Wednesday 3 February: A plan to make sure that all pupils catch up when schools reopen

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2021/02/03/lettersa-plan-make-sure-pupils-catch-schools-reopen/

818 thoughts on “Wednesday 3 February: A plan to make sure that all pupils catch up when schools reopen”

        1. Whilst, to a considerable extent, I agree with you; when it reaches the point where the roof is blowing off or the water is trickling under the door then it’s bloody bad weather – and no sort of clothing is going to help!

          Fortunately my doorstep remains a little above the water level – but there’s still 6 metres at the bridge and the pumps will be running at a few local properties.

          1. At least once it has finished falling you can move snow and make tracks. The same cannot be done with water. We’ve got 6 metres at the bridge – again.

      1. Best put the phone somewhere all that wet won’t drip on something valuable. In the bath, maybe?
        EDIT: IT was snowing in the screen on my phone this morning…

      2. Best put the phone somewhere all that wet won’t drip on something valuable. In the bath, maybe?
        EDIT: IT was snowing in the screen on my phone this morning…

  3. Richard III did order the murder of the Princes in the Tower, professor claims. 3 February 2021.

    Richard III did murder the Princes in the Tower, an academic has claimed, after uncovering the alleged killers’ connections at court.

    Soon after the king ascended the throne in 1483 his young nephews disappeared while being kept in the Tower of London, and the monarch has long been blamed for their deaths despite a lack of evidence ensuring they remained a mystery.

    Yes of course he did. Despite the best efforts of Josephine Tey et.al. he had the motive, means and opportunity. That there was no enquiry while he was sat on the throne is silent confirmation of his involvement!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/02/02/richard-iii-did-order-murder-princes-tower-professor-claims/

    1. ‘Morning, Minty.

      The article, as it stands, proves nothing. Just because the sons of Forest were members of HenryVIII’s court, doesn’t prove that they knew whether their father was a murderer or not.

      1. Just because the sons of Forest were members of Henry VIII’s court, doesn’t prove that they knew whether their father was a murderer or not.

        I do not see how being a member of Henry VIII’s court impinges on their knowledge of their fathers activities. Surely they are separate matters? As to proof, if we are to discount word of mouth most of history would disappear. Thomas Moore was a man of the highest intelligence and integrity, that he would be fooled by some baseless assertion seems unlikely!

        1. Of course they are separate matters, but there are many families in which offspring have no idea what their fathers got up to. My own is a case in point. When my grandfather wrote his memoirs from the time the family moved to Kenya, all was OK. But when he wanted to go further back to pre-war days, my grandmother, who wore he trousers in that house, put a stop to it.
          Thomas Moore may have been intelligent & had integrity, but he was also a vicious persecutor & it is unlikely that Forest’s sons would have divulged much about their father’s (note the apostrophe) activities, if they had knowledge of them. Bear in mind that Henry’s court was a very dangerous place.

          1. Good morning, Peddy

            You couldn’t’ve made a better decision if you had decided to become a professional preceptor and grammarian rather than a dentist.

          3. Thomas More may have been intelligent – he was also a mere 7 years old when Henry VII came to the throne so whatever happened to Edward and Richard Plantagenet happened long before he could have had any personal knowledge of the situation. His writings are entirely dependent upon hearsay – and hearsay at the royal court where courtiers had everything to gain by blackening Richard’s name and everything to lose by any word against the king’s father.

            The courts of both Henry VII and Henry VIII were deeply dangerous, far more so than during the brief reign of Richard III. There remains no real evidence as to who actually killed the children or by whose order it was done. It seems highly unlikely that evidence will ever be found. On the other hand as the illegitimate sons of his late brother they were no threat to Richard. As the brothers of his re-legitimised queen they were a considerable threat to Henry VII.

          1. I find it interesting that the article refers to More as a “young lawyer” in 1517. He was 39 – by no means young in sixteenth century England. The article also clearly sees him as the young claimant to Wolsey’s position – but he was only 5 years Wolsey’s junior and still some 13 years older than the king.

            He certainly had plenty of conviction – whether, given the teachings of Christ as we have been taught them, that conviction can reasonably be described as Christian is a very different matter, particularly since those he persecuted also professed Christianity. Say rather that he had a strong, and destructive, factional conviction.

    2. There is also the Court correspondence concerning the strange disappearance of a butt of Malmsey.

      1. Can you provide a link to that correspondence, please?

        Clarence was executed for treason during the reign of Edward IV in 1478. Richard became king in 1483.

        King Edward IV
        George Plantagenet, duke of Clarence, (born Oct. 21, 1449, Dublin—died Feb. 18, 1478, London), English nobleman who engaged in several major conspiracies against his brother King Edward IV (ruled 1461–70 and 1471–83).

        George Plantagenet, duke of Clarence | English noble | Britannica

        2. Given his role during those years it is very likely that Richard was some hundreds of miles from London at the time of George’s death.

    3. As someone who actually played the young Prince on stage at the RSC on his 500th anniversary of his birth, I have to say that reports of the death of King Edward V are greatly exaggerated.

  5. Morning all

    SIR – As a schoolmaster of 34 years, I recognise the challenge that both educators and learners are facing over “lost schooling” (report, February 1) – but it is not an insurmountable one.

    One enviable benefit of independent education is that many independent schools have much longer working days than state schools, and some also provide lessons on Saturdays.

    Extending the school day to 5pm would mean, for some schools, the equivalent of two extra days of teaching a week. This would enable a rapid catch-up. Saturday school could be offered for those requiring more support, with additional funding provided to reward teachers’ work.

    After so many weeks at home, and given the uncertain outcomes of home schooling, there must be a national appetite for such a move. In this precious extra time entire futures will be made.

    Trevor Gray

    Walcott Green, Norfolk

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    SIR – While of course all pupils have found online learning a challenge, I have been amazed to watch my own students – from Year 5 to Year 8 – develop their focus, resilience and independence over the lockdowns.

    In general, they seem to appreciate the importance of courage in adversity. Let us celebrate these positives, rather than predicting arbitrary and depressing outcomes such as a £40,000 loss of earnings (report, February 1), which will hardly encourage them to step up to the mark.

    Gareth Burnell

    Hindringham, Norfolk

    SIR – It’s no good vaccinating teachers as a priority (Letters, February 2).

    When schoolchildren test positive, everyone in their bubble has to go into quarantine for days. Pupils could be affected in this way many times.

    I would suggest, from my own experience, that it was pupils’ absence, rather than that of teachers, that has caused interruptions to education.

    Maggie Hodgson

    Flixton, Lancashire

    SIR – Celia Walden (Features, February 2) is right about how the National Education Union is putting politics before pupils.

    The NEU’s roots lie in the old National Union of Teachers, and its policies reflect that heritage. The NUT suffered a significant defeat in the Eighties, when some of us persuaded the Conservative government to abolish the committee negotiating teachers’ pay and provide an independent pay review body. This destroyed the union’s policy of making teachers’ pay a political battleground, with annual strikes closing schools and ruining pupils’ prospects.

    Nothing has changed. The NEU wants to keep schools closed in order to prove that it has the power to decide when they should reopen. The education system is once again locked in the old power struggle between government and unions.

    Peter Dawson

    Former General Secretary, Professional Association of Teachers

    Derby

      1. The obvious flaw in Trev’s argument is that extending the school day to 5 pm would mean a surge of kids on to the streets & already overloaded transport systems at the start of rush hour.

        Btw, did I say you could use the word ‘exacto’? 😉

          2. Exactamente.

            Exacto is Chilean slang, may be used in other Spanish-speaking countries.

        2. Not only that but it completely ignores the issue of children in rural areas with lengthy journeys. Some of my schoolfellows travelled up to 40 miles at each end of the day – and even my own journey of about 15 miles took over an hour with a bus constantly stopping and starting and a one mile walk at the beginning and end of the day. Our school day ended at five minutes to four and I was never home before a quarter past five. I had left home at a quarter to eight in the morning.

          Most schools have contrived to end the day earlier by curtailing breaks during the day. Most start before nine in the morning.

          Even without the travel problems; whilst a full 8 hours in the classroom might be reasonable for 16 to 18 year olds, it certainly wouldn’t be practical for those in primary school or even the 11 – 13 year olds. The children here start school in the term following their 4th birthday.

  6. The bobbies’ box

    SIR – Your report (February 2) on the call for designs to be submitted for modern police hubs reminded me of the last police box to be removed.

    This was in the Seventies at Cockfosters, the most northerly of the London suburbs. At one time the boxes were positioned all over London and each contained a telephone that was accessible to the public. Before the days of personal radios, the only way to contact the on-duty policemen was to ring the box and hope he was nearby.

    Officers could attract each other by one long and three short blasts on their Acme police whistle. If a suspect was to be detained he could be shut in the box until transport was summoned.

    Frank Brittain

    Hertford

    SIR – When police officers walked the beat they were often many miles from their station. Twice during their shift they were required “to make a ring” by calling from a predetermined box.

    On the end of their whistle chain was a key to the box and it could be used to write reports, shelter, eat refreshments and detain a prisoner. The white light on top of the box would be set to flash if the station needed to contact the officer on that beat or any passing police vehicle.

    Each box was equipped with a small desk, stool, first-aid kit and telephone. There was no heating, but the box was sturdy enough to withstand all weather and minor bomb blasts.

    Dr Michael A Fopp

    Soulbury, Buckinghamshire

    1. There is one at Crich Tramway Museum and many people are surprised to find it’s made of concrete, as are the decommissioned boxes in Edinburgh, left in place and now used as sales kiosks.

    2. There is one at Crich Tramway Museum and many people are surprised to find it’s made of concrete, as are the decommissioned boxes in Edinburgh, left in place and now used as sales kiosks.

  7. Morning again

    How can the Government plough on with HS2?

    SIR – Bernadette Kelly, the permanent secretary at the Department of Transport, has admitted that, as a result of coronavirus, the Government does not know what demand for rail travel will be like “in six months or six years”.

    Despite this, it is still willing to invest more than £100 billion in HS2. What will it take to stop this white elephant?

    John Stewart

    Terrick, Buckinghamshire

    SIR – It is almost as if there is a news blackout about the devastation being wrought by HS2 in the Chilterns. We are losing ancient woodland, wildlife ponds and thousands of acres of prime farmland to this monstrous scheme.

    The tunnelling, which is due to start soon, will affect the water table in the Misbourne Valley so much that a huge water filtration plant has been built in anticipation of the contamination of the local water supply. The valley, designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty, is being desecrated.

    Those living north of London, or south of Birmingham will not benefit from the line, as there are no planned stops between the two cities, but communities and the environment 
will be adversely affected.

    The money should be used to improve links between northern cities – not spent on a faster conduit to London.

    Mike Armstrong

    Amersham, Buckinghamshire

    1. Of course it should, but it won’t be. We have been over-run by complete institutional breakdown that is hell-bent on wrecking our beautiful nation in an orgy of self-congratulation for their unpleasant and vile aspirational value system, and the best we can do is to hide from it, the best we can.

      The whole point of bulldozing the Chilterns is to realize a lot of prime real estate, just ready for when Robert Jenrick deregulates the planning system for select developers, whilst toughening it up for common folk in a cynical way to spin away criticism.

      All the media will feed us is Captain Tom Sir Bloomin’ Moore, the Comrade Ogilvy of our time.

      2. Capt Tom – wall to wall BBC Breakfast.
        I know he raised spirits in the lockdown BUT really filling Breakfast and a live outside broadcast ………………

        He was a 100 year old man who died. Whilst I am sorry to hear of his death he was not Churchill Mk2 or the Montgomery of Alamein he was a soldier who did his duty for all of us – as did millions more.

          4. Hmm. Probably no limit to lining the streets, although there will be social distancing when going past the catafalque at the Lying In State in St Paul’s.

        2. At least it is a break from the covid-19 ‘news’ which now takes up most of the programme.

          1. ITN had the best idea, and transmitted 45 glorious seconds of pandas in Washington rolling and sliding down a snow-covered slope.

        4. Couldn’t agree more, Fb! They tore the arse out of this story yesterday evening, and yet still want to go over the entrails ad nauseam just in case they missed a bit.

  8. Good luck with this one, Govey!

    Potatoes and tractors banned from Northern Ireland if they have British soil on them, says Arlene Foster

    The Leader of the DUP tells Chopper’s Politics podcast why the post-Brexit regulation is ‘offensive’

    By
    Christopher Hope,
    CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT and
    Louisa Wells,
    PODCAST PRODUCER
    3 February 2021 • 6:00am

    UK customs officials are banning potatoes and tractors from Northern Ireland if they have soil from Great Britain on them, Arlene Foster has said ahead of a key meeting with Boris Johnson today.

    Ms Foster, the Northern Ireland First Minister and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, blamed British customs officials for over-interpreting rules in the Northern Ireland Protocol which governs flows of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

    In an interview with The Telegraph’s Chopper’s Politics podcast, which you can listen to on the audio player above, she called for a review of the Protocol, which established regulatory and customs processes in the Irish Sea, in the wake of the row last week when the European Commission considered imposing a hard border on the island of Ireland to stop vaccines getting into the UK.

    UK officials have told companies in Northern Ireland that soil must not be allowed to be imported, even inadvertently, from the British mainland to Northern Ireland on health grounds.

    Last night the UK Government confirmed that “the movement of plants and plant products from GB to the EU and NI are subject to the EU’s plant health import requirements, including the restrictions on soil and growing media”.

    Ms Foster said: “There is a lot of very grave anger in Northern Ireland about the way in which this protocol is rolling out. And we need to get it sorted and we need to get it sorted immediately.

    “There was no plant disease in Great Britain before Brexit. So how are there any difficulties now post Brexit in terms of Northern Ireland?

    “One of the most offensive things, I have to say, for a lot of us here in Northern Ireland is that we’re told that soil from Great Britain cannot make its way across the Irish Sea over to Northern Ireland.

    “So if you’re buying, for example, seed potatoes, well, that’s a real problem because the seed potatoes may have British soil on it and you can’t possibly bring that into Northern Ireland.

    “Or if you’re bringing a second hand tractor or a second hand digger across into Northern Ireland, you can’t have any soil on it from Great Britain because that, again, will cause a risk to the single market.”

    The ban could be raised when Ms Foster meets Mr Johnson for a private meeting today. Ms Foster added: “A lot of us find it so offensive when we’re told British soil cannot come into Northern Ireland.”

    She said that the checks currently being demanded went far beyond the phytosanitary vetting to protect humans, animals, and plants from diseases and pests, which was in place before the UK left the regulatory control of the EU at the end of last year.

    She said: “We’ve seen actually a real and tangible increase, not just in checks around live animals and goods of animal origin, but around everything from parcels to pets to seeds coming in from Great Britain.”

