Thursday 14 November: ‘Non-crime hate incidents’ undermine the principles of British liberty

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

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

670 thoughts on “Thursday 14 November: ‘Non-crime hate incidents’ undermine the principles of British liberty”

  1. Morning, all Y'all.
    First!
    And, by God, it's dark. Woken at 04:00 or so by a moon searchlight shining in my eyes…

    1. I had to get up at 4:30 to take one of my children to the airport!
      Going back to bed now to try and sleep for an hour or two longer before starting work.

  2. Good Morning to Geoff and his Flock
    Today's Tale – Irish again
    An Irishman is walking along the beach in Sydney. There are many beautiful women lying in the sun and he’d love to meet one but they don’t seem interested in him. So he says to a bronzed lifesaver, “I’ve been trying to meet one of these beauties and I can’t seem to get anywhere. You’re an Aussie, you know them. What do they want?” he asks.
    “Go and buy some swimming briefs that are too small for you and then walk up and down the beach until they notice you,” says the Aussie.'
    “Thanks," says the Irish guy and goes, off to the shops. He buys some tiny blue swimmers, puts them on, goes back to the beach. He parades up and down but still has no luck. So he says to the lifesaver, “I still haven’t been able to meet a girl.”
    “OK, I’ll tell you what to do,” says the Aussie. “Go to the store and buy a large potato. Put the potato in your swimmers and then walk up and down the beach. Then you’ll meet girls very, very quickly.”
    “Thanks,” says the Irishman. He goes to the store and buys a potato, puts it in the swimmers. But after walking up and down for an hour, the women are still avoiding him. So he goes back to the Aussie. “I got the swimmers and put the potato in. I walked up and down the beach. Still nothing. What more can I do?"
    “Well,” says the Aussie, “try putting the potato to the front of your swimmers – not the back!”

    1. Oh look! Elon has got the MR's new pruning saw ready for delivery. Then Uncle Bill can sharpen the Pencil Monitor's items.

      [ Bill Thomas
      2 days ago
      Request for help. The MR has just sold on ebay a 2.25 metre pruning saw. Good price, too. It weihs about 3 kg. She has since discovered that NO carrier firm will take it – apart from the Royal Sodding Mail who want £45!!!!!

      Has any NoTTLer used a UK carrier who will take an odd shaped item without charging the earth?]

      1. It might be cheaper to arrange with the buyer somewhere to meet to hand it over in person.

      2. With any awkward-sized item offered for sale online, it's best to specify 'collection only'. The MR might find a more local buyer on Facebook Marketplace at a similar price.

      3. I had one delivered to me when I bought it from Amazon – they used DPD or Hermes (cant remember which)

    2. Reeves isn't even trying to cut waste. I saw a Gettr post this morning that suggested there is consternation among civil servants in Washington as they fear the gravy train is coming to an end. If only we could have a government that would cause Whitehall to fear for its work-from-your-second-home-4000-miles-away culture!

      1. 396909+ up ticks,

        Morning Ped,

        I think it's " my granddad hated the bleeding English but not as much as me".

  7. This lead to Allison Pearson's Sunday morning visit by plod?

    News
    Hate crime will not be tolerated: Essex Police reaffirm their commitment to tackling hate crime as part of National Hate Crime Awareness Week 2024
    Main article content
    News

    Published:
    10:25
    14/10/2024
    Following the launch of National Hate Crime Awareness Week 2024, Chief Superintendent Waheed Khan, Essex Police’s hate crime lead, sends a clear message to perpetrators, saying:
    Hate crime will not be tolerated in Essex.

    National Hate Crime Awareness Week, which runs from 12 to 19 October, is a national week of action to raise awareness of hate crime and to encourage key partners and communities to work together to tackle all its forms.

    Chief Supt Khan explained:
    Everyone in Essex has the right to be safe and on behalf of the force, I want to reaffirm that we are committed to tackling all forms of hate crime and to encourage victims to come forward to report incidents.
    We work closely with all the communities we serve in the county to understand any issues they face and work with them to address concerns quickly.
    All officers, staff and volunteers at Essex Police work hard every day to protect the safety and freedoms of our communities and we won't tolerate hate crime in any form.
    A vital part of this work is via our partners across the county, and we take robust action to ensure hate crime offenders are brought to justice.
    By having these conversations, I hope that we can raise awareness amongst our communities of the impact hate crime has and to give people the confidence to report to us or our partners and join us in taking a stand against hatred and discrimination.
    Coming forward is the vital first step that allows us to deal with the people that are perpetrating crimes against them and will allow us to work with partner agencies to offer victims practical and emotional support.
    Everything they tell us will allow us to identify themes and take targeted action, thereby improving our response to hate crime.

    In the 3 months to the end of June 2024, hate crime is down by 27.5% countywide compared to the same period last year.

    A hate crime is defined as any incident, which is perceived by the victim, or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice, based on a personal characteristic such as disability, sexual orientation or gender identity, cultural background, religion or belief.

    The force’s hate crime lead added:
    Some perpetrators may not realise that their actions are hostile and don’t consider the full repercussions of their actions. Either way, it’s wrong and we will continue to challenge them to stop their harmful behaviour because we recognise that hate crimes can escalate. What starts as low-level anti-social behaviour can grow into more serious offences that are motivated by hate.
    But we also want to encourage those who maybe don’t realise that they have been subject of a hate crime or those who witness something that doesn’t feel right to come forward.
    Some people think that because they are not directly involved in a hate crime, that they can’t report it – they can.

    If you are a victim of hate crime, you can report it online at http://www.essex.police.uk , by dialling 101 or 999 if it’s an emergency. You can also report it at any police station or by visiting one of the hate crime reporting centres in the county.

    Dispatch – Essex Police weekly update

    2. I was half asleep, but I think I heard on Toady that the tweet in question was racist. How does anyone knows that?

    3. "…A hate crime is defined as any incident, which is perceived by the victim, or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice".

      If this definition is correct, then certainly part of Chief Superintendent Khan's message could be defined as a Hate Crime.

    7. You vill be obedient unt submit to unser laws or you vill be stakenzee punished. Herr Polizeichef Khan. Seig Hei . . . What's that noise at the door?

  8. Starmer’s Britain is no longer a free country – it’s an Orwellian dystopia. 14 November 2024.

    We must urgently speak out, or risk having to forever hold our peace. Free speech, the foundation of our liberties and democracy, is under threat like never before – yet much of the public remains blissfully unaware of the enormity of what is being taken from us.

    Lol. Now Starmer is in office they can talk about Free Speech? Where were they when the Online Harms Bill was passed? In actuality of course the Telegraph is an arm of the repression. It regularly deletes my posts (and others) for opposing their Globalist Propaganda.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/13/britain-risks-becoming-police-state-allison-pearson/

    1. The parents have no hesitation in getting their babies jabbed up. When our oldest grandchild was born in 2015 (Canada, so may be a slightly different offering there), I was shocked at how young babies were getting their first jabs. Then grandchild born here last year – barely out of the womb and poor baby gets filled with numerous jabs all in one session. I am truly horrified.

  12. Good morning all.
    Still dark, but the lightening sky looks a bit overcast and we've had an overnight rain shower. A less cold 5°C on the Yard Thermometer.

  16. ‘Non-crime hate incidents’ undermine the principles of British liberty

    It has all been contrived to assume that the person that has caused the offence is guilty while the one making the complaint is described as the innocent victim.
    I don't these think these thought crime charges were ever meant to go before a court of law, just meant to frighten people that might pose a threat to a governments agenda into silence by putting them on a career ending list.
    Just wait until we have digital currency and social credit apps of the punishments that can be imposed by posting a thought crime.
    We all predicted this years ago to be fair, while those on the left said it was all conspiracy theory.
    Well now it is here.

  18. "Every 45 minutes a man dies of prostate cancer." Crikey, I never knew that an illness could be so well organised.

  20. 396909+ up ticks,

    Morning JBF,

    Stands to reason, if you are NOT apprehending
    robbers there could very well be a fund shortfall.

  21. Man on the wireless said that black men are more liable to prostate cancer. Racist! Send the fuzz!

  23. Letters to the Editor
    ‘Non-crime hate incidents’ undermine the principles of British liberty

    SIR – It was truly shocking to read of Allison Pearson’s visit from the police on Remembrance Sunday, regarding an alleged non-crime hate incident connected to a post on X from more than a year ago (Comment, November 13).

    Non-crime hate incidents are a shameful affront to British liberty. Previously, Britons could enjoy their prejudices as long as they didn’t incite violence. Why should people not be free to express their dislike of, say, facial hair or cat owners, or, in Angela Rayner’s case, “Tory scum”? These prejudices may be foolish or unjustified but, providing there is no incitement, they are harmless and should not be subject to police intervention.

    It has become fashionable to claim that diversity is a source of strength, but it seems this does not apply to diversity of opinion. That, however, is the only diversity that genuinely does bring strength. It is through disagreement, argument and conflicting views that the right answers emerge. Britain is in danger of ceasing to be a truly free country.

    Gregory Shenkman
    London SW7

    3. I think Gregory Shenkman is a little behind the times – "Britain is in danger of ceasing to be no longer a truly free country."

  24. Good morning!

    Today Free Speech has an article ‘ Off With His Head ’, by Duke Maskell and what he sees as the inadequacies and dangers of Charles III’s approach to his job, and the potential problems it might cause for the monarchy itself. Please read and comment, and vote on how well you think King Charles is doing.

    In response to the chilling news that police have harassed and tried to intimidate journalist Allison Pearson, FSB is urging everyone to write to their MPs to demand that parliament acts to end the use of the sinister non-crime hate incidents to inhibit free speech and publishes a letter that can be used to this effect. Please take action before it is too late .

    FSB is also considering launching a petition to end net zero and renewable subsidies. Would you sign a such a petition. Please let us know by commenting and voting in the poll at the top of the Today page.

    https://www.freespeechbacklash.com/

    1. Tom, you do grand job bringing your articles to people's attention. It must take quite a lot of extra work, but I'm sure it's worth it!

  25. Good morning everyone, including Geoff. Awoke this morning after a major nightmare. Not having a good week, I'm afraid.

    Wordle 1,244 3/6

    🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜
    ⬜🟨🟩🟩⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Good morning Elsie – hope you can shake the nightmare off quickly.
      Well done on the Wordle – I'm currently stuck with only the first and last letter green – and I can't think of any more valid words! Will have to come back to it later – am too tired atm.

      1. Good morning, BB2. I should have written that I too was stumped after getting the final three letters. In the end I just had to Google for today's Wordle clues; after three clues I found that one letter was repeated twice in the solution so that then – and only then – was I able to get the solution. So my reporting that I got the solution in 3 is not really a sign of my being clever. I have never been so stumped in the years since I started my daily Wordle.

        1. I had considered that possibility (repeated letter) but still can’t come up with anything! I don’t want any clues please, will try it again later.
          Now I have called my insurance – fatal mistake, because they are going to call me back, so I can’t go back to bed. Might as well start working, sigh….

  27. Tommy Robinson..
    I see.. slowly but very shirley "they" are coming around to him realising he is not only right & misrepresented but wrongly persecuted.

    Which brings us to Richard Tice & Nigel Farage. They need to issue a statement PDQ.

    1. I completely agree.

      Farage and Tice will have to accept that their views on illegal immigration are very much the same as Tommy's and that he is a courageous and intelligent man even if he does not conform to their views on respectability.

      Their objection to Tommy seems to be based on snobbishness and bourgeoise prissiness.

      1. Yep. They gave the wrong answer.. TRs supporters are scum deplorables & garbage.. which backed themselves into a corner believing all their supporters are Nick Griffin types.

        1. Even Nick Griffin has his good points.
          His taking up the cause of the abused girls in Rotherham forced the Pakistani Rape Gang Scandal into the public sphere when the Powers That Be would rather have kept it under wraps.

  28. 'Morning All
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b620aae2811f3e8d31a17f564a8a1b6a6b51de0aaf23f3d5292311088894dcad.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1883a9cdd63ae700c09681b91d9507a192576a3b16cc3c6a2185e1ad65d3439b.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/04d36b7e918333eb86810bb6eebf2e6c8de7ee0f42b31e694b8ddd8029e8c6aa.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/715980ca47b240b3afe75b60b4882ffacdb5d0a885979be10db3f4c0d793a3f8.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c732fc090c3eafe9fbed71b780becd92d8d1109eb332c4d7e1319ea0d6ad248b.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/94aef5f41642e7c71480c9a2ed7caf40f81b4a054894f492472c194bdaa17a80.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7d0f638cb37a56ce0940f3ce6e762e4d8bc3d8a5065022ab744fe9c05ddf61a4.jpg
    I'll get me coat……
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a42ecb9ffac201e7a8197a7dbcb979b60120e7b37dc8273e3fb0196e786f113e.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7d0f638cb37a56ce0940f3ce6e762e4d8bc3d8a5065022ab744fe9c05ddf61a4.jpg

  29. 'Morning All
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b620aae2811f3e8d31a17f564a8a1b6a6b51de0aaf23f3d5292311088894dcad.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1883a9cdd63ae700c09681b91d9507a192576a3b16cc3c6a2185e1ad65d3439b.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/04d36b7e918333eb86810bb6eebf2e6c8de7ee0f42b31e694b8ddd8029e8c6aa.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/715980ca47b240b3afe75b60b4882ffacdb5d0a885979be10db3f4c0d793a3f8.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c732fc090c3eafe9fbed71b780becd92d8d1109eb332c4d7e1319ea0d6ad248b.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/94aef5f41642e7c71480c9a2ed7caf40f81b4a054894f492472c194bdaa17a80.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7d0f638cb37a56ce0940f3ce6e762e4d8bc3d8a5065022ab744fe9c05ddf61a4.jpg
    I'll get me coat……
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a42ecb9ffac201e7a8197a7dbcb979b60120e7b37dc8273e3fb0196e786f113e.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7d0f638cb37a56ce0940f3ce6e762e4d8bc3d8a5065022ab744fe9c05ddf61a4.jpg

  30. There seems to be some skulduggery going on at GB News where Patrick Christys seems to being cancelled just as Dan Wootton, Mark Steyn and Calvin Robinson have been cancelled. A regular who appears on GBN discussion panels, Allison Pearson, is also having the thumbscrews turned on her.

