Wednesday 9 April: Banishing second-home owners will suck the life from seaside towns

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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396 thoughts on “Wednesday 9 April: Banishing second-home owners will suck the life from seaside towns”

  2. Good morning, chums. And thanks, Geoff, for this morning's new NoTTLe site.

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    1. Good morning Elsie and all
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      1. The scales have fallen from the eyes of many Reform Party supporters about Farage. The sooner the floodgates open against him within the party and he is replaced by an honest and sincere leader the better.

        Let us hope that Rupert Lowe's efforts to crowd fund a proper enquiry into the rape gangs actually comes to something!

  6. 'Morning All
    Midweek Medley
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    3. Rik, Puhleese! Where did you get the beautifully-observed dog-walking cartoon?
      I came across that website by accident a year or so ago, but can't remember where.
      Thanks, RC

    4. Rik,
      Referring to the Cambridge University Netball Team item, in the early 1960s I was doing some research in Bristol University Medical School. Fortunately they had stencilled all their moveable equipment with UBMS.

    5. Some good ones there. I’ve seen the cartoon dog one before but it always makes me laugh. The one about avoiding eye contact is definitely true if you walk without a dog.

  7. David Lammy furiously scribbling down notes with a big fat grin on his big fat face..

    South Africa's commie Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law 'expropriation without compensation'. They can take the watch off your arm and barely need to justify it.

    RIP South Africa.

    1. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's plea to exiled farmers to return home meets with scepticism. LOL.

    2. Good morning KB

      Well , here am I , sipping coffee , watching the GB news .. K C and QC enjoying themselves in Italy , surrounded by press, Italians and …..the only black face amongst the throng was gormless FO Lammy .. representing the UK ..

      On another note , why will the Royal they be conferring with the Italian PM on political matters ?

    3. Forget the whites for a moment – who can seriously claim that South Africa and Rhodesia are now better places for black people to live in than in the days before Mandela and Mugabe?

  9. Chilly morning , Moh preparing for golf " is it a shorts day " don't think so darling!

    My new laptop (Samsung ) bought for me last year by old son , has a crack in the screen and is overheating .

    He bought an extended warranty to cover things which expires at the end of this year ..

    Rang PC World .. warranty doesn't cover cracked screens !

      1. Yes , 2 years extended warranty .. but no they won't pay for a cracked screen.

        We have an excitable dog, and a cat that jumps everywhere.

        2. Oscar hates when we use our laptops on our laps. He digs his nose underneath them and essays to 'flip' them onto the floor. He requires our undivided attention.

  10. Is Russia recruiting migrants to carry out attacks on European soil? 9 April 2025.

    What began as an isolated act of terror may now reveal a far-reaching plan to fracture Europe’s political landscape and tilt it toward chaos.

    This is a refocusing of the propaganda program to accommodate the changes in the security architecture of Europe. Russia must be made a menace to every aspect of European existence; this, to justify the repressive measures and vast cost to the Native Peoples of Europe. One of its most extraordinary paradigms is that the Russians are now to be held responsible for the past atrocities of Mass Immigration. This of course lets the Political Elites off the hook. In one bound, as they say in the comics, we are free.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/04/08/is-russia-recruiting-migrant-attackers/#comment

    1. We have been told that roughly over 800 arrivals in little boats yesterday .. more rubbish and imported terror for British parents of daughters , elderly people, shop keepers and the bill for councils to find homes for the blighters will mess up the holiday hotel trade .

      Why are they blaming Russia.. the threat stems from places like hash smoking countries , Somalia, Vietnam and the rest of the world .

  11. Is Russia recruiting migrants to carry out attacks on European soil? 9 April 2025.

    What began as an isolated act of terror may now reveal a far-reaching plan to fracture Europe’s political landscape and tilt it toward chaos.

    This is a refocusing of the propaganda program to accommodate the changes in the security architecture of Europe. Russia must be made a menace to every aspect of European existence; this, to justify the repressive measures and vast cost to the Native Peoples of Europe. One of its most extraordinary paradigms is that the Russians are now to be held responsible for the past atrocities of Mass Immigration. This of course lets the Political Elites off the hook. In one bound, as they say in the comics, we are free.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/04/08/is-russia-recruiting-migrant-attackers/#comment

  12. Good Morning Folks

    Another dry clear cold start.
    This weather doesn't seem all that good for health for some reason

  13. Banishing second-home owners will suck the life from seaside towns

    But more free housing for you know who

  14. Banishing second-home owners will suck the life from seaside towns.

    Little seaside towns / villages do have second homes , but they keep the local economy going . Maintaining properties , re thatching, gardens , housework , food deliveries , post office , egg sales , plants. grass cutting etc

    Lots of little properties are small and are places to lay ones head , and perhaps not much more than that, unless the homes are splendid roomy residences , then they might be used for holiday cottages and then they become a business , and council tax becomes a different matter , and vat on a business applies .

    Lots of retired people move to our area from the home counties etc., we were in our early fifties when we moved here from 12 miles away from where we used to live .. Moh was still flying ( working , SAR ) and I found it difficult to work after leaving our previous home ..

    Many people in the village worked at the now decommissioned experimental Nuclear , Winfrith , up the road , and many retired from the Army( Tankies) up the road , plus many people who had/ have rural jobs .

    So the jobs are many , varieties which probably many have heard of before .. Agriculture provides some interesting titles ..

    Rik's selection of funnies struck a chord .. especially the pic about the sperm T shirt ..

    Imagine being a sperm collector .. and yes , how from bulls .. for artificial insemination ?

    Don't think about it!🙄👣

    1. Morning, Maggie.

      Don't farmers use a very large form of 'fleshlight' for the task of harvesting bull sperm?

    2. I know all about the bull in the bowler hat 😀. AI round here doesn’t mean artificial intelligence! We have a horse semen business in north Shropshire too.

  16. How killing VAT could boost Britain in Trump’s trade war
    Starmer could secure another Brexit dividend by slashing the ‘exorbitant’ tax
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/tax/trump-handed-britain-brexit-dividend-vat-starmer/

    The DT just doesn't get it.

    Starmer is determined to destroy Brexit and not take any of the advantages it has given the UK. In fact destroying Brexit, destroying the UK's economy and population replacement are key areas of his government's plan to wipe out the UK completely

  18. SIR – I well remember school dinners in the late 1940s (“Gristly beef and watery cabbage: the school meals I’ll never miss”, Comment, April 7). Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, recalls custard and orange fish fingers. I recall kippers with custard.

    I still eat kippers, but I have never managed custard since.

    Joanna Staughton
    Sarratt, Hertfordshire

    I always thought that the concept of kippers-with-custard was a Cornish joke (designed to keep the emmets away), I cannot belive they were ever provided at school dinners. As for custard with fish-fingers, well that abomination never happened.

    My initial introduction to school dinners was having to walk along an alley adjacent the secondary girls' school kitchens, where the meals were prepared for both that school and the adjacent primary school that I attended. Even at ten-to-nine in the morning, the vile sulphurous stench of over-boiled cabbage made you retch until you had safely passed that area.

    [Interesting to see that a large thread of these letters — from all over the country — over the past week have invariably (and correctly) referred to school dinners (presided over by dinner ladies). Not one correspondent has used that modern affectation, "lunch".]

    1. Good morning Grizzly

      At my prep school the food was revolting and we had to 'clean our plates' and had to stay behind at the end of a meal in order to do so.

      The dining room doubled as a library and so all the walls were lined with bookcases. When we had the chance we shoved all the muck still on our plates behind these bookshelves. This led to an infestation of rats.

      1. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/39734f413c62b6d8d44e8ee919db0514c99e1b1d6d012b7413faa69a27994b6d.png Good morning, Rastus. Like the rat caught last week in the bathroom of my neighbour's house?

        Next door is a holiday home that is only occupied each year between May and October. The owners are an elderly couple who live in Stockholm and spend their summers here. Their daughter, who lives nearby, visits occasionally to keep the garden tidy.

        On her last visit she discovered that a rat (or two) had emerged from the soakaway drain in the bathroom and had run all over the house leaving its droppings everywhere. Every window sill, piece of furniture and floor was decorated with rat piss and shit! Somehow the bathroom door had closed behind the creatures on one occasions so the rat(s) had chewed away a good portion of the bottom of the door and its surround in an attempt to reach its drain.

        We assisted by contacting our local plumber who attended and repaired the soakaway by pouring in copious amounts of concrete to deter further infestations. They now await the arrival of a cleaning firm to fumigate the entire house and organise the removal and destruction of a good amount of affected furniture.

    2. My lasting memory of school food was about the chap in front of me dipping the ladle into a large cauldron of custard and as the ladle broached the surface there in all its glory lay a dead custard coated mouse. The chap looked at it and then looked at me. I looked at it and then him. He promptly committed the body into the sea of custard and we both moved on foregoing the addition of custard to our sponge puddings…

      Morning Grizz and all….

      1. The lunch lady was horrified when i asked for the skin from the top of the custard.

          4. Eating your dinner at the wrong time, and serving schoolboys and schoolgirls with their dinner at dinner time are two different things.

