Tuesday 31 December: Civil servants’ absurd objections to three days a week in the office

Posted on by Geoff Graham

An unofficial place to discuss the Telegraph letters, established when the DT website turned off its commenting 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.

602 thoughts on “Tuesday 31 December: Civil servants’ absurd objections to three days a week in the office”

    1. Good news, meanwhile in UK, Millimong is intending to pay the German firm RWE to build ground-mounted, solar subsidy harvesting plantations on farmland.

  3. Good morning, chums, and thanks to Geoff for today's final NoTTLe page for 2024.

    Wordle 1,291 5/6

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

    1. Good morning Elsie and all
      Lucky second guess here
      Wordle 1,291 3/6

      ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨
      🟩🟨⬜⬜🟨
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  5. Good morning all!
    Still dark and a dry but blustery start to the day with 8.2°C outside.
    Yesterday appears to have had quite a small temperature range with a maximum of 9.9° and minimum of 7.6°C.

    1. Citroen1, I am absolutely disgusted with King Charles' New Year's Honours List. I have searched the list carefully only to discover that I have not been made a Dame of the Order of the Bath. Everyone knows that I am absolutely wonderful at running a Bath, and to be ignored in this year's New Year's Honours List is a real insult. I shall now go away from this page and sulk, and shall not return until next year (tomorrow). Play nicely whilst I am away.

      4. 'Morning Elsie and Peeps. You are so right. The knighting of Mr S Khant is just about the last straw. This is the man who banned the president of the United States from visiting our capital city. He also imposed the ULEZ on so many who would struggle to pay it, and refused to accept the finding of a convincing report (earlier this year or perhaps late '23) to show that vehicle pollution in his caliphate had hardly changed – so the cynical plan to continue to still allow in older, polluting vehicles is so that he could rake in vast sums from those who could least afford it. This is the man who wasted council taxpayers' money on so-called 'beach parties', designed to bolster his reputation. This is the man who, almost single-handedly, extended his ULEZ empire to areas where the residents cannot vote in Mayoral elections, thus denying them the fundamental principle of 'no taxation without representation'. This is the man who presided over huge increases in violent crime and who then failed to demand a proper service from the Met Police. In fact, the charge sheet is long and sickening and far too lengthy to set out here. And then during the night I had the pleasure of some waster on R2 bigging him up and describing the 'reward for failure' description in the Mail and DT as unjustified, having also worked in the now routine 'far right' jibe into the conversation with some 4th rate so-called journalist.

        It is a my (probably forlorn) hope that his knighthood will prove to be the final nail in a system that has been so thoroughly abused by politicians that its destruction should be inevitable – and soon – if there is any justice. . As I say, 'forlorn'.

  8. Congratulations to Sir Sadik Khan on his knighthood.

    We're pleased to see that satire isn't dead in this country.

      1. The Idiot King eulogised the slammers in his Christmas address.

        What further honours will he heap upon the London mayor? Remember in his infinite wisdom he used his judgement to honour Welby with a knighthood.

        Incidentally how many knights can sit in the House of Lords?

  9. Congratulations to Sir Sadik Khan on his knighthood.

    We're pleased to see that satire isn't dead in this country.

  10. Good morning Geoff and all you NoTTLers.

    This is my 99th posting of Today’s Tales, a series of 100 designed to end with my last one on New Year’s Day 2025.
    It’s been fun but alas, it can’t go on for ever.

    Here is a collection of allegedly genuine shop window notices, culled from the book ‘Eats, Shites and Leaves’ by A. Parody.

    Open seven days a week and weekends.

    Broken lenses duplicated here.

    Rare out-of-print and non-existent books.

    Wonderful bargains for men with 16 and 17 necks

    Seasonal toilet rolls.

    Now is your chance to have your ears pierced and get an extra pair to take home, too.

    Same-day cleaning. All garments ready in 48 hours.

    One-hour photos. Collect tomorrow.

    Soft and genital bath tissues or facial tissues 89 cents.

    Semi-annual after-Christmas sale.

    We do not tear your clothing with machinery. We do it carefully by hand.

    Used cars. Why go elsewhere to be cheated? Come here first.

    Prize-winning sausages. Once tasted, you’ll never want another.

    3. I visited a webpage about a qualification and it states that there are four elements to becoming a MCS installer, (energy stuff) whereupon it lists five. Can't post a screencapture, sorry.

      1. tim5165,
        I've just come home and, as usual, checked on the upticks and replies to this morning's Today's Tales. It's nice to be Best, but Wibbling pipped me today with 22 upticks to my 21 (at present).
        I saw your comment about the 4 requirements for MCS QUALITY Certification. I looked it up (see photo). What a laugh!
        In a previous existence I had to manage the installation of a Quality Assurance scheme to ISO 9001 for a Research Lab with 650 Scientists and Support staff. It proved to me that NOBODY can check their own work (especially me). Nice one!
        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bac56e75055c13b312fdd3d62dc95827ab485f36088e480e997e15c42cbce0f4.jpg

    2. If only reality were so cheerful!

      A more accurate depiction of the current climate is an anticyclonic gloom covering the whole continent and no wind to blow it anywhere nor to fire up the devices to keep native songbirds off our feeders intended for the imported squirrels.

      The lights would still be on at mid-day and a light drizzle to help the hypothermia along.

      1. "And I'll go to bed at noon."

        KIng Lear's Fool's final line. He then disappears from the play because the realm of Albion has come to such confusion and is so full of fools that he is no longer needed.

    1. Good to hear that, once again, you are of such happy disposition as we enter and try to cope with a new day. !0/10 cloud cover here. Cheer up.

    2. Morning, Bill. Did you have your echocardiogram yesterday? When I had an echo on 15 Dec, I was immediately admitted to hospital and it was the same for my nephew in York. The fact that you’re at home suggests the result was good, or at least not worrying.

      1. As I am going private – the ECG was done on Sunday and the results will be sent to the consultant who will contact me shortly after the New Year.

        1. Mine was done on a Sunday too. If it shows heart failure, the result is communicated immediately to the consultant, whether NHS or private. The person doing the scan knows what they’re seeing. It’s only protocol that stops them conveying it immediately to the patient.

  13. It’s the last day of 2024, and FSB has a summary of the year, ‘ Good Riddance to 2024 ’ a year best described, perhaps, as an annus horribilis. The article includes a poll, asking how you see 2024. But Nil Desperandum, there might be a glimmer of hope that it saw peak woke and that Trump and Farage can turn the tide.

    FSB would like to thank you all for your support and wishes you a happy, peaceful and prosperous, woke-free New Year.

    freespeechbacklash.com

      1. Morning, Elsie. What's a decade between friends?

        Happy New Year in advance to you. I'm presuming that the new 'Puritans' of the left haven't banned such bonhomie yet.

      2. Surely is. Thanks for spotting it. I’m a lousy typist and and an even worse proof reader!

  14. Panic in the party over Reform: 'Serious threat'

    Lefties in panic? Never seen a Progressive Leftie panic.. they have a perma smug smirk that says we're never wrong.
    However old school commie Lefties like Paul Mason are panicing.
    Here he lists five Great Leap forwards..
    It's 4 & 5 that caught the eye..
    4/ They're worried about Musk & Trump..
    5/ Rearm the Army they hate. Hmmm that's a curious one.

    https://x.com/paulmasonnews/status/1873672104044097709

    1. …the Army they hate.

      The 'hate' will depend on which demographic forms the new battalions etc. There is a whole new group of young men of fighting age idling away their lives in hotels and modernised camps. They must be good for something, yes?

        1. And before anyone jumps to the wrong conclusion.. the British Army has always been made up of Commonwealth soldiers.
          The problemo now is.. they are serving King & Country, a King that hates his people.

          1. From what I have heard, those lads want their visas, and their mission is to stay at the back and survive, for which I don't blame them at all. Our country is messed up.

    2. He was doing so well up to:

      "…It also means actually implementing the Online Harms Act, and forcing Ofcom to police our media to end the tsunami of right wing disinformation it is currently allowing…."

      The problem with folk like Paul mason is they can't see their own failures. They can't not see the world through a Left wing prism where every solution is statist and every problem 'the enemy'. That's why lefties create enemies, these fictional 'far Right'. Without them they have to accept that they, the Left wing mind is the real problem.

      Oh well. Maybe he'll grow up and stop being a nasty little fascist, but I doubt it.

  15. 399564+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    New Year dawning on a nation that has taken on the mantle for its size as the biggest whore house on the planet, with customers arriving daily by the shipload.

    One of the current founders of the islands RESET is one
    KING RAT AKA Miranda, a political creature that crept out of the park public crapper post cotteging expedition to open the gates clearly marked HELLand unleashed just thaton a multitude of innocent peoples.

    Blair opened borders despite warnings over east European migrant influx
    Prime minister ignored advice of Straw and Prescott who feared allowing immediate unrestricted access would lead to a surge in immigration

    Now we are told to suffer under the treacherous actions of a islamic SIR P O R G, we will surely suffer odiously all the while it suffers £ 300 a day EARNINGS signing in fee.

