Wednesday 4 June: The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will put retailers in an impossible position

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

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

542 thoughts on “Wednesday 4 June: The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will put retailers in an impossible position”

  2. Good morning, chums. And thanks, Geoff, for today's new NoTTLe site. I only just made today's Wordle, but at least I didn't have to resort to looking at clues.

    Wordle 1,446 6/6

    🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
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    1. Good morning Elsie and all
      Wordle 1,446 5/6

      🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜
      🟨⬜🟩⬜🟩
      ⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
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    1. Putin has no interest in Europe. He's just a convenient excuse for appalling policies.

      1. The Brussels mafiosi and NWO are far more dangerous to the planet than Vlad is.

    1. Morten Mørland (born 1979) is a Norwegian illustrator and cartoonist from Tromøy. He is known for his political caricatures in the London newspaper The Times.
      He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Surrey Institute of Art & Design in London. He began his career as a cartoonist at Agderposten in Arendal in 2000, and moved to England in 2002, where he began drawing for The Times at the age of 23. He has several other clients, – Starmer and the European Union no doubt.

    2. The name Starmer, it is believed to have originated from the Old English word "stemere," which refers to a person who worked as a purveyor or a steward.

      So he is descended from a tribe of snivelling serpents or barstewards – A long and continuing tradition. That explains a lot.

  11. Flicking through the DT news and articles from yesterday, a delicious article .

    Michael Gove, his ambitious ex-wife and how the wealthy Camerons treated them like ‘staff’
    A new memoir by Sarah Vine reveals how she and the former Cabinet minister failed to fit in with Lord Cameron and his moneyed circle     .
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/06/03/michael-gove-and-the-money-gripes-behind-a-government-feud/
    Many of us knew what a tosspot Cameron was anyway , but the comments are delicious , and the tension that built up between the Cameron's and their set and poor old spluttery Gove and his wife , well what can one say?

    1. All a desperate attempt to control the population. Soon it'll be 'show your ID to buy chocolate/meat/wine' then 'I'm sorry, you're over your allocated ration for this week.You have been assigned demerits and your ration reduced 50% next week.

      The Left are fascists. Always have been, always will be. The simpllest way to stop the dindus is a gunboat.

    2. White British people will become a minority in the UK population within the next 40 years, a report has predicted.

      An analysis of migration, birth and death rates up to the end of the 21st century predicts that white British people will decline from their current position as 73 per cent of the population to 57 per cent by 2050 before slipping into a minority by 2063.

      In 2022, the census revealed London and Birmingham had become minority white British.

      The research compared ethnic identity (comprising white British, other white groups such as Irish, Gipsy, Roma and other Europeans, and non-white), religious identity of non-Muslim versus Muslim, and country of birth comparing UK-born with foreign-born.

      It projected populations forward by applying age and sex-specific fertility, mortality and migration rates to a 2022 base population derived from the latest UK census data. These projections were calibrated to the 2022-based ONS national population projections.

      https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/06/03/white-british-minority-in-40-years-report-claims/

      1. Raises the question: who will pay the bennies for the dindu? They don't work. They simply don't contribute at all financially to the country. They are parasites.

        When white folk are erased, as the Left want, there will be no one to pay the bills. No one to build anything, make anything, repair anything, no one to manage, run, develop, design, create anything.

        Maybe when the money runs out the the diversity plague will sod off.

      2. It's amazing how world wide the indigenous are now being recognised and 'treated fairly'. Except where whites are indigenous.

    3. What about stopping the boats that would sort out so many of your problems, but yvette to work that one out.

    4. It has long been predicted that the digital id would be proposed as a "solution" for the problem caused by government. Personal prosecution of Home office staff and government ministers would be my preferred solution.

  13. Good morning, Phil. Well, where are the photos of yesterday's NoTTLers' get-together which you promised us yesterday?

  14. Good morning, Phil. Well, where are the photos of yesterday's NoTTLers' get-together which you promised us yesterday?

      1. "Do you have the necessary qualifications and can you do this job?"

        "I's Blek, and I kin learn dat job in five years easily."

        "You're hired, the operating theatre is over there, the scalpels will be brought to you."

        "Scalpels? I dindu brings my own machete."

    3. Hmmm one doesn't see any personal or demographic details until after shotrlistung so how is that going to work?

    4. Very similar to tv appearances these days, more so advertising, it's getting close to 50/50.

  16. Good morning, Phil. Well, where are the photos of yesterday's NoTTLers' get-together which you promised us yesterday?

    1. He's a liar. Energy prices are high because of taxation from government policy – the policy he has pushed.

      https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2025/06/01/gas-only-explains-a-small-part-of-electricity-price-rise/

      (I recommend reader view. The small italicised font is hard to read).

      Then there's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAUbjOw85u8&t=1s
      The tax scam is not about energy. The Left have a weapon to force socialism. They call it 'climate change'. Fighting it with science and facts is pointless. It's a religion for psychopathic, spiteful, vicious socialists.

    2. Meanwhile the government want to increase the amount of runways at most major airports and increase air travel by around 50 percent.
      Oh and while you're there millipede how many thousands of tonnes of concrete will be used to hold all these wonderful wind (not when it's too windy) turbines in the ground ?

    3. Mad as hatters. Both deserve a seat on Old Sparky, powered by solar panels in January to make it last longer.

    1. Pretty much spot on. Our most dangerous enemy is the state itself, not Russia. We're poorer, growing slower, indebted, overrun with crime, our interest rates are higher, our debt higher, vicious, evil politicos are impoverishing us on a daily basis.

      Why would Russia bother when the Left are doing a far more destructive job than carpet bombing from a foreign power could?

    2. But They are welcome to 'have a pop or two' at Westminster and Whitehall.

    3. It comes to something when people would sooner believe the Russian Embassy than our own Government.

      1. Why wouldn't they? The state robs us blind – over 70% of my income is confiscated by big government. It does nothing for me – roads are atrocious, my business has to fill in pages of red tape every week just to keep on top of the drivel, HMRC can't be contacted, the tax burden is putrid and I'm hectored, lectured, denigrated and threatened regularly for nothing on the other side there's Russia, who want nothing from me or to do with me.

        Frankly, given how spiteful the socialist Left are, being utterly uninterested in practically a love in compared to the damned government.

    6. He's right – Russia has no need to attack us – our Government are rapidly destroying the UK as we knew it!

  21. Last night I spoke to someone who went to school with 2TKweir; quite the wimp, apparently. Well I never!

    1. 406764+ up ticks,

      Morning JBF,

      Confirmed via his savage attack on the punchbag in the gym.

    1. The state wanted to take the money from rich people buying land to avoid inheritance tax. Of course, those types will simply put the property into trusts, because the fees are simple at that scale.

      Family farms – which was just a nice to have by the hard Left – are irrelevant. The consequences of their taxes simply are not considered. The Left does not care. It is property, they want to consume it. They'll take it and others will buy it, probably making use of public money to slap windmills on it or something.

      The treasury and obr simply refuse to do any dynamic response analysis. It is an evil, mendacious, arrogant group.

  23. Alp Mehmet is chairman of Migration Watch UK.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-14777823/Keir-Starmer-migrant-figures-betrayed-British-people-ALP-MEHMET.html

    When Sir Keir Starmer entered Downing Street last July, he vowed to 'smash the gangs' behind the barbaric trade in human cargo across the English Channel. So far, all he has smashed are the records for the number of illegal migrants making the journey to Britain.

    On Saturday alone, some 1,200 migrants arrived in small boats – the highest daily total so far this year. A staggering figure. But even more staggering is the Prime Minister's brazen attempt to pull the wool over the public's eyes.

    'You have every right to be angry about small-boat crossings. I'm angry, too,' Starmer wrote on X this week, in an all-too-familiar display of hand-wringing and hollow empathy. In the same breath, he boasted that 'almost 30,000 people' had been removed from the UK – a statement clearly designed to mislead.

    Because, contrary to the impression given, that figure does not refer solely to small-boat migrants. In fact, it includes foreign nationals with no permission to be here – for example, students who've overstayed visas, failed asylum seekers from years ago and foreign offenders. Many will very likely have volunteered.

    The truth is that on Starmer's watch, the number of small-boat migrants removed in the 12 months to March fell 3 per cent year-on-year to 2,240. None of them was from countries such as Afghanistan, Syria, Sudan or Somalia.

    It wouldn't be the first time the Prime Minister has spun the facts in such a misleading fashion to hide the truth about Labour's abysmal record on immigration.

    Just last month, after new net migration figures showed a 50 per cent fall compared with 2023, the Home Office shared a flashy graphic on X that said: 'Net migration cut by nearly 50 per cent – the largest-ever drop in any 12-month period.'

    Sir Keir gleefully doubled down on the claim, stating that 'we have nearly halved net migration in the last year. We're taking back control'.

    All Sir Keir Starmer, pictured on Monday, has smashed are the records for the number of illegal migrants making the journey to Britain, writes Alp Mehmet

    On Saturday alone, some 1,200 migrants arrived in small boats – the highest daily total so far this year (Pictured: Migrants crossing the Channel earlier this year)

    DAN HODGES: Starmer's told most serious lie a PM's made in my lifetime
    16.3k viewing now

    In reality, this dramatic drop was almost entirely the result of visa-tightening measures brought in by the previous Conservative government – which Labour, in opposition, dismissed as 'chaotic' and a 'Tory failure'. Now they're shamelessly taking credit.

    Let's be clear: Labour only took office in the latter half of 2024. Starmer cannot take ownership of improvements made before he even stepped into No 10. What he can be judged on are the figures for 2025. And they make for grim reading.

    Read More
    Keir Starmer is criticised for making 'deeply dishonest' claims about Labour's record on small boats
    article image
    So far this year, more than 14,700 migrants have made the illegal, perilous crossing.

    At this rate, the total will likely surpass 50,000 by the end of 2025, bringing the number who've crossed since 2018 – when illegal boat crossings first began – to around 200,000. That's the equivalent of the population of Luton arriving in dinghies. And that's just those we know about.

    Those figures are a monument to the failure of Europe's elite to take these problems seriously. Politicians on both sides of the Channel have refused to get tough.

    While in Britain Labour and activist lawyers hide behind legalistic concerns about human rights and outdated treaties – intended to deal with different circumstances to justify doing nothing – Paris shrugs its shoulders with Gallic indifference while Brussels bangs on the EU drum.

    Disgraceful pictures emerged over the weekend showing French gendarmes standing by while dinghies full of migrants were loaded up by, we assume, the traffickers. A crime taking place directly in front of them, yet they still refused to act.

    What makes their failure to enforce the law all the more disgraceful is the huge sums of taxpayers' money that the French are accepting from Britain to patrol their coastline.

    2. "So far this year, more than 14,700 migrants have made the illegal, perilous crossing."

      They will have come in about 250 boats. What is the Government doing with these boats? Sending them back for reuse? I think we should be told.

  24. Good morning all.
    A late start after a rather disturbed night.
    A bright morning with 10°C at 05:00hrs when I checked the temperature just before going back to bed.

    I've a problem with my van insurance to sort out and, in the letter they sent me, I was given 14 days to respond.
    However, it has taken 10 bloody days for the letter to get here!!!

      3. 4!! You’re lucky! I think we’re down to 2! Or perhaps no one loves us!

        1. At one time you could comfort yourself with the thought "No post, no bills".
          Now the sneaky bu88ers email them.

        2. My father used to suspect that they saved up the letters and only did a delivery to our village when there was a big stack!