            "Ladies who lunch" are those who neglect scrubbing their steps in order to nibble on a bit of cake and gob off to their cronies about all manner of inconsequential nonsense.

          5. I'm lunching with some Nottler ladies soon. I expect your ears will be burning. :@)

      2. Morning SR.

        The meals served at my primary school were atrocious. However, at my secondary school they were restaurant standard. Their light and fluffy sponge puddings were to die for [spotted dick (especially); ginger; raspberry jam; golden syrup; lemon; orange; chocolate; 'Neapolitan'] they were all so very moist and yummy, I rarely poured custard on mine.

    3. Kippers and custard is nice. You should try it. The custard doesn't have sugar in it and it bakes more like a soufflé.

      1. There is some lovely stuff in that menu, Maggie.

        I would have eaten it all (except for the rabbit, of course).

      1. I’m a London boy and we had dinner at dinner time ie midday or 1 pm.
        The other misnomer is calling 12 noon 12pm and midnight 12am. Most people don’t know the word meridian.

        1. I was watching a film last night and a young woman referred to "12 a.m." It grated my teeth.

          Most people also don't know that ante means 'before' and post means 'after'.

      2. I was going to say that Cockneys also retain the proper meal time names, but Alf — a good old London boy — beat me to it.

        If you're not aware, London is in the SOUTH.

    2. Dinner time, in the UK and all over the world, was at 12 noon until some affected Regency Dandies (Fops) wanted to change things.

      When they moved dinner to a later time, others (the sheep) followed. Here in Sweden the name for the evening meal is Middag ("Midday") which clearly shows how ridiculous the name change was.

      Of course, in the more sensible north, we refused to follow that idiotic "fashion".

    3. We have dinner and either tea or supper.
      Don’t like to eat a large meal then go to bed. Rather have something light.

  22. Sunny but cold this morning.
    Yesterday was labour day – all day long – and my back is still aching.
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  23. An “angry and jealous” asylum seeker left his wife to bleed to death after trying to cut her head off.

    Wahib Albaradan, a 37-year-old Syrian national, used two knives and a razor in a “prolonged, persistent and frenzied” attack on Salam Alshara, 27, at their home in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, in November 2023.

    He then removed any phones that could be used to call for help from the house and fled the scene, before being arrested the next morning following a manhunt.

    On Tuesday Albaradan, who pleaded guilty to murder, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 19 years and six months by a judge who said he was a “jealous and controlling husband who bullied and manipulated [Ms Alshara]”.

    Geraldine Kelly KC, defending Albaradan, said he had a mental disorder and showed signs of trauma after being brought to the UK by traffickers.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/04/08/angry-and-jealous-asylum-seeker-tried-to-cut-wifes-head-off/

    2. We talked about this sort of violence that has been imported and imposed on the UK last night in the pub.
      How can anyone even think about trying to defend it. By making stupid excuses as in mental disorders.

      2. Islam is clearly a mental illness since so many followers who transgress are claimed to be suffering from it.

    3. So, over 2 1/2 years for a deleted tweet. But only 19 years for a vicious mediaeval attack on your wife. Please make it make sense

      I wanted to say, Conolly’s time in prison is 14% of Albaradan’s. It should be 0.0%.

    4. So, over 2 1/2 years for a deleted tweet. But only 19 years for a vicious mediaeval attack on your wife. Please make it make sense

      I wanted to say, Conolly’s time in prison is 14% of Albaradan’s. It should be 0.0%.

    5. "Geraldine Kelly KC, defending Albaradan, said he had a mental disorder and showed signs of trauma after being brought to the UK by traffickers."

      Always an excuse…

  24. Morning All 🙂😊
    Sunny start again another few days of this and we will have a water shortage. Drought conditions. 😏
    Good night in the local last night with a couple of old friends. Oh we put the world to rights.
    And this useless dangerous government.
    But there was a football match on the TV far end of the bar and three idiots who were screaming and shouting at the near misses and goals being scored. Perhaps they should have gone to Highbury instead.
    Talking to our neighbour earlier in the afternoon, just back from France ground very boggy over there.

    1. The only problem with going to Highbury is that it has been converted to homes. The Emirates Stadium nearby is the present home of Arsenal FC.

  25. 404308+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Today's lethargy plague is frightening on ALL fronts, from the Dover invasion beach, to the front door of number 10.

    The anti patriotic, anti Brit brigade is tooling up daily as we WATCH, our response is, we'll look into it tomorrow, and our only opposition is an egocentric with muslim links,casting aspersions upon another character as being unfit to lead an opposition party, THAT is the main concern at the moment.
    https://x.com/Neccccy/status/1909186998260081024

  27. The unlikely English village home of a multi-million pound cocaine smuggling empire run by Eastern European gang

    Tucked away alongside a railway siding in a sleepy English hamlet, this unassuming car wash appears appears about as far as it's possible to get from the vicious world of global organised crime.

    A glance around the rest of well-to-do Spellbrook of Hertfordshire – with its quaint C of E primary school and thatched local pub – does nothing to dispel the sense of tranquil seclusion.

    But to the horror of residents who praised its 'friendly' staff and 'excellent' service, Spellbrook Hand Car Wash was actually a front for a major drug smuggling ring – with police smashing through its doors to find part of a £4.2million cocaine haul.

    The business, which is now under new management, was owned by a relative of Arjan Lisaj, a 33-year-old Albanian.

    To locals it appeared entirely legitimate, with online reviews lauding workers for going above and beyond to please customers – including, in one case, handing out free ice lollies to kids.

    The bargain prices were another obvious attraction, starting at just £7 to wash the outside of a car.

    Yet despite its family friendly appearance, the reality was rather less squeaky clean – with the site serving as a hub of a smuggling operation that imported packages of cocaine in small planes flying over from northern France.

    These aircraft would take off from the coastal town of Cherbourg before flying 70 miles over the Channel to Dorset – avoiding radar by flying low and switching off their transponders – before jettisoning the packages over the countryside.

    Spellbrook Hand Car Wash was previously a front for a major drug smuggling ring. It is now under new management
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    The car wash is located in well-to-do Spellbrook of Hertfordshire, which has a quaint C of E primary school and thatched local pub (pictured)

    The coordinates of the drop-off locations were agreed in advance, and gang leader Martynas Piecia, 37, or his associate, 47-year-old Lithuanian Rolandas Bauza, would be waiting in a car to pick the packages up.

    Rolandas's brother Tomas Bauza, 44, made up the fourth member of the conspiracy, which organised at least three flights in total.

    The four men have now been jailed for a total of more than 47 years following an investigation by the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU), which operates across seven police force areas in the east of England.

    Detectives noted the 'great lengths' the group went to in order to disguise their criminal activities, and locals were entirely unaware that their friendly local car wash was actually a front for organised crime.

    Penny Walmsley, the owner of a dog grooming parlour next door to the site, told MailOnline yesterday that the staff working there had always been 'really lovely'.

    'I'm on my own here and I've had a couple of people who've made me feel uncomfortable and they've always helped me,' she said.

    'I knew that the guys I speak to had nothing to do with it because they were all back working here the next day.

    'On the day of the raid, my boyfriend turned up at one point but couldn't get down the road and the police were even asking him questions about whether he knew anything about what had gone on.

    'I was like: ''What on earth has just happened?' You don't get any drama around here!'

    Arjan Lisaj, 33, (left) with Martynas Pieca, 37, (right), who is a qualified pilot. This photo was found on Pieca's phone during the investigation, although none of the offences the gang were charged with relate to flying the planes that were used to drop off drugs
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    Arjan Lisaj, 33, (left) with Martynas Pieca, 37, (right), who is a qualified pilot. This photo was found on Pieca's phone during the investigation, although none of the offences the gang were charged with relate to flying the planes that were used to drop off drugs

    Tomas Bauza, 44
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    Ronaldas Bauza, 44
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    Tomas Bauza, 44, (left) and his 47-year-old brother Ronaldas (right) were also involved in the drug importation operation

    The overall haul of cocaine seized by police had an estimated street value of £4.2million
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    The overall haul of cocaine seized by police had an estimated street value of £4.2million

    An aerial view of the car wash that was previously used by the gang as a front
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    An aerial view of the car wash that was previously used by the gang as a front

    The car wash's friendly, can-do reputation appears to have spread throughout the local area, with one woman telling MailOnline that she 'only knew about Spellbrook' because it was located there.

    'My husband and I use it a lot and it was really good,' she added.

    If accounts filed on Companies House are to be believed, the site's success led to healthy profits, with Spellbrook Car Wash Ltd recording a £40,000 dividend in 2022.

    Yesterday, a man who said he had taken over the management of the business on behalf of a friend in Albania claimed he had worked there since 2017 for three different owners but had not known anything about drug dealing.

    'I was very upset when they put this story on the news because it's nothing to do with us,' he said. 'We didn't know about the cocaine but when they read it in the paper some of the customers think it's something to with us.'

    The man, who asked not to be named, insisted the drugs had been discovered in an office that he did not have access to.

    'The police found two kilos of cocaine in an office but we didn't know it was there,' he said. 'We didn't know anything about what was going on until the police showed up – we were as surprised as anyone!

