451 Responses to Midweek 6th September 2023

  1. Emmanuel Goldstein says:

    Saw this on FB and it made me laugh.

    Can anyone help me out, I have some gold to buy sell or repair but don’t know where to turn. I live in South Wales !

       17 likes

    • Deborah says:

      I’m still worried about Brenda and her friend Maureen. Have they needed to use their funeral policies?

         12 likes

  2. MarkyMark says:

    The Labour Party received more donations than the Conservatives in Q2 of 2023 – even with CCHQ bringing in £5,000,000 from Frank Hester. Labour raked in £10,510,260, 4% more than the Conservatives on £10,510,260. Labour’s biggest donors were Lord Sainsbury (£3,000,000) and Gary Lubner (£2,200,000) whilst the Tories also got a million pound boost from hedge fund boss Alan Howard. No sign of Dale Vince, this quarter.

    The overall total of political donations this quarter was £24,438,482. Almost double the figure from the same period last year. We’re entering an election year…

    order-order.com
    ………………

    The Labour Party received more donations than the Conservatives in Q2 of 2023 – even with CCHQ bringing in £5,000,000 from Frank Hester. Labour raked in £10,510,260, 4% more than the Conservatives on £10,510,260. Labour’s biggest donors were Lord Sainsbury (£3,000,000) and Gary Lubner (£2,200,000) whilst the Tories also got a million pound boost from hedge fund boss Alan Howard. No sign of Dale Vince, this quarter.

    The overall total of political donations this quarter was £24,438,482. Almost double the figure from the same period last year. We’re entering an election year…

       10 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      MM: “The Labour Party received more donations than the Conservatives in Q2 of 2023”

      Wot no Lineker?

         2 likes

  3. MarkyMark says:

    A scheme that paid the heating bills of some NHS patients last winter has indicated that those taking part visited their GP less often.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66728800

    paid the heating bills of some NHS patients
    paid the heating bills of some NHS patients
    paid the heating bills of some NHS patients

    …………………………….

    NHS is now your life!

       10 likes

  4. BRISSLES says:

    Bring back Darren Mcaffrey. Stuttering Chris Hope (clearly mates with all GBN presenters) is an uncomfortable watch. Darren was absent for months so Olivia Utley stepped in. I wonder what went on behind the scenes.

       11 likes

    • Deborah says:

      I get the feeling that Christopher Hope is a bit too keen to take Labour’s view on things.

         8 likes

      • Doublethinker says:

        Yes he is. I thought that when he appeared with Nigel Farage in the pub garden with an anti ULEZ group of the public he looked so very uncomfortable . Being so close to a potentially mutinous group of protesters, well the wrong sort of protesters , seemed to put him on edge if not scared the pants off him.
        I’m afraid that in the past year the GBN team h membership has taken a big stride to the conformist hyperglobalist tendency, Hope, Portillo, Tominy , Mogg are all members of the same political culture and are happy to spout the approved narrative or something approaching it. They don’t have a right of centre radical thought between them. Oh for the days when Mark Styne punched hole after hole in the hyperglobalist elite narrative.
        I wonder if this is the price of compliance to keep on the right side of OFCOM.

           7 likes

  5. Flotsam says:

    “UK rejoins EU science research scheme Horizon”

    What an absolutely stupid thing to do. Science has always been an international enterprise, Europe is only a part of the world of science. I’m absolutely sure that if joint European/UK research was proposed it would have happened anyway

    Are we going to get more money for UK research than it puts in? Of course we won’t
    Gesture politics at its most nauseating.

    After Brexit, the European Medicines Agency in London was closed and moved to Amsterdam at a cost of millions. The EU has plenty of £Billions to throw around of course. Why the EMA was set up in one of the most expensive locations in the UK in the first place is a mystery until you realise the EU has plenty of other people’s money to waste.

    The UK was excluded from the EU GPS system, Galileo, after Brexit even though we contributed £1.2Bn to it. Nice people

       19 likes

  6. digg says:

    Scottish Police are pondering not investigating burglaries in the future as the conviction rate is too low. This apparently will leave them more time to concentrate on hate crime, especially online.

    As an added bonus they will now be able to do this remotely so no need to trundle into the police station any more, they can do it while sitting in their pyjamas or in their sun loungers in the garden.

    So get broken into and lose your stuff and you can whistle but say something they don’t like on twitter and they will be along to break your door down in a trice!

    Oh, and don’t even think about leaving a baseball bat handy by your door as hitting an intruder with that could send you down for a spell.

       19 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      2017 … Government’s new online hate crime hub given just £200,000
      This article is more than 5 years old
      MPs and campaigners criticise Amber Rudd for allocating modest amount, taken from existing budgets, to escalating problem

      https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/oct/14/government-criticised-for-low-funding-level-to-tackle-online-hate

         3 likes

    • Doublethinker says:

      The advice given to me thirty years ago by a serving police inspector was to keep a hammer and tool box handy. If you needed a weapon use the hammer and claim that you had used the tool box the day before for a bit of DIY. This made successful prosecution for hitting an intruder Much less likely than if you used something like a baseball bat or cut down snooker cue as in the latter cases the prosecution would claim that there was premeditation involved but they couldn’t do that if the hammer was there by chance.

         14 likes

      • Scroblene says:

        I’ve long had several wooden ‘Fish Platters’ dotted around the house…

        They’re made from hardwood, shaped like a fish – doh – and are used for presenting a small trout on a plate to guests when they dine with us!

        Their other use is that they’re kept behind curtains, by the front and back doors, and a few other places, like under our bed, so that when we get the chavvy pikey thieves come knocking, a few belts over their greasy lids will decide them to bugger off sharpish – if they can get up that is!

        It’s an odd way to eat trout, but we like it…

           7 likes

      • G says:

        And while out shopping? If you are arthritic, carry a spray of Ibuprofen for, ‘Instant Relief’ on the move………….

           2 likes

  7. MarkyMark says:

    A serving Metropolitan Police officer has been charged with six counts of rape, one count of making threats to kill and a count of breaching a non-molestation order.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-66737880

    ConservativesLawOrder2020Statues.jpg

       5 likes

  8. MarkyMark says:

    On any given day, strolling down an Indian street, you will encounter billboards featuring Bollywood stars endorsing various products.

    But over the past year, posters for the G20 summit have cropped up in every corner of the country. They are taped to electricity poles and stuck behind tuk-tuks, and have been showcased on massive LED screens.

