Sunday 9 May: Hartlepool saw Labour for what it now is: a party of the liberal elite

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2021/05/08/letters-hartlepool-saw-labour-now-party-liberal-elite/

787 thoughts on “Sunday 9 May: Hartlepool saw Labour for what it now is: a party of the liberal elite”

  1. Swedish hard-Right leader vows to tighten immigration. 9 May 2021.

    Sweden will follow Denmark by introducing strict immigration controls, the leader of its populist opposition party has promised a week after launching a breakthrough deal with parties likely to take power next year.

    “Denmark was the same way as Sweden, and then it just changed overnight, and that will happen in Sweden too,” Jimmie Åkesson said in a rare interview with international media.

    The move mirrors a deal made in Denmark that gave the Danish People’s Party a stranglehold on the right-wing government and dramatically shifted political debate in the country, with even the current Left-wing government driving through a string of controversial migration policies this year including plans to send Syrian refugees home and plans to open a migration processing centre in Rwanda.

    Morning everyone. Is this the very first glimmerings of light at the end of the tunnel and that does not turn out to be an oncoming train? Well we shall have to see. There’s a long way to go and most of what has been done over the last twenty years cannot be rolled back with a few words!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/05/08/will-new-denmark-swedishhard-right-leader-vows-tighten-immigration/

    1. “hard-Right”
      what utter nonsense – he’s just a centrist who’s seen through the mass migration scam, isn’t he?

    2. Jimmie has been trying for years but he just hasn’t the numbers or cooperation of other opposition parties to form a Government.

      2. I wish he would bounce himself into sorting out the British fishing waters, Britain’s complete sovereignty in Northern Ireland, the end of prosecution of NI veterans, reform of the BBC, impractical and ruinous green nonsense and illegal immigration.

    1. It would be useful to know exactly WHY the police saw fit to arrest this man. Drunk driving, criticising the government, not paying his taxes? Without this information, it is impossible to know whether to support him with donations (or support Rik with an upvote) or not.

      1. He held a church service and, when Police came to close it down, threw them out of the church.

        1. Good for him, then. I didn’t know that, and the video he prepared prior to his arrest didn’t make it clear. Still, I suppose the general public in Canada are more aware than I was.

    2. The expected (by me, at least) Conservative victory marked the death of the Labour Party both as an effective conduit of opposition and an institution representing the working class. It’s over. It can no longer be either, for structural and demographic reasons that its members do not seem to understand.

      Words of Truth!

  8. I was campaigning in Hartlepool last week, and I reckon it’s never going to be red again

    Rod Liddle Sunday May 09 2021, 12.01am, The Sunday Times

    Handing out leaflets for the SDP in Hartlepool last Wednesday, I saw a bloke with a face so blue I thought he must have dyed it in support of the Conservative candidate. But then I looked again and it was plainly some awful affliction available only to northerners — maybe TB or rickets, or a surfeit of skag or spice.

    He looked about 55 but the rule up here, if you’re from the comfortable south, is to guess the age as you would normally and then deduct 30 years. Or examine their teeth. None at all — over 50. Four or five — anything from 25 to 49.

    It is a different country, and neoliberal economic policies have wrecked it, and its poorest people. Thatcherite policies, Blairite policies. We tried to convince the local public of this, and I think we succeeded, up to a point: our candidate polled almost half the number of votes of the registered sex offender standing as an independent.

    We are not yet preparing for government, although we’re doing quite well in the various council elections. But then, how do you sell the SDP up here when the Conservative Party has, for a while at least, become Social Democrat in all but name? All we can do is tell the voters that the Tories don’t really mean it, as the jobs roll in from the freeport Boris and co have bestowed on the area.

    The expected (by me, at least) Conservative victory marked the death of the Labour Party both as an effective conduit of opposition and an institution representing the working class. It’s over. It can no longer be either, for structural and demographic reasons that its members do not seem to understand.

    I was in paroxysms of laughter listening to a succession of Labour gobmerchants attempt to explain away this debacle. Mandelson, Abbott, Russell-Moyle — all were wrapped up in their bizarre delusions, sniping at the different wings of the party, spraying the blame around, utterly missing the point. The only one who made much sense was John McDonell, who insisted, rightly, that Jeremy Corbyn’s economic policies in 2019 were popular north of the Severn-Trent divide. Nationalise everything, invest, tax the rich and abolish the grouse moors. Good left-wing populism.

    I disagree with little of that. It was the other stuff that put off the voters back then — the culture stuff. The fashionable obsession with race and interminable gender complexities; the hatred of the UK and the contempt for those who love their country and believe in a sense of place and belonging; the secularism; the lack of respect for the traditional family.

    The problem is that in attempting to make Labour electable once more, Keir Starmer ditched Corbyn’s economic policies, which did have an attraction up here, and kept the stuff everyone hated. Starmer took the knee, for example: that will have lost him several million votes. For a lot of former Labour voters Starmer and Corbyn are, as an old Blue Labour chum put it to me, two cheeks of the same liberal arse. The working class and lower middle, easily the majority of the country, are not liberal.

    One Labour supporter, inadvertently, put it rather well. Upon hearing the result from Hartlepool, Jane Gray, a “Starmer superfan”, tweeted: “Yep as expected the working class love a bit of nationalism and racism. Well done Hartlepool, you turkeys. I’ve never been and I never will.” That’s it, summed up. An absolute loathing of the people the party was set up to support but supports no longer, because it regards them as uneducated, racist morons.

    This is the intractable problem for Starmer, who seems a decent man, and the party. Look at the council election results over the weekend. Labour did well-ish in affluent cities, especially university cities. If Starmer were to embrace the mores and aspirations of the people his party once represented, all those gains — the only ones the party has experienced recently — would vanish. So would his party membership, which is no longer made up of horny-handed trade unionists but the well-orf, the comfortable, the impeccably right-on.

    In fairness, there is a place for a party that espouses these values: utterly woke but not impinging too much upon the salaries of the middle class. It might pull in 18-25 per cent of the vote, maybe even a little more in alliance with the Greens and Lib Dems. But the Labour Party we knew is gone. Gone for good. Those votes are not coming back. When the north feels dissatisfied with the Tories, it will look to the independents for succour, not Labour.

    Starmer comes out fighting after defeat

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/imageserver/image/%2Fmethode%2Fsundaytimes%2Fprod%2Fweb%2Fbin%2Fe5809b9e-b003-11eb-b6c0-5386bb38660a.jpg?crop=1500%2C1000%2C0%2C0&resize=1022

    The Bench, by Meghan*
    As I peer through my window at Archie
    And that gingerish dork whom I wed
    (In that skanky old church, cold and
    starchy
    In the land of the virtually dead)
    I consider the poor and the frightened
    Those who are weak and unfree
    Whose belts are invariably tightened
    Yes — people a little like me.
    And so then, the two of us, we say
    Our bathrooms may number 18
    But only four have a bidet
    And it’s a bastard to keep them all
    clean.

    (*Or possibly Rod Liddle)

    The floundering French all at sea
    France faced a war on two fronts last week. First a farmer in Belgium moved the border stone between the two countries because it got in the way of his tractor, thus annexing eight feet of French land for the plucky, mussel-munching Low Country denizens.

    Then there was the exciting Jersey skirmish, occasioned by the typically Gallic insistence that all fish, everywhere, belong to them.

    I dare say liberals will moan that it is too early to deploy Trident against the French. But it may be decommissioned very soon, and I, for one, would be curious to discover if it works.

    Meanwhile, can anyone explain why it is fair for the French to have our fish stocks, gratis? Here’s a new quota system: they can have five halibut every time Macron says something nice about the UK.

    Meet the sweet FA lion family
    The three roaring lions, emblem of the Football Association and our national team for nearly 150 years, have been replaced. Instead we will have a depiction of a lion cub, a lion and a lioness to show — yes, you’ve guessed already — “greater inclusivity”, according to the FA.

    A better makeover, and more representative of our national team, might have been a depiction of an overpaid, semi-literate, dilatory halfwit looking unconcerned as Iceland score their second goal. But still.

    Do the people who dream up this supposedly progressive drivel do so solely in order to annoy everyone? Or do they think we really appreciate it?

    1. Yes, Bill – good morning, btw. A good time to plant out some flowers and veg without the risk of frost killing them off. Summer (Spring?) appears to have arrived at last!

  10. Mng all, and happy mothers day to those who are mothers. Usual Kenya “super Sunday” prollonged heavy rains for once and obligatory extensive power cut. Belowthe usal weekend waffle:

    SIR – There is an irony to Labour losing its core “working-class” vote in the Hartlepool by-election.

    The party was created to defend the rights of workers against the elite ruling class but has evolved to become the party of and for that class, now made up of (among others) university-educated metropolitans, the judiciary, education institutions, the Civil Service and the BBC.

    Dr David Slawson
    Nairn

    SIR – Isn’t it time Labour realised that the term “working-class” is no longer relevant?

    Until Sir Keir Starmer and his party understand that the country is no longer divided between cloth caps and bowler hats, they will fail to convince voters of their usefulness.

    Tom Whitmore
    Southwell, Nottinghamshire

    SIR – Sir Keir Starmer stood shoulder to shoulder with Jeremy Corbyn, seeking to make him prime minister in full knowledge of his economic illiteracy, contempt for patriotism and support for anti-Semitic factions. He voted to remain in the EU – and, had things gone his way, we would be part of its vaccine programme.

    What judgment. The British people have no difficulty in seeing him for what he is: a master of hindsight and opportunism.

    David Crigman QC
    Birmingham

    SIR – Some Labour members are attributing their failure to the fact that Sir Keir Starmer hasn’t had “long enough” to change the direction of the party and make it more appealing to voters. I would point out to them that Boris Johnson achieved a stunning result in the general election of 2019 after less than five months as Conservative leader.

    The Hartlepool victory was a tremendous result for Mr Johnson and his Government, which has been justly rewarded for the outstanding organisation of both the vaccine procurement and the vaccine rollout. Sir Keir Starmer might improve his party’s fortunes if he gave the Government some credit for the things it has got right, rather than posing with wallpaper in John Lewis.

    Celia Wright
    Sturminster Newton, Dorset

    SIR – I voted for the Green Party in Thursday’s council election. I have been eligible to vote since 1988 and this was the first time I did not support the Conservatives. This was, in part, due to a contentious local housing development, but also because of a sense of being taken for granted.

    During the campaign I received no visit from any Conservative representative; I did, however, receive a phone call from the Conservative candidate at 10.30 on Thursday morning, three hours after I had voted.

    Labour’s collapse is a salutary lesson in what can happen when a party takes its base for granted.

    Mark Young
    Barcombe Mills, East Sussex

    French vindictiveness

    SIR – This week our former European Union “partners”, the French, closed their consulate on Jersey and threatened to cut off our electricity supply, as well as blockading our harbours.

    With friends like these, who needs enemies? Full marks to the Prime Minister for his speedy response.

    James B Sinclair
    St Helier, Jersey

    SIR – Surely 26 members of the EU do not approve of the immature behaviour of the French towards Britain.

    The pompous, grandstanding Emmanuel Macron has become an out-of-control bully. Who will put him back in his box?

    Simon McIlroy
    Croydon, Surrey

    SIR – I was pleased to read your report (May 2) about plans to pardon the “metric martyrs”, and for a change in the law that would allow shops to sell goods in imperial measurements alone. I have resented being told by the EU that I cannot use the terms I grew up with.

    Like millions of others, I would like to see the restoration of Fahrenheit into weather forecasts, for instance, along with stones and pounds into weighing machines in doctors’ surgeries.

    The possibilities are endless.

    Clive Green
    Bristol

    Safe assisted dying

    SIR – Some people oppose the legalisation of assisted dying because they are concerned that people might pressure their elderly relatives into opting for it.

    However, that is actually more likely to happen now, because the illegality of assisted suicide means that any help is given secretly. This can easily be used as a cover by those who wish to place relatives under undue pressure.

    Legalisation, by contrast, would bring in safeguards. Two doctors and a high court judge would have to confirm that the person who wished to be helped to die did in fact have that desire, and that they had a terminal illness giving them less than six months to live.

    Many terminal illnesses can involve physical pain, incapacity, incontinence and dementia. Many people would choose to die a few months early in order to avoid some or all of these. Surely we should be allowed to make that choice, if we wish.

    Richard Mountford
    Tonbridge, Kent

    The road to VE Day

    SIR – With regard to the legacy of “Bomber” Harris (Letters, May 2), in 2006 I attended a lecture by the late Hugh Lunghi at RMA Sandhurst on his time as a Russian interpreter. He spoke of his role at the Yalta conference in February 1945.

    The Russians at that time were under extreme pressure on their western front and Stalin requested Allied bombing of Leipzig and Dresden, which were two major transport hubs feeding men and munitions to the front.

    The Allies agreed and the order was sent to London. After five years of war, German bombing of all major British cities had claimed over 40,000 lives , and V1 and V2 rockets were still being launched at London.

    The bombardment took place a week later. Eight weeks after that, the Russians crossed the Elbe, met by American troops, and two weeks later came VE day.

    Brian J Singleton
    Baslow, Derbyshire

    How MPs vote

    SIR – The thrust of Christopher Hope’s report, that MPs should “set an example” by returning to Westminster in person, is quite correct. Yet the number of proxy votes cast en bloc, whether by the Deputy Chief Whip or anyone else, is no accurate guide to the number of MPs attending the Commons in recent weeks and months. Many of us are actually on the premises when our votes are cast by proxies.

    While social distancing remains, the huge benefit of voting in person – namely, meeting most of our colleagues simultaneously in the voting lobbies – falls away. To stand for long periods in long queues, snaking along corridors and back-and-forth in Westminster Hall, while unable to talk to more than a couple of people, is a very poor use of everybody’s time.

    That, rather than a desire to leave early, explains why so many MPs have given their proxies to trusted colleagues. We shall be quick to claim them back, just as soon as social distancing comes to an end.

    Dr Julian Lewis MP (Con)
    Cadnam, Hampshire

    Wirral quarrel

    SIR – I strongly disagree with Philippa Turner (Letters, May 2) over the naming of the Wirral Peninsula.

    My ancestors all derive from that part of the world. I was born in West Kirby, went to school there and spent an idyllic childhood in Little Neston on the Dee estuary. My family, friends and I always referred to “the Wirral”. Only in recent years have I heard it called otherwise, and I find it most annoying.

    Judith White
    Mellor, Lancashire

    SIR – I am chairman of the Wirral Society but struggle to answer Philippa Turner’s question with authority.

