Thursday 17 February: Rising electricity tariffs will mean heat pumps are too expensive to run

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.

833 thoughts on “Thursday 17 February: Rising electricity tariffs will mean heat pumps are too expensive to run”

    1. ‘Morning, Minty, sorry if I’ve usurped your 1st place.

      Well, I’m not really, just chuffed.

        3. I’ve been rather busy this morning, Minty (good morning, btw). But at least I have posted before midday unlike yesterday.

  4. Ottawa protests: ‘strong ties’ between some occupiers and far-right extremists, minister says. 17 February 2022.

    Canada’s public safety minister has warned of ties between protesters occupying the country’s capital and a group of far-right extremists who were charged earlier this week in the border town of Coutts, Alberta, over an alleged plot to kill police officers.

    “Several of the individuals a t Coutts have strong ties to a far-right extreme organization with leaders who are in Ottawa,” the minister, Marco Medicino, told reporters on Wednesday.

    This is a fabricated calumny designed to smear the protests and find an excuse for the illegitimate methods being used against the Truckers!

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/16/ottawa-blockade-strong-ties-extremists

    1. You would have thought that the “far-Right” bogeyman approach had been seen for what it is – utter cobblers. There are no far-right groups, just shades of far Left (unless you pretend the Nazis were right-wing…) – the characteristic of the Right is individualism, thus banding together in groups is not the thing they do.

      1. ‘Morning, Paul, “… thus banding together in groups is not the thing they do.” Unless provoked by threats to democracy.

        1. Morning, Tom.
          And helping the disadvantaged in life.
          But revolutionary gangs and violent thugs? That’s a Left thing.

    3. An attempt at, “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth,” when maybe ‘crying wolf’ will be the impact on many people. ‘Safe and Effective’ is likely going the same way as evidence piles up that the opposite is true.

    5. Of course there are. All groups looking to live a peaceful, less oppressed, less managed are FAR RIGHT. Bloody communists. At this point everyone nudging to the right of Lenin is Far right but their demented ideology.

    2. It is truly astonishing that these fools are hiking energy, taxes, fuel and inflation all for their own benefit, as if they will have no effect whatsoever.

      They will all cause unemployment, meaning more costs for this useless state in welfare. As these fools are dumb as rocks, they’ll not reverse course but instead borrow more, necessitating more waste.

  7. Vladimir Putin could drag out Ukraine crisis for months, says Liz Truss. 17 February 2022.

    Russia is preparing to “test the mettle” of the West by dragging out the stand-off at the Ukrainian border for months, Liz Truss has warned.

    In an article for The Telegraph, the Foreign Secretary cautioned against being lulled into a “false sense of security” by Russia’s claims that it is withdrawing troops.

    Ms Truss echoed warnings from the US and Nato that there was no evidence of any pullback and that the Russian troop build-up on Ukraine’s border may actually be increasing despite Kremlin claims to the contrary.

    Oh! So the” invasion” is off then? You know what this means everyone. Perpetual Fear Mongering over Ukraine! The replacement for Covid!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/02/16/vladimir-putin-could-drag-ukraine-crisis-months-says-liz-truss/

    1. But now we know they lie, supported by the MSM, so who cares what they say? I don’t even have enough arse to read/listen to that incompetent woman blethering on – if she can’t be bothered to work out what districts are in Russia and what districts are not, I can’t be arsed to pay attention to anything she does, says, or thinks.

      1. During an interesting interview of Tobias Ellwood about Ukraine, he made the point that “the West really needs a Casablanca Conference to

        agree on what we do”

        Sky’s interviewer “What’s the Casablanca Conference?”

        He didn’t sigh and walk away, but politely explained what the Casablanca Conference was.

        We admire his patience and courtesy.

  8. ‘Morning All

    #CovidClownWorld

    As the Savage Jabber moves on our children…..

    https://twitter.com/EssexPR/status/1493931848636026890?s=20&t=nxtPSRk2kDELaBYjN3CmEg

    https://twitter.com/RosaLuxembourg6/status/1493714220537557000?s=20&t=FJcVwR61EQQ0UVE92Mf1WA

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d2c8fee46cdd7c11f0fcf1a15e093ea2a8229d1f5c8ffd04fca4064f5796f3da.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/06b93d0d8808d351801aae18724cff021ce62ae76226c8703cc7923cf36c00c7.jpg

    1. What does “fragment of HIV” mean?
      Does it mean one complete HIV virus, or one protein that is also present in HIV?
      It is a big leap from this statement to “everybody having AIDS”
      The AIDS connection has been predicted since early on, by people who should know, but I haven’t yet seen a good explanation of the mechanism.
      It’s pretty disturbing that the legacy media is talking about “a new virulent strain of HIV” though, and that Luc Montagnier told people to get themselves tested.
      More information needed!

    1. Trudeau doesn’t care. Like all fascists he will just use ever more force, ever more state power, ever more control to get his way.

      He’s a bully.

      1. Why don’t the decent Mounties and others say “So far and no further. We do not consent to this!”?

      2. Trudeau doesn’t care. Like all fascists Socialists he will just use ever more force, ever more state power, ever more control to get his way.

      3. Trudeau doesn’t care. Like all fascists Socialists he will just use ever more force, ever more state power, ever more control to get his way.

      4. …and, as such, he is also a coward.

        Storm the barricades, mon braves and carry him off to destinations unknown.

    1. Class action for compensation due to damage from ultra-sonic weapons used by the police and sanctioned by government.

    2. All very disturbing.
      The fine for avoiding a test is only justifiable if a disease is highly contagious AND has a high death rate. Not for a glorified cold, which is what Omicron is!

      The biggest covid whinger I know currently has it – triple vaxxed of course – tweeted today “surprised” that covid isn’t worse – will no doubt be putting that down to the three jabs!

        1. I am surprise that no Aussie has had a shot (bullet, Arrow, whatever) at that item and destroyed it. I would.

  13. ‘Morning, Peeps.

    SIR – The letter from representatives of the renewable energy lobby (February 15), arguing that the energy crisis is “caused by gas”, is disingenuous. It is not caused by gas; it is caused by not-enough-gas.

    The letter claims that reliance on gas leaves British households “exposed to the prolonged volatility” of international gas markets. But we are in this position only because successive governments have run down our nuclear capacity, starved the North Sea oilfields of investment, banned fracking and decommissioned our reserve gas storage – all in pursuit of a vague and un-costed policy to move towards renewable energy sources and achieve “net zero”.

    If we had not done these things, energy would be plentiful and cheap, as it is in the United States. Instead, the past 30 years have seen billions poured into renewable energy, yet renewables contribute only about 5 per cent of Britain’s total energy usage (not to be confused with “energy produced”, a metric that ignores imported energy).

    To argue that we can solve this crisis by investing more in renewable energy is a fantasy that, if pursued, will leave us bankrupt and freezing.

    Iwan Price-Evans
    Croydon, Surrey

    A budding Nottler??

    1. I think all that’s needed to join our club is common sense. However, few understand the source of the problem because the government deliberately disguises it. Many fools demand nationalisation of energy. These morons also usually also want higher taxes on ‘da wich’ and ‘Amazon’.

  14. Made me smile…

    SIR – On the day of the Queen’s accession (Letters, February 12) the headmaster entered our classroom and said: “Boys, all stand. The King is dead. God save the Queen”, before leaving immediately.

    I am ashamed to say that my first thought was that I would be getting some new postage stamps for my collection.

    Allan Kirtley
    Chobham, Surrey

  15. Morning all

    Share

    Rising electricity tariffs will mean heat pumps are too expensive to run

    SIR – A ground source heat pump (Letters, February 16) has provided most of the heating in our Victorian house for 15 years, though we had to install larger radiators in the rooms we use most to maintain a comfortable temperature. We retained our oil-fired boiler for hot water and as back-up.

    With electricity at 4.78 pence per unit (economy 10 rate) we estimated a saving of £700 over oil in our first year and even had hopes of recovering the cost of installing the heat pump. Since then, although both oil and electricity prices have fluctuated, until now it has been cheaper to use the heat pump. However, after the recent very steep rise in our electricity tariff, we may be making greater use of our oil boiler.

    Guy Griffiths

    Leominster, Herefordshire

    SIR – The letter from representatives of the renewable energy lobby (February 15), arguing that the energy crisis is “caused by gas”, is disingenuous. It is not caused by gas; it is caused by not-enough-gas.

    The letter claims that reliance on gas leaves British households “exposed to the prolonged volatility” of international gas markets. But we are in this position only because successive governments have run down our nuclear capacity, starved the North Sea oilfields of investment, banned fracking and decommissioned our reserve gas storage – all in pursuit of a vague and un-costed policy to move towards renewable energy sources and achieve “net zero”.

    If we had not done these things, energy would be plentiful and cheap, as it is in the United States. Instead, the past 30 years have seen billions poured into renewable energy, yet renewables contribute only about 5 per cent of Britain’s total energy usage (not to be confused with “energy produced”, a metric that ignores imported energy).

    To argue that we can solve this crisis by investing more in renewable energy is a fantasy that, if pursued, will leave us bankrupt and freezing.

    Iwan Price-Evans

    Croydon, Surrey

    SIR – Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park has insisted that a ban on fracking remain (report, February 14), although 30 of Boris Johnson’s backbenchers have urged him to rethink the policy after the energy company Cuadrilla was ordered to seal up two of England’s only viable shale gas wells despite the current energy crisis.

    When asked about Nordstream, Mr Johnson said: “We need to find alternative sources of energy.” So, in order to comply with his own requirement, it seems that he should order Cuadrilla to resume operating.

    Guy Wiltshear

    Mendlesham, Suffolk

    SIR – In the early days of the German occupation of Guernsey, it was suggested in the local newspaper that the dwindling stock of coal, then used to generate electricity, might be eked out if only shirt fronts were ironed. Faced with the current energy crisis, is this an idea worth reconsidering?

    Chris Sackett

    St Martin, Guernsey

    1. I used to iron only half of an ex-girlfriend’s shirts. I got a lot of sex as I pressed all the right buttons for her.

    2. Good grief, why do people bother? They’re complaining about the specific and deliberate intent of the green nonsense. That we’ll be poorer, cold, unhappy, is irrelevant. The state wants this. It cares not a jot of the efficacy, value or needs. It is hellbent on a preposterous EU nonsense that no one sane would conceive of.

  16. SIR – Your report (February 14) on sequoias in Britain reminded me of the tree my late father, a BA captain, lovingly grew from seed in the back garden of our then family home on the outskirts of Lingfield in Surrey.

    Forty years on, the massive tree can be easily seen from the road and, if it continues to grow, is likely to become as clear a landmark on the Gatwick flight path as the Mormon Temple down the road.

    Eppie Anderson

    Tansor, Northamptonshire

    1. BTL:-

      Robert Spowart
      12 MIN AGO
      Message Actions
      I don’t have a sequoia, but I do have a Norway Spruce at the end of the ¼ acre bit of Derbyshire hillside that misleadingly refers to its self as “My Garden”.
      At least 100′ tall and over 5′ diameter at the base, it was, apparently, an ex-Christmas Tree planted by a former occupant, a tradition I have established by only using rooted trees for the festivities, which then, when they get too unwieldy to carry into the house, also get planted up the hill.
      At the moment we have 5 examples, the oldest being now being about 20′ and is 10″ in diameter with the current tree, having just completed its 2 tour of duty, expected to join them in another 2 or 3 years.

      1. We had a beautiful tree in the garden of the house I grew up in. My mother cut it down.

        It was a sad and unpleasant day when her ego destroyed something so beautiful.

  17. Slavery in Benin

    SIR – The Dean and Canon Chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral, and perhaps even the artist Victor Ehikhamenor, seem to be unaware of the reason for the British military intervention in Benin in 1897 (report, February 15).

    In fact, Benin was a slave state and the king, his court, and much of Benin’s middle class refused to change their ways in spite of pressure from Britain. The intervention resulted in the confiscation of profits from slavery and the destruction of slave-market cages. It sent a signal to other “holdout” East African states to end their involvement in the slave trade. Looting was unfortunate but perhaps inevitable according to the mores of the time.

    Admiral Sir Harry Holdsworth Rawson, who oversaw the Benin Expedition, was one of many Royal Naval commanders who led interventions against slavers. Between 1807 and 1900, more than 1,500 British naval personnel lost their lives in anti-slavery actions. Perhaps Mr Ehikhamenor would like to commemorate their sacrifice with a new artwork that St Paul’s could display near the Admiral’s plaque.

