Wednesday 23 November: How the primary care system is sending patients round in circles

Posted on by Geoff Graham

An unofficial place to discuss the Telegraph letters, established when the DT website turned off its comments facility (now reinstated, but we prefer ours),
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643 thoughts on “Wednesday 23 November: How the primary care system is sending patients round in circles”

  2. Good morrow, Gentlefolk, a letter that tells a story.

    Letter to The Canadian Army

    A Canadian female libertarian wrote a lot of letters to the Canadian government, complaining about the treatment of captive insurgents (terrorists) being held in Afghanistan National Correctional System facilities. She demanded a response to her letters.

    She received back the following reply:

    National Defense Headquarters
    Major Gen George R. Pearkes Bldg., 15 NT,
    101 Colonel Bay Drive
    Ottawa, ON K1A 0K2
    Canada

    Dear Concerned Citizen,

    Thank you for your recent letter expressing your profound concern of treatment of the Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists captured by Canadian Forces who were subsequently transferred to the Afghanistan Government and are currently being held by Afghan officials in Afghanistan National Correctional System facilities.

    Our administration takes these matters seriously and your opinions were heard loud and clear here in Ottawa. You will be pleased to learn, thanks to the concerns of citizens like yourself, we are creating a new department here at the Department of National Defense, to be called ‘Liberals Accept Responsibility for Killers’ program, or L.A.R.K. for short.

    In accordance with the guidelines of this new program, we have decided to divert one terrorist and place him in your personal care.

    Your personal detainee has been selected and is scheduled for transportation under heavily armed guard to your residence in Toronto next Monday.

    Ali Mohammed Ahmed bin Mahmud (you can just call him Ahmed) is to be cared for pursuant to the standards you personally demanded in your letter of complaint!

    It will likely be necessary for you to hire some assistant caretakers. We will conduct weekly inspections to ensure that your standards of care for Ahmed are commensurate with those you so strongly recommended in your letter.

    Although Ahmed is a sociopath and extremely violent, we hope that your sensitivity to what you described as his ‘attitudinal problem’ will help him overcome these character flaws.

    Perhaps you are correct in describing these problems as mere cultural differences.

    We understand that you plan to offer counselling and home schooling. Your adopted terrorist is extremely proficient in hand-to-hand combat and can extinguish human life with such simple items as a pencil or nail clippers. We advise that you do not ask him to demonstrate these skills at your next yoga group. Please advise any Jewish friends, neighbours or relatives about your house guest, as he might get agitated or even violent, but we are sure you can reason with him. He is also expert at making a wide variety of explosive devices from common household products, so you may wish to keep those items locked up, unless (in your opinion) this might offend him.

    Ahmed will not wish to interact with you or your daughters (except sexually) since he views females as a subhuman form of property thereby having no rights, including refusal of his sexual demands. This is a particularly sensitive subject for him and he has been known to show violent tendencies around women who fail to comply with the new dress code that he will “recommend” as more appropriate attire.

    I’m sure you will come to enjoy the anonymity offered by the burka over time. Just remember that it is all part of ‘respecting his culture and religious beliefs’ as described in your letter.

    Thanks again for your concern.

    We truly appreciate it when folks like you keep us informed of the proper way to do our job and care for our fellow man.

    You take good care of Ahmed and remember we’ll be watching.

    Good luck and God bless you.

    Cordially,

    Gordon O’Connor
    Minister of National Defense

  4. Landlord admits it made assumptions about family in mouldy Rochdale flat. 23 November 2022.

    A week after a coroner ruled the infant died of a severe respiratory disease caused by mould in the social housing flat, RBH said: “We did make assumptions about lifestyle and we accept that we got that wrong. We will be implementing further training across the whole organisation. We abhor racism in any shape or form and we know that we have a responsibility to all our communities.”

    Did they make the assumption that they were bone idle and too stupid to help themselves? If so they were not far amiss!

    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/nov/22/landlord-assumptions-family-mouldy-rochdale-flat-boroughwide-housing

    1. This should stop before it goes any further. Landlords aren’t responsible for holding tenants’ hands and teaching them basic things like how to clean a flat.
      It’s already been widely reported that the landlord did tell them how to deal with the mould by painting over it, but the parents didn’t do it.

        1. Plenty of people live with black mould and don’t die – the poor child was very unlucky.
          It’s not a hazard for which the landlord should be responsible. This kind of responsibility could creep and creep until nobody can let a house any more, and giants like Blackrock have the monopoly.

      1. Only when it’s presented that the flat was a sub sub sub let welfare fraud, and that the tenants were barely literate Somalis used to a mud hut will this nonsense change.

        They could have cleaned it. Why didn’t they move? Why didn’t they go to social services? Why ddin’t they ask for advice on cleaning it? Why didn’t they go to all the agencies who exist to enforce landlord conditions?

        Because they were criminals, likely here illegally, living in a flat rented from someone else through someone else four times running because corruption, fraud and theft are endemic in that community.

    3. Somalis probably have no experience of mould caused by damp, as after all, it never rains in Somalia, does it? So, they likely didn’t know that it can be fatal.

    1. Good Lord. If Rachel Riley really made that arrogant post, I’ve lost all sympathy with her.
      Someone once did a chart linking how a group of people in Britain all promote each other’s work, give each other positive reviews, promotion in media etc., therefore they all appear successful. That was back in the 90s when one was allowed to notice things like that.

      The JFK quote is from a speech to the press, the year before he was murdered. He hoped to persuade the press and media to support him and expose the plot.
      We’ve had a lot of warnings over the years. The US Senator who was on that Korean flight that crashed back in the 80? early 90s? explicitly warned about the same thing. Icke was silenced by ridicule. Etc.

    2. There was a saying that went something like if you want to know who rules the world just look no further than those that cannot be criticised.

      Well then just wait unit the Islamophobia hate laws come in

    3. ‘Use the positions to influence for good’. Good grief. She really is up herself, isn’t she?

    3. Rather misudnerstanding the purpose of the slogan. It wasn’t to build anything, or to make things better. It was to enforce a political narrative of big state, high tax, control freakery here you obey them and have no choices, no freedoms, no rights.

    1. And I suppose it will be the fault of the landlords if a Somalian child dies in a cold flat…

    2. Well don’t read Amanda Pritchard’s article on why the NHs is giving menopausal women “light duties” and wfh.

  9. Good morning, everyone. Almost back to normal sleeping hours. Got up early and watched another Italian Neo-Realist film directed by Vittorio de Sica called UMBERTO D., also with Portuguese sub-titles. However, unlike EUROPA ’51 which I watched yesterday, this film had much less dialogue and the sub-titles were in sync. with the Italian. So it was much easier to follow. Highly recommended.

      1. He was indeed, Conners, and the other three (Just Men) were Jack Hawkins, Richard Conte and Dan Daily. He (de Sica) also directed the famous neo-Realist film THE BICYCLE THIEVES.

        1. I’m not a great cinema goer – I think the last time I watched a film in a cinema was L’Ours in Rouen!

  10. 368266+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    What a splendid idea but it would sadly fly in the face of the political overseers agenda,and of course the party before Country brigade.

    mickoforpington
    @MickGreenhough

    UK worker shortage should be solved by training British youth not importing migrants as cheap labour

    I do make Mick right,
    We continue to churn out welfare fodder, dependent on the state handouts and useful to the state political overseers as English speaking manipulation units.

    What has proved to be the case is those still supporting, holding membership cards for these political overseers
    parties, are in fact denying their children a useful working future.

    1. I noticed in the business section an article about the “hard right” Meloni Govt cutting benefits for people who don’t work. Whilst I’m generally all for that, at the end it mentioned that a lot of these people who aren’t working are in Sicily and Sardinia which did five me so pause for thought.

  11. Ukraine raids historic Kyiv monastery in hunt for Russian agents. 23 Novembeer 2022.

    Vasyl Malyuk, the head of the SBU, last month described the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine as “perfect ground for the functioning of an enemy [intelligence gathering] network” and said 33 priests suspected of gathering information or acting as Russian artillery spotters had been caught since the war began in February.

    The Russian Orthodox Church condemned the raids as an “act of intimidation”.

    “Like many other cases of persecution of believers in Ukraine since 2014, this act of intimidation of believers is almost certain to go unnoticed by those who call themselves the international human rights community,” Vladimir Legoida, a spokesman for the church said.

    This article unintentionally reveals the reality of Ukraine which is split along ethnic grounds with its Russian population increasingly discriminated against by the government and its agencies. Since their political voice has been silenced with the abolition of its parties and the arrest of its leader it is not unnatural that the Russian Orthodox Church should become a centre for these concerns. That this is being translated into active support for Russia I doubt. The spokesman for the church is of course correct; nothing of this will be condemned in the western MSM!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/11/22/ukrainian-spies-raid-historic-kyiv-monastery-find-russian-agents/

    1. Since the western MSM didn’t seem too interested in 20,000 deaths due to Ukraine shelling its own people, I doubt they’ll worry about a few raids on Christian churches?

  12. Good morning to all and what a bloody foul one it is too. Bucketing down outside with 3°C on the yard thermometer.

    Only here to half 10ish, then it’s off for the bus to Derby and, hopefully, get stepson’s flat sorted out.

  13. Taking everything that has happened over the last few months with the Tory party, and they come out with this? How obtuse can these people be?

    https://twitter.com/darrengrimes_/status/1595096361283817473

    Couple of Tory MPs announcing that they’re baling out before the inevitable.

    https://twitter.com/TiceRichard/status/1595179679228518406

    The threat rears its head and if the threat becomes fact and people die, who will be the first MP to deny his green faith?

    https://twitter.com/TiceRichard/status/1595093993079164930

      1. There’s the sweet taste or REVENGE on those buggers that were in power and made it all wrong.

      2. Red Tories or Blue Labour? Hmm…none of the above please.

        A Conservative politician (when we had such things) under Mrs T once dared to suggest that a large majority is not a good thing. The past few years have proved the point conclusively…this government will be paying the going rate for complacency on an industrial scale. I cannot think of any other in my lifetime when a majority as large as this one has been comprehensively wasted.

        Edit: ‘Morning bb2.

      3. Red Tories or Blue Labour? Hmm…none of the above please.

        A Conservative politician (when we had such things) under Mrs T once dared to suggest that a large majority is not a good thing. The past few years have proved the point conclusively…this government will be paying the going rate for complacency on an industrial scale. I cannot think of any other in my lifetime when a majority as large as this one has been comprehensively wasted.

        Edit: ‘Morning bb2.

    2. The EU was of course conceived as an anti-democratic organisation to bypass the people and implement policies that they would never vote for!

      1. Not so much ‘anti-democratic’ as undemocratic.
        Tony Benn nailed it.

        Also, note the difference between a continental functionary and a British civil servant.

    3. You only have to look at the behaviour of the ‘audience’ to see the kind of shite which tries to govern Europe

    4. The EU has spent more money trying ot overcome the Swiss direct democracy model than on most any other program. It is designed specifically to exclude the voter and concentrate power in the hands of an unelected, self appointing clique.

      There is NO democracy in the EU. Europarl is pointless and powerless. individual nations are impotent – designed to be so. The whole thing is an idiotic, communist farce.

    1. My response…

      Replying to
      @darrengrimes_
      No chance, you’ve dug your own sanitation pit, now wallow in it. I for one, will never vote Conservative again.

    2. I would, but you won’t like the message I’d put out about the useless, failed, spiteful, malicious Tory party.

  20. Keir Starmer refuses to commit to cutting total UK migration numbers. 23 November 2022.

    Sir Keir Starmer repeatedly declined to say whether he wanted the overall level of UK immigration to fall despite toughening Labour’s stance on the issue.

    During an interview with the BBC, the Labour leader was pushed multiple times on whether he thought immigration was too high, but avoided giving a direct response to the question.

    “I’m not going to pluck an arbitrary number and say that’s the right number,” Sir Keir said of the annual immigration figure, dismissing the target-led approach adopted by the Tories in the past.

