Tuesday 2 March: Rishi Sunak’s once-in-a-lifetime chance to rebuild Britain’s economy

Posted on by Geoff Graham

An unofficial place to discuss the Telegraph letters, established when the DT website turned off its comments facility (now reinstated, but not as good as ours),
Intelligent, polite, good-humoured debate is welcome, whether on or off topic. Differing opinions are encouraged, but rudeness or personal attacks on other posters will not be tolerated. Posts which – in the opinion of the moderators – make this a less than cordial environment, are likely to be removed, without prior warning.  Persistent offenders will be banned.

Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2021/03/02/letters-rishi-sunaks-once-in-a-lifetime-chance-rebuild-britains/

708 thoughts on “Tuesday 2 March: Rishi Sunak’s once-in-a-lifetime chance to rebuild Britain’s economy”

    1. Looks like a nice day here. Hovering around freezing, but daylight & sunny.

      2. Good morning, Paul.

        Try wearing a fleece jacket while you’re doing your hoovering! 🤣

  3. 9pm BBC1 tonight: ‘Why is Covid Killing People of Colour? David Harewood sets out to investigate the high Covid-19 death rates in Black and minority ethnic patients in the UK, and what they say about health inequality in modern Britain.’

    Good to see it starting with a neutral view about the latter.

    1. Why is covid killing at all? POC often have low vitamin D 3 because of their skin colour so why weren’t they offered it? Why were they not offered Hydroxychloroquine or Ivermectin?.
      Is this gross therapeutic racism?

      1. We’ve looked at both and concluded there’s no therapeutic value in either against covid-19. All evidence on HCQ suggests it causes more problems than it fixes. Studies on Ivermectin have shown such wildly varying things that no consensus could be formed. Mostly it did nothing, some people got better, and a significant number got sicker.

        1. Excuse me, but that is simply misinformation. Hydroxychloroquine has been known to be useful for treating covid viruses since 2012. The Lancet apologised for publishing the infamous study where it was dosed too late that claimed to prove that it was ineffective.

          This shows up the weak point of using science as a religion. Scientific studies can very easily be manipulated to give the “result” that you want, and muddy the water forever.

          1. We’ve stopped all trials into HCQ. No new trials. Our physicians, virologists, and pharmacologists have concluded it has no benefit in the treatment of covid and can cause life-threatening side-effects. The reward isn’t worth the risk. We did look at it and found no discernible benefit.

          2. Who is this “we” of which you speak? There is a lot of evidence of HCL working to treat covid viruses. Even Fauci is on record as admitting this in an article in 2012. Just do an unbiased search on DuckDuckGo and you’ll find the results for both HCL and Ivermectin.

          3. We as in the UK. There’s been studies on HCQ. The general opinion is no therapeutic benefit. Looking at randomised trials it’s clear to see.
            Things maybe more hopeful for Ivermectin but so far studies into that have shown various results leaving no way to form a conclusion that it’s helpful treatment.
            Both inhibit covid in vitro but there’s no proof of either working in vivo.
            HCQ suppresses the immune system therefore it will suppress some of any inflammatory response. In some cases I imagine that could be helpful, in other cases it could be downright detrimental. It’s also known to cause cardiac arrhythmias which can be fatal and these are more pronounced at higher doses. The highest possible daily dose is the recommended treatment for covid.

          4. Sorry, there are so many inaccuracies and omissions in that post, I don’t know where to start. You are free to believe what you have just written if you want.

    1. He’s certainly not short of advice on what to announce tomorrow. And there are predictions galore, many contradictory, of what he will announce. I for one am happy instead to wait another day to see what the reality is. One thing is for sure, once he has made his announcement he will be assailed by everyone for what he has decided to do.

  5. SIR – In the past seven days, deaths with Covid-19 have fallen by more than 33 per cent, and hospital admissions by more than 21 per cent.

    Scientists and politicians will attribute this news to the lockdown and vaccination programme, but a build-up of natural immunity, seasonal factors and new treatments may also have played a role. We don’t know.

    However, what we do know is that the economy needs rebooting, and fast. Tomorrow’s Budget may be the most important of our lifetimes. Good luck to Rishi Sunak. His numbers will be equally important.

    Christopher Hunt

    Swanley, Kent

    SIR – The self-employed who operate as directors of limited companies have received minimal support from the Government during lockdown.

    A rise in corporation tax (report, February 28) would be the final kick in the teeth for many of them.

    Sean Bellew

    London W12

    SIR – On top of not being entitled to statutory sick pay, maternity or paternity pay or most forms of “unemployment” benefit, many self-employed people have received no financial support over the past year, despite being prevented from working.

    ADVERTISING

    A “tax raid” would be wholly unjustifiable.

    Michael Heaton

    Warminster, Wiltshire

    SIR – Nick King and Jake Berry (Commentary, February 13) argue that the Tories must deliver radical change for Red Wall voters. The North, and especially the North East, suffers from serious deprivation, which has been exacerbated by Covid-19. Mr King and Mr Berry are correct: there needs to be a northern Big Bang.

    The best way to achieve this is through freeports. The 30 or so bids submitted go far beyond simply providing a tax-free customs gateway. Our North East England Freeport is focused on building new clusters of industry, centred on existing assets such as Nissan, battery production and renewable energy. They are expected to attract £2.7 billion in private-sector investment and create 14,000 “better” jobs in highly paid, emerging industries with a long-term future.

    Our nascent wind energy industry is flourishing. The Port of Tyne will soon the base for the world’s largest offshore wind farm, and the floating offshore demonstrator at Blyth is expanding.

    Advertisement

    ADVERTISING

    We need to bring freeports to completion and deliver for the North.

    Matt Beeton

    Chair, North East England Freeport

    Chief executive, Port of Tyne

    SIR – Mr Sunak has a very easy option for raising money: increase the personal allowance to £20,000 and add 5p to both the basic and higher rates of income tax. We are all going to pay it anyway. It might as well be transparent and easy to collect.

    Karen Sandler

    Manchester

    1. A director of a limited company is never self-employed. They are and actually have to be employees.

      The only self-employed people that didn’t get help were those without three years of accounts.

      The only businesses helped by freeports are those importing merely to export somewhere else at a slight profit. What’s that? 0.0000000001% of our economy?

  6. Morning again

    Denied care funding

    SIR – Jeremy Hunt, the former health secretary, has no credibility regarding his proposals to reform social care.

    His comment about “the injustice of making someone pay for their care just because they have dementia, rather than cancer” (Comment, February 27) is hypocritical in the extreme.

    During his period in office the number of old and very ill people who were unlawfully denied NHS continuing healthcare funding significantly increased, and is now 
the subject of an application for judicial review.

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    Rear Admiral Philip Mathias (retd)

    Southsea, Hampshire

      1. Do you know anyone that holds Jeremy Hunt in high regard?

        If you do point them in the direction of the nearest psychiatrist, they need help!

        1. I came across him at Oxford. He used to make clumsy jokes about bosoms. I always had the feeling that he felt that he was daringly interacting with the lower classes in a way that he thought was how they spoke – I found the implications somewhat insulting. He was only ever interested in oriental women.
          He was an amiable asshole.

  7. Statins, pain and the negative placebo effect

    SIR – The conclusions of Ian Smethurst’s experiment on himself to determine whether statins cause muscle pain (Letters, February 27) could be explained differently if he were very susceptible to a negative placebo effect.

    He might consider it worth repeating as a double-blind test to verify his results. Your report (“Statins not to blame for muscle aches, says study into common symptom”, February 25) indicated the strength of this well-known medical phenomenon.

    Mike Jeffes

    Baldock, Hertfordshire

    SIR – I started on a low dose of Atorvastatin and after six weeks developed severe muscle pain in my leg that made getting out of bed extremely painful. Within a week of stopping, the pain disappeared. I then started a different statin (Pravastatin), and again, after six weeks, developed even more severe muscle pain. Again, within a week of stopping, the pain disappeared.

    If Professor Liam Smeeth (report, February 25) is confident that statins do not cause muscular pain, perhaps he would accept my challenge. Every six months he gives me a placebo or a statin I have previously tried. If I fail to identify which it is, I pay him £5,000, but if I do he pays me just £2,500.

    Advertisement

    David Ray

    Norwich

    1. David Ray. Have you considered the Statins are not the cause of your severe muscle pain but highlights an underlying condition?

      You sound quite smug to me in trying to prove your point. Let’s hope you are right.

      1. I had very similar consequences when I was prescribed statins. No muscle pain before- severe pain afterwards. Coincidence? I think not.

        1. See my post to Datz above.

          Not everyone suffers these side effects and i would hate to think that someone who would benefit from Statins was put off taking them because anecdotal letters published in a national newspaper.

          1. Of course some people do well. And I agree that on should not be put off by a letter in a carp newspaper. However, it is an anecdote worth bearing in mind…

            My GP was adamant that I should take them. I did – two different ones – and suffered disproportionately.

          4. Weren’t GPs “encouraged**” to increase the number of their patients on statins some years ago?
            ** (With financial inducements or else by Government bullying?)

          5. My GP admitted exactly that and conceded that me stopping statins was justified. My cholesterol is normal and all the pain gone

      2. Some years ago I was instructed by SWMBO to have a cholesterol check, I wasn’t ill and I had no past or ongoing health problems or any family history of Heart problems, but even so I agreed and had it checked , yep quite high so went on the statins. After a while I was aware of discomfort in my right shoulder but put it down to one of the many slings and arrows advancing age. Within a couple of years putting my right hand into my back pocket was too painful but, whatever arthritis/rheumatism? meh. I mentioned this to my uber-hypochondriac who said are you on statins if so stop for a couple of months, I didn’t believe him but did anyway and yes within two months I could ferret about in my back pocket without discomfort. This was over ten years ago and I’ve not suffered since (yet)

        1. I have heard of people suffering these pains but i also know it is dangerous to self diagnose. A professional opinion should also be sought.

        2. There are several brands of statins.
          MB found them unbearable, yet a friend has been taking them for a year with no ill effects.
          Part of the problem may be that the NHS goes for the cheapest version.

        3. I don’t have the problems you experienced, Datz. For one thing, I would have refused statins had they been suggested. And secondly, I never have enough to cash to keep it in my back pocket! :-))

  8. One of the most intelligent, pertinent and on-point letters of the year published in the DT, this morning, by a good friend and occasional NoTTLer.

    Well done that NoTTLer. 😊👍🏻

          1. My learned friend should be aware that I am not at liberty to disclose the identity of the member who secretes his/her integrity behind a pseudonym.

          13. “Biden fails to mention Dr Seuss.” I wish the rest of the world (NoTTLers included) would refuse to mention Biden (and others too many to list, including Oprah Winfrey’s interview guests this evening).

          15. Can you tell us which letter? We wont know who it is if their real name is nothing like their avatar name.

  12. And another Good morning all. Misty and -1° in the yard.

    A good letter from Tim Weale on the 1662 Prayer Book and a response:-

    Calm in the collect
    SIR – I was struck by Lucy Denyer’s piece (Comment, February 27) lauding the use of the Book of Common Prayer in the Church of England.

    I too find the 1662 Prayer Book comforting. Evensong in a country church on a warm summer’s evening is very special. I am particularly moved by the evening collect, which seems so apt in these troubled times: “Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord; and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of thy only Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ.”

    These calming words bring solace to the end of the day in a purposeful yet peaceful way.

    Tim Weale
    Longparish, Hampshire

    Robert Spowart
    2 Mar 2021 8:09AM
    Reference Tim Weale on the 1662 Prayer Book, according to the preamble of the book, it was intended that the language and style of the book be updated as time progressed.

    Unfortunately for that idea, the original authors did such a superb job that none of the updated orders of service have come anywhere close to matching the beauty of the original.

      1. Ha.. As it happens i bought a pair of kurt Geiger boots in a sale. Quite rad don’t ya think?

          1. My life savings. The max. But don’t tell anyone or i would have to shoot you.

      2. Counting the 2 x £25 consolation prizes this morning, I’ve had 9 £25 wins over the past year giving me an interest equivalent of just under 1%.
        With the prize numbers being reduced, it’ll be interesting to see what I get over the coming year.