    Stephen Connor

    Warrington, Cheshire

    1. Whether the writer or DT has caused it, there is an error in the letter. ‘East African’ should be ‘West African’. This has caused an amusing spat in the BTL comments.

  18. Apropos Rick’s earlier comment. The advert on radio stations promoting the necessity for the 12 to 15 age group to ‘get’ their second jab continues to be given air-time. The promoter is some director from within the NHS whom one would presumes knows about the myocarditis risk to males in that age group, let alone all the other side-effects that have come to light. In addition, why promote a “vaccine” that was designed for a specific spike protein contained in a specific virus when that virus no longer exists as a threat?

    Here, a real doctor, one who has taken note of the side-effect issues, warns of the “vaccine’s” impact on that age group, especially the males.

    https://twitter.com/MariaTrue77/status/1493982227646058506

  19. Missing Code

    SIR – Earlier this month I tried to buy a copy of the new Highway Code. I learnt that it will not be available until April 11, despite the fact that its provisions came into force on January 29.

    How did this administrative shambles come about, and who will take responsibility for it?

    Roger Howes

    Leamington Spa, Warwickshire

  20. Why is the White House stealing $7bn from Afghans? 16 February 2022.

    In a move that can only be described as brazenly immoral and utterly unconscionable, the Biden administration has begun a process to seize the more than $7bn of assets that the Central Bank of Afghanistan has on deposit at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Since the Taliban gained control of the war-ravaged country last year, that money has been frozen in place. Now, the administration has concocted its own mega-grift, planning to spend half of the money – not their money, lest we forget – for humanitarian aid in Afghanistan, while reserving the other half of the funds – not their money – for the relatives of the September 11 victims who have brought claims against the Taliban for the 2001 terrorist attacks.

    If you were looking for something to illustrate the utter moral putrefaction and decadence of the West with an act of blatant larceny at the very highest levels this would be a good place to start. It’s even worse than the UK’s Foreign Aid scam! This money, regardless of present circumstances, does not belong to the United States or any of its Agencies. It is the property of the people of Afghanistan. The choice of the relatives of victims of 2001 is not only a cynical attempt to defer criticism but provide cover for what will almost certainly see most of it transferred to the Democratic Party and its Leaders.

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/16/afghanistan-money-biden-white-hosue-us

    1. Does the $7billion cover the cost of the weaponry donated to the Taliban when the Americans fled the country last year?

    3. Exactly the same as the Venezuelan gold deposited in the Bank of England.
      Confiscated on behalf of the US.

  21. The Queen’s head

    SIR – On the day of the Queen’s accession (Letters, February 12) the headmaster entered our classroom and said: “Boys, all stand. The King is dead. God save the Queen”, before leaving immediately.

    I am ashamed to say that my first thought was that I would be getting some new postage stamps for my collection.

    Allan Kirtley

    Chobham, Surrey

  23. Morning again

    Bureaucratic failures

    SIR – Your reports (February 16) into, first, the Post Office’s harassment of thousands of innocent sub-postmasters in the “Horizon” software scandal and, secondly, the water companies’ handling of sewage treatment have much in common.

    Both are large quango-like bureaucracies. They do not operate in true commercial markets where failure results in bankruptcy. Customers lack a chance of redress or, in the case of water, the easy ability to change suppliers. Regulatory bodies such as Ofwat and the Environment Agency fail to ensure improvements or adherence to regulations.

    The senior management can, however, be publicly identified. A realisation that they could no longer hide would lead to radical improvements.

    David T Price

    Banbury, Oxfordshire

    1. What I want to know is this: if I can get my gas and electricity from any supplier along the existing networks, why can’t I similarly obtain my water from any supplier?? It’s a thinly-disguised monopoly with ineffective regulation.

  24. Funny thing, history. Tends to repeat itself.

    Listening to a reading from an excellent biography* of King George V by Jane Ridley – when Queen Victoria died in 1901, the press blared that, without her, the monarchy might well not survive..

    * The book is very good; the reading less so, maddeningly.

    1. Because of Victoria’s prolonged mourning for Albert, the Republican movement was very strong in the 1870’s.

      1. And at the turn of the century – all the disapprobation about Bertie and his string of mistresses etc.

          1. You have a feel for these things, don’t you?

            I suppose there is a parallel with Randy Andy – though, in those days, most of the women didn’t kiss and tell. Bertie’s eldest (feckless) son Eddy was blackmailed by some tart.

  25. Good morning all from a bright but VERY breezy Derbyshire with a mere 2°C on the thermometer.

  26. Ukraine accuses Russia of cyber-attack on two banks and its defence ministry. 17 February 2022.

    Ukraine accused Russia on Wednesday of being behind a cyber-attack that targeted two banks and its defence ministry, which the country’s deputy prime minister said was the largest of its type ever seen.

    The Kremlin denied it was behind the denial of service attacks – attempts to overwhelm a website by flooding it with millions of requests – but the disruption reignited wider concerns of ongoing cyberconflict.

    Since a cyberattack on Ukraine at the present moment has no upside for Russia it’s a fair bet that this is a False Flag operation. Ironically it’s probably GCHQ who handle European operations.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/16/ukraine-accuses-russia-of-cyber-attack-on-two-banks-and-its-defence-ministry

    1. No different from the Covid restrictions; it isn’t the law that’s actually doing it, it is the bullying by the MSM and the vaxi-mask maniacs.

  30. It’s no longer about Andrew, is it? It’s about the destruction of the Monarchy.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10521161/Tell-Andrew-12m-Calls-grow-no-public-money-used-settlement.html

    Queen ‘personally paid £2m to Virginia Roberts’s charity’ as part of Andrew’s £12m settlement – as calls grow for full disclosure about where the money to pay-off rape accuser has been found
    The Duke of York agreed to an out-of-court settlement with Roberts yesterday, reportedly worth up to £12m
    Royal aides have previously refused to say whether the agreement will be partly funded by the monarch
    Reports now claim she will help the Duke, providing she isn’t linked to any personal payment to Miss Roberts

    1. The whole concept of innocent until proven guilty has been destroyed.

      I was very shocked at just how prejudiced against Prince Andrew Dan Wootton was on GB News last night. I hold no brief for Andrew but it looks as if he has been set up and hung out to dry.

      (Am I alone in finding the extremely mindless hyperbolic sycophancy of both Dan Wootton Mark Dolan extremely off-pissing?)

      1. I don’t think many people in the UK have much faith in US justice. I assume the agreement was to prevent the embarrassment of a court case, or an anti-British system convicting him anyway.

        1. If it went to a jury they might well also have awarded substantial damages. The bloody fool should have paid up at the outset.

          I recall a case being brought against a bank subsidiary where the local Chairman looked at the potential downside and settled straight away. He always said it was the best decision of his career. Other banks who fought it lost millions in legal fees and were hit with huge punitive damages on top of the actual claims. I very much doubt the jury had a clue what was being presented to them let alone understood the defence, they were merely very biased against banks.

          1. If I were innocent of accusations made against me I would like to think that I would be allowed to fight to clear my name.

            If Andrew is not guilty (and I admit it may be a big “if”) he has been subjected to mercilessly biased trial by Media and his odious brother and nephew have been happy to leave him to drown.

          2. If I were innocent I hope I would fight to clear my name, but certainly not at the expense of my whole family for months if not years on end, over something that is essentially my word against that of my accuser.
            He brought it upon himself.

            I have every sympathy with Charles and William. Their position is almost unique in that they have a higher duty to their positions than they do to Andrew.
            If one of my children was busy bankrupting the family business, built up over generations I would sack them too.

            If one of your boys opened the seacocks on your boat in the middle of a storm would you stand by and let the vessel sink, drowning all of you, or would you combine with the other boy and your wife to prevent it happening, watch him carefully and take away his responsibilities at sea, but then support him when you returned to land?

        2. Morning BB. Yes that’s true. The US Justice System would fit more comfortably in China or North Korea.

        3. A legal system that finds O.J. Simpson innocent and allows the Democrats to commit criminal acts against the Republicans is never going to find Andrew innocent.

          Andrew has already been found guilty. To borrow from the now odious chap on HIGNFY – if this is justice then Hislop is a plantain.

          1. Well, OJ did not do it, I think. Looking at what happened , I am of the view that OJ took all the stuff that was flying in order to save his son.

      2. My view is that Andrew deserves what he got, what I find more disgusting is the number of people involved who won’t even be exposed, let alone made to pay.
        When it comes down to it, it is little different from Pakistani grooming gangs. For drugs and alcohol substitue glamour and private jets. The girls involved may have been willing participants in a luxury lifestyle, mixing with wealthy men, but grooming certainly took place.

        1. Yo sos

          My understanding of the Andy Pandy case, is that he paid money bonk a girl of legal bonkable age in UK, a few years ago,and then someone saw the chance of making money. The “US Legal System” (an Oxymoron) then said he had to go to court in America, as what he did was illegal there

          Meanwhile

          Anne Sacoolas still has not been made to face a UK court over the killing of Harry Dunn, of the 19-year-old, in a traffic accident outside RAF Croughton on 27 August 2019

          The US refuse to let her face our justice

          Harry Dunn crash: Anne Sacoolas UK court date postponed 14 January 2022

          https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-59996219

          1. Never, ever get embroiled in any legal proceedings in US and if you are a white Brit that applies in spades.

      3. Yes, I too thought they were both rather OTT. I think that the various penalties imposed probably match his ‘crimes’ now.

        Have you tried Mark Steyn’s programme? Although he does occasionally get out of his pram, generally I find him more articulate and with a dry sense of humour. And also someone who isn’t given to grandstanding.

    2. When the msm are on the case you can almost hear the deathwatch beetles 🪲 tapping away at the structure.
      They can’t seem to expand their thinking past their own invented opinions.

      1. It’s moving so rapidly I would suggest termites rather than DW beetles.
        The Press are revelling in the destruction of yet another white man’s institution.

        1. Talking of white and termites ………with a couple of friends I bought and old cottage in North Adelaide to renovate. My carpentry and other building skills came in very handy. On first inspection it all looked tatty but fairly good. Until I tapped the architrave in the front lounge with my knuckle, only the paint was left. White (termites) ants had been right through the house, it was possible to follow their trail from front to back.
          There was a ‘clitch’ in house prices when we had finished and sold it on, we made very little from the sale and all the hard work. But now these properties are worth at least a couple of Million dollars. A story of my life.

    3. We also have the drip drip of stories from the alleged victim to come as there was no gagging agreement signed. The story will run and run.

      1. Allowing her to continue with her ‘story’ may prove fruitful. After all, we are talking about someone who had already received a large payout for damages, yet returned to the trough and apparently could not provide the original of the image purporting to show the happy couple together.

        I expect her further utterances will be scrutinised for anomolies in her ‘story’, allowing m’learned friends to pursue her for libel/slander…and if it ever came to court, a risk of perjury.

      2. That plus Meagain with Harry may well result in Charles doing what he has threatened with a complete overhaul of the Monarchy.

        It will be interesting to see whether any of the existing countries with the Queen as Head of State will remove Charles and the UK connection, when she dies.

      3. The BBC hates the Monarchy, as does much of the Left wing press. Islington liberals do as well. All that duty and ceremony, nationalism, it reminds them of everything they hate.

  31. Yet another programme plug masquerading as a news item from a broadcaster obsessed by self-promotion:

    If the BBC thinks Novak Djokovic’s antivax nonsense is more important than war, it’s finally lost the plot

    The world was on the brink of armed conflict, but our national broadcaster had other priorities…

    MICHAEL DEACON
    COLUMNIST & ASSISTANT EDITOR
    17 February 2022 • 5:00am

    According to reports at the weekend, Russia planned to invade Ukraine on Wednesday. So on Tuesday morning we rushed to turn on the news, fearing we were just 24 hours from armed conflict. The BBC, however, was focusing on a story it considered even more urgent than the looming outbreak of World War Three.

    A tennis player had spoken to Amol Rajan.

    News of Mr Rajan’s interview with Novak Djokovic led BBC bulletins on TV and radio. Of the five most prominent stories on the BBC News website, meanwhile, four were about the interview. And, judging from their headlines, all four were more or less identical. Headline of story one: “Djokovic Breaks Silence Over Vaccine Refusal”. Headline of story two: “Djokovic Willing to Miss Wimbledon to Avoid Jab.” Headline of story three: “Djokovic: I Would Miss Tournaments Rather Than Get Jab.”

