Sunday 9 February: A new era of British nuclear power can give the country a much-needed boost

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

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

542 thoughts on “Sunday 9 February: A new era of British nuclear power can give the country a much-needed boost”

    1. Hedgehogs.

      It's telling the the only way to get rid of a bad politician is hoping he says something racist, sexist or offensive to protected groups. Not for lying; not for corruption; not for incompetence; not even for treason. A 20% mandate even does not offer the ballot box as a remedy.

      Seeing what they did to Jeremy Corbyn so that Starmer could backstab his way to Downing St, it is all too simple to discredit an alternative on a lie – mud sticks if it is said enough. Corbyn's branch of inept 1970s socialism may not to be everyone's taste, but in the same way that Tommy Robinson is right about Muslim encroachment, Corbyn was right about Gaza. Both point to the peril of religious fundamentalism when they get armed by powerful interests.

    2. No ifs, no buts, no truth. Not only are council taxes going up, but they are going up more than the original limit, courtesy of the green light from Labour, without having to have a referendum on it.

    1. The only programme we have enjoyed was Silent Witness , the Detectorists and the Fishing chaps , Gardeners World , some music progs etc .

      Why did the BBC withdraw ' Doctors' ?

      Moh is fed up with BBC women commenting on football

      Winter watch has increased the footfall down here in my part of Dorset , bad bad bad .

      The countryside is being over run with pedal bikers, large groups of hikers , fast cars and noise .

      Good for the local economy, but at what price .. fresh air doesn't become fresh when faced with vapers , loud voices and heavy traffic.

      1. Silent Witness used to be very good but has become woke beyond credibility. Once in a while it has a decent story line but then it descends into parody.

    2. "… and the moments that bring us together." Several million people tuning in at the same time are not "being brought together" by the BBC's kindly paternalistic hands of the BBC. "Come, children, gathers round and see what auntie has for you." Patronising tosh.

      1. The bBC are very community orientated; due to the fact I don't trust any of their news and current affairs output, or that their 'reality' shows/competitions are scripted tighter than their dire soap operas, or that any of their dramas appear to be written by a rainbow alliance of soy I gave up the 'pleasure' of livestream broadcasts a few years ago.
        Yet, the bBC TV tax department still write to me, well 'The Legal Occupier' these days, to remind me I can't watch livestream broadcasts without paying their TV tax. How thoughtful of them.

  11. SIR – Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to sweep aside nimbyism and build nuclear reactors all over England (report, February 6). He wants the country to be “one of the world leaders on nuclear”. This is great news – and he and Labour should be commended.

    This policy will create thousands of highly skilled jobs, boost economic growth, provide more clean energy and guarantee energy security.

    It will be good for the climate, too, as we will need a source of clean energy to replace fossil fuels. The best and most reliable source of clean energy we have is nuclear power, which isn’t dependent on the weather. It also requires less land and material.

    It is good to see Labour taking action on this important issue.

    Mark Dawes
    London E11

    Why would you believe anything Starmer says? Mr Brown nose.

    1. Finian Manson 7 min ago

      Mark Dawes is rather naïve in his endorsement of Labour's plans for nuclear power stations across the country!

      The foot dragging of small modular reactors, a quick and easy solution, with those from Rolls-Royce available off the shelf and already been purchased in other countries, started under the Conservatives and continues under Labour.

      There are many suitable sites including decommissioned power stations for even small farms of small modular reactors.

      As with the coalition of Clegg and Cameron where the Lib Dems vetoed building nuclear power stations because it would take a decade to come on stream the reality remains we are unlikely to see any new power stations completed before 2040 at the earliest.

      Even small modular reactors are unlikely to come on stream in sufficient quantities before the end of this decade.

      So, as usual, too little too late caused by bureaucratic foot dragging and the continuing belief in wind and solar power supported by levies and subsidies on the taxpayer.

      1. The main concerns about nuclear reactors are over long term safety if they cannot be maintained for any reason (if you were in Aleppo or Gaza or Zaporizhzhe, could anyone even get to the reactor with a spanner, hoping it's still got all its bits?). The time spans for the most popular nuclear cycle is 10,000 years. I doubt, considering recent breakdowns of ethical standards even within superpowers, civilisation will last a century and may even struggle seeing the decade out.

        The other issue is over decommissioning. It costs as much to decommission a nuclear power plant as it does to build one.

        That said, I'd have thought that a submarine in a battle zone was a fairly good test of a system's robustness.

      2. Now, if we are to believe both Starmer and Reeves, next to impossible, I know, about growing the economy and putting money in people's pockets then the RR reactor should be a shoo-in. Serious doubts abound about the growth and money in pockets pledges, and rightly so re this government's performance to date and the lies and obfuscation we see on an almost daily basis.

        Should this government go for the modular reactor solution to our power needs I very much doubt that RR would feature. Recent past history of governments failing to support British engineering and enterprise is a fact: why change the habits of a life-time?

        If I was a betting man, which I am not, China would be my choice. Starmer has just got rid of the tariff on Chinese non-folding E-bikes. Just a start?

        Chinese Modular Reactor

      3. Milliband Minor is sitting on his hands as Czech Republic, Poland, and Netherlands seek to utilise Rolls-Royce SMRs. Poland want to build them under licence in Poland.
        A Dutch energy consultancy firm has been in talks with Rolls-Royce about utilising their SMRs to provide power to data banks in the UK.
        Meanwhile, Mad Ed has set up a consultation/competition between six manufacturers of SMRs, which includes Rolls-Royce and the US firm Holtec. Holtec have suggested that, should they gain the contract, they will build a manufacturing plant in Milliband's constituency. Not that it will directly affect the 'local' MP as he lives in London.

    2. Letters to the Editor
      A new era of British nuclear power can give the country a much-needed boost

      Sir Keir Starmer meets staff at the National Nuclear Laboratory facility in Preston, Lancashire

      Letters to the Editor 09 February 2025 12:01am GMT

      SIR – Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to sweep aside nimbyism and build nuclear reactors all over England (report, February 6). He wants the country to be “one of the world leaders on nuclear”. This is great news – and he and Labour should be commended.

      This policy will create thousands of highly skilled jobs, boost economic growth, provide more clean energy and guarantee energy security.

      It will be good for the climate, too, as we will need a source of clean energy to replace fossil fuels. The best and most reliable source of clean energy we have is nuclear power, which isn’t dependent on the weather. It also requires less land and material.

      It is good to see Labour taking action on this important issue.

      Mark Dawes
      London E11

      SIR – If the PM is serious about fighting nuclear nimbyism, a good start would be to abolish Great British Nuclear. Its only achievement so far seems to have been to delay progress on small modular reactors (SMRs).

      The announcement of an immediate large contract with Rolls-Royce would assist with several of his objectives, including energy security, net zero and economic growth. It might even raise morale.

      Douglas Jones
      Exeter, Devon

    3. "He wants the country to be “one of the world leaders on nuclear”. Why do our politicians have this neo-colonialist belief the Britain should "lead the World?"
      We no longer have an empire, we are no longer a major power – get used to it. When they say "Britain leads the World", do they ever look over their shoulder to see who is following? Nobody, that's who. Try leading Britain instead.

  14. Morning, all Y'all.
    Bright 'n sunny today. Freshly laundered snow delivered overnight, so it's beautiful out there – if a tad chilly.

  15. Taxpayers face ‘astronomic’ £200bn cost of Labour’s migration failure, Badenoch warns. 9 February 2025

    Kemi Badenoch has warned that taxpayers could face an “astronomic” bill of more than £200 billion because of Labour’s failure to tackle mass migration.

    The Tory leader said that Labour’s “lax approach” would see Britain carry on subsidising low-paid foreign workers and their dependents.

    This is news? The “Tories” pursued this policy for fourteen years. The financial cost is actually the least of the indigenous population’s problems. They will soon become the victims of a predatory regime that will see them as little more than cheap labour and their children as the suppliers of sexual services.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/02/09/yvette-cooper-kemi-badenoch-reform-labour-migration-tories/

    1. I read that the Norwegian energy bill payers were miffed that during periods of high demand the price of electricity shot up. The reason demand is so high is interconnectors, not just to the UK but also to some EU countries. Thus, an energy rich Norway, instead of enjoying lower bills, is paying through the nose on the back of demand from temporarily wind-free countries. No wonder they're upset.

      What will Mad Ed Milliband do when the high tariff interconnectors are switched off, due to domestic demand, at the other end of the extension cord?

      1. What will he do? Blame climate change and build more useless "renewable" farms on good farm land. The rest of us will freeze to death if we rely on electricity.

  18. Good morning , Good morning to you.

    Cold and frosty morning here , blue sky thank goodness, but as they say , sun before seven , rain after eleven.

    Son ran in the Weymouth 5k Park run yesterday , and was away again early this morning to meet up for another race , a 10 miler.

    The course is hilly and entirely on country roads and pavements.
    There are two water stations.
    The course surfaces are in good condition but there are some potholes and uneven surfaces along the way.
    The route is fully marshalled.
    There are no road closures in place.
    Please note this is a headphone/ear-phone free race.
    The race is not suitable for wheelchair users, prams and no dogs are allowed.