    Dt,

    As for this as an ambassador, well suited for this country's new status, say no more, daisy chains GALORE
    Mandelson EU briefing disclosed Hungarian counterpart’s ‘elite prostitute’ mistress
    Labour grandee wanted to know ‘what makes them tick’ before meeting new colleagues in Brussels

    Peak deflection,
    These United Kingdom governing creatures have the GALL to decry Little Saint James Isle, their use of audacity is supreme.

  16. G'day all,

    A nice dawn at Castle McPhee, partly cloudy but it's expected to get breezy. 7-10℃ today.

    Pass the sick bags.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d0778230c590d85e1705456396ec071f24c0fab304223ce0f073b2f2bbe4ca80.png

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12/30/new-year-honours-list-sadiq-khan-gareth-southgate/

    Looking down the only one I can see to cheer is Sir Gerald Davies, the great Wales and British Lions winger of the 1970s although it has come rather late in life for him.

    2. The idea of Khan receiving an honour is a joke. He is vermin. A liar only in post because of the pollution in London brought about by Blair.

      Rrather than knighted he should be shot.

      1. On R4 this morning… Khan has cleaned London's air and provided free school meals. He did nothing of the sort. In his previous life, I believe he provided legal defence for terrorists, the entire honours system makes me feel bilious.

    3. Why do sportspeople get gongs for what they do? I should have thought the medals/caps whatever would have been reward enough.

  17. Good morning, all. Partially clear, the trail-blazers doing their best in the east to obscure the rising Sun, with dark cloud building from the south-west and west.

    Start with something light-hearted, mind you, if anyone ate what follows on a regular basis the words 'light and heart' would not be applicable to the end result.

    Never having seen, nor tasted – I do not think I would want to taste one – a deep fried Mars Bar, I did think that the stories were apocryphal; casting a slur on Scottish cuisine that has produced Cullen skink😊, Arbroath Smokies 😊 and porridge🤔.

    However, doing a bit of 'googling' and it appears that these culinary "delights" do, in fact, exist.

    Not to be outdone the Yanks have come up with something as disgusting as it is calorific, the battered, crumbed, deep fried rolled-up pizza sausage. The video doesn't show the frying but why else would the thing be battered and crumbed?

    https://x.com/SouthDallasFood/status/1873916457677185227

    1. Deep-fried Mars Bar does sound somewhat over the top, but though I have never tried it myself, I have been advised that, as an OCCASIONAL treat, for pudding as an example, it is more than palatable.

    2. Deep fried Calzone. Nothing wrong with it if you only eat a little bit. As with the deep fried mars bar i find a standard size one sickly deep fried or not.
      When i first heard about them i experimented with those tiny ones you get in selection boxes.

      Tempura crispy batter over chocolate and caramel.
      I quite liked it but again you don't need much.

      1. I once tried deep fried fun-size mars and bounties. They were pretty nice actually! but not the kind of thing you want to be eating regularly!

    3. I went into Sandy's Cafe, Prestwick in 1976 and saw that they were now offering pizza. I was expecting to wait whilst it was in the oven, so was surprised when it was just lobbed into the deep fat fryer. They weren't too happy when I decided that I no longer wanted pizza.

      Later, in February 1998, I was detached from Marham to Leuchars for a recce exercise. On arriving at the WO & Sgts' Mess, I was advised that if I wanted a Cadbury Creme Egg the only place in stock was the local chippie. I survived the trip without sampling such a deep fried delight.

  18. 399564+ up ticks,

    Tuesday 31 December: Civil servants’ absurd objections to three days a week in the office

    TELL then, shape up or ship out, gooner a token few on New Years day, read the reaction, if unfavorable gooner them ALL
    what remains of these isles cannot surely suffer their mini dictatorship long term we have enough with the S(tool) and his anti Brit actions and intentions.

    1. The problem isn't where it's done. The problem is that 80% of it doesn't need to be done at all.

      No point coming in to an office to do something pointless. May as well not do it at all, sack the dozens of people doing make work and save the money rather than bring them in on a daily basis.

  19. Morning all 🙂😊
    The old current bun 🌞 is making an effort.
    It's chilly but dry as well, something not quite right about that.
    As there is also something not quite right about the 'civil service' 'working from home'. Sack the lot of them. They clearly don't seem to be important.
    Only to themselves.

    1. It rather depends what they do. If the job is all clerical or secretarial there is hardly any need to travel to an office every day.

      1. Maybe Jules but there will be distractions at home and i doubt if their output is equal to office working and there will be less supervision. The so called pandemic is over they should all get back in the office or face the sack. I blame the high ups for not insisting their underlings get back to the office.

        1. One of my former colleagues works from home in Cirencester as secretary to a manager somewhere in Hampshire. If the work gets done to the required standard there is no need to go anywhere.
          It does depend on the job of course. You can't do customer facing work remotely except on the phone.

          1. One of my neighbours works from home; he does something with software/systems. He's very organised and disciplined about it. Me, I'd always be distracted and finding something more interesting to get involved in.

      2. I find that working at home works best when the task is well defined and I don't need anything like test equipment. But I do try to come into the office at least two days a week for contact with colleagues.
        If I am a bit uncertain, then I'll go in every day until I've sorted whatever it is out.

      3. Of course, but it was once part of the job they took on. Now it’s much more relaxed and the pressure is off and payment should be according to what they do.
        Unfortunately our eldest son who works for a global organisation as a product manager, works mainly from home. But because of the world wide time overlap and areas covered, often works 15 hours a day.
        But his salary was not increased accordingly.

      4. I think the big problem with WFH is that humans are social animals and need contact with other humans. We know the problems created by the lockdowns that most people agree caused mental health problems. I can only see WFH leading to more mental health problems but this time inflicted upon the individuals by themselves.

      5. I've worked in numerous offices, N…the lead swung just as easily there, in some of them. At one time, such employee/s would have their contract/s terminated. Now, Unions are once again very powerful. Do you remember Bob Crow, Red Robbo…eeek…those days seem to be returning.

    2. The problem is that these ‘civil servants’ are not working, from home or otherwise. No government run institution seems to be working well.

      The best run organisation in the U.K. seems to be Amazon!

      1. Exactly. I was one of Amazon's first 50 UK customers, actually received a welcome Christmas gift the first year. At startup, JB & mates received an order and asked each other 'who's mom is this' because their orders had thus far come from relatives. American acquaintance of went for interview, didn't get a job, quite rigorous process. Either get with the programme, or ….

    3. Seems a number 'working from the beach'…moved to Europe during lockdown/s. No-one seems to care except us – the sad saps paying the salaries and expenses. Terminate their contracts if not returned permanently to UK within one calendar month.

  20. Intriguing thread over on 'Discuss Disqus' started by someone grumbling that they don't put 'None of the Above' on their new surveys (and what did you watch over Christmas?), as they should on ballot papers for politicians. I replied:

    "I quite agree. I am British, so the options open to me not only do not apply, I have no idea what most of them mean, except that Americans have this form of rugby, where all moves are agreed and directed beforehand and they all wear huge shoulder pads like Mr Blobby, which they call "football" whereas with our football, you kick a ball around, and the only thing you put on your shoulder is a chip.

    Over Christmas I was watching the Footage Detectives, but I doubt they'd give us that option because the old boy runs the TV station from his garden shed in Hertfordshire full of junk and old reels of film he bought up over the years, with his mate Mike and a fellow called Bob we never see. The show is produced by his daughter as a way of keeping Dad busy in his shed. The American "Universal" way is to centralise the archive onto a big corporate warehouse and then set it on fire, leaving us to watch reruns of their "football".

    Today's poll is typical. I am typing this on a laptop."

      1. I know that mustard shade, a combination of black and yellow (any yellow from lemon to ochre), slight green cast.

          1. Here too. Took dog out for short walk to relieve himself. Both like rats up a drain pipe soon as house door opened 😀 Now snoring his head off, but I know fine well if I move one of his eyes will instantly open in the manner of asking ‘dinner time yet?’

  25. Yo and Good Moaning all, from awindy C d S

    Just had a quick scan down the New Year 'Honours'

    The first thing I noticed, was that if English was your first language, you would not be able to pronounce the names of at least 10% of the recipients.

    It also looks like they have 'Integrity' as compulsory requirement

    Gone are the heterosexual, married English speaking Brits

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-year-honours-list-2025

    1. Integrity is a political buzzword for 'supported dear leader against all comers, even when he was a useless, odious brat.

  26. Yo and Good Moaning all, from awindy C d S

    Just had a quick scan down the New Year 'Honours'

    The first thing I noticed, was that if English was your first language, you would not be able to pronounce the names of at least 10% of the recipients.

