Thursday 15 December: The PM must turn his words on immigration reform into action

Posted on by Geoff Graham

An unofficial place to discuss the Telegraph letters, established when the DT website turned off its comments 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.

631 thoughts on “Thursday 15 December: The PM must turn his words on immigration reform into action”

  2. Good morrow, Gentlefolks, more normality today:

    Political Good Idea

    Nancy Pelosi called Hillary Clinton into her office one day and said, “Hillary, I have a plan to win back Middle America in 2024!”
    “Great Nancy, but how?” asked Hillary.
    “We’ll get some cheesy clothes and shoes, like most Middle-Class Americans wear, then stop at the pound and pick up a Labrador retriever. Then, we’ll go to a nice old country bar in Montana and show them how much admiration and respect we have for the hard-working people living there.”
    So they did, and found just the place they were looking for in Bozeman, Montana. With the dog in tow, they walked inside and stepped up to the bar.
    The Bartender took a step back and said, “Hey! Aren’t you Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi?”
    “Yes, we are!” said Nancy, “And what a lovely town you have here. We were passing through and Hillary suggested we stop and take in some local colour.”
    They ordered a round of bourbon for the whole bar, and started chatting up a storm with anyone who would listen.
    A few minutes later, a grizzled old rancher came in, walked up to the Labrador, lifted up its tail, looked underneath, shrugged his shoulders and walked out. A few moments later, in came another old rancher. He walked up to the dog, lifted up its tail, looked underneath, scratched his head and left the bar.
    For the next hour, another dozen ranchers came in, lifted the dog’s tail, and left shaking their heads.
    Finally, Nancy asked, “Why did all those old ranchers come in and look under the dog’s tail? Is it some sort of custom?”
    “Lord no,” said the bartender. “Someone’s out there running around town, claiming there’s a Labrador retriever in here with two assholes!”

    2. Good morning Tom.

      Bill Clinton went into a bar in a tumbledown hick town and said in disgust to the bartender:

      “This place is the arsehole of the world.”
      “Just passing through?” the bartender replied.

  3. Morning, all Y’all.
    -15C, and problem with the railway. Fortunately, I’m in a warm train, as it’s a bit blowy as well.

    1. It does look good, BoB (good morning, btw). I hope to watch it in full myself later today.

    2. I think I’ll give it a miss – too depressing and it’s not as if we don’t know what has happened.

    1. Good morning, Minty. I seem to have got the knack of the upvotes today – but I hope I’m not speaking too soon.

  6. Multi sig letter highlighting the need to protect against violence against women and girls:-

    I wonder how many of those 9 signatories can accurately define what a woman is and how many would struggle?

    Tougher action to protect women online
    SIR – The Online Safety Bill (report, December 14) must go further to address violence against women and girls (VAWG). As a coalition of experts, we welcome the Bill’s return, but it must treat this as the national emergency it is.

    Tackling VAWG is a strategic policing requirement as well as a government priority, but recent changes in the Bill mean previous provisions on “misogynistic content” have been weakened.

    If the Government is serious about prioritising VAWG, a mandated Code of Practice must be included in the Bill. This would provide specific guidance and send a clear message to social media companies that they must tackle violence against women.

    At least 36 per cent of British women have experienced online abuse or harassment perpetrated on social media. Online platforms are failing to respond to this crisis. The women and girls we support tell us how these failures have left them retraumatised, at increased risk of harm and abuse, and silenced online.

    With our insight into women and girls’ experiences of online abuse and harassment, we stand ready to work with the Government to address this serious issue. We urge it to include VAWG in the list of mandatory Codes of Practice within the Bill. This would mean the legislation could be truly transformative for millions of British women and girls.

    Ruth Davison
    CEO, Refuge
    Baroness Kidron
    Founder, 5Rights Foundation

    And 7 other signatories.

    1. Lefty nonsense, using domestic violence and online abuse of women as a weapon to get more censorship and control.

    2. 368987+ up ticks,

      Morning Bob,
      I truly believe after the JAY having little affect on the voting pattern that in reality the vigilante groups are a more
      effective route to take.

      Not exactly cricket I know but who knows all the rules of cricket.

      1. Good morning, ogga1. Never mind the baffling (to me) rules of cricket. I now have yet another baffling acronym (VAWG) to learn.

        2. It’s the same old politician/civil servant answer to any problem; form a committee, create another swathe of acronyms, fail to answer the main point due to cultural Marxism.

          More jobs for the, erm, boys?

      2. At least JK Rowling has the same clarity of thought. Though her ‘women only’ refuge has upset the Leftwaffe and I suspect Olga Krankie and her minions will be out for her blood.

        Why don’t the Leftwaffe just open a refuge for cocks in frocks?

      1. He was going bananas – so, after his breakfast, we let him out. We will bathe the wound when he condescends to return.

    2. It’s -4°C on the Costa Clyde and may rise as high as -1°C by noon. The golf course is closed! This is a rare occasion as Prestwick St Nicholas GC is right on the shoreline and normally escapes the worst of winter due to the North Atlantic Drift/Gulf Stream. It’s been below freezing here for the past two weeks. Anyone would think it was December!

  8. 368987+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Letters: The PM must turn his words on immigration reform into action

    If this comes into being it will be a first since the political cottaging spectre of the park toilets lifted the entry latch to assorted mass criminality,
    paedophilia being a front runner, and still holding that position.

    The reason is most likely that a gridlock of morally wrong illegals is proving to be a bit of a bind in building the WeF kapo army, the trouble being there are only so many hotel,holiday camp, owners,
    and private individuals willing to take the Fifth column route.

          2. An army of bureaucrats led by Beer Korma and Olga Krankie, who’s kowtowing to the cocks in frocks is demented.

  10. The PM must turn his words on immigration reform into action

    How much longer can the Conservatives leadership get away with this we’re tough on immigration pantomime?

    3. bb2, below has it right, there is a large flock of Tory voters who hang on every word from the leadership and see the Labour party, correctly, as a threat. Likewise, a large flock of Labour voters still believe that this modern Labour party has their best interests at heart and correctly see these Tories as a threat. Unless and until the sheep in these flocks realise they are being duped by both major parties the ebb and flow of deliberate managed decline will continue.
      I’ve formed an opinion that the deliberate mass importation of immigrants is the most successful policy the Tories have run since 2010. They didn’t dare put it in their manifesto but went ahead anyway even when claiming they were determined to put a stop to it. Sunak continues the falsehood and a Labour government would be no different.

          1. Yes, but I let myself go last night and had a snifter (or two, or three, or… well let’s be honest I polished off an entire bottle of Merlot in one) and had to resort twice to Alka-Seltzer to see me through the night. This morning’s breakfast consisted of a sipped glass of milk!!! I am a very Silly Sausage. Lol.

          2. Sounds like you needed it! Worry not about having a snifter, worry when you find you can’t do without it.

          5. I only had three glasses of Malbec last night; I’m sure the bottles are getting smaller.

    4. For as long as an almost brain-dead public let them get away with it. Labour are as bad if not worse, but the morons will vote for one or t’other. I despair of the stupidity of this country. Apparently our national average IQ has gone down in the last few decades. I’m not surprised.

      1. When you flood the country with people who have a lower IQ you are going to bring the average down, I would have thought.

        1. Not only that, but if you don’t stimulate the brain cells of the indigenous population it’s a double dip.

    2. Morninng Elise – where is your axe and bow? I hope you’ve cleaned the blood off and oiled the bow. (which I miss doing, as my recurve is now this silly carbon fibre rather than the ash layers it used to be.

      1. That’s Æthelread, Lady of the Mercians, though I’m sure Elsie could be quite lethal with an axe.

      1. Yes, Phizzee. It came out locally in January 2013 and was the first film we watched at the local Odeon when I started the (u3a) Wrinklies Film Club ten years ago. Since then I have organised and watched more than 500 films over ten years. After Monday of this week (Dec 19) when we will watch AVATAR 2 at the local Curzon Colchester, my 10-year leadership of this u3a group will come to an end. I shall continue to watch the occasional film but will mainly watch films from my extensive DVD collection as well as those available on YouTube. I can’t watch BBC iPlayer because I have no TV and refuse to pay the BBC licence fee in order to subsidise this corrupt organisation.

        But I have many happy memories of QUARTET, especially the final concert given by the residents when the organiser of the concert (Michael Gambon) who is sitting in the audience watching the concert stands up, turns round and takes a bow as the audience are applauding the performers. A VERY funny scene indeed.

