Tuesday 28 May: Labour is continuing its tradition of hostility to excellence in education

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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679 thoughts on “Tuesday 28 May: Labour is continuing its tradition of hostility to excellence in education”

  1. Good morrow, gentlefolk. Today’s (recycled) Stories
    WILL YOU LIVE TO SEE 90?

    I recently had a full medical by my doctor.

    After that and with the results from all the tests, he said I was doing ‘fairly well’ for my age. (I had just reached 69).

    A little concerned about that comment, I couldn’t resist asking him, ‘Do you think I’ll live to be 90?’

    He asked, ‘Do you smoke tobacco, or drink beer, wine or spirits?’

    ‘Oh no,’ I replied. ‘I’m not doing drugs, either!’

    Then he asked, ‘Do you eat fillet steaks and legs of lamb?’

    ‘I said, ‘Not much… my cardiac consultant said that all red meat is very unhealthy!’

    ‘Do you spend a lot of time in the sun, like playing golf, boating, sailing, hiking, or bicycling?’

    ‘No, I don’t,’ I said.

    He asked, ‘Do you gamble, drive fast cars, or have lots of sex?’

    ‘No,’ I said…

    He looked at me and said, “Then, why the f…. do you want to live to 90?”

    1. Morning, Tom.
      Unexpected ending! I thought it was building towards “No, but it will feel like it!

  3. Good Morning Folks

    Cloudy start here, rain on it’s warm, typical half term May weather

  4. Labour is continuing its tradition of hostility to excellence in education

    If there is an argument for vat on school fees then using the same argument it should be levied on University fees too.
    Are they charities?

      1. Devil’s advocacy: private schools should not have charitable status.

        1. Be careful what you wish for. If they are not able to get charitable status they will not do their “outreach” programmes with the local state schools. Eton was a great partner to my children’s state school.

  5. Morning all. Dashing off to work but I post this here not really because of the article itself – interesting as it is – but because the journalist’s name struck me. It is by Peta Thorneycroft and Ben Farmer. Others may remember Peta’s story – I never knew it – but (and it must have been a good 15 years ago?) she used to write from Zim, before stopping (and I was under the impression it wasn’t because she wanted to).

    “W ITH just days until South Africa’s closest election since the dawn of democracy three decades ago, John Steenhuisen took to the stage and vowed to rescue South Africa from its current government.

    The last election rally by the Democratic Alliance (DA), South Africa’s biggest opposition party, was like the party itself: slick, wellorganised and aggressive.

    The 48-year-old leader told thousands of blue-clad supporters at a Johannesburg stadium on Sunday that the African National Congress (ANC) had for decades brought unemployment, corruption and misrule. But help is coming, he told the multi-racial crowd: “On Wednesday we close the chapter on the ANC rule.”

    This week’s election is on course to mark a watershed in South Africa’s post-apartheid history.

    The ANC, the party of Nelson Mandela, has ruled outright since 1994. But this week it is expected to fail for the first time to get the 50 per cent vote share needed to govern alone. A new era of coalitions beckons.

    Grim levels of unemployment and crime, crumbling public services, broken promises and the stain of corruption have all turned voters off the incumbents. Faced with such a fatigued and tainted opponent, the DA, which has a reputation for punchy politics, business-friendly policies and competent administration at the local level, should have a golden opportunity. Since 2009, the party has run Western Cape province – the only province not held by the ANC and the only one given a clean bill of health by the auditor general.

    Public services in Western Cape are comparatively well run. The economy is creating jobs and attracting investment. That is a far cry from other provinces, said 59-year-old Nomawethu Somgoyo, a DA voter originally from Eastern Cape.

    “It is terrible down there, where I come from,” she said. “No water sometimes for a month at a time, so no hygiene. People are hungry down there. They don’t have a life. That is what a vote for the ANC gives you there, at my home.”

    Ms Somgoyo said she could not understand why more people were not choosing to support the DA in Johannesburg. “They don’t lie to us.”

    Despite such endorsements, and while the party has long been the second biggest in the country, polls show it has struggled to capitalise on disillusionment with the ANC.

    Its predicted percentage of the vote hovers stubbornly in the mid-20s, while the ANC is expected to get somewhere around the mid-40s. The DA’S struggle to gain wider popular support, observers say, is unsurprising. Thirty years after the end of apartheid, politics, like much else in South Africa, is still viewed through the prism of race.

    The DA has struggled to shake off its reputation as the party of the well-off white minority, in a country where white governments once repressed the black majority. “The DA have got some very capable politicians, there’s no doubt about that,” says one European diplomat. “But I just doubt South Africa could elect someone white to lead the country at the moment.” The DA has long been accused of promoting the interests of white, Asian and mixed-race people, in a country where those three groups make up only 18 per cent of the population. Black Africans make up more than 81 per cent of the population.

    The party traces its roots to the main white anti-apartheid party. Its leadership and its highest fliers are largely white, even if most of its supporters are black. “Race is the main problem for the Democratic Alliance,” says Max du Preez, a newspaper editor and political analyst. “It doesn’t have enough black leaders in its top ranks, and race in South Africa really matters given the long and dreadful history of apartheid. It is about symbolism, about history, and remembering the massive inequality in society. I would love to have a DA government, but it can’t be.”

    The DA denies it has a problem with race. “People are looking beyond race towards competence, [the] ability to get things done and being able to deliver – that’s going to be the game in the election,” Mr Steenhuisen has said.

    The difficulty of conducting accurate opinion polls in South Africa means election forecasts have been varied. But latest figures show that the ANC will receive less than 50 per cent. The shape of any coalition will depend on how far below the threshold the party slips. In the mid-40s, it may be able to get over the line by joining with a few smaller parties. Below that, it will need to look for a bigger partner – and make bigger concessions.

    To broaden its appeal, the DA has formed its own broad coalition of smaller parties to bring down the ANC, although it is unclear the pact will hold if the ANC starts trying to poach partners. While Mr Steenhuisen says the ANC must go, he has not excluded a post-election deal with the party, if that’s what it takes to keep the Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters and former president Jacob Zuma’s umkhonto we Sizwe out. “I’m not ruling out anything depending on what the election results are, going forward,” he said earlier this year.”

    2. MIR: does your opening paragraph suggest that Peta is the daughter of Peter Thorneycroft?

      1. I don’t know to be honest and I have a feeling her surname is spelt without an “e”. She is definitely a Zimbabwean, now (presumably) living in exile in Joburg.

      2. Peter Thorneycroft had a son John Thorneycroft. John Thorneycroft was a chief at English Heritage when they operated from the offices in Savile Row.

        I met Thorneycroft several times when working on restoration projects at Hampton Court Palace in the nineties. His father died during that period so 1990-1995.

        Edit: I sat next to John Thorneycroft at a wonderful luncheon thrown by English Heritage to thank those of us involved in the Privy Garden Resoration Project at Hampton Court palace. The venue was the Orangery at Kensington Palace. We discussed Poland, Warsaw, Chopin and Lazienki Park.

  6. Morning all. Dashing off to work but I post this here not really because of the article itself – interesting as it is – but because the journalist’s name struck me. It is by Peta Thorneycroft and Ben Farmer. Others may remember Peta’s story – I never knew it – but (and it must have been a good 15 years ago?) she used to write from Zim, before stopping (and I was under the impression it wasn’t because she wanted to).

    “W ITH just days until South Africa’s closest election since the dawn of democracy three decades ago, John Steenhuisen took to the stage and vowed to rescue South Africa from its current government.

    The last election rally by the Democratic Alliance (DA), South Africa’s biggest opposition party, was like the party itself: slick, wellorganised and aggressive.

    The 48-year-old leader told thousands of blue-clad supporters at a Johannesburg stadium on Sunday that the African National Congress (ANC) had for decades brought unemployment, corruption and misrule. But help is coming, he told the multi-racial crowd: “On Wednesday we close the chapter on the ANC rule.”

    This week’s election is on course to mark a watershed in South Africa’s post-apartheid history.

    The ANC, the party of Nelson Mandela, has ruled outright since 1994. But this week it is expected to fail for the first time to get the 50 per cent vote share needed to govern alone. A new era of coalitions beckons.

    Grim levels of unemployment and crime, crumbling public services, broken promises and the stain of corruption have all turned voters off the incumbents. Faced with such a fatigued and tainted opponent, the DA, which has a reputation for punchy politics, business-friendly policies and competent administration at the local level, should have a golden opportunity. Since 2009, the party has run Western Cape province – the only province not held by the ANC and the only one given a clean bill of health by the auditor general.

    Public services in Western Cape are comparatively well run. The economy is creating jobs and attracting investment. That is a far cry from other provinces, said 59-year-old Nomawethu Somgoyo, a DA voter originally from Eastern Cape.

    “It is terrible down there, where I come from,” she said. “No water sometimes for a month at a time, so no hygiene. People are hungry down there. They don’t have a life. That is what a vote for the ANC gives you there, at my home.”

    Ms Somgoyo said she could not understand why more people were not choosing to support the DA in Johannesburg. “They don’t lie to us.”

    Despite such endorsements, and while the party has long been the second biggest in the country, polls show it has struggled to capitalise on disillusionment with the ANC.

    Its predicted percentage of the vote hovers stubbornly in the mid-20s, while the ANC is expected to get somewhere around the mid-40s. The DA’S struggle to gain wider popular support, observers say, is unsurprising. Thirty years after the end of apartheid, politics, like much else in South Africa, is still viewed through the prism of race.

    The DA has struggled to shake off its reputation as the party of the well-off white minority, in a country where white governments once repressed the black majority. “The DA have got some very capable politicians, there’s no doubt about that,” says one European diplomat. “But I just doubt South Africa could elect someone white to lead the country at the moment.” The DA has long been accused of promoting the interests of white, Asian and mixed-race people, in a country where those three groups make up only 18 per cent of the population. Black Africans make up more than 81 per cent of the population.

    The party traces its roots to the main white anti-apartheid party. Its leadership and its highest fliers are largely white, even if most of its supporters are black. “Race is the main problem for the Democratic Alliance,” says Max du Preez, a newspaper editor and political analyst. “It doesn’t have enough black leaders in its top ranks, and race in South Africa really matters given the long and dreadful history of apartheid. It is about symbolism, about history, and remembering the massive inequality in society. I would love to have a DA government, but it can’t be.”

    The DA denies it has a problem with race. “People are looking beyond race towards competence, [the] ability to get things done and being able to deliver – that’s going to be the game in the election,” Mr Steenhuisen has said.

    The difficulty of conducting accurate opinion polls in South Africa means election forecasts have been varied. But latest figures show that the ANC will receive less than 50 per cent. The shape of any coalition will depend on how far below the threshold the party slips. In the mid-40s, it may be able to get over the line by joining with a few smaller parties. Below that, it will need to look for a bigger partner – and make bigger concessions.

    To broaden its appeal, the DA has formed its own broad coalition of smaller parties to bring down the ANC, although it is unclear the pact will hold if the ANC starts trying to poach partners. While Mr Steenhuisen says the ANC must go, he has not excluded a post-election deal with the party, if that’s what it takes to keep the Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters and former president Jacob Zuma’s umkhonto we Sizwe out. “I’m not ruling out anything depending on what the election results are, going forward,” he said earlier this year.”

  7. France to send troops to Ukraine to train soldiers. 28 May 2024.

    France will soon start sending troops to train Ukrainian forces in the war-torn country, Kyiv’s top commander said on Monday.

    General Oleksandr Syrskyi said paperwork had been signed to allow French military instructors to visit Ukrainian training centres, following talks with Sebastien Lecornu, the French defence minister.

    The Ukies have probably the best field army in Europe at the moment. It is battle hardened and experienced. It certainly needs no guidance from the French who have just been kicked out of the Sahel for being useless. This decision is of course the thin end of the wedge. Our leaders have heard the Siren call of War. More will follow.

    You can almost see the political machinery at work here. They are leading in gently so as not to alarm the hoi-polloi and try and avoid any knee jerk reaction from Vlad. The intention is to present him with a political conundrum. How many NATO troops can he kill before the war becomes general?

    Only he can gauge the risks. His whole policy and perhaps personal survival depends on it. With such things in the balance his choice is not a foregone conclusion.

    P.S. Just on the side the comments are filled with Nudge Unit Trolls supporting this action and suppressing any opposition which is a pretty good guide to both the moral nature of the West and its intentions here.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/05/27/france-to-send-troops-to-ukraine-to-train-soldiers/

    1. It’s an open secret that British, US and French soldiers are operating in Ukraine AS. The Russians are fully aware of it and have directly accused Britain of using British soldiers to fire British missiles into Russia, basically an act of war against a major nuclear power with what is now probably the best army in the world.

      The Western Establishment obviously wants to keep this hideous war – in which over half a million Ukrainian solders have been killed – as log as possible.

      1. It’s an open secret that British, US and French soldiers are operating in Ukraine AS.

        Morning Tom. Yes of course but these are unacknowledged. French troops would be there officially and their deaths the same. This would require a response from the French/Nato. In other words escalation.

        1. A very dangerous escalation indeed AS. Even the previously cautious boss of Nato is at it, and with all the idiotic talk about bringing back conscription, the trend is clear. They want war, or a near war and the fear of war.

    2. Nice BTL from an ex-soldier: “It`s quite remarkable watching the slow descent into a huge European war, whilst so many are applauding this terrible folly. At least sit down with the Russians and start a conversation. It seems to me that the Western leaders are desperate to avoid talks in case they end in some sort of peace. And maybe Putin wouldn`t have gone into Ukraine if the EU and NATO hadn’t poked him and maybe the NATO countries made a huge mistake disarming after the Cold War.” Predictably the mass of Trolls don’t agree!

      There’s even some idiot who thinks Trump and Brexit were both “Russian victories”

  8. Good morning, chums. Another day, another dollar. And thanks to Geoff for Tuesday’s NoTTLe site.

    Wordle 1,074 5/6

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    1. Morning Elsie & All

      “Another day, another dollar”? If you check out (pardon the pun) the US Debt clock web site you will find that the US is currently adding $1,000,000 of debt every 30 seconds. I make that $2,880,000,000 every 24 hours.
      That’s more than $1 Trillion every 100 days. It’s no wonder China has halved its holdings of US Treasuries in recent years….

      2. Much as we all believe Starmer when he asserts “you can always trust a lawyer”, isn’t there an inherent confidence in a system coming from a superpower that allows a choice between a president that belongs in prison and one that belongs in a home?

        1. You can always trust a lawyer to separate you from as much of your money as possible.

        2. If one were to believe the reports of alleged corruption, the one you imply should be in a home should apparently be doing time…

          1. You may well be right. The only US presidential candidate in 2020 I could trust with a trade agreement was Bernie Sanders, and he is well in his eighties now.

      3. Ah the handy work of our progressive psychopaths in The Fed & Treasury.. 18 unelected officials, all Clinton acolytes. No oversight. Disconnected from the real world and hell bent on keeping out Trump. So they run the largest deficit ever in a period of full employment, then under report inflation.

        As for China.. their determination to disprove the laws of economic gravity commonly known as The Currency Trilemma will take them all the way down into the abyss.

  9. Britain will soon discover, to its horror, that there is no ‘moderate’ Left. 28 May 2024.

    Finally, of course, we know that the Labour high command was opposed to the public vote we took part in eight years ago. Will Labour decide to take us back into the EU during their time in office? It seems inconceivable to me that they will not be at least tempted to do so – through some door or other. Meaning that a decision that this country seemed to have put to bed will be opened up once again.

    These, then, are some signs of what our country will soon be. One led by people who believe in the out-sourcing of foreign and domestic policy, and the turning of the UK into a sort of medium-sized NGO. What an indictment it is of the current government that this wholly inadequate B-team should be regarded as so vastly preferential to them.

    The West and particularly the UK are so utterly screwed that perhaps Nuclear War would be preferable after all?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/05/27/britain-will-soon-discover-there-is-no-moderate-left/

      1. Morning JB. The West is morphing into a monstrous totalitarian tyranny. A Labour government would be an enthusiastic supporter.

    3. Britain will soon discover, to its horror, that there is no ‘moderate’ Left. 28 May 2024. We’ve been discovering that over the last 14 years of left wing Tory government. We now have record immigration, the highest peace time taxation, less freedom, more hate crime laws, less free speech and rule by woke lunatics.

      And the way the idiots running and ruining the country re going on, we’ll soon have nuclear war.

      1. I do not deny how the Tory Government has betrayed its core vote, who might be, I suggest maybe, conservatives, but the OP this time is about the Labour Party, aka “Change UK”.

        Starmer and his political clones by order claims CHANGE; it is on every poster being presented to the electorate. But change from what? It seems quite obvious that it is change from Corbyn and no more. It is not change from Blair or change from Brown or even change from Major, Cameron, May, Johnson or Truss, and barely even change from Sunak – the designer suit is just as expensive. Much has been said about Tice or Farage, but I cannot see how either
        would be much different were they ever to be able to form a Government. All the need is for the MSM to refer to them as “moderate” and we are all persuaded to support them.

        The only leader that seems to be offering genuine change since the 1990s seems to be Jeremy Corbyn, and he is persona non grata in the mainstream. He is not considered “moderate”.

        All the others are variants on More of the Same.

