Tuesday 9 February: Do new coronavirus variants mean an endless extension of lockdown?

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2021/02/09/letters-do-new-coronavirus-variants-mean-endless-extension-lockdown/

869 thoughts on “Tuesday 9 February: Do new coronavirus variants mean an endless extension of lockdown?”

  2. South African Covid variant ‘not likely to become dominant’. 9 February 2021.

    The deputy chief medical officer has urged people not to “panic” over the South African coronavirus variant, saying it is not likely to become the dominant strain in the near future.

    On Monday, Prof Van Tam said anyone thinking they should “hang on” for a vaccine that protects against a future variant such as the South African one should not do so.

    “My advice to you is, very simply, do not delay – have the vaccine that will protect you against the current threat,” he said, adding news that the South African variant had evaded vaccines was “not a big fright” but “inevitable”.

    Morning everyone. The sense of barely suppressed panic during this “Presser” as the entire Covid Strategy dissolved was palpable.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/02/08/south-african-covid-variant-not-likely-become-dominant/

    1. The only panic is caused by the authorities. Maybe if they just STFU and left us alone, things would be better.

      1. I agree with your sentiment, OB. However, when I see fully masked people driving in well sealed and air conditioned cars or walking on the wide open spaces near to my home I realise that authority’s panic has spread to quite a few people. I wonder if those people will ever again feel safe enough to de-mask?

        1. Indeed. Wusses all. Good thing there was a bit more backbone in the late 30’s / early 40s. Think of the terror when the occasional V1 went BOOM! randomly in London.

          2. While the V1 must have been terrifying its arrival and distance from a person could be judged from the noise its pulse jet made and it impacted after the engine cut out. The V2, being supersonic, gave no warning of arrival – although I believe its contrail could sometimes be seen as it came over from the Netherlands – and its terror rating must have been several magnitudes greater.

            Part of the British deception work in 1944/5 was to have false reports made by “Agents in the pay of the Germans” to report that the V1s were overshooting and thus the range had to be reduced to hit London when in fact the V1s then crashed in countryside between the coast and London.

        2. The advice is not to take your mask on and off. Perhaps those people wearing them in cars are driving between two engagements where they will need to wear a mask.

    2. Vacc, vacc, vacc. They sound like a bevy of excited magpies.

      A few weeks ago their story was all about the SA version becoming dominant. The purpose of that claim was to reinforce the fear factor. Read an article last evening that claimed the Oxford/AZ is only 10% effective against the SA version. With “cases” in free-fall here and elsewhere what exactly is the dominant strain? Usual muddled message – they’ve tied themselves in knots and do not know where they are. Hence the panic.

    3. After Macron’s outburst is this sad or poetic justice?
      There appears to be yet another newer, deadlier and more contagious mutation in Northern France.

      In a few weeks, 107 of the 111 residents have been affected by the virus, with 27 dead. Of the 70 staff, 57 have tested positive.
      The strain is thought to be a new mutation of the existing known variants. Of the 30 samples taken from the care home, 25 showed evidence of a new strain, different again from the UK, South-African or Brazilian variants.

      https://www.connexionfrance.com/French-news/Covid-19-France-Rules-tighten-as-new-South-African-and-Brazilian-variants-spread?utm_source=Master+List&utm_campaign=7060d641f0-NewsletterOct72020_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9b5fbe85b4-7060d641f0-357910569

  5. Britain’s youngest terrorist avoids custody as he is handed youth rehabilitation order. 9 February 2021.

    The teenager, who was just 13 when he joined the far right group, Fascist Forge, and downloaded ,a bomb making manual, was given a two year youth rehabilitation order and told to attend de-radicalisation classes.

    That at a guess would be our old favourite, the Anarchists Cookbook, available for £6.79 on Kindle. If all we have to worry about from the “far-right” is pimply faced teenagers who cannot even spell Fascist we are going to be OK!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/02/08/britains-youngest-terrorist-avoids-custody-handedyouth-rehabilitation/

    1. The reason it is still on sale is so they can track who is buying it. I wouldn’t expect a spotty teenager to know that.

      Good morning.

    2. He is just a kid going through a phase. He hasn’t actually done anything has he? Just useful for propaganda purposes!

      1. Morning BB2. If these recent prosecutions of teenagers shows anything, it is that there is no “far-right” threat!

    3. Morning Minty. Do be careful. The way you keep mentioning said book any reasonable person might think you owned the publishing rights! 😉

      1. Morning Stephen. I’m mentioning it in proportion to its omission from the MSM reports where it is cited as if it were the SAS demolition manual!

        1. Is the SAS demolition manual available on Amazon? (Asking for a distant acquaintance.)

        2. I still haven’t found that RE pocket book on demolition or that report on 60 Squadron’s cratering trials using ANFO I may have in my attic!

      1. Over the lock up and school closures, junior has made cola rockets, steam rockets, a rail gun, explosives and has been out with a water pistol.

        I tell him regularly that socialism doesn’t work. Is he a ‘far right’ terrorist?

        Of course not. Besides, as others have said, the Nazi’s were Lefties, fascism is LEFT wing. Always has been, always will be.

    1. You cannot trust any of the data. only one doc to sign Death Certificate not two as it was befor this flu.

      1. Just think what Shipman could have done in a pandemic situation, how many more of them are out there?

    2. I saw someone on Twatter yesterday state that his 98 year old father died of Covid, ‘cause Covid is deadly. No, a 98 year old died of old age.

      Good morning!

    3. This article sheds some light on the US Covid statistics

      “As Minnesota lawmaker and longtime family practitioner Dr. Scott Jensen recently observed, hospitals are incentivized to pressure physicians to include COVID-19 on death certificates and discharge papers, since the CARES Act increases Medicare payments to hospitals treating COVID-19 victims.”

      https://fee.org/articles/physicians-say-hospitals-are-pressuring-er-docs-to-list-covid-19-on-death-certificates-here-s-why/

    4. A few month ago a nurse told me she had been working, writing down what the doctor was finding while doing autopsies. She actually knew one of the people who had died and when the doc said “Covid” she pointed out that she knew the deceased and knew that he’d died of a heart attack. Doc turned, snarled COVID at her and told her that if she didn’t want to do the job then there were others who would.

      1. Locally I heard of two cases last year where an end-of-life care home resident was described as dying of Covid 19 rather than old age.
        Now all they need is a positive test on a terminally ill patient, especially if that person is likely to die in less than 28 days.

    5. I don’t quite know why the state is putting so many deaths down to covid. Is it to ensure ever possible instance is captured? Is it just to make the stats look good?

      1. We haven’t had a lot of snow, about two inches, it isn’t even proper snow, very dry powdery stuff that stings you eyes in the strong winds.
        It is not the weather to be outside working in though with the wind chill.

  11. Morning all..

    Here are the vaccine letters….

    SIR – If the Astra-Zeneca vaccine offers limited protection (preventing death or hospitalisation) against the South African coronavirus variant, and the variant becomes a dominant strain in Britain in coming weeks, what does that mean for the lifting of restrictions?

    Are we forever to be condemned to the purgatory of Tantalus?

    Michael Cooper

    Addington, Kent

    SIR – Where does it leave an employer if ethnic minority employees refuse or have refused the Covid vaccine ?

    The implications for race relations are horrendous, let alone the legal issues relating to employment.

    Graham White

    Cambridge

    SIR – Nadhim Zahawi says that “vaccine passports” are not the way we do things in the UK.

    No, but neither are: prohibiting us from meeting family members with whom we do not live; closing down public houses and restaurants; banning us from meeting our friends; making it illegal to go on holiday, even in our own country; not allowing us on public transport if there are already more than a handful of people on board; being muzzled in public places; and many other instructions more redolent of dictatorships.

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    I am no fan of identity cards – indeed I might have refused to carry one when the last Labour government proposed them – but I would certainly welcome some sort of document allowing those of us who have been vaccinated to resume our previous lives.

    John Brandon

    Tonbridge, Kent

    SIR – If no vaccination certificates are given, how can anyone travel abroad, given that most countries will require them for entry?

    The little card one is given after a jab can easily be faked and will not be accepted.

    Charles Pugh

    London SW10

    SIR – My daughter has just completed two weeks in a quarantine hotel in South Korea.

    After 24 hours in a medical facility at the airport, waiting for a Covid test result, she was moved by special taxi to a hotel in the suburbs of Seoul. She was given three meals a day, left outside the door, which was alarmed. She could only open the door for the food and at 6pm each night to put out her rubbish. There was no cleaning.

    On her last day she was released after another negative test, to take a Covid-approved taxi to her destination.

    I’m not convinced that we could do that here.

    Patricia Madge

    Bentworth, Hampshire

    SIR – If the BBC and ITV are serious about defeating Covid-19, they must stop showing close-ups of people being injected. Many people have a fear of needles, and these images will inevitably deter vaccination uptake.

    Andrew Blake

    Marlborough, Wiltshire

    1. John Brandon deserves what he gets for being so willing to give up his liberty, however the problem is that the rest of us would get it too.

  12. Anthem for England

    SIR – On Saturday I was delighted to watch Scotland beat England at Twickenham. As always, the match was preceded by the national anthems and for Scotland it was Flower of Scotland, and for England God Save the Queen. Surely it is a mistake at sporting events involving the four home nations to allow England to claim ownership of God Save the Queen as its national anthem. This practice should have been abandoned years ago. It inevitably gives the impression that the monarchy is an English institution and that the anthem of the United Kingdom is naturally that of England because the UK and England are one and the same thing.

    On June 18 England will play Scotland at football at Wembley. This needle match will be keenly watched by a large part of Scotland. Do we have to have the UK national anthem appropriated by England and needlessly booed by Scottish fans at a time when there is so much argument over Scottish independence?

    It’s often the little things that matter, and this is one of the little things that causes some Scots mistakenly to dismiss the whole idea of the UK.

    Lord Lamont of Lerwick (Con)

    London SW1

    1. Why should we change what we do to suit the small minded that will never be happy if we do change?

      2. 329217+ up ticks,
        B3.
        Due to the treachery dealt us via his party as part of the lab/lib/con coalition group tell lamont a lament for England would be more appropriate.

    2. So what tune should England use? A Morris dance, maybe? It’s the problem of not being noticeably nationalistic, no national dress or song.

      1. The theme from ‘The Archers’ (as was proposed some time ago by a comedian – Billy Connolly?)

        1. BTL, a poster has suggested ‘Vindaloo’ by Fat Les.
          a. It’s a jolly tune
          b. The word(s) aren’t difficult to remember.

      4. At Commonwealth Games where the four home nations compete separately England have used Jerusalem as an anthem at recent games, previously they used Land of Hope and Glory.

    3. “It’s often the little things that matter”

      Which is exactly why the National Anthem should be played at all sporting events fielding an English team.

    4. I agree with Lord Lamont that England should have its own national anthem, but not because ‘God Save the Queen’ has been ‘appropriated’ by the England team. If Wales and Scotland have their own anthems, then so should England, with the existing anthem reserved for the whole of the UK.

      1. But imagine the outcry if the English one contained lines about beating the Scots in battle.

        1. To make it fair, we could add lines with references to our victories over the French, the Germans, the Spanish, the Italians, the Argentinians, the Zulus etc. etc. etc.

      2. ‘Morning, O Rex Latinorum.

        Don’t see why some enterprising English songwriter doesn’t compose a completely new “English anthem”, to be used to represent England-only teams at rugby matches.

        “Flower of Scotland” is hardly a traditional song rooted in folk music, being composed in the ’60s by Roy Williamson, of “Corries” fame. “The Fields of Athenry”, sung at rugby matches by Irish supporters is even more recent in origin, written in the late ’70s by Pete St. John. What these songs have in common is anti-England sentiments.

        1. Morning Duncan – I think the best anthem for England would be the theme tune from Bridge Over The River Kwai (better known as Colonel Bogey)

        2. I cannot understand why ‘Scotland the Brave’ is not the Scottish anthem. Great tune. ‘Flower of Scotland’ is a mournful dirge – as bad as ‘God Save the Queen’.

          2. Good morning, HJ.

            Many years ago an elderly friend told me;
            “Spain is a beautiful Country, unfortunately
            its inhabitants are not worthy of it.”

        1. They used Jerusalem at the last 2 Commonwealth Games. Prior to that it was Land of Hope and Glory.

    5. The problem with that idea today is that we would get some ghastly anthem to Diversity and Tolerance inflicted on us as being “English.”

