Tuesday 11 February: The selective history behind calls for Britain to pay slavery reparations

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

512 thoughts on “Tuesday 11 February: The selective history behind calls for Britain to pay slavery reparations”

  4. Andrew Gwynne has every right to rant in private. Spiked. 11 February 2025.

    I would be lying if I said I’m not enjoying the Schadenfreude of the Andrew Gwynne affair. A pious, hectoring Labour MP being exposed as a hypocrite is always going to make for delicious tabloid fodder. After all, this is the same Andrew Gwynne who once cheered on the cancellation of the late Roger Scruton for supposedly racist and sexist comments. Nevertheless, it is important to maintain the principle that no one should be punished for off-the-cuff remarks that they make in private – and yes, that includes politicians.

    This article is completely wrong-headed. The author, aside from advocating hypocrisy and concealed lying is ignoring that Gwynne was a member of the government that sends people to gaol for their opinions. So far as I’m aware he advocates no mercy for them and expressed no remorse at the death of Mr Lynch. That we should all be allowed to rant is a given and should incur no legal penalty. It’s called Freedom of Speech. Any MP indulging themselves should then face the same penalty as the rest of us. The opposition of opposing voices.

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/02/10/andrew-gwynne-has-every-right-to-rant-in-private/

    1. Who knew that gaining a few more votes than one's opponents also elevated one to a higher plane of righteousness. Arrogant twat!

  6. Good morning, chums, and thank you, Geoff, for today's new NoTTLe site.

    Wordle 1,333 4/6

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  8. What with the recent insightful eye opening whatsapp messages as regards the attitude of Labour MPs towards the elderly, how can we possibly trust them with the Assisted Dying legislation.
    It's not the first time either, that we have heard Remainers in the past saying things like that we can have another EU referendum when all the old people die off.
    I get the feeling that Labour thinks that instead of being viable participants in democracy the elderly are just holding up their program for radically changing our country to something far worse than we have now.
    I note that most of the billionaire plutocrats they follow are in fact elderly themselves

    1. They forget:
      – They will be old themselves one day
      – There will always be old people. It's just a matter of time.

      1. Give it time, compulsory euthanasia aka assisted dying could very easily become the norm.
        Several films look too prescient for my liking, given population explosions.

        Soylent Green and Logan's Run as two of many examples.

    2. A stark new study has revealed a deep generational divide in Britain, with half of Gen Z believing the country is racist and just 11 per cent saying they would be willing to fight for it in a war.

      The research, conducted by The Times in partnership with pollsters YouGov, paints a strikingly different picture from a similar study carried out 20 years ago.

      Back then, young Britons – then the first millennials coming of age – were largely optimistic about the future and proud to be British.

      But today's Gen Z, aged 18 to 27, appear to have a far more negative outlook on their country and its future.

      The findings have alarmed political and military figures, with General Sir Patrick Sanders, head of the Army, warning: 'If we aren't prepared to fight for our freedom and way of life, we will become prey in a world of predators.'

      Back in 2004, The Times's survey found that 80 per cent of young Britons were proud of their country. Today, that number has fallen to just 41 per cent.

      The latest study, which questioned 1,161 young adults across a broad range of topics including crime, religion, mental health, and politics, also found that just 50 per cent of Gen Z believe Britain is racist and just 15 per cent think the country is united.

      Half also said Britain is 'stuck in the past'.

      Taken from the DM https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14382963/Gen-Z-arent-proud-British-wouldnt-war-country-think-UK-racist.html

      One should not be particularly surprised, given the education brainwashing they have received

      1. "found that just 50 per cent of Gen Z believe Britain is racist"

        Did the 'study' expect even more?

          1. If you’ve ever eaten monkfish tail then you’ve eaten its cousin, another species of angler fish.

    3. Apparently young voters are more likely to support Reform.
      How will Labour deal with that one?

    4. The assisted dying legislation is a very murky business. Leadbetter has already suggested moving the goalposts, before the pitch has even been marked out, by moving to broaden the service offered as per MAID in Canada. Where depressed individuals are offered an easy way out, as per a wheelchair-bound former athlete with a dodgy knee.

      And talking of murky individuals, I'm sure that it's purely coincidental that one of the headline supporters for the assisted dying bill, Esther Rantzen, 'suddenly' found a medical cure for her 'terminal' condition after the first reading passed in the Commons. That's 'extended' life!

        1. Matt is certainly becoming more political in his cartoons. Indeed his views are generally those held by many Nottlers.

          The MP he is satirising used letters rather than ****.

      1. Reject modernity, return to tradition.
        We were much freer when the phone was tethered to a wall.
        Make Analog Great Again.
        I have returned to watching DVDs, listening to the radio, and using a 20 dollar drip coffee machine. I’m happier than I was.

  11. Morning, all Y'all.
    Beautiful day again – pretty chilly as a result, though. Amazingly bright and large moon last night… woke me up by shining in my eyes.

      5. Happy, Happy Birthday, lovely!! Singing from the drenched rooftops of Buenos Aires in a wild summer thunderstorm. As you can imagine, it's quite the performance… 😉 x x

  14. The selective history behind calls for Britain to pay slavery reparations

    Interesting that they are cancelling local democracy in large parts of the country on account of saving the tax payer money

  15. Good morning, all. From where I'm sitting all I can see is an overcast sky, again!

    Today, much as yesterday, here is another proclamation devoid of any meaningful intent from Mr Bland, aka the PM.

    https://x.com/TheBaldingBiker/status/1889065487306301878
    Two comments in two days on borders, security and illegal immigrants: what could have prompted the sudden concern on this issue?

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4a53aa93db321c05bccb96db82782f743f866cc4af6f03156b951298f426dbc9.png
    And at least one other poll and a surge in membership for Reform.

      1. These local elections must go ahead these lying cheating liebore bustards cannot be allowed to get away with it.

  16. Good Moaning. Oh what a grey day.

    I realise that the collapse of our civilisation is no laughing matter, but what else do we have?

    Tim Stanley in the DT.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/02/10/labour-gone-from-bigot-to-barmy-in-24-hours-tim-stanley/

    "Labour’s gone from bigot to barmy in 24 hours

    Andrew Gwynne’s replacement believes people can self-identify as llamas – I’m told she’s already requested straw bedding in her office

    10 February 2025 7:46pm GMT

    Is nothing sacred?! WhatsApp is meant to be as private as the confessional, but the leaking of Andrew Gwynne’s messages – racist, sexist, what we used to call “light entertainment” – triggered a knee-jerk sacking by the PM.

    In one missive, Mr Gwynne hoped that an elderly constituent would die before the next election. In some Labour areas, of course, that wouldn’t disqualify her from voting. Gwynne is replaced by Ashley Dalton, who is on record saying people should be able to self-identify as a llama if they so wish.

    Labour’s gone from bigot to barmy in 24 hours.

    No wonder so many backbenchers looked nervous come Monday morning, doubly so after Oliver Ryan also lost the whip over his outrageous WhatsApping (face of a cherub, but he’s no angel). The only person in Westminster who appears unafraid is Ms Dalton, who, I’m told, has asked for her office to be moved to a higher location and bedded with straw.

    A civil servant describes the new minister as “gentle and calm, though if agitated, she will sit down and refuse to move”.

    If you think that’s mad, wait till you hear about government policy… Michael Shanks, an energy minister whose hair is coming out in bundles, was at the despatch box for both an urgent question and a statement: the first on winding down the oil and gas industry in the North Sea, the latter on importing wood chips to burn for energy.

    Shanks, a former teacher, is bright and appealing, yet couldn’t see the connection between these two things – that in trying to be cleaner domestically, the UK is importing filthy fuel to plug the inevitable gaps.

