Wednesday 2 July: Public confidence in BBC decision-making has been seriously shaken

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

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

624 thoughts on “Wednesday 2 July: Public confidence in BBC decision-making has been seriously shaken”

  1. Good morning, chums, and thanks to Geoff for today's new NoTTLe page. Did Wordle in 5 today (a Bogie).

    Wordle 1,474 5/6

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    1. Good morning Elsie and all
      Wordle 1,474 4/6

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  4. Good Morning Folks

    Much cooler outside today and raining, indoors it feels like the central heating is on full blast

  5. Breaking News-

    Water shortages are expected later this summer now, after experts blame Labour for using up vital reserves watering down their Welfare Bill

  6. One year into a Labour government and it feels like we would all be better off if we didn't have a government and they had simply taken a year off and left things as the were

    2. Belgium managed for a couple of years without a government.
      I'm not sure if they've noticed any improvement since the leeches have been restored.

    3. Other countries did very well without the incompetent, bloated and useless state meddling all the time.

      1. Thank goodness she isn't black.
        That's one hurdle the Beeb don't have to tackle.

      1. I wouldn't believe them if the told me that my television was working.

  8. 408711+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Wednesday 2 July: Public confidence in BBC decision-making has been seriously shaken

    Should read,

    Wednesday 2 July: Public confidence in BBC decision-making is bloody
    non existent.

    If they were actively the same in 39/45 we would now ALL be bloody
    “Sprechen Deutsch”

  9. Good morning all.
    A damp & grey start with overnight light rain continuing and a rather muggy tad over 17°C.

    3. Well, no, a real hero would have contacted the local vet and or dog rescue and the animals found a new home. Puppies shouldn't be eating dry food that early, certainly not without supervision.

  13. Jaguar.. Dr Who.. John Lewis.. £5 note..

    Chief woke cashier of The Bank of England Victoria Cleland says: ‘It may be that we can get that real diversity through a different theme than historic figures.’
    The Bank suggests that modern issues such as gender, ethnicity and disability could be taken into account when planning the designs that could mean the end of using images of significant characters – Sir Winston Churchill, Jane Austen, artist JMW Turner and code-breaker Alan Turing currently appear.

    1. Oh, come on. Blacks invented money, and the printing press. Only right that their enterprise should be remembered.

      3. I don't use contactless payment either. I looked up the security and read with great interest that contactless payment is fully secure because only bona fide businesses are permitted to use contact card readers.

          2. Um ….. hold on a moment ….. it's here somewhere …… you DID say your name was John, not Hu Flung Dung?

      4. It's always women, isn't it? You never find a bloke who isn't a woofter pushing this nonsense.

    3. £5 today is worth the pre-decimal half-crown, and really needs to be a coin. Anything less than 10p today is worthless and a bit of a nuisance.

      The £50 note is the equivalent to just over the pre-decimal pound (about 25 bob), but is little used since most payments of that amount these days (a fill-up of petrol or a supermarket shop) are paid by card, and we never got into the habit of using £50 notes.

      The old fiver is today equivalent to £200, which is quite a common price for a number of things. People didn't like breaking fivers back then, and would be even more reluctant to break a £200 note.

      I went to the pub for a carvery on Sunday. Even as recently as Lockdown, I could get a good roast dinner for about £8. Now, it is £18. They say that overheads have shot up as a result of that Labour pledge not to raise "tax" for hardworking people, and they cannot pay for their pet PFI projects by cutting disability welfare, so they had to pile it on overheads for small businesses to pass on to their customers. That way, it is not considered "tax", and pub landlords are not considered "hardworking".

      I dropped by the pub in the next village, where I once sang the Boar's Head Carol wearing a chef's hat before a Twelfth Night gathering. It bore a sign "Closed". There was a beer festival and a dog show there only very recently. I asked at the Church Fete what was going on. They said that the new landlord could not make any money from it, put it on the market as a going concern, but found no takers. He then applied for planning permission to redevelop it and the car park for housing, but it was refused. He will probably be bankrupt by the time Rayner forces the village to comply with developer demands under her Abolition of Local Democracy scheme.

      1. Not supplying bigger notes is deliberate, and is very inconvenient for people who do use cash. They are phasing out cash by means of inflating the currency until the existing notes are worthless, and not printing bigger denominations.

      2. Now there's a building sitting unused, with land that cannot be changed. Government truly is moronic.

        1. Why should it be changed? Pubs would not be closing if we looked after our community businesses, rather than using them as cash cows for the globalists with no local loyalty or responsibility.

  14. Good morning, all. Grey and overcast and cool. Looks like rain – but it prolly won't.

    Bizarre event last evening. About 9.45 – a great white mist rolled in from the North Sea (ten miles away). Looked like something out of the Great War.

    3. Designed, of course, for terrorism. To keep out angry locals, not the diversity savage.

  16. Morning, all Y'all!
    Raining. Dull. Oh, well, at work, so it doesn't matter really.

  17. Picture of the jacket structure for the project I'm on – the jacket stands on the seabed and supports the process and accommodation. Loadout by sliding it onto the transport barge was at the weekend – quite something, as it weighs more than the Eiffel Tower!
    In a week, it will sail away to the field and be installed as soon as the weather allows.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0e51cea9ac073804b40014655780027bb72fb5436db94ea6c052fa2cc195a837.png

    2. Well done Oberst! Give it a little extra shove on its way from me. I used to arrange the financing for them monsters when we had a North Sea industry.

      1. Built on its side so it can be floated out to the field on a barge. That wouldn’t be so easy if it was standing 180 metres tall…
        Once in the field, it is slipped off the end of the barge, then positioned using a massive crane barge, the M 7000 (that can lift 7 000 tonnes).
        Big engineering – very exciting stuff!

    4. When the Left get rid of all the white folk, who will design and build such marvels as this?

    1. They used to be quite rigorous and done in person. Of course telephone interviews are much cheaper but end up costing far more.

    2. And, of course, my Stepson, who is genuinely unable to work due to his mental health issues, had his PIP stopped during his last prolonged stay in hospital and when he tried to have it reinstated was refused.

    3. When i had difficulty walking and did the phone interview i was refused any financial help.

      Note to self…learn how to be a liar.

  22. Captain Sensible
    9h
    Just now, I heard my printer playing music. It turned out that the paper was jamming.

  23. The $88 million climate activist satellite called MethaneSAT just got lost. It provides intell on operations of global oil and gas assets worldwide for ground troops to name & shame and take action.

    Comment of the day.. Bezos can always send up his crack team of DEI Blue Origin astronuts and repair that satellite.

  24. The $88 million climate activist satellite called MethaneSAT just got lost. It provides intell on operations of global oil and gas assets worldwide for ground troops to name & shame and take action.

    Comment of the day.. Bezos can always send up his crack team of DEI Blue Origin astronuts and repair that satellite.

      1. I didn't think anyone could be worse than Truss.

        Here is a poll for Disqus: Lettuce or slug? You choose.

        1. Truss was right, though? Her policies would have seen the country grow. That's why the state ambushed her.

          1. Your opinion.

            I thought she lacked any fiscal sense. How does a country grow by embarking on a huge spending splurge while at the same time cutting taxes for the Caribbean yacht set? It spooked the markets, and the debt interest would have ruined the country if her Chancellor went ahead with his “you ain’t see nothing yet” autumn budget. The Conservative Party has still not recovered from this debacle, and by copying, Labour is following the Tories into the pit of political oblivion. I remarked at the time that cancer is a growth, and we should always take a good hard smell first before promoting “growth”.

            The main beneficiaries are the Liberal Democrats, now they have largely shed their nonsensical subservience to the suzerains in Brussels, utterly contrary to their parochial ethos, and gone back to pavement politics, opposing war and looking after the handicapped. Also beneficiaries are the Greens, so long as they steer clear of anything to do with gender and don’t kid us that they can build houses for migrants without trashing the environment. Then there are the myriad of right wing start-ups. How many now? I suppose they will coalesce one day, but this requires a sustainable working relationship with Nigel Farage, which his ego may not permit.

    2. I blame the trawlers off the Dutch coast and their industrial fishing methods.

  27. Ah! That's nice.
    Just checked ERNIE and I've got £300 this month!
    Sadly the DT had a washout.

      1. Lucky old you lot eh.
        I never win anything.
        I did win a litre bottle of 8% cider back in May at the local school open day £2 lottery 🙃

    1. Party make-up of Warwickshire County Council since the 2025 election (previous result in brackets):

      Reform 23 (0)
      Liberal Democrats 14 (5)
      Conservative 9 (41)
      Green 7 (3)
      Labour 3 (6)
      Residents 1 (1)

      No overall control, but surely a majority could be cobbled up to get that flag taken down?

        1. Nobody wants to work with Reform.

          In Worcestershire, Tom Wells, one of the two Independents, was offered Leadership of the Council in return for supporting Reform running the council, but he refused.

          In theory, Conservative + Green + Lib Dem + Labour could outvote Reform, leaving the Independents holding the balance of power.

          The make-up there is:
          Reform 27 (0)
          Conservative 12 (45)
          Green 8 (3)
          Liberal Democrats 6 (4)
          Labour 2 (3)
          Independent 2 (2)

          Tom Wells has decided to spend more time on his music.

  29. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ec3780d32d95a7cd16fb07c438e55bcab22a2dcdda0c271ac32f09eb65d7bd73.png Leon
    11h
    4 in 10 babies now born to foreign parents. The great replacement is happening.

    Ernest Nowell
    Leon
    12h
    He doesn’t care, he is not bothered, he wants to destroy the culture, traditions and standards of life of the indigenous people of the UK. He further wants to give voting rights to all the incomers before the General Election to keep Labour in power!

    1. Sadly, all too few are like our youngest grandchildren with a Danish mother.

    2. All very well the dindu replacing white folk, but they don't contribute. What will big fat state do when there is literally no money?

  30. Morning all 🙂😊
    I had a serious disconnection yesterday evening. No Internet no explanation I couldn't even record a TV programme at 9 o'clock.
    Oh well KBO 🙃
    And it's just starting to rain, excellent. 🤗
    The really annoying matter regarding the bbc is that if they had the courage of their obvious convictions and stopped taking the public money to emphasise their own opinions and relied on pay to view. They would be bankrupt inside of 12 months. I'm saying that is good but they need to change their far left attitude.

    1. Starmer is entrenched establishent. They all think alike, all live in the same circle, all have the same ideology, are all very well paid, all happily insulated from the carnage of society, all know they'll protect one another when there are 'difficult' moments.

      That's why he doesn't think much of Westminster and doesn't seem to understand government. It's why his default reaction to the Southport riots was not engagement and empathy but to wait to be told what to do by a focus group.

      He – and the rest of the state – will use law and the 'system' to get their way, at any cost because they don't ever pay that cost.

  35. Good Morning!

    Today we have the 5th part of our series, No War With Russia, The covert terrorist war at sea, on the war against Russian trade at sea being carried out by 'western powers' and which is nothing other than terrorism.

    If you missed it, please go and read ZYY's article on Emperor Xi, Behind the Red Curtain: The Cracks in Xi’s China – and don't forget to leave a comment, as I need her in a good mood today.

    (Oh, and we need to celebrate another record being broken today! Our government has attracted 20,000 illegal aliens across the Channel in record time, nearly two months earlier than the previous record")

    Energy Watch: Over the last 24 hours: Britain's electric power was sourced from Gas, 40.1%; Solar, 7.3%: Wind 13.2%; Imports, 11%; Biomass, 10%; Nuclear 14.9% and Miscellaneous, 3.4%.