    The malevolent state is determined to extinguish GB News and all those with views they do not like and both Patrick Christys and Allison Pearson are exceptionally lucid and forthright in expressing their opinions.

      2. Patrick Christys is, in my opinion, one of the very best television presenters we have.

        What worries me is that his disappearance was so sudden and not announced in advance and that those who stood in for him last night and the night before (Bev Turner and Ben Leo) did not give any coherent account of why he was not there. The treatment Mark Steyn, Calvin Robinson and Dan Wootton received dampens one's optimism.

  33. Please please Democrats.. don't give up.. be pure, and double down on your core values; nutty-zero, gender fluidity, mass migration, DEI, CRT, BLM, ESG & your love for Islamic terrorists.
    UK Lefties need your support in these difficult times.

      2. Go to any bank, listed company.. pick a card.. any card. On website you'll see a commitment to ESG. To measure a company's alignment with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), a set of standards was developed to consistently represent an organization's corporate financial interests related to its sustainability and ethics.
        Any dissent from customers and services are withdrawn.

        Our ESG highlights
        Chief Executive review

        Our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) ambitions
        Our Mutual Good Commitments
        – We will help more people into safe and secure homes, both
        our customers who have relationships with us and more
        broadly
        – We will offer customers a choice in how they bank with us,
        and support their financial resilience
        – We will make a positive difference for our customers,
        communities and society as a whole
        – We aim to build a more sustainable world by supporting
        progress towards a greener society
        – We will enhance our performance by better reflecting the
        diversity of our society
        Supporting our colleagues

          1. That may be so.. but they have the power to have you cancelled, which is happening at an alrming rate. Some say 1,000 people & companies are being debanked per month.

      3. Environment Social Governance.

        It’s what businesses have to bow at the knee of (along with DEI, which is a bit of a sub-set of “S”)

      1. Will Starmer give us a clear explanation of what is a phobia and what is a genuine and justified fear.

        2. There are 27 or more genders of Islamophobia and all of them are unjustified. You have been reported for HATE THOUGHT.

      2. Islamophobia Awareness Month.

        Yep , on instruction from the chap who financed Starmer's posh spectacle's and suits and his wife's dresses, not forgetting the midget Khan's reign of terror .

    2. But whatever he ore any of them have to say, there is always another side to the story, as we all know so well.

    5. Black History Month. Pride Month. Sick of them all.

      Oh no. I hear a knock at the door

  35. Morning all, apols for not replying to people and adding my unique brand of whinging annoyance joy and fun to procedings, it's been absolutely manic with a last minute call literally on Friday last to plan, procure and fit out a new building. The customer's a good one and we sort of new this was coming but not when, and seemingly nor did they. The monies were too much to pass up so 16 hour days, Just walked the dogs, going to head off on site to take delivery of nigh 15Ks worth of switching gear. New lad was up until the early hours building the config in VM.

    Everyone's knackered.

  36. Good morning all , dull and overcast again. 11c

    Need some breeze for another clothes drying session .. actually bedding!

    Weather thing on here says it might snow next week.

  37. 396909+up ticks,

    Dt,

    Sam Ashworth-Hayes

    Britain must follow Trump and embrace mass deportations
    If Starmer is serious about ‘smashing the gangs’ he needs to go after their revenue model

    There is no way the political tool is serious in stopping the invasion, more likely is now in negotiations for same number, only far bigger boats.

    The take over is now well underway, near future question asked will be " What did you do in the successful take over war daddy"
    I continued to support & vote for the lab/lib/con pro eu mass uncontrolled / government controlled immigration party, now go to sleep dearest the camp doctor Josef wants to see you in the morning.

    1. Apart from the obvious idiocy contained in this post, I do wonder why those Welsh miners did not avail themselves of a good shower in the pit-head baths before leaving work?

      1. Pint first. I worked 10 hour shifts and at the end you had to be careful not to get trodden on in the stampede for the pub.

      3. Someone had a pop at you under the Jemima Lewis piece on Press Reader. I gave you an uptick.

  40. Sam Ashworth-Hayes

    Britain must follow Trump and embrace mass deportations

    If Starmer is serious about ‘smashing the gangs’ he needs to go after their revenue model
    23
    Sam Ashworth-Hayes
    14 November 2024 7:00am GMT
    Sam Ashworth-Hayes

    With Trump sweeping to victory in America and Europe lurching to the Right, Britain’s Government is starting to look like the last Japanese holdouts after the Second World War.

    The rest of the world has realised that many of the asylum seekers arriving in the West look a lot more like economic migrants than genuine attempts to flee war and peril; Sir Keir Starmer, meanwhile, is still mouthing worn-out lines about “smashing the gangs”.

    Sir Keir’s big speech on the importance of dealing with the issue was backed with about £75m in added funding for his Border Security Command; about 1.6pc of what we spend on supporting asylum seekers in the UK, or a little under four hours of NHS spending.

    This isn’t a serious commitment, because smashing the gangs isn’t a serious policy; it’s a slogan.

    Small wonder people in the Home Office are sceptical about it: does the PM really think we’ll disrupt networks operating in uncooperative countries across a continent with a budget of £150m over two years, and a hundred people in an office off Whitehall?

    Will his pursuit really be so ruthlessly effective that gangs charging thousands for a place in a boat will dissolve without replacement? Or is the idea instead that a few announcements simply take the spotlight off the Government for a few days?

    The gangs are not the cause of the problem, they’re enablers of it. The fundamental issue is the UK’s failure to address the factors that make the country so attractive to irregular migration.

    The economics of this aren’t hard to parse. People flow from areas where life is difficult to places where life is easier. The UK puts asylum seekers up in hotels, has a large and flexible labour market, a thriving shadow economy and exerts minimal effort to remove those with no right to stay here.

    The result is a stream of people traipsing through safe, prosperous countries in Europe for a chance at claiming asylum in Britain.

    And why wouldn’t they? If you’re sitting in France eyeing a journey across the Channel, you’re likely to be well aware of two things.

    The first is that if you dump your papers in the water and claim to be persecuted, you have an excellent chance of being granted asylum and the right to stay and work. In 2023, France accepted 31pc of the claims it received before appeals. Britain accepted 67pc, making 63,010 grants of asylum – 21,000 more than France, with 38,000 fewer applications.

    No country in the EU with more than 20,000 total applications had a higher acceptance rate than Britain. Better still, with the Labour Party eager to clear the backlog, the direction of travel appears to be towards rubber-stamping claims in order to empty the asylum hotels.

    The second thing you’ll be aware of is that if your claim doesn’t succeed, you can probably stay anyway.

    The UK is believed to have the largest population of illegal migrants in Europe with up to 745,000 people living here without permission. If anything this number is likely to be a significant underestimate: it’s seven years out of date and may have been low at the time; the Pew Research Center provided an estimate of up to 1.2m in the same year. Moreover, just 41pc of those turned down for asylum between 2010 and 2020 had been removed from the UK by 2022.

    Better still, your chances of being caught working illegally are miniscule; we conduct roughly 11 illegal working enforcement visits a day across the entire country, against an old estimate of somewhere between 190,000 and 240,000 businesses employing illegal migrants.

    Even if we had a list of which doors to knock on it would take us over 57 years to visit them all at our current rate. For every pound we spend on immigration enforcement, we spend £9 supporting and accommodating asylum seekers.

    If Starmer and co actually want to smash the gangs, they should smash their revenue model. The best way of doing that is to take a leaf out of Trump’s book and commit to a policy of mass deportation.

    If you live here illegally or cross the Channel on a small boat, you end up on a flight home or to whichever third country will take you.

    The long-term benefits could be significant. The Office for Budget Responsibility has calculated that low-skilled migrants arriving for work present a net cost to the taxpayer of £150,000 by the age of 65, £500,000 by 80 and over £1m by the age of 100.

    Asylum seekers have no recourse to public funds, although are still accommodated by the taxpayer, given full access to state-funded healthcare, offered financial support for living expenses and enjoy full entitlement to education services. Once a claim is accepted, however, then entitlement to public funds flows with it, and the full set of expenses.

    Meanwhile, people who originally came to Britain for asylum are far less likely to be employed than their UK peers — with an employment rate of 51pc compared to 73pc — and earn 55pc less per week, while reporting significantly higher rates of long-term health conditions.

    In other words, we have a cohort of people uniquely positioned at the intersection of low fiscal benefit and high fiscal cost, coming across the Channel in significant numbers. The University of Amsterdam, for instance, has estimated that asylum seekers in Holland end up costing the state £300,000 over their lifetimes. Some will be genuine refugees and deserving of our support.

    But even if it costs £100,000 to get one Channel migrant on the flight home before they retire, it would be more than worth it to deport those gaming the system.

    Doing so may not be easy. The entire edifice of human rights law is essentially structured to strip control from politicians and ensure that the stream of people can continue to flow – see for instance Giorgia Meloni’s recent judicial setback over her migration hub in Albania.

    But the status quo is clearly intolerable. The will to reform a broken system designed to deal with the world as it was half a century ago is growing.

    Never going to happen.

    2. "Smashing the gangs" is just nasty marxist rhetoric. They think we will lap it up when it's directed at our enemies.
      Towing a few boats back to France would work fine.

    3. The rest of the world has realised that many of the asylum seekers arriving in the West look a lot more like economic migrants than genuine attempts to flee war and peril;
      Maybe governments think, or pretend, that these hordes of young males are merely here as economic migrants; most people in the countries affected KNOW they are no such thing.

  41. A few thoughts from Wayne Dulap's X feed.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f9cb4b78600fefc31ae549bc3ce9760b7917a38de53a75af91207c7f45a074df.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8c5eb41206ad95c2784e727fa46213ef9081c3466c0e98919dcb8f870a1ea1de.png

    Déjà vu?
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3dd38dc578b124ef57d0c41c327a86531afc717baaccc6954ba32199e46a9a88.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b661eb675b1961a726bef5e57e203acc6ad33fb2e150970f9eaab8b58cb281ab.png

    1. The last one is so very appropriate these days, enabling us to forget the evil madness that is destroying freedom, life, sanity and justice.

  42. More than 30 Church officials face the sack after Archbishop of Canterbury quits

    Several bishops among clergy accused of failing to stop child abuser whose crimes led to Justin Welby’s resignation
    520
    Justin Welby
    Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, resigned from his post after at first saying he would not quit in the wake of the review Credit: Luke MacGregor/Reuters
    Janet Eastham
    Acting Religious and Social Affairs Editor
    13 November 2024 8:22pm GMT

    Thirty members of the Church of England clergy face being sacked over their failure to stop the most prolific child abuser in the institution’s history.

    The Church’s national safeguarding team is examining the actions of at least 30 officials named in a report as having prior knowledge of allegations against John Smyth.

    Following the Archbishop of Canterbury’s resignation over his failure to prevent the “prolific, brutal and horrific” abuse, Smyth’s victims have called for two bishops and an associate minister to follow suit.

    The Telegraph can disclose that dozens of church leaders, including several bishops, could now be removed for their role after an internal review of the case.

    Despite knowledge of Smyth’s abuse at the highest levels of the Church, Hampshire Police only opened an investigation in 2017 after Smyth was the subject of a Channel 4 News report.

    Smyth died the following year, aged 75, while still under investigation, and so was never brought to justice.

    The review by Keith Makin,a former social services director, which was published last week, found that Smyth’s abuse was covered up by “powerful evangelical clergy”.

    It names at least 30 individuals who are believed to still hold posts or influential roles within the Church. The safeguarding team is now assessing whether their actions justify termination.
    John Smyth
    John Smyth, who ran evangelical camps for boys for decades, died soon after his abuse was exposed Credit: UNPIXS

    Over the summer, the safeguarding team commissioned an independent barrister to draft a document to help them work out if the failings of those named in the Makin review are serious enough to warrant removal from office, or other disciplinary measures, including having their licences to perform their duties revoked.

    The KC’s document will provide a framework for deciding whether the conduct of clergy named in the report meet the criteria for action under the Clergy Discipline Measure, a legal framework used by the Church to address misconduct.

    It is understood that one of the individuals on the list, Rev Canon Andrew Cornes, is a central member of the Crown Nominations Committee, the secretive body responsible for appointing the next Archbishop of Canterbury.

    Despite Canon Cornes being informed of Smyth’s abuse by a victim in 1982, according to the review, he remains in the running to help select the Archbishop’s successor.

    A virtual meeting was held on Wednesday morning for a group of Smyth’s victims by Alexander Kubeyinje, the Church’s director of safeguarding, and Joanne Grenfell, the lead safeguarding bishop.

    At this meeting, victims were informed that the safeguarding team is currently working through a list of names identified in Makin’s report in line with the KC’s document.

    The list is understood to extend to at least 30 Anglican clergy members.

    The Telegraph understands this approach has drawn criticism from some victims. The report reveals the Church conducted a “mapping exercise” in 2017 to identify who knew about Smyth’s abuse – meaning it has had these names for seven years, which raises questions about why the process has taken so long.

    In September 1982, one of Smyth’s victims confided in Canon Cornes. It was the first time the victim had spoken to anyone about the abuse.

    According to the Makin review, Canon Cornes said he “was unsurprised that John Smyth had homosexual tendencies”.

