- “The farmers remain polite – but they are furious” – In the Telegraph, Madeline Grant captures the simmering rage of Britain’s farmers.
- “First Labour MPs raise concerns over impact of IHT raid on farmers” – Labour MPs have raised concerns over the effect of the Treasury’s tax raid on family farms for the first time amid a growing backlash, reports the Telegraph.
- “BBC Verify confuses acres for hectares in farm tax ‘fact-check’” – BBC Verify’s £3.2 million crack squad just had to correct their farm tax “fact-check” after confusing hectares with acres, notes Guido Fawkes.
- “Starmer claims BBC has backed him over inheritance tax raid on farmers” – Keir Starmer’s claim that the BBC backs his inheritance tax raid on farmers has sparked accusations of bias, reports the Telegraph.
- “Labour fantasists want us to believe it’s the farmers who are imagining things” – At this point we’re used to make-believe from a party whose chancellor thinks she ran a bank when she actually manned the tills, says Tim Stanley in the Telegraph.
- “How retail chiefs turned on Rachel Reeves” – Labour’s relationship with high street bosses has started to sour after a brutal Budget for business, write Hannah Boland and Lucy Burton in the Telegraph.
- “Fibbing Reeves has taken us for fools – and it’s backfiring spectacularly” – Despite her CV inexactitudes, the Chancellor might still cling on because of Labour’s paucity of alternative talent, writes Annabel Denham in the Telegraph.
- “Reeves claimed she was economist on official form – despite removing it from LinkedIn” – Rachel Reeves is under pressure to come clean about her employment history after appearing to have exaggerated her experience, reports the Telegraph.
- “Policing chief under fire for defending force’s handling of Allison Pearson row” – The policing chief at the centre of the Allison Pearson row is facing a backlash after defending his force’s decision to investigate the Telegraph journalist, says the Telegraph.
- “Police force records 1,500 non-crime hate incidents in just two years” – Essex Police have recorded 1,500 non-crime hate incidents in just two years while failing to answer non-emergency calls “swiftly enough”, reports the Mail.
- “Police force at centre of Allison Pearson row did not investigate controversial imam” – Essex Police, the force at the centre of the Allison Pearson row, has not investigated a controversial imam who called for “Zionists” to be destroyed, says the Telegraph.
- “‘My week from hell shows that the Britain we love and trust is gone’” – This must once again be a fair and free country with a police force that solves actual crimes instead of imaginary ones, writes Allison Pearson in the Telegraph.
- “The police must not be censors – it’s time to scrap NCHIs for good” – The existence of NCHIs has created a dangerous precedent: that expressing a view, even in good faith, can lead to a police record if someone, somewhere, decides to take offence, says Suella Braverman in the Telegraph.
- “Top prosecutor: I had no idea what non-crime hate incidents were” – According to the Times, Britain’s top prosecutor “had no idea” what non-crime hate incidents were and “had to look them up”, as he cast doubt on their usefulness.
- “Welcome to thought-police Britain” – Kafka predicted our age of petty tyranny, writes Mary Harrington in UnHerd.
- “Winter fuel raid will push up to 100,000 pensioners into poverty, Government admits” – The Labour Government has admitted that an extra 100,00 pensioners will be plunged into poverty following Rachel Reeves’s decision to cut the Winter Fuel Payment for millions, reports GB News.
- “Scottish Labour pledges to bring back winter fuel payments” – Scottish Labour have promised to go against the national party and reintroduce the universal winter fuel payment for pensioners, says Sky News.
- “Guardian staff vote in favour of strike action over Observer sale” – The Guardian is braced for strike action after journalists voted overwhelmingly in favour of a walkout in protest over plans to sell the Observer to a loss-making startup, reports the Telegraph.
- “Migrant who defied several attempts to deport him raped 15 year-old girl” – An asylum seeker who defied numerous attempts to deport him has admitted raping a 15 year-old girl, says GB News.
- “Nigel Farage is right to talk about British Muslims” – Nigel Farage claims that British Muslims are just as concerned, if not more, by the threat of Islamist extremism, writes Rakib Ehsan in the Spectator.
- “Jews and gay people should hide identity in ‘Arab neighbourhoods’, says Berlin police chief” – Berlin’s police chief has warned that Jews and gays should avoid disclosing their identities in “Arab neighbourhoods”, where there are “sympathies for terrorist groups”, reports GB News.
