Larry’s Diary, Week Two Hundred And Sixty-Four

Monday

Wow, the cat is back, and, disappointingly, so is Legohead. It has been quite pleasant here in Number Ten without him. First, he was at Chequers; then he went to Madeira for some winter sun. I think it was really to avoid the British media and all the disasters his government is dumping on us. Did you see Legohead pushing to the front of a queue for an attraction and being shouted at by the people queuing? Unfortunately, he is too thick to realise it is not a good look for a Prime Minister to jump the queue.

I understand that I am perhaps a little lucky to have my scribe back today. His flight on Friday/Saturday arrived back in the UK virtually on time, but the Saturday/Sunday flights were disrupted by the weather, and several had to land in Ireland as snow closed runways in the UK. Of course, passengers were taken to hotels and given food and a bed, but an eight-hour flight from the Caribbean is bad enough; it must be horrendous to be dumped in Shannon or Dublin not knowing when you are going to get home.

There was a big row over the weekend about the lack of a public inquiry into grooming gangs. Jess Phillips wants a series of local inquiries, claiming that there has already been a national inquiry. However, the Child Abuse Inquiry was not specifically into Asian grooming gangs, and many of the towns where gangs were active were excluded. Also, local inquiries will be biased from the start, as they are bound to include the local police, councillors, and social workers who were all complicit in the first place. Of course, Legohead was also complicit as Director of Public Prosecutions when he chose not to charge gang members with rape, even when one 13-year-old was pregnant. My view is that there will not be an inquiry because Legohead is worried that he will lose seats to Islamists if there is one.

Legohead made another speech this morning, telling us how he is going to save the NHS. Apparently, he is going to make more appointments available by cancelling appointments! Then he announced assessment clinics, something that was introduced by the previous government and was already being put in place. I can suggest a couple of ways to improve NHS waiting lists: get rid of all the immigrants living in hotels and getting priority NHS treatment, and sort out the social services system so that it frees up NHS beds and hence queues.

Today is the last day for the current Archbishop of Canterbury as his resignation period finally runs out. But, unbelievably, Wokeby will continue to sit in the House of Lords and will be able to claim the full attendance allowance of £342 a day. What does he need to do to claim that money? He’ll just have to turn up and sign in. He doesn’t have to speak or even sit through a debate. It sounds like money for old rope to me. But the question I have is: now he is no longer a bishop, why is he still in the House of Lords?

I read that a painter has suffered a serious injury on board the still-under-completion frigate HMS Glasgow. The Type 26 frigate, which is being built by BAE in Glasgow and is currently afloat and being finished, was the site of an accident. Apparently, the painter fell down a flight of stairs and has suffered a broken back. As with any work site accident, there will now be a Health and Safety Executive inquiry to establish exactly what happened and where the responsibility lies.

WorthingGooner, Going Postal
HMS Glasgow under construction.
HMS Glasgow (52567292390),
Ian Dick from Glasgow
Licence CC BY-SA 2.0

Tuesday

Good morning, readers, and for once I have woken up to a nice sunny morning, but my, is it cold. After Legohead’s speech yesterday, I suppose I am a far-right cat because I think there should be a full national inquiry into the rape gangs. I can’t help but wonder who advised Legohead on what to say, as it was laughable—or was he just speaking off the cuff and saying what he really believes?

I had to laugh when it emerged that the Anti-Corruption Minister, Tulip Siddiq, has reported herself to the Prime Minister’s Standards Adviser over reports of her links to her aunt, Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted as Bangladeshi Prime Minister in August. Her aunt, other members of her family, and her political party are under investigation for receiving large sums of money in backhanders for placing infrastructure projects. This includes $1 billion for a Russian nuclear power station. Siddiq stood at her aunt’s side at the Moscow signing ceremony. It is reported that Siddiq lives in a luxury apartment provided free by her aunt’s supporters. Tulip Siddiq is said to be one of Legohead’s few close friends.

So, Mr Woke, Justin Trudeau, Canada’s PM, is standing down as soon as a new party leader—and hence future PM—can be elected, which will probably take three months. A general election is due in Canada by November, and Trudeau’s party is way behind in the polls, which are being led by the Conservatives. Looks like a case of a rat abandoning a sinking ship.