    Yep, as son says potholes, there are lots of them .

    Potholes everywhere , I cannot remember ever seeing and feeling so many potholes when motoring around / walking .

  19. SIR – Sheffield should not solely be associated with steel (“It was an industrial powerhouse. Now it is a haven for public sector bloat”, Business, February 2). It is also famous for food production: Batchelors Peas, Liquorice Allsorts, Simpkins boiled sweets, Dixons Mint Rock, and a large bakery that supplies “own-brand” products to supermarkets.

    But the best product, and one gradually gaining universal acclaim, is Henderson’s Relish, a preferred flavouring for stews, pies, fish and so on. Once confined to South Yorkshire, its fame is such that it’s now obtainable even in the south of England.

    Peter Denton
    Angmering, West Sussex

    How do, and Na then, Pete lad.

    Tha's not wrong with Sheffield food, owd flower; thats gradely snap by any measure. You forgot, though, to mention the best sandwich in the UK: the unimpeachably delicious pork sandwich made by Béres, who has at least 11 shops dotted around the city.

    The original Béres was a Hungarian refugee who was invited into the country in the wake of the 1956 uprising in his own country. He paid the country back by setting up a chain of shops selling this wonderful sandwich (and other roast pork products), which has now become embedded in Sheffield folklore.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S–2L39pPjk&t=206s
    I don't see evidence of any of the current mass influx of 'refugees' being similarly entrepreneurial!

    1. A Hungarian is someone who goes into a revolving door behind you and comes out in front of you. (George Mikes, himself a Magyar)

    2. Morning Grizzly,

      Wow, yes and many things , I have a nearly finished bottle of Henderson's in my kitchen cupboard, and a fresh one waiting on the shelf in another room ..

      So dear reader , it is obtainable down south , here in Dorset , how about that?

      2. Yes, I have a bottle of Henderson's.
        Since I am keen on stock rotation, it's waiting for me to finish the last spoonful or so of Worcester Sauce.

      1. I suppose Southerners always rinse each mouthful of jellied eels down with a swig of warm shandy before opening their colossal gobs to mutter.

    1. Johnson is a character alright.. but not a leader. He's a liberal that just wants to be liked.
      The dilemma is summed up by JRM.

      Jacob Rees-Mogg, a close ally of Mr Johnson, said last week: ‘If we enter the next election in this three horse race without a pact, we may well see Labour keep its majority – and just look how badly they’re governing.’

        1. Can't quite get your drift. Unless, you perhaps preferred a Corby government & remain.

          Anyhow, it's the same same dilemma.
          The fact is.. there are a lot of soggy wet Tories in UK. If they don't bother voting, or vote Tory then you end up with a 174 seat majority Marxist 6th Form govt.

  21. Good Moaning to you all, from a cold, but sunny C d S.

    on the subject of Slavery reparations

    Simple, we send our three remaining warships to the West Indies, load them full of the people making the most noise on the topic and ship them back to mud hut villages in deepest Africa,

    They will have been reparated

    1. Yes, then they will have something to moan about , tribalism, malaria, slashings , foul conditions .

      Yeah, send them back to their roots .

      2. The Ku Klux Klan bought the film rights to 'Roots'. They're going to run it backwards and get a happy ending.

      1. It’s because HMG is so weak woke that the calls for reparation have grown louder. Fixed it for you.

    4. And in the Telegaffe today is a letter from some prat in Dublin saying that since some of that money compensated slave owners we now ought to compensate the descendants of the slaves! What about all the RN sailors who died on anti slavery patrols; what about the massive cost of those operations to UK?

  23. On my way to work this morning I found three kittens in a suitcase. I reported it to animal welfare and the lady asked if they were moving. I told her I couldn't say for certain but it would explain the suitcase.

  24. I didn't catch the name of the woman burbling away on R4, but I realised she was a wrong 'un when she said "BCE". She went on to sing the praises of immigration, pointing out that 142 Nobel Prize winners were immigrants. Indeed, and what else si they have in common? (Runs for cover.)

    3. Mostly European immigrants. Maria Salomea Skłodowska who emigrated from Poland to France, for example.

    1. It's been a daily conversation this last week concerning Oscar. Thankfully his bad tummy seems to have been cured now.

  26. Morning all 🙂😊
    Horrible day again weather-wise.
    Our little grandson's 5th birthday today. The little fella who rang the all clear bell at Addenbrooks hospital last year. The All clear from leukemia. Have a lovely day today all.

    And back in the late 50s and 60s our country was advanced enough to have been the world leader in the use of nuclear energy. But once again on this continuous path of disaster our political idiots effed every thing up. Now they realise that they were wrong. ……again.

    1. I bet that all clear was a colossal relief for you all, and the occasion for a great deal of celebration!
      Good on the wee feller. Happy Birthday to him!

  27. Good Morning!

    Today’s FSB article is from Nanumaga on Labour's Plan To End Democracy and keep the sinister anti-British far-Left Globalists in power until their work of destroying our country is complete.

    Paul Sutton’s lament on where we are as a country and what is to come is a superb piece of writing. Read his short Drenching Arms and reflect, and support him with a comment.

    Energy watch 08.40. Total generation: 31.917 GW from: Hydrocarbons 24.7%; Wind 28.7%; Imports 20.1%; Biomass 9.8% and Nuclear 13.4%. Solar: 0. 4%. UK demand: 30.62GW, UK generation 24.48GW.
    We are importing a massive 21.9% of our electricity supply from the continent, mostly from France, as the lunatics in charge would rather import expensive foreign electric power that produce it here from much cheaper gas. No wonder we have the economy-killing highest electricity prices in the world. The economics of the mad house.

    And, at Frederica's request, fully endorsed by me, can we all PLEASE sign this petition:

    Raise the income tax personal allowance from £12,570 to £20,000

    Raise the income tax personal allowance from £12570 to £20000. We think this would help low earners to get off benefits and allow pensioners a decent income.

    freespeechbacklash.com

    4. signed Tom, but i am not hopeful. it took years to raise to the level it is now. lifted from Wikipedia:

      “On 22 June 2010, the new Chancellor George Osborne, as part of the coalition deal which sought to increase the Personal Allowance to £10,000 from April 2015 per Lib Dem policy,[2] made the first increase of £1,000, making it £7,475 for the 2011-12 tax year.[3] During the 2011 Budget, the allowance was raised by £630 to £8,105 from April 2012.[citation needed] In 2013, George Osborne revised the plans to increase the Personal Allowance and bring forward the date at which it would reach the £10,000 target. This resulted in the allowance being raised to £9,440 from April 2013, before being increased to £10,000 from April 2014, a year earlier than originally planned.[4][5][6] All these increases in the personal allowance came from rises in the personal tax.[6][4] In 2016, Osborne determined that the tax increases no longer applied for personal allowance and decided to cut taxes personal taxes £1,000 less than the 2011 level when he increased the personal allowance to £11,500.[7]”

      Maybe debatable on accuracy – but good luck to the petition writer

      1. The petition wil be dismissed with the sam earrogance they dismiss them all, but it does help. It gets people involved and shows the establishment for what it is.

        But I think we need to sart being much more activist.

  28. A somewhat belated good morning to all.
    We woke to pump bilges just before 7 and I decided I deserved a lie in.
    Two hours later….
    However, a dull, no discernible wind and slightly misty start with 5½°C on the thermometer after a low of 2.8°C yesterday.
    At least it's currently not raining and the forecast snow has failed to arrive.

  29. The Taliban are out in the desert when a voice shouts one sas is better than three Taliban, the Taliban leader sends three fighters to engage with the sas member, a few minutes later a voice shouts one SAS is better than ten Taliban, the Taliban leader sends in ten Taliban, 15 minutes later a voice shouts one SAS is better than a thousand Taliban, the Taliban leader now enraged sends in a thousand fighters, after about an hour one Taliban crawls over the hill into the leaders arms and says "don't send anymore fighters, it's a trap, there's two of them"

  30. One more coffee and I'll be outside for a while. Sorting ski-box for the car, and preparing skis for a few days break.
    Although sunny, it's cold out, so I need to work up some enthusiasm – and caffeine in the bloodstream.

  31. Just cooked some liver for the dogs. It smelled so nice i have eaten half of it. You should hear all the squinnying coming from them.

      1. SCHOOL liver is disgusting. They probably use beef or pig liver.
        Properly cooked calve's or lamb's liver is delish. (The secret's in the timing.)

        1. My school memories are of pigs' liver rendered utterly inedible by overcooking.

          I have to admit I like beef liver – I'd never eaten it in Europe, but it's the standard option here, and cooked properly it's not ar all.dissimilar to calves' liver.

          Now if only they knew how to make bacon to go with it…

        2. My school memories are of pigs' liver rendered utterly inedible by overcooking.

          I have to admit I like beef liver – I'd never eaten it in Europe, but it's the standard option here, and cooked properly it's not ar all.dissimilar to calves' liver.