    The split between the people and their so called representatives is now such that it can only be bridged with ever more outrageous Lies. Starmer, and the Labour Party, have absolutely no intention of reducing immigration. The lack of contradiction from within their own ranks alone tells us this.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/11/22/keir-starmer-refuses-commit-cutting-total-uk-migration-numbers/

    1. IMHO Starmer is joined at the hip to the “leaders” of the Tory party and is unwilling to see that mass immigration, amongst a raft of other issues, is a major concern of the electorate. His goal is no different from that of the current Tory hierarchy i.e. submission to the globalist elite. To expect anything different from him is a complete waste of time. If he was a half decent politician he would be putting clear water between Labour and the Tories. He will do to the Labour party what a long line of useless PMs have done to the Tories. Good riddance.

      2. Morning Korky. There’s no substantial difference between Tory and Labour policies. The main reason the Globalists are so laid back about a Conservative defeat in the coming General Election.

      3. Mark Steyn included an interview with Ben Habib yesterday. I confess that I know little about him, but boy was he on the ball when it comes to understanding what traditional conservatives are crying out for – and not seeing – under the ‘government of the incompetents’ we are currently having to suffer.

        https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=65FtLm11mpc

        BH starts at 49 mins.

    2. How about -500,000 a year, starting with those who arrived here between 97-2020 and who haven’t worked for that entire time?

  21. ‘Morning, Peeps.  More rain this morning, which probably means yet more sewage discharges into the sea…

    Just reading this obituary leaves me breathless, but also full of admiration for this chap. He makes Action Man look like a complete layabout:

    Major-General Keith Spacie, veteran of Malaya and Northern Ireland who applied his leadership skills to the corporate world – obituary

    He fought communists in Asia, introduced safer patrolling methods in Ulster and later forged links between the military and business schools

    ByTelegraph Obituaries22 November 2022 • 12:19pm

    Major-General Keith Spacie, who has died aged 87, was an accomplished soldier, athlete, academic and author who began his military career with the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment patrolling in the jungle of Malaya, where British and Commonwealth forces were conducting one of the few successful counter-insurgency operations undertaken by the western powers during the Cold War.

    Communist terrorists were attacking rubber plantations, mines and police stations, derailing trains and burning workers’ houses. Leading his platoon of about 30 soldiers, Spacie conducted patrols and ambushes in the challenging, extremely hot and often wet and leach-infested jungle conditions, and was Mentioned in Despatches in the London Gazette of September 30 1958 in recognition of his “gallant and distinguished services in Malaya”.

    Keith Spacie was born on June 21 1935 in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire; his father, Frederick, was an engineer and subsequently an insurance agent; his mother was Kathleen. He attended Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in the town and was commissioned into the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment in 1955.

    Following his experiences in Malaya, on transfer to the Parachute Regiment in 1960 he joined the 3rd Battalion (3 Para) and in 1961 deployed for a year to Bahrain, with no mid-tour leave or phone calls, as was common then.

    His junior officer experiences with both regiments saw the early development of the finely honed understanding of the theory and practice of leadership which marked his performance in later senior Army and tri-service appointments, and in his civilian and academic life.

    After attending the Army Staff College in 1966, Spacie commanded D Company 3 Para before tours at Headquarters (HQ) 16 Para Brigade and instructing at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. Promoted to lieutenant-colonel, he commanded 3 Para from 1973-75, during part of the most violent period of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

    His tour in command of 3 Para in Belfast was notably successful, marked by the introduction of new patrolling and observation techniques, including the innovative gathering of video evidence to be used in court for the first time, and four-man foot patrols instead of platoon-sized. The switch rapidly reduced IRA activity in the then hostile Ardoyne area of Belfast; 3 Para suffered no fatalities on that tour or another in the same location the following year, and the patrolling techniques were subsequently adopted widely by the Army.

    Typically idiosyncratic was Spacie’s (and the battalion doctor’s) habit of running in the Ardoyne unarmed and wearing only shorts and vest, as well as permitting a free-fall parachute jump on to waste ground in the area. Despite this, he was seen as focused on military excellence and was extremely demanding, although never unreasonable.

    He recognised the importance of community relations in Northern Ireland, aiming to foster a relaxed attitude with the local population. Throughout his time in command, Spacie also showed a notable concern for and interest in his subordinates and their families, a trait maintained and remembered by those who came under his command in later, more senior appointments.

    In recognition of his and 3 Para’s performance in Ulster, Spacie was appointed OBE.

    Subsequent tours at Supreme HQ Allied Powers Europe and at the National Defence College at Latimer in Buckinghamshire, prepared him for promotion to Brigadier and command of 7 Field Force between 1980 and 1982.

    This was a mixed regular and Territorial Army (TA) brigade, which demanded a different leadership style to an exclusively regular Army formation. Spacie’s character and style resulting from his insights into all aspects of leadership enabled him to weld 7 Field Force into a cohesive and effective formation, where the TA element felt as important and capable as the regulars.

    His TA soldiers admired and respected him, as they felt he understood them. He was known to permit a mistake, but only one, and this proved successful in developing subordinates. He was a first-class trainer, applying great attention to detail. Behind an outwardly intimidating persona, he had a wry sense of humour – and once a deep personal relationship was established, he was a great friend with a fine sense of humour.

    In 1983 Spacie was promoted to Major-General and appointed as Commander British Forces Falkland Islands, only a year after the end of the war, when there was still uncertainty over a continuing threat from Argentina.

    It was the sort of command he relished, with a high degree of independence and a variety of responsibilities including reconstruction, civil-military relations, mine-clearing, welfare, and hosting government ministers. This tri-service role provided further evidence of his leadership style and his concern for the welfare of his subordinates.

    Despite his wide responsibilities, typically he is remembered for visiting the RAF Regiment Rapier Detachments (dets) around San Carlos water and the airfield at Stanley. The Rapier dets experienced the harshest conditions, living underground in squalid, wet and exposed locations for three months or more. Realising this, Spacie made the effort to fly and land at many of these firing points to see what practical improvements could be made.

    His final Army appointment was as Director of Army Training at Upavon in Wiltshire from 1984-87. On his retirement he was appointed CB and embarked on a civilian career making full use of his leadership experience. He published The Army and Leadership in 1994, and applied his experience and insight in the commercial sphere by writing Transforming Corporate Leadership with Patrick Mileham (1996), founded on his belief that corporate culture fails to understand and exploit the leadership skills provided by service in the armed forces.

    He felt there should be more cooperation in developing this topic between the military and UK business schools. Accordingly, he worked on leadership, command and training in the private and public sphere from 1987-89 at Cranfield University, and in 1990 he became a Visiting Fellow at Surrey University’s Centre for Defence Psychology.

    He worked on a broad-ranging programme of research on the role of command and strategy in military effectiveness, often working with the academic psychologist Professor Dame Glynis Breakwell. He was able to feed his findings into protocols for MoD command training.

    Throughout his life, Spacie was a formidable athlete, capable of out-running most of his soldiers and officers regardless of his age – even as a major-general. He was an enthusiastic president of Army Athletics, and in retirement he was able to devote more time to running with Thames Hare and Hounds, the world’s oldest cross-country club, along with his second wife Clare, whom he married in 2015 following the death of his first wife Valerie in 2008.

    As a veteran, he achieved three British titles and three victories in home international championships. In 2012 he was honoured to carry the Olympic torch through Guildford, and only gave up running when he was 80.

    Keith Spacie is survived by Clare, and by a son from his first marriage.

    Keith Spacie, born June 21 1935, died October 16 2022 https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d5518ae8778fcdf071b7f6afe9c92e6a89af1a29d2c191c754b728314ec29157.jpg Running until he was 80. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/60a1f6e5685bca14b5525c314bb5caf258e202e4bdffff88a7eea8e51101b1d8.jpg Carrying the Olympic Torch through Guildford in 2012 https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7d6020f8945d314eb36fd74351cb4565098670957383abf639ec9bd332a14fea.jpg

    1. A couple of fitting BTL posts:

      Stephen Coombe 15 HRS AGO

      Talk about a life fully lived, there it is. There really is something super-human about such people. R.I.P.

      John England14 HRS AGO

      An incredible man, of which very few remain. An outstanding example of leadership.

      1. The grey blob in the centre of the image is the Isle of Arran. Any sensible dinghy navigators would be heading in that direction, hoping to escape the worst of Olga Krankie’s political machinations.

    3. We used to go ‘stooking’ at a farm near Barassie (north of Troon). My eldest brother was the dairyman there and the golf course intruded on the farmland. It became what is now Kilmarnock Golf Course. A wonderful holiday for the family in a time of austerity. {Stooking – stacking sheaves of corn or barley after they have been cut and tied by a simple machine drawn by a tractor}
      https://i.pinimg.com/originals/aa/aa/8e/aaaa8ec7d8db061a8c134b298b9b1ae6.jpg

      1. “Oh dear, what can the matter be?
        Three old ladies got stuck in the lavatory.
        They were there from Monday to Saturday …
        Nobody knew they were there …….”

        Isn’t heartening to think that my parents beggared themselves to give me a private school eddikashun!

        1. Can you identify the three old ladies? Here’s the first – who were the other two?

          The first lady’s name was Old Ms Humphry
          She sat herself down and made herself comfy
          Alas and alack she could not get her bum free
          And nobody knew she was there!”

        1. If the killer thinks he is a woman, then calling him a man is not misgendering, it’s telling the truth. It’s as simple as that. It is not violence, it’s a damned fact.

    4. Of course they did. Can’t have people taking responsibility for their actions, can we?

      However this might be the very first genuinely mentally ill lone wolf who isn’t a muslim!

  25. SIR – Russell Grimshaw (Letters, November 19) says he is “a confident cyclist”. Hopefully, he is not of the type who have nearly run over my dogs recently. These aggressive cyclists are increasingly common. They ignore red lights, weave through traffic, move at dangerous speeds and ride on the pavement. A solution is needed.

    Given how much of the public highway cyclists now occupy, it is time for them to pay for that privilege. They should have to buy an annual licence for, say, £50. They would then receive two six-letter identification labels, to display front and back. Photographs or videos of bad cycling could be sent by phone to an enforcement unit, which would fine the guilty cyclist or issue endorsements in much the same way as for motorists.

    Gregory Shenkman
    London SW7

    And who is going to enforce your new rule when a significant number of cyclists refuse to comply, Mr Shenkman? The police seem reluctant to enforce any rules of the road these days, so I somehow doubt that they will be chasing yobbo cyclists around in the unlikely event that they will catch any of them.

    1. Not true re police not enforcing the rules of the road. They are very keen to get motorists breaching the blanket 20 mph speed limit here in London. Though of course they do not care about cyclists breaking the limit. I got overtaken and undertaken at the same time yesterday evening on my way home from work on a dangerous stretch of the Embankment and i estimate the cyclists were doing 26-28 mph in the 20 zone. But more to the point, what they did was downright dangerous but if there had been an accident, i am confident i would be deemed to be at fault regardless.

      1. The police only seem to bother with people who have identification.
        We have a speed limit of 30 down to 20 in the high street. Both limits including illegal parking are broken every minute of the day and night. I have seen a police officer in person for years. We had a local ‘police house’ were it was possible to knock on the door for help or information.
        Sold on.
        They don’t seem to care about much anymore.

    2. The police seem reluctant to enforce any rules of the road these days – there, that’s better.

    3. ‘Morning, Hugh.

      I am just wondering: how many occurrences of inconsiderate cycling does the average motorist witness each day, compared to the instances of abysmal driving that the same motorist encounters within the same time frame?

      I​ will​ wager that the answer is somewhere around 100:1 in favour of ​poor​ driving. This probably equal​s​ the ratio of cars to bikes on the average road.

  26. ‘Morning again.

