Tuesday 12 July: Tory leadership candidates talk presidentially, as if they did not need to work with a Cabinet

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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603 thoughts on “Tuesday 12 July: Tory leadership candidates talk presidentially, as if they did not need to work with a Cabinet”

  3. Good Morning All!. I was hanging back. Being first is like arriving first at a party.

      1. Good morning, Minty. I’m off to a friend’s birthday party on Saturday. Better to arrive first with a straw hat than late without one! Lol.

      2. As I am never invited, but a gate-crasher, conversation with the host can be a trifle strained.

        1. Good morning, I ‘crashed’ a friend’s wedding a month ago. It was their fourth attempt due to Kung Flu restrictions, and somewhere between MkII and Mk III they had decided to downsize – informing all of us by email of the sad news.

          However, the night before the big day the bride-to-be put out a msg on sochul meeja saying ‘One day to go’ and I panicked as it had ‘slipped my mind’. So I turn up booted and suited, had said hello to a few of the gathering and was just getting outside a glass of something chilled when the groom informed me/reminded me of the change of plan.

          To his credit, he shot off to find the management and they squeezed me onto a table.

          it was a lovely day and the celebrant was Carol Smillie…who was also lovely.

          Needless to say my ‘crash’ has come up in conversation whenever we’ve gathered for a beer or two.

  4. Good Scorchio Morning Folks,

    Started a bit cloudy but the sun is breaking through.

      1. Sorry to hear that, Ndovu, but good morning anyhow and I hope you have a better day. (An afternoon catnap, if you can manage it, might help.)

          1. I woke to pump bilges just after 3 this morning and tossed & turned in the heat for over an hour before having a 10 minute soak in the cold water I’d left in the bath.
            After drying off and getting back into bed, I was asleep very quickly afterwards.

  6. SIR – Liam Fox said on the Today programme that he wants the next prime minister to be “from a humble background”. Nobody chooses their parents. As if it’s not enough for people to be prejudged because of their sex or skin colour, now he wants them to be condemned on the basis of their parents’ financial status as well.

    Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
    Northwood, Middlesex

    Quite so, Cynthia Double-Barrelled. Should Winston Churchill have been prevented from becoming PM? The ‘humble stock’ argument is misguided and irrelevant in my view.

    1. I can’t believe the lady was a foundling – found in the exotic avian pet department of Harrods…..

      Good morning Hugh
      (And the rest of you)

        1. I have the whole Morland Dynasty on Kindle (35 books) and it gently teaches English history, through the eyes of a Yorkshire Family from 1434 through to 1931 and what they have to go through, being Catholics and Royalists.

          3. Start at the beginning, BoB, #1. The Founding (1980) Begins 1434 and covers the War of the Roses and Richard III, I’m sure you’ll be hooked, as they are well written and don’t just dwell on history but more about how it affected ordinary lives.

    3. I personally was born without a penny to my name, and with not even a stitch of clothing. I have no idea of the financial state of my parents at the time, because at the time I had no concept of money. Lol.

      1. My mother told me they didn’t have two pennies to rub together. My father’s pay at the time of his death in 1953 was £12 per week as an engineer.

        1. Assuming a 44 hour week, common at that time, £12/week was well above average at over 5 shillings an hour.
          My dad would have been on similar money and we “managed” – we owned our own home outright which was a blessing as just feeding 2 adults & 3 kids could take a lot out of the pay packet.

        2. Bloody good wages for those times, one suspects.
          Didn’t work for Listers, did he?

  7. 354169+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Britain braced for national heatwave emergency
    Ministers drawing up unprecedented plan to manage soaring temperatures, as health warning issued indicating a ‘danger to life’

    Bloody rich that is, may one ask does this warning take in the elderly within the old people home fraternity.

    Heaven knows what is about to befall us left in the hands of the imbecilic majority voter
    next time round.

    1. I know what is about to befall us next, ogga1. We will have to submit to another Covid19 jab to protect us against the latest variant (Bloodius Hottus) if we wish to be allowed to fly to holiday hotspots. Lol.

      1. ‘Morning, Elsie. Of course any jabby jab jabs against Bloodius Hottus won’t apply to the illegals because a). this is their weather and b). they are wanted alive, in order to take over the 3rd world shithole we will have become.

        3. I won’t be panicking until they discover an alien spaceship buried on Antarctica…and probably not even then.

          1. There is, after all, a Lancaster crash-landed on the moon, spaceships are so last century.

      3. 354169+ up ticks,

        Morning EB,

        I remain & will remain c19 jabless as for overseas holidays, non existent ,done lots of Africa / Europe
        onshore / offshore.

        Had plenty of tried & tested jabs over the years the latest being three in the eye, one a month, now I know how our arold felt.

          1. 354169+ up ticks,

            Morning NtN
            Corrected,to err is human, by the by did you have the c19 jab ?

    2. I know what is about to befall us next, ogga1. We will have to submit to another Covid19 jab to protect us against the latest variant (Bloodius Hottus) if we wish to be allowed to fly to holiday hotspots. Lol.

  8. Euro tumbles to 20-year low against dollar over fears Putin will cut off gas. 12 July 2022.

    It came as analysts in the UK raised the prospect of monthly energy bills as high as £367 a month this winter, piling pressure on Britain’s next prime minister to provide more relief.

    Analysis by Investec adjusted from seasonal consumption patterns predicted a surge which would push monthly payments to three or four times their typical figures.

    We are going to the toilet at light speed here. “Our Leaders.” Such as they are; can do nothing but look on; mouthing inanities, at this catastrophe that they have made.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/07/11/euro-tumbles-20-year-low-against-dollar-fears-putin-will-cut/

      1. King Stephen, you are really Cathy Newman and I claim my 5 bob postal order. Lol.

    4. Analysts… raised the prospect... anyone who can count can do the sums. I’ve done the sums. Our projected bill for a 3-bed cottage is just under £7000 a year, for oil, electricity and coal. It may rise.

      1. We will certainly be burning much more very young coal (wood in fact) next winter.

  9. SIR – The current heatwave reminds me of family holidays by the coast in the 1950s. My father usually wore a collar, tie, jacket and trousers on the beach, whatever the weather. His version of water sports involved rolling up his trousers and paddling.

    Aside from that he was quite a normal person.

    Michael Bristow
    Bristol

    Mine too, Mr Bristow!

    2. Yesterday I went to the pictures wearing a white shirt (to reflect the sun’s rays) and a neat tie to cover the shirt’s buttons. I still don’t understand why looking scruffy should protect you from the heat. PS: The film was the latest Marvel Comics film THOR: Love and Thunder. It was the biggest load of cobblers I have recently seen, full of silly “jokes” and it was interminably long, punctuated at intervals by a racket at full volume by Guns & Roses.

      I have determined that if on any Monday in the future the only new film available to see is a Marvel Comics one, then I shall advise my Film Club for Wrinklies members of the times, but tell them that I will not be attending. Better to stay at home and read a book.

      Next Monday the film is THE RAILWAY CHILDREN RETURN, set in the last months of World War II, when we will be lectured on the iniquities of racial segregation in the US forces. Well I for one will sit on my comfortable cinema seat and will NOT be taking the knee in sympathy for some some black crackhead who threatened a pregnant woman with a knife in sympathy a couple of years ago.

      (Rant over, must get gardening now before it gets too hot.)

        1. The Railway Children Return – but are delayed by strikes and cancelled trains.

  10. SIR – While his mother was attired perfectly for the heat in the cauldron at Wimbledon during the men’s final, the decision to dress a young boy, Prince George, in a bespoke suit, collar and tie was ludicrous (report, July 11). A short-sleeved shirt and a hat, plus a high-factor sun screen, were the demands of the day.

    Bill Soens
    Ormskirk, Lancashire

    I did think that his attire was rather OTT for a relatively informal activity. He should be allowed to enjoy the tennis without feeling uncomfortably hot, surely?

      1. Yes, indeed! The Royal Family must be beyond any reproach. A model for us to emulate as well as admire.

  12. SIR – The BBC is currently running an advertisement that features a number of its “celebrities”, culminating with a close-up of its talisman Sir David Attenborough.

    The message is: “This is our BBC.” The implication is: “This is what you, the long-suffering, fee-paying public are going to get on your screens, regardless of what you think.”

    It reflects precisely the arrogant attitude of the management of the BBC towards the public who provide their extravagant salaries and fees.

    M H Sobey
    Evesham, Worcestershire

    Well said! Fortunately my reactions are still good and I have managed to avoid seeing more than a second or two of this smug self-promo.

      1. Long may you continue to do so if you value a stable blood pressure!

        ‘Morning, N.

    2. ‘Morning, Hugh, “This is our BBC.” identifies exactly what the Bluddy Broadcast Crackpots really think. The BBC belongs to them and Hoi Polloi need to keep their snotty schnecks out, as it is not theirs – even if they are expected to pay exorbitant rates to keep the Crackpots in clover.

  15. SIR – I drove to our nearest town and asked in Lloyds Bank to exchange four paper £20 notes for the plastic ones.

    As I no longer had an account I was told that the bank could not do this: the notes had to be paid in and drawn out. I went on to Nationwide, where I have three accounts, but I did not have the card or passbook with me so was turned away again.