    9. I wasn’t aware the English were allowed to have their own anthem, as that would be racist.

  13. Morning again

    The next defence chief

    SIR – Is “a senior Army source” (report, February 4) wilfully misunderstanding the Maritime Foundation?

    Plainly Anthony Harvey (Letters, February 4) is not recommending Buggins’ Turn. (That was abolished by Admiral of the Fleet Lord Lewin when he was Chief of the Defence Staff 40 years ago.) His point is surely that in current geopolitics, as the hinges of history open a door to dark global risk, the national security advantage of a CDS who comes into post with a lifetime of maritime strategic thinking already in his head (which also embraces space and cyber), as well as joint experience, is immense; and that is surely undeniable.

    Professor Gwythian Prins

    Widworthy, Devon

  14. No second thoughts

    SIR – To calm my nerves in the car on the way to church (Letters, February 8), my father said to me: “It’s not too late to change your mind.”

    My husband and I celebrate our 58th wedding anniversary today.

    Elisabeth Murray

    London N20

    1. My father and I were too early for the ceremony (allowing for traffic!), so the driver pulled into a layby for about ten minutes.
      During that hiatus, we talked about house prices.
      Nothing has changed in 56 years.

      1. There was a pub just opposite the Roman Catholic Church in Lyme Regis and as I was coming out of it to cross the road to go into the church Caroline’s carriage – driven by one of my best friends – started to arrive. One of my ushers desperately signalled to him to make another circuit around Lyme Regis to give me time to be in place at the front of the church to wait for my lovely bride. (You can see the Daimler and the pub behind the flustered groom!)

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0d8afe910234db702d138a778378c715e045f7c4e1c433c8d6785e45419d54c3.jpg

    2. My mother in law just finds the war queen husbands. ‘Jerry’s a nice chap, why don’t you marry him?’

      My own mother has never got over that we married without a fancy church wedding for her to complain about for six months.

      2. 329217+ up ticks,
        Morning B3,
        Twice a week me, fresh fish, Grimsby.
        Even though dick of number ten tried to curtail it
        via the dodgy deal.

      3. Watch out for the plastic and heavy metals.

        I heard a Chef say that though fish swallow the micro-plastic they also pass it out. It doesn’t get into the flesh.

      4. My first boss asked newcomers “dae ye eat fish on Fridays?”. I replied “Yes, sometimes”. Next question “which fitba team dae ye support ?” I replied ” Motherwell “. He then drew on the killer question “Which fitba team would ye support, Celtic or Rangers?” I had to say “Rangers”.
        The wily old man went home that night to his home in Carlisle with his TV aerial turned toward the Scotland transmitter.

    3. There are plenty of online fish merchants that deliver where you can buy all that Geraint.

      Morning, Grizz.

    4. We have good access to fresh fish here – indeed some supermarkets have their own fishing boats. Mind you lobster and crab are not cheap.

  16. ‘Breakdown of world order’ raises threat of attacks, Defence Secretary says. 9 February 2021.

    Referencing the Novichok poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in 2018, he added: “There has been a worry that some states think it is acceptable to use that type of method to carry out or further their aims.”

    Two Russian nationals were accused of travelling to the Wiltshire town to murder Mr Skripal with Novichok.

    The Skripals survived the attack, but the incident later claimed the life of Dawn Sturgess after she came into contact with a perfume bottle believed to have been used in the attack and then discarded.

    Wallace is notable for raising concerns to elevate his position in the Government, though this one is probably to distract attention from the Covid Crisis. Still this is an unfortunate reference. One of the few things we know for certain about the perfume bottle that Dawn Sturgess used, is that it was not used against the Skripals (assuming there was one) because it was still sealed inside its packaging!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/02/09/breakdown-world-order-raises-threat-attacks-defence-secretary/

    1. World order? The United States Is in meltdown. Half the population of Central America is on the move. Venezuela and Brazil are in continual ferment.
      Africa is lost to civilisation. The Middle East is on fire. China is set on conquering Asia and is targeting Australia and the entire Pacific. There are riots in the big cities of Europe. Still, Antarctica is quiet at the moment.

      1. Probably far too many humans is my guess. 7·8 billion of them and the vast overriding majority are beyond stupid.

  17. A good morning to all from a cold but bright Derbyshire Dales. Just a tad below -3°C on the yard thermometer just now so I think it may be long johns on today!

  18. 1st innings: Bess 4-76 in 26 overs.
    2nd innings: Leach 4-76 in 26 overs.
    Honours even in the spin dept.

  19. Good morning all. Another snowy day here in Croydon, I ‘enjoyed’ my second power cut in a row last night!

    I notice an article and a few letters discussing the ‘problem’ of hiring unvaccinated workers:

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/02/08/vaccines-will-open-pandoras-box-woes-businesses/

    I sincerely hope that any idea of ‘no jab, no job’ is swiftly put to rest. All of us have the right to take the vaccines if we so wish, but also to refuse medication without disadvantage, as per the Nuremburg Code. As far as I am aware, there is no hard evidence that the vaccine reduces transmission to others, in which case it is a ‘selfish vaccine’ and simply boosts your immunity/reduces symptoms.

    We should not be forced us to inject something into our bodies if we do not want it.

    1. 329217+ up ticks,
      Morning JK,
      Nothing short of a treacherous attack on the temple of common sense.

    2. Amen to that! Logic has flown out of the window though. It will require a significant pushback to avoid such restrictions.
      Some people have already started:
      https://www.freedomairway.com/
      This startup is committed to helping people travel without vaccine passports.

      1. It will fail BB2.

        Press reports state that Microsoft is developing a Coronavirus passport.

        Remembering that the major shareholder in Microsoft has contributed to the Daily Telegraph, the Guardian and the BBC, who

        do you think will object to it? Or rather, who will give the objectors any publicity?

        1. If enough people vote with their feet, pushback is possible. Things do spread without publicity sometimes.

          1. I don’t think that an App will be profitable enough for Microsoft.

            The profits certainly need to cover the costs of the “gifts” to the DT, Guardian and the BBC.

      1. Apparently Pimlico Plumbers are doing it voluntarily. I can’t see why, most plumbers are young and fit. Bit of Covid virtue-signalling perhaps?

        https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9149597/Pimlico-Plumbers-plans-adopt-no-jab-no-job-vaccine-rule.html

        There will be some interesting test cases, e.g. if people resist on religious grounds. It is a fundamental human right to refuse medication, and with so many vaccines from different companies and different variants, how can we possibly know what we are taking?

        ‘Would sir like the Oxford vaccine for sirs’ South-African variant, or would sir prefer a lovely little AstraZeneca jab to clear up one’s Kent strain?’

        No Jab no job? No way hose!

  22. Good morning, all – more snow overnight. Now still – with some blue skies. No newspaper. Road not treated.

    1. Yo Mr T

      Road not treated, the NHS are too busy getting the Clap to bother about your road

      1. My old man is supposed to have his vax today at Falkirk Town Hall. As there appears to be no traffic on the roads and not much sign of life in our winter wonderland, he reckons this is very good Covid weather as it keeps the bu***rs at home!

  23. 329217+ up ticks,
    Morning Each,
    We have sampled mass odious issues over decades of governance in “peoples doing hard time manner” via the lab/lib/con coalition group.

    Mass treachery, mass appeasement, mass submissiveness in favour of the “party” the very party of the coalition that has been responsible for unchecked illegal immigration flooding these Isles in a irresponsible anti
    UK campaign.

    This has resulted in one place alone the rape & abuse of 1400 / 1600
    children through a rampant paedophile plague, lest we forget rotherham on polling day, much to our shame.

    Currently there is NO opposition just different grades of political sh!te
    within the lab/lib/con coalition via the close shop and it is still YOUR prerogative to be a sh!te swallower due to your vote if that is your wish.

    If this voting pattern becomes fact then very little hope can be held out for these Isles in the near future and we will truly deserve ALL we receive.

    https://twitter.com/AgainBraine/status/1358746514504495105

    1. 329217+ up ticks,
      O2O,
      The greens plus 3 via the bedroom at number ten, handiwork of dick & the pillow whisperer no doubt.

  24. Excellent letters today from Michael Cooper and especially Peter Welsh on the dodgy agenda behind the COVID response. Hopefully the penny is beginning to drop with more of the general public.

        2. Ta – I was using my (old) tablet and copying and pasting from one tab to another is surprisingly difficult. Unfortuantely it is the only way I can actually read articles behind the paywall, as my PC is (despite being even older) far quicker and rarely does the ‘press the ESC button or X or the title bar when the page is loading’ works. It does on my tablet.

    2. I doubt it. People have been told to be afraid and as they’re used to giving away the responsibility for thinking rationally to the state they’ll happily remain afraid.

  25. Good morning all.
    Another blue skies start here but perishingly cold for my old bones 🦴. Keep safe.

  26. Home Office admits 15,000 people deleted from police records. 9 February 2021.

    A blunder led to the records of more than 15,000 people being deleted in their entirety from the Police National Computer, the Home Office has admitted. News of the data loss emerged last month, but on Monday the government put numbers on what had been erased

    The government has said the deletion was the result of a coding mistake on 10 January. The error affects fingerprints, DNA and arrest records, and the government hopes to contain the damage and that no records will be permanently lost.

    Of course it was. Now I’m off to catch a Unicorn to get to the supermarket.

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/08/home-office-admits-15000-people-deleted-from-police-records

    1. Hang on, I’m confused. Do the Police hope that no records will be lost or that no records will be lost as they contain the damage?

      And… coding mistakes happen. People are fallible, especially when under huge pressure and time scales are cut short.

  28. Trump administration’s handling of the Covid ‘even more dire than we thought’, says Biden. 9 February 2021.

    Joe Biden rounded on his predecessor’s handling of the coronavirus epidemic, saying “it was even more dire than we thought”.

    In his first major interview since becoming president, Mr Biden told CBS news anchor, Norah O’Donnell, the country faced a challenge to reach herd immunity before the end of the summer.

    There’s not going to be any “Herd Immunity” anywhere. The South African variant has put paid to that. It looks as though we are entering the “Twelve Monkeys” scenario and there is no solution other than total isolation.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/02/08/trump-administrations-handling-covid-even-dire-thought-says/

    1. Yo Minty

      Strange, that it is Mr Biden, when the previous POTUS was always referred by th MSM as Trump

      1. Mr. Biden? Disgraceful! They are assuming Biden’s gender, which I’m sure a “woke” politician like Chinese Joe would roundly condemn.

        1. It wont be long before everyones’ name has to be followed by their preferred pronouns e.g. Mr Biden (He, him, his).

          I already see this in the signature block on many work emails. Well, I’m not going to play.

      1. If you extrapolate from the results of the trials that used high-risk patients, then most of the lives in Britain would not have been lost.
        This whole vaccine thing is just a giant con.

        PS Stella Immanuel is delightfully naive to demand an apology. Presumably it’s the first time she’s been on the wrong end of the cancel crowd. White people know the hypocrisy is boundless and no apologies are EVER forthcoming….
        Nevertheless, she is a good physician and I hope she carries on speaking out!

      2. That excellent video shared by Bob3 yesterday and my pinning the ‘HCQ is rubbish’ study retraction by the Lancet (but only after it and the resulting headlines had done the damage, inclduing to Pres. Trump [no co-ordination there folks]) just shows what is really going on.

        For those who didn’t come across them yesterday, here the are again, plus the YT video page from NZ doctor Sam Bailey (she has many of COVID, PCR tests, masks, the vaccines, etc):

        https://youtu.be/7g8qfGMQVDg

        https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31324-6/fulltext

        https://www.youtube.com/c/DrSamBailey/videos

    3. Continued isolation will not help one bit. The only rational option is exposure. You cannot become immune to something when you’re prevented contact. All you do is store up the problem for later on.

    4. He would say that as he wants to make slaves of his people as Trump wanted freedom for his people. Left vs Right nothing new.

  30. Good morning, my friends

    EU poised to reject two-year extension to Northern Ireland grace period
    EU figures accuse UK of exploiting backlash against the bloc over aborted move to erect hard vaccine border with Ireland
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/02/08/brussels-poised-reject-uks-calls-two-year-extension-northern/

    So:

    Disaster in Northern Ireland;
    British fishermen in revolt and facing ruin;
    Officious Jobsworths doing their best to obstruct trade at the borders;
    No deal for the Financial Services industry;
    New horrors will doubtless keep emerging regularly about the worthless deal.

    WTF was the point to leaving the EU ‘with a deal’ – we would have been far better off without one.

    The Bonking British Nincompoop and his incompetent colleagues have been completely out-manoeuvred by the EU

    Is there anyone capable of getting us out of this mess?