- “Now even Justin Trudeau knows that immigration has broken Canada” – Migration has spiralled under Trudeau’s leadership, and the political backlash has been immense, writes Michael Taube in the Telegraph.
- “Ukraine uses U.S. missile in Russia, Kremlin warns of ‘nuclear response’” – Ukraine has carried out its first strike on Russian territory with U.S.-supplied long-range missiles just days after the Biden administration gave Kyiv the green light despite fears it could escalate the conflict beyond control, according to the Mail.
- “Moment freed Hamas hostage confronts UCLA student behind protests” – A former Hamas hostage has confronted the leader of a university protest camp, sharing how she was beaten and sexually assaulted by her captors, reports the Mail.
- “Australia’s misinformation Bill dead in the water” – Critical support from independent senators for the Australian Government’s controversial misinformation Bill has collapsed completely, writes Rebekah Barnett on her Substack.
- “Britain is eating itself to death” – If you are going to pick out one reason why Britons have shorter lives than others in Europe, it does seem that diet is the place to start, says Ross Clark in the Spectator.
- “Why e-scooters could be legalised (even though they’re a road traffic nightmare)” – In the Telegraph, Ben East argues that the Government must legislate e-scooters swiftly and strictly, or risk chaos on roads and pavements.
- “Starling Bank staff resign after new chief executive calls for more time in-office” – Staff have resigned at Starling Bank after its new chief executive demanded thousands of workers attend its offices more frequently, despite lacking enough space to host them, reports the Guardian.
- “Government ignored senior scientist over lockdown assessment” – A senior architect of the original British pandemic plans revealed how the Government ignored his request to see its lockdown risk assessment – until eventually admitting it hadn’t done one, according to Collateral Global.
- “The billions upon billions wasted on useless face masks” – How were unaccountable civil servants and posturing politicians able to pour billions of pounds of our cash down the PPE drain? asks Paul Stevens in TCW.
- “The MHRA and Covid vaccines surveillance” – On the TTE Substack, Dr. Tom Jefferson and Prof. Carl Heneghan expose glaring inconsistencies in MHRA’s vaccine safety monitoring for pregnant women.
- “Huw Edwards ‘tried to groom’ pupil and gave him tour of BBC newsroom” – According to a new documentary, shamed newsreader Huw Edwards tried to groom a teenage musician after seeing him perform in his school uniform and offered him a personal tour of the BBC, reports the Mail.
- “Everything is racist nowadays… and here’s an A-Z to prove it” – In the Telegraph, Michael Deacon has compiled a list of the many, many unlikely things that have been accused of promoting white supremacy.
- “Why Band Aid could be cancelled: stars distance themselves from single” – Bob Geldof has defended the revival of Band Aid 40 after backlash from critics who claim the “colonial” Christmas single perpetuates harmful stereotypes about Africa, reports the Mail.
- “The missing investigative report at Pretoria Girls” – On his School Capture blog, Richard Wilkinson exposes a flawed inquiry into Pretoria Girls, sparked by allegations of racism, where dubious claims and a secretive process raise serious questions about the Gauteng Education Department’s true agenda.
- “‘I want to watch people who know what they are talking about, not influencers’” – In the Telegraph, the doyen of football broadcasting Jeff Stelling discusses why he had to leave Sky and who should replace Gary Lineker on Match of the Day.
- “The 80s: Photographing Britain review — a drab show ruined by jargon” – In the Times, Laura Freeman skewers ‘The 80s: Photographing Britain’ as a dreary Tate Britain show bogged down by sociology jargon.
- “Republicans move to ban first trans congresswoman from using female bathrooms” – A House Republican has moved to ban the first transgender congresswoman from using female bathrooms in the U.S. Capitol, according to NPR.
- “Trump’s latest pick vows to ‘dismantle’ the ‘censorship TV network cartel’” – Donald Trump has appointed an author of the controversial “Project 2025” blueprint and critic of broadcaster “bias” as the head of the communications regulator, reports the BBC.
- “‘Trump dance’ sweeps worlds of golf, soccer and MMA” – The President-elect’s signature dance moves have been taken up by sports stars celebrating on the field, reports Cameron Henderson in the Telegraph.
