688 thoughts on “Tuesday 31 December: Experienced ‘amateurs’ could offer added protection in the Channel”

  2. Good morning, all.

    I discovered that I had, after all, recorded the first episode of the German “home movies” on Sunday.

    Appalling, compelling viewing.

    1. I was just thinking about that for some strange reason. Apparently Les Valliant Froggies had all this wonderful equipment, mechanised and far superior to the boche, who had to rely on horse power throughout the war, making blitzkrieg a bit of a misnomer, but I’m only going by hearsay.

      1. It’s not the quality of the equipment but, as in all things, the quality of the determination and belief.

        1. It’s the quality of the soldiers, the the Germans won every time and inflicted heavier losses against all opponents when they were similarly matched. Plus their officers were far superior and drilled to counter attack at the first opportunity. I was watching that video about the Polish pilots and their crazy Czech, far superior to the brylcream boys and their stupid tactics.

      1. Good day.

        I have never had the slightest qualms about Dresden – or any of the other cities burned to the ground.

  4. Morning all

    Follow

    SIR – The idea of second-hand patrol boats, in conjunction with light spotter aeroplanes (Letters, December 28), might help stem the flood of illegal immigrants. It would also free up both the Royal Navy and the Border Force to confront drugs and arms smugglers, unlawful fishermen, real criminals and the Queen’s enemies in general.

    However, in both the RN and RAF there is a manpower problem. As the crews of the proposed small vessels and light aircraft need not be trained to service standards, may I suggest the reintroduction of the Second World War’s successful Royal Naval Volunteer (Supplementary) Reserve, along with an RAF equivalent?

    Before 1939, the ranks of the RNV (S) R were drawn from yachtsmen, trawler men and general seamen, and were available on an “as required” basis. These experienced “amateurs” conducted their own training and received no pay, yet were irreplaceable once employed (and paid) in manning the country’s coastal forces.

    Sadly for me, if this were implemented now I do not see the age limit being increased from 25 to 78.

    Ewen Southby-Tailyour

    Ermington, South Devon

  5. SIR – I cannot understand the policy being operated towards migrants crossing the Channel.

    Yes, they will have destroyed their documentation, which may make decisions problematic. However, we do know they have come from France, where they are not being persecuted.

    They should be returned to France at once, which is the international rule. What is the point of rules if they are never applied?

    Mick Ferrie

    Falmouth, Cornwall

    2. Where are all the WWII MTBs (Motor Torpedo Boats)?

      Sir Francis Drake didn’t have a problem with potential usurpers in the Channel. Neither did Sir Winston Churchill.

      But—silly me—that’s when (as a nation) we possessed the three Bs (Brains, Balls and a Backbone).

      1. There might still be a couple beached on the Medway at Cuxton or the Itchen at St. Denys, Southampton in use as houseboats.

    3. France has been locked in a State of Emergency for some time. Citizens can be attacked just for wearing a yellow waistcoat, let alone a star of David. Synagogues have been damaged, Notre Dame has been toasted, and it amazes me that still only a trickle of refugees are crossing the English channel.

    4. Last Autumn the local news BBC South East gleefully announced that only 2% of cross channel migrants had been returned to France.

      The message obviously got around as many economic migrants are nowadays trying their luck, endangering themselves and their rescuers.

  6. SIR – A few years ago we moved from health-and-safety conscious Britain to rural France.

    We used constantly to moan about the over-protection of our son, the risk-adverse culture and its potential consequences as he grew up. How different it is here. We can collect him from school with his trousers torn and a cut on his forehead, only to be met with a Gallic shrug from his teacher. Is there perhaps a happy medium?

    Richard Sinnerton

    Argeliers, Occitanie, France

    1. I went 9-10 miles to my first football match on the back of a motorcycle at the age of 9 clinging on, obviously no crash helmet and in short trousers. Just wait till the snowflake yoof of today have to march off in their trainers to confront the Russians after being conscripted into the EU army after they’d been guaranteed safe spaces.

    2. Trousers torn as he was forced to kneel down and pray in the schoolyard. And the cut on his forehead tells us that the bullies were not Catholics.

      1. One of the most stupid men I have ever met was a primary school teacher in the school in Brittany where our elder son, Christo, was a pupil. When Christo was bullied we were told that it was his own fault and that he was not interested. Mind you Christo did not endear himself by correcting his teacher’s grammar and pronunciation.

  8. National living wage to rise by 6.2% in April

    I dont think the claim below that it is 4 times the rate of inflation is correct. That would imply inflation was about 1.5% whereas I think it is nearer 2.5%. It is still a big increase and it will also mean a companies pension contributions will increase. It is difficult to see how in some areas of the economy it will not result in job loses and prices increases. Retail for example is struggling. They will not be able to absorb a 6.3% increase in costs. There is also limited scope to increase productivity in retail. WE may well see some more retail chains go under next year

    The national living wage is to rise by 6.2% in what the government says is “the biggest cash increase ever”.
    The rise is more than four times the rate of inflation and takes hourly pay for people over 25 to £8.72 from April.

      1. They have been pushing minimum pay up for some time and retail for example has no capacity to absorb that extra cost and neither can they really pass much of it on in price increases. Report suggest retail has not done will over the important Christmas period so it suggest some will go bust

      3. I got a tad under 7½d (sevenpence ha’penny) an hour in 1967 in my first pay packet. I took home after tax [sorry: “Governmental theft”] £3..4s..5d for a week’s graft.

    2. Good morning, to everyone except me. (I find that talking to myself results in a visit from the men in white coats.) :-))

    3. Good morning, to everyone except me. (I find that talking to myself results in a visit from the men in white coats.) :-))

  10. Will HS2 go ahead ?

    On any logical basis HS2 should be scrapped and the money saved used to improve rail services outside of London . HS2 is continually going over budget and continually falling behind schedule. It i also seen as a London project. HS2 will also be very long term and the chances of it going beyond Birmingham are close to zero. To cut costs the HS2 link to Heathrow has been axed which makes the line of even less use. HS2 will soak up nearly all the money for investment in the railways but will offer zero benefit for at least a decade. Boris needs to be seen to be investing in the North but has little spare cash available

    The experience from HS! shows the passenger numbers are simply not there. People want lower fares and not HS services with much nigher fares

    There are a lot of vested interest in HS2 . It would make more sense to look at the old Great Central line, ome of it is still open and in uses and much of the old track bed still exists although some has been built over. The line was the last one into London so was built to high standard. Reopening that would be less costly far less disruptive and far cheaper

  11. ‘Morning All

    “Ghislaine Maxwell is ‘totally convinced’ that she will not face

    prosecution over alleged procurement of girls for Jeffrey Epstein as she

    has too much ‘dirt’ on rich people, family friend says”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7838235/Ghislaine-Maxwell-totally-convinced-wont-prosecuted.html
    Hmm,well I’d lay a long bet she’ll never make it into a court to give evidence………………
    In other news FOUR of Kevin Spacy’s accusers have died by “accident” or “suicide”
    How fortunate for him……………….

    2. Poor Ghislaine, she’s in a right mucking fuddle: crossing the road is out, likewise taking a bath (can you drown in a shower?), swimming, boat trips, driving a car, entering a building more than one storey tall, plugging in a kettle etc. Perhaps she should take Wellington’s stance and, “Publish and be damned.”

      1. Maybe you can’t drown in a shower, but you do need to carefully pick the accommodation in which the shower is located.
        Remember ‘Psycho’ and also the fate of Princess Margaret.

    3. If Ms Ghislaine Maxwell wanted to buy some life assurance I wonder how loaded her premium would be?

  12. “And yet, as the Mail revealed yesterday,

    many of these everyday heroes have not only been cheated out of their

    pensions after incompetent checks by Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs

    made them vulnerable to cold-hearted scammers, but they are now also

    being hounded by HMRC for alleged unpaid bills.

    The

    suffering and hardship caused by these HMRC-approved providers is

    appalling in its own right. But it is HMRC’s response – to brazenly turn

    the fire on the victims – that makes this debacle truly scandalous.

    If ever there were a moment for a wide-ranging inquiry into Britain’s tax authority, it is now.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7838549/Pension-scam-sanctioned-Whitehall-cost-military-veterans-50-000-each.html
    Shades of the Post Office and their useless accounting systems
    Blame the victim

  13. If the Disqus servers are full up and no longer capable of updating our logs or those of member sites, then perhaps it is time for them to consider banning non-text entries, particularly space-hogging video animations? Also the “exciting features” bloat that has proliferated since the days of XP may need to be reined back in order to keep the servers for genuine comment. Murphy’s Law seems to breaking down.

    Does anyone think things can return to normal once any Disqus staff not laid off return from their hols?

    1. JM – If the non-text items and videos were a problem for Disqus servers I’m sure the ability to post such material would be removed. In the big picture of Disqus, nttl.blog is rather insignificant.

      I’m sure normal service will be resumed in due course!

    2. Just get rid of the trolls…… may not be quite as interesting and troll baiting is a popular sport but with all those self applied and mutual backscratching upticks, that would probably fix the problem.
      By the way, is this why notifications has failed recently?
      and why not get bigger serves. Its what you do when sales exceeds manufacturing capacity, you upgrade capacity.

      1. My notifications land up in junk mail.
        I’m not sure if that signals anything significant to tekkie NOTTLers. (The same also applies to emails from older son and heir.)

        1. You can easily turn off the emails – I did that soon after starting on disqus. I use the little blob at the top to see notifications – or I did before they stopped on Saturday.

          1. I don’t mind the emails; I object to them being dumped in junk mail along with bl00dy horoscopes and Russian nymphets who obviously don’t recognise a poor pensioner ….

  14. Next the Greeniacs will be coming for the internet

    “According to a study by the Boston Consulting Group, the internet is responsible for roughly one billion tonnes of greenhouse gases a year, or around two per cent of world emissions.”

    Not for this reason of course but because as a tool it keeps showing them up for the total shysters they are

    See the Moonbat for details

    https://twitter.com/aDissentient/status/1211766973111123968?s=20
    What really grinds my gears is the EcoLoons refusal to accept responsibility for the disasters driven by THEIR policies
    Your child choking on particulates in cities??
    Blame the Green push for diesel cars
    Your home flooded??
    Blame the Green management of river dredging
    Wildfires out of control??
    Blame the Green forest management policies

    1. All this bluster is hardly civilised debate in a democracy, and makes me think that they might be right after all, unless their opponents can be a little more positive about what they have to say. “What a nutter!” is hardly a rigorous debunking of ecological study since the 1960s.