      4. I haven't had a postal delivery for about two weeks. I'm sure I should be receiving more than that.

        1. My postie braved the dogs being out to hand me my post, but one of the letters bore the inscription “dogs loose “ and the date.

    2. I had a letter telling me an investigation had been opened andI had 7 days to respond.

      That was eight days ago. I'd quite like a TV licencing salesman to turn up. I think I'd fold him in half.

      1. You don't have to respond – just ignore it. If anyone turns up just close the door on them, they have no powers of entry, you don't have to talk to them, they can't force their way in and they have to leave. Whatever you do NEVER TALK TO THEM

        1. I had a visit from a TV Licensing chap. I didn't invite him in. I told him in some detail why I didn't have a licence; we had a chat about Rugby and he left.

      2. I had 3 visits starting 4 months after I stopped paying the telly tax. I get regular letters threatening another visit. Thank them for their interest and send them on their way.

  25. Shock news. 6 weeks of infection, fever, hospital and bed rest has had me put on the few kilos I had lost.

    I'm fed up. Properly, not my usual 'oh woe'. Mongo did his stubborn yesterday and I couldn't lift him on to my shoulders.

      1. The hosp said 4 weeks. It's still at 40mm at the deepest point. Makes me grumpy.

  27. Morning all 🙂😊
    Was sunny earlier high dense cloud and rain later forecast.
    A massive down pour early6 yesterday afternoon, much needed.
    I'm not really interested in tobacco and vapeing.
    I've have my pre op assessment early this afternoon. Third time lucky ?

    1. WWhy Did they not first enforce dull packaging and out of sight stock for vapes as they ha e done with fags?

  28. Good morning, all. Overcast at 06:00 and now the Sun is attempting to break through.

    Some early Net Zero from ogga1 and a bit more from me.

    Is Miliband aware of the following reports, and many others, and if so, does he understand the implications of the data?

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/531cf6543463fa05a4172f21ac2f5a5c6d3babba795d5cfa3a52c857d89e6801.png
    Researchgate

    Plenty of information at the above link but it would be a very long technical read. A snippet below.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/64f07867b7c8b599efcc1be65c0b7901d2e7c736cd0e1da3c5cd6a542f593f12.png
    PV, I'm assuming is "Photo Voltaic" i.e. solar panels.

    With reference to the "Northern Hemisphere"…

    "will be used less extensively there…"

    Has anyone told Miliband as he goes about desecrating the UK's farmland with these things?

    1. Good Moaning, KtK.
      Would there be any point in telling Minibrain? He is a mad fanatic and will do anything, including totally destroying this country, to pursue his aim.

    3. Give a man a cow and he'll eat for a day. Give him 40 cows and he'll invite all the neighbours and they also will eat for a day.

    4. Yet there are so many farmers who keep cows in southern Africa. There must be more to this story than meets the eye – either given to/stolen by the wrong people or were the wrong animals for the area.

    5. That is not only believable, it is likely. I present to you Zimbabwe, formally Rhodesia, and now South Africa.

    6. That is not only believable, it is likely. I present to you Zimbabwe, formally Rhodesia, and now South Africa.

  30. Good Morning!

    Christ Has Risen! – In China! by Zhang Yingyue tells the story of Christianity in The Celestial Empire, where it has faced many cycles of favour and oppression but, despite ongoing oppression today, the vibrant Christian movement in China is growing so quickly that China is on the verge of becoming the world's biggest Christian nation.

    Today's article, Rape Gangs – Application for a Statutory Inquiry by Chairman of the English Democrats, solicitor Robin Tilbrook, sets out his legal case and application for a full judicial inquiry into the ongoing shame of the Rape Gang scandal, indicting not only the vile creatures who perpetrated it, but also those in the authorities, police and social services who ignored and covered it up. Please show your support by reading and leaving a comment or two.

    Energy Watch: Over the last 24 hours: Britain's electric power was sourced from Gas, 13.3%; Solar, 6.9%: Wind 52.4%; Imports, 17.7%; Biomass, 2.3%; Nuclear 15.1% and Miscellaneous, 2.3%.

    freespeechbacklash.com

      1. I only look at generation Sos. I include power spent on pumped storage in the miscellaneous figure.

  31. Inside the feud that fractured a once-thriving village church
    Behind the locked doors of St Oswald’s, parishioners wrestle with a rector whose decisions have shattered decades of harmony!
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/06/03/malpas-church-feud-cheshire/

    She looks just the sort of person who will encourage people to go to church and for women to train for the Anglican priesthood.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/de2e0cf91651c844be25a20aa3459e6781331d5902eb4f18e5b4883a01383e68.png

    1. I love the comments!

      Christopher Hope
      1 min ago
      The situation is unrecoverable and she needs to go.

      Comment by Noah Brock.

      NB

      Noah Brock
      1 min ago
      The Sacrament of Holy Orders, when bestowed on a woman, is. completely null and void. Obviously women can undertake pastoral roles in the Church and preach, but they can never administer the sacaremnts. Only a man can act "in persona Christi".edited

      Comment by Rosemary Poppitt.

      RP

      Rosemary Poppitt
      2 min ago
      Oh dear…the new vicar is a born again Christian 🤦‍♀️ whatever next

      It does sound like she hasn't handled a few parishioners very tactfully though.

      Comment by Cc Bryce.

      CB

      Cc Bryce
      3 min ago
      I find this hilarious, I am from the generation on which the first brainwashing attempts took place to say we needed more women in leadership positions as they were kinder, more conciliatory and generally better people that the nasty bullying men that were currently in charge. Over the 40 years of my career I have witnessed this growth in women taking management positions. Some are excellent but many are vacuous, bullying, ego driven and incompetent. Guess what, just like men. I have no issue with women taking senior roles but can we please now stop the fantasy pretence that they somehow naturally improve leadership in any organisation. Two of the greatest exponents of this nonesence where Hillary Clinton and Harriet Harriman- I rest my case😏🧐

      Reply by Richard Burns.

      RB

      Richard Burns
      1 min ago
      Teresa May.

      Reply by Andrew Schofield.

      AS

      Andrew Schofield
      1 min ago
      Mean of you to leave out Diana Abbott, Angel Rayner & Rachel Reeves!edited

      1
      1 new reply
      show new reply
      Comment by Robert Cuffley.

      RC

      Robert Cuffley
      3 min ago
      Very sad state of affairs.

      On balance you'd have to say the vicar is at fault, the congregants have been attending the church all their lives in many cases, it's a bit much to go in changing everything riding roughshod over their accumulated habits and traditions.edited

      1. If the Vicar didn't like the Agnus Dei, she should have introduced new services where it wasn't sung, and then people could vote with their feet.
        Just acting like a dictator was always going to end in tears.

    1. Aye, right. But tomorrow it could be down to 0% and we then have to pay Big Wind for not producing anything.

  35. The business of giving elephants nose extensions on the banks of the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever-trees is not any more viable than eating your breeding stock of cattle.

    1. An elephant's child would give them short shrift and then a singularly good cake.

    2. The Camel's hump is an ugly lump
      Which well you may see at the Zoo;
      But uglier yet is the hump we get
      From having too little to do.

  36. They've obviously read that cow farts cause global warming, so they sacrificed them to the Sun God.

    And like good little Greenies they ate them: waste not want not.

  38. Headline on article by Daniel Finkelstein in The Grimes today:

    "We can’t let white anger exploit ‘free speech’
    Imagine if Lucy Connolly, jailed for a tweet after the Southport murders, had been Islamic and her targets Christians"

    He completely misses the point. It is not that Mrs Connolly's sentence is wrong (though, of course, it is). It was disproportionate.

    The Beeboid paedophile received a suspended sentence.

    The Labour MP who slugged a constituent received a suspended sentence.

    For her stupid and unpleasant tweet – Mrs Connolly should have received the same.

    1. What a nasty, divisive headline. It is not just white people who are angry about hundreds of thousands of unattached young men arriving in our country. Many non-white migrants who came legally and have worked hard in Britain are similarly alarmed. Only a fool would not see the risk of having so many young men with nothing to lose floating around the country.

      1. It also overlooks the point that many slammers shout and say very similar things in public but are untouched by the PTB.

        1. And in the past have been escorted while they carried placards demanding beheading of anyone who doesn't support their own religious beliefs.

    2. "…Imagine if Lucy Connolly, jailed for a tweet after the Southport murders, had been Islamic and her targets Christians".

      Easy. She would not have been prosecuted.

    3. However stupid and unpleasant it was some would argue that her tweet accurately reflected the point of view of the majority of British people.

  40. Good morning all. I thought I would post this for the benefit of those who cannot get behind the Telegraphs pay wall. It is the most important story of the day but you have to scroll way down to find it. I wonder why?

    White British people will be a minority in 40 years, report claims
    Shifting ethnic dynamic of the UK driven by immigration predicted to cause dramatic changes

    White British people will become a minority in the UK population within the next 40 years, a report has predicted.

    An analysis of migration, birth and death rates up to the end of the 21st century predicts that white British people will decline from their current position as 73 per cent of the population to 57 per cent by 2050 before slipping into a minority by 2063.

    The research, by Prof Matt Goodwin of Buckingham University, suggests that by the end of the century, the white British share of the population – defined as people who do not have an immigrant parent – could have fallen to around a third (33.7 per cent).

    It projects a big rise in the proportion of the UK population comprising foreign-born and second-generation immigrants, from below 20 per cent to 33.5 per cent within the next 25 years.

    By 2100, it predicts six in 10 people in the UK will either not have been born in the UK, or will have at least one immigrant parent.

    The Muslim population, which currently stands at 7 per cent, is estimated to increase to more than one in 10 (11.2 per cent) within the next 25 years and account for one in five (19.2 per cent) of all people in the UK by the end of the century.

    Prof Goodwin, an honorary professor at Kent University, said the research, based on Office for National Statistics (ONS) and census data, raised “profound questions about the capacity of the UK state to both absorb and manage this scale of demographic change”.

    In his report, he said the findings were certain to spark a “considerable degree of anxiety, concern and political opposition” among many voters who favoured lowering immigration and slowing the pace of change in order to maintain “the symbols, traditions, culture and ways of life of the traditional majority group”.

    Prof Goodwin said: “Their concerns will need to be recognised, respected and addressed if the UK is to avoid considerable political turbulence and polarisation in the years and decades ahead.”

    His report follows a period of unprecedented legal and illegal migration – hitting a record high of 906,000 under the Tories in 2023 – and subsequent crackdowns, including Labour’s white paper this month proposing restrictions on the rights of migrants to live, work and study in the UK.

    He said: “By the end of the current century, most of the people on these islands will not be able to trace their roots in this country back more than one or two generations.

    “By the year 2100, based on our projections, six in 10 people in the UK will not have been born in the UK or born to two UK-born parents.

    “This raises enormous questions about the capacity of our country and leaders to unify people around a shared sense of identity, values, ways of life, and culture, and avoid the very real risk of us becoming what Sir Keir Starmer referred to in May as ‘an island of strangers’.”

    In 2022, the census revealed London and Birmingham had become minority white British.

    The research compared ethnic identity (comprising white British, other white groups such as Irish, Gipsy, Roma and other Europeans, and non-white), religious identity of non-Muslim versus Muslim, and country of birth comparing UK-born with foreign-born.

    It projected populations forward by applying age and sex-specific fertility, mortality and migration rates to a 2022 base population derived from the latest UK census data. These projections were calibrated to the 2022-based ONS national population projections.