- “CBS ‘edits out’ NFL player’s Trump dance celebration” – CBS has come under fire after furious NFL fans accused the network of editing out a player’s Donald Trump-inspired celebration, according to the Mail.
- “‘I’m not your mate!… I think you’re a lefty, liberal, woke idiot!’” – On X, the arrogant leftist James O’Brien gets utterly destroyed by a farmer named Charlie on his LBC show.
"I'm not your mate! I hate you. I think you're an idiot! I think you're a lefty, liberal, woke idiot!"
— Lee Harris (@addicted2newz) November 19, 2024
You have GOT to listen to this. Arrogant leftist, James O'Brien, gets utterly destroyed by a farmer called Charlie.
Magnificent! pic.twitter.com/6Hv3g1Gzib
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Tuesday Morning (Sylvia’s Birthday)
London Rd & Portsmouth Road Camberley
Our biggest response ever
Out in the rain and snow, just like being a farmer.
Many happy returns Sylvia
Keep up the good work
Ukraine uses U.S. missile in Russia, Kremlin warns of ‘nuclear response’
Russian warnings about escalation seem a bit silly.
Russia has received weaponry and ammunition in quantity from its own supporters, even before the entry of North Korean soldiers.
North Korea has sold Russia hundreds of ballistic missiles and millions of rounds of ammunition. And it is now reportedly supplying Russia with self-propelled howitzers and multiple rocket launchers.
Iran has supplied Russia with thousands of Shahed drones, drone production technology, ammunition and short-range missiles.
China sells Russia around US$300 million each month in dual-use equipment necessary for weapons production, from machine tools to microchips. Russia may even have set up a military drone factory in China.
‘Andrey Gurulev, reservist Russian army general, hardline MP, and pro-Putin TV propagandist, warned of a full-scale nuclear strike on Britain to show the dictator’s intent.
‘There are individual targets that can be hit with….demonstrative warning strikes,’ he said. ‘The first candidate to get a nuclear bludgeon….is the UK.’
The level of ‘debate’ is not high
‘….only servicemen from Nato member states would be able to “input flight missions into these missile systems’
Except that Ukraine is already using its own domestically produced missiles that require the input of flight missions.
In a spirit of helpfulness:
Programming missiles for dummies
Use Windows compatible mapping function on laptop to design route to target
Download route onto USB stick
Input route via USB stick/port into missile targeting software.
Noddy’s Guide to Negotiations:
‘If he [Putin] refuses to talk, Washington can… provide more weapons to Ukraine with fewer restrictions on their use. Faced with this pressure, Mr Putin will probably take the opportunity to wind the conflict down.’
The Russian President knows very well that, for all his propagandistic claims, Russia is in fact not at war with the West, and bringing this war onto his head by targeting western bases or infrastructure – as the US intelligence suggested he might – would be extremely risky for a country that has so woefully underperformed on the battlefields of Ukraine.’
https://www.economist.com/by-invitation/2024/11/02/china-is-the-big-winner-from-bidens-foreign-policy-say-michael-waltz-and-matthew-kroenig
Noddy may have got this bit a little wrong:
‘Putin may well decide that it is safer to swallow his pride and pretend nothing has happened. After all, it would not be the first time that his bluff has been called.’
Putin will definitely do something….
So Big Ears’s advice is:
‘Hey everyone, don’t put your underpants in your hold baggage next time you go on holiday.’
You seem well informed on these matters, can you confirm whether or not Russia managed to shoot down the first wave of ATACMs missiles sent from Ukraine into Russia? Also I have heard is said that each ATACMs missile costs around $1 million, is that about right?
If Russia is shooting them down and they do cost that much then this must be the most expensive clay-pigeon shoot in history!
I only know what I read in the public domain from sources that I judge know what they are talking about. There are some alternative views with different sources. That is one of the strengths of this site.
Reuters say that Ukraine targeted the arsenal of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defence in the city of Karachev, Bryansk Oblast. Two of the six ATACMS were shot down. That seems plausible to me because one of the shortcomings of advanced Russian air defence is that their systems take some time to reload. That, added to the fact that they are thinly spread, makes it likely that they could only intercept a small number of the incoming missiles.
You will, quite rightly, make up your own mind.
