Thursday 15 June: A progressive consensus at the BBC is at odds with its aim to be impartial

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

531 thoughts on “Thursday 15 June: A progressive consensus at the BBC is at odds with its aim to be impartial”

  1. Good morrow, Gentlefolks, today’s story

    How To Order A Drink

    A guy walked into a bar.

    He soon found out it was a gay bar, but he was tired, and wanted a drink, so he went to the bartender and asked for a beer.

    The guy said, “I can’t serve you until you tell me the name of your dick.”

    The customer says, “Look, I’m not in on any of that stuff… just give me a beer.”

    The tender shrugs and says, “Sorry, that means no drink.”

    “Okay, okay,” says the customer, “but first what’s the name of your dick?”

    The tender replies, “Nike–you know, Just Do It.”

    The man thinks a moment and says, “Mine’s named Secret – it’s strong enough for a man, but made for a woman!”

      1. Well, Elsie, the whole idea of the ‘Gay’ bar was the familiarity of all with each other’s genitals. In order to get a drink the ‘straight’ guy had to quickly make up a name hence the punchline.

        1. I had to look up the ‘Secret’ reference – it was an advertising slogan for an American deodorant, but I don’t remember it (or the brand) being used in the UK. Once I knew the background the joke became clear.

          1. The joke would be mildly funny to an American (because of that reference) but wholly incomprehensible to any non-Yank.

  4. Good morning all.
    An almost warm 10°C this morning with patchy cloud and not a lot of wind.

    I see Alastair Campbell is still allowed onto the BBC in spite of his disgusting tantrum a short while ago. Like Blair, he’s another stinking turd in the shitpan that will not flush away:-

    SIR – Alastair Campbell appeared on BBC Newsnight on May 11 and behaved in an aggressive and bullying manner towards Alex Phillips, a former Brexit Party MEP, and the presenter, Victoria Derbyshire, for which he subsequently apologised.

    However, there he was on the panel of BBC Politics Live on May 15. So, although people are being sacked for perceived bullying, the BBC has no problem with it and continues to promote Mr Campbell as an acceptable commentator.

    Jennie Naylor
    East Preston, West Sussex

    Angus Long
    6 HRS AGO
    I’m on a camping holiday and been unable to join in the comments for a few days. However, tonight I have wifi so can contribute.
    First up
    Alistair Campbell. In my view this man is quite simply vile. His is the lowest of the low and along with Blair I hope the pair meet their maker the devil. Soon.

    K Jig
    5 HRS AGO
    I believe Blair is amoral. He was even willing to take us into the Euro if he could trade that to be the first full President of the EU! Despite it would mean us losing the Pound and no matter what damage it could do to the UK.

    1. I believe Blair is amoral.

      A strangely moderate view of someone who would qualify as an agent of the Anti-Christ if not for the actual position.

      1. I don’t think that was a quote from Campbell, but K Jig’s own opinion.

          4. Never heard in all my time living and working in Paris, among others, Rambouillet, and just outside Montpelier.

          5. Perhaps it’s a rural thing.

            I spent a month in Montpellier. Or rather just outside. Took a while to get used to the smell of the swamp.

  6. A couple of letters on the Archpillock of Cunterbury and a response:-

    The Church’s future
    SIR – The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, suggests that the future of the Church of England is in the hands of God.

    Perhaps, however, he could try to persuade his bishops that there are things they could do to arrest the decline in attendance. They could start by training and appointing more clergy so that more parishes could have their own minister, rather than asking one minister to look after an ever increasing number of parishes.

    At the same time they could reduce the number of bureaucrats employed in each diocese. Having 42 “regional offices” replicating each other’s work is ludicrous and unsustainable.

    Stephen Billyeald
    Pangbourne, Berkshire

    SIR – The reported decline in Church of England attendance comes as no surprise.

    I suspect there are two main reasons for this. First, churches effectively closed during the pandemic hours of need. Secondly, in my experience, successors to retiring clergy are not sought soon enough: there is too little forward-planning for maintaining ministry in parishes.

    Michael C W Terry
    Walmer, Kent

    Anastasias Revenge
    6 HRS AGO
    Stephen Billyeald – “The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, suggests that the future of the Church of England is in the hands of God.” but neglects to add that as the number 1 cleric, many many matters have been entrusted by God into HIS hands.
    The usual cop-out of “I’m not responsible Guv” does not apply here.
    His congregation can rightly point the finger at him, from this direction… and God can do the same from the heavens.

    1. “The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, suggests that the future of the Church of England is in the hands of God.”

      There is an old saying – “God helps those who help themselves”.

      1. …and in Singapore it was slightly modified to, “God help those caught who helping themselves.”

    2. The Archweasel lost all credibility (or whatever remained of it) when he effectively shut up shop and ran away on a sabbatical, just as the flock needed support when the media-fed pandemic loomed.

      1. Yellow card for slandering weasels!! It’s rats that leave a sinking ship.

      2. Yellow card for slandering weasels!! It’s rats that leave a sinking ship.

    3. If they train and appoint clergy like our rectorette they appear to be intent on waging a one-(wo)man war against the congregation. What was a magnificent choir and a pretty full church has been single-handedly reduced to about four attendees and no choir at all. Most people have upped sticks and found other, more traditional, churches to worship at.

  7. Putin is retreating into dangerous fantasies. Co Coughlin. 15 June 2023.

    Any suggestion that Putin could mount a fresh offensive to capture the city after the disastrous losses the Russians have suffered during the past year is palpable nonsense. At its current depleted levels, the Russian military will be hard pushed to defend itself against the Ukrainian counter-offensive that is already under way in eastern and southern Ukraine, let alone divert precious resources to taking Kyiv.

    Putin’s own admission that Russia has so far lost 54 tanks in the early phase of the counter-offensive suggests the Russian military has no kit to spare for other operations. Rather, his posturing over Kyiv to win the support of ultra-nationalist activists is yet further evidence of the Russian leader’s retreat into his dangerous fantasy world where Russia retains the military prowess to vanquish all of its foes.

    This is just Coughlin spouting guff. Reading between the lines and noting the sudden caution on the part of other reports as well as the sudden absence of the 77 Brigade Squad on the Spectator threads (I’m sure they will reappear as soon as a new program is agreed) it’s reasonable to assume that the Ukie counter-offensive has met with calamity. The new talk is of months of cautious advance. More like WWI than the twenty first century. The war will of course continue so long as the Ukies are willing to sacrifice themselves for the American Hegemony.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/06/15/vladimir-putin-is-retreating-into-dangerous-fantasies/

  8. 373359+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    She really is the salt in the political orchestrated mass
    controlled / uncontrolled immigration, open wound, English Channel odious issue.

    Without this government run, indigenous life threatening / taking
    campaign, and via the saved costs, the good that would surely benefit the nation would be staggering.

    Then a peoples RESET campaign namely a “return to sender” would rectify a great many failing issues such as
    EDUCATION, ACCOMMODATION,MEDICATION, INCARCERATION,
    plus as the indigenous are finding out as a race, ANNIHILATION.

    These upcoming by-elections could be used as a pointer as to what the genuine English natives want in regards to the future
    General Election and the welfare of the Nation.

    https://twitter.com/RogerHelmerMEP/status/1669213963081465856?s=20

      1. The indigenous British have been systematically and deliberately betrayed for the last fifty years.

        Klaus Schwab knows that in order to reset or rebuild you have first to destroy the structures and also dig up all the foundations.

        Are the Archpillock and the Idiot King a part of the WEF plans or are they just too stupid to see what is happening?

        2. 373359+ up ticks,

          R,
          If you mean they are likened to the continuing “majority voter” ( the king & archie) then I do agree wholeheartedly.

    1. See you later at around 12.45 pm, Korky. Looking forward to lunch and a good chat.

    2. I hope we aren’t on the eve of a hot war with Russia! More appalling nonsense though.
      Good morning Korky and all!

    3. Off the top of my head, most soldiers of private rank are known by other titles viz: Sapper, Gunner, Fusilier, Trooper, Air Trooper etc, so there is little scope for change.

      My corps, Royal Signals, had Signalman as its lowest rank. When women were integrated into the corps, it simply became Signaller. Very few “privates” actually have the suffix “-man”, therefore the numbers involved would be small. The RAF has long since had Aircraftsman and Aircraftswoman, so why not Guardswoman or Riflewoman? Well, that’s one possibility but it is unlikey that any women would pass the infantry Phase 2 course at Catterick, so it’s a pointless gesture.

  10. Good morning, chums. Well, I slept soundly until just after 4.30 am, made myself a cup of tea and watched LITTLE BIG MAN once more (previously I had watched it when it came out in 1970, over 50 years ago). Lady of the Lake was quite right, it really is a good film, very moving and hilariously funny in places. I’d forgotten how good it was. Now I’m off to make another cup of tea and se what I can accomplish before heading to Korky’s for lunch.