    Historically we are “The Hundred of Wirral”, but no one uses that term these days. Of the three authors of recent books about the area, one regrets that it is now referred to as “Wirral” or “the Wirral Peninsula” but says “the Wirral” is incorrect. Another accepts that most people refer to “the Wirral”. The third calls it “Wirral”.

    Still, despite this lack of clarity, “the Wirral” seems to be here to stay.

    Rod Tann
    West Kirby, Wirral

    SIR – (The) Gower and (the) Wirral are not unique. There is an area of Sheffield, Wicker, which is almost universally referred to as “the Wicker”.

    Mark Harries
    Chesterfield, Derbyshire

    Ships fit for a Duke of Edinburgh: a history

    SIR – There has been speculation about the possibility of naming a future royal yacht or warship in honour of the late Duke of Edinburgh.

    This idea has a precedent. The first HMS Duke of Edinburgh was named in accordance with the wishes of King Edward VII, to honour his younger brother Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh following his sudden death in 1900.

    In contrast to Prince Philip, who had to abandon his naval career to support the Queen, Prince Alfred was able to pursue his career, which culminated in his appointment as the Commander-in-Chief, Devonport, from 1890 to 1893 in the rank of admiral. He was promoted to admiral of the fleet on June 3 1893 and became the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha that August.

    The 13,550-ton armoured cruiser named in his honour was built by Pembroke Dock and launched on June 14 1904. She joined the fleet in 1906 and fought in the Battle of Jutland in 1916. She was sold for scrap in 1920. Pembroke Dock also built five royal yachts, including HM Yacht Britannia’s predecessor HM Yacht Victoria & Albert (III).

    The name Duke of Edinburgh was earmarked in the early 1960s for the second of the Royal Navy’s projected class of 54,500-ton aircraft carriers, which were cancelled in 1966. The lead ship would have been named Queen Elizabeth and the name Prince of Wales was reserved for the third ship. The latter pair of names were subsequently allocated to the Royal Navy’s latest fifth-generation aircraft carriers, which entered service in 2017 and 2019 respectively.

    More recently, Prince Philip’s former command, HMS Magpie, inspired the naming of the Royal Navy’s latest survey ship: an 18 m catamaran. The Duke approved the current HMS Magpie’s motto Lux in tenebris lucet (“The light shineth in darkness”) and sent a message to the ship’s company that was read out during her commissioning ceremony in Devonport in June 2018. The only potential complication relating to the use of the name Duke of Edinburgh is that the eighth Type 26 city class frigate is due to be named HMS Edinburgh.

    Ultimately, however, the naming of a future ship in Prince Philip’s honour is a matter for the Queen and the Admiralty Ships’ Names Committee to consider.

    Richard Johnstone-Bryden
    Beausoleil, Alpes-Maritimes, France

    SIR – I would be delighted to see a new ship called HMS Prince Philip fulfilling a number of functions to the benefit of the UK, as well as righting a historic wrong: the loss of a royal yacht for the Queen’s use.

    It is crucial that any ship performing this task is one of Her Majesty’s ships and manned by the Royal Navy. That is what gave royal yachts a particular cachet, smartness, efficiency and elegance.

    These men should be additional to the Navy’s manpower ceiling and all costs should be borne by the Cabinet Office, not the Ministry of Defence.

    Admiral Lord West of Spithead (Lab)
    London SW1

    2. “Two doctors and a high court judge would have to confirm that the person who wished to be helped to die did in fact have that desire, and that they had a terminal illness giving them less than six months to live.
      Many terminal illnesses can involve physical pain, incapacity, incontinence and dementia. Many people would choose to die a few months early in order to avoid some or all of these. Surely we should be allowed to make that choice, if we wish.”

      Why the six months criterion? Ten years with those symptoms is worse, Shirley.

      1. It is nigh impossible to accurately predict up to 6 months of life.
        It will soon be based on age.

      2. This “two doctors and a high court judge” stuff is bogus. it is nonsense. Abortions were to be granted only after consideration by two doctors. Where are we now? An automatic rubber stamp. Abortion as birth control.
        Contrariwise, that suicide is a crime reflects the view that the State regards us as property of the State. If we are free citizens then we are free to kill ourselves. It would follow that assisting a suicide cannot be a crime, any more than going for your neighbours messages.
        Abortion is now easily available yet when a child is killed the future of the State dies with it. That only makes sense if the State is bent on race replacement.

        1. My thought, too, about legalising euthanasia. There will, inevitably, be mission creep and the “safeguards” will be eroded.

  12. This made me gasp

    Fee-paying boarding school reports its chaplain to anti-terror unit Prevent for telling pupils in a sermon that they’re allowed to disagree with LGBT teaching
    Reverend Dr Bernard Randall delivered sermon in school chapel at Trent College near Nottingham in 2019
    Ex-Cambridge college chaplain defended pupils’ right to question school’s introduction of new LGBT policies
    Following sermon, Dr Randall was flagged to Prevent, which normally identifies those at risk of radicalisation
    Police investigated tip-off but advised school that he posed ‘no counter terrorism risk, or risk of radicalisation’

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9557845/School-reports-chaplain-telling-pupils-theyre-allowed-disagree-LGBT-teach

    https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/05/08/23/42740104-9557845-Activist_Dr_Elly_Barnes_above_who_runs_the_Educate_Celebrate_inc-a-147_1620514175306.jpg
    Activist: Former music teacher Dr Elly Barnes, above, who runs and founded the Educate & Celebrate inclusion programme. She was made an MBE for her charity work in 2016

    1. mng the Gasp bit or frequent intake of breath should be redirected to : Taxpayers paid out £250,000 to Educate & Celebrate to fund its mission to make schools more LGBT friendly. I don’t recall a rockabilly rocking up at the front door or anything through the post, or online. At least the £250k paid for her MBE

    2. It’s time we had added a new ‘Honour’ to the Honours system – The Woke Cross (WC). Awarded for being a very Cross Woke personage and for persistently flushing rational society down the pan.

      Morning Michael et al.

        1. while attempting to mirror the old “Morrissey” fashion, it’s still a bog brush coated in superglue. As the phrase is hated, it’s easy to remember

    5. Isn’t that the CC for Derbyshire? Or does she have a twin sister?
      Why do they all want to look like Jedward?

      1. Why isn’t she in a more suitable job like protecting polders in Holland?

      1. that’ll be the “live in lover” or whatever garbage anacronym is used aka “Identical cohabitant” with shared taste in wallpaper

    7. This is why these people proliferate. The state endorses them.

      All state funding from such organisations – all fo them that promote homosexuality, trans, anything must be withdrawn immediately.

  13. Transgender guidelines for girls schools quietly scrapped by the equalities watchdog. 9 May 2021.

    A draft copy of the guidelines, first reported by this newspaper, said excluding male pupils from girls schools with an admissions policy based on sex at birth would be “indirectly discriminatory”.

    A girl who formally transitions to boy must be allowed to stay at the girls school, or this would be “direct gender reassignment discrimination”, it added.

    Schools were told to install gender-neutral lavatories and changing rooms where possible, including on residential trips, or let pupils use the facility that fits their gender identity.

    Though it’s not mentioned here all this implies that transgendering of minors is actually taking place! Who authorised this? To what extent is it happening? Why are there no prosecutions against what must surely be a crime? Children cannot possibly make such an important decision on their own. The people responsible are carrying out life destroying activities. Even leaving this aside no person who has “transgendered” should be given access to educational premises or allowed to speak to school pupils in any circumstances!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/05/09/transgender-guidelines-girls-schools-quietly-scrapped-equalities/

  14. Yo All

    The pompous, grandstanding Emmanuel Macron has become an out-of-control bully. Who will put him back in his box?

    Simon McIlroy Croydon, Surrey

    Is it ‘mummy’s boy’ just trying to live up to his to the goals of his obvious hero, Napoleon, on the 200 Anniversary of the latter’s death?.

    Boros does seem a very unlikely Wellington, though.

    1. I was up late last night, Mahatma, but struggled to get up as I want to clear my kitchen/diner of flowers/tomato plants/etc. by planting them in my garden. However, your post has decided me to return to bed for another couple of hours. Good morning and good night to all NoTTLers. See you all later.

  16. Queen’s cousin Prince Michael of Kent of accused of charging £50,000 to ‘introduce businessmen to Vladimir Putin’. 9 May 2021.

    PRINCE Michael of Kent has been accused of charging £50,000 for introducing businessmen to President Putin.

    The Queen’s cousin and the Marquess of Reading said they were “very excited” to help link up South Korean investors to pals of the Russian leader.

    A contradiction in the first two paragraphs which is supported by the rest which is utter Bumf!

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/14895569/queens-cousin-prince-michael-accused-vladimir-putin/

    1. If Putin isn’t intercepting US reconnaissance planes over his Eastern border or testing new weapons he’s meeting Prince Michael’s pals.
      He is a busy boy!!
      This morning he’s taking the salute in Red Square at The Victory Day parade.
      Its live now on RUPTLY.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m32OkUsOjo4

      1. Morning Harry. This fabrication is the lead story in the Times which tells you how far it’s sunk!

        1. I don’t see any pot holes. Maybe their taxes are… oh. Lower than ours.

    3. “accused of”? I don’t see any problem with that, other than good taste, maybe. Introductory fees are not uncommon. Some supermarkets charged suppliers an “introductory fee” to put the products on their shelves.

  17. As the mainstream media coverage of issues is usually in line with what our propagandist globalist powers that be want, then I would say from the endless MSM coverage of the Scottish elections that breaking up the UK is one of their targets.
    90% of the UK population are not particularly interested in how Scotland votes for their Parliament, it is no interest to us.
    Living in London one has to go on line to try to find out the results, there has been no coverage at all, and we have twice the population down here.
    Scotland needs to be broken down into small regions and their Parliament closed down and be just like England, England doesn’t have a Parliament, we can’t decide if we want to leave the UK, we don’t have that option.
    How has this country been steered into this corner?
    I believe it was down to Blair wasn’t it and the EU.

    1. Good afternoon, as far as bBC coverage goes, they are merely tweaking their support for SF/IRA to that of the SNP. Both groups align with the bBC’s disdain for the UK.

  18. Well, that didn’t last long. No more sun, wind getting up. But still very mild.

  19. 332538+ up ticks,
    Morning Each,
    Sunday 9 May: Hartlepool saw Labour for what it now is: a party of the liberal elite

    True but it does not take away from the fact it is a third section of a coalition, a coalition that has NOT acted in the best interest in regards to these Isles or peoples,
    plainly seen these last three decades.

    The lab/lib/con coalition is a MAJOR political health hazard.

    https://twitter.com/awareness_4all/status/1390938383141281794

    1. Folk won’t realise until yellow stars are painted on doors. As the modern child Left like to forget history and sewage like Stonewall and the other nutcase infestations push things on the Guides, of all groups it will become clear to everyone that the fascists are the Lefties. Always have been, always will be.

  20. And good morning from an overcast and damp Derbyshire with a massive 7°C in the yard.

    An excellent comment on men taking over Women’s Sports by Aussie Sky New Presenter Rita Panahi:-
    https://youtu.be/fZ-bO2GFJdg

    1. Women wanted equality with men at the end of the day, they brought this all on themselves

      1. As much as I disagree with many aspects of Women’s Lib, I strongly sympathise with those women who have trained for years towards a sporting goal only to have it snatched away by a man pretending to be a woman and support their fight to have that injustice corrected.

        1. case in point being Caster Semenya, even the Zulus admit’s a bloke. Strange no appearance lately on SA sport progs, then again, it’s the rugby season

          1. I am reminded of Oscar Pistorius claiming that his prosthetic limb could never give him any advantage over “able-bodied” runners in the Olympics, and then complaining bitterly when he was beaten in the Paralympics by a runner with a better prosthetic.

          2. ah yes, “blade runner”. So much so he wasted his girlfriend. Another 9 years to do in 5 star game park style prison

          3. I wonder if Pistorius had decided to take up competitive swimming, would he have been allowed to use flippers?

      2. Yet this isn’t equality. It’s left wing idiocy to pander to the psychosis of damaged people.

        I’d like to see a woman in trousers wail that she’s not allowed to play rugby. It only seems to be where they’d have a clear advantage that these people choose to compete.

    2. If we must persist with this nonsense, and I don’t believe that we do, there needs to be a third and a fourth category:

      The third can be “transitioned” where only those who have done so may compete and that it is the only place that they are allowed to compete. Edit apart from the “open” category.

      The fourth can be an “open” category where men, women and transitioned can compete to be supreme champions.

      1. Fifth category; all those stewed to the eyeballs on ‘performance enhancing’ drugs.

      2. A simpler solution would be to attack the division of sporting categories in to Men and Women as sexist and have all athletes competing in the same category.

        Just imagine the outcry if women and trans people were not allowed to run for the same elected offices as men?

        So if in most areas of life – even the Church of England – women and transes are expected to compete on level terms then why not in sport too?

    3. When I was a boy at school several of the boys’ athletic records were better than the English national women’s records. Ann Packer ran 800 metres in 2.01.1 seconds but a contemporary of mine at Blundell’s managed to do 880 yards in 1m 59. And ten years later In the 1970’s in my first teaching job a boy set a new school record for the 100 metres of 10.9 seconds. At the time the British women’s record was 11.1.

      Dina Asher Smith holds the current women’s 100 m record of 10.83 seconds but the current boy’s world record is 10.15.

      Girls are vastly superior to boys in many ways – but athletic prowess is not one of them!

    4. No matter what a woman does – even one of the same height and mass as me does – she will never be able to lift what I can. As a man my muscles are bigger, denser and my energy reserves differently arranged.

      Pretending a man in a dress is a woman is stupid. Trans things are just mentally ill, pretending they’re soemthing they’re not.

  21. Seems Tower Hamlets sorted their internal election fraud on voting out https://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/local-council/referendum-result-to-keep-tower-hamlets-mayor-7958210 hide the actual numbers and have their own mayor. Oh and some son of a Muslim bus driver won Mayor of London Circus. Presumably Bailey [Con] lost because he couldn’t stay “on message = Build Back Better” but chose “Build Brighter Future” – but he got his Andy Warhol moment, now back in the box

  22. EU countries snub Priti Patel’s plans to return asylum seekers. 9 may 2021.

    Not a single European country has decided to support the UK government’s controversial asylum plans, with the UN on Saturday night criticising the proposals as so damaging they risked Britain’s “global credibility”.

    Six weeks after the home secretary, Priti Patel, unveiled a sweeping immigration overhaul that included deporting migrants who enter the UK illegally to safe countries such as “France and other EU countries”, sources have said the Home Office has been unable to persuade any European state to sign up to the scheme.

