Tuesday 29 December: Thousands of skilled medical volunteers going to waste amid red tape

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2020/12/29/lettersthousands-skilled-medical-volunteers-going-waste-amid/

776 thoughts on “Tuesday 29 December: Thousands of skilled medical volunteers going to waste amid red tape”

  1. It could be time to give these another airing…

    Paraprosdokians

    Here is the definition of “paraprosdokian”.
    “Figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected; frequently used in a humorous situation.”
    “Where there’s a will, I want to be in it,” is a type of paraprosdokian. Here are a few to enjoy.

    1. Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

    2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it’s still on my list.

    3. Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

    4. If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong.

    5. We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.

    6. War does not determine who is right – only who is left.

    7. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

    8. Evening news is where they begin with ‘Good Evening,’ and then proceed to tell you why it isn’t.

    9. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.

    10. A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.

    11. I thought I wanted a career. Turns out I just wanted pay checks.

    12. Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says, ‘In case of emergency, notify:’ I put ‘DOCTOR.’

    13. I didn’t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.

    14. Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

    15. Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.

    16. A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.

    17. I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn’t work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness.

    18. You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.

    19. Money can’t buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.

    20. There’s a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they can’t get away.

    21. I used to be indecisive. Now I’m not so sure.

    22. You’re never too old to learn something stupid.

    23. To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.

    24. Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.

    25. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

    26. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

    27. A diplomat is someone who tells you to go to hell in such a way that you look forward to the trip.

    28. Hospitality is making your guests feel at home even when you wish they were.

    29. I always take life with a grain of salt. Plus, a slice of lemon, and a shot of tequila.

    30. When tempted to fight fire with fire, remember that the Fire Department usually uses water.

    31. Dolphins are so smart that within a few weeks of captivity, they can train people to stand on the very edge of the pool and throw them fish.

    32. A bank is a place that will lend you money, if you can prove that you don’t need it.

    33. Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?

    34. Why do Americans choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America?

    35. The voices in my head may not be real, but they have some good ideas!

    36. Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won’t expect it back.

    37. I discovered I scream the same way whether I’m about to be devoured by a great white shark or if a piece of seaweed touches my foot.

    38. A bus is a vehicle that runs twice as fast when you are after it as when you are in it.

    2. Good morning, Peddy. What I have noticed in the past few days is that many people are very vocal in their rejection of the EU/UK negotiated treaty unless and until it is combed through and tested in minute detail. Yet when it comes to taking the new Covid-19 vaccine it is accepted without question.

      1. ‘Morning, Elsie, “…when it comes to taking the new Covid-19 vaccine it is accepted without question.”

        Not by me it isn’t accepted and I don’t think I’m alone on this forum.

        1. You’re right, NtN, as far as this forum is concerned. But not by the public at large. I am very much against having the jab but, as my sisters both live in New Zealand and at 75 I am very much their baby brother, I may have to give in to see them one final time if airline/NZ regulations insist.

        2. Doctor (holding up syringe): “Just roll up your sleeve, you’ll not feel a thing.”

          Grizzly (holding up machete): “Come near me with that needle and you’ll not feel a thing!”

      2. ‘Morning, Elsie.

        What gets me is the the Spics say they’re going to treat the data collected with strictest confidence, then say they’re going to share it right across the EC.

        1. Exactly – “It is not a document which will be made public and it will be done with the utmost respect for data protection.” … and then shared with the other EU countries!

          1. So there is no way of checking whether one’s name is on the list, spelt correctly, or any other medical data for that matter. Very sinister.

    3. Salvador Illa said the list would not be made accessible to the public or to employers.
      He said the way to defeat the virus was “to vaccinate all of us – the more the better”.

      Let us all hope that all adverse reactions that are not immediately apparent, such as anaphylactic shock from allergies, will be manifesting themselves as soon as possible.

      The problem is that things like birth defects, or slow destruction of other parts of our immune systems might not become noticeable until it’s too late.

    4. Recently I saw what should have been a delightful Xmas photo of a pre-school class in Spain, showing about twenty toddlers / 3 year olds seated with their nursery teachers.
      All wearing kowtow masks.
      Those children attend the pre-school for about 6 hours on four or five weekdays, and the only time they can breathe freely is when they eat a snack or play outside in the courtyard.

  5. Morning all

    SIR – Hospitals report shortages of doctors and nurses, non-Covid work is cut back, and staff are needed in large numbers to carry out vaccinations.

    It beggars belief that the NHS has not been able to mobilise the doctors, nurses and other professionals who volunteered to return from retirement to help the NHS at the beginning of the crisis. They remain largely unused.

    My experience has been typical. I was approved for helping in the pandemic in April but heard nothing. I wrote about my experience to you in a letter published on April 17.

    My MP, Sajid Javid, contacted the chief executive of the NHS asking why retired staff were not being used. He did not receive a satisfactory response.

    Out of the blue, I received an email invitation to a Zoom meeting on November 30 to discuss a return to the NHS of retired doctors in the Midlands. To say the meeting was uninformative is charitable, but we were told we would be contacted within two weeks to ask about our skills and availability. Since then, nothing.

    ADVERTISING

    It should not be beyond the wit of an organisation even as dysfunctional as the NHS to have arranged for retired doctors and nurses to be available on standby to fill in where needed in acute care, non-Covid work, or the vaccination programme.

    It seems that, because of bureaucracy and regulations, the NHS is incapable of utilising a ready source of skilled professionals, many of whom would not wish to be paid.

    Dr Brian Cooper

    Bromsgrove, Worcestershire

    SIR – As a retired dental surgeon, I, like Claire Barker (Letters, December 28), am attempting to volunteer as a Covid vaccinator.

    I expected some further training for this role but, having spent the past two days doing the e-learning assessments, I still have many more to do and am beginning to lose the will to continue.

    I would like to know how many experienced retired clinicians have given up in the face of the vast number of e-courses and certificates required, many of little relevance to the task required of them.

    Graham Odd

    Winchester, Hampshire

    1. SIR – It is nothing like enough to have 10,000 vaccinators, nor is a million doses a week. We have nearly a million qualified nurses and doctors in the UK, plus masses of others capable of giving an injection .

      The letter from Claire Barker yesterday describing the forms to be filled in summarised the problem. To add insult to injury, the Equalities Act seems to find its way in even here.

      Leave this to the Army and private sector and suspend unnecessary regulation.

      Charles Pugh

      London SW10

      SIR – If the Government is thinking of testing all schoolchildren, surely it would be almost as easy to vaccinate them instead.

      Janet Milliken

      Folkestone, Kent

      1. Janet Miliken, the reason the Government probably won’t try anything so stupid straight away is because they know perfectly well there would be a mass rebellion of parents against any program of administering an untested vaccine to children!

        1. The mass testing is of dubious legality. The only way it can be carried out is if the educational authorities, schoolmasters, invoke “in loco parentis”. that would be a serious misuse of that delegated authority, really intended for unforeseen incidents, such as a sports injury at school.
          As a parent I would be very upset if they tried that. I would keep my children out of school.

  6. Here are the Brexit letters….

    Continuing EU control

    SIR – We do not have to wade very far into the 1,246-page Brexit deal to find out how the EU is going to enforce its “level playing field” upon the UK.

    From page 10 onwards we read that: “A Partnership Council is hereby established. It shall be co-chaired by an EC member and a UK government Minister. It shall comprise representatives of the [EU] and UK. It shall meet at least once a year…

    “The Partnership Council shall have the power to: [among other things] … adopt, by decision, amendments to this Agreement … A number of Committees [of the Partnership Council] are hereby established.”

    There will be committees on goods, services, intellectual property, public procurement, level playing field, sustainable development and many more issues. These committees will no doubt tie up hundreds of civil servants, all at our expense, to enforce a level playing field with the EU by the back door.

    Advertisement

    We read on page 15: “The decisions adopted by the Partnership Council, or, as the case may be, by a Committee, shall be binding on the Parties [the EU and UK].”

    Hence, this Partnership Council will be superior to our own Cabinet and Parliament. As Boris Johnson himself admitted, the devil is in the detail.

    S J R Dommett

    Stowmarket, Suffolk

    SIR – Ian Todd makes a good point (Letters, December 28) regarding the equivocation within the Labour Party towards the Brexit deal, which party leaders now tell us is “a thin deal”.

    In recent days both Sir Keir Starmer and Anneliese Dodds, among others on the Left, have used this expression, but have yet to explain what it means.

    John Ball

    Shoebury, Essex

    SIR – In a number of areas workplace rights are stronger in Britain than in EU countries. Why then does Sir Keir Starmer persist in peddling Labour’s argument that the “thin deal” with the EU fails to protect workplace rights?

    Michael Staples

    Seaford, East Sussex

    1. It’s like animal welfare. The pro-EU bunch were complaining that after Brexit our welfare standards would fall, then Antoinette Sandbach made the classic statement, “we already have to bring the EU up to our welfare standards”! Eh? EU standards are lower than ours, but we’ll have worse standards once we’re free to set our own – how does that work?

  7. The NHS has been treated like a God. It is failing and needs to be told so. and a swift kick up ..

    1. Morning, Johnny.
      I was appalled to read of people clapping the beast. It makes it both more smug and less easy to administer the needed kick.

    2. ‘Morning, Johnny, “The NHS has been treated like a God”

      I would modify that to read, “The NHS should be treated like a cod, inasmuch it’s rotting from the head down.”

  8. Double yellow agent

    SIR – Many would say that the death of the spy George Blake (Obituary, December 26) came not a day too soon – yet I have reason to be deeply grateful to him.

    I was one of many CID officers authorised to drive my car on duty and, from time to time, it was necessary to park on double yellow lines, resulting in a parking notice being slapped on my windscreen.

    Then some pompous, self-important little civilian at Scotland Yard decided that any such breaches of the parking restrictions would have to include a report, explaining precisely why this had occurred.

    Ingenuity demanded that I devise a form where, on each occasion, only the date, time and location needed to be filled in. The form read as follows:

    “I noticed a man who fitted exactly the description of George Blake alias George Behar, wanted, vide Police Gazette, for escaping from lawful custody. I was obliged to park my car in the location shown and alight to follow the person concerned. When I realised that that man was not George Blake and I returned to my vehicle, I discovered the attached parking ticket had been issued. I therefore respectfully ask for the ticket’s cancellation.”

    This was counter-signed by my much-amused senior officers and found its way to the civilian’s desk. Not one of those forms was ever questioned.

    Dick Kirby

    Great Whelnetham, Suffolk

    1. Gosh – how my sides split.

      Now Mr Kirby would be “isshuing” penalties against harmless people going about their business. Or beating up harmless, middle-aged people protesting against draconian regulations.

  9. SIR – One of our neighbours took down all their indoor and outdoor decorations just after lunch on December 27.

    Can anyone beat this? I sincerely hope not.

    Paul Bedelle

    Gillingham, Kent

    2. Well, Paul Bedelle, traditionally Christmas decorations were not put up until Christmas Eve (December 24) and taken down on Twelfth Night (January 6), a period of just under two weeks. Since they now go up on December the 1st – sometimes even earlier – I am surprised that they aren’t taken down in mid-December!

      1. We put ours up on Christmas Eve – long after all our neighbours! – but this was due to being disorganised and having no time. They will definitely stay up til Twelth Night!

        1. Good on yer, blackbox2! Being something of a traditionalist that is what I have usually done, feeling rather angry and resentful when I keep my decorations up. But this year I have changed my routine and put up the Christmas cards, mini-tree and poinsettia as the cards arrive. I plan to take them down just before January the 1st and celebrate with a wee dram at the stroke of midnight.

    4. Bah Humbug….
      On Christmas Eve, trying to enter into the Christmas spirit I hung a festive wreath on the front door.
      By Christmas morning the strong winds had blown it up the garden path. I retrieved it and threw it in the dustbin…….

    1. Good morning, Bill, give the good lord a break. He’s just spent almost an entire year negotiating with Michel Barnier, let him at least have a lie-in.

      :-))

  11. I was commenting on age gap relationships in the night, hoping that the love of my life would be seduced by my writing, as you do. After nodding off, a thought struck me, when pondering the words “Ginge and Cringe”.

    Maybe the answer to all their problems has been staring us in the face all along? The Sussexes and the Yorks should have a wife swap. Put the two livewire gingers together – Harry and Fergie, and the two arrogant dollar divas – Andrew and Meghan, and all will he happy with the royals again.

    2. Leaving aside obvious problems of time and space, you may just have hit on something there.

      What were you commenting on age gap relationships, out of curiosity?

  12. Just spent half an hour (a) luring two kittens out from behind the floor units in the utility room (b) boarding up the point of entry.

    Free to good home – 2 ginger kittens…..!! (Only joking)

    3. We used to have two adorable brown and white pet rats (yes, I know, but they were adorable!), and one of them disappeared in the cellar. We left her there overnight, knowing she was a greedy little thing who would be out for food in the morning, and sure enough she was!

    4. One of mine disappeared into a hole where the waste pipe under the sink goes to the sewer, panicking I managed to prise the sides of the sink unit apart and remove the bottom of the unit, couldn’t see anything, put my arm down the hole and felt around – nothing! I thought I’d lost the little mite and started putting everything back, my back was aching so I stood up and there on the kitchen table was a little ginger furball looking at me as if to say “What the f*** are you doing?”. I don’t know how or when it got out

      1. I once lost a cat while catsitting for friends. After an hour’s complete panic (had it slipped out unnoticed as I opened the door?) I found it sleeping peacefully behind the fridge, wedged between the elements.

        1. I once “lost” the beagle I was dog-sitting when it got through the fence and into the woodland beyond. Have you ever tried to find a beagle in snowy woodland? That’s when you discover the meaning of “camouflage”! In the end she came back for her tea, but not before she’d given me some anxious moments wondering how I was going to tell her owners.

  13. It seems that, because of bureaucracy and regulations, the NHS is
    incapable of utilising a ready source of skilled professionals, many of
    whom would not wish to be paid. Dr Brian Cooper

    Bromsgrove, Worcestershire

    Or, as how, we the masses see it

    The NHS is incapable

    1. 327901+ up ticks,
      Morning OLT,
      I posted yesterday much the same asking why.
      Nightingale hospitals stand empty despite surging Covid cases as medics warn of staff shortages
      The seven Nightingale facilities have yet to start treating virus patients despite number of people in hospital passing April peak.

      Thinking slightly outside the box could this also mean that there is not enough patients to go round, I am only asking because there have been retired volunteers offering their services only to be turned down so I have heard.

      1. Would those be retired volunteers offering the services as patients? No wonder they have been turned down.

        1. 327901+ up ticks,
          C,
          I see it is the governance party bolstering the fear
          campaign with the tax payers monies, they are steeped in treachery as proven & not to be trusted,
          my personal view.

        2. I assume as it was the army who were used to get them ready, and doing the opposite now, Also the army are being used to go round schools and colleges to Covid test the pupils. Why haven’t they been used at any time to stop the invasion from Calais? ( I have noticed that there has been apparently NONE come across in last few weeks – strange? – or covered up?)

          1. Perhaps a modern Dad’s Army and Navy and wardens could be conscripted to protect our shores after Thursday night

          2. A number of people we know have had Covid.

            None of them have been given treatment, merely told to stay at home and stay in bed.