    The posters prominently display India’s official G20 logo, featuring a globe nestled within a blossoming lotus – a design that has drawn comparisons with the symbol of the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Accompanying them are photos of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    The message that the government wants to send is that India has arrived on the world stage.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-66682770
    ………………

    The message that the government wants to send is that India has arrived on the world stage.

    The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), which distributes aid, sent India £33.4 million in aid cash in 2022/23. But the FCDO’s annual report, published this week, reveals that the total is set to rise to £57 million in 2024/25.18 Jul 2023

    The message that the government wants to send is that India has arrived on the world stage.

    India’s Economy Has Enjoyed Benefits of Cheap Russian Barrels. The simple driver remains price. According to official figures, in June, the average cost of Russian crude landing on Indian shores including freight was $68.17 per barrel, the lowest since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.11 Aug 2023

    The message that the government wants to send is that India has arrived on the world stage.

    India, which is the world’s sixth largest economy with a GDP of USD 2.7 trillion, is currently classified as a developing nation. India is expected to grow at over 7% in the current fiscal year ending in March 2023 – the fastest among major economies.16 Aug 2022

    The message that the government wants to send is that India has arrived on the world stage.

    FS9MWf3agAIoUQC.jpg:large

       3 likes

  9. MarkyMark says:

    “But there is another side to the beautification drive. Temporary cloth walls have been erected in front of many slums to hide them from view and, in some cases, residents have been relocated. Beggars have been evicted from the heart of the city – it’s not clear where they have been moved to.”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-66682770

    Temporary cloth walls have been erected in front of many slums to hide them from view

    Temporary cloth walls have been erected in front of many slums to hide them from view

       4 likes

  10. Terminal Moraine says:

    Not BBC but a snapshot from the ever blossoming world of ‘fact checkers’ and what a sorry state they’re in:

    Snopes declare a claim that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded genetically modified mosquitoes and released them in various locations a mixture of truth and falsehood.

    A mixture… because “Bill Gates is not himself releasing mosquitoes into the wild.” Right. He’s not taken a Greyhound bus to Tallahassee with a jar full of insects, got it. However, it comes with a slight caveat, because the Gates Foundation is funding biotech company Oxitec to develop GM mosquitoes, who did release 150,000 of them over Florida. However, “the company told Snopes that this particular project was not funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.” And that counts as good enough for the ‘experts’ to muddy the waters.

    I note that the original article had judged the claim to be true. It was only after — in Snopes’ words — “receiving further clarification from Oxitec” that they were able to adjust their rating accordingly.

    Yet raising the issue of the incompetence of science journalists these days, and undue influence on research and academia from corporate interests is lazily referred to as conspiracy theory.

    https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/bill-gates-release-gmo-mosquitoes/

       15 likes

    • Terminal Moraine says:

      And while we’re at it, here’s the fact checker. I’m detecting a bit of a pattern with our new world order truth-bearers.

      Madison%20Dapcevich.jpg

         14 likes

      • digg says:

        Imagine, coming out of UNI and looking at a career in the media or acting (much the same thing) your BBC interviewer tells you that you look perfect to slot into their fact-checking (AKA official misinformation department).

        You are wheeled out to a nice location, dressed to look as much like an activist as possible, your hair is tousled and click, you got the job.

        Your interviewer then tells you that they will send you a copy of the next investigative report to have a quick look over before they run the story and away you go!

        You are a misinformation agent already!

           16 likes

    • Flotsam says:

      Ah! Bill Gates.

      The man who invented computing.

         6 likes

      • moggie63 says:

        I am under the impression that computers, such as they were, worked well before Bill Gates?

           12 likes

      • BigBrotherCorporation says:

        Bill Gates, the man who created the monster that is Microsoft, he has never invented any THING in his life, certainly NOT computers!

        Yet, like Musk, he gets lauded as some kind of ‘genius inventor’, when he started out as nothing more than an oily salesman with wealthy backers, no moral qualms, and an overwhelming desire to get rich, no matter what.

        “When I started Denholm Industries I had just two things in my possession, a dream, and the six million pounds my father gave me.”

           14 likes

  11. Thoughtful says:

    Never seen any of this reported on the BBC nor have I heard the question asked, if they can do this then why do we need to provide such luxury?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/08/30/belgium-stop-providing-shelter-single-male-asylum-seekers/

    Belgium has said it will no longer provide shelter for single male asylum seekers in order to prevent women and children from being left on the streets this winter.

    Shelters in Belgium have been overwhelmed by a high number of migrant arrivals compared to other EU member states, ministers have said.

    “Our country has been doing more than its share for a long time,” said Nicole de Moor, the secretary of state for asylum and migration. “This is really not going to continue. This year there are 19,000 registered asylum seekers in Belgium compared to 1,500 in Portugal, a country with a similar population.”

    Note that Belgium is a fellow signatory both to the asylum treaty and to the Human Rights convention so the rules which apply to us also apply to them.

    If this far Left cowardly Blue Labour government had any backbone it would force the judge who made this decision to defend it in the European court, and if he lost, to be responsible for the costs. It would soon prevent liberal left wing judges making ridiculous decisions which were unsustainable.

       22 likes

  12. Terminal Moraine says:

    One more step towards the revolution… “Liga F strike: Spain’s top-tier women footballers to walk out over pay and conditions”

    If there’s one thing the BBC like more than women playing football it’s women not playing football because they’re demanding equity.

    https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/66737831

       19 likes

  13. Flotsam says:

    Want to know what’s wrong with Britain?

    Employment Law. Including minimum wage, unfair dismissal, equal pay etc etc

    Employment Law was supposed to protect employees from bad employers. Funny that. It must be the case that the Government including Local Authorities seem to be subject to more Employment Law action than other employers look at Birmingham City Council, approaching bankruptcy due to an equal pay tribunal case. This is despite the fact that the Council will have a full scale HR department. A big thumbs down to the Council but another thumbs down to the legislation which is either not properly understood or properly drafted.
    Birmingham City Council is only the tip of the iceberg. Every Council in Britain deals with large numbers of employment Law cases. Much of it driven by far left Union agitators. Many cases are settled out of Court due to ridiculous legal costs.
    The overall cost to the Country if just LA cases alone is probably £Billions.

       13 likes

    • Thoughtful says:

      It’s the equal pay act, where some numpty attempts to equate one job with another to arrive at an arbitrary score for the job, and then uses that to try to suggest a Dinner Ladies job is equally difficult as a Bin man.
      And I do mean that term man because 99.99% are men and pretty similar for dinner ladies.
      It is because of this direct arbitrary scoring that Birmingham has been found wanting.