  12. RAF retires the C-130 Hercules – we’re now dependent on the abysmal A400M Atlas. 15 June 2023.

    The American-made Hercules has a long and glorious history with the RAF. The A400M’s history, by contrast, is long and inglorious. Like most of Britain’s defence procurement disasters, it is a European collaboration in which the manufacturing is distributed across France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Turkey and the UK. The Ministry of Defence issued its requirement for new transport planes just 30 years ago in 1993: with the usual sort of speed one expects from a Euro-collaborative defence project, the first plane arrived with the RAF more than two decades later in 2014. Our last one, the 22nd, was finally delivered last month.

    We won’t be getting any more. The National Audit Office described the A400M as “unaffordable” last year, and this does seem reasonable. The MoD claims that the procurement cost of the ones we have was £120m per plane; the reality is probably considerably worse as the development of the aircraft was catastrophically bungled. At one point the prime contractor, Airbus, said it was so badly overbudget that it would have to be cancelled unless the purchasing nations stumped up more money, and secret multinational negotiations took place which involved various extra payments and loans.

    I’m not a pilot but the parallels with other defence decisions are unmistakeable. One of the things that one notes with decadent societies is their incompetence as well as corruption. This plane was obviously built not to fill some military function but to reinforce the EU dream. It’s of no small significance that no one is ever held responsible for these gaffes.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/06/14/c-130-hercules-raf-change-to-a400m/

    1. Think TSR2, the best ‘plane we never had. Thanks Harold Wis(dom long gone).

      1. Actually I think it was the US deep state which didn’t want the potentially outstanding TSR2 competing with the General Dynamics F-111 which was behind it in development.

        1. Not to mention that the TSR2’s low level capability would have given the UK a 1st strike capability to take out the US Missile Silos!

          1. Plus, Denis Healey was after a loan from the IMF which clearly had some bearing.

          1. Yes. First we ordered the F-111, cancelled that and concieved the Anglo-French Variable Geometry aircraft project (AFVG) – or was it the other way around – and cancelled that then bought the F4 Phantoms which were switched to Air Defence when the Jaguar came in (poor substitute) and then eventually in the mid-late 1980s we got the Tornados which actually had the night/all weather capabilities that the TSR2 would have had but without the range.

      2. Not to mention the act of vandalism in their destruction of the manufacturing jigs to ensure it could not be resurrected, just so we could buy the F111 (which was eventually cancelled)

    2. Good morning, Araminta,

      In the Gatesograph’s iPad app version the excellent Danielle Sheridan, Defence Editor and aircraft carrier expert, managed to label a photograph of an A-400 Atlas as a C-130J Hercules. Where do they get them from?

    4. Interesting. Three Hercules flew overhead yesterday in the direction of Duxford/RAF Mildenhall.

      2. The Farewell flight of the Hercybird.
        They did a circuit of the UK which included fly-overs of the few remaining RAF bases.

      3. I’ve worked on C130s Hercules mainly on internal cable runs which led me to a job with Marshall of Cambridge to wire up all the strain gauges on a Hercules Centre Wing Test Rig. This was quite an exacting task as no lines were allowed to cross and the looms were laced with nylon lacing cord requiring a series of perfect half-hitches, neatly spaced over approximately 20 metres. There were no ty-wraps in those days!

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/91c66a336725fe0dd705a4da49fd1f6fa09b4ea64f2e7605c6d44f960a384499.png
        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4fe49a848e2a3825b4278faba7209a0a271cf4c9868988cad1cfcdcd67e79f32.jpg

          1. I may have embroidered a few truths in my time but no other embroidery. The task is quite exacting and requires great concentration not to put a half-hitch wrong.

        2. Nice work Tom – never worked on them but flew in them a few times going on detachment – noisy vibrating things. When do the MoD get anything right these days, there was plenty of life left in them

  13. On this day 808 years ago; Magna Carta Libertatum was signed.

    What became of it?

          2. Not with a moveable shower head – the difficulty (I’m told) is poking Richard 3rd down the plug hole

  14. Good morning all,

    Back at McPhee Towers after a refreshing week on the South Devon coast. The lovely weather continues, 25℃ expected today while the wind remains Easterly.

    The excellent Tom Nelson has put a cracker up this morning in his outstanding podcast series: Simon Elmer.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibQY0iKW7h0&t=2442s

    It’s 1 hour 23 minutes but it’s well worth listening to and goes very well alongside the two Delingpods with Sandi Adams explaining UN Agenda 21/2030 which should be seen by everyone in the land.

    Edited to add: You can tell from the number of views and comments so far that it is being suppressed so it is definitely over the target. It’ll probably be taken down so catch it while you can.

  15. Waitrose – going woke, going broke under Dame Empty-Shelves. 15 June 2023.

    I went to a large Waitrose store on Monday and I can assure you that ‘the cause of the problem’ has not been fixed – more than half of the everyday items I wanted to buy were unavailable. The shelves were empty.

    That brings us to John Lewis chairman Dame Sharon White, whom I have affectionately dubbed ‘Empty-Shelves’ White. According to Wikipedia, Dame Sharon has had a stellar career: ‘White worked for a church in Birmingham before joining the British civil service in 1989. She worked first at the Treasury and later for the British Embassy in Washington. She also worked at the 10 Downing Street policy unit during the Blair Government, at the World Bank, and as a director general at the Department for International Development in 2003-09 and then at the Ministry of Justice in 2009-11, and also at the Department for Work and Pensions.

    ‘In December 2014, it was announced that White would be the chief executive of Ofcom from March 2015. In June 2019, it was announced that White would be stepping down from her role at Ofcom to take a position as the sixth Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership. It was confirmed that White will be awarded an annual salary of £990,000 for her role at the John Lewis Partnership, a significant increase on her previous salary, which was £341,700 according to data released by Ofcom.’

    For the record!

    https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/waitrose-going-woke-going-broke-under-dame-empty-shelves/

    1. Who cares about empty shelves? The important thing is that they have appointed a black woman…

        1. I didn’t realise she was black; I just thought she was useless. Now I know she’s a useless black I shall be done for racism.

      1. Can’t crooked as well as straight provide the necessary of test tube babies?

        It would be interesting to see the statistics for how many laboratory assisted births grew into homosexuals.

        1. ‘They’ are moving on from test tube babies. Artificial wombs are being developed by the Nippons. Just imagine the army of Brave New World Epsilons to service the Alphas.

          1. Scientists have created synthetic human embryos using stem cells, in a groundbreaking advance that sidesteps the need for eggs or sperm.

            Scientists say these model embryos, which resemble those in the earliest stages of human development, could provide a crucial window on the impact of genetic disorders and the biological causes of recurrent miscarriage.
            However, the work also raises serious ethical and legal issues as the lab-grown entities fall outside current legislation in the UK and most other countries.
            The structures do not have a beating heart or the beginnings of a brain, but include cells that would typically go on to form the placenta, yolk sac and the embryo itself.

            Prof Magdalena Żernicka-Goetz, of the University of Cambridge and the California Institute of Technology, described the work in a plenary address on Wednesday at the International Society for Stem Cell Research’s annual meeting in Boston.
            “We can create human embryo-like models by the reprogramming of [embryonic stem] cells,” she told the meeting.

            There is no near-term prospect of the synthetic embryos being used clinically. It would be illegal to implant them into a patient’s womb, and it is not yet clear whether these structures have the potential to continue maturing beyond the earliest stages of development.

      1. I used to shop at Waitrose. Ocado is better as they use a big warhouse. Waitrose orders were picked from the shop. Rarely a substitute with Ocado.

        1. “big warhouse”

          Is that similar to a whorehouse but only staffed by dominatrixies?

    4. If she was a true leader she would donate her entire salary for the year to the staff in lieu of their customary annual (but no no longer available) profit share bonus.

  16. Clown World Tales from the Far Side, number 1103
    tl;dr: An achingly politically correct American, who sounds like a soy-eating multi-jabbed Democrat voter, has Amazon running everything in his home , controlling the lights etc.
    His automated doorbell says “Excuse me, can I help you?” to callers if nobody is at home.
    So an Amazon delivery came while nobody was at home, and the driver managed to interpret the above message as racism.
    What the driver thought he heard is apparently so terrible that it can’t be repeated, which means that normal people are left baffled.
    But the man’s entire Amazon system was shut down, because you know, he’s a racist.
    Nothing worked.
    He’s now “reconsidering his relationship with Amazon”
    https://www.dexerto.com/tech/amazon-shuts-down-smart-home-after-delivery-driver-mishears-racism-from-doorbell-2174902/

      1. Figures!
        I am a “tech bod” and I will have commercially built elektroschrot peddled by the likes of Amazon and reporting every detail to them in my house over my dead body.

    2. At least I was able to reject all of the Amazon cookies. I suppose I’ll be blacklisted soon.

  17. 373359+ up ticks,

    The tory’s (ino) party’s friend,the grand old Duke of the brexit party, give credit, nige, the best covert coxswain the rorie’s (ino) party ever had.
    Ogga1.

