566 Responses to Midweek 19th July 2023

  1. G says:

    Replace, “Pakistan” with, ‘Bradford’ or, Telford or, Inner London etc and there you have it: the next (legal) stage in muslim atrocity.

    “Coming to a Town or City near you soon”……….

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19816/pakistan-blasphemy-case

       12 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Ahmadis suffer vicious persecution around the world. The main source of fuel for that persecution is in Pakistan, but what happens in Pakistan does not stay in Pakistan.

      I know that from my experience in the Yorkshire market town of Batley. In August 1985, when I was 11 years old, my parents organised an inter-faith meeting in the town hall. It was interrupted and disturbed when, according to West Yorkshire police,

      more than 1,000 extremists, led by Pakistani hate preachers funded by the Pakistani state, were bused in from around the country.

      The mob brutally attacked my English mother and my father, a dermatologist; my eldest brother and I; and a Welsh Ahmadi schoolteacher who was with us. My first cousin, a GP, was by chance driving through the market town that day. He saw the mob and saw his family and friends being attacked, so he stopped. He was recognised, pulled from his vehicle and savagely beaten up.

      https://www.theyworkforyou.com/whall/?id=2020-03-12a.177.0&s=islam+batley#g195.0

         4 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      It is believed that, regrettably, certain individuals in Pakistan are exploiting the incident of the Quran burning in Sweden as an excuse to fuel the flames of hatred and seek revenge against local Christians, who are peaceful, believe in respect for all religions, and have no connection to the Swedish incident.

      …………………

      1. Thou shalt not have strange Gods before me.
      This Commandment tells believers that God should be the most important thing that they believe in. Some people take this to mean that God is the only “real” God, but it can also be understood as meaning that faith is more important than anything else. For example, it might mean that people shouldn’t hold things like wealth or possessions above their faith.

         4 likes

  2. Dickie says:

    US/UK/EU/NATO fantasy land:

    https://southfront.org

       3 likes

  3. Emmanuel Goldstein says:

    An earlier post mentioned lots of birds being killed by these windmills.
    How long before some canny (sly) fox sees this source of food and starts to sit under these windmills waiting for the next food drop.
    Maybe the foxes will each claim a windmill as their territory and under each one we see a fox.
    Now that Southern Europe is just ash, the Mediterranean has dried up and Northern Africa has vaporised (I’ve seen the weather maps on tv, surely nobody can survive what’s being reported) the southern birds can escape the inferno and fly here to the freezing UK providing a varied diet for our waiting foxes.

       27 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Offshore wind energy is a fast growing sector of renewable energies worldwide. This will change the marine environment and thus, a wide range of environmental impacts of offshore wind farms are subject of current research. Here we present an overview about chemical emissions from corrosion protection systems, discuss their relevance and potential impact to the marine environment, and suggest strategies to reduce their emissions. Corrosion is a general problem for offshore infrastructures and corrosion protection systems are necessary to maintain the structural integrity.

      https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X18306301

         6 likes

  4. tomo says:

    21st Century progress….

    Southend-on-Sea has banned people from “using bikes in a way that has a negative effect for others”.

    Weirdly The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph have almost identical articles on the epic busybodying that has been escalating since the end of “Covid”

    Manifesto Club press release then …

    Wiltshire has apparently banned stones and ball-bearings in public places after some teenagers made a nuisance of themselves with catapults…

    Me not convinced this approach is going to have any impact beyond putting busybodies, likely in uniform into towns and villages who are going to rub a lot of innocent people up the wrong way and do nothing about those who actually behave badly.

    Seems likely councils are looking at enforcement as a money grab…

       10 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      A five-year-old girl was fined £150 by a council for selling 50p cups of lemonade to festival goers. The girl’s father Andre Spicer said his daughter had set up the stall in Mile End, east London, while thousands of music fans were on their way to the Lovebox Festival at the weekend.21 Jul 2017

         5 likes

  5. tomo says:

    Yup…

    that’d deliver the required result…

    https://twitter.com/mattwridley/status/1681957338708602882

       5 likes

  6. pugnazious says:

    Chummy wasn’t it? The BBC’s Simon Jack sitting next to the boss of Coutts at a BBC Media Action event and purely by coincidence the next day telling the world that Farage had been dumped by Coutts because he was just too poor….laugh…the BBC presenters did…..but we all know now it was all a lie. Maybe Jack should do a bit more journalism and less of the chumocracy….peddling a lie helpful to his new friend….wonder how much money Coutts pushed Media Actions way that night?

    And BBC Media Action….the BBC always denies that, despite the name, BBC Media Action is anything to do with the BBC…totally independent….that’ll be why the BBC coralled its start performers and sent them into action on behalf of BBC Media Action that night and no doubt on many others.

    Let’s not forget Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe worked for BBC Media Action and was part of a BBC operation to train Iranians to gather information and to send it, encrypted, back to the BBC which would then repackage it and broadcast it back into Iran as part of move to undermine the regime. Whatever you think of the regime you can understand why they didn’t like that and declared Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe to be part of a spying operation….If it had been RT doing the same in the UK the BBC itself would be outraged.

    The BBC failed Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and she ended up in prison for so long because of her work and because the BBC failed to guide her properly and advise that she should not go back to Iran….and when imprisoned basically denied her claiming her arrest had nothing to do with them…when it had everything to do with them.

       29 likes

  7. tomo says:

    Seems to cover most JSO – XR types

       7 likes

    • Rob in Cheshire says:

      Is that his dildo next to him? Could be a bit painful, but I do hope so.

         7 likes

  8. Dickie says:

       4 likes

  9. tomo says:

    I smiled

       14 likes

  10. Jeff says:

    This might bring a slight smile to your face, before we all burn to death, so I’ll share it with you…

    I gave my young dog, Huey, his constitutional through the rec’ earlier this morning. He’s a loveable little cur of very mixed heritage (to use the fashionable PC language) and very friendly.

    On our jaunt we came across a massive and very unfriendly Alsatian type mutt, who immediately set about my little mate.

    It was nasty and the owner was next to useless in trying to drag his ferocious dog off. I jumped in and got a nasty bite to my arm, another to my leg and got knocked flat in the process.

    Anyway, inspecting my wounds…my dog’s fine by the way…I thought I’d better pop in the doctors. I’ve not set foot inside the surgery for yonks and not had a tetanus jab since about 1977, when I fell off my motorbike. I explained to the receptionist what had occurred.

    I must say I was really impressed with the speed with which I was seen…immediately. However, what knocked me sideways was the nurse who administered the needle, who told me, “I understand you’ve been bitten by a duck”.

    I mean, is it bleedin’ likely? I’m standing there dripping blood, two big puncture wounds on my wrist and my right leg hanging by a thread (oh, okay, I’m exaggerating, but…).

    I’d like to know what sort of duck could do that?

    Jeez…

       27 likes

    • Terminal Moraine says:

      Jeff I think there was an Imperial College study showing duck bites are 170% more common than dog bites these days. Your nurse is just following the science.

      Hope you’re on the mend soon.