      The particulates in cities might just be because folk prefer to run their kids to school in aspirational 4x4s rather than on bicycles.

      Servers and the transmission of vast amount of Twitter adware and malware bloat, much of it animated video dross, does consume electricity.

      If you must build your home on floodplains and then pave over the soakaways, is it any surprise it gets flooded?

      Wildfires in burn zones – why isn’t all this excess fuel that cannot rot away (as it can in wetter places where the trees still circulate the rain) scooped up and used to generate electricity?

      For me, the irrefutable fact is that the world’s human population has near tripled in my lifetime, that very many more of them aspire to live like throwaway Americans, and that the great forests of South America, Asia and Africa, with their associated life, is a shadow of what it was when Attenborough started filming them. Surely those that disagree with this can come up with something better than “What a nutter!”?

      1. LBC – Andrew Castle interviews on-the-ground Australian escaping the fires .

        “Is it due to global warming?”

        “No. It’s due to the Green Party banning back burning”.

        Delicious. I swear I could hear Greta’s head explode.

        1. They are only part right. Back burning in winter was long an essential bit of household maintenance by the Aborigines, but not so popular among the settlers with their fine homes and lovely European-style gardens.

          I was in Australia once in summer in 2011 during a Catastrophic Fire Risk day (over 40C and eucalyptus oil in the trees evaporates and has the properties of petrol, and a north wind just keeps the temperatures up). There are major warnings to get rid of excess fuel, which generates embers and to clear all gutters to stop fires getting into the roof. Also to keep water tanks topped up and test sprinkler systems. Clothing should be cotton or wool, which does not burn readily, a fireproof area of the home with adequate breathable oxygen to shelter in as the fire blows over, and then to be sufficiently mentally and physically fit to tackle embers afterwards. Those who are not should be evacuated in good time. Any hint of smoke on the horizon, and you call out the Fire Brigade on the emergency line, and the neighbourhood sirens go off. Known firebugs are arrested and kept in custody for the duration.

          I think what global warming has done is to convert what is a traditional part of the Australian landscape and can be lived through and fought at home, into a catastrophe where nothing survives and the best thing is to get the hell out, and give up on being able to control it.

          2. Same with the outskirts of Valparaiso. The city is surrounded by forests of eucalyptus & fir trees – both exude highly flammable oils.

            I’ve not heard any more about the Valpo fires for over a week.

        2. Yes, I knew there was some greenie involvement to do with preventing proper fire breaks being established….. pretty soon the truth will out it is not Global warmi9ng causing the problems but the greenie advocates and their policies.

      2. Did ou know that a few years back a study found that when you account for all the factors, energy cost and pollution in both manufacture and recycling and allow for where electricity comes from, the Prius was about 65th on the list and top was one of those big engined run forever Jeeps?
        Of course, the greenies have tried hard to debunk the article….. and yes electric cars may be better today but just think about those big batteries and how mucch environmntal damage is done by the Chinese producingt hem… and mining the raw materials…. and China is set to be th centre for electric cars….. Greenieism is a fabulously rich seem of gold for them. Look at all those wind farm companies that were establishing themselves in the Uk with the Greenie minded thinking Thannet or wherever would become a technocentre for renewables….and then they all shut up shop and legged it to China…..

      4. “For me, the irrefutable fact is that the world’s human population has near tripled in my life time…”

        ‘Morning, JM. Not something you will ever hear from the rantings of the Eco-Brat, the one and only Greater Thunderbum.

        1. The world’s population was 2.8 billion when I was born in 1956. It was 6.3 billion when Greta was born in 2003. It is now 7.7 billion. Most of the population rises had already occurred by 2003, and the rises today are not in Sweden, but in Africa, South America and Asia.

      5. The particulates in cities might just be because folk prefer to run their kids to school in aspirational 4x4s rather than on bicycles.

        Not if they have petrol engines.

    2. Except that a report commissioned by the UK Gover and delivered in the old style of neutral language and intended to inform not indoctrinate, showed that pollution is lower today that it was and that there are only a few places where particulates exceed the safe limits and only briefly in the rush hour in some high traffic locations.
      Oh, and they don’t talk about mortality but morbidity which is the consequence of long term exposure not some fleeting contact never repeated.

      Factors involved: The Clean air act (mot saint Greta), the relocation of industry from city centres to the periphery…. London once had its power stations along the Thames and there were lots of foundries and potteries etc all within the city. (Now there are just unemployed immigrants) and so on. They don’t remember the Thames being devoid of life and all these things were done by the old folk Great ask “How Dare you”, not by young people on favebook, Twitter etc and indoctrinated by the marxist educators.

      1. Apparently that is one reason why London is in danger of drowning; all those industries and breweries used up much of the surplus water.

          2. That was a fear several decades ago, but with the removal of heavy industry, of which there was a considerable amount, the amount of water extracted has reduced considerably and the London aquifers have filled up again.

    1. Well yes, Rik, except that for Helen Bracken to pretend that she is still in the EU Cathy would have to give her only 25p back, tell her to match it with another 25p and then tell her what to spend the resultant 50p on. Thus it would cost Helen Bracken £1.50 for every £1 she would be allowed to spend her money on.

    2. ‘I want it to be an opportunity for people to reflect on who we are, what sort of society we live in and where we are going as a country,’ announced Peter Mandelson.

      He got that wrong. The events at the show didn’t include suicide bombings, mass gang rapes or African knife fights.

    1. He can only say these things because he’s black. How has the indigenous British majority (still) become so silenced?

    3. I’m willing to bet that one or more of her aides got it in the neck for having failed to see this disaster coming down the track…

      ‘Morning, Citroen.

    4. Health warinings please and a lim=nk not the picture… that’s the devil’s seed and the wicked withc…. no wonder Brenda looks like she rather be somewhere else, and, since she has her hat on and someone presumably has her handbag, she will escape shortly.

    6. One shot could have saved so much bother. In fact, three. Him, his crook of a wife and the loathsome Falconer.

    1. And that’s just Queenslamd – there are fires being lit all over Australia – never a mention in the news bulletins of the arsonists.

      1. They’re just working out how to claim Climate Change made them do it while not allowing us to think any of them are actual AGW supporters or lunatics like ER but deniers.
        Incidentally, I heard somewhere that one part of the problem was the resistance of eco-warriors to home owners providing fire breaks…. could be wrong on that but it smacks of the Somerset Levels flooding because they stopped them dredging the drainage channels and rivers.

  21. For anyone who missed this a couple of days ago…..(my fave is ‘Newsnight as a drop-in centre for bereaved Remainers etc.)

    COFFEE HOUSE – Lily Allen to Newsnight: The 41 most annoying things in 2019
    Lloyd Evans – 29 December 2019 – 10:00 AM

    Lily Allen. Lights! Camera! Hanky! It’s been a vintage year for Twitter’s comedy genius.

    The needy pub-bore grumblings of Tony Blair.

    Ditto John Major.

    Ant and Dec. Even after the drunken prang it’s impossible to tell them apart.

    The panicky new jargon of weather forecasters, (old version in brackets). Flood warning. (Drizzle). Drought warning. (Drizzle clearing). Zero visibility. (Overcast). Threat to life. (Hail). Hypothermia alert. (Frost). Blizzards expected with a wind-chill of minus 50. (Easterly breezes).

    Susanna Reid. Why does she let the bloke with the big head do all the talking?

    The minor Johnsons. One is acceptable but do we need the others? And I don’t buy the ‘good for tourism’ argument because France doesn’t have Johnsons and it’s full of sightseers.

    Jurgen Klopp’s teeth.

    Comics who think a banality becomes funny if it includes the word ‘Wetherspoons.’

    Jane Garvey ending discussions with, ‘and let’s remember not all men are like that.’

    The prospect of Baroness Swinson – although it would be fitting for someone who finds voters rather tiresome to join an unelected chamber.

    Men who can’t decide if it’s a beard or just a five-day holiday from the blade. Top culprits – Sugar, Sheeran, Baddiel and Jezza.

    John Humphrys’s matey chats with the contestants on ‘Celebrity Mastermind.’

    The contestants on ‘Celebrity Mastermind’.

    Canal boats whose Extinction Rebellion logo is barely visible through the diesel fumes streaming from their engines.

    Sir Ed Davey’s lack of a neck.

    The BBC weather-map that features ‘Birmingham’ on a huge banner blotting out mid-Wales, half of the Irish sea and most of County Wexford.

    Caroline ‘frequent-flyer’ Lucas.

    The Edinburgh Festival Joke of the Year. Invariably a contrived pun deemed harmless by the BBC. One of the best recent gags was: ‘Different era, the 1970s. The sex offenders register was called the Radio Times.’

    Gushy travel supplements that reveal, ‘The Ten Things You Have To Do Before You Die.’ Why do I have to? And if I’m actually dying, thanks for reminding me what I’ll miss.

    People on Question Time who ask their question while keeping one hand in the air.

    Police brutality videos which you can’t watch until you’ve sat through a chocolate bar advert.

    Mishal Husain. Cheer up. It’s a nice warm studio not a war-zone.

    Brexiteer purists who won’t be satisfied until Ursula von der Leyen is holed up in a Brussels bunker with a revolver and a single bullet.

    The return of Daniel Craig – the jobbing thesp responsible for turning Ian Fleming’s suave master-spy into a humourless potato-head who looks like Bing Crosby’s homeless cousin.

    The daily chore of reaching for the off-button as the Archers theme-tune begins.

    Endangered species. They’re only ‘endangered’ because we don’t put them in sausages or turn their pelts into slippers and luggage. Intensive farming is the way forward for leopards, rhinos and giant pandas.

    Emma Barnett’s one-note interviewing technique designed to catch her victim out.

    The £4.79 artisan loaf that’s sturdier than a cobblestone although not as tasty.

    The puppy-dog smirk of Matt Hancock. He’s clearly the type who would have donned a pinafore during the last moments of the Titanic.

    Excitable duck-voiced economist, Max Keiser.

    Adverts nagging the old to get a flu-jab.

    The growing threat of ‘Paddington 3’. There’s no more marmalade in the jar. Time to move on.

    Guests on Desert Island Discs who run charities responsible for helping people on actual desert islands.

    Norman Smith’s primary school metaphors delivered with random shouts and over-large hand-gestures to help the dimwits at the back.

    Angela Rayner’s belief that she’s qualified to lead because she became a grandmother at 37.