    Next I drove to Reading, where my bank account is held at HSBC. This is a 10-mile drive. There, a paper notice on the window informed me that the bank was closed from the beginning of May until August 1. At no time were we advised about this closure by post or email. The suggestion was to go to Basingstoke – another 17 miles. At last the post office reluctantly but kindly changed my notes.

    Where has customer service gone?

    Brenda Barker
    Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire

    Banks providing customer service? Where has she been these past years? That’s the very last thing they feel obliged to provide.

    2. BB (not THAT one) would appear to a very blunt knife in the cutlery drawer.
      Her pointless meanderings along the Thames valley used up most of the 80 smackers. I haven’t priced in her time because someone that dim would be unemployable.

    3. My bank is reducing its services all the time. Unfortunately, TINA applies. The last time I went in, they were so annoyingly obstructive and made me feel a nuisance for what I needed to do that if I’d had a viable alternative I would have taken my money away instanter.

  16. Britain braced for national heatwave emergency.

    Ministers drawing up unprecedented plan to manage soaring temperatures, as health warning issued indicating a ‘danger to life’,

    Sir John Hayes, chairman of the Common Sense Group of Conservative MPs, said: “This is not a brave new world but a cowardly new world where we live in a country where we are frightened of the heat. It is not surprising that in snowflake Britain, the snowflakes are melting. Thankfully, most of us are not snowflakes.

    “The idea that we clamour for hot weather for most of the year and then shut down when it does heat up is indicative of the state in which we now live.”

    Wow! There’s a rarity. I was going to write something similar but we must give the Devil his Due.

    This is just more scaremongering. “Ministers”can do nothing about the heat wave unless you want one to come around and scrub your back in a cold bath. I’ve endured worse temperatures in Australia without this inconvenience.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/environment/2022/07/11/national-heatwave-emergency-could-see-schools-transport-shut/

    2. Perhaps these morons don’t realise that it’s summer – it’s supposed to be hot! I remember climbing on sea cliffs in 76/77 and it was hot then! I also remember a few years ago walking in Ibiza – it was 36 degrees, little shade and a long walk – a bit dodgy but we seemed to manage!

    3. The Government has ordered 50m hand operated paper fans from China. The £1bn order has been placed via an MP who has a cousin who imports goods from China.

        1. He won’t be. All the fans are printed with the legend, “Visit the Old Dog and Duck”.

  17. 354169+ up ticks,
    Tuesday 12 July: Tory leadership candidates talk presidentially, as if they did not need to work with a Cabinet

    This cabinet thingy would it be the one on show or of a covert nature ?

    I ask simple because I know of one candidate who is of Muslim origin, whether practising or not does not enter the equation
    as porkies can be told to NON believers.

    I do believe we are sailing very close to the political wind when the one i have in mind
    was awarded in 2015, the best politician of the year award by the British Muslim awards.

    The great danger is being left in the hands of the current electorate and their past judgement, that has us up to our eyebrows in shite and keeping us there, will once again make the wrong call and have the
    remnants of this once decent Country in mandatory burkas, that health warning will be out the window as the indigenous go into final meltdown.

  18. SIR – Never mind the fact that farmland is being covered with housing estates while brownfield sites stand empty; as big a scandal is the conversion of food-producing land into solar farms.

    Here in Somerset significant acreage of fertile agricultural land has been covered. The Government’s food and energy policies are a shambles.

    John Chillington
    Wells, Somerset

    A pithy BTL poster writes:

    PJ Griffiths
    7 HRS AGO
    The letter about farmland…it’s not just solar farms, in Wales the proposals for subsidy going forward amount to nationalisation of farm land. The current demand is at least 10 per cent of agricultural acreage be planted with trees plus other wildlife measures. Well we can’t eat trees, where would the trees come from for such a scale of planting; it would need to be some pretty substantial payment to pay for that planting and upkeep of woodland and to compensate a farmer for the loss of productive land and how does it square with ensuring sustainable food supply? The Labour administration in Wales is completely mad and power crazed.

    .

    1. Well Mr Chillington. We need lots of electricity to manufacture synthetic foods like lab grown meat – just ask that nice Mr Gates….

        1. You need a large acreage to develop sufficient locust ground meal to feed even the last remaining 500,000,000 human slaves left on the Planet. The remaining humans will be on subsistence rations of both food and water.

    3. Are they aiming for mass starvation?

      It is arguable that Pol Pot, Stalin, Mao were doctrinaire and that their policies resulted in starvation but that this was not their primary purpose.
      They were incompetent and callous as to the outcome.
      But when you consider the enforced organic farming in Sri Lanka, what you describe, the situation in Holland, the blocking of Russian wheat and Ukrainian and Russian fertiliser,… it seems that mass starvation is the primary purpose of these psychopaths.

      Can no one see that it is all very well having healthy food that does not give you cancer when you are 70, but lets you starve in your teens is hardly conducive to public health?

      1. Morning LiM.

        We can see all their machinations and unde rstand exactly what the plan is. Unfortunately there seems sod all we can do about it.

    4. Are they aiming for mass starvation?

      It is arguable that Pol Pot, Stalin, Mao were doctrinaire and that their policies resulted in starvation but that this was not their primary purpose.
      They were incompetent and callous as to the outcome.
      But when you consider the enforced organic farming in Sri Lanka, what you describe, the situation in Holland, the blocking of Russian wheat and Ukrainian and Russian fertiliser,… it seems that mass starvation is the primary purpose of these psychopaths.

      Can no one see that it is all very well having healthy food that does not give you cancer when you are 70, but lets you starve in your teens is hardly conducive to public health?

    5. Mr Chillington, perhaps the government’s food and energy policies have been deliberately presented to look like a shambles to help ease their passage into becoming the norm. Rutte, in The Netherlands, has come out with an iron fist and the people have woken up and are not only protesting but are bordering on rioting. A shambles is much easier to brush off than in-your-face compulsion, whilst all the time the shambles becomes reality.

    6. The problem is Mr Chillington this is happening all over England. Cameron and Bore-us for several years have been importing hundreds of thousands of benefits scroungers and now rapidly providing them with new homes.
      And during all of this have been lying as is the norm and preaching green virtues at every opportunity. Because what ever any people might say, collectively our politicians are absolutely and chillingly stupid.

    2. One only has to look at the shockingly bad state of our public health system to realise the impact people such as Whitty have had. The honours system has been completely debased.

        1. Then I have been done a great honour, Annie. (Although I would have preferred to have been made Dame Elsie of Crumble and Marmalade fame.0 Lol.

    4. Well, if you can get a Knighthood for running a bit faster than the rest then anything is possible…

      ‘Morning, B3.

    5. Which ever DH snivel serpent is behind this…. Give us all an effing break we the British public had to suffer all those hours of predetermined continual BS for months. All he had to do was memorise it and spout it out in public on a highly paid daily basis.

  20. Good morning, all. Overcast and refreshingly cool as I watered my garden at a little after 6. Sun making attempts to burn the cloud off.
    One very noticeable fact this early is the number of jets passing over; it was the same on Sunday morning. Not so noticeable yesterday.

    If the many tweets containing revelations, one has a copy of a WEF letter allegedly sent to one candidate, about the Tory party leader candidates are anything like accurate we could be in for a WEF acolyte in No 10. It’s difficult to know which of the candidates has been inculcated with the WEF intentions. If the Tory selection is a tainted WEF candidate we will be in for a rough time.
    The fear porn re covid/health has waned with many, but sadly not all, and now the WEF’s emphasis has moved towards the climate change arm of the pincer movement on our rights and freedoms. Food production and distribution are under serious threat e.g. the Netherlands, USA and Canada, as never before. The impact of these draconian restrictions has already hit Sri Lanka and the Davos set are determined to spread their evil.
    Returning to the covid/health front, it’s been reported that the USA has ordered many tens of millions of doses of the “vaccine” in preparation for the Autumn ‘wave’. Rumours of another pandemic e.g. Marburg being released on the World this year are doing the rounds. Whatever is being planned these people are escalating their attacks on the people of the World. Their planted sleepers e.g. Rutte and Trudeau have stepped into the spotlight and are causing mayhem in their respective countries. We will see who our new PM is answerable to, the people of the UK or the WEF/WHO/UN, over the coming months. If it’s the latter then surely the Tories will dissolve.

      1. I t’s my belief that ‘they’ want to destroy any semblance of democracy in the west’s societies first: the attack on the USA is across the board e.g. mass immigration, attacks on the Constitution; reducing energy provision by Biden’s administration; attacks on food production facilities and farming etc. If the USA crumbles then the rest will follow. Be interesting what ploy they come up with to thwart the mid-term elections: another pandemic and lockdown opening the door to mail-in only voting or maybe the fraud they used to steal the 2020 election? Once ‘democracy’ is dead then ‘they’ will be able to deal with the people. As for the the Third World? Its people will be left to starve.
        ‘They’ are psychopaths of the first order.