    It also looks like they have 'Integrity' as compulsory requirement

    Gone are the heterosexual, married English speaking Brits

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-year-honours-list-2025

    1. And the pirates sold thousands of white children to those in the Alhambra Palace. The children were kept in caves and used for sexual activities. Then fed to the pet lions kept at the Palace. A horrible period of history that has been deliberately overlooked.

      1. Yes, slavery for whatever purpose, whatever time..colour blind. Not much interest in Theresa May's Modern Day Slavery Bill. Pause for thought on that one.

          3. Saggy May's only achievement was in kicking the inquiry into kiddie-fiddling down the road through a succession of poor choices for chairman/chairwoman. Thoughts that her father may have been on the periphery of such skullduggery, he was at least partly responsible for some of the church buildings used for the abuse, were of course far from her mind.

      1. Ah but…the Vikings settled in England and married the good looking women. Given that Viking men took baths and Viking women had more rights than Anglo Saxon women, the good looking women tended to be willing participants. You got a strapping healthy man who didn't smell bad plus a bunch of keys at your belt and potentially the right to kick him out and keep his house if he didn't treat you well. Wots not to luv?

    3. Coming to the local comp near you.. courtesy of The Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson BA (Hons) CRT DEI BLM ESG LGBT++

      Elon Musk asked school kids what they knew about Thomas Jefferson Founding Father & author of the Declaration of Independence.. all they could tell him was "he owned slaves.. lots of them."

      1. That's what the state educaation system wants. Ignorant little drones parotting the party line.

      1. 399564+up ticks,

        Morning JBF,
        Once upon a 39 / 45 time we did.
        BIG TIME,and I have a feeling we will do shortly, once again.

        In regards to the slavery issue, we led the way in surely righting a great many wrongs.

  28. It could be, but there might be a glimmer of hope. But either way it’s time we made ourselves heard.

  30. Russia reduces gas flow via Ukraine to Europe on last day of expiring deal. Reuters 31 December 2024.

    Russia's Gazprom said it will pump a reduced volume of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Tuesday, the last day before the expiry of a deal that had kept the gas flowing throughout nearly three years of war.

    Gazprom said it would send only 37.2 million cubic metres on Tuesday compared to 42.4 mcm on Monday. Flows are expected to fall to zero from the early hours of Jan. 1 after the expiry of the five-year transit agreement.

    What this article doesn’t tell you is that Europe will now be paying more for its gas than any of its competitors. This has already caused the collapse of the German economy and more must inevitably follow. The UK is relatively unaffected because we no longer have any major manufacturing industry.

    https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russia-reduces-gas-flow-via-ukraine-europe-last-day-expiring-deal-2024-12-31/

    1. If the boot had been on the other foot I very much doubt that the "Western" powers would have permitted one of their companies to honour such a contract with Russia.

    2. Exactly so. Further, if Millibollix gets his way we'll no longer have UK gas/coal/oil, just windmills. Too windy for those today, ones I can see on horizon – not turning. Would imagine sea too rough for the ones there.

    3. Here's a question for those of you who paid attention to your science teacher. The energy content of a given volume of gas depends on its pressure, heat and calorific value. This being so, referring to cubic meters of natural gas is meaningless. Have I missed something?

  31. Last night I said to SWMBO, shall we have a laugh? So I switched on BBC2 to watch Cunk on Life, a review of which is prominenet on the DT website. Why did I do this? Because I had seen videos of "Philomena Cunk" on YouTube doing what I thought was a rather amusing send-up of pretentious documentaries done by the likes of Professor Alice Roberts.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/85865ef9708973b0bec5c42b6996fd3ad4a180e1d9dfcd760dc361a14eac3144.png
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/cunk-on-life-bbc-review/

    Let me tell you this was not "exhaustingly funny". There was the odd smile or chuckle early on but Morgan, in her Cunk character, soon took this into a rather nasty attack on Christianity of the kind she wouldn't dream of committing against Islam (I wonder why?). We switched it off. We've watched a bit of it so you don't have to. It will be on the iPlayer but don't bother.

    1. I have never seen the point of this character; and, in any event, the show (which I didn't see) was far too long according to most reviews.

      1. I think the character has merit as part of a sketch show, much like Ali G or Dennis Pennis, but it hasn't got the legs for a full show (let alone a series) without resorting to the bBC traits of demeaning those not favoured by the Leftwaffe.

    3. Someone has written on X that "ISIS beheading videos are more entertaining" than Philomena Cunk. I'll assume that's either exaggeration or someone with weird taste in entertainment but either way, it's damning. The far left concept of humour is throwing dirt at truth and decency.

    4. I find Cunk's character unutterably stupid, and I never find stupidity in the slightest bit funny.

    5. Well done FM. Having seen the DT article I was minded to give her a go. However, decision now reversed. Thanks!

  32. Last night I said to SWMBO, shall we have a laugh? So I switched on BBC2 to watch Cunk on Life, a review of which is prominenet on the DT website. Why did I do this? Because I had seen videos of "Philomena Cunk" on YouTube doing what I thought was a rather amusing send-up of pretentious documentaries done by the likes of Professor Alice Roberts.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/85865ef9708973b0bec5c42b6996fd3ad4a180e1d9dfcd760dc361a14eac3144.png
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/cunk-on-life-bbc-review/

    Let me tell you this was not "exhaustingly funny". There was the odd smile or chuckle early on but Morgan, in her Cunk character, soon took this into a rather nasty attack on Christianity of the kind she wouldn't dream of committing against Islam (I wonder why?). We switched it off. We've watched a bit of it so you don't have to. It will be on the iPlayer but don't bother.

  34. Crashing the economy was just the beginning
    We’re already heading into recession and Labour has barely started to implement its crazy plans
    Robert Jenrick : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12/30/crashing-the-economy-was-just-the-beginning-labour/

    The best lack all conviction
    While the worst are full of passionate intensity.
    [W.B. Yeats]

    I think that the Parliamentary Conservative Party has got to the state where there is nobody in it who is capable of being its leader.

    BTL

    If Jenrick had had a different ethnicity and sex then he would have become party leader!

    1. Hello Rastus…fess up time, I voted for KB, on the strength of her TV appearance. Wish I hadn't. Wish more had spoken up in Jenrick's favour. Wish that had been reported. Doubt she'll last long into '25.

        1. She has very little support now, or so it seems. CP always good at defenstrating those no longer useful/sans winning ways. Guessing she’ll be gone soon – if not the grey men obvs losing their touch. Madness/chutzpah to even think of trying to take on a seasoned politician such as Farage.

        2. …and to learn the art of asking the very brief question, instead of treating PMQs as an opportunity to present convoluted statements. Long questions provide far too many opportunities to avoid the point, whereas the present incumbent is incapable of quick thinking and there's a good chance that a) he will fall on the wrong side of the fence, and b) will be shown up to be the finest dullard of his generation.

      2. I can understand why you did so. I, too, had hoped that the party had found a leader with a brain and who wasn't afraid to speak their mind. Unfortunately she hasn't survived the heat of battle, thus opening the door for significant progress by Reform.

        1. Happens in business, Hugh…promoted beyond her capabilities. Thatcher had good men (Whitelaw et al) supporting her. This isn’t to criticise KB, just to emphasise the toughness of the job and needing others to back her. CP always been good at knifing leaders when past their usefulness, this may well be just another such.

      3. I can understand why you did so. I, too, had hoped that the party had found a leader with a brain and who wasn't afraid to speak their mind. Unfortunately she hasn't survived the heat of battle, thus opening the door for significant progress by Reform.

    2. He was caught being corrupted by a property developer, which rather ruled him out of honourable contention, regardless of his ethnicity or sex. Normally this does not rule out Tories, who are not supposed to be honourable when there is a buck to be made and they make the rules, but times have changed.

      It does not require a great deal of talent to suggest that the present Government is rubbish!

    3. Having watched Jenrick at the hustings, he appeared to be a bit too eager to please his audience.
      Sadly, there is, to put it mildly, a dearth of talent in the Conservative party.

  37. I also add that many people order their groceries on line and by doing so miss out on more essential human interaction. They used to be called reclusive.

  38. If you are working from home, are you allowed to listen to the radio without the commercial licence that businesses are required to purchase, and who is liable if you don’t have it – you, or your employer?

    there are a whole load of risks a private-sector employer wouldn’t tolerate viz a viz employees working from abroad, and i am surprised the public sector doesn’t have to think about them.

    1. Yo Mir

      if the 'homeworker' burns their hand, on their iron, whilst doing the ironing in worktime, can they sue their employer for a non-safe work space.

      Many other options, scolded hands, bad food, chair breaks, falls down stairs etc

    2. I'm surprised H&S haven't joined in this game.
      The average home would give them conniptions.
      All electric gear would have to be PAT tested; carpets nailed to the floor; trailing wires covered, Stairs marked with fluorescent tape.
      Hygiene certificate for the kitchen and anyone using it.
      The possibilities for your average prodnose are endless.