    'We've never had anything like this happen here and we're much quieter today because of it. It's a lovely day, perfect to wash cars, but there's hardly anyone here.

    'People around here have money, they are posh people, and they don't want to be associated with that sort of thing.'

    Locals praised the car wash for its 'friendly', 'professional' service in a string of glowing reviews

    Photos previously shared on the car wash's Facebook page revealed a series of supercars being washed in its yard. There is no suggestion they are linked to criminality
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    Photos previously shared on the car wash's Facebook page revealed a series of supercars being washed in its yard. There is no suggestion they are linked to criminality

    A supercar in front of a board giving the cost of the site's services, starting at £7 to clean the outside of a car

    Describing the car wash workers who had been jailed for drug dealing, he said: 'They were very quiet. They kept themselves to themselves.

    'One had a German electric car an

    1. Colchester has a cheap car wash right beside the tip.
      There are also a couple of petrol stations where people's debit cards appear to be compromised after a visit.

  30. How a migrant hotel reshaped a quiet riverside village near Windsor
    The arrival of asylum seekers at a hotel in Datchet has brought disruption, division and a wave of unanswered questions

    Abhi is fed up with the racist abuse thrown at him on a daily basis while he works behind the counter in a small corner shop in Datchet, a mile and a half away from Windsor Castle.

    But the racism isn’t coming from far-right agitators or Middle England locals. It’s coming from some of the asylum seekers housed in the only hotel in the village, located on the banks of the River Thames, which would take the Prince and Princess of Wales just a ten-minute stroll to reach from their home at Adelaide Cottage.

    “They abuse me because I’m from India and I’m Hindu,” says Abhi, a 24-year-old who has lived in the UK legally for several years.

    He says most of the abuse comes from Muslim asylum seekers from Afghanistan and Pakistan living at the 54-bedroom Manor Hotel, described on its website as a “boutique hotel” and given three stars on http://booking.com , promising a “serene country house experience” with a “beautiful garden”.

    “They abuse me because I’m from India and I’m Hindu,” Abhi says. “They come in and shout ‘Muslim is good, Allah Allah’. They come in and say, ‘Indians are not good, f*** Hinduism’. It’s f***ing bad. They’re always coming in, taking food, [they] don’t pay. I personally hate it. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/migrant-hotel-reshaped-village-windsor-immigration-3x395lw9h

    Local residents and workers are counting down the days until the hotel stops being used to house asylum seekers at the end of next month.

    It was one of the six additional hotels being used to house migrants since Labour entered power in July despite its pledge to end their use for asylum seekers, with more than 38,000 in hotels nationally at a cost of £5.5 million per day.

    Hotel Manor in Datchet, England, now sheltering asylum seekers.
    Datchet, with its postcard charm and royal neighbours, finds itself in unfamiliar territory
    HYDE NEWS & PICTURES
    Demand is certain to grow as a record 6,796 migrants have arrived in small boats so far this year, a quarter higher than this time last year, while more than 400 migrants were seen crossing the Channel on Tuesday.

    One of those who arrived on a boat in January was an Iranian man in his twenties who told The Times during a visit to Datchet this week that he had been living at The Manor Hotel for three months. He then took a call on his mobile and wandered off down the road.

    Irene Husbands, 91, has the happiest memories of The Manor Hotel, having held her wedding reception there in 1962, but says its use to house asylum seekers at taxpayers’ expense puts a dampener on this.

    Advertisement
    “Nobody’s happy around here,” she said. “It shouldn’t be allowed. The hotel’s making a nice lot of money, aren’t they, because the government pays them.”

    • How affluent market town learnt to live with migrant hotel

    For the past 29 years, Nibbles, a family-run café directly opposite the back entrance to The Manor Hotel, has been kept going by regular wedding guests and other tourists staying at the hotel. But now the café is struggling.

    Cheryl Bohdjalian, 58, who owns the café, says that while hotel guests have not caused them any specific problems in the last six months, it has been “terrible for business”.

    “We used to get normal hotel guests coming in for breakfast or lunches, that sort of thing. But they [the asylum seekers] don’t contribute anything at all to the village,” she said. “They don’t cause any problems but they do hang out in their groups and it has had an impact on some people moving out of the area or others not coming here any more, which makes a difference to our business because we used to be right opposite a hotel with paying guests. And a lot of locals used to go in there to use the bar.”

    Advertisement
    Her daughter Charlotte Finlayson, 32, says placing dozens of asylum seekers in a small village such as Datchet is inappropriate.

    The Royal Stag pub and other buildings in Datchet, Berkshire.
    Datchet’s pubs remain a gathering place in a village quietly feeling the strain of change
    HYDE NEWS & PICTURES
    “It’s too small a village to have something like that here,” she says. “It’s not the right place, it should be in a town somewhere, not a tiny little village. It’s stuck in the middle of a small village and it’s just an eyesore. To start with they used to hang around the park and there were a few stories of kids being watched and videoing the kids.”

    Three other people The Times spoke to independently repeated claims that some asylum seekers from the hotel had hung around the primary school, with two of them saying they had spotted migrants filming children at some stage, although this has not been verified.

    Paul Clark, who helps run Kris Cruises, his family’s boat rental business on the Thames, said: “There are lots of issues … standing outside schools, you’ve got all these down-and-out people there, but you have two schools here — you have a primary school and a senior school, it’s not right to bring them into a small village when you’ve got schools here.”

    Tony Dixon, a construction developer who has lived in Datchet for ten years, said: “A few of them were caught filming children at the school. They’re from a completely different culture but we don’t feel safe any more. Mums at the school are having to leave work early to pick up their children rather than let them walk home on their own. When a group of ten of them are walking around in groups, it’s not pleasant for the local community. They’re also walking around at two and three in the morning.

    Advertisement
    “It’s just a shame because they’re ruining a village where everyone feels safe.”

    • Our local hotel was turned into a home for asylum seekers. Nobody warned us

    A teenage girl who asked not to be named said she had felt intimidated during the darker winter months when the men at the hotel stood around in groups opposite the café she works in. “One of them even barked at me,” she said.

    What caused the most anger in the village was the lack of consultation or warning from the Home Office of the intention to open a hotel that would accommodate up to 82 single male migrants.

    David Buckley, an independent councillor who represents Datchet and is chairman of the parish council, said there was no evidence of any impact on crime or antisocial behaviour from the asylum seekers, but their presence had nonetheless caused a lot of anxiety in the village.

    Advertisement
    “It’s made the community nervous but not had a direct impact other than young men walking around,” he said.

    “These people have to be housed somewhere but obviously it does make the community nervous and there was no communication from the Home Office. There was no discussion with the local community, which made people angry.

    “People understand that they have to have somewhere to stay but the question is whether they should be here in the first place because they’re coming here illegally.”

    Harvey's Food & Wine shop in Datchet.
    A shop in Datchet, where some local businesses say trade has declined since the nearby Manor Hotel began housing asylum seekers
    HYDE NEWS & PICTURES
    Jack Rankin, the 32-year-old Conservative MP who represents Datchet, says the village was given just 24 hours’ notice before asylum seekers were moved in last November.

    He is one of a few MPs who has managed to persuade the Home Office to close an asylum hotel under this government. He did so by successfully arguing how inappropriate a place Datchet was for asylum seekers and showing the Home Office its impact on GP waiting lists and the social cohesion of the village.

    He said: “There shouldn’t be 70 unvetted asylum seekers who are young single men in a little quaint village in England. It’s also not fair on the local businesses who have suffered from a lack of trade.”

    A Home Office representative said: “We are delivering on our pledge to close asylum hotels, which will drastically reduce taxpayer costs and give control back to local communities.

    “The asylum system ground to a standstill under the last government, but we are reversing that damage by fixing the foundations of our immigration system. We have increased asylum decision-making by 52 per cent in the last three months of 2024 and removed more than 24,000 people with no right to be here.”

    • Migrant hotel numbers rise as asylum claims hit record high

    The Manor Hotel and Clearsprings Ready Homes, the private contractor that manages the contract on behalf of the Home Office, both declined to comment.

    At the end of May, all remaining migrants at the hotel will be transferred to a cluster of asylum hotels around Heathrow as the Home Office attempts to reduce the number of hotels being used by consolidating them in larger hotels that will have less of an impact on local communities.

    For the local residents and business owners in Datchet, the end of May can’t come soon enough.

    Speaking as she and her mother cleared up from another slow day of business at Nibbles, Finlayson said: “We’re counting down the days, but it’s just wondering what’s next to be honest.”

    1. 'At the end of May, all remaining migrants at the hotel will be transferred to a cluster of asylum hotels around Heathrow as the Home Office attempts to reduce the number of hotels being used by consolidating them in larger hotels that will have less of an impact on local communities'.

      I will believe that when i see it.

    2. “These people have to be housed somewhere”

      Yes. But nowhere in the UK.