      3. He’s not only a liar but a fool!

        Couldn’t agree more, Araminta. Sadly, he isn’t unique within the political sphere, both here and around the World.

  22. Good morning all. A cloudy start for a change, with 16°C on the thermometer.

  23. Today we should see the first image from the James Webb telescope, which was launched in December last year. In anticipation I watched the repeated programme on the Hubble Telescope yesterday evening, which includes some marvellous and breathtaking footage of its repairs and upgrades, as well as remarkable images of very distant galaxies. It is also a timely reminder of our insignificant little planet.

    Speaking of yesterday’s programmes I watched (as usual) Mark Steyn on GBN. He featured again an interview with Samantha, a victim of the disgusting activities of the Asian rape gangs and sexual abusers in Telford. She is a remarkably articulate young woman who comes across as honest and straightforward. Therefore, I had no difficulty in believing her when she recounted a visit by two police officers the day after her initial appearance last week, when she was critical of West Mercia police for turning a blind eye to these activities. Apparently the officers – both very junior, one with service of just a few months and the other little more than a year – managed to track her down in order to bang on her door with a request to speak to her. The suggestion seemed to be that they were interested in her welfare “…and wanted to make a difference”. It’s a pity that no other officers took the same line years ago with the thousand or so girls in Telford, instead of ignoring the girls and blaming them when they had the audacity to complain!

    I found their visit to be sinister and breathtaking, as did MS. He has vowed to continue with the story of W Mercia’s neglect and incompetence until some kind of explanation is forthcoming.

    Edit: Link for Steyn’s interview:

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hcM7T1shgXs

    2. “The suggestion seemed to be that they were interested in her welfare “…and wanted to make a difference”….
      To her bank balance? Sounds as if the orifices were offering ‘protection’.

  24. Today we should see the first image from the James Webb telescope, which was launched in December last year. In anticipation I watched the repeated programme on the Hubble Telescope yesterday evening, which includes some marvellous breathtaking foitage of its repairs and upgrades, as well as remarkable images of very distant galaxies. It is also a timely reminder of our insignificant little planet.

    Speaking of yesterday’s programmes I watched (as usual) Mark Steyn on GBN. He featured again an interview with Samantha, a victim of the disgusting activities of the Asian rape gangs and sexual abusers in Telford. She is a remarkably articulate young woman who comes across as honest and straightforward. Therefore, I had no difficulty in believing her when she recounted a visit by two police officers the day after her initial appearance last week, when she was critical of West Mercia police for turning a blind eye to these activities. Apparently the officers – both very junior, one with service of just a few months and the other little more than a year – managed to track her down in order to bang on her door with a request to speak to her. The suggestion seemed to be that they were interested in her welfare “…and wanted to make a difference”. It’s a pity that no other officers took the same line years ago with the thousand or so girls in Telford, instead of ignoring the girls and blaming them when they had the audacity to complain!

    I found their visit to be sinister and breathtaking, as did MS. He has vowed to continue with the story of W Mercia’s neglect and incompetence until some kind of explanation is forthcoming.

    1. Is that the former cabinet minister self-identifying as female to appeal to possible female Tory voters? Lol.

      1. 354169+ up ticks,

        Morning S,
        I do believe the audience is made up of lab/lib/con electoral majority voters.

      1. 354169+ up ticks,

        Morning Anne,

        I’m surprised Anne there is really no
        need for that sort of lan………..

      1. Morning, Phil. Hot and sunny here but the radar shows rain over Ireland and Wales.

  27. Morning all 😃
    What’s been happening at our post offices recently ?
    Apparently and according to HMRC, over the past 4 months, they have been taking more than 3 billion pounds in cash over the counters from ‘savers’. Surely it’s the flow of benefits money back and forth.
    From what the lady MP with the long name has said, its about time they all went to work.
    A good move would be to tax the back sides off the account holders as they do to most other savers when they draw down.

  28. This headline over on ZH made me wonder why he should treat the Saudi’s any worse that the American people?

    “Biden Heads To Middle East, Plans To Abase Himself Before Saudi Royals”

    1. “Biden Heads To Middle East, Plans To Abase Abuse Himself Before Saudi Royals”

      There – sorted.

    2. Is that ‘abase’ or ‘abuse’?
      Edit: – Sigh – another case of not readundery on my part!

  29. It is clear (to me) that all the contenders for the Tory leadership loathe each other.

    I trust that whoever wins will ensure that NONE of the others is included in the cabinet.

        1. Correct. Especially the ones who’ve got the hump having not won the top spot!

    2. The Cabinet room will be like a particularly fractious sand pit.
      (On second thoughts: scrub the future tense.)

    4. Happy birthday David! Have a lovely day and many Happy Returns!

      State pension starts now too – hurrah! Unless you are deferring it (my view is that £1 in the hand is worth anything the Government promises in the bush…)

    6. Wishing you a very Happy Birthday, Stig! Hope you have a wonderful day! 🎂🎉🍾

  31. Ukraine aims to amass ‘million-strong army’ to fight Russia, says defence minister. July 12 2022.

    Ukraine has touted plans to amass a “million-strong army” equipped with Nato weapons to fight Russian forces.

    However, the comments by Defence minister Oleksii Reznikov are being seen as more of a rallying cry than a concrete plan for a counter offensive.

    This is nonsense. Russia has three times the population of Ukraine and could easily surpass such a number. There is also the point that it would cost more than anyone in any economic climate, let alone the present, would be willing to pay. The only way out of this is for Zelensky to negotiate. This of course is the last thing that the Americans want! He should bear in mind the fate of President Ngo Din Diem in South Vietnam who looked as though he was weakening!

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-62118953

    1. Meanwhile on the ground, NATO weapons are being abandoned by Ukrainian troops, either because they don’t know how to use them or they’ve been given guns but no amunition. Or maybe they’re just demoralised and would rather have Russian food and shelter. Why should Ukrainians fight to the death to satisfy America.

      I’ve been wondering where Lenin got the name from and find that ukraine is an old Russian word meaning borderland.

      1. In Shake Hands with the Devil Dallaire details how intentionally obtuse UN and NATO procurement and logistics is. If you ask for a helicopter, they’ll supply one – but without fuel, rotors, weapons, a pilot, navigation, spare parts, oil etc.

        It is a peculiar and achingly deliberately malice that only bureaucrats could exist within.

    2. Meanwhile on the ground, NATO weapons are being abandoned by Ukrainian troops, either because they don’t know how to use them or they’ve been given guns but no amunition. Or maybe they’re just demoralised and would rather have Russian food and shelter. Why should Ukrainians fight to the death to satisfy America.

      I’ve been wondering where Lenin got the name from and find that ukraine is an old Russian word meaning borderland.

  32. ‘You can’t say that’: Civil servants tried to stop Kemi Badenoch’s gender-neutral toilet reforms

    Former equalities minister announced last week that all public buildings in England should have separate facilities for males and females

    By Camilla Turner, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT • 11 July 2022 • 3:55pm

    Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leadership candidate, has described how civil servants tried to thwart her bid to scrap gender neutral lavatories. The former equalities minister announced last week that all public buildings in England should have separate male and female toilets. She told the Commons that gender-neutral facilities put women at a “significant disadvantage” and should be scrapped in new office buildings, schools, hospitals and entertainment venues.

    Mrs Badenoch announced the Government’s intention to prevent non-residential buildings from being built solely with “universal” lavatories. The move will involve changes to building regulations and planning guidance.†

    Speaking at a free speech event in the House of Lords on Monday afternoon, she revealed that civil servants had tried to push back on her reforms.

    “For those of you who saw my toilet announcement on the abolition of gender-neutral toilets, you wouldn’t believe how tough it was to get that through,” she said. “I had civil servants writing on the notice which I had put out saying that ‘you can’t say that’ and ‘we need to check whether that’s something you are allowed to say’.”

    Mrs Badenoch added that despite the intervention of Whitehall officials, she “didn’t change a word”, which prompted cheers and applause from the audience. Addressing a group of around 200 free speech campaigners, MPs and peers, she insisted that her speech was not a leadership pitch as the event was already in her diary before she launched her bid.

    The MP for Saffron Walden, who is seen as a rising star in the Tory party, launched her leadership campaign on Saturday and has already enlisted the backing of Michael Gove, the former levelling up secretary, in a major boost for her campaign. She also told the event that free speech was “no longer something we can take for granted”, adding that attacks on free speech “usually harm the people who have least power” in society.

    Ms Badenoch, who quit as a minister in the Department for Levelling Up in a joint move with four colleagues last week, is standing for the Conservative leadership on a platform of “lighter, simpler, nimbler government”.

    The event, which was organised by a cross-party group of peers, was already in Mrs Badenoch’s diary prior to her leadership bid as she had been due to speak there in her capacity as equalities minister.

    “Free speech is no longer something we can take for granted as a commonly shared value,” she said. “The reality is that attacks on free speech usually harm the people who have least power. They don’t control institutions which is why they rely on their voices and the tools of persuasion and reason. I know from experience that speaking about subjects like race, ethnicity or LGBT rights, can land you in hot water, but as an MP, I am safer than a lot of people who genuinely fear losing their jobs.”