    Ms Foster told Chopper’s Politics podcast she blamed the UK government – not EU officials – for the problems. She added: “It’s our own Government and our own officials looking at the regulations and implementing it to the Nth degree.”

    She added: “This time of the year a lot of people plant their gardens, they go on to somewhere like Suttons and they want to order in their seeds. They can’t do that anymore because they’re told there’s a risk.

    “And, of course, there’s no risk. And I think the difficult thing for a lot of people in Northern Ireland to understand is why would the European Union see that as a risk?

    “You know, being able to get plants, seeds from Great Britain, how is that a risk to the single market of the European Union?”

    A Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spokesman said: “We are working closely with the horticulture industry to ensure they can take advantage of the opportunities leaving the EU brings, and overall businesses are adjusting well to the new rules and continue to trade effectively.

    “Alongside other measures, we have put in place the Movement Assistance Scheme (MAS) to support and assist traders moving plants, plant products, and agrifood from GB to NI – meaning that businesses do not face new direct costs from certification requirements.”

    A source confirmed that “the movement of plants and plant products from GB to the EU and NI are subject to the EU’s plant health import requirements, including the restrictions on soil and growing media” now that the UK has left the transition period.

    “The new sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) requirements on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland were put in place by the UK Government as part of the UK’s approach to the Northern Ireland Protocol, and will uphold the longstanding status of the island of Ireland as a single epidemiological unit.

    “It is permissible to export plants with growing media attached to them from GB to the EU and NI, as long as that growing media meets the EU’s special import requirements.

    1. This is insanity. Keep in mind that the UK “negotiating” team agreed to this. The UK “negotiating” team agreed to put part of the UK under EU control. In perpetuity. It would have been simpler to hand NI over to Eire and resettle those who wished to the UK mainland

      1. It’s strange that after 4 1/2 years of negotiation they couldn’t get it right.

        Perhaps they didn’t want to?

      2. It’s strange that after 4 1/2 years of negotiation they couldn’t get it right.

        Perhaps they didn’t want to?

        1. That is certainly the case. All those civil servants who suddenly had their promotion prospects chopped off at the top. No longer the possibility of transferring to a well-paid sinecure in Brussels. So a spiteful, obstructive approach to processes and systems to mess them up beyond use. Also, providing no assistance to those newly confronted with deliberately complex paperwork.
          Had we not agreed a trade agreement the WTO rules would have been for trade to continue as before until we settled things piecemeal.

          1. I checked the EU referendum results for Northern Ireland.
            55.8 % Remain, 44.2% Leave.
            Total electorate: 1,260, 988 Votes: 789,879
            471109 couldn’t be bothered.

            Possibly NI is getting what it voted for.

          3. Maybe we should have a big jumble sale of referendums all on the same day to clear things out a bit?

            How about referendums in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the parts of London that voted for Khan as Mayor asking whether they would like to be free from the rest of England and whether the rest of England would like to be free of them?

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vh-wEXvdW8

      3. Many of us smugly said ‘I told you so’ at the time as we could see the ‘deal’ was badly flawed.

        What completely ghasted my flabber was when Nigel Farage said he approved of the deal before he had even looked at it. I am waiting to hear Farage admit that he was mistaken but I doubt if he will – it takes a greater man than he is to admit that he has made a mistake..

    2. ‘Morning, Hugh.

      I’m sure the whole NI Protocol was deliberately designed to make life as difficult as possible for the UK after Brexit and Government ministers, guided by the large Remainiac faction in the Civil Service whose job it was to scrutinise the minutiae of the Protocol, failed properly to examine its finer details.

      Johnson – a weak man who always takes the path of least resistance – allowed himself to be led by the nose …. again.

      1. I’ve heard the John Thomas called many things but never a nose……

        Morning Duncan et al….

    4. As I have commented before I am convinced that Gove’s last minute intervention in the EU trade deal negotiations was to get Johnson to surrender on both Northern Ireland and fishing.

      I fear that we shall be paying the price for this odious man’s treachery for many years to come.

    5. Our rellies had to go through that when moving to NZ.
      There is a a huge difference between taking a tractor to NI and a car to the other end of the planet with a different ecosystem.
      British bureaucracy at its ignoble worst.

      1. I’ve seen a lot of tractors (and combine harvesters, potato harvesters and other things) go to Ireland (both parts) over the years (the Republic has been a particularly strong market for small second-hand tractors for livestock farmers, as new machines get ever larger and more expensive). I’ve yet to see one which hasn’t been given a very thorough going over with a power-washer before it was loaded onto a truck. So the restrictions are likely to have a negligible effect on the sale of second-hand machinery – although they may be given a rather more comprehensive “once-over” on the docks just to make sure that nothing has been missed.

        As for the claim that:

        There was no plant disease in Great Britain before Brexit. So how are there any difficulties now post Brexit in terms of Northern Ireland?

        This is positively farcical. Farmers spend their days fighting plant diseases of all sorts – in all countries. We have a whole host of plant diseases – and pests – here in GB, some of which are minor problems, others much more major; I don’t foresee a day when we have none. There are restrictions on the movement of “soil and growing mediums” to many countries and it should have been clear to everyone that once we were on the outside these restrictions would also apply to us. The deal on the border was signed by Johnson, in the teeth of DUP disapproval, before the 2019 election. The protocol in the trade deal simply reflects it. Arlene could have spent the time in between making preparations for the restrictions which now apply – as it should have been obvious to anyone with a cork and eye and a glass one that they would apply. This is not “last minute”, these regulations were implicit in the Withdrawal Agreement.

        We sell seed potatoes, under very strict health regulations and in fairly large quantities, to countries in North Africa and the Middle East. It should be possible to meet the requirements for Northern Ireland (and the Republic) but it will require the normal suppliers to up their game to the level of those who have been exporting outside Europe for the last half century of so which will involve some expense and trouble.

        It seems to be unknown here, except in terms of the 1996 beef ban which was entirely justified at the time – although the French delay in lifting it was not, but it is well enough known in the trade that it has always been the case that borders within the EU were closed against disease outbreaks of various sorts in both plants and animals. There have been many, fairly brief, border closures due to pig and poultry diseases. There have also been issues regarding some nematode pests of sugar beet – but they never applied to the UK as freshly lifted beet never left the country and processed sugar was not an issue.

        This also applied to certain production standards; when the new housing requirements for laying hens were introduced some years ago, several countries were given time to upgrade their productions units – but until the upgrading was complete they were not allowed to export their eggs to the rest of the EU. This was one reason for the large increase in poultry units in this country as we had been in the habit of importing large volumes of pasteurised liquid egg for the bakery industry from countries which were, at least temporarily, forbidden to supply us. The price of eggs here rose considerably as a result.

    6. Will they be confiscating ham sandwiches from truckies as they land in NI? Best not give them ideas…

  9. ‘Morning, all. Here’s a BTL comment from yesterday’s DT Letters page that you may have missed:

    Graeme Williams 2 Feb 2021 10:43AM

    Some common cold viruses are in the coronavirus family.

    I know of someone who had Covid and the only symptom was his skin smelt of biscuits, as soon as the smell stopped he was clear.

    I only mention it because it put me in mind of a chap I’d heard of who had similar symptoms and feared he might have contracted Covid. He asked his wife what she thought and after sniffing him, she confirmed that he did indeed smell of biscuits – custard creams in fact – but she disagreed with his diagnosis.

    “What you need is a bath, Oliver.” she said, so he had one. The smell went away and a visit to the Covid Testing Centre showed he was clear.

    …. I’ll get me Jammie Dodgers.

    2. I’m hissing a bit meself this morning. I had to have two of my front teeth removed yesterday and am left with a big gap.
      I have a temporary denture to wear for the next eight to ten weeks when permanent implants will be fitted.

      All a bit sore this morning so I’ve taken a sickie.

      1. Good morning Stormy! What a nightmare! Hope you’re feeling better very soon! Take care and fangs for sharing!

        1. Thanks Sue. Feeling a bit under the weather atm but I’ve taken a couple of paracetamol which should kick in soon.

        1. Rules for dentists are slightly different in Wales. I was listening to an English dentist on the radio earlier today lamenting that English dentists are considerably more restricted than those in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. There are restrictions here, but not such drastic ones.

  11. ‘Morning Peeps,

    Allison Pearson, to brighten your day…and enjoy yet another richly deserved bashing for Ursula Fonda-Lying:

    Brexiteers can now show Remainers the tangible benefit of leaving the EU – a life saving vaccine

    The EU tried to derail the UK’s vaccination programme and, in doing so, showed everyone why we’re better off out of it

    ALLISON PEARSON
    2 February 2021 • 7:00pm

    Damn that Macron! I was driving home when the news on the radio said the French president had taken a swipe at the UK’s vaccination programme. The Oxford/AstraZeneca jab was “quasi-ineffective” for people over 65 years of age, he claimed.

    I thought of the legions of older people, my mother included, who had already had that particular vaccine. A latchkey of liberty, it bestowed a bit more confidence to get out the house and brave the supermarket. All those fearful people, many in isolation since March, would be listening to the radio and their hearts would sink thanks to le vieux grincheux. Apparently, that’s the polite way of saying old sourpuss.

    I reckon Macron merits the impolite version: pisse-froid.How unspeakably cruel to casually (and wrongly) dash the hopes of three million British octogenarians, just because your nose has been put out of joint by your neighbour’s success.

    Besides, if our vaccine is so rubbish, why is France complaining it can’t get hold of any?

    President Pisse-Froid’s attitude to the AstraZeneca vaccine reminds me of that Woody Allen joke about two ladies who are having dinner at a Catskill resort when the first says: “Boy, the food at this place is really terrible.” The other one nods: “Yeah,I know – and such small portions.”

    Looked at another way, Macron’s fit of pique is quite gratifying. We must be doing something right for such a cool customer to lash out inaheated, undignified way. The recent behaviour of EU leaders in general has been a resounding vindication of our vote to leave.

    In the referendum campaign, Leavers like me were often put on the spot by Remainers. “Give us one tangible benefit of leaving the EU!” they cried. It wasn’t easy to sum up the gut instinct that made us feel we should wrest our country back from the clutches of Brussels, whatever the difficulties. Clearly, Remain had convenience and continuity on their side.I might have voted that way myself, only I couldn’t stand our democratically elected Parliament, our laws and control of our borders, being chained to an unelected European oligarchy whose bureaucratic torpor was matched only by its arrogant self-aggrandisement.

    Recently, when I interviewed Mark Higgie, Australia’s former ambassador to the EU, for my Planet Normal podcast (which you can listen to above), I asked him to describe the calibre of people such as Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, and the team with which she was anointed (not elected – elections are for little people) in 2019.

    “Shonky retreads,” said Higgie, introducing me to my new favourite phrase.

    What he meant was that EU officials like Von der Leyen have often failed in their own countries before being sent, out of harm’s way,to Brussels, where they could b—-r things up to their heart’s content without any repercussions at the ballot box.

    Well, Higgie’s shonky retreads have certainly lived up to their name this week as the EU, having bungled its own vaccination programme, tried to cover its embarrassment by derailing ours, even stooping so low as to trigger Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol to block the movement of coronavirus jabs (something it promised just a few months ago that it would never do). It has been, in every sense, a needle match.

    While Kate Bingham and the UK’s Vaccine Taskforce were placing their bets early on vaccines which were most likely to come to fruition, Brussels was forbidding member states to source their own Covid jabs. (Even Germany, whose BioNTech,the triumphant creation of second-generation Turkish immigrants, played a pivotal role in developing one of the most effective vaccines.) After all, allowing countries to protect their citizens’ lives is a minor consideration when you have to preserve the illusion of a benign superstate which is stronger and more effective than any individual nation.

    Bingham, I was overjoyed to learn, came 19th in the World Bog Snorkelling Championship, a certifiable pursuit in which contestants aim to complete two lengths of a peat-murky, 60-yard trench wearing snorkel and diving mask, relying on flipper power alone. Sir John Bell, Oxford’s Regius professor of Medicine, describes her as “really ruthless and really tough”. And a borderline barking, bog-tastic competitor to boot. It may explain why, after assembling a committee of scientific and business experts, within a fortnight Bingham had a shortlist of 23 vaccines from four different vaccine technologies.

    The UK swiftly placed orders for 367 million doses from AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, Valneva and Novavax at an estimated cost of £2.9billion. Bingham took part in the Novavax trial herself and broke Dry January by toasting the news that its doses were 89 per cent effective.

    Compare and contrast that rugged, race-against-the-clock approach with the European Medicines Agency. One reason it took so long to approve the AstraZeneca vaccine for use is because the EMA was closed from Dec 23 to Jan 4. Lucky there wasn’t a crisis that required a life-saving pharmaceutical intervention to be pushed through quickly, eh?

    The EMA debacle was altogether typical of the EU’s sloth-like decision- making. As was the favouritism shown in backing certain vaccines because it would soothe the egos of the bloc’s most powerful members. Too much faith was placed in Sanofi, France’s last remaining pharma giant. A front-runner in the race, Sanofi’s attempt to tweak a flu vaccine to fight Covid-19 came unstuck and its candidate for inoculation will not now be ready until the end of 2021.

    For France, the land of Louis Pasteur, it was a national humiliation. Because EU countries agreed to purchase their vaccines collectively, the same supply issues are hurting all 27. Poor Portugal, which has suffered so badly during the pandemic, says the first phase of its vaccination plan will be extended by around two months into April; delivery delays mean it will only receive half the expected doses by March. Germany faces a shortage well into April, which will horrify its famously efficient populace. “We will still have at least 10 tough weeks with a shortage of vaccine,” admitted health minister Jens Spahn.

    Brussels and Von der Leyen owe a huge apology to the 446 million inhabitants of the EU. I wouldn’t hold your breath. Von der Leyen refused to apologise or resign, claiming that failing to roll out vaccines as fast as Britain was “safer”.

    Grotesque incompetence, complacency, broken promises and inertia have endangered the lives of its most vulnerable people, but the EU’s solidarity has been preserved, which is all that matters to the shonky retreads.

    The European project has survived this long, but will 27 states really feel grateful for “coordinated action” when they can count the cost of unity in deceased citizens?

    And what of all those Remainers who castigated the Government for not joining the European Vaccine Scheme back in June? They said opting out was nationalistic, childish and irresponsible.

    Well, they look pretty damn stupid now. If we’d listened to them, nine million of our beloved countrymen and women would not today have the protection of a first dose. The events of the past week have been like a Medieval morality play in which every vice Brexiteers knew the EU to be guilty of have been paraded on the world stage.

    How happy and relieved we can be that we ditched the shonky retreads. Give me a British bog-snorkeller any day.

