as someone with male strength smacked a lady? Not so fast. It was August 2024. The Paris Olympics had just ended. And the Algerian boxer Imane Khelif had caused a global stink by competing in the women’s boxing there, even though many suspected this was a person with male chromosomes. Varadkar was in Khelif’s corner. He took to Instagram and wrote a three-word message of love. ‘Get em girl!!’, it said.

    Have you ever heard anything so cringe? The former leader of a European nation issuing an Americanised, teenage-style cry for clicks and likes from the self-righteous of social media. Worse, he wrote his fawning note in bright pink. Maybe he was keen to drive home his point that Khelif is a woman. Women like pink, right?

    This was after Khelif had pounded the Italian boxer Angela Carini with such ferocity that Carini threw in the towel after 46 seconds to ‘preserve her life’. It was after Khelif won gold, to the fury of many feminists who believed that a biological male was nabbing medals from actual women. And it was after Khelif had threatened legal action against JK Rowling for having the uppity-woman gall to question whether this person of questionable sex should be boxing women. Varadkar saw all that and still said ‘Get em girl!!’. Not to the wounded Carini, not to the plain-speaking Rowling — to Khelif.

    Indeed, his ‘Get em girl’ was primarily said about Khelif’s legal rather than boxing antics. He said he hoped Khelif would get ‘financial support’ for the lawsuit. ‘I’d be happy to make a donation’, he said. Get em boy!

    Fast forward a year and there is now more controversy about Khelif. A leaked medical report claims Khelif is male. Or in the scientific lingo: ‘Chromosome analysis reveals male karyotype.’ Khelif has always insisted that she is a female and it remains unclear whether the report is legitimate. But if it turns out to be accurate, then it’s possible Varadkar was offering to help fund a lawsuit brought by a biological male who was seeking to legally reprimand a woman for daring to criticise the inclusion of blokes in women’s boxing. You do wonder if the right-on ever imagined they would find themselves standing against females like this.

    If it’s true, Varadkar might say he didn’t know Khelif had ‘male karyotype’. Okay, but he could have tried listening to women – a big ask for some fellas, I know.

    I don’t mean to single out Varadkar. It’s just that his hot takes on this hot mess of a scandal brilliantly sum up today’s tyranny of credulity. The 21st-century ruling classes are shockingly gullible. They’ll believe any old crap if it sounds warm and fuzzy and wins them brownie points on the social-media circuit. Even truths humankind has known since we first came down from the trees can be cavalierly dispensed with in the name of accruing ever greater moral glory.

    These people claim to belong to the expert classes. When Varadkar was Taoiseach, he frequently bemoaned the scourge of misinformation. He lamented our ‘post-truth’ era. Yet his policies on transgenderism suggest he bowed obsequiously to the greatest post-truth of them all: namely, that a male can be female. That men can become women. That lesbians can have penises. That there are so many genders his government could not possibly come to an ‘official position’ on how many. He cosplayed as a paragon of rationalism yet drank from the cup of lunacy.

    Varadkar was not alone. Virtually every liberal, every Rest Is Politics bro, every New Atheist and every ‘Listen to the Science’ greenie now bows and prays at the altar of trans. People who looked down their noses at the religious are now religious fanatics for genderfluidity. ‘Truth is dying!’, they wailed for years, and yet now they kill biological truth with their own bare hands.

    1. Khelif is male and should never have been admitted to the women's boxing competition. The organisers knew he was male. His medal should be forfeited and given to the next in line actual woman.

      1. I have some sympathy for Khelif as he was brought up as a girl as his parents thought he was, but, as ever, it is those who control sport that should have asked questions and stopped him early on. I note that another nepo babe, the love child of a spice girl and a comedy actor has transitioned, must be something in the water in Hollywood.

        1. Khelif didn't transition but as he was discovered to be a male when he had testing for his sport – he should have been treated as male from then and put in the male competition, if he was good enough.

          1. But if you have female genitals rather than male ones you and your parents might come to the conclusion that you are female.

            If Khelif does not – and never did – have a penis then he is to be pitied as much as he is to be censured.

          2. I agree he should be pitied. His life as a girl in a moslem country must have been pretty dire.
            But he should still not be allowed to beat women to a pulp.

          3. Yes – he is pitiable….. apart from when he’s bashing hell out of a woman. Not his fault he was born deformed. Clearly the medics at the time and his parents assumed he was female.

    1. The same width as the wheelbase on a Roman chariot, as I once read.

      1. One might say that it was thus derived, but the Roman chariots’ relevant dimension was largely determined by the size of the horse, as was the case with the wagons of C19 England.

    2. Afraid not: That line was 4ft 8in.

      George Stephenson introduced the 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) gauge to reduce binding on curves for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, authorised in 1826 and opened 30 September 1830. The extra half inch was not regarded at first as very significant, and some early trains ran on both gauges daily without compromising safety.

        1. Close but no cigar.

          George Stephenson's Birthplace – Wylam, Northumberland – one of the early railway pioneers, his cottage, can be found on the north bank of the Tyne.

    1. Chilly here as well, cloudy .

      Moh is playing golf today , competition , wearing his shorts etc !!!

      I am hoping my line of washing will dry , piles of stuff to dry including towels !..

  57. I think we all feel like we’ve had a bit of a weight lifted off our shoulders,” said Laura Fleming after an important milestone in one of Europe’s longest-running industrial disaster sagas. “It is just 45 years too late.”

    Fleming’s father, Michael, was one of 123 men who were killed when the Alexander L Kielland accommodation rig capsized during a fierce storm in the Norwegian North Sea oilfields on 27 March 1980.

    After decades of campaigning and investigations, no person, body or company has been directly held to account for what happened. But, in a historic vote last week, Norway’s parliament did finally vote to set up a state compensation scheme for relatives of the men who died.

    “My mind is always in two places,” she said. “I will always feel in my heart that justice hasn’t been done because, actually, nobody has been personally held to account for the dreadful decisions that were made regarding that rig – by allowing it to be used in the North Sea when it wasn’t safe to do so.

    “However, this is a major step. I think it’s a momentous day for everybody, especially the Norwegians who’ve been fighting for the full 45 years.”

    The Kielland was a semi-submersible platform about 200 miles off the Norwegian coast. It was housing 212 workers from the nearby Edda drilling rig when one of its five legs, with horrible, lethal suddenness, snapped in a storm. Only 89 people survived.

    Michael Fleming, an electrical engineer, was one of 22 Britons killed in the disaster, which led to fundamental changes in safety routines and regulations in the wider oil industry. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/08/its-a-momentous-day-families-of-britons-killed-in-1980-oil-rig-disaster-awarded-compensation

    Did the survivors of the later shocking Pipa Alpha disaster receive compensation ?

    https://acadame.co.uk/case-study-piper-alpha-oil-platform-disaster-1988/

    1. Years ago I worked with the man who was apparently the last person off the Kielland. His foot was trapped by a sliding container, and it wasn't until he was underwater that the container fell off and he could surface.
      Edit: spelling

  58. I think we all feel like we’ve had a bit of a weight lifted off our shoulders,” said Laura Fleming after an important milestone in one of Europe’s longest-running industrial disaster sagas. “It is just 45 years too late.”