      1. Mind you, H&S bods can be notoriously unsafe themselves. Someone I know was in H&S; he slipped off a workmate on a frosty morning when he was wearing wellies. He broke his hip, but he was lucky to survive – his wife, who drove him to hospital, had told him not to risk doing that and nearly killed him herself!

  39. Good one! Two tier, never here, free gear, Leary dreary farmer harmer Starmer. Really good. Oops should it be, Never here, two tier ….

  40. Hello MiB. I'm a Toby Young fan so I appreciated his Honour. As for your final line…for me, no need to change. Just be the old curmudgeon we know you are 🤔😄

  41. Archimedes' principal was the boss of the Ancient Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor!

  42. Put a car cover on the Jazz yesterday afternoon… just about to remove it, before the car gets airlifted over shed/garage

    Get a sheet of A4 paper, put it to lips and blow over it, it will rise, as increaase ofairspeed causes pressur to reduce
    That is the basics of how aircraft fly ie greater air pressure underneath

    2. OLT: Hope you didn't catch the post a few moments ago that I have just deleted.
      Sorry, I was about to disabuse you just now when I re-read your hidden section, which said that reduced air pressure above the wing causes a relative increase in the pressure below. So it IS the curvature of the UPPER surface that causes the pressure difference and hence the lift.

          1. Brute force or what they call flat plate lift. Just angle any surface into the airflow and it will produce a lifting component (and drag).

        3. Change incidence angle so the airflow over the "top" is still faster/further than the underside. Thats why the plane is significantly nose-high.
          (sound of egg-sucking reverberates… )

    3. OLT: Hope you didn't catch the post a few moments ago that I have just deleted.
      Sorry, I was about to disabuse you just now when I re-read your hidden section, which said that reduced air pressure above the wing causes a relative increase in the pressure below. So it IS the curvature of the UPPER surface that causes the pressure difference and hence the lift.

      1. It seems there is some sort of hidden (not very well) misanthropic intensions motivated towards the general public.

  45. Here's globalist politician poodle trainer, Bill Gates, arriving in Downing Street to train the new arrival, Starmer poodle, ''Barmy''…

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8dbd2b76fca7f2f7616ce66f086e1a3d254ff8723a5c8e4f59b94b117dc75400.jpg
    Another Bill Gates poodle training session successfully completed. ''Barmy'' looks obedient and submissive with his new master…

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/528ef84d0fba49cded5f4826188d1b7867a9f587b8cb5f099f062c6dfb251bb6.jpg
    Bill Gates' miniature poodle, ''Rishi'', about to receive more training…

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/973507f49c7cd7d186fb3aeaddcec40ca749fc867c82b6abc0838e50d30862a0.jpg
    Bill Gates' giant poodle "Johnson" sadly made a terrible mess and had to be re-homed.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/325def0d213abfc79061f2fd4ffe6ba22b870a13278791b3e7a1ab81d49f423c.jpg
    Smooth slippery lying poodle "Hancock" was always happy jumping through Bill Gates' hoops, probably for a few million dollars!

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e0b3c9ee88d789e337f0cbd9ce11878acfc348340f0b21c5d158125a411cf58e.jpg
    Obedient Health Secretary poodles "Javid" and "Hancock" both praised Bill Gates' close friend George Soros on the same day!

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/25d9df48007c0e25b0fc9b081f02643b8e9d2d5fb419fc47aa7b53c4a6920da0.jpg
    Looks like Bill Gates has given too many Treats to his adoring plump poodle ''Mitchell''…..

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e7a4a820bc38ea568b26f49750948388b9a6c85590ab05cf7c9a143f8e96b4c1.jpg
    Bill Gates' giant poodle ''Lammy'' received $3000 from Bill Gates' close friend George Soros to meet in New York meaning ''Lammy'' is likely a George Soros poodle too…….

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a19e23f4c3486cea99b2d6375e7dbfe8c2336e82a2fe024f960da5f9f722e6d2.jpg
    Upwardly mobile poodle ''Shapps'' adores Bill Gates in this video!

    https://twitter.com/grantsh…

    In addition, Bill Gates has had private training sessions with poodles Hunt, Donelan, Mordaunt, Cleverly, Barclay and Blair to whom he pays approx $2,000,000 pa to organise his poodles in London and elsewhere.

    It's Bill Gates' Globalist Politician Poodles Galore!

    1. Good morning everyone.
      Unless you believe in communism anyone can spend his or her own money as he or she wishes within the law.

      1. True, but I think the Bruges Group got this subject right, although I think their tweet is an understatement. Gates and Soros appear to have bought the laws and policies they desire because politicians and officials with whom they associate are frequently awarded highly paid jobs closely linked to them….

        https://x.com/BrugesGroup/status/1181569492792598531

      2. Indeed. It does wind me up when the same people who've spent decades taking bungs from Gates and Soros have the gall to complain when Musk offers money to Farage.

  47. Grey and still – Throat a lot better. I was really worried it was something worse.
    Wasted second line by omitting correct letter:
    Wordle 1,291 4/6

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

    2. Well done.
      Wordle 1,291 4/6

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

  48. Polly's post below reminds me that Trump has been saying that he is going to cover Bill Gates in deep cr@p by releasing all the papers relating to (SUSPECTED PAEDOPHILE) visitors to Epstein Island.

  50. Go Moa …… Afternoon.
    In the great cause of cheering us up, the Wail is now obsessing about tick bites in addition to 57 varieties of cancer.
    MB has a stinking cold and didn't wake up until 09.00. Coffee and porridge has partially revived him.
    Sonny Boy Snr and family schlepped up to Edinburgh for Hogmanay. Looks like a cosy night in with something eggy on a plate will be the height of their celebrations.
    Dare I take Spartie out for a walk or will a thunderbolt fell us as we pootle round the fields?

    1. Sun's put in an appearance here. Breezy too.
      Elder son left yesterday, younger one going today, then back to normal, whatever that is.

  51. Labour can't do maths. Those children at private schools are saving the tax payer money by not consuming a state place.

    Slapping VAT on education will cause a huge number of children to leave private education and consume a state space, depriving big fat state of both the tax it wanted and adding to the cost of providing state education.

    Which is rather missing the point. As it was about punishing those who refused the indoctrination. Who wanted better for their children. Who said no.

    1. Besides kicking pensioners they have also attacked disabled and special needs children who will now suffer greatly in state schools.

      There is only one word for Bridget Philipson, Anger Rayner, Kier Starmer and Rachel Reever.

      Bastards !

        1. Unfair to vermin such as rats, grey squirrels, foxes, mice, cockroaches etc.
          Incidentally, there is potentially a way around VAT on school fees, but only available to a minority of parents. It would be interesting to see a test case in a couple of years.

      2. I knew someone at my old church who home schooled her daughter because the child was severely autistic and was only offered a regular school place by the state. The little girl cowered at the back of the classroom, absolutely terrified. At home under her mother's guidance she was able to learn and gain confidence. Admittedly her mother was up to the task, having studied modern languages at Oxford and qualified as an accountant but I'm sure someone with a more modest educational background combined with compassion could still have done a better job than the mighty state machine.

        1. In tomato etc sauce with fresh pasta, good sprinkling parmesan…glass of red…me too A A 🙂 Not so much in stupid politicos.

          1. I needed to say something to disassociate a nice bit of mince and “that lot” in my mind.

    3. But, but, that surely can't be true? That really well qualified economist, Rachel Thieves, has categorically denied that her VAT plans for private schools will result in pupils from those schools going to the state sector instead. Shirley she must know having done a detailed analysis of the possible outcomes of her carefully thought out … oh, wait!

    4. The politics of spite and envy are never attractive, particularly when presented by a group of 3rd rate muppet students…

    5. missing the point.

      The point is.. the Left has always used the tax stick to beat to a pulp the people they think are evil.
      It doesn't matter if it brings the country to its knees.. they just don't care, that's just an added bonus.

      The Right never do.. you don't hear about a wet Tory Chancellor hiking taxes on all Union officials.. white working classes.

  52. I haven't seen the accounts after 2018 but a range of pictures like these tell the story….

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/02af4de595076b6e3126b964562d83d3978a434682a53ac0451cdaaeea789672.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9de02e6db7ff84cf629ceb5ffbf574de6fb925b3f3d592fb43899a1ad51defaa.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/afd11f9eb1fd941b3d313dec7c3926088bd96377d585c2cfa0ff4ff932365446.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/53b5bc55f6fb1eaefb0b67b18b2cff340d07953674d269270af0d0da7612b576.jpg

  55. Khan has got a knighthood. What a farce. He who hates England and its history is given an ancient honour – for services to England. Below is an excerpt from a speech by Margaret Thatcher. Taken from a contribution by Mark Smith to Free Speech Backlash. Such prescience and erudition by this great woman.

