Lionel

I thank you for your kind words Scriptitation. The manner of your speech alludes to an uncommon grace. The original Speakers Corner in Hyde Park London, I would remind you, on which principles this part of Silver Surfers is modelled, allowed people of diverse backgrounds and opinions to voice their thoughts. I spoke there on several occasions in the sixties, then rather sadly being a London resident. That you should disagree with my long held views here given voice is no surprise. Indeed, it is expected there would be disagreements.. That you should demean me in such a fashion is a surprise, since most Silver Surfers are intelligent, experienced and really quite pleasant. You do not know how my views of Charles were formed; what were the occasions of such opinions. Therefore you speak in ignorance! Please let me assure you, I do not need a lesson in British Constitution; make no mistake, I'm not your fool. My opinion of Charles remains, even strengthened by your post here. So I thank you for your boldness, and your contempt, and look forward to a real crossing of swords. Touche.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Perfectly put. Thankyou

As has been more than adequately explained by 24 hour wall to wall coverage of Philip, he was a hands on Consort, into everything. He did a good job in modernising the monarchy but it's time to do it again.

In principle I agree with you Wilf. Charles is rather in the mould of his grandmother - a Victorian or Hapsburg emperor. I cannot see him coping with the rigours of a twenty first century monarchy. However, in the absence of words to the contrary, he is next in line. Charles may have already signed a document of abdication, or may do so soon. He is too old for the nation to get value for money from him, too set in his ways to modernise anything (I am too!) and frankly the possibility of a ten or fifteen year effective reign before a regent is required doesn't thrill me. I would prefer to see William take the throne, but it's not public opinion that matters, it's precedent.

Absolutely! I couldn't agree more. I am only suggesting, based on observation of the Royal Christmas 2003, and subsequent events, it is already written in stone.

My only contention since Christmas 2003 is that Charles will not take the throne but step aside. I believe an ultimatum was handed him by the Queen and Prince Philip ... Camilla or the throne. When he stormed out and flew back to Highgrove he had signed away the throne. Time will tell.

We're exposing the tip of the iceberg, Viking. This principle of interfering with natural processes is having repercussions throughout western culture. The Pill, for example; female hormones have been excreted into our water system for almost 60 years. And we wonder at the feminising of young men? Farmers have been applying nitrated to the soil since before WW2. Result, the nations water needed to be treated and piped by the mid fifties. Today our piped water is laden with nitrates, male and female hormones and additives such as fluoride. Our food bears little resemblance to that our grand parents ate; my grand mother was a cook in a stately home. She taught me about food. Little wonder I'm extremely cautious of 'progress.'

You're quite right Viking. A beef animal needs three and a half years on grass to reach full maturity. In my day farming we did the same thing in nine months using growth promoter cartridges in the ear cartridge and in the feed. These hormones pass into the meat and of course into the muck; spread that stuff, also laced with massive quantities of antibiotics, on the ground and grow maize for silage and the cycle is complete. I doubt anyone expert knows just how much growth hormone or antibiotic is in any one animal. Please understand I'm not alleging what is commonly known as animal cruelty, no, but after many years with livestock I've got to question these very dubious methods.

May you rest in peace, sir. The nation thanks you for a life time of loyal and unswerving service.

Lesss go! Let's go and make some money. Pity about my grand daughter - one baby and not a husband in sight. Never mind, you set up a crowd fund and a long time pal will help get it in the media. Could be a knighthood in it for you. Sir Wilf. Think about it a moment. Every comment on Surfers would be by Sir Wilf KCBE. OK we haven't got an empire anymore but we can dream.

Could crowd fund them and make a profit! Now there's a thought.

The countryside is not a city dwellers playground. It's where we live, move and have our being. It's a privilege to come here so do the right thing and respect us and our way of life.

Having been in farming and raised tens of thousands of pigs and similar numbers of sheep and cattle according to EU standards I'm more concerned with the quality of the meat. The things we would pump into pigs and cattle - growth promoters, iron and so many antibiotics - there's little wonder people are getting stomach troubles. Perhaps I should mention here, pigs and cattle are not fed their natural diet but barley in one form or another. The poor beggars are anaemic at birth - a piglet requires 2cc iron sulphate injection within hours of birth. Cattle should graze pastures but most will never see a blade of grass. Perhaps our wonderful experts should start looking at the way animals are read first before they pronounce of a bacon sarnie!

A whip-round to pay for their own food. Heaven is here!