         13 likes

      • Fedup2 says:

        Yes – concur – be better – glad your dog survived … maybe the Alsatian identified as a duck that day …

           11 likes

      • BigBrotherCorporation says:

        Ditto to hoping you recover soon Jeff, and glad your little pup was ok.

        My dog was savaged by a homeless guy’s dog a couple of years ago, his wounds got infected, and the vet bills were eye watering, To make matters worse, my dog started it, I have no idea why, he’s not normally aggressive at all (quite the opposite), but he just took one look at that ‘gypsy’ and his dog and saw red. I wonder if it might have anything to do with the fact he’s a rescue, and used to belong to Irish Travellers?

        My sister had an old dog (Skye Terrier) killed by an Ayrdale, which jumped over their back garden fence to get to my sister’s dog, in her own back garden. Bit of a horror story that one, she was literally torn to shreds (the dog I mean, not my sister!)

        Easy to underestimate the damage a dog can do if it really wants to, which should go to prove just how non-aggressive they are 99.999% of the time, I guess.

           6 likes

        • BRISSLES says:

          I can identify with all that’s been said. Walking my Border Terrier up the road, an escaped husky was eyeing up the territory as we walked along. Behind me was another dog walker with his 2 small dogs.
          Then the inevitable happened, husky boy decided he fancied my little girl and started to get fresh, she didn’t like it one bit, having this towering dog above her. I was pulling her away then she slipped her harness while the other dog walker was trying to help. Neighbours started to appear as they heard the commotion but none lay claim to the husky. In the end I scooped up my dog and put her on top of dustbin and threw myself on top of her while this bloody dog was jumping up.
          In the end one of the neighbours got a lead and went off to retrieve the dog and called the police. An exhausting experience.

             8 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      Jeff, “My dog has got no teeth” “How does he smell?” “Terrible.” I think I may have messed up that old gag. Hope you get better soon and your wounds heal quickly and that your hound isn’t traumatised by the whole thing and needs many expensive hours on a dog psychiatrist’s couch.

      Maybe your doctor’s Receptionist has diction worse than the old-style Kahee Rahhall or perhaps the Receptionist has been traumatised by being bitten by duck in the recent past.

         7 likes

  11. tomo says:

    Meanwhile in Holland…

    I feel her analysis is spot on.

       13 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      BREAKING | Frans Timmermans
      @TimmermansEU
      , also known as the EU’s ‘Climate Pope’, has announced his candidacy as Party Leader for the now merged Labour & Green party for the Dutch General elections this November.

      If Timmermans becomes our new prime minister, I sincerely believe it will be the final blow for The Netherlands. Here’s why:

      Timmermans is currently the Vice President of the European Commission, he’s the man responsible for the EU’s insane #NetZero and #GreenDeal policies, targeting i.a. the #DutchFarmers. He is also known for saying “Europe will be diverse and diversity is humanity’s destiny” and that there is not going to be “even in the remotes places of this planet a place that won’t see diversity in its future”.

      The man is the literal personification of globalism and champagne socialism, and he is now clearly aiming to becoming prime minister of The Netherlands; which – ironically – is a country he fundamentally aims to destroy.

      Timmermans, because he’s eloquent and speaks many languages fluently, was a loved establishment politician back in 2007-2014, when he served as both the secretary and later the minister of foreign affairs.

      My hunch is that Mark Rutte and Frans Timmermans coordinated their moves before the cabinet fell. They’re probably swapping places in a way, with Mark Rutte now surely taking up a position somewhere in one of the supranational organisations and Timmermans stepping down from EU politics to “save The Netherlands”.

      It also explains why our elections are put off till November, instead of them being held in September, right after the summer. Why? Because the Media apparatus needs time to indoctrinate the masses and skew the public opinion. Because mark my words, in the next couple of months, the media will do everything in its power to unanimously push Timmermans as THE designated candidate for prime ministership whilst demonising the opposition.

      If they are successful and the Dutch vote for their own destruction once again, I don’t think we’ll be able to recover from it anytime soon.

      Greta.jpg

         10 likes

    • digg says:

      The last bloke from that continent who displayed that maniac look of hunger for power and used that clenched fist in exactly the same way ended up as a burning corpse in a bunker in Berlin…. just saying!

         6 likes

  12. MarkyMark says:

    THE WEST HAS FALLEN.

    “Why is Gwyneth Paltrow selling a candle that smells like her vagina?
    Gwyneth has made a candle called This Smells Like My Vagina for her website, Goop. And, of course, it has sold out”

    https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2020/jan/13/why-is-gwyneth-paltrow-selling-a-candle-that-smells-like-her-vagina-goop

    It is priced at a comparatively bargain £58

       5 likes

    • pugnazious says:

      Begs a few questions I’m way too polite to ask.

         8 likes

    • Philip_2 says:

      We are not all dead yet. But there is a co-ordinated war going on built around UN edicts and treaties all linked to ‘cooperative’ climate change policies which the US is pushing ‘post COVID’ which Obhama and his cronies have pushed through, ending up with Biden and his links to the Ukraine to create a war with Russia, whilst the real war is actually in the US which we are forced to comply with without any democratic vote, anywhere.

      It a nod – by the global elite to redefine us all as a model citizen (along the lines of China). The attack on the traditional FAMILY unit (naturally conservative) is horrendous and goes right back to the UN Agenda 21 policy to ‘save the planet’ at all costs, which is as daft as you can get.

      Nobody took it seriously (including our UK politicians who saw a political advantage). Its all linked to Climate control via population control, so destruction of the family, its values, its identity, its religious values, its morality, its protection of children, its right to educate, to beware ‘adults’ who wish to sexualise children, the abuse of charity for politics (bought in under Gorden Brown to the UK Charity Commission, the state to rule our lives, dictate our ‘sexual health (a misnomer), the censorship of anyone who disagrees,
      create an open library of mis-information for children (see our UK libraries for massively increased ‘diversive’ content) promoting ‘queer’ ‘trans’ whatever as ‘healthy’ , non platforming all critics (as agreed by the BBC in the UK (they admit the unit exist) for FaceBook, Twitter and Google to prohibit free speech by ‘lowering search results’, the obvious international manipulation of COVID via the UN (WHO were involved in stopping all questions about the source). Theendorsement of strategy by the (globalist sect) WEF to provide the ESG ‘diversity and inclusion’ clauses to ban the family values of the populations in each country. This is a world wide attack.

      The Banks follow the ESG ‘guidelines’. Which is linked back to ‘diversity’ which is linked to ‘climate change’ and then back to the UN agenda (now UN Agenda 2030).

      What is going in really is chilling. Its is a TOP DOWN SOCIALIST MOVEMENT. You can read up on it below, its not just the UK, the UN socialist have the US administration to provide the ‘fear’ and ‘uncertainty’ and (most important) the public funding (diverted) which cost is hidden from us (such as Net Zero). It cannot be achieved without force.

      Already installed by socialist governments wanting ‘payback’ when the global corporates who provide the HIV or zombie drugs, GM foods, Carbon credits (restricting you to inner cities and your locality, travel will be restricted to your personal ‘carbon credits’. Effectively your bank account is frozen to a harmless gas such as CO2. Money will become worthless.