    The discussion is irrelevant, teased Tory MPs: whatever Shanks says will be overruled by the Treasury. Indeed, the Government is increasingly torn between Rachel Reeves – “grow the economy or be exterminated” – and Ed Miliband, who self-identifies as a windmill and is holding the line on Labour’s last remaining progressive cause, net zero.

    In the absence of a Tory opposition (sorry Kemi), the Left is opposing itself.

    A Labour MP has condemned the Chagos deal. A Labour peer has called for the Attorney General to resign. Reeves wants Miliband’s head and Pat McFadden, currently in charge of the Cabinet Office, wants Reeves’s job. The PM stayed above the fray by publicly taking an HIV test in No10. Heaven knows why, but it would’ve added some rare colour to his leadership had it turned out positive.

    Shanks plowed on in the Commons, supported warmly by Pippa Heylings, Lib Dem spokesperson on Energy Insecurity and Net Weirdo, who appeared to be auditioning for a future role in a Lib-Lab coalition.

    Then came this, typical of Labour backbenchers desperate for a job: “Can I commend the minister for a measured and pragmatic approach?” asked Tom Hayes of Bournemouth East, and I noticed several MPs dashing off WhatsApps that probably read “crawler”, “sucker” or “Can I lick yer boots, sir?”

    The discussion was punctuated by a scream in the lobby. Ms Dalton, startled by an aide, had spat on her."

    1. There has recently been a considerable kerfuffle regarding a Labour MP who posted words to that effect on a social media group.

  19. Labour loses a member every 10 minutes.
    307,000 now in reach for Reform.. to make it the largest party in UK.

      1. Nah. Shifting in droves to the Bangladeshi-Islamic male-only political party, called Aspire.

    1. Yes and dustbins in this instance.

      And I think, but I'm not certain, that that was the word the MP used in his media post.

  22. Good morning all, but what a dank, dark miserable one it is with the weather.
    A heavy drizzle with fairly flat temperatures over the past day, 3.9°C just now with a max of 4.2 and a min of 3.2°C, a whole 1°C spread over the whole day!

    If the drizzle eases off then I'll be chopping the rest of the sawn logs and rearranging the unsawn woodstack.

    1. 'Morning Pip
      Hippo Birday
      John Birmingham
      Zero Day Code
      Fail State
      American Fail State
      Good Post' Apocalyptic fun

  30. Good morning all,

    Fine cold overcast morning , no frost , 3c.

    I liked this letter , it appealed to my "why and how " questioning mind .

    SIR – To build battleships in the past, we needed straight planks – but oak trees do not generally grow straight on their own (“How the mighty oak has fallen”, Magazine, February 8).

    Forty years ago, when I worked as a horticultural adviser for the old Ministry of Agriculture, we looked into this, but could not find reliable information on how to grow straight oaks. So we started an experiment. The plan was to grow seedlings and leave them for several years before cutting them down to the ground and allowing them to regrow.

    Apical dominance (where the main stem of a plant controls the growth of other stems) would result in a number of straight stems. These would then be cut down, leaving the strongest to grow to maturity, at which time others would take over the experiment.

    The numerous variables were to be investigated along the way. How many years should the seedlings be left before cutting back? How many years should they be left before transplanting? What are the best planting distances? What other cultural practices might be required during the growing life of the tree? How many years do we have to wait before felling? What are the economics of the whole operation?

    Such arboricultural knowledge used to be passed down from father to son on England’s landed estates, and trees were planted for future generations. But the knowledge has been lost. Thirty-five years ago, the Ministry of Agriculture was reorganised and our experiment ceased.

    J A Crofts
    Nottingham

    We have some very old gnarled looking oaks here in our area , one of which is probably 400 years old ..

    Years and years ago , we took my sister, who was visiting from SA, to Beaulieu, no not the motor museum , but the River Beaulieu, whereby a chattery old local told us all about the old wooden warships that were made from New Forest Oaks ..

    I can't find any more references to that , can you?

  35. In the local museum in Saffron Walden there used to be an excellent drawing of a mature oak with diagrams of how each part of the tree was used in the construction of a warship.
    It will be nearly 50 years ago since I last saw it, so it may have gone, I'm not even sure if the museum is still there.

  36. Morning Belle. My understanding is that when we used to cut oaks down for Nelson's ships, they grew in densely forested clumps and thus in reaching for the sky for light produced straight timbers.

  37. 401465+ up ticks,

    Maybe better value for money and the anti BRIT current state of the nation had we kept the illegal and deported the five, don't yer think.

    ws
    Five security escorts for one migrant: how Britain’s deportations compare to Trump’s
    Home Office releases footage and photos of previously secret, high-security removals

  38. 'Morning All
    Well this is awkward………
    Tel = Denmark’s ‘zero refugee’ policy drives down asylum admissions to record low
    Centre-Left government granted 860 asylum requests in 2024 with immigration minister calling the figure ‘historic’

    Denmark’s strict immigration policies resulted in the granting of 860 asylum requests last year, the lowest number bar 2020, when Covid-19 lockdowns halted new arrivals.

    Home Office figures showed that the UK …… granted a total of 67,978 asylum claims in the year to June 2024 – more than triple the 21,436 in the previous year.
    ————————————————————————————————————————–
    Denmark is a member of the ECHR but does not seem to be troubled by it, almost as if the real barrier to removing illegals here are our human rights lawyers

  39. Good Morning!

    Today FSB issues a Call For Action to stop Labour cancelling the local elections and the equally unjustified rise in council tax, much of which is wasted on woke causes and inflated wages and pensions. Councils have been spending millions handing out laptops to illegal immigrants and taking them to football matches, while cutting back on front-line services like road repairs. And the sinister attack on democracy should not be tolerated. We therefore propose that a campaign of civil disobedience, including a council tax strike be debated and threatened. It worked to see off the poll tax.

    Some of you might have signed a petition calling for the repeal of the lunatic Net Zero legislation, to which the government responded recently. That response was, of course, mendaciously and arrogantly dismissive, treating the British people with the contempt we have come to expect from the corrupt Establishment. Iain Hunter’s Response to Government Lies , gives the lie to the government’s statement in an open letter to Kneel Starmer.

    This is an important subject, critical for our future. Please copy the letter and send it to everyone you know with a link to the article, including your MP and anyone else you can think of.

    Energy watch 07.50 Total generation: 42.133 GW from: Hydrocarbons 41.9%; Wind 28.8%; Imports 9.6%; Biomass 7.5% and Nuclear 10.2%. Solar: 0. UK demand: 40.34GW, UK generation 36.7GW.

    And, at Frederica's request, fully endorsed by me, can we all PLEASE sign this petition, now on 102,000:

    Raise the income tax personal allowance from £12,570 to £20,000

    Raise the income tax personal allowance from £12570 to £20000. We think this would help low earners to get off benefits and allow pensioners a decent income.

    1. And if she hasn't been locked up, it means that she will get away with it.
      And others will follow.
      As we can see here.

  41. Well that's settled then..

    Kemi Badenoch has branded the prospect of an electoral deal with Nigel Farage “for the birds”.
    The Tory leader, who has been in post for just over 100 days, warned a pact with Reform UK could lead to more voters deserting the party.

    The Tory Party are the new LibDems.. irritating fringe party for people that don't pay attention.

    1. Conservative Party MPs and party members must accept that the Conservative Party has destroyed itself by moving too far to the left and it is now time for it to disband and for the existing Conservatives to join The Reform Party or The Liberal Democrats. There is no point in them staying in a political corpse and the only hope for conservatives is to join a genuinely right of centre party.