Hello Sally, don't let this idea go cold. Lead us off with an example from your own life and then perhaps people will feel less intimidated in baring their souls.

Thank you for replying Supersabre. I'm no fan of politicians nor the Civil Service. It's worth remembering, the government is constitutionally responsible for defence of the realm, foreign policy, national finance, administration of Justice and that's about all. Everything else they have accrued to themselves has been taken from local representatives and British enterprise by deceit. Strictly speaking, according to precedent and our various written inviolable statutes, most of the laws under which we now labour, and the taxes we are compelled to pay, are illegal. Surely if the British people had wanted to be governed by an over-arching Soviet we would have elected Corbyn. No, I'm not a communist or other type of heretic, just a patriotic Brit who's looked into how we should be governed.

Who can agree with adding yet more regulations and laws to an already overburdened people? We're drowning it laws; we cannot breathe without breaking a law or code of practice. Every aspect of our lives is governed. What happened to our historic freedom? If we listen to politicians rhetoric we're a free people. No we're not! Our parents rolled over and allowed Barbara Castle to put speeding laws in place; no one complained when the Blair-child began to take away our freedom to raise our kids. The State raises and indoctrinates our kids - they no longer grow in our own image. Now there's a move to regulate when we must cease driving. Come on ... do you really want the State, in all it's magnificent ignorance, to tell us when and how to die? It's very close even as I write.

Absolutely not!

We live in very rural North Suffolk. Not a bus through here in 67 years; taxi drivers ask, 'where?'

You make a very good point here, for which I thank you. It is a case of over seventies with certain medical conditions only. But, and perhaps I'm not alone here, the State has an impressive record of mission creep. What starts as a widely accepted idea but quickly grows to be a draconian measure for which few were prepared and many are damaged. This looks to me like a classic instance. Further, Whitehall also has an outstanding record of not addressing a immediate problem but rather finding a much less significant issue to address and then claiming, through MPs they have acted on the urgency. The urgency here is younger drivers attitude and behaviour on the road. As a man with IAM, Police and Class 1 training I find younger drivers, male and female, to be utterly selfish and ferociously competitive, neither of which makes for road safety. Setting a curfew for certain over seventies, which could well become a national curfew for over fifties, doesn't address the matter of our younger drivers. What do you think?

I've always valued my privacy, being self contained and rather insular person by nature. I like solitude; indeed much of my working life on farms was in solitude and I loved it. Now it is sadly missed. Everywhere ringtones or people 'chatting' invades my space. Mobiles are an unnecessary intrusion. Yes, I have one somewhere; my wife tells me it's an iPhone 4 but neither of us knows where it is or where it came from. I can't recall taking it out of a box! A few years ago I was having a coffee with my step daughter. We get on just fine and some time spent together wasn't unusual. Her phone rang. Politely, I sat there and after a few minutes got up and drove home. When we next met I asked, 'Oh, no one calling you? Sarcastic? Yes. I suppose my point is I offer my full attention to people. It's reasonable to expect the same in return, don't you think?

My usual practice when the house phone rings in the midst of something important is to answer, hear what the caller has to say and if it's not life or death matter then I'll call them back when it's more convenient That's usually if I remember to call them. Mobiles and younger people are a different matter. Mt step grand children spent literally hours on their phones talking about, well nothing really, just making grunting noises. It happened just once at our dinner table and then I removed their devices. Anything concealed might be flushed away. My wife and I kept the art of conversation alive with them. That's worth something these days.

Given I'm a bit of an authoritarian, not to mention traditionalist, when my step family come for a meal phones are collected at the door. If I spends a long time preparing a meal for the family I just will not have such rudeness at the table, or anywhere else in the house.

In principal I agree. However, taking a test doesn't mean test standard good driving practises will be employed in day to day driving. Just look at the so many younger drivers who have passed a more stringent test (supposedly) than we oldies did.

By implication from the answers. But otherwise I concede the point.

Your valid point about illegal immigrants means that the Census data in inaccurate even before the poll is taken. So what's the point? How may government plan services and provisions on grossly understated data? And the legal residents of this island can be fined up to one thousand pounds for not completing the census! Perhaps it now pays to be an illegal.

We're somewhat disturbed by the Census Office pre-occupation with our sexual orientation and thereby practices! Have they been snorting something good, or have some vacated seats at the BBC and migrated to the Census Office?