WorthingGooner, Going Postal
Going but not yet gone.
Justin Trudeau,
ycanada_news
Licence CC BY-SA 2.0

I have been reading several nightmare stories about people on cruises coming home to large mobile phone bills, even though they have not made any calls while on holiday. It seems that if the phone is not in ‘Airplane’ mode, it can still accept ‘push’ messages and adverts, which, unless you have an overseas calling plan, can cost you money. I know my scribe puts his iPhone and iPad into ‘Airplane’ mode for his entire holiday. Internet on ships is delivered via an on-board app that works with the phone in ‘Airplane’ mode. I read of one man who let his son watch videos on his phone and came home to a £1,000 bill.

Archaeologists have been taking the opportunity to investigate the Sizewell ‘C’ Power Station site before it is built on and anything potentially there buried under concrete for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. But the investigation has paid off, and a stash of silver coins has been unearthed. A cloth package was found containing 321 mint-condition silver coins dated between 1036 and 1044. The value of the coins in the 11th century was considerable, and the hoard must have belonged to a very rich man. Other finds on the site include an Iron Age cart axle and many artefacts from WWII.

Last weekend saw numerous train cancellations in the North of England due to snow. However, a number of these cancellations were not caused by snow on the tracks blocking the trains. Instead, it was because the drivers’ union, ASLEF, told their Avanti West Coast drivers it was against health and safety regulations for them to walk on a path to the train sheds covered by 2 inches of snow. These are the drivers who have recently received a huge pay increase and now earn £80,000 a year. Was it beyond the wit of man to get a few labourers out with brooms and shovels or to spread a bit of rock salt?

Amazingly, despite being years late and millions of pounds over budget, problems are still being found with the new CalMac ferry Glen Sannox. The ferry was due to enter passenger trials this week before going into regular service next Monday, January 13th. It seems there are issues with the sewage systems and several of the bridge instruments. CalMac say they hope to stick with the in-service date—we shall see.

Wednesday

Hi folks, it’s cold and grey in London today. It’s also PMQs, and if Bad Enoch doesn’t press with questions on the rape gangs, I will be most disappointed. I want to see Legohead squirm as he tries to cover up for the complicit Liebore councils, social workers, police, and his own actions as DPP when they sent out the circular claiming it was a “life choice” of the girls. He let the rapists off by charging them only with “interfering with children” who had clearly been raped.

So, the Tories are to try to force a vote on a child abuse inquiry today, and Legohead has threatened to impose a three-line whip to stop it happening. Liebore is running scared of an inquiry as it is obvious it will criticise the local authorities in most of the towns where the gangs are operating—and most, if not all, are Liebore-run. One other small thing is that since Liebore came to power six months ago, they have launched 67 inquiries—so why not this one? Well, they claim inquiries only delay decisions, something they have chosen to do 67 times.

I just heard that the SNP government in Scottishland has refused to officially accept the ferry Glen Sannox as it has not met the specifications for load capacity. It, and its sister ship Glen Rosa, had a specified dead weight tonnage of 878 tonnes but are only capable of 865 tonnes. The contract has a penalty for every tonne below that specified, so in effect, the government is seeking compensation from the shipyard that owns it.

It has also emerged that CalMac have insured the Glen Sannox for only £55 million, a fraction of what it cost to construct, which was several hundred million. In fact, the shipyard that built it, Ferguson Marine, had insured it for £150 million while it was still their responsibility. I suspect that £55 million is closer to the cost of a replacement ferry if not built by Ferguson.

Rolls-Royce Motors (a subsidiary of BMW) has announced that they are going to spend £300 million expanding their factory at Goodwood in West Sussex. They say that demand for their custom-built models is surging, and the current factory cannot keep up with demand as the production rate is only about 28 cars a day. This will be good news for locals as they expect to increase the number of employees from 2,500 to 3,500.

WorthingGooner, Going Postal
To be expanded.
Dull weather at Rolls-Royce plant, Goodwood.,
Supermac1961
Licence CC BY-SA 2.0

When Russia announced the MiG-35, it was billed as Russia’s answer to the American F-35, but in effect, it seems to have been a bit of a failure. The plane was essentially an upgraded MiG-29, with improved engines, electronics, radar, and sensors. However, at its core, it remained just an upgraded MiG-29. The Russians have tried to sell it to India, Egypt, Argentina, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Peru, Myanmar, and Vietnam, but so far, there have been no takers. It has been evaluated in competition with several Western jets and has consistently been rejected. Apparently, even the Russian Air Force is reluctant to adopt the aircraft, and at the moment, the only six production models are in service with the Russian equivalent of the Red Arrows. It seems to be more the equivalent of a poor version of the F-16, which is decades old.