  12. Oh deary me, this should have the Fishwife throwing things and kicking the cat. As if the looming nightmare of the Salmond affair was not enough…

    Economic hit to Scotland from independence three times bigger than Brexit

    Trade barriers with the rest of the UK would deal a hit to the Scottish economy far greater than Brexit, LSE report warns

    By
    Tom Rees
    3 February 2021 • 6:00am

    An independent Scotland would face an economic blow up to three times bigger than Brexit and could not reverse the damage by rejoining the EU, a damning new report has revealed.

    The hit to trade alone would slash Scottish income per capita by between 6.3pc and 8.7pc, equivalent to up to £2,800 per person, economists at the London School of Economics warned.

    The report estimated that trade costs between Scotland and the rest of the UK could soar by up to 30pc as the SNP ramps up the pressure on Westminster for another independence referendum.

    First minister Nicola Sturgeon has argued Scotland would be welcomed with “open arms” by the EU, but the LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance said rejoining the bloc would do little to reverse the economic damage from independence.

    “Particularly because we’ve gone through a relatively hard form of Brexit, if Scotland were to rejoin the EU you would have to erect a customs border within Britain,” said Thomas Sampson, associate professor of economics at LSE.

    “What we’re finding is that because that trade with the rest of the UK is more important, that at least for the foreseeable future it wouldn’t really make sense for Scotland to rejoin the EU economically.”

    Support for independence has grown during the pandemic and the pressure for another referendum is likely to mount after the Scottish Parliament elections in May. However, many forecasters believe the economic case for independence has weakened since the UK’s exit from the EU.

    The study looked at just the cost of trade barriers being erected between an independent Scotland and the rest of the UK. LSE found that Scotland’s trade with the rest of the UK is four times larger than its EU trade.

    Its “highly open” economy is also heavily reliant on its exports, accounting for a 58pc share of GDP compared to 35pc in the rest of the UK. That means the economic cost of independence to Scotland would be double or triple the size of Brexit, the report estimated.

    “What surprised us is just how exposed Scotland is to the increase in trade costs of independence because it has this very high dependence on trade with the rest of the UK,” said Mr Sampson. Other potential costs from independence would likely “amplify” the economic blow, he added.

    Economists have warned an independent Scotland would need to slash public spending to rein in its huge notional deficit given the large fiscal transfers from the rest of the UK.

    The top BTL comment:

    Alien One
    3 Feb 2021 7:08AM
    I love Scotland, it’s my beautiful homeland with many great people. Sadly, since 2014 , a chasm of division, hatred and small minded nastiness has been formed by the SNP under Sturgeon . In my 50 + years, I now look on my country with a sense of fear. Whether we get independence or not, one thing is for sure, we are being ruled by the very worst of us and it will not end well.

    1. …we are being ruled by the very worst of us and it will not end well...

      As to the article, it is nonsense, surely? Why would a trade barrier be erected between England and Scotland? The return of Scotland to the EU is unlikely. There has to be an EU to return to. The EU has to allow it. A vote for independence is not a vote to join the EU.
      The apparent fondness for the EU was fostered by the plethora of blue signs on playgrounds etc, that said “Funded by the EU”. Had the blue signs said “Paid for by you and 10% commission paid to the EU” there might be a different view. One has to remember that the UK and Scottish governments were full on pro-EU for decades.

      1. I think that, should Scotland vote for independence, the EU will be very likely to fast track Scottish membership simply to spite the remains of the UK, so the idea of a hard border across the Cheviots does become a possibility.

        And, for the geographically challenged, please note I said “across the Cheviots,” the real border and NOT Hadrian’s bloody Wall!

        1. Morning Bob! I too am fed up with the geographically-challenged loons (particularly in the DT BTL) bumping their gums about rebuilding Hadrians wall! Half of Northumberland would be ceded to the blasted sheep stealing b*****ds!

          3. Not least because Scotland and England, as such, did not exist at the time the wall was built.

        2. Surely an independent Scotland would be geographically challenged because a tariff would be levied on every vehicle entering England or Northern Ireland no matter where it’s bound; and the same in reverse.. That will stifle any trade Scotland might have with the EU unless they put all continental bound traffic on a long ferry ride – or dig a tunnel. The future would be very bleak for them.

          1. Esbjerg-Aberdeen – no worries. There’s already Esbjerg-North Shields (or there was).

          2. I don’t think the Esbjerg-North Shields still runs. I have, many years ago, used an overnight car ferry from Newcastle to Gothenburg but that no longer runs.

          3. When the member for Orkney and Shetland (challenged regarding the number of flights taken) was asked to name his nearest mainline railway station he replied – “Oslo”. There was no further argument.

          5. The sea crossing from Lerwick to Bergen is certainly considerably shorter than that to Aberdeen.

            I think that there was an issue about what does, or does not, constitute a “mainline” station.

      2. Queen Nicola wants to join the EU so she can have handouts and be Queen of Scotland without the responsibility of actually running the country as the EU will be doing that. Of course she’d like to have the currency as the Euro because she wouldn’t be able to use the £. The last 11 polls have indicated an upturn in the percentage of the population wanting independence – really? it depends on how they select the people to be polled.
        I’ve found that the louder people shout for independence the less those people are aware of the economic consequences – they’ve been brainwashed by an Australian actor with a highly suspect Scottish accent.

        1. Yes. There was an opportunity to secede a few years ago when the SNP had most of the Scottish MPs and most of the MSPs. If they had got together they could legitimately have voted to secede. No referendum required.
          It did not happen. “Independence” is a slogan that brings in votes in order that the clique remains in control.
          Just as the Tories might say, “We Will Secure Our Borders and Build More Warships”.*
          As for currency, we could use the pound. It is myth that we could not. It was one of the lies promoted by Alistair Darling. We would have no control over it, that’s all. Lots of countries use foreign currencies, notably the US$.
          As for the polls, some may be biased, or badly run. However the polls are consistent since lastJune.
          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_on_Scottish_independence

          * proper Tories, not the ones we have.

          3. Maybe. Countries that use the peso are not good examples.
            “The Bank became an independent public organisation in 1998, wholly owned by the Treasury Solicitor on behalf of the government, but with independence in setting monetary policy.
            The Bank is one of eight banks authorised to issue banknotes in the United Kingdom, has a monopoly on the issue of banknotes in England and Wales and regulates the issue of banknotes by commercial banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland.”

          4. And when the Scottish economy nosedives (or nosedives further, perhaps I should say) as a result of Krankie’s spending to create her socialist paradise, she may wish to devalue the pound…what then?

          5. Who knows. I don’t expect her to survive the year. Unless we have turned into Italy.
            It seems on the face of it that she orchestrated a conspiracy against Salmond. The more that comes out the worse it looks. Despite documents being withheld, and “redacted” wholesale the story is only going one way.
            Even in cronyland perverting the course of justice might have a downside.

          6. Watching recent films of her – I do realise that editing can create the ‘right’ impression – she does appear to be rather twitchy.

          7. Maybe. Countries that use the peso are not good examples.
            “The Bank of England became an independent public organisation in 1998, wholly owned by the Treasury Solicitor on behalf of the government, but with independence in setting monetary policy.
            The Bank is one of eight banks authorised to issue banknotes in the United Kingdom, has a monopoly on the issue of banknotes in England and Wales and regulates the issue of banknotes by commercial banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland.*”

            The Bank of England would simply cease to regulate the Scottish commercial banks.

            *from wikipedia” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_England

          8. You could use it, but presumably “Scottish” banknotes would cease to be legal tender in the rUK and none of the Scottish banks would be allowed to print their own.

          9. Two points. Scottish banknotes have never been legal tender. In my experience it was easier to get them accepted in France compared to England. (Although as cash businesses like shops and taxis put their cash – “English” notes – in the bank every evening the objection made no sense.)
            Scottish banks are allowed to print their own. Why would that change?

          10. They have been legal tender, briefly.

            The Scottish notes may now be interchangeable with English notes but that would almost certainly cease to be the case in the event of an independent Scotland, Scottish banks might print notes but they would not be sterling as such.

          11. Quite so. However the point is that we can still print them. There might be a floating change rate with sterling. I do get frustrated when not being able to use sterling is waved around. We could use the US dollar as many countries do, often as a dual currency. I’m not making recommendations, simply saying that there are options.
            Most of the arguments are based on the endless lies that were told back before the referendum, with Alistair Darling spewing black nonsense and never challenged by a single journalist.
            These are matters that can be resolved. One does get the impression that half the population of England is slavering at the thought of being vicious to Scotland, without any reason.
            Let us overlook that there are lots of small independent countries that get along? I did not vote for Brexit to be better off, but to be out of the clutches of the EU. Independence is not determined by a cost/benefit analysis.

          12. At the outset, last time around, I was pro the Union.

            I don’t wish Scotland ill, but I’m afraid the bile I received on blogs and the anti-English, rather than pro independence arguments and abuse that is a constant theme in Scottish politics has rather persuaded me that the loss would not be great.

            Let them get out.

            I would also be delighted if some of the outer areas decided to tie up with Norway or stay in the UK.

            That might make Sturgeon and Co think again, as their piss take of an anthem has it….

          13. Legal Tender is a much misunderstood term. As applied to Scottish notes, only pound notes were Legal Tender. All UK notes are Legal Currency, but only Bank of England notes are Legal Tender, and then only in England and Wales.

            Source B of E website.

          14. Thanks. In my experience the difference made no difference. When in England a Scottish note (of any denomination) would be waved about like I’d offered wampum, before being examined under a microscope.

          15. I accumulated a few Scottish notes while working on the Shetland Gas Project but I found no difficulty using them at Birmingham airport, even when flying to non-Scottish destinations. Mr Hussain’s corner shop in Brum, however would be a different story.

        2. I’m waiting for Holyrood to spontaneously detonate and Alex Salmond’s body found conveniently lying in the garden.

    2. I must say that I have always found Scottish people charming and delightful. We have had several students from schools in Scotland (Gordonstoun, Fettes, Glenalmond, St Leonards, Merchiston Castle, and Loretto) our courses and none of them have been chippy and nasty as Scottish people are often portrayed.

        1. Chippy Scots probably amount to a similar proportion of the population as do chippy English – meaning that there are far fewer of them. They are (like their English counterparts) found in all parties and most walks of life.

      2. Probably children of English parents. Two of my siblings attended one of the ones you mention.

    3. £2,800 + £1,200 lost Barnett money; that’s lot of Buckie and f@gs.
      (Apologies to all lovely Scottish NOTTLers who are above such things.)

      1. According to the ONS only about 15% of UK adults smoke. The proportion is slightly higher in Scotland than in England but on 2019 figures it was lower than Wales or Northern Ireland.

        In all the years I lived in Scotland and all the 40 or so years I’ve been going back for visits, including working in 2 different bars, I have never even seen a bottle of Buckfast wine.

        Figures like those quoted are one person’s guesstimate and of very, very, little value.

  14. After another disturbed night a belated Good Morning from a bright and mild Derbyshire!
    A balmy 1°C on the yard thermometer!

  15. Ah! We are now being told that the AZ vaccine provides protection against spreading the virus. This is new news. Who would have thought it, after all the non-committal information about whether it works, how it works, how long it works. I wonder if this is a medical fact.
    Is it maybe just preparation to get out of lockdown? Maybe the first tentative moves by the government to lay the groundwork to get out of the hole which it has dug, and dropped us in?

    2. Yo HP

      Note to Boros et al, with reference to Lockdown, when you get to the bottom of the Pit: STOP DIGGING

    3. I don’t care – so long as it gets us out.

      Every year we have a flu epidemic and every year I’ve not caught it (since 1995) and not bothered with a jab. Last October I blinked and had the jab. No adverse reactions & I’ve not caught it.

      I’m not bothered if the covid jab is 75%, 85% or 90% effective – so long as they let us out of this miserable existence.

      1. Morning J.

        We have just had a phonecall from our surgery , inviting us to have jab next week .
        We had NHS invite last week for jab this week , but in Poole , over 12 miles away.

        Because I have various allergies to antibiotics , I am having the Oxford , and Moh will be having the same as me.

        Many people have had allergic reactions to the Phfizer jab, which was confirmed by the surgery , that the risk factor was too high to take chances.

        When you guys get the invite , please don’t forget to enquire abut allergic reactions re your medical hiistory .

        1. Morning Maggie – you are asked if you have any allergic reactions before you have the jab – it’s on the form the nurse fills in

          2. It would appear that GP surgeries are being more informative and seem to prefer the O/AS jab.
            My brother has just been offered a vaccine with the same choice of locations. The answer would seem to be to choose your GP’s surgery rather than the anonymous centres.
            Our surgery is part of a group of three; they work together. Some treatments – particularly over this past year – have been done at one address, other treatments at another. From MB and my observations, all done very efficiently.

        3. OH had the Pfizer one a few weeks ago with no problems, but as I’m just going to a local health centre I’m assuming it will be the Oxford one.
          I haven’t had any allergic reactions to anything much – though I did feel odd in the evening after the last typhoid one last January.

      2. For most people, it’s a paperwork exercise. Just get us out of this farcical situation.

    5. I can’t decide whether the government is trying to save its face or its @rse, but after this past wasted year, it needs to get on with it.

    6. It may also be a reason to say that everyone has to have the jab. We wear masks, allegedly not for ourselves but to protect others. If the jab stops transmission then perhaps everyone will have to have it – whether they want to or not?

  16. 329032+ up ticks,
    Morning Each,
    These Isles courtesy of the lab/lib/con coalition party really are circling the drain in prep. of the re-set campaign, what with, in your unmasked face “you must have the untested through time jab” otherwise you endanger others followed by,
    “Monday ALL teachers are brain washing leftie scrubbers” Wednesday A plan to make sure that all pupils catch up when schools reopen.

    It does seem like the game of political musical chairs with the same three chairs participating and never a chair being taken away, it seems set to continue right up & beyond the compulsory time it is to attend the mosque.

  17. Furniture arrived yesterday

    Today’s challenge:

    How do you get the contents of a large Three bedroomed house with large kitchen diner, large lounge large utility, a conservatory and Four sheds
    into small two bedroomed bungalow with small everything esle: tiny (cannot even get car in garage).

    Polite answers to Borrowers HQ at – 5 minute walk from the sea, Lincs

        1. 329032+ up ticks,
          OLT,
          Tennyson’s fav, Mablethorpe, although he went to school in Louth where you are not close to the sea unless you maybe confuse the sea with the Lud.

          Where ever be happy.

    4. I did that with a slightly larger house into a 2 bed bungalow – I floored the loft and have all the surplus stored up there and I’m slowly going through it selling things which I’ll never use. This has taken me 12 years so far!!!. The car still hasn’t seen the inside of the garage but I did build a car port for it and an extension for my music gear

    1. Perfect Plum

      Sir Tom Moore resurrected all that was great about being bred in Yorkshire , and yes of course , Great Britain… He reminded us all that true grit , commonsense, stoicism were the values that bonded us together in the past .. and in these horrible trying times , even binds us all together now.