    Thanks, BBC. I think we just about got the picture. The latest word on Russia, meanwhile, only just squeaked in, as the fourth item from the top of the page.

    It was bizarre. It wasn’t even as if Djokovic had said anything new. He was simply reiterating his refusal to have a Covid jab. But we already knew he didn’t want to have a Covid jab, because he’d been forced to miss the Australian Open as a result. This story had originally broken more than a month earlier. It was reasonably widely covered at the time. So it seems unlikely that many viewers, listeners or readers had forgotten.

    But to the BBC, that didn’t matter. What made his comments important – in the BBC’s eyes, at least – was that it was the BBC he’d made them to. Had he made the same comments to ITV, Sky News, Channel 4 or anyone else, the BBC would never have given them greater prominence than the threat of an actual world war.

    So, on the BBC’s part, this decision was pure vanity. Pure ego. Of course, every media organisation on Earth loves to make a big song and dance of its scoops. And as the BBC a) gets so few of them, and b) is currently even more desperate than usual to justify the licence fee, it’s bound to make a bigger song and dance than most.

    But to prioritise an interview with a tennis player on a day like Tuesday, when most licence fee payers were slightly more concerned about the possibility of thermonuclear apocalypse, was frankly bewildering. Even insulting.

    Imagine if the BBC had behaved like this in September 1939.

    “I have to tell you that no such undertaking has been received, and that consequently this country is…”

    “We interrupt this message from Mr Chamberlain to broadcast a world-exclusive interview with Mr Fred Perry on why he refuses to use Smedley’s Patented Cough Syrup.”

    1. It could be that the BBC had made a rational judgement that there would be no war. In that case, the scandal of a tournament only being open to players who have been jabbed with a potion that none of them need for any health reason, is actually far more important.

      1. Yo bb2

        “who have been jabbed with a potion,” that seems to have caused medical problems to fit young sportsmen

  32. Morning all.
    Well not unusually the bbc seems to have rejected Lord Dannatts observation that if a country has a border dispute with a neighbouring country the country in question cannot join Nato unless the dispute is resolved. They are disregarding the intelligence of Mr Putin and are once again promoting their own adgenda.
    The indepth interview with him from his home in Norfolk was conducted yesterday morning on breakfast news.
    It certainly seems to have upset their daily propaganda BS as it appears to have been confined to the never to be seen again recycle bin.

    1. So you’re saying, Ready Eddy, (© Cathy Newman), that Mr Putin has a second home in Norfolk? Lol.

      1. Well if you put (in) like that that yes,……… 😎🤗 there are other people who live in Norfolk John Major and a certain nottler. I also have rellies in Norfolk.

      2. My reply has vanished. It’s on my phone version ???

        Well if you’re Put (in) like that, then yes ………….😎🤗
        there are other people who live in Norfolk John
        Major and a certain Nottler. I also have rellies who live there.

    1. Absolutely correct, two of our grandchildrens parents and maternal grand parents had covid and the children 6 and 2 had runny noses for two days. We all have had similar experiences within our families and most of us realise that if it was a vaccine it would work. It clearly doesn’t work.
      My sister and BIL have recently had covid and have had all the jabs. They hardly ever go out. But may possibly have caught it at a children’s part two weeks ago but no-one else has reported catching it.
      Perhaps the jabs are a magnet.

      1. Good morning, Paul

        I wonder if I would have died if I had had the Covid gene therapy? We shall never know – but my doctor, who has treated me for over 20 years, thought it would have been risky and advised me not to have it and I followed her advice.

        When I actually did have Covid a couple of weeks ago I had stiff joints and was excpetionally sleepy for 2 days and that was that. Vitamin C, Vitamin D and Zinc protected Caroline and me very well.

          1. So far my wife and myself have had all the symptoms of covid, but never lost taste or sense of smell and every test we have taken has been negative.

          2. Come on, Eddy, don’t join the woke brigade with myself, yourself, our self. the use is very rarified.

            Nothing wrong with ‘My wife and I’.

          3. I had to go into the local post office this afternoon and as I came out our neighbour had just parked next to my car. Her and Hubby had just come back from a holiday in Egypt on a Nile cruise. Test results came through today. They both now have covid. Not sure she should have been out, but through handy masks and distances we had a brief chat. I said to her, I hope your both not suffering from denial.

        2. Morning Richard, I have just been speaking to my elder sister she and BiL have both just had covid he still has and suffered the side effects you have described. Both vaxed to the hilt. They have absolutely no idea whatsoever where she might have originally caught it. Although she told me that she had
          been to Waitrose to pick up an order, but wearing a mask. It’s quite possible they may have picked it up from children at a family and friends gathering almost two weeks ago. It’s often been said that children can pass it on but have no particular symptoms that show.
          But it really does almost prove without a shadow of a doubt that the vaccine is useless. So I wonder why these frightful people are now almost insisting children need to be vaccinated.
          I have already mentioned that my own GP once told me not to have the booster because of the adverse effects I have suffered from the first two injections. A member of the cardiology team on my second A&E visit last year agreed it was caused by the injections. But my GP later changed his mind and told me,”It’s up to you”. Both my wife and I feel a change of GP is now necessary, but we will have to wait until this has all settled ….if it is ever allowed to.

          1. Eddy, Please inform Sis, with evidence, that masks will not help her – or others – it’s all part of ‘Project Fear’ and the necessary brain-washing.

            (Dalek voice (You will obey or be exterminated).

          2. They are old firm he was something in the city (marine insurance) she banking and you can’t tell them anything they don’t already know.

        3. ‘Afternoon, Richard, “I wonder if I would have died if I had had the Covid gene therapy?”

          You and me both, Richard. The sole reason why I’ve desisted – I’m too fragile these days and I still love life.

      2. Because of numerous hospital appointments i have had lots of tests. All negative. Seems to have passed me by.

  34. Long-term refugee targets ‘would help west regain moral purpose’ 17 February 2022.

    Liberal democracies can regain their lost sense of shared moral purpose by agreeing to set a long-term internationally agreed target for the number of refugees they are each prepared to take each year, Rory Stewart, a former Conservative cabinet minister, has proposed.

    Unveiling his plan to the Guardian, Stewart said: “Reforming the international resettlement coalition around the Afghan crisis presents a rare opportunity for key liberal democracies to restore their moral authority, form a workable international coalition, and deliver rapid, concrete, ethical results.”

    Aside from the fact that “Liberal Democracies” have no Democratic Mandates from their people (and dare not apply for one) to carry out this program, this whole thing founders on the sheer numbers involved. There are uncountable millions who wish to come here. The UK is already full and at the end of this year measures will have to be taken to ease the situation. This will probably involve seizing privately owned accommodation and dragooning families with migrants. Complaints or refusals will be met with cries of racists. There is a crisis coming, energy, inflation, cost of living, etc. the like of which has not been seen for a hundred years. It will shatter the UK’s civil consensus and finally destroy the State.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/15/long-term-refugee-targets-would-help-west-regain-moral-purpose

    1. I’ve had similar arguments with “allow them all in” idiots at local night markets. These people are usually white middle-class second home owners on holiday.
      I always ask:
      “How many would you accept? half a million, five million, five hundred million, five billion? Because there are probably over five billion people in the world who would very happily swap their lifestyle for your lifestyle”
      It generally ends with me being called a Nazi.

          2. Yes, but it was a political one – so inn reality, she was reminded she was a bigot, that he was morally superior and to never, ever again question the righteousness of the cause.

      2. One to treasure forever:

        “Liberals, he (PJ O’Rourke) once wrote, had often called him “a Nazi” – but “I don’t let it bother me, for one simple reason. No one has ever had a fantasy about being tied to a bed and sexually ravished by someone dressed as a liberal.”

      3. Of course it does. How dare you suggest that open borders are a bad thing. Just ask a Ukrainian.

    5. “Liberal democracies can regain their lost sense of shared moral purpose” by pressing non Western societies to also take responsibility for refugees. I fail to see why we should have our societies erased on the grounds of some utterly wet abstraction like “Liberal morality”. Especially when events have made int clear the Liberals have no moral values other than those that suit them and which change at the latest fashion or whim.

    1. Had to triple peg the bed clothes on the washing line, Should be dry in no time if the pegs hold.
      Beeb forecasting gusts around 20 – 23mph, an underestimation in my opinion. 🙄

      1. Blick lives matter, innit.

        Can’t criticise a violent thug – he’s black after all. People might get ideas.

  38. Good morning ,

    Blue sky , stiff breeze , and have just topped up the bird feeders.

    No 1 son’s birthday today… 53 years old .. Where does time go to .. I still see the gorgeous baby that he was.

    Moh was absent , away at sea for both son’s early years .

    No 1 son was practically born in a blizzard … , horrendous cold weather , Southampton . Moh was on his ship in Portsmouth

    I was frozen to the marrow , in labour for nearly 2 days and all I had in that time was a cup of tea , I asked for an extra blanket .. and then they gave me cold cornflakes and not very fresh milk after delivery… I was cold and hungry and very fed up with the terrible nonchalent attitude of the staff( one doctor, one nurse)… cruel people . Lots of Indian babies decided to pop out around that time , and also a poor English girl whose baby was stillborn , and who was given no privacy or comfort … She was in the same large ward as me .

    No small wards in those days .

    No 2 son arrival 5 years later here in Dorset was excelllent .

    1. When each of our boys was born in Dinan Hospital Caroline was given a single room and no pressure was put on her to leave until she was ready to do so. It was then that I began to realise that for all its puffed up, hubristic boasting the NHS is not the best health service in the world. It is certainly not the envy of the world.

    2. Both our chaps were born at home.
      Luckily our GP’s speciality was gynaecology and obstetrics.
      He sat reading and watching while the midwife and I did the heavy stuff.

  39. Groaners!

    1, A man is being arrested by a female police officer, who informs him, “Anything you say can and will be held against you.”
    The man replies, “Boobs!”

    2. Q: How do you count cows?
    A: With a cowculator.

    3.Q: What do you call two Mexicans playing basketball?
    A: Juan on Juan.

    4.Q: What is the difference between snowmen and snowwomen?
    A: Snowballs.

    5. Mother superior tells two new nuns that they have to paint their room without getting any paint on their clothes.
    One nun suggests to the other, “Hey, let’s take all our clothes off, fold them up, and lock the door.”
    So they do this, and begin painting their room.
    Soon they hear a knock at the door. They ask, “Who is it?” “Blind man!”
    The nuns look at each other and one nun says, “He’s blind, so he can’t see. What could it hurt?”
    They let him in.
    The blind man walks in and says, “Hey, nice tits. Where do you want me to hang the blinds?”

    1. The last joke was done as a sketch on ‘The Kenny Everett Show’ with Linda Lusardi as the stooge…well, no one could accuse her of being the straight man. I get the notion that the bBC might be less willing to broadcast such humour today.

      1. Of course not, .like wine they mature and grow better wih age

        As Robert H Lincoln said

        There are just two rules for success:

        1 Never tell all you know
        2. ………………………….. .

        1. Strangely I’ve yet to be offered a Chicken Chennai, Mumbai Mix or Beijing Duck.

          The Indian ones especially are too often the invented-from-scratch impositions of Hindu nationalists, the very same kind of people who – if white – would have Graun readers reaching for the smelling salts before lying down in a darkened room for the rest of February..

    3. We should have joined the EFTA and told them to stuff it. However, our political class refused to permit that, our administration wanted to make it harder and people were sold a pup – on both sides.

    4. That’s strange.

      I remember that some years ago Brussels sent out an order to all EU states saying that there would be no more referendums on membership.

      Anyone still got the instruction?

      2. Apologies to all. I can’t find the instruction.

        However the Withdrawal Agreement negotiated by Mrs May says the following:

        (12) This extension excludes any re-opening of the Withdrawal Agreement.

        Any unilateral commitment, statement or other act by the United Kingdom should be compatible with the letter and the spirit of the Withdrawal

        Agreement, and must not hamper its implementation. Such an extension cannot be used to start negotiations on the future relationship.

    5. Fine, but the EU has to put something up as a stake………

      If *we* win again, then we get Aquitaine back, complete with vineyards etc Also Normandy. Plus the EU has to take every Remainiac pest who votes to stay in.

    6. Fine, but the EU has to put something up as a stake………

      If *we* win again, then we get Aquitaine back, complete with vineyards etc Also Normandy. Plus the EU has to take every Remainiac pest who votes to stay in.