I see another schoolboy has been stabbed to death in Sir Sad Dick’s London. I had to laugh when I heard on the radio this morning that the boy was described as “an inspiring rapper.” When is either one of those stabbed or doing the stabbing not a prospective rapper or Premier League footballer? This particular boy was due to appear in court for taking a machete to school. I want to know what Sad Dick did to earn his knighthood—was it for allowing all the stabbing to continue unhindered? I can think of people much more deserving of a title.

Thursday

Good morning, happy readers, and it’s another bitterly cold one. What an amazing state this government has got itself into. It imposed a three-line whip to force its MPs to vote against the Tory amendment to the Children’s Bill last night, which would have brought in an inquiry into the rape gangs. Having won the vote, it later emerged who had voted for and against. The interesting thing is that half the Cabinet abstained, including Legohead himself, the Ginger Growler, Robber Reeves, Wes Streeting, and the Tottenham Turnip. Is this so that, at a later date, they can claim they didn’t vote against an inquiry? Oh, I nearly forgot, the Limp Dumps also abstained.

So, the Treasury had to intervene in the gilts markets yesterday by selling off a load of debt. The situation in the markets is now considerably worse than when the Liebore Party liked to claim “Liz Truss crashed the economy.” Well, Robber Reeves has now crashed the economy even more badly than Kwasi Kwarteng, and the BBC is doing its best not to mention it. The country’s financial position is now a disaster as a direct result of the Reeves budget. Growth has collapsed, inflation is up, unemployment is up, the cost of government borrowing is up, house prices are rising faster than inflation, and food prices are projected to hit a 4.5% increase. Legohead still claims the Robber Reeves budget, “the first by a woman,” was a huge success. Well, I predict it could very well be the last budget for Robber Reeves.

WorthingGooner, Going Postal
Robber Reeves.
File:Official portrait of Rachel Reeves crop 2.jpg,
Chris McAndrew
Licence CC BY-SA 3.0

I see the government has finally shown some sense by quietly dropping its plan to ban the sale of gas boilers by 2035. The idea had been to force everyone to move over to electric heating or heat pumps. What makes me laugh is that domestic gas boilers are said to be responsible for 17% of British CO₂ output, which might sound a lot. But when you realise that the UK is only responsible for 1% of the world’s CO₂ output, 17% of 1% is next to nothing. You also have to realise that this would have been a ban starting in 2035, so it wouldn’t begin to reduce CO₂ until then, and only by a minute amount, as not many people replace their gas boiler in any given year. No wonder they’ve had second thoughts; it just isn’t worth the effort.

Under FA Cup rules, Manchester United are entitled to 9,000 seats at the Emirates for their FA Cup tie with Arsenal on Sunday. However, the area reserved for away supporters can only accommodate 8,000, so Arsenal made 1,000 additional seats available in the upper tier, above the away supporters in the lower level. It was then that the ‘Safety Advisory Group’ (SAG), which includes input from the emergency services and police, stepped in and said United couldn’t have the upper tier seats and that the allocation should be limited to the 8,000 lower tier seats. I understand that United suggested giving the 1,000 tickets to neutrals, like grassroots projects, but this has so far been refused by the SAG. It looks like there will be an empty bay in the upper tier at the Emirates on Sunday.

The Governor of the Russian region of Saratov, Roman Busargin, has confirmed an attack on the Kristal Oil Refinery in the city of Engels, 450 miles southeast of Moscow. Apparently, numerous Ukrainian drones breached the refinery’s defences and caused a huge blaze. This refinery is said to be very important to Russia as it refines jet fuel for the Engels 2 air force base, which is home to the Russian nuclear bomber fleet. Drones seem to be a preferred means of attack for both sides in this war, with both claiming large numbers are being deployed nightly to target locations in Russia and Ukraine. Of course, both sides claim large numbers of drones are being shot down, but many seem to get through each day.

Yesterday afternoon, a Boeing 737-700 owned by TUI Airways Belgium was parked at a gate at Brussels Airport when its nose wheel collapsed. The plane fell away from the airbridge, with the jet engines ending up just inches from the ground. The plane had flown in from Malaga and was in the process of switching crews for the return flight, so no one was on board at the time. What exactly happened is not yet clear, but the crew who flew the plane from Malaga said it had behaved perfectly normally while taxiing to the gate.