      Reform should have no interest in having wets joining their ranks just as no wets would be happy in Reform.

      1. I don't remember one single word from the tories regarding the stopping and the turning back of the channel invaders. 14 years and still it goes on.

  43. Reposted from last night

    Tuesday 11th February, 2025

    PHIZZEE

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7050a93c3d31733ce9e3e3c6998e39ac5d7b1ce91e024818144f74d36bb6df73.png

    We hope you'll be having a Bubbly and Effervescent Epicurean Birthday Feast

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9253ca303e83d68c62aa2b6866bd87e8ba30e33ea245c4fcc45eb9a053e011c3.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f15108925be65a9a2608d8e25edca14c950fe7218c958fddb1d38927a117d0b9.png

    With very best wishes,

    Caroline and Rastus

    3. Happy Birthday, Phizzee! Hope you have a wonderful day and your Tournedos Rossinis turn out like Fannies! 🎂🥂⭐️🍩🍷🍾🎉🎁

    4. Happy Birthday Phizz 😄🤩🤗🥂🍾🍹 I hope you have a lovely day today.
      you share it one of my grand children but she's only five today. Have a good one 👍

      1. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a9d4d4166d0fe65a3bb709a65d320cea8213c067ef918ec05cac1cdbfcb08bdf.png
        The Llama is a wooly sort of fleecy hairy goat,
        With an indolent expression and an undulating throat
        Like an unsuccessful literary man.

        And I know the place he lives in (or at least- I think I do)
        It is Ecuador, Brazil or Chile- possibly Peru;
        You must find it in the Atlas if you can.
        The Llama of the Pampasses you never should confound
        (In spite of a deceptive similarity of sound)
        With the Llama who is Lord of Turkestan.
        For the former is a beautiful and valuable beast,
        But the latter is not lovable nor useful in the least;
        And the Ruminant is preferable surely to the Priest
        Who battens on the woful superstitions of the East,
        The Mongol of the Monastery of Shan.

  50. Morning all 🙂😊
    3 degrees wet and grey. It could be worse but I'm not sure how.
    And this continued nonsense about slavery why don't politician's grow up ?
    Perhaps this is asking too much of them.
    Ruining the country and its long established culture and social structure is enough for them to manage. They all seem to have the same mindset.

  51. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0facffa9d464b1a5d951d4d5a047262dd848d98913723ad17ea415bd4a8f87e9.png Player accused of inappropriately touching rival

    A Barcelona women’s player has been accused of touching an opponent in the crotch area and asking: “Do you have a d—?”
    The allegation against Mapi Leon emerged in the wake of Sunday’s match against Espanyol. Clips on social media showed her clashing with Daniela Caracas.

    The alleged incident was condemned by Espanyol, who said they had offered Caracas the services of their legal team if she wished to take action against Leon.

    In a statement, Espanyol said: “Espanyol wish to express total condemnation at events which took place during the game which we consider unacceptable and should not pass unnoticed.

    “During the match, Barca player Leon, in a struggle with our player, Caracas, made a gesture which violated the privacy of said player.
    “At the time, Caracas did not react because of the impact caused by the situation. Later, after assimilating what happened, she became aware of the seriousness of the gesture, but chose not to react angrily to avoid a disciplinary sanction and harming the team.”

    Espanyol said the incident led to Caracas being insulted on social media and they were “concerned that, instead of focusing on the act itself, the media attention has been diverted to other issues unrelated to the seriousness of the action”.

    Personally I find it refreshing to know that women are fighting back in their determination to keep their sport free of trannies and other assorted weirdos.

    1. Daniela Cnacas said the fracas was a load of knackers and accused Leon of playing the man and not the ball.

  52. It's all kicking off in Ai.

    ..as Musk wants control of OpenAI to upend CEO Sam Altman's plans to convert it into a for-profit company.

    And btw, only took about 48 hours for the whole China CCP DeepSeek truth to come out.

    ..DeepSeek was built off of Meta's open software, and trained using Open AI & actually cost about $1.6B to make. Also required a ton of Nvidia servers.. about 50,000 GPUs (not 2,000), using the dumbed down H200 models and a few illegally imported advanced H100 servers. Lacked any "guard rails" except for anything that painted the Emperor Xi in a bad light.

  53. I recently received another prompt from the NHS offering the RSV jab. Binned. The PTB are determined to keep pushing inoculation of various concoctions.

    Now, we have seen this stunt from Starmer, the HIV test. No pressure, just toddle off and have a test. Then what?

    Jacqui Deevoy has an idea…

    https://x.com/JacquiDeevoy1/status/1888964369842946142
    Monkeypox and Avian flu appear not to have created a mad rush for the needle, is this the new method to persuade the doubters to bare their arms again?

  56. Bluddy freezing today. On form with Wordle:
    Wordle 1,333 3/6
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  57. ‘I’m biologically female’, insists trans NHS doctor
    Dr Beth Upton tells employment tribunal that trans women have right to get changed in front of female colleagues
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02/10/im-biologically-female-insists-trans-nhs-doctor-born-male/

    BTL

    Back to basics. If you have a penis you change your clothes, urinate, defecate and shower in men's facilities; if you have a vagina you can use women's facilities. It should not be more complicated than that.

    3. And if it's been chopped off…. I don't think that anyone argues that eunuchs were women!

      1. There are rather less fewer complaints from men about trans men (i.e. women) using men's changing rooms due to owing to men being more tolerant of women's naughty bits!

  58. Reminiscing the old days when politicians were pillars of wisdom and foresight – Here is one example. What a mess we are in now!
    https://scontent-cdg4-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/468639866_10162586755354954_4034004657595108652_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=ZGUSrC2p2H8Q7kNvgEOoMnI&_nc_oc=AdgCgWB4wfs9_-HzX77KonHJ3Vlj60QQSvjIA7qGXxi60Bl0Ov8kgbeHk7akM7FQvQmSymkimgGJkwQ5hdQoBRQY&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-cdg4-2.xx&_nc_gid=AQSCXTmeXDOEXDvikCh_bQJ&oh=00_AYBHi9QeEM_8lOs6rL3L5r3Y-QA48-sqDZ9bcsXkYkMueA&oe=67B0F9D3

      2. Freedom from what? Freedom from rape gangs? Freedom from invasion? Freedom from Islam?

  61. 401365+ up ticks,

    Dt,

    Job centers to pop up outside mosques as part of back to work drive
    Pilot scheme to be set up in areas of particularly high unemployment as Government tries to cut down Britain’s ballooning benefits bill.

    Vacancies on offer,

    Dog walkers, pig farm employees, bacon buttie staff for VERY busy cafe chain, and many more vacancies to fill.

    Government additive,
    Settle down now, put those scimitars away, us politico's are having a little joke, you and those on a crest of a wave will continue to be well protected into the future.

    1. 401465+ up ticks,

      O2O,

      To have these vacancies filled would show, without doubt, that integration was working.

  62. What do you think of this offer, you gourmands? Only £25 per kilo.
    https://scontent-cdg4-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/476427076_649226724303160_3265732861279289176_n.jpg?stp=cp6_dst-jpg_p526x296_tt6&_nc_cat=102&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=833d8c&_nc_ohc=KD3gPX5sYEAQ7kNvgEbl09_&_nc_oc=AdjmG6UIyXyVhH5N1GXwiIOpSEuFoPfJXxORfrDDBhZRsw_ly2k4Oh14QqBwHPzRoobsinkYs1AKZv3NDJ10hJ7H&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-cdg4-1.xx&_nc_gid=AGxR5jhrmYHxeiPeKXQ7rA3&oh=00_AYAEFkmwTtFH0_vZTsTpnofGAMW5lxGVHrafBQR0meMqhg&oe=67B0EBFE

    1. I would fill my freezer. I know they are short date but that wouldn't be a problem.

      Is that offer current?