    7. From the EU Commision’s proposal for the referendum :-

      ‘”It considers that all possible steps should be taken during this process to avoid disinformation, foreign interference and funding irregularities.”

      You just couldn’t make some of this stuff up.

    10. It isn’t as though it doesn’t have form; Ireland was made to vote again until it came up with the “right” answer. I would fight any attempt at a second vote; the first time they didn’t think they needed to rig it because they were sure they would win. This time round …

    1. Probably nothing to do with the current situation. They’ve being doing that sort of things for years. The Minsk II agreement was supposed to stop it, but that it carries on is one of the major reasons neither side has implemented the agreement.

        1. Neither do I. It’s been tit for tat for years, with each side claiming the other started it. The sooner Russia recognises the breakaway areas and allows Ukraine some compensation the better off we we all be.

    2. Excuse me if I sound a bit cynical. Of course the Russians would be so dumb as to bomb a nursery. Do the Ukrainians take the rest of us for idiots, or does Biden and his special ops people? Because I wouldn’t put it past the Americans to stoop that low.

      1. Morning Jonathan. This was a regular in Syria. According to the MSM more hospitals were bombed by the Russians than were ever built there!

        1. Morning Araminta! It is so obviously designed to produce a screaming hysterical fit in response, it has to be propaganda. It’s deeply stupid, frankly.

      3. Read the article. Russia hasn’t bombed it. Russian-backed separatists have allegedly shelled it. They’ve been shelling schools, hospitals and the like for years, seemingly not bothered where their shells land.

        1. I’m aware of that and I still don’t buy it. They are not that stupid. But there are plenty of Ukrainians and people who are pro-Ukrainian that would buy it. But then they don’t seem to be very intelligent people. And the “Russian backed separatists, so called, are Russian.” As I have said before, unfinished business from the USSR when regions were incorporated into countries they should not have been in incorporated in the first place. The regions in dispute should be in Russia, not Ukraine.

          1. All over the world there are places where regions should have been attached to different countries.
            The colonialists and those granting independence to countries drew up maps that paid little attention to population realities. We’re paying for it now, one would have thought the politicians might learn from the mistakes of the past, but of course they never do.
            It is particularly bad all over Africa and the ME and is a huge driver of migration. Never to “their” regions of course, just to the “West”.

          2. If the nettle had been grasped in 1922, and Norn allowed to become part of Eire – there would have been no “Troubles” for us t be concerned about.

            And Kashmir, too..

          4. Bill, alas at that time the occupants of the NI counties would not have agreed to that and IMO the ‘Troubles’ would have started in 1922, with the roles of the 2 tribes reversed, and still be going on now.

            Sometimes you have to go for the least bad option and hope that things get better.

          6. Whilst those charges are laid easily they miss out that often the decisions were the best of a series of bad choices. Wherever boundaries were drawn would have caused someone to be aggrieved, boundaries between tribes and ethnic groups changing repeatedly over the years.

            If you back in history, where do you stop?

          7. The fact they might have been such does not mean that they were good, merely expedient.

            As to history I would not go back, just try to learn and try not to repeat mistakes.

            An aspect ignored by so many diversity is our strength people is that a lot of conflicts are caused by enforced diversity, particularly where those being imported do not integrate in any way shape or form except to be parasites on the host.

          8. Why would it be stupid? It creates further terror and they’ve been doing this sort of things for years without ill effects.

            That it could be a ‘false flag’ incident doesn’t mean that it is. I keep an open mind, but history suggests it is real.

            Whilst you can argue that the Crimea was once part of Russia, the other disputed regions have been part of the Ukraine since it’s inception. Even then, the Crimea was agreed as part of Ukraine when the USSR broke up, shortly afterwards the inhabitants voted to be an independent part of Ukraine rather than join with Russia and the UN continues to recognise it as part of the Ukraine, albeit with Russia and some closely-related countries objecting.

            I agree that it is unfinished business from the USSR. However, as outlined above, Russia has no claim other than invasion, initially by peaceful stealth under the USSR then by force.

            Edited to add ‘rather than join with Russia’

          9. Donetsk etc, the regions who wish to succeed from Ukraine are Russian speaking areas who chose to go with Russia. After Russia recognized Ukraine as a sovereign country, something they never should have done in the first place. But, be that as it may. Those areas wish to be Russian and, by rights should be Russian. What you don’t seem to be aware of is that much of this was caused by Ukraine refusing to recognize Russian as co-equal with Ukrainian as a legitimate language of the Ukraine. Which in itself is an jingoistic absurdity and unnecessarily antagonistic to the Russian speaking people of Ukraine. I don’t know if you are aware of it, but Ukrainian differs from Russian about as much Yorkshire English differs from standard English. The pretence that it is a separate language is a joke. Furthermore, with the Ukrainians themselves. There is about as much difference between a Ukrainian and a Russian as there is in my analogy above between Yorkshire and the rest of England. Frankly, Ukraine is more or less a modern invention, so your claim that: “…the other disputed regions have been part of the Ukraine since it’s inception.” What do you mean by that? Through the Imperial period Russia and Ukraine were more or less synonymous, it was a tangle of agreements, tradition, and god knows what else. What you understand as Ukraine has only existed since 1991.

    4. God you are a cynical lot.

      Don’t forget though that many western leaders need a bit of a war to distract attention from themselves.

  44. France is losing the battle against Franglais

    The concern over language speaks to France’s anxieties about its place in the world. Now reality dictates that English has taken over

    It will not be very long, before France raises ‘Le White Flag’ in its battle against “English”.the language of “Anglo-Saxon domination”

    Since time immemorial, when people from areas with different languages mixed, the lexicon of both areas absorbed each others words

    The Internet, has accelerated this process now and France is reaping the harvest of it.

    More folk in the World speak English (in its’ many forms) than speak French, therefore it has become the worldwide choice of Internet users, to
    communicate with each other and those words get used in normal speech whenever folk speak to each other

    Le Frogs must learn to live with it

    sos and Rastus is that fair

    ithttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/02/16/france-losing-battle-against-franglais/?li_source=LI&li_medium=liftigniter-onward-journey

    1. If France does one sensible thing, it is the way all official communication is in French, none of the UK’s nonsense of putting things out in every language under the sun and providing interpreters for non English speakers at the State’s expense. If you want/need an interpreter in France, you pay for it yourself.

      2. Yes, that must end. There is one language in this country. If you don’t speak it, feck off.

        And no, TUB. It’s not Urdu.

      3. Translating stuff is wrong on so many levels. Firstly, if they don’t speak the language of the country where they’re living, they miss out on the culture as language and culture are inextricably entwined. Secondly, translators/interpreters cost an absolute fortune – I know, I’ve done it.

    2. English is itself basically a mixture of German and French, and has quite happily pinched words from other languages. All languages change over time. Any language which refuses to adapt will eventually die.

      1. Unless one has nationalists and people who will pander to them, qv Welsh, Cornish and Gaelic etc in the UK..

      2. Yes, but I refuse to accept illiteracy as an excuse of ‘language changes’. wont is wrong. Would not is won’t. I appreciate people are stupid, don’t think it matters or simply cannot spell – it doesn’t make them right, it just shows they’re lazy.

      1. Oddly enough, there have been times when I’ve used French as a lingua franca (literally). In Greece, my host’s mother in law didn’t speak English but spoke French and when a visiting Polish artist came to work with me at college, his English was about as good as my Polish, but he spoke good French so we got on fine.

    4. They could always bring in the language police like they did in Quebec.
      Fines if a Company sign is in English, fines if the work language is English.

      They still talk about le weekend though!

    5. Fair’s fair. Billy the Conk’s lot made us speak Frog – albeit with a Viking accent.
      Revenge … cold … served ….

    6. English has always absorbed words from foreign languages and made them its own. Time les grenouilles did the same with as good a grace as they can muster.

  46. Just back from a very breezy Fakenham. Market – about half the usual stalls. Worried about being blown away, I suppose.

    Then to Morrisons – which is why I am softly cursing under my breath.

    To save time, I dropped the MR off at the door and went to fill up. Did so. (Gosh – petrol is dear…{:¬((..). Then joined the Old Girl – to find that I could have saved 7p per litre – on a special offer if your bill is more than £40. In vain did I beg to be allowed to go back to the filling station and get them to take £3.50 off the bill…. Livid – that’s me!

    Still – to compensate, both Tesco (ugh) and Morrisons had very useful reductions on wine. So we saved more than we lost!

    1. Now now, fuel is relatively cheap. The taxes on fuel – currently about 95p – make fuel expensive.

      The state wants to drive cars off the road. Comically, it is driving inflation, cost of living and hurting the poorest most. High fuel and energy prices ruin the economy. It’s obvious stuff, but politicians are total morons.

      1. All taxes distort the economy, many to the point of ruin. I would go as far as saying that our whole economy is already ruined, surviving only on massive cheap borrowing, printing money and the ignorance of both politicians and voters.

        Having a state-supplied system that helps us all is a fine ideal, but human nature and the Real World all-too-often conspire to make attempts at it counterproductive.

        1. You’d be right Dale, it survives mainly due to incredible efficiency and overseas production. The lumpen oafs in office have made making things too expensive.

          Reversing this is, oddly, the easiest bit yet government refuses to do so.

    2. 49f. here in West Sussex Bill, Sunny and absolutely no breeze. It was the same yesterday until afternoon when, thank god, we got back to proper English weather, dark and drizzly.

      1. Quite – and the “offer” lasts until 7 March. I will have done about 100 miles by then. (Continues to curse softy…)

      2. Many years ago when collecting Green Shield stamps we were touring Scotland and nearly out of fuel looking for a garage that gave them. Hooray, found one just in time that gave DOUBLE stamps, I filled up to the brim and a jerry can too. Set off again feeling smug until I rounded a corner about a mile further on and there was this garage giving QUADRUPLE stamps. The kids heard a new word from me

        1. When we were clearing Mum and Dads house, before Dad moved to Greece, my sister and I found a drawer full of Green Shield stamp books! Couldn’t believe they’d moved them twice!

    4. Half full or half empty (glass, not fuel tank)? My car does an average of 20 mpg and road tax* is so high that over the last 2 years it’s cost me more than petrol, taxes included.

      *Yes, I know it’s now called VED but a road tax is exactly what it is. Furthermore, FWIW my car’s Wankel engine puts out a third of the nasty NOx gasses that damage people compared to an equivalent power piston engine and has no nasty Diesel particulates. Yet it puts out relatively more CO2 and just triggers the higher road tax rate, politicians loving the Green con more than people’s health and lives.

        1. It imitates the 4-stroke. However, to reduce tip wear many owners put 2 stroke oil in their petrol and/or convert their oil injection system to run off a separate oil tank with 2T oil.

          I have a later version with an uprated oil system. I add 2T to the tank from time-to-time and add a special additive for track days and the like.

    6. Oh dear,I hope that they have taken in the wind turbines. If they can fall in 50mph winds, they might fail.

  50. News from the new dictatorship.

    At least one civil servant has been fired because they donated to the protest. Some truckers have found their bank accounts frozen.

    The little spoilt brat lost it during question period yesterday. A Jewish MP had asked whether the kinder inclusive authority that he had promised when first elected would have been more effective that the dismissive tone being used today. Trudeaus response was that he has no time for conservatives who support those flying swastikas and confederate flags. He would not apologize his caucus applauded hisstatement.

    The Ottawa police are now talking about siezing children at the protest and handing them over to the children’s aid society.

    Yet there are still some that applaud him and would vote for him again.

      1. Scratch a Liberal and you will find a Fascist underneath. It was a common expression in the 70s in California.

        2. Hardly surprising considering that American Liberals are Socialists and, despite the commonly believed Soviet agitprop of the 1920s, Fascism is simply one interpretation of Socialism, set up as a counter to Marxism.

    3. As JR said earlier, scratch a Liberal and you find a Fascist beneath. Accusing a Jew descended from Holocaust survivors of standing with swastika flag wielders just shows how blind he is.

      Just about every socialist or liberal that I’ve met or seen has been either: a chancer using ideals as cover for their own ends such as Blair, Starmer, Corbyn and the Miliband; people with a chip on their shoulder and hatred for others they see as better or luckier than them, whether with better looks, better life skills, popularity or just plain money; or, are damaged, needy or cowardly as to seek the approval of others. I don’t think I’ve ever met one who applied the same rules to themselves as they apply to others.

      Edited for autocorrected rubbish.