          Now if only they knew how to make bacon to go with it…

        1. Serves you right! I have no sympathy. Kadi has just scoffed the juices of my lamb steak drizzled over his kibble and a few bits of lamb fat plus a sausage roll added to the mix. Result is a clean bowl and a dog that's fast asleep 🙂

  32. Miliband sacrifices Britain to his global warming god
    https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/miliband-sacrifices-britain-to-his-global-warming-god/

    "THE TOTAL DESTRUCTION of Great Britain is well under way and proving a highly successful venture, thanks to one man and one man alone: Ed Miliband."

    BTL

    Miliband does not deserve all the credit for the destruction of the UK.

    Communist states do not come into existence in economically successful countries. Starmer, Reeves and Miliband are working in unison to create the state of economic devastation in which a communist state can be born.

    1. He's an absolute catastrophic destrhctve nightmare. And now his mission is to set out to prove it.
      Call in the army Charles and quickly.

        1. Just a bit of wishful thinking Conners.
          I think his father might have ‘had a word’. Or something else maybe.

    4. Like father, like son.
      A quote from Miliband's father :

      The Englishman is a rabid nationalist. They are perhaps the most nationalist people in the world … When you hear the English talk of this war (WW 2) you sometimes almost want them to lose it to show them how things are. They have the greatest contempt for the continent in general and for the French in particular.

  33. OT – if any rugby fans want a larf – read the article by Stephen Jones in the Sunday Grimes. I think he watched a different match from the rest of us!

      1. True – here it is:

        Titanic battle? Well, sort of. But sometimes only because the action reminded you of a sinking ship. There was a magnificent closing sequence in the final ten minutes in which England edged a point ahead after long periods when they looked like losing.

        France then came back with a sumptuous try from Louis Bielle-Biarrey, almost the only time they truly looked like themselves in a fierce blizzard of bungling.

        And then, six points behind, England had one more chance after France had been penalised down the left. Alex Mitchell began a move from a lineout with Elliot Daly, the pedigree, racing onto Fin Smith’s pass and over at the posts to vast Twickenham joy, converted by Smith. England gained the win they had craved, painfully, horribly, and finally successfully. The wave of relief almost blew the stands over.

        Steve Borthwick suggested afterwards that the match had been a delight for both sets of supporters. Let’s say that the French hid their joy extremely well. It had been there for the taking.

        In its way it was an epic, it ended years of agony — or perhaps we can say for now that it interrupted years of agony. England were piloted to victory and towards the final score by two factors. First was the absolutely dismal performance by the French team who had all the attacking intent but committed probably the biggest number of silly handling errors of any match in their history.

        The second factor was the control exerted by Fin Smith at fly half, at last in the position that he should have been in years ago. And there was a notable injection of pride and passion from the bench, Jamie George, Ollie Chessum and Daly bringing brimstone.

        After England finally installed Fin Smith, they were unable to drop Marcus Smith so they came up with a lot of drivel about a twin-Smith attack with Marcus at full back as if it was the most natural in the world.

        Marcus Smith had a terrible match, he made no inroads whatsoever from full back — we were promised a fiesta of attacking from the back — and he made no ground and made errors.

        Even when he had acres in front of him, he had no impact. But they also trusted him to kick at goal, and he missed two easy kicks by almost the same distance as he had been kicking from in the first place. Talk about blind faith.

        Back to France. Thomas Ramos and Matthieu Jalibert were so far off their game that they may have affected the whole effort. France were superior in principle up front and behind the scrum but shelled so many balls that it was as if the old oval had suddenly become red hot. They always managed to hit back with a brief moment of magic when they were threatened, except that when they finally lost the lead there was no time left.

        England were kept going by their back row, by the two Currys, by the effervescent Tommy Freeman and by the authority under pressure of Fin Smith.

        And yet France could so easily have been over the hill and far away by half-time but their finishing was as abject as their approach work had been sensational.

        In the end it seemed as if it was anxiety which stopped them. Early on, Ramos burst away down the left with Bielle-Biarrey inside him running free. But the French wing could not stop himself accelerating too quickly so in the end the pass went astray.

        There were two more occasions with a long period of French dominance when a little less panic by the supporting runners would clearly have led to tries. There were signs that French frustration was growing because although England deserved credit for their excellence defence, they really had little to offer in attack.

        In the end, it took most of the half to make the score that they deserved. The French flanker François Cros wrapped the ball under his foot to secure possession, France attacked and a clever kick by Damian Penaud left the ball at the mercy of Bielle-Biarrey. The French wing reached it first to score.

        However, England finally established a pressure platform. Freeman came into an attack on three occasions, the ball came back and although the ball went loose in front of Henry Slade, it was picked up by Ollie Lawrence for the try and the conversion by Marcus Smith made it 7-7 at half-time.

        France probably only had themselves to blame because they should have been well ahead, but apart from a few poor kicks by Marcus Smith, England maintained their composure and at half-time all the French chances were forgotten in a burst of raised England hopes.

        They came up offside once too often to allow Ramos to kick a penalty to make it 10-7 and then the match could have ended as a contest when France burst away down the left wing for Bielle-Biarrey to break away with a man inside him. Those of us who had been witness to the French wing being sick on the field three or four times just before doubted that he would get there but his inside pass to Peato Mauvaka was dropped, as were so many French passes, and the move foundered.

        And we felt that England was still in it. A break led by Freeman, England’s best attacker, gave them hope and when Fin Smith chipped the ball high for his Northampton Saints colleague Freeman, the wing leapt high and scored an excellent try.

        Then we saw France playing like France for the first time. Encouraged after Marcus Smith had made a terrible hash of the conversion of Freeman’s try, they launched a brilliant move and this time decided to hold onto the ball, before moving the ball to the left and right to allow Penaud to score almost at his leisure on the wing. Ramos missed the conversion.

        But how well England reacted. They feasted on a penalty call by the referee, won the lineout and won the match. It is step one. But better than reverse.

        1. Thank you
          I agree with most of his assessment of the French and M Smith, but the rest wasn't quite what I saw.

          First was the absolutely dismal performance by the French team who had all the attacking intent but committed probably the biggest number of silly handling errors of any match in their history.

          Totally agree.

          The second factor was the control exerted by Fin Smith at fly half, at last in the position that he should have been in years ago.

          Really???

    1. We've all cracked tasteless jokes or made heartless quips.
      But we are not so stupid as to publish them. Once you've pressed "send" you have lost control.
      I wonder who, amongst his WhatsApp group, Mr. Gwynne has pissed off?

    1. That is a beautiful object, symbolism aside. The Japanese have to be the greatest exponents of aesthetics in the world.

    2. Far right propaganda. Solar panels will not fail – if we're not getting enough electricity from them, that is just proof we need more of them'!
      – Ed Millipede

      1. EU mindthink par excellence. A pleasure to help re insulation (couldn't reply to your post as it was too long ago). I hope it works out okay.

  37. How to be a total pillock.

    Love Island star Jack Fincham admits he feels like a 'failure' after 'blowing £1million on drugs, booze and gambling including £40k in ONE DAY'.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-14376417/Jack-Fincham-failure-1million-drugs-booze-gambling-40k-one-day.html

    What made me laugh was there was a poll on the page asking if you hope Jack will turn his life around. 35% voted NO.

    I do hope he doesn't read it. But he will. Narcissist.

      1. I drink like a fish and smoke like a chimney but i have managed to keep hold of my money. He was just pathetically self indulgent.

  38. Very symmetrical. After the first attempt there were 170+ possible answers. Got it in two:
    Wordle 1,331 3/6
    🟩⬜⬜⬜🟩
    🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  39. Congratulations, Labour: this is your stupidest idea yet
    No, giving kitchen knives a rounded tip will not end gang violence. So why on earth is the Government actually considering it?
     https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02/07/kitchen-knives-rounded-tips-knife-crime-labour/

    DIY and house maintenance to be banned?

    Remember the 'traveller', a young man in his 30s, who entered an old man's home armed with a long screwdriver?

    In the course of robbing the place the traveller was apprehended by the home owner, a pensioner, and in the scuffle which ensued the traveller was killed by his own screwdriver. At first they thought the old man who defended himself should be charged with murder or at least with manslaughter but, the memory of Tony Martin's treatment and the outrage this caused amongst the public meant that the case did not go to court. However the traveller community was so offended that one of them was killed while just pursuing his profession that the poor householder's life was threatened and he had to change his name and move out of the home in which he and his family had lived for many years.

    There are three morals (or lessons to be learned) to this story:

    i) Beware of travellers and the reaction of their community should one of them be killed while robbing you;

    ii) The best answer is for the victim of threats from a mob is to change his name and move home as the Batley teacher had to do;

    ii) The government should ban screwdrivers with dangerous sharp ends.

          1. Not with Hi Torqque, can with just slotted.

            Used many a thousands, whenI were a Phantom Phixer, back in the late ’60’s rerly 70’s

          2. Yep, Hi-torq were fine – the originals were just slotted – I remember the Canberra had them when I was on them in the early 60s

    2. Given there are more than 100 gangs running riot across all London boroughs the answer is stop and search all young black men. If found in possession 6 months in prison. If caught a second time 5 years.