    Fleming’s father, Michael, was one of 123 men who were killed when the Alexander L Kielland accommodation rig capsized during a fierce storm in the Norwegian North Sea oilfields on 27 March 1980.

    After decades of campaigning and investigations, no person, body or company has been directly held to account for what happened. But, in a historic vote last week, Norway’s parliament did finally vote to set up a state compensation scheme for relatives of the men who died.

    “My mind is always in two places,” she said. “I will always feel in my heart that justice hasn’t been done because, actually, nobody has been personally held to account for the dreadful decisions that were made regarding that rig – by allowing it to be used in the North Sea when it wasn’t safe to do so.

    “However, this is a major step. I think it’s a momentous day for everybody, especially the Norwegians who’ve been fighting for the full 45 years.”

    The Kielland was a semi-submersible platform about 200 miles off the Norwegian coast. It was housing 212 workers from the nearby Edda drilling rig when one of its five legs, with horrible, lethal suddenness, snapped in a storm. Only 89 people survived.

    Michael Fleming, an electrical engineer, was one of 22 Britons killed in the disaster, which led to fundamental changes in safety routines and regulations in the wider oil industry. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/08/its-a-momentous-day-families-of-britons-killed-in-1980-oil-rig-disaster-awarded-compensation

    Did the survivors of the later shocking Pipa Alpha disaster receive compensation ?

    https://acadame.co.uk/case-study-piper-alpha-oil-platform-disaster-1988/

  59. 406974+ up ticks,

    May one be permitted without causing to much offence a well intentioned word of advice.

    It has been shown without doubt via the tribal voter that a truthful assessment of the party they are supporting / voting for never takes place.

    Consequences are through the voters tribal following the children suffer, prime example being the ONGOING paedophilia plague.

    Also we have breached the walls of parliament via the Reform party, well & good, just keep in mind that close contact / fraternization in a warm cosy atmosphere plus 90K & exes can induce treachery.

    We, IMHO need a back up party OUTSIDE looking in, NOT inside looking out and I do believe that the Farmers Food and Freedom Party should mass form an anti treachery, share the egg load, safety net party.

  62. From Guido

    Lord Farquard
    3h
    Why don't the so-called 'moderate' RoPers stop the so-called 'extremists' and so-called gr00mers in their 'community'?
    In our society, moderate people put a stop to extremism in our midst – why don't they?
    Its almost as if…..

    Ij Zatte
    Lord Farquard
    2h
    I remember reading a poll years ago that said that only 15% would be willing to become martyrs but over 80% would support what they did.
    It's ingrained, there are no moderates.

    Ernest Nowell
    Lord Farquard
    2h
    A very old comment on here once said- Radical Salamists are like snakes in the grass. Moderate moooselyms are the grass they hide in ! Ok?

    1. Lord Farquard
      3h
      When I was young it felt like humanity was marching into the future – nuclear, computing, space, technology, science, and Britain was at the forefront. No one trying to imagine the near future back then saw a Britain in 2025 where the mass ritual slaughter of animals for religious festivals would be commonplace.
      This, apparently, is cultural enrichment, according to the elite.

      Clearly it is barbarity. Imported barbarity.

  63. Started hissing down with rain, so blackberry work on hold. Time for coffee.

  65. Prevent/Common Purpose are the Marxist extremists

    Patrick West
    Worrying about migration doesn’t make you an extremist
    8 June 2025, 9:14am

    This country still has a problem with a radical ideology. News that the government’s anti-radicalisation programme, Prevent, now classifies concerns about mass migration, or ‘cultural nationalism’, as a potential ‘terrorist ideology’ reveals the magnitude of this problem. And the problem in question is hyper-liberalism, a radical ideology that remains endemic in Prevent and elsewhere in the arms of the state.

    Far from dying out, this ideology, otherwise known as wokery or radical progressivism, has become normalised and embedded, especially in areas of government. The ideology has literally graduated from the academy and into the state sector.

    According to the reports, an online training course hosted on the government’s website for Prevent identifies ‘cultural nationalism’ as one belief that could trigger someone being referred to the deradicalisation scheme. This term encompasses a conviction that ‘Western culture is under threat from mass migration and a lack of integration by certain ethnic and cultural groups’.

    Critics of this wording have pointed out that such a sweeping definition, covering an arc of perfectly respectable opinions, could lead even Sir Keir Starmer and Robert Jenrick, the shadow home secretary, to be theoretically included in such an ‘extremist’ category, on account of their recent comments. Yet this is not the first time Prevent has widened its definition of ‘extremism’ to alarming levels of risibility.

    In February, Michael Portillo told GB News viewers how back in 2023 his BBC television series, Great British Railway Journeys, was singled out by Prevent for being capable of ‘encouraging far-right sympathies’ (other programmes also named by Prevent included House of Cards, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Yes, Minister). Portillo’s disclosure came the same week a leaked internal Home Office review on extremism suggested that claims of ‘two-tier policing’ were a ‘right-wing extremist narrative’.

    Radical progressivism remains endemic – or ‘systemic’, as its purveyors might say – in the halls of power and in the apparatus of the state. The language used by Prevent merely mirrors the real-life actions by the police and the judiciary of late. Last month The Sunday Telegraph uncovered the case of the wrongful arrest of a Kent pensioner for a supposedly anti-Semitic remark on Twitter. This week a man was given a criminal sentence for burning the Quran.

    What unites all these instances is a suspicion the British state now has for free speech and freedom of conscience. In the field of counter-terrorism it used to be the norm for agencies to monitor high-risk people with dangerous intent – as is still the remit of M15 – rather than keep an eye on those with awkward opinions. But this has changed.

    In this we see an obvious influence of hyper-liberalism and one of its key tenets: the idea that words are dangerous and must be policed – in our case today, literally. This is why woke activists have for years harped on about ‘offensive’ words, ‘microaggressions’ and even obsessed in a seemingly trivial way about pronouns. Hyper-liberals believe words can cause damage, especially when employed by those not sufficiently educated to use them.

    That invariably entails supervising the language of ordinary people with unfashionable viewpoints. That’s why targets tend to be pensioners with ‘Brexity opinions’, or unsophisticated white people who aren’t overly keen on the state of Britain after decades of state multiculturalism and recent accelerated rates of immigration. The over-educated classes who sneered at the hoi polloi for not understanding their jargon are the same overclass who deride them now for their ‘cultural nationalism’.

    Charges of racism are never far behind, levelled at those who might speak the language of ‘indigenous’ Britons or a ‘native’ culture. But assuming there is a reflexive love of this country’s past among cultural nationalists, there is indisputably a corresponding and eternal mentality among members of the British intelligentsia: a knee-jerk embarrassment and hatred of their own country, often accompanied by an indulgent attitude towards cultures of the exotic or the ‘other’. Romantic primitivism goes back to Rousseau, but it became endemic in academia in the 1960s, reaching epidemic proportions in the 1990s, and thenceforth seeping out into the real world.

    It is a motor of top-down politics today. Asymmetrical multiculturalism informs Prevent’s lopsided approach to terrorism, one that overplays the threat posed by the far right and underplays the one posed by Islamists. It was behind the ‘double standard’ that the damning Shawcross Review on Prevent spoked of in 2023, with the programme’s ‘expansive’ definition of right-wing extremism that included ‘mildly controversial or provocative forms of mainstream, right-wing leaning commentary that have no meaningful connection to terrorism or radicalisation’.