    This was always just a scam designed to make the electorate believe that the PTB were doing something about immigration. If it didn’t sink under the refusals of anyone to accept them then the Lawyers would step in on Human Rights legislation. Anyone who doubts this only has to look at the Channel where the UK Government provides a service to bring them in Free of Charge!

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/may/09/eu-countries-snub-priti-patels-plans-to-return-asylum-seekers

    2. But, but – Priti Awful PROMISED – when she was appointed 22 months ago. She PROMISED to stop the cross-Channel traffic and she PROMISED to get rid of the illegals already here.

    3. Rossella Pagliuchi-Lor, UNHCR representative to the UK, told the Observer that the UK’s plans threatened the integrity of the UN refugee convention – which the UK government helped write in 1951 – and which seeks to protect individuals fleeing persecution or catastrophe.

      Pagliuchi-Lor said: “If a country like the UK – still wealthy despite the Covid downturn and with relatively low numbers of asylum seekers – seeks to back away from its obligations under the convention, what message does it send to others hosting large numbers?
      “There’s no question that the UK has won a reputation as a country of asylum, and with it considerable global credibility – which, incidentally, it has used to advocate for open asylum abroad. The aim should be a system that balances responsibility sharing among countries.”

      The message should be that the 1951 convention was written in a different time and is now routinely abused by people who are not refugees. The concept of asylum is now so debased by chancers and criminals in a world where international travel is so much easier than it once was that the UK ought to resign from the convention. Sadly, that won’t happen and the country will continue to fragment socially and culturally.

    4. Only the guardian could call enforcing the law ‘controversial’. Of course other countries don’t want them! They’re unwelcome anywhere, for good reason!

      These are NOT refugees, either. The law on refugee status is simple. These Muslim chancers could have run to Israel – first safe country. Instead they hiked across multiple other nations, using illegal transport and left a perfectly safe country – France – to get here.

      Load them into a cargo plane. If they won’t go willingly, taser them until they do.

  23. EU countries snub Priti Patel’s plans to return asylum seekers. 9 may 2021.

    Not a single European country has decided to support the UK government’s controversial asylum plans, with the UN on Saturday night criticising the proposals as so damaging they risked Britain’s “global credibility”.

    Six weeks after the home secretary, Priti Patel, unveiled a sweeping immigration overhaul that included deporting migrants who enter the UK illegally to safe countries such as “France and other EU countries”, sources have said the Home Office has been unable to persuade any European state to sign up to the scheme.

    This was always just a scam designed to make the electorate believe that the PTB were doing something about immigration. If it didn’t sink under the refusals of anyone to accept them then the Lawyers would step in on Human Rights legislation. Anyone who doubts this only has to look at the Channel where the UK Government provides a service to bring them in Free of Charge!

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/may/09/eu-countries-snub-priti-patels-plans-to-return-asylum-seekers

    1. Yes, but not lost it. It just moved away – to escape the black knife gangs, the foreign sqawking, the rapes, the drugs, the Bulgarian organised crime.

      White flight wasn’t a figment, but a reality.

      LAbour wanted a voting bloc. They’ve got it. Unfortunately in their frenzy to eradicate the native population that population is scrubbing them out as a party.

      1. 332538+ up ticks,
        Afternoon W,
        Agreed but by the same token the tory ( ino) cartel continued the frenzy and are a close shop coalition & as such, being maintained and given succour by a large % of the native population plus the imported voting bloc.

        The only difference in the odious parties politico’s is that maybe the tory’s (ino) have better dress sense.

    1. Re: Citroens Rod Liddle comment- no. Yr comment underneath responding to RR is there. I also noticed my comments on the dirt on Clinton disappeared on Friday [5 of them. I thought it was me not seeing things, but had disappeared].Still nice to know “we’re monitored”

          1. Not on this occasion Bill! It’s my mistake! I’ve posted on the wrong comment!

      2. I don’t think we are being monitored. Disqus does occasionally lose posts.

        Good morning.

        1. Good day, young Phil. That is interesting. I have “lost” some posts in the past and assumed jiggery-pokery. You suggest that it is just Discurse doing what it is good at – being hopeless?

          1. Good day to you too Sir.

            I believe it to be Disqus.

            I don’t think the secret squirrels are remotely interested in our recipes for crumble.

  27. SIR — (The) Gower and (the) Wirral are not unique. There is an area of Sheffield, Wicker, which is almost universally referred to as “the Wicker”.

    Mark Harries
    Chesterfield, Derbyshire

    Nearly right, but I probably know this area better than you do, Mark, lad. The Sheffield thoroughfare, Wicker, is universally called T’wicker by the locals. This emanates from the fact that it crosses the River Don near a weir, hence the local expression, “T’wicker, where t’watter* runs ovver t’weir.” [Translation for southerners: “The Wicker, where the water runs over the weir.”].

    This road was also the basis for the name of Sheffield University’s popular long-running rag mag, Twikker.

          5. I have a recording of this song on an LP by the chap who wrote it: Harry Nilsson.

            Mind you, some of Alan Price’s covers are not bad – I like his version of Bob Dylan’s For Ramona – as is his cover of I Put A Spell On You.

          6. He was quite good, at times. Though I never found anything remotely funny about the famous “Cartoon”…!

          7. I remember that one: 2 women and a baby. Not one of them was Minnie Mouse or Huey, Dewey or Louie.

          9. What was the eventual outcome on the cartoon your son was looking into?

          10. It appears to be genuine, but his Italian chum is … Italian. All gone quiet.

    3. Good morning, Grizzly, good to see you on this site. I do like your titfer. (Tit fer tat = hat.)

    4. Good morning all.
      They even made a film about the locals, T’wicker Man.

    1. Morning, Delboy.
      Dark & cold here, despite the global warming. Lights on, and six weeks to go to midsummer!
      Lie-ins are good! 😁

  29. 332538+ up ticks,
    Could it be in reality, it has proved its political worth as a tool to deceitfully fool the electoral tools.

    Mini lockdowns to order, when & where needed.

    Dt,
    Why a Covid winter spike will not lead to another national lockdown
    Coronavirus is not being eradicated, and outbreaks will occur, but time, exposure and vaccines are helping to ensure it becomes less deadly

    The crystal balls of the politico’s is a sight to behold as they construct the future.

    1. standard Deception gambit and relying of majority of public to “fall into line” and suppress any challenge

      1. 332538+ up ticks,
        Morning AWK,
        Standard sh!te swallowing form from the electorate, again.
        They once again give political oxygen via the polling booth
        to importers of mass murder, mass paedophilia, etc,etc.

        Their love of the close shop parties is bewildering to anyone of a decent nature in one instance whether their children stay virgins up to the age of 11/12 seems not to bother them in the least.

        Family & Country are well down the pecking order when entering the polling booth.

        1. Wait til you have illegal economic migrants running the Deportation Service. UK’s already halfway there with zombies in the HoC / HoL / Judiciary

          1. 332538+ up ticks,
            AWK,
            The ” Wait until” is unclear on the grounds they already ….

          2. If you count Priti Disastrous then yes agreed. When MPs picked by appointment empties London Zoo, 3rd world economic migrants teach poverty to Indigenous people [supported by BBC] and being sent to the Tower is replaced by Sharia law and beheading in Trafalgar Square becomes a public event, then they’ll have control

          3. 332538+ up ticks,
            AWK,
            In many places and thanks to the lab/lib/con coalition continuing input they already are in control in different fields.
            As in prior post beheadings & stonings will replace football & associated drink as a saturday village square pastime.
            The electorate at this moment in time are voting in one sense
            for more, making their children playthings for odious foreign felons, and that is clear as day.

            They,the electorate, can whinge “not so” but cannot deny it as fact.

  30. Keir Starmer needs to act more urgently if he is to rescue Labour from its plight. 9 May 2021.

    If there is a common theme to the critiques coming from both the left of the party and the right, it is that Sir Keir has yet to make Labour relevant to many voters and articulate to the public compelling reasons why they should want to support his party. Some of his critics put it down to an excess of caution or an absence of panache. Others are beginning to wonder whether he actually possesses any big ideas.

    Does the writer not see the strange anomaly of referring to the leader of the Labour Party as “Sir Keir” on every occasion? As to rescuing Labour, you cannot resuscitate a corpse!

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/09/keir-srarmer-act-urgently-rescue-labour-from-plight

    1. I wonder if the Labour Party will have their usual wisdom and good judgement and select Diane Abbott or David Lammy as the new party leader? Failing that a return of Jeremy Corbyn to the party leadership could provide a good platform on which to rebuild for the Labour Party when they fight the next elections?

      1. I already posted that David Lammy should be made leader and for Miss Diane to be his deputy. If nothing else it would be good comedy.

        Good morning.

        1. Morning Phizzee! I had the misfortune to listen to Lammy on Talkradio yesterday, and he’s even more stupid than I thought!

      2. mng Rastus. the Diane Abbott & David Lammy “ticket” would be the dream ticket. the queue for the asylum would be longer than a Zimbabwe election queue

        1. Good morning, just, Mr Elf-Hat: we would have to suffer sight and hearing of him in the process, though.

    2. But we do need an EFFECTIVE opposition. This past year has highlighted the dangers of a ruling class all singing from the same hymn sheet.
      An opposition that loves this country and forensically calls the government to account would be a good start.

      1. mng anne, combine that also with having an effective Government in the first place. Ineffective Government and non existent “opposition” combined means no challenge, only soundbites and photo opps

      2. But…but…we’re not allowed to sing at all! All those naughty germs being propelled from our clogged-up lungs!

      3. Yes, very much so. Boris and his side-kicks are now “in with the bricks” as it were.

  31. Rod Liddle
    Who is more upset about Labour’s results: Starmer or the BBC?
    9 May 2021, 9:00am

    It’s not just the Labour Party which is institutionally incapable of understanding why the Conservative Party kicked the hell out of them in these elections. It is also, of course, the BBC.

    The prime offender was – hold your breath in surprise – Emily Maitlis on Newsnight. Furlough and vaccines were the sole reason the Tories did well, according to this very affluent, metropolitan, liberal woman, who has a child in boarding school, natch. Dimbo voters again then, too dense to grasp the ‘realities’. But then there was Huw. There always is Mr Edwards. Conducting an interview with Labour’s Lucy Powell, he exuded sympathy and gratitude. No hard questions. Just ameliatory bilge.

    I daresay that Sir Keir Starmer is aghast at the election results, although my guess is he expected them. But not so aghast as the BBC, which, in its political coverage, insists over and over again that it does not deserve to exist.

    One more thing. Labour spokesmonkeys keep informing us that they need to ‘learn’ from these results. But they have been saying that for fifteen years and they never do. They de-learn instead.

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/who-is-more-upset-about-labour-s-results-starmer-or-the-bbc-

    1. Maybe Sue can tell us if she is tripping over empty champagne bottle in the Beeb corridors.

      1. preferably confirming smashing champagne bottles over her woke colleagues heads: “I name this tit…….and all those that throw up on them”

      2. Morning Anne!

        The Beeb corridors are empty. They’re all ensconced in their cosy homes with their laptops and many don’t want to come out, ever. Who needs reality.

        2. Good day, Our Susan. I don’t imagine you skulk at home – but gamely leg it to the office every day (wearing your mask, carrying your bottle of sanitiser, of course).

          1. Afternoon, Bill. I do indeed go into the office every day – well, Monday to Friday – but thus far sans mask and without submitting to lateral flow tests either , though those are apparently to be done at home the night before so could faked.

    2. for the perceived “elite”, this is all bread and circuses. And the MSM themes / strands are all familiar as BBC repeats. All masquerading in telling people what they do know as opposed to what they don’t, on purpose and with intent. And if that doesn’t work throw the racism tag about or some non entity lost their door keys, or some shirtlfter was lobbed off the Forth bridge to create an angle for another sub line emotive agenda. the intent is about hiding the reality of demolishing / rebuilding the structures / system

    3. Learning is hard. It’s painful. Worse, it means you have to accept evidence you don’t really want to – namely that people don’t give a flying twig about Left wing, big state, high tax, spendaholic, trans, blick looting mob, woke nonsense.

  34. It is wrong for a British prince to consort with Putin’s regime. 9 May 2021.

    Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, described by Joe Biden two months ago as “a killer”, has blood on his hands. The Salisbury novichok poisonings, when Russian agents attempted to murder the Skripals, resulted in the death of Dawn Sturgess and threatened the lives of many others. Putin illegally annexed Crimea and has amassed troops on the Ukrainian border. The anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny, also a victim of poisoning, is in prison on trumped-up charges.

    Well he isn’t so we need not worry ourselves. The accusation seems more to serve an anti-Putin agenda than any serious assault on the 78 year old Royal. There has been a sea change in this procedure. All the primary MSM Mi6/CIA shills have been relieved of their duties and just generalised lies are now permitted of which the opening paragraph above is an example. The reason for this is that they have proved counterproductive to say the least. Whenever one appeared the comment threads were inundated with unbelievers pointing out the biased and ludicrous nature of the propositions and which overpowered the attentions of 77 Brigades somewhat limited abilities to counteract. One imagines that both are relieved to be rid of this onerous duty.

    As to the above, aside from the gaping holes in the both the Salisbury and Navalny narratives the idea that the President of Russia is personally despatching assassins to knock off nonentities who pose no threat is far-fetched to say the least. That he advertises this with the use of sign posted methods is even less likely!

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/it-is-wrong-for-a-british-prince-to-consort-with-putin-s-regime-bchz7qj0s

    1. Depends who’s drawing the emotive line in the narrative given the late DoE was the great, great grandson of Nicholas 1 of Russia. Therein both Charles and William are also Romanov’s and therein part Russian. May explain why 77 Bde are still in TA mantra while Russia still provides 45% of the EU’s power despite sanctions and Ukraine gambit failed again. Then again today’s VE day

  35. I hope you all enjoy the “Culture” section of The Sunday Grimes today. A black face on almost every page. Heart-warming.

    1. Something indefinably wrong with the space above our heads being made a playspace for billionaires toys. Not forgetting communication devices and weaponry. Roll over, Arthur C. Clarke!

      1. It was a mesmerising site. The low orbit gave these quite small satellites the brightness of the stars. I had to look up what was happening.

        I agree with your comment about the expropriation of our air and space by the Elon Musk’s and Branson’s of this world.

      2. And with the offer of Space tourist billionaires going for a 62 mile trip up – and then back down again – I don’t see much shouting from Greta about all the fuel used and damaging the atmosphere.

    2. Could have been interesting if the crashing Chinese rocket had took them all out.

  37. I remember a pop group in the 70’s? . . .

    They were called the Ink Spots . . .