    5. Morning Phizzee Rishi Sunak will have his eye on you. Prizes will be rare this year due to the extremely low interest rates. I’ve tried to work out what £50000 would get you at 0.01% and the answer is £5. I can’t believe that is correct but I tried several times and got the same answer. You are well ahead of the game.

      1. Good morning, clydesider ,

        I don’t believe NS&I are directly linked to the interest rate.

        I know they have changed the prize payout structure.

        They adjust the structure occasionally due to market conditions.

    3. Was it that he got banned for haven posed for the photo or because he had authorised some gruesome death for an aged or terminally sick horse? The photo he had taken may be in poor taste, but I fail to see what business it is of the racing authorities, unless some else untoward occured. If that was the case, surely the RSPCA/Police should get involved for an animal welfare matter.

      1. The horse died of a heart attack on the gallops. Gordon said he was in the process of organising its removal when he received a phone call and without thinking he sat down then someone took a photo. The IHRA and the BHA have reacted to the Twitterstorm that publication caused. Gordon’s horses have been banned from running in England pending investigation by the Irish branch. Tiger Roll won’t run in the National not because he’s trained by Gordon (he could run if he were switched to a different trainer), but because O’Leary (the owner) thinks he’s been given an “unfair” weight by the handicapper.

    4. If he’d butchered the dead animal and sold its meat for consumption in a Belgian market, no one would have batted an eyelid.

    5. This is another making a mountain out of a molehill. I heard that his phone rang and he sat on the horse’s body to answer it. A perfectly natural thing to do. Horses are sat on most of their adult lives. The Irishman may have a grudge against the man.

  16. A cynical old man writes:

    Surely the “fantastic” decline is “cases” and hospital admissions is nothing whatever to do with vaccination but merely evidence that we are at the tag end of the most recent wave. The bloody graphs show that. Grrr. Soon there will be a third wave and a fourth wave and the graphs will be remarkably similar – enabling HMG to impose a “more stringent” lockdown each time.

    1. Come on, Bill, if it’s (finally) good enough for Micron, there must be something in it. Bonjour, btw.

      1. Maybe the First Mother has been given the O/AZ jab and is still above daisies.

    2. Face saving (other body areas are available).
      The government was stampeded into ill thought out measures and is now trying to back track without having to pay for it. That monetary bill will be picked up by the PBT (poor bloody taxpayer).

  18. The West’s vaccine complacency, 2 March 2021.

    It’s an attitude reflected across much of the West — the goal of western countries has been to inoculate their own populations, then start sharing. This leaves poorer countries — even long-term allies — with little option but to turn to China and Russia. Across the world, recipients of Beijing and Moscow’s vaccines are loudly stating their gratitude, while the benefactors are making sure to reap the soft power rewards. It’s a game that the West has been slow to come to, but as Dominic Lawson recently wrote in the Sunday Times, ‘our aid should be openly and without embarrassment aligned with our geostrategic objectives’.

    Country’s don’t do gratitude; that is a human attribute, and even then it’s pretty thin on the ground. There might perhaps be a smidgen of civility but come the next crisis it will be forgotten.

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/The-West-has-been-complacent-about-vaccine-diplomacy

    1. Any chance of a reply on those queries on your post yesterday? Many thanks.

        1. I don’t see asking politely for proof – even newspaper articles – to back up their repeated daily claims about a certain Russian-related incident is not unreasonable, is it? This forum is about discussion, not just posting unverified claims and leaving it at that. And I hardly being rude here, am I?

          2. How is asking a question after someone posting very serious and unverified claims trolling? Does that mean if someone doesn’t asnwer a polite request that they get away with it?

            Surely if they posted the proof (including links to article, other proof), then I could at least read it, make my views known about if and then everyone would know about it and that might be an end to it. Silence and posting not corroborative evidence just makes things worse.

            Trolling is deliberately making petty and unjustified remarks and slights to someone. I believe I was more than justified arguing before that Ar’s credibility on this issue, IMHO, will be in doubt unless they post something other than just their own opinion.

          3. Yours is a circular argument. You keep asking for irrefutable proof of X being correct, but don’t yourself provide irrefutable proof that X is wrong.

            For example, I do NOT buy into the Skripal/Novichok/poison perfume story. Can I provide irrefutable proof? No I can’t, but I’m damned sure that from everything I’ve seen, including links by AS that the story we are being given has a Hell of a lot of holes in it.

            Araminta Smade over the years has posted links regarding Russian issues. There comes a point where posters lose patience with constant challenge, because the questioner will never accept the information posted, mainly because it doesn’t fit with their own equally unprovable beliefs.

          5. In case of doubt (because Disqus comments appear in an odd order) Stephenroi’s “Well said” comment and my uptick are in response to sos’s post, not EA’s.

          7. The difference is that AS continually makes the same claims on the same story – 3+ years old – every day, and without ever posting any evidence to back up their claims. Not once.

            Do you think I’m (or anyone else) is not entitled to ask questions of others when they post what are very serious claims, especially about a story thats 3+ years old? When I first asked them to provide some proof, they first off the bat accused me of being a member of the security services.

            If I had been asked such a question, I would either have said, ‘sorry, I have no proof, it’s just my theory’ or ‘here you go’ and posted the links to the articles, etc with the information I thought backed up my claim(s).

            That AS has done neither, and is now refusing to respond, to me, is rather telling. Just because they have been posting on this forum for a long time does not mean they are credible. I was posting on the Telegraph since around 2000, interracting with nottlers there (like Anne Allan) until September when I stopped subscribing.

            You have to ask the question why AS continually posts the same stuff on Russia, day after day, and barely, if at all, gets involved in any other forum discussions, especially the jokey banter ones, which often require an intimate knowledge of our country and its humour.

            That’s why my suspicions were initially raised. They have done nothing to dispell them, in fact, quite the opposite.

            You trying to silence me through accusations of trolling when all I have done is ask one question – politely – does not reflect well on you. I am trying my best to be reasonable here, but you’re not making it easy for me.

          8. Andy you seem to be capable of making your own mind up and so do we. No one is trying to silence you. However, worrying away like a dog with a bone over and over again just pisses off the rest of us. So very politely please give it a rest.

          10. I think from what i have seen that statement is a bit strong.

            Good morning, Minty.

          12. The answer is not in the details, of timing, of how sick people got that way, or how, or why, or any of that. I do not buy into the official story which has yet to be filmed by Disney or Lucas. The pattern is wrong. The overall scenario is wrong. Most of the people that the Russians have allegedly killed in the past are, in fact, dead. Sometimes they were allegedly killed by Bulgarian contractors.
            Assassination of unguarded individuals such as the Skripals is a piece of cake. Ring their door bell and when they answer shoot them twice. If you want to leave a message, just drop a Russian flag on the face of the corpse.
            That’s why I don’t buy this guff.
            Who did it, really? Well, which country do we know that apparently has thousands of security operatives but no security? Whose tough guys idly watch as children in theatres are blown to pieces by suicide bombers, where convicted terrorists are allowed to run riot with machetes?

          13. It was Araminta who pointed out all the holes in the official narrative point by point re the Skipals. Highlighting the absurdities of said narrative.

            As far as Russia goes it is obvious that the non-stop stories are placed in the media as part of the big game proxy war that has been going on for years.

            President Putin and Russia are not a threat to us, the EU is as has been demonstrated many times in recent years. IMO.

          14. If you say this has been done, why don’t they point to that post? That’s all I was looking for. It appeared that they and sos just wanted to shut down any debate into the matter and putting out insults (e.g. calling me a member of the 77th Brigade and other not so pleasant things).

            I’ve seen that tactic and language before when I was a DT subscriber from Russian state, EU and, yes Momentum trolls working on the BTL comments areas of articles, and for many years. Some are agressive, some just post ‘information’ and never reply to other readers’ comments, some engage in petty bickering to put others off getting involved in a debate because it’s too much hassle.

            Some also pretend to hate eachother on one article subject and then are all best buddies on another – normally those where their boss is being criticised or called out for some misdeed.

            All I am saying is be careful here, as I was on the DT comments sections, because there can be people posting who are not who they say they are and who have an agenda that is contrary to what it appears on the surface. I can prove 100% who I am and am happy to do so – including in person. I wonder if that can be said in other quarters?

            Best Regards,

            Andrew.

          15. Fair enough.

            In answer to your post yesterday about my saying our own security services may have been the ones involved with the Skripals.

            If you don’t think our security services don’t have a dirty tricks department where they would do such a thing then i think you are being a little naif.

            You only need to look at the released files on our security services and also the CIA to know that they are quite capable and have been involved in the disappearance of operatives and spies over the last 100 years. And that includes taking out foreign leaders.

          16. Most people are not who they say they are – I’m not an elephant – but we’ve all been posting here for years so we know most people’s little foibles. Araminta has an interest in Russian stories and is sceptical on the official narrative. So what? It’s her opinion. You have yours.

          17. “I am trying my best to be reasonable here, but you’re not making it easy for me.”

            Wow that so big of you, I feel truly humbled.

            I’m guessing that you don’t notice that many Nottlers post the same stuff day after day. Often it’s opinion, sometimes on decades old issues. If people choose not to respond to you that’s their privilege.

            As to your long history on the DT site, so what? Most people on Nottle can probably state the same, some quite possibly even longer than you.

          18. That would be rather difficult, given the Telegraph only started publishing online at all (and in a very basic way) in 1994 when a tiny percentage of the population had an internet connection. Perhaps you meant buying the physical paper.

            I have no problem in people professing an opinion – including daily, but what AS was posting was not an opinion, but making it look like fact. The word ‘opinion’ or IMHO/IMHO was never used.

            If a person decides not to respond to a question, yes, that’s their perogative, but I and others are just as much entitled to give our opinion on said posts, as long as they are reasonably put. Perhaps you feel that only people who agree with your or AS’s opinion should reply?

            That would be rather boring – and besides, I wasn’t questioning their other posts yesteday, in fact one I agreed with and said so. That doesn’t preclude me from disagreeing elsewhere.

            I wonder at why they and you are stringing this all out, when a short reply with the links showing what information backs up the original claims could put an end to all this back and forth.

            That both of you quickly resorted to insults and deflection rather than actually talking about the story at hand indicates to me that your evidence may be weak or non-existent. Happy to be wrong, if I can see something that brings something new to the table.

            I’ll leave it there in your and AS’s court.

          19. I’m almost certain I’ve had an internet connection since the early 90’s, it was compulsory because of my job. It was very slow and thus time consuming.

            I can’t speak for anyone else. But the reason I commented on your attacks was that you have been doing so almost since you arrived on Nottle.

            You don’t seem to see the irony in your accusing AS of being a Russian plant and AS responding in kind to you.

            As to not allowing comments unless one agrees, I think most people on Nottle, including AS will acknowledge I have disagreed with them at some point and sometimes heatedly so and vice versa.

          20. Sorry, but your acusation is pure bunk. This heated discussion has probably made up less than 1% of my posts since I started posting on this forum last year. Just look at my posts over the last week as evidence to prove this.

            If you’ve had heated arguments with other nottlers, why are you specifically gunning for me?

            The difference to you second one is can definitively prove I’m not some spook, but AS can’t/won’t.

          21. I’m hardly “gunning” for you, I’m only complaining on those posts which single out AS for attack, of which there appear to be quite a few.

            I don’t think you are, but just how can you prove you aren’t a spook and just what would persuade you AS isn’t?

            Have you got a letter from the CIA/Putin/MI6? And even if you have, why wouldn’t they give you such a letter as an alibi?

          22. Well said, Sos. I can’t imagine why the Russians, or any other large entity would insert its own misinformation agent on a site with such a small readership as this one.

          23. Andy, you’re doing yourself no favours at all with this persistent attitude. One could almost believe, despite your denials, that there is something macabre going on in the background.