      1. That you got out is brave stuff. I am pretending to work before the maelstrom begins.

        This young fellow we have is a bit odd. He is awake before me, logs on, does real work (he’s scripting re-building all our servers) and carries on until about mid afternoon. I have told him it’s a 2 week project, but at this rate he’ll be done in 1.

        I may have to have words about pacing himself.

    1. Which is too cold, even for the most hardy of souls. I walked back from the gym and by the half way point I was slowing down as my muscles cramped and squeezed.

      1. Regardless of the colour of one’s balls, when it’s freezing it’s akin to playing golf on a undalating lino floor. Throw in fairway mats and temporary greens and it’s just swinging practice.

  14. Transgender toddler is the hero of Stonewall children’s book
    The LGBT+ charity’s new catalogue, aimed at two to four-year-olds, includes titles ‘10,000 Dresses’ and ‘Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl?’
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/12/14/transgender-toddler-hero-stonewall-childrens-book/

    If this is a joke it is a very sick joke.

    Are our politicians going to stand by and allow this repulsive child abuse to happen without stopping it?

    1. Yes. Worse, they’re supporting it. Even worse is they force us to pay for it. I think your children are both grown up, but if you can, look for some Scout/Guide ‘games’. There’s ones in there forced by Stonewall that are horrifically insulting to intelligence, decision making, all to enforce their views.

      My niece and I came up with a dice based game that was more fun and less ‘pretend you’re a poof’.

      1. When I used to read the Evening Standard I enjoyed any article by the late Victor Lewis-Smith.
        Until I saw his obituary I had no idea that he once wrote skits about gay Daleks.

  16. Normally, we would be on the way to the market. Just been out to look at the lane – not treated icy. Will defer our trip until 10.30 or so.

    Cloudless sky. Still well below zero. Quite invigorating in a freezing so of way!

  17. Full transcript of Andrew Bridgen’s speech in the Commons is on the DS newsletter today. Also featured by Dr John Campbell.

    I can’t help wondering if my fit and healthy, sporty husband has been damaged by this stuff. He had three shots of Pfizer vax. His last booster was last winter sometime. The damage to his arteries could have been building up since then.

    1. Good morning, Ndovu. Yet more baffling acronyms to learn – I thought the Daily Sketch folded decades ago.

          2. I forget who he spoke to, but apparently when Attenborough took the role of political correspondent he said to his successor ‘I have no idea what they’re talking about. They use riddles, code phrases and buzz words. What does it all mean?’

            If he couldn’t penetrate the density of waffle these folk come out with, Joe Public have no chance.

    2. Good morning m’dear.
      I would not like to guess, but it is a possibility.

      Is his operation going ahead today or is it likely to be postponed again because of the Nurses strike?

      1. I hope that when the surgeon and his sidekicks came round to talk to him yesterday they had made sure the nurses would be in. He will have a specialist intensive care nurse.

        1. Best wishes at this time to your husband and you, Ndovu.
          Both the rail strike and the nurses’ action have deemed that one of my brothers-in-law will not have an operation before Christmas. The operation would have allowed him to eat a Christmas meal, now he has to celebrate by drinking a soup.

          2. He has to go to London’s Charing Cross Hospital from Colchester for his specialist operation. It’s one day travel, have the op on clearing the growth around the old wound in his throat, overnight in case of complications, and then home. The only way to travel there is by train and he needs to be accompanied there and back.

          3. Complicated making the arrangements. I was able to visit most days while my husband was in Gloucester but have only managed one visit so far to Oxford last week. Couldn’t get there on his birthday due to the snowfall.

      1. At least it is being talked about. Even if there is no correlation, the duty of government is to investigate.

        Who am I kidding. It’ll be a whitewash.

      2. At Least We Turned Up.

        During the Troubles the English Rugby Team went to Ireland to play against the Ireland XV. The English team suffered a defeat but neither the Welsh nor the Scottish were prepared to take the risk of going to Dublin.

        ‘At least we turned up’ was what the English captain, John Pullin, said and his biographer, Steve Tomlin, used this as the title of his book about the England skipper.

        That our MPs should not even bother to turn up to participate in the debate on one of the most devastatingly important issues of today shows me that Britain is finished and is beyond redemption.

        1. Exactly, Richard, I counted just 7 on the Gov’t benches and only 1 on the Opposition benches.

          Where are the remaining 642?

          2. In the bar waiting for the division bell (when they’ll turn up and vote like lemmings, never having listened to a word of the debate).

    4. MB’s myocardial infarction was a fortnight to the day after his first AZ jab.
      We were all making the best decisions we could in the circumstances. As with the “Common Market” our government was “economical with the actualité”.

    5. Yes, and the doubt is a very real problem. We all know the vaccine wasn’t trialled properly because of the urgency of Covid at the time.

      At least in the UK the subject is allowed to be debated in Parliament, even if very few people turned up. Here in France, the whole thing is classified “secret défence” and is therefore protected by the equivalent of the Official Secrets Act. So, although everybody is asking the same questions this side of the Channel, no official discussion is allowed.

  18. For the Nottler Tw@terati, a thread on the FTX scandal indicating the corruption (as if we didn’t already have a good idea) of American Politics, particularly with reference to the Democrat Party:-
    https://twitter.com/greg_price11/status/1602752402087477248

    And a 2nd post indicating that even AFTER FTX filed for bankruptcy, funds were still being removed, possibly with the help of former FTX employees:-
    https://twitter.com/NerdNationUnbox/status/1602730485620375552

    1. The chance of the truth ad depth of this scandal coming out are shrinking by the day. They’ll bump Bankman off, cover it all up and say it was an example of why capitalism fails and how important socialism, especially Democrat socialism – works.

    2. Totally off topic, but my upvote avatar for this post has been changed from a picture of my good self wielding my trusty brolly to a simple “EB” (white on a blue circular background). Can anyone explain this to me?

        1. To clarify my comment, Ndovu, my pictorial avatar shown on this page has not changed, but when I hover over the four upvotes it is listed as “EB”. This is not the case with the upvotes I made earlier this morning, which are still the “brolly” ones.

      2. Morning Elsie, your normal ‘grandma’ is there but when I hover over it it says your upticks are zero which can’t be right

    3. Further up the wEeZiE feed, it appears that someone in the DoJ filed to arrest SBF in order to have him avoid testifying! Thankfully, they failed.

    4. Further up the wEeZiE feed, it appears that someone in the DoJ filed to arrest SBF in order to have him avoid testifying! Thankfully, they failed.

    5. Small wonder why The Bahamas left the Common Poverty.

      They didn’t want Jokey Wokey King telling them not to rob FTX.

  19. Sunak has absolutely no interest in removing or reforming migration. He could, quite easily, but has no wish to. His plan is to remain chained to the hated EU and that means no removing the migration pact, no removing the ECHR oversight, n leaving the ECJ, no repeal of the climate change act or net zero , of modern slavery – nothing. He will continue to puff and waffle and say ‘I tried’ when he did nothing of the sort because it didn’t suit his globalist masters puppeting him.

    1. I think he is already bored with being PM so he doesn’t care what happens. He can just take off to the USA or India with his money. He does not even need to make millions – as Bonker Boris Johnson is doing – out of his failed premiership.

      1. Which is odd as he put an awful lot of energy into getting the job. I think, like all politicians, he likes the power and prestige, hob nobbing with the hoi polloi, but doesn’t really care for the annoying bits – like governing and making hard decisions.

        Those make him unpopular, and he lives on ego.

        1. He was obeying orders from his masters in WEF to get in and bugger the UK, up and down, in and out, all the way round.

    2. He ignores the Northern Ireland predicament . His roots are in India and I don’t think he gives the safety of the Union any priority.

      1. I don’t think it even flickers on his radar. Such comes under the ‘difficult things’ when he’d rather be on a jet flying to shake hands with some wonk for a publicity shoot.

    1. What’s more notable is they want to specifically avoid blockchain to ensure they can fiddle the currency on demand.

      It is also future EU policy. The sole, specific intent of this government is to ensure we are rechained to the EU.

      1. 368987+ up ticks,

        Morning W,

        The re entry to the eu has been so plainly obvious since the treacherous treasa installed the nine month delay
        allowing brussels to get it’s shit together.

        Many of us “fruitcakes ” in UKIP original
        wanted total severance.