    4. Many Canadians are refugees from oppressive political systems; they are often descendants of those who fled Tsarist pograms or escaped as the Iron Curtain descended on Europe after WWII.
      If any of them voted for Turdeau, I would like to think they are pondering deeply on their decision.

      1. There are a few from Iron country curtains expressing their concerns.
        The deputy PMs family is Ukrainian but she is as useless and lacking in common sense as little potato.

      1. Around 90% of truckers are vaccinated, not enough for Trudeau who seems to think that everyone must be done over.

        The message has been changed though, it is no longer about vaccines. Apparently the Ottawa protest is now a coordinated attack by foreign interests to subvert Canadian democracy, the war measures are needed because of this. Well that is what a few highly placed ministers were spouting last night.

        I had an exchange of views with some liberal troll last night who was defending that piece of bs! I think it is time to hide behind VPN and an anonymous account.

  51. O/T

    One of my pleasures in life is eating well, trying different cuisine and generally not giving a damn about cost.

    Going to a restaurant in London where so many skilled chefs have restaurants can be a very expensive treat.

    Train fares, accommodation and a possible show besides the restaurant can make make a hefty dent in the bank balance.

    This website https://www.dishpatch.co.uk

    Allows you to try their food at home. Comprehensive cooking instructions included. Quite easy really. Even Plum could manage it. :@)

      1. My father, who was born in the East End in 1907 and died in York, used to describe London as an open cesspit redeemed only by the Royal Parks. I disagreed at the time but he also used to say that one day I’d realise the old man knew a thing or two…

          1. Indeed. My family escaped at the earliest opportunity and settled in Llandaff, a nice suburb of Cardiff for anyone who not familiar with it, where Dad went to school. London isn’t improving though?

          2. There are many sides to London. And of course the East End was always the first port of call for the downtrodden refugee. Real refugee that is.

            The pop up eateries in the markets have added a vibrancy.

            Not sure why i am telling you this my dear, as you live there. Do you explore?

          5. I remember visiting Llandaff Cathedral when very young (knee high to a grass hopper) it has had an interestg history – rather like York Minster.

    2. Phizzee

      Your link looked fabulous .. A friend provided me with a link they used when in and out of lockdown , the food came from a very well known London restaurant , and the food was sent down more or less prepared and little else need doing. I cannot remember who they were .

      I muddled on here and produced old favourites that Moh and son enjoyed , mainly fish and steak .. couldn’t find lambs hearts for love nor money.

      Oddly enough , I have become really sick and tired of handling fresh meat , and cutting stuff up .

      Son asked me not to make a fuss tonight , so not too sure what he will eat , he will be tired and hungry and then ready for bed for his early start in the morning … Probably a nice steak and salad , or fresh pasta prawns and one of those fresh tomato/ veg sauces that you can buy in Sainsbury/ Waitrose.

      Fresh pineapple and passion fruit flesh for pud … we are all on a diet.

      Last week I bought a Dragon fruit, but had no idea what to do with it , and the flesh was very uninspiring .

      1. Belle, if you are preparing raw meat, poultry or fish wear disposable gloves and use the appropriate coloured boards.

        Dragonfruit can be sliced into salads, added to a salsa or dressing or even made into smoothies.

        If you don’t want to handle meat then those sites are useful. And easy. Like me. :@)

        Other than chicken livers i haven’t been able to find offal either. Something is going on.

  52. RIP, PJ O’Rourke – the funniest Right-wing writer of our times

    Michael Deacon

    Writing a tribute to PJ O’Rourke – the great American journalist, who died on Tuesday – is a breeze, for one very simple reason. He does all the work for you. You don’t need to bother racking your brains, trying to think of clever ways to show how brilliant and funny he was. All you need to do is quote him. It does the job much more quickly. And, frankly, much better.

    Here he is on military interventionism: “Wherever there’s injustice, oppression and suffering, America will show up six months late and bomb the country next to where it’s happening.” On big government: “Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.” On books: “Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.”

    This is the first thing that made his articles so distinctive: the sheer volume of one-liners they contained. He was the stand-up comic of journalism.

    But it wasn’t just the quality of his jokes that made them catch the eye. It was their subject matter. His jokes were Right-wing. This makes his work feel increasingly unusual. These days, most political humour is Left-wing. Indeed, it’s sometimes argued that political humour has to be Left-wing. In a 2013 essay for the New Statesman, the comedian Stewart Lee – who is, of course, Left-wing – wrote that comedy should only “punch up”. Rightwingers, however, had an unseemly habit of “punching down”. And “punching down” wasn’t funny. It was just cruel.

    Like so many Left-wing ideas, this sounds fine in theory, but doesn’t work in practice. If anything, being Leftwing restricts a comedian. The terror of causing offence, and of being seen to “punch down”, imposes severe limits on what a comedian dares to joke about. Which means Left-wing comedians all end up making the same jokes about the same rigidly narrow set of targets. Tories are bad, Brexiteers are bad, capitalism is bad…

    PJ O’Rourke, by contrast, never worried about causing offence – even to people on his own side. He was a Republican who mocked Republicans. “The Republicans are the party that says government doesn’t work,” he wrote, “and then they get elected and prove it.”

    Similarly, he was a conservative who shocked conservatives. For his 1983 book Modern Manners, he wrote an entire chapter about the correct etiquette for taking cocaine, and argued that traditionalists should encourage the young to do drugs, because drugs had “taught an entire generation of English kids the metric system”.

    This is the wonderful thing about his writing: it was so bracingly free. And, for that matter, freeing. Because he always said what he really thought, he gave you, the reader, permission to do the same. He never lectured or scolded you. On the contrary, his writing absolved you of guilt. Reading him felt almost like going to a journalistic equivalent of confession. It made you feel as if you’d been forgiven for your sins – the sins of not agreeing with the type of trendy Left-wing opinions that seemed to prevail everywhere else.

    He hated trendy Left-wing opinions, not just because he thought they were wrong but because they were so drearily earnest. In his view, these two failings were linked: the more earnestly an opinion was expressed, the more wrong it was liable to be. Earnestness was just “stupidity sent to college”. In Holidays in Hell, a volume of his foreign reporting, he promised that there would be “no earnest messages in this book. Half the world’s suffering is caused by earnest messages contained in grand theories bearing no relation to reality – Marxism and no-fault auto insurance, to name two.”

    For all his flippancy, though, he was capable of being serious. And because this was so rare, it had all the more impact.

    “We are fools when we fail to defend civilisation,” he wrote, in 1988. “So-called Western civilisation, as practised in half of Europe, some of Asia and a few parts of North America, is better than anything else available. Western civilisation not only provides a bit of life, a pinch of liberty and the occasional pursuance of happiness, it’s also the only thing that’s ever tried to. Our civilisation is the first in history to show even the slightest concern for average, undistinguished, none-too commendable people like us.”

    These days, to proclaim the superiority of Western civilisation is considered even more controversial than it was then. Still, P JO’ Rourke was well used to being denounced for his views. Liberals, he once wrote, had often called him “a Nazi” – but “I don’t let it bother me, for one simple reason. No one has ever had a fantasy about being tied to a bed and sexually ravished by someone dressed as a liberal.”

    FFS! Why did this splendid-sounding chap have to die before I had ever heard of him?

  53. I promise this isn’t me:

    From: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/02/17/boris-johnson-partygate-ukraine-investigation-met-police-brexit/

    A BTL:

    David James
    5 MIN AGO
    No. Expert commercial negotiators would have used the U.K. strong bargaining position properly. Such as the U.K. was the EU biggest customer with a £100 bn trade surplus. The top BP negotiator knew May and offered his services. No reply from Treason May.
    Stupid May, with her low grade degree in geography, like Major with his 3 GCSEs, was captive of the U.K. Blob.
    The Whitehall Blob wanted, and are still desperate to get, the EU to control the U.K. They would have easier jobs, always obey EU orders, always blame the EU, have an EU career ladder plus extra pay and perks. Plus part of the EU style socialistic big state sector EU economic model. While sneering at the U.K. lower income groups to make themselves feel superior.
    The Blob has been getting it wrong on the big issues for 100 years.
    They insisted on appeasing Hitler, and NOT rearming U.K. defence, ‘in case it upset the Germans!’ The Blob are the ‘clever idiots’. The Germans rearmed totally. They saw the U.K. was weak, that encouraged German aggression!
    The Blob Insisted the U.K. join the EEC. The EEC unfairly made the U.K. subsidise EEC, especially French, farming. The EEC joke was to call it ‘WW2 reparations’, paid by the British mugs, not Germany!
    The Blob insisted the U.K. must join the euro! That would have totally shafted the U.K. economy.
    The Blob wanted to Remain, and put the U.K. under EU power forever, to obey EU laws with no say, and obey EU demands for U.K. money with no say!
    The Blob fails on big issues. And on basic operations. I know several working in the Blob. They would not make it in the private sector.
    The Blob must be reformed. The U.K. can not afford the Whitehall farce.

    1. I can remember the Germans coming to Castle Martin in Wales for Tank training in 1957….
      Ten years before many Welsh were battling the Germans…to say they were peed off
      would be too polite.

    2. Some of us had been pointing out what a strong bargaining point we had with respect to EU trade from just after we voted for freedom. Trouble is, the Westminster quislings didn’t want to use it.

    3. I got the ones I still had up the old stable cut and brought down to beside the shed earlier on and stacked to await chopping with the longer ones waiting further sawing.

      Almost finished burning the pantry wood stack, which will then need refilling.

  55. Duke of York seems to contradict what he told me, says Emily Maitlis
    ‘Why is a prince who told me he had “no recollection of ever meeting this lady” now paying her what we understand to be upwards of £10m?’
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2022/02/17/duke-york-seems-contradict-told-says-emily-maitlis/

    BTL Comment:

    The moral is that no man with half a brain should ever dream of having sex with an American woman.

    This reminds me of Basil Fawlty: “I mentioned it (the War) once but I think I got away with it.”

    But of course Basil’s fictitious alto-ego, John Cleese, did have sex with an American woman or two and did not get away with it – he had to pay out a fortune in alimony.

    1. Duke of York seems to contradict what he told me, says Emily Maitlis
      But does Duke of York have any recollection of ever meeting that lady?

          1. He said he had never met her. If he had said he had never had sexual relations with that woman she would have found that difficult to prove the opposite. That photo doesn’t prove anything. And now apparently she has lost it. I smell a rat.

    2. The moral is that no man with half a brain should ever dream of having sex with an American woman. agreeing to talk to Maitlis.

    2. Until a few ‘cases’ spring up. In which case, the Aussie track record suggests anyone brave enough to visit could risk everything shutting down again at the drop of a hat.

    3. You can get in but can you travel between states? They were pretty harsh on restrictions with SA and WA cutting off travel.

  57. This day, all becalmed at present, is the sort of day when I regret that my house is on the side of a Southwest facing hill, with a completely open aspect to the river estuary.

  58. Afternoon all
    Great service from RSCH NHS.
    Referred by optician in November for cataract op on right eye.
    Letter from hospital 8 December saying got the referral and will be in touch.
    Mid January I phoned to say not heard anything and was told the waiting time for consultation is up to 35 weeks. I said I’d be happy to take a cancellation.
    End of January got phone call re cancellation and saw consultant on 4th February. Said needed to be corrected soon and treated appointment as pre-op assessment.
    Yesterday received a text saying there was cancellation for Monday 21st February. First one to reply gets the slot.
    I got the slot.
    Will never go to St Peter’s again if it can be helped.

  59. My GP – an excellent woman who has given her life to treating her patients was finally sacked yesterday and this sacking was backdated to February 2nd. Her sin: she refuses to be ‘vaccinated’.

    Françoise has 1500 devoted patients on her books but this does not worry the Ordre des Médecins who says that is tough luck for them – they will have to make do without a doctor as she will not be replaced.

    The one thing that this Covid nonsense has taught me is how and why ordinary decent Germans were prepared to go along with Hitler in the 1930s and 40s. It has nothing to do with their being German and everything to do with the fact that human beings can be very easily manipulated; their minds and their reason can be corrupted by fear and blackmail. Those who have any power are the nastiest of all. People like Trudeau and Macron would have been very keen to join the Nazis and eager members of the Gestapo.

    1. Forgive my ignorance of the French system but does that mean that your doctor won’t have any licence to practice, even privately?

      There were of course French people, such as Coco Chanel, who had anti-Semitic leanings and were happy to fraternise with the Nazis for the sake of their businesses. The irony in the case of Chanel is that her business is now owned lock, stock and barrel by a Jewish family, the Wertheimers.