      But first the destruction of the family by the left continues. Stonewall is embedded in our own government, the complete destruction of all families is the ultimate plan. The aim is we are all sheep to share the communist global utopia. No Money, No hope and (WEF) – “you will own nothing and be happy” (quote).

      This is happening across the all western nations, powered by the US administrations since Clinton.

      https://familywatch.org/newswire/?inf_contact_key=301e78db5bed0b7eadd3044cefc0bf98cc0558ed5d4c28cbfab114022b1ec50d

         14 likes

      • MarkyMark says:

        Neil Oliver: ‘…lies, lies, lies!’

        where is the appropriate outrage….

           11 likes

        • Up2snuff says:

          MM, why are more people dying than ever before in the UK, Europe, Japan and China? Simples. The populations are ageing, getting older. Life expectancy has limits.

             6 likes

      • G says:

        Phillip

        Can we convert & connect “likes” as in Mathematical Powers?……… I don’t expect many ‘Likes’ to this post. But you will understand, I’m sure…………… Therefore, ‘Three to the power of…….x

           2 likes

  13. Fedup2 says:

    Q Whatever happened to From our own correspondent ?

    A It went Woke

    Subjects to day

    1 chile green crap
    2 Indian tribes fighting
    3 NZ Effnics – nasty British empire
    4 elephants
    5 girl footy players in Haiti – go girl
    6 some green crap again

    I mean – it’s just inferior crap by the producers’ mates … I’ve listened for decades . Used to learn stuff – now ,.just dumb .rant done …
    Anything about Europe ? No . USA? No . Russia ? No

       16 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Hijab is a powerful tool …. oh wait ….

      Saudi Arabia’s religious police stopped schoolgirls from leaving a blazing building because they were not wearing correct Islamic dress, according to Saudi newspapers.
      In a rare criticism of the kingdom’s powerful “mutaween” police, the Saudi media has accused them of hindering attempts to save 15 girls who died in the fire on Monday.

      About 800 pupils were inside the school in the holy city of Mecca when the tragedy occurred.
      http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1874471.stm

         4 likes

    • Rob in Cheshire says:

      Radio 4 is dead. I haven’t listened to it for years, and feel so much better for it.

      Once I would have gone to the barricades for Radio 4, now I just see it as left wing tosh. It represents everything I oppose, so why listen to it?

      Defund the BBC.

         29 likes

      • Flotsam says:

        I feel the same about BBC Radio 5 Live which is now a woke, pro BLM, pro LGBTQ, Remoaner, pro illegal immigration anti Government State sponsored Radio channel.

           7 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      Fed, I turned off TWatO because the Climate Science Expert, Lord Stern, the economist(!)* was going to allowed to be wittering on the programme by the Montacutie. There are lots of BBC R4 programmes that I no longer listen to, FooC among them. Good news: Ed Reardon is back on R4 with a new series, episode 2 tonight 18.30hrs. PS: the pre 1 p.m. weather forecast was a hoot (only caught the last bit) “Temperatures below what could be expected for this time of year.”

      [*which is what I is acksherly]

         8 likes

  14. Fedup2 says:

    Sopel Fesses? Up

    From the DT – enjoy

    STARTS A former BBC correspondent who mocked Nigel Farage over Coutts closing his account has apologised to the former Ukip leader, adding to pressure on the corporation to address the veracity of its story.

    Jon Sopel, who covered North America for the corporation, said earlier this month Mr Farage “must feel like a bit of a Charlie” after the BBC reported his account was closed for financial, rather than political, reasons.

    But after The Telegraph revealed Coutts gave differing “values” as a reason for the account closures, Mr Sopel wrote: “Dear Nigel, [I] always believed when I get things wrong, I own up to it.

    “I got it wrong. Sorry. That will teach me to trust reporting of my old employer. If your political views were even part of the reason why account was suspended from Coutts that is totally reprehensible.”

    Mr Farage replied: “Jon, Thank you so very much for those words. I fully accept the apology and wish you well. As broadcasters we now have a duty to fight for free speech for our viewers and listeners.”

    It will add to pressure on the BBC, which published an exclusive story on July 4 headlined “Nigel Farage bank account shut for falling below wealth limit”, quoting “people familiar with Coutts’ move” and claiming that it had been a “commercial” decision.ENDS

    This Coutts thing has legs – has Dame wotsit resigned yet ?…maybe Simon jacksh-t msy be off to new pastures too ….

       23 likes

    • Docmarooned says:

      Not sure I would have given that bastard Sopel as reasonable a response as Farage did. If it had been the other way round response from Sopel would have been nothing or a sneer!

         17 likes

      • Flotsam says:

        Me too. Sopel should be investigating then reporting, not broadcasting his shoddy personal/corporate bias. One could wonder what the situation would be if Nigel hadn’t been able to show why he was banned.

           3 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      That will teach me to trust reporting of my old employer

      That one might crop up a few places. OFCOM, Graun… dcms…QT green room…

      And perhaps rather darken the mood at the next Americast alumni meeting, especially if Springster brings Simon Jack as her plus one.

         6 likes

  15. tomo says:

       17 likes

  16. Terminal Moraine says:

    Re: weather graphics… it appears there’s an arms race in the graphics departments of the major news agencies to see who can best approximate the apocalypse. Currently WaPo is smashing it out of the park.

    I’ve learnt that the BBC no longer use Met Office data… their contract is now with Meteo. Meteo are owned by DTN. It is proving quite difficult to find out anything about how measurements are taken (ground level or raised??), and indeed how much temp data is modelled or subject to tweaking by algorithm. None of which helps trust in the data.

    https://www.dtn.com/weather/

       16 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Use Data Appropriately

         6 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      DTN use the data provided by G on this site …. Sad really that even the weather forecast is now political …..

         11 likes

    • tomo says:

      TM – re Wx graphics

      I can’t accept these algorithmic weather adjustments unless the algorithm is exposed and explained.

      Any explanation might be tortured but at least it’s there – I have yet to see one weather bureaucracy expose its adjustments – not one…

      The mendacious meddling with data just has to be stopped – you think the data is unrepresentative? – OK, explain yourselves …

      The arrogance and conceit of many state weather forecasters / archivists is just staggering.

         14 likes

      • Terminal Moraine says:

        tomo I agree, and that conceit is in part given because a lot of the public don’t want to look under the hood and the media don’t know how to.

        Why is the C19 inquiry not looking at the accuracy of pandemic modelling? We let them get away with so much…

           13 likes

    • Philip_2 says:

      Globally the temperature is actually below average and as its Summer its ‘hotter’ than Winter. As you can see from this non biased or coloured in world graph (via live data satellite).
      Bog standard normal. Until it gets to the UK Met office or BBC with the coloured in pencils brigade.

      https://temperature.global

         11 likes

      • G says:

        “World will miss 1.5C warming limit – top UK expert”

        https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-66256101

        Well, well. Nothing for the UK left but to excavate mass graves in the countryside then exterminate all people over 65 years of age. That’ll do it for the Climate change lobby to reduce the population. What do you think Professor Sir Bob Watson? Please comment Sir Bob…………Please Sir Bob…………

           10 likes

      • Flotsam says:

        I hate to be a pedant but looked at globally it’s summer in the Northern hemisphere and winter in the Southern hemisphere. The nett amount of the Sun’s energy input to earth is the same 365 days a year. It would be true to point out that there’s far greater land mass in the Northern hemisphere so I would assume the the seasons would not be equivalent between North and South.