    1. The China article is really interesting – thoroughly recommend to anyone who hasn't read it yet!

  36. Reform and Cons = 32
    Non-Lib Dumbs, Liebour and Watermelons = 24

  37. Teenage boy is being teenage. Boundaries are being pushed, good nature (grumpy old man) being tested. Bedroom hit 31's yesterday. Dogs too hot, man too hot. Not a lot of sleep was had.

    1. Time to sleep in the garden? That is way too hot to be able to sleep inside!
      I must admit, I made a very slow start this morning. With copious amounts of coffee and dark chocolate, I am just about motivated to get to work.

    2. Good luck. My son went into “teenage mode” at 12 and is only slowly now coming out of it (nearly 21).

      I have to dig deep and remember how lovely he is, really, deep down. Occasionally we get glimpses of the old Tom, and i get a glimmer of hope. Also, if feed him too much beer, he is also quite sentimentally lovely; but it is unethical to get one’s son drunk, just to feed one’s own requirement for a supply of love.

  38. Agreed.
    The whole of Wastemonster is now stuffed full with the self important me me me's and overall conceitedness.
    It's about time it was shut down and new applications for new members were made available. And then if membership was allowed an oath taken to ensure honesty.

  39. Good morning Nottlers, 13°C and raining, though it's supposed to be sunny later. Thankfully, Tesco Irvine planned ahead and placed a roof on their building as my weekly shop looms.

    Public confidence in the bBC? It's as if we've been transported back to the 1950s, and I'm not sure any confidence existed then. Lunchtime Loafer used to record the passage of his complaints to the bBC. Paul Homewood currently does the same. It's a long, drawn out process. With the bBC ducking and diving at every step; apologising for their error, whilst never actually addressing the issue; informing all their managers and producers, who seemingly never get the memo; hoping the complainant will run out of steam, as the bBC sails on like a latter day Flying Dutchman.

    Subscription is the only thing that will focus their efforts, hence they repel it with every fibre of their being.

  40. I see that that irritating slammer "cook", far from being grateful for earning millions – has a grievance about her "treatment".

    They are all the sodding same, aren't they? Moan, moan moan.

    2. One of the most privileged people in the country, but she resents the idea that she should feel grateful for her good fortune.

      Zimbabweans have a complimentary word that they use about people which is "humble" – as in, "She is a very nice person, very humble."
      I have always thought this shows a good understanding of what is important.

          1. Doesn't really look like the sort of cake you'd want to serve Her Late Majesty. Now, if the purple were a faded colour from light to dark all the way around, maybe. If the gold leaf were a pattern, perhaps.

            But that's just crap.

        1. I’m not particularly a fan of the well-funded Cecil Rhodes…his legacy was definitely mixed.

  41. According to the radar (and the Wet Office) it is raining hard, here. Funny there's no sign of it…. (ponders…)

    1. I do not trust the Met office all they want to do is promote climate change as a horror. It was not the warmest June ever as they claim.

      1. Their every model incorporates 'climate change' which is why they're usually wrong. It's the same for the BoE and OBR. None bother to incorporate dynamic response to tax rises nor the effect of tax cuts in their models – because, obviously, then their every advice would be 'cut taxes'.

  43. Good morning all

    Golfer golfing , mild cloudy , much better weather.

    I drenched the plants last night , no, we are not on a water meter.

    Phew , wasn't it warm last night , very uncomfortable.. The heat was very noticeable.

    Our house is very well ventilated , (during cold weather) no upstairs heating , 2 loft spaces , house looks t shaped , usually draughts from eaves doors.. so we are not brilliantly insulated .. the eaves doors in each upstairs bedrooms have been taped to stop them rattling in a gale ..

    I liked this comment I read, re the DT letters.

    R J P
    3 hrs ago
    Current expert advice is not to smother ticks in ointments or try and burn them off.

    https://lymediseaseuk.com/tick-removal/

    "You must never burn, freeze, suffocate or cover a tick in any substance as this may cause the tick to regurgitate the contents of it gut into your body."

    I'll stick with expert advice rather than folk remedies from DT letters or comments. Good luck to those who choose otherwise.

    1. That is useful information, but the sanctimonious rider about only trusting experts rather spoils the effect.

    2. Use alcohol. If that doesn't work, pincers under the body. We also have a teeny tiny blow torch that can serve.

      1. We have a tool, acquired through the vet, that hauls the little blighters out – two different sizes in the pack, looks very much like something that belongs on a sewing machine, or a tuning fork with the tines at 90 degrees to the handle. It is very successful.

  46. Before you burst out laughing at the Americans, just remember that we have David Lammy as Foreign Secretary…

    Josh Hammer
    Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is an insult to the US Supreme Court
    Joe Biden nominated her on grounds of identity politics. Now even her fellow justices are brutally dismantling her arguments
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d9aed6147c8a213cb0a99d9f769ae7a58ba1ca0b21f50ef3939723526b8c4e9e.png
    In January 2022, one year after Joe Biden assumed the White House, Justice Stephen Breyer of the US Supreme Court announced his impending retirement. Biden, who had selected the intellectually challenged Kamala Harris as his running mate two years prior, in large part on diversity grounds, sprang into action to fulfil a campaign promise to black political kingmaker Rep Jim Clyburn (D-SC) – that he would select a black woman for his first Supreme Court pick.

    And so the Biden White House foisted upon us Ketanji Brown Jackson – a hitherto obscure jurist, nominated because of her sex and race, but who ironically refused to provide a definition of the word “woman” when asked about it at her US Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing. Curious, that!

    Alas, it has only been downhill from that rockiest of rocky starts.

    I pondered, at the time of Jackson’s nomination, how a justice who knows she was selected on the basis of identity politics could be expected to fairly adjudicate cases that involve issues of race and sex?

    My concern proved prescient. Barely a year after her nomination, Justice Clarence Thomas – the Court’s longest-serving member, who also happens to be black – excoriated Jackson’s “myopia” in his concurring opinion in Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v Harvard, which ended the systemic racism of “affirmative action” in university admissions: “Justice Jackson’s race-infused world view falls flat at each step. Individuals are the sum of their unique experiences, challenges, and accomplishments. What matters is not the barriers they face, but how they choose to confront them. And their race is not to blame for everything – good or bad – that happens in their lives. A contrary, myopic world view based on individuals’ skin colour to the total exclusion of their personal choices is nothing short of racial determinism.”

    As part of her SFFA dissent, notably, Jackson also made a “mathematically absurd” claim about black infant mortality. Any decent law clerk – or any decent judge – would have caught on before publication. By missing the obvious, Jackson demonstrated precisely the sort of brazen nitwittery that should have cautioned political leaders away from allowing the search for one of the nine most important lawyers to be determined by identity politics.

    Yet as satisfying as Thomas’s defenestration of Jackson in his SFFA concurrence was, Friday’s fusillade from Justice Amy Coney Barrett in her majority opinion in Trump v CASA, a case addressing the contentious debate over the legitimacy of so-called nationwide injunctions, was if anything even more fulfilling. Barrett took a mighty, acerbic sledgehammer to Jackson’s paean to unvarnished judicial supremacy.

    “We will not dwell on Justice Jackson’s argument, which is at odds with more than two centuries’ worth of precedent, not to mention the Constitution itself,” Barrett wrote. “We observe only this: Justice Jackson decries an imperial Executive while embracing an imperial Judiciary.”

    What’s more, Jackson “chooses a starting line of attack that is tethered neither to [historical] sources nor, frankly, to any doctrine whatsoever”. And “among its many problems, Justice Jackson’s view is at odds with our system of divided judicial authority”. Perhaps most bitingly, Barrett mocked Jackson’s glossing over the all-important inquiry as to the historical “limits on judicial authority” as mere “legalese” (Jackson’s own ignominious word choice).

    In a word: brutal. Notably, all six of the Court’s Republican-nominated justices, including the ever-mercurial chief justice, John Roberts, signed onto Barrett’s opinion in full. Call it a pile-on.

    One cannot help but get the sense that Barrett, the normally mild-mannered former law professor and mother of seven, really just wanted to say: “Justice Jackson is unfit to serve on this Court.” And maybe she should have done so. Because it happens to be true.

    The fact that Ketanji Brown Jackson was selected as a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States on the basis of her race and sex is offensive enough. But the fact she now routinely produces such intellectually indefensible balderdash that she is roundly mocked by her more senior colleagues, takes the level of offence to a different level. Simply put, serious countries do not elevate arguably unqualified dimwits to public positions of extraordinary prominence.

    The continued humiliation of Ketanji Brown Jackson at the nation’s highest court – at the behest of her colleagues – is a lagging social indication. It is a warning that something has gone deeply wrong in how the world’s pre-eminent superpower nominates the most prestigious constitutional officers and decides the most pressing constitutional issues. The America that just sent B-2 bombers to drop 14 “bunker buster” bombs on Iran’s nuclear facilities is a serious place. The America that counts Ketanji Brown Jackson as a Supreme Court justice? Less so.

    Frankly, no one should be more offended at this appalling DEI idiocy than Jackson’s fellow black women. Because Jackson was nominated explicitly due to the fact she is a black woman. Ah yes – but we can’t possibly define what a woman is, can we? And therein lies the rub.

    **************************************************
    David Lord
    13 hrs ago
    At its core, identity politics takes the rich tapestry of human existence and experiences and reduces it to pigmentation, genitalia, and sexual behaviors. Knowledge, skills, and abilities become secondary or tertiary considerations. When a person's value is determined by their component parts rather than the whole, this is not uplifting and liberating … it's dehumanizing.

        1. Many years ago one of my sisters and her family had a small-holding in Cornwall.

          They had an enormous sow whom they named Bathsheba.

          One Sunday morning at church the vicar spoke about the disgraceful way in which David treated one of his soldiers, Uriah The Hittite, by putting him in the front line of battle so that he would be killed and David could more easily have an affair with Uriah's beautiful and desirable wife, Bathsheba.

          Hearing this name my nephew, Jonathan, then aged 4, stood up, and beaming at the congregation proudly announced: ''Bathsheba's just had twelve little piglets.!''

    3. It is notable that Lefties are the most racist, most bigoted, most divisive and spiteful people around.

  47. I loved this reply to me from opopanax 10 hours ago

    What are they thinking of? It's like a dog sanctuary that has already taken in a disproportionate number of Pitbulls, who have proved temperamentally unable to integrate with the general mongrel population and killed most of them and also each other. The management now proposes importing "poor, misunderstood" Bully XLs.

    What could possibly go wrong?

    1. Certain religious sects hate pigs, but quite often carry out the same process.

    1. They are moving to take fluoride out of the water in the US, whereas it is just being implemented in Britain. The British are also mass medicated via additives to flour.
      Nobody needs a neuro-toxin in the water.

        1. Only small areas – Birmingham, iirc? a couple of years ago they announced it would be expanded to the whole country. Funny how it’s all so shrouded in secrecy – if it’s such a benefit, you’d think they’d be shouting it from the rooftops.

          2. Probably the same here given the amount of fluorspar in the rocks round here.

          3. I moved home to Birmingham in 1998 after Army service of 22 years. My dentist says my teeth are suffering from fluoride discolouration. Fluoridation was to be implemented in the Netherlands but was overruled by the courts as compulsory medication.

          2. That’s the only one I buy now! but any bakery goods from teh supermarket are out if you want to avoid the daily dose

          4. At my other home I buy flour direct from a small water mill that grinds it. You go in and past the mill machinery to get to their little shop.