         14 likes

      • atlas_shrugged says:

        Equal pay the dream goal of feminists will be achieved when everyone earns zero.

           9 likes

        • Scroblene says:

          Add to that the disgraceful payoffs for failure we give to ‘chief executives’.

          https://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/jun/15/kent-councillor-katherine-kerswell-payout

          Kent have a lousy record for stuff they aren’t capable of organising, and this just sticks in my craw!

          Our county council is one of the highest spongers of public money in the country and spends it on useless crap which is derided everywhere. This useless woman was given the equivalent of nearly two thousand poll tax demands for being an absolute twatess for just eighteen months!

          No doubt she’s up there doing the same rubbish somewhere else; they all do this, move on before they’re found out, and get accepted by the next gullible county or local authority.

             5 likes

  14. MarkyMark says:

    “It means people of all ages could be affected, putting the NHS at risk.”

    putting the NHS at risk.
    putting the NHS at risk.
    putting the NHS at risk.

    HA HA HA HA!

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66730779

    The Gods in the NHS cannot be made to look after it’s people – the people should sacrifice themselves on the altar!

       5 likes

  15. micknotmike says:

    The usa have decided to send shells tipped with depleted uranium to ukraine. The bbc have an article about it. If I knew nothing at all about these controversial armaments, I would read the bbc item and learn that “It is considered considerably (sic) less radioactive than natural uranium.”. Well that’s ok then. I’m reassured that the radioactivity doesn’t cause horrific mutations in newborns, both of the civilian population and the yet-to-be-conceived children of anyone sitting next to the shells in a tank for days on end.
    Do yourself a big favour and don’t search to see what grotesques have been born in Iraq over the last few decades.
    It’s a bit like saying napalm is completely harmless as long as you don’t get in the way.
    Bias? No, propaganda.

       18 likes

    • JohnC says:

      … and don’t forget mick how they told us that the cluster bombs the USA have sent (banned in over 100 countries) will actually SAVE civilian lives by ending the war quicker.

      Not sure how that will work as the offensive has failed.

      The MSM have utterly failed their journalistic ‘ethics’. But we learned that the BBC only have them when it suits them long ago.

         13 likes

  16. Thoughtful says:

       8 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      “It is growing (gang r*pe culture), there’s no doubt about that. A large amount of the growth in my view is about raised awareness.” – Cressida Dick @1:40 {youtube}

      “I don’t think this was a phenomena (gang r*pe culture) that was invented in the last few years. It really wasn’t. It’s been part of our society probably for centuries and centuries and centuries. It’s hard to really know exactly what is really going up and what is changing. ” – Cressida Dick @2:38

         4 likes

  17. JohnC says:

    Ex-soldier terror suspect on run accused of working for Iran
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-66728340

    How absolutely typical BBC is this story ?.

    Nowhere in any article do they tell us what this man is a ‘terrorist’ for. After all, the definition of terrorism means he has a political goal he did it for.

    Then the ‘Politics Live’ video discussing the problem which plays in the article has 3 women and 2 black males !!!!.

    The BBC is broken beyond any possibility of repair. They absolutely do not represent the people forced to fund them (except in Londonistan, Birmingham and Manchester of course).

       23 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      from 2017 … Religious infiltration almost complete …
      USA 2009
      On November 5, 2009, a mass shooting took place at Fort Hood, near Killeen, Texas, (USA). Nidal Hasan, a U.S. Army major and psychiatrist, fatally shot 13 people and injured more than 30 others. The shooting was the worst mass shooting on an American military base.

      Berlin, Germany 2016
      https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/arrested-german-spy-was-a-onetime-gay-porn-actor–and-a-secret-islamist/2016/11/30/57c44f1e-e068-4307-8ddf-848fda772306_story.html?utm_term=.588ffcb2ec1b
      Arrested German spy was a onetime gay porn actor — and a secret Islamist {washingtonpost nov2016}
      “BERLIN — Two weeks ago, German intelligence agents noticed an unusual user in a chat room known as a digital hideout for Islamic militants. The man claimed to be one of them — and said he was a German spy. He was offering to help Islamists infiltrate his agency’s (In April 2016, the man began working for the BfV, assigned to monitoring potentially violent Islamists in Germany.) defenses to stage a strike.

      Agents lured him into a private chat, and he gave away so many details about the spy agency — and his own directives within it to thwart Islamists — that they quickly identified him, arresting the 51-year-old the next day. Only then would the extent of his double life become clear.

      It’s not only a rather bizarre, but also a quite scary, story that an agency, whose central role it is to engage in counterespionage, hired an Islamist who potentially had access to classified information, who might have even tried to spread Islamist propaganda and to recruit others to let themselves be hired by and possibly launch an attack”

      USA 2017 (no lessons learnt)
      US Army names Muslim chaplain spiritual leader of 14,000 mostly Christian soldiers {jihadwatch feb2017}
      “Army Lt. Col. Khallid Shabazz, a Muslim chaplain, has accepted the job of handling the spiritual affairs of 14,000 mostly Christian soldiers.”

      … find this Muslim Chaplin,Khallid Shabazz, on youtube …
      “The Koran says don’t let the hatred of a people move you to deal with people unjustly. The Prophet Mohammed beheaded people who were extremely unjust to him. {youtube mar2015}”
      – Army Lt. Col. Khallid Shabazz, March 2015

      – Current US Chaplin (feb 2017), who is Muslim, in charge of spiritual guidance of 14,000 Christian soldiers says beheading is OK under Islam!

      https://biasedbbc.org/blog/2017/07/31/start-the-week-open-thread-135/comment-page-2/#comment-856436

         4 likes

  18. MarkyMark says:

    … find this Muslim Chaplin,Khallid Shabazz, on youtube …
    “The Koran says don’t let the hatred of a people move you to deal with people unjustly. The Prophet Mohammed beheaded people who were extremely unjust to him. {youtube mar2015}”
    – Army Lt. Col. Khallid Shabazz, March 2015

       2 likes

  19. JohnC says:

    Period trackers to be reviewed over data concerns
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-66740184

    ‘The ICO says survey evidence indicates many users worry about how secure the data they share is, and how transparent app developers are being.’

    I kid you not : this is what the BBC consider to be front page news.

