Tuesday 29 March: If Putin is to be tried for war crimes, of course he can’t remain in power

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

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

673 thoughts on “Tuesday 29 March: If Putin is to be tried for war crimes, of course he can’t remain in power”

  2. Wordle 283 4/6

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

      1. It seems to be one of many, George, associated with a furdle called wordle, owned by the New York Times and costing 4/6d in old money.

        1. I know that, Tom. I’ve started doing it (free of charge), but I can’t find that blank completed grid that D-Cup (and Plum and Mola) post each day.

          1. If you scroll down a bit when you’ve finished you’ll see a graph of how many goes it has taken you to solve each attempt. Underneath that, there is a box that says ‘Share’ – click on that and you can copy and paste – the tiles automatically come out black when you paste so you don’t give away the answer.

          2. I’m clicking on “share” but there is nothing for me to copy and paste coming up.

          3. Looking again, I don’t think you need to do the ‘copy bit’ – try just clicking share then going into e.g. Nottle and pasting.

          4. Wordle 284 5/6

            🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜

            🟩⬜🟨⬜🟨

            🟩🟩🟨⬜⬜

            🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩

            🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      2. It seems to be one of many, George, associated with a furdle called wordle, owned by the New York Times and costing 4/6d in old money.

  4. SIR – It is absurd to think Vladimir Putin is the leader of choice for the Russian people. With opposition politicians locked up, brutalised or assassinated and thousands of armed police preventing peaceful protest, he is a bloodthirsty tyrant overseeing a kleptocracy that is impoverishing Russia.

    For our politicians to think of a compromise in which Mr Putin and his gang of war criminals can evade justice and retain their positions to pose a danger to their neighbours is unacceptable and insults the heroism of the people of Ukraine in resisting the Russian invasion.

    Mr Putin must go and Russia must be given the opportunity to vote for a democratic government.

    Brian Seage
    St Cleer, Cornwall

    With this myopic, not to say moronic, farrago of reality one can only assume that Mr Seage is an agent of the UK Government!

    1. Morning all.

      Here’s some more….

      SIR – It’s ironic that Joe Biden can be slated for saying what we all want.

      Charles Holden

      Micheldever, Hampshire

      SIR – President Biden has said what most of the public think. If Mr Putin doesn’t go, this war will continue for years. He will never give up until he gets what he wants.

      God help us if we need to protect ourselves. I don’t think Europe is willing to defend its population. Our leaders are scared.

      Jennifer Cann

      Wokingham, Berkshire

      SIR – We are asking ourselves what we in the West would do if Mr Putin uses chemical weapons. And so we should.

      So far, too many red lines have left no room for ambiguity, allowing him to play the West at his murderous game.

      It’s time now to sow doubt in his mind. The deployment of four, new Nato battlegroups to Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia is exactly what is needed.

      No one wants a major war with Russia, but we must be ready for one if the circumstances dictate.

      Richard Drax MP (Con)

      London SW1

      SIR – I am expecting two Ukrainian women and a six-year-old boy to come to me this week. Their visa applications involved a day and a half of answering more than 100 questions. Explanations had to be given for why they could not produce utility bills (their flat was blown up). There then had to be a visit to a visa application centre.

      Had I not had the assistance of a bilingual volunteer, we might not have succeeded at all.

      Lowri Coulten

      Boughton, Northamptonshire

      SIR – Three weeks ago, when I first heard that Britain would be admitting substantial numbers of Ukrainian refugees, and knowing that home inspections would be needed as well as counselling and intervention if placements broke down, I volunteered my services to the director of my local authority social services department. I have received no acknowledgment of my offer.

      I am a retired social worker with a professional qualification and years of experience in adoption, fostering and counselling.

      Retired doctors were often spurned when they offered to help with the Covid mass-vaccination programme. I now expect to suffer the same fate. Would anybody else care to avail themselves of my services?

      Joan Bridge-Taylor

      Rochester, Kent

      1. Oh dear – what collection of badly informed idiots – I had expected more from Drax, I thought he was actually a Tory!

      2. When there are nations – dozens of them – between us and Ukraine, surely it makes more sense for those individuals displaced to go there, rather than come here?

        Of course, if there’s no option then we can help – but soon help becomes lumbered and lumbered becomes a cost. We simply cannot afford to waste any more money trying to house the world.

    2. Mr Seage, for balance, an appreciation of Joe Biden’s history, affiliations, activities and his route to becoming POTUS would be useful.

      Good morning, Araminta and all on Nottle.

    3. That cheeky chappy Zelensky has just banned opposition parties and media, rather than locked them up.

    4. If someone still with access to make comments could point out that when Putin came to power, Russia was being asset stripped left, right & centre by the former Soviet nomenklatura and apparatchiks and that one of his major policy planks was to root out this corruption?
      It could also be pointed out that the former Soviet nomenklatura and apparatchiks were not themselves averse to the assassination of rivals in order to advance their aims.

      1. It was not only “the former Soviet nomenklatura and apparatchiks” Bob, it was also Western profiteers who saw a corpse that they could strip of all its assets and treasures for themselves.

        1. Agreed.
          The nomenklatura and apparatchiks were greatly assisted by the Western financiers who did their washing for them.

    5. Does Mr Seage realise what happens to people in the UK who challenge the ruling hegemony?

    6. It is because of this sort of nonsense I have stopped, for the most part, commenting on the idiot letters to the Telegraph and posted cat video’s. Most of these people very obviously know nothing at all about Russia and I doubt that even now, if presented with a blank outline of the country, could point to the general proximity of Moscow, St Petersburg, or Crimea. As for the history of the place, they clearly know nothing at all. Yet they pontificate and this rubbish is then published in all solemnity by the Telegraph as though they were serious comments to be considered as informed.
      “Blood thirsty tyrant” indeed. All American Presidents of late, apart from Trump, have been bloodthirsty tyrants in their behaviour to countries they deem nor acceptable to their tyrannical concept of liberalism.

    1. Never mind, Johnny, you posted 11 hours earlier than me. Good morning afternoon, everyone.

  7. Myopic Western elites are in danger of handing the world to China on a platter. 29 march 2022.

    Right now, I fear we are playing into their hands. By banishing Russia so completely from the globalised system, we may be accelerating the end of dollar hegemony. We risk galvanising countries, particularly those led by dictators paranoid about Western-forced regime change, to rally around China’s plans for alternatives to the US-led global financial architecture. We are also passing up a golden chance to remedy endemic problems that are making developing countries look to Beijing – from overzealous structural adjustment programmes to the gargantuan transfers of corruptly-acquired wealth from poor countries to the West via offshore accounts (with the economic fallout driving illegal migration to richer nations).

    Of course. This is already happening. The interest on US Treasury Bonds and UK Gilts is already rising to attract buyers who have no wish to face the same fate as Russia should they annoy the US. The rise in the cost of raw materials will rocket as they become progressively unavailable. Sunflower oil is already vanishing from the shelves and other products will follow. The sanctions program is actually self-harm, even suicidal. This is so obvious that no one else wants to join it. The Arabs, China, Mexico, Africa; no one else will touch it with a bargepole!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/03/28/myopic-western-elites-danger-ofhanding-world-china-platter/

    1. Too late, that particular horse has already bolted!
      Either it is all a cunning plan to bring down the dollar and the Euro so that they can launch their CBDCs, or else they really did believe their own propaganda.
      Perhaps they hoped to do the former AND bring down Russia.

  8. Morning all

    Need for investigation of Falklands blunders

    SIR – I read with concern the interview with General Sir Michael Rose (“The man who accepted Argentina’s surrender”, Features, March 27).

    In 1982 I commanded the Amphibious Task Group in the Falklands, working closely with the commander of the landing force, Brigadier Julian Thompson RM and, later, with Major General Sir Jeremy Moore RM and 5th Infantry Brigade.

    All three of us depended on Rear Admiral Sandy Woodward for fixed-wing air support and co-operation. Communications were primitive and insecure by today’s standards.

    The misunderstandings described in Mike Rose’s account are well known and came about, unfortunately, largely due to the lack of inter-service training and co-operation.

    The decision was taken after the surrender of the Argentine land forces that full research into decisions made was not needed. I was personally told that none was required as: “We won. That’s all that matters.”

    The sea and air war potentially continued until October 1982 when the Cabinet, I understand, relaxed military operations in the South Atlantic.

    Clearly there was a strong need to investigate decisions made and learn genuine lessons.

    Commodore Michael C Clapp RN (retd)

    Newton Abbot, Devon

  9. Morning again

    Drama at the Oscars

    SIR – Tinseltown, while congratulating itself on its progressiveness, has ignored the urban gangster culture’s addiction to casual violence, which is being normalised in society.

    Will Smith should be immediately stripped of his Best Actor Oscar for his unforgivable assault on the comedian Chris Rock on live television. That he was still awarded his Oscar was disgraceful enough.

    Mark Boyle

    Johnstone, Renfrewshire

    SIR – Will Smith once played the boxer Muhammad Ali, a man who knew how, and when, to throw a punch.

    We now know that he really was acting, if not completely miscast.

    Stefan Badham

    Portsmouth, Hampshire

    2. I don’t think I have ever knowingly seen a film with Will Smith in it. The Oscar and the assault are separate issues.

      In my view he should be prosecuted for assault but why should the old slapper lose his award?

      1. I’ve seen that name in the cast list of films on TV, but automatically don’t watch them for obvious reasons..

      2. Exactly, Richard. (However, if you can find it do watch THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS and/or KING RICHARD (for which he won his award).

    3. My Muay Thai instructor told me when, as an angry young man that hitting someone in rage did more damage to you than it ever could to them. Self control, discipline and showing dignity is the greater strength.

      Note, this does not apply to politicians, who I would happily punch on the nose.

      1. So you’re saying, wibbling, (© Cathy Newman) that you have one rule for actors and other rules for politicians.

    4. Mr Boyle, Oscars are awarded for outstanding performances in films they have appeared in the previous year, and not for their personal life and views. If you believe that the award given to Mr Smith should be revoked, how about revoking payment of Mr Rock’s fees for cracking such an insulting “joke” concerning Mr Smith’s wife’s alopecia?

    5. Mr Boyle, Oscars are awarded for outstanding performances in films they have appeared in the previous year, and not for their personal life and views. If you believe that the award given to Mr Smith should be revoked, how about revoking payment of Mr Rock’s fees for cracking such an insulting “joke” concerning Mr Smith’s wife’s alopecia?

  10. A familiar plot but truth may never be known about latest ‘Russian poisoning’. 29 March 2022.

    The plot, in its initial telling, appears bizarre: Roman Abramovich, now the outgoing owner of Chelsea FC, and Ukrainian negotiators engaged in back channel talks were targeted after a meeting in Kyiv – developing symptoms including peeling skin, irritable eyes and were, it is said, painfully crying.

    Can we be sure they were poisoned? Not really; the three men were too busy to provide samples to German toxicologists quickly enough. And their symptoms, never life threatening, appear to have improved. So like a true Russian mystery, the truth may never be known.

    In other words we don’t know that they were poisoned but the Russians did it anyway. The only resemblance here to previous supposed incidents involving Russia is that there were no fatalities. A flaw in all of them. One has to ask why go to the trouble and dangers of such attempts and then fail at the final hurdle? What if an agent were caught in flagrante delicto? Why act covertly when you are going to be blamed anyway? Abramovich was in Moscow only a week ago. Why didn’t they just push him under a bus then? The truth is that this is simply a smear job, more cheap propaganda.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/28/truth-may-never-be-known-about-latest-russian-poisoning-roman-abramovich

      2. I cannot understand why the MSM and the politicians expect us to believe them about anything when they lie about everything.

  11. ‘Morning, Peeps.

    Interesting article from yesterday’s DT about electric vehicles:

    COMMENT
    Electric cars have a very dirty secret

    The technological flaws of battery-powered vehicles have not gone away

    ANDREW ORLOWSKI
    28 March 2022 • 11:00am

    A new restaurant has opened in town. Only the portions are small, the food is cold and tasteless, and the service is grumpy and indifferent. The owners appeal to the Government, who promptly ban all rival restaurants in a 25-mile radius.

    If this sounds madly improbable, it shouldn’t. The principle is alive and well in the UK, and beginning to define how we live and work. Lobbyists have discovered that the only way to advance their deeply flawed and inferior products is with the connivance of the state.

    So what we would expect to be market failures, booed off by the crowd and substituted at half time, are becoming mandatory. Gas boilers, for example, are efficient, convenient and cheaper than electric heat pumps. But sales of the superior technology will be banned in just four years’ time.

    Electric vehicles (EVs) are dear to our green priesthood because they appear to buck this trend. The EV is a very rare example of a “green” innovation that can actually be an attractive product. Tesla’s cars are sexy and fun, with an acceleration that matches or surpasses a Porsche. Owners love them, and can indulge in childhood boy racer fantasies without guilt.