        1. Jeremy Hunt authorised a large expansion of the fluoride programmew iirc, during covid.

    1. It was never proven but at the time when the badly burnt bodies were discovered in Germany might not have been hitler and his partner. Because it was mentioned that he and quite a few others of his ilk had escaped Europe in submarines and were living in the Argentina area.
      There was a film association with certain people who seemed to have set up in South America. The Boys from Brazil.

  51. Diane Abbott brands IDF the ‘Jewish Defence Force’
    Calls for Labour to remove whip from MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington for ‘the latest in her long line of anti-Jewish offences’
     https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/07/01/labour-diane-abbott-brands-idf-the-jewish-defence-force/

    BTL

    The Left always try to brand Hitler as extreme Right Wing – but he was not only a National Socialist but extremely anti-Semitic.

    Our current government also calls itself socialist and many members of the Labour Party and the government are extremely anti-Semitic.

    Are we in error when we complain that Starmer's party and government are extreme Left wing – it is abundantly clear that they are extreme Right wing!

    1. I believe that Hitler actually had a regiment of Islamic troops supporting his vile murderous actions.

          3. The religious beliefs of the one on the left has killed millions more than the socialist beliefs of the t*rd on the right. And is still doing so.

        4. There is something so abhorrent in seeing human beings prostrate themselves with *rses in the air. It robs them of any dignity.

          1. I remember leaving a car park at Luton Airport a few years ago and there was no one to be seen in the exit kiosk. Then suddenly he stood up.

    2. I think there is little difference between the extreme right and the extreme left, as if they do full circle and unite. They think they’re different but they aren’t

    1. A lot of it was just European mores at the time. Compare the stadium in Garmish-Partenkirchen – built like a fortress! – with the old Wembley stadium – built like a castle!
      That grandiose, imperial style has disappeared now.

        1. I have Boss clothing because the fit is generous. I also have Hermko vests because they are made without a seam.

          Nowadays I have to ask German friends to send me the Hermko vests because the EU, in its spite following Brexit, has made them unavailable to the UK.

        1. Booked to see that (again) in September.
          The film is one of my favourites.
          The writer, producer and the stars were Jews old enough to remember that era and even be in the forces during the 30s and 40s.
          They KNEW whereof they wrote and spoke.
          No snowflakyness from them.

  54. Quote of the Day

    Speaking on The Fully Charges Podcast, Ed Miliband said: “I think my view is sort of climate first, party second.”

    1. Human beings – particularly British – so far third they are invisible.

    1. That is why Major and Blair disarmed the GBP. They knew where their policies would lead.
      Now, only selected state employees have access to fire arms.
      And criminals can get whatever they want.

    2. Re the last line, please excuse my cynicism but there is a good chance the children were bused to the French coast and put on a dinghy purely in order to be interviewed by the BBC!

      1. With so many lies and obfuscations, being cynical as regards any of this seems like the best way forward, BB.

    3. All these continuous lies about people from war torn regions.
      FFS and for the sake of our grandchildren chuck them all out.
      These scrounging invaders don't have any rights.

        2. Such a relief to have some rain at last. Probably no need to water the Village Hall Community Garden this evening, an arduous task in hot weather.

    1. Fear not. Wet, weak, woke Davie has dobbed some woman "content chief" – entirely her fault.

        1. Quite. One could argue (in her defence) that she should never have been appointed.

      2. I find today's letters headline amusing – it suggests that there was confidence in BBC decision-making to lose!

      3. What a spinless reptile [probably unfair to reptiles?] Davie is – he's the DG, it's his fault and he was there on the spot too! No doubt that he should be the one to go!

        1. Quite frankly, if he goes his successor will be another Britain hating Beeboid, but with bumps at the front and/or a deeper tan.

    2. The Malicious Communications Act, proscribes the transmission of any material that is intended to cause anxiety or distress. The difficult term to prove might be 'intent'.

      1. The scales have fallen from his eyes. He must have been affected by the incompetence in some way.

        1. Hello Conway :-)….maybe it’ll get worse before it gets better. Or something.

    4. And he's still in there wrecking our country, its culture, social structure and now the economy.

  60. Good morning, NoTTLers!

    How To Decolonize Pakistan
    The Christian British and other Europeans are culturally enriching Pakistan with vibrant diversity
    Yuri Bezmenov
    Jul 1

    Comrades: The Pakistani Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) is thrilled to announce the latest election results. Sir Chadwick Kensington has won the race to become Mayor of Islamabad. He is the first ever Christian British person to serve in this position – diversity is our greatest strength!

    Pakistani Prime Minister Mohammed Kefir bin Starmzad has congratulated Sir Kensington. Their Laballah Party is committed to increasing immigration from Britain. Every year, trillions of rupees are budgeted to house Christian British migrants in luxury hotels. Thousands of future doctors and engineers arrive every week by rowing across the Indus River. They have a human right to free food and healthcare, especially for refugees in need of dental equity. Under new inclusivity initiatives, Brits are given priority for jobs over native Pakistanis. However, more Christian Brits have enlisted in international hooligan organizations than the Pakistani military and some have even hacked our soldiers to death.

    Islamabad was 99% Pakistani in 1950, but today Pakistanis are a shrinking minority. The most popular boy’s name in the capital city is now Harry. Millions of Christian Brits are culturally enriching Pakistan by converting mosques into churches and opening non-halal fish and chip shops everywhere. No one knows where they get their money from, how they can afford to have so many children, and how much of it is sent back to Britain in remittances. British migrants are waving the Union Jack all over Islamabad during protests. Knife crime keeps rising, so the Laballah party is banning knives. Last summer, British and French Pakistanis rioted in the streets of Lahore and Karachi over a European football match. Both cities also have British mayors and segregated neighborhoods for French, German, and other European migrants who prefer to live amongst each other instead of assimilating.

    Grooming gangs comprised of Christian British men have raped thousands of Pakistani girls across the country, but the Pakistani police covered it up for fear of being called racist. Brits loyal to the Christian Brotherhood have also conducted several suicide bombing terrorist attacks that have killed hundreds of Pakistanis, including one at a Dua Lipa concert. Don’t look back in anger! If you criticize Christians, burn a bible, or insult their prophet Jesus Christ, the police will arrest you for Christophobia. They are pushing for Christia law, which includes mandatory face coverings for women and female genital mutilation. British Lives Matter has received ample funding from Pakistani corporations, but saying Brown Lives Matter is considered hate speech.

    [Britain's Pedophile Muslim Grooming Gangs – Thousands of underage white …
    Women Wearing Niqab Banned from Working at Cairo University's Hospitals …]

    Maharaja Chaka Khan III of the Pakistani royal family has knighted Sir Chadwick Kensington. He has invited British Christians for Christmas prayers in the Grand Mosque of Islamabad. Most of the Pakistani national football team is British and we need more to win World Cup against India because they have so many top German players. Pakistan must apologize for colonization, so we must keep our borders open and consider reparations. The top priority of Pakistani foreign policy is to keep funding Eritrea in its war against Ethiopia. No matter what party Pakistanis vote for, more Brits will arrive and you will be labeled a far-right fascist if you don’t want that to happen.

    This is what democracy looks like. Christ is King! At least we’re not speaking Hindi!

    3. Now multiply that by three and the size by four. The key, matey, is to bring a book with you.

  64. It now is actually raining – three hours after it had apparently begun!

        1. I went down to Morrisons for a few bits and the temperature is much more pleasant today with a breeze.

  66. A friend at work has had a bad experience with a London cabbie taking her round the houses and she was wondering whether they own the vehicles so I looked it up. I laughed. What else can one do?

    "The London black cab, officially known as the London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC), is owned by the Chinese automotive group Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. Geely acquired the failing London Taxi Company (later rebranded as LEVC) in 2013".

    2. I had the misfortune of having to get an Uber from Heathrow to Gatwick on Sunday. The Uber arrived quickly, a large Tesla with a dusky driver. As we presented our two cases he began to moan, too big apparently. After some faffing we got underway and he didnt stop moaning about what his payment was after Uber took its fee. He normally just did short journeys in North London where he lived. I was too polite to point out that he had voluntarily accepted this trip. At our destination, I suggested he could now find a fare at Gatwick to take back to London… He pointed to the 40% charge on the Tesla commenting that it was not enough to do anything productive. A total grifter who charged for waiting time at Heathrow, of which there was none and also overcharged the airport pick up charge. I was hoping for one of those, how did we do emails. Nothing so far!

      1. Hopeless, isn't it. We've become the third world, end of. I use only black cabs in London but the problem is that the drivers no longer do "The Knowledge". They just enter the post code for your destination in to a computer system that directs them to turn left at Timbuktu.

    4. I loved the old Austin diesel taxis, with the leather interiors and the ability to turn round on a narrow street. Plus of course the chatty and always opinionated drivers.

    2. Raising NI was a tax on people. It's money not going into salaries. Doubling stamp duty was a tax.

      They can twist and wriggle as much as they want. The simple truth is they're liars and have done what Labour always do: wreck the economy, send unemployment soaring and drive business out.

      1. I am baffled as to how any of this will help when there's effectively an open border and very liberal asylum program with a benefit system those entering can potentially access. No fresh source of national income has been found to furnish this. Under these conditions the system can only be in a state of collapse and increased debt denying the financial reality. The system simply was not built for it. That's just the finances. Never mind housing, infrastructure and cultural assimilation. What am I not seeing here? Moving the deck chairs around on the Titanic comes to mind.

      2. Even the non-political at the coffee morning this morning were remarking that businesses were closing because it was so expensive to employ people.

        1. My yard stick is dog walkers.
          Conversations tend to be about dogs and weather.
          Occasionally the odd political/state of the country comment is creeping in.

    3. Is that a rite of passage for infidels who want to convert to Islam?

    1. Thanks Alec, for the reminder of good old Brit humour. Hope you're good today, stay cool x

  73. As promised, some more photos from Monday's trip to the Bowes Museum.
    First off, spot the typo:- https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/80c1d88283d66a2cc451032805efedde1c0ee6858213ed69e524efc3deadae65.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/970159190e7bd5470746ea702e63706c22ddc41d1d4d6161869924dce7d3f976.jpg Some rather nice stained glass:- https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/cef29cabb7bc9d349b873f3d26c5b4e1fff4305942a6cdf70f81d4b53169235a.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/67dd87a5e8a83f04bac690b9fb8e9649b903e337e2d7d8011d0087b3376e6005.jpg The Silver Swan https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d688aa3c92dc58262f467348389d828b954b0b189f3be0cf3e8e1415e64131d9.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/812c0c0487eab4cc68d4ae1491123dd411611ca874a68c17667ae0c948fc87f3.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6b290af909527a7792804d0a67b82ac346038ec9c82f75e60588940ce51bc9d0.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/00664c92047bc10c896def227338c21b6f09e499daa42a4a6fd7f8fd5326f92d.jpg An absolutely overwhelming collection housed in a stunningly beautiful building and a single visit does not do it justice.

      1. Now I have the madrigal by Orlando Gibbons running g through my head, and it's decades since I sang it. 🙂

    3. Thanks Bob, somehow missed your photos yesterday. Silver Swan exactly as I remember it. Look to have place to yourselves 🙂

      1. It was actually quite well attended.
        The entrance foyer had quite a decent acoustic so I’m afraid my CSD kicked in, much to the delight of those on the desk!

        1. Ouch…you get the migraine..I used to get those a lot, eased off post-retirement. Wish you the best with it 🙂

          1. CSD is Compulsive Singing Disorder.
            I find a place which has decent acoustics and I can’t help trying them out!