          24. I wasn’t aware that getting to the truth of a matter was a bad thing. All this kerfuffle because someone refused to supply any supporting third-party evidence to back up some claims that are posted on a daily basis.

            That’s all I wanted – even a single link to a report. Not too much to ask, given how often said claims are posted on this forum.

            If no-one wants that, then that’s their business. We complain about left wing echo chanbers who don’t look with any sort of critical eye on issues they already have a ‘view’ on – maybe we should all look in the mirror (not The Mirror) once in a while to see if we’re doing the same on the other side.

      2. No and stop editing the threads. It’s stupid and Geoff likes his Blog the way it is!

        1. Why not post some evidence? I don’t understand, given things would significantly quieten down if you did. It doesn’t exactly help when you keep posting the same claims about the same 3+ year old story, day after day, is it?

          What has updating my own comments to, say, correct a spelling mistake or add something I just though of got to do with all this?

          1. Don’t be childish You’ve deleted three of my posts from yesterday’s threads. Who else but the Securtiy Services could do that?

          2. No I haven’t. The Disqus software sometimes deletes a post if someone is updating theirs as the reply was posted. It’s a glitch, and has happened to me the other way around a few times, including on this forum.

            If your still acusing me of being a member of the security services, then that’s a fantasy. As I said, I can 100% prove who I am (I am also not working at the moment) and can easily do so – including in person. Can you?

    1. Says it all, Ogga, not only about the Border Farce but also the Police (Keystone Kops) farce who are supposed to chase up and capture the slammers before they select and deploy their army of cannon fodder.

      Please, someone, give me a cannon.

  20. By Charles Moore

    What else is Roy Greenslade hiding from us

    If Roy Greenslade was so close to the IRA, he’s still got a lot of questions to answer

    Roy Greenslade worked for The Sun, was editor of the Daily Mirror 30
    years ago, and then became perhaps the best-known commentator on the
    press, in the press – and on the BBC. He also lectured on press ethics.
    During part of that time, I was editing this newspaper.

    We had good reason to believe that Mr Greenslade was a strong but
    covert supporter of Sinn Fein/IRA and a close friend of at least one of
    its leaders, Pat Doherty    . We drew public attention to this, feeling that
    it was disgraceful in itself, and made his press commentary dishonest;
    but were constrained by the laws of libel.

    And Tommy got jailed for identyfying rapists

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/03/02/else-roy-greenslade-hiding-us/

    1. “And Tommy got jailed for identyfying rapists”
      Sure,because however foul,vile and treasonous Greenslade is at heart he is still one of “Them”
      Tommy ain’t !!
      Edit
      Yo,OLT

    2. “And Tommy got jailed for identyfying rapists”
      Sure,because however foul,vile and treasonous Greenslade is at heart he is still one of “Them”
      Tommy ain’t !!
      Edit
      Yo,OLT

    3. 329802+up ticks,
      Morning OLT,
      Yes but one must remember that the said
      “Tommy” has been tagged as a far right racist in league with the likes of Gerard Batten yet another of the same ilk.

      These types were jeopardizing & questioning the integrity of the governance party’s, say it came out that paedophilia was found to be active among the governing class, that could even damage IMO the voting pattern.

    5. It fills me with disgust that our politicians are not also disgusted at the way that Tommy Robinson has been treated by the police and the legal system.

      Is there not one single MP who is prepared to stand up and say loudly and unequivocally that Tommy Robinson’s treatment brings shame upon the British systems of policing and justice?

      And is there not a single MSM outlet which is prepared to condemn the treatment he has received?

      .

  21. In order to join a BBC Scotland voter survey panel you are required to fill in a form and answer some questions about yourself. One presumes that this is so that the overall makeup of the panel will be representative and unbiased. Of course, of course, they need to know all this. A panel composed of people of whom they knew nothing might be considered more unbiased, maybe?

    Scroll to foot of article.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-56245482

    1. Morning Horace! Have you received the stuff about postal voting? It comes from votesafe.scot but when you open it Nicola Sturgeon and SNP logo magically appear, with a personal letter from the Dear Leader! If you choose to go for a postal vote, the form is returned (pre-paid) to Central Scotland Valuation Joint Board! I have no idea how much this guff is costing but I expect it’s coming out of her (held back) £1.2billion war chest!

      1. Not yet. I can’t remember if we have registered for postal voting, as we have no intention of joining a queue outside our polling station while a cold wind sweeps in from the Urals.
        Voter Registration was, I thought, a local matter via your Council office. If there is some central thing happening it is presumably to rig election results. I know that the Indieref was fixed.
        As I’ve mentioned previously, the SNP should be attacked on their record in office, and at the personal/candidate level, leaving no dirt unrevealed and no stone unthrown. There are no Queensbury Rules in politics.

        1. My old man tried to find out what was going on from the Electoral Register but they said they weren’t responsible for this letter! Looks like yet another stitch up!

          1. I have now checked with the Sultana and we have sent our postal vote application to the Electoral Registration officer at our local Council.
            The Central Scotland Valuation Joint Board seems to be some kind of oversight office for three Councils providing a “combined” service to save money? It is connected to the Scottish Assessors Association, link below. This is very strange.

            https://www.saa.gov.uk/about-the-saa/

          2. Layers and layers of obfuscation! Very strange, as you say. I’m off to do some more digging when Jackie Baillie has finished filleting the Lord Advocate and David Harvie! Most entertaining whilst ironing!

          3. Oh, I’ve missed it! I assumed!!! that it would be this afternoon. I suppose there might be a small mention on the BBC…
            Has the Lord Advocate boldly talked his way out of it?

          4. I’m not sure he could talk his way out of a wet paper bag! He can hardly string two words together without umming and aahing all over the place! Miss Baillie was extremely clinical, with a hint of the velvet glove! Very amusing!

          5. I am not surprised, really. Baillie is quite forthright and seems to have had elocution lessons since I listened to her 10 years ago.

  22. Always Choose A Memorable Password!

    A lady helps her husband install a new computer. Once it is completed, she tells him to select a password, selecting a word that he’ll always remember.
    As the computer asks him to enter it, he looks at his wife and with a macho gesture and a wink in his eye, he selects a word:

    mypenis.

    As he hits “enter”, to validate the selection, his wife collapses with laughter and rolls on the floor in hysteria!!

    The computer had replied: TOO SHORT- ACCESS DENIED!

    Always remember this. You don’t stop laughing because you grow old.

    1. You seem to have a long list of excellent jokes! I have also saved a number of jokes on my computer. This is one of my favourites:

      A young man was 15, and he was now seriously interested in girls. His mother noticed this and took him aside for a chat.

      She said, “It’s fine to go with girls and it’s OK to kiss them and hug them, but don’t do anything ‘down there’, because they have teeth and they bite.”

      He thanked his mother for her advice and assured her that he would remember it.

      After a while, he was going steady with a girl. About six months later the girl said, “I really like you, but all we ever do is kiss and hug and we never do anything ‘down there’”.

      He said, “That’s because you’ve got teeth and you’ll bite me”.

      She said, “Of course I haven’t got any teeth down there”

      He said, “Yes you have, `cause my mother said so”

      “OK’ she said, “I’ll prove it”. So she lifted up her skirt, pulled down her panties and said, “See – I haven’t got any teeth”.

      He said, “No wonder! Look at the state of your gums”!

      1. My “A Bumper Joke Book” currently has 506 pages. I think that that will do for the rest of 2021 – then I will either be dead or arrested, given today’s Stasi set up.

        Keep laughing and Fu*k the B*stards.

  23. OT – my French e-mail address has finally closed, a year after I terminated the contract. They said that the a/c would last for six months – so I did well!

    I only used it as a back up should my usual e-mail fail or go down. All mails were forwarded from one account to the other. I started to do this when the French system was down for three whole days, and I was still working.

    Any tips on a reliable e-mail system that is simple to set up and use and is free?

    2. I use gmail – but if you don’t want to be in hock to Google – BB2 recommended Proton mail.

          1. In case of gmail stopping working. These things happen. The French e-mail on Orange – the huge supplier – went down for three solid days – locking the whole population out of e-mail communication for that time. It wasn’t funny, as I was working then, and relied on e-mail for all communication.

            So I then opened a gmail account. That has not failed – yet. But my dual belt and braces system ensured that I could always see my e-mails.

          2. Gmail went down for six hours in about the last three years.

            Many businesses operate off a gmail email.

            It’s basically the most reliable email provider in the world, and it’s free, and there’s no limit to the accounts you can have.

          5. Actually it couldn’t have.

            You see you have two email addresses, and set up one to forward to the other, then it goes down, all the forwarding goes down too.

            The only way that would work is if you gave two email addresses and asked clients to cc one and send to the other.

          6. ‘Afternoon, Bill, I have 3 e-mail addresses, Hotmail (as was), Yahoo and Gmail. I use the latter mostly but ensure that everything from NTTL that automatically goes to Hotmail, is forwarded to Gmail. I don’t use Yahoo anymore as they got upset about my sending ‘funnies’ to many addresses. They identified it as ‘Spam’.

            Why can’t these idiots forget their ‘Social Duty’ and let people get on with life, as it really is?

        2. Use gmail and give all your details to Google.

          What’s to like about gmail?

          1. Google even know my BBC network login. They sent me an email once that listed all my passwords and informed me that they think I should change some of them as they’re not very secure. Yeah, right.

    5. I use gmail. Never had any problems and it’s free. Probably gets read by GCHQ but then doesn’t everything.

    6. ProtonMail, it’s private. You can pay for a VPN or an encrypted service if you want, but the basic email is free.

      I use hotmail as well, and I’m pretty sure Microsoft uses artificial intelligence to glean as much information as they can about me from my emails. Lately they have started suggesting creepy replies to my incoming emails.
      They are also not that reliable, and have been hacked at least once, losing a large number of log in details.

      2. Yahoo (does it still exist?) was one of the worst ones for being hacked. My spam box still gets full of hacked emails from people I know.

    8. This doesn’t meet your “free” criteria, but I use one.com to host my own domain name. With it I can create as many email accounts as I choose to manage in the form of name@.com – it is inexpensive and you can also have your own web site amongst other things if that is of interest. I’ve been with them for 10 years+ and never had cause to complain / migrate to an alternate hosting provider.

  24. SIR – As the use of lead shot declines, it is safe to assume that one family record will remain unbroken. When my grandfather, Sir Hugh Gladstone, had his appendix removed it was found to contain 48 pellets, a fact he proudly recorded in his book Record Bags and Shooting Records (1922).

    James Gladstone
    Newbury, Berkshire

    How strange , years ago during my nursing training, we had to get some experience in the operating theatre, observing and assisting, counting the swabs and that sort of thing . I can remember an elderly port raddled Admiral having his gall bladder removed, it was huge and full of gall stones , but the surgeon also decided to remove the appendix as well, it was a real old toxic mess , yes, full of lead shot !

    One of most unpleasant experiences eating game was the discomfort of finding yourself mouthing a few pieces of lead shot . Horrible.

    1. Not as bad as enjoying a toffee and then mouthing a number of amalgam fillings put in by a British-managed dentist.

      1. With any fillings or crowns toffees are an absolute no no.

        Pappy white bread is just as bad.

    3. I once ate some hare in a restaurant in St Malo. I bit down hard and a piece of shot split one of my teeth in two. The shot was so firmly lodged that I had to go to the dentist to dislodge it. He had great difficulty getting it out and when he did it shot across his surgery at an incredible velocity.

      1. I can imagine that !

        Decades ago I used to make delicious game casseroles , using fresh game from the days when my spaniels and I had been invited to various shoots either for picking up or beating !

        My family protested when they found lead shot in the meal . I remember when I was a child when grandpa shattered his tooth with a small ball of shot from eating hare pie!

        I was always very careful to search for shot in meat before I prepared a meal .

        I have lost the appetite for game in recent years .. big shoots slaughter so many birds just for the big money involved , then maybe a 500 bird days is regarded as a good day , then most of it is wasted and buried !