    Gerard Batten
    @gjb2021
    ·
    14h
    Farage teamed up with Boris a long time ago. Remember when he was photographed im a restaurant with Boris before the 2019 General Election?

    He agreed to stand down his Brexit Party candidates against Tories in many seats – without telling his candidates & to their anger & disgust. Farage helped Boris get his 80 seat majority – & look what Boris did with it.

    The BBC needn’t worry, Farage won’t run for Parliament again, this is about keeping his GB News viewing figures up.

    Susanna Reid furiously clashes with Nigel Farage as he announces Boris team-up – The Mirror,
    Translate post

    Susanna Reid furiously clashes with Nigel Farage as he announces Boris team-up — The Mirror

    Susanna Reid clashed with Nigel Farage on Tuesday’s Good Morning Britain as he revealed he would team-up with Boris Johnson

    1. If Nigel Farage has not yet learnt that Johnson will cheat him and use him without giving anything in return then he is an idiot.

      Fool me once – shame on you.
      Fool me twice – shame on me.

      1. 373359+ up ticks,

        Morning R,

        In my book they really only disagree on who is the master of treachery title holder.

  19. Morning all 🙂😊
    Once more a lovely Morning….it must be summer. 🌞
    I have no confidence in the bbc even knowing what impartiality means. Their aims are to leftie properganderise and attempt to falsely diversify almost everything they broadcast, have been obvious for many decades.
    Pay to view would sort out the indifferences they have with the British public. I’d give them 12 months. Not the public, the bbc.

  20. “The NHS saved my mother’s life. Regrettably it also almost killed her.” So writes Jemima Lewis.
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/06/15/the-nhs-saved-my-mothers-life-also-almost-killed/

    Well, Jemima, it did kill my 88-year-old mother in 2006 using the now exposed Liverpool ‘Care’ Pathway. I didn’t understand it at the time, believing that ‘nature was taking its course’, but SWMBO and I found it curious that, just before my mother died the ward ‘sister’ came into the room looking at her watch. Subsequent revelations have made it horribly clear, especially the use of midazolam and morphine on the elderly and infirm in hospitals and care homes during the fake pandemic. It’s not called the Liverpool ‘Care’ Pathway any more but they still deprive those they think are at the end of life of food and water and drug them with morphine and midazolam.

    If you’ve had your three score years and ten, stay out of hospital, friends, they’ll kill you if they can.

    1. The same thing happened to my mother in law in the late 90s.
      My wife and I were visiting her in hospital and she was almost unconscious. The nurses asked us to go outside while they made her ‘more comfortable’. When we came back to the bedside she was propped up and looking comfortable. We sat with her for about 15 minutes and she had passed away in that time.
      It was pretty obvious what they had done. But she was on her ‘last legs’ with terminal cancer.
      And not long before my Father in law had been subjected to the ‘chemical cosh’ in his care home.

    2. Over the years I’ve come to realise that is how my late ex-wife was dispatched in ’95. Kept sedated and starved.

      1. My mother died in 1989. She’d been poorly for several months and her GP had prescribed Zantac and Gavescon. Eventually one Sunday she could hardly get out of bed. I called a doctor and went over to her place. They got her into hospital for tests on the Monday. Food was left out of reach but she didn’t fancy it anyway – she’d kept herself alive on soup and Complan. The last time I saw her she was watching the old dear in the bed opposite ripping up tissues. Mum was completely compos mentis.

        She died the next day. They did a PM and found she had advanced pancreatic cancer.

    2. ‘Adam Mohammed’ is a ridiculous name; as silly as someone called Kevin Patel, Tristram Ching or Kwami Higginbottom.

    3. Nice one Rik! I probably wasn’t the only one smelling a rat when the Lifeboat Taxi Service was featured on yesterday’s ‘news’. They wanted to tell us about the lives they have saved. All very commendable, provided those saved were in genuine danger.

      Donations slipping a bit perhaps?

      1. They have been pushing the “we rescue white people” line for ages and trying to get more money (including gifts in wills). Clearly people are expressing their disapproval by keeping their wallets shut.

  22. ‘Morning, Peeps. A pleasant start to the day, 22°C, rising to a much more reasonable 23° later today.

    Yesterday was the farewell flypast of the C130 Hercules, having provided nearly six decades of rugged and reliable service. It is being ‘replaced’ by the larger but far less versatile Airbus A400M. It is also proving to be very unreliable and significantly more expensive than its highly successful, tried-and-tested predecessor. Another fine decision by incompetent and wasteful government. When it come to military aviation the American stuff works and, moreover, they are happy to let us manufacture much of it under licence…

    A glance through the DT reveals depressingly familiar ‘news’ – Scotland, with a population of around 5.5m, is building endless wind farms without the means to move the power to where it is needed, resulting in a huge bill for constraint payments. Why the hell were these put up before the serious inadequacies in the National Grid had been properly addressed? The result will be yet another green tax on consumers to cough up when they are idle through capacity problems. They should have been constructed with the risk of downtime retained by the owners, instead of expecting the consumer to pay through the nose. Talk about ‘cart before the horse’! That smug bastard who owned Egotricity (sic) knew he was on to a surefire winner, thanks to complicit or corrupt politicians who rigged the system to favour the greedy, presumably in the hope of some kind of payback.

    1. Isn’t the Airbus the plane that is assembled in parts from various EU countries?
      (“Ah, Manuel, you need a bung? Here, you can make the seats so it looks less like an illegal handout.”)
      A larger version of what many Airfix fanatics had dangling from cottons in their bedrooms.

      1. They flew north of me, unfortunately (I’m SW of Cosford). More likely to be the Ramada in Telford – that’s where we hold the RAFARS knees-up.

    4. ‘Morning, Hugh.

      Your use of a hyphen prior to the first temperature makes it look like you are resident in Antarctica. 😉

      1. ‘Morning, Grizz. There have been occasions in the past few weeks when such a location would have been preferable!

    5. There have been rows about wind farms [sic] and the need to transmit electricity, the main complaint being that overhead HT power lines are unsightly. Yes, something that’s been with us for for 90 years suddenly became ugly when it had to go through previously ‘unspoilt’ parts of the country. One case was in East Anglia, necessary for the projected vast increase in the number of turbines in the North Sea. It was featured in Countryfile which gave the impression that overhead lines were unnecessary and the cheap option. Why weren’t they being buried underground?

      Of course, wind turbines are beautiful and enhance the visual appeal of the countryside…

  23. Good morning all

    Same sizzling day, no rain for weeks .

    Local beaches are overwhelmed with visitors , although the tractors are busy hay making , silage etc .

    Once again the verges remain uncut, yet no insects, no house martins , swallows or swifts , demands on the countryside have created self extinction.

    Not very happy with this either .

    King Charles and Queen Camilla are joined by Levi Roots and Sir Trevor McDonald as they host reception at Buckingham Palace to mark 75th anniversary of Windrush Generation’s arrival in UK
    The royal couple will unveil 10 new portraits of Windrush elders this afternoon

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-12194761/King-Charles-Queen-Camilla-host-Buckingham-Palace-reception-mark-Windrushs-75th-anniversary.html

    1. I’ll bet the Australian Aborigines or the Native American Indians don’t hold celebrations to mark the invasion of settlers.

    2. “Windrush elders” – what nonsense!
      What about integrating into Britain?

    3. BTL comments don’t seem to be particularly impressed with the royal Do-Gooders.

    4. Didn’t you get the thunderstorms and hailstones and heavt rain the other day? They had floods in Stroud.
      Jobcentre roof leaked and dropped ceiling tiles all over the desks.

    5. Bleks are lauded beyond all sense of proportion. In “Lancaster” (which I’ve just finished reading), there was a big bit about the contribution and deaths of Caribbean and Indian volunteers – then we had the figures; 500 compared with more than 16,000 from Oz, Canada and NZ. When are we getting a Canuck or a Kiwi or an Aussie exhibition?

  24. I commented somewhere that it was my belief that narrative on events that could raise the anger of the public would be controlled by a nudge unit. The photo of a white person being arrested after the Nottingham murders being a case in point. I have since been made aware that a Behavioural Insights Team does indeed exist, follow the first link from the Gov website. Who knows what this lot actually do and what is kept under the counter. I have now run out of conspiracy theories, anyone got any new ones! https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/behavioural-insights-team

    1. The early photos I have seen of the suspect show that he is black. One report said that he had dreadlocks, but this was clearly not the case. Later photos were shown with him being blurred out.

        1. Anything from the police on soshal meeja is automatically suspect. First priority is PR, informing the public is priority number 27…

        2. Ha! A stock picture. They can’t help themselves, can they? Different story when it comes to depictions of the average man in TV ads, though.

          1. Like our regional TV ‘news’ (magazine programme, more like) when it came to highlighting the dangers of vaping – first time it was two white yoofs being interviewed. The second such interview involved no fewer than six yoofs – and they were all white too!