  19. Good morning my friends

    DT Story

    Potatoes and tractors banned from Northern Ireland if they have British soil on them, says Arlene Foster
    The Leader of the DUP tells Chopper’s Politics podcast why the post-Brexit regulation is ‘offensive’

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/02/03/potatoes-tractors-banned-northern-ireland-have-british-soil/

    Complete shambles in Northern Ireland. Why did we not leave without a trade deal and with our borders completely intact? – we surely knew that the EU cannot be trusted.

    One BTL comment:
    This nonsense wouldn’t be happening if Dominic Cummings was still in Downing Street.
    The ship of state would be running much more smoothly.

    and the reaction to it:

    “Power without responsibility has been the prerogative of the harlot throughout history.”
    We cannot blame Johnson’s concubine – she is merely performing her traditional historical role!

    My view is that the dark chap in the lumber store was Gove who, at the last moment, managed to persuade Johnson to surrender on both fishing and the Northern Ireland border in order to get this pathetic pretence of a good deal.

      1. Johnson will concede whatever changes the EU demands. He has shown his true colours – the blue and yellow starred flag.

    2. Morning Rastus – Johnson in effect extended the transition period as it is only a one-sided agreement. Unless the law was cancelled we left without a deal which Johnson told us would be a “No Deal” exit. He has never been challenged about why he changed his mind. Farage has gone back to Financial business, The ERG group seem to support Johnson, even Bill Cash. The whole things stink with knighthoods , Lords and Dames handed out as softeners. .

    3. Potatoes and tractors banned from Northern Ireland if they have British soil on them
      Something else that nobody with a microgram of common sense could make up.

  20. Good morning, all. Late on parade. A bit under the weather. Dunno why. Will not be around much.

    1. I do hope you are feeling better soon, keep us informed. We are all concerned for you. Cuddle a kitten and a good book and a cosy throw.

    3. Good morning Bill.

      It may be a reaction to your jab, have heard reactions sometimes happen about 3 days after jab .

      I did a ring around re the lovely gentlemen in my group , and have heard that stiff arms , bad tums and headaches etc seem to be par for the course .

      The weather doesn’t help either, has stopped raining here, the meadows are flooded and the Frome has a overflowed and created lakes everywhere.

    5. My arm has become progressively more sore and painful to touch since Friday and the area around the vaccination point itches. I also have a headache but assumed that was a hangover from wine drunk the previous evening.

      2. Consult your GP Jay . You may have an infected vaccination site and require antibiotics.

        1. The symptoms are listed on the information leaflet I was given as very common side effects that may infect more than 1 in 10 people – if it should really get worse I will call the surgery.

  21. How To Call The Police When You’re Old (True Story)

    Phillip Hewitson, an elderly man, from Norwich, was going up to bed, when his wife told him that he’d left the light on in the garden shed, which she could see from the bedroom window. George opened the back door to go turn off the light, but saw that there were people in the shed stealing things.

    He phoned the police, who asked “Is someone in your house?”

    He said “No,” but some people are breaking into my garden shed and stealing from me.

    Then the police dispatcher said “All patrols are busy. You should lock your doors and an officer will be along when one is available.”

    George said, “Okay.”
    He hung up the phone and counted to 30.

    Then he phoned the police again.

    “Hello, I just called you a few seconds ago because there were people stealing things from my shed. Well you don’t have to worry about them now because I just shot them.” and he hung up.

    Within five minutes, Six Police Cars, a SWAT Team, a Helicopter, two Fire Trucks, a Paramedic, and an Ambulance showed up at the Hewitson’s residence, and caught the burglars red-handed.

    One of the Policemen said to Phillip, “I thought you said that you’d shot them!”

    Phillip said, “I thought you said there was nobody available!”

    3. Was Mr Hewitson done for wasting police time? Apprehending burglars is now not something upon which a police officer should waste his or her time.

  22. Hancock admits that he got the idea to order vaccines from a fortune cookie. These people are controlling our lives, from confinement in our houses to everything we do outside our home. Everything.

    1. 329032+ up ticks,
      Afternoon HP,
      Surely it is done by peoples consent via the polling booth
      it is not as if the political cretins have JUST gone rogue
      they have a history of treachery.

  23. Politicians are more dangerous than the virus….

    EU countries are saying there’s not enough evidence that the British version is right for the over 55’s. Others are opting for the Chinese and Russian versions.

    While we assume it’s all about politics we could also take what they say at face value which casts doubt on the effectiveness of what’s going into our arms.

    1. As a nation we should be much more questioning and inquisitive about exactly what is going into these vaccines, all of them. All I see is blind trust. Walking along the village paths yesterday an elderly lady flung open her window to shout at me “have you had your jab, yet? I had mine last week!” She was beaming all over her face. As I don’t intend to take part in this international charade I replied “not yet!” Well, said she, “the young man* who did me said ‘come on, let’s get you done and help get our country back to normal’.” 🎵I see trouble ahead🎵 for those of us who are conscientious objectors regarding this so-called and largely untested ‘vaccine’.

      * the ‘young man’ was probably about fifty. She is well into her eighties.

      1. In reality we are in the experimental stage….

        Any vaccine has only been tested in the short term so nobody knows the long term effects.

        1. 329032+ up ticks,
          H,
          This could very well be debated in the future by talking heads ….. on the same torso.

        2. Although as still untested long-term, I think they know what the long term effects will be, or they have a good idea….. in pretty much the same way these vaccines haven’t been tested on the over-55s and ageing immune systems. Which is why the roll out started in the care homes. They know. In the same way they knew putting infected patients from nhs wards into care homes would infect the elderly already there. But will a plea of ignorance save their sorry skins? As far as I can see they are, nationally and internationally, all in it together. Blair has stated as much “we have our people embedded everywhere.”

          1. ” we have our people embedded everywhere.” – something VERY similar in one of the recent Bond films -( Think it was Spectre ) – where the end aim is for ONE govt to rule the world – Sounds familiar.

          2. Time for the UK, having mostly extricated ourselves from the EU, to resign any membership of UN and WHO.

      2. It makes me wonder what is in it when all these saying “it is wonderful” are beaming away, some giggling etc. Even on the Radio 5 phone in at 3am with Jim Davis? – he had several – one after the other – all saying the same. Clearly they are a bit odd or something is making them extremely happy. They don’t even seem to realise they are still under lockdown, still subject to the same restrictions. Still can’t meet the family etc. But now they are happy.

        1. Actually, that rings a bell now about the strange effects the vaccine has on people, I did read somewhere that it can make them euphorically happy or seriously depressed, the conclusion being that it must affect the nervous system in some way along with the presentation of twitching and tics – what are they doing to us? What will the long term results be?

          2. Good afternoon NtN. Me also. There is insufficient public information, the family backgrounds of the people involved (Gates and Johnson are from families that have dabbled in eugenics), my complete lack of trust in government and nhs, Hancock’s juvenile smirking and dictats and the feeling that they are trying something on and hiding things from us at the same time. My antennae were alerted to the fact that ‘something was going on’ and that they weren’t being straight with us, very early on when they ramped up the fear from the word go, when Johnson came on stage and announced “Some of you are going to die. Some of you are going to lose loved ones” and that made me wonder just why he was trying to create fear and panic, I felt he should have been calming and reducing the panic level at this time of such uncertainty in our time-honoured British way of Keep Calm and Carry On! When people are up to no good they always give themselves away, one way or another.

          3. “Some of you are going to die. Some of you . . . ” – -not – -Some of US then? Are they immune ?If so – why?

      3. There are so many vaccines now, made by so many different companies that we can’t have a clue what is being injected into us. But don’t worry, don’t question, just roll up your sleeve…

        1. As the nurse changed my wound dressing I asked when the gyms might re-open. Her reply was when everyone’s been vaccinated, she supposed.

          I then suggested that vaccination wasn’t the miracle cure nd nurse agreed, and said no, it wasn’t, no magic bullet.

          Which rather implies the entire effort is one giant deception.

      4. There is no way of finding out PM the whole episode is being played out close to the chests of the so called experts. I have tried to find out on line which vaccine i might be taking on this coming Saturday, it’s not possible.
        There should only be one official and all purpose vaccine.

        1. Well, it seems to be Pfizer for the over eighties, especially if you are in a residential home and AZ/Oxford if you are still active between 65-80. (Of course this is a generalisation, from my observation.) It does make me very suspicious. I have not heard of anyone in a RH having the Oxford jab, but I do know of active 70-80 year olds who have had Pfizer, so there us some blurring of the roll-out…… perhaps to disguise the effects when they kick in long term (cynical, me?!). One batch for one age group, another batch for another, and it seems likely that the Johnson and Johnson vaccine will be rolled out in time to inoculate the 50-65 age group.

          If I were going for the vaccine on Saturday, if it turned out to be the Pfizer vaccine then I would not accept it, stick out for the Oxford one and if it is not available say you will go elsewhere or come back later, even if you are at the stage where they have the needle in hand. Just depart. You have to know in advance what your plan of action will be and not to be caught on the hop. We still have sovereignty over our own bodies, we are not property of the state nor nhs yet. We belong to ourselves and our families. You might be interested to read about the effects of the vaccine here https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2021/02/02/covid-vaccine-death-seniors.aspx?ui=4697793730bd3463975d8bacf9d5a20a4aa7029902e3afe3b899f7d660c3b478&cid_source=dnl&cid_medium=email&cid_content=art1HL&cid=20210202_HL2&mid=DM784164&rid=1073735858 mainly about Pfizer but also Moderna gets a mention, Moderna doesn’t seem to be available in the UK, thank heavens. Mercola does sensationalise, his articles are not written in the dry, clinical language of the academic, but everything that he writes factually I have seen confirmed elsewhere (and in the interests of self preservation I have done a lot of reading!). The btl comments as always anywhere, are interesting. It is a US site.

          All of this seems to be experimental and contrary to the 1947 Nuremberg Code of Ethics. I suppose our politicians regard this as being old hat now, in the same manner that the Hippocratic oath seems to be out of the window.

          1. Myself and Mrs VVOF are due the jab on Saturday which we will accept. It will be at our local doctor’s surgery and will be the Oxford version.
            I share your concerns and doubts but the truth is we wish to visit family in Australia and hopes this makes it possible in the future.
            If I turn into a zombie, I will try to make my final post to you with the comment “bugger, it appears you were right” 😱

          2. Poppiesdad would tell you I am always right! The Oxford version seems to follow the path of the more traditional vaccines, although I did read that it does have a GMO component added to it as well. If we had family overseas we may well have chosen to take a chance and go down that path – I long to see our elder son who lives in only Swindon but just too far away for a quick visit. It does seem to be Pfizer that causes most of the problems (at the moment) and of all the pharmaceuticals they have a bad reputation for being sued for adverse drug reaction (indemnity given by government in the case of this vaccine). Do post here and let us know how you get on.

          3. I will do, I have already been advised to expect a cracker of a headache.
            I will update on the effects of the jab over the weekend.

          4. We both had the O/AZ vaccine.
            MB had a ropey day – I suspect because he had the bug a year ago and his immune system was determined to drive home the message this time. (“Oh, not you AGAIN!!!”)
            Apart from feeling ‘ready for my bed’ on the evening of the day following the jab, I was fine.

          5. Good afternoon, poppiesmum.

            The linked document is a long read but explains a lot; mainly about employment law and discrimination re the “vaccine”. Every scrap of evidence is important, especially for those of us with doubts about what these potions contain and what the medium and long term effects may be. All the “vaccines” may turn out to be benign as far as side effects are concerned but history…

            Open Letter re Covid Vaccines

          6. ‘Open Letter’ is a very useful article – thank you. I have bookmarked and it and saved it as a copy on my desk top. As I understand it we are still members of the Council of Europe.

            All I can say is, those who are not prepared to learn from history….. you know the rest. I prefer to be cautious. Also all Johnson’s schemes when he was mayor of London eventually turned into disasters, so I have been told. I must confess I did not pay much attention at the time.

            Also this, hot in off the press https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1392962/eu-vaccine-latest-astrazeneca-switzerland-ban-oxford-vaccine-uk-latest
            I cannot understand the reason for this, it surely cannot be political or Brexit related as the Swiss were outside the eu anyway although they did seem to have trading agreements with the eu, so have they been got at by Ursula VL. Having said that the Swiss are a cautious breed and all the knots have to be carefully tied, as indicated in the article. Perhaps it is all starting to unravel. Perhaps we are being manipulated in some way. Nothing these days is ever as it seems.

          7. PM, My wife has had the Oxford jab (so have I) in her care home – no choice, and she’s also over 80. She hasn’t had any reaction to it and I only had mild side effects

          8. We invited on the O/AZ jab; in both cases a proactive approach by our GP surgery group.
            When MB went for his vaccine, the nurse admitted that there were few takers for Pfizer version.

          9. My reservations about the Pfizer vaccine are about the hysterical atmosphere in which it has been produced. Apparently the technique is not unknown but, at the moment, I will go for tried and tested (70/80 years?) methods.
            And that is not because MB and I are fearties, but simply as a paperwork exercise to pile the pressure on the government to let our grandchildren return to a normal life.

      5. Just back from my annual MOT with the GP. We chatted to each other through our fully be-masked mouths. He gave me a full diagnostic check-up and review of my medication (No oil-change though!). In general I remain fighting fit (for someone just 19 days short of his three score years and ten!).

        I asked about a tender site of skin on the inside of my lower right leg, just above the ankle. He advised that this is due to an œdema in my right foot caused by the nine 6″ long titanium screws I had inserted 12 years ago to fuse an arthritic joint. He recommended the use of compression socks.

        He did, though, strongly advise me against having a vaccination of any of the Covid vaccines. This is due to my history of adverse allergic reactions (anaphylactic shock) to the influenza vaccines over my adult lifespan. On both occasions, twenty years apart, that I have partaken of a ‘flu jab I have collapsed with a severe—and quite dangerous—reaction.

        He stated that my propensity for reacting adversely in that way to serums (as documented in my medical history) would preclude me from having such a vaccination. He went on to say that this should not be a problem due to my current excellent state of health.

        2. Obviously an independent minded Medical practitioner………did you get the prostate examination Grizz ?? 😉😎

          I didn’t get a satisfactorily straight answer from my GP in our previous telephone consultation who i am seeing in person tomorrow. I have a list of questions.
          Yesterday seeing the orthopaedic surgeon at Spire and after an informative discussion, we decided it was safer to transferred me to another local hospital for referral, as it is considered too risky with my underlying issues to have a Hip Opp with out on site A&E backup.
          Knowing how things stand in the UK now i wont hold my breath.