        Does anyone know where the money went, raised from the sale of gold melted down by the British Museum after centuries of treasure hunting for ancient heritage? Gold is at £1800 an ounce now, so it must be worth a bit. I believe the money has been privatised.

    4. Britain will soon discover, to its horror, that there is no ‘moderate’ Left. 28 May 2024. We’ve been discovering that over the last 14 years of left wing Tory government. We now have record immigration, the highest peace time taxation, less freedom, more hate crime laws, less free speech and rule by woke lunatics.

      And the way the idiots running and ruining the country re going on, we’ll soon have nuclear war.

  10. Morning, all Y’all. Sunny & very humid after last night’s torrential rain. Floods everywhere!

  11. 387798+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    I am afraid the continuing misguided use of the polling stations these past four decades have left us with three options
    submit / fight or flight.

    Streets are now morphing into battlegrounds soon to be up the garden path and onto the -door step, CONVERT or else and it won’t be the gas / lecky man asking.

    https://x.com/ranttilwecant/status/1795158726208323716

  13. Is there a cheaper way to shoot down incoming heavy artillery than state-of-the-art U.S. guided missiles costing a million a pop?

    3. Don’t provoke nuclear powers into firing missiles at you in the first place would seem to be the cheapest Jeremy, and using diplomacy to try to settle disputes rather than using proxies to start a war.

        1. A very much misused and misunderstood word JM. to appease you need a genuine enemy, and this country does not have a nation state enemy wanting to inflict violence on us, though one or two could be provoked into doing so if we continue to support US aggression around the world.
          The real appeasement, and the real threat, is going on daily in front of our eyes, in places like Tower Hamlets, Bradford and so on.

          1. Germany is one of the most civilised nations on Earth, and the English language is considered a Germanic language, along with Dutch. Much culture, from the House of Windsor to the Christmas tree, comes out of Germany. Even Handel’s Messiah is German. It is understandable therefore for the last people likely to be a nation state enemy should be Germany, yet in the last century there were two major wars between Britain and Germany, resulting in much destruction on both sides.

            You are right in suggesting that hostility is more likely in fifth columnist sleeper cells set up in Tower Hamlets, Bradford and so on, even though to suggest such a thing is considered “Islamophobia” and therefore a hate crime. Countering tyranny may be the major concern of those who are children now, but depletion of resources is also up there. Most likely, it will be both, and I do not relish living into my nineties.

            As regards US aggression, I remember a number of atrocities conducted by the US in Latin America (including the invasion of Grenada, a British protectorate, during the Thatcher/Reagan era), and more recent adventures in the Middle East. Yet Americans may also refer to WW2 and argue “we saved your ass”. Without NATO, we’d all be part of a degenerating Warsaw Pact. Warsaw today is one of the more prosperous cities in Europe.

            The bombardment with heavy artillery artillery of civilians by Russia and Israel may be none of our business, but it is setting a lamentable example. Xi is observing carefully as he prepares to restore Taiwan to the Empire, annex the islands in the South China Sea, and buy up much of Africa’s natural resources for the price of a few Mercedes. Britain may not be threatened right now, and Germany has been benign for nearly eighty years, but we would be wise not to take our security for granted if a foe decides there be rich pickings here.

          2. …we would be wise not to take our security for granted if a foe decides there be rich pickings here.

            Our greatest enemies are already here.

          3. It is why, when we consider military intelligence, MI5 is of as much importance as MI6.

        2. Negotiation. Zelenski is acting as a US puppet by perpetuating the war. He doesn’t seem to care that his country is being destroyed and a generation is being slaughtered. Biden is fine with that as there are no US soldiers being sent home in body bags. This conflict will end with negotiation, it would be better done sooner than later.

          1. Negotiation cannot be just between Biden and Zelenskyy; it must also involve Putin, who is after all largely responsible for the current bombardment of Ukraine and the annexation of its coastal and industrial regions.

            The question needs to be – what circumstances would Putin agree to that would cease the bombardment and annexation, or would he simply regard any concessions made to be a licence to push on with The Plan?

      2. Wasn’t it Churchill who said “Jaw-jaw is better than war-war”?

        1. There is another piece of advice “never turn your back on the bear”. Jaw-jawing works best between equals. Someone presenting as weak and helpless is all too likely to end up bullied – it is a sad consequence of human nature.

        2. Jaw-jaw : that’s just what warmongers Biden and Johnson prevented when they persuaded the corrupt and greedy Zelensky to ditch the peace talks which had been arranged.

    1. Good morning Bob ,

      Wet morning here , people have flocked down here with their tents, caravans and vans , I guess they must be giving Devon a miss!!

      Poor old Sheffield , what on earth is going on , I will blame Clegg.

      Look what has happened to our Jewel in the Crown , Bournemouth .. it is chaotic and out of control , very wealthy , old wealth , but now a mess .. and I blame the University and the import of people who have no place in our culture or society .

      https://twitter.com/Perky_43/status/1795095170200846727

  15. Socialist always destroy. They never create anything but poverty and tyranny.

      1. You remembered that Sweden dabbled with socialism in the 1970s–1980s but then ditched it because they realised that a market economy was the only way to increase wealth.

          1. And the Swedish attitude to immigration, socialist in essence, is causing huge problems for them.

          2. That is not the ‘Swedish attitude’. It is the succession of wet Liberal government’s attitude.

            Every Swede I’ve spoken to wants all the ‘camel jockeys’ sent back to Sandland, hasta la vista.

          3. Ask the average Swede about that and they are all extremely happy, very few of them are poor or on the breadline. The standard of living, here, far exceeds what I experienced in 60 years living in the UK.

          6. Sweden ranked 8th¹ out of 38 OECD countries in terms of the tax-to-GDP ratio in 2022. In 2022, Sweden had a tax-to- GDP ratio of 41.3% compared with the OECD average of 34.0%.

        2. But don’t tell the useful idiots who still think Sweden is a shining example of Socialism.

          1. Oh my god, I have some of those — expat British — living here who still think that.

            They are socialists to the core and trying to reason with them is like trying to make boeuf bourguignon out of catshit.

    2. Take Labour councils;
      You have seven different coloured waste bins, for your convenience.
      We have altered collection days to once a month, for your convenience.
      If You overfill your bins, or put the wrong colour bin out, you will be prosecuted.
      For your convenience.
      We have changed your road into a pedestrian only walkway, for your convenience.
      We can’t fill potholes, but we employ a record number of Diversity officers.
      For your convenience.
      Complain about lack of space to put your bins, lack of space to park your car, the damage caused to said car by potholes, damage to your mental health by too many Diversity officers and all you get is, ” Don’t you realise we do all these things for your f…king convenience, ungrateful pleb.

  16. Action on hunger

    SIR – This year marks 40 years since the Ethiopian famine, which caught the attention of the British media and inspired an overwhelming public response in the UK and around the world. After Ethiopia, the world vowed: “Never again.”

    Indeed, during the following decades, Britain played a key role in efforts that saw the proportion of undernourished people in the world cut by almost half.

    Tragically, conflict and climate change have caused that success to go into reverse, and today millions are facing famine. Malnutrition, although preventable, takes a child’s life every 11 seconds. Conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gaza, Sudan, Yemen and many other places is feeding a cycle of hunger and hopelessness.

    Food is foundational to development. Nutritious food fuels individuals, communities and economies. Deprived of it, generations struggle to grow, learn and fulfil their potential. As former defence and development ministers, we believe that tackling malnutrition and hunger is not only a moral imperative but also critical to our national security and foreign policy interests.

    On World Hunger Day, we urge political leaders across parties to recognise the geopolitical significance of the global hunger crisis and build on existing efforts to ensure that Britain is once again at the heart of efforts to tackle it. That means mobilising the full scope of British know-how and resources, and galvanising international peacebuilding efforts.

    Unless urgent action is taken to break it, the deadly cycle of hunger and conflict will continue, bringing further misery to millions. That should matter to all of us because a hungry world will never be a safe or stable one.

    Rory Stewart
    Secretary of state for international development (Con), 2019

    Population of Ethiopia 1970 40 million.
    Now…125 million.

    Wake up Rory.

    1. Morning Phizzee,

      So true , and I liked this comment ..

      John Bloomfield
      13 MIN AGO
      Rory Stewart and other’s motives are laudable however he overlooks one tiny fact : famine are nature’s way of controlling a population which has outgrown its ability to feed itself. All Western interference does is make the problem worse as the population continues to increase by over breeding.

      2. And then they become “climate refugees” and “need” to come to the US/Europe to escape. We know the drill.

    2. Ethiopia population:
      1980. 34.76 million
      2020. 117.2 million

      Good Moaning, Dolly and Harry’s slave.

      1. But, but, but… Aren’t we always told that there’s a fertility crisis? Modern woman too busy to have babies?

          2. I believe even Geldof eventually admitted that Bandaid was a mistake.

          3. I thought Geldorf was dead – apparently not – How can they tell? His grandfather was a Belgian immigrant and his grandmother was of the Jewish faith.

    3. Ethiopia population:
      1980. 34.76 million
      2020. 117.2 million

      Good Moaning, Dolly and Harry’s slave.

    4. I did once think that Rory Stewart had potential, sadly it seems he’s just as naive [stupid?] as the rest of the blob.

  17. 387798+ up ticks,

    How truly bloody sad,

    leilani dowding 🌸🚜 ☮️
    @LeilaniDowding
    You never know who’s just hanging on to life by a thread.. obviously his last straw…. Usually small watch dealers have watches on consignment. Many watches have a higher 2nd hand value due to the scarcity that an insurance company wouldn’t pay out.. he probably felt he couldn’t ever come back from this 😩😩. Those thieves stole his life too

    https://x.com/LeilaniDowding/status/1795336992063914251

    1. Good morning N.

      Oh yes, and this?

      Britain is bracing itself for one of the wettest summers on record – with forecasters predicting there could be at least 50 days of rain in just three months.

      The Government has reportedly been prepped by the Met Office to expect extremely soggy conditions between the start of June and the end of August, with wet weather 50 per cent more likely than average.

      The bleak forecast threatens to interrupt a number of summer events, including Wimbledon, the British Grand Prix, the Trooping of the Colour, Royal Ascot, Henley and music festivals such as Glastonbury.

      If forecasters are correct, it could be the dampest summer since 1912 – when rain fell on 55 days across the summer season, The Sun reports.

      The Met Office long-range forecast said: ‘The chances of a wetter-than-average period are higher than a drier-than-average one. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13465553/Britain-braces-one-wettest-summers-record-Met-Office-warns-Government-50-days-rain-possible-holiday-period.html

      1. Nature has a way of balancing out its work. The sun will come out tomorrow!

      3. Hunga Tonga.

        Or “man made climate catastrophe”

        We won’t be told

    1. ay I shorten the above

      We need to send them MuckDonalds , KFC, Nandos, Coca Cola etc

    2. There’s far more junk food in the UK than in Europe.

      Please describe this “European junk food”.

      1. This behemoth of a meal is an invention of the Tre Kronor restaurant from the Swedish town of Skellefteå. It consists of a calzone pizza that is stuffed with hamburgers (along with bread, toppings, and dressings) and French fries.

        The calorie-laden dish was originally invented for people who could not decide whether to get a pizza or a hamburger after a night of heavy drinking.

          1. Never tried a deep fried Mars Bar, but as a VERY occasional treat with ice cream or even just fresh cream it would not be so bad.
            And I do stress VERY occasional treat!

  21. The BBC tells people to put on sun screen- despite the fact that the sun is barely visible. There are presentations on YT by this woman- who gets hammered by the “experts”-Valentina Zharkova, Professor of Mathematics, Northumbria University. She maintains that our winters are now worse and will get worse and there will be huge consequences in terms of crop yields due to farming being disrupted- which was the case in the “Little Ice Age” when crops failed and contributed to unrest and wars- the French Revolution being a key example- bread shortages.

  22. My school educates more than 600 children and employs over 200 staff in a rural area where there are few other opportunities. I wonder whether Ms Reeves has considered the probable human cost of her party’s policy.

    John Paget-Tomlinson
    Headmaster, Leweston School
    Sherborne, Dorset

    Labour party are spiteful, mean interfering people , who are denying aspiring families a chance to further a decent all round education for their youngsters .

    2. I call upon all teachers in private schools to do what the French teachers did when Mitterrand tried to abolish private schools.

      The French teachers said they would resign from the teaching profession immediately and never work in state schools.

      I call upon all the governors of private schools and their governors not to allow state schools to use any of their property or facilities as they did in France.

      Without enough teachers to teach and without enough accommodation and facilities Mitterrand realised that the state sector would collapse so he had to climb down.

      1. There is a particularly nasty and vindictive sort of socialist in Britain who wants to punish those who would like to use private schooling and private medicine for which they have paid with their taxes.

        In France the state gives the same amount of money it spends to educate each child to the private school which educates the child so that parents do not lose the entitlement to education for their children for which their taxes have paid. However if the school charges fees higher that the money they receive from the state the parents have to pay the difference. Our boys went to such a well run private primary school that we had no fees to pay.

        It is the same with medicine – your compulsory state insurance scheme entitles you to health care whether you use private clinics or state provision. If you want a top surgeon who charges more that others you would just have to pay the difference.

      2. There is a particularly nasty and vindictive sort of socialist in Britain who wants to punish those who would like to use private schooling and private medicine for which they have paid with their taxes.

        In France the state gives the same amount of money it spends to educate each child to the private school which educates the child so that parents do not lose the entitlement to education for their children for which their taxes have paid. However if the school charges fees higher that the money they receive from the state the parents have to pay the difference. Our boys went to such a well run private primary school that we had no fees to pay.

        It is the same with medicine – your compulsory state insurance scheme entitles you to health care whether you use private clinics or state provision. If you want a top surgeon who charges more that others you would just have to pay the difference.

    3. I call upon all teachers in private schools to do what the French teachers did when Mitterrand tried to abolish private schools.

      The French teachers said they would resign from the teaching profession immediately and never work in state schools.

      I call upon all the governors of private schools and their governors not to allow state schools to use any of their property or facilities as they did in France.

      Without enough teachers to teach and without enough accommodation and facilities Mitterrand realised that the state sector would collapse so he had to climb down.

    4. “Labour party are spiteful, mean interfering people” I’d add resentful but that is an excellent summary.

        1. He was once married to a woman though whether or not the marriage was ever consecrated I do not know.

          1. Renata Blauel his sound engineer. Not married for long. Three years.
            He released Breaking Hearts and Sad Songs (say so much).

          3. That’s what I meant to say but I expect it was neither consummated nor consecrated!

    2. I was listening to an Eric Clapton interview recorded a few days ago. He expressed a desire to play some concerts in Russia! He said he had stem cell treatment- he was injured as you know by the “safe and effective” treatment that was foisted on the world. He’s now been semi-cancelled for his stance. Someone with a less high profile would have been fully cancelled.

      1. Morning Sue. Brain’s faggotts. They were horrible. Gave you galloping heartburn.

        1. I quite like the taste of the gravy. A very cheap and filling meal with mash and peas.

      5. The word faggot has been used in English since the late 16th century as an abusive term for women, particularly old women, and reference to homosexuality may derive from this, as female terms are often used with reference to homosexual or effeminate men (cf. nancy, sissy, queen). The application of the term to old women is possibly a shortening of the term “faggot-gatherer”,

      6. I still do. I make my own from minced pork, beef and offal: it is delicious and nutritious.

    4. Bonjour Mr T, and everyone. All I know is that Reg and Mark are great artists who have given a lot of music to the world and in the process have provided enjoyment for millions of people. Financially they have provided work and employment for many and have paid a boatload of tax. AFAIK they each do charitable work, and may they live long and prosper.

      1. I have several albums by Dire Straits, Mark Knopfler (after he left DS) and by Reg.

    5. A piece (I think on Unherd, by Damian Thompson) a while ago, verifying this historical scenario. Perhaps Francis read it 😀

    6. Being celibate means being unmarried. Being chaste means abstaining from sex.

      1. Not quite. The original meaning of celibate is being unmarried and so by implication abstaining from sexual intercourse. In more recent usage the previous connotation has become the main meaning, namely not engaging in sexual relations (as the status of marriage has become less relevant to practice).

        Chaste means abstaining from immoral sexual intercourse, so a married couple can both be chaste if they only have sexual relations with each other. An unmarried person can only be chaste if they are also celibate (in the modern sense).

        1. There were two young people of taste
          Who were beautiful down to the waist
          So they limited love
          To the regions above
          And so remained perfectly chaste

          This fits Grizzly’s definition

          1. The limerick does not specify whether the ‘two young people of taste’ were married or unmarried. If the latter (which I would think was implied), then the definition in the limerick fits the one that I gave.

      2. Dictionaries vary in the definitions they give.

        For example the Cambridge Dictionary says:

        Meaning of celibacy in English

        celibacy
        noun [ U ]
        UK /ˈsel.ə.bə.si/ US /ˈsel.ə.bə.si/
        Add to word list
        the state of not having sex, especially because you have made a religious promise not to:
        Celibacy is not exclusive to Catholic priests.
        She chose celibacy after a pregnancy scare at 16.