            Pure coincidence of course…

          2. Like our regional TV ‘news’ (magazine programme, more like) when it came to highlighting the dangers of vaping – first time it was two white yoofs being interviewed. The second such interview involved no fewer than six yoofs – and they were all white too!

            Pure coincidence of course…

    2. Morning KP. We know that the whole of the MSM is simply a propaganda organ that promotes government policy and from leaks that the comment threads of all the MSM outlets are infested with Government Trolls. They’ve even tried it on here.

      1. The whole managed grief orgy reported in the Mail is disgusting.
        No anger is allowed at the murderer. There are plenty of headlines with extreme words, designed to promote anger, but all of it is directed against people who haven’t just murdered three innocent victims.

    3. A comment from an American financial newsletter in February 2017:-

      “In Europe, on the other hand, the citizenry is under siege from a politically contrived invasion from the Middle East and Africa”.

      ———- Anything changed recently?

      2. But of course the Yanks aren’t being besieged by most of South America pouring through its open Southern Border.

  25. Good Moaning.
    Today’s health wrinkle.
    If you suffer from hay fever, take a teaspoonful of LOCAL honey.
    The bees have collected the nectar from the plants in your area.
    MB had been sneezing his head off every morning; since following our local butcher’s advice, he has been free of the sneezes, inflamed eyes, runny nose etc….

    1. Sadly, since I’ve been doing that for a while, the latest thinking is that the “local honey” idea is just a myth – pity! It didn’t really do me any good – but I do like honey!!

    1. Tell it not in Gath,
      Publish it not in the Streets of Askelon
      Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice
      Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph!

      Thanks to Prince Harry’s lack of foreskin foresight in announcing the fact that he and his brother were penilely amended we at least know that the Idiot King’s two sons are roundheads rather than cavaliers!

  27. 373359+ up ticks,

    Include this in the covid inquire as a “lest we forget ” feature.
    Deva vu with me comes into play very strongly

    They are telling a profession that they MUST compound high grade deceit & downright lies.

    May one ask do these political reptiles deserve positions of power?

    https://youtu.be/sfScWwWyMO4

    1. 373359+ up ticks,

      O2O,

      It’s a coming on down the line Ogga, the lab/lib/cons coalition, loco peoples supporting / voting loco that is, the peoples are actually voting for more of the same, the question is “will it change”

  28. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4a538fc2cad30d7b26818b15a027bf226455bee6f09e64ff1132e888b270c0b4.png
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/06/15/britain-green-energy-push-failure/

    BTL

    I think the Idiot King should be compelled to spend the whole winter in an unheated hut with the only electricity source being a solar panel and a small wind generator. He needs to experience physically and mentally the suffering he is so keen to enforce upon others

    Even Shakespeare’s mad King Lear realised that he had not paid enough attention to the consequences of his actions upon ordinary people:

    O, I have ta’en
    Too little care of this! Take physic, pomp;
    Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel,
    That thou mayst shake the superflux to them,
    And show the heavens more just.

    1. Why is anyone surprised at another dismal failure?

      …………and until we demand to rejoin the EU there will be continued and continual dismal failures.

        1. Yes, the furious attack on Boris by Sky News this morning shows that any MP with an inclination towards Brexit

          will be attacked continuously and unmercilessly.

      2. Sadly, you’re right. It was clear from the outset that the state would never let us leave. Despite all their efforts of tax, social disruption, mass uncontrolled gimmigration we persists and they hate that.

        The Left have tried so hard to destroy this country that this carnage of tax and waste, terrorism and invasion will only end when they get what they want.

        1. Ah, silly me! Meanwhile, if he really believes in all the expensive and unworkable greenie bollox that he and his ilk wish to inflict on everyone else, he will get rid every royal car and replace them with pure EVs. And no hybrids, that would be cheating. It might then finally dawn on him what a plonker he is.

          3. If doubt that any royal car is ever driven outside a third of the range of an EV.
            They would have charging points readily available wherever they are parked and all it would do is underline to him how splendid they are, completely ignoring the fact that the vast majority of potential owners will never have such ready access.

          4. If one Bentley ran out of battery another would be sat ready waiting to waft him to his next destination.

      2. He certainly has a lot of superflux to shake off and give to people more deserving than himself.

    3. He knows perfectly well what his policies are doing to ordinary people – it’s just collateral damage. The planet is more important to him, and he doesn’t like to have so many of us cluttering up his pretty countryside with our smelly cars and our boring little houses and our beastly little gardens.

  29. Max Hastings is making a lot of common sense on TV. As his previous boss He’s summed up the Johnson effect very succinctly.

    1. Who is the woman between gormless and sunhat? Who is the bloke next to rhyming slang??

      1. Chloe Smith – Science, Innovation and Technology
        Steve Barclay – Health

        1. Thank you – interesting that “Science, Innovation and Technology” is represented by someone with a degree in English Literature! I see though that she is just in an acting post, and won’t be standing in the next election.

          1. None of them have any value or purpose. They’re not technically capable at any level. These are politicians, not do-ers. Her entire department should be shut down.

          2. I expect they thought that would guarantee that she would be scientifically literate.

    2. That Klaus Schwab, Bill Gates, Alex Soros, Blackrock, Vanguard and the Rothschilds are the people really in charge of the country is even more terrifying?

      1. It’s even more terrifying to know that the same cartel are in charge of the world!

    3. As I’ve pointed out many times: gormless people vote for gormless politicians.

  31. My word this Johnson stuff is nauseating, it seems he was an epic liar. He slotted in quite nicely. No different from the rest of the habitual and pathological liars in Westminster and Whitehall. Why does all this take so long to emerge it’s something that is continuously happening. It’s not just the party nonsense, it’s the whole scandalous thing. They all live on a pack of lies.

    Out to a nice family lunch at 12:30 big sis and BiL’s 60th wedding anniversary today. Wedding at St Mary’s Hendon. I must remember to ask where the reception was, I can’t quite remember. Although I was a 17 year old Usher.
    In my newly tailored suite.
    Best man also at the lunch and younger sister and BiL, some other family, but the main close family all gathering in Yorkshire over the weekend. Coming in from Cape Town.

    1. I was an usher at a wedding. I found out just in time that I was supposed to lead people to their seats instead of telling them to keep quiet.

          2. They had a couple of photo albums of the day and life before and after.
            Absolutely wonderful to see.

        1. I was too nervous to worry about what the relatives were doing. They were older than us and could take care of themselves.

  32. The return of the AfD. Spiked. 15 June 2023.

    The government’s policies have indeed alienated, annoyed and exasperated many Germans – especially when it comes to its energy and climate policies. Survey after survey has shown that the majority of Germans are not happy with the ideologically driven phase-out of nuclear energy, for example. And nearly 80 per cent say they disagree with the government’s plans to ban all new fossil-fuel heaters from 2024.

    It’s not just the coalition’s Net Zero agenda that is pushing voters away. A recent survey asked potential AfD voters what their biggest concerns were. Immigration was at the top of the list, with 65 per cent of AfD supporters saying they were concerned about it. Disagreement with the government’s energy and climate policies came second, at 47 per cent. This was followed by social issues (29 per cent) and foreign-policy issues (25 per cent). Other concerns were rising inflation and inequality, and dissatisfaction with the government more broadly.

    It’s not just immigration and net zero. There’s an ethnic minority in the woodpile that doesn’t get mentioned even here and is certainly omitted from opinion polls. It is verboten. The destruction of the Baltic Pipeline by the Americans has had a catastrophic effect on the German Economy and instead of dealing with it the mainstream political parties have gone along with it. It is of no small significance that the AFD has some sympathy toward Russia.

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/06/15/why-the-afd-is-on-the-rise-again/

    1. I bet “government ignoring NS2 being blown up” wasn’t even on the list of concerns.

      1. Climate and energy policy did quite well in the polls? I suppose it’s good to know it’s not just our bunch of fools.

        However, it rather points out that despite Brexit, and the carte blanche to pursue an entirely different economic system of free market low tax market enterprise, the statists still continue to push the same Pro Eu big state, high tax, low growth socialist agenda.

        Germany has no choice, but we do. Why is our government not doing what we have instructed it to do?

          2. …and that is how I intend to non-comply but, I have to be realistic in safeguarding my income.

            Sadly I’m too dependent on many payments I’ve made IN to jeopardise my ability to draw it back OUT.

  33. I’m a infant schools teacher, so as fathers day is fast approaching, I
    thought it would be a fun activity to split the kids into two groups,
    then get one group to make fathers day cards…… and the other group
    could just do some finger painting with their own shit, or whatever it
    is that black kids do to pass the time.

    1. When you were at dances as a student was there a disc jockey who asked you to play Hokus Pokus.

      This game requires all the boys to go to one end of the dance hall and all the girls to go to the other.