        1. When I was a boy my mother had an old woman called Mrs Lane who came in three mornings a week to do the cooking and light cleaning. She was a magnificent cook and her specialities were roasts, jugged hare (but only just about once a year) and steamed puddings. My parents used to invite their friends to lunch on the days when Mrs Lane was going to cook. I had a friend who spend a lot of his time staying with us and he always made sure to time his visit around Mrs Lane’s days.

        2. When I was young, the farmer held regular shooting parties. The workers and their families were expected to go out and act as beaters, forcing the game birds to fly.

          We never got to eat any of the game so we had no fear of shot in the pie but had bigger fears about where the shot might go as we were walking towards a group of drunks with shotguns.

    4. Now it’s steel or bismuth. need some weight behind it to fell a goose, for example.

      1. There are loads of Brendan’s videos on you tube. Don’t know when this was done.

        1. Odd isn’t it – it was published today and another about a week ago, maybe it’s unused footage from the past. I do enjoy his jolly pranking but I’ve found a little goes a long way these days

    2. Why do the Irish and why do we put up with it?

      Indeed this governmental behaviour of favouring illegal immigrants over the indigenous population must be one of the greatest causes of racism in both countries.

      Who would dispute this?

      Surely this means that the politicians are the ones who are genuinely responsible for generating interracial hatred in the same way that BLM is trying to do? Should they not be tried, convicted and put in prison for their hate crimes?

    3. Dave Cullen was saying over on his now defunct YT channel (on BitChute etc instead) that there’s an irish government ‘agenda’, similar to that of the UN’s 21/30 ones to take in a LOT of econimic migrants and to change society to a more woke one, with native Irish people being a minority within the next 50 years.

      Sounds like Biden is doing the same in order to guarantee his side always wins elections via a ‘grateful’ voter block, rather like Tony Blair did here in the early 2000s when opening the borders.

      Not good at all.

      1. So, when do we start shipping our (more than) surplus over to Eire. They can join the travellers who need to be sent home as well, ASAP.

  28. A bit rood(sic)

    ‘The economic recovery will be ‘powered by White Van Man’. Daily Fail

    The Sunak’s got his t’wat on; pay, pay, pay today!

  29. Good Moaning, from a Norf Essex where the sky is missing 49 of its shades of grey.

  30. Good morning, my friends

    Many of us will be thinking of the Duke Of Edinburgh and wishing him well. He has had a very long and interesting life and has won much affection and respect for his sense of humour, his plain speaking and his loyalty.

    I should imagine that whatever the Duke and Duchess of Sussex feel about Harry’s grandfather they will be praying very hard that the Duke of Edinburgh does not die this week – and especially on Sunday when, I believe, this shameful interview of the pair with Oprah Winfrey is to be broadcast.

    At such a time, for the British people to witness the self-centred and odious resentment and sense of grievance against those who originally wished them so well and their exploitative desire for vulgar publicity and financial enrichment would be the end of them. The British would feel such revulsion and contempt for the greedy, manipulative pair that they would never again be welcomed to set foot in our country. Harry will be as banished as his great, great uncle, Edward Vlll effectively was.

      1. Banish? Banish? Banishment is too good for ’em…In the past they would have ended up in the Tower.

          1. You didn’t take much persuading Stormy 😄😄😄! Loathsome pair. And there used to be such affection for Harry.

          3. I was in pre-deployment training with him prior to his first AFG tour. He was a good bloke. No airs and graces.
            Now he’s just just become a kn*b

    2. I hope that the royal family will use Philip’s illness to control the PR narrative around the Oprah interview. Philip would approve!

    3. I am so amazed that Prince Charles hasn’t read the riot act to Harry .. where is his authority , dare we read into things a little bit more seriously , and suppose that Harry really is the little B—–d that many many people assume him to be?

      1. We don’t know that he hasn’t. However, adult (in age) children will do their own thing.

    4. Afternoon Rastus. The odious pair deserve to be ignored. They won’t be, of course. Our poor Queen must be dreading it. I know HM is completely stoic and may well not watch it but she and Prince Charles can’t be looking forward to it

    5. As I wrote a few days ago:-

      He is a very old man who, after valiant service in the Royal Navy during WW2, has given a lifetime of service to our country.
      Sadly, it is time for us to let him slip anchor.

      3. The noun behaviour can be countable or uncountable. In more general, commonly used, contexts, the plural form will also be behaviour.
        However, in more specific contexts, the plural form can also be behaviours e.g. in reference to various types of behaviours or a collection of behaviours…         (Some Google page)

        …so be on your bests behaviours – or else!

    2. I absolutely refuse to Ben Dover forwards, just to get an NHS Rainbow Badge

      So, up yours Duckii

  33. Biden CANCELS Dr. Seuss: President bucks predecessors and omits author from his Read Across America Day Daili Fail

    And rightly so, his work contains offensive and misleading statements to say the least. Look at this cartoon for example – Satisfaction Guaranteed – Wild statements like that can only inflame, whatever it is that gets inflamed. Disgusting!

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DXTc6kzU8AAEJZe.jpg

    2. But he also wrote books like the Sneetches, which I have always assumed is a plea for racial tolerance. Why can’t they just forget about the cartoon above and leave his perfectly inoffensive books in circulation?

    1. That’s dreadful TB, It’s unfortunately just another of the many examples of just how increasingly uncaring the British are when it comes to their elderly.
      Older People only get properly looked after when they have sold all their property and possessions to pay a thousand pounds a week to sit in a chair in front of a TV all day.

    2. She was caught in the WASPI women trap when the pension age changed – but it doesn’t really explain why she has no income at all now.

  35. Well after my gargantuan efforts yesterday, cleaning the car, cutting the grass and strimming all the edges, i’m still tying to locate a couple of Philips (other brands are acceptable) ES light bulbs, at just under 4 quid each, for our out door lights. None available anywhere ?? Oh well our eldest has dropped off his jet washer with patio and decking cleaning attachments,………….next !
    Oh I almost forgot the good news arriving in a government brown envelope. On top of my three in a row lottery wins amounting to 12 pounds. A rise in the basic pension, a little over 4 pounds per week. Now able to afford one portion of a pastie and chips. (sarc) How about that Marcus Rashford, see how the frail and elderly are able to manage in times of woe and what a result eh ! After spending more than 53 years working, just ordinary folks toiling away. Some one in Switzerland was lucky enough to win the 182 millions Euro jack pot last Friday……the bastard 😎🤩

    1. John Lewis lighting have them at 4.00 each, but i can’t collect them at WGC the closest shop. I could get them at Knebworth and pay 2.00 extra to collect, plus of course the risk of a 2.000 fine for non essential journey.
      Readily available of course are light bulbs at 20 plus pounds each, that are radio controlled with (alexa) verbal commands……………really 🙄

      1. I resorted to Amazon for the right size dimmable etc halogen bulbs for my bedside lamp. Had to buy a dozen but that’s better than having to replace a nice lamp.

      2. Why do you think you’d be subject to a £2,000 fine?

        If you are stopped and told test elect to go to court. I read a week or so ago that the COS have refused to prosecute any of these ‘offences’ as none of them were illegal.

        The police, like most of the population, don’t know what the laws are.

        Go to Knebworth and get them.

        1. Our son is popping to WGC to Waitrose and John Lewis is only across the road he can nip in and get them for me.

  36. The police used to carry their truncheon where they could reach it when needed. Nowadays they have to remove several layers of clothing and get one of their mates to extract it. Do they really need them any more when there are better devices to be found in Boots and Ann Summers?

    https://th.bing.com/th/id/R8e9cddc0240fe73d8bc416b4401cfe28?rik=6PXWqbh0jCMI2w&riu=http%3a%2f%2fc7.alamy.com%2fcomp%2fCA40CG%2fwarwickshire-police-officers-with-a-gay-rainbow-flag-marching-to-celebrate-CA40CG.jpg&ehk=QAETnL6Q4XXXZJxBRW2RND1SVFzXYVF76ep%2fFq53iI0%3d&risl=&pid=ImgRaw

    1. Look at the smug grins of the foot-soldiers knowing they’re pleasing the powerful people. The police won’t be respected again until they get rid of this kind of sucking up to powerful pressure groups.

  37. 329802+ up ticks,
    We can rest assured that via the lab/lib/con ongoing agenda
    Mr a sarwar will be seeking a seat in westminster once there the ( new lab) will drop the old cloak of deceit & treachery and don the islamic ideology one, the instruction manual is in place along with the celebration feast with halal on the parliamentary canteen menu.

    https://twitter.com/TradBritGroup/status/1366354517999185921

      1. 329802+ up ticks,
        Afternoon P,
        I am led to believe it to be in arabic “friendly” which could very well be a pat on the back prior to the head parting company with the torso.

      2. It’s a whole one, but you can only see half because it’s gone up the anus prickly end first.

    2. Has Scottish Labour just elected the man who will deny Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP its precious majority?

      Tom Harris

      “Anas Sarwar has the one quality that all successful leaders possess: he annoys exactly the right people….he annoys Scottish nationalists…because he believes Scotland is better off in the United Kingdom and indeed was one of the 40 of us who lost their jobs in the Commons as punishment for helping the No campaign to victory in the independence referendum in 2014.”

      https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/03/01/has-scottish-labour-just-elected-man-will-deny-nicola-sturgeons/

      1. 329802+ up ticks,
        Afternoon WS,

        Re, Tom Harris,
        It is not his quality as a leader I would be wary of but him being a part of the quantity of islamic ideology followers that are gaining positions of power.

        The lab/lib/con coalition group are past masters at placement
        politicians, positioned to service the needs of the peoples via the lab/lib/con coalitions true future agenda.

        Signs = Everything is in place on the westminster site, many of the herd are up for kneeling so to speak, and a bit of submission is the easy route out, may even win one a holiday.

      2. 329802+ up ticks,
        WS,
        Same North of the border as South,
        The peoples go to the fools school of political dancing much to the delight of the politico’s,

        🎵
        You put the lab party in, take the SNP out
        do the oaky coky & shake it all about,
        followed by,
        You put the SNP back in, take lab back out
        do the oaky coky & shake it all about….

        Meanwhile,
        At the back of the dance school for fools yet another mosque is
        being built.

        Same in England only moreso.

    3. Only needs a slight tweak to remove the second ‘a’ and substitute a ‘u’.

      Like so many who come from those benighted countries and have to live with being named ‘Ashit’.

  38. Just slithering in with a book recommendation. “Free Speech and Why It Matters”, by Andrew Doyle. It was so refreshing to spend a few hours thinking, away from the bloody plague. My only complaint was that I got right to the end without disagreeing with the author once. I mean, what use is a book you don’t shout at a couple of times?

    I’d not recommend getting the Kindle version, as I did, though. His writing is admirably scholarly and therefore full of footnotes. As when reading Pratchett, turning the pages in such a book can be a little irritating, as you often end up in the footnote rather than on the next page.

    1. I find footnotes a bane.
      I read a fair number of history books and much prefer it when they are put at the back, (yes I know they are then not really foot notes), and thus one is not having the reading flow broken by what are often merely citations.

      The older I have become the more I notice it, I suppose it’s because citation is nowadays so very important to avoid accusations of plagiarism and so many works are being published. I suspect in part due to the proliferation of Universities where failure to publish “new” topics can mean losing a tenure.

      1. Nowadays they put footnotes in for everything. They tend to assume the reader is a complete idiot.

        2. Sometimes they are useful and interesting but again, as I get older I find them less so.

          You can probably recall him, I can’t at the moment, but I believe there was an Oxford Mathematics professor who used to stay with students and other academics and was very often cited. He moved around so much he could almost have been regarded as a homeless peripatetic teacher.

          One collected XX numbers on ones own publications calculated on by how far from the original citation/visit one was. It was a bit of an in-joke. The lower the number the more likely that the thought/information was original/newer.