        1. I don’t trust anything from Cambridge: breeding ground for treachery.

          Bill Bryson (Anglophile and tireless instructor of good English for Americans) says this in his Dictionary of Troublesome Words (Penguin):

          celibacy. ‘He claimed he had remained celibate throughout the four-year marriage’ (Daily Telegraph). Celibacy does not, as is generally supposed, necessarily indicate abstinence from sexual relations. It means only to be unmarried, particularly if as a result of a religious vow. A married man cannot be celibate, but he may be chaste.

          Many modern dictionaries fall into the trap of including popular colloquialisms alongside genuine etymology. This habit is not only fraught, it is misleading.

          1. I am passionate Brysonista but I think this is the only one of his books I haven’t read. I just ordered a copy on Ebay.

    1. Why does his hand wash his arse and then use that same hand to wipe his mouth. Do they enjoy eating their own shit?

      2. He’s got the practice badly wrong. Traditionally in Arabic countries the left hand is used for toilet purposes and the right hand for eating/drinking. A friend of mine who worked in Saudi teaching EFL was at a communal meal once, and when he reached out to pick up some food with his left hand it was slapped none too gently as a reminder to only use his right hand – and this was in genteel, well-educated company.

    4. Maybe we have understood this all wrong. Maybe the whole point of “diversity strength” is to remind us that we [used to] live in a civilised society and by bringing in the “diversity” we are continually reminded of how lucky we are?

      I know, I know….clutching at straws…

      1. 387798+ up ticks,

        Morning MIR,
        I believe the political thing that crawled out of the park public toilet crypt, “miranda”the latch lifter, was a true asset of the WEF / NWO criminal cartel.

        Sadly it, and its followers, are still being given a shout in society.

  26. “State pension will never be taxed, vows Sunak”

    That’s a larf, for a start. The man really is a complete idiot.

    1. He’s not up with the situation at all.
      We all have paid tax on our pensions during our working lives. Even those with private pension pots are forced to pay tax on withdrawals. Although the money they have paid into the pensions was taxed at some point.

      1. I would say:
        – if he is saying that the state pension won’t be taxed, he is implying that it will never go above the tax-free allowance. So that will be interesting, especially if (when) they freeze the tax-free allowance
        – most money paid into a private pension is paid in tax-free (there are occasions where it won’t be, for example if it breaches the annual allowance which is currently £60K but tapered for those who earn c. above £240K (this is a complicated calculation))
        – risk-free DC pensions which are used by the Civil Service and other state institutions do not generally have any contributions paid in “on the go” and the liability falls to future tax payers to fund these egregiously generous pensions

        1. Of course MIR, in whatever they say they always have something to hide.
          Can you imagine winning millions on the national lottery. Tax free I believe at source, but after that hammerd.

      2. I have a state pension and an Army pension. I pay about £200 per month tax. The tax is calculated on how much my income is above my tax allowance. It does not separate one pension from another for tax purposes. As Bill says, “complete idiot”.

        1. My MP rents a property in London because it takes him 40 minutes from his local railway station to get to Westminster. All expenses paid of course. We (the tax payers) pay more in two months for his rent and train fares, than I get PA from my state pension. After working for 47 years.

        1. Yes it’s Taxable Income. vw has a very small private pension, £100 per month, and last year, and this year, are the only 2 years she has paid tax since retiring 13 years ago. To me that means the state pension is taxable and I will not play Jeremy rhyming slang’s game of smoke and mirrors to obscure the truth.

    3. I have two pensions, state and vocational. When the state pension goes up, the tax on the vocational pension goes up! So you still get taxed.

      1. I’m the same. I gift aid any donations because I’m still paying income tax, even though I’m a pensioner.

  27. I see our progressive psychopath overlords are keen for MSN to keep the wraps on this one.. open borders and all that.

    US Military Hid Quantico Breach Attempt By Jordanians In Box Truck In Possible Dry-Run
    Weeks ago, two individuals in a box truck attempted to breach the gates at Quantico Marine Corps Base in Triangle, Virginia. Armed guards immediately stopped them, and the base’s top brass quickly covered up the incident.

    The suspects were two Jordanian nationals, one reportedly on the FBI’s terrorist watch list, raising suspicions that they entered illegally through the Biden administration’s open southern border. This could’ve been a dry run for a potential vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attack.

  28. To the title:
    The Tories cared Sweet Fanny Adams about excellence in education for the non-rich that used to be available in grammar schools.
    Mind you, even the private schools are peddling all the woke anti-imperialist gender critical claptrap.
    So you’d need to leave the country for any kind of excellence.

    1. It seems to have been proven in many situations and many times before, that it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.

    2. Indeed and it’s already costing the British taxpayers an absolute fortune.

    3. All male Muslims, I see (possible Labour woman in the background). Does Rayner realise that they despise her because she is British, white, non-Muslim and – above all – female?

  30. S.S. Mentor.

    Complement:
    86 (4 dead and 82 survivors).
    4,600 tons of war material, 3,600 tons of supplies and 400 tons of sulphur

    At 02.08 hours on 28th May 1942 the unescorted Mentor (Master Alexander Pope) was hit on the port side in the stern by one torpedo from U-106 (Hermann Rasch) north of Cabo Catoche and sank within six minutes after being hit by a coup de grâce at 02.38 hours. The U-boat surfaced and questioned the crew, which told them that the name of the ship was Bengloe. The fourth engineer and three Chinese crew members were killed on watch below when the engine room was flooded. The master, 74 crew members and seven gunners were picked up after three days by the British steam merchant Antilochus and landed at Key West, Florida.

    Type IXB U-Boat U-106 was sunk on 2nd August 1943 in the North Atlantic north-west of Cape Ortegal, Spain by depth charges from a British and an Australian Sunderland aircraft (228 Sqn RAF & 461 Sqn RAAF). 22 dead and 36 survivors.

    https://uboat.net/media/allies/merchants/br/mentor.jpg

    1. Good morning ,

      Moh and I watched Enigma (2001 film) last night ..

      It was thin on content but watchable .

      When I read the write up , Mick Jagger appeared very briefly as an RAF officer at a party , why , because Mick owns an Enigma machine , and he allowed it to be used for the film .

      We saw convoys and their destruction , and my goodness, the loss of life was colossal.

      1. My brother’s godmother worked in the Naval Intelligence hut at Bletchley Park. We never knew this until she died although it seems she made a visit there with her family. She worked so hard that she collapsed from exhaustion- an incredible woman whose language abilities and intelligence got her chosen. She designed the board that showed the North Atlantic- she may have also painted it. She also created some kind of data mining system that was later adopted by US Intelligence and computerised.

  31. Morning all 🙂😊
    It doesn’t look good outside today weather wise.
    Unfortunately most of the people in the whole of Westminster and Whitehall and other centres of assumed ‘excellence, seem to have a different concept on life in general to all those people who have to pay for their continuous infutiating mistakes. Its almost like another planet.
    This could be easily avoided if they weren’t so excessively preoccupied with their own lives and income.
    Obnoxious also comes to mind.

  32. Good morning, all. Cloudy and breezy at the moment with showers forecast for later.

    Re the Essex Police ‘diversity’ programme of ‘protected’ (non-white) and ‘non-protected’ (white) policy I mentioned a couple of days ago. I have written to the PPCs of the Reform, Conservative, Labour and LibDem parties asking for their views on this matter.

    LibDem’s first email address failed and I had to go looking elsewhere. Finally found it, I hope, on a completely different site. No problems finding the information with the other three parties. Is that indicative of the LibDems?

  33. Will Sir Keir of Rotherham include your local nursery school as “private” and subject to 20% VAT tax, though not technically an endowment school as such.
    Or perhaps have a two tier system.. anything posh or with a cross subject to 20% or closed down whichever is quicker.. and exemption for those with crescent & star.. or within norf Landan boundaries.

  34. A magnificent two: Guess what I put first!
    Wordle 1,074 2/6

    🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  35. Theresa May: The Accidental Prime Minister, review: even as she departs, May remains tight-lipped
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/theresa-may-the-accidental-prime-minister-itv1-review/

    My censored BTL

    Baroness May? Barrenness May, more like. She produced nothing of benefit for the UK.

    She did her best to ruin Britain’s chances of negotiating a good Brexit deal and deserves all the contempt that is heaped upon her.

    The MP with all the fecund production of Maidenhead!

    (Christ’s mother was the only virgin to produce a child!)

      1. For a God who is capable of omnipresence, omnipotence and omniscience virgin birth would be a piece of cake!

        I remember that when I asked Christo, who was about 7 at the time, what omnipresence was he replied that God was all over the place.

        There once was a man who said God
        Must think it exceedingly odd
        If He finds that this tree
        Continues to be
        When there’s no one about in the Quad.

        Dear Sir, Your astonishment’s odd;
        I am always about in the Quad,
        And that’s why the tree
        Will continue to be,
        Since observed by, Yours faithfully, God.

        1. Not in homo sapiens, though. The notion that a woman gave birth to the son of God – an entity I utterly reject has ever existed – is completely implausible, to my mind. All I am prepared to accept is that many millions of others believe it.

  36. Every TV channel is featuring Farage.. to try and make him look silly.

    However, Matt Goodwin is right, Farage is making it a referendum on Islam.
    17,410,742 voters will say No to Islam.

    1. Inconvenient truth gets buried in the UK, and they are trying to bury the story about the views of young UK Muslims. We have a growing problem and all mainstream politicians don’t want to touch it with a bargepole. They haven’t a clue how to deal with this problem and they don’t want anyone talking about it; so yes, they will set the attack dogs on Farage.

  37. The most persuasive item on the election that I have come across is that Starmer will give power away to supra-national bodies and NGOs. By the time he’s finished it may be pointless voting in a national election, as the national government will have given away even more power dowwnwards to devolved assemblies and metro mayors, and upwards to the aforesaid supranationals and NGOs.
    And that’s before he doubles down on transnuttery and net zero.
    It’s like living in a lunatic asylum. Seeing insanity all around but being powerless to prevent it.

    1. That was the transition from W7 to W8.

      Even W7 was slow compared to XP, which is like running a 2CV after a Lexus with exciting inbuilt planned obsolescence and a subscription to the main dealership.

      XP does pretty well everything I ask of it, other than the latest security patches and a properly functioning browser.

      1. The last MS version I used was XP at work before I retired. I use Debian Linux which does everything I need.

    3. Why do you need to – if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. I’ve refused the upgrade as 10 works fine for me

      1. I’ve been using Win 10 for some time now but Microsoft has sent me a message saying my old desktop PC is not compatible.

        It looks as though the market for Win 11 has saturated but demand for Win 10 is increasing just like the need for people to keep running internal combustion engines.

        1. If your PC isn’t compatible with W10 it’s unlikely to be compatible with W11

      1. There are at least two different meanings for Window Lickers.

        One of them is a derogatory term for the mentally deficient who once voted Tory and and another is for more educated people who wish they could lick the candy through the window of a sweet shop which they find a bit of a pane.

        I think it will take an elickshun to distinguish the true meaning.

  40. “May you live in interesting times”

    When I was younger and more naïve I wondered why this was seen as a curse, now that I’m older I fully understand.

  41. They are scared shitless. That is why the Muslipolitan perlice stand and watch (and take part in) “demonstrations”. That is why the meeja generally are silent. And the PTB only ever talk about the “far-right”.

    They all know that if the police were “heavy-handed” (that is, treated slammer marchers as they treat other demonstrators) there would be an uncontrollable riot – with dead and injured police….

    1. IMVHO.
      It’s been obvious for along while the so called ‘community’ has secretly threatened riots and much violence if they don’t get their own way.
      They’ll be volunteering to join the army soon so they can get their hands on free weapons.

  42. 387798+ up ticks,

    It really does, via the majority voter, seem that the country would be better off at this moment in time, under islamic rulings.

    Whistleblower 🇬🇧
    @PeteJacksonGMP
    The country is screwed if Labour get in! They will throw Britain under a bus to gain power. The increasing influence of the Muslim block vote over Labour is frightening. How many women in that room with Angela?
    #NEVERLABOUR!

    Maybe a dose of shiria law and a mass of rolling skulls will alter the voting pattern in the future if there is to be a future.

    https://x.com/PeteJacksonGMP/status/1795375773651812510

    1. Treasonous ?
      Oh yes I remember B Liar made certain alterations to the laws of treason..

      2. The main alteration was to change the maximum sentence from the death penalty to life imprisonment but, as the UK has long since been signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights, which forbids the death penalty, no death sentence could ever be applied, so it was merely adjusting the treason laws to align them with reality. The British electorate would have to elect a government willing to repeal the Human Rights Act, withdraw from the European Convention and reinstate the death penalty for treason in order to restore capital punishment for that particular crime. I’ll be long dead before that happens which, if things continue as they are, will most likely come about by the adoption of Sharia law sometime in the 22nd century.

          1. Yes, I keep forgetting.

            “… will most likely come about by the adoption of Law law sometime in the 22nd century.”

  43. Just had a Sainsbury’s delivery. The driver was most definitely a man. He was wearing face powder, lipstick, sparkly earrings. He was also wearing shorts which showed he was wearing tights. He seemed pleasant enough.
    I don’t care what people wear. I care about bad attitude.

    I might wear a frock this Summer if it ever gets warm enough. :@)

        1. I watch them picking in store for delivery. Its the first one to hand no checking anything.
          No thanks.

        1. Me too. I’m not prepared to accept anyone else’s idea of a ‘substitute’ for what I order.

          1. I ordered a bag of flour and it was substituted for a large watermelon. They didn’t charge me for it. I made a watermelon, feta and mint salad.

    4. When we were in the Med on Mianda I took to wearing a sarong and I often do so at home as it is more comfortable than trousers.

  44. A extraordinary story of helpfulness this morning. The MR went into Fakenham to do some shopping. She declined my offer to accompany her.

    On arrival in town, she discovered that she had left her purse – with money, cards etc – at home. We have a branch of the Nationwide still open. She went in and explained the situation – expecting them to say no. She had no formal ID. They asked her a series of questions about herself, age, house – and asked for a signature (to compare with one she didn’t know they had!)

    Then asked her how much she’d like.

    I was gobsmacked – but pleasantly surprised…..

    1. Apparently, you can shoplift without the Met’s finest becoming interested, if it’s less than £200. That should cover a week’s shopping. This should not be taken as legal advice…

    3. The Nationwide is a mutual, a life-form which has almost disappeared. I’m tempted to open an account with them.

      1. When Lloyds closed its branch in my town I transferred to Nationwide, as they had an advert in the window for exactly this situation. At the time, the manager told me that they were overwhelmed by people transferring to them. I’ve had excellent service, with one minor unexpected glitch: they are not part of the Giro inter-bank payments system, so you have to use their own in-house bill payments system, and not the bank Giro slip that usually comes with paper bills. But once you’ve got the bill payment details all set up it’s straightforward.

        Also, because they are a mutual and don’t have to pay shareholders a dividend, they have recently introduced a Fairer Share payment to all qualifying* members. I received £100 in the year after I opened my account, and am about to receive another £100.

        *I forget the exact details, but you have to have particular accounts with them. As they say: T&Cs apply.

    4. I’ve had an account with Nationwide for over 40 years and that Fakenham branch is where the base address of my Flexaccount remains.

    5. She’d have got nowhere with a bank. I went to pay a bill through my account, but had forgotten my card. I had to go back and get it.

    1. I feel sorry for the horse she took the teeth from – it must be really down in the mouth.

    2. At least the Kiwis eventually threw her and her government out. We’re about to elect something even worse than the Pantomime Horse.

      1. At least the younger idiots will find out what Labour government is like.The hard way.

  47. Guess what. It is about to rain. And will continue – at times heavily – until the end of the afternoon.

    1. Been raining all morning (and probably most of the night) here. Hopefully it will eventually clear from the west.

    2. I have been giving the snails flying lessons. I must make a mini trebuchet.

        1. We have ‘homing snails’ here, they find their way back from bushes to the vegetable garden. Like Phizzee, we give them flying lessons to open ground where the thrushes will spot them.

          1. There was some research done a few years ago. Snails were marked – and taken a mile away from where they were found. A week later – they were all back.

      2. Moh off to play in a golf competition , the wind is strong , stopped raining and he is wearing his shorts .. he has nice brown legs!

        1. I’m hoping it might brighten up here sometime. I’m in gloomy enough mood today, without the weather.

          Two baby bluetits fledged today but the third one (the only one left ) is reluctant to leave. The parents are still feeding it.

          Did you see my email I sent the other day about the swifts?

  50. Good morning all and 77th duty officer,

    I’d need an aqualung to go outside right now. Staying that way until late afternoon.

    Late on on parade today – been detained by a free-range 3-year-old grand-daughter charging about the place since Saturday and creating mayhem.

    UK Column is redefining the election day, 4th July, as “Independents’ Day”. Vote for no party candidate is the line they are taking. If there is no independent on my ballot I’m going for none-of-the-above.

    If Douglas Murray is anything of a prophet https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/05/27/britain-will-soon-discover-there-is-no-moderate-left/ there is only one course of action for those of us who do not vote for the upcoming openly communist government of Great Britain and that is open revolt. We should make a start now in considering the ways in which we can each make our contributions to the rebellion.

      1. It does now. I’ve just discovered you can’t put a link in parentheses.

          1. Brackets.
            The right hand bracket was acting as part of the URL and giving it a hissy fit.

          2. ▪ parentheses
            a pair of round brackets () used to mark off a parenthetical word or phrase.