      The disk jockey then plays the Rolling Stones’ record I Cant get no satisfaction

      When the music stops the boys sing out in unison “Hokus” and then the girls respond by singing their reply ….

          7. Could be better. I am having a great deal of difficulty breathing in this weather. Got two air purifiers with hepa filters to help me out. One of them arrived without the plug! So now I have to wait for that. Thus it goes. The two machines together should cover the entire cottage.

            I do hope that everything is OK with you?

            Rose says you communicate with her outside of NOTTLERS, I do too but I’m having difficulties and I feel rather neglectful It is quite boring to be a mess! The eye thing, pre glaucoma, bothers me more than the breathing in actual fact because, without a doubt, the ability to see is the most important thing for me.

          8. A P.S. So, you never said. What is a rice bomb? Enquiring mind wants to know 😊

          9. I’m sort of confused. I answered this but it seems to have gone into the ether. Life could be better, in answer to your enquiry, heat is very difficult for my breathing, it’s exhausting. Brough two air purifiers with hepa filters to help but one arrived without a plug so must wait for that to arrive. Of course, by then heat wave will be over!

            My main concern is my eye sight, eyes are suffering from a pre-glaucomic condition. Makes it difficult to do things like type for any decent amount of time. I am highly visual, did art for most of my life, wouldn’t mind being deaf or dumb. but not being able to see properly is rather frightening, to be honest.

            I communicate with Rose outside of NOTTLERS, which is very nice. I look forward to our messages to and fro but wish I could be more communicative, write at length without getting tired. You communicate with her outside of NOTTLERS too. Do you happen to know anything about these programmes where you speak and it translates to type on the screen?

            anyway, I do hope that you are well? 😊

          10. So sorry about your breathing. It’s a dreadful thing to deal with. My mother had COPD and my abiding memory of her is of her sitting slumped forward with her shoulders hunched, trying desperately to catch a breath. She’d been so fit all her life, but with a slight heart murmur. I remember when I was about 9 jumping out at her on the landing and she fell down! I thought I’d killed her!
            Not having sight I can’t imagine how you must feel.
            If you’d like to get in touch, do get my contact from Ruth or Hertslass, and I’ll see if I can find some software for communication! Take care 😘

        2. Haven’t heard that version before – I have just downloaded it. I still have three of their albums.

      2. I imagine mainly because black men are so statistically unlikely to remain in a relationship that the children knowing who their father is, let alone getting them a present is hilarious.

      4. No wonder he’s looking so apprehensive – he’s probably afraid that inside there will be a bill for child support.

      1. I hate to admit this, but I am completely out of compassion.
        I’m not impressed with what I have become; or the spineless governments that have reduced me to this level.

        2. I know the feeling. My tolerant Liberal-voting self of 20 years ago would be horrified at what my views are today.

    4. When are the parents going to be prosecuted for putting their children in danger and trying to enter Greece illegally?
      Thought not.

      1. 373359+ up ticks,

        Afternoon BB2,
        The day after the british electorate reverse the “more of the same please” voting agenda, and the thick gits realise that their local PM is NOT their friend but their kapo.

        Everyone but everyone will feel & be a great deal safer.

  35. Mike, a very good friend of mine and a former Chemistry teacher in a West of England public school, sent me this:

    SCHOOL – 1950 x 2022

    Scenario :
    Johnny and Mark get into a fight after school.

    1950s – Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up best friends.

    2022 – Police called, and they arrest Johnny and Mark and charge them with assault.
    Both expelled even though Johnny started it.
    Both children go to anger management programmes for 3 months.
    School governors hold meeting to implement bullying prevention programmes.

    ————————–

    Scenario :
    Robbie won’t be still in class, disrupts other students.

    1950s – Robbie sent to the office and given six of the best by the Principal.
    Returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again.

    2022 – Robbie given huge doses of Ritalin. Becomes a zombie. Tested for ADHD – result deemed to be positive.

    Robbie’s parents get fortnightly disability payments and school gets extra funding from government because Robbie has a disability.

    ————————–

    Scenario :
    Billy breaks a window in his neighbour’s car and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt.

    1950s – Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.

    2022 – Billy’s dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy removed to foster care; joins a gang; ends up in jail.

    ————————–

    Scenario :
    Mark gets a headache and takes some Aspirin to school.

    1950s – Mark gets glass of water from Principal to take aspirin with, passes exams and becomes a solicitor.

    2022 – Police called, car searched for drugs and weapons.
    Mark expelled from school for drug taking. Ends up as a drop out.

    ————————–

    Scenario :
    Johnny takes apart leftover fireworks from Guy Fawkes night, puts them in a paint tin and blows up a wasp’s nest.

    1950s – Wasps die.

    2022- Police and

    Anti-Terrorism Squad called.

    Johnny charged with domestic terrorism, investigate parents, siblings removed from home, computers confiscated.
    Johnny’s Dad goes on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly in an aeroplane again.

    ————————–

    Scenario :
    Johnny falls over while playing football during morning break and scrapes his knee.
    He is found crying by his teacher, Mary. She hugs him to comfort him.

    1950s – In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing football. No damage done.

    2022 – Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces 3 years in prison.
    Johnny undergoes 5 years of therapy and ends up gay.

    ————————–

    This should be sent to every e-mail address you know

    to remind us how stupid we have become!

    Talking of blowing up wasps’ nests, when Mike came to stay with us he did a practical experiment showing Christo how to blend sugar and weed-killer together and they blew up a couple of wasps’ nests. Sadly we cannot buy sodium chlorate in France any more.

    2. Don’t forget the teaching of tolerance through comparing religions causing muslims to threaten beheadings – and the teacher punished and career destroyed for it.

    3. Re the last one. “Johnny undergoes 5 years of therapy and ends up gay.” Would that he did. He would now end up trans and have his bits lopped off.

    4. Re the last one. “Johnny undergoes 5 years of therapy and ends up gay.” Would that he did. He would now end up trans and have his bits lopped off.

  36. 373359+ up ticks,

    Any truth that the tory (ino) party wanted to grant Lord Haw Haw
    a posthumous award for his input on the bbc.,in both parties
    he would currently be a role model and they sadly grieve his passing.

    Thursday 15 June: A progressive consensus at the BBC is at odds with its aim to be impartial

  37. Glenda Jackson has died aged 87. Whatever her politics, she was a great actress. RIP.

    2. Very sad! She was a great actress and I loved the film ‘A Touch of Class’ with George Segal! 1973, which is a bit scary!

  38. Good afternoon, all. Back from yer Italy – GOSH there is food price inflation there. Olive oil €10 or 15 a litre. Used to be 20 for five…. BUT a coffee at the Cafe Sport is still €2 – as it has been for 12years!!

    Then to the beach for a delicious swim. The sea is warm 22C and absolutely flat – and clear as a bell. May be forced to go down again, later. Now for lunch – a gorgonzola which is already making a bid for freedom…..

    Any news? Many more slammers murdering people?

    1. Yes to the slammers as usual.

      I think the cost of a cup of coffee is regulated it Italy.

    2. How is the lesion on your back doing, Bill.
      I expect a salty swim is just what the doctor ordered .

      I have been shopping in Lidl recently , and Italian apples are cheaper and juicier than the bland tasting English apples from elsewhere.

      The price of a huge bag of apples is amazing , and I can afford to slice up a few for the garden blackbirds .

        1. Only in clean seawater. You wouldn’t get away with it anywhere along the south coast.

        1. I can’t get Bramley Seedlings over here so I use Granny Smiths instead.

          The Swedish cooking apple, Belle Boskop, is useless.

          3. The one I planted produced apples the following year. It was about 5 foot when I bought it.

  39. Police say if you see a dog locked in a car in case of high heat, take a picture of the dog and the car, call the police, wait 5 minutes and break the car window. This way you will not be charged with criminal damage and will give evidence to the police to take the dog owners to court.
    Can anyone copy and paste this information to prevent this atrocity from happening?
    🐶🐕 🐶🐕❤️🐾

          2. Is Doctor Black in the car too?

            My car does not have a conservatory (or library) in which lead piping or a revolver can be secreted.🤣

          5. Well, that’s what my Dad called the curved box thing attached to the bottom of the front door of the car, for putting the AA book in!

          6. Try pocket, Sue. I thought your original was a version of the Doric ‘Doo-cot’, i.e., pigeon-hole.

    2. I suggest that is just the police wanting to shift the responsibility for smashing the car window onto dog-loving members of the public.

      It would probably go something like this:
      – take a picture of the dog and the car
      – Owner arrives back and beats you up

      1. Also, this is an insidious way of training people to inform on their fellow citizens, and attack the property of someone who is breaking the rules, by choosing an example that most people will support.

        Try restraining a black knife attacker like the Nottingham one, if you’re white, and see what being a good citizen will get you.

        1. The only way to restrain scum like him is to shoot him in the face. That is a guaranteed way of rearranging his thoughts.