    Even Farage thought this stitch-up was a good deal and is completely useless.

    1. Morning Rastus – Johnson’s “deal” was not completed. Was it legal? I suggest we left without a trade deal – ie No Deal with all its consequences. .

      1. In which case we grab the advantages of No Deal and expel the EU from Northern Ireland today, then we kick foreign fishermen out of our waters, impose massive tariffs on EU imports and sort out our future without reference to the EU at all.

        Our finest hour was when Britain stood alone.

        1. The fundamental problem with the EU deal was that our government insisted on continuing as it always has and the EU wanted to continue as it always has.

          Neither side are remotely interested in looking at a new way of doing things. The EU wanted domination, the UK was caught in a conflict where it wanted to be chained but was told to do the opposite, so whatever we have was by default going to be undermined from the outset.

          We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to do something truly radical. To become the low tax, small state nation that so terrifies the EU. However, that requires the needs of the citizen to be put first. The state has never bothered itself with such fripperies.

    2. ..and remember that the Eu countries have not yet ratified the deal – so if they want they can come back and

      demand yet more concessions from a grovelling British government.

      1. Is Boris Johnson really so stupid that he cannot see that he has been completely stitched up?

        1. Stitched up? – or what he actually wanted in the first place? Remainers in govt all hoped for a seat in Brussels. They still do.

    3. 329217+ up ticks,
      Morning R,
      The real UKIP left the ball in the tory court very reluctantly
      post 24/6/2016 fools & treachery did the rest and are still doing it, still supporting / voting condoning the rape & abuse of a once fair & decent Country.

      ALL pro UK help in the form of a party was castigated and backheeled in favour of “the party” either it be lab/lib/or con.

      Those outside of the close shop were tagged as far right racist.

      The 6th May will tell a story.

  31. 329217+ up ticks
    May one ask regarding the illegal immigrants amnesty will the compulsory
    purchase of indigenous peoples properties that weight of incoming numbers
    will dictate must happen, start taking place pre the may elections or post.

    Either way will it be reflected in party voting numbers ?

  32. I notice no comments allowed, perhaps the DT does not want to hear the views of real rugby fans.

    Scotland players stunned by level of criticism at those who did not take the knee at Twickenham
    By Richard Bath 9 February 2021 • 8:31am
    5-6 minutes

    Members of the Scotland side which beat England 11-6 at Twickenham on Saturday have spoken for the first time about their decision to take the knee, or to decide not to. Just four members of the 23-man Scotland squad took the knee before the Calcutta Cup, compared to all but seven of the England team, attracting a level of criticism that has bemused the players themselves.

    “It’s the first time I’d been in that kind of situation,” said scrum-half Ali Price, one of the four Scots to take the knee. “Walking out on the field I didn’t have in my head what was going to happen. I knew we were applauding the loss of lives through Covid and for [Sir] Captain Tom [Moore]. I knew there was then a moment of reflection to recognise and try to stamp out racism in sport.”

    According to Price, there had been no prior conversation about whether to take the knee because the Scottish players had no knowledge that they might be asked to. While taking the knee happens in England’s Premiership, in the Pro 14 competition in which Edinburgh and Glasgow play, there is instead a message of support for anti-racism read out prior to games. Before Saturday Scotland had played five times since the lockdown ended, both home and away, and at none of the matches had players taken the knee.

    Of the four Scots who took the knee – Price, Jonny Gray, Chris Harris and Cameron Redpath – only Price does not play in the Premiership. When the teams lined up for the national anthem and the majority of England’s players went down on one knee, those Scotland players who noticed – and many at the end of the Scotland line-up were unable to see the England players – took a decision on the spur of the moment. Harris, for instance, initially remained standing until he noticed the England players kneeling, at which stage he motioned to Price to ask what they should do before both men went down on one knee.

    “It was a moment in time and I decided to do it,” said Price. “If I had stayed standing and bowed my head and reflected then I would have had the same thought processes that I did when I took the knee. It was a decision I made. It felt like the right thing to do.

    “In any of the games I’ve played previously, it was never something that was there. In some games we’ve gone straight to kick-off, in some we’ve had a moment’s silence for whatever reason. It was a decision I made, but everyone is individual. Everyone has their reasons as to whether they would or wouldn’t. For me, it was just a moment of reflection. I took the knee, got back up, the anthems played and we got on with the game.”

    Whether or not they remained standing, the backlash has come as a surprise. Flanker Jamie Ritchie emphasised that in previous games players had been encouraged to reflect on anti-racist message but that there had been no discussion around taking the knee.

    “It’s all been a little bit of a surprise to be honest,” said Ritchie. “For me personally, it was the first game I’d been involved in where anyone did take the knee, but we weren’t told before the game, ‘we’d like you to kneel’, or, ‘we wouldn’t like you to kneel’, so it was down to personal choice. I don’t think anyone who didn’t kneel was disagreeing with anything that was being put forward. I think it is 100 per cent right that rugby is acknowledging the anti-racism movement, and I completely agree with that.

    “I think guys standing in quiet reflection of that are in full support of it. Whether boys did kneel or didn’t kneel, it wasn’t something we discussed before the game, it was completely down to personal preference. Anyone who kneeled I’d back 100 per cent and anyone who stood I’d do the same.”

    Despite the furore, the squad has yet to collectively discuss the reaction to Saturday’s pre-match events. The Scottish Rugby Union has been supportive of the players’ decision, and Price was keen to stress that he is supportive of players taking public stances on wider social issues such as mental health. He added, however, that while there may be a discussion of a common front, whether or not to kneel should be a matter of conscience for players.

    “There may well be a discussion but I feel it’s an individual’s decision,” said the scrum-half. “We’re all grown men, we all have our opinions and thoughts on the matter.”

    Ritchie was keen to keep the row in proportion and to ensure that it didn’t overshadow one of the greatest days in Scottish rugby history. “Whether to kneel or not to kneel, and who does it, is such a polarising argument,” he said. “It’s difficult to please everyone and social media can be a pretty vile place at times, although guys are used to it and know how to deal with it.

    “So we’ve not really been stung by the criticism, and it’s not taken away from how special that day was for everyone involved. It’s just one of those things unfortunately, it comes with the territory of being in the limelight and playing pro sport.”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/2021/02/08/scotland-players-stunned-level-criticism-did-not-take-knee-twickenham/

    1. From whom did the criticism come? The fans and supporters or the Left wing press?

      If it’s the press, they can be ignored. The only people who matter are those paying.

    2. Good morning vvof. I decided that this is just the DT conflating two things, and that the headline doesn’t match the article. The only stick the players got would have been from the oh-so-woke meeja and loony leftists. Not the normal rugby fan!

      1. Morning Sue, I suspect those taking the knee would have had some stick, normal rugby fans recognise BLM for what it is.

        1. Exactly that! I look forward to the crowds being back in the stadia! But when the kneeling ones get roundly and deservedly booed, the booers? will be labelled right-wing!

    3. They still don’t get it, do they? Taking the knee is supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, which is a Marxist political organisation. If they want to show support for anti-racism (although I can’t see that there is much of a problem with race relations in the UK), perhaps standing silently for a few seconds is a better gesture. They could call it something like ‘Stand Up to Racism’…

      1. BLM wants to increase racism rather than suppress it.

        What humanitarian anti-racist organisation would choose as its icon a criminal who once held a loaded gun at the stomach of a pregnant black woman?

        And what idiot would seriously believe that BLM wants to promote a worthwhile cause?

      2. I always read that as Stand Up For Racism. But BLM is the most divisive thing for society imaginable.

    4. The comments in the Scotsman were virulently against those who did not kneel. Astonishing, really. Scotland has never been racist until now, when racism has been invented for the purpose. I grew up in Scotland and I have never seen a racist incident*, or even heard racist abuse. Sectarian abuse, certainly. Social class distinction, of course. There was one mixed race afro boy at our school. There was also an Indian boy in a senior year. He carried an umbrella. He was perhaps the most universally liked person in the entire school.
      I was aware in my early years that there was some dislike of a German lady who lived not far from us. I suppose that she was a war bride. So not much to report.

      1. Bandwagons and jumping, Horace. I will also warn you that Jennifer will down vote your comment because she is convinced there is no sectarian hatred in Scotland! She did it to me when I made a similar comment!

        1. She down voted me for saying, correctly, that only just over 25% of those eligible to vote in the referendum for the setting up of the Welsh Assembly had voted in its favour.

          It is not just opinions with which she disagrees that offend her – the muddle-headed, vindictive woman finds the facts even more unpalatable.

          1. On the contrary. I downvoted you for your idiotic assertion that the death of the Princess of Wales, some three weeks before the referendum was a major factor in the outcome.

            Now I have downvoted you again for a piece of egregious personal abuse. I am far more clear-headed than you are, I’m not at all vindictive, and I don’t spend my time speculating on what goes on in the bedrooms of others. You, on the other hand, are simply a dirty old man.

        3. Ah, yes. In the mid-70s I was allocated a nice blue company car and spouses were permitted to drive. The Sultana was driving up Hanover Street early one Saturday afternoon and as we neared the crossroads at Rose Street there were lots of football supporters crossing from one side to the other and making progress towards Easter Road, home to Hibs FC. They were wearing their green Celtic strips and their green Celtic scarves and crossing without care, singing their loud Celtic songs. Traffic was being slowed and stopped as the fans were not waiting for gaps, but walking in front of vehicles.
          To my horror the Sultana gave some blasts on the car horn. Nooooo, I wept. In an instant the car was surrounded and beaten like a drum.
          No real damage was done, and anyway it was a company car…

        4. On the contrary. I did not say that there is no sectarian hatred in Scotland. I did, however, point out with complete accuracy that sectarian hatred is confined to a couple of small areas of Scotland and has no influence in the wider country.

  33. The racism industry, which is alive and well in the UK and the US, has gone from a left-wing cause via the Marxist BLM to utter stupidity.

    Last Sunday, NFL quarterback Tom Brady, won his seventh Super Bowl title. It was his 10th Super Bowl appearance.

    Of course, this was too much for the Dems who said that the white Tom Brady winning the Super Bowl in Black History Month was racist.

    I would have thought that ‘black history month’ itself is racist!

    2. In the profile of TB in the Telegraph it mentions that some comedy characters believed it was all about a Superb Owl.

  34. Will You Live to See 90?

    I recently had a full medical by my doctor.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    ‘No, I don’t,’ I said.

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

    ‘No,’ I said…

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

      1. Just been out in it. Quite deep in places. The temp says 4ºC – didn’t feel that warm!!

  38. Morning all.
    I’m pleased to see that the letters take a generally more positive tone today.

    1. I would always assume that the answer to “How safe are our medical records?” is going to be “How much is the highest bidder offering?”

      1. 329217+ up ticks,
        Morning BB2,
        That not be fiction that be fact, all wrapped up in a five pound note.

    1. Remember those ball point pens with four colours: blue, green, black and red?

      Replace the black with white and then follow the colour of the rugby shirt so the EU would have to use Red for Wales, Blue for Scotland, Green for N. Ireland and White for England.

      The EU is trying to cheat at every possible moment so the more difficult we can make it for them the better.

    3. What difference does a different colour ink make? What happens if the person reading it is colour-blind?

      1. Good point! And what happens if the person reading it is totally blind?

        We must insist all paperwork be submitted in Braille too.

    4. What difference does a different colour ink make? What happens if the person reading it is colour-blind?

    5. I have a pen for my PC that does random rainbow colours, even in the same line. Cheerful, so it is.

    1. Does anyone know whether the tissue is used to manufacture vaccines, or in their research?
      Regardless, the idea of the bodies of aborted babies being a commercial commodity is extremely distasteful, and not something that a civilised society should be doing.

    1. I would have more time for Nigel Farage if he had not said that the Boris Surrender Deal was ‘a good thing’ before he read it and saw the foul implications within it.

      Let’s face it until Farage admits that he was wrong about the deal and wrong not to contest all the parliamentary seats held by remainers he is no more than a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.

      1. He can make a start at redemption by fielding candidates in May.
        It would be lovely to see Johnson panic if the results turned out to be anything like the last Euro election Conservative “success”.

        1. Yes, but in my opinion he needs to purge himself first.

          He has made the two very disastrous errors of judgment I have mentioned above and if he does not own up to them and repent I can see no hope for him.

    1. What is it with grey?
      I’ve been looking at houses on line and all new, or recently decorated houses are grey throughout.