    It said: “There is no evidence to suggest that Andrew Cornes took action to respond to this, he suggests that he thought the matter was being dealt with.”

    Canon Cornes currently represents the diocese of Chichester on the General Synod.
    Stephen Conway, the Bishop of Lincoln
    Stephen Conway, the Bishop of Lincoln, has already faced calls from victims to step down Credit: Charlotte Graham for The Telegraph

    Victims have already called for the resignations of the Rt Rev Stephen Conway, the Bishop of Lincoln; the Rt Rev Dr Jo Bailey Wells, the Bishop of Episcopal Ministry at the Anglican Communion Office in London; and the Rev Sue Colman, associate minister at St Leonard’s Church, Oakley.

    All three were identified in the Makin review as having prior knowledge of allegations about Smyth.

    Both bishops have said they regret not taking further action. Ms Colman has been approached for comment.

    Smyth, a barrister and Christian camp leader, abused up to 130 boys and young men over four decades and across three continents, probably only ending with his death at the age of 75 in Cape Town in August 2018.
    Dr Jo Bailey Wells
    Dr Jo Bailey Wells has also been the target of victims’ anger and has been urged to step down

    The Makin review found that Smyth’s “abhorrent abuse” could have been exposed in 2013, four years before it was made public, if the Archbishop and other Church leaders had ensured police investigated concerns.

    Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the Rt Rev Julie Conalty, the Bishop of Birkenhead, who is the deputy lead bishop for safeguarding, admitted that the Archbishop’s resignation alone “is not going to solve the problem”, as she spoke of the need for “institutional changes”.

    Canon Cornes has been contacted for comment.

    Time for a witch hunt.

      1. The words have been tampered with in current hymn book editions. Supposedly to make it true to Bunyan. Sod Bunyan, the 1906 version was perfect.

    3. Is it a witch hunt of evangelical conservatives, or a witch hunt of people who look the other way in order not to rock the boat? A clear out of the latter would not be a bad thing!

  43. Delighted to say heads are exploding on both sides of the political house over in the US with President Elect Trump’s latest appointments. Lt Col Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence and Matt Gaetz as the new AG

    Musk is over the moon!

    More details on Zerohedge….

  44. Morning all 🙂😊
    Back to the usual start, grey miserable and damp. Sounds like the labour government.
    But artic air soon to embrace our island's.
    But not climate change as they only refer to that known adgenda when it gets warmer.
    And let's face the facts shall we this government has already logged in as the worse and most hated on record.

    1. Here in the Spanish interior

      11°C
      Thursday 10:24 Mostly cloudy but sunny at the moment. Cold.

      Still raining and flooding on the coast. Most depressing

      1. We should be so lucky then.
        The sun has popped out here now as well.
        I expect the government will either charge us extra, or tax us on it.

    5. Unusual dress for a military unit, perhaps they have wooly underwear. Reminds me of that Nancy Sinatra song..

        1. He only seemed to get ‘in’ because of his name? I follow Poilievre online, he always has something to say about Trudeau and his government, T tends to just look a bit sick.

    7. Well they have to do something with their young women, keep 'em busy marching and off whatever their social media is. Tik-Tok/ByteDance etc

    9. The Left, encapsulated. Drill is part of the old-fashioned custom known as 'discipline'.

      Discipline started to be supplanted by anarchy sometime during the 1960s. By 2000 it had completely replaced it.

    1. Typical comment..
      We the British people have allowed this party to have a massive majority to do what they like. This is what happens when people don’t vote

      No.. this isn't what happens when people don’t vote.. it's what happens when the silent majority give up on Wet Tories who flatly refuse to understand what's happening. Still do.

    2. Typical comment..
      We the British people have allowed this party to have a massive majority to do what they like. This is what happens when people don’t vote

      No.. this isn't what happens when people don’t vote.. it's what happens when the silent majority give up on Wet Tories who flatly refuse to understand what's happening. Still do.

  47. Who still thinks supporting Ukraine to the bitter end is a good idea?

    Ukraine 'could build a NUCLEAR bomb within months and use it against Russia'

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14078675/ukraine-nuclear-bomp-prep-donald-trump-military-aid.html

    According to The Times, the briefing paper prepared for the Ministry of Defence reads: 'Creating a simple atomic bomb, as the United States did within the framework of the Manhattan Project, would not be a difficult task 80 years later.'
    'The weight of reactor plutonium available to Ukraine can be estimated at seven tons … A significant nuclear weapons arsenal would require much less material,' it continued.
    The bomb would be big enough to destroy an entire Russian airbase or concentrated military or industrial targets, the document's authors concluded.
    It comes as president-elect Trump has famously pledged to end the Russia-Ukraine war within a day of becoming president and has boasted of his 'very good relationship' with President Putin.
    He has also said the invasion would never have happened if he had been in the White House and has criticised Biden's level of support for Ukraine, despite President Zelensky being adamantly against relinquishing territory to Russia.
    It comes after Zelensky last month reportedly told NATO to let his country join the group or it will get nuclear weapons in a shock ultimatum that was allegedly backed by Trump.
    The leader, 46, declared his bombshell proposal at the EU summit in Brussels – stating either NATO quickly accepts Ukraine into its alliance, or it will once again become a nuclear power, German newspaper Bild reported.

    1. Both Russia and Israel bring this on themselves and the world. A "Final Solution" approach to extreme provocation may have worked in Hiroshima, sparing many lives as Japan and the US would have slugged it out until one side was overwhelmed and the resultant collateral damage huge. This has been the justification behind the widescale bombardment of civil infrastructre in response to the usurpation of Yanukovich in one case, and the relentless testing of Iron Dome from Iran's proxies on the other.

      However, the big risk of 'Might is Right' policy from the Kremlin or the Knesset is the likelihood that someone else might come up with a 'Mightier is Rightier' counterpolicy that might well bring down human civilisation itself.

      1. So it's fine for people to bash Russia and Israel as much as they like but when they respond they are always the ones in the wrong.

        1. Apparently all the world's problems are down to the Russkies and the Zionists while the Marxists and Mohammedans are perpetual victims until they have absolute power and destroy everything in their path.

        2. There are some who argue that criminals should not be prosecuted, lest they get the impression they are in the wrong.

          1. And there are some who argue that the criminals should be the ones doing the prosecuting.
            I place you firmly in that school of thought.

          2. I am not a mass murderer, yet you judge me a criminal. Those who are mass murderers get away with it because they are powerful.

            I don’t know what your school of thought is, but I do not share it.

          3. I did not say you were a mass murderer, simply that you appear to believe that the likes of Hamas should be the ones doing the prosecuting.

    2. Sabre rattling. It's reported Zelensky is losing a lot of population support – people are tired, and see the war is going nowhere. If/when Trump gets more closely involved, he'll be interested in doing the best deal he can without losing USA face, Z will be toast unless he accepts.

      1. He must have a reasonable amount of internal support, otherwise he’d have been toppled by now.

        1. There you go, always follow the money. Just seen a headline Trump has made RfKjr head of health matters, pharmas likely to lose their wits.

  48. From Coffee House, the Spectator

    France play Israel this evening in an international football match in Paris. The venue is the Stade de France although the French sports daily, L’Equipe, has said that the stadium has been transformed into ‘a bunker’. And so it should. These are dangerous times for Jews in Europe.

    Last week dozens of Israeli football fans were attacked in a series of co-ordinated ambushes in Amsterdam by what the Dutch authorities described as ‘antisemitic hit-and-run squads’. Many of the assailants referenced the conflict in Palestine as they kicked and punched their victims. The King of Holland Willem-Alexander deplored the scenes and said that ‘our history has taught us how intimidation goes from bad to worse’.

    Israel has advised its fans not to travel to the match, and many French supporters have been put off by the prospect of disorder

    There was less sympathy from some left-wing politicians in France. One MP from La France Insoumise, Marie Mesmeur, said the fans weren’t attacked ‘because they were Jews, but because they were racists and supported genocide’.

    Some in France had called for tonight’s match to be moved to a less volatile venue, as Belgium did in September when they relocated their game against Israel to Hungary. The Belgian authorities decided that it was ‘impossible to organise this very high-risk match’ in their own country given tensions among some of its citizens surrounding the conflict in Gaza.

    France’s Interior Minister, Bruno Retailleau, this week declared that moving the match to a neutral location was never considered. ‘France doesn’t back down,’ he said. ‘France, the Republic doesn’t submit, especially to hatemongers’. He also urged Israel fans to attend the match, assuring them of their safety.

    In a sense Paris is the safest European city for the Israeli football team. It hosted the summer Olympics in July and on that occasion the Israeli Olympic team, including its footballers, received round-the-clock protection from an elite military unit.

    As well as the close protection unit travelling with the Israeli squad to and from the Stade de France this evening, there will be 4,000 police officers on duty inside and outside the stadium. There will also be 1,600 stewards deployed for the match.

    Emmanuel Macron and his prime minister, Michel Barnier, will be present in the stand to cheer on the French team, as will former presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande. But for those without VIP protection, the match is less appealing and it’s expected that only 20,000 of the stadium’s 80,000 seats will be occupied.

    Israel has advised its fans not to travel to the match, and many French supporters have been put off by the prospect of disorder. In truth, no one much likes travelling to the Stade de France at the best of times; as Liverpool and Real Madrid fans discovered in 2022, when they attended the Champions League final at the venue. Many were mugged and sexually assaulted outside the ground, not, as the French government claimed in the immediate aftermath, by English fans, but by locals and the inhabitants of a nearby migrant camp.

    Back in the day, the French football and rugby teams played their matches at the Parc des Princes, in the swanky 16th arrondissement, not far from Roland Garros. But a new stadium was built for the 1998 World Cup and it was sited in Seine-Saint-Denis, which from a Jewish fan’s perspective was the worst possible location.

    The department was once home to a thriving Jewish community, but more than 50,000 have fled this century. The exodus was first identified in 2014 when a television documentary revealed that there was no longer any Jewish pupils in the state schools of Seine-Saint-Denis.

    The political class was shocked, but what did they do about it? Nothing. Nor did they in 2018 when they learned that anti-Semitic acts had soared by 74 per cent across France.

    Anti-Semitism is now out of control in France, as Bruno Retailleau explained in an interview on Tuesday evening. ‘I’m going to quote you a terrifying figure,’ he told viewers. ‘Our Jewish compatriots make up less than 1 per cent of the French population, yet they are the victims of 57 per cent of all acts of anti-religious hatred.’

    Emmanuel Macron finds this statistic ‘inexplicable’, but others in France are more honest.

    The distinguished Jewish writer and philosopher Alain Finkielkraut is one. ‘The two most frequent insults in the lost territories of the Republic… the territories conquered by Islamism, are: “Dirty Jew!” and “Dirty Frenchman!”’, he said in an interview last November. Finkielkraut was talking shortly after a video went viral of a group of teenagers on a Paris metro singing ‘F**k the Jews, Long live Palestine, we are Nazis and proud’. Those singing also sang of their pride in hailing from the ‘93rd’, which is the postal code of Seine-Saint-Denis.

    Ten years ago, in the summer of 2014, Finkielkraut warned of the rising tide of anti-Semitism in France after violent scenes in Paris during a six-week war between Hamas and Israel. ‘In the name of the fight against Islamophobia, we systematically underestimate the hatred to which Jews and France are subjected,’ he said.

    Who can blame French Jews from keeping away from the Stade de France this evening? Quite what Macron hopes his presence will achieve is unclear. His country’s Jews would have been more appreciative if he had attended last year’s rally in Paris against anti-Semitism. But he was scared off, anxious not to enflame tensions in the ‘lost territories’ of the Republic.

    France will probably win this evening, but frankly who cares when the beautiful game has to be played in a bunker. This is the reality in France and Europe today: Jews, once more, are not safe.

    Gavin Mortimer
    WRITTEN BY
    Gavin Mortimer
    Gavin Mortimer is a British author who lives in Burgundy after many years in Paris. He writes about French politics, terrorism and sport.

    1. Why should we blame all Jews collectively for the sins of those currently setting military policy against Gaza and Lebanon?

    2. It's unacceptable that the fans of any country should be attacked at a sporting event. Hope the police come down like a ton of bricks on trouble makers. If it was the UK, I wouldn't be holding my breath though.

    3. "Bunker" is a very unfortunate word to use in connection with anti-semitism…. Very Hitlerian…

      1. Yes, so was I. Possibly there are other petitions doing the rounds as well. Perhaps people are suffering from petition fatigue. I have sent a couple of letters too. I expect it will go through because our WEF-govt requires it to do so.

        1. Could also be a hangover from (the unnecessary) lockdowns, 'mum. Add in the Climate Change/NetZero/Farming crapatology I know some are quite depressed (albeit in angry and determined fashion). GP will usually offer medication, as 'waiting lists for consultation quite long'. Fight back has started 🙂

      2. Probably for the same reason I wont. People should have the right to choose their own death. Doesn't necessarily mean they will use the legislation but it should be an absolute right. No one should have the right to take your life in their hands and dictate how and when you will die. It is the ultimate tyranny, the ultimate invasion of a persons autonomy.

        1. Everyone has their own views on this, influenced by their own circumstances and those of loved ones, but the pure logical reply to your argument is,

          But you/we choose to put your/our life in their hands when you/we start taking their potions and jabs.
          That's the point where the free choice should be – do you start down that road or not?
          It's too dangerous to give them the right to kill.

          1. I said nothing about "them". You have the right to chose, no one else. And if you are pressured then that should be a crime with a very hefty sentence attached to it.