        1. Governments fear one thing: removal over control of the currency. When they can destroy it, devalue it, inflate it, create it, tax it, they’re all powerful. This is why Switzerland has a stable, strong economy: goverment cannot fiddle the currency as it is linked to gold.

          Crypto – the real terror feared so much by the state – removes all government control, creates an untouchable, unfiddleable currency hat could be used wherever. It is a digital ‘gold coin’. If government finds , thanks to it’s own malice that no one uses it’s currency (such as in Panama, Zimbabwe, Venezuela) because it is essentially worthless (made so by that same government issuing it) then that government has no power. This is why the euro was so important to the EU and why the Left fight so hard to keep it.

          If shops started taking bitcoin (or an equivalent coinage backed by the blockchain standard), the state would make it illegal. They fear losing control of currency like nothing else.

          1. I thought Switzerland was fiat like everyone else?
            They have said that a retail CBDC would not bring them any benefits at this time. They are also way less over-printed than the Euro, Dollar or Pound.

            I looked on the website of the Swiss Post office bank (Post Finance) to see about opening an account; there’s a pretty hefty 25 CHF per month charge if you don’t live in CH or Lichtenstein though.

    2. Nigel Farage is a keen supporter of digital currency. One of the few things which I disagree with him.

      1. 368987+ up ticks,

        Morning CS,

        There are about 30000 others with holes in the back of their daily attire that would disagree with farage.

    3. Bear in mind that Jeremy Hunt has always stated openly that his intent is to get Britain back into the EU.

      …at least he’s honest, unlike some MPs who quietly work against British interests.

    4. Retail CBDCs will fail. Everyone’s just got to get themselves from here to the other side of the toxic experiment with some wealth intact.
      We will probably end up with digital currencies for international transactions – the BRICS currency will be digital, surely.

  21. -9 deg here this morning, the heating may stay on for a couple of hours today. Time to visit my friend and make use of his CH! I wonder what he is having for lunch. Something I like I hope. 🤣

      2. I presume alcohol was starting to run dry and that is what drove you home to your own supplies. Initiative, that’s what I like to see.

  22. Well I’d better get up – my neighbour is going to lend me her Dyson so I can do a bit of housework as Evri still haven’t delivered the replacement battery for my Vax cleaner.

    1. I bought some kit from China. It took about a week to get here. It then sat on Southampton docks for 3 weeks as Evri lost it.

      They’re utterly incompetent.

  23. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/12/14/channel-migrant-crisis-ofsted-ratings-schools-jonathan-gullis/

    ‘Very real concerns about the impact on services’
    Stoke-on-Trent City Council has previously objected to the Home Office using a prominent hotel to house asylum seekers.

    Abi Brown,the council leader, said previously: “We have very real concerns about the impact on services, on communities and on our ability to be able to give the right support to vulnerable people at a time of such major upheaval and crisis in their lives.

    “Asking our city to support potentially many more asylum seekers in this way is not fair on anyone.”

    A Government spokesman said: “The global migration crisis is causing an unprecedented strain on our asylum system.

    They are NOT asylum seekers. They are illegal economic migrants. Most with no interest in working except selling drugs, prostitution and crime. Stop calling them asylum seekers.

    1. There are no “very real concerns”

      Planning regulations require approval in change of use from an hotel to an hostel.

      Stoke on Trent Council obviously gave this approval.

      It’s all empty twaddle.

    2. The danger now is that through importing sheer numbers of people who have already demonstrated that they have no respect for our laws, we will reach a tipping point where there is zero protection from criminals and nobody will escape.

  25. Melting ice brings Chinese threat closer, warns Armed Forces chief. 15 December 2022.

    Melting ice caps will enable China’s military forces to “reach into the Atlantic”, the Chief of the Defence Staff has warned.

    At an address on Wednesday, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin urged people to consider what effect climate change would have on the security of the nation.

    In his annual Royal United Services Institute address, Sir Tony said: “We also need to consider the melting of the ice caps in the coming decades, which will: unleash a difficult new competition for minerals and resources; halve the time it takes for shipping to travel between Asia and Europe; and surely China’s military forces will start to reach into the Atlantic?”

    Does he not look out of his own windows?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/12/14/chinas-military-could-reach-atlantic-ice-caps-melt-warns-armed/

    1. Arghhh!
      I see there is still a long way to go before we reach peak stupidity.

      Tomorrow’s headline “China more likely to make deals with aliens, threatening rest of World”

    2. The muppet is obviously unaware of the record levels of snow/ice currently covering the Arctic region or that Antarctica has just recorded it’s lowest temperature since the record breaking low last year.

    1. Rubbish! Miscarriages happen for all sorts of reasons. The ignoramus shouldn’t comment on what he knows nothing about!

      1. Miscarriage. It’s not fun for anyone; and I can understand it hurt, but to roll it out in the fight with his family, in public, like that. The last vestige of respect for the man has now seeped away. It would save us all a lot of hassle if he were to FOAD.

  28. America, but it is moving this way here
    https://www.takimag.com/article/gays-youre-not-black/

    For at least a half-century now, every special pleader in America has made the following argument: Yeah, but what if we were black?
    This is supposed to be rhetorical kryptonite, capable of anathematizing “discrimination” against any group: atheists, women, gays, immigrants, illegal immigrants, the disabled, Muslims — basically anyone except a fully abled, cis-gendered, white male born in this country.

    As G.K. Chesterton said, “When you break the big laws, you do not get freedom, you do not even get anarchy. You get the small laws.”
    That’s what “discrimination” law is today. Instead of one big law: “No Race Discrimination!” we have a million little laws about strict scrutiny, intermediate scrutiny, rational basis test, public accommodations, bona fide occupational qualifications, and on and on and on. At the same time, we have open race discrimination against whites and Asians.
    Unless you’re alleging race discrimination, take your lumps like a cis-gendered white man. You can be fired, not hired, turned away, rejected, called names, disciplined, looked askance at — and no one cares.
    This simple rule allows us to live in what we call “freedom.” As the libertarians would say (if they were real libertarians), start your own website business, bakery, Hillel organization, professional football team, holiday, all-women’s eating club, etc. etc. etc.

          1. Pops back home to see his wifelets and then sees a private doctor in whichever country he came from.

        2. My surgery sent out a text informing patients that due to the incidence of Strep A there would be controls on appointments. I went in to arrange a blood test and a blood pressure check and I received an odd look from the receptionist for my trouble. After assuring her that I was aware of the Strep A problem and that post New Year would suit me I received a courteous response and my appointments in January next.

        1. One wonders how many other gimmegrants are aware of, and using, his systems.
          No wonder they’re pouring into the UK.

          1. It was a common racket in the 90s. Best practiced in London, I’m told, as there are so many local authorities side by side – you invest in the requisite number of passports, then make the rounds as often as necessary, with a flat in each borough – sublet, of course.

      3. Sometimes it’s difficult to avoid the suspicion that some of the civil servants who made some of the decisions have got “a bit of a racket” going. £70k+ per identity must involve housing benefits (and then 5 times over) … and, then, there is the suppliers of identities (perhaps a network, involving some “civil servants”).

  31. Morning all, bit warmer this morning, snow melting but surrounding roads treacherous. Threw some bread out for the birds, fascinating to watch how the different species react. One blackbird chasing all other blackbirds away from it’s pile of bread, while it is doing this the sparrows are diving in and nicking it. The only bird to stand its ground is the robin

    1. Put the remains of a sponge pudding out this morning. First in was a blackbird and then I didn’t pay any attention for about half an hour: all gone! Most likely culprits magpies, jackdaws or a rather large crow that visits occasionally.
      Sadly, I don’t have a robin this winter. I miss trying to train it to come for food.

      2. Ours have been treated to left over sweet potato wedges (cooked in olive oil, so good for their hearts) and the crusts of seeded bread. The health Nazis would be proud of me.

      3. Our robin comes to the kitchen window to tell us it needs more meal worms. The tits will empty the peanut feeder in a day although they fly off with one nut at a time.

      1. My mother’s name was Robina.
        Inevitably it was shortened to Robin.
        She absolutely lived up to the name: short, busty and very stroppy.

    4. A robin here appears each morning, and indeed most of the day, demanding to be fed. Sadly, I have been decimating the earthworm population as there is not much in the way of woodlice or timorous wee creepy crawlies.

      Found a dead robin two days ago; could be one that was in-your-face friendly/aggressive.