      2. Yes; end notes are a lot easier to deal with. I suspect there’s no difference when reading digitally – all are treacherous!

        I believe the rash of citations is a defence against the “evidence please” automatic bleats. Certainly in this case – no-one can accuse him of making unsubstantiated claims. Sad to realise that someone defending the right to free speech knows he will be attacked for it.

        1. One man’s evidence is another man’s fake news, particularly when edited and taken out of context.

          There was an article recently where a well respected writer was commenting that young writers were self-censoring for fear of being cancelled later. I guess fear of a new woke that might not exist now.

      3. I find that by the time I’ve read the chapter, I’ve forgotten what the endnotes refer to 🙂

    2. Thanks for the recommendation, ATD. As a committed member of the Free Speech Union I’d be remiss not to own a copy.

  39. I shall be away for some time. An hour preparing for a bonfire; half an hour on the bike; a haircut, a shower and then jigsaw. What a busy afternoon!

    Gets me away from the ridiculous “budget..

    1. Indeed – ‘merely existing’ is not enough, not even in the same ballpark, country, galaxy as having a proper life.

  42. Four accused of pulling down Edward Colston statue to go on trial in December. 2 February 2021.

    Four people accused of toppling a bronze statue of the slave trader Edward Colston in the centre of Bristol will stand trial in December.

    All four pleaded not guilty to the charge and were granted unconditional bail until the trial which was listed to begin on December 13.

    Ahead of the hearing, the legal firm representing three of the four defendants released a statement.

    Raj Chada, head of criminal defence, and Laura O’Brien, associate, at London-based law firm Hodge Jones & Allen, said they would fight the charges “vigorously”.

    This is obviously to be a “Show Trial”. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Olusoga and his pals up there in the Witness Box!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/03/02/four-accused-pulling-edward-colston-statue-go-trial-december/

      3. Exactly so, Phil. I don’t see that they can plead not guilty and fight the charges “vigorously” when video evidence shows that the statue was in fact criminally toppled and that they were the criminals who toppled it.

        Seems to me that the best the defence can do is to offer the usual feeble excuses in mitigation, in the hope of receiving a more lenient sentence for their clients, whereas what they should get is serious jail time – “pour encourager les autres” – and be ordered to pay the total costs to the taxpayer in dealing with the case, including the costs of their legal aid.

        But I’m thinking they’ll just get a slap on the wrist. No judge will have the cojones to hand down an exemplary sentence for fear of offending BLM and the reaction that offence may provoke.
        :¬(

        1. They won’t get prison time and they will probably dodge a fine. Probably a community service order. If that.

      4. I think it’s the new kind of justice. We wuz right, so it wasn’t a crime.

      2. According to the .gov site, as its being heard at a Crown Court (from the DT report), most trials will have a jury, though not all. The report doesn’t say either way.

        https://www.gov.uk/courts/crown-court

        Let’s just hope that these miscreants get what they deserve.

  43. More than seven million people in the UK are living in areas with negligible Covid cases

    Bill Gardner, Alex Clark 16 hrs ago

    More than seven million people in the UK are living in areas where cases of Covid-19 have almost disappeared, analysis by The Telegraph has revealed.

    Hundreds of neighbourhoods across the country recorded close to zero cases last week, despite being under national lockdown restrictions.

    Cases have fallen so low in many areas that Public Health England has deliberately “suppressed” data to protect the tiny number of infected people from being shamed on social media.

    On Monday night, MPs suggested that slides shown at Downing Street press conferences were failing to communicate that the virus has nearly disappeared across large swathes of the country.

    Latest figures show that 971 of 6,791 local areas across England recorded fewer than three Covid-19 cases in the seven days up to Feb 23. Around 7.3 million people live in these neighbourhoods, or 13 per cent of the total population.

    Areas reporting between zero and two cases are marked by NHS England as “suppressed”, meaning the true number of positive tests is withheld. Official guidance states this is to prevent the small number of infected people from being publicly shamed due to their “rarity or uniqueness”.

    Across the country, around a third of rural MSOAs (or Middle Layer Super Output Areas, a geographic hierarchy designed to improve the reporting of small area statistics) are now marked as “suppressed”, including large parts of Cornwall, Devon and Wiltshire.

    However, the virus has also effectively died out in pockets of England’s largest cities, with around a tenth of urban areas reporting between zero and two cases last week.

    In London, which was hit hard by the Covid-19 second wave, “suppressed” neighbourhoods included Notting Hill West, Pimlico in Westminster, Balham in Wandsworth and Hampstead Town in Camden.

    Meanwhile, Greater Manchester neighbourhoods including Trafford and Oldham, as well as Liverpool City Region areas including Wirral and St Helens, also saw cases drop to near-zero.

    The data also reveals that neighbourhoods hit hardest by the Kent variant at the end of last year have also seen cases plunge to negligible levels.

    Of the 100 most infected areas of England during the peak of the second wave, eleven were marked as “suppressed” last week.

    These include the rural area surrounding Waltham Abbey in Essex, one of the first counties hit by the more contagious strain of Covid-19 at the end of last year. The area now has at most 34 infections per 100,000, and potentially none at all.

    National heat maps shown at Downing Street press conferences are usually divided into 315 Lower Tier Local Authorities, rather than at a granular neighbourhood level. Much of the map presented by Prof Jonathan Van-Tam on Febr 26 was coloured green or blue, suggesting case rates of between 50 and 100 per 100,000 people.

    However, more localised data divided into 6,791 MSOAs reveals that cases have fallen to near-zero in many areas.

    Bath and North Somerset, for example, was coloured light green in the Downing Street slide, suggesting a case rate across the area of around 50 per 100,000.

    Yet the map failed to show that 16 of the 27 MSOAs in Bath and North Somerset recorded between zero and two cases last week. In the city of Bath itself, only two out of fourteen neighbourhoods recorded three or more positive tests.

    Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Tory MP for the Cotswolds, suggested the slides should be “clearer” that some areas had seen Covid-19 cases fall to near-zero.

    “I think there should be as much transparency as possible,” he said.

    Yet the data also reveals worrying spikes in infections in the Midlands and east and west coast of England, following government warnings that one in five local authority areas in the UK had seen a rise in coronavirus cases in the last week.

    Local flare-ups include the rural area of Underhill and The Gove in Dorset, which between the weeks ending Feb 16 and Feb 23 saw its case rate more than double from 364 per 100,000 to 877.

    Likewise, the urban neighbourhood of Wetherby East & Thorp Arch in Leeds saw its case rate more than quadruple from 299 per 100,000 to 1252 over the same period.

    A Cabinet Office spokesman said: “Using Local Authority level statistics at our press conferences means we can strike the right balance of showing data in an easily readable format, while allowing people to see what’s happening in their area.

    “We are constantly looking at ways to improve the presentation of data at the press conferences, and we regularly publish MSOA data on our gov.uk dashboard.”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/03/01/seven-million-people-uk-living-areas-negligible-covid-cases/

    1. In my area, the number of new cases per 100k people has fallen by 80-90% over the last two months and is still falling at a reasonable rate, now around 50. Even the areas nearby that have higher infection rates (mostly large towns) are only at a rate my area was about 2 weeks ago, way below the levels before and sometimes after the autumn lockdown.

    2. More than seven million people in the UK are living in areas where cases of Covid-19 have almost disappeared, analysis by The Telegraph has revealed.

      Actually I live in an area where to all intents and purposes there has been no “pandemic.” Four people died from it in the first two months and one since!

      1. Our postcode area occupies about 1.2 square miles. About a half is residential, the rest is open space and commercial, including a retail park with a branch of Tesco. We too have had just four deaths, two in April, one each in Sept and Dec.

        EDIT:
        Update – 2 more in January (I somehow managed to find an out-of-date map).

        1. Mine is about the same William. If it were not for the MSM no one would have known there was a “Pandemic”.

        2. My local rag is still reporting “Covid deaths”. I’d put money on these being people who had underlying problems and happened to get Covid.

      2. In my town ( of appx 24k souls ) there have been 24 deaths with covid over the last 12 months most of them with underlying serious health problems early on in the panicdemic, we have 10 or more care homes in the area which may have a bearing on that, we have also had a huge influx of day trippers enjoying the turgid brown waters of the Bay ( back to the heady days of pre 1965 ) who have caused outrage in our curtain twitchers and FB fanatics by their refusal to G.A.F. and just enjoy themselves.

      1. Perhaps in an area such as yours there are numerous Bame incomers working who live elsewhere which causes a different on street perspective.

        1. Yes, possibly NHS staff and the presence of Imperial College. Also I did hear that Westfield shopping mall was allowed to open here subject to employment quotas.

      2. All yer Whites are at work to support the others. hat’s why you don’t see them.

  44. Why does Penny Mordaunt think ‘trans men are men’? 2 February 2021.

    Something dramatic happened in the House of Commons yesterday: Penny Mordaunt told MPs that ‘transmen are men and transwomen are women’. This mantra – for that is what it is – has been said so often in recent years that it might now be an unremarkable way in which to wind up a debate. But it is a worrying sign to see it repeated so unthinkingly in parliament.

    Mordaunt is wrong: transwomen are male, and women are female. Male people are not female people, and therefore transwomen are not women. As a transwoman I should know: I fathered three children – I am definitely male. Their mother was a female person. She is a woman , not me.

    Wow get your heads round this! The old Inquisition would have had orgasms over it and ordered in a dozen cartload of logs. It’s all nuts of course, propagated by neurotics. There might very well be a scientific basis to Grizz’s theory that the human race is going stupid!

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/penny-mordaunt-is-wrong-to-repeat-the-trans-allies-mantra

    1. We used to teach primary school children the three ‘R’ by rote.

      We used to teach secondary school children to open their minds.

      At University the students were taught critical thinking.

      Now all are taught dogma and doctrine.

      An unused muscle will atrophy. The brain turns to slush.

    2. I suppose that’s what we get from 50 years of ‘progressive’ education. Avoiding being ‘cancelled’ by virtue-signalling to a bunch of mentally-ill people is now more important than facts. Worth checking out both Steven Crowder and Ben Shapiro’s/The Daily Wire YT channels on this subject.

    3. Any He would chooses not to be a He (and any She who chooses not to be a She) is, by definition, an IT.

      “Now it’s back to the athletics track where today’s track and field events are: the Men’s 100 metres final; the Women’s 400 metres final; and the It’s 800 metres final.”

    1. I wonder if their names are Beep, Bop and Boop?

      (with mucho respects to Gina Carano)

    1. May I ask – where do you source all these gems from? I used to (many years ago) frequent a website called ‘bored.com’ – something like that?

      Back later – late lunchtime for me.

  47. I have had for the time being the last of my multiple blood tests and blood letting. As the nurse was finishing up another nurse was passing and asked me how i was. I said i’m fine thank you.

    She asked me how the last ‘procedure’ went. I didn’t recognise the procedure she mentioned (it turns out it was to do with chemo).

    She looked slightly confused and so i said that if the person in question was as handsome as i was i could understand how she would mix us up.

    Rather than an embarrassing moment for her i got a laugh ! :@)

    1. It really shouldn’t be down to the tax payer as much as Art and Culture are important to all of us.

      How about slapping a 25% tax on paintings that sell for 50 million or more? If people or hedge funds can afford to pay the sort of money they are paying for the odd Picasso they can afford a surcharge.

      Someone on a low working wage being expected to pay for something they are not likely to experience is wrong. IMO.

      1. I couldn’t agree more.
        Trickle down only seems to trickle into those kinds of purchases.
        I’m not one for taxing the wealth creators unduly, because it’s so easy for them to do certain things from Monaco, but a hefty thump for items such as your example doesn’t seem unreasonable.

        1. As we know taxing the wealthy more has the opposite effect of raising more revenue.

          However a luxury purchase tax shouldn’t bother them too much.