           1 likes

        • Fedup2 says:

          But the output of the sun is not constant …

             2 likes

          • G says:

            Fed,

            I’ve been experimenting with solar in a small way. Enough to conclude that the strength of solar radiation is mainly dependent upon sh*t in the upper atmosphere and wind direction. When in the prevailing SW, the air is clear but unlikely to be cloud free so mainly no full benefit; when in the E/SE (largely for a month or so consistently June/July it if full of sh*t from across the country further east and indeed, from Europe as well). Those damn French…………. So, ‘swings and roundabouts’ = some but minimal benefit.

               1 likes

  17. MarkyMark says:

    £300 per day to sit in a room with free coffee and wifi!

    Bonus!

    “Never say that Guido’s graduate training programme doesn’t lead to places. Five years ago Ross Kempsell was a reporter. He was a pretty good reporter and his copy was as grammatically precise as you would expect from someone with a double-first from Cambridge. He went from Guido to become TalkRadio’s political editor, then to Downing Street as a Special Adviser, with a sojourn at The Times, before going to CCHQ to run the Conservative Research Department – honing it into a war-room with a focus on attacking the opposition and driving the news agenda. When he was Prime Minister, Boris Johnson valued his loyalty and advice highly. Hence he rewarded Ross with a peerage.”

    order-order.com

    The Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament Assembled
    784

    784 * £300 = £235,200 per day!

    https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/whos-in-the-house-of-lords/house-of-lords-expenses/

    Click to access members-finance-publication-january-2023.pdf

    Baroness Chakrabarti 15 0 £4,980

    …………………

    The Labour Party is not overrun by antisemitism {THE SHAMI CHAKRABARTI INQUIRY 30jun2016}, Islamophobia or other forms of racism.

    Further, it is the party that initiated every single United Kingdom race equality law.

    Click to access Chakrabarti-Inquiry-Report-30June16.pdf

    https://order-order.com/2018/03/26/remain-campaign-used-exactly-spending-tactics-vote-leave-far-worse/#comment-3824867272

    ………………………

       4 likes

    • Thoughtful says:

      That’s quite cheap Marky, regardless of what you think. Go check out what it costs other countries to run their second chamber. The HoL only pays members who turn up, so your figure of 784 is the maximum number.

      It really is a disgracefully small amount of money for anyone outside of central London. Travel expenses are claimable, overnight accomodation and food is not, so imagine you are a peer of the realm and you require Dinner bed and breakfast, and lets assume an evening meal is £50, that leaves you just £250 for your hotel in the city centre. What kind of a hotel are you going to get for that?

         3 likes

      • Fedup2 says:

        Don’t worry – the Chinese will pay ….close the House of Lords – sell it off ….no more peers – there’s got to be better corruption than that

           8 likes

      • tomo says:

        Premier Inn County Hall is £111 today but I’ve seen less – a splurge multi course meal in The Members Dining Room is £56 – but imho ott for an overnight.

        see:https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/commons-catering/menus/banqueting/a-la-carte-apr-2023.pdf

        HoP food prices have risen since I last looked – they were doing a pretty good meal with generous portions for sub £20 a while back see:https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/inside-the-members-dining-room-where-a-30-meal-costs-mps-just-12-75-216257/

        – I think the booze in the Press Bar is still subsidised

        https://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink-news/parliament-bar-subsidised-taxpayer-boasts-23855227

           6 likes

        • Thoughtful says:

          So you are expecting a Baron or Lady or a Lord to stay in the cheapest accomodation available miles away, but even then they still aren’t getting much remuneration for their trouble are they?

          Also no one is going to eat all their meals in the members dining room.

          According to the lunatic judges only a four star hotel is appropriate for an illegal immigrant so surely someone serving the country basically for free should be entitled to at least that wouldn’t you say?

             2 likes

          • Fedup2 says:

            Get rid of them all ….

            ‘Serving the country ‘ ha ha

            See attempts to block brexit – immigration bill – more and more …. Or stick a barge on the Thames and put them in that …

               10 likes

          • tomo says:

            County Hall isn’t the cheapest, it’s a 10 minute stroll from HoP and it’s favorably comparable to much pricier accommodation nearby including some “4 star” dumps.

            My main gripe with the present HoL is the surfeit of LibDems and Oxygen thieves in there – that reflects the miserable quality of the political class… Is the HoL a legislative body or is it a holiday camp?

            As I’ve said here before I feel there should be some testing of legislators about the content of legislation they’re voting on coupled with the possibility of sanctions on those that repeatedly fail – be those sanctions financial or removal from the corps of lawmakers.

               3 likes

            • G says:

              Tomo,

              Yes, these are the people who the public magically thinks can control a Government department of which they have no prior experience and/or knowledge. Hunt as Chancellor? Studied philosophy, politics and economics at uni. Now running the disaster that is the UK Economy. Was it conveyed in the form of an injection? Was it installed as a Windows ‘Update’. Whatever, between becoming a politician and becoming Chancellor, his ability to satisfy that role mysteriously appeared to ‘convert’ him into a capable occupier of No. 11. Don’t think so. But that’s where the principle, “God given right” clashes with necessity.

                 1 likes

      • MarkyMark says:

        Lenny has some ideas … extbac.jpg

           2 likes

      • MarkyMark says:

        Would be interesting to see – what value do we get out of it – as they can choose how interested they are at the time – and can possibly take extra money to push bills through.

           0 likes

  18. MarkyMark says:

    YOUR LORDSHIP –
    Baroness Hayman of Ullock Cumbria 15 0
    £4,980 Daily Allowance
    £1,456 Attendance Travel Cost
    Nil Nil
    £45 Car
    £1,411 Rail/Ferry/Coach
    Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil

    Click to access members-finance-publication-january-2023.pdf

    House of Lords expenses
    https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/whos-in-the-house-of-lords/house-of-lords-expenses/

       4 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      She was the idiot who – as red labour health minister – signed off on a NHS doctor contract which meant they all did 9-5 and no weekends right ?

      Or was that Hewitt ? Hattie Harmon s mate ?

         12 likes

  19. JohnC says:

    Travis King: North Korea ‘not responding to calls’ on missing soldier, says US
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-66253401

    Now here is an odd story. We have multiple headlines for something which doesn’t even merit one. So what if one bloke ran to North Korea ?. Doesn’t even move the needle on the ‘important’ scale.

    So why is it being given so much attention ?.

    Is it to divert it from something else ? (like Trump or Ukraine) ?

    Does it have some racist, agenda-based element in it which we aren’t being told ?.

    Here’s the guy:

    _130439562_travisking-index-reuters.jpg.webp

    It all smells fishy. Which in the world of the BBC means an ulterior motive.

       10 likes

  20. G says:

    “Supermarkets told to make pricing clearer to help shoppers”

    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-66256240

    All displayed prices to now be in Afganistani, Bengali, Arabic, SerboCroat, Pakistani, Indian……………….etc etc..