          2. I agree. But how would 'pressured' be defined, let alone proven…can see court cases running for months…

          3. how would 'pressured' be defined? Not sure but I would assume there is already something in law about that but probably as coercion. Actually, having typed the last sentence I decided to look up coercion and, sure enough it is a thing in law called a "duress crime". There is quite a bit about it actually but you can start here on Wikipedia.
            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coercion

          5. You’re welcome. I have always enjoyed reading about legal ideas. The way it makes things fit together has always intrigued me. Used to spend hours in Bolt Hall Library, the legal library at Berkeley UC. to me, the way the law thinks things out, has always reminded me of chess or crosswords, a mental gymnastics sort of thing that I enjoy. Although I’m sure most would find it dull.

          6. I agree some would find it interesting/enjoyable. Possibly not so much for the layperson, those on the receiving end of it 🙂 Some feel thwarted by the law, and at great expense. Necessary though. Would you agree it fits in with more of a male mindset than a female one?

          7. Hi KJ! Yes, I would agree with that 'games' of strategy are far more appealing to men. Come to think of it my South African friend, the lawyer although she is a woman is very male in her attitudes to life though not a lesbian. A Boer, a farmers daughter.

          8. My husband tells me I’m autistic and that’s what makes me tell the truth (what?) I think it’s more likely that my father drummed it in to me to not lie. I have a Boer friend, a really tough guy, has one of those Ridgeback dogs (also a tough cookie).

          9. There is also the difference between civil and criminal law – what is seen as "pressured" can be described as "duress" or "undue influence" when applied to, for example contracts and Wills.

          10. Recently wanted to amend our Wills, as legally married after almost four decades of just living together..we thought very straightforward, but it took several visits and quite a hefty bill at the end of it. Note to anyone not married to partner – check out Inheritance Tax laws….

          11. Yes, it is important to realise that Inheritance Tax is potentially chargeable where something is left to a non-married partner. I started off when first qualified, doing trust , probate and tax planning and it is amazing how many people don’t realise. However, I do think that there are some pretty awful wills being drafted nowadays too, throwing in everything except the kitchen sink.

          12. I was surprised I could leave inheritance to any/all offspring, or any of my relatives free of tax but not to the person I’d lived with for four decades with whom all properties/belongings were joint ownership. We’d moved several times, used the same lawyer, never been advised about IT. Anyone ‘co-habiting’ (what a phrase) and owning any property of value would be well advised to look into their tax position. Yes, good advice to keep wills as simple as possible, too. And good advise to check what any lawyer has in terms of deeds, some of ours had been misplaced.

          13. It depends what the property you are leaving is. Different rules apply to some policies/lump sum death benefits than apply to the rest of your estate. Owning something jointly with someone (other than your spouse) doesn’t necessarily mean that just because it automatically reverts to them, that it does without potentially attracting IHT.

          14. I’d bought some different pieces of grazing land, and also a piece of woodland, seemed to be what lifted it. IHT laws seem to be quite complex, more than I expected. New wills similarly. Anyone who’s a freewheelin’ type could be in for a shock 😀

          15. Woodland and some other land, has (not sure what Reeves might have done to that though) an exemption.

          16. On the other hand, there is the possibility of increasing your nil rate band (ie where IHT would be chargeable but is charged at 0%)where you leave your home to your children.

          18. There is also the difference between civil and criminal law – what is seen as "pressured" can be described as "duress" or "undue influence" when applied to, for example contracts and Wills.

          19. how would 'pressured' be defined? Not sure but I would assume there is already something in law about that but probably as coercion. Actually, having typed the last sentence I decided to look up coercion and, sure enough it is a thing in law called a "duress crime". There is quite a bit about it actually but you can start here on Wikipedia.
            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coercion

          21. It already happens. It is as common as mud for doctors to over medicate a person in the last stages of life knowing that medication will kill them.

          22. Been happening a long time, my mum had a (second/much larger) aneurysm the medics said she had no chance to recover from. Medication withdrawn with my dad's permission. This was a few decades ago, perhaps procedures have changed since. Reading some of the narratives from care home workers (UK), I'm not sure I want to reach that stage – a high window would beckon.

        2. Hear you, johnathan…when would assisted dying become murder, I reckon that would be quite a fine line. My dad was in a really good BUPA care home his last couple of years, over 90 years old…and eased on his way final hours. What would that be classed as? (I understand this procedure is no longer practised, does that lead to unecessary suffering?) I doubt I'd ever support an Assisted Dying Bill, would have to have gone through a long investigation process first, fine tooth comb.

          1. It would become murder at the point that someone else takes it upon themselves to terminate your life without your consent. It should be no more complicated than a 'Do Not Resuscitate' notice is now. no notice of termination then no interference in the natural progression of a death.

          2. He could barely speak, and then not coherently, so in no fit state to give/not give any kind of consent (other than to have a spoon of porridge). I had PoA but that didn't include giving/withholding my permission to ease him on his way. His condition was determined by medics as worsening/to get even worse. What are relatives to do in that situation? It would likely be different with a young person – chances of improvement/medication would be higher.

          3. KJ See my remark below to BB2. But I would say it is hopeless to play the 'what if' game. There are so many veriables in life,. in any given situation, that it is unreasonable to produce perfect legislation. Our law recognizes that actually. By using case law we constantly adjust in an effort to get as close to what is right. That state can never be attained because perfection is always out of reach. But that is in the nature of things.

            In the situation that you speak of you are at the mercy of a doctor and his discretion, if he is wise, he will exercise mercy. If he is not, then he will ignore you and the patient and let the person die in pain because, in his mind, he has done the right thing. So the most important thing here is to know the doctor and his attitude to doing no harm. To my mind the doctor who will not interfere is violating his oath. No possibility of improvement but you torture your patient anyway because of your debased "ethics".

    4. I signed this 'mum…as I've signed other petitions, click the 'be updated on progress' button – never heard anything further. I don't think we live in a democracy, if we ever did. Parties say different things to get elected, but …look from one to the other – can we tell any difference, do things change…(thanks for your post, tho :-))

  50. Ask Nigel Farage.. that's how they debanked him at Coutts. His core values were not aligned with the ESG activist sitting in that remote end office down the corridor on the right.. that's the one.. Phoebe Buffay-Waller-Bridge

  51. WTAF………
    "The chief constable of Essex Police has claimed that hate crime poses one of the greatest threats to the community.

    In the force’s four-year crime prevention plan, Ben Julian-Harrington listed it alongside rape, knife crime and child abuse as an offence that put the public at the biggest threat of harm.

    His comments have emerged after a Telegraph journalist was allegedly told she was being investigated for a “non-crime hate incident” related to a social media post.

    Allison Pearson said two police officers called at her home at 9.40am on Remembrance Sunday to tell her she was being investigated over the post on X, formerly Twitter, from a year ago."
    Ahem
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7de87e9cc3f13b7de750fb29fff874cc7a5ddfd44f62ece4cff98bfccbb27670.jpg

      1. I would say a sense of proportion in the law is an essential condition of sanity. Let the individual be as nuts as he likes. But without a sane legal system you have an insane society and no way of curing it.

      1. In Prague there is an amazing sculpture of Kafka by David Černý, At regular intervals the metal plates that make up the sculpture move so that the face is looking in a different direction! The "kinetic sculpture" is 10.6 metres tall and made of 42 rotating stainless steel panels, weighting 24 tonnes in total. Inside, there are 21 motor modules and 1 kilometre of cables. The structure is controversial – personally I thought it was superb! https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/678ac6a8bc5bc35fc5411edf656e355faed7c87240151d1a8a36b1ab03b5b5d5.jpg

          9. The Alison Lapper thing was worse even than that. Sorry I have mislaid the photo of the pregnant woman in white stone or marble. Propaganda posing as Art.

        2. Agree, public sculpture never a bad thing. Knew a sculptor, many aeons ago, think he's been quite successful. Wood was his medium.

        3. I have seen videos of that, it is quite remarkable. Would love the opportunity to see it in actuality, in Prague. I hear nothing but wonderful things about that city.

          2. Apparently you can walk about at any time of the day or night without fear of attack and the city is spotless. Sad commentary on things that you can no longer walk safely in any English city although it used to be totally normal and the streets are filthy.

          1. There is a fountain that makes a statement as well (and no, I'm not confusing it with le mannequin pis).

    5. Ben Julian-Harrington is a prime example of a Common Purpose-indoctrinated placement who achieved his high rank as a result of the crassly idiotic graduate-entry scheme.

      I bet he spent minutes pounding a beat and getting to know the locals and criminals instead of years as in the case of real police officers.

    6. Frankly in a choice between someone trying to stab me and another calling me names, I am less worried about the name calling. I don't see that as life-threatening.

  52. Morning all. The gloom is back and still no wind. Under Millipede net zero is going along splendidly. At this rate he should be able to kill off twice the amount of people as last year from the cold.

    With regard to todays letter, ‘Non-crime hate incidents’ undermine the principles of British liberty.'
    Since 2014 there have been approximately two hundred and fifty thousand non crime hate incidents, according to the police. I think if you are sensible and want to continue to post remarks, it is prudent to join the Free Speech Union, which I did a few weeks ago.

    If you are an old fart as many of us are, it's only £30.00 for a year. Here's the link.
    https://freespeechunion.org/
    Is informing you of the link, aiding and abetting Potential criminals of a non hate crime? I wonder.

    also Harry Millers organization, Fair Cop.
    https://www.faircop.org.uk/

    1. Big supporter, thanks johnathan…been a big supporter of TY ever since he started LS (now Daily Sceptic). He has to win the fight against Bridget Phillipson & Co.

  53. Not easy today:
    Wordle 1,244 4/6

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

    1. Ditto
      Wordle 1,244 4/6

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

      1. They need to get rid of the women “Archbishops”, there is a reason for not having feminine energy in charge, it is destructive as anyone who knows their religious/philosophical/mythological symbolism.

        1. On a purely practical level, women are not ready enough to swim against the tide and stand up to the zeitgeist. A feminised church is a church that will follow every moral fashion.

          1. Precisely, that is the problem. You can witness why not women, in watching the emotional nonsense on display in the USA over Trump being victorious. Almost all the videos are of women having meltdowns. Some men, but overwhelmingly women. There are many of women who say they are going to divorce their husbands because he dared to vote Trump. Only women would go so over the top as that.

    2. Harmer-Starmer, Thieves Reeves, Ridiculous Rayner, Lumpy Lammy, Millipede and all the rest are bottom feeder, parasitic termites. Can we wipe them out?

      1. Clear irrefutable evidence that the human species is now in retrograde evolution. Already huge numbers of the Left have transmogrified back into Homo habilis.

        The grazed sores on their knuckles are a clue.

    3. Back in the late 70's with two friends we bought an old single story Victorian house in north Adelaide to bring up to date and as an investment.
      I poked the architrave on the door way from the lounge to the kitchen and my finger went straight through the paint. Termites (White ants) had destroyed a lot of the internal wood work and it was easy to follow their routes through the property.

  57. Oh no.. a fight to the death. Has Donald J Trump met his match?

    Sadiq Khan speaking on podcast branded Mr Trump “Hard-Right populist, sexist, homophobic, Islamophobic, racist”, he added: “It’s personal, let’s be frank. If I wasn’t this colour, if I wasn’t a practising Muslim, he wouldn’t have come for me.

    “He wasn’t criticising me because I’m five foot six. He was coming for me because of – let’s be frank – my ethnicity and my religion, so it’s incredibly personal to me.” “I'm a victim, It affects me and my family.“
    “I would love Donald Trump to come to London.”

    Should be fun – and well overdue.

      1. By flying that blow-up blimp on Trump's last visit? I wonder if they'll dig that thing out again.

        1. Surely that was Khan being racist against Trump. So, how is Trump ‘coming for Khan’? And how does Khan make out that Trump has insulted him and his family? The boot’s on the other foot.

          Brilliant headline, though.

    4. 396909+ up ticks,

      Morning KB,

      I do make mr kahn right in some respects, can't think what at this moment in time, but lets ask ourselves what IS wrong with the islamic following beside a bit of stoning, honour killings, ott head trimming, mass paedophilia,
      taking 8 years old brides slicing & dicing , besides that whats the problem I defy anyone to tell me.

    5. 396909+ up ticks,

      Morning KB,

      I do make mr kahn right in some respects, can't think what at this moment in time, but lets ask ourselves what IS wrong with the islamic following beside a bit of stoning, honour killings, ott head trimming, mass paedophilia,
      taking 8 years old brides slicing & dicing , besides that whats the problem I defy anyone to tell me.

    7. I think the whole world out side of your own false and faked world knows why he's criticising you Kahnt.

    9. What a twonk. No one is interested in Khunt and his ethnicity, religion, sex or height. It’s the fact he’s a loathsome vile individual which is the problem.

    11. No, Saddick, it's because you are an unpleasant person; your colour and ideology are incidental.

    12. “He wasn’t criticising me because I’m five foot six. a pathetic little squirt with a small man complex. He was coming for me because of – let’s be frank- do some taqqya my ethnicity and my religion protected stuff so you can't answer back so it’s incredibly personal to me.” “I'm a victim, I glory in victimhood like the rest of my lot because it gets us preferential treatment . It affects me and my family.“

  58. Look at this, the same name appears to be there and causing even more trouble for innocent but struggling human beings.
    I think it really emphasise and under lives how out of touch the political classes are with reality.
    This huge red brick estate is near Pimlico just off the Vauxhall bridge road London.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/we-re-living-in-squalor-but-our-council-is-trying-to-bill-us-66k-for-net-zero-heating/ar-AA1u0Pw3?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=e4b11647720d4b7097f1b287f63afb32&ei=88

    1. What I don't get is, heat exchangers are supposed to be "net zero" from which one would assume that they are more efficient than other forms of electric powered heating. Yet wibbling of this parish was saying only the other day that it would be too expensive to turn up the heating?
      Isn't it supposed to be nothing more than a giant refrigerator working in reverse? How come it's so expensive to run?