  32. I don’t know if Gareth Southgate offered a similar incentive to his players as the former Italian premier offered in his motivational speech.

    Silvio Berlusconi promises ‘coachload of hookers’ to his football team if they beat rivals
    The former Italian prime minister’s pledge is met with ire from female politicians who condemn his ‘revolting vulgarity’
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/12/14/silvio-berlusconi-promises-coachload-hookers-football-team-beat/

    I expect his speech won a slow hand clap. Better than the clap his players are likely to get if they win!

    Mind you I would not advise Wendyball players to mess with front row rugby forwards of either sex!

    1. Morning Richard. He probably promised them the lgbtq eqivalent which they gracefully declined by losing!

  33. I notice on a not-busy minor shopping street near me in Selly Oak, a recent proliferation of “Turkish” barbers’ shops …. plenty seats for customers, but NO CUSTOMERS most of the time ….. ominously one had some artistic transfer lettering on its windows saying it offered haircuts and “supplies”. Who on earth would go to barber’s these days for supplies?

    3. Someone is funding them. They get work visas and eventually residency. They are popping up everywhere. There are now 5 in my small town. Money laundering.

      1. My 18 year old son says he has seen some “clients” disappear out the back for 4 mins and he is sure they are buying drugs

      2. I wonder what the standard backhander payment is to the official (and his/her network) at the Home Office who dispenses these work visas for barbers.

        PS. Whatever happened to Priti Patel#
        ‘s much trumpeted Australian -type points system?

    4. My lady barber and I discuss this ‘growth industry’ on most occasions when I need her excellent service. Her place of work is, we think, one of only three traditional barbers left in Colchester town. The Turkish ‘barbers’ have spread to all points of the compass around here.

        1. I deliberately separated the two links to emphasise how it could swiftly rebound on us first.
          I particularly noticed two points
          1. as pro-Putin MP threatens ‘hotbed of all nastiness’ London with missile strike
          and more importantly
          2. ‘And a strike on London, strange as it may sound, would be the first and last warning to the [real decision-makers – Washington].’

          In other words, USA back off or you’ll get the same.

          2. Oh he will be, deep underground in a bunker, ready to emerge and take the credit for what he intended all along, without nuclear force.

          3. Small cheer but at least it would wipe out the corrupt ‘Nastiness’ in Westminster.

            Just make sure both houses are s(h)itting.

    2. HMG is among the leaders to thrust us into WW3 and have been eager to assist Ukraine from the start. I’m sure this is at the instigation of or under the instructions of USA.

  35. Good Moaning.
    All comments to be suitable for reading in a family newspaper.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/12/15/nhs-worker-says-husbands-cancer-treatment-should-exempt-nursing/

    “NHS worker says husband’s cancer treatment should be exempt from nursing strike

    Roni Mounter, a ward clerk at a hospital, said she is behind the strikes but that cancer treatment should be exempt

    By Catherine Lough 15 December 2022 • 9:21am

    NHS nurses display signs as they strike, due to a dispute with the government over pay, outside St Thomas’ Hospital in London, Britain

    NHS nurses display signs as they strike, due to a dispute with the government over pay, outside St Thomas’ Hospital in London, Britain Credit: Henry Nicholls/Reuters

    An NHS worker whose husband will miss his blood cancer appointments because of a walkout by nurses has said she thinks his treatment should have been exempt from the strike.

    Roni Mounter, whose husband Neil has blood cancer, told BBC Radio 4’s Today that he would not have his scheduled appointment on Thursday in Birmingham.

    “He started his treatment approximately five weeks ago just with an interferon drug, and he started his photopheresis I believe two weeks’ later,” she said.

    “So he’s now had two cycles of it, which is two days a week every other week. He should have gone yesterday and today but they cancelled yesterday, because they couldn’t do it today so they’ve now put him in for Monday next week. But again he won’t have it on the Tuesday, because ideally the days should be together, so then he’ll have to go back on the Wednesday.”

    She added: “It is worrying because he’s been very delayed in being diagnosed in the first place due to the pandemic and cancelled appointments all along, so we just feel that time is of an essence now and we really need to crack on and try and make him more comfortable.”

    She said she felt her husband’s treatment should have been exempt from the industrial action.

    “Working in the NHS I’ve total and utter support for them, I am, I have every sympathy with them – they work very very hard for very very little, but I think there are certain treatments as you know, my husband’s treatment, Neil’s treatment, I don’t see that that should be delayed any longer.”

    Health minister Maria Caulfield said that patients would suffer, people would be in pain and health outcomes may diminish during the nursing strikes on December 15 and 20.

    She told Sky News: “That is an inevitable action of strike action and that’s why it’s with regret we see that the RCN are going out on action today.”

    “Cancer surgeries are going to be closed in those 44 trusts in England. We reckon it’s about 70,000 appointments, procedures, surgeries that will be lost.”

    The news comes as hospital leaders warned yesterday that nurses would embark on longer and more damaging strikes in January that could affect end-of-life care.

    Tens of thousands of nurses are set to take part in the first national strike by members of the Royal College of Nursing, despite concerns it could cost lives on Thursday.

    Despite last-ditch pleas from NHS leaders, cancer patients will not be spared from the strikes, with thousands of operations and appointments set to be postponed.

    The 12-hour strikes by nurses, starting at 8am on Thursday and continuing on Tuesday, will involve 44 NHS trusts in England – about one in four trusts.”

    4. Could we go on a “pots and pans” rampage every Thursday at 8 pm. Objective to clock an NHS “worker” – diversity and inclusion managers, 100 bonus points, Trust Chief Executives, 250 points.

        1. The BBC will forgive anybody – a murderer, a racist, a rapist or a fraud – as long as he, she or it is not to the ‘right of centre’.

      2. Who will be the tennis equivalent of Lineker in the BBC commentary team?

        He may not know very much about tennis but this is not necessarily unusual in BBC sports commentators so how about Tommy Robinson? He would at least be a political counterbalance to Lineker and help the BBC move towards a more politically impartial sports coverage overall?

  38. As a Black American, I say the UK needs new thinking on race. The royals could lead that. 15 December 2022.

    In the UK, while the national conversation about the impact of racial inequality is gradually gaining some momentum, one topic remains almost universally taboo: the British monarchy’s close historical ties to the slave trade and colonialisation. Modern royals still hold enormous wealth, much of which was first acquired through the profits of slavery. This dark legacy continues to haunt the institution, constantly lurking in the background, threatening to overshadow the good causes members of the family seek to support.

    As a White Brit I say why don’t you go back the US and lecture them on a slave system that helped build the dollar hegemony! No reigning English monarch, nor indeed any of their subjects, has owned any slaves within the borders of England since the early Middle Ages and they were not black. The United States can boast several presidents who have done so and fathered children with them!

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/dec/14/black-american-uk-royals-monarchy-links-to-slavery-william-and-harry

    1. Another stupid Yank who thinks that the USA race-relation problem is replicated in the UK. The two countries are entirely different.

      1. One of the greatest difficulties we had in suppressing the Slave Trade was with the United States. It was only because the Royal Navy was supreme that we were able to finally choke it off!

        1. And what about the African leaders who were more than eager to sell their people into slavery?

          1. To not only other blacks but Arabs as well. No one mentions the sale of young boys to Arabs when they waffle on about things they know nothing about.

    2. The UK needs nothing from america. You’ve got blacks looting stores because paying for things is apparently ‘racist’. AS for the slave trade, it was abolished under Victoria. In the 1800s.

      You carried it on long after we did – breaking our blockades, in fact.

      1. Actually, the Slave Trade was abolished in 1807 (under George III). Slavery throughout the British Empire was abolished in 1833 (under William IV).

        1. Quite. Also, when Victoria took the throne the monarchy was broke. Their wealth was accumulated later.

          1. I recall reading that the monarchy was extremely unpopular and popularity was only restored because of the young Queen.

      2. Actually, the Slave Trade was abolished in 1807 (under George III). Slavery throughout the British Empire was abolished in 1833 (under William IV).

  41. Chief nurse on the picket line. We must be heard! She screams. You are being, and we’re annoyed. What you’re basically demanding is because life has got more expensive because of your inefficiency, cost and waste, you want the people paying for it to pay more, when they’re getting an appalling service.

    Tell you what. I’ll tell you your install will take 6-9 months, but make you pay for it up front. Then in 9 months, I’ll cancel it and demand more money.