            What is the use of testing people if you are not going to treat it?

          3. What is the point of testing/not treating?

            a) some of my neighbours same here – if staying at home can “cure” it then maybe there’s not much to treat?

            b) Getting everyone’s DNA ?? Tony Blair wanted a National DNA database – this one’s just a bit late.

        3. “The shortage has reached record levels – 43,000 nurse jobs in England are unfilled and it is patients that can pay the heaviest price.

          “It is unfair on healthcare assistants to ask them to take on work they aren’t trained or paid for

          https://www.nursingtimes.net/news/workforce/nhs-workforce-being-hollowed-out-by-registered-nurse-shortages-28-11-2019/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20shortage%20has%20reached%20record,can%20pay%20the%20heaviest%20price.

          2. Phizzee , training has changed so much . Many governments have messed around and interfered re the recruitment of nurses .

            By the way the lost dog was found 48 hours later , behind the Knoll house hotel . What a lucky family and a very lucky dog .

          4. But Sunak has shown we have an endless supply of cash for sticking freeloaders in hotels. Shame they can’t use that to pay the nurses while getting rid of the freeloaders.

  14. SIR — As a much teased but untroubled man-bag carrier, I would like to break a lance in favour of their convenience, especially in warmer weather.

    Where do you keep your minimum burden of (in my case) house and car keys, wallet, change, spectacles and sunglasses, smoking materials, small Swiss army knife, hand-sanitiser, spare face coverings, comb, toothbrush, and perhaps a packet of paper tissues?

    Bulging pockets are not a good look, and the dreary task of emptying and refilling them each day is unnecessary if everything lives in a small bag that you pick up as you walk out the door.

    Women, always cleverer, discovered this long ago, providing of course that other solution: your wife carries everything in her handbag.

    Graham Weeks
    Barcelona, Spain

    Poof!

    3. Morning Grizzly

      Ever since I had my handbag stolen which was full of stuff I THOUGHT I needed to survive the day / month/ year/ , I no longer use a handbag, no fuss, no nothing .

      I keep my clean hankie up my sleeve , and my bank cards in my jeans back pocket , sun glasses in the car , and bits and pieces in the drawer under the drivers seat .

      Packet of face masks in the car , and a spare one in my pocket .

      My stolen handbag contained my phone , full of pics , perfume spray, glasses, cheque book, a neat pair of binoculars , all manner of things , nail file, scissors , spare car key , lipstick, and stuff that Moh said I should carry like blood donor card etc.

        1. SWMBOs sister-in-law once took their pet snake to the vet for a checkup by popping it down her cleavage – nice & warm, I guess, and she is seriously weird. And well-built.
          Problem was, the snake popped up for a look-see whilst they were on the bus. Sudden appearance of fork-tongued periscope caused a certain stir!

        1. Ha ha , yes I suppose so .
          I have so many nice handbags, and a collection of evening bags which I no longer need anymore .

          I will just stick to my pretty scarves , and jumpers which hide the stuff in my back pocket 😘

    4. A man carrying a man bag would be a deal-breaker for me and most other women, I suspect.

      Hoever, I recently realised that the Queen is onto something with her handbags that she carries round in the house. While her various residences contain several miles more corridors than mine does, there is no doubt that it would be extremely useful to have a convenient way of carrying my glasses, hanky, book and phone around the house.

      1. If I was the Queen, I’d be sending people to get those things for me and deliberately hiding them to keep the lackeys busy.

        Firstly Mr Weeks, don’t bother carrying a spare face covering or tissues. You’re a bloke. Nor do you need a comb and toothbrush exccept first thing in the morning. Stop smoking, it’s a disgusting habit. Put your change in your wallet. Wear your glasses. A knife is kept in your boot. Hand sanitiser? For goodness sake.

        Frankly, you’re not a bloke. You’re a woman in training. Let the wife carry all the stuff you’ll need but don’t carry.

    5. Don’t forget camera, notebooks, and tape recorder, and the other things I have forgotten, no wait, medical items for al fresco treatment. I have a Mickey Mouse bag. The only thing I carry in my pockets are a house key, a hankie and a knife.

      PS I’ve never been teased on this and it is a long time since anyone called me a poof, sweetie.

      1. For a reporter, absolutely find. If on a day trip to take photos, great.

        Day to day? Casually? I don’t even take my bloomin’ telephone with me when I go out most of the time.

        We do – I’ll admit – have a proper medical kit (not a pamby first aid one, a proper ‘my goodness, your leg’s come off!’ one. It’s next to the water and mechanical stuff. That’ s what the car is for – and toting the rocket launcher.

        1. Ah, yes rucksacks and back packs. When travelling on public transport people wearing back packs seem to forget them, turn round and bang into someone nearby. I have on occasion given a backpacker on train, bus, or plane a very hefty shove.

    6. Why would you keep your minimum burden of (in my case) house and car keys, wallet, change, spectacles and sunglasses, smoking materials, small Swiss army knife, hand-sanitiser, spare face coverings, comb, toothbrush, and perhaps a packet of paper tissues on your person at all?

      Is it not illegal to carry a knife of any size? Toothbrush??

      1. Go’morgon, Paul.

        There are portable toothbrushes which can be carried in pockets, handbags or briefcases. I hated attending all-day conferences & not being able to clean my teeth after lunch.

      2. A penknife is OK at any time. I carry a filleting knife when off for a day’s fishing. As long as there’s a good reason for carrying one there’s no problem.

        1. So you’re saying, molamola, (© Cathy Newman) that you have just enlisted in the Swiss Army?

        2. I use one to sharpen my pencils when I’m out drawing. Unfortunately, the day I went to lobby my MP I used my artist’s bag and forgot about the knife – it was confiscated, but I did eventually get it back.

        2. Hmm, when I was a kid, I seem to remember 4½” being the limit but maybe I’m getting confused with the advice given by a ‘Rockape’ when re-assembling a Bren Gun, “Remember, as in life, the first 4″ don’t count!”

          1. My scout sheath knife had an 8″ blade and I have a 5ft Claymore above my fireplace, local cop thought it was screwed to the wall….ha ha – it ain’t

          7. Cock-mag off-fire-cock-fire-top cover-bottom cover-sights-safety-Gun Clear! 35 years since I last fired one across the lake at Vogelsang.

      4. Morning, Paul.

        “Is it not illegal to carry a knife of any size? “ Certainly not here in Sweden. Workmen routinely walk around with a sheath knife on their belt and such items are always available for sale in tool and hardware shops. Swedes, especially young Swedes, don’t tend to go around stabbing each other. They leave that to the imports.

        1. Good Morning Mr G,
          In Britain there will soon be VAT on imports from the EU.
          How will they assess the value in sterling of a boatload at Dover?
          If you reckon the total to be zero, that would be discrimination.
          On the other hand, if you put a high value on diversity, it would have echoes of the slave trade, and anyway who on earth would pay Customs?

        2. Good Morning Mr G,
          In Britain there will soon be VAT on imports from the EU.
          How will they assess the value in sterling of a boatload at Dover?
          If you reckon the total to be zero, that would be discrimination.
          On the other hand, if you put a high value on diversity, it would have echoes of the slave trade, and anyway who on earth would pay Customs?

    7. Why the heck does he need to take a toothbrush with him? I brush my teeth before I go out in the morning.

  16. 327901+ up ticks,
    To clarify a comment I received on rising,

    lacoste 9 hours ago
    You must revel alone in your inarticulacy. ogga1; most us don’t understand …

    Reply,
    Morning l,
    You come across as a fully fledged madcret,do you mean I should take a leaf from your book
    when YOU requested PP to FOAD as for your
    “up-markers revealed” now that tells a story.
    Three monkey mode in action.

  17. How Joe Biden’s cold war experience will shape his approach to Russia. 29 December 2020.

    When he enters the White House next month, Joe Biden will bring nearly half a century of foreign policy experience with him, making him one of the most seasoned envoys ever elected president. “Joe knew the Soviet Union, knows Russia, has experience with [Vladimir] Putin, and understands what’s possible and what’s probably not,” said former senator Bill Bradley, who visited Moscow with him in 1979.

    Boasting of those credentials, Biden for a time recalled sitting briefly across from Leonid Brezhnev in the Kremlin in 1979 before negotiations with Alexei Kosygin, the Soviet premier. “Brezhnev looked grey; we didn’t know it but he was already sick and dying. The Soviet president excused himself after introductions and turned the meeting over to Kosygin,” Biden wrote in a 2007 memoir. He repeated the story to Putin four years later.

    But Andrei Kozovoi, a historian at the University of Lille and author of a forthcoming biography of the Soviet leader, noted in a detailed look at the delegation that Brezhnev never mentions meeting those US senators in his diaries. Nor does his secretary, or anyone else on the trip.

    Biden has faced scrutiny before over claims about his foreign adventures. During the Democratic primary race earlier this year, he repeatedly asserted that he was arrested in apartheid South Africa while trying to visit Nelson Mandela in prison. US newspapers investigated and debunked the story and Biden eventually acknowledged: “I wasn’t arrested, I was stopped. I was not able to move where I wanted to go.”

    This is just additional confirmation if any were needed that Biden is not someone who should be President of the United States!

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/dec/29/how-joe-biden-cold-war-experience-will-shape-approach-to-russia

    1. ‘Morning, Minty, half the time he’ll forget what the question was when it comes to retaliation.

      Imagine the ‘firing codes’ in this arsehole’s hand.

    4. Jury’s out on Biden at the moment although the first law is being tripped repeatedly: If the Left like it, it’s the wrong thing to do. Trying to promote the man implies he can’t stand on his own merits.

    5. You’re quite right Araminta.

      The sooner he is replaced by Kamala Harris the happier the far Left will be.

    6. You’re quite right Araminta.

      The sooner he is replaced by Kamala Harris the happier the far Left will be.

  19. Before the ‘deal’ is signed please could William Cash add a legally binding codicil which would allow Britain to escape from any pieces of sheer nastiness that have not yet been uncovered in the ‘deal’?

    1. 327901+ up ticks,
      Morning R,
      It surely must be bloody obvious now to the most hardened lab/lib/con member / voter
      how little their future welfare is considered
      by the party’s political hierarchy that the “deal” has NOT been fully scrutinised &
      debated.
      Will it make a difference to the ovis ? no
      bloody way.

    2. One of the six working groups the EU demands will no doubt provide a get out clause.

      There are ‘escape’ clauses that could invalidate or re-work the entire treaty should either side choose to. However what’s obvious to anyone is that other nations will completely ignore the treaty stipulations and Britain, because we’re stupid and our politicians uninterested will obey it slavishly while taking no enforcement action whatsoever.

      Call me a cynic, but that’s how it works.

        1. I’ve got over Farage calling me a tattooed skinhead, you should too!
          Mind you, if I ever meet him, I don’t think I will be able to resist the temptation to say “So Mr Farage, do I look like a tattooed skinhead to you? Eh? Do I???”

          1. 327901+ up ticks,
            BB2,
            There are too many already feeding the three monkeys.
            So in the nicest possible way I cannot accept your advice as well meant i’m sure it is.

            The “nige” ( I want my life back) will still be running defence of the tory party ( pretendees) ongoing.

            In my book ” Lest we forget” still applies where as
            to a multitude it was cast out the window long ago.

          2. I have two questions I would like to ask Nigel Farage:

            i) Why did you capitulate to Boris Johnson and remove your Brexit candidates in Conservative seats held by a remainer?
            ii) Why did you say the ‘deal’ was acceptable before you could possibly have had time to go through it carefully seeing where the traps are?

          4. Nigel wasn’t referring to all Brexiteers and ogga1 knows that. ogga1 just posts that clip regularly and I ignore it.

          5. I was on that demonstration where Tommy Robinson spoke, and Farage said beforehand that the only people there would be tattooed thugs and skinheads.

  20. 327901+ up ticks,
    Morning Each,
    Looks muchly like the pretendy tory politico’s are speed readers & debaters & will follow suit.
    I acknowledge the fact that the mass of them are debaters but speed reading & digesting, no.

    EU MEMBER STATES RUBBER-STAMP BREXIT DEAL…

    1. Again – they don’t get a choice. I honestly don’t understand why people continue this confused belief that EU nations have a say in treaty formation or signatory. They’re slaves, not peers.

      1. 327901+ up ticks,
        Morning W,
        Could it be said that johnson & co are suffering a form of Stockholm
        syndrome regarding the eu?

        1. Much like the press who say things like ‘Macron is fighting for the French in this treaty’ and ‘Merkel is ensuring that Germany does not lose out’ they misrepresent the truth. Politicians do the same thing. They think – because they’re egocentric fools – that their understanding is reality.

          Domestic politicians are irrelevant under the EU yoke.

    2. The EU 27 Rubber stamp of Approval is just a “Provisional” Acceptance of the Brexit Deal. The EU unilaterally has extended the Transition Period until 28/02/2021 to allow consideration of the Deal and its “loose ends”. Has Boris agreed to this extension and, if so, why? Will Boris allow a further unilateral extension? Does Boris really understand how the EU works?

      1. Boris could “do the right thing” and let Parliament debate until that same date. Anyone care to bet? LOL.

    4. Good morning Issy

      I have just provided a link , if anyone is interested .

      The British Museum online site is full of interesting facts.

      I think that the sculptures are so amazing and skilful, how clever were those men who have given us an idea of some of the historical ferocity and detail that existed all those years ago.

      What a shame the new introductions to Britain , the BAME chancers, who are attempting to erase the history of our islands seem to be succeeding !

      1. ‘Afternoon, Mags, I see the child with no coherent argument has down-voted you.

        There’s always one.

        I’ve given you the upvote you deserve and not to counteract the ignorant.


  22. WHO Chief Scientist Warns “No Evidence COVID Vaccine Prevents Viral Transmission”
    Once again, the WHO has stepped in to offer some confusing comments about the coronavirus vaccine, warning that there is “no evidence to be confident shots prevent transmission” and that people who receive the vaccine should continue wearing masks and following all social distancing and travel guidelines.

    The comments were made by WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan during what appears to have been a virtual press conference held Monday.

    A clip of the offending line has begun circulating on social media.

    “At the moment, I don’t believe we have the evidence on any of the vaccines, to be confident that it’s going to prevent people from getting the infection and passing it on,”

    ZH adds:
    Of course, a close look at the research released by Pfizer and Moderna shows the studies haven’t actually tested whether the vaccines actually prevent transmission of the virus; the goal of the trials was to see whether vaccinated patients presented with COVID symptoms at a rate that was substantially less frequent than individuals who hadn’t been vaccinated. That’s pretty much it. Though the data might hint at lowering transmission rates, that’s still tbd, apparently.

    1. Why is this news? A vaccine is NOT a magic shield. It’s the inert virus which your body responds to to build the anti bodies to defend against the live one.

      In short, it’s simply a ‘Oi oi lads, here comes a giant flouncing ponce over the top, have a pot shot to get some practice in!’ before the real wave of storm troopers appears with tanks and artillery.

      It is an acceleration of our own immune response. An immune response that is suppressed by the constant lock up.