       10 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      2018 .. Fitness tracking app Strava gives away location of secret US army bases
      This article is more than 5 years old
      Data about exercise routes shared online by soldiers can be used to pinpoint overseas facilities

      Latest: Strava suggests military users ‘opt out’ of heatmap as row deepens
      Alex Hern
      @alexhern
      Sun 28 Jan 2018 21.51 GMT

         4 likes

  20. MarkyMark says:

    Shadow governments …

    Sanna Marin, the former Prime Minister of Finland who made headlines last year for knowing how to bust a move, has announced she’s quitting frontline politics to join the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change as a “Strategic Counsellor”. She joins the ranks of over 450 staff at the Institute, which will have already spent the last week popping the champagne over Labour’s reshuffle. It is an enormous operation with deep pockets.

    order-order.com

    The Tony Blair Institute confirmed that it had received donations from the U.S. State Department and Saudi Arabia.

    …..
    A man without morals: Laid bare in our devastating series by a top investigative writer, the sickening truth about how Blair’s made MILLIONS from doing dirty deals with dictators
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3470377/Blair-MILLIONS-doing-dirty-deals-dictators.html

       6 likes

  21. MarkyMark says:

    maxresdefault.jpg

       5 likes

  22. MarkyMark says:

    chatgpt-grills-rishi-sunak-bill-gates-in-an-interview.jpg

       3 likes

  23. MarkyMark says:

    Payments to Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation

    Click to access Payments-Bill-Melissa-Gates-Foundation.pdf

    “The total amount of payments made by the Department for International
    Development to the Bill and Melissa Gates foundation in each year since 2008.
    If this is not possible then please send me the information for each year since 2010.”
    DFID holds information relevant to your request. Much of this information is exempt
    from disclosure under Section 21 (1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as it is
    already reasonably accessible from DFID’s Development Tracker.
    Details of funds DFID paid to the Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation from 2011 can
    be found in the “Transactions” section of the following projects:
    DFID-Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) Strategic Agricultural Research
    Collaboration Portfolio
    Improving countries’ health financing systems to accelerate progress towards
    universal health coverage
    Harnessing Non-State Actors for Better Health for the Poor (HANSHEP) – including
    two transactions each valued at £992,371 and marked as a ‘Correction’ dated 10
    March 2014.
    HANSHEP African Health Markets for Equity (AHME)
    Developing Evidence Base for Delivering Sustainable and Value For Money Water,
    Sanitation and Hygiene Services.
    Total payments made by DFID to the Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation prior to
    2011 were as follows:
    2008: Nil
    2009: £75,561
    2010: Nil

    …………..

    DFID-Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) Strategic Agricultural Research Collaboration Portfolio

    https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/projects/GB-1-202044/transactions/

    £34,130,279

    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation N/A GB-1-202044-102 03 Dec 2014 £1,567,647
    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation N/A GB-1-202044-102 25 Mar 2015 £2,900,066
    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation N/A GB-1-202044-103 10 Aug 2016 £2,290,924
    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation N/A GB-1-202044-103 19 Sep 2016 £914,537
    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation N/A GB-1-202044-101 07 Mar 2011 £6,500,000
    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation N/A GB-1-202044-101 07 Mar 2011 £660,000
    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation N/A GB-1-202044-101 15 Nov 2011 £1,000,000
    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation N/A GB-1-202044-101 04 Apr 2012 £3,968,253
    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation N/A GB-1-202044-101 04 Apr 2012 £47,627
    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation N/A GB-1-202044-101 31 May 2012 £2,768,850
    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation N/A GB-1-202044-101 20 Feb 2013 £1,231,150
    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation N/A GB-1-202044-101 20 Feb 2013 £1,106,680
    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation N/A GB-1-202044-101 12 Nov 2013 £2,793,320
    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation N/A GB-1-202044-101 12 Nov 2013 £1,073,320
    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation N/A GB-1-202044-101 15 Jan 2014 £1,184,878
    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation N/A GB-1-202044-101 15 Jan 2014 £-10,032
    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation N/A GB-1-202044-101 02 Sep 2014 £1,678,261
    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation N/A GB-1-202044-101 09 Jul 2015 £781,680
    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation N/A GB-1-202044-101 03 Sep 2015 £337,940
    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation N/A GB-1-202044-101 07 Dec 2015 £1,114,880
    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation N/A GB-1-202044-101 12 Feb 2016 £220,298

    Improving countries’ health financing systems to accelerate progress towards universal health coverage

    https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/projects/GB-1-202918/transactions/

    £16,523,720

    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation N/A GB-1-202918-104 06 Jan 2014 £520,110
    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation N/A GB-1-202918-104 16 Oct 2015 £259,640
    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation N/A GB-1-202918-104 15 Dec 2015 £992,550

    chatgpt-grills-rishi-sunak-bill-gates-in-an-interview.jpg

       4 likes

  24. MarkyMark says:

    NOT FAKE NEWS – A MISTAKE!

    “Reporting Scotland
    BBC One Scotland, 29 August 2023

    The programme featured a graphic displaying the worsening position of alcohol-related deaths in Scotland. The figures for each year were all clearly and accurately displayed. We do, however, agree that the graph should not have been shown with uneven steps on its axis, and have reminded the programme team of the importance of clarity when reporting statistics.

    30/08/23”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/helpandfeedback/corrections_clarifications

    “have reminded the programme team of the importance of clarity when reporting statistics” – corrections never get seen, the original data has made it’s impact.

       4 likes

  25. MarkyMark says:

    Shapps says ‘difficult decisions’ to be made on pace of net zero commitments
    The Energy Secretary warned he would be aiming to avoid putting ‘people under the cosh’ with the pace at which green policies are introduced.
    Nina Lloyd
    Thursday 13 July 2023 19:24

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/grant-shapps-government-parliament-climate-change-committee-rishi-sunak-b2374856.html

    …………………..

    BAN ALL NON PRODUCTIVE THINGS ….

    Name of donor: UK Music
    Address of donor: Savoy Hill House, 7-10 Savoy Hill, London WC2R 0BU

    Amount of donation, or nature and value if donation in kind: Two tickets to British Summertime Hyde Park, plus refreshments, total value £533.90

    Date received: 6 July 2019

    Date accepted: 6 July 2019

    Donor status: company, registration 3245288

    (Registered 22 July 2019)

    https://www.theyworkforyou.com/regmem/?p=11917

       4 likes

  26. Eddy Booth says:

    Medication-time.jpg

       2 likes

  27. Richard Pinder says:

    foepnjnwyamkfgl.jpeg?w=800

    Tory Sheep with a loony left-wing Prime Minister dressed in Sheep’s clothing.