    Newsnight. The drop-in centre for bereaved Remainers is still cult viewing among Brexiteers. Watch and marvel as Brexit is discussed by guests whose loathing of Brexit is surpassed only by the presenter’s.

    The barmy Green dogma that the death of all humans is guaranteed by the birth of more humans. Some weirdos even promote this contradiction by pinning an XR badge to their toddlers’ bibs.

    Female leaders who make a key-note speech wearing a very loud purple frock. (Subliminal message, I’m royalty.)

    Broadcasters who salivate over ‘drill’ music, seemingly unaware that ‘drill’ means ‘stab’.

    Finally, the greatest irritant in modern life is the criminal ineptitude of Greta Thunberg’s truancy officer.

    1. Spot on with James Bond, although I’ve not seen a James Bond film for many years (the best ones were the first three) I’ve always thought that the choice of Daniel Craig was a strange one. Until he turned up as James Bond I just thought of him as the funny-looking one with big ears from ‘Our Friends in the North’

    2. Excellent, but may I include…the lengthy introductions at the start of every Christmas edition of University Challenge (and which include far too many contestants employed by the BBC, coincidentally the broadcaster of the programmes).

        1. Most unusually, my prediction (made, as usual, to the long-suffering Mrs HJ) yesterday evening that, with two Grauniadistas on the panel, the team was certain to lose.

          And so it came to pass…

          Edit: Three Grauniadistas if you count the BBC reporter on the same team…

    2. Those ‘Greeny Aussie Wombats’ are the same brand of mindless Lefty crud in the UK that build on flood plains and refuse to dredge out canals and other drainage channels.

      It is their brain-dead idiocy that is the cause of all these “natural” disasters.

      2. The man going off with the bar on the No Entry sign was from Oslo. The council had a hissy fit over them.

      1. Morning Rik,
        Does that mean that the 19 dead & 28 injured will be taking part in the New Year celebrations then ?

          1. Rik,
            Seen one seen them……..
            The major part of the post was the dead & injured, as I ask are the dead and injured to be denied then ?

      1. The tree in the foreground did not move before the cloud hit. And I dont think that it was an underwater eruption.

      3. It is it would seem – if one reads down the comments it’s apparently a computer simulation that was made for Auckland museum relating to the formation of Rangitoto island.

        Edit: Didn’t scroll quite far enough to see Rik’s comment.

    3. …and of course this doesn’t put anywhere near as much co2 into the atmosphere as your diesel car does.

  26. Following on from yesterday’s discussion which somehow ended up with Bonzo Dog, I recall them performing at our college in the canteen…. (where drinks could be had).

    But the song I remember from that night is “Li;lly The Pink” even though this is a Scaffold number….. Of course, i could be wrong but I don’t recall SCaffodl ever performing at our College (Ewell tech in surrey now Blairised into some sort of University offshoot).

    Some rather witty observations in the lyrics that could be topical such as the girl with freckles….

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7pHDoJrrzA

  27. Convert half of UK farmland to nature, urges top scientist

    Where do they find these idiots? So we are going to cover half our farmland with trees and the other half with houses and windfarms and solar farms. Is there not a little problem? What about food and water. I guess this idiot thinks we dont need it and dont forget they want us to grow the UK population by 750,000 a year

    Half of the nation’s farmland needs to be transformed into woodlands and natural habitat to fight the climate crisis and restore wildlife, according to a former chief scientific adviser to the UK government.

    Prof Sir Ian Boyd said such a change could mean the amount of cattle and sheep would fall by 90%, with farmers instead being paid for storing carbon dioxide, helping prevent floods and providing beautiful landscapes where people could boost their health and wellbeing.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/convert-half-of-uk-farmland-to-nature-urges-top-scientist/ar-BBYunIH?ocid=spartandhp

    1. Morning All and Happy New Year.

      So the population of the Uk can either starve, eat leaves or import food from elsewhere. Yup – that would definitely deal with glabal warming!

    1. On any sensible analysis we are better off leaving the EU

      1) We do more trade with Non EU Countries
      2) The EU market is not growing the rest of the worlds market is growing
      3) We pay the EU £350M a week gross to trade with the EU at a loss
      4) WE have a positive balance of trade with Non EU countries and a negative one with the EU

      1. One of the better replies from #FBPE trolls I have to deal with berated me for the damage Brexit will do to working class jobs.

        Maybe I replied, maybe – but running around saying I’m smart and you’re stupid so vote for me isn’t exactly a sign of intelligence is it?

        #Silence.

  30. Nicked,’cos oi laffed

    Richmal Crompton’s Just William books are to be updated so that they are more progressive.

    William
    Brown’s parents have split up and his mother is now living with a 20
    year old Albanian drugs lord. His best friends, replacing Ginger, Henry
    and Douglas are now Niga, a Jamaican boy of mixed heritage, Mustafa, a
    bearded Libyan teenager and Douglas is now Deirdre, a transgender female
    who is in the early stages of transition.

    Jumble the dog has
    ‘gone to live on a farm’ since the ownership of pets is a patriarchal
    concept and Violet Elizabeth is now a climate activist. She goes on
    protest marches where she screams and screams till she is sick, and she
    can you know. I’m looking forward to the BBC adaptation.

    4. There was also that ghastly wet Joan; presumably she will become a social worker and lecture William on his white privilege.

    5. Williams Outlaws gang will surely be a drug dealing county lines gang who are distributors for his mothers new love interest.

      Who are going to do the health and safety checks before the gangs adventures?

    1. It’s an hour and four minutes long! I managed to stay with it for, ooh, at least 44 seconds.

    2. Now I know who my wife was listening to when I entered the kitchen and heard “monff” and “fird” … (she saw my face and quickly switched to ClassicFM)

      1. True story:

        I once arrested a gormless and thick young toerag named Smith.
        When I asked him his name he answered, “Smiff.”
        I then asked him, sarcastically, “Is that with two Fs or free?”
        He replied “Free, I fink!”

  32. With the trade deals in the pipeline in we could see our non EU trade grow over the next 10 years to 65% whilst out EU trade will shrink to 35%

    1. Everybody talks about these wonderful trade deals, firstly we haven’t got anything to export because all the factories have gone and secondly loads of companies are scared shiiteless about exporting because of the paperwork and getting paid.

      2. Trumps new NAFTA deal us still not signed off by all three countries involved. Negotiations started back in 2017 and the new deal is just an update to the existing one.

        Maybe if negotiators stick to trade things will move quickly, but bot PM tried to add in feminist and human rights conditions.

        1. If countries have an intention to trade it could be done in a week by excluding the civil service types. Clearly Canada have a different agenda. The UK government have never protected British Industry which is the aim of imposing duty and anti-dumping rates on threats. The Yanks haven’t been too good either. You only have to watch War Factories on Yesterday to understand that UK and Yank industry has been intentionally and systematically destroyed since 1945. The Yanks appointing China as their main trading partner is beyond belief. JP and FR are very good at protecting their industries.

  33. York to ban private cars from city centre within three years

    All it really does is move the problem. If we dont invest in proper public transport the car is essential. If you live outside of London and the large cities and towns you have no public transport to speak of

    1. The centre of York is small enough to be fully walkable, Bill. Also, to update a story we were discussing on here before Christmas, by the time I got there on the 23rd, all the concrete barriers/bollards had been removed from St Helen’s Square and the rest of the city centre. Apparently the local traders got together and complained that it was needlessly damaging their businesses and the council listened.

    2. Not for the ladies!

      All the lady apes ran from King Kong
      For his dong was exceedingly long
      Bur a friendly giraffe
      Quaffed his yard and a half
      And ecstatically burst onto song

      1. Is this more from this damn poem that I have now acquired two down ticks for repeating? It’s going to kill my ratios.

        1. You sound like Sir Geoffrey Boycott lamenting the fall in his batting average when he gets run out.

          1. Grizzly old chap, you’re way off track. If you think I’m bothered in the slightest what the ***** (fill in your own list of expletives and words) on here think about me, you are very much mistaken .
            https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d7d5efd1b8ab8e4c56783d2c33972cf70421cb0114fdf176761aee6ec29fe363.jpg
            I don’t give a flying **** about anything any more.
            Am I right, do you follow a wendyball team or was it ragger?
            BTW good comment, but wrong.

    4. Priceless! ROFLMAO. This down tick could only be justified if it was put there by somebody, maybe connected to Wagon Wheels.))))

  36. John Bercow SNUBBED: Ex-Speaker becomes first in 230 years NOT to get a seat in Lords

    Good, let it stay that way,

    The ‘man’ is a bullying, lying traitor, allegedly

    DT Subbies at it again

    “He likes to think of himself as a reforming Speaker, yet he’s been dogged by scandals and given up any pretence he is impartial.

    “With bullying claims, his Brexit bias and a willingness to ride roughshod over established procedures, this speaker has undermined public faith in parliament.”

    I think, thatanti-Brexit bias would have been more apteresterer!

    https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1221721/john-bercow-news-new-year-honours-list-house-of-lords-speaker-peerage-spt

        1. Forgive me if I ever mention this more than once, but the word ‘dame’* written in Spanish translates as ‘give me’, or ‘gimme’ in the case of Ms Saunders.
          (*pronounced ‘dammay’)

          1. I learnt long lists of the principal parts of Latin verbs when I was at prep school – this has been of great benefit to me through every crisis in my life and has helped make me the man I am today!

            Indeed, where would I be today if I did not know rego, regere, rexi, rectum; fero., ferre, tuli, latum; and how could I ever forget obliviscor, oblivisci, oblitus sum and that prince of first conjugation exceptions do, dare, dedi, datum.

          2. School Latin proved useful when I did my nurse training. I could break down seeming interminable medical terms into their constituent parts.
            I also had a useful passing acquaintance with Greek – very passing – but enough to split down common psychiatric terms.

  37. One the myriad Mr. Toads that infest this country is eviscerated by ConHome.

    “This was the real we – those that Lord Kerr had failed to remember; or put aside as of little importance; or assumed would simply know their place by also “coming to heel” in due course. The British people.”

    https://www.conservativehome.com/thetorydiary/2019/12/the-year-in-which-the-british-people-forced-britains-pro-remain-ascendancy-to-come-to-heel.html?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=New Years Eve 2019&utm_content=New Years Eve 2019+CID_ec76d0a87ea264179e3ae5baf8c8c4f3&utm_source=Daily Email&utm_term=The year in which the British people forced the pro-Remain Ascendancy to come to heel

  38. This morning I turned the Disqus e-mail notifications back on – as we’re not getting notifications via the normal route – and it worked. Ordinarily I’d rather not have an e-mail every time someone replies but with the online stuff out of order, it’s better than missing replies altogether or having to scroll through all comments to find them.