        1. I have no issue with a vaccine. I have stated what they are. Pretending they make you immune is a deceit.

          2. Twisting again, I see. Anti-vaxers are the irresponsible fools who, following the MMR controversy, prevent their children from having vaccinations against serious diseases. Using the same term for people, including some professional medics, who have reservations about this vaccine is simply wrong.

          3. No it isn’t. Anti-Covid vaxers are irresponsible fools; the fact you defend them is no surprise whatsoever.

          5. People who are happy to inject the entire population with no idea whatsoever of how the vaccine might affect humans five years from now are the real irresponsible fools.

            How do you know with even a modicum of certainty that it might not cause problems in otherwise healthy individuals, that it won’t cause foetal abnormalities or speed up the onset of Alzheimer’s or trigger cancers any other similar illness?

            Tell all the haemophiliacs and other recipients of tainted blood products that it was worth carrying on even though it had inherent dangers.

            Tell the families of those killed or maimed by other improperly tested vaccines and drugs that their dead ones were expendable.

            You are advocating a solution to a problem that isn’t actually causing serious harm to the vast majority of people

            I wish I had your crystal ball.

          6. There are thousands of things you use or consume in your life which require licencing by the authorities, yet you are happy to delegate responsibility for the relevant safety checks to experts, yet suddenly you are an expert on vaccines! You’re not, you’ve been taken in by the conspiracy theorists and you take refuge in a flawed understanding of Covid and its dangers – do you honestly think you know better than people who’ve spent their entire lives working in the field of infectious disease?

          8. Feel free never to take another medicine, never to encourage your grandchildren to be vaccinated – enjoy living in the C19th.

          11. Grow up, AC. You’ve demonstrated several times in the last few weeks why you’re treated with increasing contempt on here.

          12. I’m very happy with vaccination as a principle.

            Feel free to die, but don’t insist that others are forced to take the same choice.

            My children and grandchildren have had the usual range of carefully tested vaccines.
            I would advise them to be very careful before taking your witches’ brew.

            I’m happy to take things that have been properly tested, I have vaccinations regularly, but having also been prescribed a drug that nearly killed me, and is prescribed daily to many people, forgive me if I’m a bit wary.

      2. Morning all. Well, another action packed day to struggle through! Sorry to sound so fed up but it’s only because I am!

        Pfizer and BioNTech submitted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) application for an investigational vaccine intended to prevent Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2.

        However I read thatthe CEO of Pfizer said they think it will only lessen the symptoms. Apologies for not providing the link but can’t find it now.

        This link may be helpful, more serious questions about the vaccine.

        https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/more-serious-questions-about-the-pfizer-vaccine/

  23. Totally off topic. Just been on “Earthcam” website and they’re putting up stages in Times Square for the New Years Eve celebrations. Live feed.

  24. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d019ef830f7b68498b5e0e0eeba1a9271b677dfda83e8a28f17c49f0baf0a2ee.png This is simply more evidence (as if it were ever needed) of the relentless and unstoppable increase in stupidity of the human species.

    Only 50 years ago, the keeping and raising of chickens was a commonplace experience for many UK families. They had the knowledge and experience to know how to properly feed, house and look after their chickens. Fast forward to 2020 and the execrable excuse for humans that are now inhabiting the country are a clueless bunch of imbeciles.

      1. Many years ago I was visiting a zoo and in the kids animals enclosure overheard this – Little girl ” Mummy, can WE have a pot bellied pig?”
        Mummy (glancing at her husband) “We’ve already got one!”

      2. My father always wanted a pig and, when he retired they got a lovely, sweet little piglet. What he didn’t tell mother was that they grew.

    2. Try 70 years ago, rather than 50. By 1970 backyard hens had pretty much vanished. Eastwood was making his fortune selling mass produced eggs at a profit (in his words) of a halfpenny a dozen and eggs in the shops had never been cheaper. The high rise flats of the 60s meant there was no where to keep a hen and the terms and conditions of most council house tenancies forbade them even for those who had gardens. By 1975 most small farm flocks had gone, they had become loss makers rather than the providers of a regular, if small, income. I wasn’t sorry to be liberated from the chore of egg collection at the time (I think ours went in 1972 or ’73) but I think few would have believed then that a flock of fewer than 100,000 birds would very quickly become uneconomic.

      Back yard hens, even in the days when they were common, frequently suffered from untreated parasitic infestations. In the last few years the incidence of red mite has escalated as has coccidiosis. It is relatively easy to feed and house hens, it is less simple to keep them free of parasites.

      1. I was speaking on behalf of my late uncle (and a few neighbours) who kept laying-fowls well into the 1970s. Today. here in Sweden, I source all my eggs from a friend’s free-range hens.

        1. I get most of mine from a client. They are agricultural contractors with a few acres and he keeps poultry because his mother always had a few. Hens for a few eggs, a dozen geese for Christmas etc. Not free range at present, though they usually are, as we are under restriction and all poultry should be indoors, with wild birds excluded. Nonetheless the fact is that by the 1970s very, very few were keeping backyard hens – there were not nearly as many back yards – so it really wasn’t “a commonplace experience for many UK families” (hence my comment) but a largely vanishing skill which was lingering in a few areas but completely absent in others.

          A very small number never gave it up, but they are not the ones who are currently “abandoning” their birds. Over the last 10 – 20 years there has been a renewed interest in garden poultry of various sorts and there are those who have taken time and trouble to acquire the necessary knowledge and skill as well as those who have seriously neglected the birds for which they claim to have affection. “Rescuing” ex-laying hens for a life of neglect in the rain is not admirable, but not all back garden bird lovers are ignorant.

          Lack of a particular skill is not necessarily a mark of stupidity, merely a lack of experience and/or teaching. There are still many who are capable of acquiring skills, given a few people to teach them.

      2. Tell us about it. Ultimately the fox did us a favour. We had a shed full of assorted mite powders and dessicated fossils.

        1. Coccy is pretty easy to deal with. Mite are more difficult and they don’t like letting amateurs have the stuff which really works so they tend to become a perennial problem; which is very hard on the hens.

    3. Forty years an over population of ‘egg-laying hens’ would have been solved by a person with
      a normal broom. a pair of gloves and a quick pull up of the hen’s feet’

      The problem now is that now, few of the ‘elite’ realise that chicken is dead hen…..

    5. There’s going to be a lot of dogs wandering the streets when our new dog owning society sees how expensive it is to run one.

      1. Rescue organisations are already crammed with pups and adult dogs .

        People have no idea , as Grizzly commented, humans are just a clueless bunch of embeciles.

        1. I come across many rescue dogs when walking the Springer. Almost all come from places like Greece, Romania and other countries. Yet the UK has many dogs requiring homes.

      3. Don’t even go there. Ear infection? £500. Bite from a rotten little bischon friese? £250.

        Grooming? £100 – ok, that’s a quarter and it’s mostly to sort his claws and teeth out. When the beast had toothache which eventually cracked… cripes on a trouser press. Thankfully it’s stopped him trying to pull logs now. He sits by them doefully, looks at me as if to say ‘ you pull it for me?’ and is generally daft.

  26. 327901+ up ticks,
    Concerning the vaccine and lack of time trials.
    Could future generations benefit from it as in, if it alters our DNA will it not erase loneliness in say, two heads on one torso ?

      1. 327901+ up ticks,
        W,
        I was not posting in jest but did have thalidomide and the seemingly rushed without in depth research in mind, with my post and the consequences of such haste.

  29. The BBC did a sweet, sympathetic interview this morning with some bloke representing air travel operators. Oh dear, air passenger numbers this year are about one third of what they were 20 years ago. Oh, how sad. Some aeroplanes have been taken out of service and will never return after a year of immobility. That’s awful.
    Hang on! Is this not what the little Scandinavian retard should be celebrating? Should our Green Party leaders not be proclaiming a drop of emissions equal to several billion coal fires and wood stoves? Should the woke BBC not be publishing actual figures on reduced emissions as a great success story of the Covid era?
    Or are they worried that their jaunts from Islington to the Bahamas might be curtailed or increased in price?

    1. Program last night showing an airport being built in China – aim to cope with 100 million passengers a year – why isn’t GT over there?

      2. The idea of Thunberg hectoring the Chinese on green is rather worrying. Firstly, she would set back international relations decades, secondly they’d laugh at her ignorance and stupidity.

  30. Britain will be buried in up to SIX INCHES of snow before New Year’s Day. 29 December 2020.

    As a winter wonderland descended on parts of the country today the Met Office issued a four-day long warning that snow could be set to fall across much of the country, with up to six inches forecast.

    The snowfall is expected to move in tonight across inland areas of southern Scotland and northern England while coastal areas see moderate rainfall and almost freezing temperatures.

    Thank God for Global Warming!

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9093289/Britain-buried-SIX-INCHES-snow-New-Years-Day.html

      2. Tens of millions! At least… at least 500 million dead!

        Worse? Marks and Spencer might have to close.

  31. Moving away from or even undermining the founding principles and fundamental values of the European Union is exactly what the UK is seeking to do by leaving the European Union,

    So it’s an extraordinary “coincidence” that the UK’s laudable ambition to become an independent nation is considered by Open Society to be something about which they “work to provide warnings”!

    “We also work to provide warnings when European political actors are moving away from—or even undermining—the founding principles and fundamental values of the European Union.”

    https://hrdn.eu/open-society-foundations/

    So Open Society have “worked” exactly as they say they would in such circumstances. With social contract terms spread liberally across the new EU – UK agreement using exactly the same terminology as used elsewhere by Open Society, there can be no doubt at all who is behind the 2000 page document the British parliament is about to approve.

    Mr Soros’ Open Society and that should be no surprise to anyone who understands correctly the power structure in Brussels!

    1. ‘Morning, Polly, this ‘Open’ Society sounds as if one shouldn’t trust anything claiming to be ‘Open’ as that’s the one thing it isn’t.

      For that reason I do not trust any country or party with ‘Democrat’ or ‘Democratic’ in its name, as that is the last thing it is, democratic.

      1. Soros front groups tend to share the characteristic of working for precisely the opposite of what their names would suggest.
        Mr Soros invests millions into such groups in Britain every year – the question that all the mainstream media should be asking is, What does he hope to get in return for his investment?

        1. Well, the mainstream media won’t be asking that as they get quite a lot of investment, payola, from that direction?

  32. The death of George Blake reveals how little we now respect Western values. 28 December 2020.

    Yet it is simply not the case that the vital work done by the intelligence service of the democratic West is on a moral par with the undermining of democracy daily undertaken by the agencies of the totalitarian powers. Countries that enjoy representative institutions, the rule of law, free and fair elections, freedom of speech, freedom of association and of the press are indeed morally superior to those countries that hate and fear such things, and try remorselessly to undermine them. People like George Blake, who dedicated their lives to trying to replace democracy with Communist tyranny, thus ought to be identified when they die with the crimes against humanity that they perpetrated, instead of being presented as the moral equivalent of our own espionage agents in the West.

    Blake’s obituarists wrote of the intelligence “game”, yet it was not a game in the First Cold War, any more than it is in the Second Cold War that we are presently fighting against Russia and China. When asked how many agents he had betrayed to the Soviets, Blake answered he had “never added them up. These people were not innocent, they were agents working willingly and knowingly against their own governments.” Yet just because Blake was unable to tell the difference between the heroic Russian double agents – the Oleg Gordievskys and Sergei Skripals who put democracy before their allegiance to a failed state – and despicable traitors like Kim Philby, Donald Maclean and himself, that does not mean that our media should fall into the same trap.

    Morning everyone. The authors views about Blake are perfectly valid, a man who was in many ways a typical Marxist; he could spout Communist Cant and talk about the Brotherhood of the Proletariat while simultaneously refusing to see the evil of the murderous regime that he served or the repression that would be required to implement it. Where Roberts falls short is in equating the present situation to then. Blake’s West had many faults but it was indeed morally superior to the Soviet Tyranny it opposed. This is no longer the case as his own headline admits. We are far more like the Chinese State than anyone in the MSM (a controlled medium) would admit. The UK elites no longer believe in Free Speech or indeed Democracy. A vast state apparatus exists for the suppression of the people’s views and opinions, with an educational system that would draw the grudging approval of the CCP and even the State Sponsored genocide of the Uighurs is duplicated in the program to eliminate the native population of the UK.

    As to the Intelligence Services Mi6 and Mi5; they are faithful duplicates of those that served the policies of Stalin and the Politburo. The former with its activities in Syria supporting the Jihadists, has destabilised its Government, led to the deaths of tens of thousands of innocents and created a refugee problem that is overwhelming Europe and the UK; this not forgetting the Novichok/Putin pantomime. The latter like the old KGB operates against the “enemy within” Farage, Robinson and any “far-right” cause of the last twenty years have been subject to its actions and felt its influence.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/12/28/death-george-blake-reveals-little-now-respect-western-values/

    1. Good morning Minty.
      “We are far more like the Chinese State than anyone in the MSM (a controlled medium) would admit.”
      In what way is the MSM a “controlled medium”? Mediocre perhaps, possibly even half baked, but ‘medium’?

    2. Traitors are traitors and should be shunned. Blake was traitor. Skripal was a traitor. They are amongst the foulest human types ever to crawl on the planet. It does not matter that one did it out of intellectual egotism and the other for money, both betrayed their country, their colleagues, their families.
      All traitors do this. The only way to deal with them is to treat them as the Sabines treated Tarpeia, kill them out of hand, or hand them over to their own country immediately.

      There is the matter of how Blake and the others come to be recruited into the secret services. Was it simply Cambridge educated and does not drink red wine with fish? Or were the recruiters also traitors? I’ve not seen that question asked.

  33. When shopping in Harrods, ensure people stay at least two meters away from you by holding a Lidl carrier bag.

  34. SIR – After the biggest popular vote in our history and a clear mandate in a general election, we are finally to break free from the dead hand of the European Union. We are to have our own laws, the ability to make international trade deals, our own borders, tariff-free and quota-free European trade, and so on.

    At the end of more than four years’ effort and some brilliant work by Lord Frost and his negotiating team, how did the BBC choose to characterise it?

    A deal had been done, it announced, but it “did not include seed potatoes”.

    It would be amusing if it weren’t so pitifully partisan.

    Lindsay Pritchard

    Cosheston, Pembrokeshire

    1. I saw an ‘expert’ being interviewed the other day who said that the Brexit deal will result in a shortage of lettuces.

      These people deliberately ignore the fact that Brexit is not for the next few weeks, few months or few years. It is for the long-term future in which there is every opportunity for Great Britain to become Great Great Britain again (but not if the BBC has its way)!.

    2. And our ‘brilliant’ prime minister has already reneged on scrapping the TV licence for people aged over 75.

      While he massages himself in artificial EUphoria I wonder what the next betrayal is that he is hatching up. Is it oven-ready yet?

      1. ‘Morning, Rastus.

        If he is still in the process of hatching it, it will be quite a while before it is oven-ready. N’est-ce pas?

    3. What does Pritchard think this country is? It is the sum of an innumerable number of parts, many like seed potatoes are indeed small yet make a contribution to the whole.