      1. A friend of mine who was my house tutor when I was a housemaster went on to be the Head of Modern Languages at a prominent girls’ independent school. Before their French and Spanish “A” level oral exams he gave each girl a glass of wine to make her more relaxed. He had amongst the best Modern Languages results in the country.

    3. Fiscal, the 77th is presumably semi automated by now. You know, key words and phrases etc. But it’s not a joke; I posted something once and a while later I received an unexpected visitor. Innocuous, except…

    5. I went to a country pub last night; they had a pitchfork on the wall. I nearly asked them how much they wanted for it!

    1. Is it a retirement Village? Looks ok and South Africa is a beautiful country……but I wouldn’t want to go back there. Three weeks just over 10 years ago was enough for me.

      1. Same here .

        What is so terrifying is the the huge National airport Or Tambo , at JB, and getting from A to B.. Same applies to Cape Town airport .

        I shudder with horror after travelling on SA roads ..

        Mind you it is just as bad on British roads these days , we were flooded with Indians and that ilk over the holiday weekend , they drive like maniacs and have such expensive top of the range cars .

        Asian women drivers can scarcely see over the driving wheel , yes that is an added horror story .

        1. Nor would I even though I was born in the Sudan and several of my father’s brothers and sisters lived there: Uncle Leonard (Rhodesia); Uncle Hugh (South Africa); Aunt Vera (Kenya); Aunt Evelyn (Nigeria) and Aunt Decima (Rwanda).

      3. Having lived in several countries and worked in more, I don’t want to live in England – not even next door to a cider farm.

          2. Sorry, not tempted. Far too far from those I care most about and, despite its spectacular scenery, no better in terms of its politics and prospects, plus earthquakes.

  52. My good friends were involved in a nasty accident while driving in SA a few years ago. They survived but were bruised and shaken up. We didn’t drive there but had a long road trip from OR T airport to the north of the country, near the border with Zim.

  54. You’re lucky if you still have thrushes – I haven’t seen or heard one for years.

    Hooray – a glimmer of sunshine at last!

    1. I had a thrush strolling down the back path the other day. It clearly wasn’t doing its job because I still have snails and slugs.

      1. Give him a chance! There’s only so much as one can eat in a day!

        Thrushes are much more likely to go for the smaller Cepaea nemoralis than the common garden snail Cornu aspersum because they have thinner shells.

  55. I agree that private schooling can benefit society and individuals in some/many ways. I agree that Labour’s policy to impose VAT is a spiteful, short-thinking policy. And yet I am conflicted at the same time. Most of our politicians, top media folk, charity chiefs and judiciary went to private school and their progessive out of touchism is ruining our country. I do think top jobs should be capped with only a set quota of applicants from private schools.

    Traditionally, private schooling was our strength. They provided coordination and networking – perfect for a small island country with many natural resources. Alas, private schooling is now our undoing as these people only mix with and really talk and listen to each other; furthering extreme liberal, anti-pleb, progressive, classist propagandas which have no tether to reality as the rest of us know it. Private schools are now a kind of widespread cultist entity, I think. Most progressive rot, leads back to private school alumni. This is not a coincidence. And it happens in private schools in other countries too. There is a mass networking of private school alumni who decide things together, increasingly. Easier to do as the internet concentrates particular groupings and aids their networking.

    It is no coincidence that Covid happened in lockstep and that green issues are happening in lockstep too – led by a group who have been red-carpetted into the rulling elite and who think a certain way, only really talk to each other and think it their natural right to impose their idiocy upon others. You can’t stop private schooling and it is a feature of Labour’s infantilism that they are taking this approach. What we could do is have quotas for top jobs to limit private school applicants – to instil a balance of views and approaches. Whatever we do the root of trendy ruinous policies and ideologies needs finding and dealing with, at source. When you follow the money this root leads back to its source: private schools.

    1. I agree with part of your argument, but “quotas for top jobs”? Think of Mr Sunak, Paula Vennells, David Lammy etc.

    2. A better approach is the one the BBC took 34 years ago when I first applied. I sat down in front of an electric typewriter and effectively re-took the 11-plus. An IQ test to all intents. Verbal reasoning with arithmetic, spelling and copy typing. Calculating timecodes was included – it’s relevant. Having passed that test, my details were circulated and from that I got an interview. The interview focused on social activities. At the time I was a member of Questors Theatre Club in Ealing (“a lot of BBC people join Questors” they said) and did voice and movement classes but never wanted to act. I helped out in wardrobe, as I can sew. No-one asked for my opinions on any of the woke hobby horses of today and the fact that I went to a state Secondary Modern never came up. Actually testing on ability and interest in the arts would be unthinkable now. It doesn’t fill quotas.

  56. I agree that private schooling can benefit society and individuals in some/many ways. I agree that Labour’s policy to impose VAT is a spiteful, short-thinking policy. And yet I am conflicted at the same time. Most of our politicians, top media folk, charity chiefs and judiciary went to private school and their progessive out of touchism is ruining our country. I do think top jobs should be capped with only a set quota of applicants from private schools.

    Traditionally, private schooling was our strength. They provided coordination and networking – perfect for a small island country with many natural resources. Alas, private schooling is now our undoing as these people only mix with and really talk and listen to each other; furthering extreme liberal, anti-pleb, progressive, classist propagandas which have no tether to reality as the rest of us know it. Private schools are now a kind of widespread cultist entity, I think. Most progressive rot, leads back to private school alumni. This is not a coincidence. And it happens in private schools in other countries too. There is a mass networking of private school alumni who decide things together, increasingly. Easier to do as the internet concentrates particular groupings and aids their networking.

    It is no coincidence that Covid happened in lockstep and that green issues are happening in lockstep too – led by a group who have been red-carpetted into the rulling elite and who think a certain way, only really talk to each other and think it their natural right to impose their idiocy upon others. You can’t stop private schooling and it is a feature of Labour’s infantilism that they are taking this approach. What we could do is have quotas for top jobs to limit private school applicants – to instil a balance of views and approaches. Whatever we do the root of trendy ruinous policies and ideologies needs finding and dealing with, at source. When you follow the money this root leads back to its source: private schools.

  57. I agree that private schooling can benefit society and individuals in some/many ways. I agree that Labour’s policy to impose VAT is a spiteful, short-thinking policy. And yet I am conflicted at the same time. Most of our politicians, top media folk, charity chiefs and judiciary went to private school and their progessive out of touchism is ruining our country. I do think top jobs should be capped with only a set quota of applicants from private schools.

    Traditionally, private schooling was our strength. They provided coordination and networking – perfect for a small island country with many natural resources. Alas, private schooling is now our undoing as these people only mix with and really talk and listen to each other; furthering extreme liberal, anti-pleb, progressive, classist propagandas which have no tether to reality as the rest of us know it. Private schools are now a kind of widespread cultist entity, I think. Most progressive rot, leads back to private school alumni. This is not a coincidence. And it happens in private schools in other countries too. There is a mass networking of private school alumni who decide things together, increasingly. Easier to do as the internet concentrates particular groupings and aids their networking.

    It is no coincidence that Covid happened in lockstep and that green issues are happening in lockstep too – led by a group who have been red-carpetted into the rulling elite and who think a certain way, only really talk to each other and think it their natural right to impose their idiocy upon others. You can’t stop private schooling and it is a feature of Labour’s infantilism that they are taking this approach. What we could do is have quotas for top jobs to limit private school applicants – to instil a balance of views and approaches. Whatever we do the root of trendy ruinous policies and ideologies needs finding and dealing with, at source. When you follow the money this root leads back to its source: private schools.

    1. Disqus is only showing links to XTwitter posts and not opening them. Is it my settings or a general thing?

      6. I had a quick look to see if there was any mention of this on Disqus Help but couldn’t see anything relevant.

  59. For those who remember – the Fulmodeston Flies are BACK (see NoTTL 2023 passim) Despite the vile Banhams saying that they have “eradicated” the issue…

    1. There was a “maggot farm” situated in the middle of a field outside a village on my beat. Villagers were perpetually complaining about the vile stench.

      One day a colleague driving his police patrol car on the road near to that farm came upon a very slow moving, old and dilapidated open-backed lorry. It seems that the driver of that lorry had a problem negotiating its controls. When he was approached by the officer he pulled a lever and the lorry’s tipping mechanism operated … depositing a rank heap of chicken’s heads, guts, dead rats, and an assortment of other revolting and highly odorous mixed effluent … all over the bonnet of the patrol car.

      That cargo had been destined to feed the flies and maggots on the maggot farm.

      1. There are two ready markets for maggots. One is the fishing community, and the other is in medicine. Maggots clean up a septic wound better than any dressing, but I suggest a rather better diet for them

        I never thought of police deterrent.

        1. The country already has an effective police deterrent. The hundreds of thousands of illegal invaders are providing that.

  60. Farage press conference.. dontcha just love questions from BBC, The Guardian, FT..?
    https://youtu.be/NdnzlDZ12pk?t=2723
    “You have some very serious allegations made about you.. that you are a racist, a bigot, clearly accepted cash from Russia, very low on cash, don’t meet the requirements of any legitimate sane bank.. many many people say you are a bad influence on children. The police have mentioned you several times in reports. How do answer these allegations?” “I will repeat this question several times.. until you apologise”.

    1. That must be one of the most gormless questions I have ever heard. That she works for the Guardian is no surprise . Just to cap it she sounds like she has a cleft palate.

      1. Actually I nicked it from the BBC manual issued to Lucy Williamson to “interview” any problematic heretic..

        1. Afternoon K. I was referring to the question the woman asked at the beginning of the video.

    2. “And if you apologise I’ll take that as an admission of guilt and attack you again and again until you’r broken”. I hope he didn’t? I haven’t watched the video but the correct answer is, “Why should I apologise for your accusations? I will not apologise for speaking the truth”.

        1. It’s not on my “to do” list because – unlike the teaching in some religious faiths – wife beating is not on the Christian agenda.

          1. This question is asked of all men though, reasoning that since men were historic wife-beaters, going right back to Punch (who is a puppet rather than a man, but let’s not be pedantic), then all men are presumed to be abusers. Denial is not an option.

          1. Snuggled up between two women somewhere in South Australia. You’re welcome to go in after him.

          2. I knew someone would take it literally 🙂 I added the bit about imprisonment in case nobody twigged the Civil War painting reference.

    3. I’m not sure we have any “legitimate, sane banks” any more, and as for the police …

    4. I warned about illegal migration when it was a trickle – years of failure have turned it into a flood

      Sunak called the election because he knows he can’t stop the boats. If he thinks I’m wrong, let him debate me

      NIGEL FARAGE • 27 May 2024 • 8:00pm

      It seemed obvious to me in March 2020 that the trickle of migrants crossing the English Channel would turn into a flood. In an effort to raise the profile of the issue, I went to the Channel time and again to film the boats and to highlight these flimsy vessels being escorted by the French Navy to our 12-mile territorial line. I wrote many times in these pages that an invasion would occur unless we acted.

      I was right, as 3,800 boats have since arrived on our shores carrying 125,000 illegal migrants, most of whom are single young males who discard their mobile phones and passports in the Channel. Their arrival outrages the majority of the population.

      When they get here they are given a new phone and accommodated in four-star hotels or private house rentals. Health and dental services are immediately available, plus a weekly spending allowance, and in the end, most are allowed to stay.

      Apart from the sheer unfairness of the situation, there is a far greater danger. Some of those that come here have previously been in war zones and been active participants. In 2015, Isis claimed that it would send their operatives across the Mediterranean. If even a small percentage of these illegal immigrants are still affiliated with Isis, Hamas, or other extremist groups, the risk to our national security is vast. We already have a problem as nearly a quarter of young British Muslims support jihadist sentiments, according to a JL Partners poll.

      The Channel crossings must be designated a national security emergency. For two years, we have been promised a Rwanda plan and a solution. Despite a bill of £140 million, not one person has been forced to go.

      It looks like immigration, legal and illegal, will dominate this general election campaign. The main reason for this snap election is because Sunak knew that his promise that the planes would start going to Rwanda from July simply would not work. Now it is clear that no planes will go before the July 4 election day. Remember, a single judge from the European Court of Human Rights was able to prevent a plane that was already on the tarmac from taking off. We will never solve this dangerous problem unless we leave the ECHR, and Starmer has no credibility in dealing with this issue whatsoever.

      Brexit Britain should not be beholden to a European court. Our Prime Minister appears to be keen to engage in many televised election debates, and I challenge him to debate with me on this issue. If he refuses, that will confirm the fact that Sunak can’t stop the boats.

      https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/05/27/nigel-farage-illegal-migration-channel-flood/

      1. Two of the most reactionary Conservative Home Secretaries could not withdraw the UK from the ECHR, nor stop the boats. Could Farage, even if he were PM?

        I would welcome a frank interview with Farage, grilling him on the consequences of summarily withdrawing from the ECHR and other treaties regarding safe passage for asylum seekers arriving without a valid visa, and see how he gets on.

        1. So we just have to put up with it?

          Look what happened in Lebanon: a predominantly Christian, tolerant country allowed Islam to come in. Islam took over and the country is no longer Christian nor tolerant.

          Is this what we want in Britain?

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abyBT0-_nyA

          2. No, but we know what we don’t want and should make it clear what we don’t want.

          3. And that’s what we’ll be getting if the PTB have anything to do with it.

          4. Thank you, Richard. Regrettably, I think this is our future. I’m just glad that (a) I’m old, and (b) I have neither children or grandchildren.

          5. Youngsters at the time of previous wars and conflicts (WWI and WWII in particular) were forced into early adulthood on the front line, where they fought bravely — and died bravely — for the freedom of their country.

            I have no sympathy, whatsoever, for the millions upon millions of mollycoddled, under-educated and ill-disciplined youth of today (and tomorrow) who will be swallowed up by this new world order while continuing to gawp, gormlessly, at their hand-held devices.

        2. 1. Who were these ‘reactionary Conservative Home Secretaries’?
          2. Nothing would prevent a UK government giving genuine refugees asylum (e.g Ugandan Asians, Vietnamese boat people). Nothing should prevent it from removing the bogus claimants.

          1. 1. Priti Patel and Suella Braverman.

            2. If that were true, then we’d have removed our illegals years ago. The Aussies give them ten minutes to come up with a good reason to refuse entry.

          2. 1. Why are they ‘reactionary’?
            2. “If that were true, then we’d have removed our illegals years ago.”
            You appear to have misunderstood what I wrote about removing bogus claimants. That was in response to your line about summarily withdrawing from the ECHR. A government should have absolute discretion in refusal.

          3. Priti and Suella were faced with an utter lack of co-operation from the Home Office snivel serpents. Many of whom appear to be ‘global majority’ themselves.

    5. You can see from the gaping of his mouth and the state of his teeth that he has been munching on babies for breakfast. Stands to reason, doan’it.

  61. Farage press conference.. dontcha just love questions from BBC, The Guardian, FT..?
    https://youtu.be/NdnzlDZ12pk?t=2723
    “You have some very serious allegations made about you.. that you are a racist, a bigot, clearly accepted cash from Russia, very low on cash, don’t meet the requirements of any legitimate sane bank.. many many people say you are a bad influence on children. The police have mentioned you several times in reports. How do answer these allegations?” “I will repeat this question several times.. until you apologise”.

    1. Having read the article, it seems unfair to blame anyone bar the Enemy for the loss of life aboard the Sir Galahad. It centres around whether the ‘Abandon Ship’ order was made, or whether it was acted upon.

      In the comfort of a living room, it is easy to make a rational decision, but in the heat of battle, under fire, with the ship ablaze with all hands to the pump? It would need an orderly situation indeed for such an order to be made in time or heard. In the end, casualties are a hazard of war, and it is daft to pretend otherwise.

      Another charge, that the Sir Galahad should not have been within target range of the enemy, raises the question – if combatant ships are to be kept out of the battlefield, for Health & Safety reasons, what are they there for? A peace mission? A Pride cruise?

      1. After the hit, were all the ship comms systems functional, to give audible orders – and the orders loud enough to be heard amongst the noise and stress of the moment?

  63. The plants in your garden that could get you cancelled

    The borrowing of plants from around the world has been called ‘horticultural appropriation’ – and many of them are already in your garden

    Boudicca Fox-Leonard • 23 May 2024 • 9:00am

    Gardening is an exceedingly British pastime. Yet so many of the perennials that populate our gardens have exotic origins, sourced in the past 300 years by plant hunters who scoured the globe for treasures to bring back to our shores.

    Their beauty, and suitability to our own climate, has seen them flourish and become much loved fixtures of our gardens.

    However, landscape designer Jackie Herald takes a less romantic view: “Embedded within cross-cultural borrowing is horticultural appropriation, something that’s all too easy for our nation of gardeners to carry on regardless.”

    Writing in the June issue of BBC Gardeners’ World magazine, she opined that they represent an era of colonialism and “power-grabbing global trade”. As a result, Herald said, she tries to choose plants that “connect to my client’s cultural heritage”.

    It’s the latest salvo in a long-running debate and a view which saddens many leading gardeners.

    “We should be honouring all those plant collectors over the centuries who were intrepid and risked their lives in bringing back to us this diversity of botanical riches,” says Alan Titchmarsh, whose own garden blends a wildflower meadow, ornamental gardens and an elegant wisteria currently in full bloom. The variety is “something to treasure and celebrate”.