  64. Well, it's a few degrees above freezing, but due to the dampness in the air, it seems colder. Yet again the damp air seems to such the warmth out of everything.
    Just split the lat 1½ dozen sawn logs and temporarily stacked them until I've finished burning the Pantry stack, which we're about half way through.
    Mug of tea is currently brewing, then it's tidy up the unsawn wood that was just dumped any old how because we needed it cleared from over the road.

    In the meantime, poor Angela is getting some stick over her footwear:-
    https://x.com/BeardedBob7282/status/1889260079569907898

    1. Your PM, looking at him walk.. either he's just gotten oft his horse after a thousand mile trek across the desert prairie.. he's got a bad case of beri-beri.. or he's been doing stuff that dare not speaketh its name.

      1. They will leave it 'open' as they know that with so many BTLs, no-one will bother to read them all

        Gives the perception of 'openess' but it fact consigns the article to the swamp

      2. They will leave it 'open' as they know that with so many BTLs, no-one will bother to read them all

        Gives the perception of 'openess' but it fact consigns the article to the swamp

  68. If the BBC were to lose this cushy revenue stream, it might be forced to be creative and broadcast more interesting programmes again.

    May I fiddle:

    If the BBC were to lose this cushy revenue stream, it might be forced to be creative and broadcast:

    more truthful,

    non biased to the views of *Knew Werld Ordda

    non perpetual biased to BLM

    Not 110% pro Net Zero

    etc

    *Odd spelling, because the use certain abbreviations/ideologies invite post removal

  70. 401465+ + up ticks,

    This I see as a very serious question that needs a very serious
    answer, pronto.

    https://x.com/Red_Right_Blue_/status/1888984190718222493

    I do believe we are neglecting to pray in the established houses of prayer BIG TIME and that has consequences,BIG TIME.

    A full-time student in higher or further education studying for more than 21 hours a week and more than 24 weeks a year.

    1. 401465+ up ticks,

      O2O,
      Is there any age cap on becoming a further education student working from home ?

      1. 🎼🎵Happy Birthday to you🎵, Phizzee! Where are you celebrating, and who with? (Sorry, with whom….) Enjoy your day🎉🥂🍾🎂🍰🍨🍷🎉😊

    1. I trust he has serious limitations placed on his activities & movements & restrictions from places where children tend to congregate.

      1. 401465+ up ticks,

        Afternoon KB,
        As all political overseers should have to protect decent peoples from contact.

    2. Damn! I thought they had told him to go away, putting it politely. Still he should have a good time. No doubt Washington is full of rent boys.

    4. "Someone must have spiked my cocoa last night and I woke up this morning with Twat tattooed on my palm."

  74. Yet another exhortation from the NHS (by email this time) to book an RSV vaccine! I'm sick of this bullying!
    And why is it not pushed at the over 80s??

    Dear MRS. NDOVU

    You should book a free NHS RSV vaccine if you have not done so already. This is because you are aged 75 to 79 years (or recently turned 80).

    RSV is a virus that affects the airways and lungs, which can make it difficult to breathe. People in your age group have a higher risk of getting seriously ill from RSV infection.
    How to get your RSV vaccine

    Contact your GP surgery to make an appointment.

    If they cannot book you in now, please ask when they will have more RSV appointments.
    Why the NHS is offering the RSV vaccine

    RSV infections occur all year round and can be hard to avoid.

    Every year, thousands of older adults need hospital care for RSV, and some of them will die. RSV infection can cause shortness of breath and lead to pneumonia and other life-threatening conditions.

    Having the RSV vaccine will reduce your risk of severe symptoms. You only need 1 dose for good, long-term protection.
    More information

    Vaccines for RSV, COVID-19 and flu protect you against different respiratory infections. It’s important you have each vaccine when you are offered them.

    You can read more at http://www.nhs.uk/rsv-vaccine . For a guide to the RSV vaccine for older adults, go to http://www.gov.uk/rsv-vaccine .

    For information in easy read and other languages and formats, go to http://www.england.nhs.uk/rsv-invites .

    Yours sincerely,

    NHS England Vaccination Team

    Data Protection: NHS England is responsible for processing your personal data. This is for the purpose of national vaccination programmes. To find out more, you can access our privacy notice at: http://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/privacy-notice .

  75. The Chancellor of the Exchequer 's grateful praise to her mentor and knowledgeable exemplar.
    https://scontent-cdg4-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/473681072_980495380793307_8742000723054072437_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=aa7b47&_nc_ohc=mUSI4llfkXwQ7kNvgGHV-8h&_nc_oc=AdgpIMUSVHT1IQZanzsWOmXeWabrr-KzjUOYuKPgR4NjzeSD2gvRH5Qlmsu4WJUWbMRiJnHrafeRjONnhIbC46gW&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-cdg4-2.xx&_nc_gid=AvQVvEwX4znAr-NWAnE6hPb&oh=00_AYBvwyHiXYgB1CG6QCEAaoF12G-nFU43gvAl0g0QYmV9mA&oe=67B11F85

  76. JD Vance laying down the rules on Ai in blistering speech at the Paris summit.

    AI must remain free from ideological bias, and that American AI will not be co opted into a tool for authoritarian censorship.
    Fair play, it'll be their chips, and their swash-buckling approach that drives the industry.
    Whatever happens in the next decade you can bet yr bottom dollar..
    US & UK will innovate..
    EU will over-regulate..
    and China will replicate..

    No sign of Chris Bryant or chunky boots.. or Islamic State.

    3. The Chinese version of AI that people are downloading is already full of political bias. Taiwan is Chinese and so is Tibet. Tiananmen Square massacre never happened and the Uyghurs are doing just fine, no political prisoners there. All is glorious in the Middle Kingdom and all are fervently happy being spied upon 24/7. All assertions to the contrary are Western propaganda. So as a source of reliability the Chinese AI is already dead in the water.

    4. The Chinese version of AI that people are downloading is already full of political bias. Taiwan is Chinese and so is Tibet. Tiananmen Square massacre never happened and the Uyghurs are doing just fine, no political prisoners there. All is glorious in the Middle Kingdom and all are fervently happy being spied upon 24/7. All assertions to the contrary are Western propaganda. So as a source of reliability the Chinese AI is already dead in the water.

  79. Warren Gatland quits as Wales coach mid-Six Nations
    Interim coach to step in for New Zealander after 14 straight defeats with Simon Easterby and Franco Smith tipped as long-term replacements
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/2025/02/11/warren-gatland-quits-wales-coach-mid-six-nations/

    BTL from Big Ronnie:

    Gareth Edwards was interviewed after the game on Saturday, and they asked if his team from the 70’s would have beaten this Wales team. He said “yes but only just”.

    The interviewer asked “only just?”

    Gareth replied "well because 6 of us are dead and the rest of us are in our 70's" 😉

  80. Feral pigs on the loose in Highlands
    About 20 ‘relatively domesticated’ animals being rounded up in Cairngorms National Park, weeks after four lynx captured in area
     https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02/11/feral-pigs-become-latest-illegal-release-scottish-highlands/

    BTL

    The article does not seem to make it clear whether these are wild boar or farm-bred pigs which have been released into the wild.

    We live in Brittany where there is a great problem of too many wild boar (or sanglier) and there are regular hunts to cull them.

    A few years ago there was a scandal when a local hunter shot and killed a domesticated pig by mistake.