        2. About four years ago, I was helping my mother buy a new carpet. She wanted a darkish terracotta carpet to compliment the furniture and curtains. Walking around the various carpet showrooms, we could see only dozens of different hues of beige or grey in a variety of pile qualities.

          When we asked if there were any coloured carpets, the salesman said ‘people didnt want them. The only non grey/beige range they had on sale was about £70 per sq yd.

          2. “People didn’t want them”?

            She should have replied, “Well, I’m ‘people’ and I ******* well want them!”

        3. Modern marketing is we decide what you are going to buy. and most people do. I remember many years ago in retail we had a new style railcard sent from head office. The old one said ” Raincoats” The new one. “What to wear when chasing rainbows” It was damaged so was never used. Also pink became crushed strawberry. Change for the worse was on its way.

        4. Modern marketing is we decide what you are going to buy. and most people do. I remember many years ago in retail we had a new style railcard sent from head office. The old one said ” Raincoats” The new one. “What to wear when chasing rainbows” It was damaged so was never used. Also pink became crushed strawberry. Change for the worse was on its way.

        5. Hire companies buy white and grey cars and get rid of them after a year or two so there is probably a bias in the colours on the road.

      3. Ask for cream leather in a new car and they look confused these days. Then they show you what lovely shades of grey they have “because you’re sure to like it”.

      1. Yup! Sadly my budget doesn’t match her thoughts on what we could do with our new house 🙁

  45. Mutation of Kent Covid variant discovered in Manchester. 9 February 2021.

    Surge coronavirus testing will begin in parts of south Manchester on Tuesday after four cases of a mutation of the more transmissible Kent variant were detected in two unconnected households in the Moss Side area.

    Enhanced community testing will begin in parts of Hulme, Moss Side, Whalley Range and Fallowfield to try to limit the number of people exposed to the mutation and understand its spread.

    This thing is winning!

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/09/mutation-of-kent-covid-variant-discovered-in-manchester

    3. ” after four cases ” ? – Good God – who is now packing the virus in cases and moving it round the country?

  46. Today’s silly letter from a stir crazy old geezer in Lockdown.
    Sir,
    May I claim a record for my venerable loofah . This hard working vegetable has listened to Lord Haw-Haw in the forties, assorted news readers on the BBC and a variety of music over the years. All while scrubbing my body .
    I now intend to sow a replacement and retire this veteran of the ablutions..
    C J Roberts
    Market Harborough, Leicestershire

      1. Sir

        Can anyone explain to me why it is snowing in February?

        I was told that this was no longer possible.

        W H Thomas
        Somewhere snow covered

          1. My eldest son was born in Feb 1969 in Southampton .

            I was rushed to hospital in labour , and it was snowing , blizzardy squalls of freezing snow .

            My husband drove me in his old Ford Anglia .. it was a horrible cold journey from where we had a flat on the Dell side of Southampton.

            Moh was Portsmouth based on a Frigate before he started flying training .. it snowed heavily.. The car had no heater , the windscreen wipers were erratic ..

            I can remember that car had a leaky radiator , the ride was hard and horrible, suspension was awful .

            We have never ever been tempted to buy a Ford car ever again .

          2. Morning Belle, they are better now, they have managed to fix the radiator problems. :¬)))

          3. I remember watching the road go by through the floor of an old Ford Prefect I had unwisely accepted a lift in.

          4. I learnt to drive in a 1976 Ford Escort – well, more accurately I took my driving lessons in one. I got extra practise in a Mini and an Austin 1100 but for a while it was of questionable value as they had such awful gearboxes. The Ford gearchange was a delight. The Leylands’ were appalling.

          2. They’re not your 11 days. They are your great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great grandmother’s.

      2. Here you go, Plum.

        SIR — I writhe in preys of the commendabold and amusit lettloder from C.J. Roberts (DT 9th Feb).

        My whole familage enjoyled ready and rolly on the floorlopper, all gigglit and rib-crackly there. Deep joy! More eccentrifugal lettloders please.

        Oh yes.

        Professy S. Unwinson
        Follockfolder, Cornwall

        1. I used to listen to that on Round the Horne – on an old Bakelite radio with a wire hung out of the window as an aerial.
          I cried with laughter.

      1. My last bath was when I was in hossypital in 2005

        The last time that I showered, was 0800 today

        I do not want to know when my ‘Last Shower’ is or will be

        1. I can’t remember the last time I had a bath – possibly in 2008, when we stayed in a cottage and our ensuite included a bath but no shower.

          1. Bob Monkhouse was pleased when his grandchildren called him Spider Man because he thought they thought he was a super-hero. He was less pleased to discover that they called him this because he had difficulty getting out of the bath.

            We have a very long and deep bath and I have great trouble escaping it.

  47. That’s a start made on chainsawing & chopping the logs I scavenged at the weekend, but now in for a mug of tea and hands warm up.

    3. “When the hurlyburly’s done, When the battle’s lost and won.”

      What sort of Burley is she? When she is pissed off she is probably a surly Burley.

    1. While no fan of government, it was a lose lose situation. Do nothing, get the blame. Do something, get the blame. What *could* he possibly do?

      The problem is the ignorance and arrogance of the public who refuse to think through the reality in favour of the cheap ‘blame someone!’ attitude. This same attitude carries onward to those desperate to give up their freedoms and right to choose to the state. If people won’t be responsible and think then they don’t deserve the choice and they cannot then complain.

      1. I disagree. A wait and see, little by little, approach to a problem is likely to fail.
        Faced with an unknown contagious disease of unknown lethality the correct approach is to go in fast and go in heavy. Close airports and ports to all passenger traffic. Limit movement inside the country. Investigate in depth. None of that happened. (Only now are they checking the tens of thousands who pour into the UK.)
        Before saying, “steady on, that’s a bit excessive” consider this. If this had been an Ebola 2 in terms of fatalities, there would be several million dead. Consider this also. They did not know that it wasn’t.

        1. I agree absolutely that they should have closed the borders and let no one in or out. That they didn’t, but only locked us down was the worse of all possible worlds; it didn’t stop the spread and wrecked the economy.

  51. Question: What do these countries have in common?

    Libya
    Somalia
    Eritrea
    China
    Pakistan
    Cuba
    Bolivia
    Venezuela

    They are members of a rabidly anti-Israel organization that President Trump quite rightly withdrew from, given the record of some of its members. I refer to the UN Human Rights Council, no less!

    Why do I mention this? Because Mr. Biden has stated that he will rejoin this anti-democratic, malevolent group of liars, hypocrites and hate mongers.

    Nearly four more years of this? God Help the USA, and the rest of the world.

      2. If the Republicans keep ripping themselves apart, it will be even longer.
        If they could focus on centre right voters, they could change the balance of power in two years.

    3. But… but Trump left it and we hate Trump so we want to rejoin to spite him and it’s got united in it, and that’s good,

    5. 329217+ up ticks,
      Afternoon S,
      By the same token and closer to home, four more MONTHS of these political overseers and if no radical change is shown in the May voting pattern I do believe it may be beyond Gods help even.

      1. Don’t worry, some very cynical state governments are doing all that they can to restrict voter eligibility.

        1. “Everyone’s Vote should Count!”
          Ineligibility of votes is no obstacle, as we saw in the last election steal.

    2. They look baffled!

      I finally got round to reading the Keats review last night and enjoyed it! Not even one star awarded! …….”one big farrago of cliche, jargon, mixed metaphor and general sloppiness”.

    3. It would appear that you’ve been taking knee rather a lot…
      At the very least you should have had black patches.
      }:-O

      1. One of the many things that annoy me – a perfectly good pair of cords – except that the knees go bare. The MR – with one of many skills – patches them with denim – and they go on for many years. In Laure, one of my chums called them, “Tenue de bataille combat”…!!

        1. I am very hard on clothes and they are seldom worth repairing, but I do wear them until they have almost fallen apart. I find it is a waste of money buying expensive stuff as it doesn’t seem to last any longer than the supermarket equivalent at 1/3 of the price, or sometimes even less.

          1. Agreed. On the other hand, I still have a sports jacket bought at Bodgers in Cambridge in 1958 – and wear my father’s jacket and cap in the garden (he died in 1988). Several other items are at last 30 years old – when things were made to last.

          2. I have a Barbour wax jacket which has been worth repairing, to the extent that parts are like Trigger’s broom. It must be 40 years old. My father was a huge man. Anything of his would have swamped me.

    6. Prompted by your post, I tasked the pretty one with an archive retrieval. The results are below: our Florence (Flossie) when a kitten 10+ years back. She was (and still is) very cute!

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/182701fdd338ba127c8f9364215c145aebbcf45d5c2ff798b453db240ef189bd.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a0237a4be824587b9082ee21aab2b6a30033fd945e6d2e726db7fdc74c4776dd.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a3219845a2c2fe24a43abef7d9275606e3ec27c46e03d6920cc8c00b9f021cc0.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1d6be78d20f4526bdab1611d39469865504ab914efc17b6b33e93cbcaadcd529.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0c26a16e5e52e7c62dc2b3dbc62868029c8f425c1664bf6dca46e9f30ef67dd9.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f801d5bf0aef328a2b19e4cf300eab8b44452563ee3027c19cdc11fe39724132.jpg

  54. 329217+ up ticks,
    I do believe this poll spanned the inmate content of four mental asylums,

    breitbart,
    Speedboat Britain: 86 Per Cent Think Govt Has Done ‘Good Job’ on Vaccine Programme

    1. 329217+ up ticks,
      Afternoon WS,
      The lock down must have saved a good many lives among the having a fag outside the pub brigade.

    2. There was another similar statement last week but expressed rather more positively –

      By using nuclear power we have avoided x million deaths that would have resulted from fossil fuel use.

      1. Fossil fuels can be burned cleanly, especially coal in power stations.

        Nuclear isn’t going to prevent pollution from primitive and dirty internal combustion engines of the kind found in parts of Asia.

    3. Oh FFS! How ridiculous. Now let’s talk about deaths from nuclear, deaths that are likely to result from an unreliable electricity supply, deaths of wildlife from windmills….and in case we haven’t talked ourselves into the grave yet, we can always mull over and over and over the mutant strains of World’s Greatest Killer Evah….

    6. “I filled the escort with diesel last week.
      She died”
      (c) Gary Delaney
      Don’t drink the fossil fuel. Simples.

    1. Just musclemen winkling out the problems of the situation and cockling every thing up, as usual. Let Bivalves be bivalves.

    4. DT obits often don’t appear for ages after the person died. Perhaps due to how important they are to the Editor, or just that they didn’t hear about the death.

      1. “Mary Wilson, born March 6 1944, died February 8 2021”
        They were fairly prompt with this one.

    1. Just Don’t Mention Hydroxychloroquine. In fact, try to hide forever from the families of those who died, that this cheap treatment was available from the start of the epidemic.

        3. Oh, we’ve had this conversation before. The downvoter believes that the published studies don’t exist, because they can’t find them on a search engine.

    2. I don’t know which is more stupid: using glue as a hair product or contributing to her crowd fund.

    4. Isn’t there a certain elderly politician who enjoys sniffing hair? Perhaps the hair had glue in it, and he was glue-sniffing.

      1. There was the secretary who complained to her boss that one of the clerks kept sniffing her hair. He asked he why she objected to that. She replied “Because he’s a midget”

    1. Yo A O’E

      Takes a brave girl going down in a submarine:

      A statement with two meanings!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    1. 329217+ up ticks,
      Afternoon Rik,
      There will be loopholes & umbrellas,as in if you were a pakistani paedophile of a certain following you are more likely to get a pardon & compo.

      1. Capt. Bligh: “Master-at-arms, flog that man!”
        MaA: “But he’s dead, sir… “
        Capt. Bligh: “Well flog his damn’ kit then.”

        ….. I’ll get me cat.

      2. Capt. Bligh: “Master-at-arms, flog that man!”
        MaA: “But he’s dead, sir… “
        Capt. Bligh: “Well flog his damn’ kit then.”

        ….. I’ll get me cat.

      1. Interesting that in the BBC report and all the comments I saw, there seemed to be no mention at all about illegals just wandering in to the country!

  63. 329217+ up ticks,
    Tuesday 9 February: Do new coronavirus variants mean an endless extension of lockdown?

    Political muscle flexing, the first test to see the herds reaction will be the 6th May and how their agents are treated, if given the usual succour then ALL odious issues will go into overdrive & lock-downs becoming a regular herd controlling tool.

    If given carte blanche via the polling booth as expected then I can see refinements coming in such as paid holidays in the form of ” say goodbye
    to granny & granddad day”, even though they are fit enough to run a marathon,save any nasty anti governance feelings regarding isolation in old peoples homes.