          1. Particularly as such purchases are probably as much about showing your mates how incredibly rich you are as the joy of owning the “masterpiece”

          2. I’m sure that is true but with Hedge Funds they don’t care about aesthetics. Just the potential profit.

          3. It feeds on itself.

            The sheer greed of the likes of Sir Chris Hohn, The Children’s Investment Fund Management (TCI) man makes my blood boil. Yes, there is an element of jealousy, but that take is beyond avarice.

      3. Why 50 million? What about a £49.999.900 painting – or a 50+ million but huge dealer commission is deductible?
        Anyhow, how mny of these get sold in a year?
        How about a “asset tax” on their net worth, as we have in Norway.

  49. Sorry, chums, it’s all getting to esoteric for me. I’m retiring for a while and will watch the mindlessness of various quiz shows where I can shout at the thickoes being paraded.

    Bis speiter.

    1. Eg (heard a week or two ago)
      Name a British monarch other than Liz II.
      A: Victoria II

      1. ‘You out on day release or somethin’?’

        Pedantry alert!…

        ‘You out on day release or summat?’

      2. I got back in touch with my old school penfriend (from way back in the 1960s). We met a few times and hit it off. I took a huge leap of faith and moved here in 2011.

        1. Sounds like a good move. Useful to have a contact though to help you find your feet.

          1. Like any other move into the unknown, there are good points and there are bad. I suppose the ups are in the ascendency while ever there is ‘lockdown’ in the UK.

    3. God afton, Grizz.
      Spring is the best season up here, I think. As is autumn, and winter can be pretty good, too. Summer is often a bit wet and dull.

        1. Norway, west of Oslo. Suburb called “Blommenholm” – Flower Island.
          Moved in 1998 after Gordon Brown fucked over my pension, and SWMBO wanted a new job. Firstborn hadn’t got established in the UK exams system, so the window of opportunity was ajar. Took an expat position, then liked it so much, we stayed. Am now “renowned” within my specialisation, and in demand. Well paid, too.
          Now have 2 bilingual lads (who can do 4-5 languages with reducing expertise each, but Firstborn can swear really well in Finnish & Polish…). Lifestyle vastly superior to the UK, better house at much less money, even the weather is more definite. Couldn’dt go back.

          1. All we miss is: Pork pies, good cider, ready availability of all kinds of pie.

          2. Get a bulk delivery of Higgidy pies. They’re not too bad if you like shop-bought.

          3. Firstborn makes wonderful, rich meat pies. We make cider at his farm, and Iceland have opened up a few miles away, so Branston & salad cream are occasionally available. Also, Fray Bentos tinned pies! A blast of the 70s! Bought one for each lad for Xmas, so ghey too could experience the horror of 70s UK cuisine!

          5. Ooo… now, there’s an offer I can’t refuse!
            Once the border is open, might even come round & kiss you!
            Seriously, Grizz, your pork pies look so good, I’d be both delighted and honoured to get one!

          6. Next time I bake some (in a few weeks’ time) I’ll pop one in the post for you. Hertslass has my email address.

          8. Haven’t seen owt for a while from Hertslass, but replied to an older post of yours with my email.
            Let me know when you read it & I’ll go back & delete it.

          9. Hl is around, she replied to a post of mine v. late one evening a few days ago.

          11. I’d like to visit my favourite, the Blue Anchor at East Aberthaw, as soon as possible.

          14. I’m envious. I wish I had made better decisions in the forks along the path.

          15. Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
            I took the one less travelled by.
            And that has made all the difference.

            [Robert Frost].

          17. Weeellll… they’d likely have turned out dull.
            When I’m interviewing for engineers, one selction criterion is that have they challenged their boundaries and comfort zone? A good test is that they have gone to live & work abroad, as a resident, not a visitor or tourist. It’s surprisingly challenging, getting to grips with culture, language, bureaucracy… If they have willingly done that, then they are typically open minded, self-motivated and flexible. I haven’t got that wrong yet. So, a stick-in-the-mud may be safe, but not adventurous, curious and challenging their own boundaries, growing by experience, and a thoroughly interesting person.
            Never be conventional. Leave that to the dullards, Stormy. Seriously.

          20. One does one’s best with the information available.
            It wasn’t easy – ended up with my family hating me because I dared to be different. SWMBOs brother and his family the same. Norway isn’t on the way to anywhere, so getting people to visit is difficult. Now Mother is demented, and it’s almost impossible to get to UK unless by rubber boat, that’s making things difficult, too.

  51. I put our two bird nest boxes up two days ago. On both days a coal tit has entered one to check it out. A coal tit raised a brood in this box last year so it may be the same bird.

  52. Search for England’s missing Brazil coronavirus variant case has NARROWED to 379 households in the South East, Matt Hancock reveals
    Officials have identified the batch of home test kits the person’s swab came from
    Their positive test was done on February 12 or 13 and they never got the result
    It now turns out they were carrying a mutated variant of the virus from Brazil
    Two other cases have been tracked to near Bristol and three others in Scotland

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9316841/Coronavirus-UK-narrows-search-missing-Brazil-variant-case-South-East.html

    What a load of muddle and disorder
    https://twitter.com/Warwicktweets/status/1366788708243013632

    2. “They seek him here, they seek him there
      Those epidemiologists seek him everywhere
      Is he in heaven or is he in hell?
      That damned elusive man from Brazil”

    2. I’m not sure I want to watch if it’s upsetting. I’m still trying to get over the news that people are stealing cats and dogs to use for fighting for bets.

    1. Youngsters never did. I went to a youth club with my mates when I was a teenager. Didn’t sit at home watching telly with mum and dad. After youth clubs it was pubs and discos. Prior to those distractions existing, telly didn’t either, at least not for most people.

      1. Sue, you’re far too young to remember Uncle Mac and Listen with Mother…my early introduction to Auntie.

          2. Sue, you have the wrong ‘Dolly’!

            Our ‘Mascot’ is four and a half years
            young and is the ‘sweetest cutie!’

        2. Uncle Mac was temporarily sacked by the BBC after one Children’s Hour when he thought the mike was off when it wasn’t and he said: “Thank God that’s finished with the little buggers for today.” And of course Ted Ray got into trouble when he signed off one evening saying: “When roses are red they’re ready for plucking and when girls are sixteen they’re ready for ……. Good night folks.”

          The fact that these sort of things were considered a terrible and scandalous outrage shows what an innocent world it used to be!

          Talking about Ted Ray, his son, Robin had an encyclopedic knowledge of musical compositions and used to appear with Joseph Cooper and the adorable Joyce Grenfell on a TV programme called Face The Music.

          2. Either way, it’s a good anecdote…
            And led into a good recollection regarding the son and a programme I certainly enjoyed.

          3. Agreed. On both.

            However, I cannot recall Ted Ray ever being blue or suggestive.

          4. Nor I.
            A much calmer civilised age.

            I always liked Bob Harris and I can’t recall anything particularly risqué when he presented “The Old Grey Whistle Test”.

          6. If one is wrong, better to be consistently wrong, on the slim off-chance that one might actually be right!

          7. Max Miller used to tell some saucy jokes that got him banned by the BBC, here is a Miller classic.
            He told how he was walking along a narrow bridge and a woman was walking towards him, there was no way she could get past and he didn’t know whether to toss himself off or block her passage.

          8. Max promised to get an F word into his routine. The punchline was something like: “..I see F, you see K”.

          1. And I remember seeing the Woodentops, Bill and Ben, and seeing ( God knows what comments you lot are going to come up with ) Muffin the Mule.

          2. Just as long as you weren’t the one doing the muffin, nobody will comment…

    1. Big Pharma does have ‘form’, given what they got up to in 2010 with swine flu. Back then, after the initial furore, everything went strangely silent. Back then, we at least had a still-functioning media. Not any more, I’m afraid to say.

      1. I fear they learned from their mistakes, went away and re-grouped and came back stronger – voilà! Covid, you’re all gonna dieeeee…..

    2. and the singer? Madonna is virgin
      The Cheque is in the post
      Ginge and Winge will reform
      I hear what you say, changes WILL be made
      Of course I will love you in the morning
      No, your bumm does not look big in those joggers (as most of it has spilled out)

      etc

    3. There are no negative side effects either.
      Nobody has died of the vaccine – nobody at all, even if they died within 28 days of having it.
      We wouldn’t have a pandemic at all if the same rules had been applied to covid deaths!

    5. They were probably making g up the initial profile and now that they have actual data they are updating the positive bits.

  56. According to the DE, Barnier’s taskforce has been scrapped, and Jean Claude Juncker has been put in charge of dealing with the UK.

    Oh dear. They are just incapable of looking at things from a different standpoint, of being a bit clever. Such rigidity doesn’t bode well for their future.

    1. Although I think the whole abortion issue has gone completely out of hand, it is one of the very few positive side effects that I can see coming from the mass slaughter of the innocents.

      1. In some parts of the country females are talking to doctors on the phone and doctors are approving abortions, and sending out prescriptions for abortifacient pills.

        1. The people who approve of this should step back and consider how such things are manna from Heaven for child abusers, sex slave keepers, incestual families etc etc.

    2. “Quoniam tu possedisti renes meos orsusque es me in utero matris meae”
      — Psalms 138:13

    2. The Ken Clarke of Royalty: useless, smug, out of touch and thinks he’s the bee’s knees.

      3. Ken Clarke, I thought he dropped off the face of the planet after 2019. Is the w******r still preaching his EU bile?

    4. Don’t forget the purple shoelaces, and what looks like a hole in the left sole! There is a message there for us.

        1. Nah! That’s the rolled-up trouser leg. One’s shoes, socks, suit (shirt) and tie are supposed to be neat and tidy.

      2. With all his money, he seems attached to shoes with holes in. Is he trying to say he’s just like us (in his mind)? You’d think someone who loved the army as much as he is supposed to have, would attach more importance to a smart appearance.

        2. I think he is saying that he’s not dressing up for this….. this is a long shot though – that he’s not supporting this but it is something he has to do. I recall his tear-congested face and forced smiles at the wedding.

    5. TBF, with Migraine’s dresses costing £3000+ he prob has to curb his spending.

    6. TBF, with Migraine’s dresses costing £3000+ he prob has to curb his spending.

    7. …and you know that they’re Hush Puppies, ‘cos one had pi55ed on the other.

  60. About an hour ago, give or take,
    I had a knock on the front door,
    I answered and was confronted
    by a very pleasant young Welshman
    who wondered if I would like to sell
    my ‘vintage-made-in-England-car’?
    … I look in my driveway, just to check if
    someone has double parked, no, all is well.
    I, obviously, must have looked confused
    [not difficult] because he proceeded to explain:
    my ’95 Freelander is considered a ‘Classic’
    He is prepared to offer me: ‘top dollar’ for it,
    £500 …… WTF?…… I annually pay more than
    that in insurance.
    So, who is attempting to con me,
    Aviva, a pleasant young Welshman… or both?

    2. Both, but if it really is a classic it’s worth a lot more.

      I’ve depreciated my, much newer, Discovery down to zero in my mind, even though I suspect it might get a few thousand still, even with 160k on the clock.

    3. Be very aware Garlands – the police programs show that stealing Land Rovers is rife – for breaking them down for parts. He could well have been sizing up the owners for a “revisit”. If you had not answered he may have tried breaking into and stealing it there and then.

    7. Could be both. Aviva are a major operator of carparks at shopping malls/courts. The ones with very small warning signs and extensive number plate recognition canmeras.

      1. Ha.
        It’s a series about a bloke on the run from the mob who gets involved in the hill Billy crime scene. Worth a watch if you have NF.

          16. In what they call the ‘Eastern Panhandle’ overlooking the Potomac River, Shenandoah joins the Potomac a bit further south, Blue Ridge Mountains are in the distance.

          18. We moved, en famille, back in 1979 to Maryland, then retired to be away from the madding crowd!! Our two children and three grandchildren are not too far away.

          23. You naughty man, she carries jackthelad, his crown is broke and of course she does it openly…

          24. No to the first, and do not know to the second, but I don’t think there is anything to stop me provided there is nothing in background checks to suggest criminal records and of course it does depend on the state.