  35. So with the high cost “green” energy and unworkable electric transportation policy strongly desired by Davos and the new EU – UK agreement dominated by social contract subjects and terms straight from Open Society, it’s very easy to see who will still be dominating the UK in future years.

    The Davos billionaires and in that crucial respect nothing at all has changed.

  38. “We’ve just stockpiled a load of luxury toilet tissue for the whole family to use”
    “Andrex?”
    “No, he poohs in the park when i take him for a walk”

  40. The Saudi’s have taken the idea of building a Nightingale hospital in the capital Riyadh.

    Theirs is called Florence of Arabia.

  41. So the horrible Boros Johnson “oven ready” turkey deal is to be removed from the oven tomorrow.

    Served with huge quantities of Brussels sprouts and stuffed full of Open Society social contract terms and conditions.

    Yet not one MP will understand what they’re approving because not one MP fully understands the power structure in Brussels where Mr Soros leads from the top and the well known apparatchiks are just his managers.

    1. A fund manager, I think he was, on BBC Radio 4 News this morning let slip that he knew a deal was coming so all Boris’s twaddle about standing by the fishermen etc. were white lies or much worse. There are plenty of devils in the detail of the 1000 page agreement that have yet to come to light. Boris has probably only read a short summary concocted by EU fanatical civil servants. It will be interesting to hear what thoughts the ERG group have come up with.

      1. Bringing out the deal with a theatrical flourish on Christmas Eve was a bit predictably Boris, I thought.

      2. The fat Lady hasn’t even begun her warm-up exercises – let alone started to sing. I fear that the detail in the ‘deal’ will prove to be even worse than the Surrender WA when it is properly examined.

        Fool us once, Boris, shame on you. Fool us twice – shame on us.

  42. An interesting story.

    Soldier neighbour’s mother, who is in her mid-80s, lives in a care home locally. She is a bit “confused” but not totally doolally.

    10 days before Christmas she was “rushed to hospital” with Covid. They gave her oxygen and antibiotics and two days later, she was up and about, haranguing the staff and demanding to be allowed home. She will be going home this week.

    Maddeningly, for the PTB, she DIDN’T die so they can’t add her name to the appalling list of 68 people from N Norfolk who have died “with” (not from) Covid in 2020.

    Just shows that it doesn’t kill 98% of those who catch it – even the old….

    Calling Halfcock, calling Witless, calling Unbalanced…..

    1. Dear Legal Beagle: do you not understand that the threesome haven’t had so much fun since the old queen died.
      They are enjoying their brief hour strutting the stage to listen to common sense.

      2. Full of sound and fury – signifying nothing.

        Soon, we pray, they will be heard no more.

    2. My daughter said that not one of the elderly patients who caught it from the hospital where she was working died. At least one was in her nineties.

    1. Ghastly rich people wanted plebs’ cottages flooded to preserve Neolithic wildlife habitats. Yes, I remember that.

    2. Rather like Ben Shapiro’s take on the rich leftists in his former home state of California and religion, that the only Jesus they cared about was a Mexican illegal immigrant (pronounced Jay-Zeus) because he looks after their gardens.

      The same crowd love electric vehicles but forget that banning ICE cars will price out most poor people because they live in a flat/terraced homes with no dedicated parking space near home/at the property/workplace, meaning no secure/accessible charging facilities overnight, plus the cars are more expensive to buy and the battery packs are hugely expensive to replace, making the car worthless to the current owner. I’m sure those busy roads will be oh so much nicer when the plebs are all back on buses, cycles and walking – much more room for our Teslas, Chelsea tractors and German sports saloons.

      And these people have the cheek to say they support those less fortunate in society. All they want is for them to to be entirely dependent on the state and big business, and to ‘know their place’ at the bottom, never to move upwards.

  44. Just had a painter and decorator round to do some work on the house..

    Couldn’t believe that He’s currently furloughed British Airways Pilot.. Made a lovely job of the landing…

        1. If he’d “pulled” a Christmas cracker we’d not have seen him ’til the New Year, you know what he’s like…”

  45. Scotland has reported no Covid-19 deaths for 4 days now. Wales has reported 120 and Northern Ireland 51. Is there an explanation for this?

    3. The figures, when eventually released,will be used by Sturgeon to show a huge jump, justifying yet more and harder lockdowns.
      The recent sets have not been scary enough.

        1. Morning Peddy – The BBC radio 4 Farming programme this morning dwelt at length on the process of producing the haggis in the Western isles. I already new the ingredients but it confirmed my resolution to avoid haggis this year and stick to a treble whisky before sleeping into the New Year. I used to enjoy Haggis and chips but no more. The Haggis is easy to catch as the right legs are much longer than the left.

          1. ‘Morning, Clyde.

            One serves up the right legs on a platter. The left legs are kept back for making stock.

          2. I don’t mind all the bits and bobs that make up a haggis but the ones i have tried had a granular texture which i didn’t much care for.

          3. Easy to catch, clydesider? Not if you’re chasing them round a mountain in an anti-clockwise direction.

            :-))

          4. ‘Morning, Clyde, “…the right legs are much longer than the left.” Evolution to allow them to run clockwise around hills to evade capture. Chase them anti-clockwise, they fall over and are easy to catch.

          5. You beat me to it, NtN, but if their right legs are much longer than the left ones then you would have to chase them clockwise to make them fall over.

          7. Think about it, Elsie – and I had to – running clockwise around a hill the longer right leg would be down-hill to sustain balance.

            I’ll say no more.

  46. “Russia’s deputy prime minister has revealed more than 80% of excess deaths this year are linked to Covid-19, which would mean its death toll is three times higher than previously reported.
    Excess deaths are the difference between the total number of deaths registered and the average over the previous years for the same period.
    Official figures say 55,827 people have died with Covid-19 in Russia.
    The deputy prime minister said excess deaths would take that to 186,000.

    Countries use different methods when reporting deaths related to the virus, which makes international comparisons difficult.

    Russia has been criticised for calculating its official deaths from Covid-19 based on the number of post-mortem examinations that list coronavirus as the main cause of death.
    However, this means that other deaths linked to Covid-19, which did not list it as the main cause of death, will not have been included.

    The new numbers mean Russia’s coronavirus death toll could be the world’s third-highest, after the US with 335,000 deaths and Brazil, which has had 192,000, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
    More than 3.1 million infections have been reported in the country.”

    Sounds a sensible way to report Covi-19 deaths to me and should have been adopted worldwide. It’s not a competition!

    1. It is a lot better than the count of cases which is frequently thrown around as the shock number and the other positive test case percentage is so variable as to be meaningless.

      Our local health authority is also reporting hospital admissions and ICU counts, better than total cases and maybe useful for those working in Healthcare.

      However, how many excess deaths are the result of missed treatments or suicide?

    2. The problem is that ‘excess deaths’ doesn’t account for the likely HUGE number of people who have died because either a) they had an undiagnosed or untreated/late-treated disease or cancer because of each country’s ‘save the NHS’ equivalent, b) OAPs, seriously ill (both physically or mentally) people dying of loneliness/a broken heart AT being locked down for months on end, i.e. having no life that’s worth living and they either ‘just give up’ (the physically ill or frail/elderly) or commit suicide.

      The fact that some MAY (often not confirmed by testing [which itself may well be seriously flawed in terms of accuracy] but via a GP/hospital doctor’s ‘opinion’ which have been ‘pushed’ to say COVI on death certs by NHS managers) have died WITH COVID and not primarily OF the virus also accounts for a good number, given anyone dying of ANYTHING within 28 days of a positive COVID test (see accuracy problems) is listed as dying OF COVID, whatever they really died of.

      And that’s assuming the figures given by civil servants (everywhere) who have a vested interest in making them look as bad as possible (bigger empires and power for them), as do the MSM who have not shown one ounce of independent thought by properly looking at where the figures come from to verify their accuracy.

      Despite all the furore around Julia Hartley-Brewer’s recent comments, it is a fact that only 0.9% (in the UK) of all deaths of healthy people under 60 have been from COVID.

      What does that say about the policy-making and implementation to protect the really vulnerable – care homes and the elderly, seriously ill/obese and certain immigrants coming from countries where malnutrician, disease and a lack of ordinary vaccines/medicines and darker skin (low take up of vitamin D via sunlight) mean these people were obviously (even to me as a non-scientist/clinician) the most vulnerable due to cseriously compromised immune systems in conjunction with the climate type and dense population/lack of exercise.

      The same goes for shutting down most of the wealth-generating parts of the economy for months to save a few people and let thousands of people from the other groups needlessly die due to incompetence of management or even a deliberate act by some to get rid of certain sections of the population that don’t subscribe to certain ideologies recently promoted by big tech, the MSM and a certain Mr Schwab? Next to come the pereneial ‘vaccines’ (I am NOT an anti-vaxxer, having taken all I needed previously) which the long term side effects have not been tested? Who knows what that will bring, alongside people who want them tested more rigorously being heavily disadvantaged in terms of what they are allowed to do, say and go despite the vaccine being ‘voluntary’.

      Most people seem too eager to give up their rights for some proverbial magic beans in order to go back to their selfish, hedonistic lifestyle prior to March. I think many will come to regret just blindly believing all they’ve been told and following dictats. Whether this will come too late to matter in the long run is another matter. I hope not. I think things will get a LOT worse in 2021 (and perhaps after that) before things might get better, especially if the stooge Joe Biden gets into the White House, assuming there’s no late proof of election fraud.

      1. Well said Andy.
        You have been awarded a downvote by someone who’s ear and eyes, no doubt, are totally closed to any alternative thoughts and opinions on what is happening and dismissing the wise words of many eminent scientists who differ from the modellers who occupy SAGE and NERVTAG.

        I will no doubt be awarded a downvote for supporting you..

        2. The modellers within SAGE are a menace but the real villains are the behavioural scientists who are driving the terror campaign.

        3. I’m not surprised at the ‘usual suspect’. I am surprised that ‘Garlands’ appears to support her.

        4. I will not award the downvote, they are meaningless except when used to wind up a few fragile egos.

          The increase in deaths is a poor measure anyway, there are always variations which is why a measure like covid admissions to hospital might be better.

          I doubt that any measure will be acceptable to some, there will always be exceptions and what if scenarios that some hide behind. Closed minds work both ways.

          2. I have never thought of you as a downvoter but I try to look at the wider implications of what the government is doing.

            The fact that the average age of people dying is in excess of 82 years then penalising all other age groups while trashing the economy and throwing millions out of work is reckless beyond belief our son had lost his job. Also the damage to children of all ages as schools have been closed is going to do irreparable damage to future generations. I also think of the collateral damage of people losing their homes through unemployment, increase in suicide through losing homes, spiralling debt, loneliness- we have a sprightly 87 year old neighbour who is rapidly losing the will to live because he is scared of breaking the law – and despair.

            I am not suggesting this is not a nasty virus and know someone who died, he was in his 50’s and already suffering severely from Parkinson’s Disease. A neighbour in his 40s who was admitted to hospital in the early days but has fully recovered and a friend in her 70s who also survived.

            There are plenty of alternative medical opinions from well qualified doctors and scientists who have alternative views that seem to have been dismissed in preference/deference to the likes of Neil Ferguson who has a history of making outrageous protections of deaths from previous viral diseases.

            The price we are going to pay in lost and ruined lives and the economy far outweighs the course taken to wreck the economy.

          4. We keep hearing follow the science which is fine but does not look at the overall picture and balance covid health against the economy or other health issues.

            Some of those alternate views could well be valid, they are masked by the out to lunch rantings by discredited experts.

            If only the covid response had not been politicized, it might be possible to have a sensible discussion.

          5. The likes of Ferguson, Whitty and Vallance should never have been given free rein to address the nation. It should only have been Johnson or Hancock who should have been forced by the MSM to explain the reasoning for the draconian moves. That’s why Johnson only made statements and was never quizzed.

          6. “The fact that the average age of people dying is in excess of 82 years”. The life expectancy in the UK is 81.1 years so, if your figure is correct, it suggests that catching coronavirus gives you at least another year of life 🙂

          7. Average is pretty much meaningless since those who have reached 81 are, in fact, expected to live up to 5 years, or more, longer. Those who still die of cancer, road accidents and the like in their teens, twenties and thirties bring the average down. The most common age of death is currently 86 for men and 88 for women. So death at 82 (bearing in mind that this, too, is a fairly meaningless number) is considerably younger.

          8. The ability to downvote is a feature of this platform, so why some people get so upset by its use, is a mystery.

          9. I don’t get upset by a down vote but feel sorry for the person who does it as they will/can not argue their case.

            I don’t profess to know the answer but am happy to make my case and have argued against. It will not upset me. The problem is that people will not argue their corner or too readily accept the ‘official’ point of view.

          10. Do you expect every passing upvote to be accompanied by “well done”, “what a clever comment” or the like?

            A downvote is simply disagreement without the wish to enter into argument – frequently, though by no means always, with serial abusers or the hysterical. That they are hysterical is evidenced, very clearly, by their response to a downvote.

            No one is obliged to start an argument, but they are entitled to disagree quietly – which is exactly, and only, what a downvote does.

            There is no point in arguing with closed minds.

          11. No I do not expect a well done etc…..

            Your last sentence There is no point in arguing with closed minds. Is exactly the point I am making. There are other opinions and I am prepared to look at them. I do not suggest that I am right any more than I think the official line is right but I have put my point forward.

            You well know there are some on here who do have closed minds and become quite rude and dismissive should anybody disagree with their view.

          12. Indeed I do. Which is why I do not engage with them.

            But at no point is it a requirement to enter into discussion. An up, or down, vote may very well be the only contribution required.

          13. I don’t downvote but what is the logic for arguing that the case for downvotes should be made but allowing upvotes without any justification?

          15. I agree with you, although I simply trying to point out that it’s rather odd that so many people get upset over a feature of this platform.

          16. Given the hysteria not only about their own downvotes, but about those of others too, one cannot help but wonder if some individuals leave their keyboards to dance a fandango and set off a rocket every time they receive an upvote. They certainly do not take the trouble to give effusive thanks for them.

            Maybe those who regularly upvote in passing should be thankful that they are not taken to task for being less verbal and overt in their approval.

      2. Fauci in the USA was filmed having the vaccination. The next day he claimed to have a sore arm but was rubbing the wrong arm. The world is being duped by the medicos.

        Trump has promised to sack Fauci after regaining the White House from the corrupt Democrats.

  47. It’s so obvious now when one thinks of the Open Society mission statement and the Brussels power structure with Mr Soros at the top.

    Open Society have provided ”warnings” in the run up to the referendum as we know, and consequently Open Society have entirely logically been central to Brussels’ efforts to force the UK, and British ”political actors”, to adher to ”the founding principles and fundamental values of the European Union” through the ”Withdrawal Agreement” and the 2020 ”Trade Agreement” which is far more than just about trade, but also all their social and environmental subjects.

    Open Society did not just give up when they lost the referendum, they moved on to the next stages to stop the UK having a No Deal Brexit and thereby incorporating a form of EU membership in the trade deal.

    Consequently Boris Johnson’s deal is far more than just a turkey.

    Boris Johnson’s deal is an Open Society trojan horse.

  48. Just back from w/rose. 2C, no wind & the roads & store almost empty. Managed to buy all I ned to see me right through the weekend.