  42. Just back. Bluss it wor cold in the market. Our lane was “passable with care” to the main road. Not fun driving.

    Still, market and the supermarkets busy – lots of Christmas “cheer” – ugh. Met my old GP in Morrisons. The last of the doctors who knew patient by name and looked after the family. He told me that it was because of his friendship with a fellow doctor that he persuaded Dr Sensible to join the practice. So his legacy is there to be seen.

    Pickles sauntered in from his morning hunt. Will bathe his paw after lunch, I think!

    1. The poorly paw pad is clearly not causing Pickles any discomfort?

      I’ve ventured in to the West End a few times recently and found it absolutely heaving as in Christmases of old and with very few still muzzled. Shirley shirley they’ve all learnt their lesson and won’t go back behind their sofas?

      2. Don’t bet on it. At the nearest village shop yesterday, a woman laboriously put on an elaborate face nappy before venturing inside. Where there were two people……..

  43. 368987+ up ticks,

    This is a question that really must be answered with great urgency because the England many of us knew & loved after decades of brutalising via the polling booth and by a multitude of “party first” fools we are witnessing a Country in it’s death throes.

    That,in retrospect is the only success the lab/lib/con/ current ukip coalition party, supporter / voters have had these past three plus decades.

    Success of a kind in treachery.

    https://youtu.be/EQ5x06ndXhA

    Check the comments.

    1. Ogga ,

      10 minutes ago I wrote about a similar anxiety as yours .. and then I was called away because my son’s KTM motor bike has been recalled , and the transporter arrived to take it back to where ever to be sorted .

      I have been quite busy with things this morning , but I fear my beautiful Britain has a death rattle .. and if I am being racist and selfish , so what.. and what is this government all about .. The PM lives in a stately home , other MPs live in such grandeur .. they have no idea how to run this country.. and the threat to condense our rural villages and towns with Arabs and Blacks , the thought is unbearable

      The BBC are a political party, and the Cringe and Ginge saga is dominating our own daily news.

      I am beginning to feel very depressed .. Christmas is going to be as flat as hell.

      Healthcare and travel and the post , food , our warmth , heating , fuel and interest rates and high street shops .. ruined .

      1. 368987+ Up ticks

        Afternoon TB,

        in being judged to being a selfish racist you know you are on a winner, in today’s political climate that is speak
        for describing any patriot.

      2. I was accused of being rather harsh when I made the comment on another forum that I hope the Conservative Party are wiped out at the next GE for what they done to this country. I thought I have been rather restrained in expressing what I hope the future brings them, I could easily have advocated the method of change that Ceausesco experienced in Romania.
        The death rattle can be averted but I feel we are in the last chance saloon, 2024 and the next GE will tell, if the historic voting pattern is repeated the country is done for.

        1. Most people will vote as they have always voted. The number of Lab/Lib/Con seats will alter but nothing much else. One will be unable to notice any difference in the joke “government”.

          1. Unless Putin has his way and nukes the ‘Nastiness’ in London.

            Probably thinking of Westminster and Khant.

        2. If we look ahead to the destruction of the conservative party at the next election, we will be left with a decade or so of unrestrained socialism. Blair left legacies that have inflicted societal change and irreversible. I fear that similar monumental changes will be inflicted upon us. Sadly, the cancer of cultural marxism is well established and will be accelerated by the next Lab government.

    3. An excellent monologue. The politicians are no longer able to protect us. We have multiple diverse groups of people in the country now who hate other groups including the indigenous people of Britain. Civil war could break out at any time. We are not prepared unless our military have plans.

      1. The politicians are no longer able willing to protect us.

        It’s is the political class over many decades that has betrayed the indigenous people so why then should that group want to protect us? Ask any of that benighted group of charlatans why they have done what they have done and no sensible answer will be forthcoming. They dare not tell the truth because that would put them in a very difficult spot. And so, they continue to lie and tell the people that the flow will be stopped, blah, blah…
        What is it about the indigenous people that fires up the political class such that they want to eliminate their own people? I’m at a loss.

        1. Hmm, not one of his best, Richard. I’ve followed him from the 1950s and there are plenty better.

    3. The (twisted) logic is that we have to make up for all the centuries when they weren’t represented at all in western art on account of them not being here. The problem is of course further compounded by the fact that we’d developed the means to travel and explore their lands way before we provided them with the means to invade ours.

    4. Budget 33 million.
      Box office 9 million.

      Driving Miss Daisy was a good film because the segregation of the black man was NOT the theme. It was incidental. Now, make a film about Martin Luther King and cast Nicholas Cage as Rev. King.

      Now, as I was bally well there, the crowd had better not be all black and perhaps, just perhaps we could go back to those immortal, beautiful words of ‘my four little children are judged NOT by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.’

      Only, the Left hate that idea as there’s nothing for them.

    5. That is a remark unworthy of you.
      There are thousands of potential reasons to criticise other people, but their melanin level or physical features should be irrelevant.
      Yes, I find many TV adverts irritating, so guess what, I don’t watch them.

      1. I’m not a racist. I have black friends. Even they can see people are getting annoyed with this over the top blackwashing of everything. It actually creates more ill feeling than anything else. We need a bit of balance.

        1. Agree. It’s like saying to black people ‘don’t worry us white people will help you ‘cos you can’t do it on your own’. If I was black I’d find that condescending.

        3. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f064f484690049601922b26e2a6ebbfa431aed83f9f3cf8f838cdd08b64023eb.png This is the lovely Vinola (‘Vi’) who was a cleaner at Raleigh in Nottingham when I worked there. Vi was a Jamaican lady from the Windrush generation and was invariably a happy, smiling and very effervescent lady. On the occasion I was first introduced to her I made her a cup of tea and sat down for a chat with her. Many of my contemporaries just ignored her. My friendliness was rewarded many times over. She would bring me vegetables from her garden, and lots of little West Indian delicacies for me to sample. She was an utterly delightful lady and I miss her (and her smile) very much.

          Her cousin, Wilbert (‘Willie’) was also a work colleague of mine.

          1. I met a few ladies like her when i lived in Birmingham. Always full of beans. The pubs opposite Summerfield Park. They drank sweet sherry and played chess.

          2. I had an Indian cleaner (Chandrahn) when I was in Oman. He would come once a week and kept the house immaculate, not to mention secure if I was away.
            I would always invite him to any functions I had. On the first occasion, I found him serving guests. I was not a happy bunny when I saw a number of people expecting it of him.
            I called him over and said “what are you doing?, your a guest like everyone else, go and sit down and what would you like to drink?.
            He stayed with me for 25 years.

      2. I agree with George (Grizzly) there is far to much emphasis placed on inclusivity and diversity. We accept illegal immigrants and put them up, feed them and pay them to do NOTHING. Films like that are just part of the inclusivity and diversity propaganda, trying to force us to take your attitude, Tim.

        I won’t, I’m a white Englishman who has served his country, as did my Father who fought in two World Wars, to defend our country from invasion by another country. If we don’t resist, we will become just a part of the European Caliphate.

      3. Why is it ‘unworthy’, Tim lad? And where have I criticised anyone for having black skin? I haven’t, anywhere, and for you to suggest so is bordering on the libellous. Methinks you are arbitrarily accusing me of being something that I am not.

        it is a salient and irrebuttable fact that all films and adverts have to show a mixed cast of characters; constant Left-wing lobbying has made that happen. Inappropriate casting has made a mockery of countless historical dramas. Yet that same Left-wing lobby turns a blind-eye when anyone produces an all-black film. Why the hell should I keep my mouth shut when this agenda is so blatantly one-sided?

        1. The movie ‘Till’ is about a lad who was murdered because of his physical appearance and demeanour.
          Edited!
          As for making a feature film in the UK without any ethnic minorities, you are welcome to raise the funds and start the ball rolling. You may notice in the credits of most films that the crew tend to be composed of all types, but that the Producer’s team often share something in common. (smiley emoticon)

      4. I was in two minds about commenting on your post.
        That was disingenuous of you to make such an observation.
        The ‘UK for example’ is still a predominantly white country; when our history, culture, and TV adverts are deliberately distorted for ‘diversity’ reasons, it’s no wonder the indigenous population hold such views.
        Look at many other countries who have a proud and unique culture, they certainly don’t push diversity to the
        detriment of their own indigenous population.