      Get real. Get serious.

        1. I know young black men who were not carrying or gang members resented stop and search but it is them that are getting stabbed too.
          They should just grin and bear it. It makes it safer for everyone.

          During the troubles bags were searched when entering shops. People got used to it knowing it made everyone safer.

          1. It's a while since I last went to London but my bag was searched at the British Museum in 2018.

          5. Bags are still searched when you go racing. I have been stopped when driving at night. It didn't bother me. I just answered the questions and then went on my way.

    4. Yo Mr T

      Screwdrivers (and Knives) are just the symptom

      The Fault is Travellers and others of that mindset. Ban them from living in UK

    5. Who is this interloper with a red spotted pocket handkerchief on his head and a pipe in his mouth? I thought I had killed him off but he keeps popping up when not expected!

        1. My younger son, Henry, and Jessica, his long-term fiancée, have gone to Tromsø to celebrate Jess's birthday. They are hoping to see the Northern Lights.

          1. I wish them luck! There’s been some really impressive displays earlier this year, ain all kinds of shiny colours.

        2. My younger son, Henry, and Jessica, his long-term fiancée, have gone to Tromsø to celebrate Jess's birthday. They are hoping to see the Northern Lights.

    6. Chisels next, perhaps? Then screw drivers? Drills? At every turn they're deflecting to avoid confronting the truth: the diversity are savages and cannot be permitted to live in this country.

    7. The government is desperate to avoid admitting that their loony policies (and those of their predecessors) have caused the problems.

  40. I didn't think M Smith was that bad. I don't care for his hair, nor for the way he orders people about, as though he has 100 caps; and he missed "easy" kicks – but all kickers have off days. Ramos missed two.

    Jones has had it in for M Smith ever since he started out for England.

    Pity Jones wasn't in Rome to see the magnificent performance of his compatriots against feeble, failed Italy!!

    1. I thought MS took too many wrong options yesterday.
      Normally I like his open play but his kicking from hand isn't great.
      It's a great pity that the amount of high kick and chase can't be restricted.

    2. Marcus Smith did not have his best game and his two missed penalties were shockers.

      But he can be electrically deceptive with the ball in his hand. Maybe he should be on the wing if Fin Smith has secured the No 10 position?

  41. As well as chisels .. they are so sharp, and dangerous , oh yes and Stanley knives, what on earth would we do without them ..

    Nah , the panga/ machete tribes people who are welcomed and venerated , so the adverts seem to imply .. hardly any white adverts these days , need to be educated more!

        2. The subliminal message addressed to the white lasses is they make great pets so why not marry one…..?

    3. 401332+ up ticks,

      Morning TB,

      ALL disk grinders must go, ALL mobile sharpening street grinders, especially if activated via a person of 40 shades must go,etc,etc.

      There are a million more "MUST GO's" in this very strange country currently.

    5. The imminent exposure of Soros funding of mass immigration into the UK via the US Democrat slush fund known as USAID is about to call a halt to the vile activities in which successive governments have been complicit.

      As the US money dries up so will the channel crossings and other Soros sponsored activities. The same stop force will be brought to the US funded WHO, WEF and Gates activities in respect of the Climate Change scam and the pushing of dangerous and ineffective vaccines.

      2. It all seems to rely on one man to stop it. What happens when Trump is no longer POTUS?

      3. And the Labour government will take the credit for "smashing the gangs" and "stopping the boats".

    6. The imminent exposure of Soros funding of mass immigration into the UK via the US Democrat slush fund known as USAID is about to call a halt to the vile activities in which successive governments have been complicit.

      As the US money dries up so will the channel crossings and other Soros sponsored activities. The same stop force will be brought to the US funded WHO, WEF and Gates activities in respect of the Climate Change scam and the pushing of dangerous and ineffective vaccines.

  42. Good Moaning.
    Turned out grey again, so we won't be boiled in our own sweat today.
    Ho hum … yet another birthday lunch to attend.
    How dare MB celebrate his milestones.

    1. That was how it was served yesterday. We enjoyed a birthday lunch at the only genuine Italian restaurant in Colchester. (Not one of those darn chains)
      Family run, regular customers and a menu beyond sodding pizza and pasta.

      1. Our local Italian deli/cafe doesn't serve pizza but does pasta and many other Italian meals. Owned and run by Itlaians.

        1. We have two Italian run restaurants in our little town……. they don't like each other! One does woodfired pizzas as well as other things and the other is a restaurant which does all sorts of meals. They've even got a small Fiat up on the first floor overhanging porch somehow. The pizza one calls the other lot "The Mafia".

      2. I had lunch with some Nottlers at the Red Lion Woking. I had liver, bacon and mash. I went down the table to speak to someone and when i came back Harry Kobeans and Alf the Great had snaffled my bacon !!!

  44. Good morning, all. Wet and miserable.

    Never miss an opportunity, do they?

    I cannot believe the school would entertain such a crass idea. Whatever is the headteacher thinking? Time for the parents to stand up and be counted and tell the head, the governors and the education authority not only to place their ideas where the Sun doesn't shine but that a total boycott of the 'events' will take place.

    One or two comments claim that teaching primary school pupils this dangerous rubbish is in the curriculum already.😡

    https://x.com/DaveAtherton20/status/1888508619911557572

    1. "I cannot believe the school would entertain such a crass idea."

      The school would be burnt to the ground if this was all true. It needs checking, and Southport parents should be visiting the school and demanding curriculum details.

      1. We all know the drill. When muslim kills someone the first response is denial, then when it can't be denied scream diversity strength and jail and destroy anyone saying otherwise. When the dissidents have been dealt with reinforce the indoctrination. Never, ever let up about muslim good, whitey bad. Keep forcing the message. Force the brainwashing lies.

  45. Sad news , our old ex para 3 pal soon to be 90 years old has had a very bad couple of years .

    He has now been sectioned .. and no one is allowed to visit him .

    Last year late he was being assessed in a care home , and he kept escaping , he climbed a wall and was found wandering in his jim jams on a major road .. He was always physically fit and able .. and was an ace target/ what ever the special name is for those who can hit a specific target , sharp shooter, sniper , I cannot remember .

    When we rescued him from his condemned ramshackle cottage years ago , he kept a large handgun by his chair , for shooting rats in the cottage , and he had a shotgun hidden in his roof.

    He was a character .. a comfortable oap bungalow in the village where he was born became vacant and he lived there comfortably for nearly 7 years , after living with us for 6 months!!!

    He started to become angry , and broke several TVs by throwing things at it . 2 years ago I took him out for lunch for b/day , and he became angry in my car as I was driving , flinging his arms around and shouting . I was fearful, we were in the countryside and there was nowhere to turn around .. He did calm down eventually , bless him , thank God.

    We enjoyed a rather noisy meal together .. part of his problem was , he kept losing his hearing aids , so he couldn't hear , mortar damage .. and I must have taken him half a dozen times to have his ears syringed and tested and to my knowledge in my time he had 3 sets of replacement hearing aids , you know how much they cost .. £3k a pair , outrageous thievery .

    I am grieving for the loss of a stoic strong man , and the happy experiences we gave him, trips on the train , visits to all sorts of places .

    When he was a lad he remembers going to Weymouth to watch the build up for D day , and also watch the Glider airborne from Tarrant Rushton airfield .. and the American troops who were billeted near by..

    History .. history , part of his fury is the so called illegal darkie invasion from Calais on the boats .. as he says , he watched good men leave for D day , and good men come back wounded from Dunkirk.

    The Spitfire squadrons were based down here in Dorset as well, at RAF Warmwell . An uncle of his was killed flying .

    Sorry to rabbit on ..

    1. What a sad end for the old feller. Well done for doing what you have done for him, Maggie.

    3. Yo T_B

      What is scary, is that he is just ten years (or less) older than a lot of Nottlers, who still post on here

    4. Why is he not allowed any visits? I can understand he needs care, but isolation is not good for him.

      I remember my uncle raging and shouting at the telly. For many years he refused to have one….. but the family eventually got their way. My mother (his sister) never did get a telly, and I could happily live without it.

      1. Don't watch it any more – full of drivel, mainly from the US. TV news is lies, so nothing else for it than to get a dongle and cast YouTube to the TV.

        1. I am fast approaching twenty years TV and Licence-free. However, my "endless outbursts of Tourette's." are now directed at this laptop!

      3. Mental health people have relocated him to a hospital in Hampshire .. North Hampshire .

        No one can visit him apparently ..

        We are not his next of kin so we are not in the loop anymore .

        3. I suspect it's a matter of getting him settled and his medication adjusted.
          If you visited too soon, he would probably get agitated or even violent when you didn't take him home at the end of the visit.
          With Elderly Chum for the first few visits I had to spin the line that we were waiting for her to get really well. We deliberately didn't put her house on the market for a couple of years until we felt she was safely settled.
          Do you have contact with any of old para's family?

    5. I rage and shout at the TV. It's perfectly normal. It's likely healthy.

      When my brother was sectioned we found the conditions appalling. Overly heated, dark rooms, cold overhead lighting, brick walls, everything covered in mesh netting so the shadows were ghastly.