      2. King Midas worshiped Pan. Pan challenged Apollo to a music contest which Apollo won. Everyone agreed except Midas who questioned the result. Apollo would not suffer such a depraved pair of ears any longer, and said “Must have ears of an ass!”, which caused Midas’s ears to become those of a donkey. Midas was mortified at this. He attempted to hide his ears under a turban, but his barber knew the secret, he was told not to mention it but the barber could not keep the secret. He went out into a meadow, dug a hole in the ground, whispered the story into it, then covered the hole up. A thick bed of reeds later sprang up from the area of the hole and began whispering the story, saying “King Midas has an ass’s ears. – Whispering grass.

      3. King Midas worshiped Pan. Pan challenged Apollo to a music contest which Apollo won. Everyone agreed except Midas who questioned the result. Apollo would not suffer such a depraved pair of ears any longer, and said “Must have ears of an ass!”, which caused Midas’s ears to become those of a donkey. Midas was mortified at this. He attempted to hide his ears under a turban, but his barber knew the secret, he was told not to mention it but the barber could not keep the secret. He went out into a meadow, dug a hole in the ground, whispered the story into it, then covered the hole up. A thick bed of reeds later sprang up from the area of the hole and began whispering the story, saying “King Midas has an ass’s ears. – Whispering grass.

  38. ConWoman…

    “Enjoy your achievements and those of your forebears, and stay true to

    your past. Keep yourself interested in your freedom, however demanding;

    it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

    Exercise caution in your governance, for those who would presume to

    govern are most often full of trickery. But let this not blind you to

    what virtues there are amongst your own; many people strive for high

    ideals, and everywhere the lives of your brothers and sisters are full

    of quiet heroism.

    Speak truth unto tyrants and listen to the words of others who do the

    same. Speak of this even to those of your gentle neighbours who stand

    confused amidst the tumult; they did not ask to be defenestrated and

    consumed in an inferno of treachery.”

    Extract,rest here

    https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/desiderata-for-our-time/

    1. The person on the ground had just come out of the restaurant and the others were queuing to go in ? 😉

  40. I just hope the police are right now investigating the London mayoral election results. And the ballot boxes……….wishful thinking ??

    1. My friend Mr Rashid is too canny an old fox to allow shoddiness to be rife…

      1. I expect he’s had a lot of help from his friends back home.
        After all although very messy they managed to despatch that decent lady PM they had a few years ago.
        Or was that the septic’s ? Because she told the world that Bin Laden had died 5 years previously of organ failure. Before they ‘captured him’ and dumped his body in the ocean. 🤔

  41. Raid on Dieppe masked secret mission to steal Nazis’ Enigma machine. 9 May 2021.

    A new book tells story of doomed intelligence operation overseen by Lord Mountbatten and future James Bond writer Ian Fleming.

    A new book published later this month presents extraordinary evidence that the refugees, all Germans who had fled from Nazi-annexed Sudetenland, were at the centre of military planning for the daring and ultimately disastrous August 1942 raid on Dieppe. The idea was that while British and Canadian troops staged a frontal assault on the port, a group of five refugee soldiers would break into a hotel used by Nazi military commanders and steal both the Enigma machine and the code books that enabled the Germans to send encrypted military communications across Europe.

    This is the most unutterable tosh but Alistair MacLean would probably have made a good thriller out of it. Where Sealions Dare.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/09/raid-on-dieppe-masked-secret-mission-to-steal-nazis-enigma-machine

    1. Tosh? It’s probably all true, other than the puff on it being at the centre of the raid. It’s not new, though, as I’ve seen many articles on it over the years.

      Arguably not taking a new 4-rotor Enigma was fortuitous. We started to break its codes a few months later and our stealing one might have lead to the Germans making changes rather than do nothing, believing it unbreakable.

      1. If you go to Bletchley (well worth the day out) Park Dale there is a lot of information on how the Polish managed to capture one of the machines. Which helped lead to the code breaking. It was s discovered that the Germans attention to detail was their downfall they didn’t change the settings regularly enough, it set certain patterns. Which helped to break the codes.

        1. Eddy, thanks. I’ve been there several times and am reasonably familiar with Enigma. The Poles were indeed the first to crack Enigma codes and instrumental in the early days but AFAIK only produced a mock up, not a genuine Enigma machine. We captured several 3-rotor machines from ships in the early years of the war and a 4-rotor in the well-publicised U559 sinking in October 1942.

          1. I thought it was a wonderful place to visit and the scones and tea were typically English.
            I think it was Shed 7 where the main code breakers worked together, it was till under refurbishment when we went. We are not far away, it might be a good move to go back this year. There’s nowhere else we can go.

          2. We love it too. We had tea and scones too; wonderful, and in surroundings so reminiscent of a different age. I can’t imagine the code breakers cowering under their beds 2.2 yds apart.

          3. It was said that up to 2 thousand people were directly involved at BP and most of them rode bicycles to and from if they lived out side.

      2. If you go to Bletchley (well worth the day out) Park Dale there is a lot of information on how the Polish managed to capture one of the machines. Which helped lead to the code breaking. It was s discovered that the Germans attention to detail was their downfall they didn’t change the settings regularly enough, it set certain patterns. Which helped to break the codes.

      3. The German’s arrogance in believing in the security of Enigma was a grave mistake. There were incidents where investigations were instigated by events that pointed to the cyphers being read but the result was always the same. Unbreakable.

    2. I remember a film made around the US capture of an Enigma machine. I think history tells us they, the US had no such contact with any such thing.

    3. IIRC, Fleming came up with another plan. His idea was to crash a captured German bomber manned by German speaking refugees in the Channel and then summon a German rescue boat, whereupon the aircraft ‘crew’ would kill the boat’s crew and capture the boat and its contents. This idea was never put to the test.

  42. Good morning all

    For those of you who may be interested re headache in specific area. I was referred to an out of hours doctor in our county hospital , Moh drove me there , doc saw me , and despatched me to A+E for bloods etc .. my BP was RACING.. 200+/ 110.. . Covid swab taken/ ok . I was examined, blooded etc sent for a CT scan , could see no sign of a bleed in my head , my glands were up , slight raise in temperature , side of head thumping , paracetamol.

    My bloods came back normal , C T fine , B/P still raised. Several of the staff who were doing my checks told me that reactions to jab were common, and one told me reaction was similar to being run over by a bus .

    IF my bloods had not been normal, I would have been admitted for observation because of the risk of tiny clots etc which can be one of the reactions to the jab , viral overload .

    Moh snoozed in the car after looking at the Southampton match on his phone whilst I was being attended to .. We arrived back home at 01.30 hrs . Very relieved .

    The doctor said any fuzzy eyesight, loss of balance , feeling sick , hearing etc . rashes , swollen tongue , lumps like a possible DVT , one should get straight back to them .. I only had specific headache , warm and very achy , no energy and a bit giddy , which has lingered too long . God bless our NHS .

    Blood pressure has come down a little , head still aches , but feel confident all will be better in the next few days , as doctor said .

    Amazing to think that I was advised against receiving Phizer, but the AZ 2nd dose was rather an after shock.

    1. Glad you are feeling brighter, Mags – I think sometimes one worries too much because of uncertainty – and being looked at is a calming thing.

      My second AZ jab had no side effects at all. So I assume it was a saline solution!!

    3. It’s all a bit of a worry TB, but glad you’re on the mend.
      My good lady had a slight reaction after our second AZ last Saturday arm and severe headache over a few days, but she’s okay now.
      I didn’t even have the slightest reaction at all, but didn’t feel too well over night and the next day back in Feb after the first AZ jab.
      But in the past i have had more reaction from the Flu jabs.
      I guess we’re are all slightly different versions of the same species.

    7. Good to hear Belle! So pleased you got checked out and that your mind may have been set at rest. Love to you! 💕

    8. BP 200+/110 ??? . . . WOW – I have never seen any readings that high. Glad you still with us.

          1. I guess you missed the bit about him looking at the Soton match.
            He won’t have been all huggy bear.

    9. I had a severe headache under the top of my head once, sharp, and never experienced before. Then I could feel my heartbeat as pressure in my face… A&E measured as for you, Belle, and BP was even higher. Immediate meds, administred there & then, and a bottle of pills to take home.
      Glad you got seen to, Belle. Now you can relax a bit!

    10. Very worrying – I hope things have settled down now.

      We were lucky – neither of us had any reaction to either jab. He had the Pfizer, I had the AZ.

  43. Got called for jury service but have asked to put it off. I’m right in the middle of starting a new contract and i really want to get into it before any barmy changes.

    Does anyone know if the requests to defer are usually accetped, or will it be ‘tough, we don’t care?’

    1. Better still – tell them you are transitioning and would feel “unsafe”….

    2. Just tell them that you are members of Britain First. That should take care of it!

      1. I was hoping I’d get a tax evasion case, in which case I’d ensure acquittal and charge HMRC with wasting public money to be returned to the evader as costs plus a massive lump for harrassment as tax is theft.

        1. When i was called up our jury had a robbery case on the first day the witnesses and the victim gave their accounts the next day the families of the accused filled the public gallery and tried to stare down the jury. After we found him guilty we had to be escorted from the rear of the building because the ‘families’ of the accused arrived out side the court building. None of us were called for a second case.

          1. Can’t the jury then demand that all the other chavs be shot as well?

          2. When i say ‘family’ you have to stretch the description to people who are usually more mobile than most.
            And the little git had only been out of jail for about a week, his mates who were with him cowardly left him to take the can.

    3. Just tell them you won’t believe a word of any police evidence as they are all crooks
      Job Done

    4. Tell them that the little blek, tranny, bastards are certainly guilty…

      1. Much obliged – I don’t mind serving, I just ask it be postponed a few months.

    6. I got called once, wrote a letter explaining how it would adversely affect my work, and was cancelled.

      1. I got called once. Before the trial even started the Court spent a whole day arguing some obscure points of law. (The accused were charged with serious car theft or similar. It was all a bit vague, hence the legal wrangling over the head of a pin.). The judge realised that the jury group were bored into unconsciousness and sent us all home, not to return.

        1. I got called probably 13 years ago. It was so tedious. We got sent home several times due to papers missing, admin stuff. There was a lot of hanging about, tedious in the extreme. The first case was a drugs thing, the second truly sordid and bizarre, it took a long time to shake the atmosphere it engendered out of my head.

          1. It is an uncomfortable insight into a parallel world. One we try to avoid bumping into.

    7. Could your firm send a letter saying how vital your skills are to the job?

    8. Ask how soon your opportunity to find someone guilty can be arranged.

  44. Yet another article on Prince Hapless’s narcissistic wife. Please, DT, note the BTL comments in the DT, here, other media and YouTube videos: she’s a lying narcissist, we are fed up to the back teeth of her and it’s time for you to ignore her. Stop giving her the oxygen of publicity.

      1. I wonder what her lawyers have to say on the widely believed claims that’s she’s used surrogates and faked her pregnancies. The claims sound bizarre but there is believable circumstantial evidence.

        1. Never heard that one before,……….but hang on a mo the Obamas have adopted daughters.

        2. There is photographic evidence and video evidence of the bump falling to her knees in when visiting Birkenhead. It changed size many times in the course of a day. I am not a royal watcher but I felt we were having the wool pulled over our eyes and things deserved greater attention. There are many anomalies.

          1. I looked at the photos, but honestly I couldn’t see what people were getting at. Nobody could fake Harry’s euphoria after the baby was born.

          2. Think. The child would be his just as much as if no surrogate was used. Surely you’d expect him to be just as euphoric?

          3. Yes, but that would mean that the child had just been born then and there according to what you are implying. A surrogate would have had to be smuggled in and out. It just seems so unlikely that they would have got away with it, surrounded as they were by staff who loathed them.

          5. I didn’t think he was euphoric. Pleased, though, but not as over-the-top as would be expected. Odd place to give an interview, in the stable area, to a lone camera, it seemed very staged. Palace announcements were different from the normal ones, no ‘signing off’ by the medicals in charge…. almost an 11 month pregnancy. There is something not quite right about the whole shebang. All of it.

          6. Could be, but nothing’s proven. I agree, it has a very bad whiff, but that could be due just to the personalities involved. Always making a drama out of nothing!

          7. I didn’t think he was euphoric. Pleased, though, but not as over-the-top as would be expected. Odd place to give an interview, in the stable area, to a lone camera, it seemed very staged. Palace announcements were different from the normal ones, no ‘signing off’ by the medicals in charge…. almost an 11 month pregnancy. There is something not quite right about the whole shebang. All of it.

          8. Well, Harry’s parentage was always suspect. Some say his was a grudge birth because somebody had it in for Prince Charles.

      2. Extraordinary – the way anonymity seems continuously to elude them. Can’t think why…

    2. “My husband and I”…

      Pregnant Meghan Markle claims covid has wiped out a generation of progress for women during VaxLive gig message in LA, as Prince Harry says science andvaccines should not be ‘politicised’

      The Duchess of Sussex made the assertion in a recorded statement, which appeared to be filmed in the backyard of
      her $14.7 million Montecito mansion.
      ‘As campaign chairs of Vax Live, my husband and I believe it’s critical that our recovery prioritizes the health, safety and success of everyone, but particularly women who have been disproportionately affected by this pandemic,’ Meghan stated.

  45. 332538+ up ticks,
    So people power used once more in an abusive manner
    can assure us with a death wish to quote passages from the Bible in piccadilly.

    Theme song of the lab/lib/con coalition,
    🎵
    Farewell Leicester square.

          2. I thought Boogis St was in town, I used to just hang out mainly in Changi with it’s bars, restaurants and tackle shops. It was closer to Loyang where the boat would be parked.

    5. So its good bye to Leyton Orient FC which is to be renamed as Leyton Seiko as Seiko Epsom is the parent company of Orient watches.

    6. Yeah! Right On! (Ooops! Are we allowed to use the term “right”?). Digression aside, this affirmative action will ensure the end all possible confusion between, erm, Chinks, Japs etc, and citizens of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay. Viva Orientales!

    7. More nonsense. Everyone knows what Oriental means, there is nothing derogatory about it.

      1. What about all the restaurants with Orient in the name – or Oriental Cuisine in the advertising. Madness.

      2. Precisely. P & O liners a case in point were Peninsular & Orient Line. Their famous corn coloured ship Orion was used to take British folk to a new life in Australia for a tenner I recall.

    8. “We three kings of Ori….”
      “Police! Stop the Carol Service! You’re all under arrest!”

  48. From today’s DT Letters:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/85f411c96a832ca13dbfb7ebe4a3488fb8b4c93a22ee108a3411db183d7f40f1.png

    Totally share Mr. Green’s sentiments, especially on the measurement of temperature. I always use the Fahrenheit scale and I’ve never understood why the Celsius scale came to be the preferred system in most of the world since the Fahrenheit scale is more accurate.