    3. Point of information; it isn’t the government paying for these wasters it’s the taxpayers.

    1. EUStapo. You vill do az vee komand – or ells! Obviously copying StarmerStaffel directives.

  33. I may have posted this five yeas ago but it is worth a reprise:
    https://scontent-cdg4-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/92514441_10158380051064954_1295257030033932288_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_p526x296_tt6&_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=MUUgD3znzNwQ7kNvwFYDDp_&_nc_oc=Adm090Utihli-pEiy5QNSx0TJGjTM633HH8aWyVYPF82rCapvvIe70iz4NiATRv6x4Q&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-cdg4-1.xx&_nc_gid=dMGp2dglPi7dFc8C4qfC0Q&oh=00_AfHiIpCkw3yy3L98JEBP7279yKe6QG7uVGSqn2F0q1qSqw&oe=681DA7C6

    1. Tactical Pursuit And Containment went wrong.
      Two County Lines couriers mangled.
      Police warned anyone dealing this morning to allow 'additional time'.

    7. "At the next roundabout, take the …….. recalculating …. recalculating ….."

    1. Here's a good BTL comment: "When Britain was a democracy and not run by lawyers, people like this would be declared vexatious litigants, and their nuisance cases would become inadmissible. Now, here and especially in employment law, every kind of twisted and malicious case is accepted – why? Because taxpayers are regarded with contempt by a judiciary which also sucks on their teat, so 'everybody wins'."

    1. I used to work for British Steel when it was a nationalised industry. A more inefficient place would be hard to imagine.

    1. We need a Bonfire of the Vanities. The green in Parliament Square would be an ideal location. Commit all the treasonous immoral fraudulent unconstitutional legislation to the flames.

        1. That would be nice, yes. Hertslass has my email (the gmail one is best) and phone number.

  39. Afternoon all. Just about to sort out something for lunch then go in the garden. Wind has dropped and it’s reasonably warm for once.
    The politics of envy never work out well.

    1. Hence, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's".

  42. SIR – President Trump's advice, "Don't be a PANICAN" (report, April 8), could equally apply to the UK and other countries formulating their responses to America's tariffs.

    A good example to look to is Gordon Brown's astute handling of the financial crisis of 2008, when he took a leadership role in pushing for international coordination. Similarly, the UK could, today, choose to lead the fostering of stronger relationships between trading partners to reduce the impact of US tariffs.

    We could also use the UK's membership of the Asia-Pacific trade bloc CPTPP to encourage tariff reductions and promote digital trade.

    Importantly, the UK should work to maintain quiet, respectful diplomacy with the US, particularly in the areas of security and intelligence sharing, rather than seek public confrontation.

    But is our Government capable of turning the present crisis into an opportunity?

    Paul Allen
    Fleet, Hampshire

    Could anything that Brown did be called astute?

    1. No. Not selling off our gold after advertising his intentions for six months or making Royal Bank of Scotland to buy NatWest.

      1. Hi VW!
        Don't think we've seen anything much from you these last weeks (memory failing me, but still).
        You well, I hope?

        1. Hello Paul
          Since moving to our bungalow 6 weeks ago we’ve both had chest infections that seem to have lingered. We’ve also had a lot of help from family with regular visits and doing many things were not physically able to do.
          We’re also concentrating on modifications to our new home that need to be done and trying to decide how best to go about it. We have an architect at our bowls club and he’s going to draw up our intentions.
          We are, therefore, still around but have other priorities at the moment.

          1. Good reasons to be away! Enjoy remodelling the house – it's fun, until the bills arrive.
            We need a new bathroom floor (= kitchen ceiling), stair tops, and floor in what's become the breakfast room, used to be the children's play room.
            Work starts in May. Easter to tidy away all the extraneous stuff in preparation.

    1. Do you ever hear the news reports on Radio 3? They adopt the tone of Alvar Lidell reporting on WWII while spouting complete bollocks. Mind, since Polly Middlehurst left, the newsreaders on GBN have been no better. They don't seem to receive any coaching on correct pronunciation and the same errors are repeated on the hour, ever hour.

  44. I see the JWK has been hobnobbing with the Italian Prime Minister talking about the Ukraine and Starmer.

    This – once again – confirms what a crass, stupid, ill-informed idiot he is.

    2. I am afraid he reminds me of the old aphorism:

      If wit were shit and shit were dynamite he wouldn't have enough to blow his hat off.

  46. That was an interesting couple of days.
    Number one and only son had an angiogram last week and was told it's the chainsaw job, no stents for him. He sees the surgeon next week, I guess that we will see how our best in the world health system compares to your envy of the world NHS.
    He also completely the purchase of an apartment in Ottawa yesterday, slightly jealous that a decent sized place in the city costs a lot less than anything in our little rural town.

    Back on the election trail, fifteen thousand turned up at a conservative election rally on Tuesday, a purely Trump like phenomenon said the liberals, trying to keep attention focused on Orange man – anything but allow news of Chinese Interference to become big news.

    1. Chinese interference? Can you enlighten me on this specific instance?

    2. Oh poor soul. Bypass surgery? I believe Mr Ndovu had the full open heart job? Months of recovery but normal life returns slowly but surely? I'm told that valve replacement is just two days in hospital but I doubt that I'll be jumping up and running around for a while either. I see the surgeon on 14 May and my brother is having his cancer surgery on 24 April. We're all falling apart.

  48. Update on the garden work. I have added more clematis to the arch, an alpina called Willy and Warwickshire Rose, then on one of the obelisks Wisley cream.

  49. Oh what a grey day.
    Blasted cold as well, so a good excuse to hunker down and do at home stuff.
    An interesting – if somewhat stating the obvious YouTube film. But …. Why do they have to put in that blasted music!?!

    https://youtu.be/heI0qCx6J5U

    1. Why oh why do so many videos have to have loud intrusive music? I find myself turning off and not bothering to watch.

        1. I have them all on silent with a transcript. I keep my phone on silent as well. Can't stand noise any more.

    2. It seems to me that folk don't need a documentary to tell them that the Conservative Party simply wasn't…..

    3. I had to come inside from the garden about an hour ago. I had to remove my jumper is was so hot.
      But I was actually working in the sunshine. I'm off out side again now.
      Whoops was distracted by a phone call and forgot to post. Back in now the wind is very chilly.

  50. Labour dropped its plans for five local grooming gang inquiries for fear of offending its Pakistani voters, Sir Trevor Phillips has claimed.

    Sir Trevor, the former chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said Labour’s response to the grooming gangs scandal was “utterly shameful” because it was “so obviously political” to avoid offending a particular demographic of voters.

    The broadcaster, who previously stood to be a Labour candidate for London mayor, said the move risked providing an “open goal” to Right-wing critics of the party’s policies on immigration.

    His comments came after the Government dropped a commitment to provide £5 million to support up to five initial inquiries modelled on the previous judge-led one into grooming gangs in Telford.

    Jess Phillips, a Home Office minister, announced that “following feedback” the Government would adopt a “flexible approach” where the money would be available for local councils to use as they wished to support grooming gang work.

    The Conservatives accused Labour of watering down their response to the grooming gangs inquiry in an announcement just 45 minutes before Parliament broke for recess.

    Home Office sources said it was “patently false” to claim they had watered down its commitment and insisted that the change did not necessarily mean that five inquiries would not go ahead but ministers had decided to not be prescriptive following the local consultation.

    She said that this could mean full independent local inquiries, but could also mean “more bespoke work, including local victims’ panels or locally led audits of the handling of historical cases”.

    Speaking on Times Radio, Sir Trevor said: “What the Government is doing on [grooming gangs] is utterly, utterly shameful. Utterly shameful. And it is so obviously political. People in government who are responsible for this, who are in other ways completely decent people, should really be ashamed of themselves.

    “Because it’s so obvious that they’re not doing this because of the demographic of the people involved, as Katie Lam, the Tory MP, said yesterday, largely Pakistani Muslim in background, and also in Labour-held seats and councils who would be offended by it.

    “That’s clearly the reason that they’re not pursuing this. And it is utterly shameful, given what has been done to these children by these men. I cannot tell you how cross I am about it.

    “I think part of the problem is that the centre-Left has put all sorts of barriers around what it can talk about, what it may speak out about.

    “In the same way as we have this problem here, in the United States, the Democrats have had almost nothing to say about, for example, immigration, had nothing very much to say about some of the barriers on freedom of speech on campuses and so on, because they’re embarrassed by it.

    “And it has presented an absolute open goal to people like Trump and JD Vance [the US vice-president]. That’s the problem.”

    ‘Tools they need to tackle problem’
    Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, rejected claims the Government had watered down plans for inquiries into grooming gangs, after it was confirmed councils will be able to choose how to use a £5 million national fund.

    “We haven’t [watered them down]. What we’re doing is working with local areas to make sure that they have the tools that they need to be able to tackle this problem. If they need the tools to do proper inquiries, we’ll make sure that they are available,” she said.

    “We know that the most important thing is that local services have proper systems in place to understand what is happening in their areas and to be able to act very very quickly to recognise the warning signs and to move fast”.

    On Tuesday, Ms Phillips said the Home Office was developing a new best-practice framework to support “local authorities that want to undertake victim-centred local inquiries or related work”.

    A Home Office source said: “The framework for local areas to be identified for inquiries will be set out shortly and will be informed by the Baroness Casey audit, which is looking at the scale, ethnicity and locations of grooming gangs exploitation across the country.