          2. 😆 I do that all the time, usually outdoors as I’m told to stop when indoors……

  74. Christian artist reported to police over gender-critical views
    Victoria Culf launched legal action against Watford borough council after it banned her from her own exhibition
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2025/07/01/TELEMMGLPICT000430828835_17514089942270_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bq8LIREdTXGe7yHgb9zlAsYENAV5YBdLRJ_VVZiVeAukE.jpeg?imwidth=1920
    A Christian artist was reported to the police and banned from her own exhibition because of her gender-critical beliefs.

    Victoria Culf also claims a council worker wrongly accused her of being under police investigation when she was not.

    Mrs Culf launched legal action against Watford borough council last year on nine grounds, including breach of contract, discrimination and harassment.

    The 44-year-old, who has been an artist for 20 years, had been setting up her independently funded exhibition at Watford Museum when she became engaged in a conversation with a council worker about transgender issues.

    While making a cup of tea, the council official revealed that her child was “socially transitioning” and that they had tried to get puberty blockers from the Tavistock gender identity clinic.

    Mrs Culf claims to have politely said that owing to her Christian beliefs and her experience working with children and young people, she believed transitioning to be harmful.

    The artist claims to have also said the Tavistock clinic should be shut down, reasoning that “children are too young to properly assess risk”.

    “I wouldn’t be being true to myself if I agreed with you,” she claims to have said.

    Harassment allegations
    While Mrs Culf believed the conversation to have ended “calmly and amicably”, she later received a call from the council informing her of “harassment” allegations and decreeing that she must give 24 hours’ notice before entering her exhibition.

    According to court documents, Mrs Culf’s accuser wrote to Paul Stacey, the council’s associate director of environment and communities, in the aftermath of the conversation, claiming the police had “recorded it as an incident”.

    The police logbook, however, revealed that the police told her accuser they were not recording it as an incident or investigating it and described what she had said as “free speech”.

    The council worker is said to have nevertheless emailed her boss at the council to say: “The Hate Crime Officer called me. It has been logged as an incident.” The employee is also accused of inventing a crime number.

    The Christian Legal Centre, which is advising Mrs Culf, will argue that pressure from the council official and the council led to Mrs Culf being excluded from a community art project run by BEEE Creative, her artwork being damaged during the exhibition and ultimately the termination of her contract.

    Commenting on the latest disclosure of evidence, Mrs Culf said: “I genuinely feared a knock at the door or a call asking me to explain myself, or worse.

    “I now know this was a pack of lies, designed to intimidate me. It’s deeply troubling that my accuser misled the council, and yet they were all too willing to go along with it without impartially investigating it for themselves.”

    1. These people appear to have Munchhausen’s syndrome by proxy and/or psychopathy, and we bend over backwards and enable them.

      1. Yes, it's odd how the father of these children is not available for comment. Or never asked.

      1. When I was at UEA I stood in the Students' Union presidential election as a candidate for the Apathetic Party.

        My slogan was: Remember a vote cast is a vote wasted.

        I was not returned as winner but I claimed a moral victory for the total number of votes actually cast were far fewer than the abstentions.

  76. Those bastard machines ought to be banned universally. Hideous noise. Very dangerous "users". The cause of many injuries and maimings.

  77. Not a single letter in the correct order then – Fourplay!
    Wordle 1,474 4/6

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

  78. Finally, the weather seems to have eased a little. 20 this morning – but with 99% humidity, so still unpleasant.

      3. The last things that Starmer should do as prime minister are to call a general election and then resign.

    2. Apparently discovered an almost £5billion blackhole thanks to Welfare. Not quite the 22 billion, nevertheless gainin' on it.

    3. A wholly incompetent woman who lied about her CV – completely out of her depth. Should never have been elected, let alone appointed Chancellor.

  80. Afternoon all. Another scorcher. Don’t think I will be doing much in the garden except sit in the shade and contemplate the work that remains to be done.

    This member of the public has had no confidence in Bbc decision making since at least 1997.

  81. Good afternoon, all. Wet first thing followed by odd spots here and there and now very nicely wet.

    This will, if implemented, cause much ire with many and quite a few laughs as the self-indulgent diversity oiks fight over whom they believe is worthy and whom isn't.

    https://x.com/ThatAlexWoman/status/1940275495960285330
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/18ec0636087ef2d24bdb9acdfad42059abd35a68139361c08ba14ec5daaac153.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f9dd27d8f860cd86b9697fd87c6f1c71b66abd92250e2f39b325e70cb4c53fdc.png

    1. Don't understand why notes need to be regularly redesigned, apart from keeping a few artists employed. The dollar notes I have now are no different to the ones I had when first visiting in the early 1970's. And for many years before that. No-one thinks they should be changed, why would they?

        1. That just requires a different material and embedded security "patterns". No need to change the appearance.

          2. George Washington on the $1 bill, Thomas Jefferson on the $2 bill, Abraham Lincoln on the $5, Andrew Jackson on the $20, and Ulysses S. Grant on the $50. Alexander Hamilton and Ben Franklin were never presidents, but they are featured on the $10 and $100 bill, respectively.

            Hence in common parlance, $5 notes are Abes, and $100's are Benjamins. Very few $2 bills were printed. I got a couple from the bank when they came out and kept them – somewhere! They also tried $1 coins which were deeply unpopular. Even 50 cent coins are rarely seen. The comments from Americans about (especially pre-decimal) British currency was "Why is your money so heavy?"

            And the old US putdown about something (or someone) odd used to be, "As Queer as a $2 bill". As against "Queer as a two speed walking stick" which was a good Brummie expression when I lived there.

      2. The 'They' have to eff everything up, it's their only way to try and justify their existence.

      3. They're gradually phasing out paper notes and replacing with plastic ones which in turn will be phased out and replaced with CBDC. The Sunak Plan, still The Treasury/BofE plan.

      4. It's done so no one can horde cash.
        Just before the Euro was imposed, the sales of big items like swimming pools and posh cars went through the roof in the affected countries.

  84. Can’t stop a migrant invasion by rubber dinghies on an island..

    Cabinet minister Mr Pat McFadden said..
    "Ministers are going to “have to work harder..”
    “Everyone in Government knows it’s a big challenge..”
    “I can give you an assurance that the numbers at the moment are too high.."
    "We are working together to tackle this.”

    so that's a big challenge.. working harder to tackle.. numbers are high.. tackle the challenge.. together.. Govt knows the tackle is big.. and the way to challenge this is together.. tackle harder together the challenge.

  85. 408711+ up ticks,

    Reading her thoughts, as is now a
    politico / police way to go, it turns out that
    she was thinking " O my bloody aching sides, through tears of laughter"

    The WEF/ NWO hierarchy will be delighted in the progress being made especially on the Dover front.

    updated
    24 minutes ago
    During Prime Minister's Questions on July 2, 2025, Chancellor Rachel Reeves was seen visibly upset, crying as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer did not confirm her continuation in the role amidst ongoing discussions about welfare reforms. The government had previously announced significant investments including £15 billion in transport for the North and Midlands, but recent fiscal challenges have led to scrutiny over Reeves's financial plans.

    1. Since 2022 James Bowler has been the Sir Humphrey of the Treasury. I was just curious.

      1. Looks like he couldn't control a class of 14 year olds…I remember the metalwork teacher 'put the backbench down, boys'….please..'

  86. My money is on the Ginger Growler. One of the most talented and experienced MPs….

    3. Every refugees welcome protester should be rounded up and allocated a refugee and forced to accommodate them.
      If they only have a one room flat, or a bedroom at their parents or shared accommodation, tough.

      You want them, you look after them.

      1. 1? No, all these Lefties should be made to take at minimum 5. The country is overcrowded and they're just prime examples of hypocrisy in microcosm. They want the dindus here, but not 'with them'.

  89. I've found that WiFi signals have now become so high level and prevalent that to get broadband connection to your smartphone or tablet you need at least 5GHz radio waves either beamed to your head or your genitals.

    Latest signal strengths at 5GHz in bedroom:
    Red=new optic fibre dual band 2.4/5GHz single SSID router
    Pink=latest 5GHz dual band dual SSID WiFi/ethernet extender https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/41fa6a47e3b7b9cb343c5533f587cd012ae46217c2c4cd78cb16f2523f563886.jpg
    I've managed to connect my old 5GHz tablet to a dedicated 5GHz WiFi ethernet connected extender located in the kitchen directly below my bed but you can see from the above signal strength chart that despite no overlapping frequencies the higher signal strength is marginal.

    Currently connected at a congested 2.4GHz WiFi band from a G4 mobile wireless connected router at the end of my bed.

    1. I'm not sure of your technical level but you don't have to use the router the installer gives you. We've a house full of Unfi access points – there are four of their wifi 7 devices and a simpler wifi 6 one in the garage with another bashing out into the garden for the lawnmower.

      Ours is slightly overkill but you could get their little dream router and see about some other devices from there?

      1. My contract with BT enables me to claim unlimited data on both my WiFi SIMs should I find fault with their supplied router.

        Thanks for your tips on WiFi solutions – I’m still on a learning curve. on the latest developments in self organising full coverage domestic mesh WiFi solutions.

    1. Who's going to be put in that detention centre that they built in one week, I wonder?
      Give the government tools and sooner or later they will use them against their own citizens.

      1. Well, they’ve got 50 million non-citizens to deal with first …. then 50 million who’ve been wokewashed at the universities/schools + hate all western values …

        1. If that was the British government, would you trust them to deal with the illegals first?
          I just get a bit worried when the government that can't invest in roads, bridges etc can put up a concentration camp within a week.

        1. Nice try, Lewis, could be, but Trump really tough and has equally tough nuts on his team. Not sure I can say the same for Lowe, although I like him very much.

      2. Was in the docs this morning. An Iranian, 3 blacks and a Polish woman, me and an elderly couple.

        If the invasion Blair forced hadn't occured, there'd have been 3 people in that waiting room. The three British people who've paid for the NHS.

        1. At a guess, possibly the Polish woman the only one usefully employed. Blair can say as he likes, problem is others listened to him. Some others work in the NHS, likely fall apart but for them, cleaning, auxiliary work etc…..you’ll know, wibbling?

    3. Tents and trailers normally used to house people when a natural disaster occurs. Just the place to be when one of those Gulf of Mexico hurricanes sweeps across Florida.

      1. Americans who were made homeless by the floods that conveniently resulted in a lot of mining land becoming available last year iirc, spent the winter in tents, I believe.

    1. She looks exhausted, perhaps had bad news (other than that of the economy)…Gnarls Barkley style, who will save her soul?

      1. It appears she had a row with the Speaker just before PMQs

        He probably asked for proof of what she claimed on her CV.

        1. He is kind of brussen…required for a Speaker. Would have thought she could best him.

    4. As a fellow human being, I can feel some sympathy. Until I remember her unholy delight in screwing parents trying to give their children a good start in life and anyone who wishes to work, save and stand on their own two feet.
      However, we also know that Stoma will not stand by her and the all female front bench will stab her with their nail files.

      1. The idea that Reeves, a know nothing politician who's greeatest achievement is lying on her CV could write the budget for the UK is laughable. The woman's a thick fool.

        The budget is written by the Treasury and they tell the Chancellor what they want and Reeves, because she's dumb was just sold the 'moar munney!' line rather than the whole truth – which she wouldn't understand anway.

        However the glee with which she wasted 15 minutes of everyone's time talking about herself and bitching about the Tories, while knowing full well she was destroying children's education to pay off Labour's funding unions seeing her unhappy doesn't cause a flicker of human interest.

        They're evil.