    Little has changed in the intervening two years. That’s because ingrained attitudes can’t be altered by legislation. Culture cannot be changed by fiat. But understanding the mentality of those who issue diktats of their own is a good place to start.

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

    Helicobacter Pylori
    2 hours ago
    I thought that this article was very mild, considering the outrageous premise that Prevent is working on. Who are these people? The fact that they can get away with this fills me with anger and despair.

    Blindsideflanker Helicobacter Pylori
    2 hours ago
    Yes it needs more than a bit of mild criticism, it needs a full on scrutiny of Prevent , nothing less than a full on evisceration of the whole rotten organisation and of the people who run it.

    1. The 'far-right' was always a bit of a myth. I suppose that, in order to justify their existence, Prevent has widened the scope of the 'far-right' to include about 70% of the UK population. Plenty of work to keep them busy now, investigating the mildest of opinions.

      1. The 'far-right' was invented and magnified by the people who infiltrated and took over Prevent. They were Common Purpose, a Marxist organisation.
        https://commonpurpose.org .
        Their aim is to distract all attention away from the Marxists, not merely to create work for themselves.

        1. To be fair, they probably do genuinely believe that anyone who doesn't worship Karl marx hard enough is literally Hitler.

        2. To be fair, they probably do genuinely believe that anyone who doesn't worship Karl marx hard enough is literally Hitler.

      1. Why are they so obsessed with war? Every time we finish one, we say “never again”, and “lest we forget”. And yet here we are….manufacturing a war that is nothing to do with us.

        3. War should be one country's government against the other – the senior politicians, civil servants. Once those bastards have been chopped to bits, hopefully painfully, some might think about it a bit.
          It'd be cheaper, too.

  67. "Prince William urges leaders to ‘turn the tide’ on ocean pollution
    Echoing the words of Sir David Attenborough, the prince told a crowd in Monaco that there was still time to protect the sea" (The S Grimes)

    What a plonker he is. He could have spoken via Zoom rather than polluting the atmosphere by flying to Nice – and then, I expect, a helico to Monaco.

    1. PS:

      "A Kensington Palace spokesman said: “This is another key moment in the calendar where you’ll see the prince acting as a global statesman and he will be joined by world leaders such as President Macron of France and President Chaves Robles of Costa Rica.”"

    2. What the Prince didn't say…

      Plastics are not the problem. Most can be recycled but that costs money. Rich people like me don't like spending money.
      The problem lies with third world countries who throw their rubbish into the streets and rivers.
      Now where's my free Champagne and Caviar !

      1. If he's that bothered, he can take Spartie for a walk round the school fields.
        Plenty of crap – particularly discarded plastic bottles, drinks cans and snack packets – to keep him occupied.

      2. I'd say some cobbed overboard from various shipping/boats…fishermen pots, ropes and the ever present plastic items.

    3. Or he could have kept his gob closed.

      Monaco is hardly the place to preach from. I reckon this Woke William twit is responsible for the pending knighthood to be bestowed on that other smug plonker Beckham.

    1. Labour are too obtuse to care. They will inflict such damage in the next 4 years that we simply can't recover.

      1. 406974+ up ticks,

        Afternoon Bob,

        The situation gets more serious by the day and
        and the governing tool & kit have tied the safety valve down,that is why they must be
        ID via a deck of cards for when the bloodletting starts
        Health & safety rule to protect the innocent
        wilst punishing the political guilty.

        NO decent people will continue to want to exist living under a political regime that condones witnessing very little, if any, “incarceration time for crime” very serious crime.

        Very sad to say but forced into it blood must flow, to achieve a cleansing endgame.

  72. Electrocution

    Some people think that avoiding electrocution is not speakin proper.
    However whilst you may be able to stay alive having had elocution lessons you may be at risk of having serious injuries or even death should you try installing solar panels to make electricity.

    This video covers precautions you should take to avoid harm and fires when installing or having installers connect up your solar panels:

    https://youtu.be/ps8fZ6dwESk?si=wuC8FwOdlC__W0tH

    During my training it was accepted that 50 volts DC was the highest voltage that could be safely handled and this is why telephone exchange batteries were 50 volts. This means that assuming one's body resistance is 1000 ohms then you body current would be limited to a safe 50 milliamps.

    2. My late grandfather, who was a builder, routinely checkrd for live wires by touching them with his finger. He never even twitched – and lived to a ripe old age.

    1. Here's the text for that:-

      An asylum seeker who allegedly recruited child soldiers has won an appeal to stay in Britain.

      The Sri Lankan, who remains unnamed after he was granted anonymity by the Upper Tribunal of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber, faces claims he 'enlisted children under the age of 15' to separatist terrorist group Tamil Tigers.

      The tribunal also heard he was working for the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation [TRO] – a refugee charity – but was secretly supplying information.

      The French Justice system previously ruled he should be denied asylum due to allegations that he was a war criminal.

      And the Home Office agreed, refusing the man refugee status and attempting to deport him.

      He then won an appeal against the decision in 2023, with a judge citing a lack of evidence to support the accusations.

      The Home Office has now lost an appeal of their own, meaning the asylum seeker can remain in the country.

      British judges stuck with the ruling two years ago and said there is not enough evidence to say the allegations are true.

      The Home Office's original case referred to the French asylum court's verdict that he 'ought to be excluded from a grant of asylum under Article 1F of the Refugee Convention due to his alleged involvement in war crimes in this case the alleged recruitment of children'.

      But a judge found that the government department 'had not shown serious grounds for concluding that [the Sri Lankan] was guilty of the war crime of conscription or enlistment of children under the age of 15 or using them to participate actively in hostilities'.

      The judge added: 'I am not satisfied even on the evidence of his own admissions, accurate or otherwise, to the French that this goes far enough to show that the [Sri Lankan] was effectively collecting information which he knew was going to be misused, and misused specifically for the recruitment of child soldiers under the age of 15.

      'Nor am I satisfied that there are serious reasons for considering on all the evidence adduced that the [Respondent] has been shown to have knowingly materially assisted in the recruitment of child soldiers under the age of 15, by the work done by the T.R.O. in gathering information, possibly subsequently used by the L.T.T.E. for that purpose.'

      Home Office lawyers argued at the appeal in London that the judge had not attached enough wait to the French court's decision.

      But, Deputy Upper Tribunal Judge Adrian Seelhoff disagreed, saying: 'The Judge assessed that evidence to see if it supported the [Home Office's] case that [the Sri Lankan], whilst working for the TRO, supplied details which the LTTE used to recruit child soldiers.

      '[The Home Office's] position before us was not that the Judge was bound to follow the French Court decision, but that he had not given adequate reasons for reaching a different decision or that he failed to attach weight to the decision.

      'We find that the Judge did give adequate reasons for not following that decision, and for the weight he attached to it and that accordingly there is no error of law in the decision under appeal.

      2. Well. Ophelia does need a new pony ….. and Peregrine's school fees have rocketed.

    3. What's the problem? He is unlikely to be worried about mass migration. Nothing to see here…

    4. I don't think they even bothered. Probably put as much effort in as the government lawyer.

  75. Saint Mary's at Kempley:

    The tiny church of St Mary at Kempley, Gloucestershire, was probably built in the early 12th century by Baron Hugh de Lacy, owner of Kempley manor. Its exterior is unassuming, but inside, this simple Norman building is adorned with the most outstandingly complete and well-preserved medieval wall paintings in England. Those in the chancel, dating from the early 12th century, are particularly rare, and are the most complete set of Romanesque paintings in northern Europe. They are a vivid reminder of a time when church interiors were covered in such decoration.