      5. I was in two minds about commenting on your post.
        That was disingenuous of you to make such an observation.
        The ‘UK’ is still a predominantly white country; when our history, culture, and TV adverts are deliberately distorted for ‘diversity’ reasons, it’s no wonder the indigenous population hold such views.
        Look at many other countries who have a proud and unique culture, they certainly don’t push diversity to the
        detriment of their own indigenous population.

        1. I suspect that that is because the parts played may be irrelevant to the main thrust of the film, this film is about racial hatred and the Southern whites will almost certainly ALL be painted in a bad light.
          It is a history of an event that was quintessentially racist.

          1. It is interesting that the political party which was fervently pro-slavery (and, therefore, inherently ‘racist’) was the Democratic Party, who even went to war to protect their slavery. The very same Democratic Party also initiated the JIm Crow laws. And it was they who started the Ku Klux Klan.

            I wonder if any film producer will ever display the required testicular fortitude to make a film about the Arabs and Moors who captured and sold the black slaves to Europe and America. The immeasurable callousness and cruelty displayed by such slave traders on their slaves was far higher than that dished out by the slave owners, who recognised that a high degree of care was required to get the best out of their charges.

          2. I totally agree. And don’t forget the whites who were enslaved too.

            I would also like to see a real historical film about those Democrat years and legislative shenanigans.

            The reparations being driven by Democrat politicians nowadays are completely correct (/sarc) and the whole amount should be confiscated from voters who are registered as Democrats

          3. A slave was a big investment. You needed a decent return from work, not a corpse or a broken person.

          2. Oddly enough, it is the type of film that reflects a real history and a principally black cast is entirely appropriate.

            Give me a dramatised history film like this one, over a similar film where a token black features purely to show that we should suspend disbelief.
            eg the black Anne Boleyn recently.

            Judging by the trailer it might be a very good film.
            If it is even half as good as I suspect, it will sweep every award going; and that will be the real racism!

          3. Of course it is – were we to live in a normal world…..

            But – as we all know – this is not a normal world. So we have, as you suggest, a black Anne Boleyn – completely destroying the illusion. In the new ITVX series about Kim Philby there is a totally fabricated white character (an interrogator) who is marred to a coal black man who is a GP…. Neither person is remotely relevant to the story – yet are included to show how diverse etc the film-maker is.

            Thus, in Topsy (sorry)- Turvy Land – the second lead in “Till” ought to be acted by a white person….to show how diverse……

            I noticed in the last few years, that yer French TV and films were moving in the same direction (and TV ads)

          4. The whole thing is an utter nonsense and those prompting and promoting it should immediately be replaced in their own positions by a person of another colour, black white or khaki.
            That might make a few of them less enthusiastic

          7. That’s the ‘Redneck’ South for you….and still going on in the more rural areas, I believe.

          8. …and how many know of the way that the Union Soldiery (Yankees) treated the farm’s personnel of the Southern, white folks. Looting and raping, shades of BLM today.

    2. Tell you what your Holiness, set the example. Sell off some of the land you hold, or the gold you hoard and give that to Ukraine.

      1. He and the Archpillock of Canterbury should be made to share a bedsitter in downtown Wuhan as they would be happier in communist China.

  47. Afternoon, Peeps.

    Very late on parade today, still recovering from a bedtime dash to to the local A&E when the Management’s blood pressure was in danger of destroying our BP machine. She was also feeling “very peculiar”.  Fortunately the roads were empty so I made the most of it.  In such circumstances speed limits and red lights were not allowed to get in the way. I got home just before midnight in order to relieve our puppy-sitter.  I was then able to enjoy 4.5 hrs of kip, which was 4.5hrs more than the Management experienced.

    Not unexpectedly A&E was not unlike Piccadilly Circus in the rush hour when a rumour had gone round that everything was free.  Various tests came and went during the night, and they are ongoing as I type.  At least the BP has been reined in to something more reasonable, but the hunt is still on to find out what triggered it all.

    I must say –  the hugely pressurised staff remained courteous and helpful throughout, even though there were very long gaps in between anything happening. The only cabaret act was the arrival of a loudmouth who had started early on the Christmas spirit.  A couple of security heavies soon appeared and read him his horoscope, ending with the words “…and there’s the door”.  To my surprise and everyone’s relief he found it and used it.

     I have already chastised the Management for choosing to become ill just a few hours before the first strike by some nurses, leaving the rest to pick up the pieces.  She has some explaining to do!

    1. Sorry to hear that, Hugh J. I had a couple of those with my dear wife, except that her BP was bottoming out and she was close to passing out. Best wishes for you both.

    4. A&E is now the only way to go. Good that they rose to the challenge though. Hope she’s OK.

    6. Lordy, that’s not fun. Hope she’s fixed quickly.
      I feel for you – had the same one Saturday morning, managed to hit an indicated 120 MPH on the bypass, got to hospital and just baled out of the car (parking brake set, fortunately) and in.
      Some while later, came out to park the car properly, close the door, and take the keys with me…

    7. Scary.
      I hope the recovery is rapid and the reasons established.

      Did you force her to watch the BBC so you didn’t have to, perchance?

  48. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/12/15/ukraine-news-russia-war-latest-kherson-kyiv-attacks-live/

    Local resident Galyna, 80, holds a cat in front of a damaged building where she lives without electricity, water and heat, in the town of Lyman, Donetsk CREDIT: GENYA SAVILOV/AFP via Getty Images

    Yet… the media ignores that until not long ago, Western Ukraine was shelling that region.

    In addition, there are folk in the UK with the same problems. That’s egregious as the only enemy besieging us is our own sodding government.

  49. All is well with the world. Skate Canada have updated their rules to remove any reference to man and woman so now any couple can compete in the pairs competitions.

    Now I can rest peacefully knowing that this great issue has been resolved.

  50. Got back from Matlock an hour ago and have had a bite to eat, hung some washing on the kitchen airer and lit the fires.
    I don’t think I’ll be bothering to do any outside work today, the sun’s already below the valley top and it’s getting colder.
    But what a beautiful day! The trip via the back road to Matlock over Starkholmes is worth doing for the scenery!

    1. Hmm. Matlock? Is that one of the implements you are using for your enormous building project?

      1. It’s where he bought his Bath.

        Not a lot o’ people know this, but Matlock is the County Town of Derbyshire, not Derby as many suppose.

          1. You mean The Derby Tup? It is an old custom, similar to Morris Dancing and The Old ‘Obby Horse, in which ‘mummers’ dressed appropriately go around pubs, in the county, on certain occasions acting their play for the entertainment of all in attendance for a pint of whatever brew was on offer.
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYbe9Egf6Ek

          3. Handsworth Longsword were Morris Dancing in Bagdad alongside the King John’s Morris in 1989 as part of the Babylon International Arts Festival.

    1. How many were there in it if you add the dark Dodo, the dusky doctor, the army officer and the England rugby captain?

      (Not to mention the others whom I haven’t mentioned!)

  52. South Africa has become a rotten kleptocracy. Spiked 15 ecember 2022.

    Farmgate has exposed more than Ramaphosa’s venality, however. It has also brought to the surface the sad reality that the ANC is no longer a political party. Any connection it once had to left-wing political ideology, let alone to the anti-Apartheid liberation struggle, disappeared long ago. It is now a kleptocracy that has transformed the state into a corrupt, non-functioning bureaucracy that serves only itself and the new black elite. And it does so at the expense of the people in whose name it supposedly governs.

    Sounds familiar somehow!

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/12/15/south-africa-has-become-a-rotten-kleptocracy/

    1. The sheer arrogance of our species to think that we can influence the climate. We can’t but we are capable of deluding enough gullible people who are prepared to go along with the myth and destroy their own lives.

      But man, proud man,
      Dress’d in a little brief authority,
      Most ignorant of what he’s most assur’d—
      His glassy essence—like an angry ape
      Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven
      As makes the angels weep.

      1. …and again, Richard:

        Speech: “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow”
        BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
        (from Macbeth, spoken by Macbeth)
        Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
        Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
        To the last syllable of recorded time;
        And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
        The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
        Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,
        That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
        And then is heard no more. It is a tale
        Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
        Signifying nothing.