    Mrs Badenoch spent the past two-and-a-half years as an equalities minister in the Department for Levelling Up before she quit the role on July 6. Two days later, she announced her candidacy via a column in The Times newspaper in which she took aim at the Blairite “cultural establishment” and identity politics while pledging to return the party to a low-tax trajectory.

    In 2020, she gave an acclaimed speech on the trend of “critical race theory” in schools that was voted Speech of the Year by readers of the Conservative Home website.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/07/11/cant-say-civil-servants-tried-stop-kemi-badenochs-gender-neutral/

    † I’m presuming that the regulations make no mention of the subject i.e. it would be assumed that a new building would have separate toilets, rather than insist that they be ‘unisex’. If it’s the latter, it shows deeply ingrained this madness is in the establishment.

    1. Wasn’t there a Tory MP recently who decried the huge amount of criticism the UK’s Civil Servant’s received?
      Talk about defending the indefensible!

      1. I can’t find the episode clip but there’s a bit of Yes Prime Minister where Arnold explains to Humphrey the role of the civil service in hiding politicians gaffs and praising their singular achievements. It explains beautifully the abusive relationship the state has with MPs.

        Ah ha!

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

    2. Someone should point out that the online harms bill is simply fascism in action. If you set about controlling what people can say and do, you force how they can think.

      1984 Orwellian ‘thoughtcrime’, no less. The correct thing to do is bin the whole thing and let people say and do whatever they choose, insulting whomsoever they choose, however they choose. Decent people won’t, of course, but if you prevent someone from stating their opinions that’s just plain oppression. Newsflash! People think differently! They *have* to. A world where you cannot voice dissent is hell and will create genuine political serial killers.

      1. “…let people say and do whatever they choose, insulting whomsoever they choose, however they choose.”

        Always aware that laws against libel and slander have been on the Statute Book for a very long time.

        Just ‘offending’ someone is not subject to libel/slander but depends upon the little flower’s delicate state. Try dead-heading.

        1. As I’ve tweeted from time to time;

          We have freedom of speech or we have censorship.

          There are libel and slander laws for those who libel or slander.

          ‘Hate speech’ is a confection by those who do not want to hear alternative views, or more importantly to them, have alternative views heard by others.

  33. Good morning, dear NoTTLers!

    Has anyone had double-glazing, or the alternative of replacing the existing glass with thicker glass and putting insulation (brushes) down the edges?

    I concerned about heating bills going through the roof – so am in the process of considering having windows replaced. I live in an Edwardian house and the sash windows are original (some small panes mixed with larger panes – so not your standard large pane). I don’t want to change the feel of the house, so I was thinking of getting some of those double glazed windows which are made to replicate the existing ones, so that they don’t change the appearance in any real way.

    I have made enquiries of a firm that did a house across the road, and they seemed to do a good job BUT the quote just for our front bay is astronomic. An alternative I have been told of is where just the glass (which in our case is rather thin) is replaced by thicker glass, and the sash cords renewed and adjusted – together with insulating material round the wooden edges.

    Has anyone had the second type of insulation done – and is the improvement noticable? Obviously it is not like double glazing or secondary glazing, but I just wondered if it is worth doing, given that it is less than half the price, and so more affordable for us. (I have also taken note of Maggie’s horror story of her experience with a new door, so I am a bit wary of just getting in a cheaper double glazing company – at least I know what this company has done with my neighbour).

    Any fenestration hints would be very welcomed!

      1. Doesn’t really work in the daytime. We already have longish=lined curtains…

    2. Did you have double glazed units
      initially ?
      The original units would have been 4-6-4
      Which is 4mm glass 6 mm gap and 4 mm glass. More recently the gaps were larger 20 mm.
      But there was a notion that 6 mm glass 20 gap and 4 mm inside help to stop the invasion of the cold air.
      But I’d say if you have old frame’s the rebates won’t be deep enough. It’s possible to take off each opening window and remove the rebates. That will allow you to fit thicker glazing and have a stop bead on the inside.
      Or get a quote for replacement double glazing. But of course Could be expensive.

      2. I guee my ultimate question is: if all other things (draught proofing etc.) are equal how much difference would replacing 2mm glass with, say, 4mm glass (single) make? If only corimmobile was here, I’m sure he’d have come across this!

    3. My email has been hacked, I would get in touch. And I’m having difficulties using my mobile phone. It seems to be working against what I’m trying to do.

        1. Well I’m not actually sure I just trying to sort it out with them now I’ve just spent an hour trying understand people in India. Its not their fault blessthem but I am having a terrible time. It seems my account has been locked but they can’t explain it.
          They appear to be able to access it from their end but I can’t. It doesn’t let me log in using a password. It just opens to the old and frozen page.

      2. Oh dear, have you any idea how the hackers managed to access your email? I have problems with mobiles as the volume isn’t loud enough for me to hear, even with my ear trumpets in. So I tend to leave it util the battery runs out anyway… :o(

    4. I know nothing. I know even less about technicalities. When we built a house back in the early 80s the architect suggested single glazing not double. Apparently after some time the seal in double glazing goes. It becomes less effective and you get condensation the space between the panes and you can not get rid of it.
      He said that single panes and thick curtains will do as well and last longer.
      I am sure double glazing has improved immensely since then. So has glass technology. It may be that you can replace the individual panes with special glass that will work as well as double glazing. I seem to remember seeing that kind of stuff on some technical programme about houses on C4.
      So you could keep the existing frames, just replace the glass. It would look better than secondary double glazing, but I don’t know anything about the cost.

      1. Apparently after some time the seal in double glazing goes. It becomes less effective and you get condensation the space between the panes and you can not get rid of it.

        I have double-glazed, timber-framed windows in my 1990s-built house. Within a few years, several of the panels had misted up. Replacing them wasn’t cheap. They had to be cut out and new ones puttied in. Ten years ago, more went and had to be replaced. Since then, more have misted up. They won’t be replaced.

        Today, timber windows are available that can be ‘dry glazed’ i.e. they use proprietary fitments that slot into the frame rather than requiring puttying.

        1. We hade the same, double glazed timber framed windows.

          Originally a good make, after 28 years they were tired, draughty with many panes misted up.

          After considerable research on quality and pricing we settled on a local firm who had a good reputation [Hint–ask around]

          We now have PVC framed double glazing. The type of frame is grained to look like white painted wood, but of course doesn’t

          ever need painting. Also the windows are hinged in such a way that we can open them sideways and clean the outsides.

          This meant that we could dispense with the window cleaner who are very rare and very expensive around here.

          On average it cost about £1000- a window (some big, some medium, one french window) and it has added at least that

          in value to the property. Plus we save over £500- per year on window cleaning, plus the house will be more efficient with

          heat retention in the winter.

          We also did some research into triple glazing. The overall opinion was that double glazing with thicker glass was just as

          efficient as triple glazing, and cheaper.

          There is no alternative to lots of research. Keep asking questions. All reputable companies are used to being questioned.

          Avoid anyone who tries to bulldoze you into a quick purchase, and bear in mind that all reputable firms have a waiting list.

          It’s worth it in the end.

          1. A local window company or a local builder?

            My windows are of decent quality. Only one has had any rot in the frame, although a couple of battens have gone. My step-brother bought a Barratt home in the West Midlands in the early 90s and within five years the catches and stays were falling out. The frames were not much better than balsa wood.

          2. A local specialist double glazing firm.

            They deliver and install.

            The windows are made up individually by a factory somewhere on the South coast.

        2. Several of the windows in our conservatory – about 30 years old, with upvc frames, have steamed up. We keep talking about doing something about it but haven’t yet.

      2. Yes, the more I read from you helpful NoTTLers, the more I am getting an idea of which way to go.

        Thank you, all!

    5. I replaced windows about twenty years ago and it cost about eight grand then so I imagine it must be about £12-15K now.
      Cost of heating is rising but you think your bills will go up that much over the next twenty years?

      1. That’s a point. THey may well do, if the current rises are anything to go by. But then – can such rises be sustained?

    6. Buy the solution you can afford, but have it done by a company where you are pleased with their work. Nothing is so peeving as saving £50 and forever regretting it because the job was executed badly.

      1. Thanks – that’s why I know the company I want to do the work is good – just there are two different options on offer, and I really don’t know just HOW much better double glazing is than the alternative. It’s a shame there can’t be marks out of 10 for heat efficiency, noise, etc.

        1. Have you tried googling it, H? There seems to be ratings for everything these days.

          1. Not in this case, I’m afraid. THe company is very highly rated, albeit expensive…but I would rather pay a comparative bit more for a one-off, if I can.

    7. Comments about double glazing misting up are very true.

      After eleven years, many of our sealed units have has to be replaced and we are waiting on three more replacements to be delivered.

      Our biggest issue has been finding a window company that would make the sealed units.

      1. Oh dear, I would have thought that where you live there would be a lot of demand. I hope you find what you want.

  34. OMG ……. it’s now been announced by the man himself that he was not only trafficked as a child but was used as a domestic servant.
    I’m sure that those responsible are packing it incase sir sues. Just a thought…..Has he got a book out ?