    Myself and I am sure a few more outside of the political close shop believe that lock-downs are part of the future and WILL be used as a brake in so far
    as NOT letting the UK get to far ahead of the eu, baring in mind the lab/lib/con coalition were pro eu up until the 24/6/2016.

    —

      1. Anybody got it yet?

        I asked Caroline and she groaned and said straightaway that yes she had got it.

    1. Only 19 more days to go of dry February for me.

      Then 31 days of dry March, 30 days of dry April …

  67. An older lady headed to the bank to make a withdrawal.

    She handed her bank card to a bank cashier and said, “I would like to withdraw £10.

    The cashier told her, “For withdrawals less than £100 please use the ATM.”

    The old lady wanted to know why … The cashier returned her bank card and irritably told her, “These are the rules. Please leave if there is no other matter. There is a line of customers behind you.”

    The old lady remained silent for a few seconds, then handed the card back to the cashier and said, “Please help me withdraw all the money I have.”

    The cashier was astonished when she checked the account balance. She nodded her head, leaned down and told her, “You have £500,000 in your account and the bank doesn’t have that much cash currently. Could you make an appointment and come back tomorrow?”

    The old lady then asked how much she could withdraw immediately. The cashier told her any amount up to £3,000.

    “Well, please let me have £3,000 now”.

    The cashier then angrily went back to the vault retrieved stacks of £20’s and £10’s and spent the next ten minutes counting out £3,000. “Is there anything else I can do for you today?”, the teller asked sternly.

    The old lady put £10 in her purse and said “yes, I’d like to deposit £2,990 into my account.”

    The moral of this tale …

    Don’t be difficult with old people, we have spent a lifetime learning the skills.

    1. Most excellent Anne
      My campaign to be Affinity Water’s least profitable customer continues,today was the third telephone call regarding the payment due Sept 1st amid 14 letters between then and now,all to collect just over £100,if I’ve timed this right they will now pass this to a debt collection agency(more cost) who will contact me next week only to find I have made an(incorrect) payment on Friday
      That’ll teach the bastards to try and rip me off when I first signed up!!

    2. Nice story, but nowadays they would have grilled her about what she wanted the £3k for (and probably charged her for withdrawing that amount).

    1. What dirty-minded bastard came up with the idea of brainwashing?

      Whoever it was needs a tap on the head.

    2. 329217+ up ticks,
      O2O,
      The ovis will never run out of sweet tasting odious fodder
      ALL the time they follow the lab/lib/con coalition political shepherds, sad thing is the ovis kids will follow the same route, lambs to the slaughter.

  72. My day so far.

    hospital appointments today. 9.30 abdominal ultrasound. 10.00 bloodletting and tests.

    I went through the b level entrance to check in for haemo and get a lateral flow test.

    The

    nurse said you can’t come through that door to this reception. I told

    her the time of the appointments and she said i would have to use the

    other entrance.

    No entry signs on those doors so i went through

    them anyway. Another nurse said you can’t came in through there unless

    you have had a lateral flow test.

    I told her that was what i was there for.

    She told me to go to my appointment on floor c for ultrasound.

    Which i did wondering all the while that if i was positive i would be spreading it around another department.

    Ultrasound over and met with no entry signs again which i again ignored.

    Had lateral flow test and waited for the porter. He was 20 minutes late.

    Wheeled

    on to Haemotology ward and waited and waited. 35 minutes later they

    wheeled my into the room and left me for an hour. 90 mins past my

    appointment time nurse comes in.

    She asked me what the tests were for. I told her i didn’t know. She said they can’t take blood in that case.

    She asked me what the consultant had said. I said i don’t know as i have neither met him nor spoken to him.

    She

    phoned the consultant. He’s shy obviously. Came back and said i had

    politinnia. I asked her what that was. She said it’s sticky blood.

    I said oh, i know i have sticky blood. She asked me how i knew. I told her my GP had told me hence the appointments.

    Home now. More circus time next week.

    🎵 Things can only get better 🎵

    1. Oh dear, oh dearie me , poor you, and I mean that Phizzee.

      This is where the NHS always falls flat on it’s face .. lack of co-ordination and a breakdown in communication .

      I hope your visit next week isn’t so exhausting .

      1. Thanks Belle. The actual staff who do the hands on stuff are wonderful. Except for the cold hands near me bits and pieces. Brrrr.

          2. Cold hands helped to shrivel them in size so that they would fit onto the image.

            If you had gone private they would have warmed their hands and used a machine that could manage a bigger image.

            Your day sounds ghastly.

      1. There was Carry On Nurse, Carry On Matron, Carry On Doctor and Carry On Again Doctor. Carry On Covid would be good but not allowed.

    3. Bloody hell Phizz! What a nightmare! Talk about non-joined-up thinking. That’s if any thinking was used at all – I suspect not! Hope you can relax now and treat yourself to a Dolly special cocktail!

    4. So, did your laterals flow ok? Mine need a bit of work – no swimming due to COVID restrictions. What were the leeches like, BTW?

      1. I wouldn’t have minded leeches but some of it needed to be sent to the lab and i don’t know how to make a leech regurgitate.

    6. Good luck with that. I have the opposite – 12 nose bleeds in a week. Bright red and very fluid. Can’t get any treatment as medical cover ran out with Brexit. I’ve had worse though – I shall survive!

          1. The aspirin is the thinner there. I’m on 80mg Atorvastatins but stopped the aspirin after a duodenal ulcer. My thinners and anti-coagulants are Cloprdogrel and Bisoprolol. Ain’t life grand?

          2. MOH is on Clopidogrel, Bisoprolol and Atorvastatin after the stroke, so you aren’t alone. Which reminds me – I need to order some more.

    12. At least they let you go. And – think positive. What else would you have been doing this cold, snowy day?

    13. What a day at the mercy of our “wonderful” (TM) NHS, Phizzee! I bet you were glad to get home. Bad news that you have Politicians in yer 🙂

  73. Boy, 17, is arrested for murder of ex-public school boy, 22, who was chased by gang and stabbed to death outside bakery in ‘unprovoked’ attack as his ex-Tory activist mother says her ‘gentle’ son ‘didn’t try to fight’
    Sven Badzak was attacked on Willesden Lane in Kilburn at 5.30pm yesterday. Mother Jasna Badzak, 49, said her gentle son had been attacked at random
    She said that the lack of scratches on his hands show he had not tried to fight
    Police today confirmed attack was unprovoked and said arrest had been made .

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9240639/Heartbroken-ex-Tory-activist-mother-gentle-aspiring-lawyer-22-says-didnt-try-fight.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ico=taboola_feed&ns_mchannel=rss&ico=taboola_feed

    We know that the murdered young man was white, aged 22, had been to a private school, was studying law and his family were Conservative Party supporters We also know that the attack was random and unprovoked.

    However we have no description of the 17 year old person arrested for the murder or the members of the gang who assisted in the attack apart from the fact that they were armed with knives. Indeed this article bends over backwards NOT to tell us anything about the boy arrested for the murder or the members of the gang.

    So we are left to draw or own conclusions. I have drawn mine as, I suspect, have many other Nottlers.

    3. Possibly a case of ‘mistaken identity’. After all, Whiteys all look alike, don’t they? /sarc

    4. About ten days ago a man was stabbed to death in Neasden Lane….virtually a continuation of Willesden Lane…

      1. Teflon Britain’s ex middle (💰) east envoy, who now lives in his perimeter walled and guarded, protected country estate in Buckinghamshire.

    6. Between the wars my father and his 5 brothers were born and brought up in Ranelagh Road Willesden, a vast understatement i admit, but i’d say it’s change one hell of a lot since those days Richard. Being driven home five years ago from an over night stay in Hammersmith Hospital. I directed our middle son along Willesden High Road just for ‘his information’. And from that fleeting visit alone, I would concur that your conclusions are 99.99% accurate.

  74. Pharmacists are the heroes of the vaccine drive, but are being let down

    A quiet war on Covid is being waged in the village hall

    CHARLES MOORE

    Two years ago, Hardik Desai arrived in Ticehurst, a Sussex village near ours. Born and initially trained in India, he was proud to set up his own pharmacy here in Britain. He quickly gained a high reputation for diligence and kindness.

    Mr Desai could not, of course, have known what would happen a year later. But he rose to the Covid challenge, organising his tiny premises so that people could queue without fear as they came in search of PPE, baby milk and other temporary scarcities. Shopping there in those confused early days, I noticed his calm efficiency.

    Now Mr Desai faces his biggest challenge. At the end of December, he applied to run vaccinations himself. “We must show willing,” he tells me. It has not been easy, and he had to take some financial risk, negotiating the cost of hiring the village hall without knowing whether government money would fully repay it. He also has had to hire someone else to mind the shop while he supervises the vaccinations.

    It has been a collective effort. A parish councillor, Teresa Killeen, who is also chairman of the Ticehurst Community Friends, tells me they have recruited 158 volunteers to help the process. Retired local doctors have stepped forward to help administer the jabs.

    Because the arrivals so far are aged over 70, it has been essential to provide better exterior lighting and a new, dry path for them – costs of about £10,000 borne by the parish council with no immediately visible means of support. No screens to separate vaccine stations were centrally supplied, so the Friends had to procure them from shops currently locked down.

    In a way, though, Mr Desai and Friends are victims of their own success. He was able to satisfy the criteria that his vaccination centre should be able to open 8am-8pm, seven days a week, but vaccine supplies have not kept pace. His team can manage more than 3,000 Oxford-AstraZeneca jabs a day, but the first week brought him a supply of only 800, the second 1,200 and the third back down to 800. Which is only three days’ work.

    This erratic flow means that some appointments have to be postponed at the last minute. Unlike the main vaccination centres, the pharmacists do not have access to GPs’ patient contact details, and so cannot always get hold of people to delay their appointments. On a bad supply day, therefore, one or two simply have to be turned away if they arrive without the government letter of vaccine authorisation. “We say no,” says Mr Desai, “with a heavy heart.”

    Old people unfamiliar with the internet sometimes come along with a screen shot of the bit on the national booking system where they have stated their chosen vaccine venue. They have failed to scroll down to the button you have to press, so they mistakenly think they have booked an appointment.

    The pharmacist’s role therefore becomes almost pastoral. Mr Desai’s outfit is picking up people who have fallen through the net. For example, two 100-year-old ladies appeared from Tunbridge Wells because the main system had missed them. People have come from as far as Dover (nearly 50 miles away) and Brighton, because they never got the vaccine call. Mrs Killeen is somewhat critical, feeling the NHS bureaucracy does not try hard enough to help the nimbler independents.

    The ultra-cooperative Mr Desai, however, blames no one: “All are trying their best,” he says, and rushes off to prove it.

    The death of George Shultz ought not to go unnoticed

    Too little attention has been paid to the death of George Shultz, aged 100. He was the longest-serving US secretary of state in 50 years, and the most successful. He ranks in the top five or six Westerners – led by Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and Helmut Kohl – who brought the Cold War to a peaceful and victorious conclusion.

    There is something else important. Shultz was perhaps the last example of the classic American idea of a respected public servant. Having served as a wartime officer in the Marine Corps, he pursued a successful career in three fields, academia, business and government. In the last capacity, he held four senior offices. Americans call his age cohort “the greatest generation”. It seems a fair description. Men like George Shultz fought – first actually and later metaphorically – for peace. They succeeded to a remarkable degree in making the world freer, richer and safer. As we contemplate the generation that succeeded them, it is impossible not to feel nostalgic.

    I saw Shultz a few times in his vigorous old age to talk about Mrs Thatcher. He recalled her giving him “unshirted hell” for being too soft on the Soviet Union. He admired her for it. At the end of 1988 (when he was about to leave office and she was still prime minister), he gave a lunch for her at the State Department. In his departing tribute, he produced a Thatcher-style handbag, opened it, and pulled out slips of paper from which he declaimed eloquent extracts from her speeches. He was parodying her deadly skill in deploying her bag in negotiations.

    Then he offered her a definition of “Handbag”: “verb, transitive; 1. To inspire through leadership, energy and special powers of persuasion…priorities that advance the achievement of the Western cause; 2. To employ a unique diplomatic satchel; 3. To bag is generally considered more desirable than to be bagged.” Jokes with Mrs Thatcher could be high-risk – ones about her accoutrements particularly so – but she loved that one.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/02/09/quiet-war-covid-waged-village-hall/

    Shultz missed out no. 4: To whack a Wet in the Cabinet.