  39. British teenager found guilty of lying about ‘gang rape’ in Cyprus holiday resort. 30 DECEMBER 2019.

    A British teenager has been found guilty of lying about being gang-raped while on holiday in the Cypriot resort of Ayia Napa, in a case that has raised questions about the island’s treatment of victims of sexual assault.

    Morning everyone. There seems little doubt from the course of events that the girl is telling the truth and that these young men set out from the very beginning to rape her. Their utterances (“do orgies”) prior to the event; their acquaintance with her “boyfriend” who plainly arranged the entire affair else why would they turn up at that room and at that particular time? The claim that four of the acts were consensual had to be made since the DNA evidence would prove that they were present and thus had to be accounted for. The rest are innocent only from lack of opportunity. Her injuries sustained during the attack testify to the resistance she offered. All this minus the eight hour interview without representation that allowed the police to pressure her into retracting her statement.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/12/30/british-woman-19-found-guilty-lying-gang-rape-cyprus/

    2. The Greek authorities need not have got themselves into this pickle. Once they decided to charge the woman, they should have called the Israelis to appear in court to give evidence. I’m sure none of them would have wanted to travel back to Cyprus and run the risk of being re-arrested and charged. No witnesses – case dropped.

      1. That would be Greek Cyprus. Part of the EU and therefore a member of the EAW zone.
        So therefore, by implication, has a judicial system adhering to the same high standards as Bri ……. ah ……..
        But still, we mustn’t criticise our European friends/cousins/partners/whatever.

  42. Cardiff Airport posts £18.5m pre-tax loss

    Cardiff Airport has posted a pre-tax loss of £18.5m, nearly three times higher than the previous year.
    The Welsh Government-owned airport said global economic factors such as climate change, uncertainty over Brexit and rising fuel prices had had an impact on the aviation sector.

    1. Perhaps because all their passengers are crossing the bridge to Bristol, where clearly there are no such things as Brexit, climate change or rising fuel prices:-

      Bristol Airport Reports Record Year

      Created: 17th Jan 2019.

      Passenger numbers at the South West’s major airport exceed 8.6 million

      More than 8.6 million passengers used Bristol Airport in 2018.* The record annual passenger number represents a 6.2 per cent increase year on year, equating to over 400,000 additional passengers, and a ninth consecutive year of growth for England’s third largest regional airport.

      https://www.bristolairport.co.uk/about-us/news-and-media/news-and-media-centre/2019/1/bristol-airport-reports-a-record-year

    2. ” a pre-tax loss of £18.5m”
      How much tax do you pay on an 18.5 million pound loss ?
      They have started taxing losses now ?

    3. Oil has been between $50-60 all year and not much change in the exchange rate either. Climate change, not sure that St Greta has got through to the lasses from the valleys yet. As Iffy says, BRS offers huge choice and cheaper.

  44. The year left populism died. Spiked. 31 December 2019.

    The defeat of Corbynism at the General Election was more than a defeat for the Labour Party and the clique that had most recently taken it over. It was also another crushing defeat for left populism, a political project that has spectacularly failed to seize the post-2008 moment.

    Corbyn? The Labour Party? Left Populists? When was this? They couldn’t have been less Populist if they were led by Joe Stalin! In fact there is of course no such thing as a Left/Populist any more then there is such an amalgam as a Democratic/Marxist. The very idea is a nonsense. There are no Populists of any description. Right, Left or Centre in the UK Parliament!

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2019/12/31/the-year-left-populism-died/

    1. Stop reading things People get paid for writing things. Writing rubbish, for want of anything better, gets paid at the same rate.

      1. Unlike in the past where the wheat ears outnumbered the tares we now have fields of tares populated with a few grains of Truth. It is still necessary to harvest the whole field!

        1. And don’t forget the job of the editor is to separate the wheat from the chaff and to print the chaff! HNY Minty.

    2. Why do the Left think their views are popular?

      Ah, but we need to note that the term ‘populism’ when used by the Left usually means democracy. They can’t accept people just said no to them.

  45. DM Story

    EU trade chief says Boris Johnson will extend Brexit transition
    In a highly provocative intervention, EU trade commissioner Phil Hogan insisted Mr Johnson would cave and agree to keep Britain locked inside the bloc’s single market and customs union beyond the end of next year. Referring to the prime minister’s broken promise of getting Brexit done by October 31, he said: ‘In the past, we saw the way the prime minister promised to die in the ditch rather than extend the deadline for Brexit, only for him to do just that.’

    We shall see what we shall see.

    I shall take back all my doubts about Johnson and congratulate him most warmly if he succeeds in getting Britain completely clear of the EU.. However if he fails to do so I shall redouble my doubts about his integrity.

    1. Boris was stabbed in the back by his own M.P.s Things are different, now. These EU people are whisting in the dark.

      1. T,
        The johnson was a major player in the may leadership farce, he among many others is a pro eu rubber stamper of some renowned.
        No way to be trusted to go for total severance.

          1. Morning EE,
            In my case up to a point,then he will be brought to heel,it will eventually be the tory way or the highway.

          2. I think Cummings is the Tory way.
            Anyone with a brain realises that Cummings won them the election – its admitted – and if they want to keep those northern seats – they follow Cummings.
            He is our present one, populist.

        1. Afternoon R,
          There is that HOPE
          commodity coming into play again.
          WHY after nearly 4 years must the peoples depend on hope instead of certainty, who is to blame ? is it the fools who vote on the keep in / keep out mode of voting, sod the consequences to the country ?
          Cannot be the politico’s they have proved to be R/soles
          from the outset, so that leaves………..

    2. What Hogan has overlooked is the fact that Boris’s failure to achieve Brexit by October 31st was not Boris’s fault or wish. The Parliament of the day gave him no choice. Hardly a broken promise.

      1. That is true but a politician of Johnson’s experience and with the wisdom that we hope that he has should not be making promises when it was obvious that he was unlikely to be able to deliver. I want my Prime Minister to be making promises that, firstly, he intends to keep and, secondly, where there is a realistic chance that he can keep it.

          2. That is true. Boris has no excuses now. If he comes back with a terrible Free Trade Deal that leaves us worse off than we are now then he won’t be able to say that it was other peoples fault.

            But I am laying off Boris now. There is one chance left to reject this terrible Withdrawal Agreement, but I cannot see there being enough MP’s to be able to stop it and let us Leave the EU on WTO terms at the end of January. So there is little point arguing now. What is going to happen will happen.

            We will see if Boris ever intended us to be a Sovereign Nation again, or if our fishing grounds are still open to the EU, 14 months from now. Many people are saying the EU will saddle us with debt in the next year that will take at least a generation to pay off. I also hope that won’t happen, but I don’t think that the EU will hold back when they have that ability to hurt us so badly. They are not our friends, as we know.

            I read that the United Kingdoms liability to the European Investment Bank is £500 Billion, which does not bear dwelling upon. It makes the £39 Billion look like a very small amount. 14 months from now we will know if Boris is fair or foul.

      1. Reminds me of that Sutherland chap – the one who insisted that Europe takes in millions and millions of Africans.

    4. They say that it takes two to tango. If the EU negotiators do not want negotiations to be completed by the end of next year, they will not be.

      2. The EU will make things as difficult as they want to. At least Boris now has the ‘walk away’ option.

    1. That was interesting. The very people who are dealing with the fires want more resources to fight unfightable fires. The only reason for that is empire building.

      1. Hidden away on the Beeb website is a report on the fires of 2009. One of the worst and most deadly in terms of loss of human life was started by an arsonist who was also a volunteer fireman. Apparently many of the arsonists light the fires, then help to put them out.

    2. Nailed on,Greeniac logic,”Controlled burns are evil,will no-one think of the wildlife”
      Oops
      No controlled burns and the whole ecosystem down to the humus gets exterminated when it (inevitably) finally goes up

    3. This reminds me of the problem we were given as children.

      In the arid Wild West there was a train carrying high explosives from two places, A and B, 60 miles apart with B dues South of A, over highly flammable grass. The train travels at 20 mph but somebody from A alerts the train driver by telegraph that a fire has broken out at A and is being blown due south at a rate a rate of 40 mph. The train at this time is 20 miles south of A.

      i) If no action is taken and the train just continues in its way at 20 mph at what time will the fire catch up the train and blow it up?
      ii) Is there anything that the train driver can do to save the train and the explosives?

      i) After one hour the train will have travelled 20 miles – added to the 20 miles start it had it will be 40 miles South of A. The fire will travel at 40 mph South and catch up and the explosives will explode in one hour.

      ii) As soon as he hears about the fire the driver has half an hour in which to act, He must go to the front of train and set fire to the ground in front of it. He must then wait for as long as possible for the fire he has lit in front of him to burn out and before the fire behind him has caught up so he can drive over the burnt grass which is no longer alight and the train and its explosives will be safe.

      Apparently using defensive fires in this way to stop greater fires has always traditionally been the way they coped with such fires for generations in Australia but this practice was stopped by Green politicians who now must blame something else and – guess what? – blame climate change.

      (Also N.B. EU rules aggravated the flooding of the Somerset Levels a few years ago. The traditional method of dredging was outlawed by the EU with disastrous results.)

      1. Rastus, it’s an excellent answer but why didn’t anyone suggest the train goes faster, or the explosives are denotated in a controlled fashion (as they’ll pull in oxygen, putting the fire out).

        As I have learned, the dredging laws do not come directly from the EU. Yes, the EU prefers to enforce habitat where possible but the real issue was that the EU gave our own government an opportunity to soak up cash and do nothing in return. As this is the UK state, it made best use of this ability and did absolutely nothing while receiving vast amounts of cash.

  47. Good morning. No rain is forecast for South London today which is just as well as we’ve already had 332% of December’s historical monthly average for this neck of the womb…

      1. Bill wishing you & family a happy, healthy & prosperous new year! Yes I see Trump being reelected and the UK finally beginning to emerge from the grip of Labour & the EU.

        1. Sounds like heaven. I’m saving my English champagne (Up Yours, Froggies) for 11.00 pm on 31st January.
          Happy New Year.

          1. Wine experts believe English wine and Fizz are going to have a bumper Vintage year. Some growers are going after the more complex reds.