    In case you read any more ‘global warming will bugger up our RN ships’ drivel, the following BTLs may be of assistance:

    Edwin Pugh56 MIN AGO

    Tucked away in this august publication is a piece about the evidence given to the Commons Defence Select Committee by Lt. Gen. Nugee. He gave evidence that our warships will soon be brought to a halt by waming water due to climate change and that our harbours would disappear because of sealevel rises caused by melting icecaps. It would seem that his evidence for this is based on a paper by Alun Hubbard, a Prof. of Glaciology at Tromso University.

    Hubbard’s paper would appear to concentrate on the Greenland icecap over the last thirty years and consequently misses long term trends that paint an entirely different picture. The paper relies on computer models, emotionalism and lack of long term perspective to support his conclusion that fossil fuels and emissions must be curtailed now because time is short and the water rises – faster than forecast.

    It goes without saying that the real time data shows that nothing unusual is going on, no increasing rates of ice melt and no rapidly increasing sealevel rises.

    What is more worrying is that it would seem that the defence of the realm is in the hands of leadership that jumps to conclusions without a full study of all the available evidence.

    Steve Lee23 MIN AGO

    Lt General Nugee was an officer in the Royal Artillery so is an obvious expert on all things Naval. Or not.

    He is the brother of ”Lord” Christopher Nugee, husband of Emily Thornberry, Labour MP and hater of ”white van man” AKA Lady Nugee.

    Says it all really.

    :>(

    Steve Lee16 MIN AGO

    One of my old ships, HMS Albion, was launched at the end of the Second World War (no, I wasn’t there at the time). In 1971 we sailed from Portsmouth and traveled 90,000 miles around most of the world including Japan and Australia. The water temp in such places as The Gulf and Indian Ocean and the Sea of Japan must have varied greatly but there were no problems such as the idiot Nugee describe. When we got back from that trip we went up above the Arctic Circle on a big NATO exercise where I had the pleasure of living in a hole in the snow for a while. Again no problems with water temperatures. Upon our return we sailed for Canada, helicoptering off 600 Royal Marines into the snow for their Arctic training. No problems then either.

  28. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b0d27bd1ae0abac0e760651977368598eb3b419ed95acfb9e893c9fdcfe1f590.png When I attended training weeks at my local police headquarters the working day was the standard 9–5. We would break for 15 minutes at 1045–1100hrs for coffee (a choice of instant made with water or instant made with milk). In the afternoon we had a similar break for tea around 1515–1530hrs. I could never work out why people wanted to drink coffee in a morning and tea in an afternoon. I’ve aways much preferred the opposite.

    Here in Sweden there is a 1300hrs tradition of coffee and a bun known as ‘fika’. This is whan I have my daily espresso-based ‘flat white’.

    In a morning, first thing, only two large mugs of tea will do the trick.

    1. I’m drinking a large mug of tea at the moment. Later on I will have coffee and then tea in the afternoon.

          6. Quite small. Do you remember those free ones from Shell garages more than 30 years ago? One of those.

      2. Just finished mine.
        My body clock is hard wired to tea at three.
        I never drink tea after dark nor coffee.
        Don’t ask why, it’s just one of those things.

        1. I never drink tea or coffee after 1800hrs, just water. No caffeine in my system guarantees a good night’s unbroken sleep.

    3. IIRC policemen on the beat used to have a network of ‘tea spots’, which were convenient stopping places where the occupant was well-disposed towards the local Constabulary. (I know, I posted something similar once before)

      As for each individual’s timetable for hot beverages, the body probably adapts itself.

      1. In the old days when we had proper police on the streets working their beat; no copper worth his salt didn’t have his ‘tea spots’. Not only did they give him a respite from pounding the streets in the rain, they were a hotbed of local gossip where one could learn of the activities of the area’s toe-rags.

        One town-centre favourite of mine was the back kitchen of a small café. The ladies in their would often give me a small slice of pie or cake with my cuppa. After enjoying a particularly delicious wedge of cheese pie, I asked the cook for the recipe. “Oh, its just ordinary cooking cheese,” was her reply. I’m still wondering what “cooking cheese” is.

    5. I have to disagree, Grizzly. Whether your preference is for mugs of tea or mugs of coffee, you must not drink them “first thing”. The first thing to do is to read No To Nanny’s (Tom’s) joke. Otherwise you will have a computer malfunction after spraying tea/coffee all over the keyboard. Lol.

        1. Now don’t you swear at me in Swedish, young Grizzly. Two can play at that game: Quod Erat Demonstrandum. Lol.

    6. In my childhood it was “elevenses” when me, my Mum and the daily sat down for a cuppa and biscuits listening to Mrs Dale’s Dairy.

    1. Good morning BB2 and everyone.

      But what about the wb players? Are they pixellated, or given digital masks?

    2. What’s even more disturbing is the vast amount of people who have travelled to Qatar to watch the games.
      I doubt if they cycled.
      And our idiot media and government keeps telling us we need to stop using fuel, energy because we are, brits causing climate change, global warming.
      And after seeing all these jet setting politicos traveling across the oceans to shake hands and pat backs. It’s hard to believe the glowball elete are taking it seriously at all.
      Which suggests that it’s total bolero and a way of controlling our lives.
      Except when Arab countries are making billions out of it.

      1. A great load of folly, especially when they went there with their rainbow T shirts, making it look as though everyone in the West is a virtue-signalling clown.

    2. Good morning ,

      We had that terrible weather 3 hours ago , it has now blown through, 11c. Blue sky, breeze , gale has diminished for the time being . The weather was really horrible , our weather is a real conversation starter .

  32. The difference between the Rolling Stones and a Scottish sheep farmer.
    Rolling Stones: “Hey, you, get off of my cloud.”
    Scottish sheep farmer: “Hey, McLeod, get off of my ewe.”

  33. Morning all, there were quite a few comments last week following the Autumn statement regarding VED being payable on electric vehicles in the near future with dare I say it, a touch of smugness in some comments.
    I thought at the time this was just part of the story and I think the article in the DT is another part.
    The truth is the bar stewards don’t want us to be able to have personal transport, this latest move will again add costs in the manufacture of vehicles which will be transferred to the buyer, making ownership even more difficult.
    I can see the day when all those driving through clean air zones in their compliant Euro 6 cars at no charge suddenly discover that is no longer a good enough standard.
    By hook or by crook they will endeavour to drive us all off the road, out of the air and off the seas.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/features/new-euro-7-emissions-regulations-threaten-premature-end-petrol/

    1. Which would shut down all those piano lesson, the school trips, the scout trips, after school clubs, shopping for many, visiting historical sites, going out for dinner, afternoon tea, helping friends and relatives out on demand….

      The state is a mindless, useless, rabid beast that needs to be put down.

      3. Ah, but all those are seen as unnecessary wastes of energy. Sit in your box and watch netflix! 🙄

      1. Quiet over S Dorset at the moment, I presume you have the ack ack guns fully manned. 😊

      1. Which is why I will continue to own a car, petrol, diesel or electric. The choice will be mine not some bar steward in Government.

  34. Rishi Sunak was on Tuesday night forced to delay long-awaited planning reforms after dozens of Tory MPs threatened to rebel.

    The Prime Minister was facing the first major test of his authority next Monday when MPs were set to vote on his plans for mandatory, centrally-set targets to build 300,000 homes a year.

    But a total of 50 Conservative MPs – including eight former Cabinet ministers – signed an amendment to the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill which would have abolished the targets.

    On Tuesday night, the Government said the vote would be pulled, claiming the decision had been taken due to a packed parliamentary timetable.

    Opposition parties said the real reason for the “shambles” was that Mr Sunak was “scared” of his own backbenchers.
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/11/22/fifty-tory-mps-tell-rishi-sunak-ditch-housing-targets-planning/

    The comments are a good read

    John Korn
    6 MIN AGO
    Sunak a great PM, what a joke. This obsession with house building, driven by the incessant invasion of immigrants not ony ruins areas, creates more and more urban sprawl, turns villages into towns and takes huge amounts of green spaces, but these useless parasites don’t look beyond the houses. They conveniently forget the sevices, the lack of water, not rain but reservoirs, the already parasite created energy crisis, the NHS and GP crisis, the lack of decent education, cases of immigrants before locals? more and more congestion on already congested roads as people commute to work and of course the school delivery 4x4s fill the roads.
    We have the worst and most incompetent, negligent parasites parading as politicians ever in government, with worse sat waiting in the wings to step in, courtesy of the voting stupidity prevelent in britain, and an alternative that will not even be considered by the majority of those voters, broken Britain, R.I.P.

    Dominic Shelmerdine
    30 MIN AGO
    With the prime minister, foreign secretary and home secretary from ethnic backgrounds of recent immigration themselves and a chancellor of the exchequer with an Asian-born wife, it would only be natural in their mindsets to build more houses on ever decreasing green belt land to accommodate thousands more legal and illegal immigrants.
    The proof in the pudding is instead of ruthlessly deporting the 60,000 illegal mostly male, Channel migrants, they’re accommodated at 4 star hotels at OUR expense instead of being punished for their criminality. Who said crime doesn’t pay?
    It seems to me that the indigenous, Christian, Caucasians of this United Kingdom are being marginalised and criminalised if they dare speak out being branded as racist, fascist or both.
    The only people who get a fair ‘crack of the whip’ in Britain today are the illegal immigrants, LGBTQ+ brigades, those who wish to give hormone blockers to 10-year-old children, the eco mobs, left-wing lawyers, skirt-wearing male pilots and naive churchmen.
    In the name of God, this madness has to stop.
    Various elements in our society criticise Qatar yet we let foreigners and freaks walk all over us. The 99% plus, normal, rational Briton is being subjected to the odd views of the 1% oddities.
    Anybody agreeing with me please put ‘Like’ and the usual critics, feel free to add your comments.

  35. Interesting BTL Comment from elsewhere:

    “Today, I drove down to cross the Can/US border to go one block to pick up an Amazon package and return to Canada. I was asked, “And are you fully vaxed?”

    I answered truthful, “No” and spent 30 minutes waiting in the border office as officers wrote up all the paperwork and turned me back to Canada.

    As I sat there I thought of the 10,000 Venezuelan, Cuban, Pakistani, etc illegal immigrants with no record of their criminal, medical, or political pasts who were welcomed into the US today at the southern border.

    As I was escorted back to Canada for being one of the “unclean”, I said to the courteous and profession US customs officer, “Hopefully one day things will make sense again…”

    He answered with, “I agree.”

    tiny.iavian.net/1rs62

  36. 368266+ up ticks,

    Danish Crown to build £100m gammon plant in UK despite Brexit red tape

    Brexit Britain seals £100m deal as Danish Crown announces …https://www.express.co.uk › News › UK
    8 hours ago — European pork producer Danish Crown will build a £100million gammon and bacon factory in Brexit Britain, a report has revealed.

    Surely a conflict of interest in there being a large muslim population busy, I presume, succouring rochdale for islamic takeover.

    Or could it be,
    Vegan Plant-Based Meat Free Gammon Roast – VBiteshttps://vbites.com › products › vegan-plant-based-gam…
    A delicious 100% vegan meat-free gammon roast, Great British pub grub at its finest and a delicious Sunday lunch alternative. Succulent and rich in flavour, …

    Are the political overseers pushing the bollocks to bullocks meatless campaign making for a MORE submissive herd much of which is down on one knee already.

    In regards to how to view the gammon factory.

    Take a bus say, it has India on the tyres BUT it ain’t going to Delhi.

  37. My letter wasn’t printed .

    Dear Sir

    “Egremont Russet is a classic English russet apple from the Victorian era. It is a russet-skinned variety with a dry flesh and has many of the characteristics, which mark out a good apple: a harmony of flavour and texture, and a good balance between sweetness and sharpness.

    It is a delicious late season apple , and I can remember Father Christmas putting either a Russet or a Cox’s Orange Pippin apple in the toe of my Christmas stocking .

    Why can’t I find any of these delicious apples any more ?