        1. For once, I think "evil" is the right word.
          This is way beyond mere incompetence.

      2. Rayner covets the large country mansion that goes with the Chancellor’s Office. That bitch will stab this bitch in the front or else sit on her.

  92. 408711+ up ticks,

    Slowly moving the right way, Mr Lowe MP triggers Restore Britain movement, saying he would consider unity with the tory (ino) party.

    To me that smacks of same old,same old
    but would find support from the tribal voters, consequences of no importance.

    I really have a feeling that this will be "our last stand" so mine will be made within a genuine patriotic proven peoples party.

    The Farmers Food and Freedom Party.

      1. What £6000k?? Oh ….wait….no…Scotplod were unable to locate it!

        1. Can that only mean one thing…there were rumours of a third party, someone influential. Bit surprised members haven’t demanded a full investigation. Police took several months or more to even start thinking about doing an investigation….all quiet now……..

          2. Yes, just watching Farage/Kwarteng getting into Reeves/Starmer situation, GBN. Plus a woman called Scarlett who is a strong Labour supporter.

  94. Curiouser and Curiouser.
    Thank goodness this was France; in Blighty, all the officials would be too paralysed by potential accusations of "racism" to do anything.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/07/02/france-disneyland-paedophile-brides-mother-holiday/

    Disneyland paedophile ‘took nine-year-old bride’s mother on holiday’

    Jacky Jhaj was arrested at the fake wedding he organised at the theme park

    02 July 2025 6:00am BST

    Jacky Jhaj has been charged with fraud, breach of trust, money laundering and identity theft
    in Paris
    A convicted British paedophile allegedly took the nine-year-old girl he was due to “marry” in Disneyland Paris on holiday with her mother the year before their fake ceremony.

    Jacky Jhaj, 39, who was described in a previous court case as a “dangerous sexual predator”, was arrested at the fake wedding, which took place at dawn on June 21 at the resort for a reported cost of €130,000 (£111,140).

    An actor hired to play the “father” of the “bride” told The Telegraph that Jhaj had known the girl and her mother for a year and that the three of them had gone on holiday together.

    “This Ukrainian woman [the mother] told me that she had known this Jacky for a year. He paid her money and helped her family,” said Vitalijs, 54, who declined to give his surname for “security reasons”.

    “They went somewhere together to relax, the three of them. I think he won her over with gifts,” he added.

    A video of the fake wedding was shared online

    Police were called to the theme park after staff were alerted to the fact the “bride”, a Ukrainian national wearing a wedding dress and reportedly tottering on high heels, was a young child.

    Jhaj, who rented the resort outside of its opening hours for the fake wedding, was remanded in custody and charged with fraud, breach of trust, money laundering and identity theft.

    He has also been placed under assisted witness status for corruption of a minor. The child and her 41-year-old mother were released without charge.

    Vitalijs, who told The Telegraph he was a former Soviet special forces sergeant, claimed he had foiled the plot.

    “I know how to recognise threats and act in critical situations. I have special military training. This time, I couldn’t stay silent,” he said, adding that he had been “in a separate special forces unit of the GRU airborne troops” just before the fall of the Soviet Union.

    He said Jhaj told him the “bride” would be played by the nine-year-old’s mother, who he met a month before at a casting for the event in Brno, in the Czech Republic.

    Jacky Jhaj was described in a previous court case as a ‘dangerous sexual predator’
    Vitalijs said: “I was paid €150 for the casting. They promised to pay €500 for one hour of filming in Paris,” he said. Previous reports had suggested he had been offered a far higher sum.

    He was only informed that the “bride” was in fact the child and not the mother “five hours before the ceremony”. He then refused to take part and was banned from attending by Jhaj.

    However, he went to Disneyland to inform management of the involvement of a minor.

    “I knew I had to act. I snuck into Disneyland without a pass. One of the employees accompanied me. I had a handwritten note with me that said: ‘This is not a real wedding. The girl is nine years old!’

    “I approached the building… and could see that the ceremony was taking place on the second floor.

    “I entered the first floor and saw… a Disneyland employee who had been present at the online meeting. I immediately handed her the note. The [fake] wedding was stopped immediately.”

    Vitalijs said when he went to the police station, officers showed him a British passport with his photo on it.

    “I found out that my passport had been forged. I only remember the first name, Mikhail. I don’t remember the surname. “I remembered that this girl in Riga had asked me for a passport photo ‘for a pass to Disneyland’,” he said, referring to another event organiser.

    “Of course, I [told the police] that it wasn’t me and that it wasn’t my passport.”

    After the foiled event, he said he met the mother and the child at the police station when all three were released without charge.

    Vitalijs said that after his service in Soviet special forces, he went on to train in London to become an “international bodyguard” and was employed to protect several French film stars, including Alain Delon and Catherine Deneuve.

    1. So the "actor" was in fact a bodyguard? Too close to the whole murky world…who knows what the truth is.

      1. muslim paedophile raped a child. I think that's as close to the truth as can get.

    2. From the reading: the mother sold her daughter to two paedophiles who raped the child for over a year.

      Someone, please tell me why the lot are them are not being tortured to death?

      1. I doubt the French will be particularly keen on this export from Britain. Hope they don#t return it any time soon.

    1. I don't think they understand what they're doing is malignant. More, I don't think if confronted with the truth they'd accept it.

      Strictly speaking, that's a form of psychopathy – the refusal to feel guilt or shame for your decisions. Truly, these are the worst bunch of politicians we've ever had, and all the more reason to ensure they are controlled and can do nothing without our permission.

      So much damage could be avoided if they simply couldn't act without our express permission. How much carnage would have been stopped. It's ironic that when we had Brexit, the Left mobilsed desperately to prevent government from carrying out the negotiation and forcing parliament to have the final say. That hamstrung May and prevented no deal, while giving effluent like Soubry and Bercow the power to undermine the outcome.

      Why do the Right not do similar? We have a government that is actively dangerous. It must be stopped and removed, but we simply accept an absurd voting outcome.

      1. Lie on your CV. Get promoted way about your talents, qualifications or experience in a job where you can influence everyone's wellbeing. Vote for mass murder and profligate waste and stand by while the country is invaded.
        Surely, at some point along that path, a normal person would understand that they had done something malignant?

    3. I have not got one scrap of sympathy for the ghastly, lying woman. My sympathy lies with the farmers and small business owners, and their families who live on a knife edge, thanks to her vile policies.
      I also have sympathy for the family of the farmer who has committed suicide.
      .

      1. No govt policies should cause anyone to commit suicide, there is something very very wrong if they do.

    1. Last night was more comfortable, a lot cooler. My first decent night's sleep for a while. How is your ear, has it recovered?

  98. Michael Deacon
    Congratulations, Liz Truss – you’re no longer Britain’s worst prime minister

    Sir Keir Starmer has about as much authority over the Commons as the dust bunnies beneath the Speaker’s chair

    02 July 2025 3:24pm BST

    The grown-ups are back in the room. That was the breezy consensus among liberal observers, this time last year, as they looked forward to Sir Keir Starmer ushering in a glorious new era of political stability, integrity and competence.

    “No more psychodramas and scandals,” chirped the former MP Anna Soubry, who quit the Tories in 2019 over her loathing of Brexit. Jon Sopel, of the centrist dad podcast The News Agents, felt it apt that “as Starmer drives to Downing Street the sun comes out”. Ian Dunt, of the anti-Tory podcast Oh God, What Now?, was pleased to report: “Power suits Starmer, as expected. Looks comfortable, relaxed, in charge.” Meanwhile, Krishnan Guru-Murthy of Channel 4 News warned his fellow journalists that from now on, they would have to focus on policy rather than in-fighting and chaos – because “we now have a Government with a massive majority, widespread agreement and no likelihood of massive instability any time soon”.

    Perhaps the giddiest response to last July’s election, however, came in the Metro, which dubbed Sir Keir “the new Downing Street Daddy” – because, apparently, everyone on TikTok was excitedly discussing whether he was “our hottest prime minister in history”. Arguments in support of this thesis included, “He’s objectively handsome”, “He cares”, and, believe it or not, “His personality”.

    Ah, what heady days those were. And how tragically, gibberingly delusional they seem today.

    Let’s look at the state of play, one year into the Starmer disasterclass. This week, to avert a humiliating rebellion over his Welfare Bill by Labour MPs who were talking openly about removing him as their leader, Sir Keir has had to perform a U-turn so farcical that, instead of cutting spending on benefits, he’s going to end up increasing it by £300 million. Yes, despite having a vast working majority of 165, he was incapable of winning a crucial vote on a flagship Bill without junking practically everything except its title. The man now has about as much authority over the Commons as the dust bunnies beneath the Speaker’s chair.

    Meanwhile, we learn that, in the first half of this year, 20,000 migrants arrived in Britain via small boats – beating all previous records. Quite an achievement for a man elected on a promise to “smash the gangs”, and who, only last month, was boasting to the prime minister of Italy about “the UK’s world-leading work on people-smuggling sanctions”.

    Did he seriously mean that? Frankly, it’s hard to be sure what he means about anything. Certainly not grooming gangs (one minute, dismissing calls for a national inquiry as a “far-Right bandwagon” – the next, sheepishly clambering aboard it himself). Or the winter fuel allowance (one minute, totally unsustainable; the next, comfortably affordable). Or, perhaps most pathetically, mass immigration. Mere weeks ago, he sternly warned us that it risks turning Britain into “an island of strangers”. Now he confesses that he “deeply regrets” saying so. Remarkable. He’s even U-turned on the one thing he actually managed to get right.

    Meanwhile, no one can still believe his pledge to be responsible with the public finances, after his mind-boggling decision to pay Mauritius £30 billion of our money to take the key strategic asset of the Chagos Islands off our hands. Soon enough, though, Sir Keir will be even less trusted than he is now. Because, having failed to cut welfare spending, he will inevitably have to break his solemn vow not to raise taxes for the dwindling number of people in this country who pay more into the system than they pay out. Which will mean any faint hopes he may harbour of reviving his fortunes will die with the next Budget.

    Still, let’s be fair. Despite all the doom and gloom, there is one person who is unmistakably benefiting from Sir Keir’s actions in office.

    Congratulations, Liz Truss – you’re no longer Britain’s worst prime minister.

    Yes, her spell in No 10 was a screaming catastrophe. But at least it was all over nice and quickly. Sir Keir’s waking nightmare, by contrast, has dragged on for a whole year. And, unless his MPs have the decency to put him out of both his and our misery, it could drag on for another four.

    It’s almost enough to make me feel sorry for the man. Mind you, I suppose he can console himself with one small, comforting thought.

    After a few weeks of either Angela Rayner or Ed Miliband in No 10, he’ll seem like a political titan.

    1. "He cares"
      I guess they didn't know that Lord Ali was paying for his specs and Ukrainian rentboys were in the picture then.

    2. Truss' budget would have made huge differences to the country. That was why the entire state machine fought her.

    4. BTL:

      Michael Deacon
      Telegraph
      37 min ago
      pinned
      Evening everyone,

      I'm here to take your views on today's big question: is Sir Keir Starmer already the worst PM this long-suffering country has yet known? Or do we need to endure another four years of him, just to make absolutely sure?

      Let me know…

      Larry Shelton
      1 hr ago
      How about the following for 'worse than Truss':

      – Blair: Equalities Act. Human Rights Act. Supreme Court. Scottish parliament. 50% into higher education. Five disastrous reforms with consequences that will last for decades.

      – Brown: Gold reserves for sale and dividend tax credit anyone? Later, as PM, told Lloyds to rescue HBOS … thereby wrecking two banks not just one

      – Cameron: Promised to reduce immigration to the low tens of thousands, then did the opposite.