    1. Why is it all these people have to tell the world how disadvantaged they have been at some stage of their lives? “Look at me, I was a poor kid with nothing, and I’m just like all of you….”
      No you are not, you are a multi millionaire, you don’t live like ordinary people, you don’t think like ordinary people, and you have no concept of what life is like for families who have to budget, make ends meet and live with the consequences of your and your government’s crass policies.

    3. Surely his admission means that he is in the UK illegally? He is living under a false name, with false passport particulars. It’s not his fault, but nonetheless he is here illegally.
      Edit – I should read further down before posting – the same point has already been made.

      2. Don’t worr . He has a genuine British passport, obtained fraudulently.

      3. If he’d applied legally then he wouldn’t have been a servant. Just saying.

      1. Keep up he’s dun a runner. 🏃
        Not sat on his backside causing people to turn off their TVs.

    1. Which reminds me, I need to get mine checked. Last time the docs didn’t text me and had blocked off the ‘when’s your next appointment’ bit of their website.

      When I called them they didn’t answer.

  36. Nadhim Zahawi has admitted he made a “genuine mistake” when he used taxpayers’ cash to heat his horse stables.

    The new chancellor, who is running to replace Boris Johnson, spoke about the gaffe in his first broadcast interview after throwing his hat in the ring.

    In 2013 the Sunday Mirror revealed he claimed for electricity at the stables, as part of a wider bill, other parts of which were allowed under the rules.

    Zahawi at first defended his claims but now admits he made a “mistake”.

    He told Sky News’ Kay Burley it was a “genuine mistake” as he did not realise his stable heating and personal heating was coming in on a single bill.

    https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/nadhim-zahawi-says-using-taxpayer-cash-to-heat-horse-stables-was-genuine-mistake_uk_62cbd961e4b0359fa47d9746?fr=operanews

    1. Oh yes, that’s the sort of mistake anyone could make. Why, just last week I billed my daughter’s skiing holiday in Colorado to taxpayers purely by accident. These things happen! Nothing to see here!

      1. The sad thing is, there are MPs who are diligent in only expensing those things that are genuine costs.

        The idea that heating can be lumped on expenses is insulting. It’s your home, you useless effluent. You’re already grossly overpaid. Pay your own bills. See what it’s bloody well like with your taxes.

        2. Even worse, they claim for food on expenses – like they wouldn’t be normally eating

    2. Like the ‘duck house’ and all the other genuine mistakes in the last expenses scandal.

      1. Yes, the one where you were out to screw the tax payer because you didn’t care an iota because it’s other people’s money.

        1. They were all at it – flipping their main residences and getting the taxpayers to pay for their porn videos.

          1. The Balls-Cooper households were flipped like hamburgers to extend the ‘expenses’ to cover renovations/decorating on each house. Surely someone in the expenseS department could have worked out which was their main residence by asking where their tribe of kids went to skool. Unless of course the B-C kids were all boarders…at our expense.

    3. That he claims for his home heating is a travesty in itself. Pay your own damned bills, you hateful b’stad

      2. The rules for MPs should be identical to those that govern the family, who live in our last Married Quarter
        (The costs of all the old MQs, including food, fuel etc are now fully coverd by the taxi payer, as thy house Doveristas and others of that ilk)

    4. Once again not unusual with politicians, he’s not telling the truth.
      There is no way on this earth he made a mistake heating his stables.
      Complete and utter bull sh*te.

    5. Just shows how dense he is, then. No way he should be allowed anywhere near government.

  37. Henry Ellis asks ‘When No 10’s new occupant arrives, under how many will Larry then have served?’ Well Henry as everyone who has a cat knows – it’s the reverse.

    1. I’d trust Larry to make a better job of PM than any of those standing in the election.

    2. They’re just practising with squirrel demographics before the human culling perhaps.

    3. Whilst bashing around the golf course this morning, one of the playing partners – a bBC viewer – was chuntering on about contraceptives for squirrels. I almost missed the fairway wondering how the little chaps managed to fit them on when he explained that the animal control wallahs put out food laced with contraceptives.

  39. Last night I turned on the telly to watch BBC 6pm News and found
    women’s footie….
    News changed to 7pm….!

    OWN GOAL BBC….

    1. Sorry – reading down I see that another Nottler has already posted this. But never mind – the more people who know about the the better.

      Incidentally Mark Steyn will be devoting the whole of his programme on GB News later in the week to the subject of Covid vaccine damage.

      1. And the next day plod banged on her door to ‘talk to her’ about embarrassing them by exposing their deliberate disinterest. How could she? What did she expect? Integrity and shame from a police force turning a blind eye to rape?

        Actually, as I’m thinking about it – groomer. The very term is interesting. No longer are they muslim pakistani paedophiles, they’re ‘grooming gangs’.

        Grooming is so much less inflammatory than systematic paedophile rapists, isn’t it? no doubt soon we’ll have ‘minor attracted persons’.

        Edit – that’ll teach me to watch the bally video.

          1. Good article on the Critic about the lady Christian who speaks every Sunday at Speaker’s Corner but is attacked and robbed by our peaceful friends. More recently she was arrested (even though she was the victim). The police’s response was thoroughly disgraceful (but won’t surprise anyone here). I was outraged.

            The police are enabling Islamic intolerance here:
            https://thecritic.co.uk/the-police-are-enabling-islamic-intolerance/

          2. The cowardly police farce won’t do ANYTHING against the equally cowardly, thieving Muslims, as they (the farce) are sh*t-scared of an idealogic back-lash that they will have to not only fight against but contain. They know that they Khant.

          3. Good article on the Critic about the lady Christian who speaks every Sunday at Speaker’s Corner but is attacked and robbed by our peaceful friends. More recently she was arrested (even though she was the victim). The police’s response was thoroughly disgraceful (but won’t surprise anyone here). I was outraged.

            The police are enabling Islamic intolerance here:
            https://thecritic.co.uk/the-police-are-enabling-islamic-intolerance/

      3. It is a good thing to have items reposted especially those of topical interest. I sadly don’t always have time to read all posted contributions.

  41. Good example of “Computer says no”.

    Went to garden centre (spit) for various things. At checkout, asked child on till for some salt for our water softener. “No, we don’t stock that”. I explained that I had bought two sack a couple of months back – and asked her to look at the list on the computerised till. She tried everything. Negative. Chap from back of shop passed by – “We don’t do salt, do we?” asked the child. Matey said, “Yes, of course we do,” and explained that he had a large pallet in the shop. Bought two bags. Girl scanned them. All was revealed: “GRANULAR salt”.

    Actually it is not granular but in blocks… One would have thought there would be some sort of cross-referencing built in. Works for Amazon and other outfits.

    Had I not been bloody minded (the place always makes me feel that way) they would have lost £20 of sales. Will I complain to the management? They are just as bad….

    1. It’s honestly not their fault. They’re told what to look for and how. Unless you’re bright enough to realise the problem you can’t adapt to think laterally – and that requires knowing what you’re looking for in which case you’d likely not have to find it.

      If it’d been me, I’d have returned all the results from: salt, sal, gran, granular, granular salt, salt granular, water softener, softener, water salt, water.

      Notably Tesco has the same problem in searching for ‘dish washer salt’ or just salt. Well, they used to. They probably don’t since I raised it. (smug mode).

        1. Drawers, cellular, airmen for the use of.
          Hangars, aircraft for the use of.
          Hangers, wire, coats for the use of.

          Just three I remember from way back when.

    2. I detest garden centres, almost as much as madam detests dragging me round them. The last one (somewhere in Norfolk) I asked at the till ‘why do all you prices end in 99p?’ She said ‘well it’s the same everywhere init?’ Madam knew where I was going with this and I got hustled out before I could get stuck in.

  42. 354169+ up ticks,

    How about the peoples go cannibalistic for a
    period select your nearest WEF employee

    heat & eat.

    1
    Post
    Gerard Batten
    @gjb2021
    ·
    1h
    The short video is in English.

    The nitrate fertliiser scam is about a massive Land Grab. Independent farmers who produce food for the rest of us cannot be allowed to exist by the WEF.

    The Globalists already control finance, but they need to control food to completely control us.

    https://gettr.com/post/p1i0qyz0c6c

    1. No to that idea. We would up having Justinburgers and who knows where he’s been.

      1. 354169+ up ticks,

        Afternoon R,
        I dunno ,a leg of boris could satisfy an
        average family for a week.

  43. 354169+ up ticks,,

    What I cannot understand, get my head round, appreciate, is why their border control operates out of Dungeness / Dover, tis their BC is it not ?

    FOOD CRISIS
    Global Food Crisis: EU Border Force Bracing for ‘Waves’ of Mass Migration as Global South Goes Hungry

  45. CM starts well but is way off the mark in his second item.

    Penny Mordaunt’s wokery deserves scrutiny

    In some respects, she is not quite what the Tory electorate normally warms to

    CHARLES MOORE • 12 July 2022 • 7:00am

    During the 1983 general election, I covered Mrs Thatcher’s campaigning in the South West. We ended up in the Isle of Wight for a photo opportunity. The prime minister stood at the prow of a hovercraft as it put out to sea. The idea was that she was almost the masthead, almost Britannia.