    St Mary’s also has some exceptionally ancient timbers, including the oldest timber roof of any building in England.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e9b7b17f41b3c86f70c7a103d091533b592ab7fe51208f4d41806e45bc9e3dcb.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/890e2c777fb81fdbd88f36154a924ef0b3c199b656efc9b74463006fc4b7d747.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/908b756220c638edde765a32afa9f53fedb31d509fbdebab999778372f90c429.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/215dfe69f466f757fb412d306f47f516cac058765db1f4bdbdc10c8e93fc074f.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8c028f73c93267fd2a25afddee7b07e01dcbdd6904ea9f0250268f6c784ed690.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fd6b04183637d64f0c4429932b03c4e29186ed58382a2d554fe067e3ebca1c0b.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d86a76230ad92c86dae8ff2ff6ef0ec5aef5aca6359c712f21b51e35cd59b742.jpg

    2. Thank you. What a sight those paintings must have been to cottagers and villeins compared with their grubby, smokey hovels.

    4. Unique and extravagant interior for its time.

      Shame about the pink wash on the outside walls which appear otherwise to be coursed stone rubble. Neither stone nor brick should be painted in my opinion.

      The “buttress” on the outside wall is presumably fake as it cannot be doing much for its stability.

    5. Shame about the pinkwash. It's a lovely old church but the stained glass is more Arts & Crafts than medieval.

      1. The single English Knight is in commemoration of one Colin Robert Morley RAF Volunteer Reserve.

    1. Odd that they cost 3 quid there yet when they get here it's £3000. A day.

      And why are you including a picture of a school in Peckham?

    2. People with albinism in Tanzania have a price on their heads – whether dead or alive, adults or children. Albino trafficking is underreported in Tanzania and other countries in East and Southern Africa, where markets for their body parts prosper.

      Tanzania hosts the largest rate of people with albinism worldwide. Albinism is a genetic condition where skin lacks the melanin pigment, making a person appear unusually light. While one out of 15 000 people in most African sub-regions has albinism, one out of 1 400 Tanzanians has the condition. A mutation of the albino gene OCA2, which produces the melanin pigment responsible for tanning the skin, is carried (if not exhibited) by one in every 19 Tanzanians.

      Albinos are socially alienated and stigmatised. They are often called derogatory terms like ‘ghosts’ and ‘white goats’, says Fundikila Wazambi of the Legal and Human Rights Centre in Tanzania. The stigmatisation means that they aren’t able to fully participate in socio-economic activities or access essential social services, and that their freedom of movement is limited. They are blamed for natural disasters like famine, drought or locust invasions by those who believe that albinos are cursed.

      Ironically, people with albinism are valued for their body parts. According to superstition, their limbs, bones, skin and internal organs can be used to make charms, potions, amulets or concoctions that will bring good fortune, health, wealth and even extraordinary or supernatural powers like flying to those who use them.

      Tanzania hosts the largest rate of people with albinism worldwide.

      The clients who buy these ‘products’ are wealthy, influential, and are from different parts of East and Southern Africa, including Tanzania and its immediate neighbours. It appears that most are politicians seeking re-election and business magnates who believe that potions made from albino body parts will make their enterprises thrive, says the anonymous informant.

      When a wealthy client dies, albinos are sourced to serve him in his afterlife. In the most bizarre practice of this superstition, a dead client is buried with four live albinos – two on either side of the deceased body, which is laid on their laps.

      Most attacks against people with albinism occur in the rural areas of Tanzania, especially in the Victoria, Tanganyika, Nyasa and other smaller lake regions. The towns of Kagera, Geita, Chato, Shinyanga, Singida and Mwanza are hotspots.

      Unlike in urban centres, it is hard to detect when a person with albinism is killed in villages in rural areas. Communities believe that albinos ‘disappear’ and do not die, says Wazambi, and so do not report their missing relatives to the authorities.

      There are three active albino trafficking routes in the East and Southern African regions, says Ntetema: Tanzania-Malawi-Burundi-Kenya; Tanzania-Mozambique-South Africa; and Tanzania-Swaziland-South Africa. Tanzania features in all these routes as a source country, but albinos are targeted in all these countries by the criminal networks who control the trade. The networks act independently but also work together to exchange organs and charms.

      Trafficking and killing of people with albinism occur where government services are often absent or ineffective

      During his presidential election campaign in 2015, the late John Magufuli vowed to end the killing of albinos and pledged that government officers would be held personally responsible if any took place.

      Despite Magufuli’s stance, killings continued, some are reported and many more are unreported. In 2021, four killings of albinos were reported by the human rights organisations Under the Same Sun and the Legal and Human Rights Centre. A boy of six was discovered mutilated in Kigoma city in May, while a woman was killed in Tabora municipality. And two graves exhumed in October in Tanga and Arusha cities revealed bodies that had been desecrated and were missing their left legs.

      In other African countries, albino killings have reportedly increased with the COVID-19 pandemic as more people have fallen into poverty and turned to the organ trade to make money.

      International advocacy campaigns by human rights organisations and the United Nations aim to raise awareness about the threats faced by albinos worldwide. These campaigns focus on influencing and instituting effective policy and protective frameworks at national levels.

      But it is difficult to institute interventions for what can be described as a ‘silent crime’. Albino trafficking and killing occur in places where government services are often absent or ineffective. There is also less advocacy at these local levels due to traditions, customs and superstitions, leaving robust criminal networks to operate unfettered.

      Political stances such as Magufuli’s are to be encouraged. Yet these remain political rhetoric if not accompanied by local-level advocacy. This advocacy, which may be spearheaded by the media and civil society, would need to focus on shifting the perspectives on albinism. This shift would decrease the stigmatisation and create counter-narratives that break down beliefs that enable the silent, deadly trade in people with albinism. Such campaigns are insufficient on their own, however – local-level leaders who vocally support these initiatives are needed to change mindsets, along with district and national-level support through law enforcement and policy frameworks.

      The National Anti-Trafficking in Persons Plan of Action 2021-2024 launched in March is a commitment in the right direction. However, an additional and urgent focus is specific legislation on organ trafficking that will support its 2008 Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act in Tanzania.

      And Tanzania is not alone, countries across the East and Southern African are necessary partners in the detection and prosecution of crimes in their own countries and in the cross-border trade in people with albinism.

      Mohamed Daghar, Regional Coordinator, Eastern Africa, ENACT Project, ISS

      https://enactafrica.org/enact-observer/buried-alive-tanzanias-albinos-pay-the-price-for-superstition

      Look what we are allowing to come into Britain via the boats, airports etc

      BLEEDING CANNIBALS

      1. Because Pygmies in the Congo are not viewed as human beings by the other tribes, they form a large part of the Bush Meat Trade.

    1. They want to stimulate a situation wherein they are "forced" to instigate Martial Law. Guess who the enforcers will be. The whole situation is so poisonous. I have no idea how to stop it. Our only hope is a braver and more honest press – proper journalists rather than the shower we presently have. Fat hope.