    On the surface, prospects for the EV appear to be healthy. Year-on-year registrations of EVs rose by 75pc in the UK last year to 191,000, which is impressive when the waiting time is over 12 months.

    Every major manufacturer has committed to phasing out vehicles powered by internal combustion engines, with GM planning to do so by 2035 and Chinese-owned Volvo by 2030. But did you think you were ever going to beat the taxman?

    Fiscal perks designed to make EVs more attractive are already starting to disappear, and road pricing plans are reportedly being accelerated to make up for falls in petrol duties.

    Somewhat awkwardly, however, the technological flaws of a battery-powered car haven’t gone away. They will remain much heavier than their equivalents, as the energy source is inferior – it’s less dense. Large collections of lithium batteries are also rather prone to catching fire, and these are fires we can’t put out.

    The cargo ship the Felicity Ace, carrying almost 4,000 luxury cars, took a week at sea to burn itself out in the Atlantic. The cost of charging an EV is rising too, reaching a record high last week. So commuters will continue to value the reliability, lower cost and convenience offered by today’s internal combustion vehicles and the national infrastructure that supports them.

    In fact, the biggest flaw with EVs has received remarkably little coverage, which is that they are worse for the planet than petrol or diesel cars. It’s just that the damage is now hidden.

    This dirty secret was confirmed by a recent piece of research by Volvo. Researchers studied the full lifetime CO2 emissions, from resource extraction to disposal, performing a like-for-like comparison of two models of its XC40. Not all manufacturers can do this. Volvo confirmed that EVs are far “dirtier” out of the factory gate, as the resource extraction for an electric drive train is so carbon-intensive.

    But few EV owners will ever clock up enough miles on what they believe to be clean energy to ever make up the difference.

    Given the typical global fuel generation mix, a typical EV driver will need to drive 92,000 miles to reach CO2 emission parity with the petrol-powered equivalent, while a driver in the EU, where the energy mix contains more nuclear and renewables, some 52,000 miles. And that’s without changing the battery once. This isn’t well known amongst pious EV owners, for whom the car is a kind of face mask on wheels.

    I don’t wish to knock the electric car, which has come a long way. Many owners who have the luxury of off-road parking, and use only for short or infrequent journeys, will be blissfully happy with their choice. Every car owner has a common enemy, whether they are a petrol head or an EV owner: the powerful lobby that seeks to abolish car ownership completely.

    Personal mobility allows us to take on more interesting and rewarding employment, and see places that no bus ever reaches, and this very idea is constantly being punished.

    But nothing about the success of the electric vehicle market today suggests dominance is inevitable. Battery technology is going nowhere fast; Tesla even moved back a generation recently.

    No battery-powered freight fleet will ever be as competitive as one where trucks are powered by the internal combustion engine. Modern supply chains require fast turnaround times, and no operator can afford to keep a truck parked all day. And I suspect the replacement for petrol engines for today’s will be better petrol engines, only with new juice.

    Next-generation synthetic fuels – not to be confused with today’s biofuels – that can drop into our existing infrastructure are already being produced in small batches, and are effectively carbon neutral. That’s something to ponder as more of your taxes go on building an EV infrastructure that only a minority of drivers may ever use.

    We’re living through strange times when superior technologies are outlawed. The requirement for the religious pre-approval of innovation represents a historic shift, and a return to medieval, pre-Enlightenment thinking.

    Once we could choose what worked best for us, and now we’re not allowed to, we’re required to change to compensate for the product’s deficiencies. The food’s awful – but you will have to eat it.

    1. Please, will someone reproduce the cartoon, shewing power from a fossil-fuel power station, being transmitted via landlines to a charging point to an EV.

        1. Thanks, Bob but there was an even better graphic, shewing a smug EV owner charging his vehicle without knowing the tortuous route the charge had to undergo from the power station to the charging point.

          2. I think it may have been on Saturday or Sunday and I’m kicking myself for not saving it.

          1. …and if smoke is coming out of the two cooling towers the station is in deep, deep sh*t!

          2. Remember when Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear showed the cartoon of the electric car’s connection to a dirty power station he was roundly criticised.

            I am not an engineer or a scientist but several people who are will say unequivocally that a modern diesel car is far less polluting than any other sort of car on the road.

      2. ooooh you’ve triggered me now! 😬 my own pet hate after people and the Media ( deliberately?) confusing the EU with Europe

        CO2 ≠ Carbon

        after all you don’t call Table Salt Sodium do you. There are deliberate devious semantics at work here.

    2. Finally we are getting somewhere!
      A legacy media outlet is admitting openly that TPTB hate us plebs having freedom.

      I hope the Telegraph’s readership absorbs the most important lines of this article:

      ” …the powerful lobby that seeks to abolish car ownership completely.

      Personal mobility allows us to take on more interesting and rewarding employment, and see places that no bus ever reaches, and this very idea is constantly being punished.”

      Perhaps, they might even be roused to ask themselves, “Punished by whom? And who is actually being punished, the idea, or us?”

    3. We are being bombarded by government propaganda which seems to ignore reality. I enjoyed this BTL comment under the article which I posted last night:

      “Battery often comes with Assault“

      1. Government always comes with an ignorance of reality. If common sense came into government policy there would be no policy.

    4. ‘And I suspect the replacement for petrol engines for today’s will be better petrol engines, only with new juice.
      Next-generation synthetic fuels – not to be confused with today’s biofuels – that can drop into our existing infrastructure are already being produced in small batches, and are effectively carbon neutral.’
      Anyone know anything about this?

      1. If it is any good it will be suppressed by those who have vested interests in the fraudulent great, green, greedy, grab.

        1. Interesting, I know it is used in explosives manufacture. As it happens, China produces 31.9% of the world’s ammonia.

      3. I presume it’s possible. Both our recent cars, 2011 VW Passat and 2019 Skoda Karoq, have synthetic oil. Why not petrol?

  12. ‘Morning, Peeps.

    Interesting article from yesterday’s DT about electric vehicles:

    COMMENT
    Electric cars have a very dirty secret

    The technological flaws of battery-powered vehicles have not gone away

    ANDREW ORLOWSKI
    28 March 2022 • 11:00am

    A new restaurant has opened in town. Only the portions are small, the food is cold and tasteless, and the service is grumpy and indifferent. The owners appeal to the Government, who promptly ban all rival restaurants in a 25-mile radius.

    If this sounds madly improbable, it shouldn’t. The principle is alive and well in the UK, and beginning to define how we live and work. Lobbyists have discovered that the only way to advance their deeply flawed and inferior products is with the connivance of the state.

    So what we would expect to be market failures, booed off by the crowd and substituted at half time, are becoming mandatory. Gas boilers, for example, are efficient, convenient and cheaper than electric heat pumps. But sales of the superior technology will be banned in just four years’ time.

    Electric vehicles (EVs) are dear to our green priesthood because they appear to buck this trend. The EV is a very rare example of a “green” innovation that can actually be an attractive product. Tesla’s cars are sexy and fun, with an acceleration that matches or surpasses a Porsche. Owners love them, and can indulge in childhood boy racer fantasies without guilt.

    On the surface, prospects for the EV appear to be healthy. Year-on-year registrations of EVs rose by 75pc in the UK last year to 191,000, which is impressive when the waiting time is over 12 months.

    Every major manufacturer has committed to phasing out vehicles powered by internal combustion engines, with GM planning to do so by 2035 and Chinese-owned Volvo by 2030. But did you think you were ever going to beat the taxman?

    Fiscal perks designed to make EVs more attractive are already starting to disappear, and road pricing plans are reportedly being accelerated to make up for falls in petrol duties.

    Somewhat awkwardly, however, the technological flaws of a battery-powered car haven’t gone away. They will remain much heavier than their equivalents, as the energy source is inferior – it’s less dense. Large collections of lithium batteries are also rather prone to catching fire, and these are fires we can’t put out.

    The cargo ship the Felicity Ace, carrying almost 4,000 luxury cars, took a week at sea to burn itself out in the Atlantic. The cost of charging an EV is rising too, reaching a record high last week. So commuters will continue to value the reliability, lower cost and convenience offered by today’s internal combustion vehicles and the national infrastructure that supports them.

    In fact, the biggest flaw with EVs has received remarkably little coverage, which is that they are worse for the planet than petrol or diesel cars. It’s just that the damage is now hidden.

    This dirty secret was confirmed by a recent piece of research by Volvo. Researchers studied the full lifetime CO2 emissions, from resource extraction to disposal, performing a like-for-like comparison of two models of its XC40. Not all manufacturers can do this. Volvo confirmed that EVs are far “dirtier” out of the factory gate, as the resource extraction for an electric drive train is so carbon-intensive.

    But few EV owners will ever clock up enough miles on what they believe to be clean energy to ever make up the difference.

    Given the typical global fuel generation mix, a typical EV driver will need to drive 92,000 miles to reach CO2 emission parity with the petrol-powered equivalent, while a driver in the EU, where the energy mix contains more nuclear and renewables, some 52,000 miles. And that’s without changing the battery once. This isn’t well known amongst pious EV owners, for whom the car is a kind of face mask on wheels.

    I don’t wish to knock the electric car, which has come a long way. Many owners who have the luxury of off-road parking, and use only for short or infrequent journeys, will be blissfully happy with their choice. Every car owner has a common enemy, whether they are a petrol head or an EV owner: the powerful lobby that seeks to abolish car ownership completely.

    Personal mobility allows us to take on more interesting and rewarding employment, and see places that no bus ever reaches, and this very idea is constantly being punished.

    But nothing about the success of the electric vehicle market today suggests dominance is inevitable. Battery technology is going nowhere fast; Tesla even moved back a generation recently.

    No battery-powered freight fleet will ever be as competitive as one where trucks are powered by the internal combustion engine. Modern supply chains require fast turnaround times, and no operator can afford to keep a truck parked all day. And I suspect the replacement for petrol engines for today’s will be better petrol engines, only with new juice.

    Next-generation synthetic fuels – not to be confused with today’s biofuels – that can drop into our existing infrastructure are already being produced in small batches, and are effectively carbon neutral. That’s something to ponder as more of your taxes go on building an EV infrastructure that only a minority of drivers may ever use.

    We’re living through strange times when superior technologies are outlawed. The requirement for the religious pre-approval of innovation represents a historic shift, and a return to medieval, pre-Enlightenment thinking.

    Once we could choose what worked best for us, and now we’re not allowed to, we’re required to change to compensate for the product’s deficiencies. The food’s awful – but you will have to eat it.

  13. Headline in the DT:

    BT halts removal of landline phones after vulnerable unable to call 999

    Telecoms giant says sorry and that it ‘underestimated disruptive impact’ of controversial policy

    * * *

    Well, they have finally seen sense, but it looks as though it is just a postponement for a few months while they find a solution to the loss of service during a power cut.

    1. Power cuts won’t matter. We won’t have the energy either way. Moving to a purely fibre optic network is sensible and necessary.

    1. The 1955 film, The Night of the Hunter, starring Robert Mitchum is a terrifying film.

      Mark Stein’s account on GB News last night of what the Biden family and other American political families got up to in Ukraine was even more terrifying and could lead to the end of everything.

      1. It’s terrifying that this senile, corrupt old man is nominally in charge of the ‘free world’.

  16. SIR – Twelve months ago we had planning permission refused on our pub for eight motel rooms. The reason given was that an old garage would need pulling down, and although a bat expert had visited and found no sign of bat poo or other evidence of their presence, they might visit in the future.

    We appealed against the decision, pointing out that bats had not been there for the past 40 years. Twelve months later the planning inspector visited the site, again finding no evidence of bat presence. He still decided to refuse our appeal as there were some entry points through which bats may visit in the future.

    Reg Hunt
    Terling, Essex

    Bonkers!

    1. Yet other people readily get permission to demolish listed buildings. The whole planning system is corrupt and dishonest.

      1. Money does not talk. It whispers in ears. It travels discreetly in brown envelopes and in funding to relatives.

    3. Perhaps if he filled in all the holes the bats might get through he might get his planning permission through.
      The bloody idiots that make these decisions are, no doubt, unemployable elsewhere.

    4. Why doesn’t he just get someone with a JCB to ‘accidentally’ drive into it thus demolishing it?

  17. Dear NoTTLers

    Our friend Izzy/Issy died peacefully yesterday afternoon, with his devoted carer, Katrina, at his side.

    He suffered from MND for many years, and being here on NoTTL was the source of a great deal of pleasure, and meant a lot to him. I was lucky enough to be able to pass on your affection, good wishes and prayers to him in person last weekend. We will miss his kindness, gentleness and unfailing good humour. Rest in peace, dear friend.

    3. I saw this comment as I scrolled down, and although it was expected I still felt a sense of loss and sorrow. May he rest in peace.

    4. Oh…I’m so sorry to hear that. I didn’t realise his death was so imminent. He was a gentle soul and will be much missed.
      Thanks HL for keeping in touch with him for us.