    1. They are all so practiced at effing up everything they come into contact with.
      I wonder Who will clear up all the extra fly tipping that will happen ?

    2. The 100,000 for how a gimmigrant was treated that gets me. The pakistani claimed she was a Christian and overstayed her student visa. Why, when her visa expired did she not properly request leave to stay?

      Yes, the home office is incompetent and useless but we never get the other side, do we? No one asks why she sought compensation. No one asks why, having won the lottery of life, living in the UK she wanted money.

      She's a grifter, she didn't fill in the paperwork, she just wanted money. The home office, being inept merely facilitated this.

  49. Why does Labour loathe ordinary people? 9 February 2025.

    The jaw-dropping contempt dripping from the reply suggested by Labour’s sacked health minister Andrew Gwynne to a 72-year-old lady in Manchester who had complained about her bin collections may seem shocking but is scarcely surprising. In a WhatsApp chat with Labour councillors, Gwynne proposed to respond with: ‘Dear resident, F*** your bins. I’m re-elected and without your vote. Screw you. PS: Hopefully you’ll have croaked it by the all-outs.’ This is entirely symptomatic of the way that ‘the people’s party’ now regard those who elect them.

    The title of this piece should really be: Why does Labour loathe ordinary White people? It is inconceivable that one of their members would say something like this to someone from an ethnic or social minority. It would be racist or sexist or whatever. White people on the other hand can be insulted with impunity. They are the source of the world’s ills. What is the reason for this attitude inversion that actually took place around twenty years ago? In its simplest form the white population no longer needed a Socialist protector. To survive, the Labour Party needed a new clientele. Under Blair they imported their own. Since then this requirement has superseded any obligations to the Indigenous population. They have instead become the enemy. You have only to think of the Mass rape program that has elicited no concern on their part. The abundance of aid showered on incomers is another pointer. The Death of the Labour Party is much to be desired.

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-does-labour-loathe-ordinary-people/

    1. Last week I was saddened to read about the remarks of the parents of the two students in Nottingham slaughtered by the immigrant Calocane.
      In this Labour world, the mentally ill are perceived as the real victims, not a couple of carousing middle class teenagers.
      The killer may have suffered from brain damage after using narcotics, but unfortunately the Uniparty and the Blob regard drugs as a means of control, not a threat to the people.

      1. In Labour's world, the black is let off because they don't care about white deaths. To them this is normal, acceptable.

  50. Why does Labour loathe ordinary people? 9 February 2025.

    The jaw-dropping contempt dripping from the reply suggested by Labour’s sacked health minister Andrew Gwynne to a 72-year-old lady in Manchester who had complained about her bin collections may seem shocking but is scarcely surprising. In a WhatsApp chat with Labour councillors, Gwynne proposed to respond with: ‘Dear resident, F*** your bins. I’m re-elected and without your vote. Screw you. PS: Hopefully you’ll have croaked it by the all-outs.’ This is entirely symptomatic of the way that ‘the people’s party’ now regard those who elect them.

    The title of this piece should really be: Why does Labour loathe ordinary White people? It is inconceivable that one of their members would say something like this to someone from an ethnic or social minority. It would be racist or sexist or whatever. White people on the other hand can be insulted with impunity. They are the source of the world’s ills. What is the reason for this attitude inversion that actually took place around twenty years ago? In its simplest form the white population no longer needed a Socialist protector. To survive, the Labour Party needed a new clientele. Under Blair they imported their own. Since then this requirement has superseded any obligations to the Indigenous population. They have instead have become the enemy. You have only to think of the Mass rape program that has elicited no concern on their part. The abundance of aid showered on incomers is another pointer. The Death of the Labour Party is much to be desired.

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-does-labour-loathe-ordinary-people/

  51. I have been twice. My neighbour was most impressed when i presented her with an assortment of their gluten free pastries.

  53. Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has defended her meeting with survivors of Grenfell, after some said they felt ignored by the decision to tear the tower down.

    Grenfell Tower will be demolished in a process likely to take two years, it has been confirmed.

    The tower will be brought down to ground level, with some parts returned where possible to be included in a memorial “if the community wishes”.

    Separately, the Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission has been consulting on plans for a permanent memorial in the area of the tower, with recommendations including a “sacred space”, designed to be a “peaceful place for remembering and reflecting”.

    I think we all know what that means.

    1. Grenfell Tower will be demolished in a process likely to take two years, it has been confirmed.

      More expense. It should be destroyed with explosives.

    3. The 'tower'? That is erosion of language for political purposes. The building is a tower block, not a tower.
      Apart from the children, I have little sympathy for the residents and contempt for the late Lord Prescott and his gang of useful idiots, who initiated or supported the idea of disguising worn out social housing projects with cosmetic changes (IIRC). The cladding itself had no insulation value, except possibly to reduce wind chill.
      According to a now-deceased friend who once worked on a sister block in the early 1980s, the cladding was also fitted incorrectly in order to save time & money.
      The building should have been demolished and rebuilt rather than tarted up, and demolition using explosives would now be quicker and less traumatic for the compo tribespeople. Yes, the structure was innovative and capable of lasting 100 years, but in the end it simply demonstrated the idiocy of pseudo-socialism. As for a memorial, a plaque would be enough; land in London is valuable and useful.

    4. “sacred space”, designed to be a “peaceful place for remembering and reflecting”.

      But, not for Chrristians

    5. Memorial commission? Another waste of time. It should remain as a monument to hard Left dogma, state incompetence, arrogance and idiocy.

    6. Memorial commission? Another waste of time. It should remain as a monument to hard Left dogma, state incompetence, arrogance and idiocy.

  55. One has to steel oneself to read all the comments posted on here. And I know I'm guilty of posting WTF stories! Sheesh is there no end to the lunacy?!!

        1. I'm familiar with BS4360 – Carbon steel for offshore structures , or something like that.

        1. Lovely!
          Firstborn has a set – sharper than fcuk. Beautiful to look at, too – a real work of art.

          1. We have a set of Japanese Global knives each with its own shield. Brilliant. Sharpen them every month. Fiercesome they are. Wish I knew how to put pictures on here.
            ETA: Global!

          2. Click on the second box at the bottom of the comment box – looks like a mountain symbol.
            I wasn't able to upload images for some reason all last year….. seems to work now.

  56. 401330+ up ticks,

    How about a grenfell tower type operation in regards to the "miranda" b liar cartel, a tower of solidified shite with "miranders" head atop to commemorate the depths we have achieved in self afflicted actions via the polling stations.

    ………………………LEST WE FORGET.

  57. Phew!
    In the absence of fallen tree-trunks to saw up, I've just chopped what I hope will be the last lot of split logs to fill up the last section of the triple stack that we've been refilling ready for the backend of next winter.
    After Grad.Son has shifted them to the stacking area, I'll get out again to split a decent batch of my already sawn logs to give a good start on restacking the Pantry Stack. I don't think we'll be burning much of the Holly-bush stack!

  58. Donald Trump has ruled out deporting the Duke of Sussex from the US, claiming the royal has “enough problems with his wife”, Meghan, whom he said was 'terrible'.

    Lol. You can't fault The Donald.

  62. 401330+ up ticks,

    Best to take on board the premise that ALL muslims in regards to children / women are terrorist, just different grades.
    Currently the only teachers you can really trust are in hiding that alone is a puzzle within a cypher enclosed in a riddle, .where in bleeding hells name do you find the tea……

    https://x.com/DaveAtherton20/status/1888508619911557572

  63. The Light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train…..

    Reform Membership now 200,057……

    1. I was at a party and they had Alexa. I told it to play the theme music to Jaws getting progressively louder from 3.am.
      The host overheard me and cancelled the instruction.
      Later i was in the kitchen and relayed the story to another guest thinking how funny i was (large Bourbons that night ).

      I didn't know they had another device listening in the kitchen.

      It was loud enough to wake me up next door ! :@)

      Doo do doo do.

    2. We had Mozart settings in church this morning. Every now and again, the rector insists. The director of music likes early and contemporary music but not much in between. I especially liked the Laudate Dominum and Ave Verum Corpus. The beauty Mozart bequeathed to us in a life that was just 35 years is remarkable. Sod Marxism. The history of mankind is about heroes. Outstanding individuals.

      1. Our choir is definitely improving – lots of hard work by the new Director of Music. We had a lovely a capella psalm this morning.

        1. I do miss singing the Psalms. When I came to this village in 1984, the organist – ex-Bank of England chap – played them every Sunday. Brought back childhood memories of school choirs etc. He could also be rather naughty. He always chose the hymns (but was happy to accept suggestions). When a new rector arrived in 1986, he took it upon himself to select four hymns. They were all well-known ones – but Fergus managed to find a tune for each that NO ONE knew! "That'll teach him," was he comment!!

          After Fergus gave up – turn of the century, plus successive "modern" rectors – Psalms were regarded as passé but if really required were "said". Travesty

          Mind you, I don't go now except for Christmas and funerals. I dd get the new rectorette to allow me to read one of the lessons at the Christmas Carol service. One congregant said, "That's the first time I have been able to hear anyone reading or speaking in this church!!" I asked the last rector, who mumbled terribly, whether he would put up a sign on the west wall: "For God's Sake Speak Up": I am afraid the idea was lost on him!