  75. Brush up your Shakespeare
    Anyone watching BBC2 – Shakespeare Week?
    I watched the first hour and promptly fell asleep!
    Romeo and Juliet: Royal Shakespeare Company followed.
    I now know why I couldn’t hack the Honourable Bard at school.

    Over to you Rastus…..

    1. I watched the first hour and promptly fell asleep!
      You lasted that long ………..‘ Now is the winter of our discontent’!

  77. Do new coronavirus variants mean an endless extension of lockdown?

    No, only until all the elderly are dead and the care homes and sheltered housing are vacant so that there is room for more migrants fleeing terror and life threatening oppression in France and other European countries that heartlessly ignore the plight of the downtrodden millions from their former colonies.

  78. Okay, Girlies …let’s be honest!

    What have we ‘done’ this afternoon:
    Ironing?
    Cleaned the bath/showers/Lavvies?
    Knocked the wellies and vacuumed
    up the dried on dirt?
    Scrubbed the front step?
    Bu**er all and not a lot of that?

    Me? …. I have just finished watching
    ‘Pretty Woman’…again!

    1. Soon to be repeated again and again and again.
      If you missed ‘The Immitation Game’ it’s been shown three times in the past two weeks. Coming to a Channel near you soon….

    2. Moh and I went to Arne to walk the dogs this afternoon .. Nitheringly cold . Moh dressed up like an Eskimo , and I wrapped up, but hatless.

      No snow here, but frozen puddles and traces of what looked like icing sugar in the hedgerows . Very bracing weather !!

      Then visited nearby farm shop for bird seed and fat balls , dog food , and Bonios, and a few more bits and pieces ..

      We then took the longer coastal route home to find the ranges were busy .. army firing .. and so our back roads on the very top of the Purbecks were closed , so we turned around and came home via the direct route .. which only took less than 20mts.

      Replenished the bird feeders ..

      Fed the dogs, kettle on for us, mug of tea and a slice of cake .

      Son enjoys long distance walking , and despite the freezing weather did very well, half a marathon!

      It was an excellent drying day .. Towels dried nicely .

      Fire ready to light for later ,

      Jabs tomorrow .. AZs!

        1. Not really , slow start , very slow start , but we needed our daily walk usually late morning early afternoon in these Covid times.

          Spoke to my elderly friend this morning .. He was furious because he had been caught on speed camera van doing 36 mph in a 30 mile village ..

          He was on his way to town have his hearing checked .
          I tried to console him , but he said .. that was the first time he had ever exceeded the speed limit in all his years of driving .. he will be 86 years old soon .. and a pretty good attentive driver . Never ever had points on his licence before.

          1. They can send him on an awareness course – then he wouldn’t have the points. I got caught like that some years ago – I was on my way to a dental appointment.

    3. Finished designing MB’s birthday card on a slightly tweaked**** Photoshop programme.
      *** Read bluddy well ‘improved’ after some unfestive language.

    4. I was sprawled across my chaise sipping Voddie cocktails reading Nottle. What’s housework?

    5. Nope! None of those – I got a batch of old photos and documents out and had a look through them.

  79. A woman who used Gorilla Glue on her hair is considering taking legal action against the company after a horror ordeal, according to reports.

    Tessica Brown, 40, was taken to hospital after using the adhesive when she ran out of hairspray one morning – which then wouldn’t wash out.

    Baffled medics in Louisiana, USA were forced to put the solvent acetone on her head, which burnt her scalp and only made the substance sticky again.

    Tessica has now hired a lawyer following the unfortunate incident and is said to be considering legal action against the firm, according to the news site TMZ.

    Gorilla Glue is more commonly used on products including wood, laminate, fabric, paper and cardboard, which the company reiterated in a statement posted on Twitter.

    https://twitter.com/DailyMirror/status/1359181515209416709

      1. Didn’t the woman that sued Macdonalds after she spilt her hot coffee win? This woman might be challenged but in the litigation loving US, she might end up rich stupid.

        1. Do you think I can sue a hair conditioner manufacturer if I try to use their product to glue wood and it doesn’t work?

        3. I think the MacDonald’s woman might have won – not sure about the one who put her RV into cruise control and then walked back into the van to make a coffee and was surprised that it didn’t turn corners!

        4. I think that she did. What is seldom mentioned is that Macdonalds had an ongoing free coffee refill offer. The coffee was served boiling hot so that it would take a while to cool down before the customer could drink it. This reduced the number of free coffee refills that would be served.

      2. Evening Bleau and all.
        Him Indoors just asked me which pasta shapes he should use in the meal he’s cooking. What? The one that’s open …… I despair.

        1. Give him a can of alphabetti spaghetti and a can opener next time. That shouldn’t confuse the poor dear too much.

          1. We’re just using dry pasta, whatever shape is open. Pastitsio, hubby style. He made it once before and it was rather tasty.

        1. Don’t you think that if any primate was given a container full of a sticky substance that the sticky substance would end up smeared over large parts of the primate. I hope that no one would give such stuff to a primate – but I think that the outcome would be a lot of glued fur if it happened.

          1. Your suggestion really doesn’t deserve an answer.

            Gorillas are vegetarian and highly unlikely to come across a container of sticky stuff in their natural habitats. What they do in unnatural habitats doesn’t bear thinking about.

          2. It wasn’t a suggestion – it was a reflection on the fact that you hadn’t really thought through your original comment. Since gorillas are seriously endangered in their natural it’s probably a good thing that captive breeding programmes exist.

            Being vegetarian does not remove the natural curiousity of the primate.

          3. They are highly endangered – but the numbers of Mountain Gorillas have increased considerably from a couple of hundred in Dian Fossey’s time to over 1,000 now.

          4. From what I have read and seen the lowland gorillas are at even greater risk. The increase in numbers is a reflection on great efforts made, but the human pressures haven’t disappeared, so it remains important to keep a gene reservoir outside Africa. Fortunately most of the places where they are have far better knowledge of their needs nowadays… even if captivity of any sort is a poor second best.

            On the other hand it can almost be argued that the wild gorillas are “captive” since their territories are no so limited.

          5. I think you know littlle about my thought processes, so you are unqualified to make that judgement.

          6. A gorilla would be “as stupid” so I’m very certainly entitled to judge the comment.

    3. Anything goes in the United States of Stupidia.

      Like the cretin who bought a Winnebago motorhome, took it for a ride, put it into cruise control, then went in the back to make a coffee. It veered off the road and overturned in a ditch. The driver took Winnebago to court stating that no one from the company told him that it wouldn’t drive itself when in cruise control! The judge found for the complainant and fined Winnebago, also making them give the man another new motorhome.

      Yet another chapter in the page of my incremental stupidity book.

      2. TikTok is a video streaming platform i think.

        You make a video of yourself prancing around like a prat and if you have at least one follower you are an influencer.

        2. Therefore it’s a platform for knobheads and nonentities to display their fatuous cretinism to all those similar boneheaded dimwits who frequent such channels.

    6. If as soon as she had applied it to her hair she had sprayed he head with water the polyurethane in the glue would have expanded and probably given her a permanent Afro hairdo. Always read the bluddy instructions!

      1. I wonder whether it is less flammable than hairspray… I haven’t used hairspray since the day someone managed to set my hair alight with a cigarette!

          1. A moment of fright, although one of the friends I was with saw it catch and moved very quickly.

    9. Hmm. I appear to have run out of hairspray. What shall I do? Let’s look in the bathroom cabinet for an alternative. Toothpaste? Paracetamol? Nope. Maybe in the shed? Path weedkiller? Creosote? Nah. Oh! This could work – it has my picture on the packaging…

  80. Where’s Polly? I wanted to ask about the latest weird rumours from Washington. Supposedly Trump is going to be sworn in as Pres on March 4th

    That’s less than a month away and hardly time for a revolution, violent or otherwise. So I would like to hear Pollys optimistic view of what could be happening. Apart from mediascare stories, the only significance to the date is that Trump Hotel rates are tripled then ($1,500 a night, no free wifi).

    1. The significance of March 4th predates the Constitution. The Confederation Congress, which operated under the Articles of Confederation (first Constitution) picked March 4, 1789, as the day it handed off power to the new constitutional government. March 4th was the Constitution’s first official day in business.

      1. Yes I saw that the date was significant but then to me this latest theory doesn’t even deserve consideration, it just helps on believers pour scorn on all other reported misdeeds.

    1. I rang up my council, yesterday, to see if it was worthwhile putting my bins out last night. They told me there would be no bin emptying today due to the snow.

      This morning the bin lorry turned up as normal and the driver was emptying bins. I had to rush out with mine or they wouldn’t have been emptied!

      1. How often are your bins emptied? Do you separate out your own recycling or is it all done for you? Is it done in the same way all across Sweden?
        I’m interested to know what happens in other places. Here everything is different depending on which local authority you live in, and some seem to be much better organised than others.

        1. We get emptied every 2 weeks for food waste & general waste, except in the summer, when it’s weekly. Recycling (all linds of plastic ecept expanded polystyrene & paper/card) every month. Cans, bottles taken to the local mini recycling centre if they aren’t deposit, when you take them back to the shop & put them through a machine that reads the barcode. Seems typical of everywhere in Norway.

          1. Our food waste is weekly – as is recycling; we have boxes for paper/card, plastic/cans (or other aluminium) and unbroken glass. Cardboard boxes which are too large to go in the kerb-side box and any broken glass has to be taken to the waste centre.

            Residual waste, the black wheelie bin, is emptied every third week only (I must go and put it out as tomorrow is the day) and is likely to move to 4 weekly – or possible even once per calendar month. Anyone with nappies or incontinence waste can ask for extra collections.

            Garden waste bins are emptied between March and October (I think that’s once a fortnight) but there is a direct charge for that service whilst everything else is part of what we pay for via council tax.

          2. Ours is fotnightly – alternate weeks for recyclables and rubbish. They collect food waste weekly but we have very little to put out.

        2. I have a large, green, general rubbish wheelie bin, and a smaller, brown, food waste wheelie bin. Both bins are emptied, once a fortnight, at the same time into the same lorry. Most other waste is taken to a small recycling station in the village (paper, glass etc). Any other large scale waste: metals, timber, gardening waste, electricals, etc, have to be taken to a larger recycling station in the next town. As for the rest of the country, I don’t know.

          1. Thank you. There really does seem to be an endless variety of ways to deal with this nowadays.

            We didn’t have a bin when I was a child. Everything compostable went onto the midden – and everything else went onto a bonfire.

      3. We have a wooden bus shelter – like shack for ours and the neighbours bins. Built it on a concrete plinth by the side of the road, so binmen have easy access and there’s no “putting out” of bins in that way.

        1. It is quite common in Aberdeenshire to see the wheelie bin given a permanent parking place at the end of the farm lane, usually tethered to a corner post to make sure that it doesn’t blow away. Here in Powys there are industrial size bins at junctions in some of the rural areas, especially those where the lanes are too narrow for the bin lorry – and people deposit their bags of rubbish in those rather than having an individual wheelie bin.

      4. If i forget to put it out the bin men come into the garden to get it.

        They do get a Christmas tip for their good work.

      5. During the last round of snow (we did only get half in inch in my area), most people just left their bins out all week, just in case. Not good for vehicles as many were left in the road. Our refuse was one day late; general recycling 5 days late, and no paper collection. Communal recycling areas for flats were a complete mess by that time, not helped by so many people working from home at the moment.

        They did a bit better this time around, finishing collecting by today, at least for the flats – only one day late. I’m just glad I spent some time salting the roads, as they ‘tested’ them using an emply bin lorry before calling in the crews.

        2. Well funny you should say that PT i would say that the elderly people in our Cul- De-sac (pun in ten did) are the most responsible when it come to recycling Rubbish. But who’s counting ?
          Whilst in Victoria Australia the neighbour of our good old mates B&M has been poking her nose into their affairs and sent the police round to their home to inspect the human content. They currently have their grand daughter and her husband (who is currently going through police training) staying with them, as their own home 3 miles away was being rebuilt after planned demolition. As four cars instead of the usual two were seen parked out side the property she informed the police who demanded entry one evening to asses the situation, but left satisfied there had been no breach of the rules. . The old girl opposite has Teutonic genes, and it’s not the first time she has Dobbed her other neighbours in, say no more.

  82. The madness continues. No mention that the ‘domestic use’ would be to provide high quality coking coal to supply what’s left of the UK’s steel industry. It would appear that the country’s entire economy will soon be run by reference to a ‘carbon audit’.