  80. Hawksmoor saga continues..

    Huw & Will and mummy Fiona (writer for The Guardian)
    "This was not about politics or beliefs.. yar. We welcome as many people as possible regardless of backgrounds or view. Yar."

    BTLs

    I was in hawksmoor Spitalfields six weeks ago and our afternoon was ruined by a table of eight,dare I say it people of non European origin. Their behaviour I would describe as being loud and aggressive toward staff and other customers ( the two tables closest to them asked to be moved ) . My point here is that in this case not only did the staff seem to feel uncomfortable the majority of diners could not wait to get out and yet nobody was asked to leave. I will leave you to draw your own conclusions from this.

    The best experience, but only if we agree with your politics.

    From the people that brought you "thought crime", "uncomfortable" is the perfect cop-out and is vague enough to never be explained.

    I loved Tommy's mixed race mate's reaction; "is it because of my skin colour?"

    This is an example of where Rayner's Employment Rights Bill will be going – snowflakes rule

    1. Even people who are not supporters of Tommy will be concerned about this. Hawksmoor have damaged their brand because of 'woke'. Just like Gilette, Bud and others.

      I doubt the staff were uncomfortable. I would be surprised if the waiting staff even recognised him. Not everyone is plugged into the narrative. Some people have to work long shifts.

      I expect it was picked up higher up the food chain. Forgive the pun.

      1. Nicholas Hawksmoor was arguably our greatest Architect. I was responsible for the drawings and specifications for the restoration of the interior of his finest church building viz. Christ Church Spitalfields.

        I am still waiting to be credited for the work I undertook and will most probably die first. I retain digital copies of all documents should any local historian wish to research the project and understand the research methods and translation.

  81. Hawksmoor saga continues..

    Huw & Will and mummy Fiona (writer for The Guardian)
    "This was not about politics or beliefs.. yar. We welcome as many people as possible regardless of backgrounds or view. Yar."

    BTLs

    I was in hawksmoor Spitalfields six weeks ago and our afternoon was ruined by a table of eight,dare I say it people of non European origin. Their behaviour I would describe as being loud and aggressive toward staff and other customers ( the two tables closest to them asked to be moved ) . My point here is that in this case not only did the staff seem to feel uncomfortable the majority of diners could not wait to get out and yet nobody was asked to leave. I will leave you to draw your own conclusions from this.

    The best experience, but only if we agree with your politics.

    From the people that brought you "thought crime", "uncomfortable" is the perfect cop-out and is vague enough to never be explained.

    I loved Tommy's mixed race mate's reaction; "is it because of my skin colour?"

    This is an example of where Rayner's Employment Rights Bill will be going – snowflakes rule

  82. Knickers and Spit.
    Pee, Po, Belly Bum and Drawers ….

    I’ve come up with a strategy for dealing with a tricky item on The Tapestry but it needs felt; felt in a colour I do not have.
    Idly thought I might pop up to Hobbycraft: then their latest advert landed in my inbox. All about sodding Pride – by a company that largely draws its sales from children’s craft stuff.
    So that’s a sale they’ve lost. Not a huge amount, but let’s hope that my reaction is replicated elsewhere.
    I now have to order online from a specialist company, so The Tapestry will not progress today.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fI1iMhtqtU

  83. Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom:

    Oh you lucky people. If something happens to Herr Starmer this is his nominated successor.
    https://scontent-cdg4-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/504649551_1034833478837218_1313549938640568583_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s640x640_tt6&_nc_cat=107&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=833d8c&_nc_ohc=J572MGDu42YQ7kNvwFNfiI4&_nc_oc=AdkqmuWzzMHbHvhnGiEXyHjEdaIej8L8UCmhVX1SpCbU_1PmiOjTMHPcQo9mKQzclUfHuvw5ug7p0_FpXu5hzq4d&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-cdg4-2.xx&_nc_gid=zkyZwwXrgSL_hTrij14DoA&oh=00_AfNDM1yzoy70zi1veURvnNPerjWxidZMP6kJYsg_6Mkccg&oe=684B80A8

    1. Today’s reading ended “The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood”.

  85. Well that's not creepy at all…

    Moderna's newest mRNA product, just passed for use in the USA, called mNexspike
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0731849f501c98ef630508e83288c47669612c399c2c518bdf5beceb736826b3.png
    'Nex" is a Latin word:
    "What does nex mean in Latin? – WordHippo
    English words for nex include death, violent death, murder, slaughter, blood of the slain and natural death. Find more Latin words at http://wordhippo.com !"

    Pure coincidence, I'm sure. The branding team, sorry AI, was just asleep on that day.

    Also, 2.7% of people in the trials had 'serious adverse events'.
    Are ya feeling lucky?
    Remember the golden rule; they always tell you…

      1. One of the founders of netflix is the great-nephew of Edward Bernays, (wikip: an Austrian-American pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda…"his techniques have been criticized for manipulating public opinion, often in ways that undermined individual autonomy and democratic values")

    2. I was prescibed a drug that had been withdrawn from a trial in the US because it performed worse than another drug with which is was being compared. Doctors in US said they wouldn't precribe it for their patients and it became the subject of litigation.

      I withdrew from the drug and advised the MRHA of its issues using a Yellow Card report. My GP refused to engage with the MRHA.

      All drugs are dangerous – depends on who takes them.
      It's all covered in the PIL – Patient Information Leaflet.

      2. Sometimes, when reading the PIL, it seems the drug you’re taking actually causes the symptoms you’re taking the drug for! And the list of possible adverse reactions/consequences is as long as your arm. And then some!

    3. Like the research company Ipsos Mori who claim that their name doesn’t mean “they die” despite the fact that their name does literally translate from the Latin as “they die”.

  86. This is possibly a paranoic suspicion but i think True Belle has been disconnected from social media.

    Anyone?

      1. She accepted an invitation to lunch in Weymouth then nothing. I wouldn't have a concern but it is a seafood restaurant that needs to know what you are eating from the catch that day. I posted the menu then nothing.
        Given i have to speak to a Frenchman with a really thick accent i need at least one day to sort things out. Then get him to repeat it twice more.
        I do have his 'O'tmail account.

        1. I am here , I am here , I am here !

          Don't panic.. this sounds so exciting ..

          I love sea food , and the Bass will be a treat, rarely have that .

        2. Just say: 'Eh hoh, eh hoh, ah wee wee, ehhoh.' If they get over excited say 'ehohehoh ehoh.' You can punctuation with a throaty groan as well.

        3. I can't remember the complete menu, which looks scrummy, but I think if you don't hear from her you should order for her, and I would suggest the carrot/squash veloute with poached egg then the sea bass. Or possibly ask for the fish cakes as a starter followed by the sea bass. I think Belle's appetite and mine might well coincide (could be wrong!).

          Devastated not to be invited, BTW. x

    1. Funny how locals were reporting to the Taliban on people who supported the Americans and British in Afghanistan but Palestinians never appear to report to the Israelis where Hamas terrorists are hiding; even though they are using their own people as human shields.

      I very, very much doubt Hamas would allow reporters to see the reality, even if Israel did allow them free rein.

    2. Jeremy Bowen – a large suppurating pustule on the syphilitic ars*ehole of the Bullsh*t Broadcasting Company. Top man obviously!