    1. A bright and clear sky with 0°C on the yard thermometer a short while ago and as the sun dipped below the valley side over two hours ago, it’s going to get colder.

        1. We had snow & sleet to begin with, then it turned out quite fine, but still bloody cold!

  49. 327901+ up ticks,
    If the governance party gave the go ahead to employ them then there would be no reason for all the doctors / nurses coming ashore at Dover, does priti realise this ?

    Thousands of skilled medical volunteers going to waste amid red tape

  50. I see that a Texas senator (republican of course) is taking VP Pence to court in an attempt to stop Pence accepting the electoral college result and have him elect the right candidate instead. 60 legal challenges down, it looks like it will be up to 61 soon.

    If only they would present their evidence of fraud rather than just claiming that it is obvious.

    1. The repeated failure to present evidence, certainly suggests that the evidence they claim to have is not, in fact, to be found. It may yet emerge, but since it is now 8 weeks since the election, with no sign of anything other than a handful of tiny local incidents, it is beginning to seem highly unlikely.

    2. Lawyers have presented evidence, but it was rebuffed by legal proceedures, and in some cases, dismissed before they could even call witnesses and present evidence. Why – because the judges themselves used their own personal political affiliations and bias to stop them doing so, rather like our ‘supreme’ Court did against the PM last year. The politicisation of the judiciary should end. The law should be upheld.

      1. Many of those judges are Republicans, elected by the current senate. Hypocrites that they are the senate have continued appointing republican judges event though they blocked Obama nominations as being too close to an election.

        I agree that a politicized judiciary is a problem, the UK supreme court has shown what can happen when they start effectively inventing law through their rulings.

        A lasting legacy of Trumps term is going to be the swing to the right not just at their Supreme Court but all the way down to the lower levels. Will these judges leave personal biases out of decisions on issues such as abortion or immigration?

    3. If I were a US citizen, I might hypothetically be a Trump supporter, but the man is often his own worst enemy.
      His achievements in Middle East foreign policy will probably endure, but I suspect that much of the work was down to Jared.
      Either way, the President squared up against the Ccp, took no sh*t from the mullahs and generally avoided military adventures.

      1. His achievements in the middle east will soon be forgotten wgphich is a pity, that could have been the start of something big as more and more Islamic countries were coerced into recognizing Israel. Likewise the spirit of drain the swamp will probably be lost as the establishment close ranks.

        Back to the comfortable (to them) old ways and millions of frustrated voters who have lost faith in the system.

    4. Looking forward to Trump’s meltdown when his own VP certifies the result. I wonder how those ‘mysterious troop movements’ are coming along?

      3. Why exactly are you here – deliberately trolling like Am F on the DT Letters Page and ‘Charles Hinton’ on US articles? Perhaps you work for the NuTelegraph? Whatever the reason, you bring nothing useful to the discussion, and are as much a conservative as Jeremy Corbyn is.

        1. Why oh why to people like you get so upset when someone with opposing views posts? Perhaps you could try debating my points rather than attempting to drive me away.

          1. Given most of us do debate you, only to be met with cries of ‘ist’, ‘phobe’ and ‘tinfoil hat merchant’, what did you expect? You are no better than Am F, who has never tried to debate, but to troll and call people names. Perhaps you should’ve asked for a dictionary for Christmas, so you’d know the difference. One is honourable and in good faith; the other is certainly not.

          2. Opposing views?

            That’s a laugh.

            All you do is regurgitate the current oligarchical/globalist/liberal diktat on any given subject. Guess what – I can already get that from the BBC, ITN, Sky, CNN etc or opening any newspaper.

          3. “oligarchical/globalist/liberal diktat”

            “BBC, ITN, Sky, CNN”

            I’m close to declaring House on ‘alt-right bullshit Bingo’, do keep going.

          4. Hopeless!

            You spout ‘official’ positions as if they were unquestionably true but what’s exasperating/funny/tragic is you do it as if I had never been exposed to them at any time. When, of course, anyone born since about 1950 has been exposed to almost nothing else.

          5. The only thing you have been exposed to is some bizarre conspiracy theories which you swallow hook, line and sinker. Boy are the purveyors of that nonsense laughing at you.

    3. The last temptation is the greatest Treason,
      To do the right deed for the wrong reason      .

      Murder in the Cathedral. T.S. Eliot.

      1. One of my colleagues produced Murder in the Cathedral as a school play at Allhallows. It was an ambitious project but very successful. One of the boys who took a prominent role, Tim Dutton-Cox, became a professional actor and appears frequently in television dramas.

        I cannot remember who took the part of Sir Willliam de Tracey – one of the murderous turbulent-priest-ridding removal operatives.

        1. I think that I did it in my last year Richard. The homily in the quote has for some reason stayed with me for 70 odd years!

        2. You’ve no urge to follow in your esteemed ancestor’s footsteps?
          We currently have an ABC who’s a bit of a let down.

    1. That is particularly appropriate for me since my Aussie friend, whom I hoped to visit one day, is now terminally ill. Housework seems to dominate my life, alas!

  53. Cold and dry here in Hammersmith. En-route to the Thames path this afternoon, I ambled over to Charing Cross Hospital to view the panic and mayhem. All normal.

    There were as many people along the river front as back in the summer. Three of the pubs open and large numbers gathering to drink outside. The Green King was doing a good trade in mulled wine, serving a youthful clientele.

    I like to see all the happy doggies being as sociable as their humans. All in all that walk lifts my spirits. Must go back to doing it every day possible.

    No sign of plod but quite a few London Borough of H&F park warden types wandering about looking rather bored. There was a helicopter possibly spying. No jets going into Heathrow though.

    1. I went for a long walk this morning/afternoon across the Gosbecks – the early British/Romano-British town site – and on to a very muddy Grymes Dyke. The latter is part of a very old earthwork that appears in many areas of Colchester. Plenty of people out exercising their dogs and themselves and only two masks on view. Why the young woman was masked when exercising on the vast open acres of the Gosbecks is a mystery to me, likewise the young male cyclist. A good few cheery hellos and I met a chap who worked in the same office as me and we had a friendly chat.

      A friend of mine went down to Frinton-on-Sea yesterday and walked from there to Walton and back. He told me that the whole area was bustling with people and teas/coffees were being served on a takeaway basis. Are people starting to see through the fog of desperation and terror being peddled by Hancock and the SAGE charlatans? We must hope so.

      I am expecting the wretch in No 10 to clamp down hard in the New Year. The people are going to have to make a stand in the near future or lose everything that they hold dear.

      1. A young man in the DM comments yesterday sounded desperate, that he couldn’t take this any more, he was 24 and said there was no hope for him either for his business or forming a relationship leading to a longstanding partner and having children. I replied along the lines of nothing lasts forever, there is a beginning and an end to everything, all bad situations eventually end (a lecturer got us through finals by pointing this out and I have not forgotten this after fifty years). I said that this will end even if we, the people, have to do something about it to bring this period in our history to an end. The DM did not print it, the b’st”ds. I can only assume that it was because I mentioned that ‘even if we, the people have to do something about it!’ It was scarcely a call to arms, and I am sure there are enough out there with ideas – they just don’t want people to realise that other people out there are thinking along those lines.

        1. poppiesmum, only the people can stop this nonsense now, by whatever means is necessary. It could be as simple as a large minority, or a majority if the sheep wake up, ignoring Johnson’s outrageous exhortations re the ‘virus’. Too many people have been browbeaten in to conforming, not helped by the MSM’s disgusting lack of objective reporting. There must come a moment when a light will come on in even the densest brain and cause a reaction. That will be the tipping point.

          1. As someone said, it is not when the individual realises, but when the individual realises that other people also realise what is going on. That is the point of social distancing and face masks, to prevent casual remarks and conversation and the ordinary everyday grumbles. Whenever I am in doubt about government policy I ask myself when has government done anything that is first and foremost for the benefit of the people it governs.

      1. “Corporation Day” (gratis annual extra day off), Bill. I’ll be stuck at home with the Beeb laptop tomorrow.

          1. Shortly after retiring I had double glazing installed. It was a bitter disappointment. The noise reduction meant I could no longer hear folk going off to work…..

      2. Not exactly local, George, like most plods today – they are too busy checking hate-crimes on their pooters or beating up old ladies.

        Patrol the streets? Heaven forfend.

  54. I see that some mean spirited yellow bellied silent individual .. who appears as a guest voter , has down voted me several times today.

    The reason why this was done is unclear , but if this person would like a conversation with me I will willingly oblige , especially if it is the person I suspect who I blocked nearly a year ago!

          1. Hmm, No answer came the strange reply. He cannot own to abuse by being called ‘cockroach’ as he recognises he is one.

      2. 327901+ up ticks,
        Evening B3,
        Was about to warn you & suggest elasticated bottoms on your trews
        but seemingly to late.

    2. ‘Evening, Mags. The only downvote I’ve seen on your posts was the one where you are sorrowing about BAME and their trying to re-write history.

      The culprit on that one was Jennifer SP and I and others made comment. I can’t see any others and my extensions allow me to see down-votes.

      1. Of course for mentioning the underhand tactics, I, too, have garnered a down-vote. Well, whoop-de-ay.

    3. If the person is blocked, Belle, he/she will appear as a ‘guest voter’ in your upvote or downvote tally of names.

  55. For those of you you have snow , and more to come .

    The Healing Snow by Sir Alfred Noyes.

    A pure white mantle blotted out the world I used to know,
    There was no scarlet in the sky or on the hills below,
    gently as mercy out of heaven came down the healing snow.

    The trees that were so dark and bare stood up in radiant white,
    And the road forgot its furrowed care as day forgets the night
    And the new heaven and the new earth lay robed in dazzling light.

    And every flake that fell from heaven was like an angel’s kiss
    Or a feather fluttering from the wings of some dear soul in bliss
    Who gently leaned from that bright world to soothe the pain of this.

  56. I am off (have been for years, I know, I know!)

    Have a jolly evening – keeping warm. Two cold days ahead in North Norfolk – but no snow to speak of. Then it returns to “the seasonal average”.

    A demain.

  57. Can anyone enlighten me? These tariffs that are imposed on goods….who decides how much and where does this money go? I am assuming that our government decides which goods are hit with a tariff on import so it would follow that it would collect and keep that money. If that is the case then it would be the governments fault if prices rose due to the imposition of tariffs. In other words a form of indirect taxation. Or am I wrong?

    1. That’s the futility of these important tariffs. In the ongoing dispute between the US and Canada, tariffs were imposed by both sides. The end result was an increase in consumer prices on both sides of the border.

      Trump imposed duties on softwood lumber at a time when there was massive rebuilding going on after hurricane season, wood became expensive and hard to get. Duties on steel going into the states and on finished goods coming out of the states is a double whammy, our new fridge is ridiculously expensive and has still not been delivered after four months.

  58. They are claiming 55,000 new cases of positive covid today, a record, just doing a few sums on the back of a fag packet, so to speak, then if we use the positive cases for the 26,000 Dover lorry drivers as a guide roughly 2 in a thousand then they would have had to base that 55,000 positives on 27.5 million tests, in one day while most are closed for the holiday.

      2. Researchers have found that reasons for believing in conspiracy theories can be grouped into three categories:

        The desire for understanding and certainty.
        The desire for control and security.
        The desire to maintain a positive self-image.

        There are numerous scientific and psychological sources that explain why people are drawn to conspiracy theories but I reckon that they are all a conspiracy to hide the facts.

        1. I’d take more notice of some of the theories if:

          1. It wasn’t nearly always the same people peddling them, regardless of the actual subject.
          2. Those that I read on Facebook being posted by people I know to be stupid.

    2. Bob3, the number of ‘cases’ using PCR can be manipulated by varying the number of cycles of ‘amplification’ selected. It’s suspected that the UK is using 45 cycles (not certain that the government have been keen to release the real figure) and that leads to a high rate of false positives, the latter nevertheless being counted. If the rate was at or below 35 cycles then fewer false positives and fewer ‘cases’ overall. Using the lower and less error prone rate doesn’t fit with the government’s attempts to literally frighten the population into obeying the lockdown rules, however crazy those may appear to thinking people. This morning I read a rather detailed Australia article on this subject. PCR and its misuse is what is driving the lockdowns and Hancock, Johnson etc must know that it is not fit for purpose.

        1. Plenty of scientists have been stating this for some time but Johnson/Hancock do not want to hear that. Their, “…following the science,” is as unscientific as it comes as they continue to ignore other experts and only follow the path they’ve decided on. Not surprising when one looks at their education and work backgrounds.

      2. Surely it’s the number of hospital admissions that is the key indicator? I can’t imagine many people who have false positive results rocking up to A&E.

        1. Even those numbers have to be compared with last year. There is always a surge in respiratory emergencies and lack of beds at this time of year and it seems that flu has almost disappeared.

        2. Of course they’re not turning up at A&E. Hancock and Co use the figures as their headline to fuel the fear factor. Even the hospital admissions are being used fraudulently e.g. A turns up at A&E with a broken leg and is admitted to hospital. He is tested and found negative and subsequently tested a second time and found ‘positive’. He is then re-admitted as a Covid case and goes on that stat as well as an everyday admission, ergo, two admissions for the price of one and the second one is the gold plated admission.

          https://twitter.com/Stat_O_Guy/status/1343654975843528710

          1. Then they will be in danger of actually catching COVID, like my poor late MiL did. IIRC, something like 20% of cases originate from cross-contamination following hospital admission.

          2. The last time I visited a hospital consultant a nurse in the consulting room leant against a wall with knee bent and the sole of one foot planted on the wall, much in the manner that schoolboys act.

            Hospitals are filthy places. When admitted to Addenbrookes with bilateral pulmonary embolism and pneumonia I found myself wiping fasces from the floor of the WC and shower room using hygienic wipes left there. I needed a shit and a shower.

            The ward nurse gave me a bollocking for taking a shower because I was not supposed to exert myself. She then admonished me for cleaning the floor because that was the ‘job of the nursing staff and cleaners’.

          3. When I had my tonsils out, aged 6 (in the fifties), my over-riding memory of hospital is of the smell of disinfectant. On the times I have visited, more recently, it has been of dirty lavatories. No wonder there are infections.

    3. The tests are inappropriate and RT-PCR is not suitable for identifying Covid.

      The same people on here who deny that the figures for infections are entirely false seem also to believe that Joe Biden, the most corrupt politician in US history, actually received 80 million votes in the Presidential election. They also deny the electoral fraud which is obvious and proven in state after state, merely reciting the warped pronouncements of Facebook, Twitter, Google and MSM with their ludicrous ‘fact checkers’.

      As my late father would say: “There are none so blind as those that cannot see”. These folk are either stupid or else trolls trying to disrupt our generally sensible debate.

      1. Ok, let’s assume you’re correct and Covid is all one great conspiracy, perhaps you could explain to ‘this troll/ idiot’, what’s going on i.e. why is it that every country in the world has taken action to counter Covid if it’s all invented?

        1. You tell me. You seem to think along with your cohort that you know better than the rest of us.

          The EU apparatchiks have spoken for the 27 sovereign countries. A few brave countries such as Belarus have resisted ECB threats and bribes.