    Foreign-born and Muslim populations were estimated to have higher fertility rates.

    So, while the UK-born fertility rate was 1.39, it was 1.97 for foreign-born people. For Muslims, it was 2.35, and for non-Muslims 1.54.

    The research forecasts that the white British share of the population will decline from 73 per cent to 44 per cent by the year 2075, and to 33.7 per cent by 2100.

    The non-white share will increase from 19.7 per cent to 34.8 per cent by 2050, 48.1 per cent by the year 2075 and to 59.3 per cent by 2100.

    The analysis suggested that the white population, including both white British and white other, would become a minority of the population in the year 2079.

    The share of the UK population that is non-Muslim will gradually fall from 93 per cent in 2025 to 88.8 per cent in 2050, to 84.8 per cent by 2075 and then to 80.8 per cent by the year 2100, according to the research.

    The analysis suggested that the share of the population that is UK-born will fall from 81 per cent to 39 per cent between 2025 and 2100, while the share of the population comprising people born overseas will increase from just above 18 per cent to almost 26 per cent over the same period.

    When the foreign-born population is combined with their children, the proportion of the projected foreign-born and second-generation population will rise to 33.5 per cent of the overall UK population in 2050, 47.5 per cent by 2075 and 60.6 per cent by 2100, according to the analysis.

    The report said: “In other words, by the end of the current century, by the year 2100, based on current trends around six in 10 people in the UK will not have been born in the UK or born to UK-born parents.”

    Migration is changing Britain beyond all recognition
    By Matt Goodwin

    The white British will become a minority group in the UK by the year 2063. The foreign-born and their immediate descendants will become a majority by 2079. And by the end of this century, roughly one in five people will follow the Islamic faith, up from roughly one in 14 today.

    These are the findings from my latest research report, which builds on Office for National Statistics data to project how the UK population could evolve in the decades ahead.

    Population projections are notoriously difficult, but using something called the “cohort-component method”, a standard approach in the study of demography, we can project the changes in the UK’s population between today and 2100, picking out trends in race and ethnicity, country of birth and religious identity.

    Our research suggests that unless there is a radical change of policy, the share of the UK population that is white British will fall sharply from just over 70 per cent today to below 34 per cent by the year 2100.

    They will be a minority in the country in 2063, just 38 years from now. Among the under-40s, the tipping point will come much sooner, in 2050.

    In other words, a child born today will be living in what is close to becoming a white British minority country by the time they turn 25.

    We will also witness profound changes in where people were born. A population where most people can trace their roots on these islands back over multiple generations will make way for one in which a majority were born overseas, or born to at least one parent who was born overseas.

    The ties to our nation – to its sense of history, culture, ways of life and collective memory – will become much weaker.

    Between the early 2020s and the end of this century, the share of the UK population comprised of people who were born in the country and who are not the direct offspring of immigrants will collapse from 81 to 39 per cent, according to our research, while the share who are foreign-born or the immediate descendants of the foreign-born will rocket from 33 to 61 per cent.

    By the end of this century, around six in 10 people in this country will either not have been born in this country or will be the direct descendants of recent immigrants to the country, we found.

    The foreign-born and their offspring will become a majority in England in 2079, in Wales in 2081, in Scotland in 2093, and in Northern Ireland sometime after 2122, our analysis suggests.

    And again, this will happen much sooner among the under-40s, with the foreign-born and their descendants becoming a majority among the young in England as early as 2062.

    Our projections also reveal how the religious identity of the country will be transformed, with the Muslim population surging threefold from 7 per cent today to over 15 per cent by 2075, and to nearly 20 per cent by 2100.

    Under a “high Muslim migration scenario”, whereby the UK receives higher than average inflows from Muslim states, we estimate that one in four British people will be Muslim by the year 2100, rising to nearly one in three of the under-40s in this country.

    As you’ll have noticed, all these demographic projections are more pronounced among the under-40s.

    Among young people, by the year 2100, whites will only comprise 28 per cent of the population of England while the UK-born who are not the immediate descendants of immigrants will represent just 28 per cent of the English population, a little over one in every four young people.

    At the end of the century, again among young people, some 68 per cent will be non-white, roughly one in four will be Muslim, and a large majority will have been born to at least one parent who was themselves not born in the UK.

    Precisely because of the policy of mass immigration, under both the Labour and Tory parties, and which was then turbocharged by the so-called post-2019 “Boriswave”, the UK is on course to experience huge and historically unprecedented changes in the composition of its population.

    By the year 2100, and again unless things change, our immediate descendants will be living in a country in which the white British will only comprise one third of the population, people with long and strong roots in this country will only represent around four in every 10 people, down from eight in 10 today, while somewhere between one fifth and one third of all people will follow the Islamic faith.

    Lastly, it’s worth pointing out that while population projections are complex and should be treated with caution, for the last quarter-century the story with these projections has been one of projections and forecasts underestimating, rather than overestimating, the scale and pace of change.

    What we can say today, with some certainty, is that these islands are about to experience a dramatic population transformation that will not only be unprecedented in history but will also test the state and the social contract like never before.

    It is high time our political leaders look beyond the short term to try and think just as seriously about the longer term consequences of their policies.

    Prof Matt Goodwin is senior visiting fellow at the University of Buckingham and writes at http://mattgoodwin.org

    1. Good morning Johnathan, or it has been posted together with Yvette Cooper calling for a digital Id to keep track of migrants that her government is letting in, in order to scare people into supporting the digital id.

      Many people have one non-British origin parent or grandparent, they are probably all counted in the 'non white' group.

      1. I think we have to stop this non-white/white nonsense. It plays into the hands of those who accuse us of racism. What concerns me is that we are the indigenous people of these islands who have lived here for over two thousand years. It is our home and in that we have built a culture, a great one that will be destroyed and where do our grandchildren go? Unlike the invaders we are home, we cannot leave for our ancestral land because it's here. So do we sit around waiting for our descendants to be forced into dhimmitude, wait for our grand daughters to wear black tents? No other culture would tolerate what is going on here in these islands. Do you think that if the Pakistani's, for example, who lecture us about our racism where white British in Pakistan, tried that, would they be tolerated for one moment? No, they would be thrown out of the country and rightly so. Instead we sit there and we take the racism against us like fools. We must resist. If we can do little else we can at least use our voice to fight back and protest this iniquity at every opportunity.

        1. The country bequeathed to us by the Victorians is gone and will never return. The only open question is what we build on its ashes. At the moment we are the rubbish dump for every criminal and whining extremist that is not welcome in his or her own islamic country and that must be stopped.
          If we avoid marxist or islamic slavery, our descendants will build something good again.

          1. I sense we can avoid the former but not the latter. Once they have a grip there is no way out. I can only think of one instance in the entire world where they have been forced to retreat and that was very bloody, the recovery of Spain.

          3. We are going to have to join with the muslims to kick the international marxists out. Otherwise divide and rule will work.

    2. It does not have to be like this.Vote reform and if nigel does not sort it as PM he can be changed. Itsa better bet than what we have now.

    3. Gentle reminder.. don't focus on the melanin count.

      When I speak to any Hongkonger that fled Mao, or Indian trade partners that understand the Delhi Sultanate & Mughal regimes.. they just want trade, peace & prosperity. And it's their belief that the Anglosphere delivers these in spades with Common Law, property rights, 3Rs, meritocracy, objective evidence based truth, English language and parliamentary democracy.

      And which morons have decided these must be eradicated? The progressive liberal.
      And the quickest way to eradicate Anglosphere foundations? Import lots of mostly peaceful engineers. 1000s everyday if possible.

      Make progressive liberals wear pink conical hats, and keep them away from power for their own safety.. and yours.

      1. In terms of who is a native you have to concentrate on the melanin count. That doesn’t mean at all that I do not welcome others. On the contrary, practically speaking there are many peoples I would welcome who were not white and I would regard them as my comrades, for want of an expression.

    4. Gentle reminder.. don't focus on the melanin count.

      When I speak to any Hongkonger that fled Mao, or Indian trade partners that understand the Delhi Sultanate & Mughal regimes.. they just want trade, peace & prosperity. And it's their belief that the Anglosphere delivers these in spades with Common Law, property rights, 3Rs, meritocracy, objective evidence based truth, English language and parliamentary democracy.

      And which morons have decided these must be eradicated? The progressive liberal.
      And the quickest way to eradicate Anglosphere foundations? Import lots of mostly peaceful engineers. 1000s everyday if possible.

      Make progressive liberals wear pink conical hats, and keep them away from power for their own safety.. and yours.

    5. Gentle reminder.. don't focus on the melanin count.

      When I speak to any Hongkonger that fled Mao, or Indian trade partners that understand the Delhi Sultanate & Mughal regimes.. they just want trade, peace & prosperity. And it's their belief that the Anglosphere delivers these in spades with Common Law, property rights, 3Rs, meritocracy, objective evidence based truth, English language and parliamentary democracy.

      And which morons have decided these must be eradicated? The progressive liberal.
      And the quickest way to eradicate Anglosphere foundations? Import lots of mostly peaceful engineers. 1000s everyday if possible.

      Make progressive liberals wear pink conical hats, and keep them away from power for their own safety.. and yours.

    6. "By the end of this century, around six in 10 people in this country will either not have been born in this country or will be the direct descendants of recent immigrants to the country, we found."

      But where will the money come from for their benefits payments?

      1. I would be happier to be younger then I could do more to fight this menace

  41. Don’t believe Starmer when he says he’s angry about the small boats
    We can’t possibly expect the PM to defend us from Putin when small boats are so easily entering our country
    Allison Pearson: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/06/03/defence-starmer-priority-invasion-illegal-migrants/

    Putin is working on an unbeatable strategy for invading and conquering Britain.

    He is diverting some of the funds used for nuclear warheads into the mass manufacture of rubber dinghies as he knows full well that his invading troops will receive no opposition at all: indeed the British Border Force and the RNLI will do everything they can to help them.

    1. At least the Russians are Christian and European. (Provided they don't send over the village boys from their further flung provinces.)

  42. Last night we watched a very good programme on PBS America called "Fight to the Finish" – about the part played in the last War by Canadian forces. A very good and inspiring story. The very opposite of the "We won the war" Yanks. Worth keeping an eye out for.

    1. Canadian soldiers were stationed in the build up to D-day where I live. I'm happy to say that they enriced the gene pool.

  43. Another long trawl through possible answers – but got there in four:
    Wordle 1,446 4/6

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

  45. I totally agree Richard, what has happened is quite obviously a further attempt to make freedom of speech in our own country illegal.
    But it's okay for our political classes to lie all day and every day and get away with it.

    1. And, I might add, causing far more damage than any tweet that could have been made by Lucy Connally or anyone else.

        1. Set Menu
          Starters
          Westcombe Cheddar soufflé
          Charlotte potato, smoked butter (v)
          Parsley soup
          braised rabbit leg, crispy onions
          Mains
          Glazed beef short rib
          cauliflower, oyster mushroom, capers and mustard
          Scottish sea trout
          charred squid, celeriac and horseradish
          Desserts
          Warm apple and brown butter cake
          cider apple ice cream
          Dark chocolate tart
          tonka bean ice cream
          Selection of British cheeses (£12 supplement)
          Selection of tea and coffee £8
          We are proud to offer B Corp certified illy coffee and all our tea blends are ethically sourced and fairly traded.
          v – vegetarian
          Should you have any dietary or allergen requirements, please do inform our team.
          All prices are inclusive of VAT. A discretionary service charge of 15% will be added to the bill.
          Two courses £44 (lunch only

          2. When the waiter asked Annie what she would like i said 'all of it'. It got a laugh.

            Included in the price was a complimentary glass of Champagne. Which made the meal very good value.