          1. As a matter of interest, can anyone name a single Jeremy who has proved anything other than a POS?

          3. Ah! yes, I hadn't thought of that. Maybe not a POS but quite definitely an anti-Semite, which to my mind is a tad adjacent. And intolerable, btw.

      2. He has more blood on his hands for his lies and libels than many others. The BBC is a Hamas (terrorist) mouthpiece, responsible for much hatred and slaughter. Not to mention the ubiquitous hate marches that we have to endure in every city in our country.

    3. It must genuinely be difficult for him to sustain that level of cognitive dissonance for so long.

  88. The nickname 'Geordie' probably derived from George Stephenson, the railway engineer. Geordie was. at that time, a common nickname for anyone called George. One of his earlier occupations was 'brakesman', controlling the winding gear at the local coal pit. In 1815, aware of the explosions often caused in mines by naked flames, Stephenson began to experiment with a safety lamp that would burn in a gaseous atmosphere without causing an explosion. Cornishman, Humphry Davy, was also looking at the problem. A month before Davy presented his design to the Royal Society, Stephenson demonstrated his own lamp to two witnesses by taking it down Killingworth Colliery Davy was awarded £2000, whilst Stephenson was accused of stealing the idea from Davy. Stephenson's was different and safer than Davy's and In 1833 a House of Commons committee found that Stephenson had equal claim to having invented the safety lamp and awarded him £1,000. Davy went to his grave believing Stephenson had stolen his idea. The Stephenson (Geordie) lamp was used almost exclusively in North East England, whereas the Davy lamp was used everywhere else. There is a theory that it was Stephenson's lamp which indirectly gave the name of "Geordies" to the North East pitmen and subsequently to the people of the North East of England.

    1. The success of Rocket is attributed to the genius of the Stephensons but its great advance over other early locomotives was the design of the exhaust blast pipe. Timothy Hackworth is regarded as the man who invented this but doesn't get enough credit for it.

    2. And now stolen by the Norman implants in Sodom on Tyne.

      As you say, the first reference to Geordies was to Durham pitmen (yakkas). One of the earliest references was a derogatory reference was during a march to Newcastle with the intention of burning it down.

  89. Wordle No. 1,450 3/6

    ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
    ⬜⬜🟩🟩⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    Wordle 8 Jun 2925

    Rent for Birdie Three?

    1. Birdie as well.

      Wordle 1,450 3/6

      🟨⬜⬜⬜🟩
      ⬜🟨🟩⬜⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    2. Well done. My usual word did the trick today.

      Wordle 1,450 2/6

      🟨⬜⬜🟩🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      2. Well done mola.
        4 for me.
        Wordle 1,450 4/6

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

    3. Some hot scoring today – birdie here as well!

      Wordle 1,450 3/6

      ⬜🟨🟨🟨⬜
      🟨🟩⬜🟨🟨
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    4. Birdie here too. I had the answer with three letters but played safe.

      Wordle 1,450 3/6

      🟨🟨🟩⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    5. Par for me. I looked up a Wordle clue for today but the clue was, “to instruct”. Che? Serves me right of course!

      Wordle 1,450 4/6

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

  90. From The Graun

    Stephen Fry and Theo James to star in film about marine bottom trawling

    Comedic genius by the Casting Director

    1. 'Comedic genius…'

      There's a sense in which that's a shame (he chortled) because it's a serious subject.

      Despite their designation, most UK marine protected areas (MPAs) still allow bottom trawling. The process decimates habitats and indiscriminately catches and kills countless "non-target" marine species in the process. Research by Blue Marine shows that 74% of England's inshore MPAs and 92% in Scotland still permit this practice, including in fragile habitats such as seagrass meadows.

      https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jun/08/stephen-fry-and-theo-james-to-star-in-film-about-destructive-bottom-trawling

    2. I don't know what to say to that.
      I know from from White Lotus that Theo James was supposed to have a large penis.
      What i don't understand is why Stephen Fry would be the least bit interested.

    2. No, but the media are predominantly Left wing and the Left hate Jews. If they do not love muslim, it's a case of my enemy of the enemy is my friend type thing.

      muslim are vile savages who want to erase Israel. They always start the conflicts then wail and squeal when Israel fights back – which, of course, is the intent as then despite kicking the lion they can complain when they're bitten.

      muslim are wretched creatures.

  92. Some chuckles and some thoughts a little bit more serious.

    Courtesy of Wayne Dunlap.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3e9f9146533b58ed32cefeda40c5c232ae6b84cf9e03e9b53281461fef96828b.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6c7cc4230514bc6af3c4228054da1fab658db17c2a89346c9106f74ceab5aaa3.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fc6b5980ba1dc9f5b5c12e0384ab3950009132477d810c225663d8be8c694e16.png

    Here in the UK it could be any one of our MSM broadcasters.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/53c2fae2a753f59931d78d9b87fbea33032502f3925b6812530f2e4440c45bf0.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b6ca13a4ee702f50f07f655ece3e17744b571909065ec773036357743e7a5adc.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/27d749ebaab35b60271804d5ba648335e33faaebc91aea4924fd20e1dc88c37c.png

  94. That's me for today. A cold windblown one. Most unappealing. Hope it is better tomorrow as I have a great deal of stuff to do in t'garden.

    Have a jolly evening – I am going to light the stove!

    A demain.

    By the way: the book I mentioned earlier about the crashed aircraft etc is available on Audible and is very well read by the young author.
    Operation Pimento: My Great-Grandfather's Great Escape

  95. busy day. Have been going through stiff, and freecycling it. I have my suspicions that some people want the nice stuff to resell.

    1. "stiff". You wanna watch that. And yes, they do sell it on. I couldn't care less as long it goes from here and is of some value to someone.

      1. Echo my thoughts, opo. Hope you're having a great evening, as I did – birthday, champers and family…:-))

          1. Thank you, Sue! much appreciated…had such a great time, champers, cake & sushi wearing off a little now unfortunately…back on the treadmill:-)

          1. Thanks opo! hope you’re having a great evening and not giving a second thought to all the lousy dirty cheaters and politicians! xxx

          3. Somehow, opo, I’ve managed to do it in the last several months, quite liberating…even though I have younger family and I worry for them. None of them have ever voted, they just get on with their lives best way forrard. When I think of it, last time I voted with any conviction was Thatcher, a politician of conviction. You’ll gain on it I hope x

          1. Thanks, sos, I hope so too. Could only have been better if my old dog still with me, don’t know if you remember PetaJ but she and I agreed – we’ll meet again, and I cling to that xxx

          1. Was actually the 3rd June, N….but work and other commitments being what they are in today’s craziness, today the first time get together all family (or famalam as they call themselves). Great time, lot of laughs, cake, champagne, kisses, tears…only thing missing my dog but we raised a glass to him. Then listened/watched my favourite Joni Mitchell…so a lovely time all round. Thanks so much for good wishes! xxx

          4. Aha…Russian detected…thanks so much Vlad, hope you’re having a lovely evening…here’s one back at ya..x

          5. Yes, Russian never looks as good when it's transliterated – unfortunately I havent learnt to type in Cyrillic!

          7. Belated happy birthday, I don't always look all the way to the bottom of the Nottl comments.

          9. Thanks, Conway…still counting my blessings 🙂 hope you and doggos all good x

  96. I reckon Antifa are just one or two Molotov cocktails away from being classified as Terrorists by Trump.
    Labour isn't bothered about Hamas so shouldn't worry them.