       16 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      rw16mhqcp3p41.png?auto=webp&s=90541025e74373aa5d32e3ea4baeab959cdea419

         8 likes

      • tomo says:

        MM

        there’s one of those shops in Highbridge, Somerset … quite weird – had me puzzling for ages after an idle visit as to how and why it was still open!

           1 likes

  21. dafydd says:

    BBC impartial as ever, NOT..

    With all the crap thats going on at the BBC you would have thought they would make an effort, parasites

    https://order-order.com/2023/07/20/newsnights-banking-commentator-is-farage-hating-remoaner-crank/

       12 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Benefits of citizenship by investment as kontris dey restrict Nigeria passport holders

      https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/articles/c3ge5kkq6p0o

      3e6a4e90-2644-11ee-99f1-d9b0b1ae918b.jpg

      Wetin be di simple ways to pass exam, how you fit come out wit flying colours for your exam?

      Lagos State University Overall Best Graduating Student, wey score di highest CGPA for di 2021/2022 academic session don drop tips.

      Di 23-year-old Aminat Yusuf wey graduate wit a perfect 5:00 CGPA say di first tip wey pesin wey wan ace im exam gatz know na to get interest for di course of study. She say if pesin get passion for di course e dey study, to read no go hard. She say interest in study course dey important.

      “Anytin wey you wan do especially if na book, you gatz love am, get passion and enjoy am. E go get time wen things dey difficult but because na something you choose yourself you go fit ey manage am.”

      She also tok say make students no wait till wen exam reach before dem begin study. “You wan get first class, no be for mouth.” She tok

         4 likes

      • G says:

        Odd. In the midst of Worldwide true recklessness, lies and deceit from all quarters, I find myself ‘happy’. But why? I am connected with ‘Three’ Technical to complain about constant / numerous dropped lines. During the exchange with Three Technical I find myself having to explain the humour behind: ” look over there, there’s a squirrel”. Silence from the other party. Had to explain. Now going forth in his career in India is a sympathetic techie who will no doubt when called in the future to discuss mobile phone connection problems in the UK, will voluntarily assert to the caller, “look over there, a squirrel….’

        Be warned about that likelihood.

           8 likes

  22. tomo says:

    Open for a while yet ….

       14 likes

  23. Foscari says:

    I wrote too quickly yesterday about Getty’s images showing
    a WHITE male looking at his bank or mortgage statement.
    I expect whoever allowed this from the diversity dept
    was sacked . Even though the white model’s partner
    was black.
    Today we are back to the status quo and the BBC’S number
    one agenda of “educating” us the unwashed. The main
    feature on main news internet page of the BBC has a feature
    by Shawaz Musafer on ” Supermarkets told to make
    pricing clearer.” And the Getty’s image is of? Have a guess.
    Back to normality.
    On another topic Simon Jack the Business Editor for the BBC
    has been an absolute disgrace . The way he has handled the
    closure of Nigel Farage’s Coutts bank account. But what do
    you expect from the BBC?

       19 likes

  24. Guest Who says:

    350.org seems as overfunded as it is ridiculous.

    They still seem to think ‘new’ instead of actual democratic ballots are how to seize power, and most of this is 2018 XR manifesto juvenile tripe.

    Plus ‘demands’ only work if you are not a bunch of wailing weenies seeking handouts on top of crippling economies and pension investments.

    Hi Rube,

    Historical heat waves and droughts. Oil corporations like Shell and BP making enormous profits and not paying their fair share. Skyrocketing energy bills and millions in fuel poverty.
    This is the climate crisis in action. And those responsible are getting richer while the rest of us suffer. But we’ve got a plan. 
    The Green New Deal is a game changing plan to stop the climate crisis and build a world in which we can all thrive. And we win by using every tool and tactic in our arsenal to force the Government to act. 
    For the last three years, we’ve been working together with partners such as Green New Deal Rising on this campaign, by helping train young people across the country and organising online actions. And now we’re ready to kick things up a notch.
    You might be wondering what the Green New Deal is. It’s a long-term, ambitious plan for Government spending, investment and law-making in line with the following five demands:
    Decarbonise the economy, end our dependence on dirty fossil fuels and ensure everyone has guaranteed access to clean energy. 
    Jobs and a just transition: Create millions of new well-paid, unionised, secure, and future-proof jobs for anyone who needs one, and guarantee a decent livelihood for anyone currently working in the oil and gas industry. 
    Transform the financial system – it should serve the needs of people and the planet, and our government should be accountable to people, not corporations.
    Protect and restore vital habitats and carbon sinks, including forests and wild areas, ensure nature friendly food production, and ensure the provision of clean water, air, green spaces and a healthy environment for all.
    Promote global justice: Do our part to help the rest of the world build fair, clean and healthy economies, accounting for the UK’s historic and ongoing role in exploiting communities and resources across the world.
    The Green New Deal is a big and ambitious plan. We know winning won’t be easy. But together we can apply mass pressure on our Government and force them to sit up and listen – and take action. 

    Onwards and downwards into the green pit of oblivion.

    Matilda and the 350 UK team

    This will of course be copy pasted by the BBC, but if Simon Jack and Justin Rowlatt are on the byline they might now attract blowback.

       5 likes

  25. Nibor says:

    In re ; Coutts and Nigel Farage

    As their website says they are for disrupters and innovaters , plus they bank for folks regardless of their beliefs , we can safely say they are lying . Therefore they should be done under the Trades Description Act .

       21 likes

    • tomo says:

      Trades Description Act ?

      – that Act has been superseded and Trading Standards is now a digital rubbish dump connected to an automated telephone system that’s set up to dispirit callers to save on recording hard disk space.

         3 likes

    • G says:

      As the day of the 20th July developed, for me, it was registering the terminology used during the R4 ‘Today’ news at 0600. Great pains to refer to the Farage 40 page evidence from Coutts as, “alleged evidence”. Must have been a bit of a shock to the Marxist controlling the Today news output to see that position quickly slipping away from his/her/its grasp as the World recognised the same 40 pages as true & valid evidence. As you would expect from a reptile, the BBC writhed away and the, “alleged” quietly slipped away as they realised to continue to use the description “alleged” increasingly put them on the wrong side of the news.

         5 likes

  26. StewGreen says:

    As I look at Sopel’s apology Twitter throws some of his top tweets at me

    Jul 16
    The trouble with people like you Pippa is you’re interested in facts and details

    That smug tweet basically says “My gang is superior we get facts and details right !”
    #irony

    Jul 10 express.co.uk story
    “BBC branded ‘a safe haven for perverts’ as Tory MPs demand licence fee scrapped”
    Sopel replied

    No longer bound by BBC rules on impartiality, let me just say what a moronic and offensive comment.
    If I’m not mistaken didn’t you have a deputy chief whip appointed even tho his past form as a sex pest was well known and documented?

    That Statement is
    #1 Whataboutery, to distract attention from the BBC
    Sure orgs like the church or Parliament have their perv problems
    but that doesn’t excuse the BBC

    #2 False equivalence : A gay Tory who gets a bit handsy when drunk
    is not the same as actual child rapidts like Savile and Rolf Harris etc.

