David Rochester

1 [Title panel] National Trust Autumn Family Fun Guide 2 Go on a crunchy autumn rant! Get your wellies on and kick through some leaves while venting about the wokes [Show someone red faced, kicking up leaves, shouting “BUT BRITAIN *ABOLISHED* SLAVERYYY”] 3 Make a stick man to argue with Straw men are for summer, but in the autumn you can glue together sticks, woodland items and made-up talking points for a fun debate [A hand holding a little stick man with a pinecone head while the person argues with it: “Actually country houses *aren’t* racist”] 4 Forage for nuts in the NT Council Candidates statements! See if you can identify the nutty right-wingers in the NT Council Candidates’ election statements [Show a parent and child looking through NT website - child says “I’ve spotted a mention of ‘woke forces’!”] 5 Make a woodland shelter to protect commonsense conservatives from all the wokeness [Show a big box constructed on a tree trunk with a person hiding inside it. A child whispers to them from nearby: “You are safe now”] 6 Build a cosy bonfire by gathering copies of the Interim Report on Colonialism and Slavery [Show a bonfire scene, a person sitting next to it] I mean it was AGES ago 7 Spot Some Candidates in the Mist Every autumn anti-woke campaigners come out of hiding to try and take over the gaff. How many can you spot? [Show people stalking round the NT property grounds like deer] 8 Join us for Spooky Storytime! Throughout October our more right-leaning members will be telling scary tales of woke ghouls and demons [Show an NT volunteer in a dark candle-lit hut, saying to children “They’re coming to kill our history…”] [Ends]

Forgot I did another comic about the NT thing in @prospectmagazine.co.uk two years ago. I loathe all the culture wars stuff we have to wade through nowadays but I can't say it hasn't given us all something to write about. That's part of the problem of course

But the sketch I have here attempted to give of its varied functions shows us that it is really a most complex structure, a wonderful piece of machinery, as[ 259] it were, which in its various component gases, its actions and reactions upon the water and the land, its production of electrical discharges, and its furnishing the elements from which the whole fabric of organic life is composed and perpetually renewed, may be truly considered to be the very source and foundation of life itself. This is seen, not only in the fact of our absolute dependence upon it every minute of our lives, but in the terrible effects produced by even a slight degree of impurity in this vital element. Yet it is among those nations that claim to be the most civilised, those that profess to be guided by a knowledge of the laws of nature, those that most glory in the advance of science, that we find the greatest apathy, the greatest recklessness, in continually rendering impure this all-important necessary of life, to such a degree that the health of the larger portion of their populations is injured and their vitality lowered, by conditions which compel them to breathe more or less foul and impure air for the greater part of their lives. The huge and ever-increasing cities, the vast manufacturing towns belching forth smoke and poisonous gases, with the crowded dwellings, where millions are forced to live under the most terrible insanitary conditions, are the witnesses to this criminal apathy, this incredible recklessness and inhumanity.

Wow. I did not know that Alfred Russell Wallace (co-discoverer of evolution by natural selection) wrote a book in 1904 about the biological potential for life on other planets, and I've just found this extraordinary paragraph setting out the insanity of atmospheric pollution [1/3]. In 1904!

Picture of a venerable naval tortoise with a sign tied to her shell

The last survivor of the Crimean War died in 2004.

"Timothy" spent 40 years in the Navy. After retirement, having moved in with the Earl of Devon, she revealed she was a girl.

She would wander round his garden wearing a sign that said. "My name is Timothy. I am very old. Pease do not pick me up".