    1. Feral pigs? Had they escaped from the SNP? Anyone seen Oor Wee Nicki lately? Was there a campervan nearby?

  81. It's getting sillier every day:
    Mother avoids deportation to the Caribbean by claiming it is TOO hot and her husband doesn't like the food
    https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/02/11/10/95085639-0-image-a-21_1739269553090.jpg A mother who arrived in the UK on a six-month visa but never left has reportedly delayed her deportation after claiming her Caribbean home would be too hot for her new Latvian husband, who would struggle to cope with its tropical cuisine. Grenadian national Lynthia Calliste jetted into Britain with her son in March 2018 but stayed illegally in the UK after her visitor visa expired. While in Britain, 35-year-old Calliste married Latvian forklift driver Konstantins Vinakovs

  82. I think Canada becoming the 51st state is an excellent idea, the USA cannot risk having a hostile state run by the globalist forces of the WEF on it's northern flank, stealing all the resources for themselves.
    It's a natural progression from colonialism, some old imperialist just drew a line on a map back in the day.

    1. If everyone joins the US, then we get a one-world global government. Might (?) be OK with Trump as POTWW (President Of The Whole World), but what about in an election or two time, if Biden #2 is elected? That would leave nowhere to run & hide.

    3. From a country that couldn't abide being part of the EU! The answer has been to tell Trump to shove it. !

      Now if Trump had kept his trap shut, we would have seen Trudeau being despised and a conservative government taking over. But no, he has to go off on a rant that is helping Trudeau hold onto power. Interference not appreciated.

    1. Sorry. I am 2 seconds into this, and it’s bullshit (I have been going annually since 2015)

  88. I keep getting an automatic AI answer to searches made.
    As an experiment I asked:
    "what if climate change is not being driven by use of fossil fuels"
    And was pleasantly surprised by the answer:
    AI Overview

    If climate change is not primarily driven by fossil fuel usage, then the current global focus on reducing carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels would be largely misplaced, requiring a significant shift in scientific understanding and mitigation strategies towards identifying and addressing the true primary causes of climate change, which could include natural cycles, solar activity, or other factors not currently well understood.
    Key points to consider if fossil fuels are not the main cause of climate change:
    Scientific consensus challenged:
    The vast majority of climate scientists currently agree that human activities, particularly burning fossil fuels, are the primary driver of climate change, so a significant body of evidence would need to be overturned to support a different conclusion.
    Need for new research:
    If fossil fuels are not the main culprit, research would need to focus on identifying the dominant factors causing climate change and developing strategies to address them.
    Policy implications:
    Global climate policies aimed at reducing carbon emissions would likely need to be significantly revised or even abandoned if the primary cause of climate change is not linked to fossil fuel usage.
    Potential for inaction:
    Some individuals or groups may use the idea that fossil fuels are not the cause of climate change to justify inaction on addressing climate change altogether, which could have severe consequences.
    Possible alternative explanations if fossil fuels are not the main cause:
    Natural climate cycles:
    Earth's climate naturally fluctuates over long periods, and some might argue that current warming is part of a natural cycle, not human-induced.
    Solar activity:
    Variations in solar radiation could potentially influence global temperatures.
    Volcanic eruptions:
    Large volcanic eruptions can release significant amounts of aerosols into the atmosphere, temporarily affecting global temperatures.
    Generative AI is experimental.

    I was expecting it to produce an answer along the lines of "Don't be silly, it can only be down to fossil fuels methane and CO²" and although it still skews that way, at least alternatives were offered, even if with relatively little support

    1. It at least allows for the possibility though. Or perhaps your search has now started bells ringing in AI HQ.

      Edit for smelling.

  89. Pencil in a fiery week starting Saturday the 15th..

    Hamas lashes out at Donald Trump's threat to 'let all hell break out' if the terror group does not return all the remaining Israeli hostages on Saturday.
    Last night the group said it was indefinitely scrapping a scheduled hostage release.

    Second YouGov MRP model of the 2025 German election shows AfD solidifying their gains..

          1. What a disgusting ceremony that Hamas conducted when handing over their captives – well-fed guards, dressed up in imitation of disciplined special forces and toting AK47s as though they were in the middle of a fire-fight, and emaciated and traumatised hostages.

          5. She is monumentally stupid, isn’t she? Married 5 times and born in Stanley, I’m ashamed to say! Converted to islam and was held hostage by the Taliban for 10 days. You’d think she’d have a bit more sense eh?

      2. The last three were civilians, I doubt that military hostages will have fared as well.
        As for the two small children and their mother, is there hope that they are being held alive?

  90. Glowball boiling you say:

    French ski station opens for first time in seven years – thanks to snow
    It is the first time the resort has had enough snowfall since 2018

    Edit for link error

  91. A warning for shoppers on US television last night.

    Check that the box of eggs is full before you buy it, shoplifters have been taking eggs from the cartons and smuggling the eggs out of the store in their pockets.
    What a sick world.

    4. Suspects should be quickly frisked with a few slaps at likely pockets and a farewell, *Enjoy your omelette!"

    5. To be fair, Richard, anyone stealing food on what has to be a very small scale, must be pretty hungry.

  92. It is such a miserable day that I am signing off early to lie on the settee, enjoying Noel Coward.

    Have a spiffing evening.

    A demain (more of the same weather promised….grrr)

  94. Wordle No. 1,333 3/6

    ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟩
    🟨🟨⬜🟨⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    Wordle 11 Feb 2025

    A resentful Birdie Three?

    1. Good one! Just a par here, could have been worse I suppose….

      Wordle 1,333 4/6

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

      2. It was!
        Wordle 1,333 X/6

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

        1. Cor Blimey, BB2, I didnt think there were that many options! To think you might have had an eagle!!

        1. This must be one of the few times that my score has been lower than your normal birdie or better.

      4. I thought you were having a laugh at first but, do you know what, it's the sort of word that just might be a starter word.

        If so, Outstanding!!!! I nearly had one a few weeks ago but it was a starter word that I'd stopped using a few weeks previously…. Doh!

    3. Birdie here as well. Well done. Don't know how I screwed up (on my normal method) but turnerd out ok.
      Wordle 1,333 3/6

      ⬜🟨⬜🟨🟩
      ⬜🟨🟨🟨🟨
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

          1. Yes, that's supposed to make it harder – but I think it works both ways, it gives you a better shot at a low score.

    4. Par for me. Settled.

      Wordle 1,333 4/6

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

  97. Old KIng Creole was a merry old sod….

    "In two speeches given less than 24 hours apart in the French city of Toulouse, Jean-Luc Mélenchon delivered some of the most shocking yet brutally honest words from a European politician, openly calling for the older French to be replaced by a “Creole” generation of mixed races and cultures.
    The leader of France’s far-left LFI is calling outright for replacement of White French people, conjuring up the Great Replacement term that has been demonized as a conspiracy theory by the left for years.

    “In our country, one person in four has a foreign grandparent. 40% of the population speaks at least two languages. We are destined to be a Creole nation and so much the better! May the young generation be the great replacement for the old generation,” said Mélenchon.

    According to the dictionary, Creole is defined as a “a person of mixed European and black descent, especially in the Caribbean.”

    He also goes on to make a number of further statements, saying the new immigrants need “to heal France from the wounds of racism.” According to Euronews, France is among the five European countries with the least discrimination. Furthermore, he makes inflammatory statements, calling for “torch-bearers” to bring about change, which has revolutionary undertones, although he stops short of any calls for direct violence."

    1. A BTL Comment

      "The guy is a C’u’nt, an enemy of his people and a solid reason for the French citizenry to re-familiarise themselves with the fundamental workings of the Guillotine."