      – May: Elected with one job: to deliver Brexit

  100. Arold
    3h
    Remember back when Truss was ousted and the Labour supporters and MPs laughed at her demise?
    Or when Boris caught COVID and nearly lost his life – and Labour MPs and supporters wished him death?

    Or when the press, egged on by Labour, hounded Dom Cummins?

    It's called karma.

    We are allowed a little schadenfreude here on the right. We and all the millions of others suffering under this government deserve it.

    Blasphemous Duck
    3h
    Cry more. You have destroyed the economy, enacted policies out of sheer spite and you have embellished your CV in a way that would get you sacked from most jobs.

    Fireytas
    4h
    Crying about her own job prospects. not the job prospects of thousands that she has ruined

    1. Not to mention setting back the career prospects of genuine, capable women

    2. When I think of all the parents, on far less than the estimated £400,000 Reeves and her husband rake in, my sympathy is zilch.
      Feel tired, Duckie? Try holding down down two or three jobs to give your children a better chance in life. Try working nights and weekends. Try doing your own ironing when you can hardly keep your eyes open and your legs ache. Fill up your car and realise that 90% of that money is supporting illegal immigrants and bludgers.

    1. Could have told you that..

      Having lived through SARS-2003, and then H1N1 in 2011 at ground zero.. and all the stuff that went with it including near bankruptcy.. I'll repeat the conclusions of the many after the dust had settled: *Twenty odd deaths! What the F was all that about?*

      1. Hong Kong 'flu = 1968. 80,000 died. Life continued as usual except for the relatives of the dead. In fact, most people were not really aware of what was happening.

        1. Asian 'Flu 1957.
          Teachers and pupils going down like flies. One week, our class of 32 reduced to 5.
          Same happening outside the hallowed grounds; shops stayed open; theatre, cinemas, restaurants pubs etc… the same. Schools continued as normal (boo!).

          1. The only thing I remember about that pandemic was the kids going…….." Alsatian flu – Woof woof! "………

      2. During the H1N1 'scare' in 2011, a colleague got hold of a large supply of whatever the antidote drug was for his family, 'just in case.' Needless to say, it was never used. Given how he reacted then, I guess him and his wife have had every single jab and booster going. They may well still be wearing muzzles.

    2. Indeed.
      My dear friend who now has terminal cancer still wears a muzzle …… mostly below her nose. Recently, she was told she would only be allowed to have a course of some life-extending chemo drug if she had the latest conjab booster. Yup, she is getting both. You can't fix stupid.

      1. Well she's not ready to die yet – and the chemo might work, or not.
        Several of my friends have died over the last couple of years………..

        1. I really hope the new drug works.
          It's the way she was coerced into taking the latest booster that really annoys me.

          1. It was coercion. But she probably feels she might as well in case the chemo can work.

  103. That's me done slogging away in the garden as it's now getting rather warm (15C), cut the grass and strimmed some overgrown bits then split some logs – my fortunes then ended when a rather large knotty log split with a bang, one piece went flying past my head and hit the wall, the other piece would have hit the wall but my face was in the way….🤬 ouch, drew blood from my chin. All patched up now.

  104. Well, what a satisfactory day.
    I took advantage of the cooler weather and had a baking blitz.
    We now have;
    24 choc chip buns
    3 lemon drizzle cakes
    15 12 jam tarts (who let MB into the kitchen?)
    1 large and 1 small rich fruit cake
    A Fridge Pizza – same principle as Fridge Soup, but with a rich scone base for all the bits hanging around.
    Plus a rice pudding with sultanas and chicken thighs marinaded in whole grain mustard and honey before roasting. (Sounds dire but works a treat.)
    Once that oven is on, I make it work for its living.

    3. That rice pudding sounds fascinating! Marinated chicken, rice, milk, cook? Or other stuff?

      1. :-). Two separate items. The chicken was the main course; the rice pud was "afters".
        (Thank goodness my late English teacher didn't read my bodged sentence. Or – looking skywards – did she?)

    5. Wow! Did you even have time to make & eat lunch or have a cuppa?
      Very impressive.

  105. Evelyn
    10m
    Reeves was comforted by her sister, Baroness CRYER!

    Charlie Dudgeon
    34m
    BBC Verify has been unable to confirm if they were real tears.

    HatanakaHacker
    38m
    To add to this shambles, gilt rates are up 17bp, so 0.17%, today, that's another £5bn a year in interest costs that the Crimea River Chanellor has delivered.

  107. EXC: Motability Scandal Deepens as £600 Million Worth of Free Cars Go to People With ‘Stress’, ‘Generalised Anxiety’ and ‘Tennis Elbow’

    The Motability Scheme, the government-backed programme that hands out cars in exchange for PIP benefits, is back in the spotlight. Fresh figures quietly released in response to a Parliamentary Question reveal that in 2024 alone, £600 million was funnelled from the Department for Work and Pensions straight into the Scheme. As of April, 589,550 claimants have taxpayer-funded cars…

    Guido took a look at the ‘conditions’ listed by those currently on the scheme. Brace yourself….

    Food intolerance: 20 cars.
    Failure to thrive: 10 cars.
    Tourettes: 230 cars.
    Frozen shoulder: 150 cars.
    Drug misuse: 220 cars.
    Alcohol misuse: 770 cars.
    Generalised anxiety: 1,030 cars.
    Stress: 20 cars.
    Depressive disorder: 7460 cars.
    Obesity: 800 cars.
    Dyslexia: 320 cars.
    Tennis elbow: 40 cars.
    Campaign group Crush Crime has pointed out that it is easier for a drink-driver to get a free car from the state than a lifetime driving ban, and has since launched a petition give lifetime bans to repeat drink drivers. Meanwhile, Labour have still not provided a solution to the ongoing scandal. Taxpayers taken for a ride here…

    2 July 2025 @ 16:05

    Beebsplaining
    26m
    It says it all that Reeves is upset from a personal matter and not the galactic omnishambles she has enabled 🤔
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fd86897cd897352179fa42e50e447096968a90d34241f9938477bde29f8ba977.png

    1. We had a family up the road who had a Motability car because the father had burnt his brain out on drugs and the mother used it as her personal transport.

    4. A grossly fat couple of benefit scroungers used to take their children to the local school in their nice new Motability (prob. with reinforced suspension …..) car. They only lived a 10 minute walk away. They reckoned they were 'disabled' by their obesity, which of course was not their fault.
      One time, I was behind them in the supermarket queue – the contents of their well-laden trolley showed why they were so fat.
      The children, then aged 4 & 6, didn't stand a chance. The older child was already very overweight, the younger one was decidedly chubby.

  108. I really loathe these women in "important" jobs who weep like children who fell over in the playground.

    Reeves, Vennells, Treason May (and, I regret to say) Mrs Thatcher).

  109. Wordle No. 1,474 2/6

    🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    Wordle 2 Jul 2025

    Suffer an Eagle?

    1. Well done! Only a par here.

      Wordle 1,474 4/6

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

    2. Well done! My second starter word made this a reasonably straightforward birdie……

      Wordle 1,474 3/6

      ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
      ⬜⬜🟨🟩⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

        1. Yes, I'm intrigued as to what your starter word was! If you can, put it up behind a 'spoiler' – if not, no worries!

          2. Piss off has 7 letters!

            Seriously, I know (think?) you change your starter words quite often, I dont as I always believe things even out over time. I was trying to work out a combo of 4 of the 5 for todays word but couldnt be bothered to follow it through – was rather hoping you'd just tell me!

            Edit: Ah, I get it now – thanks to sos below! Sorry, just being a bit dense…..

    3. Mine was less so but managed a Par.

      I remembered your first word and thought of you when completing this Wordle.

      Wordle 1,474 4/6

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

    4. Well done, just a birdie here.

      Wordle 1,474 3/6

      ⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜
      ⬜🟨🟨🟨⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  110. Bob Vylan axed from festival after Glastonbury ‘hate speech’ row

    Rap duo will no longer appear in Saturday headline slot at Manchester’s Radar Festival
    *
    *
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07/02/bob-vylan-axed-manchester-festival-glastonbury-hate-speech/
    **********************

    Two Together
    2 hrs ago
    When is he going to be arrested?

    GB Wood
    2 hrs ago
    Reply to Two Together
    That is the ONLY question. His criminal act was too public to be ignored.

    Michael Hutton
    2 hrs ago
    Reply to Two Together – view message
    At last the jury is being selected for the two Manchester men who caused those problems at the airport a year ago I see they are pleading not guilty despite video evidence.

    1. They are Muslim. They are innocent victims of state-sponsored Islamaphobia!

    2. The only way that pair can be pleading not guilty given the video evidence is if they believe that the system is rigged enough in their favour that they will get off.

      1. There's an element too of them believing that what they did was right and justified and therefore doesn't carry guilt. They don't think like us. They have a different value system.

    3. Sadly the guy that started the whole who-ha on the airplane by pushing the fat ugly mother then getting beaten up in the coffee outlet.. did not wish to press charges. An off-duty policeman from Saudia Arabia who was holidaying with his family. LOL

      Now that would have been delicious.

    4. The incitement towards his ex-boss, "the bald c*nt", for being a "Zionist" is of far greater concern than having a pop at the armed to the teeth IDF. His ex-boss is one man, I hope he is OK.

  111. Afternoon all…… been busy doing not very much. Husband is busy watching the tennis.

    1. Just got home from a lunch at the Ivy Winchester. Tian of crab. Then some smoked salmon. A glass of Chablis. Absolutely fab. Then listened to O mio babbino caro in the high street. She went off tune a bit when i dropped a £20 on her !

        1. You know me. Total show off. I shouldn't have ordered the second bottle of Champagne though.

        1. That really was a night to remember. Such a beautiful gown and then that voice ! All for me !!!

    1. Afternoon, Ndovu,
      Thieves Reeves claims 'I'm under so much pressure.' Diddums, entirely of her own making.
      What about the great pressure ordinary tax-payers, small companies, genuinely sick & disabled benefits claimants and so on are under simply because of her ruinous, spiteful, vindictive, extreme lefty/socialist policies?
      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14867307/Starmer-PM-welfare-benefits-tax-Labour-rebels-wealth-Reeves.html
      Though if this episode results in her removal, goodness knows what Harmer Starmer will replace her with.

        1. Quite possibly.
          Thieves Reeves, along with many/most of the cabinet and liebour MPs are all in positions far above their capabilities.

      3. The silly cow should simply stop paying £5 Billion to Ukraine every year which in itself would cover the supposed savings to be made by cutting benefits to the claimants, thus rendering that woeful policy null and void.

        The full cost of supporting Ukraine is of course far greater than £5 Billion. The aggravation to our energy costs by Mad Ed is exacerbated by poor trade relations with Russia. Accordingly our energy costs are now the highest of all Western European countries.

    2. The bbc news blamed it on a slight altercation with the speaker on the way in to the house….yeah right !

    3. She looked as though she had been having a jolly good blub for some time prior to PMQs judging from the redness and sizeable bags under her eyes, you've got to have been giving it some welly to end up with a face in that sort of condition..

    1. If it had been Donald Trump, in New York, with exactly the same evidence against him he'd have been found guilty in a couple of votes.

      I used to believe in trial by jury, but it is becoming so following of politics/race/DEI that I no longer trust the system.

      1. Abolishing trial by jury is thought to be one of the important steps on the way to the new serfdom. We're being manipulated not to trust it.