Forbes say one ATACMS missile cost circa $1m at time of manufacture. These missiles supplied to Ukraine will be nearing the end of their shelf life so their write down cost is, frankly, minimal.
You seem to be getting right off on this conflict…
Yes, and as one DM commenter said about Tiny Tatar threatening to drown the British Isles in a “Radioactive Tidal Wave”:
“It’s strange, it’s taken almost 3 years and 750,000 military casualties to NOT win a Three Day War against a country with 1/10th of their population and 1/10th of their armaments, but they can destroy Europe in minutes! It’s a plane, it’s a plane!”
Oh dear, North Korea again? Russia dependent on foreign supply of materials or manpower? I hardly think so, with the Russian defence industry producing at full speed 24/7. A defence industry, furthermore, belonging to the state and not forced to suffer from over-pricing (US/UK) or competing national ideologies (EU). I am sure Russia welcomes support from its allies but Russia can be justifiably proud of its own industrial prowess and creativity. Does the West still not have any hypersonic missiles?
The IMF has now also concluded that Russia is the number four economy in the world after China, USA and India, having overtaken both Japan and Germany. Russia is experiencing an unprecedented economic boom while Germany and the EU are in free fall.
As for your ‘missile programming for dummies’, you appear to be living in a long-gone past.
And Putin continues to show enormous restraint despite your ridiculous claim that he is not at war with the West: Ukraine would have capitulated two years ago if it had not been constantly fed money and materials to fight against Russia. And USA is promising another $7 billion before the end of Biden’s term. I am sure the US tax payers would have nothing better to do with that money …
And how easy it is to belittle Putin’s restraint, with all the silly taunting from the western hawks. But “Putin is aware that an outgoing senile despot who doesn’t care if the world burns behind him may seek to start WWIII, and that Zelensky may see his final two months’ chance to provoke Russia into overreacting. As such, it’s best for Russia to do nothing, and continue grinding the offensives which are destroying Ukrainian lines everywhere.” (simplicius76@substack.com)
I’m not your mate!… I think you’re a lefty, liberal, woke idiot!
The puzzlement here is that, even for O’Brien and those like him, the maths is not complicated.
Minimum size of viable arable farm: 600 acres
Average price of land: £10,000/acre
Inheritance tax threshold, at best: £3m
Percentage of viable arable farms affected, even before taking property and equipment valuations into account: 100%
Just how dumb are these people?
Oh! And why are land values so high?
‘One of the largest farms to be sold in the South West for some time has recently completed.
Launched in May last year, Siblyback Farm on the edge of Bodmin Moor in Cornwall has 970 acres of grazing and cutting land in a ring fence.
It was bought by Oxygen Conservation, which owns and manages several sites across England and Scotland and has a mission to address the climate crisis and biodiversity collapse by protecting and restoring natural processes.
Oxygen says Siblyback Farm’s position in one of the UK’s Atlantic rainforest zones means that its climate is sufficiently rainy and mild to allow temperate rainforests to thrive.
Its plans for the farm include launching Cornwall’s largest woodland creation scheme, restoring temperate rainforest and revitalising upland habitats ranging from wet heath and grassland to blanket bog.’
https://www.fwi.co.uk/business/markets-and-trends/land-markets/whats-behind-the-rise-in-farmland-sales-in-2024
‘Oxygen conservation’?
Here he is:
‘Imagine being given £40m to start a business with little stipulation around a return on investment. This is what has happened to Rich Stockdale, who set up Exeter-based Oxygen Conservation in April 2021 with significant funding at his fingertips from the get-go.’
‘From the get go…….’: https://www.oxygenconservation.com/team/
And who gave him the money ‘from the get go’?
Here he is:
https://www.drmarkdixon.com/
Oh! He does modelling! That’s worked really well on covid, foot and mouth, the climate……..
Let’s all grow grass for butterflies and ship in our food from really stable places thousands of miles away like Ethiopia where they really like us……..
What could possibly go wrong?
“I can’t breathe…”
Grauniad journalists going on strike, and nobody will even notice.
Can they be encouraged to make it permanent?