    Loony left-wing Tory Government Proposes Legislation to Criminalise Disagreeing With Net Zero: https://expose-news.com/2023/09/07/behind-their-green-mask-the-government-proposes-legislation-to-criminalise-disagreeing-with-net-zero/

    Loony left-wing Tory Government will use the Energy Bill to Authorise “Reasonable Force” to Install Smart Meters that Allow Authorities to Turn Customers Energy On and Off: https://dailysceptic.org/2023/09/07/energy-bill-authorises-reasonable-force-to-install-smart-meters-that-allow-authorities-to-turn-customers-energy-on-and-off/

    Loony left-wing Tory Government will use the Energy Bill to take your home away from you: https://expose-news.com/2023/09/07/net-zero-zealots-will-use-the-energy-bill/

       13 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      Richard, it is not the smart meter that enables the Utility Co. to ‘switch you off’, it is the sender units in the gas meter and in the electricity meter that facilitates that ‘switching off’.

         7 likes

  28. Sluff says:

    Can I presume that the finest plod in the country, looking for the terrorist prison escapee, will be taking a look at Sad Dick Khans ULEZ ANPR system.
    It takes regular pictures of everything, an Orwellian surveillance society. Surely it can find a man in red-checked trousers at 8 am in the morning.

       17 likes

    • Scroblene says:

      I’ll have you know that my jim jams are sometimes the same colour and shape, given the occasional bulge, so if plod comes a-knocking, do I have to prove that I was long within the arms of Senora O’Blene at the time, (officer), and that my car is a petrol dynasty Golf, with new rear coil springs – as of yesterday (bugger it, another £220 down the swanee), so it couldn’t have been me…

      The diminutive mare has a limited time in his leftie crowded office, and revenge will be sweet when he’s kicked out!

         12 likes

  29. Philip_2 says:

    Bankrupt Birmingham shows that Labour still can’t manage money
    “BBC News at Six blames “the Conservative Government ” every time it finds something to criticise, but when it reported Birmingham City Council’s bankruptcy, it never once mentioned that it is Labour-controlled”.
    DW (letter to the editor) today.
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2023/09/07/letters-bankrupt-birmingham-shows-labour-cant-manage-money/#comment

    Although we know how the BBC ‘blanks-out’ any news that does not fit its own narrative, The Guardian does not censor the news, and reports it SUPRISINGLY far more ‘in-full’ than the BBC ever does. The BBC removes the ‘facts’ and replaces it with its own “news and opinion” (as that is the exact wording of the BBC Charter), its allowed – in law. BBC abuses that Charter daily. At the same the BBC time claims its ‘impartiality’ when its clear it has none at all. And we all know that to be true.

    Despite the BBC ‘exclusion’ its not difficult to find out why they hace omitted it. I can add that other councils are bankrupt also.

    Hackney Council, LABOUR
    in east London, was the first local council to issue an S114 notice in 2000. It would be the only council for the next 18 years to admit to a financial crisis and file an S114.

    Northamptonshire CONSERVATIVE
    Tory-run Northamptonshire declared effective bankruptcy in February 2018 and then again in July. The council was able to dodge a third insolvency later that year after it was allowed to use funds from selling its offices to avoid further financial setbacks.

    Slough LABOUR
    Labour-run Slough was looking at a £100 million black hole in its budget when it was forced to issue an S114 in 2021. At the time, the financial challenges were attributed to poor management.

    Thurrock CONSERVATIVE
    Tory-led Thurrock declared bankruptcy in 2022 after finding itself in a perilous financial position. The council had racked up a debt of £469 million.

    Croydon LABOUR
    In 2022, Croydon declared itself bankrupt for a third time with debts soaring to £130 million. A spokesperson for the Government said: “We have appointed an independent panel to address the significant governance and financial failings in Croydon and will continue to monitor progress to ensure the council delivers for its residents.”

    Woking LIBERALS
    In June 2023, Woking issued an S114 as it faced a deficit of £1.2 billion. Cllr Ann-Marie Barker, the leader of Woking Borough Council, said at the time: “My administration has been very clear about the huge financial challenges facing the council due to the legacy of inherited debt.

    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/uk-councils-which-declare-bankrupt-birmingham-b1105266.html

    Birmingham LABOUR
    As above. Birmingham is the biggest failure of the lot. Also the biggest failure in Europe, which is saying something.

    What possible reason could the BBC have from withholding such information?
    The reason of course is the new golden boy in the Labour Party who hope, beyond doubt that Tony Blair’s magic will rub off and a new dawn for the BBC TV license for another 100 years will come true. That and we can rejoin the EU again, although its clear, for many in the civil service, we never left. The BBC utopia of the elite by decree.

       23 likes

  30. Scroblene says:

    Nice one Philip!

    I wanted to do a similar post, but gave up the will to live, looking at all the failures these councils have become…

    Naturally, nobody really believes the Bbc’s account of events, they’re a lost soul looking for another entitlement…

       12 likes

  31. harry142857 says:

    High fives all around Broadcast House.

    September heatwave longest on record
    Published
    28 minutes ago
    A UK record has been broken for the number of consecutive September days reaching 30C (86F).

    A 30.2C reading in Northolt, west London, on Thursday means the mercury has reached at least 30C four days in a row.

    The previous September record was three days – in 1898, 1906, 1911 and 2016.

    The Met Office said that Thursday could also be the hottest day of the year so far, with a provisional 32.6C recording in Wisley in Surrey.

    If confirmed, it will surpass 32.2C registered on two days in June in Chertsey, Surrey, and Coningsby, Lincolnshire.

    Several other locations reported temperatures in excess of 30C on Thursday and the south-east of England could get 33C on Saturday, said BBC Weather forecaster Gareth Harvey.
    The heat is expected to last into Friday and for some the weekend as well, with heat slowly getting pushed further towards the south-east,” he said.

    The south-east of England could also get 31C on Sunday, he added, but further north will be cooler, with much of Scotland and Northern Ireland in the low-20Cs.

    ” He said there was a growing chance of some thundery showers in the north and west this weekend as winds switch to a south-westerly direction and pull in cooler, fresher air from the Atlantic.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66743788

       10 likes

    • Cooper_Man says:

      At the end of the article that harry142857 has posted, it laughably says “The world has already warmed by an average of 1.1C since the industrial era began and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make steep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions.”

      They could’ve said “The world has already warmed… since the end of the Little Ice Age (c. 1300-1850), but then that wouldn’t support their alarmist agenda would it!

         22 likes

    • Kaiser says:

      Coningsby lol

      how many jet engines this time

         4 likes

  32. Sluff says:

    NHS heroes update.