        1. It’s a feature of our lives that even I would turn violent if the PTB tried to stop it.

  117. That's me for today. Drizzled all morning – useless rain – just made everything wet but did not proper good to the soil. Nor did it have any effect on the now very empty rainwater butts. It is supposed to rain Sunday and Monday. I DO hope so. Mid afternoon, the sun came out and it was quite pleasant apart from a blustery wind. Should be calmer tomorrow when I MUST spray potatoes and tomatoes with Bordeaux Mixture.

    Have a jolly evening (try not to do a Dinner Lady and weep copiously).. Market tomorrow.

    A demain.

    2. I fed and watered my tomatoes earlier. I have at least 4 different varieties. The large plums are doing well.

  118. Pressure group Restore signs up David Starkey as political strategist.

    David Starkey becomes member of Rupert Lowe's movement..
    Now we're talking..

    1. I trust they will steer Reform in the right direction after these red flags over the last ten months.

      Chairman Zia Yusuf buys Reform for £200,000.
      Shamima Begum welcome back to UK.
      Tommy Robinson not welcome.
      Tommy Robinson's supporters not welcome. LOL
      Arch-remainiac Charlie Mullins to stand for Reform.
      Expulsion of Rupert Lowe.
      Rupert Lowe reported to police.
      Mass deportation not possible.
      Didn't support Lowe's grooming gang inquiry.
      Not fussed about demographic replacement.
      We can't isolate Islam in any way, we must work with them.
      Calls for the sacking of a Labour councillor over his support for Tommy Robinson.

    1. I may be profligate but i don't waste stamps !

      Lunch for two was £248. My card was declined so my guest ended up paying. What larks.

      1. That was bad luck.
        I went out to lunch with four others and the host's card got rejected, even though it had worked earlier when buying a bottle of champagne to celebrate a grandchild.
        I paid for the lunch, much to their embarrassment, and they've never let me forget it.
        Pleasantly, but even so, it was a mishap, not something to make a lot of fuss about.

        1. Quite so.

          My bank was looking after my interests. It was an unusual transaction in a town i don't visit often. Though after today i believe Winchester will become more favoured. The decline isn't visible there unlike Southampton and Portsmouth.

      2. That's quite steep for lunch but it generally depends on the booze! 😉

        Having said that I took my elder brother (sadly no longer with us) to dinner at L'Enclume in Cartmel (Simon Rogan's place) for his 60th birthday – and for me and him and my missus it was £630 – and this was 10 years ago! I gritted my teeth and tipped to £700, serious dough but I have to say it was (sort of) worth it, an astonishing experience!

        Unfortunately, my card wasnt declined…….

        1. I don't know what to say except you taking your brother to lunch was a fine thing to do.

          1. Thank you – we were very close and he was going through a bit of a rough time having split from his wife, so I thought we'd kick the arse out of it! L'Enclume has 2 Michelin stars and has regularly won Best Restaurant in Britain so I knew what I was getting into – we've been there 3 times (not to that level of spend) but it's nice to keep as a (very) special venue – and we can walk there and back home!

  120. Re Farage. From the latest podcast of the Lotus Eaters (also available on Rumble and probably YouTube);

    …“Well, not Nigel Farage. He will be the next Prime Minister, I think, but even he understands that he is actually containment for the Blairite project. Even he is, in his most honest moments, an avowed anti-racist.

    Nigel Farage has made it clear over and over and over, he actually completely supports the International Liberal Project. He actually is one of those people, I will not have any truck with those far right types, and he gets offended, he is mortally wounded, when he's not treated as part of polite society and called a racist. He hates it.

    I mean, this is a direct quote from him. Farage hopes that young men will tend to him to give them a voice, because if you don't, wait till what comes after me. Those who tried to demonise me could be in for a terrible shock once I'm gone.

    That's why we say we believe that we are the last chance to record, restore confidence in the democratic system to change things. Or what does he mean when he says the democratic system? Because it's not like elections are going to stop.

    We'll still be voting for people. It just won't be a liberal democracy. It won't be a Blairite democracy.

    It'll be a democracy voting for people who are further to the right than Farage. Because almost everyone in the country is actually further than the right to Farage. So this is just the latest thing that Restore Britain have posted.”

    From The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters: The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters #1199, 2 Jul 2025
    https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-podcast-of-the-lotus-eaters/id1544753433?i=1000715456371&r=1020
    This material may be protected by copyright.

    1. It's precisely a Farage government that I would be wary of.

      Too many vested interests for non-British values.

      Looking at his team: would they really be a lot better than the current crew?

      OK you fell into the trap
      Who would be his current shadow cabinet?

      And don't say there aren't enough MPs, the important part of the question is who would fill the roles from those who are currently part of Reform?

    2. If that is read from start to finish, it's the most inarticulate gathering of words I've ever come across.

      Just for example; "Farage hopes that young men will tend to him to give them a voice, because if you don't, wait till what comes after me."

      And another; "He actually is one of those people, I will not have any truck with those far right types, and he gets offended, he is mortally wounded, when he's not treated as part of polite society and called a racist. He hates it."

      Gibberish I'm afraid.

  122. It was lovely. The whole front was open and the sun was shining. There was a nice buzz to the restaurant too.

    1. I don't think anyone actually believed what was going on during Covid at the time. Even though they have had five years to try and disregard the outcomes. What they did is still inexcusable.
      He's lost a lot of hair I wonder what has caused that.

    2. Yes, it was the Midazolam wot killed them. No doubt thought of as euthanasia by our alleged betters

      1. When I had a transoesophageal scan, I was told that there would be a sedative administered to prevent me gagging on the tube down my throat. Turned out to be Midazolam.

        3. I had the same (Midazolam) in Endoscopy at Addenbrookes when the doctor removed a large gallstone blockage in my bile duct. Had the same more recently when the plastic pigtail stent they left was removed.

          The hospital insisted on a chaperone to deliver me to the clinic and take me home afterwards. I am due for a further consultation in a fortnight.

          1. Good luck, cori…I was still staggering when walking to car park, held up by husband…

          2. I believe they remembered the discomfort I had the first time around and doubled the dose the second time. It sure as hell knocked me out. As I drifted into paralysis I dreamt I heard someone say “he’s a big chap so give him a larger dose this time”.

          3. It would likely be in your notes…:-)and yes, I think they do it with weight. Thankfully never had to go back, wonder if they don’t do it as much – I honestly believe there are ‘fashion’s in medical treatment, probably been reading the latest journals. Got to keep up, keep their jobs…no waiting list, no need for that medic…

        4. Same, Sue. It actually knocked me out. Came round in a different ward, chap in the bed opposite staring at me. How lovely.

      1. I think he should be nailed upside down to a wall….. and I would personally offer to do it.

  128. Well, the weather's cooled down and so has this forum!

    It was all a bit angry over the weekend…

  129. You may have gathered i am a bit of a foodie. Chefs like Simon Rogan are destination restaurants for me. Not often admittedly. But well worth doing at least once.

    1. You should do it – he was another place in Cartmel just called Rogan's which is extremely good and slightly cheaper – it used to be a lot cheaper but…. however if you want the full two bob with the Tasting Menu (9 courses I think) and Wine Tasting Menu (curated wine choices for the whole meal) then it has to be L'Enclume – it really isnt that 'stuffy' either!
      Both restaurants have on-site rooms….
      Cartmel is a stunningly beautiful little village as well!

  130. Madeline Grant
    At PMQs we saw Keir Starmer’s ugly side
    2 July 2025, 3:41pm

    ‘When a Knight won his spurs in the stories of old, he was gentle and brave, he was gallant and bold.’ I wonder if Sir Keir Starmer ever sang the old hymn, podgy hands on crossed-legged knee when at primary school in the Stakhanovite front-lines of 1970s Surrey? Presumably not, given how ill-suited the epithets therein are to his demeanour. If there had been any doubt as to the nature of Sir Keir’s real character, today’s Prime Minister’s Questions laid them to rest.

    It was always going to be a tricky session after yesterday’s Welfare Bill Apocalypse. Observing the government’s attempted handling of the rebellion has been like watching a fire at a circus. Stakes were also high for Mrs Badenoch; this was less an open goal and more a yawning chasm. She was being asked to take aim at a veritable Grand Canyon of incompetence.

    It was a pleasure to see the Leader of the Opposition take up this column’s long-time identification of ‘toady of the week’. She named and shamed Paul Waugh as such, who had asked a question quoting a constituent in fits of rapture about how wonderful Labour was. And there was me thinking he was MP for Rochdale, not Pyongyang. Mr Waugh looked shocked as Mrs Badenoch called out his invertebracy, pulling a face like Frankie Howerd having his gast flabbered.

    This was probably one of Mrs Badenoch’s best PMQs. Much of it though, was not so pleasant to watch. She turned to the Chancellor. ‘Labour MPs are briefing that she is toast. She is a human shield for his incompetence’ she snapped. ‘Will she still be in post at the next election?’

    Sir Keir did his usual porcine bloviation: Mrs Badenoch was (his favourite word) ‘unserious’, so much so that he quite ‘enjoyed answering her questions actually’. He then sputtered out a laundry list of his government’s alleged successes. As he did so the Chancellor looked up at him like a faithful dog that had been taken out to the woods. She waited for his support in vain. Tears began to flow. It was painful to watch.

    That Rachel Reeves has been out of her depth is clear, yet there was tangible pity for her across the house as she wept during Sir Keir’s answers, having looked as if she’d been crying before. With the Chancellor sitting right next to him, tears visible on her cheeks, the Prime Minister blithely drove the knife in. Sir Keir refused to guarantee her position. It was like the ending of Of Mice and Men.

    Behind the Speaker’s chair, a group of female Labour MPs looked over with real concern at the Chancellor. Behind the PM’s back, his deputy looked over with real hatred at the Prime Minister. I have attended many PMQs over the years and this one had the most uncomfortable atmosphere by a country mile.

    ‘This government is incoherent and shambolic’ Mrs Badenoch concluded; not her words but those of the Labour MP for Liverpool Wavertree. She even took aim at the contents of the London Zoo amphibian tank behind the PM, pointing out that ‘the whips can’t get them through the lobbies, but they can get them to cheer at the right time.’

    After this high drama, the final toady ribbit from the backbenches came from Newport East MP Jessica Morden. It was the 97th anniversary of the Equal Franchise Act and so the 264 female MPs had received sashes from a campaign group. After a session where one of them had received slashes from the Prime Minister this felt like exactly the sort of substance-lite virtue signal which we have become used to seeing as a disguise for the government’s uglier side.

    The PM droned on about how pleased and proud he was of Labour’s record on women MPs. Next to him, the Chancellor looked sadly at her feet. As soon as the Speaker called the end of the session she got up and rushed away, comforted by her sister, without a word to Sir Keir.

    The man might well be a knight: but his sense of chivalry and honour were notably absent today. As the hymn – sort of – goes: ‘back into story-land, giants have fled, the knights are no more and this government is dead.’

  131. Would only add, I noticed the look on Ms Rayner's face, was she distancing herself?…..

      1. Not good to show in public, mum. Have you seen Amazon reviews on McCanns new book, a few mention details I hadn’t heard. Won’t be buying it, think already reduced.

  133. Do you know, Phiz – I've bumped into him a couple of times in Cartmel – he also has a shop there selling an attractive range of hideously overpriced kitchenalia and exotic foodstuffs – and I found him curiously cold and unpleasant, maybe he just didnt like me….

    Just checked for an update – it now has 3 Michelin Stars and the Tasting Menu is £265 per head…….