    6. So sad to hear of the death of one of our NoTTLer family. I can only hope his passing was peaceful and he rests in peace.

      1. What very sad news.

        MND is a bugger. Nick, one of the two young men who spent a year with me aboard Raua when we sailed to the Caribbean and back in 1984/85 is a doctor now aged 64 and he is in a wheel chair with MND. He has three sons and a loving, loyal wife to support him.

    8. I’m so sorry to hear that; my sympathies on the loss of your friend. Glad it was peaceful.

    10. I don’t know what to say, I’m so sorry. There are no words. RIP Izzy. God bless.

      1. Like you Pip, I do not know what to say. It has always seemed to me that there are no words in the face of death, just silence.

    13. We are in the nature of things a diminishing band, but I’m sorry to hear that we have lost a friend. Rest in Peace Izzy!

    14. Not only was IssyAgain a stalwart contributor to this forum, he was one of the most friendly and mild-mannered of NoTTLers. He would engage in discussion and was knowledgeable on many topics but there was never any edge to him.

      Engaging with Issy was invariably a delight. I shall miss him. A lot.

    16. I didn’t realise for a long time that he was ill at all. One notable aspect of internet connection is that you communicate directly with other people, when they want to communicate and without the normal distractions of seeing their visible attributes. So I only knew Issy as being good company, and a mind worth cultivating. I will miss him. Rest in Peace.

    17. I’m so sorry to read the sad news. Thank you Hertslass, for keeping us informed, and condolences to you and the family on the loss of a good friend and gentle man.

    18. I didn’t expect this news so quickly and had hoped we might have this gentle soul around for longer.
      My sympathy to all his friends and family; RIP Issy.

    23. He was one of the kindest blokes I never met, even offering help to Mother, a relative of a stranger he never met. A measure of the man. I planned to buy him beers this summer when we visit Wales. Too late now. The world is poorer for his passing

      1. There is an old saying: Those whom the gods love die early.

        If that is indeed the case, I will be posting here until I’m 107 😉

        Issy will be missed by us all.

  18. Dear NoTTLers

    Our friend Izzy/Issy died peacefully yesterday afternoon, with his devoted carer, Katrina, at his side.

    He suffered from MND for many years, and being here on NoTTL was the source of a great deal of pleasure, and meant a lot to him. I was lucky enough to be able to pass on your affection, good wishes and prayers to him in person last weekend. We will miss his kindness, gentleness and unfailing good humour. Rest in peace, dear friend.

  19. ‘Morning again.

    Charles Moore’s column today covers three topics, but one of them is about the punch-up at the Oscars. It is difficult to think of a more irrelevant subject so I have ignored it:

    It would be an error for the royals to complain or explain

    Explaining is highly dangerous because it drags the explainer into further controversy

    CHARLES MOORE
    29 March 2022 • 6:00am

    The Duke of Cambridge is reported to believe that the Queen’s mantra of “Never complain, never explain” should become a thing of the past. I wish the sources saying this on behalf of Prince William at this particular moment would, well, explain.

    The Duke and Duchess have just returned from a Platinum Jubilee visit to the West Indies. They were, in fact, warmly received by thousands. But today’s problem is that social media, conniving with mainstream media, can quickly create a story out of minority discontents. This was duly done.

    Today, the Royal family will gather for the memorial service of the Duke of Edinburgh. It should be a good occasion to recall that complaining in public is not a good look for a constitutional monarch, and that explaining is highly dangerous because it drags the explainer into further controversy. The Queen, as did her late husband, understands this, preferring stoicism to loquacity.

    Prince William’s thoughts, as conveyed, seemed to confuse disparate subjects. The question of whether some realms become republics is quite distinct from that of whether, following his father, the Duke will one day become head of the Commonwealth (which chiefly consists of republics). Whether he should say more in public about the things which bother him is another matter again.

    People discuss the Royal family too much and the monarchy too little. The point of the system is to furnish a unifying, uncontroversial, respected head of state for whichever country wishes to retain such an arrangement. The British monarchy does this well, which is why the Queen is head of state of 15 times more countries than any other monarch on earth.

    It won’t help if the heir to the heir, probably many years from his accession, starts complaining about or explaining this complicated but essentially benevolent state of affairs.

    Time to stop grandstanding

    Sonita Alleyne, Master of Jesus College, Cambridge, is angry. Last week’s judgment in an ecclesiastical court refused the college’s petition to remove the listed memorial to its munificent 17th-century benefactor, Tobias Rustat, from its chapel. The college claimed his links to the slave trade made his monument (which has been in the chapel for 330 years) an obstacle to Christian worship. The judge, whose job was to adjudicate on heritage issues, rejected this argument, and upheld the value of Grinling Gibbons’s work of art.

    Speaking to The Guardian, Ms Alleyne said, “It’s a church which is saying to black people: you’ve got to put up and shut up and pray under a memorial to a slave trader. It’s very, very disappointing. How could they get to that decision?” She continued, “This is people not in the community now making judgments over what the community is about now and what young people are about now.”

    Ms Alleyne’s reaction brings out a problem bedevilling her college’s behaviour – a sense of its moral superiority so all-consuming that it has failed to act with professional care.

    The reason those the Master calls “people not in the community” are making judgments is that the college asked them to. It chose some years ago to keep its chapel under ecclesiastical jurisdiction, which includes heritage decisions. The judge acted because the college petitioned his court. No college can expect a judge automatically to give it what it wants: his task is to apply the law. He did so.

    So the people currently in charge of Jesus College have a choice. They can either appeal, thereby risking even larger sums of their charitable money to legal fees and prolonging a divisive controversy, or they can accept the court’s decision.

    They would be better advised to do the latter. The judge showed that the college authorities had given their own students a “false narrative” about Rustat and his money. So the Master cannot credibly speak about “what young people are about”. Time, surely, to stop grandstanding, and engage in some serious self-examination.

    1. Morning HJ, let me just make one comment on the subject you ignored, if some t**t stood on a stage and made fun at my wife’s medical condition I would have walked up and smacked the t**t straight in the mouth!

      1. Aaaand, that’s how wars start.

        WS should have shown more dignity. His action has drawn far more attention to his wife’s alopecia, which, let’s face it, 99% of non-Hollywood wouldn’t have known or cared about. I don’t know whether men resort to violence to impress women but if they do they should learn that it doesn’t.

        1. Rock had been drawing attention to her condition for quite some time and deserved what he got.
          And for your information, I would have smacked him and it would have nothing to do with trying to impress anyone, male or female.

  20. 351693 + up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Tuesday 29 March: If Putin is to be tried for war crimes, of course he can’t remain in power

    Surely we must steer clear of world politics / wars etc,etc, until such times as our own treacherous political shite is taken to task.

    Why are these politico’s with houses in number NOT
    stepping to the front in say, taken indigenous veterans of the streets and supplying a bedroom instead of a cell, earned in service protecting the United Kingdom.

    If Putin is guilty what right has the United Kingdom politico’s in calling him out while ALL the time harbouring the likes of anthony charlie, lynton AKA the bog man.

    Even the village idiots association agree we, the decent peoples of these Isles, are at the mercy of the lab/lib/con coalition AKA in my book murder inc. majority supporter / voter, with NO credible opposition
    seemingly needed.

    1. This trial for war crimes is just another globalist weapon nowadays, to be used against any national leader who challenges them. There is no international court, it is a farce.

  21. Good morning my friends

    As a long-term supporter of the RNLI I have just received a copy of the RNLI Spring magazine which gives accounts of the heroic rescues done by the organisation in recent months and years.

    It is strange, considering the vast amount of resources poured into providing illegal immigrants with a ferry service into England, that the RNLI does not write about these activities and does not discuss why they do it.

    Perhaps the RNLI feels that such articles would not encourage its regular supporters to continue with their support?

    1. Good morning Rastus.
      My late father was a supporter of the RNLI. If he were still alive, his words on their current behaviour would be unprintable.

    2. I’m afraid that my respect and support for the management of the RNLI was destroyed following the appalling sacking of the Whitby volunteers over a girly mug in the rest room , even now 4 years later if the very thought of it makes me very very angry.

    4. As one who has done coastal sailing around the UK in the past I always gave regular donations to the RNLI.
      With a heavy heart I feel unable to continue to support them in view of their present activities.

  22. Seems this is why we haven’t heard from Maggie (True-Belle) for a while.

    Message on Ar5ebook from her:

    Mags Snook
    17 h ·
    I really appreciated all my birthday messages yesterday, thank you ALL❤ so much for being so kind for posting.
    This new F/B system didn’t navigate me properly to my messages, I was delighted to see how many of you had wished me Happy Birthday when I had managed to untangle the muddle.
    Probably similar to many of you , Covid knocked us for 6 recently . We got off lightly , thank goodness for the triple vax.
    Can’t smell or taste anything and have a hacking cough as the lasting result , hope things will get back to normal soon .
    I loved your Birthday messages .
    Love to you all
    Maggie ❤❤❤😍

    1. She replied yesterday to my email – I think they were more ill than she implies on Fb.
      She seems not to realise that the booster has made them more susceptible to this infection.

      1. Caroline and I wish Maggie all the best – she is a bright and warm member of our Nottlers’ forum and we want her back as soon as possible.

        Caroline and I have recently had Covid very mildly and we say thank God for Vitamin D, Vitamin C, zinc and the fact that we have not been injected with gene therapy.

          1. And I have not seen one person administering the jabs who has done the ‘draw back’ to make sure that they are indeed in the muscle and not in a blood vessel or capillary. If the injection did not go into the muscle, then those spike proteins can do havoc all over the body eg in the brain, in the ovaries, in the heart etc.

      3. As I understand, our immune systems can decline as part of the aging process. These mRNA jabs might just accelerate the process. There is now talk of 6-monthly boosters being planned for older and vulnerable people; think of the savings to be made on state pensions and health care……

        1. Natural decline is to be expected as frailty increases. But the figures from the UKHSA indicate that the triple-jabbed of all ages are more susceptible.

        2. As we age many/most of our systems decline but…

          …a study has shown that immunity can be long lived. A group of people who survived the Spanish Influenza pandemic back in the 1920s donated blood for an experiment. The blood was infected with a close variant of the Spanish bug and the relevant immune cells came to life 90 years later. Compare that to the now admitted short life of the “vaccine” immunity that not so long ago was being touted as superior to the innate and accrued natural immunity of the human body. Charlatans everywhere in authority and good people disgraced, ridiculed etc. for telling the scientific truth.

        3. Johnson said he was going to sort out the social care problem as soon as he became PM. I don’t think that any of us in our wildest dreams thought he would be sorting it out like this.

      4. I concur with the appreciation in your last sentence. However, the government, to their shame as they MUST know the facts, remain pushing this vile concoction via advertising and having the MSM in their thrall.
        Latest figures from the USA, as reported on last Thursday’s Highwire programme, indicated that the message that the jab can have severe side-effects is reaching the citizens as booster take-up has been low compared to the earlier programmes. The dangers from this therapy i.e. natural immunity being severely compromised along with a host of possible severe side-effects are being, at best ignored or at worst being denied, by the people promoting it. Informed consent cannot be given if all the downsides are not made public.

        My best wishes are that Belle and her OH both recover fully and that she is back posting here soon.

          1. I receive much of my data from very active web-sites based in the USA. These sites interview the top independent doctors, pathologists, scientists etc. and the consensus is that heart problems, especially myocarditis in young males, has increased in the cohort since inoculation. In addition, over 500 athletes/sporting people have died from heart problems since inoculation was commenced. Morticians are finding very large and very strange blood clots, some the length of major veins, in cadavers. Clots so large in fact, that the embalming fluid is unable to flow around the body. Something is most definitely happening!

          4. It is possible that the clots are due to poor injection technique by the practitioner. Aspiration is the keyword.

          5. I believe that the inoculation is designed to be intramuscular and not directly applied into the bloodstream and the ‘designers’ claimed that the serum remained in the muscle. Aspiration, as far as I’m aware, would indicate that the needle has entered a blood vessel and the jab should not proceed at that point. However, it’s now known that the serum does not remain in the muscle but flows around the body. Video from Dr Bhakdi worth viewing.

          6. Nadhim Zahawi has said he wants to see a defibrillator in every school. They know.

          7. I hope that isn’t the reason.
            They make sense anyway, we got one for the junior sports club many years ago.

        3. After my first AZ jab, I had the sort of long lasting and hacking cough I’d not had since I was a child.
          I exiled myself to the spare bedroom for several nights.
          It was an extra worry as MB had only just been discharged from hospital after his incident.

    3. Similar stupidity: Greatest Hits Radio has been broadcasting adverts for the 12 – 15 yo cohort to have their second jab, which it is now admitted is causing the heart problem myocarditis, mainly in young males. Later on the station broadcasts an advert advising on heart attack symptoms: whenever did radio stations do that previously? Nothing to see here as coincidences rule with any link to the “vaccine”.