    2. Is she in contact with other unvaxxed medical staff? I know furious discussions have been going on in Austria and Germany.
      Making a large number of intelligent, hard-working people redundant might backfire on these authoritarian governments.

  60. Did I post this yesterday, I don’t remember.
    “The Russian Foreign Ministry has asked Western Media to publish a full list of dates on which Russia will invade Ukraine, for the year ahead. So Russian diplomats can book their holidays accordingly.”
    Not a spoof, they actually did this.
    Great trolling on the part of the Russians. Struck me as a very English sense of humour too.

  61. Good Afternoon.

    I sent some cash to the Canadian Truckers with Give Send Go just after the Gofundme scandal broke. Yesterday Give Send Go had a hacker attack, and today I received this to my personal email address:

    Reaching out for comment: Hackers exposed your donation to the Canadian Freedom Convoy online through a GiveSendGo.com hack

    Yahoo/Inbox

    J.P. Tremblay

    Wed, 16 Feb at 20:34

    Greetings from Canada,

    A security breach on the donation website GiveSendGo exposed your information to hackers including name, postal code, email, and credit card information.

    I’m reaching out because I have just a couple of questions for you.

    -Can you explain your reasons for supporting this political movement in Canada?

    -How would you say this political event is significant to Great Britain?

    -What’s your response to having your personal information leaked online? Has GiveSendGo contacted you about the security breach?

    Happy to explain more about the leak and the details about you that are circulating online.

    Kind regards,

    J.P. Tremblay
    Associate producer

    PressProgress.ca

    This is the brave new world of the cowardly Pierre Trudeau and his grubby friends. As an egregious breach of Data Protection it would be hard to beat.

    1. Are you going to respond? If so it would be great if you posted your reply to the cretins. To this forum.

      Hasty edit and a bad one but… it looked like I was calling people on this forum cretins and they are far from it!

        1. I have been laughing at your one liners today, Phizzee. Your cup runneth over with sympathy and I’m enjoying it immensely.

          4. I baited a hook for Bill but i will answer your Q.

            I am thank you. The difference has been noticeable. Just a small cramp after walking Dolly around the park. Usually i would have to stop and rest after 20 yards.

            I still have an amazing Rorschach style bruise that spread to my Cressida but it has peaked. And thank goodness there is no pain where that is concerned.

            Again, thanks for your concern.

    6. No problems for the hackers there, the leaked names are all being published and contributors contacted by the CBC (our lefty equivalent to the BBC).

      There will be no repercussions for the hackers or those publishing, they are woke liberals.

  62. Afternoon all, here in this part of Norf Zummerzet we are just outside the Red Warning area for tomorrows storm but we are covered by the Amber Warning.
    I cannot recall any previous instance of a Red Warning being issued here in this part of the country, certainly not this close to home.
    I have taken a walk around the garden and tied down anything loose, chucked some compost bags on the wheelie bins and said goodbye to my fence panels.
    I have just heard the local primary school will be closed tomorrow because of the forecasted wind strength, other schools are likely to follow.
    Happy days!

    2. We’re also in amber area. Currently forecasting winds around 75mph.
      Freezers turned to coldest setting so that, in the likely event of power cuts, the contents should be ok for slightly longer.
      I’ve just done my best to secure wheelie bins and bird table. All tucked into what is, I hope, a more protected position, and wedged in by heavy planters.

        1. Nah. They escaped recently but have both been recaptured and secured.
          Ant & Dec, 2 wallabies at a nearby ‘petting farm’ went on the run recently. First one went AWOL for 2 or 3 weeks, then no sooner had he been captured than the other escaped. Goodness knows why the owner failed to strengthen the enclosure while the first was still on the run. Assorted stories abound that the owner has neither (I assume, public liability) insurance nor planning permission. No security cameras either. I reckon she must be a few sandwiches short of the picnic.

        1. Ours were emptied today. We usually put the bins out the night before rather than having to put them out by 7:30 a.m. but last night’s winds persuaded me to get up early today.

        1. After previous power cuts, I have made a mental note to do so whenever high winds are forecast ….. but those notes then disappear into the unknown. I impressed myself in remembering this time.
          Losing commercial foods is bad enough but I feel more strongly about losing garden produce.
          edit: Not that I have any idea how much longer the move gives me but ‘every little helps.’

          1. As for Garden products, I just ordered a pile of Begonias for the half whiskey barrels that line my front garden path and some Meconopsis Lingholm. Never grown a latter before buy I have always wanted to try.

  63. Seven barrow loads = 7 cwt – picked up, barrowed and stacked. About 50 barrow loads remain…..

      1. Agree Bill. He could tell the unadulterated truth for a full 24 hours and I wouldn’t want to listen to him. He is a repellent creature.

    2. My immediate reaction on seeing this absurdity in the red dress was to laugh. Only keep on going Biden, it all contributes to a victory for the Republicans in the mid term elections.

    3. He/she/it is probably the most qualified of Bidens team.

      I am not sure if that is scary or gives confidence.

      1. Couldn’t he have found a disabled (other than the obvious mental disability it exhibits) PoC to tick even more boxes?

      1. I think they seem just the sort of chap/chapess/chapette one needs to clean up nucular (sic) waste.

        Can’t see the problem…..{:¬))

      2. And as they emerge from clearing their nuclear waste, they notice something strange has happened…

    5. That thing is an abomination. Not remotely suited to the important task of nuclear waste. Put them in charge of topping up the hand sanitiser.

  67. Turdeau gets more dangerously deranged every time he makes a move or opens his mouth. Total ‘liberal’ control freak. All for a ‘fringe minority’. The irony is in the offensive names and accusations of fascism and so on that he hurls at this ‘fringe minority’ and their supporters would be more suited to himself. That’ll be the ‘fringe minority’ springing up across the world in the most outrageously controlled countries.
    There are various reports that he has illegally instigated the emergency powers which go against their own1982 (I think) rights charter.
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10523525/Trudeaus-justice-minister-compares-Freedom-Convoy-donations-terrorist-financing.html

    1. Are you saying that closing peoples bank accounts because they have donated to Trump organizations is unconstitutional?

      The Emergency act needs to be debated and passed by parliament within seven days of it being proclaimed. They start debate today and parliament is in recess (again) next week.

      After Trudeau lost his cool during yesterdays question period, it will be interesting to see how he behaves today- if he even bothers to show up that is,

      1. Surely it must be unconstitutional? How are they ‘Trump’ organisations? Aren’t the truckers and tractor people overwhelmingly Canadian? I’m glad it needs to be debated though I hope it is a genuine debate.
        I may have got this wrong but as far as I can make out, most matters put before the UK government just seem to be passed through with Liebour agreeing to just about every matter brought before parliament for ‘debate’..

        1. Not everything is even actually “debated”, just nodded through on the say so of the Deputy Speaker. There has been very little debate at all over the past 2 years. There is no democracy any more, if there ever really was.

  68. Update from GiveSendGo:

    Fear does not belong here!
    Sunday evening, February 13th, GiveSendGo was attacked by malicious actors attempting to eliminate the ability of its users to raise funds. There was a broadcasted breach showing one such actor illegally hacking into GiveSendGo and distributing the names and emails of the donors of the Freedom Convoy Campaign.

    However, no credit card information was leaked. No money was stolen.

    GiveSendGo has a dedicated team aggressively focused on identifying these malicious actors and pursuing actions against their cybercrime. At the time of the intrusion, GiveSendGo’s security team immediately shut down the site to prevent further illegal actions against our site. We have also performed many security audits to ensure the security of the site before bringing the site back online.

    We are in a battle. We didn’t expect it to be easy. This has not caused us to be afraid. Instead, it’s made it even more evident that we can not back down. Thank you for your continued support, prayers and the countless emails letting us know you are standing with us

  69. Many of you will be aware of the way experts adopt terms that seem to have been invented so that they might dazzle us with what they appear to wish us to regard as their brilliance. In other words, jargon. Meteorologists have been guilty of this in recent years. The storm that is forecast for tomorrow would once have been described as a rapidly deepening depression, the assumption being that enough of the public at that time were possessed of sufficient intelligence to understand the term without further explanation. Now it’s a ‘weather bomb’ created as a result of ‘explosive cyclogenesis’.

    Yesterday, I learnt a new phrase: ‘baroclinic leaf’. This is the visible evidence (from a satellite image) of the point at which a depression forms. I’m not sure if I can remember what is was called in ‘O’ and ‘A’ level days. We simply had diagrams which showed the way the boundary between cold and warm air kinked and twisted to form the familiar Atlantic depression (and that’s not a term used so much today – it’s often a ‘weather system’).

    Here’s Chris Fawkes on yesterday evening’s outlook forecast pointing to the leaf that spawned tomorrow’s punishment from Gaia for the Industrial Revolution (OK, that’s just me editorialising).

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5db214cf9b2b1ea8d3c6b46b6c44df6c099fcff6e796f1fbd47c88a0202e4624.jpg

  70. Oh my goodness me. O/T.

    Have just tried to close anTSB account I haven’t used for a long time, nothing in it as it was only while being paid to put a certain amount in. You wouldn’t believe what a b looming difficult thing it is to close an account. Goodness me. Still haven’t managed it. Apparently they write to you once the account has been inactive for 3 years (it can’t be far off that). Trying to do it online is a nightmare. Worse than trying to open an account! Telephoning them is no help either, the phone numbers on the card that came with it are not recognised that’s how long ago it was last used. Gave up in the end, just going round in circles on ‘puter.

    1. Persevere! I recently shut down a little account (balance £2) that was about to become inactive. I missed by a day but the bod at the call centre was surprisingly efficient.

    2. TSB has been a nightmare since they sold it. I think it has been sold again. Detail all complaints in emails. Make a lot of them. Keep doing it until they finally work out how to be a bank. The original problem stemmed from them being sold to Spain and rushing through the change over because they were paying a great deal of money to use the Lloyds platform.

      Tell them how stressed and upset you are about it. I got £450 for for parking charges and other stuff that i hadn’t actually suffered. My only problem had been being unable to access my account online.

      I didn’t suggest i had suffered in that way. They made their own assumptions.

      1. The TSB was a nightmare before then. I had an account as a kid then forgot all about it until I found the passbook years later. They refused to pay any interest since the last movement on the grounds that the account had become dormant and therefore they could what they wanted. The interest was minimal, less than £10, but they lost a customer for life.

        1. Something to be aware of. Rules/laws change over the years. What is guaranteed is they will never be in your favour. I suggest a polite note wrapped around a housebrick and lobbed through their window.

    4. We had the same with the Halifax for an account we opened for managing a probate. We gave up trying to close it as for some reason they required the signature of the deceased, even though they were not listed on the account and were, to put it bluntly, dead and incapable of signing. Thus 7 years later we are still getting statements showing no movements and zero balance. We have received nothing asking if we want to close it.

          9. Yes! But that was the marching we were doing! They like marching! Then we did matador cape running, and now I’m trying to teach them to jump off two feet!

          1. Indeed.
            Been polishing it all afternoon. Got a fabulous shine! You want I send picture, lovely lady?

  72. Bollocks!
    Went to upvote one of Bill’s comments and got White Screened.

    A sort of productive day.
    Took the Efco chainsaw up to the ruined stable and cut the several logs I still had to shift into manageable bits, got them down the bank, across to the shed & stacked.

    Then shifted a load of rock & 2nd hand concrete blocks to allow me to do a bit of backfilling behind the lower wall. Dumped a good couple of dozen bags of soil before the rain came down, so I’ve another load of bags to refill & cart up.

    I’ve now got some oven chips on cooking in the Remoska with a couple of steak & stilton PIES in the Rayburn.

    https://www.lakeland.co.uk/brands/remoska-brand

    2. You might not think it to look at her, but the Aussie Prossie is a Nigerian Princess with a degree in International Finance.

    1. She looks like an unstoned date – with a wig on.

      Does her Lord Justice husband know she is on the dating trail, I wonder?

    5. There is a serious point to be made here and it’s been all too common throughout the pandemic – it’s not so much about ‘the science’ but how good you are.

      We are likely to be subjected to similar exhibitions of moral posturing tomorrow in the wake of the storm: “How will you help the world fight ‘climate change’?”

      1. I had a run in with a self-satisfied, smug creature on the DT yesterday, who accused me of being selfish and not at all public spirited. When I suggested she climbed out of her ivory tower, she said she’d rather be there than down with deniers like me! The ‘goodness’ was pouring out of her!