      I know all about the installation costs – they were installing it near where I work. For months, and months and months!

      1. Yes, they require far more electricity than your average gas-fired boiler and c/h. Think of an air-conditioning unit running for hours at the back of a shop to get an impression of the possible consumption (and noise levels).

      2. Another problem is in the winter months the extent of the energy produced doesn’t all was last as long as expected. And quite often electric immersion have to be used.

    2. The Councillors seem to become out of touch when they reach their elevated status as councillors: eg "Councillor Liza Begum, cabinet member for housing services, said replacing the system was the only long-term solution to the building’s issues with leaks". I can't imagine that Cllr Begum went to Roedean, to become out of touch?

    3. I worked in the early seventies for the Architects of Lillington Gardens. The scheme was won in a design competition by John Darbourne when he was studying in the US.

      Darbourne established his practice with Geoffrey Darke at 2 The Green in Richmond on Thames in the sixties. I did not work on Lillington Gardens but was familiar with the last stages of construction on Rampayne Street when I later became project Architect for the buildings opposite (a nine storey block built above Pimlico Underground Station and then a low block bounded by Rampayne Street and extending to Vauxhall Bridge Road).

      Even in the seventies problems were arising on other Estates such as Essex Road, also by Darbourne and Darke, where copper piping was embedded in floor screeds. The practice was to bind the pipes using Denso tape before placing the concrete screed. At Essex Road it transpired that the heating contractor had used substandard copper tube imported from Poland and had used acid etching flux in soldered joints which became active when the pipes were flushed. In those days it was my practice to specify Wednesbury Tube for copper piping.

      The problems alluded to in the article were manifest decades ago. I am alarmed that this farrago is still ongoing.

      John Darbourne was an exceptionally good and sensitive man who died tragically young. His partner Geoffrey Darke died just a few years ago in Oxford.

  60. There is a great deal being reported about the 'Far Right' RN Party (Rassemblement national) on French news at the moment. Not a peep on the British news that I know of. Why would they not comment on the troubles of their enemy.

    In December 2023, French authorities announced that they would be charging Le Pen and twenty-six other members of the RN with embezzlement, with a trial to be held before the Tribunal judiciaire de Paris. If the trial finds her guilty, she could face up to ten years incarceration and be barred from running for election for ten years.

    The prosecution has requested five years' imprisonment, three of which suspended, and a five-year ban from running for public office against Marine Le Pen, whom they said played a 'central role' in setting up a system of embezzling funds from the European Parliament.

    1. Given that this is coming from a European establishment that itself is involved in money laundering, has a convicted felon as head of the European Central Bank and insists without evidence that Donald Trump belongs in the same category…I don't believe them.

      2. When was it that all the Commissioners (bar one or two, Kinnock among them) were dismissed for misdemeanours/fraud? The EU is as corrupt as it comes.

        1. Ursula is obviously stupid, incompetent and deeply corrupt.

          The agreements to purchase millions of Covid ‘vaccines’ from Pfizer which she personally negotiated have been lost. Countless billions of Euros are unaccounted for.

          The EU without US dollars and military backing is about to disappear. Hungary is leading the way in emphasising the fault lines in centralised control of mixed economies from Brussels. The daft over-investment in Ukraine will haunt the morons in the EU Commision for decades.

          Thank God for President Trump.

    2. How do the European Parliament know money has gone missing? I thought their accounts hadn't been signed off for years??

      1. And wasn't there someone who was found guilty of some dodgy business with money but who was still appointed to office? Or am I imagining things?

    3. Don't you think this would cause severe rioting in France and maybe even revolution? Such an obvious attempt to destroy the Right in France because as things stand, the Right is going to be politically victorious eventually in France, that is obvious. Indeed, if they had a fair system, La Pen would already be running the country.

    1. I can't read these blogs anymore apparently I'm' supposed to sign up, which i don't want to do.
      The welsh government must be barking mad. Have the actually interviewed the dogs to find out what the dogs think about this accusation ?

      1. I can't read most of them and I don't want to sign up either. I guess anything that is important is worth copying and pasting, but it is sometimes difficult to know who can access what.

      2. Do you mean the DM? It's become unreadable as to get round the blue screen you have to accept cookies and then you get multiple pop-ups. I delete all the cookies on exit but it's just too annoying now.

    2. When Mark Twain toured Ottoman lands in 1867 he described seeing many malnourished dogs living on the streets. Neglected but not persecuted.

      1. Of course. This is about catering to Muslims but the "authorities" in Wales are to cowardly to say so. Most Muslims believe that dogs are unclean. It goes back to a story that Mohamad missed a visit from the angel Gabriel because a dog was in the way. However, Mo loved cats.

        1. One wouldn't have thought that the angel Gabriel would let anything get in his way, if he was giving a message. The Left show their cowardice time and time again.

        2. Some of the findings were based on Focus Group Discussions. The report gives us the demographic make-up of the two groups.

          Main outcomes of the focus group discussions

          Climate Cymru BAME and NWAS (CCBN)
          Majority of the participants belonged to Black African (96%), and Caribbean or
          Mixed Ethnic groups (4%) covered age ranges of 16 to 65. The participants were
          mostly constituted of international students and a few long-term residents with
          40% identifying themselves as male and 60% as female (annex a).

          Professionals and students in Environmental Science (PSE)
          Most of the participants belonged to Black African 98%, Caribbean, or Mixed
          Ethnic groups 2% and aged 35 to 65. The participants were mostly constituted of
          international students and a few long-term residents and professionals with 57%
          identifying themselves as male and 43% as female (annex a).

          https://www.gov.wales/sites/default/files/pdf-versions/2024/11/3/1730892867/anti-racist-wales-evidence-report-climate-cymru-bame.pdf

          Other findings emerged from "walking interviews". The demographic mix of these is not given.

          1. Interesting but it’s still nonsense. Africans are not known for going for trips in the countryside or trotting off for picnics or walking the dog through the dales. This is just another manufactured uproar by leftist whites, the contemptible thugs that wish to destroy anything English, like children throwing a tantrum.

      3. It goes with slammers' relatively recent insistence on wearing desert garb in civilised countries, making their women cover their faces & wear black shrouds, and so on.
        It is done to intimidate and as a show of power, as is their sudden objection to the long tradition of keeping dogs as pets.
        Nobody made them come here.
        When I was a student in the 1970s, there were a number of what I now know to be moslums at the university, but they dressed the same as any other male student, and there were no 'prayer rooms' or this intimidating 'praying'/devil worship 5 times a day.

    4. "The reason behind the request for dog-free areas is not elaborated on in the report…", says the Telegraph Mail, so how has it concluded that dogs are in some sense "racist" or, if not the dogs themselves, then the freedom to walk and exercise dogs is somehow racist?

      I know that some local authorities prohibit dogs from beaches at certain times of the year. Is that also to combat racism or perhaps it's to provide some spaces where people can allow their children to play without encountering dog waste and to allow others, anxious in the presence of dogs, the opportunity to enjoy beaches?

      1. "'Racist' dogs to be banned from the Welsh countryside in Labour drive to make the outdoors more 'inclusive'", says the Mail's headline.

        Whereas one of the recommendations of the Climate Cymru BAME report says:

        "• create urban farming (allotments) and dog-free areas in local green spaces"

        https://www.gov.wales/sites/default/files/pdf-versions/2024/11/3/1730892867/anti-racist-wales-evidence-report-climate-cymru-bame.pdf

        Does that sound like the Welsh countryside to you? No, me neither. Local green spaces almost certainly means parks, playing fields and suchlike.

    5. "The reason behind the request for dog-free areas is not elaborated on in the report, which will be used by the government to 'support policy teams' that are 'developing and implementing' Wales' anti-racist plans."

      NTDWI, I'm sure…

      "The Government has concluded that ethnic minorities face 'barriers' to outdoor areas created by 'exclusions and racism'."

      A line that could have come from a Countryfile script.

      "A separate set of recommendations submitted by the NWAS also called for 'dog-free areas'. It added that during one of its focus groups, 'one black African female stated that she feels unsafe with the presence of dogs'. Others also kept 'seeing dog fouling on the floor', the report added."

      Only on the matter of fouling can there be any agreement, although it's fair to say that some of the dogs hauling their owners through our park here in NN8 are not the kind to be stared down.

      "Barriers to outdoor activities includes the perception that growing food in gardens or allotments is 'dominated by middle-aged white women'."

      A line that could have come from a Monty Python script.

      1. Erm 'one black African female stated that she feels unsafe with the presence of dogs'. Change that to how some white English females feel with the presence of…(edit) certain others… and it will be more representative.

        1. Clearly if one black female feels unsafe then the other 70million of us must change our ways to accommodate the needy black bitch. Stands to reason.

        2. Clearly if one black female feels unsafe then the other 70million of us must change our ways to accommodate the needy black bitch. Stands to reason.

      2. Dog fouling on the floor? Are these tender souls going in buildings where dogs are allowed to foul on the floor? That was probably written by another work experience teenager.
        As far as I am concerned, a floor is an interior feature. has the word 'ground' been banned?

        As for "…. growing food in gardens or allotments is 'dominated by middle-aged white women'." What about all the men who keep an allotment? It would be interesting to see the proportions of allotment holders, and those who grow vegetables in gardens, who are so-called middle aged women.

      3. Dog fouling on the floor? Are these tender souls going in buildings where dogs are allowed to foul on the floor? That was probably written by another work experience teenager.
        As far as I am concerned, a floor is an interior feature. has the word 'ground' been banned?

        As for "…. growing food in gardens or allotments is 'dominated by middle-aged white women'." What about all the men who keep an allotment? It would be interesting to see the proportions of allotment holders, and those who grow vegetables in gardens, who are so-called middle aged women.

    6. "The reason behind the request for dog-free areas is not elaborated on in the report, which will be used by the government to 'support policy teams' that are 'developing and implementing' Wales' anti-racist plans."

      NTDWI, I'm sure…

      "The Government has concluded that ethnic minorities face 'barriers' to outdoor areas created by 'exclusions and racism'."

      A line that could have come from a Countryfile script.

      "A separate set of recommendations submitted by the NWAS also called for 'dog-free areas'. It added that during one of its focus groups, 'one black African female stated that she feels unsafe with the presence of dogs'. Others also kept 'seeing dog fouling on the floor', the report added."

      Only on the matter of fouling can there be any agreement, although it's fair to say that some of the dogs hauling their owners through our park here in NN8 are not the kind to be stared down.

      "Barriers to outdoor activities includes the perception that growing food in gardens or allotments is 'dominated by middle-aged white women'."

      A line that could have come from a Monty Python script.

    2. Hmm. Let’s think. Which peaceful tolerant diversity strength thinks dogs are haram?

    3. Hmm. Let’s think. Which peaceful tolerant diversity strength thinks dogs are haram?

    4. We all know what’s really behind this, nothing to do with the outside being racist. A certain group wishes it. They keep pushing and everyone caves in.

  65. The Catholic Encyclopedia online used to state blumtly that Mohammed was a scoundrel. Checking the site now, I see that they've been got at.

  66. I use the 12ft web page to view any DM+ articles I think may be interesting. Truth be told few are.

      2. 12ft is a web page (google will find it) and you copy the web address of the article you wish to read and paste it into the 12ft site. Hit clean webpage and it is available. It works on The Times pages and the DM+ pages (So I have been told, of course I would never deprive our MSM of a subscription fee)

    3. Not funny! African Christians are the only real Christians in the Anglican church these days – which is of course why they will NEVER let a traditional African near Canterbury!

      1. There are several African priests in our parish and surrounding parishes. They hail from Burkina Faso, Rwanda, the Congo, and Benin and occasionally Togo.

        Our local priest is much appreciated – he is judged by the quality of his character and not by the colour of the skin.

  69. Us Labours in charge now you Tory scum..

    Angela Rayner The Housing Secretary stepped in as Swale Borough Council was making the decision on whether to allow divisive plans for 8,400 new homes near Sittingbourne.

    Just three hours before planning officers were due to vote on the proposals, they received a letter telling them Ms Rayner was taking over.

    1. No sign of any tools or replacement parts, just a spray bottle. Very few microwave ovens are worth repairing, so I wonder if the man is simply cleaning it in order to place it on sale, as parts, to an electrical optimist.

    2. Returning to birds for a sec, Grizzly – today's viewing was a sparrowhawk snatching a goldfinch from the feeder. I'd been watching the feeder through binoculars, never even spotted the hawk sitting motionless in nearby tree until it swooped. I know its stoop, later hope to remember to look for the feathers.

      1. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8808f59750925bd38e43c11e7590d14eacbc41e0e34c992fe19715dca736024d.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1143acc587e8fa5a6d4bf53478fdcb259d652befedb2a6139f5d83e91a58cac6.jpg The top photo is a femalemale sparrowhawk, munching on a great tit that it had caught in one of my lilac bushes in April this year.
        The bottom one is another (possibly the same individual) in November last year, that was less fortunate in catching any food on this occasion.

        1. Top photos, Grizzly – thanks. Is it true the juveniles are similarly marked to females, a year or so ago was stepping over stile into wooded area – one flew about two feet above ground right in front of me – what dexterity, beautiful slate blue feathers. I have a shoe box almost filled with different feathers – that’s quite a lot of feathers 🦉resident female has disappeared for a while, she’ll be back.

        2. They both look as though they're male birds as the female sparrohawk has a brown back.
          RSPB says "Adult male Sparrowhawks have a bluish-grey back and wings and orangey-brown stripes on their chest and belly. Females and young birds have brown back and wings, and brown stripes underneath. Sparrowhawks have bright yellow or orangey eyes, yellow legs and talons. Females are larger than males, as with all birds of prey."