  25. Governments can not run anythig. Look at these answers to John Redwoods writen questions.

    The Department of Health and Social Care has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (119388):

    Question :To
    ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he
    has made of how many additional health professionals he needs to
    recruit to NHS England in 2022-23. (119388)

    Tabled on: 07 February 2022

    Answer:
    Edward Argar:

    The
    Department has made no specific estimate. In July 2021, the Department
    commissioned Health Education England to work with partners to review
    long term strategic trends for the health workforce and regulated
    professionals in the social care workforce. The Department has also
    recently commissioned NHS England to develop a workforce strategy which
    will set out its conclusions in due course.

    The answer was submitted on 22 Mar 2022 at 11:16.

    This
    is a strange reply. How can the NHS have put in a large demand for
    extra cash when it has no idea how many extra people it needs or
    wants? Wages and employment costs are its main item of spending.

    How
    can it claim to have a serious working plan to get the waiting lists
    down if it is not recruiting a decent number of doctors, nurses and
    other medical professionals to carry out the operations and treatments
    needed?

    What do the senior managers administrators do that
    prevents them from knowing how many staff they need? What signal does it
    send to medical schools and potential students that the near monopoly
    employer still does not have a plan to recruit more staff?

    The Department of Health and Social Care has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (119392):

    Question:

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what forecast
    he has made for the likely increase in staff costs for 2022-23 for NHS
    England. (119392)

    Tabled on: 07 February 2022

    Answer:
    Edward Argar:

    A
    forecast has not yet been made. The Government is seeking pay
    recommendations from the independent Pay Review Bodies (PRBs) for most
    public sector workers not in multi-year pay and contract reform deals.
    Remit letters were issued to the PRBs in November 2021. As the PRBs are
    independent, the Government cannot pre-empt the recommendations, which
    we expect to receive in May 2022.

    The answer was submitted on 22 Mar 2022 at 16:18.

    This
    reply confirms that the NHS had not forecast the detailed spending
    needed to get waiting lists down when it was agreed to impose a tax and
    send that cash to the NHS. I find this surprising. Surely NHS managers
    need to know staff numbers and staff costs before submitting a bid for
    more money for waiting lists?

    2. Typical Government bluster and BS that not only doesn’t answer the question but gives spurious info’.

    4. They need the extra millions just to employ more managers and admin (and the associated extra offices). More diversity officers will also be needed to ensure the extra doctors and nurses are recruited from ‘effnic minority’, lgbtqxyz and ‘disadvantaged’ backgrounds, regardless of ability or suitability.

    5. Obviously they will have to employ a lot of diverse experts to perform these calculations, it’s only logical.

  26. Yo All

    I have come to a conclusion, UK/GB is not a safe and sane place for White(ish),* English Speaking, Heterosexual people with Olde English value to live
    This to include those people of colour, who have arrived here legally and adopted, in gemeral our ethics and way of life.

    With this in mind and since all laws, guidelines etc put out WEF Johnsonand Co are geared in favour of
    LGBTRTers, BLMer, Illegal Immigrants, Islam, Child Groomers, Re-writers of History ie Wokists

    If the impending war with Russia happens, those being sent to fight should come totally from the above groups
    I would certainly not put my life on the line to save UK, in the state that it is in.

    1. Yo, Mr Effort.
      All today’s news outlets have a story about a murder trial involving a Tewkesbury man, called Matthew Boorman, who was stabbed to death 27 times in a frenzy by his neighbour, named as “Can Arslan”. Do you know, there is not a single photograph of “Can Arslan” … anywhere … nor is there any description of his race or nationality. So much for balanced reporting.

      1. Yo Mr Grizzle

        Stabbing him to death 27 times was a little excessive
        If he had done it 9 or 10 times, the system would have said ‘accidental

        1. According to the reports, he stabbed him many more times than 27. Those 27 stabs were the “serious” ones that caused his death.

      2. But not his fault. He had mental health problems, was a victim of racial discrimination and he was from a disadvantaged background. He was a loving son and always kind to his nan.

        1. According to one report I read they have ruled out mental health problems, unusually.
          Although how anyone who stabs a neighbour 27 times can be other than crazy is beyond my ken.

          1. It would be also be useful to know what sort of person the victim was, maybe there was provocation, not that that excuses such violence.

          3. And the murdered man was not the only victim of this evil creature. He was already known to the police who, as usual, did nothing about the serious complaints previously received.
            I’d put money on him being a fake asylum seeker. He might now be jailed for a few years then, on release, be given indefinite leave to remain when he lies that his life is in danger ‘back home’.

        1. To be specific it is Turkish. So it is almost 100% likely that he is a Muslim.

    2. Type into your computer…..
      Too Many White Christian Faces in Britain…..D.Cameron…..
      That will show what they think of us….

    4. Somewhere I still have my declaration of being unfit after my medical at Biggin Hill. If they come after me, I’ll have to present it.

      1. I had a ‘ War Wound ” pay -off for loss of hearing cus of working with Jet Engines for 25 years

  27. Great comment from Richard Littlejohn in the DM:

    Former Equalities minister Maria Miller complains that she has been ‘cyber-flashed’ by a man on a train who sent her a photo of his penis via mobile phone.

    As Miller is someone who long campaigned for people to be able to self-identify their gender, how can she be sure that this wasn’t a woman sending a picture of ‘her’ penis?

    1. How do you tell the difference between a male penis and a female penis? This sounds like a riddle – has anyone got an answer to suggest?

      5. Did you know that female hyenas have a pseudopenis?
        It is also the birth canal which must make giving birth a painful affair for them.

        1. Yes, and they look very odd. Did you know that snakes and lizards (the males at least) each have two willies?

    1. I remember Shirley Williams saying that we would only get better MPs if we paid them more.

      With their lavish expense accounts added to their salaries many of them now earn very substantially more than they would in other jobs.

      But has the quality improved one jot?

      1. While I normally admire your erudition, is “earn” actually the correct verb here?

        1. In many cases, it is probably no more appropriate than benefit scroungers speaking of being ‘paid’.

    2. Do you think that people are more likely to and/or less fearful of striking a policeman than they were 50 years ago?
      I get the impression that the police are far more likely to be assaulted and that the courts are far more tolerant than they were.

      1. People like us were brought up to respect the police and other people.
        Nowadays they seem to be brought up to carry knives as a matter of course, and have no respect for anyone.

        1. I think so, but I’m also aware that I had a relatively sheltered upbringing.
          I recall being shocked by things like the punch ups on picket lines and the savage murder of PC Blakelock.
          I worked as a nursing auxiliary in a psychiatric unit and some of the teenagers boasted of setting fire to policemen, but stabbings and car attacks were headline news because they were so rare.

    3. I feel that the problem is probably related to the type of Dopey Wokey education our youngsters are dish up with these days H&S hoomun riaghts and too much box ticking.

      1. Kids don’t understand violence these days. One extreme is the ones who run away; the other is the ones who apply it without understanding when it’s appropriate.
        In other words, snowflakes will make more wimpish and more brutal police officers.

  29. Just seen Hertslass’s posting. I am so sorry; Issy never gave any clue as to the seriousness of his condition.
    What a brave man. R.I.P.

    1. His last posting was two weeks ago – he was always ready to say Good morning and thankyou to Geoff. We did get some inkling of his difficulties when his mother died some time ago, but he never did make a meal of it. He’ll be much missed here.

  31. Good morning, all. Late on parade. Not well. BP. Hope to see a GP this year. Will be away for a bit. Play nicely.

    I did watch the Falklands Prog. What a shambles – the reality was far from what we were told at the time.

    6. You’re skinny and take exercise! If you’ve got BP problems, there’s no hope for the rest of us!

      1. Poppiesdad is also skinny and he has blood pressure problems. It seems to be a problem not confined to the overweight or even those of moderate weight. He also takes exercise, we take the dog for a walk every day, sometimes twice. He has just taken out out our old bath and put in a new one in the last few weeks, by himself. In that time he has deconstructed and reconstructed a 6 ft fence which ran across the bottom of the garden. He will be 81 in June.

    7. Be well soon Bill and check in once in a while so we know how you are doing.

      1. 6 weeks ago i asked my GP to book me an appointment for a steroid injection in my left knee all the ground work has been carried out 2 years ago with the department and i have had one previous injection. Yesterday i had to go into my surgery and ask the receptionist to book me in for a local a blood tests i also have to have an annual BT for chromium titanium hip resurfacing. Both not done fore 2 years. But although many times previously i have been able to have the results sent by post the 5 miles or so to the east. There is a problem, you might think that whilst the phlebotomists were taking one sample they might also take both. But because one was issued by East Herts Trust and the other by West Herts trust they don’t seem to confer with each other. And the second result will not be sent on. How stupid is that ? And i also find out that my GP has not bothered over the past 6 weeks to write to the orthopaedic department where i can get a knee jab. One might ask WTF has he been doing behind his closed doors.

        1. I had a call from my Haematologist. He said i needed a face to face appointment with my GP for a sitting and standing BP test and to have my BP medication reviewed. The previous week my GP had sent me to Hospital with a suspected heart attack.

          After finally getting through to the Practice and describing the situation the Receptionist decided a Care assistant appointment was all that was required and made an appointment for the 28th March. She then asked me if i was on BP meds and when i said yes she said the care assistant wasn’t qualified to carry out the procedure. All this took over an hour. No wonder the queues are so long.

          She finally made an appointment for April 6th with a nurse.

          I read an article recently in the mail saying what receptionists actually do. she said though not qualified medically they were operating a triage system. Make of that what you will.

          I also read an article in the Portsmouth News about Sovereign Health who operate three practices including mine with 40,000 patients. It was quite clear from that article and the subsequent angry public meeting that profit comes before patients. Otherwise they would employ more staff.

          My MP the Rt Hon Suella Braverman was at that public meeting so i emailed her office and gave her a collection of my Nottle posts describing the chaotic service i have had and am still having.

          So far i have received a response asking for more information.

          I wish you luck Eddy.

        2. I had a call from my Haematologist. He said i needed a face to face appointment with my GP for a sitting and standing BP test and to have my BP medication reviewed. The previous week my GP had sent me to Hospital with a suspected heart attack.

          After finally getting through to the Practice and describing the situation the Receptionist decided a Care assistant appointment was all that was required and made an appointment for the 28th March. She then asked me if i was on BP meds and when i said yes she said the care assistant wasn’t qualified to carry out the procedure. All this took over an hour. No wonder the queues are so long.

          She finally made an appointment for April 6th with a nurse.

          I read an article recently in the mail saying what receptionists actually do. she said though not qualified medically they were operating a triage system. Make of that what you will.

          I also read an article in the Portsmouth News about Sovereign Health who operate three practices including mine with 40,000 patients. It was quite clear from that article and the subsequent angry public meeting that profit comes before patients. Otherwise they would employ more staff.

          My MP the Rt Hon Suella Braverman was at that public meeting so i emailed her office and gave her a collection of my Nottle posts describing the chaotic service i have had and am still having.

          So far i have received a response asking for more information.

          I wish you luck Eddy.

          1. Thanks Phizz.
            I was angry a couple of weeks ago, i had a letter saying i had cancelled my appointment which was totally untrue. I emailed my MP but had to withdraw my complaint as i went and sorted it all out at the reception desk my self. They had a letter that had not been sent.
            He did actually reply and was quite polite. Which means the administration problems were brought to his attention.

          2. I noticed in my records that i had cancelled an appointment. One to which i had also never received a letter. I think they do it to keep their stats looking healthy. Unlike their patients.

          3. In the past three days i have had three text messages telling me that i have an appointment in the morning.
            I think there might have been a bit of backside kicking going on.

          4. A’ternoon Phizz.
            You turned German or something? What’s with all the capitals on yer nouns?

          6. You might also like, Philip, to include a capital ‘I’ when referring to the first person singular.

          7. I only did that to trigger Peddy when he was here. It got to be a habit. Besides, i think it looks prettier.

          8. Not pretty, Philip, and not ugly – just something in between; shall we say sort of pretty ugly.

        3. I had been scheduled for a blood test at the surgery on 4-4 and an ECG on 12-4. I called yesterday and asked if the appointments could be on the same day. Explained that I did not have a car and wasn’t always up to the bus. She then came back and said she could get me a blood test on 12-4 at 9.30; my ECG is 4.25. I asked what I was supposed to do in the intervening hours. She said she would see if there was a blood appointment at another facility which I have never heard of although the area she mentioned is miles from the surgery. Again, the suggested appointment was in the morning.
          Holding onto my patience, I reiterated that I did not have a car and how was I supposed to get from one place to another.
          All the blood tests have to be in the morning she bleated, so they can get off to the hospital. BS as the one originally given was for 3.10.
          Sod it, I have cancelled the blood test, will go for ECG only. If they’re so worried about my blood, and I’m sure it could be bottled and given a vintage, then they can do it at the hospital next time I’m there…..if indeed I go back!

