Sunday 8 September: Beware efforts to end Britain’s sovereignty over the Chagos Islands

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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416 thoughts on “Sunday 8 September: Beware efforts to end Britain’s sovereignty over the Chagos Islands”

  2. Good morrow, Gentlefolk. Today’s (recycled) story

    Get your ‘crushes’ right

    The pastor asked if anyone in the congregation would like to express praise for an answered prayer. Suzie stood and walked to the podium.

    She said, "I have some praise. Two months ago, my husband, Frank, had a terrible bicycle accident and his scrotum was completely crushed.
    The pain was excruciating and the doctors didn't know if they could help him."

    You could hear a muffled gasp from the men in the congregation as they imagined the pain that poor Frank must have experienced.

    "Frank was unable to hold me or the children," she went on, "and every move caused him terrible pain."
    We prayed as the doctors performed a delicate operation, and it turned out they were able to piece together the crushed remnants of Frank's scrotum, and wrap wire around it to hold it in place with metal staples."

    Again, the men in the congregation cringed and squirmed uncomfortably as they imagined the horrible surgery performed on Frank.

    "Now," she announced in a quivering voice, "thank the Lord, Frank is out of the hospital and the doctors say that with time, his scrotum should recover completely."

    All the men sighed with unified relief. The pastor rose and tentatively asked if anyone else had something to say.

    A man stood up and walked slowly to the podium.
    He said, "I'm Frank." The entire congregation held its breath.
    "I just want to tell my wife that the word is sternum."

    1. My late aunt, who lived to 100, used to recommend that cats be lifted by the scrotum. She meant the scruff of course. You lift cats by the scruff of the neck.

      1. Only kittens. Adult cats lift from the tummy, wrap the tail under and support their necks – even then they'll try to escape.

        I used to carry Claudius around on my shoulder.

  10. Good morning, chums,. And thanks, Geoff, for today's NoTTLe site.

    Wordle 1,177 4/6

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    1. To paraphrase an advertisement from a while ago: "If only everything in life was as reliable as Geoff!"
      :-))

    2. Well done, Elsie, took me 5.

      Wordle 1,177 5/6

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  11. 'Morning All
    Mixed Medley
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    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f287ea5840b28f0bcdf870ebb22df737af1e1890a14f3df560a2adf6e1528532.jpg
    Aaand back to bed….
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  12. Well – the rain's cleared up for now but the forecast isn't good. Wish us luck folks! I'm just off now.

  13. Europe has finally realised the enormous costs of mass migration. 8 September 2024.

    Suddenly Starmer’s Britain — with mass immigration, both legal and illegal, still roaring ahead — looks like the odd man out among European countries. Nor is this likely to change any time soon. A Labour Government led by a human rights lawyer is not only out of step with Europe, but increasingly out of touch with British public opinion. Crushing the riots was the easy part. Finding a solution for migration will be much harder – especially if using third countries such as Rwanda is ruled out.

    There is no intent let alone plan to reduce or end Mass Migration in the UK. As always it will be deception and delay. Only the complete destruction of the Starmer Regime in Westminster can achieve that.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/09/08/europe-has-finally-realised-the-costs-of-mass-migration/

    1. We all know of course there was a perfectly good cease fore in place on 6th October 2023. This left-wing view that Israel needs to negotiate a ceasefire with Hamas is another manipulation of language by the Left which we let slip through. We need to be better about fighting their language.

  15. Bong:
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    1. Well-paid and heavily taxed jobs, the kind of jobs that keeps many a Scottish & Northern English town afloat, because that's where the workforce come from. And, of course the yards, equipment manufacturers, service companies, engineering houses, all push a huge amount of money into the economy.
      Still arseholes like him, who reckon, based on spite, that, overnight, parents must send their children to state schools to be "educated" in a system that cannot in any way cope with current conditions is a good thing are clearly as deluded as the "Queers for Palestine" (see video I posted a few minutes ago).
      Google statistic: Approx 2 600 independent schools in the UK, with615 000 pupils.

      1. I'd note that many of the wonks on the climate change committee have vested interests – such as directorships, massive share holdings in the unreliables. No wonder they recommend more money be given to them.

        It's a fraud. A complete, farcical fraud perpetrated on the public.

  17. Good morning all.
    Now sat at home after my trip to the Great Wen with my 1st mug of tea beside me!
    A dull and wet start, steady rain but, with 12°C on the Yard Thermometer, not cold.

    Currently waiting for t'Lad to let me know if he wants some things picked up and taken to Crich for the tramway museum.

  18. Lots in the Terriblegraph about the forthcoming tax raids. Why does no one point out that actually lowering taxes brings in more money? With respect to the ideas on lowering the IHT threshold to £275k, the Probate office cannot cope at the moment so why drag more and more ordinary people into the bureaucratic net? We all know that these petty tax raids – a billion here, a billion there – amount to a hill of beans in the grand scheme of things, but who will make the case for allowing UK citizens to keep the money they have made?

    1. The taxes are to satiate Labour spite.
      They have nothing to do with improving people's lives.

    2. Every time you lower tax, it increases the take. So carry on lowering taxes until you reach zero. The Laffer curve has a sweet spot.

    3. Its HMRC who cannot cope because of the numbers. Their 4 week standard for processing IHT took 11 weeks after my father's death in Dec but only after prompting by an official complaint. Amazingly, Probate was granted in just 18 days!

  21. Good Moaning.
    I have been given loads of crab apples – a bit early – so today I will be finding out if they will jell.

    1. Ooh! Lucky you! We passed a couple of laden trees yesterday, and loads of brambles, but couldn’t stop! If they’re ripe, they’ll jell!

    2. Morning.
      I've got to get a move on soon making cider, three of our close neighbours have masses of apples this year.
      And two of us are going to make some beer as well. A farmer friend is donating some barley.
      Maybe next year a still might be useful.

    3. Talking about fruit, I haven't seen any gooseberries this year, I love them .

      We used to grow them on our allotment , red currants and white currants, as well as rhubarb .

      We haven't grown any runner beans in the garden this year , another favourite of mine .

    4. Under-ripe fruit usually have more pectin than ripe and so you shouldn't have a problem.

      There is a simple test for adequate pectin: take three teaspoons of the warm juice and add a teaspoon of methylated spirits. If the pectin is adequate a large 'clot' will immediately appear in the mixed liquids.

      I've got stacks of red/yellow crab apples and blackberries and I'm toying with making some jelly. I've made a lot of various jellies and some damson jam already. Do I need more, I ask myself? On the other hand I hate to waste Nature's bounty.

        1. You do (presumably) know that The Devil pisses on them in early September. Can't remember the exact date.

  23. At the moment the powers that be appear to be linking virtually everyone that is standing up for free speech and the survival of the nation state as being linked to or funded by Putin, for some reason.
    But it seems to me that if Putin wanted to harm our country beyond redemption he would be funding net zero, mass migration and sending us back into the arms of EU control.
    I wonder who is funding all those agendas?

  24. Good morning all,

    Still raining , 17c.. murky sky, dank damp wet dog weather … and cat.. the visitor arrives more frequently now , and I am cross because she has scratched the carpet against the doorframes when I have closed the doors to stop her gaining access to the bedrooms .

    1. Water pistol or plant mister with the nozzle unscrewed a bit to form a jet – cats hate it!

      1. When we were asleep on Mianda in the Marmaris Marina a cat slunk into the main cabin, ate some chicken bones and the debris of our supper which was in the bin and then, to add insult to injury peed, on the cushions.

        We had to take off the cushion covers and wash them very thoroughly to get rid of the stink.

        Caroline then kept a washing up bottle full of water with some vinegar in it and used it like a water pistol on any cat that tried to board the boat. There was one particular marina cat which fled at the mere sight of Caroline even when she was in a different part of the marina and nowhere near our marina berth.

  25. 721 children in rogue surgeon investigation at Great Ormond Street

    A leaked report into the treatment of young hospital patients says some operations on their limbs were botched by Yaser Jabbar and others were not necessary.

    Key Points
    Great Ormond Street has launched an urgent review into 721 cases
    Children were all seen by the same surgeon
    One child had to have leg amputated
    At least 22 patients were harmed
    The hospital repeatedly put “patient safety at risk”, damning report finds
    “Hierarchical” consultants dismissed those who raised concerns
    With his confident air, Yaser Jabbar was a reassuring presence for parents on the orthopaedic ward of Great Ormond Street Hospital.

    So when the 43-year-old surgeon told the parents of a six-year-old about the leg-straightening and lengthening procedure he planned to perform on their child, he had their full trust. They were unaware Jabbar’s colleagues were concerned about his safety, and fearful he was harming children in his care.

    In July 2021, Jabbar operated on the boy at the Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) lower limb reconstruction service in north London, which every year performs surgery on hundreds of children with illnesses or congenital deformities.

    The procedure involves surgically breaking the bone then inserting metal rings, known as Ilizarov frames, and tension wires to hold the leg in place. Over the following months, the break is slowly widened by millimetres, allowing new bone to develop and fill the gap. Jabbar performed so many of the operations, he was referred to at the hospital as “the frame guy”.