    The enquiry into the failures of Norttingham Hospitals maternity services has called in the Police.

    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/nottingham-maternity-cases-nottinghamshire-police-hospital-b1105527.html

    Just 1800 cases to review.

    Clap. Clap. Clap.

       13 likes

  33. Up2snuff says:

    BBC WEB-SITE Watch #1 – you wouldn’t be ‘politicising’ the Khalife escape, would you BBC?

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-66728340 Run down the Thread to 16.27 p.m. and you will spot the BBC Verify logo together with the question “Are fewer prisoners escaping under the Tories?” The BBC at their most despicable, trying to score points for Labour. Just didn’t work out did it, BBC!

       14 likes

  34. Up2snuff says:

    BBC WEB-SITE Watch #2 – you wouldn’t be ‘politicising’ the Kuenssberg, would you BBC?

    ” Laura Kuenssberg interview: ‘I’m happy to set the record straight – the ratings are in rude health’ ”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-66736572 via The Daily Telegraph https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-66736572
    The BBC’s ex-political editor on viewing figures, retaining her privacy, and her new show that looks at the country’s chaotic past few years. BBC being despicable all over again.

       7 likes

  35. digg says:

    BBC sob story…

    Oxford Uni lecturer can’t afford to live in Oxford! So commutes from Ireland!

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-66732639

    I read the story three times and still couldn’t understand why anyone would need to actually live in Oxford when as the story states that they only work for 3 days a fortnight at the UNI.

    The whole story has the recognisable odour of insider chit-chat. Just who did this lecturer break this sad tale to?

    A uni buddy within the BBC maybe?

    uh! -uh! a bit of googling brings up….

    https://www.tomwinnifrith.com/articles/16859/the-sad-decline-of-oxford-university-dr-jennifer-cassidy-on-the-us-constitution

    https://twitter.com/OxfordDiplomat/status/1501521760352616453

       11 likes

  36. tomo says:

    Siri show me a climate fool

    Front Bench material

       9 likes

  37. Dickie says:

       7 likes

  38. tomo says:

    Medal of Honour… most cannot imagine what it takes to be awarded one … (in truth I can’t) – one look at the guy left on the rostrum put a bit of grit in my eye…. just terrible.

       4 likes

  39. tomo says:

       10 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      #1 Impartial Mariana applied to work for the REMAINIAC newspaper the New European, editor Alastair Campbell
      circulation very low 20K

      #2 2023 despite always protecting fellow lefties The New European suddenly drop Mariana in the crap
      by saying she admitted to lying in her CV.

      Such stories can be damage limitation exercises.
      When people have a dossier on you and it’s hanging over your head, it can wise to neutralise the story by releasing it into friendly media
      So in future you can say, “that’s boring old news that has already been published”

         10 likes

      • StewGreen says:

        My friend Maxi points out that , Mariana didn’t apply to work at New European, it’s rather the New European who broke this story about her applying to work at a Russia agency

        I took my version from the way the TalkTV guy reported it , happy to be corrected.

           0 likes

    • harry142857 says:

      Thanks to Rich above. Three posts up ^^^^^

      Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

      News

      BBC’s disinformation correspondent and chief fact-checker Marianna Spring is accused of lying on her CV by falsely claiming to have worked with a Beeb journalist when applying for a job in Moscow.
      __________________________
      Marianna Spring, who has shot to prominence with her reporting on the way social media has been used to peddle false information, is facing the embarrassing allegation that she gave misleading information to try to secure work.

      According to a report, about five years ago Ms Spring was trying to get work as a freelancer in Moscow for US-based news site Coda Story, when the misleading claim was made.

      An article in The New European said that when she applied to the website’s editor-in-chief Natalia Antelava in 2018, Ms Spring claimed she had worked alongside BBC correspondent Sarah Rainsford on covering the ‘perception of Russia’ during the 2018 football World Cup.

      Her CV reportedly bragged: ‘June 2018: Reported on International News during the World Cup, specifically the perception of Russia, with BBC correspondent Sarah Rainsford.’
      Spring is said to have sent an email apologising for her ‘awful misjudgment’.

      She is said to have written: ‘I’ve only bumped into Sarah whilst she’s working and chatted to her at various points, but nothing more. Everything else on my CV is entirely true.’

      *****The young journalist added that she was a ‘brilliant reporter’ ***** and in their emails also admitted there was ‘no excuse’.

      She said her only explanation was her ‘desperation to report out in Moscow’ and thinking it would ‘wouldn’t be a big deal’, which she admitted was ‘naïve and stupid’.

      In the email exchange published by The New European, Ms Antelava told her: ‘Telling me you are a brilliant reporter who exercises integrity and honesty when you have literally demonstrated the opposite was a terrible idea.’

      The Coda Story boss, who is understood to have not proceeded with the job application, is said to have added: ‘I am sure if you use this as a lesson, things will work out.’

      Ms Spring, who was promoted to her disinformation and social media correspondent title in August last year, has worked for Panorama and has her own BBC podcast called Marianna In Conspiracyland.

      The BBC declined to comment this evening.

      The BBC declined to comment this evening.

      The BBC declined to comment this evening.

      The BBC declined to comment this evening.

      The BBC declined to comment this evening.

      😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

         12 likes

  40. tomo says:

    Some reap what you sow stuff in Minneapolis unlikely to feature on BBC Team America.

    chrome-0-OAy0-Xt-GNt.png

       8 likes

  41. tomo says:

    oops

       15 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      https://x.com/bbcworld/status/1700000527784813034?s=61

      https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-66716501?

      YouTube starts verifying health workers in the UK

      Getty meets Springster.

      This being bbc subbing I opened the link to find out what on Earth they were on about.

      “I’m able to talk about some of the embarrassing topics that women are often too embarrassed to talk about, that sometimes they were too embarrassed to even bring up in a consultation with their doctor.“

      Embarrassing.

      “The BBC has approached Meta and TikTok to ask if they plan to bring similar verification to their platforms.”

      If hilarious.

      Next, Pornhub verifying porn stars and bbc anchors?

         7 likes

  42. JohnC says:

    Daniel Khalife: No trace of prison escape terror suspect
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66737715

    So the news today is ‘no news, but don’t forget the story’.

    The BBC have this strange new desire to pick a story and run it as a headline every single day. It has always been about the Tories until this one which I find a bit odd – especially as it’s about enrichment.

    They are keeping all details of his terrorist motivations secret – and we all know why – with the only clue being that Iran is mentioned.

