- “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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First! And good morning to one and all!!!!!!!
Oh wait a moment, we don’t do that any more? Well – Nth – and good morning one…
Seriously, dig out that old password, or get a new one, or find a few quid down the back of the sofa – whatever it takes, please come back – we’re missing you! And do at least keep reading. I wonder if admin/ Toby Young could do anything about this to explain it to people if some are finding it difficult? There may have been issues over the years, but for some of us, the btl comment has been the best part, and they have made a fantastic contribution. 87 comments or so yesterday – obviously a lot less than in the past, but not completely dead by any means, and I hope this will gradually increase. Please don’t give up on us just yet. From my point of view, the only thing that has significantly changed is the calendar on the right of the screen to find specific dates. This can still be done via the archive (see top of page) even if it does take longer. And similar articles are now grouped together there, which should theoretically make it easier to find something you are interested in.
Yes there’s a cost to commenting, but only the price of a pint of beer in some places for a whole month. I’m not rich or a computer expert but have managed, so it is definitely possible. I look forward to hearing from you all soon.
To be honest, my guess is that Toby et al. aren’t all that keen on all the BTL activity. I wonder if they see it as a big hassle to administer and feel it makes the DS less serious.
If they wanted to promote reader comments, they should have a little comment icon on each news item box indicating the number of comments so far on that news item. It would show readers at a glance where there is some BTL activity.
Impossible to know unless they tell us. But let’s have it right though. We have been allowed to post pretty much what we want, and that’s good enough for me. There are sites these days – too many sites – which would delete comments or ban people for giving their honest opinion about things, and regardless of whether they meant to be offensive. We have genuinely been able to give a broad range of opinions on here without fear of censorship, and I thank Toby for that. Toby posted that he is not going to censorship content at the behest of advertisers, so there is a genuine commitment to freedom of expression.
I may be biased as I joined his Free Speech Union prior to lockdown, but I fancy I’m right on this at least.
“To be honest, my guess is that Toby et al. aren’t all that keen on all the BTL activity. I wonder if they see it as a big hassle to administer and feel it makes the DS less serious.”
If that’s the case he could simply remove comments altogether or ban people he doesn’t like or remove posts he doesn’t like, but he hasn’t done any of that. Charging people to comment seems odd but sort of makes sense – commenters are likely to be the more committed DS readers – it’s the casual punter he doesn’t want to put off. Some commenters are value-add so arguably should get it for free, others probably get more out of it than they put in (me included no doubt).
I just think TY was in a an awkward position, £5 a month is cheap if you believe that DS has an important role to play in the battle against the clown world, comments will slowly pick up, and maybe advertising will fill the gap (though many advertisers will not want to be associated with literally Hitler).
My comment isn’t just speculative.
The first version of Lockdown Sceptics had just the one comment section for the each day. And I know for a fact that the editors were not entirely happy with how the comments section was going. I’m not sure whether the shift to a comment section per news item made things easier or better for them, but I know they were hoping it might.
This third iteration, charging for the right to comment, makes me think it wasn’t and that they’re perhaps hoping paying commenters will be more sensible and civil in their comments and less needing of moderation and management. This last bit, I am speculating.
I’m sure the editors can set me straight here if I am totally off the mark (and they care enough to comment
Turns out my speculation was off and they really would like all the commenters back – at 16p a day.
That definitely has to be the cheapest therapy on offer!
Hope everyone makes their way back on.
Except maybe Fingal…:-)
“Seriously, dig out that old password, or get a new one”
Are you suggesting that there’s been a cull?
I’m suggesting, as seems entirely plausible, that some people may have lost their old password and not be able to remember it. It seems I may be in a minority knowing mine by heart…
Morning.
we certainly can still do Good Mornings….hello from an absolutely beautiful sunny Whitby his morning…just got back from a lovely dog walk….
I have faith that people will return….the thing is I read ‘sceptics’ for at least a year before I dared post anything…and many of those posters left a long time ago…I still miss the fiery doom and gloom type posts that Chaos used to leave!! There have always been changes.