          1. One of the blood tests OH had last year was done at the hospital after seeing the consultant – the phlebotomist had alsready gone home, but the nurse on duty was quite happy to do it at no notice at all.

          2. I sympathise totally, as i have said many times i am of the opinion that the government are gradually making it more and more difficult for people to access the NHS it’s part of the plan to force people to take out private medical insurance.
            There is a small hospital 10 minutes drive away that could carry out all the tasks i have mentioned and including an ECG which i have to take a half hour drive to keep the appointment for Thursday this week.
            My neighbour who is a GP receptionists told me yesterday they have a staff shortage and can’t fill the gaps with qualified people, including more Doctors.

          3. It’s impossible to recruit anyone ATM, inc nurses and admin.
            I have advertised a couple of posts over the past few months, full/part time, perm/temp, but get no applications. The HR team told me there was a candidate I had to interview and prioritise as his previous post has been disestablished. It said he met all the requirements advertised and that I had to offer the job to him. Then they went on to say he was part time and would work only Saturdays and Sundays!
            No good for us, then.

          4. Perhaps our ‘powers that be’ had already recognised forth coming problems and allowed more of the rubber boats to arrive. I have just had a phone call from Congleton in Cheshire but I could hardly understand the woman was saying because she had such a strong and unusual accent. When i asked her where she was calling from she told me north London ??? She asked me what sort of mobile phone i had, i thought it was a tad scammy.

          5. Ann, if you are in the Mid-Suffolk area, both Judy (Best Beloved) and I have to regularly attend Ipswich Hospital or Bildeston Health Centre and we could easily give you a lift.

          6. How kind of you but I am on the south coast. We usually cope quite well and local cab company is super but it mounts up cost wise. We are looking into volunteer services which might be useful.
            My thanks for your kind offer.

        4. Lucky you even having the chance of a steroid jab in your knee. I need one in my SIJ (sacro-iliac joint). Not unless I’m prepared to cough up two grand per injection (two per year).

          1. They are going to need a long needle for that one Conners.
            I think i might have mentioned this before, have you tried laying on your back and making the figure 4 with one leg/side at a time and letting your folded knee settle as low as possibly it stretches the joints. I’ve have a similar problem and it help enormously.
            I have always responded well to steroid jabs I had tennis elbow about 25 years a go and that fixed it. I also had 3 either side of my lower spine 2006.
            It saved me an invasive operation.

          2. The previous two occasions I’ve had a jab, it’s helped enormously, but they’re not funding it in Shropshire. The problem with that exercise is that I have arthritis in my knees and they don’t bend very well. I’m a bit of a crock, really. Riding helps. I’m much less lame when I get off than before I crawl on 🙂

    9. Get well soon Bill, best wishes from Alf and me. (He’s chairing the bowls committee meeting – Lucky him)! May not be back til this evening 😂😂😂

    10. Bill your GP should be able to prescribe the necessary over the phone.
      Take it easy.

    11. The spell of coolth is going to be quite short, and then it will be back to the glorious English spring. Keep your pecker up lad.

    13. Good luck and do get better soon.

      I had high blood pressure (BP) but since my stroke ten years ago it has been well under control. However I hope I am clear of Bi-Polar,

    14. Do look after yourself, Uncle Bill. Not that MR will tolerate anything else. Set her on to your GP.

  33. Morning all.
    It’s so sad to hear about the passing of Issy, from his last posting it didn’t seem he was so close to the end of his life.
    It’s also a bit of a shame we didn’t get to meet him in person, as i feel with so many other nottlers.
    Rest In Peace Old fella 😌

  34. just an attempt to lighten things up a tad from my buddy Steve in WA.

    Polish Divorce

    A Polish man moved to the USA and married an American girl.
    Although his English was far from perfect, they got along very well until one day he rushed into a lawyer’s office and asked him if he could arrange a divorce for him.
    The lawyer said that getting a divorce would depend on the circumstances, and asked him the following questions:

    L: Have you any grounds?

    P: Yes, an acre and half and nice little home.
    L: No, I mean what is the foundation of this case?

    P: It made of concrete.
    L: I don’t think you understand. Does either of you have a real grudge?

    P: No, we have carport, and not need one.
    L: I mean. What are your relations like?

    P: All my relations still in Poland.
    L: Is there any infidelity in your marriage?

    P: We have hi-fidelity stereo and good DVD player.
    L: Does your wife beat you up?

    P: No, I always up before her.
    L: Is your wife a nagger?

    P: No, she white.
    L: Why do you want this divorce?

    P: She going to kill me.
    L: What makes you think that?

    P: I got proof.
    L: What kind of proof?

    P: She going to poison me. She buy two bottles at drugstore and put on shelf in bathroom I can read. One says Nail Polish and the other says: Polish Remover”.

    I wonder if she left a note for the cleaner re the kitchen floor…. don’t forget polish it behind the door.

  35. 1. MSM narrative (from BBC to Telegraph): Russian advance stalled, large Russian losses, Putin on brink, hero Zelensky has whip-hand in negotiations, Putin desperate for way out

    2. Reality: Cream of Ukrainian army almost crushed in East Ukraine with tens of 1000s of Azov soldiers killed … ammo low, fuel gone, but Zelensky and whole absentee “government” of Ukraine and Biden family showing no reluctance in sacrificing entire Ukrainian young male population … Operation Ukrainian suicide

  36. I bookmarked this programme a few days ago and finally got around to watching it last night. I wonder if the island arsonists in the news at the weekend had been inspired by it. It’s interesting enough, if a bit too long, but is sometimes spoilt by its irritating art school production. Some younger viewers (not Nottlanders, obvs) might be puzzled, even alarmed, by the sight of policemen dressed as policemen. And I don’t remember Willie McRae at all. Brief research shows he might well have been ‘offed’ by MI5.

    However, for all their smuggery and exaggerated, knowing smiles, the sympathetic interviewees had a point. Gruinard was a dirty business.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b93f5334170296f2d9f523f92d5dc120747be252712631100a70918f110d8493.jpg

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m00151xw/the-mystery-of-anthrax-island

          2. Good afternoon, G – I hope you are well and it seems your internet is working………

    2. Fines are no punishment for lawmakers who break the laws they make.

      Custodial sentences and barring from public office are more appropriate. These are serious misdemeanours.

    1. So, Mr Gove, you’re going to teach those Muslims to play nicely, leave little girls alone and be more tolerant and less discriminatory to their indigenous hosts?

      No, thought not.

        1. There’s too much filth and depravity to sweep under the thickest rug, it’ll have to be a flying carpet.

    2. Anti muslim hatred? What about getting them to stop wanting to blow us up, knife us and forcibly change this country?

        1. It’s fine that such is their culture as long as they practise it in other muslim countries, not here.

    3. If I were Gove I would be more worried about the hatred directed towards him.

    1. And are we surprised? I for one am not. IMO the weather/climate is affected by the sun and solar flares.

  40. A chap has just arrived with a couple of parcels for us which, we worked out, were coffee mugs given to us as a promotional gift from GB News. He asked us for €18 which we refused to pay and so we gave him the parcels back so presumably they will be used and enjoyed by a couple of humble fontionnaires who work for the French fiscal system.

    This of course is all part of the Let’s Punish the Brits for Brexit campaign on which Macron is so keen but it is not just British goods and it seems completely arbitrary as the tax they want has no relation to the goods’ value. We tried to buy some goods from the US recently but were told that many small traders are not prepared to deal with the French any more because it is not worth the hassle.

    When we first arrived in France we ordered a box of floppy disks in 1990 from a UK company as the cost of these in the UK was several times cheaper than they would have cost us in France. After ten weeks the floppies had still not arrived and when we complained the English company immediately sent us another parcel which arrived at the same time as the original parcel which had sat in a storing place in a remote French customs office all this time. Our English suppliers said that was the last time they would try to trade with France.

    George W. Bush was on the money when he said: “The trouble with the French is that they don’t have a word for entrepreneur. In fact the French may have invented the word but they don’t have the remotest idea what it means.

    1. I stopped buying anything from the USA because the VAT charged on a T shirt was more than the item cost to buy.

    2. The French seem a weird bunch. Desperate to be awkward, annoying, officious, hard to trade with, bureaucratic, inefficient yet their economy has not completely collapsed. Why not?

      2. They work hard, and do a job thoroughly. I do not trust French design though, it is usually impractical in my experience.

        1. Do they? Perhaps my only experience of them was truly shoddy switches. That said, Cisco kit these days is pretty duff as well.

          1. it’s the design. In software, everything they do is different from how everyone else does it.
            Admittedly it was a Belgian company, but I was once in a meeting where a developer was told they needed to implement a new feature and uttered the words “but that won’t fit in our state machine.”
            Long pause from the English and German teams….

      3. I have been convinced that the French economy was about to collapse for the last 30 years and yet astonishingly it hasn’t.

          1. In my experience, 20% of Italians do 80% of the work, and the other 80% are slackers and do the remaining 20%.
            The ones who do all the work are first rate, and that’s what keeps their economy going, I reckon.

          2. We had an out of work Italian customer when I was at the JobCentre – healthy, youngish and the biggest moaning minnie you could ever wish to meet.

          3. When folk complain over here they get the job of fixing the problem. Makes life a lot easier when people aren’t trapped in a system that doesn’t work for them.

            Don’t like it? Understand it, improve it. Call me weird, but I haven’t got time for people to fill in change requests and forms. The only person to get it past is the Overlord – or the company secretary who runs the place.

      4. Although it may be relatively high tax (oddly enough we pay less here than we would in the UK, because I get my wife’s allowances) they do tend to use a lot of the money on low end jobs, street cleaning, ditch and drain cleaning, road repairs etc etc which is better than paying people benefits not to work.
        These people then use the local economy for food and services, paying taxes back. We have regular markets from town level down to even small hamlets.
        It may be a cliché but the French really do work to live not live to work.

        1. Fair dues, I wish we spent more of our taxes on services rather than quangocrats.

          That’s 90% of the problem the UK has – the waste is so endemic the state has forgotten that it is there to serve.

    3. It’s not just France. My friend in GA ordered a small umbrella ages ago and it hadn’t arrived. She contacted the company to be told it was in a facility in Kennesaw GA, which is nowhere near her. The customer service lady checked and was able to report that the umbrella had got new tracking info and was now en route to Florida!
      A new umbrella has been sent.

    4. 40(?) years ago, all imported video players were shipped into France via a port that was the equivalent of Wivenhoe.

      1. The French also developed the ‘SCART’ socket and associated cable for use on TV/VCR products made in France. This was done as a means of keeping imported products out of their domestic market. It backfired on them when SCART was adopted by the Japanese and became a global standard!

        1. The things I learn on NOTTL. I never did get to grips with the Scart; in fact, other than discovering it was yet another a bit of wire, I never have.

      2. Poitiers. the French were trying to protect their videorecorder industry, mainly a company called Thomson. Now rebranded and reformed as Technicolor.

      1. The French were always very loyal to their home grown cars, less so now, but still by far and away the most frequently seen.

        2. It’s a damn shame too.

          Not that the French are loyal to their own marques but that the UK was not loyal to theirs.

          1. Probably because we built so many poor quality cars for so many years. When they were good they were excellent, but the excellent ones tended to be expensive.

          3. If you haven’t read it, I recommend Michael Edwardes’ book “Back from the Brink”

          4. That is true in so many cases but even the poor ones improved over time due to the British care industry’s propensity to outsource product development to the end user by which time the damage was done in the public’s eye. The Dolomite Dolomite should have been more than a match for the 2002 and similarly, the Maxi should have stood up better to the R16 but neither BMW nor Renault made the category mistake of penny pinching in the vital development stage.

          7. British cars were awful. Laughing-stock, in fact. Utter rubbish – apart from LandRover, and even their reliabilty was qiestionable.

    6. I am wondering about the pair of sunglasses I ordered from an Italian outfit on ebay a couple of weeks ago. Has good feedback, but mainly from Germany I note…No mention of duty for UK import..

    7. One of the many reasons why I upped sticks and moved back to Blighty. Eleven years of putting up with the French and their ways was enough.

  41. Update. Seeing a “paralegal” at 2.20. Having sent a concise report of my present condition and anxiety, plus a chart of my BP readings for the last 15 months, the first thing the teenager asked was: “How can we help you today?”

    I bit my tongue (the MR was standing next to m…) and was all sweetness and light. As usual.

    Thank you all for your kind words. Much appreciated.

    3. Paramedic? Did the teenager actually help? Presumably face to face so hopefully a practical outcome?

  42. Russian-owned superyacht named Phi and worth £38m seized in London. 29 March 2022.

    A superyacht owned by a Russian businessman has been detained in London as the UK government continues to impose sanctions due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.

    Transport Secretary Grant Shapps confirmed that on Tuesday, UK officials boarded the vessel named Phi which was situated in Canary Wharf in east London.