    3. I don’t take Mongo out with me in this weather. It’s too hot, and I can’t manage when he’ll be able to get to water.

      Being honest, I don’t like leaving him at home on his own (in this weather) either.

    4. Window smashing dog lovers should check if the vehicle is an EV.
      Modern EVs are equipped with a dog mode which allows the car to be left indefinitely with full air conditioning on with the windows shut. (temperature and humidity controlled). In my Hyundai Kona it’s called utility mode

      Teslas have a further facility which gradually brings the vehicle to a safe stop should the dog drive off with the car without maintaining the required control of the steering wheel. My Hyundai is not equipped with that option so it wouldn’t be insured if the animal inside was a TWOC breed: 😉

      https://youtu.be/T2rbdMlmpYY

      1. When my daughter was a baby, we had a little van with no windows in the back. Once, she was in her baby seat in the front passenger seat, and I was sitting in the back (this was a perfectly legal configuration at the time). The van was parked in the shade. A group of passers by started making comments about babies being left alone in cars.
        Imagine they had taken a photo, unnoticed by me, and then smashed the window!

      2. Of course the down side is you then might not get home as the battery will be too run down!?

      3. Recently I nattered with a Kona Ona; he said that there is a little light on the bonnet that lights up occasionally. He also said that his main big battery pack recharges the lead acid battery when necessary, and that the car has its own SIM (card) that can talk to its controller about all sorts of interesting technical matters. He wonders if your car’s SIM might be drawing electricity from the lead acid battery just to annoy you while it is chatting away silently with the mothership.

      4. I knew about dog mode; it turns on the AC and turns off the internal sensors. People shouldn’t just jump to conclusions that a dog in a car (or a motorhome) is stressed unless they can see that it is (excessive panting, drooling, etc).

        1. I am aware of car components that drain both driver and car resources.

          I send my Kona to sleep when I put it to bed in the garage to stop it chatting incessantly by disconnecting the 12 volt battery.
          I give it some juice occasionally by plugging it into the mains for an hour in the morning whilst it’s still cheap rate.

      1. If it was the request to disable your ad blocker you can just close the window.

  41. Child killer Colin Pitchfork can be released from prison, Parole Board says. 15 June 2023.

    The board said it was “no longer necessary for the protection of the public” to keep him in prison.

    It said in its decision: “The prisoner had committed shocking, serious offences, causing immeasurable harm to his victims. However, the Parole Board’s role, as required by law, is to undertake a risk assessment. The panel noted that Mr Pitchfork has been in prison for a very long time. His behaviour for almost all of that time has not caused any concern.

    I don’t suppose that there was much opportunity for child murdering in prison. There is no known cure for psychopathy. The risk of course is carried by others. Why anyone should suppose that at 63 he is no longer capable is a mystery. He was released two years ago and breached his conditions then. He should of course have been hanged and then these questions would not arise. Mark my words this piece of trash will kill again!

    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jun/15/child-killer-colin-pitchfork-can-be-released-from-prison-parole-board-says

    1. Time was when such scum were never released to kill again. All that was required was a length of rope …

      In fact that was just one of a myriad of benefits to society. No costly prison care for umpteen years was another.

      1. Afternoon Oberst. So do I but I’ve also read his Wikipedia page. He’s an unregenerate nutter!

      2. Don’t we all, but experience has made us somewhat cynical – or maybe realistic.

        1. We’ve given up expecting a different result from doing the same thing – or at least, most of us here have.

    4. I wonder, if the parole board were to have him live with them, in close proximity to their families would they let him out?

    5. How do you measure murder? (As opposed to killing.)
      Is the degree of heinousness judged by age of victim or chosen method of slaughter?
      The fact that a human being is dead via deliberate intent by another human being is immeasurable.

    6. Probably no young girls to murder while he was inside. They all know what to say to a parole board.

    7. I’m afraid I agree with you. Once a public liability, always a public liability. He might have been in prison a long time, but during that time young girls have been safe. In my view, the safety of the many outweighs the need of the one and a villain at that.

      1. Been too extrovert these last few days. I’m chilling with a cold beer, admiring the coolest car that ever existed – Citroen SM. In factory fresh condition. Gorgeous!

    1. The Banksy increased in value after being shredded; doubtless the same will happen to Boris.

    3. What are we to make of Johnson, other than that he turned out to be an even bigger disappointment then we feared he might be? His influence probably did win the referendum and, with his new deal that wasn’t very new, he certainly broke the Commons logjam in 2019, exposing the hypocrites in the chamber with some style. He failed on Covid, despite appearing to be reluctant about lockdown.

      Has he been stitched up? In a sense, yes. If it had been any other party leader having a drink with colleagues, as did Max Headroom, there would have been nothing more than a minor slap on the wrists. He didn’t have to mislead Parliament to be pursued but he gave his enemies the opportunity by his foolishness. When he needed to lie convincingly, he was found wanting.

      Anthony Seldon was on today’s ‘The World At One‘ on Radio 4. He laid into Johnson with relish, his rather nasal and oily tone reminding me of the arch-Remainer Grieve. He (Seldon) described Theresa May as ‘decent and honourable’…

      1. Surely whatever Boris, who I despise, did it was less serious than claims of “45 minute WMDs” being used to start a war??

        1. If people are still talking about “partygate” they should have picked up on the fact that there was no concern about any virus. They were all happy to mingle whilst at the same time telling everyone else not to.

          1. Johnson will probably be blamed for Covid. Ports should have been closed, quarantine camps and emergency hospital built etc., all before the end of February…

          2. Rishi got the same £50 penalty…….. Sue Grey and the police exonerated them of any other misdemeanours – and meanwhile The Kneeler was photographed with beer in hand at a meeting where curry was served.

          3. The video evidence of the beer and curry party was shot by Ivo Delingpole (son of James) who allegedly just happened to be passing.

      3. Wasn’t Seldon killed by the Hound of the Baskervilles? [PS I do know it’s Selden!]

      4. Seldon is an extremely unpleasant little man. Arse-licker; name dropper….

      5. It’s just a distraction.

        “Look here, over here, don’t look there, there’s nothing to see there, it’s here you should look”.

      7. Thank goodness the report came out today.
        I believe there was a schemozzle in Nottingham: what a welcome distraction from the peasants worrying about their safety.

        1. Yes – and last week there was a happening in Bournemouth…………but that seems to have been forgotten.

    3. You look very much the part, a Brit abroad….! Lovely secluded beach. The market looks delightful, and so clean.

  47. I enjoy watching Masterchef. Except the American and Aus versions they are too pumped and over the top.

    I like watching the Amateurs and the Professionals.

    This year 2023 celebrity Masterchef has 20 contestants i have never heard of.

    Saying that…i do like to see how people progress and reveal a hidden talent.

    2. I don’t think I’ve ever watched more than a few minutes of any of them. I really can’t be bothered with telly these days. Having said that – we have been watching the Cardiff singer competition on iplayer. we’re a couple of days behind.

      The first night winner was a fix – they had to choose the big South African girl when the Canadian was clearly the best. But we got to see a brief clip of Dmitry Horostovsky’s winning performance in 1989 – when we were there in the audience. That really was an unforgettable evening.

    3. I don’t think I’ve ever watched more than a few minutes of any of them. I really can’t be bothered with telly these days. Having said that – we have been watching the Cardiff singer competition on iplayer. we’re a couple of days behind.

      The first night winner was a fix – they had to choose the big South African girl when the Canadian was clearly the best. But we got to see a brief clip of Dmitry Horostovsky’s winning performance in 1989 – when we were there in the audience. That really was an unforgettable evening.

    4. Never watched any of it. I don’t like cooking, whether I’m doing it or watching someone else do it.

    5. I’ve done the cooking for the last 50 years, the last thing I want to see is some ‘wannabe’ trying to impress a nonentity in the guise of entertainment. I’ll watch Nigella for ideas though (and she certainly gives me a couple)

  48. Russia putting up ‘powerful resistance’ against Ukrainian counter-offensive. 15 June 2023.

    Ukraine reported progress in its newly-launched counteroffensive despite contending with strong resistance from Russian troops, including on the southern front.

    “There is a gradual but steady advance of the armed forces… At the same time, the enemy is putting up powerful resistance” on the southern front, Ganna Malyar, the Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister, said in a briefing, adding the troops had advanced in the east as well.

    BELOW THE LINE.

    Adam Anonymous..

    What’s this? Russia putting up a powerful resistance? Ukrainian armour annihilated by Russian artillery, air strikes, and entrenched positions with hundreds of thousands of reinforcements? No, no, no. That simply can’t be true. I’ve been reassured countless times in the Telegraph comments section that the Russian army consists of a few dozen half-starved orcs who’ll flee at the first loud noise. Only last week, in this very newspaper, tank commander Hamish De Cretin Gordon was crowing that “British tanks are about to sweep Putin’s conscripts aside”. Giddy with excitement, he boasted that “Putin’s demoralised conscripts are utterly unprepared for the shock action now hitting their lines”.