    1. What is your problem? Some bare chested loon with bottles of alcohol at a parade offering flaming sambuca's. Educate your self !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    3. Bricks against M4 carbines? I can't see it ending well for the Antifa cretins.

      2. How about the NHS statement today about treating people in need? Clearly if you are white are second class. Months and years to just get an appointment. Then those appointments canceled.

    2. Shouldn't be allowed at the same time as the bum wavers are celebrating Eid

    1. Do you remember that young American woman, sos…..a number of years ago, went to Afghanistan with the approval of her Christian parents, to proselytise even though it was well known the Taliban would not tolerate that …was imprisoned and grievously assaulted, yet her parents still thought she did the right thing. Similarly with GT, promoted by her parents.

      1. I predict that GT will be treated very well by Hamas and the whole theatre will operate in their favour. Let's see.

    2. Even Hamas don't deserve to have to put up with the loony little gobshite.

  100. I don't, but I'm not surprised.

    Sometimes I think it's a shame we don't do similarly to the hate preachers we appear to welcome.

    1. No-one knows the reasons, sos…nor the immigrant numbers. Harikiri writ large, on our behalf. Polly would likely tell us Soros behind it all.

      1. Heh heh. It will be in a cool dark place – it'll be in my septic tank.

          4. Ah that'll be:

            Covered in this guide are: Aire & Calder Navigation, Bridgewater Canal, Calder & Hebble Navigation, Huddersfield Narrow Canal, Huddersfield Broad Canal, Lancaster Canal, Leeds & Liverpool Canal, Macclesfield Canal, Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal, Peak Forest and Ashton Canals, Rochdale Canal, Sankey Canal and Trent & Mersey Canal.

        3. We have one, decades old, no problems at all (thank you, Muck Munchers). Apparently not recommended now? reed beds or some such…….

          1. Yup, as far as I know ours is 25 years old, and no problems whatsoever. The kid lives in Ontario, but quite a bit further south than us, and you can’t put one in these days if there is access to a municipal sewage system. You’re forced to pay to connect to the municipal system. Oddly enough, there was also a sudden rise in existing tanks (grandfathered in) failing inspection at the same time, thus requiring a connection to the system etc etc.

            :strokes beard:

    2. Evening DC.
      It needs sampling for quality control purposes mate. Then cleanse your palate with a large gin, or two.

      1. Hey there, GQ. I shall make sure I have a gin standing by, just in case.

        I haven’t taken it off the sediment yet, so I reckon the first tasting will be Thursday.

        1. I still think keeping you palate cleansed will be a good call, and of course if asked you were *made* to.

  102. Thank you Stephen…really appreciate you taking the time to find and copy my favourite artist…bit tearful now tbh x Kate

    1. Hah hah.

      Took a reading this morning, and it's looking like 10% ABV. I will let it age. (In my fridge for about 48 hours before starting to drink it.)

      1. VG! Many years ago in a small Devonshire Village I watched aghast as a very old lady decided to pour down her sink 25 year old Rhubarb wine that was a delightful pink colour and as clear as a bell….!

        2. Feel a bit faint after reading that Stephen…..it is the easiest thing to make…..

      2. Please remember, in Scotland dandelions are called Jack-pee-the-bed!

        1. I blame on fear of failure. I’d hate to wait all that time and then get gunk.

          Wife blames it on my being a functioning alcoholic.

          2. I prefer to go drinking in Carlisle – that makes me a borderline alcoholic……

          3. I know you are out in the wilds but you do know how to brew without going blind don't you?

          4. I csn sea prfwecly wull all hve yu no.

            The methanol problem is really an issue if you distill your own spirits – which I do as well. This dandelion is just a basic home brew. 🙂

            Only know one way to test for methanol – set fire to your sample, and keep chucking it away until it burns with zero yellow flame, and all blue flame. And then chuck a bit more away to be on the safe side. Got any other tips?

          6. I'm teaching grandma to suck eggs ain't i ?

            Though your method leaves a lot to be desired.

            I like my gravity to be specific. I don't float away then.

  104. That was good – nice dinner (Daube provencale) at the local restaurant – two French-trained chefs (one really French, the other Norwegian), so the food is always excellent. Prices are good, too, as is the wine.

    1. Eggcellent…young chap I know off to Iceland soon, I haven't visited but I understand fish restaurants good – recommendations welcome:-)

      1. Iceland is pricey, so it's hard to talk 'value' – but yes, the fish is generally incredibly good. It's been 10 years since I've been, but I loved Saegreifinn in Reykjavik. It's in a beautiful spot on the harbour side. Pretty basic/rustic place – but on the lower end of prices. At the higher end of the market, is Kopar.

        You'll find plenty of reviews/details with a quick search on either place.

        1. Thanks, DC….it’s an organised trip with others, will definitely put your recommendation forward 🙂

      1. Daggnabit, could have put in a postal bet……..have to make do with him in the workshop……….

          1. of what, me winning? :-DD not worth the bet, sos…always the winner winner chicken dinner…….

    2. I am in two minds over this. Grimsby died a long time ago. Even after having a sitting Labour MP for decades. The fishing industry was destroyed and sold out to the EU just as we are seeing with all our other fisher folk yet again.
      Freeman Street was the place to go. Shops. Ladies in hats. Men in suits. Recently…. fucked up druggies and prostitutes.
      I have no problem with people selling curry and bright clothing (something Grimsby never had).
      If these folks can drive the dross out i'm all for it.

  108. That's how I ended up in this Godforsaken wilderness in the first place….

    1. I'm looking forward to trying it! This year I took some advice from one of the Amish lads who suggested cutting up a couple of oranges and throwing them into the first stage where you steep the dandelion petals.

  111. I just went to Google translate, in addition to English there were some odd cyphers…anyhow, confession, I’m secretly a Putin fan largely because he loves his people and his country, or seems to?

    1. As you may recall I have worked in Russia in the past and really like the Russian people – Putin, not so much….

  114. I think you’ll be right, she’ll be used by them, as will all her followers. What was that Jesuit saying ‘give ’em to us young’…..

      1. Prime Minister Starmer is perfectly safe. I can't think of a single person that would want to shoot him with an AK47. Not that those weapons are available in this country because our borders are secure against such things.
        Though i must add….Scorpion machine guns appear readily available. You can probably get a second hand one on Ebay.

        1. I've heard you can buy anything on the Dark Web, Phiz….what might we get for PM Starmer I wonder……..

          3. Not somewhere i would go. Far too many bored policeman and MI5 spooks looking for each other.

    1. Classic 'cargo culture' example. She'll rename cabinet meetings to 'All Hands Meetings', wear name badges that say "Hi colleague, I'm (first name)", buy some old console games and a few bean bags for 'Deep Play', and wait for the success to arrive.

      1. Not totally on this thread but when ever i saw someone with a name badge i couldn't bring myself to say it. Is it me?

  118. Nope, I’m the same. 🙂

    Best example I ever heard was in a pub in Oxford. Some cheery little student behind the bar said “Hi! I’m Anthony. But you can call me Tony. What do your friends call you?”

    To which my guest replied: “My name I Pierre. My friends call me Pierre. I shall call you barman, and you shall call me Sir.”