            The drinks bill was more than the food bill. £80 for a bottle of Malbec. Still, it was very nice Malbec.

            The food was delicious and beautifully presented and served.

    6. A Motley Crew if ever I saw one!

      Confirms my view that; "If you're going to riot, then ensure that you riot in style!"

    8. Ta muchly.
      Forwarded to sons to make them feel reely, reely jealous.
      (And worry about their inheritance.)

    10. Anticlockwise Shirley? But what fun and jolly japes and how I wish I was there! You little tinkers, all!

  47. 406764+ up ticks,

    No matter of this old deflecting SHITE

    Wednesday 4 June: The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will put retailers in an impossible position

    Lets have reality.,

    Wednesday 4 June: The Children rape & abuse via paedophile actions (ongoing) will put without doubt,when fully recognised by the herd the governing politico's, and old bill in an impossible position

    1. The Vape problem

      I can guarantee that the 'periice' will prosecute, with a vengance, the shop staff with who wrongly sell Vapes whilst letting shop-lifters in the stores at the same time go free,

    1. I looked and you can buy iodine on eBay in pill form or liquid, if anyone is interested.

      1. Way ahead of you. Don't forget water purification tablets. Powdered egg and milk.

        1. The topic of the video was mainly cancer, Pip. Nuclear war was not on my mind at all.

      2. 406764+ up ticks,

        Afternoon JR,

        Correct,

        We have been using Lugol's iodine 15%
        For quite some time.
        If orally one drop in a small glass of water.

      3. Iodine tablets are what gers handed out just before the nukes go off. Supposed to help with radiation sickness, but if a big one went of over a British city, rsdiation effects would not be the inhabitant's primary concern.

    2. 406764+ up ticks,

      O2O,
      So, as with many issues these political overseeing kapo's want to murder cats seemingly in unies, leaving us open to being overrun.

  51. An hour and a half's hedge work completed this morning, Mos satisfactory. We started it two days ago – ignored it yesterday because of the rain – and carried on today. It is one of those jobs that always take longer than you think it is going to!

    1. It's often the clearing up rather than the actual work that takes the time.
      MN and I dreaded trimming hedges when we lived out in the boondocks.

          1. Excuses excuses. The reason i told the Sommelier to remove your glass was because you were waving it around so much i thought you might injure someone…Ahem.

      2. I very much dislike picking up the trimmings, but don't mind the cutting.
        When I cut my hedges later in the summer, I am thinking of paying a local teenager to pick up the cuttings. last summer, a couple of teenagers from the village asked on the village farcebook page if anybody wanted odd jobs doing.

  52. This was posted six years ago. Since then it has degenerated from a comedy to a farce. Starmer is worse than a clown he is a dangerous moron.
    https://scontent-cdg4-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/61873868_10157427463784954_9179156070096961536_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=I46b-ZmHRlMQ7kNvwE91957&_nc_oc=Adkicrc5f80BuM7eifWPNbNQjIFS-0SGgMtX5rQWafBPWfi3KvSvXEL35giCRy5R_uprpRS9DyrmrB4zOy0ZA8cb&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-cdg4-2.xx&_nc_gid=XpEzhNAHYmaca_qFD3dIMQ&oh=00_AfLBk_XTa_A6NNisjXqxYJqibghBJ0cdWzq4fUhVAw77Fw&oe=68678848

  53. Huge Row as Labour Says It Must Let NI Veterans Be Prosecuted for ‘Human Rights Compliance’

    In around two weeks a petition to “Protect Northern Ireland Veterans From Prosecution” has gathered 132,046 signatures. It comes in response to Labour’s plan to alter the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 in order to completely scrap legal protections for veterans who were involved in British Army operations in Northern Ireland from 1969 to 2007. Sections of the act also line up Gerry Adams and IRA suspects for taxpayer-funded compensation…

    The government issued a response to the petition last night which claims “legacy mechanisms need to be human rights compliant and be able to command support and confidence across communities” because the Legacy Act was challenged in the courts. Challenges which are not being appealed by this government…

    Labour adds that NI secretary Hilary Benn will “continue to discuss this issue with all interested parties” as the government “prepares new legislation.” Shadow defence minister Mark Francois – who is campaigning on the issue – says this is baloney…

    Francois tells Guido:

    “The Government’s response reeks of hypocrisy. It states the the NI Legacy Act 2023, which now helps protect our Veterans, has been found ‘unlawful’ even though they could have appealed those judgements – but deliberately didn’t. Moreover, it talks about providing ‘legal support’ to Veterans being prosecuted, rather than seeking to stop the process, as the 132,000 petitioners (so far) requested. When Labour talk about ‘legal support’ what they really mean is providing a personal lawyer to help Gerry Adams sue the British taxpayer – including Lord Hermer, now Labour’s Attorney General. Veterans will, rightly, be absolutely appalled at this.”

    Hermer of course represented Adams in 2023 when he was being sued by victims of three IRA attacks – something Robert Jenrick has taken pains to flag this week. Rule by Labour lawyers going as expected…

    The petition has not yet been assigned a debate day in parliament – it won’t for a few weeks. Time for that number to rise…

    June 4 2025 @ 11:33 https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3fbf70de9e8fd0bf4997456cdba69103457cd185935100b8f137c8f9ab2c3180.png
    Loughman
    34m
    I can't understand why anyone reading this article would want to serve in the British forces.

    Dissident
    34m
    I wonder how much we are going to have to pay to Ireland in order to give them Northern Ireland.

    1. If I was such a veteran and I had access to suitable weaponry I know what I would be thinking:
      "I may as well hang for a sheep as a lamb."

    2. …. "continue to discuss this issue with all interested parties”.
      So that'll be the IRA and human rights lawyers.

      1. She’s an absolute peasant. Going by the deep wrinkles on her face, I would put money on it that she is a heavy smoker and has had numerous holidays frying in the Costa del Chav sunshine. What’s the betting that she is one of those who rush out to ‘bag’ a poolside sun lounger early every morning.

    2. Jesus H. If she's an example of what English food does to you, then the sooner she adopts a Mediterranean diet, the better. That is, if we seriously think she's worth the extra years on this planet.

      1. She’s a waste of state pension. I wonder if she has ever lived off benefits, claiming ‘my anxiety’ stops her from working. 🙂

      2. What a lovely, healthy-looking lady! How wonderful to have your mother into her 90s.

    4. SShe Has a point. If you can't waddle down to the beach after a full English breakfast, what's the point of living?

      1. She very likely only waddles as far as the pool, and has her towel out on a sun lounger as early as she can every day.

    5. Real complaints that Thomas Cook received!

      They should not allow topless sunbathing on the beach. It was very distracting for my husband who just wanted to relax."

      "On my holiday to Goa in India, I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don't like spicy food."

      "We went on holiday to Spain and had a problem with the taxi drivers as they were all Spanish."

      "We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our own swimsuits and towels. We assumed it would be included in the price."

      "The beach was too sandy. We had to clean everything when we returned to our room."

      "We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as white but it was more yellow."

      "It's lazy of the local shopkeepers in Puerto Vallarta close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things during 'siesta' time — this should be banned."

      "No-one told us there would be fish in the water. The children were scared."

      "Although the brochure said that there was a fully equipped kitchen, there was no egg-slicer in the drawers."

      1. Gosh, I don't keep an egg slicer in my drawers either. Painful. Back in the 80s when I worked in Selfridges I met a very genteel lady who had been raised in India in the last days of the Raj. She said that the family cook would serve English food in the evenings but in the midday heat her family and their servants all ate the same Indian food.

        1. Indian food and tea (hot of course) at lunch time opens the pores and encourages cooling. That's why we should not drink ice cold beers with curries, at least in hot weather. it defeats the purpose.

          1. My dear old Mum always drank tea on hot days for that very reason, bless her.

        2. Ooooh i got an industrial-strength egg slicer for my last birthday as the previous one got broken in the drawer. One has to be very careful. I keep my new one in a little bag to protect it. And i’m not even that keen on eggs.

    6. 'Several other hotels have since contacted us to confirm similar behaviour and tactics from the same individual.'

      They should operate a scheme like pubwatch and ban people like that moaning old biddy.

      1. I bet she spends all day, every day by the pool when she is on holiday, and is a life-long heavy smoker. Both those activities lead to premature aging/ deep wrinkles before one’s time.

        1. I’m 68, enjoy the sun and smoked when I was younger! I look nothing like that!

    1. The when you die you are wrapped inside thicker slices of tree – the tree gets its own back.

      1. I'm going in a hessian sack and buried with a tree planted on top. Then it gets to eat me. :@)

      1. I know one shouldn't go by looks, but she really is a poisonous-looking little piece, isn't she?

        2. “It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances."

          [Oscar Wilde – The Picture of Dorian Gray]

          1. I bought a waistcoat and tie in matching Paisley purple with glittery bits for the Lanesborough lunch.

            Oscar would have been proud of me.

            Matching cufflinks and hankerchief too.

            I donned it all and then thought fuckit. Besides having a 100 minute train journey trussed up like the like a Christmas turkey.

            I wore a Fred Perry in pink instead.

            I don't think the staff noticed…or cared.

        1. I never forget seeing him as one of the queens in The Naked Civil Servant…

        2. He was proud of that broom. He got a medal for saving the council money. As a road sweeper he had had the same broom for 20 years. It had 17 new heads and 14 new handles. . . the same broom!

          1. Jonathan Swift beat OFAH by nearly 300 years.
            "Meditation upon a Broomstick."

          2. Reminds me of Terry Pratchett's book 'Interesting Times'. The most powerful and knowledgeable man in the Empire was 'The Sweeper'. Everyone ignored him and he could go anywhere. Even into inner sanctums. Brush brush sweep sweep.

    5. Somebody called her the ultimate Combo-Grifter.. started off with Climate grifting.. now donning a keffiyeh she's a Gaza grifter. In Gaza the world pleads with her to unfurl the Trans-Pride flag. Pretty please.

    6. Somebody called her the ultimate Combo-Grifter.. started off with Climate grifting.. now donning a keffiyeh she's a Gaza grifter. In Gaza the world pleads with her to unfurl the Trans-Pride flag. Pretty please.

    7. Somebody called her the ultimate Combo-Grifter.. started off with Climate grifting.. now donning a keffiyeh she's a Gaza grifter. In Gaza the world pleads with her to unfurl the Trans-Pride flag. Pretty please.

    8. Somebody called her the ultimate Combo-Grifter.. started off with Climate grifting.. now donning a keffiyeh she's a Gaza grifter. In Gaza the world pleads with her to unfurl the Trans-Pride flag. Pretty please.

  59. From today's PMQs

    Satan Claws
    1h
    Speaker: "Please listen to the answer, even if you don't believe you are getting one."

    1. Whichever functionary chose those poor chaps as Thieve's backdrop is in serious trouble.

  63. Does anyone believe any of this?

    France finally agrees to intercept migrant boats

    Plan to catch vessels emerges three years after Britain signed a £500m agreement

    Charles Hymas Home Affairs Editor.
    Henry Samuel Paris
    04 June 2025 1:41pm BST

    France has pledged to come up with a plan to intercept migrant “taxi boats” at sea for the first time.

    French interior ministry sources said that within the next six weeks boats within 300 metres of the beaches will be targeted to stop them leaving for the UK loaded with migrants.