          2. I’ve just been to see my GP this morning.
            99% blood oxygen rating BP a bit high not unusual for me. Diastasis Recti confirmed basically a collapse of the old 6 pack……it had to happen.
            My GP is originally from Norway, he’s a really nice guy with a decent sense of humour but with a strong accent. I told him i thought he looked like the chef with his plastic pinny and gloves on. He laughed.
            I’ve got to go to the local ‘vampires’ to have some more blood tests.
            But it lifts your spirit a tad to find out that most things are working in a satisfactory manner. And the jabs we are having on Saturday are supplied by Astra Zeneca. All the more for every one else, since dopey Marcon and Vander Lying made their announcements.

        3. Very good news. Well done you.

          I’m ‘under’ three consultants at the moment with endless appointments over the next two months. Two more scans for different conditions and an ultrasound on my groin area. Three more visits to the vampire. I have also just been prescribed antibiotics for another condition. Hospital appointments now require the use of a wheelchair. The saving grace being i can still drink alcohol.

          I’ll get me bottle.

          2. When if first visited my Doctor she made an appointment with the Vascular Surgeon after discussing her diagnosis of me over the phone to him. As she saw me out she wished me good luck.

            Uh oh…

          3. Keep buggering on, Philip. 👍🏻

            You keep enjoying that bottle. I’ll open mine in June, to toast you, when my self-imposed temperance will be wilfully broken.

          7. Kind of you to say so, nursey. When i went in for the first batch of blood extraction (4 pints before the end of the month ! ) the porter wheeled me in an asked me if i wanted a sandwich and a cup of Tea.

            I had the lateral flow test which was negative other wise they wouldn’t have seen me.

            I found all the staff delightful.

    3. 329032+ up ticks,
      Afternoon H,
      Political lead steers have been feeding the ovis loco weed
      for decades, so much so they are now main lining on political sh!te, the ballot box proves that time & again.

    1. Polly, would love to believe Trump is in a position to do something. Any clues as to what it could possibly be?

    3. what another promise? remember the fable of the boy that cried wolf?

      the only thing he has up his sleeve is the eviction notice for mar a lago

      1. Have you checked out Presidential Emergency Action Documents yet and the massive powers they gave Trump to eavesdrop on every aspect of Election 2020, including communications between Democrats, the voting centers and their control HQ?

        Donald knows everything. He’s got them all wrapped up.

        1. So why didn’t he use those actions at the time?

          Sydney Powell might have floated the emergency action stuff but the people that count (white house solicitor, cabinet ministers) rejected their legality.

          If Trump eavesdropped on democrat communications, there is a precedent for that. See what happened to Nixon!

          1. Donald did use those actions at the time, and his victory has been secretly certified in accordance with a P.E.A.D.

            Everything has been done in accordance with the Constitution.

            The next stage is revealing the situation and the criminality of the Democrats to the public which will happen at the most opportune moment.

      1. Call me an old septic but JAGS immediately comes to mind,………….Just Another Government Stooge.

  26. Teacher “Now young Tom, can you tell me something you’re not very good at beginning with N?”
    Tom “Spelling”

  27. 329032+ up ticks,
    Pope Francis Warns of Globalization Becoming New ‘Colonialism’

    Being of the same persuasion may Ogga add “but with NO benifits”.

    1. Arfftar Noon All.
      Strange that he should suddenly let slip what most sensible people have been thinking is going on for most of their lives.
      Only benefits are available to all rubber boaters and anyone else who has arrived since AH Blair opened the door.

  28. Why I think the entire charity sector should be abolished. Fraud, theft, no tax, incompetence and huge payments to senior staff.
    Today’s first item:
    “Third Sector has learned that Nancy Wilson, who has been the US-based head of Relief International since 2014, went on administrative leave shortly before Christmas after it emerged that she approved payments worth about £6,000 a month to an armed opposition group to protect workers in a conflicted region.
    Eric Fullilove, the charity’s chief financial officer, left the charity at short notice in the summer after a payment from RI-UK, worth the equivalent of about £365,000 and intended for Unicef, was accidentally sent to fraudsters, Third Sector understands.”

    https://www.thirdsector.co.uk/chief-major-aid-charity-administrative-leave-agreeing-payments-armed-group/management/article/1706174?bulletin=finance-bulletin&utm_medium=EMAIL&utm_campaign=eNews%20Bulletin&utm_source=20210203&utm_content=Third%20Sector%20Finance%20Bulletin%20(25)::&email_hash=

    1. What I cannot tolerate is charities espousing political causes with which their subscribers do not necessarily agree.

      Even the RNLI – which I have supported for very many years – has become tainted.

    2. What annoys me is that many of these “charidees” are given money from the “government “ – you and me and every other bod whether they like it or not.

      1. It came to light that a muslim charity started by an MSP used the Scottish Government grant of £6000 to host a party.
        I wrote to the Scottish Government asking how much money they gave to charities in a year.
        They did not know, was the reply. I’d have to make an enquiry in respect of every charity.
        FOI – don’t you just love it?

  29. ‘A new kind of American radicalism’: Capitol rioters a mainstream movement ‘not connected to far-right extremism’ 3 February 2021.

    A University of Chicago analysis of 193 alleged Capitol rioters has found the large majority had no connection to far-right militias or white-nationalist gangs.

    In stark contrast to right-wing political violence of previous years, researchers found that only 20 people arrested in connection to the Capitol were affiliated with groups like the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and Three Percenters.

    While attention has focused on the role of far-right groups, the data suggest the Capitol riots were driven by a new kind of radical; middle-aged, well educated, white-collar professionals from Democrat strongholds which voted for Joe Biden, like New York City and San Francisco.

    Aka Patriots!

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/university-chicago-capitol-riot-b1796674.html

    1. I’d imagine very, very few were’ far right’ because from the Independent, right wing is anyone slightly to the right of Mao.

    2. 329032+ up ticks,
      Afternoon TB,
      I was foreman on a water treatment construction site in Scotland and had one like that, it’s animal kingdom title was
      clerkoftheworkssnakcus.

      1. I have heard of the expression syphon the python as an alternative to shaking hands with the wife’s best friend.

    1. The weirdest part is not the article but the kicker at the bottom:

      … we have a small favour to ask. Through these turbulent and challenging times, millions rely on the Guardian for independent journalism that stands for truth and integrity. Readers chose to support us financially more than 1.5 million times in 2020, joining existing supporters in 180 countries.

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b18b61ab69a35f6733f9937b8ed4e2c364554628aa46da058ce78c57462fb044.gif

      And there’s a ton more of that blurb, ending up asking for a quid.

  34. The Slog

    Time for some bizarre vaccine statements and numbers.

    Last week, Jonathan van-Tam, England’s deputy chief medical officer,

    offered a weird warning: that vaccinated people should not assume they

    cannot pick up and transmit the virus. I read that, blinked, and then

    went on Twitter to ask anyone listening if our DCMO might perchance be

    mad.

    Once again, I had that funny, familiar feeling. I first had it

    watching various senior politicians wearing masks, after having already

    claimed that they’d already had Coronavirus 7 – the real name for

    Covid19….but then – yes but no but – the official explanation came back:

    they might have a thing called ‘Long Covid’, where they can – no

    really, they can – still be infectious. In Michel Barnier’s case, for

    example, three months later. Really?

    https://therealslog.com/2021/02/02/virusecrecy-the-answers-we-arent-being-given/
    Brian Rix couldn’t have written the script for these farces

    1. I guess the virus can live on the outside of your body or clothes for a short time and be transmitted whether you have the virus or not. Think shaking hands with an infected person and immediately shaking hands with someone else and passing the virus on

      1. I think it goes deeper than that. After vaccination you might catch the virus but show no symptoms, you are OK but you can still pass it on just like anyone who has not been vaccinated.

        They run scared of asymptomatic carriers then make everyone an asymptomatic carrier.

      3. 329032+ up ticks,
        Afternoon FA,
        Keep the doorway to the welfare office open via Dover and these mass uncontrolled immigration coalition party’s supported by fools operating, and there won’t be bloody room for a virus in England.

          1. Aah! Didn’t watch any of it so … I expect they all washed their hands prior to shaking hands and afterwards of course 🤞🤞🤞

    2. Ummm… just because you’ve been vaccinated does not mean you don’t carry the virus. It simply means you’ve the antibodies to protect yourself from it. It doens’t mean you won’t get ill. Doesn’t mean you won’t carry it. Doesn’t mean you won’t pass it on.

  36. Blackford, the SNP leader in the HoC accused the PM of knowingly and recklessly visiting a laboratory in Scotland last week with his entourage. The laboratory had an outbreak of Covid cases the day before the visit. Boris gave a typical blustering answer as Blackford was shown muttering and shaking his head. At the end BJ said he was unaware of the Covid cases. [PMQs]

    1. Fatty Blackford deserved all the anger which Boris directed at him. The PM was furious and said that nobody was going to tell him where and when he could go! I was very pleased that someone finally put the blustering, truth-averse shyster in his place. Talk radio host was wondering when the tiresome tyreman was ever going to ask a question at PM’s Question time instead of just squealing like a stuck pig?

      1. Blackfords’s got no room to talk about reckless journeys – just look at his travelling expenses

        1. Yes Alec! I’m afraid Mr Blobby doesn’t do irony! Just screwing the taxpayer for the upkeep of his “croft”!

      1. Yup! Butter gets passed through the system and is good for you. The enemy here is the bread, the carbs of which gets laid down as lipid fat.

        I’m giving up the bread again but not the butter.

        2. The look great Grizz, apparently sour dough bread is better for the constitution. When I eat it toasted (weaponised) for breakfast I don;t seem to get as bloated. It’s to do with the process as it forms without added yeast. Can be made with whole meal but I’ve never tried that, only made it with strong white. But have patience if you do.

          1. They are very tasty, Eddy. I used the overnight technique to improve the flavour. You only need a small proportion of dried yeast (3g) when you leave it overnight in a cold room (or fridge) after mixing. Then bring it back to room temperature the next day for the initial rise.

            Spelt flour is a delicious alternative to bog-standard strong white flour.

          4. I’ve been making bread for years but am going to have a go for the 1st time with sourdough. I’ve just put some flour and water in a jar.

          5. It will take about 7 days to get a reasonable amount of starter. Add flour each day and some warm water. Some people add a few fresh grapes or dried sultanas to the mix. You might get different results from different brands of flour. Good luck and follow each step with dedication. It’s worth the effort.

      1. Ms D-cup, you are correct, I did say that. I didn’t eat carbs from January to August 2000. I then went onto an OMAD (one-meal-a-day) diet then since the Keto diet was terminally boring for such an extended time. On my one meal routine I can eat carbs as long as I fast for 23 hours each day.

        I shall probably return to the full-whack Keto (no carb) diet for a few months now until August. As long as I continue to lose weight, however slowly, then I think I’m on to a good thing.

      3. I think reducing carb intake is better than none. Your brain needs some carbs. You still get carbs in carrots and such like which is better for you than any processed carbohydrate.

      1. Certainly, Nursey.

        Fruit Teacakes

        500g strong white flour (or spelt flour)
        300g milk
        150g mixed dried fruit (currants, sultanas, mixed peel)
        60g granulated sugar
        4g dried yeast (if doing overnight) otherwise 10g dried yeast (for same day recepe)
        10g salt
        ½tsp mixed spice
        50g softened butter.

        Add all the ingredients to a large mixing bowl (I use my Kenwood Major food mixer) and bring together as a dough.
        Knead by hand for 10–15 minutes until smooth (or for 5 minutes in a food mixer).

        Choose method (a) [overnight] or (b) [same day] below.

        (a) Cover the bowl with clingfilm (I use a plastic shower cap) and leave in a cold place (the refrigerator is fine) overnight. The next day remove in the morning and leave for a few hours in a warm place for the initial rise until the dough has doubled in size.

        (b) Cover the bowl with clingfilm (I use a plastic shower cap) and leave in a warm place for around two hours until doubled in size.

        Remove from bowl onto a work surface or cutting board. Knock back and divide into six equal portions (I weigh them) for large teacakes; or eight equal portions for medium-sized teacakes. Shape into balls and place them onto a baking tray spaced apart. Slightly flatten the balls of dough and then put the tray into a warm place for ¾–1 hour to prove until doubled in size. [I slightly warm the oven to 50ºC before switching it off and leaving the baking tray inside].

        Remove from the oven and then heat the oven to 200ºC. Bake the teacakes for 15 minutes before removing them from the oven and placing on a wire rack to cool.

        They are very nice fresh and untoasted. Just cut one in half and spread with butter.

        I put the ones I’m not eating straight away into small plastic bags and place them in the freezer. When I want one, I remove it from its plastic bag, put it into the microwave oven for 30 seconds on full and they look, smell and taste as they were when freshly-baked.

  38. Given his past, I don’t usually have much time for Nick Timothy writing in the DT. But I liked today’s scathing attack on Philip Hammond, especially as a follow-up to the article a couple of days ago.

    The last sentence is spot on!

    Philip Hammond’s bogus Brexit history only reveals his true hostility to leaving the EU
    Hammond has tried to rewrite history. But his fantastical account only makes him look like a fool

    It is good medical practice to respect patient confidentiality, but when Philip Hammond took to the political equivalent of the psychiatrist’s couch, the conversation was published in gory detail. Hammond has given an interview to a think tank in which he sought to write a bogus history of the Brexit talks, but succeeded only in revealing what he really got up to as chancellor.

    Hammond admits discussing using a second referendum to overturn Brexit with fellow Remainers. He decided against, in part, because “we didn’t actually think we’d win it”. Instead, he makes clear, he worked to undermine what Brexit would mean. Despite claiming to accept the referendum result, it is not obvious what Hammond thought Britain should leave. The single market? No. The customs union? No. The writ of the European Court of Justice? That was just “theological” argument.

    Nor is he keen on Britain’s new freedoms. Supporting immigration control is “dogmatic”, he suggests, and we should have kept free movement rules. Neither is there much to gain from regulating our own economy. “The Bank of England was always keener on regulatory autonomy than the Treasury was,” he says, as though the Treasury ran the man supposed to run it.

    Instead, Hammond wanted a “very close associated orbit with the European Union”, in which Brussels set the rules and Britain followed. How many Brits might have been vaccinated in Hammond’s fantasy polity? The answer is remarkably few.

    This all reflects the man with whom I worked as chief of staff in Downing Street from 2016 to 2017. Unable to resist jabbing at Leave-supporting politicians, envious of Boris Johnson, ignorant of Parliament, contemptuous of ordinary people, resistant to public opinion, reluctant to concede the reality of what Brexit must mean, incredulous that Theresa May, a woman he believed his inferior, could become prime minister, he details a fantasy of what might have been.