Currently, the Russian nuclear power company Rosatom is building a four-reactor power plant at Akkuyu in Turkey. The Rosatom-designed plant should eventually produce 4,800 MW of much-needed electricity for Turkey, but construction is being delayed because Siemens is refusing to deliver parts manufactured and paid for by the Russians. Apparently, the parts have fallen foul of sanctions placed on Russia because of the invasion of Ukraine. Rosatom says they have ordered replacement parts to be made in China and that they are going to sue Siemens for the additional costs. I can’t see how any international court would support Rosatom; their only possibility would be to sue Siemens in a Russian court, and I doubt Siemens would have agreed to such a clause in any contract.

Friday

It was quite chilly when I went out this morning, and it was very frosty under my little paws. I see that scientists have said last year was the hottest ever on record and broke the self-imposed 1.5°C limit. Well, that could have fooled me. I can’t remember it being particularly hot—in fact, I rather thought the opposite was happening. This year so far hasn’t been overly warm here in London; in fact, it has been bloody cold, but that doesn’t count with the scientists.

Some interesting information has emerged from our electricity industry after this week’s cold weather. On Wednesday, we were generating 53% of the nation’s power from gas-fired power stations, while Red Ed’s much-loved wind power was only responsible for 18%. The National Energy System Operator (NESO) faced a shortage of 1,700 MW between 4 pm and 7 pm and had to pay up to £5,000 per megawatt hour to fill the gap. Among the beneficiaries were several gas turbine power stations, including Connah’s Quay on Deeside and Rye House in Hertfordshire. Connah’s Quay is said to have been paid £6 million for those three hours, and Rye House £6.1 million for the same period. NESO says such measures are routine in winter and are used to ensure the national grid maintains a healthy electricity supply but fails to mention much of this is caused by the grid problems resulting from the intermittent power generated by wind and solar.

Over Christmas, China chose to unveil two prototype sixth-generation fighter jets to go alongside sixth-generation fighters being developed by the US (NGAD), the Anglo-Italian-Japanese GCAP, and the French-German-Spanish FCAS. Now, the Russians have announced that the Sukhoi Design Bureau has a contender and published what they claim is a picture. Unfortunately, they forgot to remove the logo of Grok AI from the bottom right-hand corner. Interestingly, Grok AI is the AI image generator owned by X! The picture looks like a three-engine version of the Su-27. One out of ten for trying.

I read that Starlux, the Taiwan-based airline, has just confirmed an option for five additional A350 freighters. It already had five of the A350Fs on order and operates around 26 other Airbus aircraft, including the A321neo, A330neo, and A350-900. So I guess it was always going to purchase A350 freighters when the only real alternative is the Boeing 777X freighter, which is still a long way from being ready for service. I see that Airbus eventually managed to deliver 766 aircraft in 2024, only a handful below its target of 770, while taking 826 orders. Meanwhile, Boeing managed to deliver just 340 aircraft because of strikes and the limits placed on production by the FAA.

WorthingGooner, Going Postal
Starlux A321.
B-58201 STARLUX Airlines Airbus A321-252NX Final Approaching TSA RW10 20191203-5(3×4),
Jeffhuang0627
Licence CC BY-SA 4.0

Sometime soon, expect to see the media full of news about Amazon’s Project Kuiper. What is it, you may well ask? It is Amazon’s equivalent of Elon Musk’s Starlink and OneWeb. It will comprise over 3,236 satellites launched into Low Earth Orbit, offering high-speed internet, and will be in direct competition with Starlink. Bezos’s Amazon launched two test satellites last year to prove the concept, and it seems to have done so, as Amazon has over 80 launches booked with Blue Origin, SpaceX, and Arianespace. I can only suppose that, as it is years behind its competitors, it will have something new to offer clients—perhaps in technology or cost.

Jaguar had a bad year last year, with their car sales falling by over a quarter. Perhaps that is what prompted them to relaunch towards the end of the year. However, I can’t see that disastrous relaunch doing much to boost their sales, as it was so painfully woke. Jaguar also stopped selling five of its internal combustion engine cars with the aim of moving to an all-EV offering. Jaguar is expected to launch a new EV next year, but it will not be cheap. It is not aimed at the likes of you or me—they want to take the brand upmarket and target people with pots of money.