    More thieving!

    https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-war-grant-shapps-orders-detention-of-russian-owned-superyacht-named-phi-in-canary-wharf-12577407

  43. Yes, I know, it serves me right for attempting to read the Daily Hysteria (Mail). I wanted to see the photos of the Queen et al at the Abbey; I’ll watch the service on I-Player later.
    The report was barely in English- incorrect tenses, missing words, wrong spellings to name but three. I could suggest that the writer of the gibberish was foreign but it’s just as likely that it was an English person whose written work was never corrected at school. Absolutely disgraceful.

    1. “Was sat” – just one of the worst misuses of the English language. And why did they have to go on so about Prince Andrew? Whatever he may or may not have done, he’s still her son.

      1. They go on about Andrew because the audience needs someone to hate. It’s to remind people there’s a bad man there. And yes, it’s tiresome.

        1. I don’t think he’s bad- just rather stupid and made some very poor choices.

          4. Good thanks, Phil. I gave NotTL a rest as it was getting bogged down with repetitive (and cranky) postings. I moved house too, that kept me rather busy.

          5. Good thanks, Phil. I gave NotTL a rest as it was getting bogged down with repetitive (and cranky) postings. I moved house too, that kept me rather busy.

          13. Good luck! We’ve been in our new place 10 months and are still looking for stuff. I think it hides on purpose.

          14. Apart from the fridge, have you looked in the peg bag?
            Says she through gritted teeth.

          15. I suspect much of the missing stuff is at the far end of the Glory Hole- which is the storage area off our bedroom. One day, when we are both fit and suitably primed with booze, we will have to venture in. Should be a sign on the door saying, “Here be dragons!”

          19. Whether he’s bad or not I think that very few men would pass on the offer of a 17-year old girl for sex.
            ETA: I hasten to add, very few men in Prince Andrew’s position.

          21. And let us not forget, she was, under UK Law which is where the seabirding activity was alleged to have taken place, of legal age.

      2. A former teaching assistant at a local primary school decided she wanted to qualify as a teacher. Despite having left school at 16 (in about 2007) without passing GCSEs in either maths or English, she was accepted onto a course. I think she attended some classes at a local college though most of the time she was in school. It took her the maximum permitted attempts at the required maths and English tests before she eventually scraped through. Her spoken English and her basic spelling were simply appalling. For example, she would say, ‘You WAS such a good boy.’
        She was appointed to a Year 6 teaching post. How much damage did she do to those children’s education in the 4 years she lasted?
        Such is the standard of many young teachers nowadays.
        I was told she has since returned to bar work.

        1. When I was still teaching in Manchester we had two student teachers at different times. The first one was appalling- hopeless at the Lit side of things. We basically let her get on with it and popped into observe now and again. The first time I observed this one, I went straight to my Head of Dept. and told her she needed to observe. She did and the student was not allowed to continue.
          The second student we got was wonderful, knew her subjects and fitted in very well with the dept. I am fully confident that she became a successful and well liked teacher.

          1. We once had a student teacher on her 2nd year placement who refused to take on board any of the much needed advice from the excellent class teacher. From what we were told, the school effectively failed her (but the pathetic cowardly head wouldn’t) and even her tutor said she should not have passed ….. but she did.

          2. One of the new recruits to my mod languages department was an Oxford graduate. I followed her into the classroom and what she’d written on the board had spelling mistakes!

    2. There was recently an article in the Telegraph where the work experience writer confused ‘conservation’ and ‘conversation’.

    3. We watched it in ‘real time’. Some absolutely corking hymns, the sort you can sing along to.

      1. I read the order of service and For All the Saints was one we had at my parent’s funeral; Nov 1 was Dad’s birthday- All Saints Day.

  46. SIR – It’s ironic that Joe Biden can be slated for saying what we all want.

    It is even more Ironicisterer, that in UK now, if you even THINK what you/we want, you will be prosecuted for a hate, thought or race crime

    1. The letter writer appears under the misapprehension that he does, in fact, speak for “all” – well, not so!

        1. That’s what I feel, hence I’m irritated by the modern version of the creed – “WE believe …”. How do I know what other people believe. Credo in unum deum ..

  47. 351693+ up ticks,

    What amazes me is this section of the paedophile umbrella coalition, labour is that they are leading the
    tory (ino) party by ten points.simplifying political shite grading somewhat when voting for the best of the worst.

    https://gettr.com/post/p12ihnya409

    1. Useful site, thank you.
      If we manage to get to visit our family in Canada in the summer, I would now prefer to travel down to Heathrow at some ungodly hour for a 9am-ish flight than risk staying over in one of the airport hotels.

    3. I notice nothing Scottish on your map. Is it the hoteliers, the locals or the Islamists who are all afraid of Sturgeon?

  49. I have a suspicion.

    Pick a plane. Pick a destination. What are the odds that half a dozen or more people reacting badly to someone being deported?

    I think the information about times and dates have been leaked and those are not bona fide travelers but activists who have been bought tickets to disrupt the deportation.

    A similar tactic being used to bus in activists for other reasons.

    1. I would imagine that most government departments have been infiltrated by lefties and worse. Especially the Home Office.

      There is software available to expose these misguided souls, but someone would have to authorise its use.

  50. Cripes. Finally got round to watching the last two episodes of “Deutschland ’89”.
    In view of the last two years, and especially this past month, to say I found it ironic is putting it mildly.

    1. Absolutely crazy driving in those conditions! I wonder if, in a couple days time, that might reappear [suitably over-dubbed] as an aid convoy bombed by the filthy Russian??

    2. Absolutely crazy driving in those conditions! I wonder if, in a couple days time, that might reappear [suitably over-dubbed] as an aid convoy bombed by the filthy Russian??

      3. A bit like Saudis when it rains. There are few drains built into the roads and on the one day a year when it rains they keep the same crazy driving style resulting in carnage.

        1. I remember that from when I was in in Jeddah. The roads could sometimes be more like a river, but drivers would still go at crazy speeds: I’m sure their camels had more sense!!

      5. In bad weather in CT there were relatively few incidents because the towns all had enough ploughs and most people knew how to drive in snowy or icy weather.
        Not so down south…total and utter chaos anytime an inch of snow fell. They should be used to it in Penn but if the truckers are from more southern states…

    6. Not the nicest of roads at the best of times. Lots of warehouse distribution sites along I81 and there are many of those big trucks being driven at breakneck speeds to keep to schedule.

      We have only driven it once in snowy weather, being on the same road as those speedind drivers was scary.

    7. As I keep saying: the human species is a lot more stupid today than it was yesterday. I wonder what the prognosis is for tomorrow’s stupidity levels?

      1. I agree, The idiot the comes out of the fog, speeding away, without a thought about what might be ahead.

    8. When we had snow a few years back the rest of us crawled along on the motorway at 10 mph. Some clever clogs shot into the fast lane and thought he’d do 30 – he spun across all three lanes and rammed the side walls. Stupid berk.

      Do people not know how to drive in snow?

      1. Many years ago I was driving in the single file group on the inside lane and an idiot did similarly in the outside lane.
        He/she came to a curve and carried straight on, luckily nobody was hit and they ended up in a field, it was interesting that nobody bothered to help.

      2. Mostly, they don’t have the slightest idea. They improve somewhat, the further North they are, for what it’s worth. The Surrey Hills saw a fair bit of snow a few years ago. I acquired a lot of ‘friends’ when I had a Discovery II and a tow rope…

    9. That is horrifying. I assume the constant banging is people in the rear we can’t, see because of the fog, crashing into the pile.

    11. “I’ve got to get my sh1t off my car!” What a strange place (roof rack) to store the gozzunder. Lol.

  53. Good afternoon. The paralegal turned out to be a paramedic. She did a ECG – and diagnosed AF. The better bit was that she referred me there and then to the duty GP – who was the delightful and reassuring Nigerian with whom I have had dealings before. He explained the sitch. Ordered bloods which were taken 10 minutes later, and prescribed a short term tablet to reduce the racing pulse. I took a tab ½ hour ago and already there is an improvement. AND, Dr Tade promised that he will telephone me on Thursday when the blood results are in. What a man – his whole demeanour just makes one feel better. And he took his mask off when I asked.

    So I am feeling a bit brighter. Not that the cats have shown any sympathy…! The MR feels a lot happier, too.

    Initially I was a bit miffed when the paramed rang – why can’t I see a GP, I thought. But her doing the ECG was a much better use of time/resources than a GP doing the labouring when he could have been dealing with another patient.

    All in all – out of 10, I’d give them 10.

    1. That is good news.

      I have had the ECG after racing pulse and high BP. Sent to the hospital and had another, they said i hadn’t had the heart attack.

      What was the tablet ?

      I’ll take a guess. Isoprenaline.

    2. Good to know you have had some medication that is helping.
      It’s refreshing to hear about the GP. Fingers crossed that this GP keeps his promise to phone you on Thursday.

          1. He is one of those rare GPs who listen – and explain complex things in a simple way. And he never gives any impression that there are other patients waiting…

          2. My former GP was like that. When he first joined the practice after my previous one retired, I was a bit uncertain of such a young (and VERY handsome) new GP but he was truly excellent in every way. He retired just over a year ago – only in his early 50s, but his pension pot was probably full). At first I was assigned a Dr Mohammed then he disappeared. Now I have a GP with an unpronounceable name who recently qualified in Nigeria. Wonderful.

        2. I was diagnosed with Atrial Fib, three years ago, Bill.
          I am ‘stabilised’ on a regime of six medications.

    7. Very good news Bill, especially after the news about Izzy. Does this mean you are stabilized, at least for now and are you going to comment here again or still taking a few days off?
      As for cats, the only sympathy I get from mine is to do with feeding, otherwise you can take care of yourself! Still I do like his tendency to be nice and flirt for treats.
      So have a good rest and look forward to seeing you comment again, very soon.

    8. Wow Bill – you’re gonna get your blood results on Thursday? Just 2 days later? That’s amazing. So glad you’ve been sorted out so quickly, good news.

    10. Good evening Bill – gg here on vw’s iPad.
      I had AF diagnosed in 2009 I think. Anyway when I had an ‘episode’ I was knocked for six. Could just about make it the the lavatory and back before totally exhausted. It normally corrected itself.
      In 2014 I had 11 of those episodes in 9 months ranging from 2 hours to 17 hours. Taken to A&E a couple of times but always rectified itself and took a variety of medication. I was offered an Atrial Ablation in October 2014 https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/medical/treatments-for-abnormal-heart-rhythms
      Had it done under local anaesthetic in day surgery and not another episode since. Not on any medication since.
      Hope you can get it solved, Fingers crossed for you, KBO.

  54. Plenty of complaints about Andrew attending his late father’s memorial service and him being the one who helped his mother arrive and leave through a side entrance.
    Beyond discreetly accompanying his frail mother into and out of the service, he played NO role at all. He sat quietly throughout and did nothing to draw attention to himself. It was entirely appropriate that he attend the memorial service for his father.
    Of more concern, and distraction, was the immature giggling and face-pulling of his 2 nieces, Savannah and Isla who, at 10 and 11, should know better. Did their parents not instil beforehand how to behave? Their parents should have had words. Mind you, these 2 girls often seem too ‘lively.’ Unsurprisingly, the somewhat younger Prince George and Princess Charlotte behaved impeccably.

    1. Much as I dislike Andrew, I despise those who would suggest he should not attend his father’s memorial service and support his mother.
      To Hell with them.

      1. I’m just glad Harry didn’t turn up. He would have taken too much attention from the Queen, and everyone would have felt the need to avoid any subject apart from the weather to avoid his boss twisting whatever he reported back to her.

        1. It’s a pity the bastard couldn’t and I agree re the attention, but it is a shame he c/wouldn’t be there.
          That Markle bitch has a lot to answer for.

    2. It really is disgusting. It is as if they expect some sort of Red Guard denunciation by the queen, in public, against her son. Why in Gods name should he not attend his fathers memorial service and why, in Gods name, should he not attend his mother. In this sort of context I really regard the critics as evil and malicious thugs.

  55. Russia vows to ‘radically reduce’ military activity in northern Ukraine. 29 March 2022.

    Russia has said it will significantly cut back its military activity in northern Ukraine after “meaningful” progress at peace talks in Istanbul, as Kyiv demanded international guarantees for the country’s security.

    In a potentially significant shift more than a month after the start of the invasion, Russia’s deputy defence minister, Alexander Fomin, said Moscow would “radically reduce military activity in the direction of Kyiv and Chernihiv”.

    This signals a retreat from Kiev, the Russian forces there being clearly fought out and incapable of further attacks. Vlad will now concentrate on the Donbass so the operation is not a total loss.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/29/ukraine-russia-peace-talks-istanbul-war-kyiv

    1. Is this perhaps because they have achieved their aim of occupying the Donbas and taken Mariupol? Mission accomplished, so to speak.