          You might as well try to explain the attraction of Hitler to vast swathes of Europe, the attraction of Mussolini to Italians, the blind faith a feudatory Japanese system gave to a godlike Emperor who resembled a chimp in a suit and top hat.

          You come on here asking us to justify our positions but I notice you never justify your own position, merely referencing some Guardian opinion piece or worse a constant stream of propaganda from the BBC.

  59. Corona virus has turned us all into dogs.
    We roam around the house looking for food.
    We’re told “No!” If we get too close to strangers .
    And the thought of a car ride sends us wild with excitement.

    Hopefully I will be able to lick my own bollocks by the time this is over as well. 🙁

  60. Good afternoon from a Saxon Queen with cleaned axe and longbow .

    A grey miserable day today and getting much colder, snow is on the way , i really don’t like snow . It was nice as a child but after a certain age its not. Becomes slushy, grey, and difficult to drive on . It would be nice if it arrived all white and fluffy for a few days then vanished .

    1. It does do precisely that in countries where they plough and salt the roads, and where everyone cleans the pavement outside their house!

      1. Alas here, if one cleans the pavement outside one’s house, one becomes liable should someone slip and hurt themselves. Formerly, before H&S, we did it as a routine.

        1. I have always thought that that was one of the stupidest laws in Britain. If you clean the pavement, it becomes safe far more quickly!

  61. Prince Charles is isolating at Balmoral with Covid-19.

    Prince Andrew is isolating at Windsor with Jennifer 14.

  62. I hope this guy wins:

    Hunter’s Laptop: Computer Repair Shop Owner Sues Twitter For $500 Million In Defamation Suit

    Tyler Durden’s Photo
    BY TYLER DURDEN
    TUESDAY, DEC 29, 2020 – 8:30
    Twitter has been sued by a Delaware computer shop owner who says the social media giant effectively labeled him a “hacker” after he was outed as the source of Hunter Biden’s laptop.

    John Paul Mac, who provided signature evidence that Hunter Biden dropped his laptop off at the Wilmington, Delaware repair shop – subsequently abandoning it, says Twitter’s actions forced him to shut down the ‘Mac Shop’ after Twitter said the New York Post’s exposé on the laptop violated its “hacked materials” policy – which they initially disallowed from being shared across the network, according to Variety.

    1. Sadly, the failure of the Trump administration to push forward a thorough reform of Section 230 of the US Communications Decency Act during his first term means that this lawsuit will almost certainly fail – the social media giants cannot themselves be sued (though individuals posting stuff can) because they are not a publisher as the law currently stands, and they know it, and IMHO why they have no objection in leftists and Establishment types posting such things whilst simultaneously censoring and silencing those on the conservative right.

      Don’t forget it was the,, alongside the MSM who convinced about 10% of Biden voters to vote in that way, who now say they’d have voted for Trump had they known about the Biden family’s exploits before the election. Even forgetting the (IMHO substantial) voter fraud in favour of Biden, this alone would’ve swung the election in favour of Trump.

      He who controls the flow of information controls the world.

      1. … except they themselves hid the New York Post articles on the basis that the source was a hacker. This is not something they have allowed to be broadcast as the noticeboard they pretend to be. This is a libel they have perpetrated themselves.

        1. Let’s hope that is enough for them to win (and win big), but I doubt it – at most Twitter might have to publish a retraction and delete posts of those people saying as much and/or allow the tweets from the NYP to be posted retrospectively. I seriously doubt if the complainaint would get $500M, as much as I would wish them to in order to get Twitter and the rest of big tech to change their ways.

          The problem as I understand it is they get the benefit of not being classed as a publisher (however they act as one on their platform) AND as a private organisation that can essentially do as they please with things on their platform.

          It was why they were so bullish in the run up to the election and at all those hearings – they knew that without 230 being significantly reformed asap, they could continue ad-infinitum. I suspect they knew that the GoP old Guard like McConnell would come to their aid by dragging their feet. And they did.

  63. A friend in Germany tells me everyone’s panic buying sausages and cheese. It’s the Wurst Käse scenario.

  64. Lewis (shirley it should be Louis) Hamilton has stated that the weather in the UK is inherently racist, as the snow is white

  65. I ordered a chinese. The wee chinese driver comes to the door and I walked out to meet him. He then started shouting “isolate isolate”. I said “Mate you’re not that late, I only ordered 10 minutes ago”.

  66. Is this responsible reporting?

    Covid: UK faces ‘catastrophe’ without tougher action, warns scientist

    The “50% increase in transmissibility” of the new variant means that “the previous levels of restrictions that worked before won’t work now, and so tier four restrictions are likely to be necessary – or even higher than that”, said Professor Andrew Hayward

    Further on:

    Dr Sonia Adesara, an A&E doctor in London, said her hospital had seen “a massive rise” in people with Covid arriving in the past week, describing it as “an extremely serious situation”. She said: “The situation is untenable and I think we are very close to becoming overwhelmed.”

    However, she added that compared to April, medical staff were getting much better and more experienced at treating the virus.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55475240

    Apart from Dr Adesara’s caveat, there’s little in this report to give anyone any hope.

    1. Better treatment of the ill has added to the problems of bed availability. Some of those who died in the spring vacated a bed quite quickly in some cases. Now, they would be receiving prolonged treatment and surviving but taking longer to vacate the bed. Not that I’m advocating the withdrawal of treatment.

    2. So, what they are saying is that cordons sanitaires need to be established between different areas, even different districts in the same towns.
      As well as all movement of all vehicles being forbidden, (except emergency services, council rubbish collections, and food deliveries to shops), more will have to be done. Firebreaks will need to be made and this will require many buildings to be demolished to create clear gaps that can easily be patrolled by the security services. No personal or private travel in or out of these areas will be permitted except in exceptional circumstances and a travel warrant will be required.
      There may be some relaxation of these temporary restrictions in the future when the virus is under control.

  67. ‘People are looking for their loved ones’: Croatia rocked by powerful 6.4 earthquake. 29 December 2020.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3501ab5f73eb0b9c52889e8e559e5943d348b23f77a864a7df80f5d5826dd65a.jpg

    A powerful 6.4 magnitude earthquake collapsed buildings in central Croatia on Tuesday, causing considerable damage to homes and other buildings in Petrinja, a town southeast of the capital Zagreb, with rescue teams racing to comb through the rubble for injured people.

    The tremor, which struck at a depth of 10 kilometres at around 11:30 GMT according to the US Geological Survey (USGS), was also felt strongly some 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of the epicentre in the capital Zagreb, where panicked residents raced onto the streets, according to an AFP reporter.

    The big one’s on its way! We’re doomed. Doomed I tell ye!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/12/29/people-looking-loved-ones-croatia-rocked-powerful-64-earthquake/

    1. I watched some of that this morning. I didn’t post the video as it was a bit long with subtitles. Interesting, nevertheless. I wonder if that video has survived YouTubes’s censorship?

    2. They turned left and got the land “of Milk and Honey”. Had they turned right they would have got the oil……

  70. 327901+ up ticks,
    May one ask does it not seem strange to any others the course these negotiations have taken from the 24/6/16 ?

    Post,the wretch cameron being outed and mayday being installed triggering the wait,wait,go,campaign.
    9 month delay/extension then wait,wait,go,delay / extension
    wait,wait,go, delay / extension, every time the ratchet clicked
    it was seemingly in favour of brussels.

    What was a win for the Brexitexit initially should have been
    clear cut, we are leaving in two years from the 24/6/2016.

    Instead we entered a field of unnecessary political combat
    resulting in that field littered with dead & seriously injured trawler men for starters, could someone enlighten me as to who was fighting the English / GB corner ?

  71. I haven’t been to work or seen my children in 3 months.

    Is this what it feels like to be a black man?

  72. Virus or not, me and my partner are just having a couple of hours down Skegness seafront.

    We’ve toured the arcades, had a couple of rides and got some ace photos eating candy floss in ‘kiss me quick’ hats.

    My boss even rang up to see how we’re getting on ..

    I told him, “All quiet here Sarg, we’ve not had to make any arrests.”

  73. Ready Eddy aka Eh Calm Down aka Paul

    Wishes all his Nottler friends his very best wishes for the New Year.

    He apologises for not having been around recently but he has been having trouble logging onto the site but he hopes the problem will soon be resolved and he will be back amongst us again.

    3. That’s kind of him! Please pass on very best wishes for a Happy and prosperous New Year!

    4. Ready Eddy is one of the more pleasant and intelligent NoTTLers whose posts are invariably interesting, factual and entertaining. His posts are invariably and exponentially more intelligent than are those of the low-lifes who routinely attack him (for no intelligent reason) and piss him off. They piss me off too.

      Happy New Year, Eddy.

  74. Well the leader of the SNP, and boss of the country, Nicola Sturgeon has announced that there have been 1895 new cases in a single day. She says it is bad news and there must be no “first-footing” at New Year.
    Yet, because cases identified by the current hopelessly unspecific test include those who have had Covid-19 and recovered, the more positive results the better. More positive results mean we are moving closer to herd immunity.

    1. Assuming the figures are the same, a very big assumption, and as observed earlier, none had been reported since before Christmas, so we’re probably looking at 4 or 5 days all at once.

    2. That is what they don’t want. The lockdowns were not all about ‘saving the nhs’. They were to prevent us from reaching herd immunity with our natural immunity. Because then there would be no requirement for their vaccine.

      1. Hasn’t gone too well in Sweden, with their unlockdown.
        Comparisons show Sweden has 84,5 dead per 100K. Norway has 8,1 per 100k – we locked down, and are still that way, & have 1/10 of the fatality rate.

        1. Since Sweden’s death rate is very similar (a little bit less I think) than that in the UK… it could be argued (though whether it would be true or not I don’t know) that lockdowns really didn’t make much difference.

          1. It’s difficult to see the effect of population density and cultural norms. Norway, despite recent immigration, is pretty homogeneous and society-minded “den nasjonale dugnaden” country who tend to ddo what’s asked of them, as long as the akkers justify it. Open attitude towards the citizenry – will never catch on.

          2. Deaths certainly seem to be highest in the areas where population is most dense. But beyond that I don’t claim to be able to analyse the figures (or to have them to hand for a sufficient number of countries or regions).

        2. But if, a big IF, the world restarts, whose economy/industry/society is going to recover fastest?

          Norway is very lucky, their sovereign wealth fund may yet save them them from the worst of it.

          1. Norway never had an industrial revolution, and went from being a poor country to a very rich one within 1-2 decades. Having a poor-mentality, they set up the fund “in case of a rainy day” and to provide investment for work after the oil adventure is over.
            Seems a bit wet these days…

          5. Really?

            They won’t be up to their eyebrows in debt, they won’t lose huge swathes of small businesses, they won’t have a cohort of children who have lost two years of proper education.

          6. Define ‘proper education’ because in this day and age it is incredibly easy to educate yourself online if you are reasonably motivated to do so. There is no reason for kids to fall behind just because they are not sat in a classroom with a ‘teacher’ (usually some plank with a 3rd class degree who couldn’t find a job elsewhere). What they are lacking is the social aspect, but even there with free calls and texts and social media they can somewhat stay on top of that too.
            Small businesses come and go. Every one I’ve worked for existed by exploiting low paid workers in every way possible. Economic activity will perk up. Our debt is nothing to worry about.

          7. There are many small businesses, the great majority, which do not exploit their employees.

            Most teachers are not “planks with a 3rd class degree” (I don’t think anyone awards 3rd class degrees nowadays), the last two youngsters I know who went into teaching had firsts and could have found jobs in several places. There are, as there always have been, some indifferent teachers… but those with the best degrees are not always the best imparters of knowledge nor guides to learning.

            Online education is not “incredibly easy” at primary level, or for those with learning difficulties at any level. It is also well nigh impossible for those, and you know that there are many of them, who have no access to the internet or devices to use in conjunction with it.

            Our debt is, very certainly, something to worry about, though possibly not as much as some here think. You are too dismissive of the disadvantages of a poor credit rating. You really should know better.

          8. People with learning difficulties will always have difficulty learning. They often need one to one teaching.

            I was being slightly sarcastic but it’s true in general that teachers tend to have lower degrees. Thirds and lower seconds are quite commonplace. That doesn’t necessarily make them poor teachers nor does a first or upper second make one a better teacher. I found eccentricity in a teacher was a bit of a key marker of those that could really impart knowledge and keep things interesting.

            Yes at primary level you are right but even there resources exist that help. But for secondary schooling there’s a wealth of free educational resources and you can even have online chats with teachers/ retired teachers or other forms of reasonably rapid communication.

            Many here see education as rows of desks with pupils sat at them in front of a blackboard with one guy wearing a suit giving lessons. The world has moved on quite a bit from those days. The internet particularly has revolutionised education.

            We don’t have a poor credit rating, nor are we likely to get one. Austerity and a decade of lost growth cost us our AAA rating. Yet we remain highly rated, and could regain our AAA rating if we stopped purposefully harming the economy with unnecessary austerity. It’s not our debt that caused the downratings.

          9. Yes, people with learning difficulties will always have difficulty – but they will have much more difficulty without the presence of a person (usually a teacher) to help them. Very few parents have the skills (or the time) to give as much assistance as is required so your claim that we can do without schools falls at the very first hurdle.

            No, teachers do not “tend to have lower degrees”, they have all sorts of degrees and a huge range of abilities and there is no discernible tendency. You were not being “sarcastic” as much as you were simply being foolish I’m afraid. Not only are your claims unjustifiable (unless you can produce figures which I am fairly certain do not exist); your remarks are denigrating and unedifying. Save your scorn.

            “Free educational resources” are not the same as teaching any more than the rows of desks you decry are the standard for education (and they haven’t been for a long time). The world has moved on, it has not made teachers redundant, nor will it. Some children may well be able to lead their own learning, but the majority will not… and none will be able to do so from the age of 4. The internet is full of fiction… there is far more fiction than fact available and youngsters can hardly be expected to understand the differences (given how hard many adults seem to find it). If the internet has “revolutionised education” which I very much doubt, it is likely that it has changed it for the worse and not the better. Online is very, very far from being a panacea… quite apart from your suggestion that “social” (actually very often anti-social) media can make up for personal interaction which is so very clearly not the case wherever you look.

            We have a poorer credit rating than we should have, and it will be worse before it is better… and yes, it is partly our debt which causes the problem though it is by no means the only issue. You are being, as you often are on this matter, more than a little unrealistic.

          10. Fine for those with support at home, not so great for those without, the very cohort that needs the education most to get on.

          11. They need someone to sell to. If all other economies have tanked, they are going to be dragged under as well, like it or not.

          12. I know little about Sweden’s economy, but I wonder if there’s a correlation between having a small(ish) population and being more dependent upon exports?

          13. I guess a small population makes for limited opportunity to sell stuff to yourself, so to grow the economy meaningfully, you’d have to look abroad.

          14. Exactly my thoughts, economies of scope and scale would apply. Perhaps that part explains why Norway didn’t have an industrial revolution as you mentioned. Of course Sweden has a considerably larger population than Norway, but still modest by European standards.