    Oh Father Christmas , if you loved me at all , a few pounds of either apple would be a real treat .

    Yours Sincerely

    1. I have planted an Egremont Russet in my garden since they disappeared from the supermarkets. I suspect the reason is that they don’t crop as well as the tasteless, sharp, over-sweet varieties that are all you can buy in the supermarket these days.
      My tree is a bit temperamental – we had a huge crop last year, which probably means we will get about two apples this year. If anyone has any tips about getting trees to crop more regularly, I’d be grateful to hear them!
      I don’t think it got frosted by the way – it seems to be on a regular cycle of cropping heavily every other year.

      Our Bramley is wonderful – it crops the same every year, always generous.

      1. Hello BB
        I think old fashioned apple crops do have good years and bad years .. although I fear many traditional orchards have been demolished to make way for new homes .
        There are several magnificent crab apple trees on the verge sides of the village , last year we thought the trees had died , but this yeat there is an abundance of golden crabapples .. bitter lip puckering apples which the birds love .. the trees are decades old !

        1. My Russet tree exaggerates though!
          Victoria plums are also prone to feast/famine crops, I think.

          The current supermarket favourites lack the essential “appley” flavour. I never buy them.
          A few years ago, I found Aldi in Germany selling Worcesters, which were absolutely delicious! But I never buy Galas, Jonagold and all the rest – way too sharp and sweet.

      2. When I lived in Cambridgeshire I lived in a fruit growing village. The next door fruit grower said to me they have never had a year whenevery type of fruit all do well in the same and he had never had a year when is apples and pears both did well

      2. Yes they will have apple’s alongside their tomatoe’s and potatoe’s.

        Ahh, happy in innocent days when a misplaced apostrophe was the worst of our problems.

    4. My mother loved a russet apple called D’arcy Spice; presumably developed in Tolleshunt D’arcy.
      I couldn’t stand them, I much preferred something crisper and sharper.

    5. I have lots of Cox’s orange pippins on my tree. I gave one to Coolio today. Unfortunately, the tree I bought as an Egremont Russet turned out to be anything but – it’s either a James Grieve or a Gala 🙁 I wonder if I could shoehorn a russet into the orchard somewhere.

  39. Good moaning.
    I’m singing in the rain while shifting furniture from Allan Towers into a barn out in the boondocks. (Next to the Army Correction Facility, to be more accurate.)

    1. It would be interesting to see what Mick Lynch would look like if he wore Michael Fabricant’s wig.

  41. A different take on the US Mid-terms, stating that the Republicans have a mandate to attack Biden’s harmful policies and that the Democrats’ policies were not vindicated.
    https://www.takimag.com/article/can-republicans-make-congress-great-again/

    Given this 5 million vote differential in favor of the GOP, how is it possibly true that, as Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts put it, the election was a “vindication” for Biden and his policies?
    This media and Democratic spin are especially hypocritical because these same bloodhounds at places such as CNN were obsessed for four years about 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton winning the popular vote against former President Donald Trump. They even dismissed him as an “illegitimate president.” Democracy had been foiled, they screamed. Get rid of the Electoral College and move to a national popular vote.
    But “democracy” is not the same as majority rules. And that is why our great nation is not a pure democracy — and thank goodness for that.
    We are a representative form of government with wise safeguards against majority rule. Precisely to safeguard the rights of the minority.
    The 2016 election results were no less legitimate than the election results this year.
    What this means for Republicans is that they do have a solid majority of voters who support their agenda. I am reminded of a headline from the left-wing publication Vox after Trump won the presidency against Clinton in 2016: ” Democrats Won the Most Votes in the Election. They Should Act Like It. ”
    That is sage advice six years later for the Republicans in Congress. Don’t be cowardly lions. You have the majority and the support of 52 million voters. Cut deficit spending and get us back to a balanced budget. Reduce taxes that hurt our economy. Stop the Green New Deal. End the Biden war on American-made energy. Put the fraudsters in jail who stole $150 billion by scamming unemployment, Medicaid and other federal programs. Make sure education dollars go to parents and children to attend the school of their choosing.
    Make Congress great again. The voters are solidly behind you.

    It also underlines how very badly the Conservatives used their mandate

    1. It also underlines how much cheating there was in crucial marginal and senate races (ably abetted by McConnell maldistribution of GOP funds against America First candidates).

      1. It depends.
        You probably won’t enjoy the article linked to, but it points out some unexpected twists.
        https://www.takimag.com/article/midterm-for-the-worse-part-ii-these-firsts-shall-be-our-last/

        Four firsts—Roe’s demise, Covid voting regs, 1/6, and an ex-president co-opting a midterm to bitch about his loss.
        Four firsts, none of which helped the GOP, and all of which to one degree or another hurt it.
        The GOP (1) is associated with the criminalization of a now-vulnerable right that most Americans have grown up with, (2) stubbornly refused to make use of new avenues for vote-casting, choosing instead to attack the Dems for being more skilled at it, (3) faced voters for the first time since MAGA extremists violently assaulted the U.S. Capitol, and (4) was saddled with an unpopular ex-president who demanded that candidates relitigate his loss and declare it invalid. Take all that into account, and the fact that the party didn’t do as well as it could’ve is less of a mystery than a Scooby-Doo episode.
        Now, Covid voting can be used to the GOP’s advantage if you guys would just drop the Archie Bunker shtick. And 1/6 will fade from memory eventually once you guys stop acting like “we only beat the cops, we didn’t kill any” is a winning argument.

        The GOP can recover from those firsts.

    2. Yesterday the Royal Pillock wanted it to be know that the flowers being used for the state visit are ‘sustainable’ (whatever that means).

      I trust that one or more of his advisors tried, but failed, to persuade him not to put out such ludicrous eco-bolleaux. If he goes on like this he will be even more of a laughing stock.

      1. Funny how our first judgements endure for decades and are often completely right. I am 2 years older than King Charles but by the time I was about 10 most of my contemporaries and I had thought that Prince Charles was a dolt and a dud and that his sister, Anne, was the live wire in the family; that opinion has endured for over 65 years.

      2. Funny how our first judgements endure for decades and are often completely right. I am 2 years older than King Charles but by the time I was about 10 most of my contemporaries and I had thought that Prince Charles was a dolt and a dud and that his sister, Anne, was the live wire in the family; that opinion has endured for over 65 years.

    3. Yesterday the Royal Pillock wanted it to be know that the flowers being used for the state visit are ‘sustainable’ (whatever that means).

      I trust that one or more of his advisors tried, but failed, to persuade him not to put out such ludicrous eco-bolleaux. If he goes on like this he will be even more of a laughing stock.

    4. Yesterday the Royal Pillock wanted it to be know that the flowers being used for the state visit are ‘sustainable’ (whatever that means).

      I trust that one or more of his advisors tried, but failed, to persuade him not to put out such ludicrous eco-bolleaux. If he goes on like this he will be even more of a laughing stock.

  43. (Bournville, Birmingham) The sun is at its most glorious at 9:30 on a latish-November morning when it was still as dark as a dungeon at 8:30.

    PS My jumbo water-butt overflows regularly these mornings. I reckon it could have refilled 10+ times over in the last few weeks.

    1. Quite about about your bottom, thank you Lewis!

      Although yes, even the 60l tank on the side of the house is full. Handy for washing the motor.

  44. (Bournville, Birmingham) The sun is at its most glorious at 9:30 on a latish-November morning when it was still as dark as a dungeon at 8:30.

    PS My jumbo water-butt overflows regularly these mornings. I reckon it could have refilled 10+ times over in the last few weeks.

    8. I have looked at the Christian names of my immediate family: my parents’, my sisters and myself and our children with the following results:

      Christopher * (Father)
      Eileen (Mother)

      Belinda (Older Sister)
      Susannah,
      Sarah,
      Harriet
      Nicholas

      Mary-Faith (Second sister)
      James
      Nicola
      Jonathan
      Arabella
      Christopher
      Alexander

      Richard (Me)
      Christopher
      Henry

      * Christopher is our top family name. We are very unfashionable. Only our younger son makes the list.

      1. My mother named her offspring: Alan George; Keith; Philip; Julie; and Roger Paul. When I asked her why she chose those names her answer was, “Because I wanted good old-fashioned English names.”

        I didn’t have the heart to tell her that:
        Alan and Keith are Scots Gaelic.
        George and Philip are Greek.
        Julie, Roger and Paul are French.

      2. The favourite name in my family wax Rosemary.

        My mother wanted a girl, Rosemary would have been her name – but then I popped out.

        The same happened with my three siblings, all lovingly anticipated as Rosemary but in the end they were named Peter, David and Brian.

        It took several grandsons before her wish for a female descendant was granted.

    9. ‘Theo’, ‘Leo’, ‘Jack’, ‘Luca’, ‘Freddie’, ‘Harry’, ‘Charlie’, ‘Archie;,’ Teddy’, ‘Evie’, ‘Millie’ and ‘Ella’ are all diminutives of older, fuller names.

      1. Indeed. And I wonder how much this fiasco has cost us?

        Next contestant: Nicola Sturgeon

        Subject: The bleedin’ obvious…

    3. All the Court did is point out the law as it is writ. Why the court wasted any time on the matter is a mystery to me. Now, her next move is to make the next election a one party issue, that should make it interesting.

  49. The rain has actually stopped and it’s got brighter.
    Is the weather trying to lull me into a false sense of security?

    3. And you are called a NIMBY and a racist if you don’t want charming young men like these coming to live next door to you?

      1. 368266+ up ticks,

        Afternoon FA,
        Better go down to Dover hire a rubber, keep mum like dad, join the system
        -cking the political overseers en route
        shake the terrors of escaping from a free country with a week or so in the hotel then sell your story, “escape to captivity”.

    1. Having bet the farm on her indyref obsession, surely she now has no alternative but to resign?

      Sorry, I forgot, the word ‘honourable’ isn’t in her vocabulary. Silly me.

  54. Dolly and Harry are now working together. Dolly has learned how to open the bathroom door and she let Harry the bandit in. My sitting room looks as if the Andrex puppy has paid a visit.

    1. There wasn’t a door or gate that my Golden, Fred, couldn’t open. Guests were surprised when visiting the loo to find that they had company.

      1. I once knew someone who had dog that closed doors. Dog would walk in front of tray carrying chum and shut any door…!

    2. All our doors are handled ones and Mongo clamps over them and pulls. They’re at the same height as his head after all.

  55. Easy to overlook, but this might be important …. I’d love to see Italy improve under its new government:

    Italians who refuse job offers will lose their social benefits, the country’s hard-Right government announced, arguing that the country’s welfare system is too often abused.

    Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s new prime minister, is to clamp down on a poverty relief scheme called the citizens’ income, arguing that it encourages idleness and has been widely abused, including by convicted mafia criminals.

    The initiative was introduced in 2019 by the Five Star Movement, a populist party that was part of a previous government but is now in opposition.

    More than 3.5 million Italians receive the €780 a month payment, with more than 2.3 million living in the struggling south of the country, including Sicily and Sardinia.

    Announcing her first budget, Ms Meloni said she would pare back the scheme, saying that it had reduced incentives for people to find jobs and that those able to work should no longer be eligible for the handout.

    They will be granted the welfare payment for a maximum of eight months next year, after which the whole system will be overhauled, starting in Jan 2024.

    “We’re keeping our pledges with respect to the citizens’ wage, which is a bad measure,” said Ms Meloni.

    “The State cannot put those who can and those who cannot work on the same level.”

    Fraudulent claims of citizens’ wage
    Since the scheme started, there have been numerous cases of the minimum wage being claimed by people who have no right to it.

    In August, police in one part of Sicily arrested more than 100 people, including several with convictions for mafia-associated crimes, for fraudulently claiming the citizens’ income to the tune of €1.5 million.

    Earlier this month the finance police announced that while carrying out routine checks of yacht owners, they had found several who had been claiming the citizens’ wage, despite being wealthy.