      1. "2.7 million"? That must be an old video, because now there are unlikely to be fewer than 4 million in the UK.

    5. But .I don't like creole cuisine, there's too much seafood. Maybe I will give France a miss again this year.

    6. Old King Creole was a bugger for his 'ole
      And a bugger for his 'ole was he
      He called for his wife in the middle of the night
      And he called for his fiddlers three
      Now every fiddler had a very fine fiddle and a very fine fiddle had he

      How's yer father? Alright!
      How's yer mother? She's tight!
      How's yer sister? She might!
      When was the last time? Last night!
      When's the next time? Tonight!
      How d'ya like it? Up tight!

      Rule Britannia, marmalade and jam
      Five Chinese crackers up yer arsehole
      BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG

    7. Do these people understand that they’re calling for intelligent civilised people to be replaced by low IQ primitives? Do they believe the egalitarian fantasy or is there an ulterior motive?

    9. What the fuck is wrong with these Lefties? Do they want their daughters and grand daughters to be raped?

      I know many blacks have integrated in France and i would call them French but not the newcomer savages.

    1. It's very pretty at the end, but the same result could have been achieved without using so much paint.

      1. A bit off topic…

        I had tickets to see Sarah Millican but the show was cancelled. The Theater was prepared to refund or rebook for another show.

        One with Bruce was coming up and i thought given his age it would be worth going. To at least see him live before er the inevitable.

        He sat at the piano and played about four notes. He tap danced as many steps. His stories were entertaining though. A bit disappointing.

        His ashes are under the stage of the London Palladium.

      1. Did you see her recent attack on Christianity? In a church. It would of been interesting if she had taken aim at another of the world's religions.

    1. Whoever got the job was doomed. They can't argue against anything. It doesn't matter what they personally said, the Tories ruined this country with stupid policies that Labour are just making worse.

    1. They will probably just spend £500 on train tickets back to the UK.

      Couldn't they just book a one way Ryanair flight for them?

      1. Any woman who sees a "set of three" in her changing room should be allowed to kick the individual between the pockets and claim they thought they were going to be raped.

        I'm sure most juries would acquit.

    3. Here's a bait and switch. The good doctor is seemingly fine with "Transgender", but then switches it for sex type. A generous explanation of "Gender" is norms and behaviours a society thinks a sex type can be reasonably expected to engage with and perform. This is obviously subjective and situational. Regardless it doesn't change the fact human beings cannot change sex type. No amount of tap dancing will alter that. Ultimately we have another man attempting to force their way into women's space. Ladies of Nottlertown say no if this ever comes to it. Join the Free Speech Union.

    4. Here's a bait and switch. The good doctor is seemingly fine with "Transgender", but then switches it for sex type. A generous explanation of "Gender" is norms and behaviours a society thinks a sex type can be reasonably expected to engage with and perform. This is obviously subjective and situational. Regardless it doesn't change the fact human beings cannot change sex type. No amount of tap dancing will alter that. Ultimately we have another man attempting to force their way into women's space. Ladies of Nottlertown say no if this ever comes to it. Join the Free Speech Union.

    5. 'He', not 'they'. There is only one person, so the plural is incorrect. If he can't make his mind up, then use the neuter pronoun 'it'.

    6. I haven't really been following this much.

      Does Doctor Beth still have a penis? If she does…she is a he.

  105. Not another good day for Labour, is it.
    More councilors suspended over whatsappgate.
    In fact Starmer just goes from one callamaty to another

  110. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/02/11/high-street-shed-300000-jobs-ms-tesco-rachel-reeves/

    This was obvious. Taxation and employment are exactly inversely proportional to one another. Everyone knows this except, apparently, the Treasury and any Lefty. Of course, the Treasury don't have to care because for them, they just take more – there's always more to take, they say. There are no consequences for them.

    Until there are consequences nothing will change. To reach that point requires massive change in law, policy, the removal of quangos, courts, judges – Blair entrenched the hard Left in the state to force decline. The Tories just continued it.

  111. From Coffee House, the Spectator

    Is the vegan revolution over? An “anti-vegan backlash” has “made Britain fall back in love with meat,” according to the Daily Telegraph. Studies have found that 18-24 year olds in the UK increased their meat intake in 2024, sales of fake meats are falling and vegan restaurants are closing their doors.

    It’s not just about putting oat milk into your coffee and saying no to bacon

    Well, if veganism is falling out of fashion then vegans must take a fair amount of the blame. As a vegan myself, I’ve noticed that this ethically rooted movement has begun to focus too much on money and not enough on morality.

    I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen vegans try to convince people to go plant-based by telling them about all the fake meats, plant milks and dairy-free cheeses they can buy these days, rather than helping them to make the philosophical shift that’s necessary to take up this cruelty-free lifestyle.

    The Vegan Society’s definition of veganism is “a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude – as far as is possible and practicable – all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose”.

    So it’s not just putting oat milk into your morning coffee and saying no to bacon. It’s also avoiding leather, wool, cruel sports and anything else that’s tied up with animal cruelty. You won’t get someone to adopt that philosophy and way of living by appealing to their tummy. You can only do it by speaking to their heart.

    In other words, if you encourage people to try meat-free burgers and plant-based cheeses you might get a few to try vegan, but you won’t get them to stay vegan unless you also help them think honestly about animal cruelty.

    Relying on food seems a risky tactic anyway. Vegan meats and cheeses are becoming tastier all the time. Some of them are now basically indistinguishable from the ‘real thing’.

    Or at least I think they are. Vegans are the least equipped to make that call because it’s so long since most of us ate meat or cheese. I haven’t eaten meat for ten years, and I’ve not had dairy since 2016, so who am I to say how much these vegan products taste like the ones they’re impersonating?

    I think we came off the path when we stopped talking about animals and started talking about people. The animal rights philosophy has always been rooted in ethics and morality. Yes, some people found it all a bit self-righteous and pious, but few doubted that it has a kindness at its heart.

    Over the past 15 years, however, people have stopped talking about animal rights and they’ve started talking about veganism instead. The conversation has shifted from the animals to people who don’t eat them.

    The movement around those people has become less concerned with ethics and more obsessed with consumerism. While animal sanctuaries, charities and pressure groups struggle for support, vegans queue up to buy the latest plant-based gimmick at chains whose bosses’ hands are red with the blood of cows, sheep, pigs and chickens.

    We’ve celebrated the fact that supermarkets offer more vegan options, but we don’t think so much about the fact that more animals are being slaughtered every year. The vegan revolution has been great for vegans, but it hasn’t been so good for the animals so far.

    I’m not sure that veganism is as doomed as the headline writers would have us believe. I think the fall in sales of fake meats is because the cost-of-living crisis has encouraged vegans to cook delicious, plant-based meals from scratch, rather than buying expensive processed foods. It’s sad that vegan restaurants are shutting their doors, but that probably reflects that plant-based options are now mainstream.

    Still, it does feel like veganism is having a bit of a wobble. If so, this is a good time for vegans to remind ourselves that we won’t get people to open their hearts and radically alter their lifestyles by bragging to them about how many vegan sausages there are, or by insisting that vegan cheddars taste just like the real thing. Doing so is like trying to convince someone to believe in God by telling them the pews at the local church are rather comfortable these days. A few might turn up on Sunday to try out these new pews, but it takes more than that to make them see the light.

    WRITTEN BY
    Chas Newkey-Burden
    Chas Newkey-Burden is co-author, with Julie Burchill, of Not In My Name: A Compendium of Modern Hypocrisy

    1. I fully support Vegans. If they wan't to eat veggies and not meat good luck to them. O Level economics taught me that if Demand for a product reduces and supply stays at the same level price will fall. I would certainly enjoy a fall in the price of meats!