    In this leadership campaign, the supporters of Penny Mordaunt are trying something similar, almost as if she had won the Falklands conflict herself. (It features in her campaign video.) Ms Mordaunt comes from an Army background and is a Naval reservist. Her campaigning line is: “It needs to become a little less about the leader and a lot more about the ship.” Her “back story” may well appeal to many party members who will vote in the second round.

    But since a leadership contest must, obviously, be about the leader, it is worth asking Ms Mordaunt more about how she would steer the ship. In some respects, she is not quite what the Tory electorate normally warms to.

    In Greater: Britain After the Storm, a book she co-authored last year with Chris Lewis, an anti-Brexit writer who is now helping her campaign, Ms Mordaunt launches into a surprisingly fierce attack on various old British films and TV series. She complains that they promote the idea that “the past was so much better”. She puts David Lean’s films Great Expectations and Lawrence of Arabia in this category, as well as Michael Anderson’s The Dam Busters.

    She particularly dislikes David Croft and Jimmy Perry for the “nostalgic focus” of their “churned-out” sitcoms such as Dad’s Army and Hi-de-Hi! She describes It Ain’t Half Hot, Mum – their Second World War comedy set in India and Burma – as “a full-house bingo card of…casual racism, homophobia, white privilege, colonialism, transphobia, bullying, misogyny and sexual harassment”.

    No doubt Croft and Perry would not stand a chance in the present era of solemn disapproval, but most sensible Tory supporters try to resist the 21st-century suggestion that being funny is a crime. Tone-deafness towards the past is exactly what they dislike about wokery.

    Ms Mordaunt has also pronounced on trans issues. When she was the relevant minister, she piloted through Parliament a ministerial maternity leave Bill that referred only to “pregnant people”. The House of Lords noticed this and suggested that a Bill about maternity should acknowledge the existence of women. The Government eventually adopted a Lords amendment which deleted “pregnant people” and inserted “expectant mothers”. In accepting this, however, Ms Mordaunt added, gratuitously, that “trans men are men and trans women are women”. Her remark left people perplexed. Does she think that only biological women can be pregnant, or not?

    It is this issue about what a woman is which has left Sir Keir Starmer almost speechless. Do the Tories want a leader who is in the same pickle?

    The best Tory leadership candidate isn’t necessarily a Brexiteer

    In asking the candidates difficult questions, the two Conservative electorates – one inside Parliament, one outside – should not treat the process as a catechism in which there is only one “right” answer to every question. The purpose of the campaign is to get a sense of what really matters to the candidates and whether they have leadership qualities.

    This is relevant in relation to Brexit. Although there are still far too many things to be done to improve the post-Brexit situation, we Brexiteers are making a mistake if we treat this as a war to re-fight. We won: the task is to make the best of victory. It is not the case that candidates who voted Remain – notably Tom Tugendhat, Jeremy Hunt and Liz Truss – should automatically be ruled out.

    Indeed, it may even be that someone like Mr Tugendhat, who is well acquainted with continental politics, could be more creative in getting us through the battles ahead than someone who thinks this is still June 23 2016. That is the view of Anne-Marie Trevelyan, his main Cabinet backer so far and a full-hearted Brexiteer from the first. The task, she puts it, is “to harness all the tools that Brexit has given us”.

    One of the points Mr Tugendhat makes is that any attempt to rejoin would be a dead end. The EU would reasonably ask Britain, “Why should we believe you this time?”. It would set even worse membership conditions than those it previously imposed and put us at the end of a long queue.

    Much better to devote ourselves to developing all the other international forums which suit us better. The tragedy of the war in Ukraine has proved to us an important fact which we had tended to forget. NATO is the most important organisation in the future of Europe and we are probably its most important European member.

    End the College Green media circus

    During the long Brexit wrangle, College Green in Westminster became a political cockpit and media circus. MPs were hauled in by interviewers as they passed. This suited television companies, but it created a tedious, non-stop and noisy theatre of the absurd which attracted show-offs and fanatics.

    It was also a great bore for those living or working in the area, because they were forbidden access to the normal path and were thus forced into the road. Many, including this column, criticised the parliamentary authorities for allowing this. The show was eventually closed down. Now, with the leadership election, it has started all over again. Please God – or rather, the Speakers of both Houses and Black Rod – make it stop.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/07/12/penny-mordaunts-wokery-deserves-scrutiny/

    1. I see that the twat in the hat has returned to show off his silly placards outside the Houses of Parliament.

    3. The EU would let us back in in a heartbeat, providing we agreed to abolish sterling within five years

      1. Any new joiners are required under Maastricht Convergence Criteria to join the Euro.

        There is no escape !!

    4. I think Michael Heselslime is right:

      When Boris Johnson goes, Brexit goes.

      Now Boris Johnson has gone and it seems very unlikely that any of the Troy leadership contestants will do anything to exploit the advantages that could have been achieved by Brexit or do anything to kick EU politicians and EU officials out of Northern Ireland or EU fishermen out of UK fishing waters.

      I despise Michael Heselslime and it is very irksome to have to admit that he is right. Another man whom I despise is Peter Mandelson and it is irksome that it was he who proclaimed:

      We are now living in the post-democratic age.

    5. Having lived through it, the past WAS better! We could leave our door unlocked and not get burgled, we had friendly neighbours who shared our culture and spoke English, when I went into hospital it smelled of disinfectant, doctors made home visits, I had an excellent education and the police were on our side. There are other good points, too, but those are enough to be going on with.

      1. Whether any of those points still apply depends rather on where you live these days.

  46. What do you think of this? Over the last year I have received more than a dozen threatening letters from the BBC because I don’t have a licence. They threatened to send some one round and to take me to court. I ignored them all.
    Several months ago there was a knock at the door and it was a pleasant Welsh chap from the BBC.
    “Have you got a licence?”
    “No”.
    “Why haven’t you got a licence?”
    ” I don’t watch the BBC and I don’t see why I should pay a BBC tax to watch other TV stations”. (I can be a little bit bolshy!)
    The pleasant BBC man was quiet for a moment and then started talking about Rugby Union. I responded and we had a nice chat for 5 minutes.
    He then left with us on good terms.
    The thing is I have not received a threatening letter since.

      1. Hi Kaypea
        Any chance of making the Bear in Penarth tomorrow (Wed 13th) for beers? Sorry about short notice, but it’s complex to get all this shit to hang together… SMS me on 004799798064 to agree/ disagree. Or call…

    4. Do you watch the other stations live?

      My mother never had a telly in her house all her life – they used to hound her and she took no notice but I don’t think she ever had a visit.

    5. It’s not the BBC, it’s actually Capita. They just use BBC letterheads.

      You should have a licence if you watch live TV however Capita heavies have no right of access to your property without a warrant.

      Just tell them to foxtrot oscar.

  52. Revealed: The BBC’s best-paid stars of 2021. 12 July 2022.

    Munchetty saw her pay rise by £110,000 to £365,000-369,999, after adding a Radio 5 Live show to her BBC Breakfast work.

    Amol Rajan, who has a portfolio of jobs at the corporation including a documentary series and Radio 4’s Today programme, was paid £325,000-329,999 in the past year, up by £80,000.

    Alan Shearer received a £60,000 rise for commentating on the Euros, and took home £450,000-454,999.

    I try not to think about these things too much, though as anyone could tell from my presence on Nottl, I’m not too successful at it. This is actually disgraceful. It is not the amounts though that is clearly excessive for a job that requires little other than an ability to waffle. It is that this money is extorted under duress from people who can barely make ends meet and moreover that are largely despised by the recipients of their unwilling largesse. There is here that arrogance of indifference, that sneering superiority that led to the French and Russian revolutions. I would not be unhappy to see the same here!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/07/12/revealed-bbcs-best-paid-stars-2021/

    1. Hardly a mention of the crisp muncher who is the highest paid of all tossers at the Beeb. Gary Lineker £1,350,000+ for Match of the Day. I’ll bet he gets more than that through associated hidden companies.

      1. Afternoon Ped. I often wonder if Lineker is a mule and the majority of that cash is syphoned off elsewhere!

    2. If they are forced to air these people’s executions a licence fee might be worthwhile.

    3. The biggest annoyance is that the BBC gets to tax you even if you don’t want it’s services. It’s like having to pay Aldi to shop at Tesco.

  54. It seems that others are cottoning onto what I’ve been saying for a while.
    That China owns the Bidens.
    https://youtu.be/35hSxOYABu4
    It would also explan the Afghan debacle and pushing NATO into conflict at this end of the planet.
    Tucker references the Mail. I don’t remember that. Will check later.
    Still every security services and military appointment since Biden as VP needs to be examined and purged.

  55. So it looks like the plan is to big up everyone’s nightmare – Rishy in to a final run off with the chosen one that they wanted all along.
    The chosen one will win and everyone will be content.
    Until they turn out like Trudeau or Rudde

    It’s the 1990’s all over again with Heseltine and Major

    1. Oh my goodness me. Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive. The corruption is worse than I ever could have imagined. And the PM candidates talk about reinstating “integrity”.