    Controversial Cumbria coal mine decision to be reconsidered

    Coal mine has been subject to significant criticism over its potential emissions

    By Emma Gatten, ENVIRONMENT EDITOR

    Cumbria County Council will reconsider its approval for the UK’s first deep coal mine in 30 years, after it provoked widespread criticism. The council said it would revisit the decision “in light of new information” from the Government’s climate change advisers, the CCC, on greenhouse gas emissions targets. The coal mine, which would provide coking coal for domestic use and export, was criticised by environmental groups, who said it was at odds with the UK’s net zero commitments. The CCC said the mine would have “an appreciable impact on the UK’s legally binding carbon budgets.”

    A report last year suggested that the mine would produce 8.4m tonnes of CO2 per year, more than double the net annual emissions from the whole of Cumbria. The Government had also faced criticism over Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick’s decision not to intervene after the project was given the greenlight by Cumbria County Council, arguing that it was a local issue.

    Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg suggested that the mine project undermined the UK’s push to reach net zero emissions and be a global leader on climate change ahead of Cop26.

    The decision to reconsider the mine was welcomed by environmental groups. Friends of the Earth climate campaigner Tony Bosworth said: “Cumbria County Council is right to review its decision – allowing this climate-wrecking coal mine to go-ahead would completely undermine UK leadership ahead of this year’s vital climate summit. Quite simply there is no place for new coal extraction in the middle of a climate emergency.”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/environment/2021/02/09/controversial-cumbria-coal-mine-decision-reconsidered/

    1. We import coal from Australia………you could’t make it up!

      Vast numbers of new wind turbines will be needed for Green energy. And what will they be made of?………Steel……Wot do we need to make steel…..coal!

      1. Hello Plum

        Expect a knock on the door soon for telling the truth. That not allowed anymore.

      2. We are being dictated to by lunatics.

        I have a proper coal fire just glowing and catching just now , it is either Polish coal or American .. I will check next time, because our coal is no longer delivered in hessian sacks as it was about ten years ago , but plastic sacks, still delivered from a coal merchant , but the coal yards no longer exist near a neighbouring station but have been blooming well developed into a housing estate !

        1. Sitting on the dock of the bay, as it were, in Newcastle Australia, watching the ultra-large ships heading down river and looking out over the ocean to see the queues of vast ships waiting to load up, it make one realise that the “green crap” has a long way to go as far as China is concerned.

          2. I liked the place.
            It certainly would not appeal to many people, but the party atmosphere along the river is great.

            We had a lot of fun there and the locals were very welcoming to bluddy Poms.

      4. Wind turbines are imported from Europe. Only the concrete plinths are made here (poured)

    2. What a bunch of snivelling, vacillating cowards. No thought for the business that has spent money on this. The mine has already received all necessary approvals.

  83. NOTTLERS BEWARE

    Iranian cleric says Covid-19 vaccine turns people gay

    Ayatollah Abbas Tabrizian made the claims on messaging platform Telegram, where he has almost 210,000 followers.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9239805/Iranian-cleric-says-Covid-19-vaccine-turns-people-gay.html

    I haven’t had the vaccine yet and I certainly have no wish to become homosexual

    Please would anybody who has had the job tell me if it has made them come over all queer?

        1. Thank you for that, Maggie.
          I’ve forwarded it our son.
          Ralph Fiennes played Basil Brown perfectly. Not just his accent; his whole stance – every glance, every movement reminded me of our long term friend who is now in his 60’s (we’ve known him since he was 15!). I found it very moving.

    2. Well, if it’s true, then with the ongoing hysteria that has seen millions vaccinated, the whole world will soon be populated by poofs and arse-bandits.

      Since by the very nature of their sexual practices they will not reproduce, it’ll lead to a major extinction event – it means the end of humanity!
      :¬(

      2. So that’s why Gates (who is on record as saying the world is over-populated) wants to encourage the jab!

        I did ask my son if he had been advising the Ayatollah, as “it makes you gay” is his standard reaction to things he doesn’t like.

    3. People have always noticed that I am very gay. The least chance to celebrate and my infectious gaiety fills the room.

    5. I started to fancy women again, I just assumed they loaded Vodka or Gin in the syringe.

      1. In yesterday’s late-night discussion on the endocrinologically conflicted, this was considered worthy of a black mark.

        It is quite correct to observe that because of chromosomal or developmental disorder some are born with what is described as an ‘intersex’ condition. It is quite wrong to suggest that all of those who think they are ‘born in the wrong body’ should be indulged in what is probably a mental disorder.

        We must hope that the ‘trans’ movement destroys itself through its own madness. Unfortunately, that will probably only happen when women are assaulted or killed by men pretending to be women.

        1. People who have already made up their minds based on propaganda will not be swayed by facts or alternative opinions.

        2. I take it you are giving a downvote approval to that, stephenroi? It is definitely confusing!

        3. True intersex conditions are VERY few & far between and many of the people affected by them are getting rather upset at the way the term is being bandied about by the Trans Lobby.

    3. I think we should stop talking about downvoting. The talk is sometimes as negative as the downvotes, and it’s affecting the whole conversation.

      1. Correction. The talk is negative, very negative. The downvotes are merely a reflection on what has been written.

        1. That’s a very down to earth comment. But, since you lack any personal magnetism, how can you be so positive the talk is negative?

    4. Why? What could possibly offend when you’re only telling people about a concert? Is it Radio 3, the violinist, the composer, the concerto or the orchestra which has attracted dislike? I am genuinely baffled.

      1. That one was just Stephen showing approval for his suggestion that a downvote means approval.

        1. I couldn’t see who had done it, so I was mystified. As I said earlier, this type of downvoting is very confusing.

    1. Ochòin ……. Muslims on Mars … whatever next? Jihadis on Jupiter, Sharia on Saturn – and when they start probing Uranus, look out.
      :¬(

  87. As ”Conservative Woman” so eloquently tells us in their outstanding article today, ”Wreckage upon Wreckage, Lie upon Lie”……..

    ”As a strategic partner of the World Economic Forum, an honorific held only by those whose share an ‘alignment with forum values’, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is an architect of the ‘great reset’ initiative of technocratic corporatism replacing capitalism and democracy. From this perspective the lockdowns and the devastation they cause is a means towards an end, and there’s no reason to think the next phase of the plan will be gentler”.

    https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/wreckage-upon-wreckage-lie-upon-lie/

    Certainly as events have unfolded in the way they have, it looks like ”Conservative Woman” is absolutely right and that Boris ”10 years in jail” Johnson and Hancock are the increasingly fascist local managers for Davos and the billionaires just as many people believed.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/02d029408e2a31fcb1fae0d9d5141b3bb65d001181a37d1a403bfa7b4edc9d00.jpg

    1. If it’s any consolation, Bill, we were issued a “weather warning” (presumably that we should expect winter weather in winter), but so far all I’ve seen are a few flurries with very little snow in them. If I am not here tomorrow, you will know that the house has collapsed under the weight of snow! 🙂

  91. Last post – as I went to open a bottle – I noticed that the sodding AGA was out again. Twice in one day. No obvious reason. Bastard thing. A cold night ahead.

    4. We replaced our 1970’s Aga with a Rayburn which does water, heating and ovens. This enabled us to remove our central heating boiler. You can switch the Rayburn on and off without having to bother with a pilot light as with the Aga.

      The Aga was vulnerable to cheap Polish kerosene (Goff Oil had to pump the stuff out and replace it after a lot of argument). The Aga was also vulnerable to debris which you get from the bottom of the delivery tanker.

          1. Yup you are correct Bill. Ours had a metal tube above the burner with a circular escutcheon into which you inserted a long match having released oil by switching on for a few minutes.

            It was a pain in the arse because it was either on or off, requiring relighting every time. If left on for long periods the hot water system became superheated and a heat leak radiator was necessary to dissipate the excess heat. Deep bath nights were daily just to use the hot water.

            It was the complete lack of control that caused me to replace the Aga with a Rayburn.

      3. Our Rayburn is multi-fuel, so in the event of an emergency, we can burn the furniture 🙂 It does have the disadvantage that you can’t just switch it on and off.

    5. The Saga of the Aga

      On a freezing winter’s night
      It went out like a light
      And try as he might
      Bill couldn’t get it right
      So he donned his thermals instead
      And jumped into bed
      So pity the poor MR’s plight.

      1. There once was a miserable sod
        Whose Aga was terribly odd
        It blew itself out,
        With nary a shout

        And the kittens said:
        Oi! You!!, we’re freezing our bollocks off and that’s after you chopped them, so if you can’t warm us with the Aga give us some fish puns
        Feed us cold cod

          2. The only tonic I’m treating myself to tonight is a 12 year old antifreeze from Speyside….

    6. Hopefully you’ll get it going by tomorrow, as it looks like Wednesday evening/Thursday morning is going to be VERY cold, going from -3degC in my neck of the woods in East Anglia to -7degC.

        1. He can drop by anytime and I’ll be happy to give him a free tour, though Dad usually likes to charge..

    9. Has it found a ;partner, or is it just jealous of the kittens

      Next time it goes out, follow it

    10. Is the wind in the wrong direction, Bill? My Rayburn can be temperamental if it’s blowing a gale.

    11. We have the same problem with the gas fired Rayburn. It’ll be ok for several weeks, then the pilot light will go out and be a bugger to relight.
      Then it’s ok for another few weeks again.

    5. Can I suggest something silly, but with all the stuff we import from China , boatloads , shed loads , container loads , and not forgetting the special foods that Chinese restaurants use , could we be importing trouble?

      3. Why do we need to import trouble, given how good we as a nation are at making it ourselves. 🙂

      4. I think it’s pretty certain that Chinese workers brought lots of Chinese ‘flu back with them to the UK, and to all corners of the world, after spending Chinese New Year 2020 back home.

          2. Who mainly don’t come ashore at all. A friend in freight-forwarding told me that they don’t let the crews off most of the vessels for fear that they jump ship – just as the Klondykers used to anchor outside the harbour at Lerwick and supplies were taken out to them by shore-boats.

          4. I talked with a skipper once who ran his crew ashore in Valetta by tender, got lost on the way back to his ship, and went aground on a RN submarine – so hard they had to ballast the sub down to float him off…

        2. Thousands of Chinese students from China returned to their UK Universities in January 2020. No trouble at all, as the airports were wide open, and there were no health checks or enquiries as to original departure points. We have to keep the money rolling into University coffers and Vice-chancellors pockets, you know.

    6. The WHO team of highly experienced scientists and virologists have now determined, after careful investigation that the Covid-19 virus definitely did not originate in the Wuhan military virus biochemical warfare laboratory half a mile from where the first case occurred.
      The Chinese government have now said that the WHO team of experts can go home.

  95. Evening, everyone. Of course new variants will mean an endless extension of lockdown. Now they’ve got us where they want us, they aren’t going to give up easily and they’ll clutch at every straw to keep us under the thumb.

    1. I still can’t believe that they can’t see that an irreparably damaged economy is going to kill more people than Covid-19.

      1. Not to mention the undiagnosed, but treatable, illnesses and the suicides.

        There is an article in my local rag about a natural food company in Shrewsbury that has had to give up exporting to the EU because their carriers are refusing to take any exports to “Europe”, claiming that the paperwork isn’t filled in properly (although the company disputes that). Significantly, one of the two firms is DHL – I thought they were German-owned. The point of this post, however, is that if bojo had had the guts to leave without his flawed “deal” we would have been trading on WTO terms and this fiasco with the paperwork would never have got off the ground.

        1. Sorry, I haven’t seen it yet. I read newest first so I’m very slow to catch up with earlier news. Glad it went okay.

          2. He’s alive, what more could he want?

            Dancing girls, gourmet food, free booze, lots of down votes…

    2. Many years ago, while working on the new Borders General Hospital site in Melrose, we had so much snow that I couldn’t find the car, let alone the windscreen. One of my colleagues actually skied to site…

      1. My SiL the farmer is, at this moment, stuck on the A90 at Forfar, having been to the market, and now trying to get back to the Borders! There is very little snow there but we, who are about 40 miles North, have 5/6 “.I’m guessing it’s not him that’s stuck, but other traffic!

        1. Oh dear. Not good. The occasion I mention, the car was literally buried in snow. The main roads were quickly cleared, but our cul-de-sac was left to its own devices. Rather like my last place in Surrey. If you see a gritter, the driver is almost certainly lost…

          1. Love it! The Scottish gritters now have names – Gritty Gritty Bang Bang, Sir Andy Flurry, Gritney Speirs, Yes Sir, Ice can Boogie!