    Hamish has been very quiet in recent days.

    Lol! He has indeed. Only last week it was: British-made tanks are about to sweep Putin’s conscripts aside.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/06/09/british-made-tanks-about-to-sweep-putins-conscripts-aside/

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/06/15/ukraine-russia-war-latest-news-counter-offensive-wagner/

  49. Academy Award-winning actor and former Labour MP Glenda Jackson dies aged 87

    Ms Jackson died “after a brief illness” at her home in Blackheath, south-east London, her agent said

    By

    Jamie Bullen

    15 June 2023 • 2:59pm

    Glamorous Glenda Jackson pictured in 1974

    Credit: Forum Press/REX Shutterstock

    Double Academy Award-winning actor and former Labour MP Glenda Jackson has died at the age of 87.

    Ms Jackson died after a brief illness at her home in Blackheath, south-east London, her agent said.

    The
    screen star and former Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate won the
    Oscar for best actress in 1970 for Women In Love and again three years
    later for A Touch Of Class – although opted not to attend the ceremony
    on either occasion.

    Agent Lionel Larner said: “Glenda Jackson,
    two-time Academy Award-winning actress and politician, died peacefully
    at her home in Blackheath, London this morning after a brief illness
    with her family at her side.

    “She recently completed filming ‘The Great Escaper’ in which she co-starred with Michael Caine.”

    Glenda Jackson appeared on the Morecambe and Wise show

    Credit: BBC

    Playing Mary Queen of Scots

    Credit: Everett/REX Shutterstock

    Starring with Oliver Reed in Women in Love

    Credit: Everett Collection / Rex Feature

    Rishi Sunak’s thoughts are with Glenda Jackson’s
    friends and family, Downing Street said after the death of the veteran
    actress and former politician.

    Reacting to the recent news, the
    Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “Obviously that’s extremely sad news
    and obviously his thoughts will be with her friends and family at this
    time, but I’m sure we will have more to say.”

    Despite her
    successful career, which also included two Emmy Awards and a Tony, Ms
    Jackson previously said she never had any interest in the social and
    glamorous aspects of the industry.

    The double Oscar-winner gave up acting for politics more than a quarter of a century ago and served as a Labour MP for 23 years.

    Glenda Jackson elected as a Labour MP for Hampstead & Highgate in 1992

    Credit: PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo

    In 1992 she was elected as the Labour MP for Hampstead and
    Highgate and served as a junior transport minister from 1997 to 1999
    during Sir Tony Blair’s government.

    Devastated
    to hear that my predecessor Glenda Jackson has died. A formidable
    politician, an amazing actress and a very supportive mentor to me.
    Hampstead and Kilburn will miss you Glenda. pic.twitter.com/X7JzgrzLDR— Tulip Siddiq (@TulipSiddiq) June 15, 2023

    Ms Jackson stood down as an MP at the 2015 general election and returned to acting.

    Tulip Siddiq, who succeeded Ms Jackson as Labour MP in Hampstead, was among the first to pay tribute to the 87-year-old.

    “Devastated
    to hear that my predecessor Glenda Jackson has died. A formidable
    politician, an amazing actress and a very supportive mentor to me.
    Hampstead and Kilburn will miss you Glenda,” she tweeted.

    Ms
    Jackson won a Bafta for best actress in 2019 for her role in Elizabeth
    Is Missing, which followed the story of a woman suffering from dementia.

    Ms Jackson won a Bafta for best actress in 2019 for her role in Elizabeth Is Missing

    Ms Jackson had just finishing filming The Great Escaper
    alongside fellow double Oscar-winner Sir Michael Caine, who she had last
    acted with 48 years ago in The Romantic Englishwoman.

    With Michael Caine who she made her last film The Great Escaper

    Credit: ROB YOUNGSON

    Their new film tells a story, inspired by true events, of a
    Second World War veteran who escaped his care home in Hove, East Sussex,
    to attend a commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings
    in France.

    Ms Jackson said she only started acting after she
    failed her school certificate, leaving her with no option but to start
    working at the age of 16.

    After joining a friend at the YMCA
    amateur dramatics society while she was working at her local Boots
    store, she went on to study at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada).

    She
    also played Egyptian queen Cleopatra in 1971 for an episode of The
    Morecambe & Wise Show with comedy duo Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise.

    Related Topics

    Labour Party,

    Oscars

    194

    The Telegraph values your comments but kindly requests all posts
    are on topic, constructive and respectful. Please review our

    commenting policy.

    1. She was a wonderful actress. Elizabeth the First has never been better served!

      2. You sure she was acting? Elizabeth I was arrogant, strong-willed, crafty, paranoid and determined to get her way. Mind you, Liz did act in the best interests (as she saw it) of her realm and tried to keep the plebs on board.

          1. That was from memory Tom – I’d have to troll through Youtube to find it

    2. How could this actor receive the Best Actress BAFTA award in 2019?

      I thought she was a fine actress but awful MP. But what do I know?

      1. Funny how a reasonably attractive young actress could readily morph into a disgusting, wizened hag as soon as she veered sharply Left and became an MP.

  50. Academy Award-winning actor and former Labour MP Glenda Jackson dies aged 87

    Ms Jackson died “after a brief illness” at her home in Blackheath, south-east London, her agent said

    By

    Jamie Bullen

    15 June 2023 • 2:59pm

    Glamorous Glenda Jackson pictured in 1974

    Credit: Forum Press/REX Shutterstock

    Double Academy Award-winning actor and former Labour MP Glenda Jackson has died at the age of 87.

    Ms Jackson died after a brief illness at her home in Blackheath, south-east London, her agent said.

    The
    screen star and former Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate won the
    Oscar for best actress in 1970 for Women In Love and again three years
    later for A Touch Of Class – although opted not to attend the ceremony
    on either occasion.

    Agent Lionel Larner said: “Glenda Jackson,
    two-time Academy Award-winning actress and politician, died peacefully
    at her home in Blackheath, London this morning after a brief illness
    with her family at her side.

    “She recently completed filming ‘The Great Escaper’ in which she co-starred with Michael Caine.”

  51. Raining. Curses – no swim this evening. Rain from Italy. Global warming, y’know.

    1. Thunder, too. Very dramatic. We have seen more rain in the last three days than in the previous six weeks….

  53. We knew from the start that the Covid enquiry would be based on emotion as much as evidence. Here’s an example:

    Covid bereaved seek Johnson apology after Partygate report

    Johnson showed no remorse, bereaved family group says

    Earlier today, a spokesman for the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK group said the report’s findings came as no surprise.

    Speaking to the BBC about the parties Johnson attended in lockdown, David Garfinkel said: “His justification was that he had to be at a leaving event. Why was that so important when people were dying of Covid and burying their loved ones?

    “He was in a leaving event for 25 minutes. It took less than three minutes for them to switch off the ventilator for my dad when he died. He didn’t need to be at leaving events.

    “I think for bereaved families… we followed all the rules. We had to live through the consequences of not being with our loved ones at the end, when they passed away, and we’ll have to live with that for the rest of our lives.”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-65876914

    1. Johnson’s attendance at a leaving party had no bearing on the death of their loved ones – it’s a complete non sequitur.

      1. The voice of reason! Mind you, we don’t, as a nation, seem to go in for reasoned thought any more. Cue all the candles and teddies after atrocities when the real problem is a certain ideology.

    2. I was unable to be with my mother when she died in 1989 – she was in hospital for tests and came out dead. The nurse phoned just as I was about to leave to go and see her, she died suddenly and unexpectedly. However, viewing her body in the chapel of rest the next day was traumatic, as they hadn’t wiped the blood from her face.

    3. Cue Grenfell. Yes it was heart-rending. But we needed a factual investigation not an emotional one. I am beginning to realise why the Victorians championed the concept of “stiff upper lip”.

  55. 373360+ up ticks,

    I really am getting pig sick of these apologist handing back the family fortune because of alledged slavery issues.

    SO may I ask is there any compo coming from the other way like when the black chappies ate the honkies, missionaries etc when I enquired via the west african embassy I got two very short replies, Hic & Burp.

  56. Afternoon, all. Scorchio here (31.5 degrees C in the relatively early morning). Have felt very disinclined to do much. Oscar is flat out on the kitchen tiles and Kadi has found a rug in a shaded spot. Quelle vie de chien! The Bbc is not fit for purpose (and hasn’t been since at least 1997). It should be defunded and made to earn its keep on the open market.

    1. In 1.5 hours, the latest ATC strike begins………………..

      Only joking – prolly

      1. Thanks! 1 hour delay already “due to late incoming aircraft”. 28C in Oslo, apparently.

        1. Why?

          Does the temperature slow the aeroplane down?

          Or are you just being fooled by the airline?

          2. I’m amazed. How did the pilot work that out?

            Or more to the point, doesn’t summer occur every year at this time?

            Even in Oslo?