    Immediately after the surgery, however, the boy’s father, who asked not to be identified, knew something was wrong. “In all of our meetings prior to my child’s surgery we were told a certain type of frame would be used to help rotation and lengthening, but when the procedure was done a completely different frame was used. We were never told why, but it seemed strange,” he said.

    https://www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcare/article/great-ormond-street-hospital-surgeon-yaser-jabbar-gmwbk0p02

    1. BMJ, 5th July 2013: "Children born in marriages between first cousins have double the risk of congenital anomalies, a new UK study has found.
      Researchers followed 13,776 pregnancies in Bradford and found that 6.1% of children born to first cousins had congenital anomalies and that 98% of these children were born to people of P akistani origin. This compared with a 2.4% risk of congenital anomalies in non-consanguineous marriages in the study …."

      6.1% x 13776 = 840 babies born with anomalies.
      UK population generally, level of 1.7% babies born with anomalies, the equivalent total would be 234.
      No, of course I am not blaming the children.

        1. There's a muslim family with two kids who are seriously deformed who potter down to our shore front occassionally.

          I feel desperately sorry for the children. It is either ignorance or just not caring. What've those kids done to deserve that awful, short life? Was the welfare worth it?

  27. From the debate at the time on here some of us had the suspicion that something was very wrong with the Lucy Letby trial.
    For me it was the way it was all covered in the mainstream media, you can always tell when something ids not right by the coverage with no scrutiny or holding to account allowed.
    How come nobody in authority at the time got involved and asked questions.

    1. Any details anywhere about the ethnicity of the deceased premmy babies (may they rest in peace)?
      A multicultural sectarian asks, or possibly a sectarian multiculturalist.

    2. I've had an uneasy feeling about this case right from the start.
      The word "scapegoat" runs through it like a stick of rock.

  28. I don't know if this undercover film that shows a DOJ insider slamming the conviction of Donald Trump in New York has been shown here. It is devastating- the official concerned has now laughably said he was telling the young woman to whom he spilled the beans "what she wanted to hear" which I think is really transparently false and a desperate move. Anyway, this film started to go viral so Big Tech stepped in to use its algorithmic hocus pocus to suppress it. Makes for all the proof one needs to know that this whole lawfare business has been politically motivated- but we know that, already- it's good to hear an insider of substance confirm it. https://rumble.com/v5dqrj1–doj-chief-admits-trump-indictments-a-politically-motivated-perversion-of-j.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp

  29. Just sorted the pictures of my Great Wen trip.
    Dr. Daughter is now a Fellow of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists and is entitled to have the letters FRCO after her name.
    Dr. Daughter looking rather snooty in her gown:-
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6c32f06e691f75f23f806c6e8de1558d3053c9ed9f7d1f28ae4e0fdc1d7c1a64.jpg
    Mum & Daughter
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8e1e7504e405f2d31f56e6c85cf6a04a435ecfa3f2b75c25433c2c81c3f71e74.jpg
    Tallest on the Right, Shortest on the Left, In single rank, SIZE!!
    Dr. D. with her colleagues from Newcastle who have also been admitted as Fellows!
    And yes, they do look as if they are about to burst into a song!
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/46c8074dbf8894dad64c24fa6c6042e821c3ebbe640d1b3be626f3c23f40ce4b.jpg
    Dr.D & proud(ish) parents
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9bcb86e4754c7e5c123f62586d3f2e9b8ff8fb256ee435efbfc5254a9f3e351b.jpg
    Shaking hands with the RCO President
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9c440743ffe8b27b46425fdb1d8d33c9ea5b9686a72efea947a9ad6014a5ded4.jpg

        1. From Coffee House, the Spectator

          Enoch Burke is no free speech martyr
          Comments Share 8 September 2024, 6:30am
          This week, when he was returned to Dublin’s Mountjoy jail for the third time in two years, Irish schoolteacher Enoch Burke was hailed by his many supporters as a martyr for free speech.

          He was, according to some, a very modern victim of a tyrannical ‘woke’ establishment riding roughshod over an individual’s right to religious liberty.

          The row between Burke, his school and the Irish state began in June 2022 when staff at Wilson’s Hospital School in County Westmeath were instructed by the head teacher that one of their students was transitioning and wanted to be referred to as ‘they/them.’

          Burke, who comes from a well-known evangelical Christian family based in Mayo, refused that request and insisted that he would not bow down to this new ideology.

          Given the fact that the student in question was not actually in any of Burke’s classes, where he taught History and German, it was a rather moot point. However, at a Church service attended by pupils and staff, Burke reportedly interrupted proceedings to insist that he would not be using these pronouns and objected to transgenderism in general.

          Following the post-service meal, Burke followed the principal and publicly harangued her, prompting his suspension, pending a disciplinary hearing.

          At this point in proceedings, it looked like a common or garden dispute between a teacher and his employer. But matters escalated when, despite his suspension, he continually appeared at the school and insisted on being allowed to take his classes – which resulted in the school taking out an injunction preventing him from teaching or entering the premises

          And this is where things start to get really strange.

          Most popular
          Mark Aldridge
          Agatha Christie and the curious truth about Miss Marple

          At the beginning of September 2022, Burke’s refusal to abide by the injunction saw him arrested for contempt of court. Despite being given ample opportunity by the judge, he refused to purge his contempt and was remanded to Mountjoy for the first time.

          Speaking to the court, he insisted that he ‘would rather stay in prison every hour of every day for the next 100 years’ than comply with the order adding, as if anyone was in any doubt, that in this instance he would ‘only obey God,’ and ‘not obey man’.

          Between September and December of that year, the curious case of Enoch Burke and his rather eccentric family of ten siblings (Ammi, Elijah, Enoch, Esther, Isaac, Jemima, Josiah, Keren, Kezia and Simeon) captured the nation’s imagination.

          At every hearing, it seemed, at least one of his family would interrupt proceedings. In October, his mother Martina Burke was removed from the court after accusing the judge of being corrupt, while his sister, Ammi interrupted proceedings and shouted at the judge. This was a case that nobody, other than the Burke family and a strangely fascinated general public, seemed to relish.

          Burke was, it’s fair to say, a most unusual prisoner. Rather than looking forward to his release, he seemed determined to stay locked up for as long as possible. He was eventually let go in December 2022 when the school had closed for the Christmas holidays.

          As soon as the school reopened, however, he was back breaching the injunction and the contempt order and was once more arrested.

          By this stage, it appeared that the family was enjoying the notoriety and publicity it was giving to their particular brand of evangelical Christianity.

          In a now familiar routine, Burke repeatedly turned up outside the school and was repeatedly arrested. Then, in February, Enoch and Ammi made an unscheduled appearance at the High Court and directed a series of abusive comments towards the judge.

          By this stage, the story had begun to receive international traction and things reached truly surreal heights later that month when Fred Phelps Jr, pastor of the notorious ‘God Hates Fags’ Westboro Baptist Church said that he felt the family had taken things too far and urged them to stand down.

          The Westboro Baptist Church is best known for picketing the funerals of dead soldiers and taunting the grieving families that their loved one is rotting in hell. If they think you’ve taken things too far, surely that would give you pause for thought.

          Instead, if anything, it emboldened the Burkes. At another hearing in March, when the Court of Appeal once more found against him, Ammi, Isaac, Simeon, Enoch himself, and the Burke parents, Sean and Martina, were all forcibly removed from the court by Gardai.

          Simeon was subsequently remanded in custody for breach of the peace and, like his brother, refused to accept the offer of bail, forcing him to miss his King’s Inn law exams.

          Further signs that the legal profession was losing patience came this June when Burke failed in a defamation case against the publishers of the Sunday Independent.

          Unusually, the judge said that while the paragraphs that Burke complained about were indeed untrue, they did not cause any further damage to his reputation.

          Any hopes that this might be the end of the matter were forlorn, however, and when the troublesome teacher was once more remanded to Mountjoy this week, the whole bandwagon just started rolling again This time there was even greater attention from media outlets in the US, the UK and across Europe.

          Enoch even has celebrity supporters such as former Irish rugby international Simon Zebo (who hastily deleted a supportive Tweet on Wednesday following a backlash) and former footballer Joey Barton who plaintively cried on his social media: ‘How have the proud people of the UK and Ireland allowed this behaviour from elected officials to go unchecked?’

          Of course, the reality is rather different to the perception. If any of Burke’s supporters bothered to venture past the headlines and actually acquainted themselves with the facts of this case, they would realise that this has absolutely nothing to do with someone’s refusal to use preferred pronouns.

          Nor has it anything to do with transgenderism, freedom of expression or an individual’s right to religious freedom. If it was a case of someone being persecuted for refusing to bow down to the trans lobby and accept compelled speech against their own morals, then it would have been a scandal up there with the controversy that made Jordan Peterson famous eight years ago.

          Instead, it’s a more grubby affair involving a religious crank who is using the state to fulfil his fantasies of becoming a martyr for his cause.

          But while he may be a crank, he is far from stupid and he knows he has the Irish state where he wants it. After all, every time they chuck him back into Mountjoy for continuing to breach his court order, they continue to further his reputation as a lone soldier for Christ fighting against the forces of evil.