          25. According to Google, WV has “constitutional carry”, no permit required.
            Just wondered.

        2. I might watch it (had I got a Netflix subscription) just because Laura Linney is in it. 🙂

  62. They couldn’t screw it up that much could they?

    Last Friday Health Canada approved the Astra Zeneca vaccine for use in Canada. As in other countries, the recommendation is oldies first. They are now slowly starting to vaccinate those over 80. Yesterday another government agency pops up and says don’t give AV to anyone over 65.

    You really have to wonder if a government could organize a piss up in a brewery.

    1. Rule one. Get as many vaccinated as possible.
      Rule two. Put out the caveats as soon as you have vaccinated as many as possible.
      Rule three. Just because you are dying, you can’t say we didn’t warn you.
      Rule four. Rinse and repeat, for younger age groups.
      Rule five. We told you so but you wouldn’t listen.

  63. Hamlet or MacBeth?

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-lord-advocate-shows-the-punishable-scottish-parliament-where-power-really-lies

    “The Lord Advocate shows the ‘punishable’ Scottish parliament where power really lies | The Spectator

    The Alex Salmond inquiry is far more about his allegations against Nicola Sturgeon and her government: it offers alarming insights into the extent and scope of political power in Scotland. In particular, the way in which the Crown Office, Scotland’s government prosecutors, pressured the devolved parliament into censoring Salmond’s evidence. It’s all the more worrying because the Lord Advocate, who runs the Crown Office, is a serving member of Sturgeon’s Cabinet. It was his turn to face that committee today.

    James Wolffe QC started by saying that: ‘The actions of the Crown are not within the remit of the committee’. They were lucky, it seemed, to have him condescend to be there at all.

    He then warned the politicians to watch their step in the questions they were about to ask him. ‘The committee should not entertain any attack on the integrity of the Crown or the hardworking people who work for it,’ he declared. Why not? What if the integrity of the Crown Office was at the heart of all this? What if that integrity has been compromised by the Crown Office’s closeness to Sturgeon’s government (of which the Lord Advocate is a member) resulting in a politicised abuse of its powers to thwart an investigation into the First Minister’s conduct?

    It was as if Wolffe thought parliament accountable to the Crown Office, not vice versa

    But it was as if Wolffe thought parliament accountable to the Crown Office, not vice versa. A court order, he said later, mandates the protection of anonymity of Salmond’s accusers. ‘Any breach of that order – by this parliament, by its members or anyone else – would be punishable as a contempt of court.’

    Quite a word: punishable. It served as another warning: Scotland’s politicians don’t have the freedom that Westminster politicians do. In London, no MP is ‘punishable’ for what they say in a chamber or in committee: they are protected by parliamentary privilege, a cornerstone of UK democracy. But this cornerstone was not included in devolution settlement – creating a vulnerability in the system. The question is whether this vulnerability has been exploited by the Crown Office, for political reasons, to make sure the investigation against Sturgeon didn’t get too far.

    The Lord Advocate did not even pretend to be impressed by the theory of parliamentary freedom. He seemed to think it a constitutionally great idea that MSPs can be threatened or sued by his Crown Office colleagues. ‘Enforcing the law is a vindication of democracy, not its denial,’ he declared at one point. Democracy: c’est moi.

    But here’s the thing. It was not the law that led the Crown Office to censor Salmond’s evidence against Sturgeon. The Spectator has published his evidence on our website: if this was against the law, if we acted in contempt of court, why has no one sued us? Why, if this is really a matter of law, did the Crown Office say nothing about the censored passages when The Spectator went to the High Court to discuss his evidence? Why censor a parliament, but not a magazine?

    A Tory committee member, Margaret Mitchell, put this to the Lord Advocate: why did he ‘impose more stringent restrictions on parliament and its ability to publish than was deemed necessary for The Spectator?’. He replied that the Crown ‘formed the view that certain parts of the submission were liable to be a breach’ of the court order on complainant anonymity. But this makes no sense. If there were any genuine legal problems in Salmond’s evidence, he said, why were they not raised at the High Court when The Spectator sought clarity on the nature of the court order?

    This is one of the important points established by The Spectator’s (very expensive) day at the High Court. The Crown Office then had a chance to raise an objection to the Salmond evidence as published on our website – and all he had to say about Nicola Sturgeon. But the Crown was silent. No hint that anything Salmond had said was in contempt of court. Only the day before Salmond was due to give evidence did they write to the committee and ask for evidence to be redacted. We still don’t know what the Crown said, or what grounds they gave for their interference with a parliamentary inquiry.

    But let’s go back to what Margaret Mitchell asked: why take action against a parliament and against a magazine? I’ll give you one explanation. Under the Holyrood system, censoring Salmond’s written evidence limits what he could tell the Committee. It also affects what Nicola Sturgeon can be asked when she gives evidence on Wednesday.

    ‘I think people will wonder why the Crown sought to intervene in parliament’s publication, but not in The Spectator’s – when it was aware they were identical,’ said Margaret Mitchell. We at The Spectator are also wondering. Salmond’s evidence is still on our website. If there is a genuine legal reason for any of what we have published to be censored, we would love to hear it. And if the Crown Office cannot name any reason, then how can the Lord Advocate possibly justify interfering with a parliamentary inquiry? Might he understand why people worry that the law has – perhaps not for the first time under Sturgeon’s premiership – been shaped into a political weapon?

    This matters. The Scottish parliament was created to hold the Scottish government to account. For any government law officer to threaten any parliament with ‘punishment’ for overstepping an invisible line would be deeply disturbing. That it has happened in Scotland, when parliament was considering a case as incendiary as the integrity of the First Minister, is a disturbing statement of where power now lies.”

    1. That first bit:
      The Alex Salmond inquiry is far more about his allegations against Nicola Sturgeon and her government.
      Should that read:
      The Alex Salmond inquiry is about far more than his allegations against Nicola Sturgeon and her government?

      2. As I was about to say… :>)

        It should also be considered that Scots Law and the power the Lord Advocate stops at the Tweed. In any action in the London courts he has no more authority or position than the man on the Clapham omnibus, and vice versa.
        I seem to remember a case where this was used to publish something in Scotland that was under interdict in England?
        Of course leaking the material to “Der Bild” might just work.

        3. Perhaps the English press might like to check out Nikeliars personal D notices?

        4. This happened when Jack Straw’s son Will was caught in a tabloid sting for offering drugs. As a 17 year old, he could not be named in England and Wales but could, and was, named in Scotland.

    3. “The Lord Advocate seemed to think it a constitutionally great idea that MSPs can be threatened or sued by his Crown Office colleagues. ‘Enforcing the law is a vindication of democracy, not its denial,’ he declared at one point.”
      Democracy: c’est moi.
      Pet pompeux …

  64. That’s the oddest thing. An hour go, I signed off. I said that my legs were stiff after cycling. I wished you all a cheerful evening knitting masks because they were so much more eco-friendly

    And the post is nowhere to be seen (despite refreshing, restarting etc etc)

    Infamy, infamy, Discurse has it infamy.

    A demain.

  66. A bit of Reverse Racial Appropriation, going back the 1960’s

    Priscilla White………. became……

          7. Oi! Zeus mightn’t take too kindly to that! Watch out for the lightning bolts!

  67. It is all about control.

    New variant scare tactics are an own goal
    Allison Pearson 2 March 2021 • 7:00pm
    4-5 minutes

    Another week, another Covid variant on the loose. Watch out! I refer, of course, to the deeply worrying Whitehall variant.

    The Whitehall variant is rapidly transmitted by scientific advisers whenever there is encouraging news. The better the news, the more aggressive the variant.

    The Whitehall strain of Covid-19 is highly contagious and is easily caught by politicians in the same room as members of Sage. Symptoms include a flustered, shifty appearance and an ability to speak only in what grammarians call the “Type 2 conditional”. For example: “This new variant may be more resistant to vaccines.” Or: “This new variant could be more lethal.”

    Invariably, after 10 days or so, those speculative statements are proven to be groundless. Turns out our two terrific vaccines can cope just fine. But, by then, it’s too late. The Whitehall variant has caused a fresh outbreak of fear in the population just as they were starting to glimpse the end of lockdown.

    The Whitehall variant is not to be confused with the Brazilian variant, which is believed to be carried by a man of exotic appearance wearing a white suit and a Panama hat, in South Gloucestershire or possibly the Dunfermline area. (He didn’t fill in his Covid questionnaire.) A useful way to tell the difference is the man from Del Monte, he say yes. The man from Whitehall, he say no.

    Alas, I reckon Professor Jonathan Van-Tam has a bad case of the Whitehall variant. As the Covid figures get better, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer pops up to tell us sternly that we must not relax.

    “It’s a bit like being 3-0 up in a game and thinking ‘We can’t possibly lose’,” Van-Tam said. “But how many times have you seen the other side take it 4-3?”

    Not many, Professor. Generally, if your side has got a lead like the UK has, thanks to its world-beating vaccination programme, it tends to win.

    I used to really like Van-Tam’s homespun analogies. Increasingly, I find them disingenuous and borderline unforgivable. He has access to the same NHS England data I do. So he knows that the rate of decline of Covid patients in hospital is quite extraordinary. He knows that the occupancy has been falling metronomically by 20 per cent every week for the last five weeks.

    He will also know that, on Sunday, the UK passed a major milestone: hospitals went below the 10,000 Covid occupancy mark. That means only 10 per cent of all hospital beds in England are occupied by Covid. You read it here first. Please remember that perfectly manageable percentage the next time the TV news broadcasts one of its horrifying, hospital doom-porn reports.

    Is the Government really going to maintain almost full lockdown until April 12, denying a fatally wounded hospitality sector the resurrection of Easter, if we are down to deaths in double digits and hospitals are practically clear of Covid? Which they will be if current trends continue.

    I do hope that the Prime Minister meant it when he said his roadmap would be guided “by data, not dates”. Because the data in several parts of the country, including mine, shows that we are “suppressed”. That means the number of positive tests is so small that results are withheld lest the tiny number of people with the virus are publicly shamed.

    Well, that’s the official reason. Isn’t it more likely that they don’t want us to know because we’d only start demanding to be in Tier 2, Tier 1 or even – God forbid – back to normal?

    On Wednesday afternoon, Rishi Sunak will level with the British people about the economic devastation which confronts us. The best way to get the economy going is to lift the restrictions as soon as possible. As the Chancellor wisely said: “Our lives can no longer be put on hold, we must learn to live without fear.”

    Britain needs to ditch its “obsession” with new coronavirus variants because vaccines should be able to stop them, according to Professor Andrew Pollard, the leader of Oxford’s vaccine trials.

    So no more variants conveniently being discovered to scare us. As Professor Van-Tam might put it: back of the net!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/new-variant-scare-tactics-goal/

    1. “This new variant may be more resistant to vaccines.”

      I heard a BBC news report use the same illogical nonsense.

      EDIT:
      And AP should know better than to write ‘falling metronomically‘.

    2. Not one of the articles that I’ve read about ending lockdown by Easter mentions the churches. Welby has succeeded in making the Church of England more irrelevant than it’s ever been during my lifetime.

      1. The CoE (well, the few remaining parishioners) still pay me a modest salary each month. Were I willing to cut off my nose to spite my face, I’d walk away, “Pope”, go Orthodox, or something. I’ve 4.6 years of a 5 year contract left to run. But my choirs are banned, I’m locked out of the church, so I can’t practice, I’ve been warned that under no circumstances should I attempt to carry out my previous duties as Verger (I ignore this, obviously, since no-one has replaced me, or understands how half of the building works), and all services are on Zoom.

        Next Monday I’m within two years of my State Pension. I think 2023 will trigger a parting of the ways. Assuming there’s still a church by then.