  66. Afternoon, all. Not long back from church (my reading met with approbation) and now replete after a lamb steak with roasties, parsnips, cauli and broccoli, washed down with white wine (I opened a bottle yesterday and didn't finish it). Am feeling very mellow 🙂

    There is a lot we could do to grow the economy and make the country self sufficient in energy. Trouble is, the net zero loonies are determined we won't be.

  67. I see Birmingham City councillors have awarded themselves a 5.9% pay increase after an 18% rise was rejected. Meanwhile, I look forward eagerly to my next council tax demand, to increase by 10%.
    So good of them and great timing..

    1. The Government of Nepal will receive £490,382.

      The other £22 million is the very modest fee charged by PWC….

  73. Ex-champion motorbike racing driver, 33, is sentenced to 18 years in prison for rape of seven-year-old girl – as judge condemns him for 'accepting no responsibility for his actions'
    Connor Behan, 33, has been jailed for 18 years after raping a seven-year old girl
    He was handed a restraining order at Chester Crown Court after years of abuse
    Behan, of Newcastle-Under-Lyme, raced superbikes between 2004 and 2015.

    Using a seminal detection dog, police found traces of the disgraced rider's semen on a blanket owned by the victim.

    Denying all charges, he was found guilty of rape, sexual assault, and engaging in sexual activity in front of a child following a week-long trial last year.

    The jury heard how Behan had sexually assaulted the victim on multiple occasions, starting in May 2019, when the victim was just seven years old.

    At sentencing, prosecutor Mark Connor said the victim suffered physically and psychologically from the abuse.

    A victim statement said: 'As a result of it I cannot be close to anyone.

    'It affects everything and I take it out on my family and on my friends.'

    Defending, Adam Watkins said Behan had an issue with drinking and drug-taking due to the death of his father.

    He added: 'It does not explain or excuse his conduct but it is an idea of his difficulties at the time.'

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-14377737/Ex-champion-motorbike-racing-driver-18-years-seven-year-old-girl.html

    Do they use seminal detection dogs to detect wanking illegals and their disgusting habits?

    2. Terrible person and 18 years probably not long enough, but he must be a Brit, he might have gotten away with it.

  75. There’s an ad ruining frequently on GBN for replacement kitchen cabinet doors. The woman in the ad seems to say, “we just can’t afford it nana”. I assume I’m mishearing?

    2. I think she’s saying ‘right now’ but her accent is so thick, and the acting so bad, I may well be wrong! I often am!

    3. The one I loathe most at present [although competition is fierce] is the "On the Beach" advert – an annoying voice over and some fat ugly people getting "free lounge access" – I'd pay not to have to be anywhere near them!

      1. Eurgh! The two smug, fat kids makes me want to throw things at the telly! Especially the boy…🤢

      2. Quite agree. If you listen to the voiceover, it is in a northern accent. The ad is clearly aimed at a specific demographic who will think that 'free lounge access' is something worth having. Unlike airline-specific lounges, the ones in question here are ghastly and most things are chargeable.

  76. Saint Mary's Alderbury, just outside Salisbury.

    A church at Alderbury was recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book. A new and larger parish church of St Mary was erected on the site of a medieval church in 1857–58 to designs by S.S. Teulon, at the expense of Lord Radnor of Longford Castle, Sir Frederick Hervey-Bathurst of Clarendon Park and George Fort of Alderbury House.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b5a67ca242b7a9477b2cf647eb9ee460a46330e7cd5188e9854aae8edd3937b1.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b5fd2a97b94bb8c1256e06f64306bfb6cb337435580264bd221dcb9d3ea128b9.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ce9aa8a1739e00297a94cb557d6482c68a0cbc661f7c9463ebc61f3d23bfaa52.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/878a61a8562b7e5bab7ad9b58047944a6deb18ec2da4effe022fa4c2500329b2.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e6df6fc6fa6638a01467ff9030125aa87c45e1538de2ea720d693cdebb5c90db.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/648562fd457262717fa7b90c445fda338eace8ee1cae13537e97a98ee2b8a697.jpg

      1. Bang tidy !

        Watching Glad II

        Had mixed reviews mostly because wokies didn't like it much but i am enjoying it. 8/10 from me.

        It also has Derek Jacobi in it.

        1. Havent seen it yet, but liked the first one – you're right the reviews were very varied!

          I'll give it a watch based on your recommendation.

          PS Re Derek Jacobi, I was discussing 'I, Claudius' on here a couple of days ago… brilliant…..

        2. Talking of films (on a different level) I took my 6 year old grandson to see 'Dog Man' today (A Dreamworks animated film) – it was terrific and managed to appeal to all levels with a very clever script, we both loved it ('er indoors not as much). Thoroughly recommended!

          1. Noted.

            In addition.

            When 'Who framed Roger rabbit' came out i took a group of friends and they loved it. My mother was visiting then and she hated it. She liked the KFC supper after though.

            In addition.

            It was the first time she visited me after i had left home in let us say a bit of a huff. 10 years.

            She arrived at Birmingham New St station and was surprised i put her in an black cab.

            More used to walking i suppose.

      1. I love my Rayburn, but hauling two hods a day is getting to be a bit of a struggle with my dodgy knees and wonky back.

  85. Wordle No. 1,331 3/6

    ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
    🟨⬜⬜🟩⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    Wordle 9 Feb 2025

    A premium Birdie Three?

          1. Thank you, it’s always lovely to get a three (it doesn’t happen very often!) But I guess as I haven’t worked out any formula or look things up I can feel chuffed when it happens!

    2. You're on a helluva run on birdies there, Rene – keep it up!

      Another annoying wrong call from me – another par…….

      Wordle 1,331 4/6

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

    3. I decided to take the long way round today.

      Wordle 1,331 5/6

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

    4. Par for me.

      Wordle 1,331 4/6

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

    5. Oooh me too/three

      Wordle 1,331 3/6

      ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
      🟩🟩🟨⬜🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      2. Well done. By the skin of my teeth ..
        Wordle 1,331 6/6

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

  87. Boring.. four stabbed by stabby in Dublin.

    Gardai have stressed there is no risk to the wider public at this time.
    Lone mental wolf.
    An incident involving a non-terryierist.

    Confirms all the fears.. kitchens to be banned.

  88. Boring.. four stabbed by stabby in Dublin.

    Gardai have stressed there is no risk to the wider public at this time.
    Lone mental wolf.
    An incident involving a non-terryierist.

    Confirms all the fears.. kitchens to be banned.

  90. From The Sunday Grines – the words of Dominic Cummings:

    "He’s not a Kemi Badenoch fan, then?

    “It’s just a bad joke,” he says. “Anyone serious who dealt with her before knew she was a complete useless dud. I think Kemi will be got rid of before too long. The Tories will have another spasm.”

    Never thought I find myself agreeing with that weirdo!!

    1. The only addition is they are all complete useless duds. I can't think of a single "Conservative" with any serious political capability. That means irrespective of who rises to the top they will never succeed because it would be impossible to create a team who could run the country. The same applies to Reform, a few individuals who can talk but not enough capable of forming a capable government. It would be no different to Starmer and his crew.

      1. I don't know who you are (unless you are back in a new name) but I agree with every word. It is the complete absence of ANY competent politician (no matter which party) that is so dispiriting. It is as though there is a death wish.

  91. That's me for this dreary, cold day. More follows until mid-summer.

    Have a jolly evening

    A demain – if I can face it…

    1. Monday is only a pain if one has to go to work. Otherwise, it's just another day.
      'night, Bill.

      1. But when you are old (very old in my case) one wants the few days that are left to one to be NICE and SUNNY and WARM…{:¬))

          1. Ooh nasty !

            I have spent time in Antibes and Juan les Pins and what i found so nice about it was there were hardly any French people there.

      2. I only had a M–F, 9–5 working regimen for around three years of my entire working life. Mondays have always been the same as every other day to me.

          1. Look again, sunshine; I said three years MAX!
            ALL the rest of my working life I’ve done seven days on the trot with a couple off. Also loads of 12-hours shifts.

  92. What's worse than your missus having a bunch of friends around for a sleepover party with karaoke on Friday?

    Your missus having a bunch of friends around for a sleepover party with karaoke on Friday and Saturday.

    I have to confess that I did agree to the extension – because when asked at 3am on Saturday morning if it was OK for the girls to stay another night, I said 'Sure!'. I didn't for a minute think they'd still be up for it when they woke up with Tequila hangovers on Saturday morning.

    I've made a mental note not to provide a hangover breakfast next time. Nah, who am I kidding. They had a great time, and a couple of them can actually sing. Unlike me.

          1. The only difference between Kim and Starmer is that Starmer hasn't eaten as many pies (yet).

          3. Wasn't a good look was it after he froze pensioners to death.

            Also it shows he has no taste. Lobster doesn't really taste of much. It is delicate. Something that he isn't.