  71. Afternoon all,

    Azerbaijan's president would that say it's hypocritical to use God given oil reserves for the manufacture of £1bn worth of turbine blades and to expect oil producers to scale down fossil fuel exploitation. This is the 29th attempt at reducing global warming through COP by setting up targets and the only progess so far is the fact that things are hotting up.

    Perhaps Justin Welby now has a God given chance to pray for the reformation of UK's manna from below as part of Labour's miracle to prosperity.

      1. I made the connection between God and oil after Azerbaijan president’a comment at COP29. I understand that Justin Welby, from his previous experience, may be aware that God’s gift from the depths of the Earth is due to him working in mysterious ways.

        I think one must be mad to think that a burning oil well has anything to do with Exodus 3:1-6

  72. On Jamie Blackett's tweet elsewhere about farmers refusing sewage sludge. The inevitable response from the thicker members of the HoC and the public will be: "Look! We told you! Farmers are the poisoners of the land, the rivers, the seas and the air and now they want to force the poor water companies to dump even more shit in the rivers. Sieze their land! Nationalise their businesses!"

    It'll get very ugly soon…

    1. Farmer near here prosecuted/fined for dumping into local streams, and also down badger setts. Now it's widely spread on the fields instead. I think some (larger?) farms have those large green sileage tanks, but I don't know how/where they're emptied?

      1. Silage is animal feed, often kept in huge clamps wrapped in plastic.

        Some farms are processing manure and plant waste in biodigesters. Those are far more likely to be the green tanks that you have seen.

        1. I think in this case it would be slurry, Bob (locally seems to all be called silage, but have had the diff ‘splained to me :-))

  73. On Jamie Blackett's tweet elsewhere about farmers refusing sewage sludge. The inevitable response from the thicker members of the HoC and the public will be: "Look! We told you! Farmers are the poisoners of the land, the rivers, the seas and the air and now they want to force the poor water companies to dump even more shit in the rivers. Sieze their land! Nationalise their businesses!"

    It'll get very ugly soon…

  74. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8b51eafda6aeddb29a2e91bdc1072d14dde03c680169f1970fca64a19a8dd40d.jpg It is November 14, which means it is exactly a year to the day that I saw a green woodpecker Picus viridis in my garden for the only time. Great spotted woodpeckers Dendropocus major are common here and I've had two sightings of lesser spotted Dryobates minor. A black woodpecker Dryocopus martius (common in the woodland around here) has visited my garden on at least one occasion but I was not present at the time.

      1. Black woodpeckers have a very loud, deep and resonant drumming sound. It sounds like you've ventured into the Congo basin when the tribes are on the warpath.

    3. Greater Spotted appeared on bird feeder a couple of days ago, first one for a few years – possibly another sign of a colder winter this year? 🤔

      1. Local Met forecasters say to expect Arctic conditions soon – but they can't predict exactly when. Funny, I thought they were predicting climate Armageddon with precision.

        1. That’s the thing about weather forecasts, they’ll be right at some point – just not at the point they forecast. My grandmother’s old barometer, decades old, is more accurate (and also signs in nature:-)). Global boiling my tush.

    5. We get lots of greens here, but very seldom do I spot them on trees.
      They love the grassland here, which I get cut once a year, as well as my lawns. They are to be seen pecking away at all the creatures in and on the soil and I've seen five or six of them feasting at a time.
      They are very wary, but don't appear to be territorial, I've never seen one chasing off another.

    6. A yaffle, lots here, along with great spotted woodpeckers but I've never seen a lesser spotted woodpecker. The yaffles are seen more often on the ground than in the trees.

      2. On a hot summer’s day, just a couple of years ago, I was sitting in a garden chair under the shade of my cherry tree when a small bird flew just past my face and into the tree. As I turned to look at it, I noticed it was a lesser spotted woodpecker feeding one of its fledged young on a branch just two yards from my head. I watched them for a full minute before they flew off.

        My yaffle spent most of its time on the ground for the five minutes-or-so that it was in my garden. I took a number of photos of it on the lawn and was delighted when it jumped onto the trunk of the apple tree for just a moment or two.

  75. Anti-Semitism campaigners cancel protest after threats of 'Amsterdam-style' violence

    Campaign Against Anti-Semitism says it cannot put supporters at risk by going ahead with demonstration in London

    Patrick Sawer, Senior News Reporter • Tuesday 12th November 2024 • 8:16pm GMT

    Campaigners against anti-Semitism were forced to cancel a protest outside a London university after they were threatened with "Amsterdam-style" violence.

    The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) had planned to gather outside Queen Mary University of London in protest at the appearance of Francesca Albanese, a United Nations special rapporteur.

    Ms Albanese has been accused of appearing to lend support to the Palestinian terror group Hamas, which led the Oct 7 attacks that killed 1,200 people, after claiming the victims "were killed not because of their Judaism, but in response to Israeli oppression". She has also compared Israel to the Nazis and been accused of anti-Semitism.

    The CAA held demonstrations against her appearances at LSE and London University's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) on Monday. But Tuesday morning's planned protest outside Queen Mary University of London was cancelled over fears that extremists in Tower Hamlets were planning to stage attacks on those taking part.

    The decision came after a discussion on a private Tower Hamlets residents' online forum in which one contributor commented on the planned CAA protest, saying: "Can't wait to give the welcome they deserve." Another, who had earlier used the slur "zios" in reference to the CAA protesters, replied: "Amsterdam-style."

    This is understood to be a reference to attacks by gangs of youths on scooters in Amsterdam who targeted Maccabi Tel Aviv football fans last week. Videos on social media showed the Israeli fans, there to see their team take on Ajax in the Europa League, being kicked and beaten, while some of those taking part in the attacks could be heard shouting pro-Palestinian slogans.

    Other Maccabi fans were reportedly run over, and at least one man apparently had to jump into a canal to avoid further attack. There were further outbreaks of violence in the city on Monday night. On Tuesday, CAA said it could not put its supporters at risk by going ahead with the demonstration in the face of threats to repeat the violence.

    It said: "The Amsterdam pogrom, followed by further disorder in the city, an attempted copycat attack in Antwerp and other violent incidents across Western cities, have shaken the British Jewish community. "This week, we cancelled one of three rallies against campus appearances by a UN official with a record of rhetoric that breaches the international definition of anti-Semitism, due to threats of 'Amsterdam-style' violence against us circulating in a large residents' social media group. That is how assailants in the Netherlands pre-planned their attacks, and we cannot ignore the risk of that violence spreading in the UK.

    "We are grateful that the police take these threats seriously, but with anti-Semitic rhetoric and placards regularly appearing on our streets and constant reports of anti-Semitic intimidation and sometimes even violence in other areas of British life, many in the Jewish community are wondering if it's just a matter of time."

    The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: "We're aware of the decision by organisers to cancel their planned protest outside Queen Mary University. We had been working closely with them and with the Community Security Trust, as we did ahead of the protest on the same issue at the LSE, to ensure that anyone wishing to protest could do so safely with opposing groups kept apart. Appropriate plans were in place for today's events.

    "It is understandable that comments made online, which threatened violence and referenced events in Amsterdam, will have added to organisers' concerns. Such threats are entirely unacceptable and will not be tolerated. An investigation was swiftly launched to identify those responsible.

    "Officers will still be deployed in the vicinity of Queen Mary University today to ensure that events take place without incident, that offences can be dealt with and that anyone exercising their right to protest, whether part of an organised demonstration or independently, can do so without being subject to intimidation or abuse."

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/12/anti-semitism-campaigners-cancel-protest-amsterdam-threat

    1. It's getting worse, this anti-Semitism. I fear that soon, it will go really badly.
      Government needs to step in and protect freedom for Jews and their supporters.

      1. When a government gives £millions to 'protect' mosques, we know exactly where their priorities lie.
        It seems that there are frequent 'activities' targeted solely at the Jewish community, and aggressive 'pro-palestinian'/pro-hamas marches with unambiguous words of hatred being shouted/written on placards, yet nothing is done, in spite of that being a proscribed body.
        But dare to utter hurty words on social media, and bang! the perlice are soon at your door, and jail awaits.

    2. I bet if the online comments had targeted a different group the Met would have not only identified them, but arrested them!!

    3. I bet if the online comments had targeted a different group the Met would have not only identified them, but arrested them!!

  77. More false propaganda/hysteria from the left in the USA because Tulsi Gabbard has been chosen by Trump to be Director of National Intelligence. I think she's terrific. It goes without saying that the idea she is a Russian spy is absurd as the same accusation against Trump.

    'Email Putin all our war plans': Experts blast Trump for picking 'Russian spy' Gabbard as intel chief
    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/email-putin-all-our-war-plans-experts-blast-trump-for-picking-russian-spy-gabbard-as-intel-chief/ar-AA1u2gjv?ocid=msedgntp&pc=ACTS&cvid=0be8c3a2f2ed4718838307f57508ebf1&ei=11

    1. I've heard Ms Gabbard on Joe Rogan. I was not particularly impressed. However I was not mortified which is what I tend to find with a lot of politicians coming from the Left, all be it a Centre Left position in Gabbard's case.

        1. Check it out for yourself. I get the impression if she is on top of her brief she is a competent politician. However after Rogan I would have doubts about voting for her. But she seems a decent enough sort. This media smearing is utter nonsense.

  79. Home Office reviews non-crime hate incidents in wake of Allison Pearson row. 14 November 2024.

    Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesman said it was important that police record non-crime hate incidents where “proportionate and necessary” to help prevent serious crimes that could result from them at a later date.

    This is of course “Up Yours Peasants” we are doing F**K A**.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/14/home-office-review-non-crime-hate-incidents-allison-pearson/

    1. I'd like to know the record – how long has this been happening, and did it ever in fact lead to prevention of more serious crime in any of the cases. Perhaps the 'official spokesman' will tell us. Or not.

      1. How would they know if it prevented more serious crimes in future?

        Non hate crime incidents should be no business of the police. Hurty feelings are a fact of life.

        1. Presumably by employing more backroom bodies to record them all. Virtually impossible to police. Some people seem to think they can get away with saying pretty much anything online, and that creeps into off-line contact. Good manners used to be something we were raised with – I still find that to mostly be true both on and offline:-)

    2. Yet serious crimes do happen and are not committed by the people who've been intimidated for challenging the oficial narrative.

      2. Essex is a pretty prolific area for murders (London overspill?).
        I'm sure everyone dumping a body in Epping Forest or on Tollesbury Marshes had posted something hurty beforehand.

    3. Yet serious crimes do happen and are not committed by the people who've been intimidated for challenging the oficial narrative.

    2. Do these people think we should swap all the white people in Canada for the non white people in Europe?

      .

  82. Russia is on its knees – BBC News

    According to our most trusted news and information source the Russians have lost 700,000 men and are struggling to keep up the invasion of Ukraine and from the deadly battering from Volodymyr Zelensky's valiant forces. All over before Trumpet gets into office then!

    2. I just thought Putin was bringing in the North Koreans so they could join in on smashing a nazi regime.

    3. And we're supposed to be terrified of them swarming over the border, through Poland and to the Atlantic coast? Get the story straight, FFS!

    4. Of course the reality is the complete reverse of that put out by the cretinous fools at the BBC. Russia won the war about a year ago as anyone with two brain cells could see.

      The reports of Korean involvement in the Kursk pocket are also fanciful. Ukrainian troops in Kursk are presently kettled there and being picked off at a leisurely pace by Russian infantry and drones.

    5. Of course the reality is the complete reverse of that put out by the cretinous fools at the BBC. Russia won the war about a year ago as anyone with two brain cells could see.

      The reports of Korean involvement in the Kursk pocket are also fanciful. Ukrainian troops in Kursk are presently kettled there and being picked off at a leisurely pace by Russian infantry and drones.

  85. O/T and back to food.

    A recent lunch at Rules Covent Garden my dinner plate had big greasy thumb prints around the edges.
    Watching Masterchef the professionals they are just as guilty.
    I was taught when carrying a plate of food to hold the thumb up and away from the plate.
    Am i the only person that knows this?

    Note* i don't criticise home cooks who cook for me.

    1. You should come and watch Swedes dining. They routinely serve hot food on cold plates and many hold their fork like a dagger. They frequently put food in their mouths with their knives.

      At a wake, last week, I amused myself by watching the dining 'etiquette' (hah!) of everyone present. It seems that only the over-70s had the remotest clue as to how to hold and use a knife and fork properly. All the under-70s held their knife like a bloody pen (just like most clueless people in the UK do these days).

      1. Didn't the Swedes just spear large pieces of meat and gnaw from the knife?

        (just like most clueless people in the UK do these days). I think they mostly don't use cutlery.

        I think the English are considered a bit too precious when it comes to etiquette. Though of course we set the high standards that others using their fingers or wooden spoons would rail against.

        Personally i don't see a problem with using a knife to deposit food in to the mouth provided it isn't bladed. Cheeses for instance.

        1. You would have been up in your bedroom had you attempted that in our house! My mother would have lost her mind!!

      2. Oi! I am under 70 (only just) and can't be doing with those who use their cutlery incorrectly.
        Since he began helping to run conferences in the States many years ago, MH started holding his knife incorrectly (fish knife style) and putting down the knife after cutting food to enable him to then use his fork in his right hand. At least he doesn't talk with food in his mouth. It appals me. It is a good job his late father never saw him doing so. When our children were growing up, MH was quick to correct them if they didn't use proper table manners.

      3. I went out for a work meal t’’other day and out of 8 of us, i was the only one who knew how to eat a bread roll correctly. My mother would have been appalled at the manners on offer. Admittedly one wS Norwegian and one was a Kiwi.

      4. Is it a Scandi thing?
        Danish D-in-L serves hot food on a cold plate.
        And we have had a quiet word with our son about grandson's table manners.