      1. 354169+ up ticks,
        Afternoon VW,
        And of course as we approach the new hydra head season we WILL keep in mind the party’s that gave us rotherham rochdale etc,etc,some of those kids will be entering adulthood now with a large bag of mental issues.
        So the party member / voters WILL vote accordingly I’m sure,
        it WILL be a first but….

    2. It really is a disgrace. Corruption and cronyism in every corner of government. Worse than I imagined, much worse. Who can deliver us from this thieving horde?

  57. China’s Ponzi banks are teetering. 12 July 2022.

    The case attracted widespread attention in China after the local authorities in June manipulated the personal health codes of depositors to prevent them from getting to Zhengzhou to protest. Covid apps are mandatory in China, crunching vast amount of data about health, contacts and location to determine Covid risk. Those who receive a red rating are grounded and usually quarantined. They certainly can’t travel, as the depositors discovered.

    Ordinary people have no chance in the world that is being created. They can be manipulated without even being aware of it. They cannot even be sure that the one presented for their gaze is true. It’s no use saying “But this is China” because it is just the same here. The Western elites seek exactly the same powers that their oriental counterparts do!

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/china-s-ponzi-banks-are-teetering

  58. Last few days a five, two sixes and a fail. Back on course today

    Wordle 388 3/6

    ⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
    🟩⬜🟨⬜⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  59. The only benefit that Rishy bestows is that he is lean , polished , moves well, and is a handsome hawk with a rather fetching body .

    He looks as if he could deliver a box of Milk Tray quite deftly ..

    I guess he can’t help being rather glossy and handsome and terribly rich , but I can only see Bollywood and Slumdog Millionaire in him .. and of course , a new film …. Who wants to be the British Prime Minister.

    No no no … I am sure he has many quality assets , but he is similar to corriander .. a herb I dislike .

    What do you call a dinosaur who eats curry?
    Mega-sore-ass

      1. Fake dog – like his fake “filling up his car” shot.

        Shifty smug opportunist.

        1. Hello Bill

          I have suggested Rishi might be a good egg, but who on earth would you choose .. We haven’t done very well so far , have we.

          If Rishi becomes PM, he could be our largest weapon against the Muzzies , couldn’t he .

          1. Who to choose? None of the above. Whoever takes over, there will be no change in policy. Just more of the same old same old auto-destruct.

            He’d never take on the slammers. Not in a million years.

          2. I’d choose one of the women – not Mordaunt who thinks trans people are what they say they are;

            not Truss who doesn’t know where the Baltic is from the Balkans; Kemi seems sensible but she’s not so experienced – but I think Suella Braverman ticks my boxes.

          3. Not for me, I like my politicians generally not to be to the right of General Pinochet.

          5. He’s Hindu. We’ll have partition wars recreated in Blighty … er ……..

        2. All smarmy style, absolutely no substance. Reminds me of someone else, someone in govt who ‘was the future, once.’

      2. Ah, hello puppy. You need lots of food, don’t you? Yes you do. Hah! I’m taking two thirds of it! Ha ha ha! Haaa haaa haa! See how you like that, puppy! You won’t grow up properly now, will you?

      3. No actual contact or the slightest emotion shown not a fan of dog’s.
        Just the usual political pose.
        Cold and rather meaningless.

    3. Wot! He’s a breadstick! His head is huge and his body could snap in two in a strong wind!

    8. Frankly, I don’t care what he looks like, Maggie. I want him to be a) fiscally responsible b) prudent in keeping expenditure within our means, c) in favour of small state and low taxes (see b) and d) on the side of the UK.

      1. He seems to be the only one talking about the need for tough medicine now to prevent worse consequences later. All the other contenders are promising tax cuts and financial “help” straight away – in one case “from Day One”. My question is “was the largesse in the lockdown his idea or Johnson’s?”

  60. A Birdie three here too

    Wordle 388 3/6

    🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
    ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. A typical 4 for me.
      Wordle 388 4/6

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

      1. Buried in a Bunker!

        Wordle 388 X/6
        🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
        ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟩
        ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟩
        ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
        ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
        ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
        I mistakenly assumed the the first letter was excluded …

  61. 354169+ up ticks,

    Post
    Gerard Batten
    @gjb2021
    ·
    21m
    I hear Mogg couldn’t get the support of the money-men backers, & so he has decided to back Truss who has their support.

    Most likely she has promised him a seat in the Cabinet, which he is unlikely to get from Sunak.

    It doesn’t actually matter who wins as the man giving the orders will still be Klaus Schwab.
    Backed of course by the electorate majority again no doubt, I cannot fathom out what the majority voter of recent times see’s in the likes of the old dishcloth.

    https://gettr.com/post/p1i20ep4e3e

    3. I had a mare which after my 2nd guess I would never have expected.
      Wordle 388 X/6

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

      1. Having got those four, there are 10 possibilities, though two of them are rare.

        I’ve had similar failures with three or four greens, or got one at the last attempt.

        1. My first word excluded 2 of them. The second guess excluded another. 4 guesses to get that first letter and of course it was one I didn’t try. I could have worked out the first letter but i was busy guessing which of the 7 left it was.

    1. Should been watching 5 news Kim Wilde has just been on, at 62 she’s a legend.
      Her dad was pretty good in his day.

          3. Good answer. I wondered why so many of my older female friends were keen on Yoga!

  64. Now get this….spoke to a lady outside today and Helga from the office, the inmates manager, is absent because she has “covid” for the 3rd time. These people are jabbed up to the eyeballs. And, could it possibly be a summer cold?
    This nonsense must stop and soon.
    Oh, and after me saying all the red spots had gone… a large one appeared yesterday on my left arm.

    2. I feel for you – just when you thought they had gone. A constant reminder on your arm.

    3. Just skiving, Ann.
      If it’s of any use to you, I had a yellow Volvo at one time that I christened, Helga the Horrible.

      1. Not her real name- we nicknamed the office staff Helga and Herr Flick. Not to their faces, of course.

      1. 354169+ up ticks,

        Evening B3,
        Never happen without a party of decency & integrity in play, just more of the same guaranteed.

    4. 354169+ up ticks,
      O2O,
      Think as the member / voter thinks the party COMES FIRST & FOREMOST.
      They are from the other side of town & someone else’s kids anyway.

      Today’s mindset.

  66. I just sat down with a coldie, pouring with perspirationbut moping as I go, but not perspective.
    5 news is on, what on earth has been happening in Telford ? The word ‘community’ has been mentioned quite often.

    1. Pakistani Grooming Rape Gangs being allowed to rape, abuse and prostitute underage girls with impunity.

      2. They are absolute shite, we need to chuck them all out. Everywhere they go they create more than their fair share of trouble.

        1. These rape gangs – they need their throats slit. Bastards. Who stands up for the girls?

    3. The authorities ignore it all until they are forced to act. The pimps are sent prison. However the customers do not figure In the arrests. They are left alone. There are hundreds of them, if not thousands.
      This activity is not hidden. It is condoned implicitly, if not explicitly, by the “community” including mothers, sisters and wives of the criminals.

      1. If you watch a bbc TV short series named Blood and Gold with Simon Sebag Montefiore.
        He brings to notice the terrible period of Islamic rule from the Alhambra Palace. The Moor sailors use to travel around the south coast of England probably Wales and Ireland kidnapping Young children. They kept them (thousands at a time) in caves next to the Palace for the delight of the hierarchy. When they were finished with them they threw the children into the enclosures of the captured loins.
        Only the sailors and lions have change.

  67. I don’t know why but i added an extra letter when I read this Beeb headline….

    “BREAKING
    Jeremy Hunt makes the cut”

  68. That’s me for this peculiar day. No sunshine – clouds and very sultry. At lunchtime, the rain radar said it was raining hard here. Not a drop. About 3.30 there were half a dozen large drops – that’s all. Some more suggested in the next few hours – but I remain unconvinced.

    As I do about the Tory shambles. Whoever “wins” will make no difference to anything. The Titanic chairs will be shuffled and all the losers will have prizes. And the death knell of The Conservative Party continues to toll.

    On that note – have a jolly evening.

    A demain

    2. I see the big heat has moved on from Saturday and its now Sunday and Monday.

      1. Drizzling here. Funny – that “dangerous high temp” was rather low when we were in France three weeks ago…. The SEA was 24ºC

  69. Javid has withdrawn, as has the other Pakistani, the previously unknown Chishti.

    Those who go onto the ballot: Badenoch, Braverman, Hunt, Mordaunt, Sunak, Truss, Tugendhat, Zahawi.

    Has any of them talked of the importance of the idea of a nation, its people and their history? It seems to me that all the blather has been about specific policy areas with the exception of immigration, which they don’t much want to talk about. We’re not really a nation any more, are we?

    1. …….a nation, its people and their history?

      If my memory serves me right some *rsehole gave it away….

    2. They must be people who understand our culture and not try to impose their own. It IS England.

      1. For that, I’d trust Braverman and Badenoch. Sunak’s nationality is Planet Rich. Zahawi is not much integrated at all as far as I can see.