      2. 401330+ up ticks,

        Evening BT,

        A party rots from the head down,
        the party body is, in the main sound, the leadership has a questionable pedigree.

    3. "Nigel Farage is prepared to work with Boris Johnson to defeat Labour ‘in the national interest’, sources close to the Reform UK leader have told The Mail on Sunday."

      Sources that are perhaps trying to cause a rift in Reform UK.

      1. 401330+ up ticks,

        Evening MM,
        Could be the case but, I believe you know my feelings regarding “nige”
        so it would not come as a surprise to me.

      2. If he works with BJ he'll soon find someone to blame for his inactions.
        Nige doesn't seem to have done anything structural at all.
        I might be wrong of course. I hope so.

    4. GQ posted something about 3pm which appears to be from Reform saying these reports are false.

        1. Also I read somewhere that the rumour was initiated by one Boris Johnson for the very purpose of undermining Reform.

    5. If you were the Tory party strategist and realised that Reform was wiping the floor with you, what better way to undermine them than to suggest they want to join the Tories?
      Particularly if you spin it that Reform are the ones "paving the way"

      2. 401330+ up ticks,
        Evening S,

        I do agree BUT, in my mind it breaks even, could be either way.

        The “nige ” has bitten too many peoples once so caution is advised to avoid disappointment.

          1. Lovely – my late brother had a Shep (called Hodge, named after Samuel Johnson's cat ffs!) but couldnt keep up with it – so he gifted it to the police who shipped him out to Barbados (or Bermuda) – very Death in Paradise.
            He was a fabulous dog – I'm 6'2 and he could stand up and put his arms on my shoulders!!

    4. Why don't they just eff off if they don't like it.
      Anyone with a milligram of an active brain cell would be able to think that out and even do that.

  98. I like John Cooper Clarke's take on haikus;

    To freeze the moment
    In seventeen syllables
    Is very diff

    But then again I like everything JCC does, another of my favourites;

    You make my life a fairy tale, …Grimm……

      1. Excellent! If I ever felt the need to check the syllables on a haiku (not being able to count 5-7-5 myself) I'll know here to go…….

    2. Malema is horrible – he really is evil personified.
      Do you worry about your family in SA?
      An old friend at our coffee morning last week had just come back from a few weeks near Capetown, as her son has a house there.
      I've been once to South Africa but I wouldn't want to go there again. We spent three weeks there in 2013.

      1. One of my nieces and her husband and son have emigrated to South Australia , he is a helicopter engineer , she is a teacher , they lead a comfortable stress free life .. away from South Africa.

    1. I have visited several times over the years. My youngest daughter graduated there in 2008. A few years later my wife and I got free tickets and when I walked in, the King's School Canterbury were rehearsing Mozart's Requiem. I just sat back and listened. Bliss.

      1. One afternoon one of my sons was rehearsing his solo for choral evensong, whilst the tourists were looking around.
        The whole place stopped and everyone just stood and listened.

        His parents were very, very proud.

      2. I just feel in awe of the structure , and always try to HUG the pillars and listen awhile .. what secrets what history have those pillars witnessed .. if only stone could retain the history we need .. after all it does really if you study fossils , but the beauty that cathedrals possess are created by minds far superior to ours .

        Moh and I when we are out for a gallop with the dog , pass under through several bypass bridges ..

        We have terrible voices , but we sing , and our voices change so much as the acoustics of the bridge projects the sounds , it is a wonderful experience , a bit similar to buskers on the underground .. the spaniel looks at us , as if saying , come on folks time to carry on with the walk!

      1. On Fb I seem to get a lot of Egyptian things popping up……. you can bet your bottom dollar somebody will say they were all bullt/done, ruled over by blacks. That fabulous civilisation, with the amazing artifacts, was not made by mud-hut -dwellers.

        1. My Uncle Fred was an odd-bod – obsessed with ancient Egypt – he was a talented wood carver and made a lot of Egyptian things. I have quite a few of them. He spent a great deal of time in the British Museum, but he never managed to get to see Egypt for himself.

          1. We've been a few times and the archaeology and history is mind-boggling.
            The new peoples less so.
            HG was sexually assaulted as we were walking in Cairo.

          2. Ooh! Not nice!. I got kidnapped by a man with a donkey and made to pose with a scarf and the donkey, but he was ok. I nearly got lost though, as the rest of the group we were with had gone on.

          3. Easily done.
            Normally in crowds I walk in front. After that experience I followed her, very closely, for the rest of the trip and on future visits.

            It's one of the (many) reasons I'm not keen on Muslims, it happened on a Friday as they poured out of a mosque.
            HG was properly dressed, no bare flesh and wearing a hat, we thought we knew the norms, clearly not.

          4. We had no trouble of that sort. We did visit the big mosque in Cairo, and our guides were fine.

          5. We did all our visits independently and by and large found the people very pleasant and helpful.
            When it was bad it was very bad, where it was good it was absolutely outstanding.

        2. Curiously there was a recent TV programme on Egyptian Art and Lo and behold there was a period in Ancient Egypt when there were a number of Nubian Pharos ruling the land…..

          1. True.
            But I did not get the impression that they added much that was new.

            That series was fascinating. One aspect that struck me was the completely different approaches to what was essentially similar history that the presenters took.

    3. How about this one TB, how did they get such vast areas width and length level ground upwards and keep it all level all the way up. No forms of known leveling, water levels ?

      1. In the Middle Ages they used specialist teams of religious knights, commonly known as lay-sirs.

    6. The great age of Cathedral building came with the Normans.

      So for Canterbury, Salisbury, Lincoln and the rest, we have Norman wisdom to thank.

    7. It is a common misunderstanding that the cathedral builders did not have devices for lifting materials. Every cathedral tower will have had a capstan and many such survive above the crossing and beneath the spire as in Norwich Cathedral.

      Likewise pulley systems using ropes were well understood, a technology mirrored in wooden sailing vessels. I have seen illustrations of German cathedral construction showing a timber version of a RB 22 crane such as were a common sight as draglines in the Fens,

      As regards verticality and levels it has to be remembered that timber temporary works and cantering were required. Uprights would be notched at appropriate coursing in order to ensure alignment and plumb bobs used for verticality.

      Stone spires actually comprise a thin skin of stone laying on a permanent oak frame.

        2. On each of the many columns ?
          Not an easy one to work out.
          remember that most if not all of the parts were made by hand and as you will see we're different sizes.

          1. Absolutely amazing, and over hundreds of years too. But I have to say the French did very well to repair the terrible damage to Notre Dame.

  107. Well that's our Sunday evening dinner done & dusted. A small piece of brisket, done in the old black pot. Roasties, carrots, cauliflower and I chucked some tired mushrooms in the pot with the beef.
    Washed down with an Aussie Petit Syrah, and for music we had Anna Netrebko at the Met. What a voice!

  108. I'm turning in. I spent two hours this afternoon looking for a friends (out of almost 1500) house on the market in the Upper Fern Tree Gully area of Victoria.
    Only to be told it won't be on the market until later this week. 🤭🤔
    Goodnight all 😴 sleep well.

      1. Oh I am very impressed with your wonderful memory Ellie. 😇
        It's their daughters house she going to move in with her mother.
        Both very sadly lost their fellas within 18 months of each other.
        Brucie's widow is one of my wife's cousins. Originally from Sunderland.
        Thanks for that. 🥰

      2. I had sort of remembered that as well, funny the things we remember .

        By the way your supper time conveyed peace and tranquility and delicious flavours and sounds..

        1. Well now we're sitting here – I'm catching up with the gossip, and he's got Ziggy on his lap. Jessie's just settling down in the other chair.

    1. It does and it is, but it’s the essence of Dordogneshire and we wished to experience a more French life.

      The first time we visited and spoke French in a shop they thought we were lost!
      There are far far more English than French there.

  110. Well, it's Super Bowel time, so get your popcorn out and be bored to death for 50 of the 60 minutes actual playing and the nearly 4 hours of "play".

    2. "Welcome to the annual commercial break, approved by all your friends, beer brewers, purveyors of chicken wings, emulsified nachos, and now with added sports ball!"

      :prepares hot wings:

        1. Hey, N. Posted a few times over the last few weeks – later of course re: time zones. I generally bugger off the t’internet for late Spring, Summer, Autumn on the farm. Is there a form I should fill in? 😉

          2. They are easily missed, that’s true. They generally revolve around Soda Streams and home made wine, and then move on to gin-based ramblings about… things. :shakes fist at things:

          5. Silver ounce community barter for the win.

            Robber: “Tell me your PIN!”

            “Well ye starts at the big old oak, and takes 10 paces nor East past the ol’ hangin’ rock.”

    3. I've spent a lot of time in Philadelphia (Blue Bell to be specific), it's probably the only place in the US that has any heritage and is actually a great visit – the Liberty Bell etc (and the Rocky steps).
      My sons had Eagles shirts from a very early age.
      Go Birds!!

      1. I spent about six months there on a disastrous project, staying downtown and flying home at weekends.
        I really enjoyed the Museum of Art, so much variety from many cultures. Of course the steps knackered me, but Rocky I am not.