    Moreover, many of these plants are now part of our heritage, says author, cook and gardener Sarah Raven. “They may have been brought back as part of the colonial process but they’re part of our gardens and landscape, such as magnolias in Cornwall,” she says. “I’d hope we can see beyond that side of them.”

    But, what plants might we lose if we were to decolonise our gardens?

    Wisteria, magnolia, hybrid roses, lilies, lilacs, camellias. [There are a few short paragraphs on each].

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/05/23/colonial-plants-your-garden-cancelled-woke/

    2. Oh, fcuk off, get on a tractor and fcuk off some more. Jayzuz, would you credit the whining.

      Not you, obvs, William…

        1. Getting tired of all the whingeing. What to do with potatoes, for example (American) – believe apples are from Turkey or some such place. Sheesh.

    3. Oh dear, how did we breed these creatures ? Abstract pollination ?
      Apparently She once said “slugs are my friends”.

    4. We might decolonise our country first by returning the invasive non-native human species to their lands of origin. After that, I will be glad to talk about plants.

    7. A nonentity in search of 10 seconds of fame.
      What a miserable life she must lead.

    8. Oh dear, woke enters the gardening fraternity. What has this person to say about tomatoes and potatoes, both from Peru, or carrots thought to come from Afghanistan: swede anyone. The list goes on.

      I’ve got more interesting things going on in my composter than what this person bleats on about.

        1. One of the World’s oldest species of trees:

          Apparently: “Ginkgo biloba is the national tree of China and some specimens planted in temples are claimed to be over 2,500 years old. FACT: When the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, six Ginkgo trees growing within 2km survived.”

        2. We’ve got two 😉 . Both rather stunted because very little thrives in our rather exposed location. Even prehistoric trees. On the other hand, we do have a Wollemi Pine that is doing very well indeed due to its sheltered position. I thought Ginkgos were tough – and they are in terms of survival, come what may – but like many species they need pampering and the right location to thrive.

    10. Roses were brought back from the Holy Land by the crusaders. Is that islamaphobic?

        1. Smells like shit and is taking over the garden, early dead heading all the other flowers.

    12. Alyssum, aubretia, tall phlox, dicentra, hydrangea, diervilla, alstromeria, gaillardia, fuchsias, cosmos, pinks (all except the last which came in with William of Orange from Normandy, introduced by the Georgians in the 18th century).

  64. It’s official. MB and I are now definitely old; we rocked up at a garden centre at 10.00 and treated ourselves to coffee and cake.
    We also bought a very nice “water feature” (£100 off because it was the last one). Now returning in MB’s old estate car to collect as even the ever willing Noddy car couldn’t cope with it.

    1. I don’t believe you.
      You cannot avoid becoming older but you can avoid being old. :-))

      1. :-). I’ve said something similar to MB – and even our sons – when they show signs of Victor Meldrewism.

  65. Record migration is bringing sexist sectarian politics to Britain, warns Farage. 28 may 2024.

    Record migration is bringing sexist “sectarian” politics to Britain, Nigel Farage has warned.

    The honorary Reform president gave his first major speech of the election campaign in Dover after announcing he would not stand as an MP but instead appear around the country to boost support for Richard Tice’s party.

    It is already too late. The West and the UK in particular are imploding.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/05/28/general-election-latest-farage-starmer-rishi-sunak-live/

  66. “French warn of civil unrest as new EU border controls loom
    Non-EU passport holders will be required to have their fingerprints and picture taken when going to Europe, raising fears of travel chaos”

    Excellent. The UK needs simply to apply identical rules everyone in the EU who does not have a British Passport. Especially EUSSR employees. After they have waited 12 hours and missed three flights (ferries and trains) – I reckon that suddenly a “new approach” would be found….

    1. But…but…but…we’re British. We play by the rules…don’t we?

    2. I was going to go to France next year (official visit to celebrate a half-centenary) but if they are going to play silly beggars, I’ll think twice.

    3. Typical of the Brussels mafiosi.
      Very Nasty people. Did I spell the N word correctly ?

  67. Western businesses backtrack on their Russia exit plans. 28 May 2024.

    Western companies including Avon Products, Air Liquide and Reckitt have remained in Russia despite saying they planned to leave after the invasion of Ukraine, as bureaucratic obstacles increase and consumer activity rebounds.

    The Natura-owned cosmetics brand, the French industrial gas producer and the UK consumer group that produces everything from painkillers to condoms are among hundreds of western groups that have stayed in the country since the full-scale invasion in 2022.

    “Many European companies have found themselves really between a rock and a hard place,” said one executive working with western companies in the country. “They said they’d leave. They were presented with a choice of buyers that were unacceptable to them.”

    Overall, more than 2,100 multinationals have stayed in the Russia since 2022, the Kyiv School of Economics has found, compared with about 1,600 international companies that have either quit the market or scaled back operations.

    Some useful facts behind the propaganda. Obviously business is not brimming with enthusiasm for the sanctions regime.

    https://www.ft.com/content/88b047e9-8cad-426a-b649-265ff6582db0

  68. Western businesses backtrack on their Russia exit plans. 28 May 2024.

    Western companies including Avon Products, Air Liquide and Reckitt have remained in Russia despite saying they planned to leave after the invasion of Ukraine, as bureaucratic obstacles increase and consumer activity rebounds.

    The Natura-owned cosmetics brand, the French industrial gas producer and the UK consumer group that produces everything from painkillers to condoms are among hundreds of western groups that have stayed in the country since the full-scale invasion in 2022.

    “Many European companies have found themselves really between a rock and a hard place,” said one executive working with western companies in the country. “They said they’d leave. They were presented with a choice of buyers that were unacceptable to them.”

    Overall, more than 2,100 multinationals have stayed in the Russia since 2022, the Kyiv School of Economics has found, compared with about 1,600 international companies that have either quit the market or scaled back operations.

    Some useful facts behind the propaganda. Obviously business is not brimming with enthusiasm for the sanctions regime.

    https://www.ft.com/content/88b047e9-8cad-426a-b649-265ff6582db0

    1. the charade of faux democracy in the “fussing assembly room” of the EUSSR.. MEPs can fuss all they please.. every single decision is made behind closed doors by Germany & France.

  71. Afternoon, all. This will be an ave atque vale visit because I’m off racing (again) later. Labour hates the plebs to get a decent education because then they tend to see through the propaganda. Labour hates the upwardly mobile, too, because then they realise they are the ones paying Labour’s largesse to those who don’t work.

  72. Putin may be at the door. Why is Biden ignoring the bell? 28 may 2024.

    Significantly, when asked about the report at a press conference, Putin said to “let them resume,” meaning peace talks.

    If true, this is yet another signal coming out of Moscow in recent months that Putin is open to striking a deal to finally end the war, albeit on the condition that Ukraine accept territorial losses. As distasteful as that prospect is, the United States and its partners, including the Ukrainian leadership, should urgently take this opportunity.

    For one, we are already living through the folly of ignoring the very real prospects for a negotiated end to this war in 2022. The result has been disastrous for Ukraine.

    Though the numbers are a state secret, Ukraine has by now almost certainly suffered hundreds of thousands of casualties. Its economy and infrastructure have been crippled, it is mired in massive amounts of foreign debt, faces more than half a trillion dollars in reconstruction costs, seen its democratic institutions degraded — all while facing a social crisis from its rapidly aged and disabled population.

    I haven’t seen anything of Biden for about four weeks now. He’s probably in a home. Nevertheless this is an interesting article. A breath of fresh air. Needless to say it is from outside the MSM.

    https://responsiblestatecraft.org/putin-ukraine-ready-to-talk/

    1. How respectful of her not to flash her knees at those devout and godly men…

    3. That meaningless phrase once more “I work hard”.
      If any of them actually ‘worked hard’ this country wouldn’t be in such a goddamn mess.

      1. If any of them actually ‘worked hard‘ this country wouldn’t be in such a goddamn mess.
        That’s better

        1. If all of them bu88ered off on holiday for least a decade (nah, make it two), this country wouldn’t be in such a damn mess.

        2. They do work when they are claiming their expenses.
          You’d be amazed at how much some of them take.

      2. If any of them actually ‘worked hard‘ this country wouldn’t be in such a goddamn mess.
        That’s better

    5. I do not share her confidence in the ICC, a corrupt group of judges which recently spawned Jack Smith.

      The ICC is not what everyone hoped after the end of WWII viz. a court modelled on Nuremberg. God knows there are enough international crimes warranting Nuremberg Trials, starting with Covid Trials.

      Angela Rayner is not stupid but crafty. She knows her base support is the Muslim vote and is happy to sell our country short.

    6. The more she talks the more it is obvious she doesn’t understand Israel’s historical existence in the Middle East and who she is dealing with.

    7. Thankfully, I don’t know Angela Rayner. But I did play the organ for the wedding of Sam Tarry to Julia Fozard. Tarry’s wedding suit was bright blue, which was surprising. Red, perhaps might have made more sense. So, after fathering a couple of sprogs with Julia, he shacked up with Our Ange.

      His housing arrangements were already iffy. He claimed to live in London in his councillor application, while the world and his wife knew that he lived in Brighton. I fielded a call from no less than Andrew Gilligan, who was investigating this issue. As Verger, my contact details were listed in the church porch.

      After a long and interesting conversation, he assured me that the DT’s decision to get rid of Disqus wasn’t due to pressure from No. 10, but purely down to the staff cost of moderation (I mentioned this site, and he seemed positive about it). He wanted to see the wedding register, which is a public document. I explained that revealing that was above my pay grade, so he would need to ask the then Rector. But I did have a sneaky peek at the register, and it was clear that Tarry was lying about his living arrangements. I may have hinted at this in a subsequent conversation…😱 In due course, a runner was sent to leafy Surrey, and paid the appropriate fee. But the story went nowhere.

      Enter Rayner, who seems well-suited to Tarry, since she equally doesn’t appear to know where she lives. Apparently, they’ve now parted, but “birds of a feather” etc…

      1. Perhaps i should invite Rayner to my party. Clearly she would attend the opening of an envelope if it were on expenses and free beer and curry was involved. Bring your own stones !

          1. Just sent you a mail.

            In reality i wouldn’t want such people in attendance.
            You are going to be entertained, impressed and totally amazed.

            And i expect you to tune my E-Piano as payment. :@)
            You do know ‘Dolly’ Sweet as she is?

      2. Thank you for sharing. Good story. I see others have spotted Tarry and Rayner together again. From The Sun I find this delightful character reference “But in November last year Ms Rayner, announced their split. At the time, close pals rallied round her. One said: “She’s been through a lot in her life but Ange is as tough as nails.””

        1. I haven’t forgotten the picture of Sam and Jeremy sitting on the floor of the train. Apparently, there were lots of vacant seats…

          1. Yes. Let’s re- nationalise the Railways and pay train drivers £500,000 to work from home.

          2. And of course someone available to take the pictures to publish of their travails
            If these people ever traveled on public transport where they had to pay out of their own money Hah. An open ticket from Manchester to London they could fly to the other side of the world for the same price.

  74. Well, I’ve probably mucked up stock control at the Poplar Nurseries.
    The final water feature was rolled out – but it was all spangly new.
    We wanted the display feature that was nicely weathered.
    And we got it.
    Cue trauma in the accounts dept!

    3. Well, as long as the nice steam train doesn’t go bust. Get your priorities right!

    4. Fairy nuff. Having killed off a potted jasmine by my front door, through neglect (watering, mainly), I’m anticipating a replacement, from Crocus. Just up the road, apparently…

    1. Nina Myskow is not my favourite person. She is a PITA (Pain In The Arse) when she is on GB News

      3. Her argument for votes for 16-year-olds is that because they could be paying tax, they should be entitled to vote.

        Sweets can be bought by 5-year-olds. VAT is imposed on sweets. Therefore 5-year-olds could be paying tax, and should be entitled to vote.

        1. Tempting to say that it’s pointless to give the very young a vote because they’ll just vote as their parents vote but of course that was the argument against allowing women to vote. That we’d just vote as our husbands vote. (I know for a fact that for most of their marriage my parents didn’t vote for the same party and in the latter years my father came around to voting as my mother did, not the reverse.)

        2. 16 year olds do not pay tax. They are at school or college until their 18th birthday as far as I know.

          1. Children aged under 18 and tax – Income Tax and National Insurance
            As with adults, children aged under 18 can earn up to the tax free allowance in each tax year (£12,500 in 2020/2021) and pay no income tax. This is the maximum income that can be earned tax free during each tax year and will include earnings from all sources subject to income tax and National Insurance.

            https://www.thp.co.uk/children-aged-under-18-income-tax-national-insurance/#:~:text=As%20with%20adults%2C%20children%20aged,income%20tax%20and%20National%20Insurance.

          3. I was a church organist, paid bugger all, from the age of 14. Still at school, the then IR decided that I was due to pay tax. The church treasurer (a chartered accountant) kindly stepped in. Age didn’t come into it.

        3. Forget tax payment as a criteria. Hove Farage knock up a citizenship / politics / economics test that they need to pass before being allowed to vote.

      4. Her argument for votes for 16-year-olds is that because they could be paying tax, they should be entitled to vote.

        Sweets can be bought by 5-year-olds. VAT is imposed on sweets. Therefore 5-year-olds could be paying tax, and should be entitled to vote.

    2. Fifty years or more ago, Mum and I pulled into a filling station in Bournemouth. The pump attendant was ecstatic – “did you see who that was?”, nodding in the direction of a departing customer. “Max Bygraves”, he went on.

      There you go. I’ve told you a story… 🙂

  77. Wait till we have it assembled.
    At the moment it is like Gaul – in three parts.

      2. At least 11. Completely and utterly off the scale of naffness.
        One glance and your tasteful little soul will be shrivelled to a crisp of cultural despair.

  78. From Coffee House, The Spectator

    The EU wants to make travelling to France a misery
    Comments Share 28 May 2024, 1:06pm
    Exciting developments may be in store for everyone travelling to Europe from this autumn onwards. That’s to say riots, gnashing of teeth and screaming infants at border control, as stressed travellers and immigration officers go mad trying to navigate a new and apparently dysfunctional European frontier system. This latest gift from our EU overseers looks like it will make life hell for legitimate travellers, while of course doing nothing to stop the surge of unpapered migrants crossing into Europe across the Mediterranean.

    Irony is not a feature of European public administration
    ‘I’m worried, I’m afraid of problems,’ admits Patrice Vergriete, the French Minister of Transport. The Justice and Home Affairs Committee of the House of Lords has called on the government to ‘use all diplomatic efforts’ to persuade Brussels to defer the introduction of the new system, which it warns will cause chaos at Saint Pancras and Dover. That’s gone nowhere.

    A smartphone application that’s supposed to lubricate this process is, predictably, not ready. It’s anyone’s guess how non-phlegmatic British tourists are going to respond to this. Maybe Skegness will appeal instead.

    Implementation of the new EU Entry/Exit System (EES) has already been delayed at the request of the French, to avoid disruption to this summer’s Olympic games. The French request for a further delay has so far been ignored. Pity the French police who are going to have to confront the wrath of travellers and the screams of children as this hare-brained scheme takes effect.

    Irony is not a feature of European public administration. The main advantage of the new system coming into effect in October is ‘saving time’, declares the European Commission, ‘replacing passport stamping and automating border control procedures to make travelling to the EU more efficient for the traveller.’ Is this delusional incompetence or merely grotesquely dishonest? In practical terms it doesn’t matter.

    Most popular
    Rakib Ehsan
    What Nigel Farage gets wrong about British Muslims

    It’s probably exaggerated that there will be 14 hour waits at Dover next time you pop over here to stock up on Claret. Or that it will take longer to get through Saint Pancras than it takes the Eurostar to get to Paris. But the notion that this will save time is a fantasy. A similar photo/fingerprint system is in use at US airports and the last time I transited immigration at Washington Dulles airport I flew through border control in a mere three hours. A border process that has taken a few seconds per traveller is likely to take up to seven minutes.

    More than a year ago, Rishi Sunak asked the EU to allow British passport holders to use electronic E-gates at European ports and airports but with dismal predictability this has not been achieved. Instead, every British traveller (indeed everyone not in possession of an EU passport) will be obliged to have their fingerprints taken and be photographed before being allowed to enter the European milieu.

    Or perhaps not be allowed. The EES will also make it easier to identify travellers who have stayed in Europe longer than 90 days in the preceding 180 days because – well, the because isn’t really specified. Any masochist who wants the details of this is welcome to consult the EU website here where everything is clarified in a turgidly-written regulation roughly the length of a mass-market paperback.

    Awareness that the EES is a disaster waiting to happen appears to have dawned slowly on the dense Eurocrats responsible. Only tomorrow, 29 May, a mere seven years after passing the EES rules, will Frontex, the European border agency, get around to holding an ‘industry day’ to hear of possible integrated solutions for EES-compliant facial imaging capture and fingerprint acquisition.

    The extent of the unpreparedness is staggering, even by the standards of the EU. Frontex admits it needs solutions for: reading and scanning documents; queue management software; mobile solutions capable of reading visa/residence documents to confirm validity; biometric data capture and verification solutions for mobile devices; integrated advance passenger information collection and/or ticketing solutions; mobile solutions for collecting/storing personal data on board ships/trains; travel authorisation web solutions; and additional self-service or mobile solutions/apps relevant for the entry/exit System.