          But if they choose to ignore him and allow him to breach that court order without consequences? Then it looks like he has beaten them. This deeply strange tale is far from over.

          2. Dare I say it, but by hunting for martyrdom Mr Burke has made his family homophonously eponymous.

      1. I met one of her senior colleagues who she has worked under, he is, apparently, Britain's leading practitioner of the sub-discipline of "neuro-ophthalmology", a field she in interested in getting into.

    3. Well done – good parenting as well as good daughter!

      It is a very acceptable form of hubris to be proud of one's offspring. It is more that just a vicarious feeling – it is a feeling of pride and satisfaction that they have achieved something positive in their lives.

  30. Morning all 🙂😊
    Awoken by thunder and lightning at three am.
    And pouring with rain, and more thunder just now.
    I think we have more to worry about at home than the sovereignty of the Chagos islands.

    2. Chagos islands set in the middle of the Indian ocean, most of the inhabitants were removed years ago so a US military base could be built.

  31. Times-tables anxiety
    SIR – The teaching unions have urged ministers to cancel times-tables in primary schools in order to reduce children’s anxiety (report, August 31).

    Yet how anxious will pupils be when they face GCSEs a few years later without the basics of mathematics?

    Only time will tell how these folk will cope with the stress of having to answer 243 questions in order to obtain their winter fuel allowance on retirement.

    Jeremy Burton
    Wokingham, Berkshire

    1. They want to scrap exams as well. Universities are already talking about 'closing the attainment gap' by introducing 'ethnicity 'aware' marking'.

      It's damned simple: they're thick. They got in on a wave of 'diversity' marketing. They're not competent or capable. This is discovered very quickly when they're hired and don't know anything. Currently you can get rid of them quickly. If Labour get their way companies will be saddled with the diversity for ever which, because Labour are dumb as rocks – means they'll never find work.

  32. Comments DT

    Martin Iles
    14 min ago
    Letter – Paul Watson
    We have a paucity of skilled labour to build more houses of a reasonable standard. When the vast suburban estates were built around our cities between the two wars, we had half the population, little immigration, minimal machinery (if any), poor travel infrastructure to transport materials, and built still desirable solid houses of brick, tile and seasoned timber. Now we can't get our own population to put up a row of breezeblock pre-builds without importing labour to do it.

    1. And they are being paid a thousand us pounds a week.
      The previous ten years warranty seems to have been shoved aside. It's take it or leave it now.

    1. When they gather in one place the solution is simple. Yes, a combine harvester would be noticed and it'd ruin the machine, so far simpler to just deport them and solve the sodding problem.

      It'd save a fortune in welfare bennies, free up huge amounts of soshul housing (another cost to the taxpayer), get rid of a huge number of terrorists and reduce their breeding.

      What's not to lose?

      I don't know why so many thoroughly twisted people so hate this country but they should be encouraged to leave – by any means necessary.

  34. And finally some more meat for you to chew on ! https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/09/06/sensitive-costs-furnishing-asylum-seeker-flats-watchdog/

    Information Commissioner rules in favour of Home Office, which refused to reveal cost of furnishing Hampshire accommodation
    Charles Hymas, Home Affairs Editor
    6 September 2024 • 2:00pm
    The cost of furnishing flats for asylum seekers cannot be released because the issue is too “sensitive”, a watchdog has ruled.

    John Edwards, the Information Commissioner, has ruled in favour of the Home Office, which refused to reveal the cost of furnishing a block of flats to be used by 346 asylum seekers in Farnborough, Hampshire.

    He rejected an appeal to release the information under freedom of information (FoI) laws, saying the public interest in revealing the cost to the taxpayer of the furnishing was outweighed by the need to protect the asylum seekers from protests and risks to their “health and safety”.

    The apartments were allegedly finished with flat-screen TVs and satellite television.

    Lee Anderson, the Reform UK MP for Ashfield, criticised the decision and said he planned to raise it in a parliamentary debate on immigration next week. He added: “The real risk is to the taxpayer, who is spending millions of pounds per day on people that should not be in the country.

    “The fact that the Home Office and Information Commissioner are hiding or suppressing this information is a kick in the teeth for every single hard-working taxpayer in this country. They should have this information. I think they are probably embarrassed about the cost of it.”

    ‘Targets of reprisals or reactions’
    James Cleverly, when he was home secretary, paused plans to move asylum seekers into the flats after a local backlash. It was claimed that, on the open market, the flats would have cost £1,400 a month to rent.

    Labour has pledged to end the use of hotels and large-scale accommodation, such as RAF Scampton and the Bibby Stockholm barge, which is closing in January, for migrants.

    On Thursday, the Home Office abandoned plans to use RAF Scampton, which was the Dambusters base, as an asylum camp.

    In response to the FOI request, the Home Office had warned that accommodating asylum seekers was a “highly emotive and sensitive” issue that had resulted in public protests and disorder outside sites once they had been identified and located.

    It told the commissioner: “It is common knowledge that vulnerable asylum seekers are targets of reprisals or reactions, and asylum-seeking individuals or groups of asylum-seeking individuals have been threatened and harassed in the past.”

    In his response, the commissioner acknowledged the examples cited by the Home Office of situations where speculation about possible asylum seeker locations had led to the targeting of properties by those prepared to break the law, intimidate, abuse and cause criminal damage.

    He said he was also aware of the more recent public disorder, believed to be a reference to the riots that broke out in parts of Britain last month. In some areas, asylum seekers’ accommodation was targeted and attacked by rioters.

    ‘Avoiding endangerment of health or safety’
    The Home Office had responded to the request by neither confirming nor denying whether it held the required information, or whether the apartments were to be used to house asylum seekers. It is standard policy for officials not to reveal locations of asylum accommodation by neither confirming nor denying it.

    Mr Edwards said he accepted the Home Office’s reasoning, exempting it from the need to confirm or deny the FoI request.

    “In the commissioner’s view, there is a very clear and weighty public interest in avoiding endangerment to the health or safety of any individual,” a statement from his office, giving his verdict, said.

    “While the commissioner appreciates the public interest in the cost of providing accommodation used to accommodate asylum seekers, in his view this is outweighed by the Home Office neither confirming nor denying whether it holds any information falling within the scope of this request.”

    1. The French are right.

      The British are idiots in the way they lavish money on illegal immigrants, house them, feed them, give them health care and benefits and so it serves us right that hordes of them cross the channel in rubber dinghies to get to the UK.

      Nottlers will remember that the new PM of France, Michel Barnier, was the EU's Brexit negotiator who ran rings around Olly Robbins.. After the event, Barnier admitted that the British had some very good points in their case but he was employed to negotiate for the EU and not for the UK. He added that he was astonished that the UK gave in so easily and by the fact that Robbins had no enthusiasm for Brexit at all.

      Winston Churchill's bulldog spirit has been replaced by the spirit of a timid and frightened little mouse in UK's current politicians as far as dealings with foreigners are concerned.

      2. The British Government are idiots – not the British people. And most of us Brexiteers knew full well that the vast majority in the HoC were absolutely gobsmacked at the result when the vote came in in 2016. Brexiteers knew all along that any ‘negotiations’ were not pursued vigorously enough to go our way even though we had the upper hand.

        I said, when I heard the result, “they will never let us leave”. And I have been proved right all along. Sir David Frost seemed to be doing quite a good job for a while but was then skewered by HMG.

        1. I was so naive even then. After the Brexit vote my heart was uplifted – I still believed, despite Blair, despite the intervening years, that we had a democracy and that the rule of law would mean we would finally escape from the EU. What an idiot i was.

    2. It woulld affect the gimmigrant's wellbeing. They're be burned out. The council would then replace it all, and blame the public. That's why our council tax is so high for so little.

    2. Isn't this old? I don't think he has said anything about the present situation, at all.

  36. Labour’s private schools VAT raid faces High Court legal challenge
    Lawyers call for controversial policy to be dropped over claims of human rights violations
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/tax/private-schools-tax-raid-high-court-challenge-human-rights/

    BTL

    Nasty, spiteful, vindictive and ignorant people are now in charge of Britain and they don't give a toss about the British people.

    They now have five years in which to destroy Britain completely – if they go on at the rate at which they have started they will have finished the job in under three.

  38. Morning All,

    Today's new article in Free Speech is another treat from Iain Hunter, who sets out the poisoned history of the socialist Fabian society, its links with the (currently fashionable again?) policy of Eugenics, and with the thinking behind the elitist Globalist/WEF 'thought'.

    As ever, please read and leave your comments,

    freespeechbacklash.com

    1. The Left won't just leave people alone. They desperately promote the individual rather than the good of society and no matter what, they won't leave people alone.

      1. They exist not to leave people alone – to turn us all into clones of themselves. But I would say that they are willing to sacrifice the individual for the good of their vision of society.

        1. Anyone who claims to be on the side of "the people" is immediately suspect.
          Think Stalin's purges, the Holodomor, Mao Great Leap Forward and Pol Pot reducing the population of Cambodia by 25% – all to help "The People".