    24 September 1994 Margaret Thatcher The James Bryce Lecture ("Reason and Religion: The Moral Foundations of Freedom").

    'Also in the name of equality, we are told that there can be no differences between cultures; all are equal. But, as we remember from Orwell, “all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others”.

    Then we are instructed by the politically correct that Western civilization is the worst, a collection of ideas that have been foisted upon the world by those who are now dismissed as “dead white males.” Well, I, for one, as a live white female, think that many of those dead white males – and even some who are not so dead – have contributed greatly to civilization and are worthy of our highest regard.

    The notion that in the name of a misguided equality the great works of Plato and Locke, Homer and Shakespeare, Burke and Bryce, should be pushed from the centre of education is simply preposterous. The best that has been thought, said, and written must be taken seriously – questioned perhaps, improved upon if possible – but taken seriously as the highest achievements of the human mind. What makes those great works great is that they seek to penetrate the deepest mysteries of the human condition and to elevate mankind from the jungle of untutored nature.

    The idea that some things are more politically correct than others is not new, of course. It has been the guiding sentiment of tyrants in every age who believe that if you can control what people read and thereby what they think then you can control them.

    The idea that one can become, as Locke said, “the dictator of principles” and establish as the most basic principle “that principles must not be questioned,” is the essence of tyranny.

    By such means are tyrants able to “cram their tenets down all men's throats.” As Locke asked: “what improvements can be expected of this kind? What greater light can be hoped for in the moral sciences?” where men are denied the liberty of thinking for themselves.

    There is an often unarticulated assumption in these modern times that in human affairs progress is the general rule and decline and corruption the exception. But as many commentators have shown, it is really the other way around. Freedom and civilization are conditions that require great effort, deep thought, and unwavering commitment. As both Tocqueville and Bryce demonstrated, this is especially so in democratic times.

    Progress is not simply a material, but a cultural and spiritual thing. It is the movement from primitive to polished times. John Adams put it best when he wrote to his wife Abigail that “I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy . . . in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain.” As Adams knew, civilization is a fragile thing, which, once lost, takes generations to regain.

    We must constantly reaffirm that our Western civilization is worthy of an unfaltering and unapologetic commitment to its perpetuation.'

        2. They often do that, too, Alf – a sign they’re happy, as with foot movements. Glad you liked it, Kate.:-)

    1. Though of course this is dire stuff there is a comical aspect to it. You could have read the views expressed here on Nottl anytime in the last five or six years. There is absolutely nothing new about them.

        1. My neighbour certainly knows what's going on – he had a quick rant as we passed this afternoon; he on his way to get a pint and me coming back home with Kadi.

    2. I'm sorry but.. another cobbled together cut n paste mish-mash spliced together in random fashion AI-generated dog's dinner.

  57. What's the history of Legal Net Zero 2019? Follow the money…

    Conservative think tank Bright Blue wrote a report ''Hotting Up'' in 2018 which recommended Legal Net Zero to Theresa May's administration. This was enthusiastically signed into law with predictable green fanfare by Chris Skidmore MP who by completely random coincidence now holds a number of green positions paying him a total of at least $200,000 pa thanks to Net Zero. Chris Skidmore also works for an undisclosed salary for the Grantham Institute climate research unit at the LSE where his boss by another random coincidence is none other than George Soros' very close friend Lord Nicholas Stern who wrote the Stern Review which is the basis for the Climate Change Act 2008 which Soros wanted. David Miliband who arranged the Climate Change Act and Tony Blair later received Soros jobs worth $millions.

    Bright Blue is financially supported by a variety of commercial and green institutions virtually all of which appear to have strongly desired Legal Net Zero. Including George Soros via Open Society.

    So what was the motivating factor for Bright Blue, Chris Skidmore MP and Theresa May (who received millions from mystery speeches) to strongly support Legal Net Zero with such massive enthusiasm?

    I think there was a huge conflict of interest and the motivating factor was likely lots of beautiful cash in the bank!

    1. And the ruination of our country! Who wants to see windmills and solar farms all over our countryside? And the cost of electricity (which we were told would be so cheap as generation would be free) is the highest anywhere.

      Our cities are now lawless hell holes and our children in schools being brainwashed.

      Thank goodness I'm reaching the end of my life! I used to wish I had grandchildren but I don't now.

    2. And the ruination of our country! Who wants to see windmills and solar farms all over our countryside? And the cost of electricity (which we were told would be so cheap as generation would be free) is the highest anywhere.

      Our cities are now lawless hell holes and our children in schools being brainwashed.

      Thank goodness I'm reaching the end of my life! I used to wish I had grandchildren but I don't now.

    2. It would be a foolish man who tried to accept the apparent invitation. A night in police cells at the very least if the wearer took exception….

  62. Sir Simon MacDonald, at the Foreign Office and Head of the Diplomatic Service pleads with Mauritius to accept a little less cash and perhaps less in reparations.. for Diego Garcia & Chagos Islands.

    He warns new Mauritian prime minister, Navin Ramgoolam that time is running out as Donald Trump's looming presidency will scupper everything.

    PLEASE BE REASONABLE..

    2. He suggests writing on a piece of paper the absolute lowest amount they will take.. give or take a few billion.. and he will make sure it's signed off.

      1. Never done a day's productive work in his life, obviously. Thank God he isn't a negotiator … oh, wait!

    3. A silly question, but why do we need these distant islands when our forces are barely large enough to protect a few home barracks.

        1. We are not going to invade China are we. Maybe I missed something. Now, in the days of Empire and projection if power over the natives, it might have been useful.

      1. er, We're dealing with sixth formers here with very low IQ.
        Lammy doesn't do geo-politics, history n stuff.

        1. I thought Lammy's appearance on Mastermind was informative and enlightening. For all the wrong reasons.

          I wonder how much money they offered the blithering idiot to happily expose himself to eternal ridicule.

    5. What is this government playing at, they are stark staring mad. We can’t even give the Chagos islands away, we have to pay!

  63. Well, very satisfying. Not quite like Robert – but several branches of beech and lime overhanging the vegetable area have been removed, sawn into logs and stacked! Also a barrow of kindling collected AND four trays of windfall apples sorted and rotten ones (a bucketful) composted.

    Now to sit down….

    1. Excellent speech Nigel. More than
      90 percent will wholeheartedly agree.
      So Let's get on with it now.
      He's very good at speaking we very urgently need drastic action.

  67. Xi Jinping: Well, if you don't want the strategic base protecting your supply of oil and other shipping, the islands that you share with USAAF.. then we'll take em off you. Ta very much.

    Kaypea: They wouldn't do that would they? Anyways, we shud stop colonising stuff and taking resources off the oppressed.

    1. I dont doubt the strategic value of the islands but the UK just doesn't have the equipment to make use of the islands. The US has those strategic forces and I'm sure are capable of looking after them by themselves. DT will not be entertaining any unreasonable financial claims or reparations from third world political chancers either. We are not a world power anymore, despite the rhetoric.

      1. Imho.. The USA have given up on global trade and now intend to shift everything to a protectionist Mexico & Texas. It will be up to UK, Japan & France to protect shipping.. or be like Theresa May and just give up.

        1. TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker and a major supplier to companies including Apple and Nvidia, is investing US$65 billion in new factories in the US state of Arizona.

          Nippon Steel will move its US headquarters to Pittsburgh..

          U.S. seeks to 'integrate' Japan into defense industry..

          The list goes on & on..

          And what is Sir Keir doing? Joining a collapsing EU!

        2. TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker and a major supplier to companies including Apple and Nvidia, is investing US$65 billion in new factories in the US state of Arizona.

          Nippon Steel will move its US headquarters to Pittsburgh..

          U.S. seeks to 'integrate' Japan into defense industry..

          The list goes on & on..

          And what is Sir Keir doing? Joining a collapsing EU!

  68. Eight years on and only the name of the Democrats' leader has changed.

    It's absurd to call Trump a fascist

    NICHOLAS FARRELL

    From The Spectator, 10th November 2016

    Many thousands of words have been written and many more will now be written by the liberal intelligentsia on trying to prove that the 45th President of the United States of America is a fascist. Among the first to leap out of the starting blocks after the triumph of Trump was the hyper-trendy historian Simon Schama who tweeted at dawn on Wednesday to say: 'This calamity for democracy will of course hearten fascists all over the world'.

    The trouble is: Trump is not a fascist, let alone a nazi. Even calling him Donald Duck would be more accurate than calling him Donald Duce. The main reason that Trump is, in fact, not a fascist is the most embarrassing of all (at least for the left that is): Trump is not left-wing. For when left-wingers call hate figures 'fascists' nearly always they themselves have much more in common with fascism than their hate figures do. If this were not so scary – similar to branding a woman a 'witch' in 16th Century – it would be hilarious.

    To take a conveniently forgotten example: the 1939 alliance between fascism (Germany) and communism (Russia), against capitalism (Britain and France) was far more natural than the subsequent alliance between capitalism (America and Britain) and communism (Russia) against fascism (Germany). But democracy was not the only enemy the fascist and communist dictatorships had in common.