    “Arrests for child sexual exploitation and grooming have increased in the last nine months and following our action with police forces, cases where no further action was previously taken are now being looked at again. This Government will leave no stone unturned for victims of child sexual abuse.”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/04/09/labour-dropped-grooming-gang-inquiries-offending-pakistanis/?fbclid=IwY2xjawJjXQVleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHpJGYBnrwWeu6julEmOkBXXUqED0I60bal3Z1Ui30Fr081o6_jX8JqE7IBzM_aem_56atUmu_DT8jRKVTXrDAuA
    john sinclair
    1 min ago
    Unleashing Islam into British society was like placing a fox into a closed barn full of chickens.

    How could we have been so stupid

    1. "We know that the most important thing is that local services have proper systems in place to understand what is happening in their areas and to be able to act very very quickly to recognise the warning signs and to move fast."

      Most of the population understood what was happening a long time ago.

    2. The Home Office will never be fit for purpose while it has a Muslim Network of 700 people.

    3. I’m being pedantic here, but, “we” have not been stupid. It was the government. And the Conservatives before.

    4. "Home Office sources said it was “patently false” to claim they had watered down its commitment" For once an absolutely true statement from the Home office, as it almost certainly never had any commitment to any investigation of this shameful scandal!?

    1. Our Clueless Government wreckers.
      Ironic that the name Chanel is in the picture. Our own version of Channel is the major contributer to our ongoing problem.

    2. Plenty of property near Trumps Florida digs, Canadians are selling up in big numbers so prices are low as well.

      What more do you need beyond being close to the seat of power.

    3. Yeah, of course it's Brexit. My bold etc.

      Super-rich flee London: Capital suffers biggest exodus of millionaires in the world, new study shows. Tax rises, Brexit and a weakening pound to blame for 11,300 millionaires leaving the city in just 12 months

      Idiots

  52. NHS the Envy of the World?
    Not here!

    Yesterday HG was suffering from indigestion which suddenly turned a lot worse and her stomach area started swell.
    Off we toddled to A&E arriving at about 6.30 PM
    Details taken, then straight into first triage.
    Doctor summoned and blood tests ordered.
    Results returned and a scan ordered.
    Anti-biotic drip and intravenous painkillers administered
    Taken to a private room, cleaned and put into hospital attire to await scan.
    Scanned and back to room where I was able to join her.
    Specialist summoned to examine scan, he decided an operation was needed.
    Operation performed this morning and three hole approach used.
    She's back in another private room and in much less pain, sitting up and recovering, still on various drips, but very cheerful.

    Extraordinary service.

          2. Kiwi fruit is supposed to be very good for relieving constipation.

            The bonus is you don't have to cook them.

          3. I’m not keen on them, but the French seem to love them, judging by the number of market stalls selling them when they are in season.

          4. My French friend always provides them for breakfast when I stay. I quite like them.

      1. In UK terms the A & E and minor surgery units make it a very superior cottage hospital, the population of the arrondissement is in the 110.000 range. There are separate units for major scanners, and all sorts of rehabilitation points.

        There are much bigger and even better equipped hospitals in places like Perigueux and further afield Bordeaux, which has a very major teaching hospital.

        1. I guessed it wouldn't serve a large population i.e 250,000 + From experience the smaller the local population the quicker and more personal the service from an Acute hospital.Best wishes for HG's recovery…

          1. Perigueux serves about that number of people and its hospitals are unbelievably good, in our experience.
            It almost certainly saved my life.
            It's a helicoptered centre too.

      2. In UK terms the A & E and minor surgery units make it a very superior cottage hospital, the population of the arrondissement is in the 110.000 range. There are separate units for major scanners, and all sorts of rehabilitation points.

        There are much bigger and even better equipped hospitals in places like Perigueux and further afield Bordeaux, which has a very major teaching hospital.

    3. We would probably still be waiting in A&E although I must admit when my wife had a heart attack, it was in and out in about ten minutes with a trip to the regional cardiac unit all arranged.

      1. It was interesting sitting in the waiting area.
        People were coming in every few minutes and getting similar service to ours, a number were turned around fairly quickly, but a significant proportion were being admitted.
        Most were "walk-ins" but there were also ambulances bringing patients in as well.

        1. No drunks or drug addicts rolling in the aisles? That is what we are led to expect.

          1. Not obviously, although there was one older man who looked slightly the worse for wear.
            Not guilty, before you ask!

          2. Our emergency treatment is normally good, it is the less urgent cases that are an issue.
            I am off to see the doctor this afternoon about my knee. I expect that at best I will be referred for x rays before they might pass me over to a specialist.
            No opportunity for private health care here, it is the public system or go without.

          3. The French are remarkably pro-active, they seem to work on the basis of prevention is better than cure, and catch it early and fix it.

            To save lives, time and money.

          8. I was referred to a consultant about my knee January last year. When I tried to chase it up, I was passed from pillar to post. I'll have another go tomorrow.

    6. Blimey, full marks for once. Sad that it is so seldom like that. In fact it’s criminal that it’s not like that all over the country.
      ETA: Sorry,mistaken country! Well done yer France. Wish it was like that here.

    7. Blimey, full marks for once. Sad that it is so seldom like that. In fact it’s criminal that it’s not like that all over the country.
      ETA: Sorry,mistaken country! Well done yer France. Wish it was like that here.

    8. Sounds similar to the larger of our local hospitals. Serves a county of about 160k people, plus it's the backup trauma center for surrounding areas. If they can't handle it, it's the helicopter to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. Their trauma centre is top rated – they get a lot of practice from the local inhabitants who tend to settle disputes with gun fire.

    2. A few years ago I was faced with a prostate examination.
      My doctor said "I hope you're not going to enjoy this". I replied "I hope you're not going to either".

  54. I'm knackered! Been pulling ivy off the stone walls in the 'garden' and now have broken nails, aching back and another bag to go to the tip next week. It's glorious out there, but still a cold north east wind and everything is bone dry. I've watered the things in pots but some look more shrivelled than I thought so I hope they'll survive. The pansies in the hanging baskets are done for. I left them too long.

  55. Well, that's the bonfire over. We have burned the trimmings from two large and one small tree. No soon was that done but the MR turned up with several barrowloads of yew tree prunings – which I have also burned. I'll leave the fire to burn right down overnight. Tomorrow thewind goes back to the south at around midday – so that's that until later in the year.

    The north wind was, of course, vital but decidedly cold. Very little sunshine. Tomorrow the start of a mini heatwave….again (yawns). Some rain would be handy.

  57. Wordle No. 1,390 4/6

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

    Wordle 9 Apr 2025

    Cereal for Par Four?

    1. Sometimes there are just no other options left

      Wordle 1,390 4/6

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

    2. Same here, slightly unfortunate birdie miss – chose wrong one of two…

      Wordle 1,390 4/6

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

    3. Me too.

      Wordle 1,390 4/6

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

  58. So how can the EU's decision to escalate the trade war be described as counter measures?
    Does the EU think it has some moral right to impose tariffs on other countries, vat and extreme red tape regulations to keep out foreign imports so that they can protect their home producers and keep them competitive while expecting the USA to just suck it up.
    It is the EU that is the aggressor in this situation.

    1. Just incase anyone doesn't know.. it's an old scam.

      "What happened was when my parents told me that they were talking with someone from customer support from Finance Phantom, I had to push them on if they can give me the name of the online trading platform and searched Finance Phantom, it was a scam"

  62. An exchange of emails I have had with the RNLI today

    Dear RNLI

    I have supported the RNLI for over 50 years and so it is with deep regret that I have to say that I am going to suspend my membership and my contributions to the RNLI as from now.

    I say suspend rather than cancel because I shall resume my membership and contributions as soon as the RNLI promises unequivocally to take those it picks up in the English Channel who are trying to immigrate illegally into the UK back to France whence they came. In all conscience I cannot continue to support an organisation which acts as a free ferry service which effectively assists criminal people traffickers pursuing their repulsive trade.

    I look forward to hearing from you when these worries of mine have been properly addressed so that I recommence my support of the RNLI.

    Yours sincerely,

    Richard Tracey

    To give them credit they did reply immediately. But I think it is disingenuous considering the people they pick up have come from France and the RNLI has been known to pick up people from well inside French waters and take therm to the UK rather than the nearest land.

    Dear Mr Tracey,

    Thank you for your email about our lifesaving work in the Channel.

    We are incredibly proud of the humanitarian work our volunteer lifeboat crews do to rescue vulnerable people in distress. As a Lifesaving charity our primary role is to save lives at sea without judgement. The immigration issue is one managed by Border Force and the immigration service, and the RNLI aspect is coordinated by the HM Coastguard and Irish Coast Guard.

    HM Coastguard and the Irish Coast Guard can request any of our lifeboats to launch to an incident. Our lifeboats operate under international maritime law, which states we are permitted and indeed obligated to enter the waters of other territories for search and rescue purposes. Where we believe there is a risk to life at sea, we will always launch. We are not border control and, once a rescue is complete, we hand over responsibility for casualties to UK Border Force and/or the police and we do not receive government funding.