          1. Slightly different in my view Anne, all those atrocitis were done in the name of the people sure enough, the people yet to come, once thier vision of society has been forced on the people at the time – no matter how many they muder.

  39. BBC ‘breached guidelines 1,500 times’ over Israel-Hamas war
    Coverage was heavily biased against Israel, report into corporation’s output finds
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/09/07/bbc-breached-guidelines-more-1500-times-israel-hamas-war/

    I posted this BTL very late last night – after midnight – but I am so outraged by the BBC that I am posting it again. Sorry Peddy! I apologise for being repetitive but some teachers often do become rather too prolix!

    The BBC is clearly pro Hamas and anti Israel. And wasn't the BBC coverage of Brexit over 90% pro Remain?

    If the BBC is going to be biased in this way then fair enough BUT it must cease to be the National Broadcaster – it must stand on its own two feet as commercial channels have to do without the compulsory support of the licence fee payers.

    2. Are the government going to arrest anyone at the bbc for their obviously biased broad casting ?
      Was that a No ?

    3. There's no point complaining because Al Beeb marks it's own homework.

      The whole situation is a farce. The BBC must be forced to face the market so people can choose not to watch it. That should also shut down channel 4, itself a Left bastion.

    4. You say ‘fair enough’ if the BBC were not the National Broadcaster with licence fee payers compelled to fund it, but even then it would surely be falling foul of OfCom – wouldn’t it?
      I jest of course, OfCom only cares about impartiality if the broadcaster is right wing.

    5. When I think of the BBC I recall its presenters and the likes of Stuart Hall, Jimmy Savile, Rolf Harris, more recently the newsreader with a twisted expression and curled lip and all manner of scandals brushed under the carpet.

      The BBC comprises some deeply suspicious characters all whistling the same tune in unison. It employs no free thinkers just flapping seals.

  40. Good Morning to all. Apparently the weather forecast yesterday was a lie. No rain, just sunlight and cool. A rather nice day for West Sussex actually.

    Because it's Sunday, my favorite version of Otche Nash, The Lords Prayer in the Russian Orthodox Church. The video is awful. The singer with the wonderful voice and why this is my favorite version, is Divna Ljubojević. I also think this is the most beautiful version of the Lords Payer in any language that I am aware of. Enjoy

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjRHqMpsNb4

    4. Just lovely. I wish we had an orthodox church within spitting distance. It retains what the CofE (and the CinW) have pissed away. Christianity in all its mystery, beauty and Truth.

  41. Grenfell tragedy must spur a new wave of social housing construction. Liam Halligan. 8 September 2024.

    That delay and the length of the inquiry itself means that, with more police investigations to come, any prosecution process won’t begin until late 2026 at the earliest. Defendants won’t appear in court until 2027 – a full decade on from the fire.

    This incredibly drawn-out process imparts enormous human pain. It is outrageous that survivors of this tragedy, and victims’ families, must wait 10 years for any kind of justice. The British legal system can and must do better.

    Justice. i.e. Compensation. It looks as though Halligan has kow-towed to the Telegraph’s Globalist narrative. Why do I think this? Well there is no mention here of the real causes of homelessness. The vast numbers of immigrants, (who he does not mention at all) or that this is even solvable by house building. It is a task worthy of Sisyphus. It can never be achieved. The number of incomers is simply too great. I don’t blame him for any of this, we all have to eat. Let us hope that Allison Pearson lasts a little longer.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/09/08/grenfell-tragedy-new-wave-social-housing-construction/

    1. From Coffee House, the Spectator

      No, Joe Biden is not a latter-day George Washington
      Comments Share 8 September 2024, 9:30am
      George Clooney this week praised Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 election as ‘the most selfless thing that anybody has done since George Washington’. We heard this idea echoing throughout Democratic circles even before Biden stood down in late July – that he was nobly standing aside, in the manner of America’s first president, relinquishing power to save democracy for the greater good. Step forward the 21st century answer to John Adams: Kamala Harris.

      It’s all such obvious rubbish. George Washington wanted to retire (for the third time) to Mount Vernon after his first term but was persuaded to run again in 1792 by Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison and others. In 1796, he published his Farewell Address, which spelled out that he would not stand for a third term and urged Americans to put aside political differences for the sake of the Republic (not democracy, per se). Washington finally left office aged 65 in 1797. His departure set the two-term-limit precedent for presidents, which has only ever been broken by Franklin D. Roosevelt, who won four elections. (In 1951, the two-term limited was added to the Constitution through the 22nd Amendment.)

      Contrary to Washington, Biden wanted to carry on – in spite of his obvious and accelerating infirmity
      Biden, by contrast, will only serve one term. Contrary to Washington, he wanted to carry on – in spite of his obvious and accelerating infirmity – and it took a number of senior Democrats to pressure him to go. Rather than focusing on putting the nation’s finances in order, as Washington did, Biden will leave office with America some $35 trillion (£26 trillion) in debt. His leadership has essentially been an exercise in make-believe, as his advisers and cabinet spent almost four years insisting that he was firing on all cylinders when the truth was plainly the opposite.

      After announcing that he would not be seeking re-election, Biden has come as close to vanishing as a serving president can. He is still in theory the leader of the free world for another 135 days. He tearfully vowed in his valedictory speech at the Democratic Convention in Chicago to ‘work like hell’, then slipped off for a week to a rich friend’s holiday pad in Southern California before taking another week at his beach house in Delaware.

      It would be churlish to begrudge an old man some down time, especially after the summer Biden has had, and he did reportedly keep himself busy behind the scenes, dealing with the hostage killings in Israel and other matters. But his behaviour is hardly selfless.

      He’s back at work this coming week, or at least in Michigan speaking, and he must also be preoccupied with the fact his son Hunter has just pleaded guilty to federal tax charges. The White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Friday that Biden père would not pardon or commute any sentence given to his only living fils. We’ll have to see if that position holds until he leaves office in January. But what we can say is that Joe Biden may be a lot of things, but he is no George Washington.

    3. Morning Mm

      Yes , how do you use it and pronounce it?

      Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is the fear of long words. It's also known as sesquipedalophobia, which is a Latin term that means "long word".

      Where did you get it from?

      Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia refers to the phobia or fear of long words. Feelings of shame or fear of ridicule for mispronouncing long words may cause distress or anxiety. Phobia isn't officially recognized as a diagnosis, so more research is needed.

      2. I once had 3 paragraphs described as 'a wall of text'. I asked if they could read. 'Yeah, course.' they said.

        'Clearly, you can't', I replied. 'The first line says to skip the other two.'

      3. Clucking Bell. You've obviously not been spending the afternoon wrestling with crab apples and sugar.

  45. Ann Tait, classics teacher who compiled The Daily Telegraph’s Wednesday cryptic crossword – obituary
    A ‘forces brat’, her education was so disrupted that she could barely read by the age of seven, but got a first-class classics degree

    Telegraph Obituaries
    6 September 2024 • 12:00pm

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2024/09/06/ann-tait-classics-teacher-daily-telegraph-cryptic-crossword/

    AC

    Andrew Constantine
    16 hrs ago
    A suggestion for this newspaper: a series of articles explaining the pleasures and some of the tricks of crosswords aimed at those of us who have still to be converted!

    Comment by Ex Newsman.

    Ex Newsman
    1 day ago
    Were I ever to win the longed for truly developed mind it would emulate that of Ann Tait. The sheer joy of her facility with language must have been wondrous. May she know peace, light and subtly fiendish crosswords for all time. edited

    1. One of my contemporaries when I was at school in Devon is a chap called Donald Manley who composes crossword puzzles professionally. His pseudonyms are all based on his name Donald and include: Bradman, Quixote, Juan, Duck – I don't know if he has added Trump to his list.

      In 2004 he composed a devilishly difficult cryptic puzzle in the Old Boys' magazine to celebrate Blundell's School's 400th anniversary – the answers all referred to events and characters in the school's history. I was delighted to have completed it successfully and to have won a prize.

  46. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/09/07/pimlico-plumbers-founder-sells-penthouse-flees-britain-tax/

    Mullins is a confusing individual. Firstly he's a success built from effort. Credit to him for that. He's created jobs, wealth and growth in London.

    He didn't see Labour getting in, so he's politically asleep. He fought fervently to remain chained to the EU (because European tradesmen are vastly cheaper than locals) but ignored all the problems the EU brings with it, making him perhaps the most selfish remainer in the country – who is now supporting Reform!

    He's made a lot of money and is now leaving the country after he is told Labour will steal a good 60% of his wealth yet he's starting a new business under the most anti business government, in the most socialist environment going. Yes, tax wise he's organised it properly, but still. It's all very contradictory.

    When I started my little company (and sold it to my meployees, only ot be employed by them) I just wanted to do something for myself, on my own with no moron boss telling me when to work and when not to. I had no commitments, no family to worry about, barely any mortgage. Now we've 8 people hanging off our efforts, 2 very young folk and a lad with a new baby and mortgage and suddenly we're facing a tsunami of gormless legislation from useless bottom feeders who've never worked a day in their lives elected thanks to foreigners and 20% of the electorate who are themselves, parasitic bottom feeders.