    Few people even seem to know this any more, but Benito Mussolini, who invented fascism in 1919 after the First World War, was a revolutionary socialist (what communists used to be called). He was therefore an international socialist who believed in the abolition of nations and world revolution. But the First World War forced him (and many other socialists) to recognise a fundamental point about human nature: people are more loyal to their country than their class. The key event was the decision, in 1914 by the French socialists, to support France against Germany in the war and then by the German socialists to support Germany against France. This convinced Mussolini – who was editor of his party's daily newspaper Avanti! – that the only path to socialist revolution was by means of national not international socialism. The Italian Socialist Party, which unlike its French and German counterparts supported neutrality, did not agree and expelled him. So he launched his own pro-war socialist newspaper, Il Popolo d'Italia, which was part-financed by the French Socialist party. And then, once the war was over, he founded fascism as an alternative left-wing revolutionary movement.

    Fascism replaced the class war between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie with a class war between producers (of whatever class) and parasites (of whatever class). It did not aim to abolish private ownership of the means of production but instead establish the corporate state – the so-called 'Third Way' between communism and capitalism – with each sector of the economy organised in corporations run by the state. Someone like Marine Le Pen in France who is big on the big state and lots of welfare (at least for the French) does have fascism in her DNA. But just what Trump has in common with any of this is beyond me.

    After all, it was Hillary Clinton's husband, Bill, and his soul-mate, Tony Blair, who most recently dusted down the very same phrase – the 'Third Way' – to define their vision of public-private partnerships as the way to economic salvation. Unlike Hillary, the Donald would definitely run a mile from any 'Third Way' economic solution approved by Bill, let alone the corporate state alla Benito. He sells himself as anti-state. He spits out the word 'Washington' as if it is the Devil. Hillary is the one who is pro-state.

    Fascism placed the state on a pedestal and believed in government by dictatorship – not by democracy. But not even the Guardian – surely – believes that Trump aims to install a dictatorship, does it? Indeed, right now, it is the liberal intelligentsia who seem much more prone than Trump to the siren calls of dictatorship as they question democracy itself if it gives power to people like him.

    Fascism aimed for total control of the citizen, especially of their mind. The closest America (and the rest of us) gets to this today is political correctness which Hillary supports and the Donald despises. Fascism was nationalistic which usually, though not necessarily, goes hand-in-hand with aggressive expansionism abroad. And yes, fascism was aggressively expansionist. But the Donald is much less nationalistic than Hillary. He is the isolationist; she the interventionist.

    Ah, they bleat, but he's a nationalist at home. Come again? What they mean here is that he's a racist, and that means that he's a fascist. I shall get lynched for pointing this out but another thing that people seem not to know about fascism (at least Italian fascism) is that it was no more, nor less, racist than any other political creed in the 1920s and 1930s.

    The big exception was its German off-spring: National Socialism. The Nazis were most definitely and always anti-Semitic. Italian fascism was not. Mussolini's main mistress until the early 1930s, Margherita Sarfatti, for example, was Jewish and the majority of Italy's 50,000 Jews were fascists. Italian fascism became anti-Semitic – and on religious not racial grounds – only after Mussolini's fatal alliance with Hitler in the late 1930s.

    But anyway 'The Donald' has said nasty stuff about Mexicans and Muslims and here he parts company with the Duce for a different reason: Mussolini would have been dead keen on Mexicans on the grounds that they were Latinos. And he did not mind Muslims much either per se – especially when they opposed British and French colonial power.

    George Orwell, a socialist who hated communism, drew an important distinction between patriotism and nationalism. A patriot is someone who wants to defends his country, its culture and way of life – wrote Orwell – whereas a nationalist is someone who wants to impose his country, culture and way of life. Patriotism is defensive, nationalism offensive. Trump is a patriot, I reckon, not a nationalist. And the Donald ain't no Duce.

    Nicholas Farrell is the author of 'Mussolini: A New Life'

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/it-s-absurd-to-call-trump-a-fascist

    1. Well written article. Now i would like to see it published in the Guardian. Might improve their readership.

    2. (As sang Blair in satirical song at the turn of the century)

      I take my hols in Tuscany megalomania is my scene
      So I find the term 'prime minister' tends rather to demean
      The stature of my excellence. If it's all the same with you
      I'd rather be called 'president' but 'il duce' would do.

    3. BTL Comment:-

      A fair article which emphasises the VERY close affinity between Fascism and Marxism, but Mussolini did not "invent" Fascism, but rather took the work of Giovani Gentile who led a group of Italian Socialists who, concerned that Marx's "Class Conflict" ideas risked damaging the still fragile Post-Risorgimento Italian State, formulated an alternative form of Socialism based on National Unity and Co-operation.

  69. With little of importance to do, I sat for the first time and watched the Railway Children.
    What a lovely story and so well acted. The younger members of the cast into their 70s now.

      1. One could even call it appropriation. Funny how diversity means poncing off us. If there as such an emphasis on other cultures why aren't stories introduced from Africa or other cultures?

      2. It's a wonder the bbc aren't using advertising the overall majority of them contain people of other cultural backgrounds.

      3. I read the other day that it meant Buggering British Children. (If not physically then certainly mentally with their woke propaganda!)

          2. I’ve been told the description I should use is ‘person of colour’ (purple people eater?) presumably I’m colourless. I’ve been called worse…..😊😊

          5. Speak softly, but carry a big stick. It doesn't mean being mealy mouthed, it just means not being a war-monger but having the strength behind the pacifist words to stop aggression.

          6. Exactly, Conway….I’m nice til I’m not….😂😂…seriously, well known for having a rare temper (rarely used that is, because it’s not pretty).

      4. Do not, as some ungracious pastors do,
        Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven,
        Whiles, like a puffed and reckless libertine,
        Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads,
        And recks not his own rede.

        (Ophelia telling her brother Laertes not to give her moral lectures while not following his own advice)

        Auberon Waugh's second novel was 'The Path of Dalliance' written when he was at Oxford.

        His first novel was written when he was still at school at Downside. Can anyone give me its title? (I shall post the answer later)

    3. I remember many years ago when one of my nephews, now in his 50s, was just a wee lad and we were having a family get-together and wondered where he’d got to because we hadn’t heard a peep out of him for an hour or more. He was sitting directly in front of the television watching The Railway Children.

    1. Well done. Five for me.

      Wordle 1,291 5/6

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

    2. Early today Rene!

      Had 3 options and got it on the second, so I'll settle for that – solid par……

      Wordle 1,291 4/6

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

      2. I had no idea until the third.

        Wordle 1,291 4/6

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

    4. Boring old par
      Wordle 1,291 4/6

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

    5. Late on parade. Granddaughter has the priority.

      Wordle 1,291 3/6

      ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨
      🟩⬜⬜🟨🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  72. Big names who died in 2024. As it's the BBC's list, the separation of featured names and 'others' is, well, very BBC. Batmanjelly is featured, natch.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c789l8p8j7lo

    Here's one of the also-rans. 'Make Me Smile' is a bit overplayed so here's the song that brought Steve Harley to the nation's notice a year earlier. Judy Teen was a good-time girl from the USA who led a young Mr H a merry dance (you know wot I mean…).

    The video is poor quality but it was apparently rescued from a bin at the BBC. Link to lyrics below for those who can't decode Harley's perverse pronunciation.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ5Ra-sln-s
    https://www.google.com/search?q=judy+teen+lyrics&rlz=1C1CHBF_enGB841GB841

    2. You can add Johnnie Walker to the 2024 list. He was responsible for launching Steve Harley's UK career.

    3. "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me).. Everybody loves that song – you can't trust someone who doesn't like that song."
      Jeremy Clarkson.

    4. Well thanks for that (not really sarcasm but….i watched the video, I read the lyrics, there was a reference to a tribute to Steve Harley by David Gedge from the Wedding Present which is one of my favourite bands and I’ve spent the past hour listening to the Wedding Present on YouTube instead of doing all the stuff I should be doing)

      But I am very happy

      2. He actually moved his head a split second before the would-be assassin squeezed the trigger. If he hadn’t we would have read his obituary…

          1. No. we are supposed to say that it was all fixed, he knew when to move his head for dramatic effect!

  74. Just watched some of the docu about Alan Bennett on iplayer. Which is good in itself but the more i hear Bennett speak the more his words speak to me.

    Got to the point where he spoke about the film the History Boys and had to pause the documentary to watch the film.

    I recommend watching it tonight rather than the swill being offered.

    Not bad for a Northerner !

      1. Yes i know. I have watched it several times.

        Also went to the Festival Theatre at Chichester to watch his play '40 Years On'. Originally acted by Sir John Geilgud. This time round it was Richard Wilson.

        I didn't believe he learned his lines !