    The Guardia di Finanza carried out the checks on boats cruising along the coast between Rome and Naples and discovered 13 individuals who had fraudulently pocketed the handout, including a company director.

    The blitz was carried out in marinas and ports from where yachts set out for the picturesque islands of Ponza and Palmarola.

    The crackdown was announced as the government signed off on next year’s budget.

    Initiative a test of new alliance administration
    It was one of the first tests of the new administration, an alliance between Ms Meloni’s hard-Right Brothers of Italy and two other conservative parties – the League and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia.

    The budget bill, which is aimed at curbing rocketing energy bills and cutting taxes, was approved by the cabinet in the early hours of Tuesday and will now go to parliament, which must pass it by the end of the year.

    The €35 billion spending measures included an increase in a windfall tax on the profits made by energy companies, which have benefited from the surge in oil and gas prices.

    The government is to allocate more than €21 billion next year to assist companies and households to pay gas and electricity bills.

    It will revive a state-backed company, previously put into liquidation, that will oversee the planned construction of a huge bridge from the toe of the Italian boot to Sicily, a project that has been mooted for decades.

    There is also an amnesty on tax arrears of up to €1,000, as long as they date from before 2016. Critics of the scheme said such amnesties only serve to encourage tax avoidance.

    Ms Meloni has in the past called for Italy to ditch the euro but since being elected in September has striven to present herself as a safe pair of hands at a time of global economic instability.

    The budget was assessed by analysts as being prudent and responsible.

    It signals “a degree of fiscal restraint – in line with…Meloni’s broader efforts to reassure markets and the EU over the direction of fiscal policy”, said Federico Santi, a senior analyst with the Eurasia Group political risk consultancy.

    The prime minister also introduced measures to try to boost Italy’s drastically low birth rate, including a 50 per cent increase in baby bonus payments for parents and reduced taxes on products for babies.

    Increasing the birth rate is one of the central planks of the new government’s nationalist agenda.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/11/22/giorgia-meloni-italy-prime-minister-revokes-benefits/

    Why is Right so often preceded by the “Hard-” modifier, even in newspapers like The Telegraph?

    1. Good Morning Lewis

      “Why is Right so often preceded by the “Hard-” modifier, even in newspapers like The Telegraph?”

      Because the Telegraph is part of the MSM which has been emasculated and corrupted.

    4. Far right, hard right, nationalist, agenda.

      The net zero drib=vel is never attached to ‘hard Left’, nor communist, or destructive, globalist phrases, is it?

  57. How Putin is preparing children to ‘die for the motherland’. 23 November 2022.

    But the regime is also turbocharging indoctrination efforts aimed at its youngest subjects. This includes well-worn tactics such as closing off social media and online dissent, and rolling out propaganda lessons in schools. But its most effective tool may be a myriad of new youth groups that introduce children to the Russian state’s world of constant war with a dazzling barrage of social media infotainment.

    The staggering hypocrisy of it all! The UK regime is preparing its children to be the sexual doxies of paedophiles and perverts. If I had to choose I’d take Vlad’s version!

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/23/how-putin-is-preparing-children-to-die-for-the-motherland

  58. Completely off-topic…

    I came across this on YouTube a few months ago. My late father developed a love for Kipling’s work while still at school, and ‘If’ was by far his favourite work. I recall him reciting it from memory when I was very young, and he was able to do so throughout his life. In this clip the poem is set to Elgar’s Variation No9 – the lovely Nimrod.

    Hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

    Ooops – now for the link:

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

    1. I suspect that long-covid also helps to account for record numbers of people off sick – whether they have it or not.

          3. The rain it raineth on the Just and on the Unjust fella.
            But it mostly raineth on the Just
            Because the Unjust has got the Just’s umbrella

    2. Perhaps some astute person should investigate how many NHS doctors surgeons and nurses have recently cross the line into private practice.
      That is probably the reason why so many NHS patients are having to wait or months and even years or for the rest of their lives before they are treated. For very long-standing problems.
      One of our neighbours was off work for a long time with BS ‘long covid’ he didn’t seem to be inconvenienced in any way whatsoever.

        1. I think he did. They have a huge shed ‘Office’ full width of their rear garden, so he could have worked at home any way.

    4. I have a cunning plan, come out of retirement, get employed by the NHS, become a female but retain my penis, tell them I am going through the menopause and tell everyone I know to do the same.
      My logic, it is hopeless trying to save the NHS, we might as well do everything we can to kill it off as quick as possible and then, only then can we consider replacing it with something better.
      Mrs VVOF recently had a letter asking her to make an eye checkup appointment because of her diabetes, an annual checkup she was told. She rang the number and was duly given an appointment in 31 weeks time. If the NHS was a horse we would shoot it!

      1. I have a cunning plan, come out of retirement, get employed by the NHS, become a female but retain my penis, tell them I am going through the menopause and tell everyone I know to do the same.

        In which case, Oldie, you should be entering some of the wimmin’s sports….

  60. 368266+ up ticks,

    I would say the scarcity of Christmas cards of such ilk is viewed with favour by the current lab/lib/con/ukip voter
    not wishing to offend, whilst kneeing on one knee, and touching the forelock to a passing imam., Ogga1.

    Gerard Batten
    @gjb2021
    ·
    20h
    Have you noticed how it is now very difficult to buy a Nativity Scene Christmas card?

    They used to be common. Even in the National Gallery shop last week they only had two, & not particulary good ones, by old masters.

    Christmas is being de-Christianised. I am sure that even not particularly religious people can appreciate a card that is also a work of art.

    Everything is being reduced to sentimentalised commercial tat.

    https://gettr.com/post/p1z9xcl5e5f

    2. Yes, even my Jehovas Witness Advent calender – behind every door there’s the words ‘F*ck Off’

        1. Same here. I politely decline their invitation to listen to a section of the Bible. If I didn’t, I would be on my doorstep all day. I had thought of claiming to be a Satanist, but I think they would just try all the harder.

    3. Just buying cards that say Merry Christmas is hard enough nowadays, they all have that nonsense Seasons Greetings label.

      You may as well pick a Happy Birthday card.

        1. Oooh, could you send me one please, Tom?

          You seem to be on form today – hope you are feeling better.

          xx

  61. 368266+ up ticks,

    I wonder if she would moonlight for a few bob / days.

    Giorgia Meloni to revoke benefits from Italians who refuse a job offer
    The hard-Right government argues that the country’s welfare system is too often abused

    IMO The hard right is right, right.

    2. The Left use the term ‘far right’ or ‘hard right’ to demonise and set the narrative. The attempt is to slur the activity of the vast majority as wrong. In reality, all evil comes from the Left. The press just want to set the agenda to paint their hideousness by making their enemies to be monsters.

    3. Imagine what that would do to the unemployment figures.

      We are now being told that we need immigrants because Canadians will not take available jobs.

    1. 368266+ up ticks,

      O2O,

      What are you saying Og ?
      Only that when the voting opportunity arises to treat it with a great deal of caution, we have been bitten to many times by venomous political snakes & friends that the current United Kingdom
      torso will NOT survive any MORE poison injections.

    2. People are beginning to wake up to the fact that it is futile to wait another two years for the total extinction of the Conservative Party and this point of view came across very strongly yesterday in the Mark Steyn GB News programme in which Ben Habib was interviewed.

      Something must be done NOW and the first step should be that any true Conservative MPs (if there are any still left) must put the interests of UK first and resign their seats immediately and kill the party off for good.

      I posted this BTL comment yesterday:

      Are there any true Conservative MPs left in the Conservative Party? If so, then how many of them are there?

      If there are fewer than 100 then the Conservative Party deserves to die and die it will. But if there are 100 or more true Conservatives in the Parliamentary Party then there is an outside chance that A Conservative Party (rather than The Conservative Party) will survive – but immediate action is needed now or it will be too late.

      Existing real Conservative MPs must resign their seats now. They should then declare that they would stand again in by elections under the colours of a party such as The Reform Party or set up an entirely new Conservative Party. This would lead to a general election but the resigning MPs would have to have already come out into the open and sworn not to represent the existing Conservative Party ever again.

      1. Perhaps the Chairmen of the local Conservative Associations could explain to their MPs that they will no longer be their chosen candidates if they don’t change direction and join the Reform party

        1. If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well
          It were done quickly.

          The Parliamentary Conservative Party is determined to extinguish itself completely – but by an inch at a time in a painful, horrible and drawn out manner.

          It’s only hope of keeping Conservative principles alive is not to procrastinate but to kill its dying corpse quickly and decisively before it reeks grossly and stinks to heaven.

      2. Could they not crossover as Reform Party MPs in the HoC? There doesn’t appear to be a compulsion for a by election anymore. That would bring the Reform Party into the limelight.

    3. I have never heard the 3 new parties mentioned in name on GB News but I don’t look into the programme after 9pm. I haven’t heard Nigel Farage mention them in name. Lawrence Fox was on the programme once. I looked up Reform Party and apparently in November 2020 Nigel Farage founded the Reform Party with Richard Tice as Chairman. Is NF still with Richard Tice in Reform? I would support this party. All 3 are apparently standing in a forthcoming by-election so we shal see which is the best party but for a General election the 3 must get together and stop competing with one another.

      1. Standing separately just improves the vote-splitting and allows the Lib/Lab/Con candidate to slide through. This we must stop and the only way is for a radical AMALGAMATE candidate to stand in every constituency, standing on a widely publicised manifesto that will appeal to the thinking electorate

      2. 368266+ up ticks,

        I mentioned the dire need for three new parties to supplant the current toxic trio a couple day ago,
        Please go in depth into Gerard Battens
        1 year leadership of UKIP 2018 / 19 and the part played by the UKIP NEC / farage
        in bringing the party down.

        I truly fear yet another tory (ino) MK two will be created.

  63. Took me six yesterday and look what happened today. In some ways, a challenge is better.
    Wordle 522 2/6

    ⬜🟨🟩🟨⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Similar to yesterday, luck needed.
      Wordle 522 5/6

      ⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
      ⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
      ⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
      ⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      1. I get stuck the same way, three or four correct letters and then it is a game of guessing which word they selected from all of the choices.

      2. Same here!

        Wordle 522 5/6
        ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
        ⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
        ⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
        ⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
        🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  64. A motley lot of Scottish National Party MPs got to ask questions on the judicial decisions today at PMQs.. They think they have the right to have the Referendum they desperately want to gain independence and then to join the EU. At the last referendum I asked why the thousands of Scots in the other 3 Union partners were not allowed to vote.
    As I remember 16 year olds were allowed to vote and 16 year olds were led to the polls, in some cases with a piper, at the head of the procession. The next referendum vote should take place under UK rules The SNP MPs are bad losers. I could have throttled one or two of them today.

    1. I love gain independence to join the EU. It’s like saying my old master doesn’t whip me hard enough.

      1. They think they are going to be net recipients, but they’ll have a nasty shock coming. The EU has to make up the shortfall of our lost payments somewhere.

          1. My mother’s brother, Victor Bowen-Cooke, was born in 1897. He was not academic and he did not enjoy being at Shrewsbury School. He absconded from school and lied about his age and joined the British Army at the age of 17 and went to war and eventually was made a lieutenant. Amazingly he survived the war and lived until the age of 91.

          2. My Father, born in 1895, joined the Queen’s Westminster Rifles at age 19 in 1914. Commissioned in the field in August 1915 and Gazetted in 1923 he sneaked into WWII by learning the eye-chart off by memory.

            Unfortunately he died in 1955 when I was just 11 and I had no time to talk to him about the years 1914 – 1945.

      2. We cannot decide when a person is an adult – is it at 14 when he/she can drive a moped, is it at 16 which is the age of sexual consent (though the decision as to whom you consent is restricted), is it at 17 when you can drive a car, is it at 18 when you are almost an adult and can vote, or is it at 21 when you can adopt a child and supervise a learner driver if you have a driving licence yourself?