    1. I empathise, wibbling! We set up our business in 1983 from the spare room in our flat. We worked very long hours and I worked full time as well. By the time I had our first daughter in 1986 we were doing well, and even had a company van – with logo! We moved here and got an office – then came the staff and the admin and the pointless rules and regs!
      Edit : we finally gave up 2 years ago!

      1. We set up our "Residential French courses in France for Sixth Formers" ( https://tracey-frenchcourses.weebly.com/ ) in 1990 and it flourished as Caroline's reputation as a linguist and teacher grew. Every course we offered was fully subscribed until the Covid nonsense which just about finished us off but by 2023 we were again fully booked but the call for a general election this year has killed off enquiries again. We hoped to continue our courses until Caroline was 65 and I was 80 – we shall see if we can struggle on till then.

        You expect a Labour government to be hostile but recent Conservative governments have hardly been supportive of small businesses.

        I wonder how many MPs currently in the HoC actually set up their own businesses from scratch?

      2. I handed all that to better people than I.

        There's an article in the Mail about Clarkson losing money on his pub meals. The problem he faces isn't the cost of food. It's the taxes levied against businesses. Everything is cheaper in other countries simply because they don't have the socialist legislation, taxation and business assault that the UK does.

    2. I empathise, wibbling! We set up our business in 1983 from the spare room in our flat. We worked very long hours and I worked full time as well. By the time I had our first daughter in 1986 we were doing well, and even had a company van – with logo! We moved here and got an office – then came the staff and the admin and the pointless rules and regs!
      Edit : we finally gave up 2 years ago!

  47. I assume most of you are aware of the attack on our history by the movement to remove the term 'Anglo Saxon' from history. Another effort to undermine our history and to pretend that we, the White Inheritors of the civilization born here are just another bunch of colonizers without any special claim to this land. Despite the fact that this country is named after us, the native people, and that we communicate in a language that is also named after us, we shaped this land and language and, in turn, they shaped us. So, there is a fight back going on and it is helpful if you all be aware of that, to combat the enemy in our midst. Needless to say its Marxists who are trying to destroy England.
    These two videos are a good start
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VKSmYoWFZc&list=TLPQMDgwOTIwMjR9HW-jNw5eMw&index=5
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=904xN8YIQd4

    2. The ghosts of the Ninth Legion have been seen marching through the Treasurer’s House at York Minster. They’re not black. Any Africans in the Roman army were North African. As Edward Gibbon notes, the Romans didn’t think their resources were sufficient to conquer Sub-Saharan Africa and they were nothing if not pragmatic.

    3. Twice I felt decidedly colonised.

      Once was visiting Bayeux in Northern France, I chanced upon a church that was very familiar in its style and its layout. Why have they put an English village church somewhere in France? Then it dawned on me – my village church was built during the reign of William I, who came from Normandy, which is now Northern France.

      The other was sitting in a cafe in Flensburg, in Northern Germany. Again, it seemed very familiar and apart from the raw fish, everyone looked remarkably English. Then I pondered where the Angles came from, from which 'England' got its name…

      1. I went to that part of Germany twice for "summer camp"* I was struck by many place names ending in -by and -holm. Obviously with a strong English connection.

        *Sport and drinking.

    4. Any African legionnaires would have been North African and not black, but one way or the other, they were invaders and nor native.

    5. A legionnary wouldn't be wearing a gold plate, either. A black certainly wouldn't be an officer. They might have been auxilliaries under a Roman officer, but would be considered second class to legionnaries.

      1. I spotted some tumbleweed drifting across Manchester last I looked. But nothing else happening, no.

        1. The very answer I was expecting. A more cynical chap would almost start to think the authorities are scared of certain groups.

    1. Chucked it down last night in Suffolk but a pleasant 20⁰C now. Clouds threaten at times but that's all so far.

      1. We (well my husband) is putting up shelves. I am a bit redundant as all my work (cleaning the filthy pigsty the pig we bought from left behind) was done in the summer.

        We have furnished it using freecycle. Place looks great. We are lucky we have the van. It has enabled us to get two big settees, a fridge-freezer, a washer/dryer, a big wooden coffee table and two double beds & mattresses. And a huge rug. And a bedside table and chest of drawers. And a big mirror. Not all at the same time, obvs. Amazing. Oh and four bike standy-things and a few other bits and bobs. An ironing board. I feel like i am on the Generation Game!

          1. Thank you! Back to my day-job tomorrow. This time next month I will be in the far east, on business. Jakarta and Bombay.

      2. We (well my husband) is putting up shelves. I am a bit redundant as all my work (cleaning the filthy pigsty the pig we bought from left behind) was done in the summer.

        We have furnished it using freecycle. Place looks great. We are lucky we have the van. It has enabled us to get two big settees, a fridge-freezer, a washer/dryer, a big wooden coffee table and two double beds & mattresses. And a huge rug. And a bedside table and chest of drawers. And a big mirror. Not all at the same time, obvs. Amazing. Oh and four bike standy-things and a few other bits and bobs. An ironing board. I feel like i am on the Generation Game!

      3. We (well my husband) is putting up shelves. I am a bit redundant as all my work (cleaning the filthy pigsty the pig we bought from left behind) was done in the summer.

        We have furnished it using freecycle. Place looks great. We are lucky we have the van. It has enabled us to get two big settees, a fridge-freezer, a washer/dryer, a big wooden coffee table and two double beds & mattresses. And a huge rug. And a bedside table and chest of drawers. And a big mirror. Not all at the same time, obvs. Amazing. Oh and four bike standy-things and a few other bits and bobs. An ironing board. I feel like i am on the Generation Game!

      4. We (well my husband) is putting up shelves. I am a bit redundant as all my work (cleaning the filthy pigsty the pig we bought from left behind) was done in the summer.

        We have furnished it using freecycle. Place looks great. We are lucky we have the van. It has enabled us to get two big settees, a fridge-freezer, a washer/dryer, a big wooden coffee table and two double beds & mattresses. And a huge rug. And a bedside table and chest of drawers. And a big mirror. Not all at the same time, obvs. Amazing. Oh and four bike standy-things and a few other bits and bobs. An ironing board. I feel like i am on the Generation Game!

  50. My current book from my shelf of unread books is “Between Extremes” by Brian Keenan and John McCarthy.

    After being freed, they do the trip they planned/talked about/dreamed of whilst incarcerated. The are doing Chile top-to-tail. Published 1999.

    I did the same trip in 1996/7. I wonder now if we were there at the same time, doing the same thing.

    Great book so far.

      1. They split amicably a couple of years after he got out, apparently. I’ve just done the maths. She would have been 34 when he got out, and 37 when they split up. Wiki has no mention of her marrying or having children. Poor girl. He went on to do both. The biological clock is different for women.

  51. A wet day so far.
    Light to moderate rain, interspersed with heavy showers!!
    T'Lad had a night out last night and is overhung this morning, so not doing that run for him!
    Instead I've peeled a big clip-lid Kilner Jar full of pickling onions and got them steeping in brine.

  52. The use of Sterling and Imperial lengths and weights taught you how to add to a base of other than 10 (metric) and 1 (Binary), just by living

    base of 2 half-pennies in a penny

    3 feet in a yard

    12 pence in a shilling and inches in a foot

    20 shillings in a Pound money

    240 pennies in a pound money

    22 yards in a chain

    8 furlongs in a mile

    16 ounces in a Pound weight

    There are many more

    You did it without thinking, also on the back cover of most school books were the Times Tables

        1. I disagree. This is probably because I relate to the system with which I was brought up and educated.

          As an Architect I have had to accommodate metric in all that I do. However, when measuring an historic building I am obliged to use Imperial because that is the basis for measurement in its construction. This applies particularly to intricate mouldings which may have been painted over several times, where 1/16th, 1/8th, 3/16ths, 1/4 inch are more easily and confidently identified.

          Likewise in engineering we still mentally think in terms of Imperial gauge for sheet metal or 4, 5, 6 lbs for lead sheet thicknesses.

          I think of sugar as 2lbs in a bag and of butter as half a pound in its packet.

          The Americans to their great credit eschewed metrication. We should have done the same.

          1. I can see the reasoning for historic buildings, but metric provides vastly more precision down to the micron.

            I won't dispute that engineering in the Dark Ages was truly staggering to build the catherdrals and palaces we did but I think if given modern tools the builders would chuck the block and tackle away in a heartbeat.

        2. The French still call a thousand million a milliard.

          We used to call a million million a billion but bowed to the Americans who said a billion was a mere thousand million.

    4. When I first travelled to the US in 1970 there were 2.4 dollars to the pound therefore one penny equaled one cent.

    5. Here is my take on metric tables! Don't be averse to them!

      iamb : v —
      trochee: — v
      spondee: — —
      dactyl: — v v
      anapaest: v v —
      amphibrach: v — v

  54. Migrants behind gang rapes and knife crime, says German opposition leader. 8 September 2024.

    Migrants are to blame for the “nightmare” of gang rapes, Germany’s opposition leader has said.

    Friedrich Merz, leader of the centre-Right Christian Democrats (CDU), also claimed new arrivals to the country were largely responsible for almost daily cases of knife crime and sexual assault.