        2. That means you will almost certainly miss your window for your take-off slot. Lucky you!

  58. In the DT today: Don’t journalists need to know any grammar rhese days?

    Duchess of York: Princess Diana ‘never understood how brilliant she was’

    In her latest podcast, the Duchess said both her and Diana knew what it was like to be ‘ostracised’

  59. Another friggin’ Bogey Five!

    Wordle 726 5/6
    🟨⬜⬜⬜🟩
    ⬜🟩🟨⬜🟩
    🟨🟩⬜⬜🟩
    🟨🟩⬜⬜🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Yep, two possibles for a four and I picked the wrong one.

      Wordle 726 5/6

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

    2. Par for me, just got back from fishin’.

      Wordle 726 4/6

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

  60. Right – that’s me for today. Have a jolly evening NOT watching the falling rain.

    A demain

  61. As per the protocol established during the expenses scandal in 2009
    which saw MPs jailed, Guido understands that the Metropolitan Police
    have contacted the Speaker’s Office to confirm they will be
    investigating a formal complaint made yesterday about Bernard Jenkin
    following our
    .
    Guido also understands that Eleanor Laing has changed her story and
    given conflicting explanations for the events of December 8, 2020.

    1. I think in this case it’s a white fellow. That the press are happily publishing a photo indicates the ethnicity.

    1. Well, if it pisses off a wider section of the community perhaps more people will start complaining about these fools instead of mouthing platitudes in support of them.

      1. Dangerous ground? More complaints will lead to further draconian laws being brought to light to control the population, to prevent us all from really complaining when the going gets tough. I think that that is what these annoying protests with their police assistance, is truly all about. I smell a large rat which goes by the name of Government Connivance.

        2. With these eco-loons, plod must learn that his duty is to enforce the law, part of which is the Highways Act 1984, wherein it is an offence to obstruct the King’s Highway.

      2. It’s good to see Jemima, Jessica, Rupert and Frederick pissing off mammah and pappah

    3. We were fascinated by the “community worker” who took time off to demonstrate.

      We assume that he was on unpaid leave?

    4. It’s the language that offends:

      One of those taking action this afternoon, Sean Irving, 24, a PhD student [sic] from Norwich, said: “I am here because I am scared for my generations’ future. I am angry that our illegitimate government, corrupted by oil money, is actively and knowingly pursuing a course of action that threatens all of our lives and the lives of our children.

      “By signing off on the development of over a hundred new fossil fuel projects, the government signs the death warrants of hundreds of millions; who face crop-failure, displacement, war and famine. The pursuit of new fossil fuel projects in 2023, is moral and economic madness. Our culture cannot survive sustained crop failure.”

      I can just picture the Monty Python team considering this for a script. They really would reject it as too silly…

      1. You are clearly not researching anything scientific, Sean. You’re only scared for your generation’s future because you’ve failed to make any investigation of your own and have swallowed the government’s propaganda hook, line and sinker. As for a world without CO2, that really would cause crop failure and famine. I have only one way to describe you; a naive, scientifically illiterate plonker!

      2. Sean’s ideal world would benefit plants that don’t rely on CO2?
        H’mmm. Good luck with finding them, sonny.

      4. Hundreds of thousands of acres of agricultural land have been taken for solar farms just as much of our formerly green uplands and surrounding coastal waters are now littered with un-recyclable and generally useless wind farms.

        I suppose the PhD student from Norwich (where else?) will shortly be calling himself a ‘doctor’.

      1. …and that’s what the bluddy WEF wants. Don’t play to it, Johnny, or anyone.

      1. 373400+ up ticks,

        Morning N,
        You can certainly hum that tune again Mrs N on twit there was “more replies” repeated
        again & again.

  66. Well, the envy of the world has failed me again. Had the biopsy last Friday and so-called consultant said she would contact GP to get some pain meds sorted. Today, I rang the surgery and they had not heard anything; got a call back saying that my doc had sent a prescription to our pharmacy and it would be with me tomorrow. I explained that the paracetamol is upsetting my stomach- and boy- was it today!
    Not a word of follow up while my husband gets calls from his specialist nurses at least once a week.
    Three towns, each with their own hospital but it’s all split up so there is no bloody coordination.
    Pain again and more urk. I truly hope that none of you have to put up with this BS.

      1. Total incompetence. And I don’t think they give a shit.
        You have and are going through it.

        1. I think you’re right.
          I’m still waiting for a reply from my complaint. 3 weeks now.
          We can’t do anything like a holiday abroad until I’ve been treated.

    3. Sorry to hear that, Ann. You are really having a rough deal. I had a telephone consultation this morning about my severe degeneration in my lumber and sacroiliac joints. It began late, was mostly taken up with going through my medical history (I thought they had access to my records) and telling me that “guidelines” prevented any attempt to alleviate the pain (I had already dismissed “mindfulness” as worse than useless) on the NHS. I have a face-to-face with a physio in about ten days’ time when they will give me some “strengthening exercises” to do. My guess is that I won’t be able to manage them because they’ll be agonising! The reason I stopped doing my physio before was because it became too painful. Envy of the world? Yeah, right!

    4. Oh, heck, Ann.
      Is there a GP at the practice you can trust? They vary so much within a single practice.
      Do you know one particularly well, or with whom you have built up a good relationship?
      Personal contact is so important.

    2. My candle burns at both ends, it will not last the night.
      But oh,my foes and oh, my friends, it gives a lovely light.

      Edna St. Vincent Millay

      1. One of my favourite poetesses.

        I Shall Forget You Presently

        I SHALL forget you presently, my dear,
        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ba1ff4d5acaf4236b5e0af983880b7479f7ae64d07584cbfb1ad98bcf88ab139.jpg So make the most of this, your little day,
        Your little month, your little half a year,
        Ere I forget, or die, or move away,
        And we are done forever; by and by
        I shall forget you, as I said, but now,
        If you entreat me with your loveliest lie
        I will protest you with my favourite vow.
        I would indeed that love were longer-lived,
        And oaths were not so brittle as they are,
        But so it is, and nature has contrived
        To struggle on without a break thus far, —
        Whether or not we find what we are seeking
        Is idle, biologically speaking.
        Edna St. Vincent Millay

    3. Looks a bit how I feel – limp and blue! Gone very sticky and humid here tonight. Wouldn’t surprise me if we had another thunderstorm.

        1. About the storm? We’ve had storms for the last three days. It isn’t beyond the realms of possibility that we might have another one.

          2. The dogs are very relaxed at the moment, so if one’s coming, it isn’t imminent. They get very agitated when one’s brewing.

          3. Fred, my Golden, used to bark back at thunder. Henry, also a Golden, simply ignored it but when the power was out and the smoke alarm started to beep- woof, woof and etc.

  68. Harriet Harman is a disgrace.

    As a partisan harridan – she was never fit to chair the Privileges Committee.

  69. Back home just after 7pm we had a superb lunch all professionally presented. By a Professional chef, his wife serving.
    A Lovely family gathering.
    Busy day.
    Time to turn in now.
    Good night all. 😴

  70. Liz Truss on Woodentop tonight….the more I hear from that woman, the more I like her. She talks sense. She was shafted by those other swines.

    And we are off to bed- am trying to avoid any more pills this evening and hoping the Pinot works;-)
    I thank you all for your support tonight and I wish you all well and good sleep.
    Get home safely, Paul.

  71. Liz Truss is holding her head up on GBNEWS . . .

    She is more intelligent than the Cunt man in No 11.

  72. I’ve just been watching a three part series on Netflix about Arnold Schwartzenegger. I’ve never thought much of him – only enjoyed two of his films Terminator 1 and 2 – but a friend who’s a big fan persuaded persuaded me it was worth watching.
    I thought it was very good. He’s quite an accomplished bloke, erudite, driven and something of a philosopher My opinion of him has changed. It’s quite a good watch, mostly AS speaking to camera which sounds a bit dry, but he’s quite engaging and easy to listen to.

  73. A bit of a nothing day, too bloody hot to bother.
    Off for a cold bath then bed.
    G’night all.

  74. Starbucks ordered to pay $26m to manager fired ‘for being white’

    I wonder if I can persuade my boss to sack me and split the compo 50/50.

    1. Heyup Lass!
      Hope you’re keeping well after the rough time you’ve had.

  75. Starbucks ordered to pay $26m to manager fired ‘for being white’

    I wonder if I can persuade my boss to sack me and split the compo 50/50.

    1. Not quite dark in the west. This time next week the nights will start drawing in.

  78. Had a wonderful day with Korky, who is a fabulous gardener and an excellent chef who produced a delicious lunch for us both, washed down with several glasses of Merlot. When I got home I was obliged to retire to bed for a dozen Zeds. Then up to water the garden, read my emails and watch tonight’s film, an excellent 1970 Czech one called UCHO – THE EAR, spoken in Czech with English subtitles and available on YouTube. I can highly recommend it. Now off to bed, so I shall wish you all a Good Night, chums and hope that you sleep well. See you all tomorrow.

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