    2. You should come and watch Swedes dining. They routinely serve hot food on cold plates and many hold their fork like a dagger. They frequently put food in their mouths with their knives.

      At a wake, last week, I amused myself by watching the dining 'etiquette' (hah!) of everyone present. It seems that only the over-70s had the remotest clue as to how to hold and use a knife and fork properly. All the under-70s held their knife like a bloody pen (just like most clueless people in the UK do these days).

  86. I wouldn't trust this woman with her bus fare…

    Reeves Warned Pension Megafunds Could Leave Taxpayers Picking Up the Bill

    Rachel Reeves is gearing up to drop some “transformative” pension reforms, with Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) assets set to be swept into massive “pension megafunds” in order to promote economic “growth.” Given Labour’s track record on so-called “pro-growth” initiatives, it’s hard to see how this will end well…

    Pension experts have accused Reeves of gambling with savers’ cash, predicting the shake-up will force schemes into riskier investments. Tom Selby of investment firm AJ Bell warned “the risks are all taken with members’ money” and that it’s “clearly possible” that conflating a government goal of driving investment in the UK with people’s retirement outcomes will end badly. Andrew Tully from Nucleus Financial and Former Bank of England economist Neil Record said taxpayers would be “on the hook” if investments go wrong. If these megafund dreams turn sour, taxpayers – as always with Labour – are the safety net…

    Meanwhile, Felicia Hjertman of investment firm TILLIT branded the idea of mandated pension investments a “grave mistake.” There’s a reason that an occupational scheme has a trustee to look after the interests of members. Forcing funds into one mammoth pot isn’t exactly a recipe for financial stability…

    14 November 2024 @ 14:57

  87. Alex Jones’s Infowars had been acquired by the left wing. If he is able to launch a new website I suggest he calls it Infowhores….

  88. A raucous Par Four!

    Wordle 1,244 4/6
    ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
    ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
    ⬜🟨⬜🟨🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Struggled with this one, didnt help that I reused a 'dead' letter in guess 5! Double bogey…..

      Wordle 1,244 6/6

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

    2. I'm swinging between threes and sixes these days. Tends to depend on the fruitfulness of my first word.

      Wordle 1,244 3/6

      🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨
      ⬜🟨🟩🟩⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    3. Searched the dictionary before happening on the only word that fitted.

      Wordle 1,244 4/6

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

    5. Just got it purely by elimination. Very sad.

      Wordle 1,244 4/6

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

  89. Militant Farmers Threaten To Block ‘Every Road in Britain’ Until Farm Tax Reversed

    Tensions are heating up ahead of next week’s farmer protest. Organiser Clive Bailye, who also founded The Farming Forum, says it won’t stop there:

    “If Tuesday doesn’t work then the Government will have picked a fight with the wrong group of people. Farmers have lots of vehicles and equipment and if they wanted they could shut down every road in Britain. That could be their next move if there’s no shift by the Government – people who feel they have nothing to lose will do anything.”

    Defra has let it be known that it tried to convince the Treasury to water down their farm tax by exempting farmers currently aged 80 or over. A messy solution – this is what happens when your tax policy is crafted by one academic…

    Reeves is refusing to budge as it becomes clearer that small-acred farms will have insurmountable bills to pay on the farmers’ deaths.Guido hears it’s a frosty atmosphere in Steve Reed’s department what with the Chancellor’s husband serving as Second Permanent Secretary…

    14 November 2024 @ 16:07

    1. Don't stop there.. bring the govt down.
      Enlist Elon Musk.
      Get Tommy R out of jail.

      Of course you'll have to wake up the wet Tories first.

        1. But where is the George Loveless, the Wat Tyler, the Robert Kett, the Robert of Locksley, the Robert Catesby [three Bobs, there!] to lead this revolution?

          The country has been emasculated by a welfare state that ponders to their every whim, looks after aliens before natives, and feeds them utter shit.

          There are no Edward Is, Elizabeth Is, Drakes. Churchills or Thatchers anywhere in sight (just a Charles III, and he won't be on your side).

          No revolution coming, I'm afraid.

          3. Yes, I like that one although my all-time favourite is 'Meet me on the Corner' – great stuff!

          6. I often wondered why they used that road. Maybe one of them had a connection to it, or maybe it simply fitted into the lyrics.

          10. One of the best evenings we had was when Lindisfarne visited Colchester and played at the St. Mary's Church.
            Talk about the joint rocking; it's a wonder the church is still standing.
            (Heck, that must be 20 years ago!)

      3. No let’s not bother, they done sweet FA for 14 years, time for a new outfit to take up the fight.

    2. Don't stop there.. bring the govt down.
      Enlist Elon Musk.
      Get Tommy R out of jail.

      Of course you'll have to wake up the wet Tories first.

        2. It is a corker, isnt it? I wanted one but my missus threatened to divorce me if I got one…..Hmmmmm………decisions, decisions…..

          Edit: PS , I wasnt really thinking of spending that much!!

        3. It is a corker, isnt it? I wanted one but my missus threatened to divorce me if I got one…..Hmmmmm………decisions, decisions…..

          Edit: PS , I wasnt really thinking of spending that much!!

    4. They'll be given far, far worse treatment by the police than Stop oil/Palestinian/BLM/ protesters.

    6. I expect they are taking inspiration from the farmers' protests on the Continent last year. The police may be thinking about banning tractors from London; they can simply turn up in a thousand other places. Two or three tractors driving very, very slowly round and round a roundabout plays havoc with traffic flow, especially when there are two or three tractors on every roundabout in the area. The police can't be everywhere.
      There is some film on youtube somewhere of a moment when the police car pulls in front of the tractor and trailer and asks him what he's doing inching round the roundabout so slowly. The farmer points self-righteously at the road behind the police car and clearly says "I'm trying to go there, you're blocking my way!" The police car has to move out of the way, and the tractor and trailer sails triumphantly off.

      1. Roundabout circuits, how many permitted, question seen on Reddit.
        A:"You really shouldn't. If you do it too much you'll create a vortex that sends you back in time. "

  90. The BBC has finally caught up with the Allison Pearson story. It'll be on PM in the next hour.

  91. I have just heard some utter clown on Talk radio (didn’t catch his name) telling Alex Phillips that the Chagos deal was initiated and helped along by Russia! I was astounded!🤡

    1. Trump will reverse Starmer’s stupid proposal simply because the US has a strategic base there and sees Mauritius as a proxy for China.

      The US pays the UK for its use of the bases there which makes Starmer’s proposal even more idiotic. Starmer has no understanding of geopolitical realities and is quite unfit for the office he holds.

      The imminent fall of Ukraine will seal Starmer’s fate and that of his beloved EU, mired as it is in debt and bankrupted by its involvement there.

    2. Trump will reverse Starmer’s stupid proposal simply because the US has a strategic base there and sees Mauritius as a proxy for China.

      The US pays the UK for its use of the bases there which makes Starmer’s proposal even more idiotic. Starmer has no understanding of geopolitical realities and is quite unfit for the office he holds.

      The imminent fall of Ukraine will seal Starmer’s fate and that of his beloved EU, mired as it is in debt and bankrupted by its involvement there.

    1. Good evening, I'm not around much myself too but it's nice to see you opo .

  94. Welcome to the world of disposable buildings.

    Award-winning building to be demolished less than 30 years after being built

    An award-winning university building that won a prestigious architecture prize is set to be demolished less than 30 years after it was built

    https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/12/style/salford-university-centenary-building-scli-intl/index.html

    There's a slide show on this page: https://hodderandpartners.com/projects/centenary-building-salford

    I look forward to Corimmobile's view.

    1. Several buildings which I was involved in constructing have been subsequently demolished, or substantially altered. None of them were 'listed'. Progress, I guess.

    2. Just remind me. How many award winning architects were involved in … say … Durham Cathedral?

      1. Fabulous observation. Who, ever, walked into a beautiful cathedral and said (or thought) "That's clever"

      2. The Architects of Durham Cathedral were not an organized group with a Royal Charter. The architectural profession came into being during the tenure of Sir John Soane as Comptroller of the King’s Works.

        Those mediaeval men were however equipped with the same skills as our best Architects in history. That is the understanding of materials and structure, of geometry, scale and proportion and a thorough understanding of the techniques needed to realise their commissions. The understanding of decoration, light, shade and movement were part of their collective skill set.

        I believe many modernist architects lost sight of the qualities those men possessed. Some architects retained them, Gaudi for example, our own Sir Christopher Wren, Nicholas Hawksmoor, Sir John Vanbrugh, Sir John Soane, Sir Edwin Lutyens and my own master Sir William Whitfield to name a few.

    3. I thought for a moment it was going to be Essex University library. That won design awards but it was a nightmare to work in; too hot in summer, too cold in winter and the Paternoster lifts were interesting, to say the least, if you had an armful of books.

    4. I was Project Architect for Richmond House Whitehall which received numerous awards including the RIBA National Award for best building in 1987. It is listed Grade II*.

      The building was threatened with partial demolition by the squirt Bercow who commissioned some fashionable practice to provide a temporary Commons Chamber during the refurbishment of the Palace of Westminster. The proposal was ultimately abandoned following objection from Westminster City Council, The Georgian Group and English Heritage amongst others.

      My friend Roland Jeffries is presently writing a monograph of the works of Sir William Whitfield whose practice (Whitfield Partners) I worked with for many years. At the time he pointed out that with the adoption of electronic voting a temporary Commons Chamber could easily fit within one of the courtyards of Richmond House.

      Having got that off my chest I will return to that building by the Mancunian practice Hodder Associates. I might add that other buildings by that particular practice have fallen short of expectations.

      When I see a modern building with exposed external fire escape stairs then alarm bells start ringing in my ears. When I see an interior which resembles a Victorian Prison I judge that other factors may have come into play enabling this ghastly pile to secure the RIBA National Award renamed The Stirling Award named appropriately after another Architect famed for building failures.

      In truth I do not recognise the profession I devoted my working life to. I never much cared for the RIBA which since the 1920’s has lost its way. It was the Architect Emanuel Vincent Harris on being awarded the RIBA Gold Medal in 1951 who delivered the shortest acceptance speech on record with the lines: “Look, a lot of you people here tonight don’t like what I do and I don’t like what a lot of you do but I am proud and honoured to receive the Royal Gold Medal.”

      I make the connection between Harris, his audience of ‘modernists’ and the date 1951 because that was the year of the Festival of Britain where a great many tried and tested techniques and skilled trades were jettisoned for a supposed bright new future. Just look where that fuzzy dream has brought us, buildings with no Art or Beauty, often no windows and an innate ability to exude depression and degradation of our human spirit.

  95. Welcome to the world of disposable buildings.

    Award-winning building to be demolished less than 30 years after being built

    An award-winning university building that won a prestigious architecture prize is set to be demolished less than 30 years after it was built

    https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/12/style/salford-university-centenary-building-scli-intl/index.html

    There's a slide show on this page: https://hodderandpartners.com/projects/centenary-building-salford

    I look forward to Corimmobile's view.

  96. Please remember farmers protests up in London next Tuesday, the plod are already trying to block tractors from London . Also remember council elections every Friday .

  97. The Church of England must take this opportunity to reform
    We should resist the urge to rush to a new Archbishop who would merely replicate the Welby model
    Emma Thompson: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/14/the-church-of-england-is-in-desperate-need-of-reform/

    BTL

    Ms Thompson may be an averagely competent actress but she should keep her nose out of politics and especially Church politics.

    As Evelyn Waugh's Mr Prendergast observed in 'Decline and Fall': "A lay interest in ecclesiastical matters is often a prelude to insanity"

    2. The unelected Church of England hierarchy shouldn't poke their nose into politics. Clear the Bishops from the House of Lords.

      1. And while they're clearing out the bishops they should also remove all political appointees and bring back the hereditaries.

        1. TBF – he seemed to an honest and Christian man.
          Probably because he had deep knowledge of the peaceful people.

  99. Wake up call, the presumption of innocence no longer exists in the UK. If an old deleted Tweet is 'perceived' by the right kind of claimant to be stressful then that's enough for you to be jailed.
    First they came for Tommy, then Allison.. next up this concerned mother venting on X.. and during Islamophobia month.

    In my town when my little girls are followed home by boatmen the police will just advise the parents not to let their children walk in the same area again please let that sink in for just one second….

    You're f nicked dear.

    1. Presumption of innocence died when they signed us up to EU law (corpus juris). The continental system is to arrest first and then build a case and you have to prove your innocence.

  100. Just for Our Grizzly

    Vegan row erupts at Cop climate summit – and the UN steps in

    The food court at the Azerbaijan conference centre features just one vegan and vegetarian outlet, prompting complaints from delegates

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2024/11/14/TELEMMGLPICT000401759329_17315827716100_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqwwahmgRD9BRWJfLUiWq4JLdRGZeik13qovsYNf2HB7o.jpeg?imwidth=680

    The UN has reported it is responding to several complaints about a lack of available vegan food at the venue Credit: Könül Şahin/
    Emma Gatten
    Environment Editor, in Baku
    14 November 2024 11:17am GMT
    The UN has been forced to step in after a row about a lack of vegan options erupted at the Cop29 climate summit in Baku.

    The food court at the Azerbaijan conference centre features just one vegan and vegetarian outlet, prompting complaints from delegates who said plant-based food should be prioritised for its green credentials.

    Previous Cop summits have made a point of featuring a variety of vegan options.

    The Cop26 summit in Glasgow displayed the carbon footprint of all food items and offered more environmentally-friendly meat options, such as venison.
    *
    *
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/11/14/vegan-row-erupts-cop-climate-summit-un-steps-in/

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

    Daisy Good
    5 hrs ago
    What's got the bigger carbon footprint? Flying to a pointless summit like COP or staying at home? So stop whinging about the food. You could have stayed at home instead if you were that worried about the planet.