        1. 21 always was seen as the age at which maturity took over and you could make sensible decisions for yourself.

          We should return to that, as those younger, don’t know the difference between education and brain-washing.

    1. What does that idiot know about identities? He reminds me of every leader in a one party state ranting on about the Utopia they are going to create – after they’ve killed half the population, of course.

      1. “Camps, it always ends with camps.”

        Courtesy of one of NTTL’s Jewish division. Was it JK?

      2. “Camps, it always ends with camps.”

        Courtesy of one of NTTL’s Jewish division. Was it JK?

      3. Yes. Everytime I pass one of those Be Kind posters on the London Underground what I see is Be Obedient, Peasant. Do as you’re told.

  66. Sex crimes in Scotland soar to highest level since Seventies

    SEX crimes have surged in Scotland to the highest level in decades as the SNP’S Justice Secretary was criticised for claiming the figures show that the country is a “safe place to live”.

    The number of sex crimes rose by 6 per cent in the year to September, from 14,052 to 14,838, in what is believed to be the highest annual total since the 1970s.

    This included a 3 per cent rise in recorded rape and attempted rape, a 16 per cent increase in the number of sexual assaults and an 11 per cent rise in crimes relating to indecent images of children.

    Violent crimes rose by 8 per cent, from 64,147 to 69,353, including an 8 per cent surge in robberies and a 6 per cent increase in domestic abuse.

    Keith Brown, the Justice Secretary, said recorded crime had fallen to one of the lowest levels since 1974 after Scottish Government statistics showed a 3 per cent drop.

    However, Holyrood’s opposition parties pointed out that the fall was entirely driven by a collapse in the number of crimes relating to Covid, which fell from 19,861 to just 36 as lockdown restrictions were lifted. When these were excluded, crime levels increased by 3 per cent.

    Violent and sex crime levels were also higher than before the pandemic, with a five per cent rise in the former since September 2018 and a 10 per cent surge in the latter over the same period.

    Pauline Mcneill, Scottish Labour’s justice spokesman, said: “It beggars belief that the SNP government would try to pretend these figures are anything other than a national scandal. Their plans to cut justice budgets risk making this grim picture even worse.”

    However, Mr Brown said: “The latest figures today show Scotland continues to be a safe place to live. Recorded crime is at one of the lowest levels seen since 1974, and below pre-pandemic levels, meaning the vast majority of people do not experience crime.”

    It comes as no surprise to me that there are more sex crimes north of the border than in the rest of Great Britain. If you remember the old schoolboy joke: Confucius say that rape is impossible: woman with skirt up runs faster than man with trousers down.

    Evidently this is not the case in Jockland where both sexes wear skirts.

    1. Jock: “Put your hand up ma kilt, Lassie and tell me wit ye feel.”
      Lassie: “Jock, that’s gruesome.”
      Jock: “Put ye hand back, Lassie, and ye’ll find it’s grew some more!”

          2. I think this is a problem with using very expensive Apple software on a site that is windows based. Water and Oil don’t/won’t mix.

          3. I have the same problem on my very-non-smart-phone! It’s not a big deal! I just guess what it might be!

          4. I had a very interesting visit today from ‘Tier 5 Inmate’ – no doubt brought about by the incident on Saturday night.

            He, suggests that the three of us might meet up for lunch or dinner one day. An idea that appeals to me but, since he is somewhere around Carlisle and I know not where you are, could you suggest a site easy for all to congregate? I value this meeting of NoTTLe minds in person rather than words on a page. As you know, I already feel lonely and isolated and I value human company above all. I have his e-mail and will copy him in on this missive.

          5. Sorry Tom! Just found your post! Sounds like a plan but you are about equidistant for Tier5Inmate and me. I’m between Glasgow and Edinburgh, and Carlisle is about an hours drive or less. So would somewhere around Moffat suit?

          6. Sounds reasonable. Should I book somewhere, after I’ve taken local advice – no arm and a leg?

          8. I’ve taken note of Thursday/Friday. Please let me know when you next have Thursday/Friday free and I’ll check with Richard and see what’s what. OK?

          10. #Me too. People send just an emoji in reply to a text and it comes up as one (sometimes two) blank oblongs.

          12. I’m guessing, Tom, that the small ’emoji’ of a laughing face — that I posted as a sign of approval to your amusing post —is not showing up on your screen (which sometimes happens).

    2. One of the more worrying crimes in Scotland is prostitution, rape, alcoholism and drug abuse. Usually these are linked. That’s a society looking to escape reality. Combined with a collapsing education, massive welfare dependence and soaring crime it is quite clear that nationalism has failed Scotland. Not because of nationalism itself, but the political machination around it.

    3. As killing is no longer a prosecuted crime in thousands of Scottish cases, it is hardly surprising that crime is spreading generally. Sturgeon and all those peddling the filth of the outrage have a serious charge or charges to answer, but the bent legal establishment hides from their duty on this. It is the world’s disgrace to see.

        1. Yes, Bill, thousands. We are now at the stage (and there is much still to come) of knowing that one in ten of all deaths in the UK is a consequence of the jabs. In Scotland that will be thousands I think you will find, when we say 560,000 +- for the all causes UK annual mortality.

  69. Just gave my car (15-years old) its MoT. Owner 78 years old – one eye full wet-macular, the other 17 inections and still going … but very uncomfortable driving at might + wife hates driving, especially in Birmingham. But free-transport pass, loads of buses, including Bham Outer-Circle within 2-8 minutes walk. Train station, giving frequent service to City Centre or anywhere in West Midlands county, 5 minutes walk away.

    Mileage (oops who forgot their MoT? … oh no there were special Pandemic rules):

    23.03.19 – 15,344 miles
    01.07.2020 – 15,693 miles
    26.11.2021 – 16,170 miles
    22.11.2022 – 16,388 miles

    PS I now subscribe to an MoT date reminder service.

    1. Just over 200 miles in a year, is it worth owning a car?

      Be like my son and take a taxi whenever public transport is not convenient.

      1. My son and his fiasco live in Lancaster and do not have a car as they walk everywhere or take the bus.

        1. You’d be hard pushed to find a bus that went where you wanted when you wanted (and, more importantly, got you back home again) round here.

        2. Walking is out of the question for me, I love the Toyota RAV4 I have and it is so roomy that I can haul any old junk from one end of the country to the other as a whim. I would hate to part with it but I have to consider it. Expenses, doncha know.

          1. My last car was a RAV4. Hopeless boot, I thought, unless you put the back seats down. Great for driving in snow though.

    2. That’s not doing the running gear any good. Tot up your running costs – tax, MoT, Insurance, servicing and petrol and work out your cost per mile and you’ll maybe find taxis are cheaper

    3. In yer France, MOTs are due only every other year. Far more sensible. It was open to HMG to do they same. Did they heckaslike.

      1. Another good thing about the French system is that the people who do the examination are not allowed to do the repairs.

        I have often suspected that garages in the UK which did the test found faults in order to get the business of effecting the repairs. As with many things today it comes down to a conflict of interests.

        1. If you are doing so few miles, unless the car is your insurance for a medical emergency, you would be a lot better off using Uber, in fact you might even be better off using a chauffeur driven limousine!

          The capital value of your car, sold second hand with such a low mileage, would probably pay for taxis for many years at those mileages; let alone all the costs of keeping it on the road.

          1. What I keep trying to persuade to my ninety year old mother. Save the insurance and maint bills and get taxis!

          2. But it is my ability to give lifts to my daughter/grandkids or take a load to the tip which is of very great value to me … the capital value of the car is so low that depreciation is near zero … biggest cost is car insurance … luckily I have a substantial “unearned income” [J. Hunt language] which make my car costs rather trivial for me.

    1. This is something to which it is very well worth listening. I would love to have played this to my Sixth Formers in the hope of making them think.

      (How clumsy it can be when you avoid putting a preposition at the end of a sentence. I am surprised that such pedantry is something up with which we put.)

      1. Bring it in. Turn it on. Turn it up. Turn it down. Turn it off. Take it out. But mind you don’t put a preposition at the end of a sentence!

    2. Good video, but just a small point – he is wrong about the Catholic church and Galileo. There is a seventeenth century model of the planetary system in the cathedral in Strasbourg, with the planets revolving correctly around the sun.

    4. What on earth are they doing? Looks silly.
      If that’s some form of virtue-signalling gesture, I suggest it would have made the point better had they simply stayed at home and not participated in the multi million dollar tournament.

    5. What on earth are they doing? Looks silly.
      If that’s some form of virtue-signalling gesture, I suggest it would have made the point better had they simply stayed at home and not participated in the multi million dollar tournament.

    6. I thought they wanted equality but it seems they want special treatment now.
      They should be told to bugger off. Ooops.

  72. Yippee a million times .

    I have just received a reply to the letter I wrote to my MP on the 11th November.

    Do any of you remember me posting my letter on here and talking about it?

    All congratulations to my MP for replying .. in such away that he could have been an honorary Nottler.

    Moh and I were amazed and delighted , and I know our MP was being sincere with regard to all his misgivings about the current bunch in charge , and many cabinet decisions as well as the cruel financial edicts coming out of No 11.

    1. My letter to MP on Nov 11th.

      The UK has a reputation for supporting their own little businesses .

      This village I live in hosts many little businesses . Thatchers , hurdle makers , chimney sweeps , blacksmiths , riding stables , dog groomers , gliding school, all the other trades , hair dressers, bakers, deli, butchers, small DIY shop , farriers, people who work from home ..and many more interesting occupations .. oh yes and the holiday trade , cottages , caravans and housekeepers and car mechanics , etc etc

      Mrs Thatcher was the daughter of a grocer , she would be horrified by all these forthcoming tax hikes .

      The morale of hard working people is being eroded and ruined .. People I talk to are depressed .. future outcomes will be tragic.

      My husband and I are retired and we are in our late seventies , so we have seen the best and the worst of government fiscal mishandling over the years .

      Britain is no longer a green and pleasant land , politicians are out of touch with their constituents . Huge economic pain is being felt .

      “With millions on benefits, we don’t need mass migration to boost GDP

      Westminster hasn’t begun to grasp the scale of this scandal – five million Brits are on out-of-work welfare”

      https://www.telegraph.co.uk…

      The hard working British are being trampled on .

      We are all very concerned regarding the bad decisions the Cabinet are making .

      Kind regards

      1. Mr Drax I presume?

        He should resign his seat and stand again for the Reform Party.

        I have been boring Nottlers recently with my opinion that the only way to save Conservative values is for there to be a mass coordinated resignation of at least 100 backbench MPs who then re-present themselves at by election as Reform Party candidates or as candidates for a New True Conservative Party.

        If nobody within the Party wants to end this nightmare then the sooner the Conservative Party dies the better.

      2. You do realise, don’t you, Maggie, that if I moved to Wool I could set up in business as a (pork) butcher, a baker and a candlestick maker (Yes, I can make all three products).

        Would the born-and-bred locals reject me as an “incomer”? 😘

        1. No , of course not , you would be accepted , loads of incomers here . I think the butcher’s bring their pies in from where I don’t know, but a few nice pork pies would go down a treat, and you could provide tasty custard tarts for the baker, you are a man of many talents , aren’t you.

        2. No , of course not , you would be accepted , loads of incomers here . I think the butcher’s bring their pies in from where I don’t know, but a few nice pork pies would go down a treat, and you could provide tasty custard tarts for the baker, you are a man of many talents , aren’t you.

  73. Yippee a million times .

    I have just received a reply to the letter I wrote to my MP on the 11th November.

    Do any of you remember me posting my letter on here and talking about it?

    All congratulations to my MP for replying .. in such away that he could have been an honorary Nottler.

    Moh and I were amazed and delighted , and I know our MP was being sincere with regard to all his misgivings about the current bunch in charge , and many cabinet decisions as well as the cruel financial edicts coming out of No 11.