    At sea level, pure water freezes at 32°F (0°C) and boils at 212°F (100°C) and since there are only 100° between these two points when measured on the Celsius system, while there are 180° between them on the Fahrenheit scale, it’s obvious which system is more accurate. Perhaps the geniuses who decide such matters found the arithmetic used to convert Fahrenheit to the system used by our continental “friends” – should it prove necessary – simply too difficult to master.

    Whether or not the plans on the de-metrification of weights and measures comes to fruition remains to be seen. I have my doubts – the Government is always strong on its “plans” and even “vows” but weak on their delivery.

      1. Careful now. If it’s gone woke then no doubt they’ll promote destroying knowledge as good.

    2. If precision is needed, use a decimal. F or C. (Freddo e Caldo?)
      I typically use F for domestic stuff and C for technical & work stuff.

      1. Great definition of ‘F’ and ‘C’, Herr Oberst – la saluto!
        ;¬)

          2. C and F in France, too – chaud et froid. I remember being warned before going to France for the first time (aged about 12) that I should expect hot water from the C tap.

      1. Well now, if it’s just ease of use you’re after, nothing beats the terms bloody hot and feckin’ cold.
        ;¬)

    4. And at the same time, can we do away with this pointless “decimal” currency? I still think in pounds, shillings and pence – and, therefore, am horrified to required to pay 17/- for a stamp, FGS. Other examples of horror (many, many) are available.

      2. But then, Bill, your fees were always priced in guineas – as was horseflesh.

    5. Good afternoon Duncan Mac

      As you say very accurately:

      “I have my doubts – the Government is always strong on its “plans” and even “vows” but weak on their delivery.”

      I wish Mendacity Haystack, the paramour’s ventriloguist’s dummy, would think about some of his pre-election promises and vows. Did he not pledge to sort out the British fishing waters, to guarantee Britain’s complete sovereignty in Northern Ireland with no border in the Irish Sea, to end the prosecution of NI veterans, to reform of the BBC, and to end illegal immigration. And, as far as I can remember, he did not promise any of the green crap he is spouting.

      I find his success in the recent elections is terrifying. It will make him and his Nut Nuts Delilah feel that they can promise anything and not be expected ever to keep their word.

    6. Good afternoon DM

      As I am slightly fluttery minded , I always prefer inches , and then of course pounds and ounces etc as well

      It wasn’t so long ago since we used bushels and pecks as Doris Day once sung about.

      Interestingly , I googled this..( I still have my old red tables book which was given to me in my primary school..)

      https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/manuscriptsandspecialcollections/researchguidance/weightsandmeasures/weights.aspx

      Have I read this incorrectly … The University of Nottingham, UK, China ,and Malaysia?

      2. ‘Afternoon,Maggie

        Using gills to measure spirits always seemed fishy to me. A bit out of plaice, as you might say…

      4. “I always prefer inches”

        Rapidly squashes urge to make ribald comment!

        1. See my earlier comment, BoB about reassembling a Bren Gun.

          That the first 4 inches don’t count.

          1. Sliding the butt group into the body group!
            Give a BREN/L4A4 any day and I’ll still strip it down & assemble it in an acceptable time!

      5. Nope, University of Nottingham (I am one of their alumni) has a campus in China and Malaysia as well as Nottingham.

    7. A manager of mine once asked me to do some rough planning for a possible extension. I used a six-inch grid, which she did not like. “They only taught us metric at school”, she whined. OK, metric Miss, how many litres are there in a cubic metre? Come on, it’s all tens in metric, should be easy. Too hard for you? Try this: given that there are a hundred square metres in an are, how many hectares are there in a square kilometre? I’ve almost given you the answer! Still too much for her.

      1. Hectares and square kilometres?

        Blimey, that is one Hell of a big extension.
        };-O

        1. Easy to remember that an acre is 2420 Sq yards and a ton is 2420 lbs.

    8. I have to convert to Fahrenheit to know whether I’m supposed to be hot or cold.
      If someone said it was say 17C outside, I wouldn’t have a clue.

      I know 28C is 82F and I estimate all other temps relative to that.

      1. Below -12C: Air freezes in yer nostrils. Cold.
        Above 36V: Air breathed in scorches yer nostrils. Hot.
        Between these two: Comfortable.

    1. Yes, but how will they do it?

      I have suggested teams of snorklers with harpoon guns intercepting them when they are still near the French coast and puncturing their dinghies; I have also suggested that the dinghies which manage to evade the harpoon squads are intercepted as they approach the English coast, the petrol is drained out of the petrol tanks of the outboard engines of their dinghies and they are towed back to within 110 yards of the French coast where the dinghies are then punctured irreparably.

      But has Boris Johnson the testicular strength to do this? And does Priti Patel have the ovarian strength?

      1. A program showed some setting off in the dark – filmed on low light cameras on a beach near Calais – the boats are hidden nearby. I wondered if the SAS could go unseen and slash the boats to bits? There was plenty of scrubby type bushes to hide amongst. If the EU want to play dirty, then so should we. One thing for certain Richard – We CANNOT go on just accepting the world turning up with their hands out. And I don’t think EITHER of those two have any intention of stopping it.

        1. 332538+ up ticks
          W,
          Save the SAS a trip use patriotic common sense in the polling booth.

          NONE of the BLOODY three close shop parties are for stopping it,cameron the wretch pledged to cut the numbers and promptly raised them.

      2. I am certain that some central African despot would accept all the illegals as personal attendants, provided the UK kept them in Rolls Royce’s or Mercedes and a supply of Scotch.

          1. OK to make the enemy keep their heads down, but not so good for anything requiring accuracy. Also,the run of the mill Wehrmacht Infanteer was reduced to being an ammunition carrier for the MG section to keep up with the rate of fire.

          2. That was the point. The MG34/42/3 are aera denial weapons, the wartime Wehrmacht section focused on the MG, it was their whole point. Whereas the Bren was operated more like a machine sniper rifle (and very accurate they were, too).

          3. German machine gunners in prepared positions were often instructed to pull the gun back out of the slithole if they came under fire from a BREN to prevent it from getting damaged and put out of action.

        3. Hated the Lee-Enfield .303 but this would always be my weapon of choice.

          I remember the Rock-ape instructor telling us when reassembling, “The first 4″ don’t count.” You’ll know what I mean.

      5. 332538+ up ticks,
        Afternoon R,
        Have the electorate the bollocks to castrate the lab/lib/con/green coalition in the polling booth and drastically cut back on mass uncontrolled immigration
        ongoing plus of the same importance mass foreign paedophilia.

        1. As always, Ogga, what’s the alternative? Remain/Reform and others of similar ilk need to amalgamate – ditch the Farages and get a sensible mandate published – I advocate calling themselves ‘Ability’ to get high on the ballot.

          No, at 77 later this month, I’m too old to take ’em on!

          1. 332538+ up ticks,
            Evening NtN,
            The first thing any society claiming to be decent, self respecting, patriotic would do is stop feeding the odious problem at its root, in the polling booth.

            Alternating the close shop is getting people killed, & minors raped & abused wholesale.

    2. Yes, but how will they do it?

      I have suggested teams of snorklers with harpoon guns intercepting them when they are still near the French coast and puncturing their dinghies; I have also suggested that the dinghies which manage to evade the harpoon squads are intercepted as they approach the English coast, the petrol is drained out of the petrol tanks of the outboard engines of their dinghies and they are towed back to within 110 yards of the French coast where the dinghies are then punctured irreparably.

      But has Boris Johnson the testicular strength to do this? And does Priti Patel have the ovarian strength?

    3. It’s France that’s the main problem so let’s round up all the Frenchies in the UK and deport them en masse (see what I did there?)
      :¬)

      1. 332538+up ticks,
        Afternoon Dm,
        Four main problems,
        lab/lib/con/ electorate.
        Working in collusion with the french.

      1. Having read a little more about Huff Puff I think I know where the puss filled body that the Chinese used to first manufacture Covid-19 came from.

        1. Oddly enough the Huff Puff’s founders were, by and large, well to the right of centre.

    5. 332538+ up ticks,
      Afternoon W,
      All the while the lab/lib/con / coalition are receiving support / votes they won’t have to.

    6. I’ve always advocated that, if they refuse to shew identity of nationality, they are informed (in their language of choice) that, without nationality, we will take them at midnight, to a Somalian coast and put them ashore in just their underpants and then, they’re on their own.

      Now, where do you come from and can you prove it?

      1. Don’t laugh. All cars are going to be outlawed when the Greens take control of the government (sooner than you think) and it will be the only means of getting to the (vegan only) shops.

        1. 332538+ up ticks,

          Afternoon P,
          Not in the UK the imams would not hear of it.
          I have a feeling johnson
          will go through the conversion ceremony of submissive kneeling & accepting the bike wheel up the bum.

          It will be done with the consent of the majority of the electorate.

        2. So, I’ll call a greenie every time I need to leave our lovely little village – no shop, no pub, no school, no village hall, no bus service. Three roads out, all single track and few passing places.

          The Green twats have never thought this through.

    2. Two out of three ain’t bad.

      What were the three things one of which Meatloaf would in no way do?

      1. I’ll never forget the way you feel right now.

        I’ll never forgive myself if we don’t go all the way

        tonight.

        I’ll never do it better then I do it with you.

        I’ll never stop dreaming of you every night of my life.

      3. 1. I Want you
        2. I need you
        3. But there ain’t no way I’m ever going to love you

  52. SIR – I would be delighted to see a new ship called HMS Prince Philip fulfilling a number of functions to the benefit of the UK, as well as righting a historic wrong: the loss of a royal yacht for the Queen’s use.

    It is crucial that any ship performing this task is one of Her Majesty’s ships and manned by the Royal Navy. That is what gave royal yachts a particular cachet, smartness, efficiency and elegance.

    These men should be additional to the Navy’s manpower ceiling and all costs should be borne by the Cabinet Office, not the Ministry of Defence.

    Admiral Lord West of Spithead (Lab)
    London SW1

    Just whisking through the letters , and this one takes the biscuit ..

    Correct me if I am wrong , but Admiral Lord West of Spithead (Lab)… ( phew what a title especially the political emphasis on the Lab bit) isn’t he a great pal of Tony Blair , and why did he allow Tony Blair’s nasty attack on the Queen by withdrawing the Royal Yacht from service ?

    1. If Admiral Spit of Westhead wants the ship manned by the RN then the cost of manning it should be borne by the Navy. I suggest that three quarters of the Admirals, Vice and Rear, be retired. That would pay for the ships running with enough left over for him and Blair to meet again and have a regular dockside blow job – for their hair, naturally.

    2. If Admiral Spit of Westhead wants the ship manned by the RN then the cost of manning it should be borne by the Navy. I suggest that three quarters of the Admirals, Vice and Rear, be retired. That would pay for the ships running with enough left over for him and Blair to meet again and have a regular dockside blow job – for their hair, naturally.

    5. I’m all for a royal yacht. My concern is whether, even if they start on Monday, whether it will be ready withington Brenda’s lifetime and even if so, will she be well enough to make use of it.

  53. On this day, May 9th, in 1898 my father was born at The Gables, the family house at Willand near Cullompton. He was married at St Just-in-Roseland Church near St Mawes where his ashes are buried alongside those of his wife of over fifty years in the family grave of his father-in-law Charles Bowen-Cooke.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ed34857efd0e5f0152c07e269cb0c11258252b8b58c59578c30b4eb435a54d8d.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/dbd36db244fc71f6be19a15d2b2ede4eefdb35a0843eadd0dfff3c9b7a52f03f.jpg

    2. I rented a house in Cullompton once. Everyone was very friendly. Smiling and saying hello. Even in the village shop they asked how long i was staying and to make sure i didn’t miss the pig roast on the Saturday.

      Those high hedges were a bit scary though.

      1. Some friends of ours lived in Cullompton. They moved to Cheriton Fitzpaine and are still there. Their company was Honeycomb Animations back then.

      2. Were you trying to jump them? The trick is to brush through the top 🙂

        1. That might work for you and your horse but i don’t think the Harley was up to it !

    3. Lovely Church isn’t it? My son and dil had their marriage blessed there 18 May 2018 so daughter in law’s Gran could take part. She is in a home nearby.

    1. Come off it! No-one in London speaks English as they are all foreigners, so no-one would understand what the Northerner is saying!

    2. You might think it’s a joke but the BBC are still using it as a training film. Head down, stop talking on your mobile and call the Met Police, tout de suite!

    3. I needed the laugh, thank you! There is some truth in that. When I first came down to our little corner of south-west East Anglia from oop north, I used to smile at everyone – in the street, along the corridors where I worked, in shoos. I did not get a response. After a while I could see that most of them were thinking “fun-nee wo-man, er….” as they averted their eyes.

      2. I was primed. Dad suggested I get on the tube and smile and greet everyone then watch them stare back or bury their heads in their newspapers. I never had the nerve. Of course where I came from strangers were addressed as “Luv”.

        1. I still find it difficult to stop saying, “Bonjour” when I pass some one in England. It is 110% de rigeuer in Laure – and in most small towns in France.

          Not to say it is taken as very rude.

          1. Same here in Norway, outside the big cities. A nod & a “Hei!” are required, also when bellying up to the cash desk in the supermaket and elsewhere.

          4. In France, you idiot. We don’t have buses round here. Well, one a week.
            Between Nice and Menton, the 100 bus costs €1.50 and runs every 15 minutes. When staying there we only use the car to go to Italy (those were the days).

          7. Same here in Norway, outside the big cities. A nod & a “Hei!” are required, also when bellying up to the cash desk in the supermaket and elsewhere.

          8. In the same way you always wave a greeting to another boat you pass when you are sailing. I remember waving to Chay Blyth in the Solent and he did not wave back which branded him in my eyes as being an unspeakable oik.

        2. That was Yorkshire? Me too. Changing at Doncaster for Leeds felt like I was walking into a film set! I remember getting the park and ride bus at York, it was alive with chatter, and me saying “is there room for me at the back there?” It is deadly silent in Cambridge and I would not dare be so forward. It would be scowls all around.

          1. Here at my new place in rural Surrey, I find that approx. 1/2 of passers by will say Hello, or some other greeting. Less so at the last place, only three miles away as the crow flies. If I’m first to greet someone, and no response is received, I tend to hear myself saying “OK – please yourself”, in a stage whisper…

      3. I know East Anglians have that reputation, but I’ve never had a problem. Maybe I’ve been here long enough to recognise their body language. Some I smile and chat with, others you know you’re wasting your time. (And, in my case, using up already severely rationed stocks of sweetness and light.)