    But it is a fantasy. His account of May’s Brexit speech to the 2016 Tory conference makes no sense. He says she retreated from it in her Lancaster House speech, but there she went further, promising to leave the single market and customs union.

    Without challenge, Hammond claims May’s speech almost caused a run on sterling. But while sterling fell, the drama came almost a week later after a “flash crash” in Asian markets. Sterling promptly recovered, and an independent investigation blamed a “confluence of factors”, noting it was one of “a series of flash events occurring in fast, electronic markets”.

    There are further discrepancies. Hammond says he was never a Leaver, but those who worked for him say he boasted for years that Britain must leave the EU. He claims he supported a Norway-style relationship from the start, but he did not say so to May.

    He says the Chequers meeting, held after I left government, when May tried to bounce her cabinet into a de facto customs union with the EU, only went wrong because she “allowed a head of steam to gather [among ministers] in the room”. But he also claims nobody was put out by the policy, and Leave-supporting ministers were “jovial”. In fact, David Davis, then Brexit Secretary, had decided to resign days in advance.

    Hammond’s sneering towards Davis is typical. “Just because he was called the Brexit Secretary,” Davis thought “he was somehow going to control some of this process.” But when the boot was on the other foot, and Hammond was the minister feeling disempowered, he calls the resulting decisions a “coup”. When policy Hammond liked was stitched up in secret, that was just politics; when policy was made despite his opposition, it was an outrage. When a Leave-supporting chief of staff drafted speeches, it was unacceptable; when a “euro-pragmatist” did, it was commendable. It was his duty, he says, to “reinterpret” government policies he disliked.

    Thankfully, this is all now history, but history that should not be rewritten. The negotiating “red lines” he dismissed as unachievable have been achieved, Britain has left the EU, and Hammond no longer has to serve his constituents as a backbencher, work he said he “hated”. Instead, he is now a peer, and the best possible advertisement for the abolition of the House of Lords.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/02/03/philip-hammonds-bogus-brexit-history-reveals-true-hostility/

      1. Both almost certainly have connections to Open Society.

        After all, those mega reward speeches of Treasa, one just before Bill Clinton, are a real give away.

    2. I always thought that when Hammond went home, he put on his knickers outside his trousers.

      1. Since it is now fashionable to be offended and to air one’s absurd grievances in public I must say that I found Philip Hammond’s coiffure with a poncy bouffant parting effeminately offensive.

          1. Perhaps in the days when he was chancellor. I like to be original when I coin my own clichés.

            (I put an incorrect apostrophe in to see if you would correct without refreshing first!)

    3. Fishing and Northern Ireland were not properly resolved and these two issues will give us piles of anal orifice ache for a long time yet.

      1. I very much doubt that these are the only issues. We have a ban on exporting seed potatoes. The ineptitude of the Customs processes will continue to damage our exports of fresh food, to the point where many exporters will stop. The country of origin requirements are farcical. We have a Peugeot van, presumably made in Portugal or Spain. It has components made in Turkey, yet the EU are going to get tough if our exports of Minis have components from elsewhere?

        1. Many years ago, Volvos made in Sweden were about 70% British – component for component.

      1. My favourite bit of Geoffrey’s history is where he describes King Arthur tearing his enemy limb from limb in the service of Our Saviour Jesus Christ.

    5. Thanks for oosting, KL. Any article that pillories the arch betrayer has to be a good thing…

      1. Yes, grateful for that, yet it underpins the fundamental problem with our system of government: that we cannot get rid of the scum seeking to undermine us before they pose a threat.

    6. “…as though the Treasury ran the man supposed to run it….”

      Errr…. it does. Hell, if a banker (Sunak) cannot explain that tax rises lose money and tax cuts raise them, it has no hope of functioning at all.

  39. Well,well,well

    “ONE of the world’s oldest and most respected medical journals has

    published a damning attack on the UK Government, saying “science is

    being suppressed for political and financial gain” in the mould of “some

    of history’s worst autocrats and dictators”.

    The journal argued that Covid-19 had “unleashed state corruption on a

    grand scale”, and that politicians and industry are guilty of

    “opportunistic embezzlement”.

    The British Medical Journal (officially the BMJ since 1988) published

    the article, entitled “Covid-19: politicisation, ‘corruption,’ and

    suppression of science”, in its most recent edition.

    In an unusually political intervention, the journal accuses the

    Government of claiming to “follow the science”, when in reality:

    “Government appointees are able to ignore or cherry pick science –

    another form of misuse – and indulge in anti-competitive practices that

    favour their own products and those of friends and associates.””

    https://www.thenational.scot/news/18876154.bmj-lashes-state-corruption-suppression-science-uk/
    But we already knew that didn’t we……….

    1. But that is what people wanted.

      Listen to scientific advice, weigh it against social and economic needs to come up with a balanced approach.

      1. The reality: Listen to scientific advice, weigh it against social and economic needs, come up with a balanced approach then ignore it.

      2. I’d say that the propaganda effort by Whitty, Van Tam etc has been instrumental in pushing the public via the MSM to believe ONLY science (which of a lot of it currently is guesswork and, as you say, not taking into account many other factors) in policy-making. If anyone hasn’t yet watched the video from early 2019 with JVT’s equivalent from Belguim giving a ‘talk’ on how to run the pandemic propaganda show (at Chatham House), then please do so. The speaker and audience laugh a lot, but I found it chiling.

      3. There is utterly no excuse for how they ignored HCQ. That was a purely political decision, and the British government went along with it just as much as anyone else.

    2. I wonder whether they were one of the journals that blackballed that legit Danish study that conclusively proved that non-medical facemasks or ones used by non-medical professionals in wider society were essentially useless to prevent transmission of COVID-19 as well as other viruses.

    3. Hooray. At last a respected journal tells the truth. Just what we have known all along. But will enough other people read and believe it?

    4. As I’ve posted before:-

      The term “following the science” is false. They are really following Scientific Opinion specially selected to support their policies.
      The opinions of any other scientists, including specialist in the particular field, are ignored.

    5. While there’s cash to be made, the state will chase it. If it involves power, control or tax, the state loves it.

      Green is yet another lie. Climate change is a relatively simple problem to solve, but it doesn’t make bastards like Gummer rich, so of course, there’s no interest in it.

    6. Well, knock me down with a feather!
      Part of the establishment – actually saying what we can all see! Wonders will never cease.

      Perhaps there is hope of resisting the great reset after all. Time to get behind them!

  40. Snowing hard again with a fresh northerly. Just the day to pull on my boots and take a leaf out of the Dutch book for a good stiff session of uitwaaien.

  41. I do find it amusing at the letters pertaining to the demise of the old Police Boxes comes at the same time as the current useless, woke Doctor WHO is now teetering on the brink after just 3 years ([barely] 2 seasons) of Jodie Whittaker in the role and Chris Chibnall in charge of the show.

    1. If I were Jodie Whitaker, I’d give up the role too. She has had terrible scripts and plots, and half a dozen sidekicks to share the screen, where as The Doctor’s previous incarnations only ever had an assistant.

      2. It’s not just the bad scripts and woke storylines, it’s her attitude to the role (she admitted to not doing any research before starting and like the showrunner Chibnall, want to use it as a platform of woke) and that she is completely unsuited to the role as an actor. That they gender swapped was bad enough (and lazy writing because they couldn’t think up of a new female character to run a series off themselves), but her performances have been terrible.

        Even her agent has apparently repeatedly told her to ditch the role asap before it ruins her career, such that it was beforehand. IMHO, only Broadchurch S1 was any good, which is probably the best the Chibs has ever done.

        1. I don’t understand why there seems to be this desperate infiltration of media to use them as woke platforms, as it’s basically destroying the entire culture for absolutely no benefit whatsoever.

          The Left are foul, small creatures who need a smack around the face.

    2. I was tempted to write this morning that I know where to find a Police Box. There are props from Doctor Who in the entrance hall at Television Centre. The Tardis and a Dalek. Also a full size model of a friesian cow. She belongs to the Glasto production team but will be spending another summer in Shepherds Bush, poor luv.

  42. And what a flaming palaver this morning!
    Got all set to begin sawing the half vanload of firewood and the bloody chainsaw is knackered!
    Not too surprised about that, it is over 20 year old and has had a problem with the kickback brake, safeside failure I do stress, so is probably due for replacement, but when I went to drive into Twiggs in Matlock for a replacement, the chuffing van wouldn’t start, flat battery, so had to get a jump start from the DT’s car.

    £240 and a couple of hours later than planned, I’m now two thirds of the way through the sawing.

    1. You should see the amount of logs I have sawed this year!

      I do not use a chainsaw – I do the whole lot with a bow saw and I cut my logs into 50 cm and 40 cm lengths respectively for the 15 kw Clearview Stove in the living room and the 6 kw Woodwarm Stove in the library.

      Sawing all my logs by hand and not using a chainsaw makes the job considerably slower but it gives me exercise and keeps me fit.

        1. Fretful porpentines, Sir.

          And no, that is how Shakespeare’s spelling of porcupine is given in most editions of his works.

          4. In fact, as I am sure you are aware, when you are buying firewood you buy it in loads – or amounts such as cords or stères rather than in specific numbers of logs.

          5. A cord being a 4′ cube of wood. Usually described as a stack of 4′ logs, 4′ wide x 4′ high.

      2. Even with the chainsaw, it’s still quite strenuous work, especially lifting the larger lumps of ash about.

        I’m just out of the bath after getting everything sawn, chopped & heaped ready for throwing over to where it’s going to be stacked, which, weather permitting, will be a job for tomorrow as will be sweeping up the sawdust etc.

        Then on Saturday & Sunday, back up the Via Gellia for another couple of loads, including getting a couple of dead elms dropped before they fall into the road.

      3. I cut up 2 trees by bowsaw, and got tennis elbow that was bleedin’ painfol for about 3 years. Never again.

          2. Next time you are troubled – they come in three different sizes so choose one to fit the girth of your arm…

    2. They never break down when they are not in use – as has been said of machines of all sorts. At least you have been able to get another one, though it may not last for 20 years.

      1. I’ve had my money’s worth out of that one and the fault, probably a faulty cut-out switch on the kickback brake, might be repairable when I get time to look at it.
        I’ve already had it apart a couple of times for other faults and got it going again!

        1. Sometimes you reach a point where so many parts are wearing out that the repair isn’t worth the time and effort (or the cost). It’s a decision that can only be made on an individual basis. Maybe this time it has reached the end of its days, but then again, maybe not.

          One of my clients was rather peeved a few years ago after he had his electric sheep shearing machine thoroughly overhauled before the season’s shearing. The repair cost nearly as much as a new one and lasted for rather fewer than 100 sheep. The repairer, who admitted that he should probably have realised that the machine was on its last legs, did give him a pretty hefty discount off the required replacement – one possible advantage of dealing with the same firms for many years.

  44. Many years ago I was very shocked – and my mother almost walked out of the church in disgust – when our odiously smarmy CofE vicar instructed the congregation to sing Happy Birthday to You to Baby Jesus at the Christmas morning service.

    The vicar was infantilising us – and this is just what Boris Johnson is doing to us in saying we should give ‘Captain Tom’ a clap at 6 o’clock this evening.

    Surely we can appreciate the old man’s life without being expected to behave like children?

    1. Virtue signaling and nothing more. Any one that does this needs to take a long look at themselves.Only in my opinion of course.

    2. This last week part of my Swedish homework was to write a piece about what I did at the weekend. I have refused. Instead I have written a piece ending: jag är inte sju år gammal! (I am not 7 years old!)

        1. I’m not very fond of my Swedish tutor. His pronunciation is often wrong, his knowledge of grammar is bad, & he mumbles.
          What’s more, he seems to have an aversion to me.

          3. “His pronunciation is often wrong, his knowledge of grammar is bad”

            If that’s the case – and I’m not doubting what you say – I’m just wondering how anybody with such poor knowledge of a language could find employment as a tutor. Who gave him the job?

          4. Firstborn had “extra English” when he was young, taught by a Merkin. Strange version of English, not even proper Merkin.
            Jumped out of those classes pretty quickly, but at least Firstborn can do a good Merkin accent!

          5. It’s not a job as such, he provides his services voluntarily without payment. I was a German tutor for 4 years for the fun of it. That is the ethos of U3A.

          6. Apropos nothing, what possessed you to say “Fuck you” in Swahili to Conway last week? Despite all his tribulations. He hasn’t been seen since. You’re quite a piece of work, aren’t you?

          8. I think I told you about the time we were asked to leave a German conversation class because we showed up what a poor teacher they had. The “intermediate” class had seemingly learned nothing.

          9. When I took over the German translation class, at the end of the first term I overheard a student say, “I’ve learnt more German this term than I have in the last 2 years.”

        2. Blimey, that makes me back. when I was at school, pupils who were not up to ‘O’ level standard took an exam called called ‘College of Preceptors’. I have no idea what was involved.

          1. The boys in the bottom set who had difficulty with their sums in the school in which I used to teach did a rather easier exam than “O” level – it had a name that made it sound better than it was but I used to call in Maths for Morons which was considered rather insensitive – but in those days you were allowed to be a bit insensitive if your heart was in the right place.

          3. My son recently dropped out of a training course offered by his workplace which he christened “Retard School.”

    3. Asking the congregation to sing anything is now against the Covid regs! A couple of Sundays ago, our cantor in church did sing Happy Birthday to the rector after the service. It was his 40th the following day and the church wardens also presented gifts and we applauded that.

      Clap tonight? Virtue signal? Nope!

      1. One of my choir members (historically, at least) was in Church on Christmas morning. The carols were all recorded, sadly. She got carried away, and was heard to hum alo9ng with the tune. Whereupon a Nazi churchwarden tapped her on the shoulder and demanded that she stopped humming. She left immediately, and probably won’t be back. I work for a dying institution…

    4. Bollox to giving him the clap.
      I will raise a glass, however. Another good Yorkshireman gone. They don’t make them like him any more.

    7. Tom Clap?
      Most ineffectual!
      Tom Clap?
      Who’s the intellectual?
      Close friends got to give him “T.L.C.,”
      Providing him with dignity!

        1. Same happened to my late MiL. Went in with a chest infection, put on a ‘hot’ ward despite testing negative for COVID seven times and finally caught it.

        2. I wonder if one of our ‘downvoting’ femtrolls will care to comment on this, given what she said to the contrary the other day.

        3. I wonder if one of our ‘downvoting’ femtrolls will care to comment on this, given what she said to the contrary the other day.

  45. I received an e-mail this morning:-

    ‘You recently signed the petition “Reimburse student rents for all accommodation not used during this academic year”:

    https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/560735

    The Petitions Committee (the group of MPs who oversee the petitions system) have considered the Government’s response to this petition. They felt that the response did not directly address the request of petition and have therefore written back to the Government to ask them to provide a revised response.