      1. It is being forced on them BB. I think Vlad would have liked a line along the Dneiper but that is now closed off. He might still go for the coastline if there’s time before the Peace Talks prevent it!

        1. I haven’t watched RT for some days now. Have you? Should find out what they are saying.

    2. Wordle 283 4/6

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

      1. I had a quick look and it’s still like trying to workout the formula a/o.

    4. 3 here. You just have to remember that there can be two – or more? – letters the same.

  60. I posted earlier about the appalling GP service i have had to put up with. I said i had written to my MP. I was asked for more information from the local co-ordinator and have just received an email from the policy assistant to my MP from the House of Commons no less. We shall see.

      1. Then they will find access to their car park diminished as all debris from the burnt out building will still be afire.
        Or i could just send them a cake with a bomb in it.

    3. Our health centre is making no bones about opting out of seeing patients whenever possible. Today, the have announced the receptionists (medically unqualified, regardless of any alleged ‘training’ they may have had) will continue to triage patients who have the temerity to phone them, and will often fob us off with an appointment with a pharmacist. Wonderful.
      “Community Pharmacy Consultation Scheme
      We are participating in a new approach to improve access for patients to GP appointments. The aim is to direct patients to the most appropriate healthcare professional, which may be a GP or a pharmacist.

      From 1st April 2022 if your symptoms could be resolved by a booked consultation with the pharmacist instead of the GP, you will be given a same-day referral to a pharmacy of your choice.
      We think this is a good thing. Once you see how great your local pharmacist is – they are highly trained and skilled clinicians experienced in treating minor illnesses – we don’t think you’ll look back.
      This will also help us to free up GP appointments for people with more complex health needs and ensure that everyone gets treated at the right time, by the right healthcare professional.
      We are keen to hear what you think and will be listening to your comments and feedback about your experience of using this service.
      What is this new service about?
      From 1 April 2022, when you call the practice, you will be asked about your symptoms. If they indicate that you can best be helped by a pharmacist, you will be offered a same day private consultation with a community pharmacist at a local choice of pharmacies.
      Community pharmacists have already successfully seen thousands of patients for a consultation for a minor illness, following a call to NHS 111. This new way of arranging consultations with the pharmacist by a GP practice, has been successfully piloted around the county.
      Why are you doing this?
      Pharmacists are qualified healthcare professionals and experts in medicines. They can offer clinical advice and over-the-counter medicines for all sorts of minor illnesses, and a same day consultation can be arranged quickly and at a time to suit you. ”
      It continues along those lines.

      And while pharmacists are indeed experts in medications, they are surely not medically qualified.
      My recent medication review was carried out by a pharmacist with a hard-to-decipher foreign accent. He had no idea why I was on some of my medications, no idea about my medical history. I was not happy.

      1. This does seem to be the way it is going.

        May i copy and paste your post to add to my reply to my MP? The lady cannot answer your difficulties as you are not her constituent but it may broaden her understanding of what is happening.

        1. Absolutely.
          If you hang on a while, I’ll get on the laptop and copy the whole post. (Can’t do copy and paste on this little old tablet.) MOH is using the laptop for now. May as well have the whole sorry excuse.

        2. We should all be writing to our MPs demanding that GPs are paid according to the number of patients they actually see, not those on their waiting lists. That might change things a bit!

          1. I think something is happening here that we are not fully aware of. Local MP’s may or even might want to do their best but are stymied.

          2. The problem with our practice is that it absorbed at least two other practices without engaging more doctors. Far too many patients on their books, but they are coining it.

        3. Sorry for the delay. Nodded off watching TV.
          Long-winded but here is the post in full. I despair.

          Community Pharmacy Consultation Scheme
          We are participating in a new approach to improve access for patients to GP appointments. The aim is to direct patients to the most appropriate healthcare professional, which may be a GP or a pharmacist.
          From 1st April 2022 if your symptoms could be resolved by a booked consultation with the pharmacist instead of the GP, you will be given a same-day referral to a pharmacy of your choice.
          We think this is a good thing. Once you see how great your local pharmacist is – they are highly trained and skilled clinicians experienced in treating minor illnesses – we don’t think you’ll look back.
          This will also help us to free up GP appointments for people with more complex health needs and ensure that everyone gets treated at the right time, by the right healthcare professional.
          We are keen to hear what you think and will be listening to your comments and feedback about your experience of using this service.
          What is this new service about?
          From 1 April 2022, when you call the practice, you will be asked about your symptoms. If they indicate that you can best be helped by a pharmacist, you will be offered a same day private consultation with a community pharmacist at a local choice of pharmacies.
          Community pharmacists have already successfully seen thousands of patients for a consultation for a minor illness, following a call to NHS 111. This new way of arranging consultations with the pharmacist by a GP practice, has been successfully piloted around the county.
          Why are you doing this?
          Pharmacists are qualified healthcare professionals and experts in medicines. They can offer clinical advice and over-the-counter medicines for all sorts of minor illnesses, and a same day consultation can be arranged quickly and at a time to suit you.
          This in turns frees up GP appointments for those people with more complex symptoms who really need to see a GP.
          What happens when I see the community pharmacist?
          We will share your personal details with the pharmacist and details of your minor illness and the pharmacist will contact you to arrange your consultation on the same day, or at a time that suits you.
          You may be seen in person in a private consulting room, if the pharmacist thinks it appropriate, or your consultation may be carried out over the phone or via video. You will be asked about your medical history and symptoms and current medication, in the same way the GP would ask you about them.
          Usually, the pharmacist will provide you with advice and can sell you with an over the counter product where needed, if you choose. They will also send details of your consultation back to us for our records.
          If the pharmacist feels you need to be seen by a GP urgently, they will call us to ensure you are seen, or they will advise you to contact the hospital Emergency Department if deemed necessary. You may also be referred back to us to arrange a non-urgent appointment or follow up.
          What if I get free prescriptions from my GP?
          Your pharmacist will provide you with advice on how to treat your symptoms, which may include a medicine or product. Medicines that can be purchased in a pharmacy to treat minor illnesses, are usually inexpensive and would not normally be prescribed by your GP anyway. You are free to choose if you wish to make a purchase or not.
          What happens if I don’t want to see the pharmacist?
          We want to ensure that you are offered an appointment with the most appropriate qualified health care professional based on your symptoms. If you have minor illness symptoms that can be treated the same day through a consultation with a qualified community pharmacist, but do not want to accept this referral, you will be offered a routine appointment with your GP at a future date.
          What if the patient is my child?
          Children aged over one years are eligible to use this service and can be seen by the pharmacist. Children who are able to make their own decision about their health may be seen unaccompanied.
          Why is this a good thing for patients?
          Community pharmacies are local, open longer hours than the GP practice and can offer you the same consultation outcome at a time that is more convenient for you. If the pharmacist thinks you need to see the GP, they can help arrange an urgent appointment for you.
          Patients who have already used the service liked the convenience of having a consultation on the same day, or a day that suited them, at a pharmacy of their choice. 78% of people who had a consultation with a community pharmacist were successfully helped.

      2. …and how medically qualified are the receptionists who will do the triage and directing?

        1. Ours follow guidelines written by the clinical lead who is a consultant. If there is any uncertainty, the query is passed on to a doctor or senior nurse.

          Reception staff take an awful lot of stick from the public just because they are the front face and first POC for the clinical service. Violence and abuse, physical and verbal, towards NHS staff are at the highest ever levels. The criticism and vitriol should be aimed at the clinicians who instruct the receptionists.

          1. I’m not surprised to hear violence and abuse are on the rise. People are frustrated and angry that they can’t get the service they’ve paid for.

          2. More often than not, the abuse is from people who can’t get what they want, which is quite a different thing. One of our receptionists was recently left in tears after speaking on the ‘phone to an HIV patient who wanted to collect his ARV meds from one of our clinics that does not treat HIV and so no meds are held there. A few days earlier, a similar situation with another receptionist who was dealing with a woman who insisted on being given an appointment to have her contraception implant removed in one of our clinic locations where the staff are not qualified to do that. I ended up speaking to the pt who kept insisting she should be able to go to that clinic until I pointed out that she might as well be asking for her tooth to be filled. WE DO NOT DO THAT IN THAT CLINIC!!

            Services such as same/next day delivery by Amazon and their like are leading to an unrealistic sense of entitlement and failure in being able to manage expectations.

          3. I came close to losing my temper when I finally made an appointment to see a doctor after having gone to the surgery personally to do it. The receptionist told me I couldn’t make an appointment at that time (it was the afternoon), I should have done it in the morning. I pointed out that I had tried several times in the morning, but the phone had not been answered. “Well, you should have come in in the morning!” “I only came in as a last resort because the phone wasn’t answered! I haven’t seen a doctor about my problem which started last year.” “Well, we’ve been seeing people all through the pandemic AND I’M NOT LYING.” “I didn’t think you were, I’m merely stating what’s happened to me! My previous doctor said if what has just happened did happen I should seek medical advice immediately. Could I make an appointment for tomorrow?” “No, we don’t do appointments that far in advance. You’ll have to come in tomorrow morning.” “What?” “I’ll see if there’s a cancellation.” “Yes, please” (my teeth were gritted by this time). I eventually got a cancellation for a few days’ time. I thanked her and dashed out before I said what I thought about the system!

        2. Not one little bit. Maybe one or two will have a first aid badge but that is irrelevant.

      3. If GP practices want to become call centres, they should damn well be paid call centre rates.

        1. Given the rocketing heating costs, they should also be able to downsize to save costs now that on-site patients are as rare as hen’s teeth. Our health centre is massive with an enormous main waiting area (100+ seats pre-convid, now fewer than 20) and a further waiting area ( about 20 seats reduced to around 10) for the nurse rooms.
          The lies about ‘freeing up GPs’ would be laughable if it wasn’t so dangerous.
          Pharmacists are NOT ‘skilled clinicians’ as claimed. They may well be skilled in knowledge of medicines but that does not make them clinicians.
          If GPs are, as evidence suggests, permanently abandoning seeing patients, then we simply don’t need to employ so many.

  62. Here is your friendly, neighbourhood LotL reporting- or as my new handle should probably be- El Destructo.
    With my usual luck, I managed to select a totally homicidal cart at Asda. It kept veering off wildly to the left. I had a very narrow escape with an Easter Egg display and an even closer shave with a display of Famous Grouse. Twice I had to apologise to other shoppers because they thought I was heading for them- tried to explain about the mad cart. Halfway round I began to believe in Harry Potter and wondered if either the cart, or I, had been jinxed or cursed. Cursing was certainly involved at this point!
    Am home how and having a restorative glass of Pinot- I feel I have earned it.
    Good news though- there is an autistic woman who works at the tobacco counter in Asda and she’s been masked up like Darth Vader for 2 years. Today, she was totally mask free. Maybe it is finally sinking in.
    Gawd, I’m tired;-))

    1. I’ll know it’s over when my favourite checkout man in Morrisons (who is actually very pleasant and chatty) stops wearing the black gag and I can see his face again. I believe he has some health issues (or maybe his partner does) as he was absent for the period of the first lockdown, shielding.

      1. Luckily I did not need to go down that aisle. Am fairly unscathed but the other shoppers may be in shock;-) Local rag….” Mad woman on loose in Asda flattening shoppers.”

    3. Everything seems to be veering to the left nowadays, the way it is going Corbin will soon be dismissed as being a right wing extremists fascist.

      If you had missed the scotch and ploughed into a Pinot display, we would have all believed that it was a mistake.

      1. Richard, the Pinot is on the top shelf so I often have to ask a likely lad to assist- if very tall husband isn’t there. Smash up Pinot….oh, the horror.

  63. That’s me for this peculiar day. Light supper plus a bit of telly then bathie-byloes.

    Have a jolly evening. And thanks again for your kind thoughts.

    A demain. Prolly!

  64. Globalisation has run its sorry course. We must find a new model

    Enemies of the West are exploiting our naive belief that liberal trade equals a liberal world order

    NICK TIMOTHY

    “You might as well debate whether autumn should follow summer,” Tony Blair once said, as debate the nature or desirability of globalisation. Blair was, as so often, intellectually clear, politically provocative, and entirely incorrect.

    For globalisation – the treaties, processes and structures that have made the world more complex, inter-connected and inter-reliant – is the product of political choices. Those choices, such as the regulation and deregulation of labour markets, the regulation and taxation of capital, and the terms on which countries traded with one another, determined not only that globalisation proceeded apace, but the nature of change it brought.

    Trade in manufactured goods was liberalised, while services were protected. Trade deals with states that would clearly ignore the terms – most notably China – were agreed with little regard to their abuse. With domestic policies, some countries did more than others to protect their people from the winds of change, and some did more than others to protect their national infrastructure from the prying eyes of hostile states.

    For a while, all seemed fine. We imported cheap clothes and manufactured goods. Our borrowing costs and inflation were kept down by government policies and savers in Asia. House prices rose and plenty felt better off for it.