Am I happy with NHS care online? NO! Several months ago there was a Speaker's Corner article on this very subject and if I remember rightly most voted against such a practice. In my wife's experience those people were quite right. I fully realise the strictures placed upon GP medics and their staff by Covid - no one in their right mind would want to face a daily barrage of patients exhaling a killer bug. However, shutting down everything except a the;ehone call isn't good practice. Even the call may come days after it was scheduled . No, not good enough at the moment, could do so much better.

Very well said. I agree.

Ah, a welcome relief to all the drivel currently broadcast.

NO!

I completely understand your point of view, SueG. It's much the same here. I'm the other side of the country, north Suffolk. We live in a tiny hamlet of less than a dozen homes while there are just 29 houses in the civil parish. It's a widespread farming community. When lock down was declared last year the villages around us just filled to bursting with folks with cut glass accents and thier wider families. Of course, they brought their city habits with them. This year was much the same. First mention of a lock down and they all arrive again to their picturesque thatched cottages and supposedly English cottage gardens. Before lock down was announced a few weeks ago our infection rate was the lowest in the country bar Cornwall. Now? We've been second highest for two weeks. It angers me these incomers may barge into shops without a mask, treat our shop worker friends in a surly manner while stripping the shelves of goods we locals wanted to buy. The booze shelves are worst. Empty! (I don't mind, I don't drink), Our hospitals are now filled with Covid cases such that there was barely space for my 85 year old next door neighbour to be left to die. Yet no one yet knows of a Covid case among us locals. Therefore such cases must be incomers, city people fleeing the mess they've made in the cities. I've been on Surfers for about five years; I think I have a reputation of being a little right wing - shoot first and don't waste time on questions. In these remote parts we're a law unto ourselves and that has worked well for many generations. I've no reason to suppose anything will change in that regard.

Thank you for your kind wishes Wilf; my wife and I most certainly hope for a better New Year for you and your family. Let's compare notes as the year progresses. Yes, we are old friends in internet terms - I have an internet bride, so to speak, and now an internet old friend. I guess the net is coming of age! But I have enjoyed your company a very great deal, enjoyed the banter and perhaps most of all disagreeing like gentlemen, no rancour, nor hard feelings. At the risk of igniting something with you, I'm breaking my rule of four years and lifting a glass of wine to Brexit. From one man of convictions to another, here's to our next five years! Cheers mate.

In my present situation as husband and carer for an MS patient, there's little point in setting goals. Something changes almost every morning, afternoon, or evening. Frankly, I don't think I want the added disappointment of missing a personal goal. Better to take each day as it comes.

No, not grumpy at all. You've stated a verifiable truth. The very many lonely folks in this country won't be made any better by anything other than setting eyes on a sympathetic, perhaps even empathetic, person. So many people are too proud or too shy to ask for help. Others wouldn't know where or who to contact. It's up to us better placed people to make the contact, break the ice. I'm not in that situation. This is a very small hamlet in the backwoods. Everybody is at least familiar with everyone else. A few minutes talking or laughing, sometimes at oneself, is good medicine. And it costs nothing. Maybe it's me who's grumpy tonight. I get so annoyed. What we villagers do as a matter of course is so easy and yet it seems the bulk of city-folk find it so difficult to do.

Precisely!

I wouldn't want to be understood as a pious do-gooder. But having spent sixty out of my seventy years in hamlets or on farms where it's entirely natural to take care of those around you my wife and I just do so. I've been humbled recently during a spell of unwellness that our neighbours helped us out. Our State care services are good for most people needing personal care but they can't provide personal friendliness born out of years of living in the same village.

We don't need Covid restrictions to jog us into keeping an eye on and having a chat with our elderly neighbours. It happens every day. Nothing unusual.

Oh, you do sadden me, Ariadne. The many flavours and textures of English speak make this the best language to communicate in. As far as sense of humour is concerned, yes you're quite right. Sadly my earthy farming humour doesn't appeal to many.

No, JE, no grumpy head. Just overwhelmingly frustrated with the trivia people are immersing themselves in rather than face the reality that we have a virulent virus running rampant throughout this island of ours, killing people mercilessly. And now a new strain, just as I forecast. I'm aware it's a sign of our times that people don't face up to a reality. But this reality is killing us. Trivia will not help us stay alive. Trivia won't give us a long lasting relief, no, it's a Bandaid on a gaping wound. On second thoughts, yes,perhaps I have my grumpy head on right now. Forgive me pease, and put it down to sheer frustration.