          4. It’s easy – Here’s my theme song:

            Ey ukhnyem! Ey ukhnyem!
            Yeshtsho razik, yeshtsho da ras! [X2]
            Razovyom m byeryozu,
            razovyom m kudryavu!
            Aida da aida, aida da aida,
            razovyom m kudryavu! [x2]
            Ey ukhnyem! Ey ukhnyem!
            Yeshtsho razik, yeshtsho da ras!
            M po byereshku idyom,
            pyesnyu solnshku payom!
            Aida da aida, aida da aida,
            pyesnyu solnshku payom!
            Ey ukhnyem! Ey ukhnyem!
            Yeshtsho razik, yeshtsho da ras!
            Ekh, t Volga, mat’-ryeka,
            shiroka i gluboka!
            Aida da aida, aida da aida,
            shiroka i gluboka!
            Volga,Volga mat’-ryeka
            Ey ukhnyem! Ey ukhnyem!
            Yeshtsho razik, yeshtsho da ras!_
            Ey ukhnyem! Ey ukhnyem!
            Yeshtsho razik, yeshtsho da ras!_

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfsWoNpHg2s

          5. Try Greek! At least it’s a bit understandable! My father had a Greek Orthodox funeral in Athens and I was able to follow a lot of the service! And I sang!

      2. Thanks, BB2, please see Judith Ewing’s comments on today’s (20210303) letters.

    3. Also it’s worth remembering that video from Dave Cullen’s Computing Forever channel (now been removed by YT but on BitChute, GabTV, Minds and Odysee and his website) about the ‘conveniently held seminar’ in 2019 about how top civil service health professionals like JVT should ‘handle’ the public during pandemics. The man himself makes a brief appearance in the audience, which Dave draws our attention to.

      https://www.bitchute.com/video/Hmxo720ccw4V/

      The full video (of the entire seminar) he references has, unfortunately, and very conveniently, been deleted from YouTube. No conspiracy there, then.

  69. Now I hear furlough extended until September, I say again it is all about controlling us.

      1. The delays were caused by those pesky WHO investigators. As soon as they are gone they’ll be back on stream milking the bats for all they are worth!

        2. “Holy batshit, What do we do now, Batman?”

          “Gotham City must be locked down at once, Robin. Get Commissioner Gordon on the batphone…

          … I’ll get me milking-stool… “

  70. Just watched “The Official Visit” (Yes Minister)
    Closing Line
    “Everyone has their price”
    How bloody prescient…………………

    1. Yo T_B

      You mised out the worstererester England, well according to Wee Jimmy Krankie

    1. I doubt it – at least of her own accord, especially as so many others are seemingly implicated. One can only hope, though…

    2. At least we are not living in the USA where this case would never get to trial

      The United States Supreme Court refused to review the Pennsylvania 2020 Election cases.

      The court made the announcement on Monday morning.

    3. Interestingly, in the book I’m currently reading, Morningside Mata Haris, I’ve just got to the bit where the Nasties in thirties Germany were encouraging nationalist and separatist parties in the Celtic Fringe (because they didn’t think the English were Aryan enough). They thought Scotland was particularly fertile ground.

  74. Texas Ends Covid Mask Mandate, Lifts All Anti-Virus Restrictions, Allows All Businesses To Reopen

    Tyler Durden’s Photo
    BY TYLER DURDEN
    TUESDAY, MAR 02, 2021 – 15:30
    For 30 million Texans, the lockdown nightmare is over, at least for now.

    2. They probably have found they’ve got more important things to deal with, like power shortages due to ‘green’ policies. Amazing how Red states are doing much better the blue ones…

    3. Lockdowns are proven by example to be utterly ineffective and positively dangerous to the health of the nation.

      We now have the examples of Sweden, Dakota, Texas and Florida which proves the point. Lockdowns are useless!

  76. 329802+ up ticks,

    Following the same voting pattern this will surely be a vote winner on the 6th May,

    breitbart,
    The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, is expected announce new immigration routes to the United Kingdom in the coming budget,
    The changes are supposedly designed to boost “international competitiveness” by making it easier for bosses to recruit “high-skilled” foreign workers, particularly in the tech sector, rather than training local people.

    For this to be achieved the peoples must do their bit in supporting / voting for the lab/lib/con coalition group per usual.

    1. Well, I recon that there are far too many educated white men in this country. If we can import 3rd world brains, then we will address systemic inequality by lowering the percentage of high achieving honkeys. Job done…

        1. The next battle will be

          Thirdworldisation v Fluidgenderisation

          The outcome: even the BBC Chat show hosts will come out of the
          cupboard and deny being Gay

          1. By Thirdworldisation I presume you mean islamification. Flying lessons without the benefit of aircraft.

          2. You can take off but you do not need to learn how to land the aircraft. Muslim theocracy at its finest. No worries, 32 or more vestil virgins await you. Kill as many as you like!

          3. 72 at the last count, Cori, even if they’re all 85 plus, they’re still virgins. Get your condoms on, boy!

        2. The next battle will be

          Thirdworldisation v Fluidgenderisation

          The outcome: even the BBC Chat show hosts will come out of the
          cupboard and deny being Gay

      2. 32982+ up ticks,
        Evening KP,
        The big worry in the near future will be, will there be enough caves to accommodate the population.

    2. 329802+ up ticks,
      O2O,
      Og this mass uncontrolled immigration issue has been ongoing for decades is it that the electorate haven’t noticed, or is it that their voting choice is a knowledgeable conscious effort ?

      IMO these governance groups are buying off the indigenous with an 80% ongoing
      velvet trap until such times as………..

    3. We should be training our own people not importing highly dubious technical expertise from abroad.

      It is much the same with the feted ‘our NHS’. How can it be ‘our NHS’ if we rely on poaching nurses and doctors from abroad to keep the freak show on the road? The countries giving up their clinical staff will be the less.

      1. 329802+ up ticks,
        Evening C,
        “We should be training our own people not importing highly dubious technical expertise from abroad”.

        Being morally right and common sense it flies in the face of the morally wrong & nonsensical voting pattern, as in vote for one party to keep other out regardless the damage that caused is causing decade on decade.

  77. Just read a very scary post by Nessimmersion on ConservativeWoman:
    …So now we have, suddenly, to vaccinate every single person on the planet with a vaccine that does not stop spread but the vaccinated will have a little badge to say they are safe to be around. No they aren’t. They have a vaccine that means they might not even get noticeable symptoms but they are still spreading it. They are very dangerous to be around. Not to themselves but to everyone else.

    See, if you let a virus spread unhindered when you have blocked its vicious symptoms, you have created the ideal conditions for it to mutate into something utterly diabolical. It can’t do that if it makes people sick. Sick people stay home and well people know to be vigilant around the sick. The natural development of any virus is to become less dangerous and so become more easily spread. Nobody cares about the common cold. It’ll make your nose go crusty for a few days and then it’s gone. The less harm the virus does, the less care anyone takes about avoiding it. So simple Darwinism says that the less vicious variants will survive, the deadly ones won’t.

    These vaccines allow the virus to continue spreading. It’s an artificial Darwinism: it’s not becoming less dangerous in reality, we’re making ourselves artificially resistant to this variant.

    Since it’s an RNA virus it will be throwing up mutants all the time. By refusing to let it naturally decline into just a cold, we are allowing it to spread unhindered and there will be a much more dangerous variant at some point. One which will laugh at the vaccines.

    This is Bill Gates’ prophecy of ‘the next pandemic will make people pay attention’. It’s being set up now.”

    https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/heil-the-vaccine-apartheid/

    Sounds credible?

    2. Tom Clancy
      Predicted the use of a commercial airliner as a weapon of mass destruction
      Now Read Rainbow 6 as greeniacs use a pandemic and vaccines to attempt to exterminate the vast mass of humanity………….
      Frankly makes me sweat…………

    3. This Covid nonsense is a globalist scam designed to frighten people into believing that we are experiencing a virus far worse than Smallpox. The virus is a corona virus but a particularly infectious cold virus generated in a Wuhan Laboratory funded by the USA in the form of Fauci.

      The population are being coerced into accepting vaccinations and ‘injections’, all of highly dubious authenticity, for a virus which harms very few by comparison with annual infections which affect the old and have done since time immemorial.

      This is a deception of gargantuan proportions, presently wrecking economies and livelihoods across the globe. It is a concerted attempt by primarily Bilderberg bankers and other assorted billionaires to secure and protect their assets whilst stealing from and impoverishing everyone else on the planet.

      We the people are dealing with liars and vagabonds who care nothing for their peoples and electorates. These globalists are evil and their supporters in governments vile and godless creatures.

    5. Most of us worked out that Gates is an evil Eugenicist. Everything he has espoused over the years has proved his intent. He wishes to wipe out millions of people with his vaccines by making women infertile and promoting the early death of old folk and with the means of other dubious injections to enslave us all to biannual injections of his poisonous jabs. He makes trillions whilst the rest of us die. So clever.

      We need a new Nuremberg Court to try this Gates bastard and his cohorts for crimes against humanity.

  78. I am still having problems with Disqus .. have to keep signing in via Disqus , where as for years I have signed in with Twitter.

    Signing in takes three procedures which is an absolute pain!

      1. Hi Stormy .. no real probs untill the middle of last week . It is exhausting, like swimming against the tide .

        Disqus is just a pain now, and I don’t know what to do to sort things out.

        1. What device do you use Mags? When I’m here on my laptop I don’t have to log in every time as I don’t shut it down, I just close the lid. I had trouble last week because (probably) i was over-enthusiastic clearing cookies when the DM annoyed me by popping up all the time whatever site I was on. I not only lost my Disqus auto login but all my Gmail accounts as well. Bit of a bind to get everything back working again.

          If I use my phone for Nottl – sometimes late at night – I have to click on the D each time I move from the page to Twitter or anything else. It’s just one click and I’m back. I don’t often use the desktop pc for chatting here as it’s downstairs in a very cold room so usually only when I want to post something on Facebook. I can’t use Facebook on the laptop any more as it bungs everything up and I have to reboot.

          What I’m coming round to saying is – it’s probably your cookies that have gone a bit awry. If you clear too many of them it causes problems. I always say no to advertising ones on newspapers though. I use Adblockplus so don’t get any on here.

          1. Funny you should say that J, because I closed my laptop lid , went into to the kitchen to fiddle around , came back tomy machine , signed into the security thing .. and everything froze on me .. son said perhaps I should clear the cookies , because like you , the DM and adverts were just too much . Son was very quick .. and I found I had lost everything , including not being able to get back onto F/b and my Gmail and other places .. but Twitter was fine . When I am on here , if there are shenanigans, I usually click on the Twitter logo , which gets me back in . Now I have to click on the D, which gets me here , but I have to click again if I need to read replies./ or scroll down and refresh.

            I will look at Adblock plus , thanks .

          2. I wouldn’t be without Adblockplus – it gets rid of most things, though not the ones that pop up on the phone, or on Twitter /Facebook, they seem to get round it somehow. But it does make a huge difference.

  79. 329802+ up ticks,

    UK GOVT: THREE-LAYER MASKS!

    I believe this will comprise of
    Top of skull to breast,
    Breast to hips,
    Hips to toes,
    AKA a burka.

  80. Evening, all. Sunak does have a chance to rebuild the economy and set it on its way to recovery, but the indications are he has no intention of so doing. My local rag has an article saying the spendthrift is going to extend furlough until September.

    1. 329802+ up ticks,
      Evening C,
      Also importing high skilled labour unlimited
      AKA mass uncontrolled immigration ongoing.

    2. Conway: Is your local rag edited by a fortune teller? Why not wait until the Chancellor presents his budget on Wednesday?

      1. Sorry, Elsie, but it’s bleeding obvious that his budget will not be one to set us all free with marginal tax-increases.

      2. I have no idea. Perhaps they have an insider in Westminster (or somebody has leaked). I’m only posting what has happened. They wrote the article.

  82. Good night, Gentlefolk, I must get in practice for early nights, as I have an INR appointment at 09:20 on Thursday (does such a time exist?)

  84. Has Sunak cut the £555,000,000 UK Aid to India ….??
    Whoops, too late.
    It’s already gone whilst he was in May and then Boris’ Gov.

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