    Our charity exists to save lives at sea. Our mission is to save everyone. When we respond to a ‘shout’, we don’t judge a casualty on what circumstances have brought them into that situation – be it an unwise decision, engine failure, a change in the weather or an inflatable blown out to sea. Our crews rescue anyone who is at risk of drowning, and they go home after a shout secure in the knowledge that without their help, the person they rescued may not have been able to go home to their own family. That is why they do what they do, they have done so since the RNLI was founded in 1824 and this will always be our ethos.

    1. That reply is beyond mealy-mouthed and means they will continue to kow-tow to their political string-pullers.

      1. Good afternoon, Grizzly. Your avatar seems to get younger every day. But I totally agree with all you say about the RNLI.

    2. “We are incredibly proud of the humanitarian work our volunteer lifeboat crews do to rescue vulnerable people in distress.”

      Ffs. How do they manage to write that and keep a straight face?

    4. These people inhabit an alternate reality so don't expect a sensible reply which applies to the real world.

    5. The "vulnerable people in distress" have put themselves in that situation by individual action or at the behest of people traffickers who are making vast profits from this enterprise. These facts cannot have been overlooked by the RNLI hierarchy. Knowing that fact places the RNLI in a very bad light i.e. the institution is linked to people trafficking and all the evil that surrounds that unwholesome business.

      The control of the UK's borders is the business of the government and that arcane body, despite which party is in control, doesn't seem interested in stopping the boats: therefore, why should the RNLI become involved in what is, on one side a political issue and on the other a money making criminal business?

    6. But don't think you can have a mug with a joke on it and remain in the RNLI.

    7. Life saving work in the channel ?
      There would be no risk to any single life whatsoever if the French government sent all the people back to where they come from. But let's be honest although it's a lovey country and generally the people are very friendly the French government hate us.

    8. By 'rescuing' these migrants, the RNLI is in effect aiding and abetting criminals, both the migrants and the smugglers.

    10. And when one (or many, many) of your rescued then rapes or murders young English girls, how proud are you then?

    11. I'm going to go against the grain here – and will expect a lot of flak as a result – but I have a degree of sympathy with them.

      There's a lot of volunteers in RNLI that are prepared to put out and rescue 'those in peril on the sea' – they dont particularly consider the political aspects – they just want to go out and save lives.

      As to returning these people to France, from whence they came, I would consider that another political issue which is being studiously avoided by our pathetic, cowardly political class (of all stripes).

      Dont blame the RNLI for the repeated failings of Christ knows how many craven Governments.

      They're just a bunch of brave people doing a very scary job……

      Edit: Perhaps I should add that I am not unbiased here – I have a nephew that volunteers out of Exmouth, the stories he can tell are genuinely hair-raising, and I'm very proud of him.

    12. That's all very fine, but what they are doing is facilitating illegality. They may not receive government (i e taxpayer) funding; soon they may not be receiving the public's donations.

  63. Why do they never build theme parks for the over sixties, there is a big market out there.
    Big Dipper stannah stair lift rides.
    Bumper mobility scooters
    That sort of thing

    2. An English city as it was in 1960 would be a great them park. It could double as a psychiatric hospital. No diversity allowed of course as that would destroy the theme.

    3. Sounds rather patronising for oldies – but I suppose a Big Dipper is less so than a little one!

    4. I bet the locals wont be happy. It's a now quiet old brick works in Bedfordshire, they must have run out of clay.
      Because ginge is so desperate they are going to have supply her builders with timber. But there are some very nasty people out there who are burning them now.

      1. If Scunthorpe is closing , where the hell are they going to get the steel from to build their childish rubbish .

        This country is infantile , don't we have enough history of our own to educate the masses with .

        Was it in Kabul where there was a giant theme park where the Taliban enjoyed sailing around a lake in giant swans and pedalos .

        We are not America , we do not need more donuts , screams , hiatus hernia creating devil rides , every one is going to end up with shaken baby syndrome and I firmly believe that parents who allow their children on silly rides are responsible for all these attention deficit conditions and maybe other high spectrum disorders?

  65. That's me gone for today. Very pleased with all the work. Kaynackered, though!

    Market tomorrow – then the egg farm – then the meat farm. All go….

    Have a jolly evening.

    A demain – briefly.

    1. I bought some farm eggs , huge things from the farm shop this afternoon, and as I was turning into my driveway , the box of goodies I also purchased slid off the back seat … including half a dozen eggs which spilled from their box onto the floor rear passenger side , balancing on the door edge, I opened the door and crack , cracked on the metal drain cover on the concrete drive way.. what a mess .. as well as the passenger well .. Kitchen roll was useless cleaning up the slimey yolk and albumen ..

      The yolks were orange .. , what a waste .

  66. Four more years of Biden style govt for UK.

    Recap of Biden years.
    "It wasn't we had a porous border.. we had no border.
    It wasn't that we said we'd ease up on crime.. We redefined crime basically with Critical Legal Theory where we didn't even arrest & jail violent offenders under these George Soros financed judges.
    It was revolutionary."

    And the Lefties still wonder why the USA turned Red across the board.

  67. Breaking off my cycle ride home because i was thinking about RNLI’s response to Rastus’s letter.

    No one forced these “distressed asylum seekers” to get in those boats. In fact, they have paid criminal gangs to allow them to get on those boats. So don’t give us that bullshit.

      1. 😂 yes, our Esteemed London Mayor is missing a real trick here!

  69. A dilemma.

    I received this morning a fresh fish delivery. A beautiful Dover sole weighing in at 800 grams @£29.99

    To complete the minimum order i added a 250 gram fillet of smoked haddock @£5.80.

    Delivery was £8.99.

    They sent me 800grams of both.

    Do i tell them or do i make fishcakes?

      1. No. The Dover sole is for just one.

        The smoked haddock i have divided into four. Will be served poached in milk and butter with mashed potatoes and peas.

    2. Tell them, then offer to send back the haddock provided they pay the postage. They will tell you to keep it and not charge you. Honesty is the best policy.

      1. I have to confess this was a 'white privilege test'.

        I have already informed them and they apologised for the mistake and did say to keep it.

        I have found in the past that honesty does pay. Especially when dealing with honest men.(and women !).

        1. Agreed.
          Where it really gets the payback is often years down the line, when a relationship that developed because of your honesty ensures you are at the front of the queue when "rationing" occurs.
          I always correct the supplier if they undercharge me and pay the due fee/cost.
          I have lost count of the times when I've been given a discount as a result.

          I find that treating people as you would be treated pays dividends but, as you may have noticed, if bitten I bite back.

          3. And i enjoy that but tonight i think you are a little more stressed out and …well.

          4. Nice try, no cigar!
            HG is comfortable and I’m reassured by the medic’s assessment.

            On the health side, how’s yours’ and do the dogs notice and react when things aren’t quite right?

          6. Relieved, less pain (I'm here, she's safe there) and a good prognosis.
            It certainly came as a surprise!

          9. I'm late to the party and read newest first, so I've no idea what the problem was, but I send you both my best wishes and hope that HG makes a speedy recovery.

          10. First off.
            HG being comfortable is the most important thing.
            You're snippiness is secondary. We all understand. Even the winder uppers.

            The best diagnosis came from a Nottler and then i knew what to do. Fancy that !

            Of course dogs can detect mood but i deflect them by feeding them raw leverets.

          11. Bastard, so that's why my leveret has finally gone.

            It was fun while it lasted.
            I wonder whether my arrival late last night with headlights on, after the hospital excursion, disturbed it and it fled.

          12. I doubt it.

            It was comfortable with your gentle approach and didn't feel threatened by that because of natural camoflage. Then moved on.

          13. Probably, but because it's so dark here, and with very little traffic, a car's lights approaching directly and about 20 yards away will certainly have disturbed it.
            I don't mind, because the hares are happy to roam the grounds and those that have been here for a few years accept my presence and don't immediately flee.

            I love watching them as the prick up their ears, work out "my" noise and then settle.
            They are remarkably sensitive to noise, but more surprisingly, scent.

        2. I once got paid a month's salary after I had left the company. I told them and they said keep it too! Being young and poor, I was very thankful.

      2. But some people will have lost a lot of money and others will have made a mint – even Before Eight.

        1. That is my intention but i do offer canapes and Pimms at my garden party. July 2025 if you are interested. Bring your own gold.

      2. Most of the five days the markets have been at VIX axiety level (>30) and they’re still there.

      3. I cannot make immediate sense of that and I'm not prepared to spend an unknown amount of time trying to discern what it means for fear that I'll be just as bamboozled afterwards as I am right now. I'm 68. Time's running short and becoming ever more precious.

        1. So true. There was a bar in Changi Village Singapore, called Bamboozled, a nice place .

    1. I hope I don't when people are stressed or hurting, I do when I think people are bullying others.

  73. I’ve never used BitChute, which is apparently a rival to YouTube, but it’s shutting down here as a response to the marvellously proportionate and much needed (sarc) On Lines Harm Bill

    1. Is that the bill written by people who put down lines and sniff them, causing self-harm?

    1. Long and thin, too far in.
      Short and thick does the trick.

      Remind me, how tall is Phizzee?

          1. Wrong two lines.

            It's a well known 4 liner – at least it was where I were a lad in Scouseland.