        1. I think it’s Cambridge that is particularly austere, Anne, an influx of people from all over the place and nos the world has encouraged those whose permanent home it is to keep themselves to each other in self defencr.

        2. Sorry, the reply below went off before I had checked and completed it. Blooming iPads. Nos should be now and of course defence should gave an ‘e’ on the end and not an ‘r’.

      4. It takes 40 years, dear lady for you to be accepted but you’ll never be an East Anglian – that’s the view from Norfolk, where I was lucky enough to have been born and bred.

        Moi haart aloive bor, you niver oughtare went.

        1. Fifty one years now…. in East Anglia…. but that’s ok ‘cos I’m a Yorkshire lass at heart, from God’s own country.

        2. I concur, Tom. I lived in Thetford for ten years, which, in fairness, was largely devoid of indigenous types; rather GLC overspill. But venture out into the sticks, and it was a different story. Enjoyed my time there, though.

    4. I needed the laugh, thank you! There is some truth in that. When I first came down to our little corner of south-west East Anglia from oop north, I used to smile at everyone – in the street, along the corridors where I worked, in shoos. I did not get a response. After a while I could see that most of them were thinking “fun-nee wo-man, er….” as they averted their eyes.

    5. The first time I visited Kent it was with a group of fellow-Northerner birdwatchers. We went to a place called Stodmarsh to see some glossy ibises. We needed to walk for about two miles along an elevated embankment to get to the site. On the way we met a number of locals out for a walk. After failing to get my cheery greeting of “good morning” returned on every single occasion I decided to turn on the mischief button to full whack.

      From then on I glared maniacally at every local I met with a loud, “Ayup!” The looks of abject terror on the faces of each softy southerner as they hurried away from me was hilarious.

      1. I said good morning to some Northerner when visiting the badlands and the response was ‘ayup me ducks, me dog’s got the trots’.

        Translation please.

        1. “Good morning, sweet young man. Please beware of my hound since eating Chappie and raw bones seems to disagree with his delicate system.”

        3. Duck, pronounced “dook” to rhyme with “book” – southern pronounciation, that is.

      3. Some years ago, we were delivering Firstborn’s Landy to Richards Chassis at Swinton for a new galvanised chassis, and got the train back to Doncaster on the way home to Norway. Got to Swinton station, walked on to the platform, to be greeted by a huge bellow of “Ayup, lass!”, followed by a faint “Oh, ayup!” in girlish tones. Several “Ayup”s and much cider later in the pub in Donny, and one felt right at home!

  55. After mass this morning Caroline was chatting to an old girl who used to be our son’s primary school teacher 20 years ago.

    The Covid advice in Canada about taking care during sexual relations with your partner are causing some merriment. Kissing should be avoided, positions where the participants are not face to face should be employed and masks should be worn throughout the duration of the activity. It is even suggested that some sort of barrier or wall (as the wall with a chink in A Midsummer Night’s Dream?) should be placed between a couple having sexual intercourse in order to avoid face-to-face contact.

    But the best solution of all is to go solo! Apparently, Theresa Tam, the Canadian equivalent of Chris Whitty said, on the 2nd September

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/97843a2daf5d1f03e0ab16c1d6df19ae92d9a5ad5507adba526ec7163096c31e.jpg

      1. Hmm, it appears that Johnny loves Johnny – at least they rub(ber) along well.

    3. Years ago I was reading about the followers of John Knox. Apparently the nightwear had a strategically placed hole, so no actual pleasure could be got from the act of procreation.

    1. I looked at the US VAERS system where vaccine adverse events are classified.
      3,500 deaths after covid vaccinations!

      Not a word in the media but as has been written here many times, comorbidities and age make the incidence of death meaningless.

      1. I suspect that if the same rules as were applied to Covid deaths were used, the numbers would be even higher.

  57. Afternoon all!

    Been outside pottering, and potting up some geraniums & fuschias – driven in by the force 10 gale blowing. Although it’s pleasantly warm out there, the howling wind is most unpleasant.

  61. Firstborn and SWMBO have just finished their first attempt at making proper cheese.
    There’s a nice-looking Caerphilly now drying, and some Ricotta (made from the leavings of the Caerphilly).Looks good!
    It’ll take about 4 weeks before the Caerphilly is ready for tasting… look forward to that.

  62. Defeated Labour councillor: ‘The voters have let us down’. 9 May 2021.

    One defeated Labour councillor in Amber Valley though has now offered up his own explanation for his defeat and that of 200 other colleagues across the country. Outgoing leader Chris Emmas-Williams, told the Derby Telegraph today: ‘It’s been a disastrous day for us. I don’t think I’ve ever been in an election with so acrimony and so many lies in campaign literature. The voters have let us down. I hope they don’t live to regret it.’ Emmas-Williams’ irritation came as the Tories won 13 of the 16 seats on Amber Valley Borough Council with Labour losing nine and overall control..

    This is probably a very commonly held sentiment; not just in the Labour Party, but in Westminster generally. The voter exists only to please the politicians!

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/defeated-labour-councillor-the-voters-have-let-us-down-

    1. You beat me to it by seconds!

      I was reminded of another incident, not a parliamentary election but it revealed a particular attitude. Twenty years ago, Stephen Pound was Radio 4’s ‘goto’ Labour MP for the less serious moments, cheery and humorous [sic], guaranteed to offer a few pithy observations on life.

      In 2003 BBC’s ‘Today’ programme asked its listeners to suggest a law that they would like to see put onto the statute books. The BBC received 10,000 nominations and five were short-listed, from which listeners then voted to select their preferred choice. Pound agreed to sponsor in Parliament whichever idea eventually won the final vote.

      On 1 January 2004 it was announced on air that first place with 37 percent of the vote had gone to the proposal to authorise homeowners to use any means to defend their home from intruders (the controversial farmer Tony Martin was still very much in the news). Pound’s on-air reaction to the result was “The people have spoken – the bastards”.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Pound

    3. As someone who lives in that area I’m glad to be rid of a councillor who makes crass comments like that!

    4. Who says the Germans don’t have a sense of humour?
      Bertolt Brecht.
      “Some party hack decreed that the people
      had lost the government’s confidence
      and could only regain it with redoubled effort.
      If that is the case, would it not be be simpler,
      If the government simply dissolved the people
      And elected another?”

    5. Hyphen name probably did it besides him being total crap. Plus, the only lies came from your party pretending to represent the voters in your constituency. Has been !

  63. The Telegraph : Labour considering moving party headquarters out of London. May I suggest that you go where your core voters are – Islamabad !

          2. Who dreams up these stunts? Kneel Starmer, Corbyn on the train floor, and this cockwomble choking on a bacon butty.

          4. … with absolutely no connection to the real world or understanding of how real people think or view things.

          5. ‘Corbyn on the train floor’ reminded me that JC’s then campaign director Sam Tarry had the privilege of me playing the organ at his wedding. I later took a call from Andrew Gilligan, who was investigating Tarry’s dubious residency credentials when seeking nomination as a councillor in Haringey (I think). Whilst living in Brighton. I see the odious creep is now a Labour MP.

          6. I think Milliband got unfairly criticised for the bacon butty by people who don’t realise the significance of it. Put it another way, can you imagine the Labour leader today daring to be seen eating bacon in public?

            It was a powerful statement, and he got too much stick.

          7. I guess my point is, why do these people feel the need for a stunt like these anyway? They invariably come out looking like a pillock. Starmer and the wallpaper… give me strength!

          8. Eating pork is a huge, huge deal for many muslims and Jews.
            “Does he eat pork, does he drink alcohol?” are important questions for the former. So it was a serious point rather than a stunt.

          9. I think Milliband got unfairly criticised for the bacon butty by people who don’t realise the significance of it. Put it another way, can you imagine the Labour leader today daring to be seen eating bacon in public?

            It was a powerful statement, and he got too much stick.

    2. May I suggest several fly ridden , cooked chicken, mouse and cockroach infested food outlets , where BLM members will welcome the Islington intelligentsia with open arms .

  64. Has Keir’s reshuffle stalled? Embattled Starmer is yet to appoint
    ANY front bench posts despite a whole day closeted with aides – amid
    claims MPs are ready to walk out if he tries to demote them and
    hard-Left openly threatening leadership challenge

    He’s asked Lammy to look into it and Abbott to do the sums.

  65. That’s me for today. A very pleasant day – warm WARM – wonderful. Greenhouse now ready for tomatoes to be planted out. Trombetti and haricots verts thriving. Just the ticket.

    And Trevor the Painter is coming tomorrow morning to start the outside of the house …..I think. So it will prolly rain!

    A demain.

  66. HAPPY HOUR – There IS a god….Hic!
    Enjoying the fresh air this afternoon I met several walkers with dogs in the pleasant sunshine.
    I sat for a while on a bench enjoying the view looking out to sea when a handsome Lurcher came to me wagging his tale. . ‘Hello’, I said stroking his rough coat as he placed his warm nose in my hand.
    I felt he sensed how lonely I was thinking of my canine loss and almost started blubbing
    but self control kicked in………
    I returned home and poured a well needed large sherry and came to the conclusion
    I can quite happily get legless but not dogless

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/749207a6afd6f0705762301b73e16460344dc26a2c2b2a04d8a2e8a9bc4464a6.jpg

    1. Apart from its size, you could do a lot worse than a lurcher as your next dog.

    2. Once a pet-owner, always a pet-owner. Get yourself a new four-legged friend, Plum.

          4. Three weeks is a long time when grieving your much-loved friend, but not very long when finding another friend to run alongside. Like most things it will happen when you least expect it, but happen it will. I feel for you. Poppie is 12 in July and I am trying to mentally prepare myself for that day sometime in the future.

          5. I tried to prepare myself mentally for some time – after all, Charlie made it to 17 years and 5 months, so it had been coming for a while. I went through it last year when he had a serious illness, but he recovered (I knew he was going to be alright after we got him home, because he saw a cat in our garden and his eyes lit up; he was off after it, legs going everywhere – he had problems with the discs in his spine due to his age, managed with steroids). Knowing it’s going to happen doesn’t actually help with the reality of an empty house and no dog to take for walks.

          6. I don’t know if this site would be useful? https://twitter.com/AdoptionsUk

            Animal adoptions UK Service dogCatHorse
            @AdoptionsUk
            Follows you
            Please share the animals on my page to help them find homes, all with charities in the UK.
            Wales ,UKfacebook.com/animaladoption…Joined February 202p 36.6K Following
            36.7K Followers

            No, I know preparing yourself for the inevitable is most definitely not the same as as being faced with and experiencing the reality. We allow our furry companions entry to those places in our hearts that are barred to humans.

          7. I keep expecting thousands of unwanted dogs to come on the market as their new owners realise how expensive they can be, and that they can’t just be left at home on their own. But it seems not to have happened yet.

          8. I understood the rescue centres were full of them, but mainly puppies. I want an adult dog. So far I’ve tried for two and been disappointed on both occasions. The first was snatched back 24 hours before I was due to have him and the second was reserved before I could make an appointment to see him. The constant disappointment isn’t helping my state of mind 🙁

          9. It will happen, be patient! Like job hunting or house hunting, there’s always that moment when you think the dream one will never come along.

    3. Oh, Plum.
      That awful empty feeling vying with another feeling of disloyalty – even if only thinking about a replacement.

    4. I have been feeling particularly miserable today. I don’t know how I managed to sit through the service in church. The (missing) black dog took hold of me. I hate being dogless, too. Everywhere I looked people seemed to be walking their dogs. Even the damned adverts were full of dogs.

      1. I can honestly say…….I know just how you feel !
        Walking through the park this morning a small dog approached me. He wore a collar but no lead……no owner that I could see. I was half tempted to
        dognap him…..

      2. It’s the silence and stillness that strikes you.
        Until all the little movements and noises are missing, you don’t realise what a huge part they were of your life.

        1. He used to be with me (Velcro was his middle name!) from the moment I got up until I went to bed (and sometimes in the middle of the night he’d wake me up by blundering around). He’d be waiting at the gate if I went out (he’d ask to be let out as if he knew I was on my way back) to greet me when I got home and “help” me in the garden.

    5. No contenders, yet, Plum? Have you tried BlueCross, which is where our Dotty came from?

      Other rescue centres are available but I, personally, would avoid the RSPCA – they put unwanted animals down – bastards.

      Have you spoken to your Vet? They often have, or know of, woofers looking for a home.

      1. I have put a few feelers around in different counties. Many smaller dogs are reserved, I will get in touch with my vet….something will turn up…

    6. Have you thought about fostering a dog until you are ready to give your heart to a forever companion? It would be a walking and house companion, and you never know, you may find you want to adopt your foster dog. You are not asked to give your heart, just provide a friendly home for the dog. Some dog charities do seek foster ‘parents’.

        1. Hearts are funny things, sometimes they don’t want to go. And sometimes they go without your permission. Poppie is 12 in July and I am mentally trying to prepare for that day, sometime in the future, I know not when.

  67. HAPPY HOUR – There is a god….Hic!
    Enjoying the fresh air this afternoon I met several walkers with dogs enjoying the sunshine.
    I sat for a while on a bench enjoying the view looking out to sea when a handsome Lurcher came to me wagging his tale. . ‘Hello’, I said stroking his rough coat as he placed his warm nozzle in my hand.
    I felt he sensed how lonely I was thinking of my canine loss and almost started blubbing
    but self control kicked in………
    I returned home and poured a well needed large sherry and came to the conclusion
    I can quite happily get legless but not dogless

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/749207a6afd6f0705762301b73e16460344dc26a2c2b2a04d8a2e8a9bc4464a6.jpg

  68. It will be a delicious irony if Blair’s divisive changes to all aspects of the UK’s institutions and governance and creation of identity politics come back to destroy the Labour party unto FUBAR, never to return.

      1. 332538+ up ticks,
        Afternoon AS,
        Do not pass go, do not collect, go straight to bow street early doors.

    3. Doesn’t matter any more because the Tories are doing the globalists’ bidding just as efficiently.

      1. Yes Belle but it was white chavs. I doubt any gollywogs wear Burberry.

        It would certainly clash with their skin tones.

  70. A welcome piece by the best Prime Minister we never had:

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/05/09/pity-sir-keir-starmer-would-anyone-else-labour-really-have-done/

    Pity Sir Keir Starmer. Would anyone else in Labour really have done any better?

    Labour should, however, have campaigned harder in Scotland against the Scottish Nationalists

    9 May 2021 • 12:59pm

    Prime Minister Boris Johnson looked to be creating new norms in British politics to an extent not achieved since the days of Margaret Thatcher as votes were counted last week.