          15. Sweden had an empire of sorts; Norway was part of it until 1905. Also, we didn’t (and don’t still) have the elements of industrial revolution – coal, iron ore, on mainland Norway (coal is under Svalbard). Trees & fish make for a more agrarian lifestyle. Oil & gas was the game changer – Norway was also at one time early 1900s the premier seafaring nation, too.

          16. I have a vague recollection of Sweden having a few slaving forts in what’s now Ghana as well as an island or two in the Caribbean.

          17. And that is the very big problem.

            The covidomaniacs with all their lockdowns, will send the world back to the 1930’s.

            Being utterly callous, there might be quite a lot to be said for having allowed the disease to cut out as much “dead wood” as possible that doesn’t have pensions, healthcare etc for the remains of the economy to support

      2. Well – no doubt you’ve seen that the WHO has rewritten the science and wiped out all mention of naturally acquired immunity, in favour of it only being obtained via vaccination.

        1. Your observation is shared by many including me. We are in very dangerous and uncharted waters with the globalists and subservient governments, including our own bunch of sheisters.

      3. You are correct. This whole pandemic scare does not add up. The most worrying factor, for me, is that the government health agencies are promoting untested vaccines, the nature of which is to alter our immune systems and substitute manufactured antigens to infection.

        These mRNA vaccines were hitherto banned in the UK for the reason that they are unproven and because when tested on animals viz. ferrets, the exposure of subjects to the wild virus caused the death of all of the ferrets for an array of maladies.

        1. Many years ago I recall reading an article which stated that the pharmaceutical companies were looking for a way(s) in which they could hook humans into needing treatment for life, one thing leading to another and more treatment (and therefore more profit) being required. A constant river of income, never to be turned off. The vaccine must be it, that unholy grail and an immense fortune must be awaiting Hancock, Whitty, Vallance, Johnson and others if it all goes to plan. They will let nothing get in its way. It is grotesque in the extreme.

      1. Or, more probably, because every individual is different and some are attracted to others.

        She is “black” because the US of A operated a “one drop” policy. That is to say… if you have one drop of “black” blood you cannot be white. Birth records recorded down to one-sixteenth of black in the ancestry – and such children were “non-white” and treated accordingly. It is hardly surprising that, even now, those of mixed race adhere to the only group which would previously accept them.

          1. The situation in South Africa was much the same. It was not about “white” and “black” but about “white” and “non-white” although SA also had a category for, I think I’m correct in saying, “cape coloured” which covered the Asian population and their descendants.

            No amount of white admixture could make a “non-white” into a “pure white” (as some choristers were described on these pages a few days ago).

            It does, indeed, explain a great deal.

  76. And another Sapper heads to the Great RE Pissup on Lafan’s Plain.

    Colonel the Reverend Robbie Hall, underwater bomb disposal expert – obituary

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/obituaries/2020/12/16/TELEMMGLPICT000246888927_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bq_MBhvjUqhIfRd2_dxg_gJ2VLDaeaWzlxIQpTU2T6YjQ.jpeg

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/obituaries/2020/12/16/TELEMMGLPICT000246888923_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqqVzuuqpFlyLIwiB6NTmJwfSVWeZ_vEN7c6bHu2jJnT8.jpeg

    He was awarded the Queen’s Gallantry Medal for neutralising a German bomb found under 40 feet of water at Beckton Gas Works

    Colonel the Reverend Robbie Hall, who has died of cancer aged 63, was awarded the Queen’s Gallantry Medal for neutralising a German bomb in particularly hazardous circumstances.

    In July 1986, Hall joined 33 Engineer Regiment (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) as the Training Major. He became the leader of the regimental diving team, specialising in underwater bomb disposal.

    On November 21, a civilian maintenance diver located what was thought to be a bomb at Beckton Gas Works, East London. It was under 40 feet of water in a large gasometer and was obstructing the workings of the equipment.

    Hall, with Staff Sergeant Nigel Daly and Sapper John Wright, entered through a small airlock at the top and were lowered 100 feet by winch to the surface of the water. The interior was pitch black and the atmosphere heavy with gas fumes.

    The water was stagnant and polluted with poisons after more than 50 years use. Pumping out the water would have contaminated the River Thames and would have involved taking neighbouring gasometers out of service.

    Debris in the water clogged Hall’s breathing apparatus, and he had to cough this up to be able to breathe normally. Visibility in the water was nil and all the work had to be conducted by touch alone.

    The nose section of a very large bomb was found, containing decomposing explosive and a sample was sent for analysis. This showed that it was active explosive.
    The team was now faced with a major bomb disposal incident. On November 24 they dived again to recover the nose section. It was identified as an unexploded 500kg Second World War German bomb. It had entered through a hole in the crown of the gasometer which was patched up at the time.

    Early on November 26, they began a systematic search of the sloping floor of the gasometer, working up to 50 feet below the surface of the water. By 1400 hours they had located the crumpled tail fin and the main section of the bomb. The fuse was intact but could not be identified as it was facing down into the mud.

    By 1800 hours, Hall had positioned the emergency services and arranged for the area to be evacuated. He and his team dived down to the bomb, which was now known to be extremely dangerous. Shackles were attached to it, and with great difficulty it was prised from the mud, winched to the surface and manhandled into a rubber dinghy. Throughout this operation, all three men were working in close contact with the bomb.

    Hall then set about defusing the bomb, working by the light of a torch while trying to keep his balance on the unstable dinghy. The hiss as the hand drill pierced the vacuum in the fuse indicated that, as had been feared, it was in perfect condition.

    It took a further hour to neutralise the fuse. The half-ton bomb was then winched up to the top of the gasometer and eased by Hall through the small airlock. Eventually, at 0130 hours, it had been lowered 100 feet to the ground where it could be steamed out by others.

    This was the culmination of many hours of great physical effort. The three men who were by then exhausted were in constant danger of being crushed by the swinging bomb or falling off the structure.

    The courage, selfless dedication to duty and professionalism displayed by Hall and his team were recognised by the award of the Queen’s Gallantry Medal to all three of them – the first time that all ranks received the same award.

    Robert George Russel Hall, the son of a civil engineer, was born at Spinningdale in the Scottish Highlands on November 9 1956. After his family moved south to Rowlands Gill, near Newcastle, he was educated at the local grammar school.

    Always known as Robbie, in 1973 he enlisted in the Corps of Royal Engineers. He was commissioned three years later and his first posting was to 3 Armoured Division Engineer Regiment, which included a tour in Northern Ireland.

    Hall was keen on running, rock climbing and scuba diving, and his party piece was one armed pull- ups, which he would do with just a fingertip hold on top of a door jamb. In November 1982 he was appointed as second-in-command 7 Field Squadron. The tour included six months in the Falkland Islands in 1983.

    In 1986, he joined 33 Engineer Regiment (EOD). The Regiment was undergoing a period of expansion which required the formation of the new 22 Field Support Squadron (EOD). The manpower had to be found from within the Regiment and Hall was chosen to be the first officer commanding, raising it from scratch, a challenging job that he performed with tact and great professionalism, while still performing duty as Training Major.

    In September 1989 he went to the Canadian Staff College at Toronto. Having gained a Distinction, he was posted to the Special Forces section at the MoD, where he was involved in the planning for the First Gulf War.

    After commanding the Defence Diving School at Portsmouth, followed by a staff job at HQ 1 (UK) Armoured Division, his final posting, in December 2007, was as Commandant of the Defence Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Munitions and Search School.

    Possessing a strong Christian faith, he trained for the ministry and obtained a Master’s Degree in biblical mission. He served as the pastor of Hope Baptist Church at Bridgend.

    Robbie Hall married, in 1980, Helen Thompsett, whom he had met in Germany when she was teaching at a military school. She survives him with their three sons, all of whom followed their father into the forces and, at one time, were all serving in Afghanistan.

    Colonel the Reverend Robbie Hall, born November 9 1956, died November 6 2020

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2020/12/29/colonel-rev-robbie-hall-underwater-bomb-disposal-expert-obituary/

    1. None of the rest have the bollo* to get out. Sweden, particularly, has rolled over to its enrichers so no hope with its political masters.

    2. It is because the web site can’t be authenticated by your browser. This may be because it may be using an http rather than https (s=secure) connection, or the SSL certificate for that site on your browser may be missing, expired or corrupt. Or, it could be a dodgy web site trying to steal your details. 😉

    3. That’s weird. The “go back” option doesn’t work either so closing is the only way out.

        1. Try searching “This website may be impersonating to steal your personal or financial information” and see what info comes up?

  80. Three men arrested for hare coursing and assaulting one of the Queen’s gamekeepers at will not be prosecuted, MailOnline has learned.

    Norfolk Police revealed in September how the gamekeeper spotted the gang chasing hares with dogs on fields at Flitcham on Her Majesty’s Sandringham estate.

    The gamekeeper was allegedly pelted with stones and suffered minor injuries when he tried to intervene and the men fled with their dogs in a green Subaru car.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9095783/Hare-coursing-gang-accused-pelting-Queens-gamekeeper-stones-wont-prosecuted.html

      1. Long dog men are generally native British. It is virtually impossible to prosecute them unless they are caught with game – and they know this so they abandon any game at the first sight of trouble.

  82. If you haven’t already sealed yourselves in on this cold night, take a step outside and enjoy the sight of a dazzling full moon. Wonderful.

    1. When I drove home in the freezing fog on unsalted roads (an interesting experience), it was bright as day.

  83. I have a small problem ( no norty comments please)

    SWMBO has traced our family histories, back 2/300 years. Our anticedants have been workers, in whatever ‘indurstries’ were thriving
    in their times.

    In 1961, the house in which I lived did not even have an inside toilet, we had hot water from a geyser and washing was done in a gas ‘copper’

    My question is why can incomers to my country impose their will and rules on us and similar Brits but when I complain, I am called a racist

    As long as immigtants and other ethnicities are given preference over the people whose families have live here for hundreds of
    years, Racial Equality will never exist.

    It is about time the government, MSM, etc realised this

    1. They have leapfrogged the old native working population, the old native working population never had their day, not since the Norman Invasion

    2. Don’t you realise OLT – that you have “white privilege”? It doesn’t matter that your families have always lived here, that you were brought up in poverty, these people – like June Sarpong – heavily over-salaried BBC woman – is underprivileged compared with you.

    3. Can you give examples of where/ when ‘incomers’ have imposed their will and rules on us, and where/ when they have been given priority?

      1. You know jolly well what priorities they are given , and we have been told to shut our mouths because we can be accused of racism.

        You damned well know they have imposed their will because they can shout louder than us , and threaten us with bombs , slit throats and anything else they want to chuck at us .

        1. I have been watching the PBS America channel 91 on Freeview. It gives a fascinating account of the American Civil War and is on a par quality wise with our own World at War.

          The lessons of both conflicts have still not been learnt. There will always be spies, traitors and propagandists. The Press was as rotten when covering the Civil War as they are today.

          3. If you are watching the Ken Burns one it is, in my view, the best of them all.

            There are criticisms that he was too reliant on Foote’s work, but I think it’s as good a documentary/recreation as any I’ve watched.

          5. He’s done several, the US CW is the first I saw, but the ones since have been of a similar standard.

            I think there are numerous Nottlers who have seen them and would concur.

      2. How about the well-photographed march in London where they held placards advocating beheading of those that insult islam – that’s not allowed by the indigenous? Hell, even marching peacefully gets big brave policemen punching women in the face.

        1. Do we know that no action was taken against those placard holders? There are plenty of Muslim extremists in our prison which suggests they don’t get a free pass, just like there have many many many trials of Muslim sex offenders.

          1. The photos I saw, they had police escort, who did not appear to be concerned with the offending placards.

        1. Not compulsory. If we did what the OP claims, why isn’t Muslim marriage recognised in the UK?

          1. Try avoiding it. Every school, prison, hospital, government canteen is forced to provide it and trying to avoid it as a private individual is difficult. For what, 10% of the population?

            There are many things that are not recognised, the point is more that far too many are.

          2. The claim was that ‘they’ were being given priority and that their rules were being imposed, yet strangely we don’t even recognise Muslim marriage.

          3. And how many Muslim marriages, conducted overseas, where men are claiming for imported wives and children are being refused ALL benefits for other than one, because we don’t recognise Muslim marriage?

      4. ‘White privilege, or white skin privilege, is the societal privilege that benefits white people over non-white people in some societies, particularly if they are otherwise under the same social, political, or economic circumstances. With roots in European colonialism and imperialism,[1] and the Atlantic slave trade, white privilege has developed[2] in circumstances that have broadly sought to protect white racial privileges,[3] various national citizenships and other rights or special benefits.’

        Not just an example, pal, it’s been developed into a science.

        1. White privilege is no different from Arab privilege in the ME, Chinese privilege in China and so on. Goes with the territory, but that doesn’t answer my question.

      5. BLM not ALM ie All Lives Matter

        Black privelege. If anyone declared White Lives Matter they would at the very least be cautioned by ‘the police’

        1. In what way is a campaign against discrimination, discrimination against whites? What has BLM achieved that fits the description of imposing their will on us or of ‘them’ being given priority?

  84. Serious question. Should those who’ve already tested positive and have had Cov19 symptoms be eligible for an early Covid 19 vaccination?

      1. It should certainly be a personal choice whether or not to accept a vaccination, but I think the question is regarding who should first be offered that choice.

        2. Certainly those not able to make such decisions, those in care homes and unable to make such decisions should be excluded from any experimental vaccine trials.

        1. If they want to offer themselves as guinea pigs why should I object. I will refuse the vaccine as it hasn’t been thoroughly tested. If someone wants my dose feel free to take it.

    2. This whole vaccination program is a bit different from a normal one, because small children aren’t generally expected to have had polio, tetanus, measles etc. The flu virus in the flu vaccination are new ones, that are presumably chosen because they caused a lot of Australians to get ill, or something like that..

      But here, it’s been estimated that about a third of the population had T cell immunity before 2020 from exposure to similar viruses, plus a lot of people have obviously had the virus already. But there’s been no mention of trying to make a distinction based on who has immunity and who doesn’t.

      Yet another thing that doesn’t seem to make sense and no rational explanation is forthcoming from government, just more doom-laden pronouncements that we’re all going to die if we don’t get vaccinated.

      1. Then, when enough of us have been frightened or coerced into being vaccinated, they will gradually lift the restrictions (because we’ve been good) and we will move into phase two of the Great Reset. They will start subsidising new jobs for the very many people who have been thrown out of work by the response to the virus.

    3. Logically?
      No.
      Unless the vaccination improves their situation and, so far, nothing that I have read suggests that it will help those who already have it.

  85. Evening, all – or at least, those of you who are still here 🙂 I’ve been out most of the afternoon and evening. A welcome escape! Thankfully, there were no nasties awaiting me on my return, unlike Boxing Day.

  87. Another question on Covid – my neighbour tested positive recently and was told to isolate until 27/12. She is still having trouble breathing today (29/12) – is she still infectious?

    Sorry, there’s probably an obvious answer but I lose track these days…

    1. Advice seems to be that you should isolate until 3 days after the last symptoms. If your neighbour is having difficulty breathing she should probably seek further medical advice.