          2. It was more than 4
            Long and thin goes too far in
            And doesn't please the ladies.
            Short and thick will do the trick
            And bring out proper babies.
            Our Mary did it once.
            Once was once too many.
            Wasn't she a silly dunce?
            Did it for a penny.

          3. Liverpudlians never made past the 4th line. * lines would need both hands…

            BTW, I did not realise you lived in Bruno land…

  75. Courtesy of Declaration of Memes.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b86dd6fe3e8d4f2767fc3dd11b0dfb1a0c156c11cc53b13ec236a11ff437c2eb.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2349f633eefd9419d3099e8f135d71c099d9d00afa0eabfe3730562e61d71df6.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5731be625fa7ac8eac4fe0053985951e64c52d4372f129baa33ab2194cc2e478.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2a581ffce6cb8f0264c4618521e58bcf9b2aaf05d20245a30c9a0f489ee0f462.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2370526ad3e429481145beb61e4d7b38a66d4241ec078a03ae60c3583cbf8046.png

  76. I'm popping orff now, I've been working in the garden most of the day. With so much more to do. New shed roof next week. Grass needs cutting as well. It never seems to end.
    More to do tomorrow and on and on.
    Night all 😴

  77. Good evening from The Vine at Hannington.
    Another beautiful day, but this was the van windscreen 1st thing this morning:-
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/272fd2192480b178793144d2de43c75f17fdc6edb4df0144521c7852aaee270e.jpg
    I had a 4h walk round the GCR/GWR Junction at Woodford Halse this morning and quite enjoyed it.
    Came across Millie's Cake Corner en route. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/246fee6e4e737d9e82e65bde5b70d466190ac0e254d5dcac8f0a6171310048bb.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e12290e0e953f23ff5bb0caee937bdcb60c5d72a35ec8f705bc3ea2393385b90.jpg Unfortunately, some toerag a couple of months back robbed her of all her stock. Easter European Roma apparently.
    Other than the bridges, there's not a lot left of the railways that passed through the village.
    This one is over the GCR Main Line trackbed. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/33de308425d5794c813e0144ac63a6f0092bcc22f0e74059ce6687d29fb9bcb1.jpg This is over what used to be the GWR Banbury line. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/da732d464461ef7a08849747032e2eb9514192e7a54c5522d7decd450e9bfc2c.jpg From below:- https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/45f4142617072a020c71214b1d31ce75318bb60df8b20e9a03a7b505259e0f70.jpg This is on the old spur connecting the GCR and GWR:- https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/cb43334719d504bc51d9abd1625113dc67cc0526a2fa09e7d8cbcfe36b180e00.jpg Stopped off at a cafe attached to an Equestrian Centre and thought this looked nice.
    No idea what price they had on it. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a12ce38d5c110afb30a9b50ca261dd8a8fdcd08e1a8a8f290213b3d32a8ea908.jpg

  78. Oliver Smedley in his 1975 book, what is happening to the British economy? stated that he had a revelation when he realised that when goods cannot cross frontiers, armies will. Something worth thinking about in Trumpian times.

    2. One explanation for Japan's attack on Pearl Harbour was US punitive trade barriers against Japan.

  81. From Coffee House the Spectator

    05 Apr 2025
    Coffee House
    Ross ClarkRoss Clark
    Did Trump really mean to slap tariffs on the world?
    9 April 2025, 9:34pm

    So were Donald Trump’s tariffs a negotiating tactic all along – never intended to come into force but rather as a shock tactic to bring other governments to the negotiating table?

    That was a popular theory before ‘Liberation Day’, but one rather snuffed out by the severity of the tariffs announced and the realisation that Trump might actually be deadly serious about wanting to price foreign goods out of US markets.

    Lord Hague, for example, wrote earlier this week that people had fooled themselves into thinking that Trump didn’t always mean what he said; we were naïve to think that he should not be taken literally.

    But with today’s announcement that tariffs will be put on hold for 90 days – with the exception of those on Chinese goods, which have been increased again – it looks once more possible that Trump may never have intended punitive tariffs to be a permanent fixture of US trade policy. World leaders now have three months to decide how much they value trade with the US. Benjamin Netanyahu, for one, has signalled his intention to yield to Trump’s demands and attempt to bring US–Israeli trade into balance. Keir Starmer, too, has indicated that he wants to try hard to stitch up a deal with the US. China has chosen a very different route, while the EU is in a halfway house between retaliation and negotiation.

    There is an alternative explanation for Trump’s sudden decision to delay the implementation of tariffs: that it is a desperate move to try to stave off market collapse, and that he and his administration have been shocked by the reaction. This theory is given credence by the astonishing bust-up between Elon Musk and Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro, whom Musk called ‘dumber than a sack of bricks’ – before apologising to the bricks. This is a scenario far more frightening for markets because it suggests a government that is completely out of control. There have been many attempts in the past few days to liken Trump to Liz Truss, but there is a big difference: a US President is in a far more secure position than a British Prime Minister. We are not going to have a Jeremy Hunt come and reassure markets with an emergency Budget.

    Whatever Trump’s true intentions, the non-American world has missed a trick this week. Rather than simply railing at Trump – and by doing so drawing attention to their own trade barriers – why didn’t other countries call his bluff and start rapid negotiations to free up trade? That really would have caught him out. The prospect of a protectionist US sitting in the middle of a world that was liberating trade would have made him look very isolated. But of course it was never going to happen. Why? Because many other countries like to preach free trade while carrying out protectionist policies – often on the sly via non-tariff barriers.

    The upshot of this tumultuous week is that Trump has been left looking as if he has a point: that the rest of the world really doesn’t care so much about free trade as it preaches, and has been taking advantage of low US tariffs. I wouldn’t want to bet against the US. Forget the idea sown by some over the past week that the US has become almost an irrelevance; I would say the events of the past seven days have shown that the US continues to call the economic shots. Trump has just proven its status as an economic superpower which is unlikely to be pushed aside by China in the near future.

    The next 90 days will see one world leader after another grovelling at Trump’s door.

    Ross Clark
    Written by
    Ross Clark
    Ross Clark is a leader writer and columnist who has written for The Spectator for three decades. His books include Not Zero, The Road to Southend Pier, and Far From EUtopia: Why Europe is failing and Britain could do better

  82. I see wor Donald has decided to delay the imposition of tariffs beyond the 10% level for 90 days.

    Stock markets have rocketed, and anybody who could have predicted this astonishing volte-face (!) could/would have made effing zillions.

    Call me an old cynic but he (or his friends/family/mates) couldnt possibly have personally benefitted from this could he/them/they??

  84. Well, chums, I'm off to bed now. Good Night, sleep well, and see you all in the morning.

  85. From Coffee House the Spectator

    05 Apr 2025
    Coffee House
    Joanna WilliamsJoanna Williams
    Why does Keir Starmer want to give 16-year-olds the vote?
    9 April 2025, 2:22pm

    The Labour party’s long flirtation with extending the franchise to 16-year-olds smoulders on. As Starmer told this week’s Liaison Committee: ‘We will definitely get it done, it’s a manifesto commitment and we intend to honour it.’ If true, this will be the largest change to the electorate since 1969 when the voting age was reduced from 21 to 18. It will mean around 1.5 million potential voters being added to the electoral roll.

    Seducing teenagers began when Labour was last in office. Back in 2007, Julie Morgan, then-MP for Cardiff North, used a Private Members’ Bill to suggest amendments to the Representation of the People Act which would lower the voting age. Despite receiving support from over 100 MPs, her Bill did not progress beyond a second reading.

    But Labour’s ideas machine was not deterred. In 2023, its National Policy Forum came up with a pre-election pledge to introduce votes for 16- and 17-year-olds ‘so that young people feel empowered and can fully engage in our democratic processes.’ This promise was reproduced in last year’s manifesto but did not make it as far as the King’s Speech.

    By February this year, Starmer was back on board. Giving 16-year-olds the vote was crucial to restoring the ‘social contract’ between Gen Z and Britain, he wrote in the Times. And now he’s at it again: ‘I think that if you’re old enough to go out to work, if you’re old enough to pay your taxes, then you are entitled to have a say on how your taxes are spent,’ he told yesterday’s Liaison Committee.

    Far be it for me to deny teenagers the pleasure of a trip to the polling station. But there’s something decidedly odd about Labour’s pursuit of youth. For a start, this romance is entirely unrequited. History reminds us that extensions of the franchise have been hard won. Working-class people who demanded the right to vote in the early decades of the nineteenth century were not looked upon kindly. Neither were the suffragettes. Both groups fought lengthy, bloody battles for representation.

    Yet there have been no mass demonstrations involving 16-year-olds marching on Westminster. Few teenagers have so much as generated a social media hashtag or a viral TikTok demanding the right to vote. The Labour party has been doing all the running.

    It’s worth asking why. It’s true that in the midst of economic woes, extending the franchise generates history-making headlines at minimal cost. But there’s more to Labour’s love affair with young voters than this.

    Starmer’s reference to ‘restoring the social contract’ with Gen Z is revealing. Unlike votes for women, or votes for the working class, there’s no suggestion that votes for teens will challenge the status quo. Quite the opposite. Labour’s determination to get young people voting seems to be a way of getting them to ‘buy-in’ to society as it is. The National Policy Forum’s desire for young people to ‘feel empowered’ likewise suggests it’s the warm glow of participation, rather than revolutionary change, the government is seeking.