    The strategy aims to be ready for the Franco-British summit, which begins on July 8, when Emmanuel Macron, the French president, will travel to London for a state visit.

    France is expanding its naval forces with six new patrol boats that will not only rescue migrants but could also intercept the “taxi boats” before they leave for the UK.

    The first of the boats, the 46-metre long Rozel, which is capable of carrying 20 paramilitary police officers, known as gendarmes, has already been put to sea.

    The move comes after Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, this week demanded the French start intercepting migrant boats at sea “as swiftly as possible” after a record 1,195 migrants reached the UK in 19 dinghies on Saturday. It took the total so far this year to 14,812, the highest on record.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/06/04/france-finally-agrees-to-intercept-migrant-boats/

    There has been growing frustration at the apparent foot dragging by the French who so far this year have stopped fewer than 40 per cent of the boats, the lowest proportion on record, despite a three-year £480 million Anglo-French deal to combat the crossings.

    Ms Cooper wants French border police and gendarmes to intercept the taxi boats not only in the shallow waters as they leave the beaches but also when they make their way from rivers and inland waterways to pick up the migrants. With heatwaves forecast this summer, there are concerns of a further record migrant surge.

    Until now, the French have refused to intervene in the water because they claim maritime laws prevent them from taking action that could put lives at sea at risk. But French government sources said ministers overseeing migration policy had given the green light to do so while “respecting” the “law of the sea”.

    A French interior ministry source said: “We are aware of the high stakes involved in interventions at sea and of the need to adapt our doctrine of action.

    “Today, our intervention can only take place to rescue a boat already at sea, in particular because of the criminal liability issues associated with any interception carried out for any other reason.

    “We would like to change this framework so that we can operate in shallow waters, up to 300 metres from the coast, and thus intercept ‘taxi boats’, while respecting the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, known as the Montego Bay Convention.

    “The Interministerial Committee for Immigration Control (CiCI) has mandated the General Secretariat for the Sea (SGMer), which co-ordinates the State’s action at sea, to draw up a proposal by the summer to change this.”

    The source said the government’s objective was to have “shared guidelines” ready for the summit in July, under an agreement which explicitly confirmed “for the first time, the need for action to prevent irregular crossings of the Channel”.

    A “compagnie de Marche” of specialist enforcement officers is expected to play a key part in the interceptions.

    Officials are still working on the practicalities of any operations, including whether they should be armed and wearing body armour when they engage the boats.

    They anticipate they could face a violent backlash from the migrants and people smugglers. On Saturday, two gendarmes were injured when migrants stoned them as they tried to stop a boat from setting sail.

    The strategy has been funded from the £480 million deal, with £7 million of the existing funds redirected towards paying for extra law enforcement and intelligence officers.

    There is added urgency to get the strategy under way after the Met Office forecast a hotter than average summer.

    Home Office data, published on Tuesday, suggested good weather had contributed to the surge in migrants crossing so far this year.

    According to the data, there were 60 so-called red days between Jan 1 and April 30 this year, when factors such as wind speed, wave height and the likelihood of rain meant crossings were classed as likely or highly likely. Some 11,074 migrants arrived in the UK during these four months after crossing the Channel.

    By contrast, there were 27 red days in the same period last year, less than half the number in 2025, with 7,567 crossings recorded.

    **************************

    2. A gendarme was back after secondment to the beaches of Northern France, where she was supposedly on duty to stop people-smugglers launching their overcrowded dinghies to transport migrants across the channel. She said that, after some of her colleagues had disabled the inflatables with a box cutter, they were disciplined – for destruction of private property.

      ‘We used to arrest the migrants,’ she sighed, ‘but all we did was drop them off in downtown Calais. They were on the beach the next day. So, what was the point?’

      1. Compulsory registration and insurance for any ICE outboard motor above (for example) 95cc.
        Outboard and vessel to be impounded for any infraction. Insurance policy linked to user.

    3. Tirez l'autre – elle a des clochettes!

      [Pull the other one – it's got bells on it!]

    4. I remember how the French try to stop British beef being purchased/sold and sent to Europe after the BSE out break aka Mad Cow Disease.
      I always had the suspicion they might have came across and spread the infection in the first place.

      1. British beef is largely unobtainable in France. The French have been brain-washed into believing that all sorts of unspeakable things will happen to them if they eat it. This is so they don’t realise how bad their own beef is. Sinewy, tough and flavourless.

          1. Macdonald’s patties in France are produced from French beef. Kebabs are mostly lamb.

    5. It might be true if they have decided that they've imported enough of them. Then again, you can never have too many young men from other cultures with no womenfolk running loose in the country, can you?

  64. Well today, the front line professional side of the NHS came to the fore in my third Pre Operation Assessment. Very pleasant staff.
    But now the patient has to have two blood tests within half an hour, a couple of days before the surgery. I didn't quite understand why, but I think I've got got plenty of blood for them. Let's hope it all goes ahead for me this time.

    2. Fingers and knees crossed for you. Do you have a date? I don't yet but actually met the cardiac surgeon this morning. A much better experience than the last consultation and feeling reassured. He had a registrar and some students with him so a full room but with a positive vibe.

      2. I am relieved for you, Sue. Though when they bring in the students that makes you the guinea pig !!!

        1. The following morning after I had my broken back operated on a young nurse said "It was very interesting seeing the surgeon operating on your back". I said "where you assisting'? She said "No. just watching. There was a crowd of us". They never asked me before or told me after!

          1. I suppose it comes from when open surgery was first performed. Have to learn somehow.

          3. When it happened to me in a pre-op i was gazing at all these young folks and didn't hear what the Consultant was saying. He sounded like an angry schoolmaster when i missed what he said to me.

            As my blood pressure rises i become more deaf.

      3. Yes date 18th of June. Early start going in at 7:30.
        I hope all goes well for you Sue, we deserve a few good years before we have to cash in. 🤗

  65. Thought for the day re small boat crossings.
    Reduce the territorial waters on both the French and English sides of the channel, just enough to provide appropriate capture space.
    "Rescue" them and their small boats in those international waters and then immediately take them to the coast of Libya, put them back on their small boats and cast them adrift.
    I suspect that that might stop the people smuggling almost overnight.

  66. She wouldn't last 5 minutes with either group. They would fuck her to death and then eat her remains.

  68. George Soros' Climate Laws – How the plan worked..

    George Soros' pal Lord Nicholas Stern wrote the report on which the Climate Change Act is based and George Soros financed Bright Blue which wrote the report on which Legal Net Zero is based. George Soros' pal Tony Blair approved work to start on the Climate Change Act in 2006 and later made millions from Soros in consultancy fees.

    George Soros' pal David Miliband arranged the Climate Change Act and was given a now million dollar CEO job in an organisation financed with ''hefty donations'' by George Soros.

    Ex Con MP Chris Skidmore who signed Net Zero into law was given a senior position working with George Soros' pal Lord Nicholas Stern, see above, at the LSE which has received ''transformational'' donations from George Soros.

    George Soros' pal Lord Adair Turner was appointed chairman of the Climate Change Committee by George Soros' pal Gordon Brown from 2008 and from 2016, Lord Adair Turner was appointed chairman of the Energy Transitions Commission after an interval working personally for George Soros!

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3379572/SEBASTIAN-SHAKESPEARE-Revealed-David-Miliband-paid-staggering-425-000-boss-New-York-based-refugee-charity.html

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9963050/Lord-Turner-forms-unlikely-alliance-with-Soros.html?msockid=01a47514794067351521609878fb664f

    1. Good to see you here, Polly. What does Soros get out of it…influence…he surely has sufficient wealth?

      1. Good to see you too.

        Ideology. Belief in global government. Dislike of British history. Power. Money.

        1. Cheers :-)…some things never change, politicians and money like a horse n carriage..

  69. Four random coincidences..

    BoE boss Andrew Bailey worked with George Soros' pal Mark Carney who was previous BoE boss.

    OBR boss Richard Hughes previously worked for the Resolution Foundation whose chairman Clive Cowdery is a pal of George Soros and who is on the board of George Soros' Institute for New Economic Thinking. Clive Cowdery was previously on the board of George Soros' Best for Britain.

    Pensions Minister Torsten Bell MP was the long term CEO of the Resolution Foundation and presumably worked closely with George Soros' pal Clive Cowdery.

    So I wonder if Britain is enjoying George Soros' new economic thinking?

    Especially as Alex Soros is at the heart of the Starmer government..

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/02af4de595076b6e3126b964562d83d3978a434682a53ac0451cdaaeea789672.jpg

  70. DT headline:
    Britons accused of hiding cocaine in Angel Delight face death penalty in Bali

    Yes, yes; I know it's v. serious and all that, but this BTL comment made me larf.

    "57 MIN AGO
    Sugar, Modified Starch, Skimmed Milk Powder, Palm Oil, Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder, Gelling Agents (Diphosphates, Sodium Phosphates), Emulsifiers (Propylene Glycol Esters of Fatty Acids, Lecithins), Lactose (Milk), Milk Proteins, Calcium Carbonate, Whey Powder (Milk), Anti-caking Agent (Silicon Dioxide), Flavouring.
    Given its contents, perhaps they are being tried for smuggling Angel Delight."

    1. My guess is that law enforcers worldwide share information about druggies, and of course computer systems can easily identify anomalies, such as frequent travellers with low credit scores, or with a criminal record, or claiming benefits.

      1. That's her. Remember the silk dress with 'Tax the Rich' emblazoned in red paint. She's possibly quite wealthy now. Beats making coffee.

        1. I thought it must be a member of the "Squad", but Ilhan Omar seems even more probable.

    2. Definitely an aggravated hate crime simply to LOOK like that. At least 2 years chokey for him.

      1. I remember reading something about that – someone being accused of looking badly at someone with a protected characteristic. The accused asked the police to show him a list of forbidden facial expressions – I gather he did not hear anything else about it!

    3. She has no charisma at all – and no idea about public speaking…. or economics!!

      1. …no idea.about…economics.

        Let us not forget Harold Wilson was an Oxford economics Don. He screwed up the economy anyway.

      1. It is impossible for Annie to make that face. You have to have lived a life of bitterness and shame to get that one and minimal rug munching.

        Our Annie sparkles with joy.

    4. I positively refrained from doing that !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      Annie is a bundle of laughs. We had a great time gossiping about you lot.

      1. Interesting isn't it that on the telly they all seem so nice and pleasant and in reality they are the opposite.

        Sarah Vine is pissing a lot of them off at the moment.

        Those utter snobs are the real racists.

  75. Our marvellous country. Episode 376.

    I wish to get rid of an old car battery. I looked at the District Council website. "No – we do not take them."

    Then tried the County Council website. "Just take it to your District Council recycling centre (the tip) and they will be happy to take it."

    Thought I'd ring the tip. "Our Recycling Centres are closed on Wednesdays"……

    Oh well – I'll find a hedge…..

    1. Find a local scrap metal dealer he /she will probably pay you about£8 for it!

      1. Nearest one is 30 miles away. 60 miles = 5 litres = £6.95. Hardly worth it!

        There used to be a local chap 5 miles away. He scrapped his business.

          1. Just because they are referred to as 'Battery hens' doesn't mean that they want a charge.

    2. Your local independent mechanic should be happy to take it; he (or she) will scrap old lead acid batteries when there's a van load and should receive in the region of £470 per tonne.