    2. Our solar system is, relatively, pretty stable, but we still don’t know much about long term patterns of change affecting the Earth’s climate. Yes, we should be doing more to stop pollution of the seas as well as the land and atmosphere. There are too many humans on the planet. We should stop building on anything but ‘brownfield’ land.
      I met the manager of the ‘Energy from Waste’ plant in Plymouth on a fishing charter boat. Had a good talk to him about the operation whilst fishing. He swore that the regs only allow steam to reach the top of the chimney. We should be spending money on cleaning up our readily available energy usage and pressuring Asia S America and Africa to do the same.
      The ‘Net Zero’ scam is not helping our world a bleeding jot, on the contrary…

  54. Hi everyone. Not been around until just now so have we heard anything of Ndovu’ other half?

    Sorry if similar has already been posted but …

    Just looked at front page DE. PH and Meagain surely can’t have it both ways? On the one hand we’re all racist, on the other people were jealous of them coz they were doing a better job than William and Kate. They just don’t realise how utterly irrelevant they are.

    1. Sorry, no. I’ve been keeping busy but they haven’t phoned yet and I’ve only just sat down with a cup of tea and Lily on my lap. If they don’t ring soon I’ll have to bite the bullet and ring the hospital.

  55. Right….. I’ve phoned the hospital and he’s not back on the ward yet. They are expecting him back shortly and the nurse will give me a call.

        1. We were -8C overnight according to my neighbour. It has triggered the cold weather payment for Shropshire, apparently.

  58. https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-james-webb-space-telescope-is-changing-our-understanding-of-the-universe/

    “When Allison Kirkpatrick questioned whether ‘everything I’ve ever done is wrong’ she was referring to this sub-theory, the one of galaxy formation. Somehow the universe is building galaxies earlier and faster than our theories predict. It’s like going to a nursery to visit your newborn and finding a room full of teenagers. Disturbing, to say the least.

    But it’s also great news. This is what should happen in science. New data should challenge our theories and force us to confront false assumptions we hadn’t even known we’d made. The James Webb telescope has done that for cosmologists. And, as more data pours in, there are no doubt going to be a lot of happy, sleepless nights as scientists try to understand exactly what the telescope is telling them about the early cosmos.”

    Wouldn’t it be great if ‘Climate’ scientists were permitted to take this view?

    1. Yes, but they won’t be because climate change is a religion, and religions are big business.

      It’s quite interesting how the Church has become interested in temporal matters and politicians seek to create a ‘grand enemy’ to scare everyone with into obedience. Almost as if the roles have reversed.

  59. If you are feeling old and grey watch ‘Quartet’. It’s on iplayer at the moment. A host of famous faces and the music and singing is sublime.

    1. I don’t often go to the cinema but that’s one I did see there – excellent film and quite moving.

    1. Lewis the TV show? How many jobs did it create? How many hours of entertainment? How much tax did it contribute toward paying for the bloated, corrupt, pointless state?

      Bluntly, these fools can go and do one. I don’t care how much ‘carbon’ is produced because every single thing around us is made from the stuff. They can insert their 830 tones up their backsides – or, knowing TV wonks, their noses.

      1. I wondered whether it was a way of getting back at Lawrence Fox, because of his non-luvvie views…

        1. I can’t imagine he would care. Nor would any of those watching. The state makes a big song and dance about ‘climate change’ because it’s a nice way for them to move money from you, to them while demonising anyone who disagrees with it.

          With the media behind it – cashing in on the expenses trips and hob nobbing, the book deals and so on, they’re all in on the scam. There is much we could do to help our environment – not littering, recycling, using devices for longer, reparability (actually, that’s impossible due to taxation, regulation and inventory of parts) but the state is not interested.

          It has a magic way to fleece you – it’s latest in a long line. A method that cannot be ignored (because the Earth does it for them). If ‘climate change’ were a real threat, they wouldn’t be buying beach front property. Housing regulations would mandate thicker walled, larger, airier, fewer storied buildings with gardens. Solar panels would be tax deductible.

          But they’re not, and so the lie continues, with useful idiots continuing the doom merchanting while big state sniggers at our inability to prevent their theft.

    1. If Corbyn so wants to help them, he can pay for them and give me his salary, as I’m sick of forking out for criminal scum.

      1. You are missing the point; migrants are small fry, whilst Fagin and Bill Sikes are running the Cabinet.

        1. Cynical me thought that certain people would have welcomed photos of dead children in the Channel…

    2. Sorry TB, Suella Drownaman and her colleagues are luring these migrants to the UK as a matter of public policy and are hoping to appease the British public while simultaneously obeying orders.
      It occurs to me that the Government’s intention was to let the entire boatload freeze to death or drown, pour encourager les autres, but that they were foiled by the heroism of the Captain and crew of the Arcturus.
      The government, RNLI and Border Force have blood on their hands this Christmas.
      PS: and as for France, it’s the only maritime nation that does not shout ‘women and children first’ when a vessel is sinking.
      Edited.

    3. Sorry TB, Suella Drownaman and her colleagues are luring these migrants to the UK as a matter of public policy and are hoping to appease the British public while simultaneously obeying orders.
      It occurs to me that the Government’s intention was to let the entire boatload freeze to death or drown, pour encourager les autres, but that they were foiled by the heroism of the Captain and crew of the Arcturus.
      The government, RNLI and Border Force have blood on their hands this Christmas.
      PS: and as for France, it’s the only maritime nation that does not shout ‘women and children first’ when a vessel is sinking.
      Edited.

    1. With due respect, Mr Bridgen is perhaps not the ideal candidate to represent the anti vax community.

      1. On the “vaccine” issue I’m with W S Churchill:

        If Hitler invaded hell I would make at least a favourable reference to the devil in the House of Commons

  63. A wee Birdie Three today!

    Wordle 544 3/6
    🟩⬜⬜🟩🟩
    🟩⬜⬜🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Bogie for me.
      Wordle 544 5/6

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

    2. Another 4 for me: Try 3 was dumb and used a letter already rejected.
      Wordle 544 4/6

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

  64. That’s me for this dreary cold day. There is only one thing about the ground being white – when the sun shines on it – everything is brighter and more cheerful.

    I do hope and pray that Jules has some good news this evening.

    Have a jolly time.

    A demain

    1. Harry is the same. At least 5 times a day. He also baits Dolly and they chase each other so at least Doll is getting more exercise !

    3. Boisterous little bugger, ain’t he.

      Sadly we are not allowed pets here – and I can understand it. 27 flats in all imagine the cat and dog fights that would go on.

      1. I once had a nice chat with the Blue Peter dog handler. There used to be a nice park just behind TV Centre and immediately before each show she’d take the pooch for a good old runaround in the park so that it went into the studio tired and would sit quietly during the show.

  67. Just had a call from the nurse, and all seems to be progressing as expected at the moment. Still in intensive care, and they will give me another call later, or I can ring them.

    6. My BiL had his bypasses nearly a decade ago and has bounced around like a spring lamb ever since
      I wish you the same outcome

    8. Still got my fingers crossed for you and your OH.

      Even had words with the ‘Big Man’ asking him to look after you as well as Izzy and his family.

    1. Too many brought in and not enough drowned. I have become a horrible person thanks to my hateful government.

    1. Come, come – all these wonderful, fragrant, very welcome new arrivals have to be paid for somehow.

  72. Boris Becker has been deported rapidly , back to Germany .. poor Boris is a soft target , so why haven’t real hard faced villains been deported and had their British citizenship removed .. forfeit their British passports .. I would insist they were handed in … no ifs and no buts .

  73. Boris Becker has been deported rapidly , back to Germany .. poor Boris is a soft target , so why haven’t real hard faced villains been deported and had their British citizenship removed .. forfeit their British passports .. I would insist they were handed in … no ifs and no buts .

    2. Appalling. Sets the royal family’s seal of approval on the vaxx mass death & injury event. What else can you expect from a King who employed a known Malthusian as an advisor?

      2. I’m not sure the Monarch can refuse the gongs, it’s decided by Government.
        The Monarch is “allowed” to choose some specific orders themselves.

          1. I think that that was the DoE.
            The Garter, which is the one that he has, is within the Monarch’s prerogative.
            However, I would not be at all surprised if it was Charles’s doing once his father was dead.
            Blair and Big Ears are a pair of Noddys.

    3. I thought the Astra Zeneca jab was withdrawn in favour of the mRNA Pfizer jabs.

      Yet another example of a system of awards for failure. That shite should be on trial for damaging the health of the recipients of his medicine .

    3. The murderer’s parents appear to have been born in Cameroon, probably the anglophone region. At trial Tanueh was described as being of no fixed abode, but his mum and dad live (or lived) in Dagenham.
      As for capital punishment, in the USA the appeals process is so expensive for the taxpayer that it is cheaper to leave convicted killers in prison without the possibility of parole.