       14 likes

  27. micknotmike says:

    News coming in now that a german company are going to be building a tank production facility in Ukraine. Putin has said that it will be considered a legitimate target. I may be able to help him regarding its location. It will be in the middle of a residential area, probably between an orphanage and a hospital. Then when it gets attacked it will all be Russia’s fault. The longer this war goes on, the more I think that the clown presidents’ favourite book is “How to maximise the cynical use of human shields” by S. Hussein.

       8 likes

  28. StewGreen says:

    BBC management is putting in a plan that local local radio will be the first 8 hours of the day from 6-2pm After that 2 or 3 stations get amalgamated into super regional progs from 2-10pm
    Something that used to happen before for some progs anyway.
    So today loval BBC news staff are on strike
    as a result the local news prog is not local lical it’s super-regional for the whole if the mid-north

    item : Striking NHS consultants
    interviewed consultant “Because of NHS pay and conditions my colleague is moving Ryad”
    Really I thought it was cis the Saudis have loads of oil money so can afford cto poach UK staff
    just like we poach from poorer countries.

       6 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      Now LGBT football news
      LGBT PR guy “How dare Liverpool football club agree to transfer Jordan Henderson to a Saudi club which has Stephen Gerrard as manager
      Henderson has done a lot of LGBT campaigning in the past
      so he shouldn’t move to a country unfriendly to LGBT”

      The salary will be £700K/week

         15 likes

      • Fedup2 says:

        Will they wear those ridiculous rainbow flaglets? Will they take the knee? Will they chirp on about other peoples’ beliefs ? Particularly the need to throw queers off rooftops ..?

        But for £700k a week even a horrible mouth like Henderson will stay quiet ….

           10 likes

      • MarkyMark says:

        Saudi crown prince asked Boris Johnson to intervene in Newcastle United bid
        This article is more than 2 years old
        Mohammed bin Salman warned of damage to Saudi-UK relations if Premier League refusal not ‘corrected’

        https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/15/saudis-asked-boris-johnson-to-intervene-in-newcastle-united-bid

        …………………..

        MEGA BECKS David Beckham lands MASSIVE seven-figure pay cheque to front controversial Qatar World Cup ad campaign
        Simon Boyle
        Published: 21:01, 21 Sep 2022Updated: 8:18, 22 Sep 2022

        https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/19880143/david-beckham-multi-million-deal-qatar-advert/

        ………………….

        Homosexuality is illegal and punishable with up to seven years in prison.

        Beckham’s spokesperson recently said: “David has been visiting Qatar regularly for over a decade.

           4 likes

        • Fedup2 says:

          Let’s face it – there’s loads of dirty money in the prem ( see chelski ) so why not have the toons funded by dirty Arabs and their huge oil profits – bought to you by Vladimir putin …?

             3 likes

  29. taffman says:

    I understand that Nigel Farage has received an apology ?
    “A rose by any other name would smell just as …………”

       12 likes

  30. Up2snuff says:

    sort of TWatO Watch #1 – but more like 1 p.m. News

    Is there something important that the BBC omitted from their News Broadcast: for example, an essential fact? We heard on the News about two Indian women who were paraded naked around a village in Manipur state. It was presented by the BBC as being an ethnic rivalry thing with misandrist overtone or undertones and hinted at some offence being committed by the two women.

    What the BBC did not tell us were that they were Christian women. You know that you cannot trust the BBC. They will never provide all the facts. A farrago just like Nigel Farage’s struggle with Coutts Bank.

       18 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Up2
      I’m sure the full detail will have been carried on the BBC Asian network . Is it time for another war in India / Pakistan ? The echo on the streets of the UK will be priceless …

         7 likes

      • tomo says:

        AIUI the Pakistani upper classes have pillaged state assets and run up a mega debt and internal pressure is building …

        Be good to have an expose of where the money has gone….

        Let’s not forget that Islamabad has nukes…

           3 likes

  31. StewGreen says:

    Farage “Simon Jack has been tweeting, but that is just quoting Coutts apology. he hasn’t apologised to me himself”

    Strangely BBC breakfast just now tweeted the news that Coutts have apologieed.

    .. https://twitter.com/BBCBreakfast/status/1682098870229106688

       10 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Methinks mr jack is in a tricky position … the strategy seems to be for him to be ‘disappeared ‘ until Coutts dies down because a bigger newer fresher story comes along …

      … but he deserves a bit more attention – is he sleeping with the head of Coutts – exchanging secrets about Farage ? Her boasting about destroying him ? The vengeance of a remainer traitor ? Maybe mr jack is on the same ward as Huw …

         11 likes

  32. MarkyMark says:

    “In general, West Minister and Whitehall are dominated by arts graduates with very poor quantitive skills, little to no understanding of technological issues, little or no experience of successful organisations or responsibility for big organisations. To think of the scale mismatch most MPs haven’t been involved managing a 100 people then are put in charge of managing 10K people. ” – Dominic Cummings 2014

       13 likes

    • Thoughtful says:

      It’s really funny that, because anyone in the private sector or public sector managing more than 100 people would never take a job with the poverty levels of pay the civil service are offering.

      People believe public service should be a charity, which it most certainly is, but are then surprised the people working as semi volunteers want to use the position as a means of enacting left wing political change.

         5 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Maybe the parliamentary system has always been rigged by the civil service to ensure that no body capable gets in any position where they can achieve something .

      Terrible things happen when the Civil Service fail . For instance a Margaret Thatcher comes along and horrifies the civil service hierarchy – which connives to ensure nothing like it can happen again . Blair doesn’t fit into the ‘change ‘ mould at the Thatcher level .
      So PMs and civil servants ensure ministers never get a full hold of their brief before being moved on . Or the job is just too difficult ( health / home office ) ….

      And so we get disfunctional government – unable to set a strategy – eg energy security ( basic ) border security ( basic )
      Money control ( basic ) and in a few hours from this comment will be demonstrated as blue Labour gets its arse well and truly kicked .
      The duty minister in the morning spouting lies about ‘it could have been worse’ or ‘ we will listen ‘ or even the lie ‘we will change ‘ – will need a stiff drink after their deserved kicking .I’m guessing it will be Gove because he is good at keeping a straight face when telling lies …

         11 likes

      • G says:

        Fed,

        Margaret Thatcher? The Civil Service, that period was a ‘trial run’ for what we have now. Typical of the left to go away quietly and ponder over that period and change tack accordingly next time round.

           2 likes

        • Fedup2 says:

          G
          The civil service knows that not much will change now whoever is ‘elected ‘ …

             2 likes

  33. StewGreen says:

    7pm Piers Morgan’s news headlines and lead item are about unfairness to Nigel Farage and craziness of woke corporations.

       13 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      While he’s taking a break from Good Morning Britain this week, Piers drew plenty of attention to himself on Tuesday morning when he posted: “NHS and Care Home workers who refuse to have the vaccine should not be allowed to go into work until the pandemic is over.

      …………….