  101. BBC: the temperature dropped to -16.7C in Altnaharra in Sutherland overnight.

    Jolly hockey sticks to the U. of E. A. Global Warmers – and Greta …

  103. I wish to make a Declaration. Poppiesdad and I phoned the surgery independently of each other today to decline HM Government’s kind offer of free vaccination. “Okay”, said the dragon at the other end of the line “what’s your reason?” “I am a free subject of the British Crown” (thank you for that one, Duncan!) quoth I, “and it is my right to decline if I so choose!” “Oh, it’s not a problem,” said the dragon “but I need to know the reason to put against your name.” “Where to begin and how long have you got?” I replied. We eventually decided on the fact that I didn’t trust HM Government and I felt lt that it was an experimental vaccine. Hopefully it will put a stop to the letters, texts and emails we have had. They are very persistent.

    Edit: Their persistence increases my suspicions. It is not in our interests. They want us gone.

    1. Try:
      “Every congenital bloody idiot that I know has accepted, and that’s enough of a warning sign.”

      1. Same in our village. They get the jab in Lavenham, say how wonderfully efficient it was but cannot say whether it was a vaccine or chemical implant. They wear a smug countenance and if they knew I have declined would probably rebuild the gibbet or the stocks.

        3. That does seem to be the overwhelming feature every time – the praise for the efficiency. I cannot understand this. It seems to be IN – JAB – OUT! NEXT!! And then the beaming faces…. I think they are in for a bit of a surprise when their freedom is not forthcoming. That is when the trouble may start.

    2. I have had two letters from the NHS and two phone calls from the surgery. When told him why I was declining the vaccine he begged me to stop as he had many more phone calls to make.

      1. I accepted the vaccine and made an appointment when I got the first text. Nevertheless I still got two letters and another text.

        1. I have blocked ‘them’ on my mobile phone. They may well circumvent this by using another number.

          1. Mine haven’t contacted me since, so the “code” must work; it would be hard to block them as the number comes up as “unknown” on my mobile phone.

          2. I don’t usually give anyone my mobile number – I suppose I must have in a moment of weakness.

          3. I don’t either, I am very protective of my mobile number, I can only think I must have given it to register with the online Patient Access.

          4. That’s probably where they got mine from – but I haven’t used Patient Access for years – last time I tried to log in it didn’t recognise me. I’m not on any medication so don’t need any repeat prescriptions now.

          5. I only just discovered Patient Access last year. I get Vit D on monthly prescription recommended after I fractured my autumn of 2019. That is my only medication and I intend to keep it that way.

          6. We’re taking VitD3 this winter – I got 365 capsules (easy to swallow ) of 4000iu from Amazon for less than a tenner.

    2. Water meadows, as they were once called.

      Edit:
      Some might make a distinction with flood meadows.

      Another edit:
      A downvote for this. Pitiful and babyish.

      2. I know them as flood plains. Areas which border rivers and flood in winter or occasionally after exceptional rainfall. Water meadows are controlled by man for the purpose of increasing crops, mainly grass or minor crops like cress.

        1. Heyup Ped.
          There is a difference. Water Meadows are managed as a means of kickstarting the land in spring by protecting the ground from frost and, at the right time, can be drained.
          Flood Plains are just that. Areas of land that flood in severe weather.

    1. Warm, dry accommodation.
      3 meals a day
      Education
      Exercise breaks
      All free of charge.
      Not offered to old people who have worked since they were a teenager.

      1. Actually it is Paul. For those who have worked in low paid jobs and have been unable to save the state will provide these things. Some of the council run homes are very well run indeed. Others are not so good, but the facilities are there and the state does pay if you can’t.

        1. The state doesn’t pay.

          The tax payer pays, corporate or individual, but ” the state”?
          No.

          1. The “state” has no money as most of us well know. It’s the PBT who has to cough up all the time (and if they’ve been prudent, hard-working and careful to provide for their old age, they are paying for themselves as well as others)..

          2. The state pays. Where the state gets the money is a separate questions. Fortunately for those in dire straits they don’t have to apply directly to people who take your attitude to misfortune.

          3. “The state” is a parasitic middleman who sucks in taxes, takes a cut and generously donates a few quid and claims to be generous.
            If “the state” had not parasitically sucked on the lifeblood of the workers there might have been a lot more to go around.

          4. The state has infinity pounds at its disposal. The currency is fiat.

            This state has no money except what we give it thinking is wrong-headed to the point of insanity. Government cheques never bounce. Never. Your benefits will be paid into your bank account whatever the state of the economy and tax revenues. There’ll be no sorry no state pension for a few months, we’ve got no cash scenarios. Not ever!

          5. The ‘taxpayer’ doesn’t pay for anything except low inflation. Everything the government spends is created not recycled.

          7. Firstly full employment then inflation will rise, the currency will weaken, imports will cost more. Then we’ll get taxed to fix the situation. What do you think will happen?
            Taxes are a necessary function in a modern economy but the one function they don’t serve that everyone assumes they do is to pay for services. The government doesn’t need taxation to pay for things, it can and does create the money for that. It ‘borrows’ the difference between spending and tax revenues to create a safe savings vehicle primarily for pensions and institutional investors. We pay taxes mostly as part of the fight against inflation. The only relation taxes have to spending is an accounting identity.

          8. And what is one of the greatest causes of inflation?
            An oversupply of money.

            I sincerely hope we never have to go though the situation where I am proven to be correct and that your printing presses have ruined us.

            It was bad enough in the 70’s.

          9. The seventies were a time of massive changes in the world’s financial system.
            In 1971 Anthony Barber let banks into mortgage markets for the first time. Previously that had been building society only. Bank lending in 1970 was 115 million, in 1971 it was over 1 billion. Banks were in one year creating ten times as much money as they had the year before. Then in 1972 came Barber’s very inflationary budget, the ‘Dash for Growth’ which exacerbated the problem somewhat, then Nixon tore down Bretton-Woods and all currencies became de facto fiat currencies free-floating against each other. It was a new regime for bankers. The only bankers with experience of this had retired. There had been fixed exchange rates for 25 years. And then came the Yom Kippur war which got us oil embargoed and we had to pay quadruple the price of other countries to get oil. Bankers today have plenty of experience managing a fiat monetary system with free-floating exchange rates and the geopolitical trade situation is reasonable now.
            Inflation isn’t caused by too much money, it’s caused by resource constraints. Wages go up when the supply of labour becomes very small because employers compete for workers rather than employ an unemployed. Prices go up in the economy when demand exceeds supply. Most of the ‘free money’ sloshing about the economy goes into paying down debt or buying assets. It’s having very little effect on general prices. Inflation was 0.3% last time I checked.

    2. I suspect the people smugglers will just charge the immigrants an extra £2k each and book them into a quarantine hotel….for 10 days…..

    1. management has managed. = a Dichotomy

      The only reason that when pubs are allowed to re-open, but without alcohol; is
      because this government does not know how to organise a “Pi55 up in a brewery” and
      therefore it is determined that no-one else gets the chance

    2. management has managed. = a Dichotomy

      The only reason that when pubs are allowed to re-open, but without alcohol; is
      because this government does not know how to organise a “Pi55 up in a brewery” and
      therefore it is determined that no-one else gets the chance

      1. I think you might be wrong on that one Bob. I’ve been looking at some of the proposed changes and they might well restrict privatisation rather than increasing it.

        1. That may be true, Jennifer, but do you think it will make any difference to the REMFs in the NHS Upper Echelons fearing for the survival of their highly paid sinecures?

          1. It will depend on whether the proposals please them, or not. There are plenty within the NHS who would like to see change.

          2. Those who would like to see change are usually those at the sharp end who would benefit from the upper echelons being overhauled and thinned out.
            Sadly it is the upper echelon REMFs who make all the noise and get the attention whilst the lower levels get on with their jobs.

  108. The madness has to stop!
    From the DT:

    Midwives have been told to stop using terms including “breastfeeding” and “breastmilk” as part of a new trans-friendly policy at an NHS trust.

    Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals (BSUH) NHS Trust is the first in the country to formally implement a gender inclusive language policy for its maternity services department — which will now be known as “perinatal services”.

    Staff have been told to avoid using the word “mothers” on its own and have been given a list of alternative terms to use when addressing patients including “mothers or birthing parents”, “breast/chestfeeding” and “maternal and parental”.

        1. It’s lunacy like that that makes me glad I’m getting to the end of my allotted span; I’d hate to think I had to live for decades through a society that was destroying itself like that.

    2. It is probably because the term ‘tits’ is now used exclusively to describe BSUH and other NHS executives.

      One wouldn’t want to conflate the two.

      1. I guess it won’t be long before they do away with anaesthesia for Trans admitted for oral surgery replacing it with meditation in a new innovation called Trans Dental Meditation….

      1. One of the joys of students studying a foreign language and looking words up in a dictionary without understanding English grammar (the difference between verbs in the past tense and nouns) produced this beauty “je mamelle le jardin”. Eau source, jamais esprit 🙂

    6. Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals (BSUH) NHS Trust – obsessed with ‘trans-friendly policy’ – is not fit for purpose i.e. Health Care …

    7. It is contagious.

      From the DT where no comments are allowed:

      “The guidance from BHSU follows a 2017 dictate from the British Medical Association which said pregnant women should not be called “expectant mothers” but “pregnant people” as it could offend intersex and transgender men.”

      I’m beginning to understand why the advocates for more spending on Mental Health Services are so pi55ed…..

      1. With the numbers of wanquers out there I think it is a tad optimistic to expect the mass to abate….

      1. How I am feeling at the moment, Poppiesmum.

        Moh asleep, dogs asleep, fire embers still pink , shall I put some more coal on, decisions decisions, .. and the dogs will have to wake up to have last minute wees , the weather is a bit cold out side !

      1. I simply don’t want to take part in this government charade. It can all happen around me, and I will carry on with my life as best I can.

        1. I’ve had mine as I want to live a normal life – already had to postpone next month’s trip till October. Whether it works or not i don’t much care, if it gets us out of house arrest.

    2. The AZ one is a ‘normal’ vaccine, not an experimental mRNA one, so you’ve nothing to worry about.

    4. 329217+ up ticks,
      Evening TB,
      Is there really anybody left in any doubt what a tory pledge is worth?

      They have proved lock downs can be used as a very highly valued herd controlling tool.

      May looms, not the time to have an aggravated electorate
      hostile to party candidates, time for that is post elections.

      1. According to my observations the medico-politico cabal also assured us that tough lockdowns would allow us freedom over four days at Christmas. They reneged on the deal and have reneged on their promises for a period of a full year and still counting.

        I do not believe a single printed word or utterance from the potato with a wig, Halfcock, Shitty and Unbalanced. They are all evidently in the pay of Gates and Soros. They are clearly all in the pay of the Chinese Communist Party as is the Biden administration in the USA.

        1. 329273+ up ticks,
          Morning C,
          There HAD to be a re-placement for the eu, even the thickest ovis
          are beginning to question the politico agenda.

          Both houses have always been lucrative scam areas.

          Still see hazel blears waving I think it was for £13k check , for “overpaid” expenses.

          As for the lords, every time one signs in the peoples don another hair shirt, the lordies don’t even have to produce a bit of old rope.

        2. Your probably not wrong Cori there is definitely something very peculiar going on around the world. The most obvious is how has any one with half a brain cell been allowing people with no identity in effing rubber boats to turn up 7 days a week for the past 12 plus months and then stay in the UK.
          People are now being threatened with arrest and a jail term for retuning from a holiday ??
          Why are our tax payers being ripped ragged by the political classes ans still allowed to draw their salaries expenses and hang on for their gold plated pensions ?

    5. The Astra Zeneca is a regular vaccine, probably only partially effective, as is the case with the annual flu jab, but should do no harm in most recipients.

      Under no circumstances should you and yours submit to the experimental mRNA versions (Pfizer and Moderna) which are by definition not vaccines but chemical implants.

    6. You will be fine, T_B! As I said earlier, we have both had a Pfizer jab and no ill effects, a bit stiff in the arm in the morning but soon wearing off.

  115. Just watched ‘The Post’ about the reporting by The New York Times and The Washington Post on the political lies and deceit about the progress of the Vietnam War.

    Given the depths now plumbed by those two once illustrious and respected papers, when once held in high regard, the present proprietors (Bezos I believe now owns The Washington Post) should be ashamed of themselves.

    America needs to reinvent a genuine Free Press.

    1. £15 an hour or £150 a day for sitting at home and calling someone if needed. Pensionable as well if you work for a few years.

    2. £15 an hour or £150 a day for sitting at home and calling someone if needed. Pensionable as well if you work for a few years.

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