    When the Committee have received a revised response from the Government, this will be published on the website and you will receive an email. If you would not like to receive further updates about this petition, you can unsubscribe below.’

    which was a surprise. Perhaps the Petitions Committee isn’t a complete waste of time after all.

  47. That’s me gone for this very peculiar day. Feeling dizzy on going upstairs. BP about right but pulse high. I am putting it down to the vaccine – which was jabbed six days ago. I’ll give it till the weekend before getting on the GP.

    Play nicely – have a jolly evening.

    A demain – prolly.

    2. If you are still feeling dizzy tomorrow suggest you contact your GP. (Friday at the latest) Weekends are never good for healthcare…..

      PS Which flavour vaccine did they give you?

    4. Please take care.
      Quite frankly, don’t leave it until after the weekend. Please contact your GP tomorrow at the latest.

      1. That’s some Kung Fu – the way he used his action man kit to break several rungs of the ladder – Balls of Steel I’d say!

    6. Take care Bill. A rapid pulse 100/120 per minute could be atrial fibrillation which makes you feel weak and lethargic . It can also be a precursor to a stroke.. Most surgeries can do ECGs to check your heart activity, usually done by a nurse. The doctor checks the graph and gives you the result and if a problem gives advice, medicine or refer you to a hospital for further checks.

    7. YouTuber TheBritisher (in his 50s but presumably part of some ‘at risk group’) had his jab last week and has been feeling quite unwell since, not able to put out his weekly video. My parents (in their late 70s) had their first jab around the same time but were fine. Theirs was the OxfordAZ jab.

      Hope you start to improve soon.

  48. Knock me sideways. Our surgery just phoned to offer us the ‘jab’ this Friday…

    1. Best keep them, they might come in handy when they start limiting petrol sales to meet their greenie targets.

      Rations for a car with between 10 and 13 HP. That will get you a long way nowadays.

      1. I ended up with the 2 books as they were issued as I was changing from a Mini 1000 (998cc /39bhp ) to a Simca 1501 (1475cc/70hp ) . I don’t know the relationship between pre-war HP and BHP but the internet tells me it’s parity.

        1. I found a site claiming 1 hp = .075 bhp but that makes absolutely no sense, your mini would have had about 1squirrel power.

      2. Just dawned on me that they are in units of Units, so even more adaptable then to represent KWhrs , with a Prefix denoting Peak, Off-peak , treadmill or batteries using the bitter acid tears of remainers as an electrolyte.

    2. Karen & Morag – district nurses – knocked on my door at 4.00pm; I have had my Jab (Oxford Astrazeneca).

      5.00pm I am well enough to have raised a glass of Wolf Blass Shiraz 2019 – with my left hand/ jabbed arm !!!

        2. ’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
          Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
          All mimsy were the borogoves,
          And the mome raths outgrabe.

          “Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
          The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
          Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
          The frumious Bandersnatch!”

          He took his vorpal sword in hand;
          Long time the manxome foe he sought—
          So rested he by the Tumtum tree
          And stood awhile in thought.

          And, as in uffish thought he stood,
          The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
          Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
          And burbled as it came!

          One, two! One, two! And through and through
          The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
          He left it dead, and with its head
          He went galumphing back.

          “And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
          Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
          O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
          He chortled in his joy.

          ’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
          Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
          All mimsy were the borogoves,
          And the mome raths outgrabe.

  51. The wife asked me if I was going to clap outside at 6pm tonight for Major Tom
    I said no, I’m fed up with being treated like a child by Boris.
    In any case I’ll be playing with my marbles

  52. Completely OT Nottlers,and I might have missed something, but has anyone seen Conway in the last few days? I know he was ending his Dry January on Sunday!

      1. I’m worried about hm as he needs this social outlet – as we all do at the moment – but in his situation he is quite isolated with his poorly wife.

    2. No – and I was worried about him enough to send a message to Geoff, but he didn’t reply. I haven’t seen Conway here since last week when he had a bit of a spat with Peddy.

      1. Jools – didn’t see a message – but my ‘red dot’ hasn’t worked for a long time. We don’t have Conway’s contact details, sadly. I can see why Conway has apparently left, though. Hope he returns. Meanwhile, Mr. Viking is about to leave the building…

        Translation from Swahili courtesy of Google translate…

        peddytheviking Kifaru1 • 8 days ago
        Jambo Kifaru.
        I’m tired of the snow already.

        Kifaru1 peddytheviking • 8 days ago
        Don’t worry it will be over soon.

        peddytheviking Kifaru1 • 8 days ago
        I hope so.

        Conway peddytheviking • 8 days ago
        It’s just a matter of time.

        peddytheviking Conway • 8 days ago
        Fuck you.

        Conway peddytheviking • 7 days ago
        Fuck you, too, peddy. What a lovely person you are.

        1. It was a reply to you a few days ago – I hoped you would have Conway’s contact details. He also took offence at a remark in Swahili.

        1. He also replies to replies, and I haven’t seen any of those either.
          I hope he is OK and equally I hope he hasn’t been “chased off”.

  53. Nicola Sturgeon (AKA Wee Krankie) announces 3 Covid Jabs for Scotland
    1) Dose 1
    2) Dose 2
    3) Fandabbydose

    First Miniatures Questions next week should be of some interest.
    At noon today she denied there was a need for outside help in ramping up the pace of injections. She dismissed the hurdles that former GPs were facing, even as volunteer staff.

    By 4 pm it was announce 81 army staff seconded, including medical staff.

      1. The one that really annoyed me was his “letter” to France on the 100th anniversary of the Armistice.

        Many French people in our commune made a point of speaking to us and apologising for the lack of respect for the British involvement in WW1, after the annual commemoration which we always attend.

        He’s a nasty little shit and I don’t care who replaces him, merely that whoever does so humiliates him.

  55. From the Mighty BBC: Live ‘LIVE PM joins ‘national clap’ for Capt Sir Tom’

    About right.

    2. Did anyone else join? The old boy had a good life and did very well with his fundraising but that is a pointless exercise.

      1. I suspect Boris did it only to prevent Starmer from suggesting it – you know how quick the latter is to drop to his knees….

    3. I’ve just received an email from change.org with a petition to give him a state funeral. It’s getting a bit over the top, now.

      4. Thousands will turn out to watch only to spread the virus thus adding to the workload of the NHS.
        Best laid plans……………….

  56. Anyone wanting to know about life in 2021 could do worse than to listen to the catchphrases of TV commercials. I throw up the following offerings that sum up life today:

    “Let’s talk about leaky bladders”
    “Always keep away from children”

  57. Thought for the day:

    If you really wanted to get economies back on track after the virus, what would be the quickest and most effective method?

    Kill everyone over pensionable age.

    No pensions, health costs slashed, inheritance taxes pouring in, housing stock released.

    What would be the best way of setting about doing so?

    Tell everyone they MUST be vaccinated to live a normal life.

    1. Especially when it coincides with UN Agenda 21, 30 and the eugenicist theories of Gates, Gates’s father and Johnson’s father (possibly Johnson himself but I can find no evidence of this – but he must have been present around the dinner table when his father’s latest advances into the literary field were being discussed). It is all so coincidentally appropriate.

      1. Tin foil hats, tin foil hats, get yours here.

        I have had a made to measure one!

        I’m starting to believe that if we need two masks we certainly need two hats!

        1. Depends on what you mean by a ‘Covid denier’. Is it anyone who disagrees with the UK government’s approach to combating the virus, or just people who say that the virus doesn’t exist?

          1. The latter. I disagree with lockdowns. I supported the original government policy of reducing the spread through measures such as working from home, however to deny Covid exists or that it isn’t a serious problem, is stupid.

          2. COVID-19 is so serious that you have a 99.5% chance of surviving if you catch it.
            I agree that it is a nasty virus but these things happen throughout history. It will exist and continue to mutate for the rest of time.

          3. A death rate of 0.5% applied to the UK population is 335,000 deaths, That’s a serious problem.

          4. Certainly that would be a serious problem but your figure of 0.5% equating to 350,000 deaths is based on the assumption that the entire population of the UK becomes infected by this virus.

            There is no instance of the entire population of a country contracting an infectious disease of any kind, at any time in human history.

          5. Well with the deaths with covid at 100,000 the chance of survival is even higher and if you could get the real figures for deaths from covid rather than with covid the chances if survival would be even higher. Thanks for the correction it’s even less deadly than I thought as I’m sure you will agree.

          6. I very much doubt your fag packet calcs are remotely correct. Why not leave this stuff to the experts?

          7. You think your fag packet calcs are a wrong as well as you assume the whole population will get covid. Who are the experts? Those who have already masked the truth of the ‘statistics’. You really shouldn’t believe everything you read and hear nor everything you write.

          10. Nonsense. With the possible exception of Belarus, the public health experts in every country have advised their governments to take the same action to combat the virus.

          11. Nonsense indeed!

            Virtually every Country has bought into
            Fergy’s algorithm, they are not going to
            admit to their incompetence, therefore
            they will continue the cover-up …..to cover
            their own rears!

          12. It’s not nonsense. There are alternatives positions and with the number of U turns by the government and different stories from different ministers i have little faith in their mutterings. You will believe what you want to and the same applies to me.
            Just because we disagree is not a reason for you to call people idiots or say what they believe is nonsense. It’s a pity you find debate so unnerving.

          15. No, you Corim are utterly brainless with your childlike conspiracy theories about Trump, Covid, the MSM and whatever else you read on some obscure website.

          17. This is a public forum. Comments, not specifically addressed to AN Other, are open to all to reply to. Learn the basic rules or stick to architecture because your opinions on every other subject are based on an understanding of the world at a level beneath that of my dog.

          18. People seem to have been somewhat dazzled by the headlights, and have accepted anything which the government says as gospel. There’s nothing wrong with questioning the government’s approach to combating the virus.

          20. Sadly, some people and much of the media lump them all into one group, despite the overwhelming majority of them being in that first category. It’s done deliberately to tarnish them all with the same brush, as the media/Dems did with the Capitol rioters and Trump voters generally, and as remoaners like to do with Brexit voters.

            Take the tiny minority of nutbags and violent extremists or idiot thugs and lump anyone not agreeing with the Establishment/MSM.left wing opinion in with them. Gives them an excuse to go after them all, which isn’t deserved.

        2. Interesting that though the accent sounds as if it might be Afro-Caribbean the video clip makes it clear that the speaker is white.

          1. One of the surprises in life. Did you ever hear Michael Manley of Jamaica talk? White face, afro-carribbean accent. Made one make a double-take.

          2. We have a friend whose mother was white Jamaican.
            When they speak, you really do do a double take.

          3. I don’t think I ever heard Michael Manley – as far as I can remember. But I remember being somewhat surprised by the discovery that the cricket commentator Tony Cozier was a white Barbadian.

  60. Ouch

    The top comment on Lockdown Sceptics today:

    “You do understand the part that the sainted Captain Moore played in the
    current imprisonment of the sixty million residents of Britain?

    Let’sget this straight: The NHS is not a charity. No matter how many
    pensioners stagger around their back gardens. It is a massive,
    bureaucratic national health care system, paid for by the taxes levied
    on the residents and enterprises of this country. If there are
    shortcomings or deficiencies in the facilities, equipment, medications,
    or staffing in the NHS, then it is incumbent upon the Government to
    rectify them. Shortfalls in NS funding and staff levels should not be
    made by charitable donations from schoolchildren’s pocket money. No
    matter how kindly made.

    Captain Moore, intentionally or otherwise,
    played a key role in perpetuating the delusion that it is the job of
    the people of Britain to “protect the NHS”. When the reality is the
    exact opposite: It is the job of the NHS to protect the British people.

    Tens of millions of people in Britain have been held in lockdown for a year,
    for a disease that poses pretty much zero risk to them. Millions of
    children have had their educations halted and delayed. Tens of thousands
    of businesses big and small have been bankrupted. Millions of jobs have
    been lost, probably forever. Millions more are suffering mental,
    social, and financial hardship. All in a misguided attempt to extend the
    lifespans of people in their 80s, 90, and (in the case of Capt. Moore)
    100s.

    Lenin had his “useful idiots”. Boris Johnson and Chris Whitty had their “useful old war hero.”

    1. Where did the money go that Capt Tom raised? What are the NHS charities that he wanted to support? And what have they done with the funds they received?

      1. That’s what I’d like to know. And the “clapping for Sir Tom” that apparently Boris suggested – more virtue signalling and another chance for a politician to get in on the act.

        1. I have always felt uncomfortable about the Cptn Tom thing, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Over the last few days I realise that the problem I have with it is the exploitation for political purposes and the politicisation of his efforts that bothers me, which again can be seen in Sadiq Khan’s New Year London, er, ‘celebration’. He uses the image of Captn Tom to whitewash his BLM input at the event.

          May this true gentleman now rest in peace. We thank him for his service, of which our country is sadly no longer worthy.

          3. One hopes that his good nature and extraordinary results are / were not taken advantage of.
            Respect to him.

          4. The extraordinary results are not really related in any way to what he did – which is not to denigrate his purpose or persistence, both of which were admirable.

            From time to time an internet appeal is picked up by the mainstream, catches the mood of the moment, and takes off. Another, equally worthy, endeavour will garner a few hundred (or a few thousand) from friends or family and never be known elsewhere. There is no particular difference in the merit of the two but for some reason one catches the imagination and the result is a truly crazy amount of money. There have been others before and there is little doubt that it will happen again at some point.

        2. I bet that Prof Van Tam will be pleased, having his army of useful idiots come out again (including two neighbours of mine who clapped and banged pots for the NHS before) to keep his propaganda operation going until they can think of yet another reason to keep the lockdowns going and give more of our money to the Internet Giants and big pharma.

      3. It’s my understanding that the money did not go to the NHS but to charities providing support to NHS staff etc.

        1. A friend was taking essentials to Reception for her husband at the Royal Papworth Hospital, now in Cambridge over Christmas – he was admitted on 22 December. She heard one passing-through nurse ask another who was behind the Reception counter if she had received her Christmas Box yet. Friend wondered exactly where the Christmas Boxes were coming from, she suspected the NHS charities.

          2. Well, I wasn’t there, and she relayed this to me in indignation. I am not making this up, my imagination isn’t as good as that as I am slightly on the asperger’s spectrum. I find it impossible to lie even when it is to my benefit to escape a scrape. I find your insinuation offensive.

          5. Of course you do, yeah yeah.

            No, you actually come here to be offensive and to try to wind people up.

            You get banned and return again and again and again.

            Now, why would you do that, other than to be offensive?

          6. You don’t even live in this country, yet you hang out hours on end pontificating on a UK site

          8. You lose, yet again.

            Where do you get your information from?
            UK TV and press.

            It may have escaped your world-view, but even in the Falklands, let alone France, we can get access to exactly the same information you do in the UK.