    As if EES is not enough, the EU has a further treat in store for visitors with the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) that will likely be implemented next year. This will require visitors from outside the EU to apply and pay for a visa waiver before entering a country in the Schengen zone.

    Non-EU nationals will have to pay €7 per person to visit most European countries and complete an online application. The visa will not be required for the Republic of Ireland as it is in the Common Travel Area with the UK.

    Although the exact launch date is unclear, the EU has previously indicated that it will be introduced five to six months after EES. This looks like becoming an even bigger cock-up than the EES since millions of people in the EU have residency permits despite not being EU citizens, and there appears to be no centralised database of who these people are.

    Cue the Ode to Joy. Bienvenue en Europe!

      1. Ah – but when you visit the UK these rules will apply upon your return to Espana. And, of course, there will be no separate queue for those who are already on the database…..

        1. I haven’t been the UK for five years. However I fly direct from the city airport where I live ( a city of some 900,000). When arriving from London the last time there was a special gate for EU and another for others, but they tended to mix the two groups together through one gate as there weren’t enough people to warrant both gates being used.)
          I believe I am already on the database being a permanent resident.

          1. Maybe. But should you risk returning to the UK – on your return journey (Spanish resident or not) you will have to go through the same bollocks as the rest of us.

          2. Travel involves a lot of hassle They make you take your shoes off. In Britain they’ve marched me around the airport terrified that I’ve got something hidden in my leg (a steel plate from an operation some fifty five years ago sets off alarms).
            My son and his family live in California and that’s where I normally come from when I hit important airports like Madrid or Barcelona. Until now always been well treated.

      2. My preference if I have to go anywhere “Continental” is Switzerland.

    3. Canada has an app for immigration that you are welcome to.
      It only cost us $60 million and has done nothing to help anything except to line a few liberal pockets.

    4. As I’ve pretty much abandoned thoughts of any more international travel – I certainly have no plans to renew my long since expired passport – I shall be a mere spectator, unless disruption at the Eurostar terminus at St Pancras spills over onto the concourses, passageways and facilities used by domestic rail travellers.

        1. If I need to flee it will be as a refugee. They don’t seem to need passports.

  79. A defective Bogey Five!

    Wordle 1,074 5/6
    🟨⬜⬜⬜🟩
    ⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩
    ⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩
    ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. After a run on 5s and 6s, I got lucky today.

      Wordle 1,074 3/6

      ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨
      🟨🟨⬜🟨⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    2. I’m on a decent run here.

      Wordle 1,074 3/6

      ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
      🟩🟩🟨⬜⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      2. #metoo.

        Wordle 1,074 3/6

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

        Took a while to puzzle that one out.

    4. Normal par here
      Wordle 1,074 4/6

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

      I had all of the right letters but it still took time to reorganize them.

      1. Just what the infinite number of monkeys had to do with all those typewriters for a long long time.

      2. Wordle 1,074 4/6

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

  80. Focking wonkers. My meds come from Boots.com and are delivered. The surgery tells me not to use Boots.com and to use the NHS app or Patient Access. Boots.com tell me to order through them. I keep running out.

    The NHS the envy my Arse.

    1. Yo, Phil. I wholly recommend Pharmacy2U. The meds arrive by post, which is handy when one is miles from a chemist. They have your regular meds stored – tick the appropriate boxes, and they submit the order to your GP Surgery for approval. That generally happens within hours, and before long, your meds are in transit.

      1. Thanks Boss. They are promoting the AI app nonsense and of course you can’t phone and speak to the surgery because they pretend not to know what the problem is. There are online pharmacy that will give you what you want or need but there is a tickbox and fee.

        I’m considering going back to grass. Then i won’t give a pooh.

        1. Pip: Don’t rule out P2U. Admittedly, I’ve had free prescriptions for years by virtue of being diabetic, now I’m of state pension age, it’s axiomatic.

          I’ve used Patient Access in the past, and had unbelievably quick GP appointments. Those days have gone. My current GP surgery has its own website, which places many more obstacles in the way of seeing anyone, about anything. And it isn’t even live outside normal working hours…

          1. Ours used to have Patient Access. Now they have some new system. OH seems to manage with his meds and pharmacy, but they do get out of synch.

          2. I moved away in 2020. Former surgery did Patient Access. Current surgery doesn’t seem to. They insist on communicating by SMS. I insist on ignoring them… 🙄

      1. And I just know HMRC will be thrilled to bits that the spotlight is now on them. And being a branch of government will be unable to take any action thought necessary until after the election….

      2. The only thing which cheers me up about a prospective Labour government is that the likes of Rayner and Lammy would come under much greater scrutiny and their incompetence would become apparent.

        1. But the fly in that ointment is their incompetence will be practised on us… 🙁

        3. That would require the media to do there jobs. Look what the US has been like for the past 4 years, they switched off.

  82. Listen to this report from Redacted and try and determine any major differences between what is happening here re power generation and what Biden’s administration is doing in the USA. Then tell the very concerned consumers that destroying the power grids around the World isn’t a co-ordinated scheme.

    Modern western society is literally built on and sustained by both plentiful and reliable power generation and its transmission over a grid capable of handling the demand. Destroy/restrict those factors and society crumbles. Governments know what they’re doing, it’s not the incompetence or plain stupidity that they’d have the people believe it is.

    https://x.com/TheRedactedInc/status/1795051070391206377

    1. Watching from afar, much of what I see happening in the UK has parallels in Canada.

      At best the clueless leaders are copying each other but it seems most likely that they are being directed towards a dystopian future.

        3. Free happy pills over here. A lifetime supply if opioid and a final concoction to see you on your way.

          All paid for by the taxpayer.

    2. The council’s job is to ensure things like work. But these days they have much higher things on there minds. How many dinghy invaders can we accommodate in local hotels, and how many Palestine flag can we hoist.

  85. That’s me for this – yet again – wet day. And wetter than usual – so wet that rainwater has dripped into the house in three practically inaccessible places. And it is happening again as I sit here and swear type.

    So – have a spiffing evening in the dry.

    A demain.

    1. Hissing down here, much lightning and noise. Expecting power failure shortly.

    2. A wet morning was eventually followed by a cool, dank afternoon. It’s not raining at present but more before sunset cannot yet be discounted.

    3. There’s been rain here, on and off. But between showers, I managed to produce two wheelbarrow loads of weeds for the brown garden waste bin, which was out for collection yesterday.. Should have been collected yesterday. Still here. The council website says I “can’t report a missed collection, since it hasn’t been collected yet.” WTF?

      It’s irritating, since garden waste is a paid-for service.

      1. Hasnt rained here since I wax golfing yesterday morning, I dont believe that anything us left after that deluge.

      2. Hasnt rained here since I wax golfing yesterday morning, I dont believe that anything us left after that deluge.

      3. It’s amazing to see the weather forecasts. One day blowing in from a northly direction, two days later coming south across the Atlantic.
        AI ?

      4. Our collectors of garden waste don’t do bank holidays. Usually there’ll be an alternative day on your timetable chart if you have one.

        1. We take ours to the tip – I don’t think they do a garden waste collecfion here.

  87. Angela Rayner is let off all charges by the police on her alleged housing misdemeanours.
    Oh really. Plod shows its allegiances.

    1. Labour investigates Labour and finds that Labour is totally innocent.
      Well I never!

  88. As I can now vote, I just checked my old constituency. Apart from previous years when it was just the traditional parties, there is now a Reform candidate. One of his claims is that he grew up in the area and spent his time drinking and dancing in the local pubs.

    Highly desirable qualities for an MP. He might just fit in with the other MPs in the bars of the house of commons.

      1. I remember one in our local newspaper a few years ago with Grant Shlapps in his local pub in Hatfield. 15mm off the top of ‘his pint’ and no sign of another customer.
        King useless people.

  90. Cringe..
    strange 1.. the dreadful Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, didn’t mention UK once.. talks only about a foreign country thousands of miles away..
    strange 2. No fuss from this red hot feminist about the exclusion of wimmin in audience.

    Anyhow, gentle reminder.. this isn’t a general election.. this is a referendum on Islam.

    1. Both extremely good points, KLB. Did you always have an “h” in your name or am I just massively unobservant?

      3. no you’re not, I remember him from the Speccie – I’m sure he used to be Kennybhoy but I may be mistaken….

    2. Diane Abbott will not be allowed to stand as a Labour candidate at the general election, according to reports.

      The MP for Hackney North & Stoke Newington was suspended from the party in April last year after she suggested that Jewish people did not experience racism “all their lives”.

  93. Interesting post on China from a Singapore politician

    Arnaud Bertrand
    @RnaudBertrand
    …George Yeo, who was a Singaporean cabinet minister during 21 years, including Minister for Foreign Affairs during 7 years. In my humble opinion, very few people out there have such a subtle understanding of geopolitics in Asia as he does.
    Here’s a quick summary of what he says:

    The US has little knowledge of China
    He says that “the US political system is decentralized and because of the need to win votes, it goes through emotional phases and is entering such a phase now where China is demonized out of mass emotion. There’s some manipulation behind the scenes, but it’s not based on knowledge.”
    To him, the US “don’t understand the nature of China”, the fact that China “is constantly building walls around itself because it is happy in its own homogeneity”. He says it is wrong for the US to believe that “China wants to displace them as the top dog in the world” and “trying to contain China, even pull it down” as a result. Not only is this a wrong understanding of China’s objectives but the US “may exhaust itself in the process and I don’t think it will succeed”. He says that with its tariffs and sanctions the US risks making the same mistake as China’s Qing dynasty and “become very weak”.
    He believes the primacy of the US dollar will break, and that US actions are “bringing forward that day”
    He says that “the key event will be when the primacy of the US dollar breaks. We all know it’s going to break sometime or other because it’s abnormal. If it is 30 years from now, well, let’s drink and be merry. But if it’s five years, well, we’ve got to calculate, right? Do we know when the cookie will crumble? We don’t know. But the way the US is moving is bringing forward that day.”
    It’s “bringing forward that day” because “they try to control countries by sanctions” and as a result more and more countries put counter-measures in place, putting themselves out of the grasp of the US.
    China is not in trouble and “overcapacity” is “information warfare”
    He says “there’s information warfare against China” and that he “doesn’t think” China is in trouble. “Look at the factories, look at the EVs, look at how terrified the Europeans are, accusing China of having overcapacity. I mean, how can you blame China for overcapacity when you have, when you’re taking liberties with yourself, having long summers and working short hours and you say no, no, no, no, no, you are working too hard! There are consequences. If families take liberties with their children, with themselves, there’s consequences.”
    He believes that Asian societies’ “wholesomeness” is an advantage versus the West
    “Look at Asia, look at China, look at Southeast Asia, look at India. There are people who are hardworking, who are obsessed over their children, who want to have of them a higher education, in order that the kids will have a better education, better health, a better life. […] They’ll do well and we’re lucky to be in the part of the world where strange values have not taken over societies. […] Why is America such a big market for drugs today? And I was watching the Eurovision contest… […] Parts of it, almost satanic. But it’s now part of the fashion in most of Europe. What is happening?
    PM Lee talked about how we should keep all these woke things away from us as much as possible. I fully agree with him. Keep our societies wholesome. Keep our families intact. I mean, AI is very important, but AI cannot answer moral questions for us. In the end, it is every individual, every child who must make the choice. Be immersed in technology. Make use of it. But have our own sense of what it means to be a human being. So if we use that as a template to judge human society, I say we are very lucky to be in a part of the world where society is by and large wholesome and will do well.”
    It’s critical for ASEAN to stick together and not be balkanized, which is what the US is trying to do with the Philippines
    “If we [ASEAN] don’t stick together, we’ll be balkanized and instead of becoming neighbours, become clients of big powers. Instead of using them, they make use of us. There’s always a threat.
    Look at the Philippines now. The Philippines have legitimate disputes with China. Both sides have their cases. The Americans see an opportunity there. And jump in, and bring in the Japanese. And now Philippine politics is caught up in this […]
    [China and the Philippines] had an agreement, a gentleman’s agreement with Duterte, which Marcos has repudiated. So OK, so they must find a new way to equilibrium. And make use of the Americans and not be made use of by the Americans. But it’s very difficult when you try to make use of a big power, you end up being made use of by them.”
    Most countries in ASEAN do not want China to be an enemy
    For instance he says “Vietnam has made a very important decision to go with China”: “it was not well reported, but Vietnam has agreed that Hanoi will be linked to Kunming and Nanning by high-speed rail. This is big because each connection is tens of billions of dollars. And will change the topological configuration of logistics and supply chain and human movement for decades to come.”
    Same with Indonesia, noting that “Prabowo’s first visit [was] to China” and that when he met Xi Jinping “it was Xiao Di talking to Da Ge. A little brother talking to big brother. But when we went to Japan, then it’s brother talking to brother.”
    He adds: “Look at the other countries, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei. No one wants China to be an enemy. And the Americans don’t understand this, yet. That because China is getting bigger and bigger for us, all of us want the Americans to be in the room. But if the Americans say no, you have to choose between China and us, then they say no, we can’t. How can we choose? I mean, China is where our bread is buttered, you know.”
    —-
    Even this educated man from Singapore thinks that the satanic rubbish shown on Eurovision is fashionable and popular in the West. We have to stop letting this screeching minority speak for all of us.

    1. I didn’t watch the Eurovision trash but that kind of rubbish doesn’t represent decent people in this part of the world – but why was it chosen?

      1. Because it’s the agenda of the parasite class – it is disturbing that we are so silent that people outside the west don’t even realise that the majority hates this stuff.

    2. Fascinating. However, I don’t think China is content to stay behind its built walls. By all accounts it has expansionist policies across the globe. Funded by profits made from exporting goods to the world it has offered many countries infrastructure projects for example: mining raw materials, building roads and ports. But, as I understand it, if a country defaults on loan repayments China has the right to assume the management of the project.

      1. If there is any justice in the world it would be appropriate if every single Chinese infrastructure and mining etc. investment was nationalised by those countries, without compensation, just as a socialist/communist country should/would.

  94. Interesting post on China from a Singapore politician

    Arnaud Bertrand
    @RnaudBertrand
    …George Yeo, who was a Singaporean cabinet minister during 21 years, including Minister for Foreign Affairs during 7 years. In my humble opinion, very few people out there have such a subtle understanding of geopolitics in Asia as he does.
    Here’s a quick summary of what he says:

    The US has little knowledge of China
    He says that “the US political system is decentralized and because of the need to win votes, it goes through emotional phases and is entering such a phase now where China is demonized out of mass emotion. There’s some manipulation behind the scenes, but it’s not based on knowledge.”
    To him, the US “don’t understand the nature of China”, the fact that China “is constantly building walls around itself because it is happy in its own homogeneity”. He says it is wrong for the US to believe that “China wants to displace them as the top dog in the world” and “trying to contain China, even pull it down” as a result. Not only is this a wrong understanding of China’s objectives but the US “may exhaust itself in the process and I don’t think it will succeed”. He says that with its tariffs and sanctions the US risks making the same mistake as China’s Qing dynasty and “become very weak”.
    He believes the primacy of the US dollar will break, and that US actions are “bringing forward that day”
    He says that “the key event will be when the primacy of the US dollar breaks. We all know it’s going to break sometime or other because it’s abnormal. If it is 30 years from now, well, let’s drink and be merry. But if it’s five years, well, we’ve got to calculate, right? Do we know when the cookie will crumble? We don’t know. But the way the US is moving is bringing forward that day.”
    It’s “bringing forward that day” because “they try to control countries by sanctions” and as a result more and more countries put counter-measures in place, putting themselves out of the grasp of the US.
    China is not in trouble and “overcapacity” is “information warfare”
    He says “there’s information warfare against China” and that he “doesn’t think” China is in trouble. “Look at the factories, look at the EVs, look at how terrified the Europeans are, accusing China of having overcapacity. I mean, how can you blame China for overcapacity when you have, when you’re taking liberties with yourself, having long summers and working short hours and you say no, no, no, no, no, you are working too hard! There are consequences. If families take liberties with their children, with themselves, there’s consequences.”
    He believes that Asian societies’ “wholesomeness” is an advantage versus the West
    “Look at Asia, look at China, look at Southeast Asia, look at India. There are people who are hardworking, who are obsessed over their children, who want to have of them a higher education, in order that the kids will have a better education, better health, a better life. […] They’ll do well and we’re lucky to be in the part of the world where strange values have not taken over societies. […] Why is America such a big market for drugs today? And I was watching the Eurovision contest… […] Parts of it, almost satanic. But it’s now part of the fashion in most of Europe. What is happening?
    PM Lee talked about how we should keep all these woke things away from us as much as possible. I fully agree with him. Keep our societies wholesome. Keep our families intact. I mean, AI is very important, but AI cannot answer moral questions for us. In the end, it is every individual, every child who must make the choice. Be immersed in technology. Make use of it. But have our own sense of what it means to be a human being. So if we use that as a template to judge human society, I say we are very lucky to be in a part of the world where society is by and large wholesome and will do well.”
    It’s critical for ASEAN to stick together and not be balkanized, which is what the US is trying to do with the Philippines
    “If we [ASEAN] don’t stick together, we’ll be balkanized and instead of becoming neighbours, become clients of big powers. Instead of using them, they make use of us. There’s always a threat.
    Look at the Philippines now. The Philippines have legitimate disputes with China. Both sides have their cases. The Americans see an opportunity there. And jump in, and bring in the Japanese. And now Philippine politics is caught up in this […]
    [China and the Philippines] had an agreement, a gentleman’s agreement with Duterte, which Marcos has repudiated. So OK, so they must find a new way to equilibrium. And make use of the Americans and not be made use of by the Americans. But it’s very difficult when you try to make use of a big power, you end up being made use of by them.”
    Most countries in ASEAN do not want China to be an enemy
    For instance he says “Vietnam has made a very important decision to go with China”: “it was not well reported, but Vietnam has agreed that Hanoi will be linked to Kunming and Nanning by high-speed rail. This is big because each connection is tens of billions of dollars. And will change the topological configuration of logistics and supply chain and human movement for decades to come.”
    Same with Indonesia, noting that “Prabowo’s first visit [was] to China” and that when he met Xi Jinping “it was Xiao Di talking to Da Ge. A little brother talking to big brother. But when we went to Japan, then it’s brother talking to brother.”
    He adds: “Look at the other countries, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei. No one wants China to be an enemy. And the Americans don’t understand this, yet. That because China is getting bigger and bigger for us, all of us want the Americans to be in the room. But if the Americans say no, you have to choose between China and us, then they say no, we can’t. How can we choose? I mean, China is where our bread is buttered, you know.”
    —-
    Even this educated man from Singapore thinks that the satanic rubbish shown on Eurovision is fashionable and popular in the West. We have to stop letting this screeching minority speak for all of us.