      1. As far as I'm concerned the Vegans can carry on preaching to each other until…er..the cows come home….!

        1. Speaking of cows. My Tournedos Rossini went down a treat. Unlike the Titanic. (Tournedos Rossini were on the first class dining menu when the ship went down).

          Tempt fate… Me !

    4. Vegans can do what they like, I’m eating meat. And we have more than enough preaching from HMG one way and another.

    1. I can see you know at the Oasis refuelling station… standing at the back of the male camel, and you with a brick in either hand just waiting for the most propitious moment to clap!

    1. You are very kind. Thank you. What a day i have had ! Hardly any booze at all it's been such fun.

  116. Tim Stanley writing in the DT:

    "The assisted dying Bill is alive and well in committee stage, though you must be careful what you call it.

    If Danny Kruger says “assisted suicide”, Kim Leadbeater leaps up to correct him – and when Sarah Olney addressed the “ability” of some people to choose to die, Marie Tidball accused her of “an ableist approach”.

    It is SO important to be sensitive around language when killing people. The last thing one wants when gassing grandma is to cause her offence.

    The committee is fascinating to watch because it takes MPs who normally hate each other on party lines, realigns them on an ethical question, then invites them to hate each other for that instead.

    Instinctively, they wear black; the tone is respectful but tense, like the reading of a will (“I know you were her first child, Dora, but I did wipe her bottom for five years, so I get first dibs on the china”).

    Kruger is of South African descent – Kruger Park, geddit? – and one can imagine those cold blue eyes scanning the veldt for lions. He demands clarity; if we must have this Bill, let it be safer, and given it can’t be 100 per cent safe, let’s not have it. He supports improving amendments he presumably hopes will fail, otherwise it’s more likely to get Commons support.

    By contrast, Leadbeater wants to use committee stage to make the Bill more liberal, hence she’s seeking to replace a High Court approval process for suicide (or “death”, or “Mau Mau”, or whatever we’re calling it) with panels (and you can imagine the lovely people who would volunteer to sit on those).

    She is a study in empathy. Happy to push you in an acid bath, if that’s what you want. When Daniel Francis, a Labour MP with a disabled daughter, raised the concern that some patients cannot give consent, Kim smiled, nodded, oozed understanding, and reassured him that “his concerns are real” and “I will be very happy to work with him”.

    So that’s that then. Let’s pass the Bill, change the law – because Kim is always available for a coffee and a chat afterwards. These are “really interesting conversations,” she observed, as if it had the moral significance of whether or not to purchase a Tesla.

    I call her Our Kim: the human form of Our NHS.

    As for the Government, it professes neutrality yet is represented on the committee by two MPs who voted “for”. My job, said Stephen Kinnock – aka Bambi – is to help make the Bill “workable” if passed, which sounds less like “neutral” than it does navigating a drunk in fifth gear towards a brick wall. Bambi stumbled over his words and Kruger observed him coldly, as if game for the hunt.

    Talking of hospice care, I popped along to the Lords to watch Sue Gray introduced as Baroness Gray of Tottenham.

    The éminence grise is now literally the Eminent Gray. It’s a curious feature of the Left that they loathe class distinction yet can’t wait to become a peer, to park their bottoms on those soft red benches. I guess the goal is to pass away in comfort, and it looked as if several peers already had.

    1. Have you noticed that the same people who want to gas grandma are the ones who think foreign mass murderers must have a right to family life. They favour murdering the innocent but not the guilty.

    2. Maybe millipede should get together with Steven Guilbeault, the Canadian ecoterrorist Environment Minister. They could then bug off into the distance together and do their very own net zero dance.

    3. How did Milioaf get to India? Did he walk? He surely didn't use polluting aircraft and have a huge carbon footprint, did he?

      1. (Man) City were 2-1 up on Real Madrid with 4 minutes remaining – Madrid got two to win it 3-2! Hope nobody’s waiting to watch it later……

          2. Has it something to do with kicking a bag of air around, spitting and falling down a lot?

            We used to have secure institutions for people who did that.

          3. Phil, it's about a spectator sport marketed as 'soccer', which is really a variation of 'Care in the Community', and commercially it is financially successful through advertising.

          4. Phil, it's about a spectator sport marketed as 'soccer', which is really a variation of 'Care in the Community', and commercially it is financially successful through advertising.

    1. The roads in the Carolinas are busy with trucks carrying wood to the mills, they probably create more pollution from the diesel they burn than is emitted by your green power station.

      Then they burn the left over brush as well.

      1. The wood burned in Drax is transported to the UK using the most polluting bunker fuel on the planet. How Green is that…

        1. Be careful what you wish for, as other cargo vessel propulsion schemes would be more expensive, eg bio-diesel fuel, or lithium battery powered, etc.

      2. The wood burned in Drax is transported to the UK using the most polluting bunker fuel on the planet. How Green is that…

      3. At a guess, the fuel pellets are formed from timber waste, after the main trunks have been used for products such as OSB (oriented strand board).
        A quick search reveals that acetaldehyde, a carcinogen, is emitted by these wood burning power plants, admittedly in small doses:
        "In 2022, Drax settled claims with the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality … for exceeding emissions limits for acetaldehyde, formaldehyde, methanol, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs)"

  121. Allison does it again!

    Breaking news: Lord Hermer, the Attorney General and the Prime Minister’s best friend from his barrister days, announced today that, as part of a package of measures to restore the country’s international reputation, the UK would be handing over the Falkland Islands to Argentina by June at the latest.

    As part of a “very reasonable deal”, similar to the Chagos Islands giveaway which he helped to negotiate, the Government’s chief legal adviser said Britain would offer Argentina £20 billion upfront as an acknowledgement of past error while promising to buy all its corned beef in perpetuity.

    Lord Hermer went further, committing Sir Keir Starmer’s administration to a package of slavery reparations to 14 countries costing a “very reasonable” £18.8 trillion. Lord Hermer said there was “a strong moral case” for the reparations and moves were already underway to sell the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and Wiltshire to the Qataris in order to release funds to pay them.

    The Attorney General, who has previously advised Caribbean countries on reparations, denied there was any conflict of interest because, “let’s face it, Britain was a nasty colonial oppressor which has had this coming for centuries”. He insisted he would always defend British interests unless the International Court of Justice ruled against British claims to sovereign territory, which he was not unpleased to note was “pretty much all the time”.

    Despite the furore over his former client Gerry Adams being in line to receive millions in compensation for the inconvenience which Mr Adams suffered during the IRA Troubles, Lord Hermer is believed to be preparing a legal case challenging the so-called “decisive English victory” at the Battle of Agincourt in October 1415. The French, the Attorney General said, had reasonable cause to believe King Henry V and his army were not in fact “outnumbered”, as has repeatedly been claimed, but had cheated after the French soldiers paused for a five-course lunch.

    Other battles subject to future judicial review, which cast this country in an unwarranted good light, include Trafalgar, Waterloo and Hastings. Lord Hermer has suggested that there is a “strong moral case” under international law for France to be given Kent. The UK can lease the county back for a “very reasonable” £11 billion over 10 years if it permits unlimited migrants to cross the Channel. In the past, Lord Hermer has described attempts to control British borders as “dehumanising”.
    Smug elite

    Truth or parody? If you find yourself struggling to tell the difference, well, you’re not alone. What is clear, I think, is that we have the most activist Attorney General in our history – he leans so far to the Left he may as well be a floorboard in TUC (Trades Union Congress) headquarters. His claim to provide “impartial legal advice” should be treated accordingly. Lord Hermer is a champagne socialist, a member of the luxury-beliefs class – that smug, bien-pensant elite untouched by the downsides of immigration like losing jobs to low-paid foreigners, scarcity of GP appointments and housing, watering down of national culture and sense of pride in being British.