    But slowly the costs became more apparent. Mid-skilled work disappeared. Pay stagnated. As productivity increased, returns for workers failed to keep up with those for investors. As factories closed and manufacturing moved to Asia, the link between the success of British companies and the prosperity of British people ruptured: while once executives might have shared some gains with low and mid-skilled workers, these days such workers are employed in other countries.

    Even some of the fruits of globalisation are turning to rot. While the limited development of the Chinese economy once kept inflation low, now it drives it up as we compete for scarce resources like oil and gas. While the abandonment of manufacturing was seen as the height of modernisation, during the pandemic we found we were exposed without it. While openness to foreign investment was once our leitmotif, now we understand it is exploited by hostile states to launder dirty money and gain leverage against us.

    Even now our leaders are reluctant to see the truth. They cling to long-disproved liberal assumptions – that our values are universal, that the rest of the world wants to become like us, that interconnectedness makes war impossible, that the liberalisation of trade inevitably leads to open societies and democratic politics – and hope that events might still swing their way.

    The longer this foolhardy hope goes on, the more painful the inevitable change will be, and the more our rivals and enemies will conspire to inflict new blows upon us. Russia, so long as it is led by Putin or his allies, cannot expect a return to normal diplomatic or economic relations. And like it or not, Western countries will soon be forced to decouple, perhaps to varying extents, from China.

    But if this phase of globalisation is over, what comes next? To answer we first need to be honest with ourselves. We do not, as we often tell ourselves we do, live in a liberal, rules-based order. Since the Cold War we have lived in an American-led order, in which US military and financial might has allowed Washington to dominate the world. American hegemony is preferable to anything that might replace it, but we should not delude ourselves that global institutions and structures are in any way fair. They are backed by force, and the rules are bent to protect American interests.

    That US-led order has not been destroyed, but it is challenged. America lost its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Through naivety and neglect, it invited China into the global trading system and watched as Beijing broke all the rules, dumped cheap products on the West, pilfered economic and military secrets, and caused deindustrialisation and social decay across the Rust Belt. American political instability, repeated elsewhere in the West, is directly linked to the economic and social anxiety fuelled in part by globalisation.

    The rivals and enemies who challenge us do not seek to export their ideology, overthrow our system of government, or destroy our culture. But as China becomes more powerful, its global interests are growing and with them its security and military interests grow too. As Western relative power declines, the likes of Russia, Iran and North Korea will become more assertive.

    The new model, then, needs to resist and restrict our rivals and enemies. It requires recognition that economic might matters, and so the pursuit of growth is not optional. It requires us to prioritise national resilience over the notional efficiency of stretched supply chains. It requires economic nationalism, strategic planning and the maintenance of domestic production and core capabilities.

    It also demands closer cooperation across the West, and with allies who stand with us. We need new institutions and fora to secure such cooperation, and coordinated policies on defence and security, access to commodities like energy, and vital tech capabilities, from the manufacture of chips to expertise in sectors like artificial intelligence and telecommunications. We need to be prepared for the end of the open, global internet and a challenge to the dollar as the world’s reserve currency.

    We will need to accept the reality of spheres of influence and, engage in a contest for support, power, trade and access to natural resources in non-aligned countries. We will need to accept we cannot help liberals and democrats in every country, and sometimes ally ourselves with countries that are neither liberal nor democratic. We will need to spend more on defence and security policy and use our combined aid budgets to rival China’s belt and road initiative. At home, we will need to do more to heal the social and economic divides our enemies like to exploit.

    There was nothing inevitable about the globalisation of the past three decades. Indeed, we are now approaching its end. But our security, prosperity and liberty depend on us shaping what follows.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/03/27/globalisation-has-run-sorry-course-must-find-new-model/

    BTL:

    Professor Gaga

    For once, an interesting and thought-provoking article, Nick. It certainly provoked me to wonder whether you were now more likely than not a Conservative and, if so, when this Damascene Conversion took place.

    I suspect it was about a month ago when Putin ruptured the World Order and the West suddenly cottoned on to the fact that G7, G8 , G20, EU, UN and all the other expensive talking shops had no answer to an aggressor armed to the teeth with nuclear weapons.

    Thirty years of liberal nonsense in the UK – including from you and your former boss – has left this country in the weakest position one could imagine, economically and politically. Putting it bluntly, we have little resilience and there is not the will to do anything about it. Britain today is about one thing and one thing only: virtue signalling.

    Jasper Derbyshire

    Common sense will not prevail in government (conservative or labour) until the net zero fantasy is dead and buried.

    This policy is a gift to China and others, who compete for our wealth and wellbeing. They happily watch while we destroy our economy and export our manufacturing to their shores, with their cheaper energy and labour and laugh while we tax our own people into poverty.

    At the same time they sell us cheap wind turbines and cheap solar panels in order to get us hooked on expensive, unreliable renewable power, like a psychopathic drug dealer whilst themselves building ever more coal powered generation.

    They must think we are stupid.

    And we are.

    David Jewell

    Britain has gone from 80/20 manufacturing to service industries in 1974, to 20/80 now. 50 years of free market globalisation and EU restrictive practices has been a disaster for Britain. We have become a vast museum to our once great manufacturing and heavy industries, our government can waste hundreds of billions on Covid and net zero madness, but zero billions for any incentives that could make us more productive in new innovative industries.

    Our government now wants us to become dependent on foreign producers for food with their ‘rewilding’ grants to cut British food production, on top of being dependent for all our manufactured goods. We will soon only see farm animals in wildlife enclosures if government gets their way. Successive governments have been complicit in our downward spiral of diminishing and impoverishing us all, which makes the prospect of a compliant populace, in servitude to overbearing government controls, far more likely. Dangerous times.

    1. The fact that the net zero scam is still going full speed ahead, as well as the experimental vaccine program, mass migration, the drive away from the freedom of personal cars and eating meat, the digital ids, the Trump derangement syndrome and the whipping up of anti-Russian hysteria should combine to tell people one thing; that Mr Global has not given up his designs on the West, and the facist coup is still on track.

      That articles like this don’t acknowledge that, merely shows that they are still part of the problem, not part of the solution.

      2. It takes a while for realisation to sink in, then do something about it. There’s a great inertia in these things… lets see how things are in a year’s time.

    2. Sums up the mess Canada is in with those liberals.

      They have just announced that they will force a 40% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030. That is just eight years away, what the hell are they smoking (probably only inhaling, exhaling would be counter productive)..

      Only two trillion dollars needed to reach their net zero dream according to one of our banks. That goes well with this weeks plan to buy 80 F35 fighters.

      It’s not going to end well.

    3. A bit. Of common sense for once from Nick Timothy. However he doesn’t even mention our energy supply, or lack thereof.

  65. Ah! how amazed and surprised David Livingstone was when he arrived on the East Coast of Africa and found that they had a thriving steam railway, operated by slaves. Well, Livingstone was all against slavery so he soon put a stop to those trains. By so doing he ensured that the Cape to Cairo railway would never come into being. Well done him. When Stanley arrived, hoping for trip on a steamer, he was disappointed. “Dr Livingstone, ” he said,” I presume you are to blame for this? Now I shall have to walk.”.
    For more of this exciting story, please see link;
    https://unredacted.co.uk/2022/03/29/rooted-in-colonialism-and-racism-national-museum-cancels-steam-trains/

    1. Joseph Conrad just found swamps. They seem to have new swamps now. Progress of a sort i suppose.

  70. That’s me for this sad day.
    I’m sorry I never got to Wales in time to buy Izzy the pint(s) I promosed him. I guess one just puts these things off, and then it’s too late – I’ll play him Mozart’s Requiem at high volume instead, whilst regretting we never met.
    Sorry, Izzy. RIP, mate.

    1. Quite so. I’ve emailed HL, regarding the funeral. I’d like to be there for Warren / issyagain – we’re running out of moderators. Granchester Meadows’ funeral would have been problematic, being on the wrong side of the pond. I wonder what happened to Helen of Tuskegee…

      1. There have been several Nottlers over the years who have provided interesting, entertaining, philosophical and informative posts and have gone, for whatever reasons.
        They are missed.

        Thank YOU GG for giving us this forum to establish friendships with people most of us will never meet.

        1. I’m not that rich! If you are ever in my town you can by me a drink and we will make a toast to our departed friends !!!

          Anyone that lives within 50 miles of me gets a free bus ticket. One way. Bring your own lunch !

          2. Now we are talking. There was one………The lady in question would kick me in the balls if i mentioned her name…but…We met up and had to travel by car then bus then ferry to the Mary Rose Museum. Then had to walk to Gunwharf and have lunch then a bar crawl back to the ferry.

            I asked this 92 year old lady going by the name of Garlands if she had a bus pass. She said no. I said to the bus driver does she not look old enough?

            He said he needed to see her pass.

            I think i’m going to get more than a clip ear when i see her on April 1st.

      3. I did moderate for a while and would offer again but it’s really not my thing; plus I have too much to handle right now.
        If you do go to the obsequies, remember all of us who can’t go and give a silent memorial from us.

    1. I suspect that those being brought in will be the parents of the generation that will be doing similarly.
      The current imports won’t be ready yet.

    2. In over 6 hours, just one comment has been allowed on that article. I suspect a large number have been submitted but were too honest to be allowed.

  73. I just watched the Service for Prince Philip- cut through all the guff from the BBC. I ended up in tears. Simply cannot help but feel that this is the Queen’s Swan Song. She appeared today in honour of her late husband but I doubt we will ever see her in public again.
    The music was wonderful and the little lad who sang the solo in the Britten anthem was incredible.
    God save our Queen.

    1. I’m sure she has the strength of will to see her Jubilee celebrations for the sake of the nation but I expect the Guards regiments are practising formations ready for a funeral and a coronation.

      1. I think so too. I also suspect all the funeral plans are already in place.
        Urk- do you realise in Henry VIII’s era we could be arrested for treason for speculating about the death of the monarch.

        Never would I want HM to suffer but I would like her to be Queen as long as possible.

          1. If, when he becomes king, Charles carries on with his interfering, pontificating, ‘defender of faiths‘ and green/eco-nonsense, respect for the monarchy will probably plummet.

  74. Masterchef: competing chefs been to have been selected by The TV Advert Casting Society

      2. It is a spoof, but the fact you can not REALLY be quite sure is the horrifying part of it.

      1. It’s the same comedian who did the surveys asking people to sign their names to a petition saying that unvaccinated people should be jailed.

    5. How on earth did its (can’t assume it is a man…) audience keep straight faces?

  77. Remember Will Smith striking some chap because he apparently insulted his wife who has alopecia at the Oscars?

    Surprise, surprise, Pfizer are now promoting a miracle drug cure for guess what: alopecia.

    We really do inhabit an utterly corrupt world.

    1. They not only sell drugs, boy ! They sell shit.

      Take a look at their history……………..while it is still there.

  79. Evening, all. Sorry to hear about Issy. but at least it was peaceful. As for the headline – if they’re trying Putin for war crimes how on earth has Blair escaped so far? He’s far more deserving! I’ve had a really busy day. I bought a large rug, but the snag is, I have to move the bookcase to get it to fit opposite the fireplace. I know I have a lot of books, but I really hadn’t appreciated quite how many! They have nearly filled the conservatory. I need to get the sellers to deliver the rug and get it down asap so I’ve got room to move.

  80. We just bought a bungalow in Whissonsett in Norfolk. Hoping the sale of ours and purchase of new property goes through unimpeded.

    The map shows we will not be so distant from Bill Thomas so I hope if all goes well that we can meet up with fellow Nottlers.

    Happy birthdays to those celebrations we have missed whilst concentrating on property searches.

    Deepest condolences to Issy’s family and carer Katrina. Sadly, a great loss to this forum and will be missed for a long time.

    1. Katrina was someone more of us should have shown or said thanks to. We thank you as the Angel you are.

      1. Maybe Hertslass could pass on our thanks and appreciation to Issy’s carer, Katrina. She will miss him also.

        1. It got me out of bed. When i thought she would also be so upset. And we in our grief had missed it.

          1. Her Majesty said this after 9-11.
            “Grief is the price we pay for love.”
            Most of us didn’t know Issy personally but we grew fond of him here and we will miss him. Katrina knew him well and was with him, I assume, on a daily basis. She will certainly feel his loss.

          3. I do believe so. It is a nice phrase but not one you would want to employ too often.

    3. You have been busy! It must be a relief to have found a property that you like. Fingers crossed it all goes well.

  81. We just bought a bungalow in Whissonsett in Norfolk. Hoping the sale of ours and purchase of new property goes through unimpeded.

    The map shows we will not be so distant from Bill Thomas so I hope if all goes well that we can meet up with fellow Nottlers.

    Happy birthdays to those celebrations we have missed whilst concentrating on property searches.

    Deepest condolences to Issy’s family and carer Katrina. Sadly, a great loss to this forum and will be missed for a long time.

Comments are closed.