    3. Put it in your front garden with a price tag of £10 – it'll be gone in the morning

    1. It's sickening to think how the propaganda machine will write this one into the history books.

      1. Glimpse into the future.
        As the Police round up the last of the white working class for conscription.. a tearful Victoria & Nicola wave goodbye to their sons; Toby Starmer.. Nelson Lammy & Mandela Lammy as they embark on a grueling three year deployment to Washington working for Democrat congressmen.

      2. Glimpse into the future.
        As the Police round up the last of the white working class for conscription.. a tearful Victoria & Nicola wave goodbye to their sons; Toby Starmer.. Nelson Lammy & Mandela Lammy as they embark on a grueling three year deployment to Washington working for Democrat congressmen.

    5. "Secure at home"?? Certainly not as far as the continuing invasion by fighting age men is concerned – perhaps he meant us during lockdown? And "strong abroad" – with what?

    6. Talk about a focus grouped phrase. Not an ounce of sincerity, no interest in doing anything just another pointless marketing buzzword to spin the intentional lack of actually doing anything.

  77. "Lined up behind the Chancellor of the Exchequer at their site in in Rochdale, Greater Manchester they appeared pretty disinterested in proceedings." UNINTERESTED.
    "Some remained totally passive as she blamed the Tories for looming spending curbs and talked up £15.6billion of capital investment for mayoral authorities in the North and Midlands." IMPASSIVE.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/17b69c85cde57a736b26b14e8e7983090689cb83ea73fabb8b4e3854901e6957.jpg

    2. The lad on the left did well though. Could have made more use of his eyebrows, but a good performance!

    3. Awful, awful, awful, awful, truly awful..
      clearly reading off the teleprompter some Spads script.

      She mentions trade deals. LOL
      I notice parliament has been banging on about receiving the details of these much trumpeted trade deals.
      So far just press releases.

    4. Caption competition:

      'I'm the country's first female chancellor. I've put all these white men out of work and destroyed their industry.'

    5. An astonishingly anti-charismatic, rhetorical disaster – or am I being too kind?

  79. Wordle No. 1,446 3/6

    ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
    🟩⬜🟩🟩⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    Wordle 5 Jun 2025

    Abandon Birdie Three?

    1. Well done, birdie here too.

      Wordle 1,446 3/6

      🟨⬜⬜🟩🟩
      ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    2. I hung on for four.

      Wordle 1,446 4/6

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

    3. Back in the ball game with a three here also!

      It can be tricky when you get three oranges in your first guess, especially if they're 'common' letters – you can chase them round the grid and potentially rack up a big score, I think I got a bit lucky….

      Wordle 1,446 3/6

      ⬜🟨🟨🟨⬜
      🟨⬜🟨🟨⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  80. Matthew Lynn
    Starmer doesn’t have long to save his US trade deal
    4 June 2025, 11:38am

    It has only been a few weeks since the UK agreed to a trade deal with the United States that exempted us from the worst of President Trump’s tariffs. There was a grand, if slightly awkward, ceremony in the White House. The deal was sold as a triumph of negotiation and diplomacy for the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, and even more for our ambassador in Washington, Lord Mandelson.

    But it seems Starmer may have got ahead of himself, for this deal appears to only have been a temporary truce. Right now there is a real risk that the government may blow the deal – and that would be hugely embarrassing for the Prime Minister indeed.

    With President Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium into the United States coming into force today, the UK can be even more grateful for its separate deal. Britain has been granted an exemption from the levies – at least for now. There is just one catch. It has now emerged the UK has only five weeks to get a permanent deal over the line or face the same tariffs on steel, alongside potentially many other products as well.

    And yet, the UK does not appear to have made much progress on its side of the bargain. Last month’s deal was contingent on Britain reassuring the Americans about Chinese ownership of our few remaining steel plants, but very little appears to have been done to clarify that. Given that the UK’s industrial power prices are out of control, and its green targets are some of the strictest in the world, it is unlikely that anyone else wants to make steel here. Meanwhile, the government is too broke to take the plants into state ownership.

    We are also meant to be easing restrictions on imports of American beef, along with ethanol, and a range of other agricultural products. And yet, there is little sign of anything being done about this. No doubt, the government is trying to delay the fierce resistance from farmers and green lobbies it will experience as a result.

    Even worse, since the signing ceremony in the White House, the UK has signed a ‘reset’ agreement with the EU that will make it far harder to reach a deal with the US. We are aligning our food standards with Europe, which will make it much more challenging to open up our market to American imports. It would be hard to blame officials in Brussels for making it harder for the UK to tie up the deal with Washington; it would be far better to have the UK as collateral damage in a trade war across the Atlantic.

    Five weeks is not very long to get any of those issues resolved. By the middle of the summer, the UK’s trade deal with President Trump may well have fallen apart. The Starmer government will only have itself to blame if that happens – and it will prove a humiliating reversal of fortune.

    *********************

    ChrisP
    5 hours ago
    Humiliating? This Govt doesn’t even know the meaning of humiliating. It thought it was being ever so clever getting in first, but like everything it does, it never reveals the details. Same for its defence strategy paper, the Chaigos Islands deal, its welfare policies, and the re-set with the EU. There were warnings about the EU deal but, naively perhaps, the Govt thought the Americans weren’t watching. Turns out they were. Incompetents doesn’t even start to describe this shower.

    Mark
    3 hours ago
    Errr. I ask a simple question. Has Starmer lied to the HoC? What the agreement appears to be is a Memorandum of Understanding that there will be a trade deal subject to x, y, z and a list of aspirations for each country. Starmer said it was a trade deal. Lord Oil slick Mandelson said it was a trade deal. Both said it was transformative for Britain.
    It is nothing of the sort. Its an MoU. Parliament was lied to. The ever submissive MSM swallowed it whole. The reality is it doesn't save jobs, it doesn't produce jobs, it doesn't add to the common wealth of the nation. Its little more than a mirage.

  81. Andrew Gilligan
    Why won’t TfL staff stop fare dodgers?
    3 June 2025, 1:17pm

    In Robert Jenrick’s fare-dodging video, it felt a little unfair for the Tories’ checked-shirt crusader to include that shot of the Tube station assistant with his feet up.

    The guy was probably just on his break, and you don’t blame the infantry for the failings of the generals. But on a wider level, the mayor, Sadiq Khan, and TfL management have had their own feet up for nine years now, with results that people are starting to notice.

    Today’s London is not, of course, New York in the 1970s. But parts of the London Underground are looking rather like it. Each time I’ve travelled on the Bakerloo Line recently, the train has been covered in graffiti, inside and out. It doesn’t seem to be the same on any other line – yet. But if left unchecked, it will spread, as fare-dodging already has.

    Fare evasion on the Tube in 2015, the last full year before Sir Sadiq took office, was 1 per cent. It is now 4.8 per cent, according to a TfL freedom of information request published last week (the 3.4 per cent sometimes quoted is for the whole system, including the buses and Overground).

    In 2015-16, the number of penalty fares issued on the Tube was 21,500. In 2023-24, the last full year for which there are figures, it was 12,907. Over the same period, prosecutions for fare evasion on the Tube fell from 5,079 to 2,979. Tube use is down too, to be fair – but by nothing like that much.

    There are 3,300 station staff on the Underground. Surely that’s enough to stop a few fare-dodgers? Alas, it turns out it’s not even their job. As Jon Poett, operational policy manager at TfL, put it earlier this year, station staff ‘can report evasion, but their main role is to provide customer service. They are not expected to challenge them.’

    The station people do have other important roles: helping passengers with information, dealing with emergencies, stopping people falling under trains or getting trapped in the doors. And, admittedly, one or two less important roles, such as taking part in TfL’s identity-based staff networks, for which paid time off is given. Members of TfL’s LGBT staff group (‘Outbound’ – geddit?) have recently enjoyed, among other things, a Trafalgar Square ‘queer footprints walk and talk’.

    According to the mayor’s office, is that ‘removing someone from the network is always a last resort’ and TfL uses a ‘four-step engagement model (engage, educate, encourage, enforce) before taking enforcement action.’

    The challenging of fare-dodgers is done by a much smaller cohort of people, ‘transport support and enforcement officers,’ who in fact appear to have been reduced in number, from 450 two years ago to 430 now, according to London Assembly answers, perhaps to pay for some of those queer footprints walks. Of the 430 officers, 147 operate on the Tube – where, in Khan’s words, they ‘respond positively’ to fare evaders.

    What this means, according to the mayor’s office, is that ‘removing someone from the network is always a last resort’ and that TfL uses a ‘four-step engagement model (engage, educate, encourage, enforce) before taking enforcement action.’ Over the last year, Tube enforcement officers removed (drum roll) 1,251 offenders from the system. For context, over the same period, the Tube carried 1.8 billion passengers.

    Part of the problem is that Khan has never quite believed in collecting fares. He knows he has to, but his heart isn’t really in it. During the pandemic, TfL stopped taking bus fares altogether, saying it was a health risk for the drivers, though they sat behind plexiglass screens and passengers had to walk past them whether they paid or not. As No. 10 transport adviser at the time, I remember insisting directly to him that that had to change if he wanted the government bailout he was asking for.

    Meanwhile, London lavishes free travel on hundreds of thousands who do not need it, redistribution in reverse at the cost of higher fares for the working poor. Chris Mullin’s diaries describes how he boarded the same bus outside Parliament one night with a peer and a waiter from the Commons tearoom. Of the three, the waiter was the only one who had to pay.

    Under-18s, too, get free bus travel, regardless of family income. In a country with a childhood obesity crisis, London subsidises children not to exercise. It may even have helped worsen fare-dodging; young people have become used to not paying, and the vast majority of fare-dodgers are young adults.

    The other part of the problem, I think, is a general unwillingness to lead or even to manage. Almost nothing, not just fare-dodging, is being gripped. TfL’s unpaid debts (among them unpaid fines and penalties on fare-dodgers) have trebled in five years. Roadworks are an uncoordinated mess. Little progress has been made on traffic reduction and bus priority. The trains feel grubbier than they used to; there is dirt that no one ever cleans in the corners of the seats. Even the thing Khan would say he has led on, the ultra-low emission zone, is (for all the noise) a mouse of a policy, with modest effects on pollution.

    The only management ever practiced is media management. Did you notice, last week, how a rise in the congestion charge was announced on the same day as Khan issued a report, under embargo, demanding the legalisation of cannabis? You probably didn’t: in the next day’s papers, as was doubtless intended, the second of those stories swamped the first.

    Khan has always been saved by the fact that his opponents get the tone wrong. The London Assembly Tories, and sundry online ranters, treat him as a kind of disaster. But he’s not actively malign, just lazy and second-rate: a machine and gesture politician in the mould of New York’s David Dinkins. And he is beatable. Last year, even a really bad Tory candidate did far better against Khan than the Conservative party managed against Labour at the general election a few weeks later. Everyone says Jenrick’s video was part of a leadership bid. But there’s a better, more powerful job he might want to apply for instead.
    *********************************

    Fencesitter
    a day ago
    They don't want to get stabbed by a recently arrived brain surgeon, perhaps?

    An0nymousBosch Fencesitter
    a day ago
    Exactly. Why should poorly paid Tube workers get stabbed because of the idiotic antics of Britain's witless Oxbridge-educated "liberal elite", who keep waving in criminals from other countries and calling anyone who protests about it a racist?

    Send the editorial staff of The Guardian down to Stratford Tube station post-10pm, and get them to apprehend the fare dodgers. Or maybe the shadowy figures who edit BBC current-affairs programmes. Or some senior lawyers from the CPS.