            I just hope the price comes down a bit as its popularity goes up.

    6. Thank you so much, mr hat.

      Best wishes to you and your family. Please keep us laughing in 2020.

  52. December 31 2019, 12:01am, The Times

    The Profumo affair explains how we live now
    Melanie Phillips

    Sixties decadence stemmed from the Holocaust which continues to blight our values

    The Trial of Christine Keeler, the BBC television series that started on Sunday evening, provides a fresh interpretation of the 1960s Profumo affair, which convulsed the establishment and came to define an era.

    In 1963, the Conservative war minister John Profumo resigned after admitting lying to parliament about his affair with Keeler, the topless showgirl whose simultaneous sexual liaison with a Russian diplomat was held to have endangered British security.

    The series seeks to move the focus from Profumo on to Keeler herself. It also reminds us, however, that the affair which consumed her represented a sexual and political watershed. Keeler’s promiscuity and the scandal it provoked illustrated the shock to the established cultural order caused by the liberation of female sexuality from its social constraints.

    Profumo’s fall from grace, meanwhile, is now seen as one of the last times an MP behaved with honour by resigning after admitting lying to parliament.

    As a result of that revolutionary decade, Britain could be said to have lost its sexual and political innocence to become a more knowing, self-obsessed and cynical society.

    By comparison, successive decades have lacked such clear definition. The reason we keep returning to the Swinging Sixties is that it was the point of change from which everything then followed.

    Some see it as a welcome sloughing off of archaic constraints in favour of individual empowerment. Others view it as a loss of moral and cultural compass. Regardless, this upending of the old order had its roots in the aftermath of the Nazi Holocaust.

    That event delivered a seismic shock from which the West has never recovered. After all, the Holocaust didn’t happen in some obscure backwater. It took place in Germany, the crucible of European modernity and high culture. It thus delivered a body blow to the West’s idea of itself as the home of reason and civilised values.

    This in turn opened the way for radical ideas that otherwise might not have taken root. In the wake of the Second World War, a group of Marxist thinkers known as the Frankfurt School decided that the Holocaust and the rise of Nazism resulted from the use of authority, which they confused with authoritarianism. They also concluded that the Holocaust had been caused by modernity itself and its belief in reason.

    This school of thought set about undermining the West’s moral and cultural codes. Objective truth was replaced by subjective opinion, facts were trumped by emotion and all hierarchies in values, lifestyles or cultures ignored. This produced the permissive society, leading into multiculturalism, identity politics and victim culture.

    Far from creating harmony, this hyper-individualism has destroyed social cohesion and produced instead divisions. Any dissent from these orthodoxies is suppressed. Argument has been replaced by insult; evidence by assertion. The young are taught not how to think, but what to think. There has been, in short, a retreat from reason.

    Only if this is understood can we make sense of the antisemitism now sweeping the West.

    After months of attacks on ultraorthodox Jews in New York, five Jews were stabbed on Saturday evening after an attacker armed with a machete burst into a rabbi’s house during a Chanukkah celebration. Around the same time in London, graffiti linking Jews to 9/11 was sprayed across a synagogue and shops.

    People are shocked. But that in itself is shocking. Because antisemitic attacks have been escalating for years. Anti-Jewish conspiracy theories, including the 9/11 meme, have been circulating for two decades.

    This is helped by the way that the West ignores or denies any evidence that conflicts with its prevailing multicultural ideology — which protects or makes excuses for those who attack western culture.

    So it ignores the killing of Christians by Islamists in the developing world. It overlooks the mainly Muslim attacks on Jews and others in France, the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany. Instead, those who draw attention to this are smeared as being racists or Islamophobes or “the far right”.

    So on the eve of 2020, how will the coming decade be defined? It could be, as Boris Johnson promises, the start of a golden age for Britain in which divisions are healed and the nation bonds again in a shared commitment to national values of decency and rationality.

    Or it could be the equivalent of the Weimar Republic a century ago: the brittle and decadent precursor of a terrible showdown between those who defend western civilisation and those who want its building blocks destroyed.

    We know all about the Swinging Sixties; we are about to discover which way the Twenties will swing.

    1. “fresh interpretation”
      Does that mean the BEEB thinks it was caused by global warming or the Brexiteers? Or population growth?

      1. People used to go to Rhodesia to see the Zimbabwe Ruins. Now they go to Zimbabwe to see the Rhodesian ruins.

        1. MOH tells me that Rhodesia had a strict policy on cutting firebreaks so that any bush fires could be attacked determinedly and successfully.

          Pity that the Aussies didn’t learn from them!

          1. The Aussies and especially the indigenous population of Australia know exactly how it should be, but have been prevented from doing so in recent years by green agendas.

    2. ..and Mugabe seizing white farms for his chums, and even murdering some of the owners who had the audacity to resist.
      Oh no, we certainly can’t mention that inconvenient fact.

      ‘Morning, Rik.

        3. All For Nothing? – by C.G. Tracey. (You can find it on the Internet.)

          My cousin’s farm not only gave work to hundreds of black people but also provided them and their families with shelter, health care and education. Indeed, many white farmers clubbed together to give their brightest farm workers training in agricultural colleges and universities so that they would be able to take over the farms and run them properly. Needless to say, C.G. was kicked off his farm by Mugabe who gave it to his friends who had no knowledge of or interest in farming, the trained people were murdered, the rest were left unemployed and homeless and within five years the farm had returned to a wasteland producing nothing.

          And since the British left the Sudan where my father was a colonial administrator black rule has resulted in: famine, plague, endless civil war, genocide, total collapse of infrastructure and partition.

          But we must never forget that

          BLACK LIVES MATTER

          Even if they don’t matter to black rulers in Africa.

    2. If you are short of time – the clip from 3:39 to 04:12 makes the whole thing worthwhile. It will be nice to hear more of this humour being around if we can prise the cold dead leftist hand from the TV schedules. The hard-left don’t understand real humour anyway. You can see the look of confusion on their faces when someone says something really funny and they cannot work out the joke.

    3. Another one that’s not seen on the Al-Beeb,that club has a good crop,they should have their own New Year Special
      (The Al-Beeb has it planned for 2040)

  55. I hope to see the back of this annoying brat in 2020…

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ae11c93bd8f5306acd577d496814bb751eda23443ffaef0b9ed4f04b3fbb3676.jpg

    Greta Thunberg’s father reveals he thought the 16-year-old’s eco-crusade was a
    bad idea but believes it has actually saved her from a pit of depression he feared would kill her.
    She certainly depresses me….!

    All she knows is what she has been force fed by her activist parents. she has no relevant degrees in any climate science relevant subjects and hasn’t even had a basic science education.

    Goodbye Greta….go back to school.

    1. Good morning to Bill Jackson’s merry followers!

      Great link to the Melanie Phillips article above. IMHO, people clash with La Greta because of what therapists call ‘projection’; she exposes the beast hidden within us.
      Ignoring Matt Ridley’s observation that food production is more energy efficient than ever, and thus the planet is not yet doomed, I perceive Miss Thunberg as a monster reincarnated from the 1930s. Her message is one of anger and intolerance, and behind her are the shadows of Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot.

        1. Far better had her parents been British where the problems of adolescent girls are readily and effectively solved by buying them a pony and entering them in Gymkana, pony clubbing etc……..it also saves them from a lot of teenage pregnancies as boys usually come second to their darling ponies. For a while, long enough, anyway.

          Thellwell where are you now?

        2. When she is busy doing her O Levels, perhaps the fans will forget about her. One lives in hopes.

          Good morning, Missus – just…

        3. I’m not sure about that.

          More likely that leftie TV stations hang on every word uttered by her.

          They think that her dramatic statements make exciting news.

    2. She seems to have a “ugly/nasty progression” in the photos – heaven only knows what she’ll look like next year!

      1. Back pedaling? They should put those pedals on a generator, he would solve the energy crisis all on his own some.

        As long as he doesn’t breath and spew out CO2 that is.

  58. Any chance of a DT subscriber putting up the article by Charles Moore about his time as guest editor of the Toady prog?

    2. My Thoughts for the Day on the biased BBC
      CHARLES MOORE – 30 DECEMBER 2019 • 8:00PM

      On Saturday, I was guest editor of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. I enjoyed it very much, but I feel a little envious of the reverential treatment accorded to Greta Thunberg when she filled the same slot this morning.

      Since all the other guest editors (with the possible exception of the unclassifiable Grayson Perry) – Greta, George the Poet and Lady Hale of the Supreme Court – were Leftists, I felt it was my job to stick in as many issues as possible that might challenge the BBC’s usual views. I therefore lined up abortion, hunting, the revoltingness of the Iranian regime, the danger of climate-change alarmism, the bias of the BBC in approaching these and many other subjects, and its iniquitous exploitation of the poll tax known as the licence fee.

      As I always find when working with the BBC, the people who do the basic work – the producers, researchers, sound engineers, etc – are charming and helpful. It is the bureaucracy that is so astonishing.

      The most amusing is that which surrounds “Thought for the Day”. This feature always appears on Today, but is controlled by a separate barony in Manchester. Over the years, it has cunningly grabbed control of a slot that is supposed to be specifically religious, and then drained it of almost all distinctively religious meaning. Anything that might appear to disagree with current secular pieties, such as LGBT issues or “diversity”, is rigorously excluded, and copy that clearly expresses orthodox Christian, Muslim or Jewish doctrine is cut.

      I therefore tried to challenge TFTD (as it is always known in the trade) by getting John Humphrys to fulfil his long-stated desire of presenting an atheist Thought for the Day. Mr Humphrys was up for it, but my request was crushed by the device of saying that this could be done only if an alternative view were expressed on the same programme. I think this is what the Frankfurt School used to call “repressive tolerance”.

      So I am proud that the other TFTD idea I had up my sleeve succeeded. Many Christians, including most Catholics, believe that abortion is wrong because it takes away the life of an innocent child. I decided to use last Saturday – Holy Innocents’ Day – as the moment to get this point made.

      The exceptionally courageous Catholic Bishop of Portsmouth, Philip Egan, did it beautifully. I learnt that, in all the many decades of TFTD, no one has ever before been allowed to condemn abortion on air.

      Preachers for wokery
      By far the toughest nuts to crack were climate-change dogma and, of course, the BBC’s own abuse of power. On the first, I kept being told that it has to stick by an Ofcom ruling which insists that anything said against the prevailing climate-change theory must be immediately corrected by a climate scientist.