      1. Hi JSP – she’s actually a doctor and spent 3 days in hospital last week as a result of Covid. She was released, but is still in difficulties. She has asked her parents to take her back to their home so they can look after her.
        I’m trying to work out if this is a good idea or not.

        1. It would certainly seem that she needs a bit of care, or possibly a return to hospital. It seems that recovery can be an up and down business; I know someone who had been discharged but needed to return.

          The old saying that “doctors’ wives die young” (from the days when all doctors were men) stands testimony to the fact that they do not always take the best care of their nearest… or themselves. I hope that she isn’t planning to drive if her breathing is that bad.

          Assuming that her parents are old enough to be vulnerable, are you in a position to keep an eye on her for a few days – and summon an ambulance if necessary?

        2. She should know better than to want to go to her parents’ home as a doctor.

          If she’s showing symptoms she’s still viral shedding and infectious.

          Sounds like hospital would be the best place. They can provide oxygen which should help her breathing issues.

    1. I would be careful when using such statistics, Covid has ensured that many beds that would generally be in use aren’t, because Covid trumps all other reasons for admission.

      Not every bed is suitable for Covid treatment.

        1. Indeed, but if you were a “bed manager” would you be accepting lots of non Covid patients into a ward in a hospital where Covid was rife; given our wonderful, peace be upon it, health service’s record on cross infection?

    2. Odd that Allison Pearson ignores the ‘note’ on the NHS website, so here it is:

      “Note for 2020-21 data
      Hospital capacity has had to be organised in new ways as a result of the pandemic to treat Covid and non-Covid patients separately and safely in meeting the enhanced Infection Prevention Control measures. This results in beds and staff being deployed differently from in previous years in both emergency and elective settings within the hospital. As a result caution should be exercised in comparing overall occupancy rates between this year and previous years. In general hospitals will experience capacity pressures at lower overall occupancy rates than would previously have been the case.”

      https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/bed-availability-and-occupancy/bed-data-overnight/

      Of course, some will no doubt claim, “they would say that wouldn’t they”, so perhaps they should have joined me on the call I did with the Medical Divisions Clinical Chair at St George’s two weeks ago, when she told me about how they’d had to remove 60 beds to ensure social distancing between beds in ward bays. Of course, some will claim she’s part of some conspiracy too.

          1. Quite – and would we be anywhere near running out of beds if we were treating people as outpatients – or as in-patients for that matter?
            No.
            But we would rather throw our hands up and cry, “The end is nigh, lock your doors and throw out your dead!”

          2. Quite – and would we be anywhere near running out of beds if we were treating people as outpatients – or as in-patients for that matter?
            No.
            But we would rather throw our hands up and cry, “The end is nigh, lock your doors and throw out your dead!”

          4. … but only if those medics are following the political line. The link I posted references hundreds of medics who are treating – but unlike Vallance they don’t have £600 000 of shares in astrozeneca.
            Who would you believe?

          5. Oh, I see, the advisers to every government in the world (actually Corim’s right, except Belarus!), are all in on it!

          6. I follow France and Canada and the USA – I see this argument everywhere – others are doing it so it must be right. – We reference them and they reference us as justification for these strategies.
            This is circular and absurd.
            There are many countries which are following different strategies – but that is not why they are correct. The same arguments could apply.
            Could you rather explain – ex-hospital manager that you are – why doctors all around the world are treating with the meds posted in the link, but we are not?

          8. You evade very well. You could be a Tory.
            EDIT
            Or maybe you know a doctor who could explain it for you.
            Edit edit.
            Apologies to Jennifer – but it is Tories who are leading us in this.
            I might have said: You don’t have any clue whatsoever – you could be Labour.
            But Cochrane tows the line of the Tory Party.

      2. WOW-we-ZOWEE that’s impressive.
        YOU were especially selected to speak to such a senior official. And just why were you being consulted?

        Or might it be that you are grossly exaggerating your importance and involvement and that it was a Zoom or similar with Gawd knows how many participants, all of whom were being told and none of whom were allowed to question…?

          2. Abusive as ever you small man. I am not a failed architect but one who has a body of fine work.

            I was recently interviewed by an architectural historian commissioned to prepare a monograph on my first employer Sir William Whitfield CBE. I was able to inform him about the practice and my wife translated a tape of an interview Whitfield had given on BBC Radio with the historian Joe Mordaunt Crook in the eighties.

            The only person in the office mentioned by name in that radio interview was me. Whitfield acknowledged my contribution to Richmond House Whitehall. The building had just been completed and had attracted a lot of attention. I did several other major projects for Whitfield all of which gained critical acclaim.

            I suggest that you are the failure. You spout bile and misinformation. You are a bully and a thoroughly disreputable and obnoxious individual. Now bugger off.

          3. Have a down vote, Mr Thin Skinned.

            PS, the reason i didn’t follow-up my original enquiry about architectural work for my NHS client, was that I realised I wouldn’t risk my firm’s reputation by introducing such a bitter old bigot as you, to one of my clients. Your lose big time (the project is ongoing and has led to two new client commissions).

          4. You would appear to have done the right thing. An architect who thinks that he should be “inspired” by a building rather than considering its function is certainly not the one you want.

          6. Exactly. The a handful of NHS trusts went down the route of having ‘inspiring’, ‘signature’, ‘statement’ buildings about 30 years ago, Norman Foster even designed one in London. They’re expensive nonsense and often not functionally suitable, but they looked nice on the plans. Hospital design is about clinical adjacencies, future proofing, spatial allowances and how the physical environment can aid recovery; it’s a specialist field and there’s no chance I’d let a generalist like Corim, loose in on designing a new hospital.

          7. You are a cretin. Hospital design has been in the hands of a very few architectural practices for decades. All were useless and responsible for sore some of the most rebarbative buildings ever built in England.

          8. I would not touch hospital work with a barge pole. I find hospital design to be utterly uninspiring and the buildings so execrable as to inhibit recovery as opposed to aiding it.

            I did prepare a design for new consulting rooms at the Lister Hospital in Chelsea but that was never realised.

          9. What evidence do you have that corim is a failed architect? I’d back off a bit if I were you. That could be construed as defamation.

          10. 1. Please explain how one anonymous person being rude to another anonymous person counts as ‘defamation’.
            2. No comment about Sos’ ‘defamation’ of me then!

        2. No, it was a call between myself and a colleague, the Divisional Chair and her COO. I led the call. Perhaps you should learn some manners and accept other people also have expertise in their choosen fields.

          1. Nothing you post ever suggests to me that you have any genuine expertise in anything other than hot air.

          2. And nothing in your replies suggest to me that you are anything but a red-faced bore who pontificates about a country he doesn’t even live in.

          3. Oops you: lose.

            As usual.

            What has where I live got to do with my opinions?

            I get all the UK press, TV, radio internet that you do, I have the great advantage that I can observe from the outside and even better, have direct experience of two country’s systems and health services.

          5. Oh, and PS.

            Cochrane here, I have Mr XYZ on the line for you.

            End of lead, end of your involvement I suspect.

          7. In this particular case, I’m working on the 10-15 year / £350m plan to redevelop St George’s Hospital, Tooting and am leading on translating the clinical needs of the various services into ‘functional content’ of buildings and capacity, which is then passed to our architects.

          8. And THAT makes you an expert of vaccination/epidemiology/viral transference.
            Wow.
            Do all the consultants come to you for your input?

          9. No, but it does give me insight into why hospital occupancy percentages might be lower than you’d expect. Something you’d appreciate if you actually took time off from being abusive.

          10. If you actually bothered to look and think about what people post you would have seen that I was posting reasons why occupancy would be lower than people might expect.

          12. I only look at the replies in my notifications.

            Upvote/downvote, makes no difference, according to disqus I have zero upvotes and as far as I can recall that’s been the case for at least a year.

            I upvote if a post amuses me, I agree with it, or it makes a valid point if I don’t agree. I don’t downvote, I reply.

            I don’t flag or block except for obvious spammers, as we had the other day.

          13. Well, maybe you should have checked who upvoted your comment, then your comment above wouldn’t look so stupid.

          15. Did you retire or leave with share options? Do you have a vested interest in medical treatment?
            That would not make you wrong, but it could colour your judgment.

          16. I left after the private health company was sold. I no longer have any medical related investments, except my ownership of my own company.

          18. ROTFLMAO to that old joke. Do you remember maybe two years ago, I messaged you about a piece of architectural work for a client of mine, but I didn’t follow up? Ever wondered why?

          20. Interesting. Do you have operational experience in managing clinical services?

            PS out of interest have the architects been appointed and if so who are they?

          21. Yes, I used to manage a private hospital. That was after a career as an NHS accountant and service manager. After running the private hospital, I was on the group’s executive team and was involved in setting up new hospitals and acquisitions. I know run my own health and care related business.

          22. By coincidence there’s an Andy Cochrane undertaking a similar role at Leeds Teaching Hospital according to Linkedin

          23. Remarkable. I’ve just found him on LinedIN. he appears to be something in IT and you wouldn’t want me doing that!

          24. translating the clinical needs of the various services into ‘functional
            content’ of buildings and capacity, which is then passed to our
            architects.

            Translating it Into 173 different languages and dialects, to satisfy the nees of all our incomers

            Will not be in English of course

          25. Nice bit of leveraging your favourite subject into the thread, but no, a bit more technical than that.

          26. You have absolutely no idea what my favourite subjects are

            If you were locked in a room with only a mirror for company, you would stand infront of it and argue with youself.

            You have no time for anyone else’s point of view but your own

            When humour and tolerance were issued , at birth, you were bathing in vitriol

          27. Well it would appear that your favourite subjects include making silly claims about documents being translated into multiple languages – they aren’t. I’ll explain it to you for free – people have a right (which I disagree with, in case you’re interested), to have documents translated, but in reality few people demand this right, so very little is ever translated. But, hey it gives the bigots something else to moan about.

  91. Anyway, fellow NoTTLers, I shall leave you in the tender arms of the down-voters. know-alls and trolls. I cannot enter into this children’s playground and will leave it to you to deal with it.

    Goodnight and God bless.

      1. ” I seem to have temporarily silenced one of the oafs”, utterly, utterly, deluded. Space Cadet.

          2. You are a sorry badass. You have nothing to say except but to spill bile and prejudice on those few who oppose and confront you and your idiotic views whereby you persist in confronting the facts and proclaiming that black is white and that white is black.

            I will never submit to you or your cohorts on this forum. They number the four fingers on the one hand (thumbs excluded).

            Most are more sensible and see you for what you are. An imbecile.

          3. “…you persist in confronting the facts…”. Says the man who “knows” Trump won – but, that nonsense got you an upvote from the batshit crazy Damask Rose.

  92. Spain announces register for vaccination refusers
    Spain wants to record all citizens who do not want to be vaccinated against Corona in a register.
    Health Minister Salvador Illa announced the measure in an interview with the television channel La Sexta on Monday. Every citizen will receive an invitation to a vaccination appointment according to the vaccination plan. The vaccination is voluntary, but anyone who does not accept the invitation will be registered. The register is not public and data protection will be rigorous, but the data will be made available to “European partners”, the minister stressed.

    In Spain – as in other EU countries – the vaccination campaign against Covid-19 began on Sunday. The first Spanish woman to be vaccinated was Araceli Hidalgo, aged 96, in Guadalajara. For the next twelve weeks, the government in Madrid expects a total of around 4.6 million additional vaccine doses, with which almost 2.3 million of Spain’s 47 million citizens will be vaccinated. The majority of the population should be immunized by the summer.

    In the evening, the Ministry of Health announced that the number of people who died with Corona in Spain had risen by 298 and that more than 50,000 had died since the pandemic began. The number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days, however, fell slightly to 107. According to the Robert Koch Institute, this value was 158 in Germany on Monday. (BLZ, with dpa)
    EDIT: Source https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/politik-gesellschaft/spanien-kuendigt-register-fuer-impf-verweigerer-an-li.128868

    1. The terms vaccinated and immunised are used as interchangeable but does the vaccine actually confer immunity?

      2. No vaccine ever, in fact, confers full immunity. Vaccines (of all sorts) act by teaching your body to fight off infection, whether viral or bacterial. The effect aimed for is that the disease never gets a foothold but is defeated at the first hurdle… you get infected, but you don’t get ill and the infection time is minimal. That’s what all vaccines do, whatever their modus operandi. The new mRNA vaccines don’t contain any virus, least of all a “wild” one, whatever that is supposed to mean, but simply stimulate the cells to attack viruses of certain types (making it harder for mutations to render the vaccine useless). mRNA has been in use for some time in cancer treatments, making it possible to tailor the treatment to the individual patient.

        In layman’s terms vaccinated and immune are interchangeable… but the science (as is usually the case) is bit more complex.

    2. Data to be made available to European partners – well, I doubt Spain made that decision by itself. Creepy in the extreme if true.

  93. mRNA Vaccines – Possible Infertility Alert !

    According to this article in ”Conservative Woman”, mRNA vaccines might cause infertility………….

    ”Dr Michael Yeadon, a former head of Pfizer’s respiratory research, and Dr Wolfgang Wodarg, a health policy adviser, raised the possibility that, since the vaccine (by design) causes the body to produce antibodies against the ‘spike proteins’ in the virus, it might also cause the production of antibodies against similar proteins which are required for formation of the placenta in pregnancy.

    If this were the case, it would result in vaccinated women essentially becoming infertile, an effect which might be permanent. No research studies have been undertaken on this issue, so it is this writer’s view that the vaccine has been rolled out much too early and with no knowledge of whether the hypothesis of Drs Yeadon and Wodarg is correct or incorrect.

    The Moderna vaccine is also an RNA vaccine, so the same applies to that. The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is designed to create the same result – the formation of antibodies against the Covid-19 virus – so they all have the inherent potential risk of causing infertility”………………………

    https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/the-vaccine-questions-a-summary/

    I’ve had C-19 and it was nothing much. I won’t be having vaccination. It’s unnecessary and anyway far too much of a risk..

    1. If I were a woman of child-bearing age, I would certainly refuse the vaccine. People under 50 are at low risk of dying from the virus anyway.

      1. Its not cleared for use on those who are, or intending to, get pregnant. Trials will not have been completed, if indeed started. Its those who get pregnant unintentionally who I would be concerned with although those of child bearing age will not be offered the vaccine for a while.

        1. But that means a very large number of women under 50. The official guidelines assume that any side-effect will be short-lived. But if the vaccine is supposed to confer a longer immunity, then it’s reasonable to suppose that any possible fertility effects would also last for a longer time.

  94. Good night all.

    Had cod & chips delivered, followed by pineapple fritters. Made a change from all that festive food.

      1. I made them extra crispy by giving them a boost in the oven at 220C for 10 minutes, then drizzled honey over them.

          4. We used to add a few drops of crème de menthe to tinned grapefruit segments – very refreshing after a curry.

    2. Stewed lambs heart with dumplings and veg. Sufficiently rib-sticking for a cold night.

      I stewed 4 hearts, the remainder will go into the freezer tomorrow when cooled down.

      1. We had a lamb shoulder for Christmas and today I removed the last of the meat off it and added it to a fried onion with a small amount of leftover gravy and sliced potato on top to make a hotpot.
        And the DT declared it tasted very nice too!

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