    There Wolf
    a day ago
    TfL uses a ‘four-step engagement model (engage, educate, encourage, enforce) before taking enforcement action.’

    When it comes to Londoners, Khan uses a four step process. Evade, Enrage, Exhaust and Embarrass.

    David Livermore
    a day ago
    Pal who was a BTP Inspector tells me that he was banned, by politically savvy higher-ups, from conducting operations at Brixton Tube where (a) finding fare dodgers was 'like shooting fish in a barrel' and (b) the dodgers were very largely of one ethnicity, meaning that his blitz would look 'racist'.

    1. The fact that criminals of any ilk in certain areas tend to be of certain ethnicities, is always defined as racism by the Left.

      The rest of us see it as a sad reflection of reality, which should not influence enforcement of the law.

        1. You mad or suffin'? What world do you live in?? Evidence?? Proof?? Words fail me.

    2. Central Line trains are also covered in graffiti. As yet the Hammersmith & City and Circle lines still look respectable therefore I prefer to use those routes where possible.

    3. One of my friends who spends time in London said the tube staff are told not to challenge fare dodgers as their safety comes first .

  82. Just spent 10 mins watching a thrush repeatedly picking up a snail and bashing it to the ground eventually eating the flesh inside the broken shell – amazing how they learn to do that

    1. When all you've got is a hammer….

      The most enchanting image I saw was of an Orangutang sitting on a log in a river with a sharp stick, spearing fish.

        1. That is so mean and unworthy of you. Orangutangs are lovable and intelligent creatures.

    2. Only takes one, Alec..others copy. Bit like squigs with hazlenuts. Possibly not a song thrush but a mistle thrush they're bigger and stronger.

        1. Mistle have a lovely song…g’night Alec x (actually got a piece of paper out today to start drawing, mind wandered to getting another dog…sigh…that was as far as I got…are you painting?)

          1. One of my friends has just had to have her dog put to sleep. She is still coming to terms with it.

          2. Very similar here, Conway. It is a very quick and easy process, he was very ill and wouldn’t recover. Still not easy. Please give your friend my best wishes, if possible. Have spent the evening looking at animal rescue websites – my other dog is pining.

          3. I send you my very best wishes and condolences. It’s hard even though you know that you did the right thing.

  83. David Abulafia
    The strange attempt to find Muslim Vikings
    4 June 2025, 6:00am
    https://www.spectator.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/iStock-1075079406.jpg?resize=1536,1001
    A diverse group of Vikings (Photo: iStock)

    Acharity called the Brilliant Club offers support to disadvantaged pupils in non-selective state schools to enable them to aim high and gain places at leading universities. No one can quarrel with that. But guidance provided to the charity’s tutors raises concern about the way the scholars are being taught. They are being encouraged to believe that the Vikings were very diverse, were not all white northern Europeans, and that some of them were quite probably practising Muslims.

    Decolonising the Vikings is, admittedly, a difficult task. They were very good at colonising other people’s lands, including large swathes of the British Isles, Normandy and the kingdom they founded in Kyiv, even if the Faroes, Iceland and Greenland were largely empty of people when the Vikings turned up. They were not all Danes, Norwegians and Swedes – a German took part in their discovery of North America and Estonians; Anglo-Saxons and Irishmen joined their expeditions or conducted raids in the same way as they did. Nor was every Viking the perfect blond, blue-eyed Aryan giant of racist mythology. Dark hair and brown eyes did not disqualify would-be Vikings. But the argument, in all its crudity, is about skin colour.

    Some were slave-traders, and the argument is that they brought black slaves to Scandinavia, who eventually merged with the local population. White slaves are certainly part of the story. DNA evidence indicates that captive Irish women were taken to Viking Iceland and formed the backbone of the female population. The Vikings collected Slav captives, giving us the word ‘slave’ as a generic description of enslaved people, and they took them home to Scandinavia. No doubt their trading expeditions towards the Caspian Sea and the occasional raid on North Africa enabled them to obtain slaves from more exotic sources, though one would hesitate to describe Berbers as black, and still less Circassians from the Caucasus. Still, the obsession with whiteness, or rather non-whiteness, guides much of the agenda of those who wish to ‘decolonise’ the curriculum.

    But, we are told, there would also have been Muslim Vikings. A few Vikings, no doubt, settled among such peoples as the White Bulgars who adopted Islam and lived not in Bulgaria but north of the Caspian. That, though, is not the evidence that is being cited. It concerns the objects they brought from such lands, such as coins carrying Arabic inscriptions in praise of Muhammad, and artefacts from Muslim workshops. These treasures, whether war booty or the profits of trade, are hailed as evidence that some Vikings living in Scandinavia practised Islam. The most famous eastern artefact to have reached Sweden is a miniature Buddha which was recently a star attraction in the Silk Roads exhibition at the British Museum. Oddly, no one is suggesting that this makes any of the Vikings into Buddhists. Yesterday, I was wearing a watch made in the delightful Danish town of Skagen. Does that make me a Dane? The day before, though, I wore a Japanese watch. So perhaps I am really Japanese.

    Fortunately we do have evidence of encounters between Vikings and Muslims. Arab travellers were fascinated by the pagan rituals they witnessed, as they were by Viking drinking parties. In the early tenth century an Arab traveller called Ibn Fadlan witnessed a full-scale Viking funeral at which one of the dead warrior’s slave girls was ceremonially raped and throttled. Admittedly black skin is part of the story, but not in the way the Brilliant Club would wish: when the funeral party brought out the corpse ‘I saw that he had turned black because of the coldness of the country’. Ibn Fadlan is clear that the warrior had white skin when he died. No doubt this passage will be selectively hi-jacked to claim the warrior was black all his life.

    One of the first requirements of a competent historian is the attempt to be accurate. When arrant nonsense is taught in the name of ‘decolonisation’ political ideology has taken over from history, and ignorance has triumphed over truth.

    ************************

    Boot
    10 hours ago
    A few days ago former judge, Baroness Hale, said she had met doctors who believed there was no such thing as biological sex. Now we have people who believe some Vikings were Muslim. How are such ideas intellectually respectable? These people have literally taken leave of their senses, but that seems to be a requirement for admission to the Establishment now. I believe that societal Darwinism will take its course. Any society that loses touch with reality will perish. That would certainly explain the fin de siecle atmosphere in Britain today.

    Michael Steinberg Boot
    10 hours ago
    I wonder how often Baroness Hale gets his her their prostate checked?

    DICKIE R
    10 hours ago edited
    It's not strange at all – its all part of a concerted attempt by our supposed Intelligentsia to eradicate 'whiteness' in all its forms and to embed the idea in everyone's brains that we are all 'out of Africa' and really, deep down, just like the Eritrean and Somalian regiments landing at Dover.

    It's not just the Vikings they're trying to 'decolonise' – it's the Romans, the Celts, the Ancient Britons who were also (they say) partly sub-Saharan too. It's bonkers stuff but it's propaganda that is aimed directly at destroying any semblance of belief in national roots and national heritage.

        1. William the Conqueror and Oliver Cromwell are supposed to be the bad guys and in some respects maybe but, but…?

    2. Yes, these people are nuts.

      But are they any more nuts than a certain "Christian" religion that claims Christ and his disciples came to the US? And which has spent millions trying to find evidence of said visit. Still, when you have a hefty income from tithes, I guess there's no shortage of funds for tilting at windmills.

        1. On the advice of the smugglers, JC and the disciples threw all their papers overboard on the way over.

    3. Yes, these people are nuts.

      But are they any more nuts than a certain "Christian" religion that claims Christ and his disciples came to the US? And which has spent millions trying to find evidence of said visit. Still, when you have a hefty income from tithes, I guess there's no shortage of funds for tilting at windmills.

    4. The Vikings were introduced to Christianity, but not to muslim.

      They were not black. The intent to force this nonsense is just re-writing history. That, the Left are desperate to do. Sadly, Orwell was right.

  84. Warming up again today. Looks like the same pattern as yesterday – cool and pleasant in the a.m. – temps around 13-14C, then warmer in the late afternoon, with temps around 26-27. And almost no wind. It was still 24 when I went to bed last night, and warmer in the house.. Turned the A/C on in the bedroom area, so slept lke a log.

    1. Now (1:00pm), it's up to 30C. Got to be more to come today. Just closed up all the windows and am off out later. I'll save the A/C for when I get home.

  86. Very enjoyable trip today to Kirkby Lonsdale, a small town in South Cumbria (just off J36 on the M6). It's a lovely little place and well worth a visit if you're passing.
    We bought a lunch at Booth's (it's the Northern Waitrose, darling) and walked to Ruskins view to eat it.

    This scene was painted by the artist JMW Turner in 1822 (sold relatively recently for nearly £250K) and the picture so impressed the 19th century art critic, painter and poet John Ruskin, that he wrote: ‘I do not know in all my country, still less in France or Italy, a place more naturally divine.’

    In 1875, Ruskin described the panorama as ‘one of the loveliest views in England, therefore in the world’ (probably pushing it a bit tbh!). From Ruskin’s View, you can walk down the Radical Steps – it's a lot easier than walking up, boy, are they Radical! – to the river and follow the footpath to the scheduled ancient monument Devil’s Bridge, with its three ribbed medieval arches.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9d68d00f472f13597e684bc1a90c29699fca0aa37e37335135d3f0585c54f3a4.png
    We were lucky to get one of the three benches at the main viewing point. see above.
    Then back into the town centre for a selection of wonderfully eclectic shops – including a fantastic second hand bookshop that I regularly visit.
    Highly Recommended!

    1. " one of the loveliest views in England, therefore in the world’"

      That's how the Victorians regarded the world. Britain on the top, and all the lesser nations threshing about in the murk below.

          2. I would have thought you would particularly have liked that puzzle because you can actually work it out without moving a single card.
            Unlike Pyramid, the timer doesn't start until you move a card.
            I'm too impatient, so tend to jump in

    2. We sat on Ruskins bench a few years ago. A night's stop over on our way to scotchland.

  87. Just back from visiting our Costa Capital…. Skeggy

    We are into June, but instead of the young moving in, with their offspring, the resident oldies have brought THEIR parents to stay.

    The streets are like a Le Man(s) (& le Woman) Grand Pricks, with all the electric powered bugges on the pavements.

    We did encounter 5 other couple walking.

        1. I was last there for my 21st birthday with 6 mates. A very long time ago.

    1. It’s one of my favourite places OLT, we probably visit there about once a month.

  92. Bangladesh Leader to Raise Recovery of Funds Allegedly Stolen by Tulip Siddiq’s Aunt With Starmer

    Interim leader of Bangladesh Muhammad Yunus told journalists today he will visit the UK next week from 10 to 13 June. He’s set to receive an award from the King…

    Yunus will also hold bilateral talks with Keir Starmer on his visit to London. He has specified that at the top of his list are Bangladesh’s efforts to recover funds allegedly embezzled by Awami League figures in Sheikh Hasina’s regime and stored in assets abroad. The UK National Crime Agency has frozen around £90 million worth of London properties linked to that regime, including one which was according to the electoral register occupied by Tulip Siddiq’s mother…

    The leader has recently discussed the possibility of extraditing Tulip Siddiq in order for her to face charges brought against her by the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission, which is investigating claims that Siddiq and four Hasina family members embezzled £4 billion in a nuclear plant deal. Other charges relate to allegedly corrupt property handovers. For her part, she strenuously denies any and all wrongdoing, as have her lawyers. Things could get awkward for Starmer during this meeting…

    Any decision to extradite Siddiq would have to be approved personally by Yvette Cooper after a formal request from Bangladesh. Which says it is considering asking Interpol to issue a ‘red notice’ for Tulip…

    Bangladeshi authorities say that wider “discussions with the UK government will be initiated during the chief adviser’s visit to seek cooperation on money recovery.” Bangladesh’s government is intensely focussed on this issue and expects action from the PM…

    June 4 2025 @ 15:32

    Editor of Readers Tractors
    2h
    Their wasting their time. It's not as if she's done something serious, like be married to a Tory councillor and say something silly on Facebook or anything like that.