    Indeed, that same elite considers patriotism to be a vulgar spasm of little people so bigoted and insular they probably haven’t even got a villa in Umbria. Looking at his CV (which features Isis bride Shamima Begum as a client), it seems Richard Hermer has happily represented many adversaries of this country.

    Lord Hermer and human-rights chums like Sir Keir Starmer and Philippe Sands KC have played a leading role in steering our nation towards a globalist utopia since 1997. But only now, with Labour back in power and emboldened by a huge majority, has the curtain been pulled back to reveal what those sly silks are up to. Selling England by the pound, and keep the change. The Chagos Islands surrender is so blatantly hostile to the national interest that even those of us who think atoll is something you pay to use a bridge have woken up and smelt the treachery.

    Things have got so blatant that, this week, the Attorney General even found himself under attack from his own side. “The absolute archetype of an arrogant, progressive fool,” is the withering verdict of Lord (Maurice) Glasman who says Hermer “has to go” because he believes “that law is a replacement for politics. They talk about the rule of law but what they want is a rule of lawyers.”

    Perfectly put. Hermer and Co owe their first allegiance to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, viewing the British people as a secondary, parochial irritation unless they can be made to cough up stonking amounts in aid and reparations for the greater good. Lord Glasman, the only Labour figure invited to the Trump inauguration, founded the Blue Labour group which campaigns for the kind of decent, common-sense values the Left used to stand for before it sold its doughty, working-class soul to woke metropolitans. We should welcome his attempt to point out the dangers of this increasingly influential fifth column.
    ‘Complete humiliation’

    Yesterday, I watched a video of Philippe Sands, who led the Chagossians’ repatriation case against the UK government, giving an interview after a student event at Jesus College, Cambridge, under the title: Britain and the World: From Chagos to Ukraine and Beyond.

    When the interviewer suggested that Sands had “taken on a lot of cases against the UK, your home country,” he replied: “It’s a really fantastic thing about Britain that, I think, it’s probably the only country in the world where, when you’ve been to an international court against your own country, won and humiliated them completely, they still celebrate you.”

    With no small satisfaction, Sands announced this was “special” because “how many other countries have the openness of mind and spirit to recognise that a member of their legal community… can be retained by another country to sue the United Kingdom in an international court and that is not held against you?” Most people in the UK, he averred cockily, were passionate supporters of that idea and did not agree “with all that ‘enemy of the people’ and ‘Lefty lawyer’ stuff”.

    Really? Do we actually think the British people celebrate the complete humiliation in international courts of our nation at the hands of Leftist British barristers grown vastly rich on the proceeds of selling us out? Or might we, in fact, be sick to death of moral lectures from Sir Keir and his human-rights cronies who find virtue in every country’s point of view save their own?

    Yes, yes, Allison, I hear you cry, but why not just ignore that ghastly, deluded crew whose world-class magnanimity doesn’t extend to normal people who can’t vote the Attorney General out since he only got the job because he’s Keir’s mate? Let me tell you why. Because it is not a coincidence that a Times survey this week found massive anti-British feeling on the rise among Gen Z (late teens and twentysomethings). Just look at the difference between 2024 and 2004:

    Of course, some of that ferociously unpatriotic feeling may well be down to teaching in schools which avoids any uplifting lessons about our amazing island story, preferring to cast the Brits as rapacious oppressors and colonisers. Growth in the foreign-born population – now nearly 17 per cent of all residents – also weakens allegiance to the nation if there is no meaningful commitment to integration. However, much of the blame for this debilitating hatred of country in the face of all the evidence – the UK regularly comes in the top two least-racist countries in the world – must lie with Lord Hermer and the other “arrogant, progressive” fools.

    As Sands admitted during that Cambridge interview, in no other country would it be considered a good thing to argue against your national interest. “[The Mauritius prime minister] wanted to find a British person that would act against the United Kingdom [over Chagos]. In fact, there are many people that would act against the UK. The entire community of the English Bar would be happy to do that,” said Sands to general mirth and approval.

    What message does that send to our young people? Your country is now so liberal that things like loyalty and caring about your own kind are regarded as ridiculous, probably even racist?

    Time and again, British voters have called for less immigration to protect their standard of living and preserve a precious way of life, but Lord Hermer and the human-rights lawyers sneer at us and say that border control is “dehumanising”.

    Richard Hermer and his over-enlightened ilk have bred a farcical judicial system where a nasty Albanian criminal can avoid deportation partly because his son doesn’t like the kind of chicken nuggets they have abroad. A tribunal ruled it would be “unduly harsh” for the 10-year-old to return to Albania because of “food sensitivities”.
    Leftie utopia

    Give me strength. The Prime Minister has supported an appeal against that barmy ruling. What a hypocrite he is. It is Lefty lawyers like Starmer and Hermer who are the most devout believers in article eight of the European Convention on Human Rights which ranks a jailed immigrant’s right to family life above a Briton’s right to live in safety.

    The quest to foist a progressive Lefty utopia on our country, the selling of national assets which we must then pick up the bill for, has no democratic legitimacy. In fact, we might well call it treason. If members of the elite continue to undermine and traduce the United Kingdom, siding with foreign powers against it, then our beloved country will cease to exist. Is that what they want? I have a terrible feeling it is. The Attorney General must go – the sooner the better.

  122. A family took their frail, elderly mother to a nursing home and left with the hope that she would be well cared for.

    The next morning, the nurses bathed her, fed her a tasty breakfast and set her in a chair at a window overlooking a lovely flower garden.

    She seemed okay, but after a while she slowly started to tilt sideways in her chair.

    Two attentive nurses immediately rushed over to catch her and straighten her up. Again she seemed okay, but after a while she slowly started to tilt over to her other side. The nurses rushed back and once more brought her upright. This went on all morning.

    Later, the family returned to see how the old woman was adjusting to her new home.

    “So ma, how is it here? Are they treating you all right?”

    “It’s pretty nice,” she replied. “Except they won’t let me fart.”

    1. Happy Birthday!
      Now show the class a spoonful of condensed milk, but without revealing the tin.

  124. Right, chums, I am now off to bed. So I wish you all a Good Night, sleep well, and see you all tomorrow.

  125. Evening, all. Even later on parade tonight as the meeting was delayed about half an hour and then at the end we had a power cut. Still, better late than never, I suppose.

    Like so many things, the calls for reparations are a money-making scam.

    1. Money laundering. Our money. It has been known for a very long time that Bureau de Change was the way to suck out money from the UK from newcomers claiming benefits and sending it elsewhere

        1. I had such a nice lunch with my sister and Andrew i forgot it was my Birthday ! Lots of laughs.

          2. I used a cutter on the fillet steaks to make them stackable for the tournedos. You should have seen Harry and Dolly jumping all over the place. Trying to trip me up. I'm wise to them now !

          4. Thank you. A good life needs good memories. I remember walking into the Pub. Spying you both at the Bar. You both turned towards me and your faces lit up with smiles. Thank you both.

  126. Goodnight, all. I've yet to stoke the Rayburn and fill the hot water bottles, so I'd better get cracking!

  127. In the DT there's an interview with Terry Gillam who wrote and directed the film Brazil made 40 years ago….
    Comments below the line include contributions from:

    Chris P Duck
    &
    Mr Dick Scratcher…..
    &
    Jerry Boam

Comments are closed.