            It’s modern technology.

          10. How dare you. It is not the NHS nurses who are at fault. You are twisting my comment to suit your purpose on this site. I am sure the nurses were delighted – it is the distributors and management of the largesse who are culpable. What an offensive creature you are.

          11. “it is the distributors and management of the largesse who are culpable.” Yet in your original post you state that this was something overhead by your friend, who then assumed the nurses were discussing a gift funded from charitable donations. Maybe your friend was mistaken, maybe you misunderstood her, but no you have jumped to a massive conclusion.

          13. I blocked him before your reply, sos, and I didn’t see his reply. I am too old for this sort of hassle in the evening, from disingenuous and dissembling juveniles.

        1. Probably, but check the accounts of NHS commissioners and NHS England to get the full picture.

          2. Not sure of your point. The hospital is just one of several hundred NHS bodies, many of which have surpluses. You need to look at the total NHS accounts.

          4. The Cloud Cuckoo Trust in Jack and the Beanstalk

            The Royal Hospital for retired NHS Senior Staff

            Broadmoor if you believe anything competent about the NHS

          7. Sorry, but you misunderstand the structure of the NHS. NHS trusts (the providers) are not the same as CCGs or NHSE (the commissioners).

          8. So, where’s your evidence, since you don’t like mine – the result of putting Andy’s question directly to Google.

          10. Thanks for posting that – I appreciate you efforts for sourcing it. I suppose my follow-up question is do they have a similar graph by actual amounts (even if in ‘bands’), given percentages don’t really mean that much if two figures are equal in percentage terms but one is 10x the other in actual terms.

            I was always under the impression that NHS Trusts (hospitals, not GP groups/areas) were always the worst in terms of actual debts, given they tend to do the most wide-ranging types of work.

      5. I may be a little cynical? but I’d put money on it being wasted. This is the NHS we’re talking about! It’s what they do!

  61. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9218043/Girl-14-raped-London-park-broad-daylight-police-hunt-man-dragged-bushes.html
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1b00766a0d67a86cb08b0737361676e02ba7adcfba3cc9c1d4ebcf3dc272f1ac.png

    Does anyone seriously think that the Mail would have written the sentence “The 14-year-old was grabbed by a black man”?
    Or is a rapist being a white man so unusual these days that it’s worth reporting?
    Unsurprisingly, comments are heavily censored.

    1. Why mention colour at all, perpetrator or victim, unless they are hoping to get witnesses?

      1. I’d rather it was mentioned every time so that we could see the truth, but there seems to be a consensus that it shouldn’t be mentioned if the suspect or criminal is black or Asian.

      2. They have been hoisted on their own petard. If a criminal’s race is not mentioned everyone assumes he must be black as, if he were white, they would have mentioned it.

      2. The example you link is a quote from a police description.
        The example that caught my eye is a sentence which is
        – not a police description
        – where the ethnic origin is given as the only qualifying adjective.

        Had the ethnic origin been included in the police description below this sentence, it would not have been noteworthy.

      2. Millionaire high-profile Prince? There must have been a long queue of gold-diggers eager to get their hooks into him. Meghan hit the jackpot.

      3. Millionaire high-profile Prince? There must have been a long queue of gold-diggers eager to get their hooks into him. Meghan hit the jackpot.

      4. I do feel sorry for him as my daughter and SiL have met him several times at Invictus Games, and they were very impressed with him especially as he recognised them and greeted them by name 2 years later! His work with the disabled was much appreciated by all. But, as you say, along came her!

        1. Migraine is not just a headache for Harry she is a headache for the whole Royal establishment.

    2. He may not be too popular now, but when HRH Prince Charles ‘served his time’ in the RN, he was well liked.

      Andrew…. a different matter

    3. He may not be too popular now, but when HRH Prince Charles ‘served his time’ in the RN, he was well liked.

      Andrew…. a different matter

  64. Probably being repeated all over the country:-

    ‘An open letter to Police Commissioner Matthew Ellis from County Councillor Mrs Jill Hood. Stone urban.

    Copied to Sir William Cash MP for Stone

    ‘Dear Mr Ellis,

    As Police Commissioner I have no doubt you know that during the weekend Stone town was subject to two arson attacks. One fire was set in a residential home on Granville Terrace and two fires set in The Old Fire Station on Crown Wharf owned by Joules. Fortunately, the fires were spotted in their early stages with the fire service acting quickly and no one was hurt. For months now we have had to put up with anti-social behaviour, starting with obscene pictorial graffiti with racist slurs and words mocking the police. Lately we have had windows smashed in business premises in various parts of our town and burglaries committed. Staff have been threatened in our supermarkets and shops and property vandalised. Drug users and dealers have made the most of lock down, brazenly wandering around the town. Residents are continually using social media to post CCTV images to warn us that people are trying to get into their homes and trying car doors and that they have had their property broken into, or to beware that there are prowlers in gardens. Video images showing people in the High Street in the middle of the night have been shared. Residents tell me they have caught intruders in their gardens and when asked why they haven’t called the police they tell me there’s no point as they won’t come and will do nothing.

    I know that the majority of criminals who have been active in Stone are now in custody and hopefully will get sentences to fit their crimes. Our police work tirelessly, reduced in numbers by Covid 19 and having to socially isolate but their dedication has got results. Business owners who live on their premises tell me they are lying awake at night, frightened to go to sleep as each noise makes them think they are the next target. A number of residents have now resorted to patrolling the streets at night to offer protection.

    Police Chief Inspector Giles Parsons gives a regular update on policing in Stone to our group of Stone Independent borough councillors, who then share the information with the Stone town Independent councillors on how he is dealing with the very worrying crime wave in our town. He is too professional to say what we can see, that it is because as services are squeezed and costs increase, resources are reduced which means criminal activities escalate as there is little or no deterrent.

    Mr Ellis, figures in the 2018/19 financial year showed that your staffing costs with 22 full-time jobs and two part-time backroom staff accounted for £1,415,000 a figure which I personally feel is astonishing and wonder how it equates to a police officers wage. I have often spoken to our Stafford borough officer regarding our CCTV but it is now obvious that Stone needs more coverage than we have.

    I believe that it is up to you to find funding out of your budget for more CCTV and the recruitment of more police officers. Residents want to know that every available penny is spent on frontline services. I worry that due to the anger of residents aimed at those few who are terrorising our town, there will come a situation when someone takes the law into their own hands with tragic consequences. It is your duty as Police Commissioner to give every available resource now to our Stone police who are doing their very best to help us. What are you going to do about this ongoing situation Mr Ellis?

    County councillor Mrs Jill Hood. Stone ‘

    1. The residents of Stone aren’t exactly getting their money’s worth. Nice work for Mr Ellis and his colleagues though, at around £60k a pop. I wonder how many of his police officers are on duty stopping law-abiding people go about their business or drinking coffee whilst out for a walk with a friend, or Thought Policing the Interweb?

    2. Yes, but No, but some of these criminals (as you call them) are of an ethnic minority and some are LGBT.. XYZ

      I will not allow the police to single out these people for punishment for robbery etc, whilst we still have over
      80 year old whites

      not paying for TV Licences
      Allowing minors to visit their houses using the Grandad Defence
      Mixing socially inlarge houses (OK Care Homes)
      Complaining that too many men are dressed as women and vice versa

      Once these horrendous anti Woke crimes have been eradicated, then we will chase down a few harmless criminals

    1. Oh, that is so sweet! I love the way kittens and cats shut out the world by covering their eyes with their paws! I just wish it would work for me.

        1. I was going to suggest sheepskin mitts! My daughter used to wear mine on her feet and pretend she was a penguin!

  66. Completely off topic.

    My garden sounds as if we’ve had an invasion of owls.

    Judging by the various directions the hooting is coming from we must have at least a dozen, if not more, claiming territory.
    The calls suggest several types are in the area.
    In the past we’ve seen everything from eagle owls to little owls but tonight has been exceptional.
    Hauntingly beautiful.

      1. Not a lot tonight, it’s overcast; but at dawn and dusk it can sometimes be like Heathrow with birds of prey.

        Because I leave most of the garden very unkempt we get lots and lots of small mammals, as well as small songbirds, so we are essentially the local takeaway restaurant!

    2. Can’t compete with a Parliament of Owls but a green woodpecker explored our lawn earlier and a Buzzard managed a low level overflight of the garden

      1. Firstborn gets green and black&white woodpeckers, Sea Eagles, and all kinds of wildlife (deer, moose, lynx) in and in the trees around his garden.

      2. I am thrice blessed here.

        Today, and I wasn’t making any effort to watch the birds:

        Greater and lesser spotted woodpeckers on the peanut feeders, green woodpeckers on the grass, buzzards, kestrels and black kites flying over and sitting in the trees and on the telephone and electric lines.
        Heaven knows how many pigeons, corvids, small songbirds and the like.

        We let a gite and a “serious” twitcher stayed and even he said he was staggered by the range.

        Because we are close to the river, have lots of forest and agricultural land , ponds and what is essentially heathland thanks to fires means we get a huge variety, well over a hundred different species even from my inexpert observations.

          2. Hopefully no fires, but yes. He has a small river each side (the boundaries to his property), a lake at the lower end, and boundless pine forests at the upper end. Total area he owns is about 350 acres

          3. Lots to to look at then, if one looks carefully.

            I still get a frisson of excitement when I see the chewed pine-cones, because I know that the red squirrels are about.

            I get a lot of easy entertainment on the odd times when we have two or three rushing up, down, and around our pine trees and we can see them.

            Normally they are up and about too early or too late for my sleep habits.

            Your lad’s land must be 50 times ours, but all the forest around us is communal so I can wander at will.

          6. Hopefully no fires, but yes. He has a small river each side (the boundaries to his property), a lake at the lower end, and boundless pine forests at the upper end. Total area he owns is about 350 acres

      3. The buzzard we had on the lawn yesterday returned this morning to polish off the chicken carcasse!

        2. Not so bird-brained, then, Sue. A kestrel was sitting on top of the central post of our bird feeders the other day, as still as anything, with ‘don’t mind me’ vibes emanating from its feathered silhouette, ‘I’m just resting here’. Fortunately all garden birds had hunkered down and we dashed out to shoo him off. He flew off in the direction of the village stream, miffed. We have occasionally discovered a sad little pile of feathers though below our feeding station from time to time.

          1. We have a sparrow hawk which swoops down the lane, turns left over the garage and picks off a collared dove about once a week. As you say, it’s the pathetic pink feathers floating about the garden that get to me! But the number of collared doves never seems to diminish!

      4. The buzzard we had on the lawn yesterday returned this morning to polish off the chicken carcasse!

      1. Do you get dates off that, as well as owls? Nothing better than fresh dates and French coffee for breakfast, except perhaps paw-paw with lime and French coffee.
        Sigh…

          3. Pity.
            :-((
            Luxury, to be able to wander out into the garden & tweak a date or two off the tree – avoiding those fearsome spikes in the eye…

          4. Pity.
            :-((
            Luxury, to be able to wander out into the garden & tweak a date or two off the tree – avoiding those fearsome spikes in the eye…

      2. We get lots of those in the garden, assuming they are the same family.

        I think I posted a picture of two parents on the electricity line, teaching three youngsters how to hunt, earlier this summer.

        A few years ago, we had guests in the gite who rushed to tell us about a small owl that had perched on a garden bench, next to the cottage.

        They were very surprised when I explained that not only was it a little owl it really was a Little Owl.

        Because it was a fledgeling they could get within a few feet of it. I asked them not to try to touch it, but they could get great photographs if they stood off and didn’t disturb it unduly.

        Eventually it flew off.

        1. Little owls are often to be seen in daylight. We had a quite a few of them around when I was living in Yorkshire and they were often to be seen on sunny days. Just sitting sometimes with both eyes open, sometimes just one. Unless one walked very close to where they were perched they didn’t fly away. No one was pursuing them, and they seemed to be aware of it.

          From The Barnowl Trust:

          Little Owls are most active at dawn and dusk, and after dark when most hunting occurs. However, they can frequently be seen during the middle of the day, basking in the sun on an exposed perch such as a telegraph pole, dead tree or isolated building.

  70. Hopefully Cochrane has retired for the night. I certainly have no desire to argue with him.

    I think we should scrap Test & Trace, the tests are as good as useless and vast sums of public money have been wasted on the recipients of government largesse viz. the Chumocracy.

    People have been coerced into taking unproven vaccinations for fear of being unable to travel and being subjected to ridicule and ‘snitching’ by their neighbours. This tactic comes from the Goebbels’ play book. The promotion of fear in the population is a sign of both political fear and tyranny. This is all about Pharma companies making money and transference of wealth from the public to the large Pharma outfits and their investors.

    I doubt the efficacy of vaccines developed at pace and supported by the present British government, a bunch of incompetent charlatans.

    Our government has visited a grotesque misery on our country on the basis of their shielding from responsibility for decision making behind a skip full load of bogus ‘science’.

    I find the exploitation by politicians of the gallant Captain Bob chap repulsive. My father served in Burma and he would have been horrified at the sight of the old boy wearing his medals whilst traipsing around his garden. My father died in 1978.

    I have no problem with the honorific knighthood given to Sir Bob but when you consider Johnson signalled a knighthood for that BLM activist Lewis Hamilton I suggest the award is rendered meaningless and a cynical opportunistic political gesture.

    I can no longer watch the BBC. It is so biased and its reporting so ignorant that I am cancelling my Direct Debits for the License Fee.

    1. 329032+ up ticks,
      Evening C,
      ” Our government has visited a grotesque misery on our country” yet again, as it has done on a regular basis for decades.

      1. Yup. I think our government(s) have hated us for years. I go to France and find regular service stations with restaurants and clean toilet facilities. These facilities also allow for lorry drivers to enjoy proper facilities.

        In the UK by contrast we have very few toilet roadside facilities and nothing whatever for lorry drivers. The poor buggers have to find some potholed lay-by to park up for the night.

        Our government cares not one jot for our well-being and quality of life.

        1. I figured that out in the early years of the Blair prime ministership. No concept of doing things to benefit the people – just pandering to various pressure groups and financial interests.

    3. Gates tells Johnson when to jump, and how high.

      Why are four British PMs from 1990 so hugely rich on comparatively paltry government pay ?

      Because they sold out Britain.

      We know who bought them.

      An individual those four PMs accidentally forgot to mention in their autobiographies.

    4. News today – Denmark will be bringing in a vaccine passport / ausweis that will allow peopple to go to concerts, restaurants and shopping malls.
      Oh goody. The rest of Europe will surely follow unless there is significant unrest – and, since everyone is terrified of the virus, there will be relieved acceptance that “we’re all safe”.
      Bah!

        1. How can I get you my email address when your profile is private? I can’t use an old thread because they become closed after a day or so.

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