    The thing with 16-year-olds is that – some of them at least – can be quite biddable. In a pamphlet to accompany her 2007 Private Members’ Bill, Morgan explained that lowering the voting age would provide an opportunity to engage young people ‘while they are still likely to be in a formal education setting.’ This presents voting as an extension to citizenship classes or Personal, Social and Health Education. It suggests teens can be corralled to the ballot box by enthusiastic teachers and participation stickers. This seriously degrades our understanding of democracy.

    Adulthood is also called into question with Labour’s proposal. Starmer talks of people ‘old enough to pay taxes’ but hardly any 16- and 17-year-olds have so much as a Saturday job nowadays. It was Labour that helped put an end to teenage employment. Back in 2008, just a year after failing to pass the Voting Age (Reduction) Bill, Labour introduced legislation to ensure young people stay in education or training until the age of 18. The current government has no plans to allow 16-year-olds to buy cigarettes, alcohol or fireworks. They cannot get a tattoo or place a bet. And yet they may soon be able to decide the future of the country. Make it make sense, as the kids say.

    Labour may be seduced by Bertolt Brecht’s idea of dissolving the people and electing another but it should be careful. Young people themselves do not always comply. Indeed, polling suggests that young men in particular are attacted to Reform. Starmer might just come to regret unleashing 1.5 million teenage rebels.

    Written by
    Joanna Williams
    Joanna Williams is a visiting fellow at MCC Budapest

    1. Labour wants 16-year-olds to vote because the indoctrination they have been receiving at school is still fresh in their minds and unpolluted by experience of the real world of work. Indeed, 16-year-olds have next to no life experience at all these days. Ideal Labour voting fodder, particularly as the "history" they've been fed with will not include things like the governments of Attlee, Wilson, Callaghan, Blair and Brown and the financial and other disasters brought about by them.

      1. That is what they hope They thought the same years ago when the age was reduced from 21 to 18. They were over optimistic then and they are now. Most young people are under the influence of their families I think.

        1. Younger people do disproportionately vote for socialism though. I wonder if the modern Labour party could have survived without the votes of 18-21 year olds.

  87. US-China trade war is on: Could it turn violent, and when?

    The far bigger threat from Trump-China tariffs is a sharp escalation in ongoing security tensions that could easily turn into something else

    Jake Werner
    Apr 09, 2025

    Today Trump suspended his global trade war with all countries except China. This confirms that, even as all eyes were on the chaos in the financial markets, the far bigger threat from Trump’s “liberation day” was a sharp escalation in the US–China conflict that could now plausibly turn violent within the next couple years.

    Prior to Trump’s “liberation day” the two countries had an unhealthy relationship with steadily building pressures toward conflict. The Biden administration not only retained almost all of the first Trump administration’s antagonistic measures against China but expanded and intensified them. Though it eventually revived the diplomatic exchanges that the first Trump administration shut down, Biden declined to work with China to mitigate the zero-sum forces pushing the two countries against each other.

    The new Trump administration quickly imposed a sharp increase on China’s already high tariffs. Yet both sides were initially willing to seek an agreement that could have at least reduced tensions. After the election, Beijing sent a series of delegations to Washington in hopes of understanding what kind of concessions Trump was seeking and how to get talks started. It informally suggested a range of issues on which it could give ground, ranging from currency valuations to guarantees on dollar centrality to industrial investment in the United States.

    Trump, for his part, heaped praise on Xi Jinping — “he is an amazing guy” — and repeatedly teased an early meeting between the two. In February he suggested that the United States, Russia, and China enter nuclear arms control talks that could eventually lead to all three cutting their military spending by half. As I argued recently, far from deceit or misdirection, Trump’s whole worldview and mode of reasoning supported the potential for such dealmaking.

    That potential is now gone. Instead the U.S. and China have embarked on an escalatory spiral that could lead to disaster for both.

    On liberation day, Trump announced that China’s penalty for unfair trading would be an additional 34% increase in tariffs on top of the existing average 42%. At such high rates, few Chinese products would still be competitive in the U.S. market. More significantly, this latest attack convinced the Chinese leadership that the Trump administration is simply uninterested in negotiations and is instead seeking to humiliate China and wreck its economy.

    In contrast to its limited response to earlier tariff increases, China has now decided to fight back. It imposed an across-the-board 34% increase on U.S. exports, hitting some $143.5 billion of revenue for American companies. It also placed new restrictions on exports of some strategically important minerals, added some U.S. companies to its list of unreliable businesses, and announced an anti-trust investigation into DuPont.

    In its official response, the Chinese government positioned itself as defender of the globalization status quo. It characterized the U.S. aim as “using tariffs to overturn the existing international economic order, placing U.S. interests above the common good of the international community, and sacrificing the legitimate interests of other countries in service to American hegemonic interests.”

    The government cast itself as calm and dignified but resolute in the face of an irrational and aggressive United States: “We do not start trouble, but we are not afraid of it either.” A statement placed in People’s Daily reassured the Chinese people on the economy’s resilience and promised significant fiscal support to expand domestic economic demand and government action to help businesses weather the turmoil.

    Trump responded with equal resolve but with none of the calm or dignity, posting: “CHINA PLAYED IT WRONG, THEY PANICKED – THE ONE THING THEY CANNOT AFFORD TO DO!”

    He then chose the nuclear option, raising tariffs on China an additional 50% starting today. China said it would match that further increase tomorrow. In his tirade postponing liberation day for other countries, Trump tacked on an additional 21% increase. In total, since the start of Trump’s term, the United States has now raised tariff rates by 125% and China by 84%.

    In line with the president’s post, conventional wisdom in Washington is that China’s economy is so fragile it has no leverage in the economic conflict. Cut off from the U.S. market, they think, China will simply flood other exports markets and alienate Europe, Japan, and the Global South in the process.

    Such overconfidence may lead to serious miscalculations as the fighting intensifies.

    China has indeed been struggling since 2021 with a slow collapse of its huge real estate bubble and the uneven transition to a new structure of growth, leading to high youth unemployment and persistent deflationary pressures. It has a huge trade surplus that needs to find an outlet.

    But Chinese economic policymakers have considerable space for fiscal stimulus to increase domestic demand if they choose to use it. Up to this point they have refrained because they were trying to maintain momentum on their agenda of structural economic reforms. Faced with the emergency of international conflict, they are likely to open the spigots.

    Trump, in contrast, may have pulled back from his economic offensive on the whole world but he has not repudiated it. That means the U.S. economy and economic relations with other trading partners face a period of debilitating uncertainty that could cause considerable damage. China’s growth may surge even as the U.S. faces rising inflation and slowing growth.

    The United States and China now find themselves locked in confrontation. The main force restraining economic warfare up to this point was simply the failure of American measures to undermine the Chinese economy. We have now blown past that condition.

    Where might the conflict go from here? The most likely outcome of a hard decoupling between the U.S. and Chinese economies is terrible disruption to global supply chains. Many companies will simply shut down, but large smuggling networks will also emerge as Chinese producers seek access to the American market and American producers cast about for crucial inputs that are suddenly gone. Some Chinese production will move to the Latin American countries largely spared on liberation day.

    That will set the stage for further escalation. The United States will seek to suppress smuggling. China will target strategically important goods to deny them to American producers. Both sides will start to lean on third countries to maintain their influence, giving rise to the possibility of proxy conflict. Most concerning, both sides increasingly will be tempted to impose pain on the other by striking more directly at their national security sensitivities.

    China’s general practice is to meet each escalation from the United States with a proportionate response. It also has strong incentives to avoid unhinged reactions since it wants to use aggressive American measures against other countries to shore up diplomatic relations in the region and with Europe.

    The same cannot be said of the Trump administration. Trump himself seems fixated on extracting a performance of submission to which Chinese leaders will never acquiesce. As his frustration mounts — and particularly if the Chinese economy does prove resilient to his assault — he will become more and more receptive to the national security team he built. In contrast to his own instincts, Trump’s top military and economic advisers are almost without exception committed to confrontation with China.

    The reported contents of the Pentagon’s Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance suggest how easily economic warfare could slip toward military conflict. Defense Department leaders may seize on the collapse in U.S.–China relations to pursue the crash military buildup in Asia they have defined as “the cardinal objective of US grand strategy”.

    Such a course was destabilizing even when the Biden administration pursued it alongside attempts to establish guardrails limiting conflict. In a context of mounting economic pain on both sides, with surging nationalism in both countries becoming a binding force on leaders, both governments are likely to choose more destructive responses to what they regard as provocations from the other side.

    A single misstep around Taiwan or in the South China Sea could end in catastrophe.

    https://responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-iran-2671695509/

      1. If i didn't read news/media i would be oblivious to the fact we have been on the brink of nuclear armageddon half a dozen times this year.

    2. Interesting how so few people responding to this video bother to ask what IS going on.
      A bit of context might enlightening such as who, what, when and where?

      For all we could tell, he might have been part of a Roma/Pikey family caught shoplifting.

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