      Piers Morgan defends himself after flying to Antigua for Christmas holiday
      Piers Morgan has been criticised for spending the festive period in Antigua after saying Coronavirus wouldn’t stop because of Christmas.

      ………………..

      piers-morgan-burger-king-flame-photocall-at-selfridges-beauty-hall-c1k9a1.jpg

         3 likes

  34. StewGreen says:

    If you notice that one of your relatives believes things that aren’t true
    .. that could be a sign of Alzheimer’s

    .. or it could be a sign that they watch the BBC.
    ..https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F1dcxZzWAAYYk3o?format=jpg&name=orig

       11 likes

  35. StewGreen says:

    Never heard of this woman
    then I see her crazy tweets get 12,000 Likes yet replies and quote tweets vastly go against her.
    That’s as if she buys Likes

    “Siobhan Benita is a British former civil servant.
    an independent candidate in the 2012 London mayoral election.
    then the Liberal Democrat candidate in the London mayoral election originally planned for 2020,[1] but after the election was delayed to 2021, she withdrew as the candidate”

       5 likes

    • tomo says:

      Stew

      If she’s buying popularity / visibility services one wonders who offers that and what it costs?

         4 likes

  36. Philip_2 says:

    Altough today and yesterday most of the MSM press and BBC are pushing it could not get any hotter (pushed out annually by the Met office as part of an WHO agenda its worth looking at more independent unbiased reports. This for July, right now…
    Rather typical isn’t it?
    http://www.mappedplanet.com/karten/klima/juli_temp-eu.png

    So you can imagine how the BBC has reworked this into an inferno. And we know why.

    A more honest interactive Europe map of LIVE temperature read out (you can choose your own location ‘hot-spot’ (pun intended). You can find here…via satellite.

    (See click point bottom left for cloud symbol and click on that for temp and wind speed). Its in Fahrenheit not Centigrade. You need to convert that yourself.
    https://satellites.pro/France_map#43.373112,7.075195,5

       6 likes

  37. Fedup2 says:

    1980 – stevie wonder releases ‘hotter than July ‘ … the kidults seem unable to accept that Summer can be Hot … mental issues …

    … I was cheered up by some green loons – lord something or other saying the UK isn’t doing enough to combat climate change . Such encouraging news . Yes the 70 million ish in the UK really are gonna have an impact on the climate of the planet right ?
    The fabled 2.5 degree climate catastrophe ? How dare we try to deprive billions of people who don’t have electricity or clean water or Amazon prime from aspiring … fridge freezers all round ….

       7 likes

  38. StewGreen says:

    At 1 pm the BBC edited it’s old Farage Coutts article
    #1 Unusually It was not the normal stealth edit
    where changes are not admitted
    #2 It was not the normal correction
    which is hidden right at the bottom of articles
    #3 Instead an “Update” was added right under the title
    #4 The update is still mealy mouth and disingenuous

    Update 20th July 2023:
    Since this article was published, Nigel Farage submitted a subject access request to Coutts bank and obtained a report from the bank’s reputational risk committee.
    While it mentioned commercial considerations, the document also said the committee did not think continuing to have Mr Farage as a client was “compatible with Coutts given his publicly-stated views that were at odds with our position as an inclusive organisation”.
    We have amended this article’s headline to make clear that the details about the closure of Nigel Farage’s bank account came from a source.

    Then it continues with the old false article, with no mark saying the article has been retracted or something

    Nigel Farage fell below the financial threshold required to hold an account at Coutts, the prestigious private bank for the wealthy, the BBC has been told.

    It is understood he was subsequently offered a standard account at NatWest which owns Coutts.
    (thats fakenews cos they didn’t do that until verbally right at the last moment before Farage was about to speak on TV

    BTW the new title is
    “Nigel Farage bank account shut for falling below wealth limit, source tells BBC”
    The current article doesn’t make it clear the old title
    was “Nigel Farage bank account shut for falling below wealth limit”

    2 hours ago they put up a video
    Ros Atkins Factcheck
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-66262494

       7 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      383a5070-57dd-46f2-b14f-add16db63a54-3f809b2e-95fb-49d3-915f-204cf44bd954

      equality-our-nhs-people-promise-image-2022_407x256.jpg

         12 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      Newsniffer didn’t catch this latest edit
      cos it only catches LIVE articles
      so it caught the first 8 edit stages while it was live.

      There’s a new nasty title from the Guardian
      Pity Nigel Farage as he is deemed too horrible to bank with the elite at Coutts 19 Jul 2023, 13:32

      BBC articles about it
      Nigel Farage launches fresh attack over Coutts bank closure 20 Jul
      Nigel Farage: Coutts document ‘shows bank account shut over my views’ 18 Jul
      Nigel Farage bank account shut for falling below wealth limit 04 Jul
      Banks face threat to licences over Farage bank account row 20 Jul
      Nigel Farage: Banks warned against closing accounts 03 Jul
      Nigel Farage gets apology from banking boss in Coutts row 20 Jul
      Bank account closures probe must be fast tracked, says minister 05 Jul

         6 likes

    • tomo says:

      Here’s hoping Farage notices and calls them out?

      newsniffer provides really valuable insight into how the monitored outlets think … I’ve often found the adjustments made very telling about the prejudices of the authors…

         7 likes

  39. MarkyMark says:

    383a5070-57dd-46f2-b14f-add16db63a54-ce4c4c85-ce0c-4bc1-9f46-a77edc4cab79

       16 likes

    • G says:

      The broadcasters sense that they are slowly but surely losing the pubic who now, openly question the agenda. Prevailing philosophy? ‘A picture says a thousand words’………..

         2 likes

  40. tomo says:

    Brillo can still bite

    The-new-diesel-claims.png

       17 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Nothing will happen – a sacking – a gold watch – move on …. 1400+ raped kids 0 action … repeat ….

      mark_zuckerberg_1523431963.jpg?w=820&h=540&cc=1

         5 likes

  41. Fedup2 says:

    The letter published in the Mail from the outgoing CEO of nat west group Dame Nobody – does not offer to take Farage into the welcoming embrace of Coutts – the Russian mafia go to laundering bank .
    Instead he can have a Nat West junior members account and get a signed picture of Marcus Rashford or lennard Henry … in fact they are doing picture cards of approved heroes – starting with Diane abbot …
    All for you to collect if you put £10 into the approved account ….
    Dame dismal gone by Monday ?

       13 likes

    • BRISSLES says:

      Not particular impressed with those of my gender who have broken the glass ceiling, and are proving to be rubbish at the job. Alison Rose, Carolyn McCall, Pat Cullen to name but three. This lot prove that just sometimes, blokes are best at top business and negotiating.

         9 likes

  42. tomo says:

    Matt Ridley relays virology antics – cutting each others ties and shin kicking and name calling that virologists were indulging in behind the scenes while the power crazed bureaucrats were amping up all sorts…

       4 likes

    • G says:

      How much longer can the silence go on.

      Dr John Campbell anticipates this video will be removed by YT.

         1 likes

  43. Fedup2 says:

    Alison Pearson on the outgoing CEO of Nat West

    STARTS After Alison Rose was appointed the first female chief executive of RBS (later NatWest) in 2019, she announced that “tackling climate change would be a central pillar” of her leadership. Had Rose misread the job spec? Did she think, perhaps, that she had assumed control of Extinction Rebellion rather than a leading capitalist institution?