        2. Malcolm Bradbury was at UEA for many years and set up the School of Creative Writing with Angus Wilson.

          One of his protegés, Sir Kazuo Ishiguro, who studied at UEA on this course has been made a Companion of Honour in today's New Year's Honours List for services to literature. Another prominent UEA author who went on the Bradbury course, Ian McEwan, is also a CH.

  75. Phew! A bit of a busy day. Just walked back from Cromford, but this morning, after a couple of hours splitting and sawing including having to refit the chain after it got thrown off twice, (you can start with a well adjusted chain, but when it warms up it does tend to stretch and make it more liable to jumping off) I actually had Graduate and Welder Sons doing a bit get some the chopped wood cleared and stacked!

    Had a phone call from Stepson which means I have to go to Stoke on Friday to meet up with a Social Worker from Derby who, apparently, is trying to arrange for his case file to be handed over to Stoke.

    Had a bath and then off for Graduate Son's 30th Birthday Lunch at The Greyhound in Cromford, hence the walk back.

    Noticeably brighter than this time last week and a bit blustery.

    1. Yes – not quite as dark as I expected on the drive back from Stroud. I've got a pair of yellow over-specs which I saw advertised last week and they arrived yesterday. I tried them out on the way back – they feel a bit odd but they seem to work – they turn all the lights yellow so they do cut out the glare.

  76. Well – that's younger son deposited at the station……….he's getting the train to Bristol now but the flight is early tomorrow so he's got a hotel room for the night.
    Now we're on our own again. I do love to see them but it's quite nice to get back to normal, too.

    1. Caroline and I have seen every new year in together since 1987/88 when we spent it in Spain, near Madrid, with Caroline's parents. Since then we have always had friends and/or family with us at Le Grand Osier to see in each new year or were in Greece or Turkey on Mianda or in Southern Spain to where Caroline's parents had retired.

      Henry and Jess were with us for Christmas but returned to England to see the New Year in with Jess's parents and Christo and Katy will be with their friends in Bedfordshire. Caroline's sister, Pierrette, and her most recent husband, Sjoerd, have come to us every New Year since they married five years ago but Sjoerd is now recovering from a stroke so they cannot come.

      So this is the first New Year in 37 years that Caroline and I will be just the two of us!

        1. December is a month best written off for its dark days and over anticipated joy, unless you actually celebrate Christmas for its true meaning. Off to the pub later to indulge in faux celebration of the passing of midnight. Roll on the spring, and a little skiing will add some cheer to the daily drudge!

  77. Evening, all. Very windy here yet no sprouts! It was so blustery I had to tie the flaps on my deerstalker! Needless to say, apart from going for a walk with Kadi and doing the usual chores around the house, I haven't done much.

    Frankly we could sack all the civil serpents and the country would be better off.

      1. Are you aware we just created a comedy thread of misunderstanding that Bennett himself could have written? :@)

          1. Pourtant tu parles le langage de la nourriture !

            It is the part of the film i enjoy most where their history professor takes a class.

          1. Late leaving Bristol, but the Schiphol departure was deayed enough for us to catch it!

  83. New Year’s Eve disappointment as weather warnings lead to cancellations of displays of fireworks.

    Rather appropriate – not even a damp squib to celebrate the miserable year Starmer imposed upon us.

    1. My barometers (I have four altogether in various places) are all resolutely pointing to "Very Dry". Guess what! I've just been out to put some recycling in the bin and it's raining.

        1. Shirley Heights in Antigua?

          I spent some time in English Harbour in 1985 having taken a sabbatical year from work from 1984/85 to sail across the pond on Raua.

          The Halcyon Steel Orchestra were there at that time and the Wahdili Experience were the group which played at the Jump Ups.

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke9p3QPrIEE

  85. "Nine special forces troops could face war crimes prosecution
    Incidents in Syria and Afghanistan are being investigated, the Ministry of Defence confirms after trying to keep the figures secret"

    No wonder no one wants to join the armed forces.

  86. Trudeaus liberals just hit a new low in the polls, they are now at 16% and expected to lose most seats in parliament with even trudeaus seat at risk. Even with this rating Trudeau appears to be stalling until he can prorogue parliament.

    Any bets on how much lower they will go after the carbon tax increase and alcohol tax increases kick in on April 1st.

    However don't worry, the MPs get an automatic salary increase in April, they will not suffer.

  90. That's me signing off for the year. And what a year, eh? Started badly and ended much worse. I just thank the Lord that I am old. The MR is beginning to think the same way.

    Have a spiffing evening hogmanying away – if that's your wont. Not mine. I shall be in bed nice and early with a good book.

    A demain et la nouvelle année.

      2. All the best to you both and Happy New Year.

        My own personal view is that Starmer’s government will fall in the near future. He cannot survive the failure of the Ukraine project and the dire outlook for our economy.

        Even now he is attempting to postpone the May local elections because he knows he will be wiped out.

        1. TBF: postpone the May local elections where he knows he will lose.
          At this rate, it could be the entire country.

          1. Well they appear to be on the verge of abolishing all the current county and District councils – ready to set up something else. So no local elections then.

  92. Happy New Year, Bill. I’m going to hear The King’s Singers at the Wigmore Hall (7-9pm) then home to bed.

  94. I won't be sorry to see the back of this year……..though I did have two great trips and took lots of photos – so it wasn't all bad!

  95. I was just reading poetry from The Tower. This is my favourite poem from the collection.

    Sailing to Byzantium
    BY WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS

    I

    That is no country for old men. The young
    In one another's arms, birds in the trees,
    —Those dying generations—at their song,
    The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,
    Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
    Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
    Caught in that sensual music all neglect
    Monuments of unageing intellect.

    II

    An aged man is but a paltry thing,
    A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
    Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
    For every tatter in its mortal dress,
    Nor is there singing school but studying
    Monuments of its own magnificence;
    And therefore I have sailed the seas and come
    To the holy city of Byzantium.

    III

    O sages standing in God's holy fire
    As in the gold mosaic of a wall,
    Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre,
    And be the singing-masters of my soul.
    Consume my heart away; sick with desire
    And fastened to a dying animal
    It knows not what it is; and gather me
    Into the artifice of eternity.

    IV

    Once out of nature I shall never take
    My bodily form from any natural thing,
    But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
    Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
    To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;
    Or set upon a golden bough to sing
    To lords and ladies of Byzantium
    Of what is past, or passing, or to come.

        1. Well she is probably a “girly” author but i like her because she is very erudite and has lots of interesting historical and musical references in her books. South African, originally.

    2. Don't know why but the above poem reminded me of 'The Windhover' by Gerard Manley Hopkins. And as I read the words I heard in my mind the booming yet dulcet bass tones of my Eng.Lit Master reading the words aloud some 53 years ago…..

      To Christ our Lord

      I caught this morning morning's minion, kingdom
      of daylight's dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in
      his riding
      Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
      High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
      In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,
      As a skate's heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl
      and gliding
      Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
      Stirred for a bird, – the achieve of, the mastery of the thing!
      Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
      Buckle! AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion
      Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!
      No wonder of it: shèer plòd makes plough down sillion
      Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,
      Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold vermilion.

  99. I wonder if Starmer I trying prove something by allowing certain new controversial knight hoods. Justification for all the previous mistakes.

      1. Hope there are no strangers looking in tonight, they might think there might be some dogging around. Anyway, do keep your puppies warm and safe in the new year…

  101. i will be having an ECG on 2 Jan early in the morning. I am unaccustomed to hospital treatments of any sort. Can anyone tell me what to expect, how much if anything do I have to bare (so I can choose garments that allow me to bare the least….). This is precautionary (simply because of 'my age') prior to my having minor but invasive surgery on my knee on 7 January.

    1. I have just had one, a 12 lead ecg I think it was called. I had to lay on the bed and was asked to raise my T Shirt up so leads could be attached to my chest and ankles.
      If I had just worn a normal shirt that would have proved to be OK, so a T shirt or normal shirt for a man or for a lady a button up blouse will be fine.
      Happy New Year to you.

    2. Bare to middle
      Grease applied to the electrodes =- leave sticky mess!
      Takes 20 mins max
      Knees are of corse connected to hearts…!!!

      Bonne chance

        2. Is it an electrocardiogram or an echocardiogram? The former is a doddle. I have them as a matter of course, along with blood pressure, pulse and temperature. The only funny thing that happens is that I get home and find I haven’t removed all the sticky pads. At least three or four left on every time.

          2. Yes, it is an electrocardiogram. That’s the one. Just a pre-op precaution. The thing is, I don’t like taking my clothes off, that exposed feeling. I don’t like swimming or beach activities because of that.

    5. It's not in the least an invasive procedure Mum, there's nothing to worry about. You'll be well looked after.

    1. I got invited to France for a ceremonie des voeux in the middle of January, but there is no way I can make it. I've already sent my apologies.

    2. I Auvergne atm. Warming my house one day at a time.
      My brother has Les Saptes at Conques s/orbiel but he could not convince his wife and kids to brave the house-fridge. I might have gone there if they’d been around.
      I take it you’re in Norfolk?