    1. Oh, and the name badge connection was that he pointed at it when he said "Hi! I'm Anthony."….

      1. My only regret is that I didn’t think of it first! Familiarity has it’s place, and this place wasn’t one of them.

        1. In a pub?
          Familiarity with the barman?
          And why not?

          What’s wrong with that?
          Spread happiness instead of bitter memories. Everyone has his heart.

          1. Nothing at all, Rob. But maybe it shouldn’t be assumed by the barman on first contact with a customer – unless that is part of the brand for the place.

    3. Ouch.

      I suppose their 'team leader' trained them that way.

      When TGI Friday became a thing here i went to watch. Lasted about 3 minutes.

      Happy Birthday !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      1. I think that's why it grates on me. There's a feeling of it being very plastic, and at the time (this was some decades ago), a feeling of it being very American. With no disrespect meant to any Americans in here.

        1. Some decades ago is what i am talking about. Probably around 1987. I could understand how families and groups would enjoy the razzmatzz and the energy.

          I wonder if they thought about what they were eating.

          1. Yeah, I’d say around the same era. An acquaintance of mine (unconnected with the Oxford pub story), started up and then franchised a USA-themed 50’s diner chain. It did nothing but all day breakfasts. He reckoned part of it’s success was because of Sky TV launching in the late 80’s and putting a whole lot more American content in front of UK customers.

    1. It was a joke Bob – but I do occasionally go drinking in Carlisle when I meet up with an old friend of mine who now lives in Glasgow (it’s equidistant for us).

      It’s actually Wetherspoons (Woodrow Wilson) – although in Carlisle there are two of them not far apart which once caused a little confusion!

      1. Now you've done it.

        Not sure anyone has been serenaded in 'Spoons'…He can't help himself.

    1. Those two are almost as annoying as Mrs and Mr Markle. Both families have cost British tax payers millions ££££££ Just fuck off ! She's long dead.

      1. They do seem to be extracting as much as they can out of the tragedy of their little girl's death. Their actions do not seem very respectful towards the memory of their daughter, but rather to be monetising the situation. For some reason the mother never strikes me as showing any motherliness, but appears rather hard.

        2. To lose someone. We all here know how difficult that is. Why do they keep after so many years keep themselves stuck in this cycle of grief. This is not a question.

    2. There but for the Grace of God go we.
      We went Euro camping for years and left the kids in the tent as we had an end of evening drink.

      1. I can remember my mother leaving me in a hotel room on my own before she went off for the night with her mates. She gave me a sweet, still undissolved in my mouth in the morning.

        1. Apparently, after my christening, my parents and the godparents went out nightclubbing and left me in my cot at home. Times were very different then.

          1. They were. This was post-war, at first they left me with grandparents who I think probably got fed up of looking after me (I caught one cold/infection after another), so then 'home alone'.

          2. Well, I had a lovely solid pram for my children , when they were babies , when I was shopping , like many other mothers , we would leave the baby in the pram outside the shop, there would be a queue of prams , and not only that .. quiet time after a feed , baby remained in the pram for a nap, outside in the garden , fresh air and a well wrapped up baby in a good well insulated sturdy pram with a hood for a couple of hours was routine !

          3. Reminds me, my mother was visiting..baby in pram in house , warm spring sunshine, small window open. My mother smoking a cigarette, baby sneezing, mother told me to close the window that's why she's sneezing. I said, possibly smoke from your cigarette. She carried on smoking, but I never saw her smoke again afterwards. She was the first person to offer me a cigarette, I was 14 or thereabouts. She had an aneurysm, first thing she wanted coming round was a smoke.

      2. They're staying at a hotel that was part of a group where every night bar Thursday, there were children's clubs and organised events.
        On Thursdays the hotel could find approved babysitters, but the parents had to pay the cost.
        Our grandchildren were much the same age at the time, and their parents chose those particular Warner hotels for that very reason.

    3. Didn't they do that ages ago? Please don't tell me they've written a sequel….

    5. Having brought up three young children, now parents themselves, there is no way we would ever have left our kids in that situation, ever.

      1. This is the ongoing story. As a parent…you wouldn't. The thing i have never understood was where they were it would be ordinary to have young children with you at supper even at that time in the evening.

        1. I think I read that before leaving her they had dosed her up with some sort of sedative.

    6. I will hazard a guess that the book will be remaindered for 50p.

      Does anyone know how many millions of taxpayer funding these two miserable people have cost over the decades?

    7. It's old, from 2011 (wonder why this is doing the rounds again, just when a relevant trial is coming up in October about that young woman who claims to be Madaleine iirc.). Agree about the babysitter though.

  122. Bonsoir tout le monde. Je suis in yer France. I drove down from Le Shuttle this morning and made it as far as Quetigny nr Dijon. A good day's driving with v little traffic; the second leg to the Med tomorrow will be much busier I expect.

        2. Wine…instant headache for me…champagne, spirits..all ok..lovely birthday party today 🙂

      3. The lady is carrying excess baggage. People older and narkier than you So….The itinerary is the itinerary.

    3. I'm sure you said at lunch you would take me with you. I waited at that roundabout for hours.

  123. Evening all. Have had a busy day. Read in church this morning, drove back to let the dogs out and feed them, then dressed up in sixties gear for a party. Peace and love, man.

    I would have thought Starmer’s dealing with the boats would have shown how determined our government is to destroy the country.

    2. A non relevant question to your post…though i would be interested in a picture of you in your sixties get up. Just so we we all know what's hot and what's not. :@))

      How long in the day would you consider well behaved and happy doggies to be left alone?

      1. I don’t like to leave them more than four hours. Less if I can arrange it.

        1. Yes. I think that's the absolute limit. Though mine go nuts if i leave them for two hours for a round trip to the dentist.

      2. My Oscar sulks when we get back from shopping, once a week for 2 hours. He even refuses a treat for 15 minutes after our return. Makes me feel awful.

      1. Look…………….I am only going to that place if you bring some good shit with you !

  125. You didn't receive it? Maybe the dog ate it…just kidding, next time a real shindig…:-))

    1. Not possible. Dolly has been trained to deliver all gold embossed invitations. Yours must have been a bit brassy.

      1. Brassy? sometimes brassed off wheer ths muck ths brass. (I now have no idea what this is about btw…)

  126. Up later than usual we had eldest son and grandchildren come to see us this afternoon, good fun. And have been watching the new TV series Gold, very good so far.
    Off to bed now, goodnight all Nottlers.
    😴

    1. We have been waiting. Is that all you can give us? You sound like a journalist for the Daily Mail.

  127. Is it me and Gin or is it you !

    I have met him in person and he looks a bit like that. Ask VW (his wife). : @)

    2. Probably me….if I met him, I don’t recall, but I know a few who look like him. VW? is she on here? 🤩 just wondering if the champers has worn off, or not…..

  128. Goodnight all. Have had to put the heating on again and am about to fill a hot water bottle to take to bed.

  132. Well, chums, I'm now off to bed. Good Night all, sleep well, and I hope to see you all tomorrow morning.

  133. Good morning. Re yesterday's headline above, I think the last people in the world who can't see Britain's vulnerability are the British. What is shocking is the extent to which it is unnecessary and steered from above by 'leaders' in thrall to the UN's Agenda 2030.

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