  75. Only in the US?

    Joe Biden’s COVID ‘czar’ declared Tuesday during a White House press briefing that “God gave you two arms” so we can all be injected with different vaccines.
    Dr. Ashish Jha made the statement while simultaneously pushing COVID booster shots and flu shots as if they are the same thing.
    “Get one in each arm if you want,” Jha proclaimed.

      2. Totally out of character but I thought of you yesterday.
        In cab on the way to the supermarket- the car in front was HG 22 and the car in front of that was HG 11. Different makes of car. Even the cabbie commented on it.

  76. I am just having a little sit down to carry me though a sudden shock.

    Sat 12 November 2022- applied for new passport online. Wed 23 November 2022 – new passport delivered by courier….

    Exactly as it ought to be – but I was fully expecting to wait months….

    1. It really is remarkably efficient; we had a similar good experience.
      Once they accepted that the picture of the ugly bloke was real.

      1. Taking a photo that they were prepared to accept took several minutes. Fortunately, the MR is patient.

        1. It wouldn’t even accept the official booth one, even though HG used the same machine and hers was accepted.

          I had to do mine ,three times before one was accepted. The one they took wouldn’t be out of place in a police line-up.

          2. My passport photo was taken the morning after i had been on the lash. It’s horrendous, but at least when they see it then look at me they probably think ‘oh…he got better !’

        2. When we renewed ours at the start of summer which only took 18 days, we both went to one of these photo studios where they take your photo, check to their mind it is acceptable, email you the photos and a code which is uploaded on the passport office system.
          That I think helps matters along, as you say the photo requirements are tedious to say the least.
          Next time I will use those photographers that have set up shop on the Kent beaches, no problems there.

    2. So you’re expecting to be allowed out of the country then? And, maybe, even allowed back in? . 😉😉😉

      1. We are not going abroad until April. But, having heard about the “months of delay”, decided to apply now. All done and dusted. The downside is that the expiry is 10 years from YESTERDAY – and not May 2033 – which is ten years from the date the old one expired.

        1. Glad for you it’s arrived. How is it that DVLA and Passport Office can be this efficient when so many other government departments are anything but.

          2. I remember in the 1970s having to drive to Swansea from Bideford and wait for several hours sitting in the waiting room to get my passport.

            Recently we had to drive to St Brieuc from Dinan to get our residence permits and we had to wait for a couple of hours – but not for as long as I had to wait in Swansea.

    2. We run a small business so if we want to charge something as a business expense the business has to make the money from which to pay that expense in the first place – in a nutshell it reduces our business’s profitability.

      When an MP claims expenses it costs the taxpayer who has to pay that money into accounts dedicated to paying MPs’ expenses. The point I am making is that paying MPs their expenses on top of their salaries is saving MPs tax but saving us nothing and actually costing the taxpayer the tax the MPs would have had to pay if they had had to pay for things out of their salaries which they received as expenses.

      1. rastus, dear; they don’t care. They’ve never run a business, never created anything of worth or value. They’re wasters, parasites all of them.

        They get in and they trough on other people’s money, inventing egregious law after egregious law to soak ever more of our money into their own pockets. Big business buys their vote with massive cash dumps and ‘after office’ jobs. The boards of BAE and Boeing are awash with failed MoD civil servants.

        They’re utter scum. We know it, they know, but they don’t care because they know there is nothing we can do about it. That needs to change.

      2. He wouldn’t have even considered white farmer’s let alone the murder of them.
        As my good lady said yesterday, when the news was on. Why on earth do we put on such a huge expensive display for a person like him ? What trade are we making with South Africa. Nothing more than wine I suggested.
        I explained that it was just our stupid government virtual signalling……and you wait till Friday.

          2. Opened a bottle this evening to have with my dinner (shepherd’s pie, roast parsnips, peas, carrots and sweetcorn),

    2. Weakness displayed as kindness invites crooks. No matter what it contains, If you leave a hand bag in your shopping trolley someone will take it.

    3. Foreign students pay all their own tuition fees though. The tax payer doens’t fund them at all.

  79. Well, arrived at the Step-son’s flat 10 to 12 to find the necessary persons already there waiting.
    They came in, looked at the work that needed doing and left within 20 minutes. Considering they earlier refused to give and actual time and expected me to wait from 12:00 to 17:00, I am not happy.

    However, stepson turned up and we got the place vacuumed and, despite the work the flat is ready for him to move back into.

      1. He wouldn’t.
        And I do get the impression that, because I do as much as I do, the “professionals” think, “Oh! No need for us to worry, he’s got his step-dad looking after him.”

    2. It seems that ‘Social Services’ Ha, ha, are a waste of space. I’ve yet to find out what ‘help’ they might be here in Scotland. If they are anything like the rest of organised Scotland, I shan’t hold my breath.

    1. This is why banks and building societies in the UK took it upon themselves right across the board to change their terms and conditions. That if they decided they needed protection, close or suspend your accounts and to not have to give any reason. I withdrew everything and bought gold and silver. Tangible assets.

    2. Which explains why the Warqueen was moved from investment banking to stocks.

      Bloody woman doesn’t tell me anything.

        1. We’ve a weird arrangement where she’s paid in francs – thus at 8% rather than 80%. We don’t get to play with her money until we’re in Switzerland OR it’s moved over in an arrangement of companies I don’t pretend to understand.

          I think she takes the attitude that ‘stuff it, I don’t want to do this any more’. We’re already planning for her to reduce her hours and become a sort of ‘provincial book keeper’ (which is hilarious) to save her sanity.

          2. I’ve certainly reduced my working week – to zilch.

            …and I hate it even though I’m 78.

          3. I’m not working to earn anything, but my weeks are so busy I’m finding it difficult to fit extra things in! Off tomorrow to help with the church’s Christmas Tree Festival set up.

          4. I’ve been working a 4 day week for over 20 years. It is simply not tax efficient to do a fifth day, take on another 2 contracts. we lose more than we gain.

    1. Well, Philip. There is today’s coincidence: we have both made coconut rice. In my case I made the Jamaican staple: rice and peas.

      I put a carton of red kidney beans into a saucepan and added: basmati rice; water; coconut milk; two crushed cloves of garlic; two spring onions; two whole hot red chilli peppers; a sprig of thyme; salt; black pepper; and a salted pig’s tail.

      Simmered until the rice had soaked up the liquid, I discarded the ‘flavourings’ and enjoyed it with some thin slices of roast beef and a dollop of Levi Roots’ Reggae Reggae jerk sauce.

    2. Well, Philip. There is today’s coincidence: we have both made coconut rice. In my case I made the Jamaican staple: rice and peas.

      I put a carton of red kidney beans into a saucepan and added: basmati rice; water; coconut milk; two crushed cloves of garlic; two spring onions; two whole hot red chilli peppers; a sprig of thyme; salt; black pepper; and a salted pig’s tail.

      Simmered until the rice had soaked up the liquid, I discarded the ‘flavourings’ and enjoyed it with some thin slices of roast beef and a dollop of Levi Roots’ Reggae Reggae jerk sauce.

    1. That’s what I said a few months ago, enough to fill Wembley, think of it like that and ask your politicians if it’s been in any way a good thing. After they answer, ask how ?

      1. As of 2022, the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkhas, and 28,330 volunteer reserve personnel.

        On 1 April 2022 the total size of the full-time UK Armed Forces (trained and untrained) was just under 158,000. Most personnel were within the Army (56%), with the remainder being equally split between the Royal Navy/Royal Marines (RN/RM) and the Royal Air Force (RAF).

        https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7930/

      1. No, we should be looking after our own, we can start at the ballot box next time round.
        We being all voters in the UK who cares for this country.

        1. 368266+ up ticks,

          Evening VVOF,

          Sad to say all those that care for these Isles are outnumbered by the electoral majority.

        2. We should be looking after our own, but our government shouldn’t be obstructing us every step of the way and doing its damnedest to destroy us and our culture.

      2. House them in football stadiums but put barbed wire barricade around so they can’t get out and menace people.

    5. 368266+ up ticks,

      Evening TB,

      To me the “government” are running a very successful RESET campaign so one must surely ask just who IS
      spineless and weak ?

    6. The worse it gets for them, the better for us. Throw out the surplus and then start on the remainder.

    7. Qatar (why no U) has been mentioned a thousand times over the past weeks and even periodically over the past few years. Why then, does a woman zi work with insist on pronouncing it Kwayta?
      Kn*b

  83. Sorry, more utterly disgusting news from the mainstream…
    It was noted further down this thread, that a US mass shooter who targeted gay men, had come out as non binary. There is a story doing the rounds that the shooter had had bad time at this club, and was therefore targeting it for revenge.
    Having been persecuting the whole of society in the cause of transgenders, the mainstream are now too hypocritical and dishonest to abandon their “far right white male homophobe” story. Just listen to the dismissive way they talk about this transwoman…a FAR cry from the big, bleeding hearts they showed when they insisted that trans prisoners must be sent to women’s prisons.
    https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1595274216819286017

  84. Amidst the bad news here today, here are two little chinks of light in the darkness.

    Police apologise for arresting reporters.

    M25 protests: Arrests of journalists not justified, review finds
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-63730683

    Oxford residents vandalise bollards in protest against anti-car policies of city council.

    LTNs: Council spends £72,000 dealing with vandalism
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-63716090


    To provide a bit of balance…

    More Britain’s industrial past bites the dust.

    Redcar’s landmark blast furnace demolished
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-63720413

    Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said the site will be much better for the region when it it becomes and part of the project Net Zero Teesside and produces SeAH Wind’s offshore wind farm (called a ‘monopile facility’ in the article).

    Where will the steel come from, Mr H?

    1. I do hope that “lessons will be learned” by the Hertfordshire Perlice Farce.

      Anyone care to bet? Thought not.

    3. All those jobs lost.The industry shut down, never to come back. Real work done by people creating wealth.

      Replaced with… dross.

    5. Re: blast furnace – I heard a bloke interviewed on R4 whose main complaint seemed to be that f it were demolished there be nothing to point at.
      Kn*b

  85. Amidst the bad news here today, here are two little chinks of light in the darkness.

    Police apologise for arresting reporters.

    M25 protests: Arrests of journalists not justified, review finds
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-63730683

    Oxford residents vandalise bollards in protest against anti-car policies of city council.

    LTNs: Council spends £72,000 dealing with vandalism
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-63716090


    To provide a bit of balance…

    More Britain’s industrial past bites the dust.

    Redcar’s landmark blast furnace demolished
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-63720413

    Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said the site will be much better for the region when it it becomes and part of the project Net Zero Teesside and produces SeAH Wind’s offshore wind farm (called a ‘monopile facility’ in the article).

    Where will the steel come from, Mr H?

  86. Amidst the bad news here today, here are two little chinks of light in the darkness.

    Police apologise for arresting reporters.

    M25 protests: Arrests of journalists not justified, review finds
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-63730683

    Oxford residents vandalise bollards in protest against anti-car policies of city council.

    LTNs: Council spends £72,000 dealing with vandalism
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-63716090


    To provide a bit of balance…

    More Britain’s industrial past bites the dust.

    Redcar’s landmark blast furnace demolished
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-63720413

    Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said the site will be much better for the region when it it becomes and part of the project Net Zero Teesside and produces SeAH Wind’s offshore wind farm (called a ‘monopile facility’ in the article).

    Where will the steel come from, Mr H?

  88. That’s me for today. Got a bit brighter in the afternoon – an hour of sun. Makes all the diff.

    The MR is at Keep Fit – so I watched another bit of the SAS drivel drama – it really is daft! Can’t imagine how it will all end. Thank goodness for fast forward…

    Have a jolly evening.

    A demain – market first thing.

    1. So this is where you hang out when there isn’t enough seats at the kool kidz table…………..

    1. Fabulous! How we would have loved an aeroplane as children!
      The morality of teaching one’s children to bomb the dog is a bit worrying though….