  104. From Coffee House, the Spectator

    14 Dec 2024
    Coffee House
    Ross ClarkRoss Clark
    Why has ‘decolonising’ Sadiq Khan accepted a knighthood?
    31 December 2024, 9:32am

    Sadiq Khan (Photo: Getty)

    Text
    Comments

    If you are going to give gongs for public service, I guess a three-times elected London mayor ought to be a candidate. True, it is hard to see what particular achievements have earned Sadiq Khan his knighthood. Violent crime has risen inexorably on his watch, while his efforts to clean up London’s air have been clumsy at best, making life next-to-impossible for low-wage shift workers in outer London who really don’t have any option but to commute to work in their 20 year-old cars. Cars, in should be noted, which are not a lot less clean than the newer Chelsea Tractors which wealthy Londoners – Khan included – use to get around. But that rather misses the point: Khan has been elected three times, so some people must think he is doing a good job. Carping over his knighthood – like that of Tony Blair’s – seems somewhat un-conservative. If you believe in public service and an honours system you should welcome a long-serving mayor being granted an honour – even if he is on the other side of the political fence from you.

    Surely, he should have refused an honour which is dripping with colonial associations.

    More to the point is why on Earth has Khan accepted a knighthood? This is a man who has vowed to ‘decolonise’ London, offering £25,000 grants to neighbourhoods which wish to change their street names, dumping the legacies of colonial figures. One road which underwent such treatment is Havelock Road in Southall, named after Sir Henry Havelock, a general in British-India, which now goes by the name Guru Nanak Road. Khan has also spoken against the national curriculum (over which thankfully he has no control) on the grounds that it tells Britain’s history from a colonial point of view, saying it only offers ‘one-dimensional perspectives on Black History’.

    Why, then, has Khan agreed to become a Knight of the Order of the British Empire? Surely, he should have refused an honour which is dripping with colonial associations. To accept it opens him up to charges of gross hypocrisy. It seems that he detests everything about the British Empire – until, that is, he succumbs to flattery. Accepting a knighthood makes him seem shallow and unprincipled.

    Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to accept a knighthood for his services as Director of Public Prosecutions is much the same. Given his taking of the knee, why does he want to be associated with the British Empire? It would earn him some respect – or at least make him a little more consistent in his politics – if he wrapped up his gong and sent it back to the Palace like John Lennon did.

    Instead, Starmer has embraced the honours system, like so many Labour prime ministers before him, as a means of bestowing political patronage – and as a rather feeble form of compensation for colleagues that he was embarrassed to sack. I am sure that Dame Emily Thornberry has many fine qualities – but evidently they were not sufficient to persuade Starmer to put her in his cabinet.

    The Labour party’s attitude to the honours systems shows that it only does socialism around the edges. The Prime Minister is happy to boot hereditary peers out of the House of Lords, calling them an anachronism – yet then goes ahead and creates a mini-aristocracy of his own, using titles which are surely every bit as anachronistic.

    Ross Clark
    Written by
    Ross Clark
    Ross Clark is a leader writer and columnist who has written for The Spectator for three decades. His books include Not Zero and The Road to Southend Pier.

    1. Why has ‘decolonising’ Sadiq Khan accepted a knighthood? Possibly because an awful lot of Londoners think he's a Prick?

      1. I think you'll find that they think he's a c**t. Unfortunately, more Londoners than not think the sun shines out of his arse.

        2. "Londoners"? Or people who just happen to live in London?
          And, for many of those born in London, I refer you to the 1st Duke of Wellington's dictum on being born in a stable not necessarily making one a horse.

          1. People living in London. I was born in London but no longer live there, so I do not consider myself to be a Londoner.

          3. The majority that live in London are in receipt of housing benefit. Take a look on any live cam of people going to work…walking from the Underground and across the bridges in the morning.
            They are 95% WHITE.

            They can't afford to live there !

    1. The "right wing" would have cut taxes because they would have done away with the useless crap like DIE, LGBT, sending money abroad for "climate change", spaffing it up the wall in the Ukraine, net zero and wasting billions on people who shouldn't be here.

      1. 399564+ up ticks,

        Evening C,
        The “right wing” would first to have had, a genuine ” right wing” Governing party and not, since the sad demise of Mrs Thatcher (RIP) a very false image of Conservatism.

        The “right Wing” these thirty plus years have been actively Tory (INO)

        Our electorate has in fact been bending the knee to a very anti BRIT lab/lib/con coalition.

  106. https://youtu.be/pYWt3HxTB5Y?si=g68bfUldc5CZMmDD

    Happy New Year one and all! I shall be dancing the old Year out and the new one in. Surprise, surprise, eh?

    Just for the heck of it, here I am yesterday pretending to be civilised… (red top, black skirt and happily dancing with a handsome Argentinian, for the avoidance of doubt 🙂)

      1. You wouldn't believe how far ahead that lady is……………..Entrancing, enchanting, beguiling, sensuous.

        And she manages all that with…a look.

    10. You didn't need to describe what you are wearing. I would recognise that sashaying arse anywhere !

      Love you. Miss you. :@)

    11. Lovely to hear the odd snatches of Argentine conversation, Katy. And is the singer on the record Carlos Gardel? Anyhow, a very Happy New Year to you.

  108. Oh well we must get prepared for our invited neighbours to arrive for drinky winks and snacks all the way up to next year. Could be fun…..
    Slayders folks until 2025. Let us hope we can get rid of the clowns in Wastemonster sooner than later.
    Happy New year to everybody except all of the current government.
    All the best to all. 🤩😉😅🤗

  111. Well the only thing I will watch this Yuletide starts in a few minutes – The scent of a Woman – Freeview channel 46. So have a good evening all and may you all enjoy a peaceful, healthy and happy new Year…

    1. Ha!! Think of me during the tango scene… (the dance floor here will be sort of like that, but with about a thousand more people 🤣🤣)

  112. Been out; and managed to get away. Back home watching James Bond with a Baileys (i know, i know, but it reminds me of my youth).

  116. Well, that's me off to bed. Hopefully the pub meal will have settled enough for me to have some sleep!

    A Happy New Year to anyone still on line!

  118. Night all. Having escaped New Year’s Eve, am capitalising on the opportunity for bed.

    1. I came home on an almost empty bus this evening. Two people upstairs and me and the driver downstairs. It was as pleasant as a bus ride can be. Oxford Street W1 is heaving with hijabs. Bayswater Road, Notting Hill and Holland Park Avenue deserted.

  119. Sir Cant having cleaned the air of London will let off 125000 fireworks in just over an hour. These people are not fit to govern.

  120. Well, chums, it's just turned 11 pm, so normally I would wish you all a Good Night and hope you sleep well and say "See you tomorrow" but not tonight. Instead, exceptionally, I will now stay up to see in the New Year with a small tot of whisky in my hand and then head upstairs to bed.

        1. She's okay. I'm looking after my little friend.

          Happy New Year.

          She has gone from being scared to being bored of my Freddie Mercury impersonations.

      2. Kadi is just sitting shaking with his tongue lolling out. I can't even hear any fireworks, but there must be some somewhere in the distance.

        1. They started over an hour ago, here, Conners. Give Kadi a good cuddle and you'll hopefully reassure him that he is safe.

          1. They have started in earnest now (on the stroke of midnight). I think he's taken himself off to bed where I shall be joining him shortly. I've changed the calendars over and first footed, so I'll just have a wee dram of something (probably port) and then retire. Goodnight and sweet dreams.

      1. We only have 400 million years before our Sun goes super nova.

        I suggest you book your holiday now !

        1. They've got a bit of time to develop a substantial factor pf protection for the Sun Tan Cream by then…

  124. Only 25 minutes left of 2024. Happy New Year to all (except those in Westmonster of course).

  127. Happy New Year, everybody! El Alamein is being recreated outside and Kadi doesn't know what to do with himself.

  128. Happy New Year to you all , there is a real gale blowing and can you believe the temp is 12c!

    No need for the coal fire this evening .

    Goodnight .

  129. Happy New Year to one and all Alf and I have just had some champagne and have Jools Holland on tv after watching the countdown on beeb1. Bob Geldof looks even scruffier than ever. Don’t think he’s washed since , ooh, at least 1984.

    1. Not the best collection tonight Geldof is a very poor choice and CMAT or whatever – enough already! Happy New Year all!!

    1. Wonderful. I always wonder why i ever leave !

      Anything planned….digging the house out from the drifts?

  133. I've had a thoroughly enjoyable evening at my local social club, welcoming in the new year, and look forward enthusiastically to 2025. Happy New Year to all.

  135. Longest New Year ever. Back home everyone's seen the New Year in, gone out watched fireworks, got drunk come home seen late night TV and gone to bed. Here in Los Angeles we're still preparing dinner. It's only 8:50. New York on TV waiting for midnight. But LA three hours away.

Comments are closed.