  96. Sigh…
    the celebrations are ALWAYS premature…

    Ben Coates
    @bencoates1
    And there we have it:
    The next Dutch PM is likely to be Dick Schoof, a top civil servant and former head of the immigration and counter-terrorism services.
    A man so blandly technocratic that he makes Mark Rutte look like Liberace https://nos.nl/l/2522197

      1. If the daughter is the Thai wife’s and his, she was approx; 12 and he was approx 19 when he impregnated her.
        And he accuses the other man of being attracted to children.
        The story doesn’t add up.

  98. Angela ‘Crayons’ Raynor is finding out something that has been predicted for years by myself and others.
    All the third world savages imported to prop up Labour’s failing voter base will eventually form their own party and abandon them.

  99. Sir Ed Davey fell off a paddleboard five times in 15 minutes as he took to Lake Windermere for a Lib Dem election campaign stunt.

    The party leader was out on the water with Tim Farron, MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, on Tuesday morning in rainy but largely wind-free conditions.

    Sir Ed, a self-confessed paddleboarding amateur, made the most of the photo opportunities by repeatedly attempting to stand up on his board and then falling in.

    He later admitted that one of his tumbles was on purpose, but maintained that the other four were genuine accidents

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/05/28/ed-davey-falls-into-lake-five-times-while-paddleboarding-on/?WT.mc_id=e_DM332153&WT.tsrc=email&etype=Edi_FPM_New&utmsource=email&utm_medium=Edi_FPM_New20240528&utm_campaign=DM332153

    Rachel Williams
    13 MIN AGO
    Just when you thought they couldn’t dump any more c#@p in the water.

    A Allan
    14 MIN AGO
    Has the water company been warned about the extra sewage?

        1. I’ve worked with a lot of Irish guys and they wouldn’t have anything to do with that.

  102. Rishi Sunak has said that he will stay on as an MP for the whole of the next parliament — potentially as late as 2029 — regardless of the election result as he denied claims that he would move to the US.

    Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park accused the prime minister of damaging the Conservative Party “almost beyond repair” and will probably “disappear off to California” if he loses the election.

    In a stinging critique of the party’s fortunes under Sunak, he said that a majority of Tory MPs would lose their seats at the election.

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rishi-sunak-i-wont-leave-uk-if-i-lose-election-lbcf03tv2

    D Evans
    22 HOURS AGO

    Goldsmith …”…I understand the anger towards Sunak who has damaged the Party almost beyond repair…”

    …think your chum Borisconi – to whom you owe your peerage – and DisasTruss sunk the Conservatives first.

    Reply

    Recommend (88)

    Share
    Chris Birch
    22 HOURS AGO

    Nope. That honour belongs to Cameron.

    Reply

    Recommend (17)

    Matthew Ridley
    22 HOURS AGO

    Sunak may be the latest in a line of hopeless leaders but the fate of the Tories was sealed the moment Johnson was elected.

    Reply

    Recommend (62)

    Share
    Kevin Beach
    21 HOURS AGO

    It was sealed the moment that Cameron called the referendum and failed to fight properly for our membership of the EU.

    Chris Scott
    22 HOURS AGO

    Just like Cameron stated on the Brexit vote…

    “Asked if he would remain as prime minister if he lost the EU vote, he said: “The answer to that is yes. My policy is to hold a renegotiation and then a referendum. That is what we promised in the manifesto and then to abide by what the British public say.”

    Reply

    Recommend (38)

    Share
    David Hamilton
    10 HOURS AGO

    And then true to his word, he scarpered like a spoiled b..rat!

    Mrs H

    1. Nobody in the tory party has the right to blame any individual. Over 90% of them are totally useless.
      That’s the ongoing problem.
      That’s what has wrecked our entire country.

  106. I’m also making a move now.
    Catch you all tomorrow.
    Night all. 😴 within the next hour.

  107. GB News
    @GBNEWS
    ·
    25m
    🚨 BREAKING: Diane Abbott has had the Labour whip restored, meaning she is a Labour MP again.

    It comes following a long-running investigation into comments she made claiming Jewish people don’t face racism.

    Abbott will be allowed to stand for Labour at the upcoming election.

  110. From Coffee House, the Spectator

    Labour lead slashed to just 12 points
    Comments Share 28 May 2024, 5:59pm
    They think it’s all over – but is that actually the case? After a difficult start to the campaign for the Conservatives, many of their own MPs had privately written off their chances at this election. However a new poll out tonight could force the skeptics to think again, with Labour’s lead down to just 12 points. The survey for JL Partners revealed that the Starmer army still retain some 40 per cent of the vote but suggested Sunak and the Tories are coming up on the rails with 28 per cent.

    The fieldwork for this poll was done on Friday 24 and Saturday 25 May, shortly after the Prime Minister’s announcement of a general election. The last poll done before this by JLP was on 5 May and had Labour enjoying a comfortable 15-point lead, with 41 points compared to 26 for Sunak. The principal reason for this is a shift amongst over-65s, with the Conservatives going from a 10-point lead over Labour to a 20-point lead with this age group. With the red wall now abandoning the Tories, at least the grey wall is holding true.

    There are also fewer Conservative voters (23 per cent) now saying they would consider voting Reform UK, a 10 point drop on early May when the number stood at 33 per cent. It’s early days of course and Mr S has his doubts. The shifts in the polls could just be noise, with the Keirleaders on Twitter likely to dismiss it as a rogue study. A 12-point lead would also still mean a categorical Labour win, with six in ten voters (60 per cent) convinced that it is time for a change of government.

    Still, if anyone can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, it’s the Labour party, eh?

  112. Not taking much notice of current affairs, it’s too depressing, so instead I’ll bore the arse off you with my day’s activities!
    A wet day, though it did brighten up somewhat this evening but I put the Rayburn bck on to help dry the washing.
    Decided to catch the bus to Matlock but, after getting wet for nearly 20min, opted to walk to Cromford to catch a bus there.
    5 min down the road the bus I’d been waiting for passed me.
    Got to Cromford just as the ex-Ashbourne service was about to leave so jumped on that.
    Picked up medications, new sew chain from Twiggs and checked the “flog it off cheap” less expensive in M&S, Iceland & Coop & went to butchers for some sausages.
    The went for the Bonsall bus back home.
    20min after it was due, gave up & crossed over to Dale Road to pick up a 6.1 to Cromford and that was 10 bloody minutes late!
    Walked home, had a mug of tea, sorted out shopping and put sausages on for main meal.
    Then went to bed for an hour!!

  113. BBC apologises to Farage after calling his language ‘inflammatory’

    Presenter Geeta Guru-Murthy made the remark as the channel cut away from a press conference on migration

    Dominic Penna, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT • 28 May 2024 • 12:56pm

    The BBC has apologised to Nigel Farage over an impartiality breach after accusing him of using “customary inflammatory language”.

    Geeta Guru-Murthy made the remark as the channel cut away from the honorary Reform UK president’s press conference about migration in Dover.

    In his speech, Mr Farage had defended his use of the term “invasion” to describe Channel crossings, saying a “trickle” of illegal migrants had become a “flood” and that a “large influx of young males” had had “disastrous” effects in the Swedish city of Malmo.

    The former Ukip leader was talking about Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, referring to “aggressive young males that are coming into Poland” when the news channel cut away.

    Ms Guru-Murthy then said: “Nigel Farage with his customary inflammatory language there at a Reform UK press conference. He declined to stand for a seat. But we will have more on what Farage is saying. If you want to follow it more, just follow the QR code.”

    Two hours later, she told viewers: “Now, an apology. Earlier today we heard live from Nigel Farage, speaking at that election event we just saw. When we came away from his live speech, I used language to describe it which didn’t meet the BBC’s editorial standards on impartiality. I’d like to apologise to Mr Farage and viewers for this.”

    Ms Guru-Murthy is the older sister of Krishnan Guru-Murthy, the Channel 4 News presenter †. After calling for an apology from her in the wake of the remarks, Mr Farage told The Telegraph: “Victory.” In 2022, Mr Guru-Murthy was briefly taken off air after calling Tory MP Steve Baker a “c—” in an audio clip that was circulated after the exchange. He subsequently apologised for the comment.

    In March, the BBC apologised to Reform UK after describing it as “far-Right” in a news report. The corporation made the claim in an item about the Liberal Democrats’ spring conference, in which it referred to Reform surging ahead of Sir Ed Davey’s party in the opinion polls.

    Mr Farage has long advocated for the abolition of the BBC licence fee, and his battles with the corporation predate the Brexit referendum.

    Last week, he announced that he would not stand as a candidate for Reform at the July 4 election, arguing that he would be more effective if able to travel across the country campaigning at the same time as Richard Tice, the party leader.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/05/28/bbc-accused-impartiality-breach-for-accusing-nigel-farage/

    † As an anonymous Glaswegian once said: “Oh Christ, there’s two of ’em!”

    2. They cannot help themselves, can they? Al Beeb and the Guru-Murphys

    3. As I’ve posted elsewhere: t’s not as if they don’t know they are doing it. It is a form of virtue signalling – a way of establishing their credentials.

      They also know that a quick “apology” will never be held against them,. as their bosses are all of similar mind.

  114. I see Manchester police have joined forces with the Durham lot of lefties. Nothing to see here, move along please. And in one mighty bound, Angie, the fishwife was free.

    1. I know what you mean and I’m really no fan of hers but it was never a police matter. It’s not over yet as HMRC might decide to prosecute.

      Here’s hoping!…..

      1. But it was! She lied on the Electoral Register about her dodgy address!

        1. It’s still not a police matter – do you really think that’s a good use of police time?

      2. And why has it taken months for the police to make this statement, we may ask?

    2. Shock! You are not suggesting that in this country we have two tier policing and justice are you SC? The very thought of it…………

  115. From comments thread

    D
    Damon Lord Palmerston
    25 minutes ago edited
    This poll just confirms that, while everyone and his dog is sick of yon Tories, people have no real enthusiasm for Labour. Even Labour strategists know this, which is why they keep fretting over their “soft lead”.
    If only the prawns had chosen Kemi or Suella. There could have been everything to play for in this election. A fifth successive defeat might even have consigned Labour to history.
    It could all have been so different.
    −
    J
    Jane Spencer
    41 minutes ago
    I can’t understand how anyone could vote for the anti semitic , Hamas supporting, misogynistic and bullying (Lloyd Moyles), don’t know what a woman is (Starmer) , CGT evaders, electoral roll rules breakers, (Raynor) Party.
    And Lammy.
    −
    J
    Jonathan Edwards Jane Spencer
    20 minutes ago
    They just want change and see Labour as the only vehicle to get it.

    It’s less a vote for Labour and more a vote for Not The Tories again (I assume).
    −
    D
    Damon Jane Spencer
    21 minutes ago
    Me neither, but I’m afraid the “Tories” have helped them to it.
    −
    F
    Fredsautos
    43 minutes ago
    Both parties seem to be doing their best to lose this election.
    −
    T
    The Brigadier
    an hour ago
    “Skeptics” (sic) ??

    Heaven help us.
    −
    D
    Damon The Brigadier
    20 minutes ago
    Only septics write “skeptics”.
    (Boom boom.)
    −
    P
    Piper
    an hour ago
    One poll. An outlier. Next!
    −
    P
    Prickly Thistle
    an hour ago edited
    If the Conservatives win ( and I doubt that they will) I don’t want them thinking it’s because we endorse what they have done. We don’t. We just don’t want a Labour government that will destroy what’s left.

    Rishi is a decent man, but boy does he need a Gordon Reece.
    −
    S
    Sir Eldred Godson GCMG Prickly Thistle
    an hour ago
    So vote ReformUK…The Fascism of the past few years will not stand, whatever your ideological convictions.
    −
    N
    Norman Goldner
    an hour ago
    The Conservatives will win.

    If enough of us believe this it will happen.
    −
    S
    Sir Eldred Godson GCMG Norman Goldner
    an hour ago
    Haha…

    I don’t think you fully appreciate the degree to which the goings on of the past few years are loathed by anyone vaguely sane…
    −
    R
    Rogueywon
    an hour ago
    This is broadly what I’d expect to see – the polls narrowing a bit as the announcement of the GE date moves the election from the “hypothetical” to the “real” column for people. Three caveats, though.

    First, that movement from Reform to the Tories is perfectly predictable and mirrors what has happened in earlier elections with UKIP and the Brexit Party. But, if the narrative of the race tightening starts to take hold, Labour will probably pick up more votes from the Greens and the various far-left nutjob and jihadi parties, as their voters compromise their principles rather than risk another Tory government.

    Second, JL Partners use some quite experimental re-weighting methodology to assign “don’t knows” to parties. It might prove to be a brilliant innovation, or it may horribly misfire. We don’t know yet.

    Third, what the poll won’t be showing is the impact of tactical voting in individual constituencies. There are suggestions we could see tactical voting at levels not seen since 1997, which could give Labour a very large majority even with “just” a 12 point lead. Also, saying “just” a 12 point lead is a bit misleading, as it’s slightly larger than the lead the Conservatives managed in 2019.
    −
    S
    Sir Eldred Godson GCMG Rogueywon
    an hour ago
    Ha…Love your technicalities…It’s going to be a bloodbath… Vote ReformUK! 🙂
    −
    J
    John Harris
    an hour ago
    As a leave voting Lockdown sceptic I’ve been furious with this government for a long time. I quit the Conservative party and intended to vote Reform in order to give the Conservatives the kicking they deserve, but then realised all that would do would be to give Starmer a helping hand. Instead I rejoined the Conservatives and am currently leafletting for our extremely hard working and honourable Tory MP. After the election I’m going to do all I can to kick the party from the inside, and I know I’m not alone. Reform blew it when they announced they’d drop Net Zero and spend the money on the NHS and if Farage lacks the courage to contest an election he’s not worth bothering about. I don’t think it’s going to be the landslide for Labour everyone has predicted, I think Galloway’s Islamist Tendency will do more harm to Labour than Reform will to the Conservatives.

        2. I wouldn’t do it Mr Tastey because I believe in freedom, a belief in which is our country’s value, or was. Do we really want the government to have the power to tell folk what they can and cannot ear? That said, we should also have the freedom to discriminate against folk in aggressively Islamic dress, like individual shop owners having the freedom to stop those wearing it enter their premises. And we need to stop voting for politicians who are ashamed of our culture history and values.

          1. It’s been banned in France Tom, because no-one is allowed to walk around with their face covered.

          2. Antifa and the riot police do Peta, and masks were imposed by force on the French during covid, making a mockery of the whole thing. And it’s still a loss of freedom, another turn on the ratchet to serfdom.

          3. The riot police do for their own protection and, as far as I can remember, always have, especially after the murder of of a couple of high profile officers. I agree with you about covid but the context was not the same because people were not able to walk about freely anyway.

          4. Errrr… you’ve just contradicted yourself. Freedom to discriminate????

          5. No contradiction at all. Freedom and discrimination are clean different things. Freedom to discriminate against, for example, different political parties, different products, and for individuals in their own property to discriminate against folk whose behaviour offends them are essential aspects of freedom. There is however, a gross contradiction between freedom and equality. You can’t have them both..

          6. We no longer have freedom in the United Kingdom, as we have witnessed during the Imprisonment Days recently.

            Not only were we instructed to wear face masks but were told to practise ‘social distancing’, keep away from other people unless they were ‘in the same bubble’ as you and have an untried, untested gene therapy injection or lose your health care sector job to name but a few examples of “freedom”.

          7. I fully agree. It’s the same across the weak, woke West. But that doesn’t mean we should stop believing in and fighting for freedom.