      I could not get the corporation’s evangelically green “environmental analyst”, Roger Harrabin, to interview the distinguished heretics – Professor Michael Kelly and Matt Ridley – whom I put up, or to appear to justify the views which he usually expresses so unrestrainedly.

      On the subject of the BBC, I asked for Lord Hall, the director-general, to come on air to explain how they had got Brexit so wrong, and why they have now become preachers for wokery instead of dispassionate reporters and analysts. I also asked for John Hales, the man who writes most of those threatening letters from TV Licensing, to defend his methods of exacting the licence fee from the poor; but there were no takers.

      A couple of weeks ago, the BBC was savaging Boris Johnson for refusing to be interviewed by Andrew Neil, yet now its bosses were avoiding a much less rigorous scrutiny by little me.

      Urban man’s frustrations
      File photo dated 04/10/19 of Jolyon Maugham QC, who is taking on Uber with the Good Law Project. An epic court battle against Uber took another twist as the car-sharing giant came a step closer to being liable for a potential ??1.5 billion in unpaid VAT. PA Photo. Issue date: Wednesday December 4, 2019. The Good Law Project won a case against bosses at HM Revenues and Customs who must now reveal whether the agency has assessed Uber???s VAT tax liabilities last month. See PA story CITY Uber. Photo credit should read: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire
      Jolyon Maugham QC has been a vocal Remainer
      I am still fascinated by the case of Jolyon Maugham QC, who spent early Boxing Day morning clubbing to death a fox which was trying to molest his urban chickens.

      Most of Mr Maugham’s story is comprehensible. First, the psychology. As one of our top Remainer barristers, he is experiencing difficult times. He is one of that curious 21st-century breed, the fanatical moderate. The result of the general election will have come as a terrible shock to him, and may well endanger his future ability to clog our courts with vexatious and lucrative Brexit litigation.

      Second, the deed itself. Waking up after Christmas with, as he himself admits, a hangover, Mr Maugham must have wanted very much to club something to death. Sad though it was for the fox, we must all give thanks that an innocent Leaver was not passing by his Southwark residence as those barristerial fingers twitched on the handle of his baseball bat.

      In this context, his actions are explicable – the sudden urge to put on his wife’s kimono to ritualise his act of slaughter; the need to impress his children by defending the hens; then the wild rush, baseball bat in hand, at the fox entangled in the netting. All symptoms of urban man’s frustrations.

      What does puzzle me, though, is why Mr Maugham decided to share the incident with a wider world, by tweeting it shortly after the deed was done. Was he boasting, or was this what psychologists call “a cry for help”, seeking arrest before he does something even more desperate? I lean to the latter, more charitable explanation. As with so many Remainiacs, the balance of Mr Maugham’s mind seems disturbed.

      2. I kept being told that it has to stick by an Ofcom ruling which insists that anything said against the prevailing climate-change theory must be immediately corrected by a climate scientist.

        But rarely the other way around i.e. ‘climate science’ is unchallengeable.

  59. “Experienced amateurs”.
    An alternative would be Uniformed Civilian Volunteers. In other words, recreate the Royal Observer Corps which, until a victim of the “Peace dividend” (a bad decision given that it should be capability that is responded to not threat level as The AMericans determined).
    They were part of the Civil defence network tasked with reporting nuclear explosions and radiation levels in the event of war. What they had were numerous underground bunkers (about the size of a small caravan), often on airfields, and command centres around the country. They represented a group of people who cared enough to give up their free time to help protect the country. This is a model for watching our coastlines and our landing fields to report and co-ordinate with Border force to deliver a rapid response to illegal immigration. And, because volunteerss, the costs are affordable….
    For some reason, even though many things that governments ought to do but don’t are covered by charities, the cost excuse ought not to wash.

    It just takes someone in officialdom to look at the problem and find the solution.
    I suggest giving them all copies of “Lateral Thinking” to read.

      2. I got a rocket for trying to hang on to my ID….and another rocket for wearing my uniform with badges etc just after disbandment when we were guarding a bunch of planes at the old Polish landing field near Horsham……( I was 30 post 2 Group).. did get a free flight in a British Aerospace gulf stream down to the Isle of White and back from Dunsfold for acting as car park attendants on their air show day…. great tour of the harrier assembly area and seeing them perform straight off the assembly line in their primer coat. They also had a PBY5 on show…. lovely plane.

        I rather pigged out on the strawberries and cream at the garden party at Bentley priory and may rather have neglected Brenda and Phil the Greek as a consequence.

    2. There was one round the corner from us. It is rumoured to still contain a nuclear bunker. When I pass by, I do envy the owners their wine cellar.

  60. We keep a “Swear Jar” for our son to have to put money in whenever he
    curses.

    With all the poor little bastard with tourettes has to put in there, I
    was able to treat myself to a high-class hooker this Christmas.

    1. Who was the high-class hooker you got?

      Brian Moore? Sean Fitzpatrick? Dylan Hartley? Rory Best? Come on, we must told!

  62. I am still going through the comments below as I had a late start today. The current technical problems with Discus might be as simple as it being the “weekend staff” who are running things over the holiday period, and they don’t know how / don’t have the authority to reset the system or fix the hiccups. Once the normal staff come back to work then things could get back to normal.

    I am not seeing any bad effects myself, apart from the new comments / replies not registering.

    1. The notifications not working is a great turn-off. You can’t very well make a reply to a comment on one of your earlier postings if you don’t know it is there.
      The only way to ease that would be to ban the guy who posts two-thirds of the comments but rarely reads any one else’s.

      1. I have a minor advantage picked up from a few years of using jittery talker systems. I have chosen a logo that is easy to spot, black square silver centre. So I can scan down fairly quickly on the bad days to find my comments to see if anyone has replied.

        On those days when the logo loads at all.

  63. Evening al
    I know that we all distrust al-beeb however there are still some worthwhile programmes.

    I have just listened to R4 about the song ” Auld Lang Syne “. Very informative and quite moving. However, beeb blew it when, at
    the end, there was a warning from Greta that because of the climate emergency, all Scottish-based bagpipes would be drowned by 2030.

    Happy New Year..

    1. She made an accusation which was invested by the local police who had lots of experience with promiscuous Brit holdaymakers. They called her bluff, accused her of wasting police time, and because she was British and the lads were Israelis, the British government and media took her side against the Cypriot legal system and caused an international uproar. Cyprus, with the assistance of the Russians,extradited the British military from Cyprus.
      Britain invaded Cyprus. Donald Trump said: What a fuss about a girl. The United Nations sent their Security Force in, with Prince Andrew as mediator.
      more to follow………

  65. Civil Ceremonies

    Clearly a quiet time for news as papers are going overboard about heterosexual couple having Civil Ceremonies. When questioned as to why they had a civil ceremony they come up with a whole lot of nonsense about lots of baggage with a marriage. Now in a traditional COE wedding g there are some traditions but none are mandatory . Traditionally the Brides father givers her away , But the brie does not have to be given away. You dont have to have any music or flowers . Traditionally the Bride has a Bridesmaid that is because the traditional role is to help the bride get ready including getting dressed but Bride does not have to have a bridesmaid. The only Legal requirement is to have two adult witnesses to sign the legal bit which is the register. they can be anyone they dont even need to know of course you do not even need to have a church wedding you can have a civil non religious wedding

    The legal difference between a Marriage & a Civil Partnership are to all intent and purposes nothing. THe only real diverewnce being if in a civil partnership you canot refer to yourself as being married

    The current difference are as below

    A marriage certificate requires just the names of both partners’ fathers, while a civil partnership certificate requires the names of both parents
    (Note there are plans to include both parents names on the marriage certificates in the future)

    Civil partners cannot call themselves ‘married’ for legal purposes

    A marriage is ended with divorce by obtaining a decree absolute, while a civil partnership is ended with dissolution by obtaining a dissolution order
    Adultery is not a valid reason to dissolve a civil partnership, but it can be used to divorce (They are introducing legislation for no fault divorces so adultery becomes largely irrelevant)

  66. Mother, 36, who screamed ‘I’ve been stabbed!’ as she slumped over her pram after being knifed in the back three times in ‘mugging’ on residential London street

    The editor must have slipped up here, He disclosed sensitive information about the attacker

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/crime/pictured-mother-36-who-screamed-ive-been-stabbed-as-she-slumped-over-her-pram-after-being-knifed-in-the-back-three-times-in-mugging-on-residential-london-street/ar-BBYuy7Q?ocid=spartandhp

      1. Clearly it was self defense and he thought the woman as deranged and about to attack him. I am sure the courts will award his compensation for the shock and distress

    3. If she was knifed in the back, why was the blood pouring down her face ?

      Unprovoked ? From the second picture, she is a bar-maid.

      She was ” known locally ”

      It was a typo in the Mail. He was a tall man with dark black clothing.

  67. ScotRail racks up £10m loss amid contract woes

    If ScotRail cannot run the railways at a profit who can. The implication is it needs over £10B more from the Scottish government for it to be viable. Scotrail have not even been paying out dividends

    The company that runs Scotland’s rail services has reported losses of £10m over a 15-month period.
    Abellio ScotRail lost £7.9m before tax on turnover of nearly £990m between 1 January 2018 and 31 March 2019.

    Earlier this month, they were stripped of the contract to run rail services by the Scottish government amid criticism of performance levels.

    The Scottish government now have up to 2 years to find a new operator who has to be in place by 2022

  68. Boris’s new cabinet some time early next year as well as the Budget. Around about early February is the expected date

    3. It will be a modern Cabinet

      MFI, who would have supplied one for Corbyn. have refused to help Boris

    2. Yo, Peddy.

      I am sous-viding a 28-day aged, seasoned, sirloin steak for three hours at 56ºC, I shall then sear it on both sides over a hot flame on the BBQ, basting it with butter.

      I am serving it with potatoes roasted in duck fat flavoured with garlic and rosemary; grilled tomatoes, crispy fried onions, baked portobello mushrooms basted in butter, and peas. The only accompaniment will be Maille Dijon moutarde.

      Wychwood Hobgoblin beer, followed by a 12-year old Glen Grant single malt.

      Gott Nytt År!

        1. Oh for the choice. It is particularly galling as a former member of CAMRA that I now live in the food and drink desert of Sweden. The bottled Hobgoblin is doctored (i.e. watered down) for the nanny state to a pissy 3·5ºABV.

          Oh, for the Derby Tup in Chesterfield (or the Brunswick in Derby, or the Fat Cat in Sheffield, or the Jubilee in Norwich, or the Chequers in Binham …), with a choice of no fewer than ten superbly kept cask-conditioned ales!