So, who was it that set two lynxes free in the Scottish Highlands? Many years ago, the lynx was native to Great Britain, but they have not been present in the country for many years. Whoever it was, their plan was unsuccessful, as the cats were quickly trapped and moved to quarantine in Edinburgh Zoo. Official releases of lynxes have occurred in several European areas, including Spain, Portugal, and Scandinavia, but not yet in the UK. What interests me is how someone came to have two lynxes to set free. Were they born and raised in the UK, or did someone smuggle them into the country? Perhaps they crossed the Channel in one of those small boats like illegal immigrants.

Saturday

Good morning, everyone. Gosh, it’s a horrid morning in London—it’s cold and misty, and my fur got all wet when I went down to the bottom of the garden. I hear that Legohead is getting worried about the growth of Reform and is reported as saying he thinks Farage has a huge chance of becoming the next PM. I see that the latest opinion poll from ‘Find Out Now’ has Labour and Reform both on 25%, with the Tories on 20%. It only seems to be getting better for Reform and worse for Labour and the Tories.

So, the Donald got an unconditional discharge for the Stormy Daniels hush money case. No fine, no prison, no probation—he just walked free from court. Of course, paying hush money was not illegal; it was the supposed way in which the money was accounted for that was the problem. The judge is reported as saying that, with the Donald as President-Elect, there was no other possible sentence. With that case out of the way, there now appears to be little left for the Donald to worry about, as the other cases against him seem to have withered on the vine.

The French railway operator SNCF has just been told by the EU’s highest court that they are breaching data protection laws by demanding people give a gender when buying a train ticket. SNCF argued that they needed the buyer’s title to personalise communications, but this was dismissed. This now means train operators across the whole of the EU should no longer ask for people’s titles when buying a ticket.

The last of the national mobile phone system operators to offer a 3G network is set to close it down this year. O2 will start following the likes of Vodafone, 3, and EE in shutting down their 3G networks, meaning that mobile phones will need to be 4G or 5G-enabled to remain truly mobile. Old phones will, of course, still work over a home Wi-Fi network, but if you are a subscriber to O2, or one of the operators who piggyback on its network, like Tesco, Sky, and Giffgaff, and have an old phone, it may be time to upgrade your device.

In the London Borough of Harrow, a five-year-old girl has been sent a fixed penalty notice for fly-tipping. The notice claimed she had been seen by an employee of APCOA, the company employed by a consortium of Harrow, Hounslow, and Ealing councils, to enforce litter-dumping policies. When it emerged that the fine had been issued to a five-year-old—who is below the age of criminal responsibility—it became clear that she had not been seen “fly-tipping.” It seems rubbish with her name and address on it had blown away when the communal bins at the block of flats where she lived were being emptied. APCOA picked it up and lied about seeing it being dumped. The penalty notice has been cancelled, and an investigation into APCOA has been launched.

I hear that the England cricket team have a bit of a problem. They have been drawn to play against Afghanistan in the Champions Trophy, with the match scheduled to take place in Lahore next month. The lawmakers of cricket, the ICC, have a rule stating that all countries playing international cricket must have both men’s and women’s teams. This rule is being blatantly ignored by the Taliban in Afghanistan, yet the ICC has not barred the Afghan men’s team from the competition. This has put the England men’s team in a difficult position: should they play or not? Many politicians are urging them not to, while some senior ministers are saying they should play. If they refuse to play, will they be in trouble with the ICC for not participating, despite being morally correct? At least they have until 26th February, when the match is due to be played, for the ICC to clarify its position.

I hear that, while not coming out for or against, Barclays has calculated that those taking part in Dry January will, on average, be £57 better off by the end of the month. Well, I can see the logic in that—if they stop drinking alcohol and don’t replace it with something else. Soft drinks in pubs are so expensive that people could well be worse off if they choose to drink cola or lemonade. I really don’t see why cola is so expensive in pubs when you can get 24 cans on Amazon for £10.50 or at Tesco for only £1 more.

WorthingGooner, Going Postal
Cheaper in bulk.
Share a Coke,
PumpedEd
Licence CC BY-SA 4.0

That’s done for my first week back after my enforced break. I must admit it was quite nice in Number 10 with all the politicians missing, the atmosphere in the office was almost back to the good old days. Anyway, it’s too bloody cold and misty to be on the windowsill this afternoon. I think a might curl up on a chair in the entrance hall, there is a big open fire there. I read this week that cats sleep for 17 hours a day, I think that is an underestimate! Chat to you all next week!
 

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