I think that Covid has lost it’s immediacy for many people, and sometimes it’s hard to keep saying the same things over and over…maybe after a bit of a break people will return in full vigour!? I really hope so….but until then I suppose we few will have to keep going and if someone, like me, is reading and hasn’t commented…please join us…..
I’ve happily signed up to make a small monthly donation. But I must say, although I’m sure I’ll get used to it, I prefer the old format of the site.
I’m missing all the comments as well …. and the information which was shared via links etc.
Give it time. Anything is better than nothing.
Good morning!
Do you really think these CCP nutjobs are going to meet their 2049 targets?
Well good morning to everyone who remain on here.
Thankfully the subscription will have stopped the likes of EF and fingal posting on here.
Let’s hope the comments sections pick up a bit.
Good morning Judy.
We can but hope. In the mean time, let’s make the best of it. It’s not all bad…
Good old “Titania McGrath! It must be getting hard to parody the woke mob these days…
Should be “Titania McGrath”!…
They entertain platinum violence?
sacrosong 2 fr. stan at DuckDuckGo (3:40)
Let’s have it right though. There was plenty of good will towards them when they got married. If that has changed now, it is entirely down to their attitude. They have opted out of the royal family, apparently because it is too much bother. That is their prerogative of course, but they can’t expect everything to be the same, and nor should anyone else, including these loony left republicans from the “United States”. (And fair play to Toby, he probably won’t ban me for this!).
For reference: Here’s the original article.
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/racism-outshines-platinum-jubilee
But that’s really just a not very well written and fairly short flamebait. The one thing to remember here is that the people who are so keen on lecturing the world about its racism and savage, bloody and oppressive history live on continent whose native population was first decimated by their ancestors via savage, genocidal warfare and then forced into an Apartheid arrangement similar to the former Bantustans of South Africa, most of which took place after slavery was abolished in the USA. Obviously, criticizing the Americans of today for this is obviously as nonsensical as blaming the Brits of today for actual or perceived misdeeds which happened under British rule in the past.
The one thing to take away from this is that people like Nina Sharmer (the author of said flamebait) are simply sworn enemies of everything-European and should never be regarded as anything else. They have nothing positive to offer, to no one, not even to those on whose behalf they claim to be speaking. These are also just set pieces who must not step outside of the roles they’re supposed to play in the drama that’s supposed to be staged.
Allegedly…
Flipping disgrace that it was ever advertised in the first place. Given what we know, it is a minimum requirement for we here that Stabbit Jabbit’s “Conservative” party apologise for such human rights abuses and promise not to do it again. Instead, we are threatened with more of the same. Absolutely disgraceful.
The real question is not about the Deputy Director, but is there a Director in post, and why..?
There is indeed! Haroona Franklin is the Director.
The job advert has been pulled.
Savage has not said the job has been pulled.
Civil Service jobs and how they are filled:
The more senior positions have somebody ear-marked for them before they are advertised. The purpose of the advert is to show it was free and open to all comers but its just a box ticking exercise.
Whoever has been given the job may well have a different title but be employed to do the same “work.”
How did today’s “scheduled maintenance” go then?
The Covid Pass job advert has indeed been pulled the web – it was a pleasure to see Sajid Javid embarrassed, but I fear it is going to take a bit more that to stop the covert policy.
And it was a pleasure to see & hear what Mark Steyn said about it all last night on GBN. Apparently the offered salary for the job was £71K per year.
4 billion quid up in smoke…
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jun/10/4bn-of-nhs-covid-ppe-to-be-burned-as-it-is-unusable-says-committee-report
I would have thought that they’d want to hang onto this so we are prepared for the next plandemic.
I hope they’ll be capturing all of the carbon that is emitted from this useless junk.
It would have been quicker to just buy it and then dump it in the sea (where billions of useless face masks ended up)
But somebody turned a nice profit from the plebs’ taxes.
I seem to recall a few weeks back some guy in parliament laughing as he was saying it was £8.7bn worth of PPE to be burned.