    Paul Isherwood
    5 hrs ago
    Reply to Daisy Good
    The Gambia…….huge country…not…….flew 170 delegates!

    2. There's a cricket (bug not game) factory in Ontario that is having money troubles, maybe the copites would fancy a bug burger. factory given seven million by that damned Trudeau because apparently bug breeding causes fewer emissions that raising cattle.

      what's the betting Trudeau didn't eat ground up bug during yesterdays personal trip to bemuda that the peasants paid for.

      1. From what I read, Turdeau is becoming more and more unpopular. I have read somewhere that the NDP Jagmeet Singh has a somewhat dubious background, and he was also a criminal defence lawyer.

        1. Jaggy has been denied a visa by India, they really don't like those Sikh separatists over there (we don't like him here either).

          The common thought is that he continues to support the liberal minority government because he doesn't yet have enough time in parliament for his MP pension to kick in.
          I met one of the earlier ndp leaders a few times when I was flying up to Ottawa. Sure he was a deluded lefty but friendly, intelligent and inquisitive, a great time to spend an hour chatting with..

          1. So that's why he is clinging on, just for the fat pension.
            I read somewhere about the Sikh separatists being violent in India, so they did what was right for their country.

          2. So that's why he is clinging on, just for the fat pension.
            I read somewhere about the Sikh separatists being violent in India, so they did what was right for their country.

    3. Exactly. If all the vegetarians in the UK stuck to cabbage potatoes and turnips for 6 months a year, i’d have more respect for them.

      1. I can cope with vegetarians. Vegans are so restricted that it is impossible to cook for them.

    5. Most vegan food is vey highly processed with all sorts of questionable additives, and of limited nutritional value.
      Azerbaijan probably doesn't go for silly food, so the complainers should think themselves lucky they have even one vegan option.

        1. Oddly enough, I like certain dishes that qualify as acceptable to vegans.

          If anything puts me off such dishes, it is that they are acceptable to vegans

          1. When the time comes, and it's starvation or eat bugs, the vegans will resort to eating cockroaches
            That's cannibalism in their case

    1. Is it just me or does anyone else find Katie Hopkins strangely attractive? Oh..OK….it's probably just me…..

      1. Not a young lass, has had some nasty health problems, but still has a confidence that adds hugely to her character.
        Yes, I agree.

      3. I would gladly chat over a drinky or two or three with her, but a bit too strong minded for me. I like her though.

    3. I strongly suspect that 95% of Nottlers could be prosecuted in this way, just for what they post on Nottle.

        2. Didn't the supposed Tories introduce this legislation?
          I can't see that the police have changed so quickly since labour took the election.

      2. Not a chance that they are not tracking this site. They probably have big computers scanning through blogs and comments looking for words on their naughty list.
        I don't undersrand the intollerance to black labs but I expect that referring to Guy Gibsons dog in a ethnic manner would set alarm bells ringing with Geoff at the receiving end.

        A few years ago I received some serious threats when I expressed concern about the need to moderate our language In what is essentially a private chat group but I was right and the way it has gone, all we can do is pack our Robertsons Golly

        1. I'm not convinced.

          If they were, there are a few Nottlers who would be worthy of headlines, given their previous incarnations.

          1. We shall see. These online harms bills are giving them a lot of power and the latest AI computers will be able to easily find non compliant thoughts. No point having the power if you don't seek out opponents.

  104. That's me for today. Actually SAW a doctor a month after requesting such. Very sensible young woman (looked about 18). Did exactly what I asked. So I forgave her for being 3/4 hour late. Got tablets for sinus isshoo. Referral to DEAF clinic at local(ish) hospital. So – looking forward to seeing them in July 2025.

    Both Tesco and Morrisons have 25% OFF 6 bottles of wine – so stocked up. Tesco's is a better deal.

    Believe it or not – and I can scarce believe it – my beloved grand-daughter was EIGHTEEN yesterday. I explained to her that now she is "of age" all presents stop…!! She has had offers of places from five universities and is waiting for an interview at Worcester College Oxford. Bright young lady. No idea where her brains come from.

    Have a spiffing evening – is there a Crowdfund for Allison Pearson, do you know?

    A demain – with luck.

        1. Hope she gets into Worcester, it's a tremendous college with all its own sporting facilities – I played Rugby there!

    1. I always treasure his "Missed" instant comment when there was a bang while he was addressing an audience!!!

  107. Apparently there is a pop band called The Vaccines. One person at work said to another, “I hear you’re a fan of The Vaccines”? I worried for a moment and sought clarification. “This is music, not a fetish for injections”? This was met with a nervous laugh and confirmation that yes, it’s her favourite music. A short extract was played for my appraisal. They sound innocuous.

    Good news on the doormat when I got home. My recent mammogram found no sign of cancer.

  109. BBC's PM on the Allison Pearson business. Tame stuff mostly, with Lord Macdonald (DPP 2003-08) and Fraser Nelson saying: "Something must be done!"

    Apparently, Essex Police have the hump and are 'contesting the way it's been written up in the Daily Telegraph.'

    About eight minutes starting at 46:40: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0024x1b

    2. Fraser Nelson is pro mass immigration – he refused to acknowledge that cultures might clash and that more vetting was needed.

    3. The Essex Chief Constable was one of the senior officers insisting that there was no such thing as two tier policing.

    5. Well, of course they’re contesting the way it was written up, that’s all they can do. They’ve ended up looking ridiculous. A pity it wasn’t recorded, that’s the only way these people can be properly shown up.
      It’s good that this has happened to a high profile writer from a national newspaper. A normal person would never have received this level of publicity or support.
      Many years ago when I still lived in England Private Eye was prosecuted for criminal libel, the plaintiff making use of an old unheard of law which his lawyers had dug up. I remember Richard Ingrams saying he couldn’t take in the concept that he might be imprisoned for something he had written.
      How things have changed since those times.

  110. Good evening.
    Hurry. Got to grips with new art program. Lots to learn – I've only scraped the surface – but at least I'm now on the wavelength.
    Talk about a learning curve!

    2. Does that mean we all get a personalised mind state abstract? Cheaper than royal mail i suppose.

  111. It sounds if they're upgrading AP's posting to a definite hate crime in order to cover their sorry arses.

  115. I'm beginning to worry that, in his desire for change, Trump is appointing some characters who are far more trouble than they're worth, just to make a point.
    Why waste lots of time trying to get very borderline people through the approval process in the Senate when he could get an equally good team in place quickly?

    Yes, I know the NYT isn't a Trump supporter, but they make valid points

    Gaetz, Gabbard and Hegseth: Trump’s Picks Are a Show of Force
    President-elect Donald J. Trump’s cabinet picks show that he prizes loyalty over experience and is fueled by retribution.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/13/us/politics/gaetz-gabbard-hegseth-trump-appointees.html

    AND I admit I approve of their objectives, I'm just not convinced they are the right people for the jobs..
    We shall see…

        1. Perhaps not. He now understands the scale of the challenge ranged against him. That's maybe why he's going for the hardcore support.

          1. If he wastes months getting borderline people in place where he could get alternatives, with similar views waved through he’s done himself a disservice

    2. Come come. President Trump is bringing in the people he needs to get the job done. Some are previous opponents. Others were Democrats. Others still are Rottweillers. Woof !

      The media is trying to poison what he is doing. Don't believe them !

      1. The cases in point had a lot of baggage before Trump’s triumph.

        If he had stated they would be put in the positions he proposes, during the election, I wonder if he would have been elected

        1. I think you will have a long wait to have the Democrats back. Of course he told the people over and over what he is going to do.You did not expect him to name who he was going to pick to do it did you.?

          1. My issue with the choices is that they are sufficiently controversial that even his own party will vote against their confirmation.
            I hope not but we shall see.

    3. If nothing else some of these appointments will persuade democrats that they were right all along and that could lead to a resurgence of their party.

      Trump is already having an effect in Canada, despite saying that they have a plan in place to handle Trump, the liberals are running scared. There is already talk from the nominees about how weak the Canadian border is, how Trudeau has invited in the dregs of society and they don't let us forget that Trump hates Trudeau anyway.

      It is going to be a tough year up here.

      1. Re the first point. I agree, it could backfire.
        Trudeau seems to want to destroy Canada as a nation state.

    4. Trump has learned from last time. I think he is doing the right thing bringing people that are not all from DC. This is what the people voted for "big change" and boy are we ging toget it.. If he has failures he will change them

      2. I’m all in favour of his objectives, but if it takes months to get the people in place it is valuable time being wasted in area of great importance.

        The very interesting one for me is JFK Jr.
        If Trump can get him confirmed quickly, he really does have the party on his side.

  119. I feel an early night coming on.
    I had a phone call just before 6pm my good lady had a flat front tyre and had to pull into a country pub car park. Fortunately I was able to use our youngest sons car to go out to assist. But I couldn't get the wheel nuts undone. Then had to ring eldest to come from his local home and help. Took about an hour all tolled. It's in for an MOT tomorrow it could cause a few problems. With the 'get you home' wheel on.
    Trying to be enthusiastic about the England v Greece football match. German ref appears to be assisting by handing out yellow cards 🟨 to England players.
    I'll finish my glass of ozzie red and pop off.
    Good night all. 😴

    1. At least it was a "get you home" wheel and not just a repair kit which doesn't work when there's a split in the tyre. Sleep well.

  120. Evening, all. The best laid plans and all that … I didn't get to do my dressage coaching because I got a phone call to say the horse had had a bout of colic. I'll keep the lesson plan for another day. Hopefully, all will be well.

    The whole "hate crime" business has been undermining our freedoms since Blair. We can no longer say what we think – and even our thoughts are hate crimes! The USSR has nothing on present day Britain.

    1. I have just printed that out to keep.

      Just too good and stupid at the same time.

      Of course Humza is being spied on. We all are.

    2. I have just printed that out to keep.

      Just too good and stupid at the same time.

      Of course Humza is being spied on. We all are.

    3. Alison Pearson made a comment that had been trawled from a year ago. I do hope Mr Musk exposes all the previous tweets of the actual racists and shoves them down their throats.
      Diane Abbot and Lammy are easy meat. Go Elon!

  124. Far from the madding crowd ❤️
    If any of you are interested , great film on shortly .
    Snuggle down and watch this modern classic.
    BBC4 21.15pm this evening .. More Thomas Hardy stories

    1. There are two versions of it on tonight.
      The Carey Mulligan version (which I like a lot) on BBC4; and the old Julie Christie version on Film4.

      1. I am watching the the newer version , Carey Mulligan.

        Did you see the previous programme about miners and the memories of the past life .

        If you can catch it , it was very good , but terribly sad .

      2. Christo studied it for IB Higher and enjoyed it. He also saw both of the films on DVD, then read The Mayor of Casterbridge, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Wessex Tales and Jude the Obscure. He did what I did at his age and once he found an author he enjoyed he tried to read as many of the books he or she had written that he could get his hands on.

      3. Christo studied it for IB Higher and enjoyed it. He also saw both of the films on DVD, then read The Mayor of Casterbridge, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Wessex Tales and Jude the Obscure. He did what I did at his age and once he found an author he enjoyed he tried to read as many of the books he or she had written that he could get his hands on.

      1. Net Zero is a scam

        Carbon dioxide is necessary and beneficial to the planet

        Man-made climate change is a myth.

        The whole global warming scare is about controlling the population and making money for those who peddle it.

        Proper objective debate of the issue has been suppresses – science is never settled.

        When granny dies of cold because she cannot afford the inflated cost of heating her home then blame Miliband, Reeves and Starmer. – don't blame me!

    1. I think it is the total lack of them. Not the artificial shit like cocaine and the rest. I think these people are incapable of manufacturing joy from their own bodies.

  131. Good evening all.

    SWMBO and me are on a short visit to Wales.

    We have been Internetless for 2 days now.

    Hope all is well in the real world

      1. We had a very affectionate Schnauzer who saw it as her duty to aggressively protect the family from any perceived danger. She would always bark at anyone who didn't fit in with her world view of what she might call the right sort of people.
        Often embarrassing but we put it down to her teutonic genes as she always treated the German tourists we met on the beach with great respect.

  132. Well, chums, bedtime rolls around again. Good night, sleep well, and I hope to see you all bright eyed and bushy tailed tomorrow morning.

    1. alternatively…The Government has achieved its objective…more people are frightened.

  135. Sky at night … and look at that huge moon , dazzling bright .. and listen to the owls and snufflings and shufflings in the garden … The wretched mole has been busy.. tunnel now to the end of the garden .. piles of earth like early tribal burial mounds .. scattered… flower bed , hedge line etc …

    Does he surface through one mound then scuttle off down the garden for another dig, I don't know … my outside nature camera isn't working

    Good night all of you . Sleep well.

    2. We had a mole in our rear lawn a decade or so past. My wife Carol determined to stop the mole and vigorously forked the lawn. The poor mole surfaced on the end of her fork, spiked through a leg. Out of remorse the poor mole was released on the other side of our fence with our neighbours. I doubt it survived. Carol has never forgiven herself.

      The moral of this tale is to ask others to just leave wildlife alone to pursue its own purposes. Leave the tiny animals alone. They do no real harm and quite frankly a few molehills on a silly manicured lawn is otherwise an improvement. Plant daffodils in your lawns instead.

  138. it’s almost as if the Harry Miller verdict had never happened.

    “The Home Office is reviewing how police record non-crime hate incidents to ensure that they are “proportionate” and protect free speech, after the row over an investigation into a Telegraph journalist.“

  140. Good morning, chums, and thanks to Geoff for today's NoTTLe site.

    Wordle 1,245 3/6

    🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
    🟨🟩⬜⬜🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Comments are closed.