          Sigh!

          2. Brunswick, Exeter Arms, Alexandra, and Dolphin; all pubs of the highest calibre and all much-missed.

          4. 3.5!!!!! What abomination is this
            Beef Madras for me tonight,made yesterday and left overnight for the flavours to meld with the usual trimmings
            Doombar/Speckled Hen on the beer front

          6. To be fair to Balkanistan [sorry: “Sweden”] I can go to the state-owned liquor store (the Systembolaget) and buy the brew at the normal ABV. It’s just more convenient to go to the supermarket to buy it, where the country’s laws forbids the sale of any alcoholic beverage stronger than 3·5.

            Having said all that, I’d forgotten that I had a bottle of Shepherd Neame’s [R.I.P. Mr Neame] sensational Christmas Ale at 7·0ºABV, which was utterly superb. In fact I’d go as far to say that it is the best bottled winter ale I’ve ever sampled. Delicious.

      2. I’m not anywhere near close to that banquet except for the Hobgoblin beer, gold, not the dark variety. Enjoy your meal.

      3. Smaklig måltid! och Gott Nytt År!

        I’m having lobster thermidor, baked salmon fillet with Hollandaise, pâté de foie gras, pears in Calvaos all washed down with Prosecco. I start cooking at 20.00, the meal should take me through to midnight.

      5. That meal puts my microwaved cheeseburger not just in the shade, but on the dark side of the Moon.

        I am only eating it at all in the event that I give in to temptation later and open the alcohol. The food is very much in the “lining the stomach” bracket to avoid the insanity of drinking on an empty one. That is one lesson that those who partake of the sauce learn at an early stage.

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d0ab3dfbb94f2519adabb0b1d25896ee367d098d78c2fc17494bd649b36fafd5.jpg

        1. My days of imbibing copious quantities of alcoholic beverages never got off the ground. These days I just savour the flavour in small soupçons.

          I’ll be the soberest dude on this forum tonight.

    4. Fireworks are a complete waste of money and in my village a direct threat to several historic thatched properties including my own mediaeval hovel.

      I hate fireworks as I hate Chinese Lanterns.

      1. During World War I and World War II, no one was allowed to set off fireworks or light bonfires. This was part of an act of parliament in 1914 called The Defence of the Realm Act, which aimed to protect people during the war by not showing the enemy where they were.

      2. Strangely my cats would disagree…..I know, I must have the only cats around who love them and sit up at the window watching them despite the loud bangs. I understand the dangers with thatching…my goodness indeed. Hope you all stay safe…xx

        1. We’ve never had a dog that’s bothered by them.
          I wouldn’t take them to an actual display, but they have always been cool about the popping and fizzing going on around the neighbourhood.
          Spartie was actually fascinated by the Aukland, NZ, fireworks.

          2. 🙂 He was sitting on MB’s lap getting square eyeballs! You never know what will attract his attention.

          3. Is he a Norwegian Forest cat? My two cats pictured below don’t weigh that together…lol.

        3. By contrast all of my cats without exception down the years have sought refuge under beds, terrified by the loud bangs. My Lhasa Apso is not too bothered, the only plus.

          We have lost several historic properties in an adjoining village owing to Chinese lanterns. These should be banned.

          On the question of firework displays these are best conducted by the Territorial Army at advertised public events. In my area those wishing to view some pyrotechnics have choices. They can go to Cambridge Midsummer Common, go to Linton or else go to Long Melford’s ‘Big Night Out’.

          There is no reason whatever in letting off fireworks from some field or back garden adjacent to a village containing several historic thatched properties and horses in paddocks. No justification whatsoever.

          1. Agreed, John. No thatched properties hereabouts, but I’ve watched Chinese lanterns hovering over the church roof, and they make me distinctly uneasy.

          2. The morons who go in for that long distance littering with fire bombs should be staked out face up on any thatched roof or haystack downwind of the release point and left to contemplate their idiocy for a few hours.

          6. I do agree with you. Fireworks should certainly not be allowed in such an area. Quite shocking and reckless if you ask me especially when properties have already been lost…how can folks be so careless. Beats me. Yes, I don’t know of any other cats who love to sit and watch fireworks. I just wondered if it was because they feel so incredibly safe here in our cottage next to me. But our other cats must have felt the same but all were terrified of fireworks going off/ Really quite strange.

            Anyway, I do hope you all keep safe tonight and may you have a very happy and healthy 2020.

    5. Something else that started off with the year-early celebrations in 1999/2000. I can’t remember anyone bothering with fireworks at New Year before that. They were too busy doing stuff that should be done.

  70. For two decades the West has appeased Putin as he turned Russia into a neo-Soviet kleptocracy. ANDREW FOXALL. 31 DECEMBER 2019.

    When Vladimir Putin became president of Russia, 20 years ago today, the country was reeling from Boris Yeltsin’s alcohol-fuelled mishandling of the transition from communism to capitalism. Over the course of the previous decade, the country’s economy had almost halved in size, suicide rates had doubled, and its enfeebled military had lost a war in tiny Chechnya.

    Two decades on, Russia is a place of Starbucks and Mercedes showrooms; of takeaway apps, budget airlines, and cheap holidays in Turkey. Per capita income has nearly doubled in hard currency terms, from less than $6,000 to almost $12,000 today. Russians are more globally connected than at any period in the country’s history. On the surface the country looks vibrant.

    Wow! I wonder why he gets 70% approval ratings? I can’t understand it! It must be that neo-Soviet kleptocracy. Lol!

    The truth is that Putin is the world’s most able leader both Domestically and in Foreign Affairs. He has saved his country almost single-handedly. He has no equal, certainly not in the West, whose leaders really are corrupt kleptocrats. I have no doubts that he will stand with Catherine and Peter the Great in Russian history when he finally leaves the scene.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/12/31/two-decades-west-has-appeased-putin-turned-russia-neo-soviet/

    1. I don’t know the rule in Russia, but in our country every year, old people must give one week of their State Pension to help finance the State Propaganda Machine a.k.a. the B.B.C.

        1. Yes it is! It escaped me until I read the post and when I checked it’s accurate within £10 for my pension!

    2. The West was too busy rubbing Russian noses in the USSR’s collapse to realise that they were alienating a potential ally.
      Time and again, we have had to admit that, however ramshackle or despotic Russia may be, it is ultimately a western construct albeit with a large Oriental hinterland. It can be a valuable ally, not a friend. International diplomacy is not a girlie crush thing.

        1. Enemies

          We have 26 countries-full…… in Europe alone

          Then there are the ex-slaves

          Anyone Woke

          Nicola Krankie and Co

          Jewemy Korbun and Co

          In fact the world in general, aprt from 90% of Nottlers

  71. At this time of year the tradition seems to be to wish all and sundry on this blog seasons greetings and fulsome wishes for the coming months heading towards the end of this decade next December ( OK Grizz?). In the interests of mitigating the climate emergency caused by the over use of internet I will not address you individually or as a body but will aggregate all my benign amiability and affability into one small act of random kindness which may involve a donation to the Salvation Army or re-establishing cordial relations with my f*ckwitted coc*womble ar*e of a B.I.L. .

      1. I just donated £100 to the Salvation Army. I reckon they will spend it wisely in support of our old and infirm at Xmas and the New Year. I wish only that I could give more at present.

    2. That brings back a memory from the distant halls of time. At least it seems a long time ago. It was New Years Eve in 2015 and the channel I was on was a quiet one. After quoting the great Spike Milligan’s words when he was asked what he was going to do for the Millennium: “Go to bed,” I remember typing the words:

      “This time next year we could be free of the European Union.”

      How young we all felt 6 months later when the result came in. It will just be a feeling of exhausted relief a year from now.

        1. Which 31st? I’ve a bottle of pink local English fizz (Greyfriars) , which I was given for Christmas 2018. I kept it on ice for 31 March, then 31st October. I had another, identical bottle, this Christmas, which was used to toast a good friend’s new home. I’ll hang on till the end of January, but I’m not holding my breath…

          1. Just checking out English ‘sparkling wine’.
            I’m sure we’ll find some reason to drink it; I just hope it’s THE reason.

          2. Hi Anne. We can’t call it Champagne, but we can produce some pretty good stuff, which can knock the Froggy stuff into a cocked hat. I couldn’t fault the bottle we opened last week.

            Yer ’tis… https://www.waitrosecellar.com/all-wines/wine-type/greyfriars-rose-reserve-brut-815699

            The vineyard is about three miles from here. Within that radius, I can also get Hampton Estate beef, Plantation Pigs, and – most importantly – Hog’s Back beer. Who needs food miles?

  73. For the optimists among us I wish you all a Happy New Decade
    For the pedants among us I wish you all a Happy New Year

    1. Thanks for the up-vote. I just gave one to someone else, and the page jumped to the bottom of the screen. I blame Brexit, Global Warming and the Russians.

      1. I cured that problem by replacing Firefox with the Opera browser. Sadly, Disqus has been ‘updated’ to cause the problem on Opera. Where to now?

          1. Sadly I tried Safari (as I use a Mac) and it was even worse for me – wouldn’t go to new comments either! I haven’t been getting notifications for a couple days now, and it is getting annoying. Why doesn’t Disqus leave things alone?

        1. Bless you and thank you so much for that lovely message…..sending you my very best – have a great year!!

    1. The Australian wild fires are party the result of arson and mostly the result of the Greens’ misguided policy of supposedly protecting wildlife by stopping the clearance ( by burning) of the leaf fall which takes years to rot down and uncleared performs the function of a wick when a fire starts.

      As ever, well intentioned dolts have created a disaster where both wildlife and human life and property are burned to the ground. Another example of the law of unintended consequences.

      We need to return to established practices which have served us well for centuries. In the UK the monks of Glastonbury understood the importance of maintaining the ditches and the flow of the rivers. Most of their time was spent on doing not much else.

      Nowadays the rivers remain un-dredged and the ditches clogged with debris and polluted by chemicals from the fields. The historic wetlands are built over with impermeable roads and private drives.

      The whole of these catastrophic episodes are the result of a failure of governance and the dismantling of effective institutions such as the Rivers Authorities and British Waterways Board. All supplanted by useless government departments such as DEFRA, a government Agency taking directions from an equally useless bunch of ‘greenies’ in the wretched EU.

      Save the vole and flood the human.