        1. When I was there I always went to that restaurant near the Opera House (cant remember its name) where all the staff were aspiring opera singers and walked around singing quite magnificently.
          When I first started going there I was very fit and playing good level sport but I still found the Rocky steps (when I did them… I had to…) quite a challenge!

    4. If only it was just four hours, the hype has been going on over here for days and radio was all about the upcoming spectacle tempered only by the earth shattering question of if Taylor Swift will be in the half time show or nor.

      Time to go to one of those electronics stores to check out TVs and see how they compare when playing some classical music recording.

      canadian foreign aid has dumped money into the BBC, I wonder if we are paying for tonight's show?

  113. Practices best North American

    "If the Superbowl came down to which fans are the most winningest when it comes down to the pre-game, parking lot, tail-gate parties it'd have to be Kansas and their unique, team-sponsored BBQ sauce."

    1. Rent boys.

      In 1998, Brown came out as gay after a former lover contacted the News of the World offering to sell his story. In a speech, he announced: "The sun is out – and so am I."[19]

  116. From Coffee House, the Spectator

    Say what you like about President Trump – and people very much do – but there is little doubt that, at the outset of his second term, The Donald has behaved like a man in a hurry. Not a day seems to go past without a blizzard of executive orders closing this and shuttering that, and generally attempting to Make America Great Again. Yet amidst all the threatened deportations of the undesirable, there is one particular high-profile resident alien whom the President has decided to allow to remain in the country: none other than everyone’s favourite Montecito dweller, Prince Harry.

    Few would disagree with Trump’s comments on Meghan

    There had been a great deal of speculation, whipped up by various forces in the Republican party, including the think tank the Heritage Foundation, that a resurgent Trump would deport Harry from the States. This was on the grounds that the drug-taking stories in the Duke of Sussex’s memoir Spare sat uneasily with a country that has always frowned on its visitors having any kind of narcotic past. (Look at Nigella Lawson, who confessed to taking cocaine on a small number of occasions and has consistently found entering the United States a nightmare ever since.)

    In Prince Harry’s case, however, the President has chosen to exercise magnanimity – albeit with a catch. He told the New York Post: ‘I don’t want to [deport Harry]. I’ll leave him alone. He’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible.’

    Few would disagree with Trump’s comments on Meghan, whose appalling-looking new television series looms ahead of us with the inevitability of judgement day. Still, it’s a volte-face from Trump’s earlier statements about Harry. He had previously said, ‘I wouldn’t protect him. He betrayed the Queen. That’s unforgivable. He would be on his own if it was down to me.’ The President suggested that the Biden administration had been too soft on the Duke of Sussex, and that he would take a harder line. However, the pressures of office seem to have meant that this particular prince will escape further censure and be able to remain in his strange Californian exile as long as he wishes to.

    Needless to say, Harry and Meghan are not fans of Trump and have taken consistent swipes at him in their public statements. Just yesterday, Harry opened the Invictus Games in Canada with the pointed remarks that ‘at this moment, when there is no shortage of crises, no absence of uncertainty, no lack of weak moral character in the world, the values you embody, the way you carry yourselves – not only at the Invictus games, but each and every day – your courage, your resilience, your humanity, illuminate a path forward for us all.” Some people might have considered ‘thank you, Mr President’ to be a more appropriate response, but never mind.

    It is one of Trump’s more endearing qualities that he is a fully paid-up admirer of the royal family and indeed idolised the late Elizabeth II beyond measure. It is not known whether she returned his appreciation. Certainly King Charles will deal with Trump with appropriate tact and dignity when the President’s inevitable state visit rolls around, and it would be astonishing if the Prince and Princess of Wales did anything differently. (Perhaps Prince Andrew will sidle up to him and, after some reminiscences of their mutual friend Jeffrey Epstein, try and elicit a job in his administration: any port in a storm.) It is therefore left to Harry and Meghan, who would so dearly have preferred a Kamala Harris administration, to fight the good fight against the 47th president: a fight that, on current view, he is undeniably winning so far.

    WRITTEN BY
    Alexander Larman
    Alexander Larman is an author and books editor of Spectator World, our US-based edition

  117. From Coffee House, the Spectator

    Go to any tube station at rush hour in London. Literally any. Then wait by the barriers and watch. Within 60 seconds it’s likely you’ll see at least half a dozen young men (it’s almost always young men) barge their way through the barriers without a care in the world. No one is shocked anymore because it happens with such depressing regularity. Paying commuters stay silent – as do the hapless high-viz clad Transport for London staff watching on. I’ve frequently seen fare-dodgers mockingly wave at TfL staff, safe in the knowledge they are powerless to stop them.

    As a daily commuter on the underground, I reckon every tenth person passing through my local tube station in Oval doesn’t bother to pay. Most just shoulder-charge through the barriers. Some athletically jump over them. Others tailgate behind us mugs who still insist on paying our own way. In a city where crime is becoming ever more flagrant (I had my phone snatched out of my hand in broad daylight just before Christmas), fare-dodging on the underground is the most barefaced lawbreaking of the lot. And yet no one, least of all Sadiq Khan, seems to care.

    In December 2024, a Freedom of Information request was submitted to Transport for London. It sought data since 2010 on: the number of recorded instances of individuals pushing through barriers; the number of prosecutions of such individuals; the cost to TfL of tackling fare evasion through enforcement; and the estimated loss of revenue to TfL caused by fare evasion. All pretty reasonable questions if you ask me. And yet TfL’s response was to argue that collating such data would be too expensive, and therefore it was unable to provide the relevant information.

    What was completely absent from TfL’s response was any acknowledgement that the reason the cost of collating such data is so high is because fare-dodging has been allowed to spin out of control. The last official analysis of fare evasion on London’s public transport network is from 2022/23, where it was estimated to cost the taxpayer roughly £130 million a year, and account for 3.9 per cent of all journeys on the capital’s tubes, buses and trams. Those figures seem conservative, at best. But even if you take them at face value, surely they show that a serious effort to clamp down on fare-dodging would save tens of millions at the bare minimum?

    The penalty charge for fare evasion is currently £100, reduced to £50 if paid within 21 days. But the size of the penalty is almost immaterial, because almost every fare-dodger knows they’ll never have to pay it. And in the remote event they do, the cost of the fine will barely make a dent in the hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds worth of free journeys they’ll have stolen over the years. The only effective deterrent is to make the barrier jumpers realise they can’t get away with it in the first place.

    Here’s an idea: let’s take a leaf out of New York’s book. The ‘broken windows theory’ was famously espoused in the 90s by police commissioner Bill Bratton and mayor Rudy Giuliani. It popularised the notion that targeting minor crimes, such as vandalism, loitering, public drinking and – yes – fare evasion, would create an atmosphere of order and lawfulness. And it worked. Both petty and serious crime fell significantly in New York as a result. As such, it’s not outlandish to suggest that a zero-tolerance approach to fare-dodging would actively help the Metropolitan Police in its efforts to tackle more serious crimes.

    No one is shocked anymore because it happens with such depressing regularity.

    Why can’t we have two police officers stationed by the barriers at every major tube station in the capital? They could keep particular watch over the ‘wide aisle’ tube gates – designed for passengers with luggage, pushchairs or in wheelchairs – which close slowly and are often targets for tailgaters. The moment they spy someone shoulder-charging through the barriers or vaulting over the ticket gates, they can pounce. Ideally the detained fare-dodger will scream, shout and make a public spectacle of themselves – providing a much-needed morale boost for the capital’s law-abiding commuters looking on.

    I am fed up with fare-dodgers on the tube. It is costing London’s taxpayers millions. It creates a culture of lawlessness that now pervades the capital. But most of all it offends the most basic British sensibility of fair play. Why should I pay £3.40 to travel from Oval to London Bridge when thousands of my fellow Londoners travel for free? If Sadiq Khan wants to end his time in City Hall with even the smallest of achievements to his name then he should get serious about fare evasion. It would stop me feeling like a mug, for starters.

    WRITTEN BY
    James Hanson
    James Hanson presents Times Radio's Frontline series on the war in Ukraine.

  119. Monday, 10th February, 2025
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2160613ba9d31184af3398ca4855b50ef12d776ed1db9d0268ffae984f73e8b6.png The Dandy Front Pager – Korky The Kat

    Congratulations on your entry to the 76 Club!

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/765a6ae67132e329961369ba89587241cbf02e8606006709800b35319a4e28b0.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f15108925be65a9a2608d8e25edca14c950fe7218c958fddb1d38927a117d0b9.png
    With very best wishes from

    Caroline and Rastus

  121. Britain’s strictest headteacher victim of Government ‘hit job’
    Katharine Birbalsingh accused of lying about nature of meeting with Education Secretary by anonymous Labour source
     https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/02/09/britains-strictest-headteacher-victim-government-hit-job/

    Those in favour of high educational standards and success should side with Katharine Birbalsingh.

    Those who want education destroyed in UK schools and failure should side with Bridget Phillipson.

    1. Good morning Geoff,

      Did you have a decent weekend?

      Hope all is well with you .

      Thankyou for delivering to us this precious sounding off board xx

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