    I very much doubt if Labour’s leader, Sir Keir Starmer, nourishes much hope that things will get back to anything like normal for him, or indeed the Labour Party itself in the next few weeks.

    There was plenty for Boris Johnson and the Conservatives to celebrate with their spectacular gain from Labour in the Hartlepool parliamentary by-election. And that was far from all. There were also significant Tory gains in local government in Harlow, Derbyshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Tees Valley and Stafford, and to the surprise of many, Shaun Bailey even denied Labour an easy win in London.

    In Wales it looks as though there may have been tactical voting among Conservative and Labour voters to check Plaid Cymru, but it appears all too possible that in Scotland the Greens will be ready to join with the SNP in forging a majority in Holyrood to demand a second referendum.

    Sir Keir was bound to face renewed criticism in the light of Labour’s lacklustre performance, but to be fair to him everything has been stacked against him. He would have been a fool indeed to attack the Government’s vaccination programme which has checked the coronavirus, or indeed the progressive unwinding of the lockdown, especially as we British look across the Channel to the incompetent squabbling in the European Union.

    Just what do his critics think they would have done had they been in his place?

    Placeholder image for youtube video: vTds9ZwOwv4

    For my part I regret that he did not campaign strongly enough in Scotland to regain former Labour voters who have defected to the SNP. It is in Labour’s political interest to keep Scotland within the United Kingdom as they are very unlikely to gain a majority in the House of Commons without Scottish MPs. That point has been underlined by the Tories’ sweeping gains last week in Labour’s former heartlands. As I write, the Tories had gained 289 council seats and Labour had lost 230. Worryingly in a portent of troubles to come, the far-Left inclined Greens had gained 63 seats.

    It is the situation in Scotland, with the growing support for separation from the United Kingdom, which worries me most. A Scotland outside the United Kingdom, that is outside its most important market, would be an economically weak and impoverished failed state, pleading to be taken over by the European Union and governed from Brussels.

    Elsewhere, the collapse of the trial of the two British veteran ex-soldiers accused of the murder of the IRA terrorist killer Joe McCann underlined the injustice of attempting to punish these men at any time, let alone nearly half a century after the event. That injustice was further exacerbated by the failure to bring terrorist killers to justice since, as part of the Good Friday Agreement many are beneficiaries of the “get out of jail free” cards handed out to the IRA. The veterans’ minister Johnny Mercer was then badly treated when, having told the Prime Minister that he would resign over the matter, he was sacked before his letter was received. I hope that it might be announced in the Queen’s Speech that there will be a firm proposal for legislation to put this matter beyond doubt.

    At least the Government’s vaccination programme seems to have continued to go well and, as it leads to the further easing and before long the ending of lockdown, more of us will be travelling, often on minor roads and cursing the potholes which have proliferated during the winter months. Be of Good Cheer! The Sunday Telegraph dated 2 May reported that JCB has unveiled its answer to that problem.

    The new JCB “Pothole Pro” can cut, crop and clean a new hole around a pothole in less than eight minutes, allowing road workers to fill the cavity in less than another three. Many of our roads are now in such poor condition that they need long term rebuilding, but until that happy day comes, JCB Pothole Pro will save motorists from that thud as what looked like an innocent puddle turns out to be a foot-deep water-filled pothole.

    I had an unpleasant reminder of how my old age and battle damage have left me in need of a bit of reconstruction myself a couple of weeks ago while doing my weekly shopping in my local Waitrose supermarket. My heart rate suddenly rocketed to more than twice its normal rate and an observant sales assistant smartly pushed me into a wheelchair before I could fall to the floor. When I got home my local GP came to see me and sent me to our local district hospital. There I was admitted to the Accident and Emergency Ward which was full of a bewildering horde of patients suffering a bewildering variety of ills. From there I was transferred to the cardiac unit where diagnosis and treatment calmed down my heart sufficiently to allow me home the following day, back into the care of my GP and my carers. I hope that before I write another column in a fortnight’s time I will be on my way back to normal good health.

    1. Not sure about the best PM, Anne.
      Been thinking about top leaders for a while now, and have come to the conclusion that what you need is more of a trusted salesman type, who can put up unpopular policies and get people to buy in to them. Someone who can create enthusiasm. That person needs supported by those who have ideas, and those who make them happen, the latter category I think Lord T fits better.

    2. BTL David Waugh:

      A quick glance at the guardian suggests that Labour are still fighting class wars , Brexit , abolition of slavery, British Empire, hating all things British, defending illegal immigration, turning the NHS into a religious cult, hating white people, people with money, people who consider themselves normal and people who have a job.

      Besides all that Starmer is a lawyer and every body hates lawyers so he never really had much chance in the first place.

    3. 332538+ up ticks,
      Afternoon Anne,
      As much as I like normy what we have witnessed via the actions of the politico’s & the close shop is a mess of
      rehashed sh!te being beneficial to the
      tory (ino) party but NOT the Nation as a hole.
      May one ask how is the open door treachery ( DOVER) orchestrated by the tories ( ino) doing, whats todays count ?

      Ps
      i w d.

  71. A welcome piece by the best Prime Minister we never had:

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/05/09/pity-sir-keir-starmer-would-anyone-else-labour-really-have-done/

    Pity Sir Keir Starmer. Would anyone else in Labour really have done any better?

    Labour should, however, have campaigned harder in Scotland against the Scottish Nationalists

    9 May 2021 • 12:59pm

    Prime Minister Boris Johnson looked to be creating new norms in British politics to an extent not achieved since the days of Margaret Thatcher as votes were counted last week.

    I very much doubt if Labour’s leader, Sir Keir Starmer, nourishes much hope that things will get back to anything like normal for him, or indeed the Labour Party itself in the next few weeks.

    There was plenty for Boris Johnson and the Conservatives to celebrate with their spectacular gain from Labour in the Hartlepool parliamentary by-election. And that was far from all. There were also significant Tory gains in local government in Harlow, Derbyshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Tees Valley and Stafford, and to the surprise of many, Shaun Bailey even denied Labour an easy win in London.

    In Wales it looks as though there may have been tactical voting among Conservative and Labour voters to check Plaid Cymru, but it appears all too possible that in Scotland the Greens will be ready to join with the SNP in forging a majority in Holyrood to demand a second referendum.

    Sir Keir was bound to face renewed criticism in the light of Labour’s lacklustre performance, but to be fair to him everything has been stacked against him. He would have been a fool indeed to attack the Government’s vaccination programme which has checked the coronavirus, or indeed the progressive unwinding of the lockdown, especially as we British look across the Channel to the incompetent squabbling in the European Union.

    Just what do his critics think they would have done had they been in his place?

    Placeholder image for youtube video: vTds9ZwOwv4

    For my part I regret that he did not campaign strongly enough in Scotland to regain former Labour voters who have defected to the SNP. It is in Labour’s political interest to keep Scotland within the United Kingdom as they are very unlikely to gain a majority in the House of Commons without Scottish MPs. That point has been underlined by the Tories’ sweeping gains last week in Labour’s former heartlands. As I write, the Tories had gained 289 council seats and Labour had lost 230. Worryingly in a portent of troubles to come, the far-Left inclined Greens had gained 63 seats.

    It is the situation in Scotland, with the growing support for separation from the United Kingdom, which worries me most. A Scotland outside the United Kingdom, that is outside its most important market, would be an economically weak and impoverished failed state, pleading to be taken over by the European Union and governed from Brussels.

    Elsewhere, the collapse of the trial of the two British veteran ex-soldiers accused of the murder of the IRA terrorist killer Joe McCann underlined the injustice of attempting to punish these men at any time, let alone nearly half a century after the event. That injustice was further exacerbated by the failure to bring terrorist killers to justice since, as part of the Good Friday Agreement many are beneficiaries of the “get out of jail free” cards handed out to the IRA. The veterans’ minister Johnny Mercer was then badly treated when, having told the Prime Minister that he would resign over the matter, he was sacked before his letter was received. I hope that it might be announced in the Queen’s Speech that there will be a firm proposal for legislation to put this matter beyond doubt.

    At least the Government’s vaccination programme seems to have continued to go well and, as it leads to the further easing and before long the ending of lockdown, more of us will be travelling, often on minor roads and cursing the potholes which have proliferated during the winter months. Be of Good Cheer! The Sunday Telegraph dated 2 May reported that JCB has unveiled its answer to that problem.

    The new JCB “Pothole Pro” can cut, crop and clean a new hole around a pothole in less than eight minutes, allowing road workers to fill the cavity in less than another three. Many of our roads are now in such poor condition that they need long term rebuilding, but until that happy day comes, JCB Pothole Pro will save motorists from that thud as what looked like an innocent puddle turns out to be a foot-deep water-filled pothole.

    I had an unpleasant reminder of how my old age and battle damage have left me in need of a bit of reconstruction myself a couple of weeks ago while doing my weekly shopping in my local Waitrose supermarket. My heart rate suddenly rocketed to more than twice its normal rate and an observant sales assistant smartly pushed me into a wheelchair before I could fall to the floor. When I got home my local GP came to see me and sent me to our local district hospital. There I was admitted to the Accident and Emergency Ward which was full of a bewildering horde of patients suffering a bewildering variety of ills. From there I was transferred to the cardiac unit where diagnosis and treatment calmed down my heart sufficiently to allow me home the following day, back into the care of my GP and my carers. I hope that before I write another column in a fortnight’s time I will be on my way back to normal good health.

    1. They still Lammynate, sticking short planks together to make thicker ones.

      1. I suppose it would be indelicate to ask if gorilla glue is used in the process……?

  73. If anyone wants to see hubris at its best, Countryfile has a piece on the UK’s space race.
    Building all over areas of outstanding natural beauty, of course.

    Lots in Scotland.
    Does Nicola approve?

    1. Same with all the Solar ‘Farms’ planned for good, arable, food-producing land in Southern and Eastern England. Watch out Wales and Scotland, they’ll be there too.

    1. 332538+ up ticks,
      O2O,

      Very remiss of johnson in not having put a time, as be it am/pm.

    1. Just a thought:

      Let’s infect ALL the government experts, spokespeople, health committees and particularly BBC reporters with the new strain.

      Do absolutely nothing and see how many survive.

      Then formulate policy.

  76. A call to @Cheshire Lad, it would be very pleasing for many of the regulars if you posted every now and then.

    You really would be most welcome on Nottle.

    3. Yes indeed, Cheshie Lad! Your upvotes are much appreciated and I’m sure we’d all love to ‘hear’ your voice! Come on in, the water’s lovely!

      1. …and that from a lady who was also shy for quite a while and is now a valued contributor.

        Slainte, Sue

        1. Thank you NTN! Very kind of you!
          I enjoy the diverse and wondrous opinions here, and the kindness and genuine feelings that are expressed every day. It makes me smile and I’m delighted I finally joined in! 😘

    1. Abba are about to release new music. First since 1982. I’ll vote for them because ‘I have a dream’ Not a fecking nightmare !

    2. FFS, I’d suspected that Wee Eck – usually a shrewd operator – made a bad decision when he chose the Gaelic name for Scotland for his party since neither he nor his political pals speak a word of it ………..’s e amadan a tha ann dheth!

  79. Off topic

    Simple pleasures in life:
    this winter/spring has produced some slightly unusual juxtapositions in our garden.
    Regular readers will know that we keep the “garden” fairly wild. This year I have the Marguerites, think of a daisy but competing as a New Zealand tranny weightlifter on steroids interspaced with orchids.

    Usually the orchids are slightly later so we don’t see them mixed together.
    The wind blows and the two move in harmony. Bliss.

    When I started caring for them there were very few orchids, now I have literally thousands across the property and probably 30 species/varieties.

    Happy days.

          2. Ho ho.

            Mostly pine, but a lot of oak, and a few wild plum trees.

            They produce small, very sour, plums but the the fruits make superb chutney.

          1. I can never get enough wandering around the garden and doing a quick count of clumps. Seventh Heaven as far as I’m concerned.

            Typically by clump, the early marsh number in the twenties, the tongue orchids in their hundreds, pyramidal in the scores, man, bee spider and lizard in single figures, bird’s nest by the dozens, autumn lady’s tresses in the hundreds.
            And I have dozens and dozens of clumps.

            I suspect that if my plot was in the UK, we would be designated as an SSSI.

            I have a French reference book and when I look at the various pictures I realise that I may well have far more species than I originally thought.

            Even the tractor-men from the commune, who cut the verges, leave my edges uncut because I trim them and the orchids keep spreading

          2. SWMBO is cataloguing plants and insects on Firstborn’s farm, with a photo for each. It’ll take a long time.

          3. I would think so, he probably has 100 times my plot. Although I might well be in the middle of a similar area.

            The big difference will be that I keep mine very wild to encourage things a farmer might not wish to.

          4. The only “adjustment” of vegetation is planting of blacberries, redcurrants and blackcurrants. And trees, of course. Plan some apple trees next year. He doesn’t spray, ‘cos it’s bad for bees.
            Some amazing insects and plants. My fave are the tiny wild pansies that grow in the grassy bank just outside the house. And the pearlescent dragonflies in electric blue or bright green. Eagles. Woodpeckers (green and black)…

          5. This place, because of the surrounding variety of ecosystems, attracts an extraordinary variety of such things.

      1. If it would allow them to be spread far and wide you would be welcome.

        1. That is something i always wondered about bluebell woods. If you want them to survive let people put them in their gardens.

          1. I have loads of bluebells in my garden. I intend to create a “bluebell wood” in my orchard in time.

          2. Yes and no.
            UK bluebell woods are being harmed by that and foreign invaders (where have I heard that before) are overwhelming them.

            There is a wonderful orchid just down the road from us and some selfish bastard cuts off the head every year before it can mature and split. If I ever spot the sod that’s cutting it off I might well give them a good kicking.
            Many wild plants seem to need a symbiotic partner, my orchids certainly appear to follow the fungi in the garden. What intrigues me is that some of them only produce one flower, vanish for a few years and then reappear.

  80. Fellow cruciverbalists – over to you.

    I recently came across this crossword clue.

    Lacking interest or significance – 6 letters.

      1. Yay…….I finally had to check the dictionary!
        Not a word I’m familiar with …. French origin bit of a cop out don’t you think?

        Do we tackle the same crossword ….Ped?

        2. No, I used to do crosswords every day but gave up about a year or two ago. I was bitten by a tick and developed a grand lethargy – either that or I just became bone idle with age.

          1. Very unlucky.

            Ticks are an absolute pig if you get one of the many diseases they carry.