        1. If islam was a political party it would be banned. As an ideology masquerading as a religion, it should be banned.

  117. 387798+ up ticks,

    Talk about sleeping with the enemas, these bastards would put their grannies on the game.

    David Atherton
    @DaveAtherton20
    ·
    12h
    This is Angela Rayner begging for the Muslim vote in her Ashton-Under-Lyne constituency. She promises recognising Palestine as a state.

    Expect more of Labour’s capitulation to the Muslim lobby. Expect to go to jail for “Islamophobia”.

    https://x.com/DaveAtherton20/status/1795367992131518839

  120. For the first time, I see why reasonable people will vote for Donald Trump

    He is deeply flawed, but at least he won’t centre his foreign policy around appeasing the West’s mortal enemies

    ZOE STRIMPEL • 18 May 2024 • 4:10pm

    I will never forget the crushing sense of disbelief, horror and dread the night that Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election. The bad feelings did not diminish over the course of his term in office, even as many in the same anti-woke, pro-free-speech stable as me began to caveat their objections to the buffoonish talk-show lout who was now the president of the United States.

    Eventually, many in this crowd became veritable cheerleaders for Trump. The more sober-minded among them pointed to his tough-guy approach to America’s enemies, which saw him shake hands with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, scrap the dangerous Obama-era nuclear agreement with Iran, and move the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Others seemed to enjoy his destruction of longstanding political norms – including his denial of the results of the 2020 presidential election.

    I remain profoundly opposed to the yellow-headed loudmouth – even as I have to admit that he achieved some significant political coups while president, and he may do so again were he to return to power.

    Indeed, as we face what is surely the grimmest American election in generations, I find myself able to understand, for the first time, why some perfectly good, reasonable people might decide to vote for Trump. He is a ludicrous and, to me, a frightening figure to be in the running for a second pass at leading the free world – but at least, beyond a worrying question over whether he’ll go soft on Putin, his foreign policy won’t revolve around appeasing the West’s mortal enemies.

    Joe Biden’s approach towards Israel and the Middle East has been particularly dangerous, and with Left-wing anti-Semitic rhetoric in relation to the campaign in Gaza intensifying and Jews facing threats on all fronts, pollsters and pundits are beginning to suggest that a small but significant Jewish vote – important in states like Pennsylvania, Nevada and Arizona – may be swinging Trumpwards. By 2020, as compared to 2016, Trump’s appeal was growing among Jewish voters, but since October 7 it appears to have increased yet further.

    Biden once pledged “ironclad” support for Israel, but he has since shifted to a position apparently designed to pander to the pro-Palestinian mob (who absurdly call him “genocide Joe”, despite the cautiousness of his support for Jerusalem so far).

    From his endless threats and chastisements of Israel, to his disgraceful warning that he could cut off military aid at Israelis’ hour of greatest need, it’s a terrifying picture.

    His inner-circle appointments are hardly better. He placed Maher Bitar on the National Security Council. According to the Jewish News Syndicate, Bitar was a leader of Students for Justice in Palestine, a group that organised a “boycott, divestment and sanctions” programme against Israel – hardly the most reassuring appointment for US intelligence.

    Most recently, we have watched the grotesque performance of American college students endorsing Palestinian “resistance” carried out against Jews by Hamas rapists and murderers.

    These students’ apparent worship of violence and anti-Semitism has shocked decent people to the core. But rather than stand firm, influential representatives of Biden’s party have actually appeared to encourage them. Indeed, the Democrats increasingly seem to be under the influence of viciously anti-Israel activists and members of Congress.

    Only a small fraction of American undergraduates participated in this evil nonsense or even regard the US’s relations with Israel as an important issue. It might be argued, therefore, that the horrific spectacle on campuses can be ignored.

    To Jews, however, that is not an option. It is obvious, thanks to the painful lessons of history, that the question of how America approaches Israel is intimately tied to our fate, wherever we are. The United States has always had isolationist tendencies, but those tendencies have never coincided with so much homegrown sympathy for terrorism and hatred of Israel.

    Thus when Trump says that “Biden has totally lost control of the Israel situation”, as he did last month, and suggests that Jews who vote for Biden “should have their head examined”, one has to admit he has a point.

    Even moderates can see this. Mark Penn, former Bill Clinton campaign supremo and now a highly-respected pollster, wrote recently in the New York Times: “Mr Biden’s campaign has fundamentally miscalculated on Israel… [many of his potential voters] back our ally Israel unreservedly and, I believe, want to see a president who would put maximum pressure on Hamas to release hostages … The more Mr Biden has pandered to the Left by softening his support of Israel, the weaker he looks, and the more his foreign policy ratings have declined.”

    Polling suggests that, among most voters, housing, the cost of living, healthcare and the everyday issues affecting people come top of the list of concerns. But if the United States allows the evil power-mongers in the new anti-Western axis – China, Russia, Iran, North Korea – to get away with the murder they so fervently desire, there won’t be a life in the West worth defending anymore.

    Since October 7, Jews have been forced to see this. For a growing number, this translates into a sense that, next to Biden, Trump may be more capable not just of the fighting talk but of the fighting actions required to keep the world order under American control – and therefore safe for “Jews and non-Jews alike.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/05/18/i-see-why-reasonable-people-will-vote-for-donald-trump/

  121. Nigel Farage’s salty yacht club broadsides steal the election show

    Reform’s honorary president singles out Angela Rayner’s plea for Muslim votes as he revels in being the ‘Millwall of politics’

    TIM STANLEY • 28 May 2024 • 3:26pm

    While Rayner begs Muslims for votes, Farage talks to hacks about boats. The Reform UK campaign launched on a damp day in Dover, at the Royal Cinque Ports Yacht Club, which has seen better times (c. Waterloo).

    The ceiling had a crack in it. The room was airless and small. We waited impatiently for Nigel to speak – he was pacing the balcony outside, like Eva Peron – and Reform’s press guru could surely see we were getting grumpy.

    “Imagine there’s stirring music,” he suggested. “Would you like us to hum Nimrod?” replied a comedian.

    I whispered to a colleague that I might pass out with the heat, and he shouted: “Open a window, would you? Stanley’s having a hot flush.”

    I wish he hadn’t done that. I find Nigel’s staff intimidating – all crew-cuts, six-packs and a whiff of Old Spice. I think he recruits from gyms.

    He appeared via a door marked “Victory Bar”, and a gust of salty air breathed through the election.

    Starmer is a “middle manager” while Rishi is a “frightened rabbit”, he said. The real issue is the “invasion” in the Channel, a “slow motion D-Day in reverse” that is also flooding the continent with “aggressive young males”.

    A TV presenter called the latter remark “Farage’s customary inflammatory language”. The BBC had to apologise. Aside from breaking editorial rules, he was quoting Donald Tusk.

    The media is cynical about Nigel because he’s chosen not to run, suggesting that as soon as the election’s over he’ll swan off to America (the tan is very Mar-a-Lago; it practically sizzles).

    But why focus on one constituency when he can wander the country, generating headlines, stealing the limelight? One can imagine Richard Tice, relegated to second fiddle, watching with fury.

    Reform has hardly any money, Nigel disclosed, and few activists. But it has him. And he’s worth Labour and the Tories put together.

    The Q&A was a hoot. Most politicians speak with pre-picked journalists, but Nigel sent the microphone around the room with the implication being: “Give it your best shot.”

    Do you want to join or kill the Conservatives, asked the BBC? “Is there a Conservative Party?” he replied. “I haven’t spotted it.”

    You’ve been accused of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, said The Guardian – and Nigel looked genuinely surprised. “It seems I’m hated by everyone. I’m like Millwall Football Club.”

    Then a lady from Sky challenged him to define the “British values” he claims are under threat. “Well, you’re here,” he replied without missing a beat. “I doubt you’d be welcome at that Angela Rayner meeting.”

    Footage of Ange pleading with a room of men of Asian heritage to vote for her had leaked that morning, suggesting Labour is just as spooked by George Galloway’s Workers Party as the Tories are by Reform. The centre lives in fear of the margins.

    Questions completed, half the crowd surged on to the balcony for fresh air only to find the other half having a cigarette. The thread that runs from Ukip to Brexit Party to Reform is tobacco.

    That and curious colour schemes. The Reform flyweights wear luminous blue ties – but what kind of blue? Turquoise? Teal? “I don’t know,” said a colleague, “but if you ever see that coming out your taps, don’t drink it.”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/05/28/farages-salty-yacht-club-broadsides-steal-election-show/

    1. No one likes us, no one likes us
      No one likes us, we don’t care!

      We are Millwall, super Millwall
      We are Millwall from The Den

      Sung to the tune of Sailing by Rod Stewart……

      1. Sung to the tune of Sailing by The Sutherland Brothers.

        Stewart’s version was a copy.

    2. 11 of us ‘activists’ went through the nomination process with the SE Cornwall’s Reform UK candidate this morning in a farm shop café. It’s not well organised but none of us have had any previous experience. Learning as we go.

      3. There are lots of hoops to jump through (I’ve been through it with UKIP candidates in the past). My advice is to be sure to appoint an agent – trying to be your own agent is not recommended. You cannot, however, appoint an agent from a constituency that is not contiguous with the constituency for which the candidate is standing. The deposit has to be in cash. You will need authorisation from your DNO (Deputy Nominating Officer) to use the party logo and description (those have to match the approved list from the Electoral Commission) on the ballot paper. If there’s anything else I can help you with, just ask.

        1. Cheers, Conners. We have an agent, as of today, who has been am excellent hub of information and is happy to do the job. I shall be asking your advice.

          1. That’s good. The agent is responsible for the expenses (these have to be returned, even if nil, within a certain deadline after the election). You are limited to how much you can spend on campaigning (I’m sure your funds are limited anyway!) depending on how many constituents there are, as far as I can remember. All literature MUST have an imprint which states who printed it on whose behalf and for which party. That is a legal requirement. Check all literature to ensure it’s there.

          2. Also, you have a very narrow time slot to get your nomination in to the returning officer. Bear in mind they don’t work at weekends, so you probably only have five days. I think the candidate has to hand it in personally, so just check. It’s been a while since I last did it. so my memory might be a bit hazy (and owing to computer crashes I have lost a lot of the information I gathered in the course of campaigning!).

          4. Be particularly careful as a candidate about food and drink (accepting or giving). Treating, as it’s known, is a criminal offence. Be sure that if anything might be construed as falling into that category, one’s opponents will be on to it.

          7. That’s good. The agent is responsible for the expenses (these have to be returned, even if nil, within a certain deadline after the election). You are limited to how much you can spend on campaigning (I’m sure your funds are limited anyway!) depending on how many constituents there are, as far as I can remember. All literature MUST have an imprint which states who printed it on whose behalf and for which party. That is a legal requirement. Check all literature to ensure it’s there.

  122. Back again now. My horse finished second (ran well, but the winner is something special, I think.) I did pick a couple of winners from which one of my friends benefitted (I don’t bet).

  123. From Coffee House, the Spectator

    Why the Tories’ national service idea is unworkable
    Comments Share 28 May 2024, 11:39am
    When the Tories start talking about national service they really are grasping at straws. The concept might possibly appeal to some older voters nostalgic for an earlier time, but Rishi Sunak’s ideas are quite different from the military conscription of young men that lasted from 1949 to 1963.

    Let’s put aside the 30,000 or so ‘selective’ military placements for the ‘brightest and the best’. Yes, young people can offer much to the nation’s approach to cyber security and the defence of our IT infrastructure against external threats. Fresh minds see solutions that others may not. But if that isn’t happening already, what has the government been doing for the past 14 years? It would be a double tragedy if our sharpest youngsters have been frittering their time away playing computer games when they could have been doing something vital to help defend the nation.

    Good luck to the army of adults who will need to plan around three quarters of a million placements
    The national service diet proposed for the other 96 per cent of the cohort is somewhat different: ‘community volunteering’ for one weekend a month apparently, except that it will not be voluntary. Perhaps ‘community service’ would be closer to the mark? But only when they have broken the law are older adults compelled to do up to 300 hours of unpaid work. 18-year-olds will be saddled with different rules – don’t expect them to be impressed.

    As a teacher, I know how keen many youngsters are to contribute to their local communities. The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award recognises the contribution of thousands of them every year. My students have volunteered in hospices and with homeless charities; they have read to small children in primary schools and assisted with the cubs and brownies. They serve willingly and enthusiastically because they are volunteers doing something they perceive to be valuable.

    Conscription is a different matter. Tell an 18-year-old that they must report at 0830h on a Saturday morning for an activity they have not chosen to do, and the response is more likely to reluctant and apathetic. If, indeed, they turn up at all. Good luck to the army of adults who will need to plan around three quarters of a million placements, supervise the conscripts, file reports and chase absences.

    Convicted criminals sentenced to community service have the prospect of prison time if they fail to co-operate but, according to James Cleverly, there will be ‘no criminal sanctions’ for youngsters. The scope for civil disobedience on an industrial scale must be obvious even to the Home Secretary.

    Maybe the government is happy to present an unworkable idea – plan is too strong a word for it – because they have no expectation of ever being required to implement it. But the bluster has deflected attention from a report by the House of Commons Education Committee that dropped over the weekend. The committee found that:

    Research suggests a 52 per cent increase in children’s screen time between 2020 and 2022, and that nearly 25 per cent of children and young people use their smartphones in a way that is consistent with a behavioural addiction.

    That huge increase just happened to coincide with the period when the government closed schools for the best part of two complete terms and shifted teaching and learning to online platforms. Schools are still grappling with the thorny issue of how to help children use technology without being distracted by it. Evidence from the teachers’ union NASUWT argued that ‘it could take up to 20 minutes for pupils to refocus on what they were learning after engaging in a non-academic activity such as browsing the internet or noticing a notification on their phone.’

    Even 1950s style military service might not cut through that. I spoke to one former soldier who was conscripted from May 1960 to May 1962. ‘It put me back two years behind in time and money’, he lamented. He did see the world – well, the British Cameroons where he served as part of a peacekeeping force during a plebiscite for independence. Much of his time was spent in the barracks playing endless rounds of cribbage. I suspect today’s generation might simply be glued to their phones.

    This is a real and pressing issue that can have a devastating impact on the development of young people. If the government really cared about the young, they would put rather more emphasis on workable schemes to get children off their phones and into the fresh air, than attempt to pander to the nostalgia of the older generation.

    1. They could introduce them to hunting – plenty of healthy exercise in the open air, communing with nature, being inducted into the ways of wild life (and the reality of predator/prey).

    2. My husband commenced his training at Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth when he was just over 18years old , in 1964.

      I commenced my QARNN training when I was 18years old .

      Younger people in those days were more mature and more capable than the present generation

      1. Yes it’s ironic that it’s now they are considering lowering the voting age to sixteen.
        A lot was expected from young people years ago and they started adult life much younger. Yet the age of majority was twent one.

  124. Well, chums, it’s now time for me to say “Good Night” and wish you all a good night’s sleep. I hope to see you all, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed tomorrow.

  125. 387798+ up ticks,

    Pillow Ponder,

    As bad, as shitfaced treacherous as they are I do believe the tory
    IN NAME ONLY party will return as overseeing kapos.

    No party / politico in opposition could better this odious rhetorical shite.

    Darren Grimes

    @darrengrimes_
    This is what we have to look forward to.

    Labour MP
    @RachaelMaskell
    : “We must keep going [with mass migration] until we really are at saturation point, because what does it matter if we have to wait another week for a hospital visit? Or if our class sizes are slightly bigger, or if our city is slightly fuller? What does it matter if things are slightly more challenging, if we have to pay a little bit more into the system? Surely it is worth it.”

    https://x.com/darrengrimes_/status/1795448965887848893

    1. There you have quoted the mentally ill. These idiots seek power and influence at any cost except that the cost is not born by them but by the workers they pretend to represent.

      For God’s sake can those voting for this annihilation of our country to be brought some education and enlightenment. Jesus wept.

      1. 387837+ up ticks,

        Morning A,

        I believe VERY, seemingly a
        lord haw haw, & no balls, rolled into one.

    4. 387837+ up ticks,

      O2O,
      Correction making it worse, that is angela rayner doing the promising.

      ogga1
      9 hours ago
      387798+ up ticks,

      Pillow Ponder,

      As bad, as shitfaced treacherous as they are I do believe the tory
      IN NAME ONLY party will return as overseeing kapos.

      No party / politico in opposition could better this odious rhetorical shite.

      Darren Grimes

      @darrengrimes_
      This is what we have to look forward to.

      Labour MP
      @RachaelMaskell
      : “We must keep going [with mass migration] until we really are at saturation point, because what does it matter if we have to wait another week for a hospital visit? Or if our class sizes are slightly bigger, or if our city is slightly fuller? What does it matter if things are slightly more challenging, if we have to pay a little bit more into the system? Surely it is worth it.”

      https://x.com/darrengrimes_…

  126. Another torrential downpour. Light rain says my weather “app”.

  128. Good morning, chums. It’s now 6.20 am and I have lots to do today, so I shall post here, and then refer you to this (latest) post on Tuesday’s site when I get round to looking at Wednesday’s page.

    Wordle 1,075 6/6
    🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
    ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜
    ⬜🟩⬜🟨⬜
    🟩🟩🟨⬜⬜
    🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. ‘ Morning, Geoff and thank you for all your efforts and care on our behalf.

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