    Ahead of a key election in eastern Germany, he said: “On average there are two gang rapes per day, far more than half of which are carried out by migrants.”

    I don’t know whether we have reached these rates but they are certainly on their way. Once Law and Order breaks down, as it already has in the UK, chaos is not far behind. The problem is that not only do we not have anyone remotely like Merz, but they will almost certainly be concealed by a compliant MSM.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/09/07/migrants-behind-gang-rapes-knife-crime-german-opposition/

    1. And yet when a FOI (Freedom Of Information) request was submitted for the number of violent crimes committed by illegal immigrants they refused to give the answer just as they are now refusing to give the answer to how much money is spent on each illegal immigrant.

      I wonder if they are not giving the answers because they fear that there are so many extreme right thugs in the country who would be enflamed to hear the honest answers and might get nasty! In fact ask any question that they don't want to answer and you will be told it is not in the public interest to answer it!

      So much for openness: FOI is as big a scammy con as Covid Jabs and Net Zero are!

    2. There was no knife crime in Norway until we took a load of wogs. Now, it's almost daily.
      Diversity is strength a fast way to A&E.

    4. I appreciate this is old but why did they do it? Why did the political class force so many foreigners on us? We didn't need them, they add little value. Most are welfare dependent.

      Why did they do it? Hatred of this country? Ideological spite? Simply to give the state a client base? Did they not bother to think about crime? Health services? Sewerage? Water? Pollution?

      Given that Starmer thinks 'things are going to get worse' but is confused that the group they should get worse for is the one that will benefit and their demented ideology is ruining the lives of those who make and build everything. Why? Why did seemingly every European nation for a bunch of stone age savages on their nations and just say 'Getting stabbed and robbed and having shops looted is normal, get used to it.' – when it is a direct result of vomiting the utterly alien on this country.

  56. Dodge the showers and went to an open day at the local sailing club where I used to instruct youngsters in the art of dingy sailing.
    It has been going a fair while and has improved its facilities a good bit, more than that it is still giving youngsters confidence and self worth.
    Lovely to see them out on the lake enjoying themselves.

  58. Hurrah!!! Zippetty Doo Dah!
    Crab apple jelly has set a treat.
    I still have apples attached to their branches (Sis-in-Law was determined to prune the trees) and I have left them in a black bag to ripen for a few days.
    Warm afternoon in the kitchen and my shoes feel full of feet.

    1. Great news, warm afternoon in our kitchen. I've just sat down with a cuppa after baking four medium size wholemeal and seed loaves.

        1. Cooking is my weak point in cooking. Can just about cope with boil in the bag, or pizza.
          But I'm a whizz with washing-up!

          1. Bu88er. You should have said earlier.
            I've just washed and sterilised jam jars, washed up a huge preserving pan and other utensils and cleaned up the hob and counter tops.
            I'm sure Tiptree Jam are more streamlined.

          2. It’ll be sticky for days! After my bramble and apple jelly also in jam pan, the tiles and cupboard fronts were ‘tacky’!

        2. I would bother with sour dough
          After the seven day starter building it then takes around 48 hour's to make and bake.
          Quite often I collapses when you transfer it to the baking tray.
          if you can find a local, smaller than the large outlet flour producers you might get better results.
          There are so many variations.

    2. We had a very strange huge yellow fireball up in the sky a while ago, but thankfully it's now gone with the return of the overall greyness.

  59. Good Grief: quite suddenly, out of nowhere, we have rain like stair rods.
    At least the Noddy car is getting a good wash.

  60. Well, the weather has greatly improved, it's been a fine afternoon which has allowed me to get my chainsaw up where the woodmen were working and begin clearing the logs they've left up there.
    2½h out of one tank of petrol and I've enough logs ready for cutting, chopping and stacking to fill at least two of my wood-stacks.

  61. S.S. Kennebec.

    Complement:
    22 (0 dead and 22 survivors).
    Convoy
    7,000 tons of fuel oil.

    On 8th September 1939 the unescorted Kennebec was stopped by U-34 (Wilhelm Rollmann) with two shots across her bow about 70 miles west by south of the Scilly Isles. After the crew abandoned ship in lifeboats, the tanker was hit by a coup de grâce at 18.13 hours and broke in two. The next day, parts of the wreck were sunk by gunfire by the HMS Verity (D 63) (LtCdr A.R.M. Black). The 22 crew members were picked up by the Breedijk and landed at Milford Haven on 10th September.

    Type VIIA U-Boat U-34 sank at 2155hrs on 5th August 1943 in the Baltic Sea at Memel after a collision with the U-boat tender Lech. 4 dead and 39 survivors.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/54361084158ebeecb86913c41da75d179c90f18358ea6436137f36c9df6846f2.jpg

  62. A fraught Par Four?

    Wordle 1,177 4/6
    🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜
    ⬜⬜🟩⬜🟩
    ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Took me 5 goes.

      Wordle 1,177 5/6

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

    2. Bogey for me today.

      Wordle 1,177 5/6

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

    3. I think a 4 is good today – primarily as I got a 5!!

      Wordle 1,177 5/6

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

    4. Snap. For my third line I changed my mind and chose the wrong one.

      Wordle 1,177 4/6

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

  63. Saint Mary at Alvesdiston in the Chalke Valley, not far from the Dorset Cursus. A beautiful place people have been worshiping at since Saxon times.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e77f34b5f4ead6fea652e9713ab840fae20892d266d33994f50ed77e94874d10.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5f9c8617ea1b913c66ea9a44f0fc783cfacf883a8482e8550f7039331ce65a22.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ab6f1469f7c8a929b0ac2b8c6e534bcecc104b41cc9c1ee0e4c6b9e22d2476ed.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c24657bcecc9aeb394c9f0616931b5ec6fd09fa79f90fdaa78dc7fb2a3d2a8b3.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3ab55685979931c42cd550c618d33dc266705de30d8503a14c6078a2cf757a65.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c83e6ef6b89498f1abeeacddba36dc6d3c179f3872a3708a8caf219058b23b9a.jpg

    2. Tranquil and beautiful photos, GTTQ.

      We wandered that way last week and were so alarmed to see how many farms were for sale or to be auctioned .

      Just looking at Right Move and Saville's the amount of expensive property on the market is worrying , lovely country homes costing £millions are being advertised for sale, thankyou, Starmer, for frightening everyone

      1. Yes, of course it's not just the hundreds of square miles being concreted over and smothered with little boxes but also the huge amounts of arable farmland being left fallow for want of a herd. Meanwhile the cost of the imported food we have replaced the home produced stuff with goes up and up.
        It is yet another pointer to the lie that is the Marxist con that is Net Zero.

        1. Yes , we think the same .

          The Marxist Net Zero crowd are determined to ruin our arable land and grassy pastures , I did hear that foreign investors are buying up farm land , for what reason I have no idea.

          2. The little box home builders are some of the biggest land owners in the country.

      2. Homes that the new world orderers will snap up, no doubt, using our stolen money, and/or turn into hostels for our honoured uninvited guests

  64. Good afternoon all,

    Well now , we have seen it all.

    Late morning we decided to visit a large garden centre on the edge of the Bournemouth / Poole / Wimborne.. conurbation. Traffic was horrendous .. took us nearly an hour to get to Haskins garden centre , it sells everything ..

    We came out of there an hour later empty handed , the price of plants were so steep , we can't afford prices like that .

    So we headed into Bournemouth .. lots of road works , traffic and diversions .. driving into the centre of Bournemouth nr the gardens , but outside the Council offices .. there was a noisy protest , Union flags , placards saying stop the boats , loud hailers and more police than I have seen for years .

    Brave protestors , but no one listens ..

    We skedaddled pretty quickly in the car because the police were becoming agitated .. and there were vans of reinforcements waiting on the road we turned off into .

    Deep breaths , we were concerned to see so many police involved in what looked like an orderly organised protest .

    Anyway we headed for the Boscombe pier end of the promenade , and motored along the beach road , found a nice little beachside cafe , then sat in the first sunshine we have seen for days , drank latte coffees and shared a tuna and cucumber sandwich .. truly pleasant , warm and sunny, but huge dark clouds on the distant horizon , and the Isle of Wight stood out clearly , sea sparkled , seagulls behaved themselves, people were swimming in the sea, and there were family picnics and happy children .

    The journey back wasn't quite so bad , and now it is cup of tea time , dog walk later .

    Son completed a 10k race this morning and got rather wet .. apparently it has been dismal here since we left this morning .

    1. You were living dangerously Maggie – mixing with and supporting Extreme Right Wing Fascists . . .

        1. They will have your number plate and put you down as a potential rioter. Expect a knock at the door….!

    2. The reaction of police who turn up for a demonstration seems to be inversely proportionate to the trouble there will be.

      Expect a small group of protestors complaining about illegal immigration and there will be hordes of provocative proactive police there; but a mass of people baying for the extermination of the State of Israel and the attending police will be docile and conciliatory.

  65. Evening all!

    Mushroom time. And a massive Elephant Hawk Moth caterpillar crossed my path today, keen to pupate. I always thought I hated Autumn (because of the coming of Winter and the lessening of Light) but there are some huge joys in which to participate.