            So far I’ve been very lucky, touch wood. Most years I have to remove several of the wretched things with my tic-tireur and liberal application of antiseptic and the odd antibiotic has prevented anything too nasty.

            Good luck.

          2. I reckon I contracted Lymes disease but they didn’t find it in a blood test. I was refused a second test.

          3. From your earlier descriptions that would have been my guess.

            My plot is fenced, so we keep the deer and the sangliers out, but we do get lots and lots of smaller mammals, hares, stoats, foxes etc and it’s a great year that I don’t have to remove at least three and often more…

            Part of the price for keeping the garden wild.

          4. My small wood is open and I occasionally see deer passing through. I once saw a deer stock still by the stream while a small pack of dogs ran past and re-joined the hunt a bit further on. A lucky escape.

          5. We have fairly large herds and sounders around here so the garden fence is essential.

            We followed a small deer up the road a couple of days ago,the silly thing kept bumping against the fencing when there was a huge expanse of field on the other side of the road. Eventually it woke up to that fact and bounded away across the fields.
            It’s small wonder there are so many boar/deer collisions with cars around here.

          6. Deer are stupid. The jump out of the way then jump back on the road as you get almost on top of them.

          8. Nightly routine to search the cats for ticks, especially Little Cat. He likes to snuggle down where the deer hide out.

          11. I reckon I contracted Lymes disease but they didn’t find it in a blood test. I was refused a second test.

          13. I had a tick removed by a nurse. Thankfully suffered no ill effects.
            I’m sorry to hear you were not so lucky Ped.

          14. I had it on me for a day or two. I thought it was a flesh growth. I knew there was something wrong when it disappeared and a large hard disc appeared on my chest. Too late!

        3. More Latin than French – ieiunus “empty, dry, barren – not had breakfast !

          2. I can drink Spanish and we used to eat Spanish (root, not the expensive black stuff) when we were children. It was the cheapest stuff in the sweet shop.

          1. I did consider that but I thought it insipid, lacking something, vapid, slight even.

    1. Good evening Conway. They are all a bit pissed at the moment. Watch out below !

        1. No idea, Belle, but let’s hope he’s reflecting upon his decision to walk across a glass bridge.

          1. Did his eyes glaze over with the appalling prospect beneath his feet?

    4. Perhaps he was singing some opera, in which case it would have been a pane in the arias.

  83. I’m sorry, Chums, it’s very late in the day for me to be bringing you a little humour but I’ve been fighting to undo the immense damage that the latest Win10 update did to my version that runs with a WIN 7 shell. It’s taken me over 12 hours to get back to where I was.

    Anyway this is today’s offering – a bit cerebral but let’s give the gray matter a poke:

    English – some oddities

    Let’s face it – English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple.

    English muffins weren’t invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet, are meat.

    We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

    And why is it that writers write but fingers don’t fing, grocers don’t groce and hammers don’t ham?

    If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn’t the plural of booth, beeth?

    One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices?

    Doesn’t it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

    If teachers taught, why don’t preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetable, what does a humanitarian eat?

    Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?

    How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

    You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.

    English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all.

    That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are on, they are invisible.

    PS. – Why doesn’t ‘Buick’ rhyme with ‘quick’?

    1. “If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?” Sorted?

    3. while sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet, are meat.

      That, NtN, is a load of balls!

      1. Aktshually, sweetbreads, according to my Mama, who cooked them so sweetly, they are either brains or pancreas.

        1. I know, but my answer suited the tone on here (tonite) muchesterer betterer

    5. Why, if sexual assault is a crime, is no-one prosecuted when a little titter runs round the court

    6. A tree can be cut up, but not then cut down, but you can cut it down then cut it up.
      You have to sit down to sit up.
      After dismantling something, do you mantle it?
      The opposite of disappointed is not appointed. Neither is the opposite of disgusted, gusted.
      Does your food get frigerated at the supermarket before you bring it home to refrigerate it?
      What is a flabber, and how do you gast it?

      1. Why can you be underwhelmed – or overwhelmed – -but never just whelmed?

    2. Looks like a lot of our ash trees are not going to be in leaf this year and those that do have leaves will be very sparse.
      Bloody dieback.

    1. Assuming they are different, you could also try “Apache open office”

      1. They have trashed a good old fashioned traditional political party that nurtured the hard working backbone of Britain.

    2. Labour lost for many reasons and one of the most important reasons is that its core support is pro Brexit. The Conservatives are slightly less repulsive than Labour which is why they did well and they can pretend to be pro Brexit even if they are not.

  88. Who Do You Think You Are Kidding (We are Nottlers)
    If You Think We’re On The Run?
    We Are The Guys Who Will Stop Your Little Game
    We Are The Guys Who Will Make You Think Again
    ‘Cause Who Do You Think You Are Kidding (We are Nottlers)
    If You Think Old England’s Done?
    Mr Brown Goes Off To Town
    On The Eight Twenty-One
    But He Comes Home Each Evening
    And He’s Ready With His Pun
    So Watch Out Mr Zucker
    You Have Met Your Match In Us
    If You Think You Can Crush Us
    We’re Afraid You’ve Missed The Bus
    ‘Cause Who Do You Think You Are Kidding (We are Nottlers)
    If You Think Old England’s Done?

      1. Awful, not to put too fine a point on it, Tryers. I thought I was having a new dog, only to have the people renege on handing it over the day before he was due, then I saw one that would have been perfect, but he was reserved before I could book an appointment to see him. The rescue centres don’t have what I want and keep saying “ring up in a couple of weeks”. I’ve left my details with the local vets and dog grooming parlours but there’s nothing.

        1. It may be part of the Big Plan, so you team up with Ideal one in the end

          Keep your hopes up

    1. and…………….. when they got home, they headed off in different directions.

      1. I saw them at Hyde Park – each performing at the opposite side of the stage to the other.

  92. It’s been a hard day so I’m saying Goodnight and God bless to all my NoTTLer friends.

  93. 332538+ up ticks,
    Are the electorate really supporting / voting for parties that are not only allowing these odious types in but are installing them in parliament and also giving them choice
    on the parliamentary canteen menu.
    Time we had stop & check the mentality of the electorate
    because things are going from seriously bad to seriously
    unbelievable worse.

    https://twitter.com/DavidPoulden/status/1391442722158952456

    1. This is England, Edit.. Rather UK, Edit+ In 27 years in the RN, however we never sailed back to England always UK

      Not the one, that I was brought up in:

      It was where we were

      Nominally a christian Country

      We grew up (mostly) as men and women

      A family was Mum + Dad + kidz

      We accepted that others were different to the above

      We liked (or disliked) people, regardless of skin tone

      We did not stop them practising their religion (Would this be allowed in Saudi/Iran/Iraq)

      We obeyed the for the most part, the Laws

      Why then, cannot we live like that now.

      Teachers in hiding, someone who reads the ‘Bible Out Loud’ arrested, bur a Muslim can call to his prayer people on London Bridge

      A 35 year old woman, (who was a man) is in the New Zealand LADIES Olympic team as weightlifter

      I give up.

      1. 332538+ up ticks,
        Evening OLT,
        The hard core current lab/lib/con coalition member / voter would like to hear that “I give up”

        One thing for sure before hand over to foreign overseers is the only option is that a party outside of the odious close shop is joined & build on as was UKIP under Batten, that was a success story achieved in a year showing it can be done.

        1. Why doesn’t UKIP rid itself of the shower now in charge and re-emerge as a decent, coherent party?

          Ogga, perhaps you could take over?

          1. 332538+ up ticks,
            Real UKIP was successfully taken down by its nec/farage input.
            It showed one thing quite clearly under the Batten leadership,that man initially asked the members for £100,000 and in reply got £300.000 he made the party financially sound with members joining daily.

            IMO his lasting legacy is he has shown it could be done.

            I was a long term activist there were many more of my ilk,
            now the remaining teeth are to long.

            You seen the current standing of uKiP and what the peoples think of them, must be nigh on broke and owing still the last decent leader R Braine, monies from their losing court case.

            The price of treachery.

      1. 332538+ up ticks,
        R,
        “And the politicians do nothing.”
        They do plenty but nothing beneficial for the United Kingdom,they work to a different covert agenda & plainly many of the electorate are in collusion regarding that covert agenda even to the extent of not knowing what the ultimate aim of that agenda is.

  94. Before you all turn in , what do you think of this?

    Search all monuments for slavery links, Church of England tells parishes
    A bishop and vicar have led the backlash, branding the new guidance “eerily Orwellian”

    The Church of England is this week set to tell every parish and cathedral to review historical items like memorials and monuments for slavery and colonialism links.

    The country’s 12,500 parishes and 42 cathedrals will be told that ignoring items where evidence shows “contested heritage” will no longer be an option, in new CofE guidance to be issued on Tuesday.

    Local residents should be consulted if concerns are raised by churchgoers and members of the public, the 28-page document is expected to say.

    This could include removing statues and plaques deemed offensive, or adding plaques to declare their history, the Observer reported. Gravestones are slightly more complex, because permission might have to be sought from consistory courts to make any adjustments.

    But a backlash is already growing, led by Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali who said the church has “a history of campaigning for abolition of slavery”, while a vicar branded the move “eerily Orwellian”.

    The guidance comes after Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, called for the church’s statues to be reviewed to assess if they “should all be there”, in the wake of last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests.

    One of the guidance authors, Becky Clark, the CofE’s director of churches and cathedrals, told The Telegraph: “Although this guidance will be issued by the national Church it focuses on what actions can be taken locally, and how parishes can understand and respond to their own histories.

    “Churches are not museums; they are living places of worship shaped by the faith they proclaim and reflecting those who worship there, their communities and wider society. So inevitably they have been adapted again and again, often over centuries.

    Edward Colston
    A statue of 17th century merchant Edward Colston was toppled and dumped into Bristol harbour during Black Lives Matter protests CREDIT: Ben Birchall/PA Wire
    “Local churches are already engaging with the issues raised by contested heritage and the national church will continue to support them in that process. We can’t and shouldn’t try to erase the past but neither should we ignore it.”

    Some churches have already acted, including Bristol Cathedral which has removed a window dedicated to Edward Colston, the 17th century merchant who traded in slaves. Instead, a notice will explain the CofE’s links to slavers.

    St Margaret’s church in Rottingdean, Sussex, has removed two “deeply offensive” grave headstones which contained racial slurs, while St Peter’s in Dorchester has covered a plaque commemorating a plantation owner.

    Last month, a CofE anti-racism task force set up following George Floyd’s death called for all church shortlists to have at least one ethnic minority candidate, one of 47 recommendations.

    But ahead of the fresh guidance, Dr Nazir-Ali, who was Bishop of Rochester from 1994 until 2009, warned against “blanket judgements” on figures connected to the Empire, and said supporting cash-strapped congregations reeling from the pandemic was a higher priority.

    “The Church of England is fixated on the dark and the bad side of the Empire, the church has a history of campaigning for the abolition of slavery,” he said.

    “We have the campaign against slavery in modern times, [such as] the Clapham Sect and people who gave their lives to the abolition of slave trade and the church missionary society played a huge role in resettling freed slaves.

    “Why not celebrate these positively virtuous parts of our history rather than constantly looking at the darkness?”

    Daniel French, the vicar of Salcombe and Malborough, in Devon, added: “Although the motives may be well meaning, I can’t help but feel really uneasy that there is something eerily Orwellian in ‘cancelling’ statues and monuments.

    “Do we know enough about our ancestors to second guess their motives, can we imagine that a potential candidate for this repented later in life? Once you begin on this process where do you stop?”

    A CofE spokesman said: “Guidance will be published shortly to help churches, cathedrals and communities think through issues of contested heritage. It will not tell people what to do but offer a range of considerations together with ideas for framing local discussions.”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/05/09/search-monuments-slavery-links-church-england-tells-parishes/?utm_content=telegraph&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR11Hmf3d3L1PbkiQJ1LzapynLoXgMi8Q0Yv2v-b0eZKEH7EGufUZoAqHEM#Echobox=1620587737

    1. T_B,

      There is only one comment that I can make

      AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH

      I just hope that I see one of them on fire by the side of the road,

      The Samaritan crossed to help one of them

      I would not use a full bladder to save any of them

    2. They are asking people to boycott the Church. I gave up going to services years ago though I had a Christian upbringing. All this focus on slavery and colonialism is very off putting.

      1. My father was a colonial governor. He was also a far better, more erudite, more Christian man than Justin Welby is or ever will be.

    3. This is all bollocks and any normal person can attest to the historical facts.

      The Church should stick to the teachings of Christ. It should not admit and support the stupid propaganda of the non-believers, atheists and quasi-humanists who would otherwise seek to destroy us. Nor should it accept and support the Muslim propaganda or give that perverted religion any credence whatsoever in the UK.

      Our Christian religion and foremost our
      religious traditions have served us through the worst of times and we now need those pillars of faith more than ever.

      1. It will/would be interesting in a few years time, if the CofE returns to Christianity, whether any mention of Welby will be stricken from its history.

        If ever a person deserved to be ‘cancelled’ Welby will probably head the list.

    4. This is all bollocks and any normal person can attest to the historical facts.

      The Church should stick to the teachings of Christ. It should not admit and support the stupid propaganda of the non-believers, atheists and quasi-humanists who would otherwise seek to destroy us. Nor should it accept and support the Muslim propaganda or give that perverted religion any credence whatsoever in the UK.

      Our Christian religion and foremost our
      religious traditions have served us through the worst of times and we now need those pillars of faith more than ever.

    1. Goodnight J, it has been a damp mild day here , no sunshine , and could be pretty dismal tomorrow as well.

      Sleep well .

  96. Me being silly

    Covid is a Diversion

    Christianity and our way of ife is under threat

    One’s masculinity/feminity femininity/masculinity (depends who reads) is under threat

    Woke is the result:

    Cause we are being maniipulated down a bad road

    Archbishop of Canterbury, seems to support Islam

    Speak out as Brit…. jial

    1. Morning, AWK. All well, I hope.
      Another cold, gloomy day here. No energy-giving warmth and sunlight, just the drip-drip-drip of rain, and delivery of a key report to be done by eob today. Sigh.

      1. mng, it’s dry this am here, low hanging cloud. Having had Mother’s day variant here yesterday, next on the free day off list is tomorrow – Eid al-Fitr

        1. We have Ascension Day on Thursday, and Constitution Day on Monday. Long weekend – yaay! Farm work for me, need the physical exercise. Hope the weather is OK, working in the rain is unpleasant at best.

          1. will probably wander down to the local tomorrow, Kenyans will ignore Eid and drink, Indians’ll stay either indoors or gather at one of their haunts for koroga

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