    4. Badenoch’s the best of a bad bunch. Someone on TCW said that Gove is supporting her because he wants to bring her voters into Sunak’s group when KB gets eliminated, which sounds plausible.
      I’m not supporting that plonker Hunt, WEF Truss, Gates Mordaunt or Bilderberg Tugendhat just because they’re born of parents whose ancestors were bred in these isles.

          1. My nan loved him, but she was also known to scream “Don’t let that darky doctor near me” at the top of her voice through Bury St Edmunds hospital.

          2. If you take a look at the Consultant Staff lists of any NHS Hospital Trust I guess over 60% these days would scare your nan!

          4. i disagree – soon it will be important to emphasise the rights of the white indigenous minority….

        2. Don’t think so, rather the opposite. She was a software developer in a former life.

      2. If Badenoch has appointed Gove as a supporter, she has made grave – and possibly fatal – mistake.

        Grove is a rat; he’s got form.

        2. He may have declared his support. What do you do when a big hitter like Gove says he wants to join your campaign with his crew of followers?
          I think I would suspect that his followers might not be voting exactly how he says they will….

    5. Most of those have little or no connection to this nation, so why should they consider it important?

  70. Javid has withdrawn, as has the other Pakistani, the previously unknown Chishti.

    Those who go onto the ballot: Kemi Badenoch, Suella Braverman, Jeremy Hunt, Penny Mordaunt, Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, Tom Tugendhat, Nadhim Zahawi.

    Has any of them talked of the importance of the idea of a nation, its people and their history? It seems to me that all the blather has been about specific policy areas with the exception of immigration, which they don’t much want to talk about. We’re not really a nation any more, are we?

      2. This is a recent (unpublished) letter I wrote to the DT:-

        Dear Sir,

        The EU Schengen Agreement, which provides for freedom of movement within much of the EU, is responsible for the accumulation of migrants along the French coast. Whereas the first ‘safe’ country reached by migrants is supposedly obliged to consider asylum applications, once in the EU these migrants can travel unhindered to the French coast with the blessing of the countries passed through, these countries being relieved of the inconvenience of processing asylum applications. This freedom of movement can be done without the passports or documentation with which the migrants presumably entered the EU in the first place.

        Without the Schengen Agreement, each country along the way would be reluctant to permit entry and the flow of migrants would cease. Little wonder that the EU, and France in particular, are failing to stem the flow.

        Yours faithfully

    2. More stupid unessesary idiocy from Westminster. And yes they expect us to vote for them. The Useless bastards.

    1. Throughout Wales? That’s going to make the trip to Oswestry very interesting as the road goes in and out of the border constantly!

      2. Daft isn’t it Conners. Once again our politicians eff up everything they come into contact with.

          1. I put the loss of commonsense down to having too many silly and suggestive boxes to tick.
            And the excess of common stupidity.

    2. Blimey the cyclists 🚴‍♀️ will be taking the lead. Have you asked the daft politicians if they have actually put much thought into this ?

  74. Have they not considered bringing back a safe pair of hands like IDS… or even this chap Sir Gregory Knight (born 4 April 1949) is a British politician, author and musician. He has served as the Conservative MP for East Yorkshire since 2001, having previously served as the MP for Derby North from 1983 to 1997. He served as a minister in the governments of Margaret Thatcher, John Major and David Cameron.

    1. Too late …nominations have closed.

      For what we are about to receive …God help us!

  75. Evening, all. Been a very muggy, close day here today. Not conducive to doing anything much.

      1. Slight problem; I don’t have any Prosecco. 🙂 I did have a glass of Pinotage from Sarf Effrika.

    2. I thought Oscar was a doggie, Conners, not a moggie. Or were you referring to Bill Thomas’s two scamps, Gus and Pickle? Lol.

  77. I appreciate Mr Ward is not everyone’s cup of tea, but this made me smile:

    “The less-than-quiet campaign to blame everything on national leader puppets is well under way: on an almost daily basis now, another ball rolls down the alley and picks off some skittles. Boris has been ousted, it’s open season on Sleepy Joe, the Dutch government is facing a farmers’ revolt, Jacinda Ardern is being called “stubborn and naive” for landing New Zealand in a mega slump, and now it seems Macrony is facing calls to resign.

    His “Assembly majority” remains out of sight, there are leaks about him doing a secret deal with the much-despised Uber, and Marine LePen is promising “sensational revelations” about a Big Fix in the recent Presidentielle.

    Dutch farmers are blocking the border with Germany – whose own farmers are joining the protest against bonkers policies designed to conserve nitrogen use. Berlin is already flat on its economic back thanks to Russian retaliation against EUNATO, so the Plucky Little Ukraine caper is proving to be something of a disaster.

    But then, disaster is precisely what the NWO boys and girls want.

    The confusion and complexity being created and conflated is – even at this early stage – already so complicated it will become even harder to get decent people united behind anything or anyone perceived as a common enemy.

    And yet, at the same time I cannot help thinking that any violent resistance (such as we’ve already seen in Sri Lanka) capable of being dubbed “ungovernable” will play into the hands of those pulling the strings on hyperinflation, invented energy shortages, false vaccines, digitalisation of money, Climate emergency drivel and endless variants riding on pandemic waves.

    At times, one must allow oneself a wry smile. In his bid for Number Ten, for example, Rishi Sunak has vowed “to cut taxes once inflation has abated”. And in other news, King Herod has vowed to stop slaying all firstborn once the Baby Jesus has been located.”

    1. Could someone point out to Sunak that inflation is caused by high taxes?

      Dear life. What a moron. He was chancellor, for goodness sake. Worse, the oafish twerp was a banker for Goldman Sachs!

      1. High taxes don’t help but splurging conjured out of thin air £squillions tends to be the recognised cause of inflation.

        1. Aye, it is – the intentional debasing of the currency is what makes it worthless, but spiralling day to day costs are mostly down to taxation.

          Well, in reality the govenrment has made money worth less, then taken more of it, so people have less of something that buys them less. It was easily avoided, but government wants to keep taxing and wasting, keep borrowing. It could so easily have resolved the entire problem by cutting taxes and cutting state spending – although even I’d admit that cutting spending must come before cutting taxes, but Sunak shouldn’t have set about hiking them, either.

          It is the fundamental confusion that private wealth is the government’s to spend.

      2. Inflation was caused by excessive increase in the money supply during the pandemic, when he splshed the cash on furlough, and PPE, Track and Trace and other scams benefitting the Tories’ cronies.

      3. Inflation was caused by excessive increase in the money supply during the pandemic, when he splshed the cash on furlough, and PPE, Track and Trace and other scams benefitting the Tories’ cronies.

  78. My prediction for the new Leader of the Conservative party (and I will be extremely happy if I’m wrong but somewhat peed off if correct that I didn’t put a bet down at William Hill over 5 years ago when I tipped him as being groomed for the post) J Hunt Esq.

      1. Chinese wife & Son of an Admiral but will he have that Nelson (Mandela) touch?

    2. You cannot be serious, King Steph.

      He was the longest-serving incompetent Secretary of State for Health.

      And, he’s a Remoaner …

    3. What drives these people to do what they do, I wonder?
      It cannot be personnel gain, they must know what they are doing is going to destroy us all.

      1. My personal view is that anyone who desperately wants to be PM and puts their own name forward is unsuited for the job.

  79. Massive spread of redness in the sky tonight.
    Shepherd’s will be happy 😊

    1. Red light at night Shepherds’ delight

      Red light in the morning Shepherds yawning!

      2. Red sky in the morning, shepherds’ warning.
        Red sky at night, shepherds’ pie

  80. Oh well I’m orff now to treat my fly bites.
    As I served our dinner this evening, delicious pasta and aubergine arrabbiata.
    It started to rain.
    We manage to finish without getting wet. But I pushed my chair back and soaked it up a bit. Very refreshing feeling.
    Good night 😴 all.

    1. Turned my stomach that did.
      How’s it all going Paul? Hope things are progressing well.

      1. Last day today. Second skip goes, houseclearers in, trip to tip, and we’re done apart from the vacuuming.
        Utterly knackered, so we are.

        1. The best of luck especially in the hot weather. Lots of cold beers in order!

    2. Better late than never i suppose.
      The leopard can’t change his spots. This been happening since when Paki men first arrived. It is still happening now.

  83. So, you’ve got yer big bang which is more or less scientific orthodoxy, but what banged? None of yer Brian Coxes or Jim Alkalilis ever explains that.

    1. Prior to the ‘Big bang” the entire space we called the Universe must have been at Absolute Zero temperature. My limited understanding of Physics (failed O level) indicates that particles at that temperature are inactive. I often imagine that space prior to the big bang was not an empty vacuum but filled with particles at absolute zero. A single tiny spark would in effect create a custard power bomb like explosion that would ripple through the Universe creating the trillions of galaxies thought to exist today. To my mind a far more plausible explanation than “A universe created from nothing”‘

      1. ‘A single tiny spark would in effect create a custard power bomb‘

        So the universe just a trifle.

  84. Found a fragment of earthenware in the garden with an inscription. Roman?

    Ti sapo topis sin
    An dago odo netoo

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