    1. Indeed.
      The colours of the trees and bushes, the softness of the air, berries to pick… an opportunity to slow down a bit after summer busyness.

    2. Hawk moth caterpillars are awesome . Isn't it amazing that such a fierce looking creature can turn into to a beautiful huge moth .. There just has to be a God who oversees the creation of such incredible creatures , large or small, ugly or beautiful .. the artistry of colour .. I can't find the right words.

    1. Today.. The Met getting tough with any Anti-Islamist Londoners.. arresting anyone offending Hamas. I kid you not.

    1. Still a rapist bastard, whatever mental derangement he has.
      Cut them off, and then his underpant bulge will look more authentic.

    2. What the heck has gone wrong with Scotland, Rastus….I know a few natives seem to have lost their marbles, hope there's a recovery sometime soon.

        1. Thought oak-tip at first, now don't….look forward to Belle (or you) identifying. It's a great photo 🙂

      3. English name: The Herald. A moth. Never seen one before. Eats ripe blackberries, and was sitting in the blackberries when we were picking this morning.

        1. Thanks 🙂 very few blackberries this year, or apples on trees. No sloes. Blossom absent, so not surprising. Cold winter been forecast, we'll soon find out.

          1. One of the best crops this year, for apples and blaclberries. So many, we can’t deal with them. 🙁

          3. Cidering as many apples as we can, blackberries are rare in Norway, so selling them fresh and frozen.
            It's still a lot of effort, though, and I still have spikes in the end of my fingers (makes typing a bit sore…)

          4. Ours are mostly Cox, friend makes juice – delicious. Native blackberries have the best flavour I think – difficult to pick as you say (tho not as vicious as sloes). There’s a variety without thorns I think, but the fruit not as flavourful. Hope your fingers recover in time for next bout of picking :-))

          6. G’morning 🙂 ‘Blackberry Bedford Giant – Early fruiting variety that starts the blackberry picking season bearing fruit from late July to August. The fruits are borne in large clusters and are large, round and soft with a good flavour.’ Sound like an American Football Team, what’s not to like:-))

          7. We have more apples than last year, but that is all that can be said for them, they are only in marginally better condition, and there appears to be a goodly supply of blackberries in the hedgerows. The sloes are looking very perky.

          8. :-DD you sound to have some of my share, ‘mum…I like the idea of sloes looking very perky. Just wading my way through Reform contract, it looks good – if it ever got into practice I suspect Civils would kick off mightily – might have to do some work, and in the office.

    2. I think the BBC should be forced to start every discussion of this – and the oaf Miliband's waffle – with the list of ccc directoships and their own expenses troughing.

      They're all sewage and it should be publicised daily that these are hypocritical, lying corrupt thieves.

    4. Why do these people prey on children?

      Medicine, teaching, the social services, the army, the priesthood, the police – they have always attracted those who wish to prey on the vulnerable or have ambiguous sexuality. Wasn't Blair taken to court on a charge of soliciting in a men's public lavatory under the name of Anthony Charles Lynton?

      1. 392701+ up ticks,

        Evening R,
        Bow street court, he is the common denominator of PMs since Mrs Thatcher (RIP).

    1. Oh dear! Deluded doesn’t begin to cover it, and I’m afraid I have zero sympathy for the silly b@tch!

  71. "Police Scotland confirms it allows rapists to self-identify as women"
    "“The sex/gender identification of individuals who come into contact with the police will be based on how they present or how they self-declare, which is consistent with the values of the organisation."

    Clearly then an organisation of very little worth and promoting nihilism.

        1. There are two scenarios,
          1. it's a piss take, in which case they should go into hiding
          2. it's real, but they should still go into hiding because it looks like a piss take.

    3. I think they're lonely, confused kids who don't know who they are. Probably bullied, rejected by women and were desperate for an identity that gave them a semblance of power. It's the same for the trans.

      I don't know where I'd be if one day walking around the common at 5am – so no one would see this hugely fat man – I hadn't bumped into a little old Lady and her beautiful Newfoundland. I'd lost my job (a hoped for career) and my fiancee of the time and had already tried falling out of my flat's window. I got a job in Soton and more importantly a little ball of fur who became my life – my saviour – for 11 wonderful years.

      I jest, but when the Warqueen said 'It's me or him' I chose Wiggy without thinking (I also assumed she'd leave me anyway). I see some of Wiggy in Mongo – how he'll bat a paw on Oscar's head when he's had enough of the barking, how he'll look at me sometimes.

      There but for the grace of God, perhaps.

      Although I wouldn't have gone trans or a muslim. I'd just be a psycho.

  73. Prize for most ambiguous headline of the week?

    'Richard Branson marries Alan Bates and partner of 34 years on private Caribbean island'

    Subsequent text made it a whole lot clearer:

    'Sir Alan Bates has married his long-term partner Suzanne Sercombe on Sir Richard Branson’s private Caribbean island – in a ceremony officiated by the Virgin tycoon.
    The former sub-postmaster and campaigner was reportedly invited to Necker Island, after Sir Alan, 70, said in an interview in January: “If Richard Branson is reading this, I’d love a holiday.”'

  74. Utterly off topic.

    I've just had a strong premonition regarding Plum Tart, no idea why.
    I hope she's OK or maybe even looking in.
    It would be good if she returned.

    Bizarre.

    2. What confuses me is that, on NoTTL, so many come over as really youthful, then one of Rastus' birthday wishes pops up, and we discover they are 78 or similar… so only youthful in spirit.
      I hate the prolonged absences… I hope Plum is fine. Fingers crossed for her.

      2. Keep an eye👁 out on Thursday it's my birthday.
        I love to muck about all the time.
        And often get into a lot of 'trouble' for it 😊😉😆

        1. A busy time for Nottler birthdays: Connors tomorrow, Peddy The Viking on 11th September, Ready Eddy (aka Eh Calm Down) on 12th and the Pushy Nurse on 13th

        1. The two youngest on the my birthday list are: Phizzie – born in 1964 and Our Man in Munich – born in 1967.

          Please send me your birthday and I shall add you to the list.

    5. She loved the Beatles and especially George Harrison. There was an evening devoted to George on Sky Arts this evening – I hope she watched it.

  78. And that sums up stupid people. Lefty loons, green nutters, virtue signalling, yoghurt knitting, sandal wearing, lentil farting, airy fairy bone headed morons who think they can somehow avoid making the same stupid mistakes as everyone else, and guess what? They can’t because they’re useless, and as you say, someone with a brain has to clear up the crappy mess.

      1. Yes, well I’m sick of reading things that make my head explode 🤯! The Scottish prisons allowing male rapists into women’s prisons, 2TK treating the country with hatred and contempt, self-entitled blacks and muslims demanding compo for whatever and getting it….you know the sort of thing! It’s endless and I can understand why Bill has withdrawn for a bit!
        Anyway, apologies for ranting!

  79. First night in yer France. I've made it as far as Langres, about 50m North of Dijon. I'd e a lot further south if I hadn't fannied about for two hours getting on the wrong motorway out of Calais and having to go back and start again.

        1. Lovely part of the world.
          When our boys were much younger we spent most of our summer holidays in France.
          even staying in Dijon once.
          Have a lovely holiday.

    2. Yes, I feel very grateful towards the powers that be. Surely a government that believes in giving us all a choice and a sign of true democratic spirit.

    3. £13,000 a year? Think yourselves lucky, the base pension in Canada is only about £5,000 and no winter fuel allowance.

      I suppose that I should edit the pension and add a missing zero. It is still a pathetic. amount.

    4. Is this just a giant red herring and at the last minute they will cry "Only kidding!" and not do it?

      1. 392752+ up ticks,

        Morning BB2,
        Just following the regular trend,first create the problem ……
        Why not.

  81. I am currently spending rather a lot of time in an NHS hospital (not as a patient). You know from political theory that a large bureaucracy like the NHS exists to serve itself, but it's strange to see it in action. It's clean and the medical care is patchy but good on the whole, but everything else is not.
    The walls of the ward are covered with information – the overwhelming majority of which is aimed at the staff. It's not the normal kind of stuff about fire escapes or zones – it's basic theory that should be covered on nursing courses, like how to avoid pressure sores and how to ensure your patient doesn't fall.
    I thought it was aimed at relatives, but it explicitly talks about 'your patient'. Bizarre.
    More wall space is devoted to staff activities and training courses.
    The only information that I've seen aimed at patients is a huge and confusing chart of all the uniforms in the hospital – the blues are so similar that there's no hope of relating the chart to real life – I just go by the name badges. Also, patients are told that some staff have body cameras and will record you if they feel the need, and a threatening poster telling you that threats against staff will not be tolerated.
    No sign saying "Chairs for visitors here" but a scolding poster telling you not to sit on the bed but use "the chair provided" (where?)
    That's it. No helpful information, no beautiful pictures to aid your recovery.
    They remove the shoes from the patients so that they can't stand up (too slippery), so elderly patients are just sitting all day. If they want to stand up, the nurses tell them strongly to stay in their chairs. One of the patients joined in yelling at another patient to go back to his chair. The poor old man just wanted to walk a few steps. The physiotherapist is supposed to come round, but appears to be a rarity.
    The hospital is a world unto itself, with its own language that is not explained to patients. A twelve year old in civvies and a hijab appeared and introduced herself as a registrar – I thought she was something to do with paperwork at first, but apparently she was a doctor. People appear randomly, introducing themselves as "therapists" Therapy for what? Why are you here?
    I just sit silently and hope that their actions will give me a clue.
    I figured out that there is a senior nurse on the ward who does a round every morning, so I asked her for her opinion about a couple of non prescription ways of preventing common problems like bladder infections and constipation (in the patient), thinking that she must be a wise woman in the ways of healing. She looked blank and said that the doctors prescribe for these conditions.
    In the stairwell, some delusional cultist has embroidered that covid-era picture of super-heroes bowing to nurses and doctors, and they've hung it on the wall.