    AncientPopeye
    2h
    Given his gift of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius he'll no doubt be happy to hand over my tax money?

    Edmund Waller
    2h
    The worrying scenario here is that the snake will come to some hidden agreement, that is certainly not to our advantage, in order to protect dear Tulip. Large payments and loads of migrants would be my bet.

    2. Surely extradition should be for the courts, not politicians to discuss?

  93. 406764+ up ticks,

    Use it or lose it,the party I mean, and the countryside as a consequence.

    https://x.com/NoFarmsNoFoods/status/1930297184009756998 https://x.com/NoFarmsNoFoods/status/1930297184009756998

    https://x.com/NoFarmsNoFoods/status/1930297184009756998

    Constitution | Farmers Food Freedom

    Farmers Food and Freedom Party
    https://www.farmersfoodandfreedomparty.org › constit…
    The Party wishes to represent all peoples in the United Kingdom and to have its base underpinned by Common/Natural Law.

    https://x.com/NoFarmsNoFoods/status/1930297184009756998

    1. But, but, but,
      think how many houses can be built and gimmegrants imported to fill them.

      1. 06764+ up ticks,

        Evening KJ,

        Wrongthink, the only thing we’ll import from the eu is continuous trouble.

        1. EU and beyond is definitely trouble, ogga…why migrants (in Germany) are being told about how easy it is to get black market jobs and benefits in UK.

  94. That's me for a busy day. Five hours of gardening. Watering completed. In 35 minutes the MR will be back (on her bike) from her Keep Fit class and we'll have a well-earned glass of medicine.

    Market tomorrow AND the tip – what excitement.

    A demain – eventually.

    1. Why did previous governments allow the water companies to be bought out and taken over by these asset strippers?

      1. 406764+ up ticks,

        Evening B3,

        Politico anti Brits, no consequence to the tribal voter, party name before Country.

      2. Didn't the Government retain "Golden Shares" in each industry to prevent such a thing happening?
        Then Tony Blair sold those Golden Shares.

      4. Because it allowed government to slide off responsibility for water/sewage responsibility. Think Cameron (TMA) was PM?

  96. So is it true that the Prime Minister took a direct hit below the waterline at PMQ's today? and was rendered a quivering wreck by a perfectly appropriate new MP's maiden PMQ question concerning women's attire and with us coming into line with the rest of the EU to protect women from religious persecution and discrimination.
    As I understand he was completely dumbfounded and bamboozled.
    He didn't even have the whereabouts to mention the standard 20 billion black hole fall back response.
    So well done to that new MP.

    1. Sarah Pochin, latest Reform MP. One to watch, we'll be hearing more from her.

        2. Especially if she looks like overshadowing him. Join Lowe as an Independent, possibly, Bill?

      3. Katie Lam is one of the best and most convincing MPs in the HoC.

        She is wasted in the Conservative Party – she should join forces with Rupert Lowe.

    2. Au contraire, communism works well enough for true communists, such as Joe 'Stalin', Tito, Mao, and that lad who owns North Korea.

      1. Not really. True Communism does not include rule by dictators – or the Politbureau for that matter

  98. Moment Meghan Markle twerks and dances with Prince Harry in hospital room to bring on labour as she posts cringeworthy video to celebrate Lilibet's 4th birthday

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-14780731/Meghan-Markle-posts-cringey-video-Prince-Harry-dancing-hospital-room-ahead-Lilibets-birth-celebration-birthday.html

    And the pillow fell out, Harry tripped over it and fell asleep on it, and the next day he awoke to a surrogate?
    I never believed the pillow hypothesis until now.

    1. You should get out more – and read what NoTTLers say.

      Neither of those children were born to that Trash woman.

      1. I still hold to the view that if that was true the DNA evidence would have been stolen and used to earn millions from the likes of the Daily Wail.

        Same as the Harry Hewitt, it ain't true it.

  99. Ha ha ha ha ha
    Deep breaths
    HA HA HA HA
    Bro, is the boot on the other foot there!

    Marvel fans erupt after new Black Panther is revealed as white

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-14780975/Marvel-Black-Panther-white-revealed.html

    Marvel fans are in uproar after the debut of a controversial new storyline that reimagines Black Panther's legacy—with a shocking twist: the latest heir appears to be white.

    The premiere issue of Marvel Knights: The World To Come dropped Wednesday and introduced a new character named Ketema, whom T’Challa, prince of the fictional African kingdom of Wakanda and the original Black Panther, refers to as his son, according to http://BleedingCool.com .

    The comic reveals that T’Challa fathered Ketema with his early love interest Monica Lynne, a character pulled from earlier comic arcs.

    1. There are some interesting documentaries on the Disney channel; one about the writer-director-producer-visionary George Lucas and his brainchild, Industrial Light & Magic, was indirectly about the North American can-do attitude.
      In one of the later episodes, George cheerfully let slip that digital special effects allow cheaper, or lower, production costs.
      Clearly, Disney are taking that to heart with their Marvel franchise.

      1. My son is in the industry, two things happened fairly recently: the writers’ strike and huge leaps forward in AI.

        Good night British film making.

        Work is hard to come by and the teams have been hammered.

    2. Every day in ads we see dear old Mendel being sidelined so parents of a darker hue can produce white offspring, But now it's hit comic book characters, people are taking it seriiously.

      You could not make it ujp.

    2. I can't listen to any male voice choir, start crying. Even worse pipe & drums. No idea why.

        1. I lived in a place named Scot Gate, between a hill and flat land – positioned to see the Scots from whichever direction they came. Must have been bloomin’ scary….anyhow, that’s you and QEII in agreement 🙂

        2. Marching up and down 4 times a day from barrack blocks to training locations to a pipe band sears into one’s memory forever.

          4. My understanding is that the tune that we all called “The Bear” was actually an old Scottish folksong called “Caller Herring” and that “The Bear” or possibly “Black Bear” was another tune entirely. For reasons lost in the sands of time, I learned “Caller Herring” at primary school in north Kent. It went something like “Buy my Caller herring, they’re bonny fish and hailsome farin’, buy my Caller herring new drawn frae the Forth”.

      2. The pipes get me going as well.
        There’s emotion in music, that’s why it’s so good. I just wish I could play an instrument or sing, but have negative talent in both areas.

        1. You’re not alone, Paul. I was always singing when I was a child, and always being told to shut up 😀

          1. That’s sad, KJ. Nothing nicer than a small child singing happily.
            Hope you’re still singing as an adult.

          2. Isn’t it just, Paul:-)….yes I do still sing….I try not to shout or fall out…sing instead to let off steam 🙂

  101. I'm feeling very tired after today's function's.
    So very soon before I dozed off in my lovely new reclining armchair. I'm popping orff soon.
    So it's good night from him and goodnight from me. Before I get too runnie…….
    Two Ronnie's.
    I might just have a short slurp night cap 🧢 whoops that's a Donny not a Ronnie's. 😊

    1. Stonkle Stonkle little Twink
      I,m not under the anfluence of drink
      As Finkle peep I am

  102. Been some suggestions, Eddy – Farage may go for her if she becomes too popular…if that ever materialises, perhaps join Lowe as an Independent?

    1. I wonder what Zia Yusuf will tell Farage what he should do about her?

      1. Will Farage take notice, Rastus? even though Yusuf is Reform Banker…we’ll see…

      1. Soros financed Obama’s election runs so I think this NATO story shows who was behind the destabilisation of Ukraine in 2014.

    3. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

  104. Have you heard Soros Jr speak? He makes Rachel from Accounts seem like a great orator.

  105. Back from treatment.

    I tghought ut was going to warm up today, and I passed one of our many local banks, with its "Time and Temperature" display showing 96F or 35.5C.

    I must be used to it – I did not even feel that hot, even though the sun was blazing down. As we get into summer, humidity goes way up, which makes the heat fairly nasty.

  106. Back from treatment.

    I thought it was going to warm up today, and I passed one of our many local banks, with its "Time and Temperature" display showing 96F or 35.5C.

    I must be used to it – I did not even feel that hot, even though the sun was blazing down. As we get into summer, humidity goes way up, which makes the heat fairly nasty.

    1. I hope the treatment went well, Jack. The weather's turned a bit more changeable here, after weeks of dry but windy weather. We had rain yesterday. Today was cool and mainly cloudy.

      1. They are trying to correct my balance "problem". After much testing, they told me what I had worked out – the inner ear balance mechanism is on the fritz. Since I will shortly be 83, I am hardl;y surprised, being long out of warranty. I can compensate pretty much 100% visually, but it soes not work that well when it is totally dark.

        Had to laugh at the first appointment though. The murse was filling out a questionnaire and asked me when I was last admitted to hospital. I don't think she was expecting my answer – 1945 (appendix out as a 3 year old), so I got a very odd look….side eye as we Yanks call it.

        1. So 80 years of good health Jack – can’t be bad! I’ve had a few admissions for this and that, the last time as a day patient in 2010.

      2. I was wondering as I hadn’t seen you here for a day or two – just busy is good.

    1. "A quote made on the internet can put you in a cell faster than making hurty tweets to a Muslim."

      Mark (Sam Clemens) Twain.

  109. Moh off to Winchester tomorrow early , club golf competition , so he has been busy preparing for his journey and game .

    I hope the roads are clear , but have seen the weather forecast and probably rain showers expected.

    Night night everyone .. psst .. Hedgehogs are back in the garden , well visiting , saw a small one last night and a large one a couple of nights ago .

    The Raven continues to visit the front garden every morning at about 10.30 am , and again in the afternoon .

    He/she is very partial to the sliced fresh apple that I put out on the grass for the song birds .

    The bird gathers the food into a little pile , and then piles bread/ lumps of black pudding into his beak.

    (Yes , black pudding , me being generous )

    1. Beware the Raven; do not feed him or he will leave thee – Nevermore!

      [Apologies to Edgar Allen Poe]

    2. Ravens are my favourite of the corvids, all capable of cognitive reasoning it seems. They do seem to have a knowing gleam in their eye.

    3. Hope it's proper butchers black pudding, Belle, none of yer additive-filled supemarket stuff!
      😉

  110. Even in my wildest pregnancy moments, I can’t imagine twerking like Meghan
    Like many mothers, I watched the Sussexes’ latest Instagram video with gobsmacked astonishment
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2025/06/04/camilla-tominey-meghan-pregnancy-video-twerking/

    The disgusting video of the Duchess of Sussex with her strange looking pregnancy bump is fuelling the concern that her children are surrogates and she never has given birth.

    This BTL sounds like common sense:

    DNA tests should be obligatory for any person who is, or will be, in the first 100 in line to the British throne.

    1. This is all rubbish to me. I don't mean it's not true, I just don't care enough about her, him or their proclivities.

  112. Well, chums, I'm off to bed now. So Good Night to you all. Sleep well and I hope to see you all early tomorrow morning.

          1. Not far from Bridlington.
            I'd planned going yesterday and camping the night in the van, but, as I said, other things intervened.

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