Stephen Parkinson is an English solicitor and former barrister, who has been the DPP and head of the CPS since 2023 …
“has said that he “had no idea” what non-crime hate incidents were and “had to look them up” recently”
These people live on a different planet, this is a man at the head of our legal services! I suppose I shouldn’t expect any different considering who one of the earlier occupants of this position was, 2TK. It obviously doesn’t require someone possessed of common sense or common decency, or any knowledge of how the government, police and judiciary are treating the citizens of this country.
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/law/article/top-prosecutor-i-had-no-idea-what-non-crime-hate-incidents-were-bclqwm2pf
“Why e-scooters could be legalised (even though they’re a road traffic nightmare)”
…but surely if we can save one human life…
I would have loved to have had one of these when I was young. I would, no doubt, have been a complete menace. But then again I got sworn at by a copper for speeding on my pedal bike. I was sure I was immortal then – so no surprise there have been fatalities on electric scooters.
I’m sure we should make them legal to own and use and It will be interesting to see how the government regulates (and taxes) these things. I have no doubt that they will want to insert themselves between the businesses that make these things and the prospective owners. We sure as Hell can’t ask the Plod to start clamping down on the illegal use of the things, they’d have to stop reading social media.
For deaf old gits like me they’re an added difficulty – but not a lot more than irresponsible kids on pedal bikes.
“For deaf old gits like me”
“What’s that sonny?”
Totally agree by the way
The batteries are unstable though – E-scooter on charge bursts into flames before a huge explosion – YouTube This film is from the London Fire Brigade.
My wife was almost hit and likely would have bveen seriously injured or kiled. She made the mistake of thinking that a green light for her on a pedestrian crossing, when al cars had stoped, made it safe to cross. Unfortunately a scooter rider made the same assumption of superiority and priority and just carried on at full speed – my wife steped back just in time.
These are a menace everywhere except in play areas set aside for the purpose.
Very glad to hear your Mrs was OK. Pedal bike riders jump red lights too. I think the problem is the irresponsibility of the riders – not the machines they’re using.
Holding them responsible when they screw-up would be my preferred option. Otherwise we’d have to be talking about mandatory registration, identification, licensing and insurance.
Farmers, taxes, Southport, immigration, energy prices etc etc
The anger of the nation is palpable
The only ones who have no understanding of it are the ones in charge!
“Police force records 1,500 non-crime hate incidents in just two years”
999
“Hello, police, someone is breaking into my house, I can hear them downstairs!”
Plod:
“calm down love, you didn’t say anything to offend them, now or in the past did you?”
“What?, help me, send help”
Plod:
“Here’s a crime number, ..do you have a twitter account? We’ll have to check that!”
I had never heard of James O’Brien, before. He seems to assume the PM’s interpretation of the new IHT rules are correct whereas numerous tax specialists have said otherwise. He also assumes the dying farmer is male and has a spouse.
I guess his pay is more than the £30k pa (with no pension) which the farmer reported and he wil not have to pay IHT to get his son or daughter into journalism, which seems to have become as much a hereditory occupation as politics.
“Britain is eating itself to death”
Well now, there’s a good reason to close all the farms! Stop the bast@rds eating and they’ll slim off a bit!
You elitest wa#k€r!
“Despite her CV inexactitudes, the Chancellor might still cling on because of Labour’s paucity of alternative talent, writes Annabel Denham in the Telegraph.”
…talent” in the Labour Party?
If we distilled the talent of all 402 Labour MP’s we still wouldn’t end up with one single, competent entity.
“Nigel Farage is right to talk about British Muslims”
Yes. Unfortunately what he is saying is bollox. We cannot live with muslims in our society, they want to destroy Christianity and Christians ie Britain and its people.
Us or them.
“Jews and gay people should hide identity in ‘Arab neighbourhoods’, says Berlin police chief”
Translates as:
Mother to her 17 year old daughter
” your not going out like that, cover yourself up, if you get raped it’ll be your own fault!”
21st century Germany
A quick anecdote about a shopping trip yesterday
Myself and the wife had just finished putting the shopping in the car when a woman across the narrow street shouted
“Hello” to the wife and the wife replied “hello” the woman paused for a second and asked the wife “are you not Catherine?”
The wife said ” no sorry I’m not”
The wife had apologised for not being someone else!
A teacher I had at school once tripped over a chair and apologised to it!
Why do some lefty woketards insist that white Irish and British are racist or supremacist?