    The elephant in this room is how they are implying his only way out is to flee the country. What nonsense : there are tens of thousands of Muslims here who would be very happy to hide him and I’m sure he knew exactly where to go. A muslim will NEVER betray another Muslim to an Infidel. Even if they suspect something, they will go to their religious leader, not our police.

    But the BBC won’t go near that of course.

    I wonder how long they will keep using ‘We didn’t catch him yet’ as the main headline.

    I have to say that this story just doesn’t ring true for me. This guy planted bean tins with wires sticking out of the top to look like bombs. He didn’t even go up close and plunge a knife into someone as so many others have whose stories get dropped after a single article by the BBC. We have far, far worse living among us by the thousand.

    Something smells fishy about this : I sense there is more to this story than we are being told. Maybe the BBC just want to use it to attack the Government over the prison system. The BBC went looking to get this quote:

    ‘Nick Hardwick, former chief inspector of prisons, told BBC Newsnight the incident was “very serious”, because “whatever went wrong at Wandsworth Prison, it’s clearly a symptom of a much wider crisis… in the prison system as a whole, that ministers had been warned about repeatedly. But frankly the action they’ve taken has been too little too late”.’

       12 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      “… that ministers had been warned about repeatedly..” is a standard inclusion in any civil service press release shunting them being pants at their jobs safely to hapless political parties they know the bbc also hate.

      A panorama investigation on discriminatory hiring policies prioritising anything but ability, and employment protections ensuring the inept cannot be fired, might prove worthwhile. If unlikely.

         11 likes

      • JohnC says:

        BBC Panorama highlighting incompetence and bias in the civil service ?.

        Even I would watch that one. And as these people are the ones actually running the country, it would be far, far more important than all of the other agenda-based topics they go for put together.

        But as the civil service and the BBC have more in common than they have differences, it will never happen. OFCOM is stuffed with ex-civil servants.

           12 likes

  43. Guest Who says:

    Get your allegedly, apparently news here…

    https://bullsnews.blogspot.com/2023/09/chester-condemn-lucy-letby-chants-at.html?

    Tasteless, but footballfanism is innovative. Now, was the bbc involved? Of course.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-66739479

    “ Last month, new guidance was released by the Crown Prosecution Service around punishments for tragedy chanting.”

    Of course, the bbc is casting about for comment. Ratings, see.

    Anyhoo, last word surely must go to the appalled club story, which include this in the middle…

    “Chester lost 2-1 to Hereford thanks to second half goals from Lassana Mendes and a rocket of a shot from Aurio Teixeira.”

    Yay. BBC also pops in the score.

    Oh, and…

    “ Cheshire Police said officers present at Tuesday’s game had not heard the chant in question and that the force was awaiting an official complaint before investigating.”

    Panorama and Springster on the first flight West?

    ‘Reporting’ is now something else.

       15 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Football sponsored by Saudi Head Choppers is OK?
      Football sponsored by Chinese Re-education camps is OK?

         4 likes

  44. Guest Who says:

    https://x.com/jordanbpeterson/status/1700027094061694999?s=61

    Bob and employer part of the TNI?

       4 likes

  45. JohnC says:

    Ukraine could break through rest of Russia’s defensive lines by end of the year
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/09/07/ukraine-could-break-russia-lines-end-year-counter-offensive/

    This is a headline at the DT and of course is sourced from the US who have a massive stake in keeping the war going. The other sources I read on the internet tell me Ukraine have now thrown everything they have got into this offensive are are taking massive losses.

    Which is right ?. Time will tell.

    The article is not what is interesting though : it’s the same propaganda we have been seeing ever since we were first told Putin had cancer and was nearly dead.

    But what did shock me was the top rated comment:

    ‘Progress through the extensive Russian invaders’ defence in depth was always expected, by pragmatic Military analysts, to be slow, hard fought but ultimately successful.

    Only the delusional, the naive, the supporters of imperialism, the Weak and the ignorant believed otherwise.’

    WTF ?. That’s a troll comment written by a non-native English speaker. Top rated by the once great Daily Telegraph !. I suspect – like the BBC – people such as myself have simply disconnected from anything they have to say and left it to the bottom feeders.

    Our entire news media has completely lost sight of their journalistic ethics. I don’t see any ethics from any of them at all these days.

       16 likes

    • Thoughtful says:

      “the US who have a massive stake in keeping the war going”

      I don’t believe the US has any interest in keeping the war going, it’s only in the interests of a few corrupt Jews in Washington and Ukraine who are making hundreds if not thousands of millions of Dollars out of its continuation.

         5 likes

      • JohnC says:

        I personally think this is part of their longer term plan Thoughtful.

        They see a war with China as inevitable and know they cannot win if they have to take on Russia as well.

        This is all about destroying Russia and getting as many countries as possible into NATO before it starts.

        The absolutely massive corruption going on is just a cherry on the cake for the people you mention.

        The bit which I am still shocked about is that they have absolutely no problem letting hundreds of thousands of young Russian and Ukranian men getting killed in the process. And of course that the MSM are 100% complicit.

           10 likes

        • MarkyMark says:

          “There will be no ‘new world order’, only a world without order, in which pipsqueak failed states go nuclear while the planet’s wealthiest nations are unable to defend their borders and are forced to adjust to the post-American era as they can.”

          https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/after-america-get-ready-for-armageddon-by-mark-steyn/

          In the case of Britain and other European nations, this will mean turning away from the United States and subordinating whatever values they have left to those of Islam; for they will not only be dependent on Muslim countries for their economic survival but also in thrall to an ever larger population of Muslims at home. Meanwhile, in a United States that may disintegrate for lack of any binding purpose,

          ……………………..

          Premier League: UK urged to curb Gulf state ownership of football clubs
          Several rights groups write to Premier League and British government over Saudi, UAE and Qatari influence in English football
          https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-should-curb-gulf-ownership-football-qatar-saudi-uae-rights-groups

             6 likes

        • Dickie says:

          The whole disgusting debacle regards Ukraine and Russia is also about making as much money for politicians via the military industrial complex. Everyone gets a cut and the taxpayers of western countries pick up the tab. A great many of the public plebs would not have been able to identify Ukraine on a world map before the SMO began and most of the virtue signalling idiots have no idea of the history of that part of the world but are happy to fly Ukranian flags.