      1. Yes, Paul. I have met several of them over the years. But one in particular was an utter cnut, as he was utterly. completely wrong, and arrogant with it.The best was the registrar who arrived shortly before my "severe chiropody". Shortly before the amputation, she drew arrows on my thighs in 'permanent marker', pointing to the location of the surgery.

        Unfortuately, the ink tansferred o my palms. Which I had to hide, obviously//;

    2. Dystopian hell.

      You seem to have written an modern account of how life was when Hieronymus Bosch depicted his The Garden of Earthly Delights.

      I was a nurse many decades ago , but what I have witnessed since as a patient and a visitor to NHS nests of neglect is terrifyingly horrible .

    3. I started to type a lengthy reply BB2 (I think many of us probably have NHS stories), thought better of it…so just to say sorry you're spending so much time there, hope you soon don't have to, and that all goes well with why you're there in the first place. Good luck:-)

    4. …. "it's basic theory that should be covered on nursing courses, like how to avoid pressure sores and how to ensure your patient doesn't fall."
      Not intellectual enough for a three year nursing 'degree'.

    2. Thanks, 'mum….it did. Similar at first glance to cockatoo birds, had never heard of them before. I think this was shot in New Caledonia – lucky they met up, hope they breed and increase numbers 🙂

  83. BUGGERIT!
    Just tore the cuff of one of my favourite shirts, made to measure, too. SHIT! That came from Yorkshire, and cost a good deal of money. Now I'm really pissed off.

      2. When you share a moment of tragedy and all they do is start making puns 🙁
        Not surprised you're a bit shirty about it.

    3. Can you take a photo of the damage, Oberst, and send it to me? (You'll find our email address on our website tracey-frenchcourses.com). Depending on how it's torn, it might be repairable. If I'm confident that I can do it, you can send it to me in the post. I've mended so many of Rastus's shirts and jackets, I think I know what I'm doing.

  84. Should we weep?

    A Namibian government cull of more than 700 wildlife to cope with its worst drought in decades is under way, with nearly 160 animals already killed, the environment ministry said Tuesday.

    The government announced the cull last week to relieve pressure on grazing and water supplies, and to provide meat for programmes to support the thousands of people going hungry because of the drought.

    Carried out by professional hunters, it targets 30 hippos, 60 buffalos, 50 impalas, 83 elephants, 100 blue wildebeest, 100 elands and 300 zebras.

    Most of the animals are in the country's protected national parks.

    At least 157 of the 723 animals designated for culling have been killed so far, environment ministry spokesman Romeo Muyunda told AFP. The time it would take to complete the cull depended on various factors, he said.

    "Our goal is to carry out this operation sustainably while minimising trauma as much as possible. We must separate those animals to be hunted from those that are not," Muyunda said.

    In compliance with the international ban on the sale of ivory, the tusks from the culled elephants would be stored in government warehouses.

    "To date 157 animals comprising of different species were hunted… delivering 56,875 kilogrammes of meat," a ministry statement said.

    Namibia declared a state of emergency in May because of the drought, which is gripping a swathe of countries across southern Africa.

    The World Food Programme said in August that about 1.4 million Namibians, nearly half the population, are experiencing acute food insecurity, with cereal production plummeting by 53 percent and dam water levels dropping by 70 percent compared with last year.

    The wildlife cull has been criticised by animal rights group PETA as short-sighted, cruel and ineffective.

    Outcry
    "We urge Namibia to reconsider these actions," PETA senior vice president Jason Baker said in a letter to Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila posted on the group's website.

    "The plan is not only cruel but also dangerously short-sighted and will have no long-term impact on these complex problems."

    The cull could lead to imbalances in ecosystems, Baker said.

    "The killing of even a few elephants could devastate entire herds, leading to increased mortality among survivors and more frequent and dangerous human-animal conflicts," he said in the letter.

    A group of African conservationists said in a joint statement that the mass cull sets a dangerous precedent of enabling governments "to exploit protected wildlife and national parks under the guise of humanitarian needs."

    The statement questioned whether there had been environmental impact assessments or game counts and food insecurity evaluations to inform the culling plan.

    It noted that the scheme comes ahead of November elections in Namibia and claimed the meat was intended to be distributed in areas where the ruling SWAPO party faces strong opposition.

    The cull is also expected to generate significant revenue from hunting licenses issued to hunters, it said. It also rejected claims that Namibia is overwhelmed by large elephants numbers.

    The country is estimated to be home to around 20,000 of the animals.

    The World Wildlife Fund says there are about 415,000 African elephants left on the continent but the species is regarded as vulnerable with some populations being poached to extinction even if others are thriving, notably in southern Africa.

    https://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/namibia-to-cull-of-more-than-700-wildlife-as-worst-drought-in-decades-is-under-way-c5d5441c-dee7-4a99-8d92-aa2950604b3f

    1. And who would question that pumping surging vein of common sense ?
      Only the Dopey Wokies, the government Whitehall and those in Wastemonster.

      1. Hi Geoff,

        Just for the record , how long have you been operating Nottl.

        It was pre Brexit , wasn't it ?

        When we were all very young.😢😢😭

    3. I agree with the above – although I'm not averse to an electric car – but I've no charge point at home and the driveway is a good 10 metres from the house.

      I would like a permanent ceasefire in gaza. I'd like muslims to stop trying to kill… well, everyone.

      We didn't have any choice over a heat pump but yes, they're ugly, brutal things that don't lend themselves to flexibility. I do recommend solar panels. Ours have saved us a third off our bills – at least.

      The Warqueen and I are considering batteries, but really, we're looking at moving in 4 years to get various things we do want.

  87. God it's been hard going this evening. First up: sos threatening premonitions; then my 'Pun of the Year' ignored by virtually everyone. On top of that the news is dire about Labour's painful delivery – sheesh!

    1. When Labour said 'It's going to be painful' they should have meant :for the welfare wasters, non workers, wasters and fake sickies and unproductive, inefficient public sector.

      Instead they meant: It's going to be tough for everyone working, contributing to society, paying tax, saving or investing.

      How they could be so completely back to front is beyond me.

      2. I’ve done quite well with interest on my savings account this past year or so but I got a bill from HMRC yesterday taxing me on it and claiming more than a third. They include it in my total income and say I haven’t paid enough tax this year. Their sums are not wrong but I still resent giving them any more money.

        1. Yep. It's just offensive. Interest on savings should be utterly tax free – at any amount. So should pensions. If you've put half a million into a pension, claimed the tax relief and are now claiming it is your money, not the government's. You've just not taken it at the point of earning it.

          When the state took away the Winter fuel allowance what it did was disguise that it had made energy hideously expensive – it caused it's own problem, then invented a silly plaster over it. Now it's punishing those most vulnerable rather than doing the sensible thing of shredding the state and getting rid of net zero completely.

          If Labour were serious they'd scrap the climate change act, net zero and start shutting down multiple government departments and scrapping welfare. But no. They're doing the exact opposite. The wrong thing. As usual. As always.

      1. Just for you sugar:

        Elsie Bloodaxe Rastus C. Tastey
        11 hours ago
        Has Sir Richard Branson just completed his training in Holy Orders? Which church is it?

        Stephenroi

        Wholly Virgin I shouldn’t wonder……

    3. Go on, tell us the pun again.
      I once made a pun that I considered to be pure genius as it had three possible meanings! and nobody noticed it either. 🙁

      1. Well just this once:

        Elsie Bloodaxe Rastus C. Tastey
        11 hours ago
        Has Sir Richard Branson just completed his training in Holy Orders? Which church is it?

        Stephenroi

        Wholly Virgin I shouldn’t wonder……

  89. Well, chums, it's 10 pm and once again bed beckons. Good Night, sleep well, and I hope to see you all tomorrow morning.

    1. Elsie,

      Would we have seen you on TV the other day dressed up in the style of Charles Dickens figures , amongst other characters .. maybe at a railway station?

    1. They stopped them in France – benefits only available for one wife.

      But as Barnier discovered when he negotiated the Brexit deal for the EU :

      The British are pathetically weak and feeble at negotiation, do not stick up for themselves and deserve to be exploited.

    2. Happy birthday, Conners. Oops! I've always written Conners, but it seems as if Conway's soubriquet is Connors – apologies.

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