        2. Not sure but the American Crayfish thrives in the River Stour.

          Regrettably anyone eating the American Crayfish will probably die with gut rot owing to the pollution from agri-chemicals and other industrial discharges.

          Edit: A chap in the village did just that.

          1. Ah, the signal crayfish, introduced by the UK government in the ’70s. Unfortunately, it is a carrier of crayfish plague, doh!

        1. And what? He was a plant on Vote Leave with his mates, Do you think he’s changed again and will deliver Brexit? Tell me what is this Customs Union and Single Market we’ll still be in because I haven’t read anything serious for about two years, does it mean we will still be in the EU? What’s the betting they delay from 31st January, eh? Wanna have a wager or two, Johnny?

          1. Happy New Year RS

            I am not entirely convinced that you are wrong.

            I am trying hard to be optimistic about Johnson though ‘my reason sits in the wind against me’. (To borrow from Shakespeare’s Enobarbus)

          2. Thanks, but happiness has always been a rarity in my life.

            I never watch the TV news but at 10.30pm on 22nd June 2016 it showed Johnson being heckled by a 17 year old yoof in Ashby. Johnson hadn’t got a clue how to respond or put him to the sword because he basically had no conviction in what he was doing. I thought if he’s the best we have to offer then we’ve lost and went to bed discounted.

            As I mentioned elsewhere, he didn’t become PM by not being a globalist.

            I hope you have a prosperous and Euless New Year.

  79. This is the first New Years Eve in a while when I’m not on-call as “The Uncle With The Car” so I am turning in early. As we used to say – Amateurs get drunk on New Years Eve, professionals don’t need a reason. So I’m off for the night. Enjoy the events that unfold. 🙂

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2b10d92522eb242b38fc7fd516095c2c246bd50d6a956ee6219bb66c2422e13b.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/96c34ce137fb850d132bf065e8e55676679c3bdbb7a595fe502c634213236fc9.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/58738a96730b417a7688f11b1d47af1cf8b7a2d537427e8e81f4b9823cb8a44a.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/43c1d47d2483f51ec0edb5653fd58bbd6e208197f42de908521090f79bb9b6aa.jpg

    1. All we’ve got left is the dessert wine. Going to bed. See you all in 2020. I imagine it’ll be much like 2019 – taxes, waste, lies.

      But I can hope.

      Actually no, no I don’t.

  81. Pub and music for me, they’ve even got grub laid out, but that’s not for me. Have a good one, one and all. Perhaps I’ll look in on my return.

        1. There is one possibility that is so obvious that we may be missing it. These “hard-left” Marxist / Communists are home-grown. They sprouted their stunted political beliefs growing up in a safe and fairly stable Western democratic system. Although they live their pampered and meaningless lives playing at student politics, they may be well aware of what real left-wing politics does to every country that embraces it.

          Unlike the hardcore soulless fanatics of the left, they might just be scared of the real world and don’t WANT to be elected. They just want the MP’s salaries, expenses and pensions without ever being in office. As long as they poke their heads up over the parapet and shout “NHS!” and “Gay Rights!” every now and then, they can spend their lives with their feet up in their large houses doing nothing of consequence.

        2. The Labour party of 2019 is a mix of the Stalin era Communist party & the Muslim Brotherhood. The Labour party of Keir Hardie no longer exists, even the New Labour party of Tony Blair has more or less vanished !

          3. Tsk Tsk. Hanged, Mr Hat. Hanged. And you ! a publisher !

            Also drawn, quartered and his chitterlings thrown on the BBQ in front of him so he can watch them cook.

          6. Now that’s a hostage to fortune wait until Peddy sees it!!
            Happy New Year to you and yours Hatman

          7. My first reaction was to groan & think that should be ‘hanged’. But if you intend to draw & 1/4 him the correct word is ‘hung’, – the victim should be alive & conscious until the end of the execution.

            Se my book “A dentist’s dreams of revenge”.

      1. Don’t be silly,

        ‘Oz’ is at the end of the rainbow!!

        Yo Tryers……..Wishing you and Mrs. Tryers a very Merry New Year

        1. And the same to you Mr Hat and yours

          The easiest way to describe Nottlers is cross between Licquorice Allsorts and Smarties

          We all look, act and post differently, but on the inside we are (mostly) the same and united

    2. Oostereich?

      If you are down under why aren’t your comments coming in upside down? Asking for a friend

    2. Thank you, Johnny, for posting this.

      Good evening, with best wishes to you and Mrs. N.
      for a ‘Merry New Year.’.

        1. Good evening, Mahat.

          How very kind you are with your good wishes to us all.
          My best wishes to You and your Family……….and also
          to my cousins!!

  88. I see Sydney Harbour Bridge has been the usual focus for NYE fireworks.
    A bit tactless, considering half the city is being threatened by bushfire spread.

    1. People shouldn’t be able to have fun? Are you 1642again in disguise?
      You do know that most of these fires have been caused deliberately, don’t you? How many arrests so far? Over 200 isn’t it?

    3. I am no fan of fireworks but given that the Sydney Harbour Bridge is a traditional focus for celebrations, on balance, I am glad that they have gone ahead with the pyrotechnics.

  89. ConWoman on Douglas Murray’s latest book

    https://conservativewoman.co.uk/the-new-years-eve-essay-tcws-book-of-the-year/

    And the top rated comment

    “It’s interesting to note how much more leeway people like Douglas Murray
    get in society today when compared to more obviously working class
    activists like Tommy Robinson. They really aren’t saying that much
    which is very different. Murray says it in a more erudite and nuanced
    way of course, but the message is similar. Murray gets attacked in the
    Guardian, Robinson gets attacked in the street and jailed.”

    1. Robinson had a much bigger social media presence, and a greater social influence. He had the temerity to challenge the Establishment (e.g. Freedom of Speech rally) and did it very visibly. He embarrassed the leadership of the government (Teresa May and her cronies) ad that couldn’t be allowed.
      Douglas Murray is occasionally on tv, doesn’t get much coverage, except in the Mail or Express, but can easily be ignored by the government. If he ever really challenged them, his a*** would be in jail quicker than you could say “what happened there?”

  91. I’m not bothering to stay up, I’m off to bed.

    Just had a bowlful of my broth, made with the cider stock the Christmas ham was boiled up in, a generous amount of mixed pulses, vegetables, including a decent sized leek and a chopped up pack of ham offcuts.

    Quite a good pan full this year!!

    All the best to everyone here for the coming year.

  95. Dear Family and Friends,
    I personally want to wish you a Happy New Year.
    Nowadays everyone is overwhelmed by the pace and amount of unauthentic messages.

    Most people copy and paste messages from others just to get the job over and done with but not me.

    We wish each and everyone of you all the best for 2013.

    You are the best dance group in world.
    Best wishes,
    Amanda.

    1. The UN is a corrupt organisation run by corruptible African chancers.

      The USA is a beacon of good governance run by one of the greatest of American presidents, Donald Trump.

      I reckon most sentient Brits realise these facts.

        1. I still hope that we sensible and realistic folk out-number the idiocracy.

          The recent general election possibly proved my point albeit that we are still hesitantly reliant upon elected politicians to grasp the message and act accordingly.

          Only time will tell.

    1. Same here. I can’t open anything but the first page of comments. Each time I cli k on the ‘Load more commengs’ bar, it takes me back, to the top of the page.

      1. I often find, when I try to post a comment, that it shoots me down to the bottom of the page. Upticking usually takes me to someone’s profile. But hey, we’re still here – and Nottl is addictive!

        2. I tried to upvote you, but it went to where your profile would have been if you hadn”t hidden it.

  100. Happy New Year to:

    Sue Edison
    Sue Macfarlane
    IceAnnie
    CheshireLad
    JanetjH
    Maggie,
    Garlands…
    …and the rest of you reprobates (too numerous to mention) on this forum who amuse,
    including Geoff and Stig, hallowed co-founders.

    Have a good ‘un, each and all.

    Grizzly.

          2. See, all of King Peddy, the Pedantic Pedant of Pedantia’s percyverance has paid off. I knew there was a point to come on here. BTW where is he? With some floosie from Waitrose, St. Ives teaching her Deutsch anatomy?

          3. I think he tootled off to bed with Missy some time ago.

            I’m off now – good night and Happy New Year!

          4. Missy? His faithful canine, I presume
            Same to you matey, have a healthy and prosperous New Year.

      1. All the better to,,, Something I would never have observed. Attractive, brunette and personable, but… Just shows you how effective modern day schooling is at brainwashing.

      1. It was a long hard night. So I’m more clueless than Holly at the moment, and if you watched her all the way through you’d know that is some serious cluelessness. I just don’t get the tax reference at this moment in time.

    1. Is that what they do in Norge? Then aim for Sveirge, Interesting way of getting rid of all their shiite..

    1. You forget about Flipper/Pippa Gore or whatever her name is, and her campaign on the evils of music….

      1. I never forgot because I never knew in the first place. Mary Flipping Whitehouse? My comment was aimed at some puritanical views nearer to home, Norfolk and Wales to name but two. If you care to read the You Tube commenters, lots of the yoofs of today appreciating the quality and originality compared to today’s shiite.

  111. Happy New Year all. I wish you all what you wish for yourselves in 2020.
    Keep calm and carry on Nottlers.

  112. Happy New Year All.

    Just switched off the London fireworks show (saw it last year, the year before that and the one before that, etc., etc., etc.). Why not something more original?

    A penny banger, a rip-rap, a Roman candle and a sparkler would have done me.

  116. Good Night and Happy New Year to you all

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/248bb19fc5fa911ee517c4c45b6e79660e4285ed603508cc1bd26755bd76b507.gif

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e42b75ef9dc78c8963fa08bd29e8aa7b19a8340f2a2314c25dde722f680fe7d6.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/640a1f51bf2bd44a8683a8a0abe0600dcf4211a2c626aafc24f07fb0439267ab.gif

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c16b8f01fa908dc4133ea8a9f84f5d863fe79d791d6e3a75f3bc88ddfda75b5b.gif

  118. Only a few hours to go to the new decade. A hundred years ago, the same decade was known for its flappers. I expect there’ll e quite a lot of flapping in the 20s too, mainly from the left and from remoaners.

      1. Oh no it isn’t. You have your cliques of marauding psychological pressers whose intention it is, is to drive away people with differing views to CCHQ.

      1. Mmmmmm I’ve heard there are two persons on NTTL of a different persuasion, give us a kiss and I’ll tell you who they are!
        The old ones are the best”)))))

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