             11 likes

          • MarkyMark says:

            2016 … Iraq war contractor accused of inflating costs – but still holds Pentagon contract
            This article is more than 7 years old
            DynCorp, which held a contract with the US state department for training Iraqi police, is accused of defrauding the public by knowingly overbilling
            https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/19/dyncorp-iraq-military-contractor-fraud-pentagon

            ….
            Getting exact details of Blair’s wealth and business dealings was extremely difficult, Oborne said. But public speaking engagements alone had brought in £9 million for Blair, who was paid £240,000 for a single speech in China. In addition, just seven months after leaving office, Blair was hired as an advisor to the investment firm J.P. Morgan bank, for which he is paid £2 million per year, and has a number of other lucrative contracts.

            Tony Blair Associates (TBA), an international consultancy set up by Blair with significant dealings in the Middle East, is calculated to have earned £13.8 million in three years.
            https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2011/10/blai-o06.html

            £240,000 for a single speech in China

               4 likes

        • Rob in Cheshire says:

          JohnC:

          Amazing how the diabolical Americans managed to persuade Putin to invade Ukraine as part of this long term plan. I think it might just exist in your head.

             3 likes

    • tomo says:

      The DT had a piece a couple of days ago about that burning Challenger 2.

      The gist of it was “twas just a scratch – it’ll buff out”

      The MiniMax Fire Extinguisher company PR dept in full flow

         2 likes

  46. AsISeeIt says:

    Shades of mediocrity in this ballooning immigration edition

    Plus British All-Comers records

    Low brow left-leaning title the ‘i’ is emphatic: Hottest day of the year… in September 33°C forecast for weekend

    Meanwhile mid-brow leftist and proud title the Guardian must resort to authority so superlative claims thereabouts remain provisional: …the Met Office provisionally said was the hottest day of the year, with a high of 32.6C in Surrey

    It’s one thing just to remark that it’s hot…

    Some Like It Hot was the 1959 crime comedy movie directed, produced and co-written by Billy Wilder. It stars Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon.

    But to justify the weather’s claim to a frontpage news headline – to make it somewhere above and beyond the covers of bottom feeders the likes of the unashamed tabloid Daily Star – it seems needs be there must be some record-setting aspect to the weather.

    Apart from Jamaica’s Usain Bolt and his current now rather long-standing men’s world record of 9.58 seconds over 100 meters set back in 2009 there is of course the women’s 10.49 seconds set by Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988. Then there come a plethora of secondary records of note – European, British and Commonwealth, British All-Comers… wind assisted… at altitude… fast times ruled out due to failed dope tests… others subject to allegations of missed drugs tests… you get the point perhaps?

    99 Luftballons was originally a euro track sung by German band Nena which became a 1983 US and UK one hit wonder

    You and I in a little toy shop
    Buy a bag of balloons with the money we’ve got

    Rishi Sunak flew to New Dehli last night for the G20 summit (Telegraph)

    Tonight I’ll sing my songs again
    I’ll play the game and pretend
    But all my words come back to me
    In shades of mediocrity
    Like emptiness in harmony
    I need someone to comfort me

    Homeward bound
    I wish I was
    Homeward bound…

    Simon & Garfunkel, 1966, from the album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. New Yorker, Paul Simon expressing his homesickness experienced during a frustrating period of his early career in Britain.

    …Tory backbenchers on the Right of the party, who had feared the Government was preparing to offer major visa concessions… amid ballooning levels of net migration (Telegraph) – Mr AsI much prefers the term hyper-immigration. The word ballooning tends to imply there’s some immanent bursting point – and I’m sure there’s plenty more immigration these islands can accommodate if we all just budge up a bit – considering the dire need for a trade deal with India – afterall, it’s the net migration figure the Telegraph prefers to focus on here and there’s tens of millions of local Brits born and bred that might perhaps up and migrate abroad – just so as to make a bit more room and ease that net figure.

    India already receives the highest number of student visas of any country, and Mrs Braverman is separately concerned about an increase in illegal arrivals from India (Telegraph)

    Down with the kids

    From Our Own Correspondent from BBC Radio 4 was once the very watch word in foreign reporting…

    Toby Luckhurst, BBC News, Kyiv: So: how does a Friday night out work in a war zone? I went on a mission to find out… groups of young people have gathered here to play table tennis, drink beers, and relax with friends to a drum and bass soundtrack… Amir, Borys and Oleh founded ABO last August as a record shop. It’s since grown into a bar, club, and hang-out spot- a space for artists to relax and gather in war time…. mindful of the 10pm restrictions, we move on to the next bar: Vernissage. It’s a well-known hot spot in Kyiv, grungy and graffitied… “This is the best place for a party,” says IIia, a student from Kharkiv, whom we met at the bar. But he warns us: “If you hear the air raid siren, please very fast go to the shelter.”

    One question, Toby – Amir, Borys, Oleh, Ilia, plus other chaps mentioned in your report – Yaroslav, Kostiantyn, and his friend Diana – are none of them called up for military service?

       16 likes

    • BigBrotherCorporation says:

      “Hottest September EVA!”

      Maybe, who knows? I have a (reliable?) max-min (alcohol) thermometer which usually hangs in the polytunnel on the allotment (it does get really hot, and really cold in there at different times of year), and thought I’d hang it on the outside this week to see what the external temperature was.

      The hottest so far this week, here in the mid-West Country, was 28oC (I don’t see the point in quoting fractions of a degree – no equipment is accurate enough to record that reliably, certainly not my thermometer), the coldest night a rather chilly 6oC.

      The forecast for the weekend and beyond – temps around 23-24oC (daytime temp.).

      Hottest EVA!, nope, don’t think it’s any hotter than this time last year, pleasantly warm actually, and nice to enjoy a lovely Indian summer after one of the coldest, wettest summers (and springs, if you except a couple of lovely weeks in early June) I can recall.

      Must admit I was sweating a bit yesterday and wished it was a little cooler. The log man delivered our winter supply just after noon, and I had to barrow it all up our long garden (uphill too!) to the wood store at the far end, but we won’t be going cold this winter – unless the local council decide to make burning logs illegal, and send out the goons to arrest offenders like me, I guess.

         24 likes

  47. JohnC says:

    Rishi Sunak makes ‘historic’ G20 visit to India
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66747346

    ‘Rishi Sunak is flying to Delhi to meet world leaders – becoming the first prime minister of Indian heritage to visit the country.’

    The BBC think this is something to celebrate. I think it is a sign of just how far how country has fallen at the hands of the Left and the globalists.

    They have installed him by removing the opposition. Now he is going to lose the next election and let the Left take power again.

    The astute observer will note that THEIR leaders are always white males. But the BBC never mention that because they are complete hypocrites.

       23 likes