  92. I normally find Michael Deacon very tiresome but for some reason this has tickled my fancy, perhaps because there could be an element of truth about it.
    (This BTW is the extent of my interest in the wendyball competition)

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/columnists/2022/11/23/world-cup-qatar-nothing-just-wait-fifa-heads-mordor/

    If you think a World Cup in Qatar is bad, just wait until you see where Fifa goes next
    Michael Deacon Columnist & Assistant Editor 23 November 2022 • 5:43pm
    5-6 minutes

    Despite the controversy surrounding this year’s host, football’s governing body is unmoved… goodness knows where else might get the nod
    If nothing else, Sauron would enjoy a great view of the action
    If nothing else, Sauron would enjoy a great view of the action

    Football remains in uproar after Fifa, the game’s governing body, decided that this year’s World Cup should be played in Qatar. Critics continue to protest that the Middle Eastern oil state doesn’t deserve to host the tournament because of its record on human rights.

    Of course, this isn’t the first time that Fifa has selected a controversial host nation. It awarded the last tournament, in 2018, to Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Despite all the outcry, however, Fifa remains unrepentant. So goodness only knows where it will choose to stage the World Cup next…
    2026: Narnia

    Narnia, home of the lion, the pitch and the wardrobe
    Narnia, home of the lion, the pitch and the wardrobe Credit: AJ Pics / Alamy

    As the tournament prepares to get under way, Fifa president Gianni Infantino holds a press conference in which he conveys his profoundly heartfelt sympathy for everyone who has suffered during the ever-lasting winter.

    Infantino: “Today, I feel lion. I feel witch. I feel wardrobe. Oh, and while you’re all here, I must make clear that the process for awarding the World Cup to Narnia was completely fair and above board. It is utterly untrue that Fifa officials were fed with a huge pile of Turkish Delight.”
    2030: Mordor

    One does not simply host a World Cup in Mordor
    One does not simply host a World Cup in Mordor Credit: Mikolaj Niemczewski / Alamy

    David Beckham comes in for public criticism after reportedly accepting a large sum of money to promote Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings as a luxury holiday destination. A leading comedian tries to persuade the former England captain to pull out.

    Joe Lycett: “This is a message to David Beckham. I’ve always considered you to be a gay icon. But now it’s 2030, and you’ve signed a reported £10 million deal with Mordor – a realm with absolutely zero LGBTQ+ representation. Unless you count Frodo Baggins and Sam Gamgee; it’s never been quite clear what was going on there. Anyway, I’m going to give you a choice. If you end your relationship with the evil Sauron, I will donate 10 grand of my own money to charities that support queer hobbits in football.”
    2034: Giant Country

    The BFG
    Describing matches as a ‘giant killing’ may be taboo for this particular tournament Credit: PictureLux / The Hollywood Archive / Alamy Stock Photo

    As a public service broadcaster, the BBC decides that it has a responsibility not just to show the matches but to educate viewers about the important issues surrounding Fifa’s latest controversial choice of venue: the land where the giants live in Roald Dahl’s The BFG.

    Gary Lineker: “I’m afraid we aren’t going to be showing you the opening ceremony. Partly this is because, at the BBC, we unreservedly condemn the host nation’s appalling record on human rights. But it’s also because our entire camera crew has just been swallowed by the Fleshlumpeater.”
    2038: The Death Star

    Death Star
    That’s no moon… it’s the host venue for the World Cup Credit: Moviestore Collection Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo

    Former England full-back Gary Neville, an outspoken supporter of progressive causes, is accused of hypocrisy after he accepts a lucrative contract to work as a pundit on Galactic Empire TV.

    Neville: “The whole reason I took the job was so that I can use this huge platform to speak out against Darth Vader. At least, I’m trying to, anyway. But every time I open my mouth to criticise his disgraceful treatment of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Princess Leia and the Ewoks, my throat starts to feel weirdly tight and I can’t speak.”
    2042: The Upside Down

    Stranger Things Vecna
    Could Vecna be handing England the trophy? Stranger Things have happened Credit: Courtesy of Netflix

    Despite agreeing to join ITV’s commentary team, former Republic of Ireland midfielder Roy Keane argues live on air that the nightmarish alternate dimension from Stranger Things is a completely unsuitable setting for a major international football tournament.

    Keane: “Look, we just shouldn’t be having the World Cup in a place like this. First, countless people have died here. Second, the atmosphere’s terrible. And third, the Demogorgon keeps running onto the pitch and eating the players.”
    2046: Hell

    Hell
    Players may have to adjust to playing in front of a hostile crowd Credit: Matthew Corrigan / Alamy

    After Fifa’s latest decision is widely described as its worst yet, a spokesman for the hosts fights back.

    Satan: “Quite frankly, I’m sick of all this virtue-signalling. You might not like the way we do things in Hell, but anyone who comes here has got to respect our culture and follow our customs. And that means burning in the flames of eternal torment while demons poke you with pointy sticks.”

  93. That’ll do for today. As much as I like being in contact with reality, I’m closing down. Until the morning. I’d had enough of the football. As far as I’m concerned most of the referee’s don’t have a clue what a foul is. And the diving competition is getting ridiculous.
    Andy Pandy was more restrained and far more honest.
    Slayders peeps 😉

      3. Don’t take the hump, Ann, but I identify as a camel – on Wednesdays when there isn’t an “r” in the month. Lol.

        1. So, you’re a camel, Sue E is a lamp post and I am a penguin. I wonder what others secretly identify as….

      5. “Are you on a mission” remember “The Blues Brothers”?

        Are you celebrating Turkey day tomorrow?

        1. In spirit. Last year we had a big dinner – we may have a festive meal of some sort. Been a lot going on of late.
          Hope you all have a lovely Thanksgiving.
          Was worried about you this morning when I read about the shooting in VA. Thank goodness it was nowhere near you and Jack.

          1. There are times when I despair at the NRA and the gun lobby. I keep thinking, maybe this is the one that will bring sense to people, but somehow I doubt it. It is too entrenched in their ‘frontier’ attitude and DNA.

          3. Just to point out they banned hand guns here (and made getting a shotgun licence difficult). Gun crime has gone up and now only the criminals have hand guns.

        2. What happens when Mr Henson, he of the permatan and golden boots, goes to America at this time of year and plans his dinner?
          Turkey, thinks Gavin

    2. The degree of mental illness you’ve got to suffer to belivee any of that utter tripe is staggering. If you are born a man, you remain a man. Put a dress on, cut bits off – you are still, and always will be, male.

        1. I was thinking more of a remote large island somewhere , where these folk would be able to act out their fantasies without disturbing the rest of us…

          1. With any luck they will all go to Scotland once the Gender Wotever Bill is passed up there.

      6. Is there room for a couple of MPs to hang from it, we’ll supply the step-ladder and piano-wire?

      8. I think I’ll save a bit of money on heating and identify as a channel crosser and get some free hotel accommodation over the winter

    5. Now that is something I’d never come across before. Those people have a bad, bad case of “Notice me!”

          1. Thanks Jill – yes he is – bored and fed up but still waiting for his op. They are keeping him under observation, presumably to make sure he’s fit for surgery when they have a slot for him.

          3. I hope not – especially as he was admitted to the cardiology unit as an emergency. They can’t do the surgery in Gloucester apparently – he will be transferred to Bristol or Oxford when they have a slot for him.

          6. In the mean time , is J wired up and being observed , or is he ambulant and wandering around the ward .

            Are you managing to relax and sleep properly , I do hope so. .

          8. Saw a friend in church this morning when she was supposed to have had an operation yesterday afternoon and be laid up for several months. It turns out she was waiting outside the theatre, prepped and ready for surgery when the surgeon cancelled it! She doesn’t know now when it will take place.

  95. Good night, everyone, and sleep well. An early night for me tonight.
    PS: Someone posted a one hour and eight minutes documentary called (I think) “Unexplained Deaths” on here recently. It was screened on Monday the 21st of November and seemed very credible to me. The BBC has today “explained” to its viewers that this is subtle “False News” because it was a “far right” programme designed to scare people. Natch!

      1. That’s exactly what I did mean, Ndovu. My memory these days is getting worse and worse.

  96. Evening, all. Oscar has kept me amused today; I bought a basket to put all their toys in because I was getting fed up of standing on squeaky bones and rope tugs. I put the toys in and Oscar takes them out, endlessly repeated! Next is to teach him to put them back when he’s finished with them. Coolio did quite a nice dressage test considering his hackamore wasn’t available and he had to perform in a bit. It was a pony club test (and thus involved a lot of cantering). He would have lost marks for resistance at the end because once he got going on the canter, he wasn’t for listening and coming back to trot in a collected manner, not helped, of course by resisting the bit. Still, he got his Polos as reward and an apple as well.

    1. It’s when you sit on a dog’s squeaky toy when you have company that’s embarrassing!

      1. Any guest is used to it, along with having a large fluffy mammoth come and sit beside them, or bring them gifts, like pillows, blankets, cushions, chairs, the sofa….

        1. At crazed Teacher friend’s place a while ago, we were having tea when her Chief Dog dragged a cusion mid-floor and proceeded to hump it endlessly, whilst staring into my eyes. I assume it was a message as to who “owned” the dame…
          I don’t get on with dogs.

        2. At crazed Teacher friend’s place a while ago, we were having tea when her Chief Dog dragged a cusion mid-floor and proceeded to hump it endlessly, whilst staring into my eyes. I assume it was a message as to who “owned” the dame…
          I don’t get on with dogs.

    2. “…Next is to teach him to put them back when he’s finished with them….”

      Ha. Ha ha! Ha ha haaaa haaa! Never. Going. To. Happen.

      Bless you.

    3. I didn’t recognise the name “Coolio”. Did he used to be called “Scorchio”? Lol.

      1. Coolio is the Connemara I ride. People objected to my calling him “the Connemara” and wanted to know what he was called. No, he was never Scorchio – his dad is Cool Dude 🙂

  101. The New York Times today unveiled a pre-eminent lineup of interviewees and speakers for its annual DealBook Summit on Nov. 30. The event will be hosted by Andrew Ross Sorkin, Times columnist and DealBook founder and editor at large. Sorkin just won an Emmy Award for outstanding live interview for an interview conducted and broadcast at the summit last year.
    The full-day event will feature a group of today’s top business and policy leaders on a single stage, live in New York City’s Appel Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center. With a focus on the historic changes taking place in America and around the world, Sorkin and his guests will explore the most newsworthy topics of the day through a long-term lens across business, policy and culture.
    This year’s event will be a return to an in-person experience. Selected conversations will be streamed live on nytimes.com for both local and global audiences.
    Throughout the day, attendees will hear from interviewees/speakers such as:
    Eric Adams, New York City mayor
    Ben Affleck, Artists Equity C.E.O.
    Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX founder
    Gerry Cardinale, RedBird Capital Partners founder, managing partner and C.I.O.
    Shou Chew, TikTok C.E.O.
    Larry Fink, BlackRock chairman and C.E.O.
    Reed Hastings, Netflix founder and co-C.E.O.
    Andy Jassy, Amazon president and C.E.O.
    Van Jones, CNN host, author and Dream.Org founder
    Scarlett Lewis, Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement founder and mother of Sandy Hook shooting victim, Jesse
    Mike Pence, 48th vice president of the United States and author of “So Help Me God”
    Benjamin Netanyahu, former Prime Minister of Israel, current leader of the Likud party
    Priscilla Sims Brown, Amalgamated Bank president and C.E.O.
    Secretary Janet L. Yellen, U.S. Department of the Treasury
    President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine
    Meta founder, chairman and C.E.O.

    It’s enough to give one nightmares!

      1. He probably will be soon. He and his revolting girlfriend make a convenient pair of fall guys.

      1. It is a proper piggy Tom, there were black ones , brown , ginger , white , all curly haired .. bit like an ITV advert actually 🤣🤣 ( diversity )

    4. Really heavy downpour when I was driving over to the hospital today – had the wipers on fast! Nasty sleety stuff too. Then a rainbow as well.

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