        1. Oh dear! If she’s that entrenched in her views, she will never change them no matter how much evidence is put in front of her.

      1. Eerily calm here too. Chaps have been outside pruning the branches on the trees. There are some very big, old trees here.

        2. I was doing a night duty on the night of the 1987 hurricane.
          I remember noticing the evening was exceptionally warm and still as I set off for work.
          (The patients – confused elderly – slept the best I had ever known; I wondered if they thought the end of the world had arrived.)

          1. I was attending a ski lesson at my local dry slope that evening, and I noticed the same as you – very warm for the time of year (mid-October), and the air was very still – no hint of even a breath of wind.

          2. I slept through the hurricane that night only to be woken up with the phone ringing. I was called out to attend a telephone exchange alarm and was told to be careful on my journey. The guy who rang me seemed surprised I did not know the hurricane had passed through causing a trail of devastation in its wake. In those days I slept through the night!

          3. I was on the night sleeper from Glasgow to Bristol. The train pulled into a siding (?) about 6am. The whole train shook as if it were going to be rolled over …

            I cancelled my attendance at a board meeting in Devises – many obstructions, trees were blown down etc. – and eventually drove to Birmingham Airport for a return flight to Glasgow.

            Mr Fish’s ‘Day of Ignominy’ – or fame? …

          4. Warm air pressure affects space and time.

            I also read today about Einsteins general theory of relativity. The higher you are up…..the faster you age.

            If you wish to live longer then walk on your knees. Gravity is what kills us.

            :@)

      2. Calm here, too, despite the red weather warning. I did get caught out in a shower when I walked Oscar back from town. He has had a rest from trauma today – just a short, gentle attempt at grooming without his muzzle on. I’ve still got my fingers (but I nearly had my ankles nipped).

  79. This “RED WARNING” malarkey.

    When I lived in yer France (which seems about 20 years ago) we had RED weather warnings several times a year. Usually for torrential rain (12 inches in an hour, sort of thing) or for gales.

      1. Cyclogenesis? Is that what Uncle Bill does when he goes to collect eggs from the next door village?

        1. Serves you right for going metric, a yard of rain is enough for anyone.

          We have a weather warning at the moment, they expect about six inches of snow this afternoon which should be quite interesting since it has been raining solidly for the past day.

          1. Slush…

            I didn’t go metric – yer descendants of Napoleon did!

            But you know what they are like…give them an inch.

  82. A Melanie Phillips article.

    “An elegy for policing

    When people felt Britain was safe and the coppers had their backs

    Melanie Phillips

    32 min ago

    I wrote here yesterday about the shocking erosion of the ethic of British policing, with police officers having been demoralised (in every sense) over many decades by a governing class that has itself steadily lost the moral and social plot. In response, a reader sent me a message that is so apposite I am reproducing it below, with his permission.

    In these short paragraphs, we are provided with a snapshot of a Britain that has all but vanished. The reader writes a poignant elegy; the rest of us should be very angry.

    My dad was a copper from the late forties to the seventies and my mum left the job to raise her kids. Police officers were generally tough, stoical, common-sense men and women back then. Many had been through the war and had military experience. Not a lot fazed them. Policing was very visible. You were never very far from a beat officer, patrol car or station and the fact they had whistles indicated that help was never far away.

    Although policing was more visible, it was low key and reassuring, not oppressive. The meaningless slogan “policing by consent” would have raised eyebrows. As a police officer, you are part of the community and you uphold the law. End of.

    Policing is more oppressive and hysterical now because, following the closure of stations and retreat from the community, they can only ever over-react to certain situations or not react at all, nor prevent or deter.

    To give an example, back in the day a man exhibiting bizarre behaviour in the street would have been dealt with by a bobby on foot or bike or at most a couple of patrol officers in what my dad called a “wireless car”. They would be confident, calm, respectful and make sure the situation didn’t escalate — basic policing, in other words. Now, it would be sirens, flashing lights, three or more vehicles, shouting, tasers at the ready. Automatic escalation and the worsening of the situation. In those situations, lives can be lost.

    The fact that officers are preoccupied with “woke” issues and exhibit bizarre behaviour when in uniform (skateboarding/dancing/taking the knee), hold depraved views and turn to crime, means the police service is now staffed by many officers woefully unsuited to law enforcement. Recruiting standards have fallen because, in a world with no crime prevention and deterrence, crime has gone up and, ironically, more staff are needed.

    Having said that, there are good officers in the force today; but they are hampered by poor management, who are often fast-tracked from uni with a left-wing activist political agenda that prioritises the rights of criminals over victims.

    We tend to look at the past with rose-tinted specs, and coppers were not all angels back then. There was sexism, misogyny, racism, antisemitism and corruption. The Battle of Cable Street is a case in point where police were seen to be biased in favour of the British Union of Fascists. Today they allow Islamists to shout antisemitic slurs in areas where Jews live.

    I was bullied because my dad was a copper and we had the IRA to contend with. Dad had to look under his car. However, we generally felt that society was a safe place and the police had our backs. Not any more.”

          1. It was all part of the plan when the politicians hijacked the police for their own ends, thus ending Robert Peel’s original notion of the police being public servants.

    2. “Christian Szell : Is it safe?… Is it safe?
      ….
      Babe : No. It’s not safe, it’s… very dangerous, be careful.”

    3. I can sum up my feelings on the subject with this,
      When I was a child I was taught to find a policeman if I was in trouble. Today I would tell my grandchildren to avoid all contact with our police farce if in trouble.

      1. My mother said the same “find a Police man if you’re lost and hold his hand until I find you” not anymore. A sad reflection on society today,
        The world is FUBAR.

    4. When they reduced the height requirement (so as not to disadvantage shortie effniks) they removed one aspect of the police presence that demanded respect.

    1. Don’t tell me he has invaded Wales ? !!!. What a brilliant manoeuvre when no one was looking! Hope he educates Drakeford into how to be more democratic.

        2. Too fussy. This is better.
          Tried to find the clip of “We’ll keep a welcome” sung at Cardiff Airport when the Polish Pope left. Failed.
          This is closest as far as I remember. Just voices, as it should be.
          https://youtu.be/V0P-1V5dSD0

        3. While Drakeford’s in charge, they’re welcome to Wales! Come home to a real fire – Plaid Cymru 🙂

  85. That’s me done for the day. 24ºC in the greenhouse this arvo. Weird.

    Hope you all survive the night AND tomorrow. I hope to look in but we are expecting power cuts, so if I do not appear, you can be thankful!
    If it doesn’t rain, I’ll shift some more logs.

    Have a jolly evening.

    A demain – prolly.

    2. I hope you’ve made sure it’s well fixed Down Bill 90 MPH blast Tmz.
      We had a power cut last night, we had just finished lighting about ten candles and the bloody lights came back on damn.

    1. I notice that PETA, as well as wanting the pub to be renamed, wants it to offer a vegan-only menu:-
      “…reopening with an all-vegan menu would be a more inclusive, kinder, and environmentally friendly way to see the pub into the next 1,000 years.”

      I fail to see how offering an all-vegan menu can be described as ‘inclusive’, as it does not offer an alternative to customers who want to eat meat. It is therefore exclusive rather than inclusive.

    1. Is Via Gellia as bad as the “13 bends” on the A619 between Baslow and Bakewell; or the “flying mile” at Spancarr on the A 632 Chesterfield to Matlock road)? Both well-known locations for both ton-up motorcycles … and a graveyard for their riders.

    2. Well, he did his best, on his Kawasaki hairdryer, to catch up with those three ahead of him (on their Greeves, Matchless and Cotton 4-strokes) but they were simply too good for him. 🤣

  88. Email to Reclaim in response to their very rate update emails:
    Hi, Admin775 😊

    Glad you guys are getting the background stuff all ready, but I worry that, in dealing with things, you guys haven’t been making waves and getting noticed in relation to:
    • Loss of freedoms in UK and abroad. What an opportunity to get some press coverage! Why do Labour agree with Boris?
    • Ukraine – urging calm and seeing things in perspective. Take the P out of Liz Truss, who seems to know nothing bout the situation.
    • Undermining the MSM, in return for their undermining of democracy and truth
    • Showing where you stand on Canadian drivers

    What I see of Reclaim so far is a cosy set of mates doing cosy stuff – as yet, nobody is holding the Government / MSM, Bill Gates’ feet to the fire, to actually perform. But maybe, I misunderstand, maybe Reclaim is just a vehicle for egos (Like UKIP/Brexit) rather than a credible attempt to fix British politics.

    Best Regards

  89. Saddam Hussein must be laughing his socks off.
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10522545/Ukraine-crisis-Fears-Russian-false-flag-operation-underway-justify-invasion.html

    US warns Putin might launch false flag chemical weapons attack before invading Ukraine: Russia expels America’s deputy ambassador and demands Biden pull all troops out of Central and Eastern Europe

    Biden has obviously consulted the Tony Blair Bible of creating excuses for war.
    I wonder which poor sod will have to play the David Kelly part.

    1. I can’t make my mind up whether the state sanctioned murderers are inferring or implying anything.

    1. Nr 2 is f’g hilarious!
      Nr 3 is my children.

      Rik, I have just sent some of your memes from previous days to a lovely friend who has been ill recently. Laughter really is the best medicine, and I do thank you for all the memes you post on here.

        1. Yep, was fine the rest of the year but the first day….never slept a wink until 5 mins before the alarm. Got into school looking like death warmed up.

          1. I don’t blame you. I have never had the courage to even contemplate facing teenagers in the classroom. Respect to those who have.

          2. Primary age kids can be just as scary! Library work always had my brain working overtime.

          3. After I read a lesson in a festival of carols, one of the congregation remarked to me that she wouldn’t have been able to face standing up and doing it. I replied that after you’ve faced 3D last thing on a Friday afternoon, facing an audience or congregation holds no terrors whatsoever!

    3. Is only one charger working then?

      And frankly, if anyone thought any different, I’ve a bridge to sell them. A petrol station with 12 pumps, taking say 5 minutes (25 if a woman – what do they do once they get in the car?) to fill up can serve call it 3200 cars a day over 24 hours.

      An electric station, with the same number of charge points can do one car an hour using a super charger – and even that won’t get you full charge, so 300. It’s just vastly less efficient.

      1. I can currently drive across Europe to visit my daughter (a thousand miles) with one tank stop in Luxembourg, in one day.
        Make that a two or three day journey in an electric vehicle!

          1. I could push the bloomin thing if I wanted to take that long, and save on the electricity altogether!

          3. I’d love to spend a summer walking around Europe. My children went to a kind of daft alternative school in an old Schloss in the Bavarian countryside, and there was a family there who had spent some years walking around Germany with a donkey, camping in meadows and living off very little. Then they settled down because their children needed to go to school, the parents split up and when I knew them, the mum was together with a man who drove a Porsche!

          7. I like the idea of an electric car – stop, go, no gears, nothing to think about, quieter, cheaper to run (so far).

            But…. they’re not green. They’re very expensive. I don’t want the £15000 for solar panels and a wall battery and a charger (as I’d want to do the tech properly).

            Being forced to get one just doesn’t make sense.

          8. “They” don’t want you to have on They don’t want you to have transport. Get used to living in an unheated hovel.

  91. MB had a phone call this afternoon about an appointment for tomorrow.
    Thank goodness the hospital showed that much initiative; the letter – posted on Monday – hadn’t arrived and he knew nothing about the appointment.
    I suspect the staff had been alerted to the tardy mail by many no-showsl.

        1. I was talking to the window cleaner this morning and he has an appointment for an MRI at 8pm next Wednesday!

  93. Looking in YouTube. There’s a video: “My Johnson needs an overhaul!”
    Is that mechanical or medical?

        1. There are lots of tutorials on You Tube for all sorts of musical instrument, including the banjo.

          1. It helps to have some talent before you start, LotL.
            I have tried several instruments (piano, violin, guitar, brass, bagpipes), and have no talent whatever. No rhythm, can’t hear a bum note, bugger-all dexterity with fingers… was criticised many years ago when dancing with SWMBO that, not only was I out of synch with the music, but out of phase. Don’t dance, either. Nor sing, unless there’s a massive diesel engine roaring close by to drown out the sound.
            I can just about play YouTube or a CD.