      1. re your first paragraph, so what?

        I’m not asking about the US costs and processes, I’m asking why you think he should not be executed.

        2. The young man should not be executed because when he carried out his attack there was no death penalty for killers, only their victims.

          1. The point is that there should be a death penalty for such criminals.

            If there had been, it is just possible that he might not have killed her.

          2. Through the skies on our brooms! We ladies here here can fly to the music of The Witches Ride from Hansel and Gretel.

  77. Evening, all. Good luck with the headline. Revolving Richi couldn’t deliver the milk behind a horse that knew the round. It’s been a freezing day here (literally; it barely made it up to zero degrees C). I was wondering why the Rayburn didn’t seem to be keeping up when I realised that the 1-8 heat control at the back does not work on the principle “lefty loosy, righty tighty”! It was turned right down! Hopefully normal service will be resumed shortly.

  78. Small pupils can be due to bright light, an emotional response, or looking at something far away. There are six health risks that can cause pinpoint pupils, or miosis. These include substance abuse, prescription drugs, environmental toxins, diseases, Horner syndrome, and trauma to the eye or brain.

    Harry’s eyes are not right .. his face looks awful .. I think he is drugged to the eyeballs .. He is under the control of his wife and her mother ..

    Who on earth has been taking all those photgraphs even in their intimate moments .. and I know damned well that she was wired up at our Queens funeral , and that the pair of them are resposible for making Her Majesty’s last few years hell.. and responsible for breaking her heart.

    2. “Small pupils can be due to bright light, an emotional response, or looking at something far away. ”

      Or small parents, Belle.

    3. “Small pupils can be due to bright light, an emotional response, or looking at something far away. ”

      Or very large teachers, Belle 🙂

    2. Peter Ustinov complained that when he went to the palace to be knighted, he was sent a form and asked to tick “can kneel” or “can’t kneel”. He said there should have been a third option. “Can kneel but can’t get up again”.

      2. As I remind the Good Lord every time we are told to make our confession to Almighty God, meekly kneeling upon our knees, “You know that if I do, I shan’t get up again!”

    3. I definitely grunt and cling to furniture but I try not to end up on the floor, despite suffering some horrible black-outs.

  81. The PM must turn his words on immigration reform into action.

    A fine headline but the reality is somewhat different. The Asylum Seekers Bill was defeated in the HoC yesterday, 69 Conservative MPs voted in favour, 4 Conservative MP’s voted against and the rest abstained. Can you guess how Sunak and his Cabinet voted!
    Let’s tell it as it is, the Governments of Cameron, May, Johnson and Sunak has had, and continue to have no desire to stop the invasion of illegals into this country. For the past 12 years there has been a Conservative PM in No 10, and even allowing for the coalition with Clegg, there has been plenty of time to try to bring about improvements but they seem to make things worse.
    The policy of Net Zero continues with the resultant fragility of our energy policy, woke is an ever invasive cancer in our society, a reluctance to sort out the BBC, NHS still an untouchable sacred cow, just a few examples. Of course the other lot would be no better, probably worse but at least they are honest and wear a red rosette when they are standing as New Labour, the Conservatives wear blue rosettes when they act as anything but conservative.
    To continue to vote as we have been doing in the past will ensure the destruction of the UK as we have known it. There will be no need to wait for Corbyn, Abbot, Lammy or the like to attain any sort of power, we will be beyond hope by then if we fail to vote for change.

      1. If there is a choice, Reform, UKIP or anyone other than the 3 main parties, how many here would take it?
        What is that old saying, the lord helps those that helps themselves.

        1. I’d vote for one of the Reclaim, Reform , Ukip et al candidates, but the split centre right parties just mean you’re pissing to windward. In 2019 I didn’t have anyone to vote for.

    2. 368987+ up ticks,

      Evening VVOF,
      IMO major was the trigger for coming out openly treacherous

      The main herd was far to busy right up until 2019, in making sure the party name was the main element for voting, .the Country was a secondary issue.

      My choice now would be to mass membership Reclaim,

      ALL the rest carry a strong strain of treachery.

        2. 368987+ up ticks,

          VVOF,
          A sad thing to say but if there is no other choice a vote cannot be cast.

  86. Just a thought here… NHS are all ” heroes” & etc for the work during the so called pandemic and all. How about a shout for all the supermarket workers, corner shop workers, postmen, delivery men etc.
    We never went to our corner shop, in our last place, when it was not open and the staff willing to help. Ashish went to farms to get eggs and fresh veg and so on.
    My relief that Jules’ husband got his surgery knows no bounds. I wish him a speedy recovery and to be home soon.
    I wish we could get some feedback and sooner appointments. Oh well, Xmas soon.

    1. During the “mask-up-lock-down except for essentials”, I always made a point of thanking the staff in the shops, the police on the streets and our post lady for working during the craziness.

      Even with my poor French their eyes showed their appreciation that someone was acknowledging their dedication.

      Those people were probably at least as at risk and probably more vulnerable than the majority of the health workers, apart from those right on the “Front Line”

  88. Sleepy now and need to get out early tomorrow as the shops are nuts.
    Please all take care.
    Fingers crossed for all those in hospital, in pain and other discomfort.

  89. Pension gets paid into the bank tomorrow, so with that pleasant thought and -6°C outside, that is me off to bed!
    Goodnight all.

  90. Just phoned the hospital again and he’s breathing without the tube, and is awake. I’ll get ready for bed now.

  91. Goodnight and God bless, Gentlefolk, particularly, J (Ndovu) and Izzy for President and their respective families.

    We NoTTLers keep you close to our hearts.

  92. Its Plum’s birthday tomorrow. Plum is not online – but her daughter might notice!

    Happy Birthday sweetie 🙂

  93. Friday 16th December, 2022

    PLUM

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e281877e66f9640965428cfaf7612b736a56b10f037dc7830d6ff3f7e0f8aba9.png

    and very many joyous returns

    Even if we don’ t see you here we all remember you with fondness and hope to see you again here soon.

    We hope all is well in Cornwall – a place that many of us love

    And we hope you are listening to the Beatles, the Travelling Wilburys and George Harrison

    With great affection from

    Caroline and Rastus

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMJEtLjnO7E

    1. What an absolutely delightful track – I’d never seen it before. And a really happy birthday to you, Plum.

  95. I have just watched several hours of American site podcasts on Rumble.

    One of the most interesting is that of Alison Morrow. She is looking at the implications of vaccinated versus non-vaccinated on the social meeting websites such as Tinder, Grinder etc.

    The lesson to be drawn is that state imposed application of a distinction between vaccinated and non-vaccinated has had a profound effect on our society. In brief, those unvaccinated will be reluctant to couple with the vaccinated.

    We have witnessed a parallel dichotomy in the awful country of New Zealand where a child whose parents were unvaccinated wished their child to receive unvaccinated blood in an impending critical medical operation.

    I just wonder whether the fools promoting the Covid ‘vaccines’ whilst assigning guilt to those not conforming to their evil jab policy, ever understood the disastrous divisions in society their actions have left us with.

    I suspect that Farrar, Whitty, Vallance, Van Tam, Ferguson, Bunter, Hancock, Sunak and the rest of our foul breed of politicians care not a jot about the harms and injury they have done to our wellbeing as a nation of ‘normal well-intentioned and tolerant folk’.

    I am sorry to say but our tolerance and good intentions are running out. We now retain an intense distrust bordering on hatred for the politicians of all stripes and the wretched globalist psychopaths pulling their strings.

    1. I am sorry to say but our tolerance and good intentions are running out. We now retain an intense distrust bordering on hatred for the politicians of all stripes and the wretched globalist psychopaths pulling their strings.

      That would be me you’re talking about C.

      1. Yet in New Zealand, the state took over legal guardianship of a baby in order to force it to have vaccinated blood, because they just didn’t want to give it unvaccinated blood.

        1. Arden’s NZ is a basket case of a state. Using a sick child to create a cause célèbre to advertise your power and support for a dangerous and failed medical product is beyond evil. I am unable to comprehend the mindset of people such as Arden.

    3. I’ve heard from several sources now, that unvaccinated young people don’t want to date vaccinated ones.
      As one of them put it “I don’t want to be more masculine than my boyfriend.” In other words, if they made the decision to resist peer pressure, they expect the same from their boy/girlfriend. And that’s quite apart from the health implications.

Comments are closed.