    No, it was apparent that Rose saw her role as primarily ideological rather than tediously financial. “Put simply,” she said, “tackling the climate emergency is one of, if not the biggest issue of our time – and banks have a massive role to play in mobilising the power of finance to meet the net zero ambition”. On that very same day, the bank ended new loans for oil and gas extraction, a ruinous piece of virtue signalling which hampered the British people’s access to their own bountiful natural resources.

    Not that paying the gas bill is much of a concern for Dame Alison. Last year, her pay packet was £5.25 million, a big chunk of that courtesy of the taxpayer, who owns 39 per cent of NatWest (and thus Coutts) since its bailout during the 2008 financial crisis. Now, in a desperate attempt to stem the furore over Nigel Farage and his closed accounts at Coutts, she has emailed him to apologise. But fine words butter no parsnips. Dame Alison must resign.

    A friend who used to be extremely senior at Coutts, and still keeps in touch with former colleagues, says that the scandal over the private bank terminating Nigel Farage’s account was “depressingly inevitable. The forces of woke have wrought havoc there,” he says, “The trouble is members of staff are bullied into compliance with these ‘progressive’ edicts.”

    My friend is appalled at the naivety and delusions of the present executives. “These people think they are invulnerable and have little awareness of the outside world. They talk to themselves and listen only to sycophants who will never gainsay them. If what they are said to have done to Farage is accurate it’s disgustingly disgraceful. I’m ashamed of what the bank has become.”

    440 Strand (Coutts HQ where men in smart frock-coats still greet you at the door) had a previous flirtation with diversity back in the Seventies and Eighties when it banned the recruitment of public schoolboys. “Absurd. They were the very people who made up a large part of their client base!,” snorts my source. That daft idea was overturned because privately-educated males were rather good at smooth-talking wealthy clients, who valued good manners and discretion above all.

    More recently, such discrimination has made a comeback. Human Resources departments have been totally captured by EDI, a virulent virus from the US, and City firms have taken to rejecting a whole raft of talented British people in pursuit of “inclusion”.

    “Basically, if you’re a brilliant white boy who went to a good school, forget it,” claims one hugely successful banker, a white man who went to a great school, natch. “They’d genuinely rather have a less qualified ethnic minority who can’t even compose an email to the clients because it helps with their ESG Rating.”

    ESG stands for Environmental, Social and Governance, typically referring to policies that prioritise long-term environmental and social sustainability when making investments and other banking decisions. ESG can include social issues regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion plus the inevitable climate change.

    So alarming is the tentacular stranglehold this philosophy has over financial institutions that, back in the spring, Governor Ron DeSantis took steps to ban ESG in Florida. He called it “woke banking”. “What it’s evolved into is a mechanism to inject political ideology into investment decisions, corporate governance, and really just the everyday economy,” said DeSantis. ESG policies were enforced by “elites” in financial institutions to push “woke” political agendas which did not not prioritise financial interests.

    Which brings us back to Nigel Farage and Coutts. The 40-page dossier which Coutts compiled on Farage reads like the infantile scribbling of a politically-aggrieved students’ union rather than the thoughtful conclusion of mature bankers who know that their job is giving their clients good service and treating them fairly while making money for shareholders.

    The bank’s Wealth Reputational Risk Committee admitted that the ex-Ukip leader was a commercially viable customer, but there is something a bit whiffy about him, don’t you know, something that might offend the delicate and inclusive nostrils of Dame Alison. Farage is considered “racist” and “xenophobic”, apparently because he retweeted a Ricky Gervais joke. Disgracefully, the report states he is a “disingenuous grifter”. A subjective character judgment which belongs in fiction not business.

    Do we suspect that Coutts is likely to have more than a few unsavoury clients “not aligned with our values”? A Chinese tycoon who puts Uyghurs in a concentration camp, perhaps? An Iranian potentate who authorises the mass hanging of gay people and disappears ex-wives in the concrete foundations of his new palace? For them it could well be, “Tea or coffee, Mr Mass Murderer, do you take sugar?” But a Brexit leader who commanded the votes of millions and now hosts a hugely popular show on GB News – Ugh, let’s show him the door!

    Home Secretary Suella Braverman is right to say the Coutts scandal exposes the “sinister nature” of the “diversity, equity and inclusion industry”. The Farage farrago will undoubtedly lose the bank clients. Serious wealth does not like publicity.

    “It may score Brownie points with the Islington dinner-party circuit who are not Coutts’ customers anyway,” observes my source, “but it will lose a whole raft of landowners who are naturally conservative, and families who have banked with Coutts for generations. They will be horrified. ‘Why on earth should my political views influence the holding of my account?’, that will be their attitude.”

    So why are our banks and other financial institutions in the grip of EDI, a self-righteous, quasi-Communist ideology which despises so many of their clients?

    One of the UK’s most senior bankers tells me he prefers to call it DIE. “As in so many parts of our society, the religion of DIE (EDI) is pervasive. In the corporate world, CEOs have Stockholm Syndrome or they are just weak and are told by their DIE officers that they need to sign up to this stuff or their customers (particularly the young ones) will go elsewhere. It’s the same with ESG. It is all b——- (if that is not now considered a misogynist term!). Hopefully, we have reached peak b——-.”

    Have we? Perhaps Farage’s clash with Coutts will mark a watershed. An emergency law is set to be introduced to prevent banks “cancelling” account holders. The Government needs to do that quickly. Banks which do not protect the free speech of customers could lose their licences, and rightly so. How dare bankers in their fifties behave like teenage Maoists with other people’s money.

    On a wider level, those of us who thought that the “culture wars” were just something waged by Leftie teachers or right-on theatre groups will have realised that the woodworm of woke is gnawing away at the foundations of all our institutions. People need to wake up to woke. The dangers that EDI and ESG pose – to our international competitiveness, to our economic success, to freedom itself – are profound.

    “Sometimes,” says the senior banker, “I want to give up and see how long this millennial generation can manage without destroying everything our civilisation has achieved over the last 400 years.”

    I know how he feels. The sheer idiocy is debilitating. Posh middle-aged bankers fancying themselves as climate change activists and trans-champions is embarrassing. (Focus on the day job, love!) But we have to keep fighting the good fight for the sake of our children and grandchildren. We just have to.

    Thomas Coutts must be spinning in his grave. He was always prepared to bank anyone, especially those who were being persecuted and even went to Paris at the height of the French Revolution to help beleaguered aristocrats. Would Coutts have considered Nigel Farage’s money to be as good as the next man’s? You can bank on it.ENDS

    £5.25 million a year wages ….

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  44. MarkyMark says:

    Boats on the doorstep

    boat%20(2).jpg

       5 likes

  45. StewGreen says:

    The thing about dismissing political opponents by using the smear label Conspiracy Theorists
    is that sometimes conspiracies do happen
    Ask Farage

    Previously the Guardian used this headline
    “There’s nothing a Brexiter loves more than a good conspiracy”

       12 likes