    1. I haven't met him but….I can imagine what his success is like and can understand his nervousness.

  134. Late sunshine after a cloudy day.
    I've got physio tomorrow morning and stitches removal in the afternoon. I'm walking quite well now but I get some discomfort as in throbbing pain. Paracetamol are very supportive. I usually doze off within 25 minutes of taking two. Which I have done, so goodnight all Nottlers.
    Sleep well. 😴

  135. Ofcom Staff Given Islamophobia and LGBT Awareness Lessons

    Guido has long chronicled Ofcom’s double standards, constantly pursuing GB News and even rejecting the Supreme Court’s ruling on biological sex. Which they tried to keep secret…

    A new FOI from the TaxPayers’ Alliance lifts the lid on just how deep this left-wing ideology goes. Ofcom staff can spend 20% of their time – a full day a week – running internal staff ‘networks’ based on race, LGBTQ and religion. In just the last year, they’ve hosted no fewer than 12 “Raising Awareness of Culture and Ethnicity” events, four “Pride” events, and six “Faith” events. Some of these include:

    Three “Internal menopause awareness sessions” – one hour each.
    “Eid-ul-Fitr Celebration (drop in session)” – one and a half hours.
    “Pride event (Edinburgh)” – one and a half hours.
    “RACE Network welcome for interns” – one hour.
    “South Asian Heritage Month – talk by external speaker” – one hour.
    RACE Network: “Saying Goodbye to our interns” – one hour.
    “Pride Panel” – Two and a half hours.
    Two Black History Month events including a talk from external speaker – one hour each.
    “Islamophobia Awareness Event. External speaker panel” – one and a half hours.
    “Iftar Night – Celebration” – two hours.
    Ofcom’s annual budget for these ‘networks’ is £9,000. This is not a neutral regulator…

    July 2 2025 @ 14:55

    Polly On The Shore
    2h
    Оh dо еff оff.
    Тhіѕ ѕtuff іѕ mаkіnɡ uѕ thе lаuɡhіnɡ ѕtосk оf thе wоrld.

  136. Revealed: Chancellor ‘Loveaholic’ and Young Reeves’ Racy Email

    It’s been a tough week for the Chancellor. Her tears moved the bond markets…

    How much easier things were at the start of her promising political career. In June 2006 The Guardian noted:

    “What, moreover, is 27-year-old Oxford-educated economist Rachel Reeves, Labour’s candidate in this month’s exciting Bromley and Chislehurst (or, as her website briefly had it, Chiselhurst) byelection, doing with an email address like luvaholic@ http://hotmail.com? The good burghers of Bromely should, we feel, be told.”

    And to think people call her joyless? Simpler times…

    2 July 2025 @ 17:14

    Cjamesk
    4h
    Gilt yields getting cooked 😆
    Thank goodness we have the adults back in charge
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4abfc97c3e6970c859c7375f2610025a7a44a7f9dcd96c5dd36383d24fae5dd1.png
    Captain Sensible
    3h
    Rachel Reeves goes into a bank. The cashier asks for ID. “I don’t carry ID,” says Reeves, “because everybody knows me. I’m the Chancellor of the Exchequer.”

    The cashier says that the bank requires everyone to show ID and, when Reeves starts to argue, insists that these are statutory rules imposed by Parliament itself.

    At last, the cashier says “ID doesn’t have to be a card. For instance, we had Mo Salah in the bank once. He scrunched up some paper into a ball, then volleyed a curving shot into the waste bin at the other end of the bank. Then we knew it must be him. Can you think of anything you could do?”

    Rachel racks her brains but has to admit “No, I haven’t got a single, solitary idea in my head, anywhere.”

    ”That’ll do nicely” says the cashier, “How can I help you?”

    Dissident
    4h
    The Guardian/Reeves lying even back then. She's never been an economist. Just economical with the truth.

    Rick B
    4h
    Rachel Hatred is the person who is going to have to stand in front of parliament and the nation and explain why she is going to raise taxes to the most horrifically punitive level ever.
    Any cuts she tries to make will be simply refused by every department with civil servants looking on with absolutely no pity as they defend their pointless but luxurious gravy trains.

    No wonder she's crying. She's looking at the bus from where Soyatollah Starmer has thrown her.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/91192db0bcc8a4c257cd4eef335e1034fd9a19425c77b7e7ae67935923a9cd11.png

  137. Meant to post this earlier. Guess what I found in the fountain at the Bowes Museum? https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3cd71f57428244752de6b6bb69e52d606c43b697dea8c2519e6b7c6cc3c59ae2.jpg Yep! A bag of dogshit.
    That aside, yesterday the DT & self met up with Dr. Daughter and went for a walk to Eaglestone Abbey down one side of the Tees, then back up the other side from lunch. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5e69369656c9cb5b79a00763104e1026fd146b14a1aea1d17326a682e9487a61.jpg The bridge we went over https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a96dbcafe906194406da8eafa40b97a29618e963c588b7f0bcc7729e4f931823.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4fbd1a490805be05db7860e0869fbedfcfed260635fef687c0049f2d458410bd.jpg In the caravan park we walked through, we found this 1950s or '60s Wicksteed "teapot lid" roundabout; https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/87b95ed2ac317bdefd7f87e2e1575c04dbbd6129217aa2e9e5f940ac84dc2cf7.jpg Then we got to the Abbey https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/49028d09ccc94fb3a2a63966347b8138afb66ec06b29a0acf2f17acebb1b41b9.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1c969b4a50dd1f8641bf40f7f36ea531d94515307b39ccae053304c048655545.jpg Dr. Daughter inspecting the Infirmary https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0ee88d522f25672ff8ecc5a47ac8ac3f34784981df7edd649b30d7fb17c112aa.jpg And a lovely Mother and child photo https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/224d8eda7d0d4de2bdf5a043b8d27c11438132ef890e6aa9f1f8e64e16ae041a.jpg After the dissolution, this bit was apparently repurposed as a manor house and then fell into disrepair in the late 1800s. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5d62933178c902363187ff63eb839f3e1ba0050cba6bb12843353340494ae0ce.jpg

    1. All good apart from the bag. I remember visiting my father when he was still mobile, we walked together by the church as we always used to. A new house had been built, with a small tree in the garden – where tens of dog dirt bags had been thrown – perhaps literally a dirty protest. Hope you got to see the silver swan, guessing maybe not as you have no photo, Bob? Thanks for the memories, Kate x

        1. Thanks, will look out for them. It's more than likely I did see them, memory like a sieve. Edit: Found it, in and among his other photos, had somehow missed them.

      2. We did see it working, but it is such a short display it was over before I realised it!

    2. Notice the unusual tracery of the Abbey. I checked when I was there in the mid seventies and the plain vertical mullions are part of the original build.

      I visited several historic sites when staying and working in St Helen Auckland Hall, home of my boss Sir William Whitfield. The project was the feasibility study for the development of Richmond Yard, realised a decade or more later as Richmond House Whitehall.

      Whitfield had drawing boards set up in the Tudor kitchen wing which was attached to the C18 pavilion (1715), a building built for the Mayor of Newcastle for the entertainment of guests. When the sun appeared we took off to visit nearby sites such as Raby Castle, Eaglestone Abbey, Bowes Museum, High Force, Barnard Castle for antiques and many other sites. We even managed fish & chips wrapped properly in newspaper in Spennymoor.

      Edit: Greta Bridge was magical and just as John Sell Cotman had painted it (along with other great painters).

      1. I never explored West Durham in the past until the ’90s when, to get to my sister’s in Wooler, we’d go for a day’s drive and end up there!
        Very often I feel that simply driving from A to B is a waste of an an opportunity to explore whatever is beside the direct route.

    3. Notice the unusual tracery of the Abbey. I checked when I was there in the mid seventies and the plain vertical mullions are part of the original build.

      I visited several historic sites when staying and working in St Helen Auckland Hall, home of my boss Sir William Whitfield. The project was the feasibility study for the development of Richmond Yard, realised a decade or more later as Richmond House Whitehall.

      Whitfield had drawing boards set up in the Tudor kitchen wing which was attached to the C18 pavilion (1715), a building built for the Mayor of Newcastle for the entertainment of guests. When the sun appeared we took off to visit nearby sites such as Raby Castle, Eaglestone Abbey, Bowes Museum, High Force, Barnard Castle for antiques and many other sites. We even managed fish & chips wrapped properly in newspaper in Spennymoor.

    3. Not only energy, Citroen1…I remember comparing prices with PetaJ (living in France) of GPs and vets, who mostly used a room in their homes for surgeries to see respective patients. Vet especially was much less expensive.

    1. Fantastic aeroplane – unfortunately I never got to work on it – I worked on the other great V bomber, the Vulcan

      1. Saw one of the last displays of the Vulcan a few years ago at the South Cerney airshow. What a noise!! Nothing like it!

        1. One flew directly overhead from Duxford (about six miles away) air show a few years ago; I was sitting in the conservatory obviously not expecting nor knowing what it was, the noise was terrifying in its sudden approach and then immediately overhead!

          1. I was helping on a charity stall at the time – we ran outside to see what the noise was – & Tessa, who was with me said “That’s a big noisy thing”………. I didn’t realise at the time it was the final performance. Striking shape as well sound.

          1. It’s pretty good in the air too. They don’t make them like that any more.

    2. It looks futuristic even today but from an era the likes of which we shall not see again.

    3. Thank you for that Oberst, my dad worked for Handley Page back in the day, as a, well, I’m not sure what it was called, maybe an upholsterer? Making the seating. Never talked about it sadly.

      1. Probably covered by the Official Secrets Act – even the upholstery.
        People used to take secrets seriously, back in the day.

  140. Mahler's 3rd finished on R3, so that's me off to bed.
    Good night all.

  141. 408711+ up ticks,

    Pillow Ponder,
    I heard today handcock say along the lines of, i'm not the only one.

    In my book give him a new ID and immunity from incarceration and listen to his version of the Beggers Opera.

    London, the opera satirizes the corrupt society of the time, including the politicians, lawyers, and criminals.

    Andrew Bridgen / Handcock,

    Update

    Having been told by The Honourable Mrs Justice Collins Rice that his application for summary judgment was wrong in a 31 page, 108 paragraph judgment [2025] EWHC 926 (KB) ( https://judiciary.uk/judgments/mr-andrew-bridgen-v-mr-matt-hancock/) , Mr Hancock would not accept that Judgment, and so he asked Collins Rice J for Permission To Appeal. On 12 March 2025 Collins Rice J gave a comprehensive refusal: “It is not now arguable with a real prospect of success that the judgment’s analysis proceeds by error of law” and “It is not arguable with a real prospect of success that the Court had no proper option but to resolve this disputed question of fact on the materials before it without permitting it to go to trial, and to do so conclusively in the Defendant’s favour. The Defendant’s application was not, and could not properly have been, made and argued on that basis.” Not happy with that answer, Mr Hancock now wants to use up more scarce court resources asking for permission from the Court of Appeal, rather than simply defending his position at a trial from the witness box. Mr Hancock is looking in the words of the Judge to “depriv[e] a trial court of the opportunity fully to interrogate the contending arguments and their bases and reflect on them in the context of a trial of the other live issues”. No-one with a strong position on the facts would have any motive to do that.

  142. And suddenly it's bedtime!
    We were quite late having dinner and had a few things to catch up with.
    What a fabulous summer this has been!

  144. Right, chums, I'm off to a belated bed. So Good Night to you all; sleep well and I hope to see you all early tomorrow.

    1. Given the number of times she's been photoed or videoed wiping her nose Ghenghis probably has a point.
      A pity really, she used to be a nice looking young lass.

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