          2. I do understand. I come from a family of very talented musicians but my piano playing was appalling. My saving grace though is that I CAN sing and sing well. Even MH enjoys my warbling- or he says he does ;-))

          3. Firstborn, Second Son and SWMBO can play every God-damned instrument that exists, without training, and sing, too.
            I can’t do any of that.
            Bummer. :-((

          10. We are blessed with several good ‘harp’ players at open mic at my local. Three of them even have bandoliers for 6 or 7 different types.

          12. I have a Hohner Blues Harp in ‘C’. I find it very limited and wish I’d spent a bit more on a chromatic.

    1. Yes, my thoughts too.
      The truckers must break the Canadian government, for all of our sakes, because the next try will involve terrible violence – started by the state. Anybody wonder why countries wanted a disarmed citizenry?

      2. Hospitals apparently on standby to treat injured protesters, a large police presence in Ottawa. The suppression of democracy is coming soon.

      4. We are in a world civil war, the Demos (great unwashed) just don’t realise it yet.

        From the film Matrix: ‘take the red pill’, a choice between the willingness to learn a potentially unsettling or life-changing truth by taking the red pill or remaining in contented ignorance with the blue pill

  100. Breaking news – Don’t worry, calm down , Earlier on today, apparently, a woman rang the BBC and said she heard there was a hurricane on the way. Well, if you’re watching, don’t worry, there isn’t.

  102. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/05125e96a6bbc261d0f7abbd04078a8ebcf928c500e8a3adc72c759b52812642.jpg Make do and mend.

    50 years ago, when I was in my first job [an engineering plater (steel fabricator)] I found myself needing a small fastening device to hold a fiddly piece of work together whilst I tack-welded it. I looked around and found a small piece of scrap steel about ¼” thick. It was misshapen, and nowhere near square, but I realised it would do the job if I welded a small nut to it so that I could thread a machine screw in it to use it as a Heath-Robinson clamp. I intended to chuck it as soon as I’d used it.

    I didn’t and I have lost count of the number of times that I have used this little lop-sided clamp over the past half century.

  107. Evening, all. Operation Clear Up (after having had my conservatory replaced) continues apace. I am now down to one pile of books to find a home for and two boxes (one of old paperwork to go through and destroy and one full of my linguistic books) to empty! The irony of “green” taxes making the preferred “green” heating equipment too expensive to run is not lost on those of us who are “normal” 🙂

    1. Oh that is very funny!
      I hope they will both be able to put the Epstein association behind them now.
      One of the best bits of advice I heard (when I was middle aged, sadly!) was that when you’re fifty, you will either be reaping the benefits of decisions you made when you were younger, or paying for them.
      She’s got her family, and she’s had her (lucrative) revenge. Hopefully Andrew will find something else to do apart from eying up the size of his brother’s shoes.

  111. Owners of Cornish e-cigarette shop called The Vapeist hit back at ‘woke’ local who complained to the council because it sounds too much like ‘rapist’

    Anton Perrins, 34, and Chris Anderson, 31, opened The Vapeist in Callington
    Anonymous individual reported shop name to the council for causing offence
    Locals have taken to Facebook to defend the shop owners decision

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-10524035/Newly-opened-vape-shop-reported-inappropriate-name.html

    3. So folks be careful when you say you’re going out for a vape, some idiot might just call the police…

  112. Small flashlight handy and 3 Yankee candles out in case. The scents of the candles may gas us but they will give a little light- if needed.
    Despite sleeping for almost 12 hours the last 2 nights I am still tired. Low grade bug I think.
    Hope y’all weather the storm OK…maybe it’s all been over hyped; gosh when has that happened before?

    1. It’s 21:46 here in Driffield and all calm & mild.
      Having lived through and nearly killed by Cyclone Gonu (look up if it’s unknown) this UK weather is like a pussy cat.

      1. I’ve lived through blizzards, real ones, and hurricanes in the US, so I tend to agree. I have always found that if you prepare for the worst- it doesn’t always happen.

        1. My wife always has a ‘siege’ box candles/camping lamp her equivalent of MRE’s and hopes for the best.
          P.s enjoying the books, The Richard III especially.

          1. Jill the Lass told me that Ms Penman had died last year from pneumonia- age 75. I think she writes a damn good book.
            PS I am a Ricardian.

          2. Thank you for the recommendation (All be it that this one is over 800 pages) ‘The Sunne in Splendour’
            I am glad I have a copy of the Encyclopædia Britannica so that I can keep track of all the characters.
            But enjoying it very much.

          3. There is also an excellent biography of Richard III by Paul Murray Kendall.
            Re all the characters… also recommend The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey- fiction but about R III and also a fun read… he also has trouble keeping up with the characters. Inspector Grant that is.

      2. If we’re black-catting, I was in a Super-typhoon’ in Nagasaki harbour in about 2002. We’d come in (picked up gear 2 days before because of warnings, and moored alongside but saw a few ships lose their anchors and drift onto rocks. Saw trees flying overhead and some bits of houses. Next day we walked into town and apart from cleanup crews everything was back to normal.

    2. I have a wind-up torch, battery tea lights, a camping gaz stove and a large stock of candles (already in candelabra and candlesticks). I’ll just have to shut down the Rayburn if the power goes off (or stay up all night running hot baths!).

      1. Years ago in CT the weather people were banging on about Hurricane Hugo and to prepare. Dutifully I put all the outside stuff away, battened down etc. Got up next morning to blue sky and sun. It had changed direction and gone out to sea. Sadly though, it devastated Charleston SC.

        1. All my outside garden furniture has cast iron parts so it should be okay. The flagpole is aluminium, though, so I hope that will survive. I only put it up for HM’s Platinum Jubilee of her accession, otherwise it would still have been stored at this time of year. The last time we had gales I lost a garden arch and an obelisk. Fingers crossed that the ones that managed to survive are strong enough to withstand this onslaught, too.

  115. STOP PRESS

    I went out for a walk this afternoon and met the only BAME in UK who had not been in a product advert on TV

  117. The Queen should abdicate: this is the right time. Not because another scandal has broken out, with police probing allegations of Saudi cash-for-honours donations to the Prince of Wales’s charity. Not because of Prince Andrew’s disgrace.

    Nor should she abdicate for the reason given this week by my friend and colleague Simon Jenkins: he calls for her to withdraw gently from public life to spend her declining years in dignified tranquillity, and allow a “planned transfer” to Charles. In other words, let there be no perilous moment when people ask themselves why no one asked them first. Allow no possible pause for thought between her last breath and the shout of “vivat rex”. Make sure it’s a fait accompli with his royal posterior already cemented to the throne.

    It is indeed a good time to bow out gracefully, as this platinum jubilee celebrates her 70-year reign with all the pomp of a four-day bank holiday and a new pudding. But let it mark an end to monarchy itself, those feudal centuries drawing to a peaceful close. The Queen has held the monarchy together skilfully through tempestuous scandals, from the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the divorces of three of her children to the flight of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, once heralded as royals for the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo era.

    Whisper it, but the time is right for the Queen to abdicate

    This jubilee would make a cheerful ending to all the royal folderol. What better time to return the sovereignty promised in Brexit to the people to whom it belongs. Elizabeth the Last should get a historic send-off, her golden coach and crown retired and her six palaces opened as fine museums. (No, tourism is no excuse for monarchy: Versailles gets many more visitors, and so does Legoland down the road from Windsor Castle).

    In death or abdication, her passing will be an emotive memory marker in every family, the last link to the second world war, to remnants of empire and to that old black and white world of Pathé newsreels with their jolly jingo voices. “Thank God for the Queen”, proclaims the Sun’s front page today, absurdly. It’s doubtful she returns any thanks to Rupert Murdoch, whose lèse-majesté arrival here shattered that old reverence for royal mystique.

    The crown and constitution are no longer abstract debates. The need for an elected president has become urgent now Boris Johnson’s arrival in Downing Street tests conventions, laws and civil rights beyond their limits. John Major expressed that constitutional outrage eloquently on these pages, listing Johnson’s abuses: deliberately breaking international law; tearing up the ministerial code; ordaining police stop and search “without any cause for suspicion”; removing British citizenship at whim, while waging war against the civil service and the BBC, those national safeguards.

    The Commons Speaker turns out to be powerless against lies told to his face. There is no voice to admonish, check or protect against elective dictatorship by a wrecker of a prime minister with a strong majority. His MPs are shockingly derelict.

    Until now, monarchy was defended as dignified and powerless, a harmless decoration that never interferes with parliament. Embarrassing lapses – the Guardian’s revelations of the Queen’s consent preventing laws that may reveal her wealth or Charles’s “spider letters” leaning on ministers – are relatively trivial. The constitutional problem is not the monarch’s power, but powerlessness. Presidents around Europe protect constitutions and guard against overmighty politicians breaking basic law. A president would have stopped Johnson illegally proroguing parliament: it takes the authority of election to take action as a vital backstop in a constitutional emergency.

    Our monarchy has handed all royal prerogative to the prime minister with no check or balance, bar a House of Lords almost as weak as the monarch for the same bad reason – lacking the authority of election. Look how Johnson engages in voter suppression: his proposals for compulsory photo ID and abolishing colleges registering their students will deliberately deter the young and poor from voting. Look how he moves to curb the electoral commission’s power to prosecute illegal political donations protecting his own party’s pelf. There is no brake on an errant prime minister in a country without a written constitution, where a warped electoral system denies fair representation and there is no effective head of state to guard against law-breaking. The unelected Queen must do what the prime minister tells her to.

    Monarchists speak with revulsion of who an elected president may be. The royal historian Robert Lacey, in a recent debate, asked in tones of horror, “President Lineker? President Street-Porter?” But, urges Graham Smith, CEO of the Republic pressure group, look around Europe at dignified presidents who understand their ceremonial duties and the political limits to their role, while acting as constitutional guarantors. Former politicians take on a presidency with as much independence as our Speakers in parliament. Look across the Irish Sea at Michael D Higgins, Mary McAleese or Mary Robinson and ponder why British voters are too wild or daft to be trusted to make equally sensible choices.

    Support for this antique dysfunction wanes with each generation and it has become fragile. A majority of under-25s expect it to be gone in 25 years. Monarchy is a cast of mind blocking reform. Monarchy is a feudalism of the imagination that stamps approval on inheritance, inequality and privilege, all growing rampantly right now.

    “Take but degree away, untune that string, And, hark, what discord follows!” Shakespeare has Ulysses warn, eulogising “degree, priority and place” in Troilus and Cressida: no one knows if this deep conservatism aligning the planets with aristocratic order was his own view. The point is this: that string is untuned already. The crown decorates a riot of constitutional disorder. Abolishing it would open windows into every aspect of how we choose to be governed and how we think of ourselves.

    Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist

    I feel faint.

    1. “Monarchy is a feudalism of the imagination that stamps approval on inheritance, inequality and privilege, all growing rampantly right now.”

      Mad old bat.

    2. Balls to that. This country needs stability right now and HM is the only person providing it.

    3. Polly Toynbee is a c•nt!

      A loud-mouthed, gormless, champagne-socialist, brain-dead c•nt living in Tuscany, paid for by cretinous Guardian readers.

  118. This evening’s 6pm news on BBC1 had a report from Clevedon as the south-west prepares itself for tomorrow. There were a few interviews with members of the public; the police were out and about being helpful:
    “Warning leaflets have been handed out door to door and flood defences put in place as the West prepares itself for Storm Eunice and winds that could reach 100mph. Andrew Plant, BBC News, Somerset.”
    The report ended with scenes from here:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6602a7b4cd82fbba55d7267df8d0f9a16648082af36bb3cfdb5bf7a27c44cfc9.jpg
    This is Bewdley, Worcestershire…

      1. It’s certainly possible that a tidal surge up the river could cause flooding as far up as Ironbridge. The report might have mentioned it. After all, this is the BBC with its fondness for drama and scare stories in the news.

        1. All it needs is a strong wind to aid the Severn Bore. Ironbridge is prone to flooding anyway, as is Shrewsbury.

  119. This evening’s 6pm news on BBC1 had a report from Clevedon as the south-west prepares itself for tomorrow. There were a few interviews with members of the public; the police were out and about being helpful:
    “Warning leaflets have been handed out door to door and flood defences put in place as the West prepares itself for Storm Eunice and winds that could reach 100mph. Andrew Plant, BBC News, Somerset.”
    The report ended with scenes from here:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6602a7b4cd82fbba55d7267df8d0f9a16648082af36bb3cfdb5bf7a27c44cfc9.jpg
    This is Bewdley, Worcestershire…

  123. Goodnight from me, hope Storm Eunice doesn’t do too much damage over there in UK. Take care

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