[Scene is the entrance cabin to a NATIONAL TRUST PROPERTY AND GARDENS] 1 NATIONAL TRUST EMPLOYEE [inside cabin]: Hello there 2 [A young family - two parents two kids - have arrived at the front desk]. DAD: Hi - do you have an activity trail, for the kids? 3 NT EMPLOYEE: Of course – you’re just in time for the Autumn Gammon Trail! 4 MUM: That sounds fun, doesn’t it kids? 5 NT EMPLOYEE [handing an activity sheet and pencils to the kids]: Every autumn, the Reform Trust gammons flock back to the National Trust for the AGM. Just follow the trail round the grounds, and see how many you can spot! 6 NT EMPLOYEE [hearing something in the gardens]: Listen - that's their call [Calls emanating from the landscape]: tut-tut woke-woke 7 NT EMPLOYEE [showing the family an apparently empty fenced enclosure with some bushes in]: They are extremely sensitive and fragile... But you can bring them out of hiding if you put a little sign down mentioning slavery. 8 KIDS [pointing]: There they are! [Some little red faced PEOPLE wearing Barbour jackets and gilets emerge cautiously from the bushes. They are creeping towards a TINY SIGN in the middle of the enclosure]. [Little people noises]: woke-woke tut-tut woke-woke 9 [Close-up of the TINY SIGN - we can read that it says]: Slavery had a bit to do with building this massive house. [Noises from the little people again as they inspect the tiny sign]: tut-tut woke-woke 10 MUM [pointing]: What's that one doing there? NT EMPLOYEE: Oh, that's so sweet… 11 [We see that one of the people is sat on a rock, with a little laptop open on a tree stump, and they are furiously typing away]. NT EMPLOYEE: I think he's writing a column for the Daily Telegraph… 12 [We see close up to the little person’s screen, it is a word document reading]: Are National Trust scones secretly WOKE? [ends]

If you're a National Trust member, it's that time of year again: Midnight tonight is the deadline. It's a shame people have to keep doing this to keep a toehold on historical truth in this country, but here we are. Voting link: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...

#PropertyFloodResilience (#PFR) involves measures you can take to reduce the impact of #flooding on your home 💧. This can include things like flood doors, barriers and raised electrics.

So why does the BBC label the academic and economist Faiza Shaheen an "activist" but refuse to do the same for the former academic, turned anti-migrant activist Matt Goodwin?

When British troops died in Iraq because of poor equipment, ECHR laws ensured the government was accountable.

The ECHR was written by British lawyers and reflects our values. That’s why we voted to stay.

🚨🚨Very interesting @bestforbritain.org report based on @yougov.co.uk polling suggests there is some alignment over party lines on #brexit being a failure.

Those physically realistic models predict subpolar gyre tipping around 2040-2050. This would lead to a local cooling of 1-2 degrees in 10 to 20 years. The Nordic seas would warm, the jet stream shift northward and in summer high pressure over Scandinavia could lead to more (intense) heat waves.

Powell: "Higher tariffs are pushing up prices in some categories of goods, resulting in higher overall inflation."

If this plays out as suggested it will absolutely say Lib Dems and Greens are the only ones who care about this.
Labour is already proposing weakening protections under the ECHR for certain marginalised groups, but this would be a moment of abject cowardice and show Reform sets government lines.

1. respect human rights 2. right to life 3. prohibition of torture 4. prohibition of slavery 5. right to liberty and security 6. right to a fair trial 7. no punishment without law 8. right to respect privacy and family life 9. freedom of thought, conscience and religion 10. freedom of expression 11. freedom of assembly and association 12. right to marry 13. right to an effective remedy (if your rights are violated) 14. prohibition of discrimination 15. derogation in time of emergency 16. restriction on political activity of non-nationals 17. prohibition of abuse of rights 18. limitation on use of restriction of rights

Friendly reminder: these are the rights we all have under the ECHR.

They're not just for a privileged few

They're for EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US

Minority representation on TV causes outrage

From the new Private Eye, in shops now.

There is a deep truth to this

Farage: epic grifter

Satellite view of the White House showing an image on the left where the East Wing is still standing and an image on the right where it's completely demolished

ABC News pulled the satellite imagery of the White House comparing Sept. 26 to today.

abcnews.go.com/Politics/new...

Five grooming gang survivors tell PM they will stay on panel only if Jess Phillips remains in post Exclusive: In fresh controversy, the women write to Keir Starmer and Shabana Mahmood to speak up for safeguarding minister

Breaking - Five grooming gang survivors tell PM they will stay on panel only if Jess Phillips REMAINS in post.

They say Phillips has “devoted her life to hearing and amplifying the voices of women and girls who would have otherwise been unheard”.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Just love @ledbydonkeys.org
All charges dropped after projection of Trump and his paedophile friends onto Windsor Castle during the state visit

Thousands of Yorkshire homes at increased risk of flooding Are insurance companies still providing suitable coverage for rising climate change impacts?

Thousands of Yorkshire homes at increased risk of flooding

Are insurance companies still providing suitable coverage for rising climate change impacts?

@yorkshirebylines.co.uk
@bylinesnetwork.co.uk

yorkshirebylines.co.uk/news/environ...

Bertrand Russell to Oswald Mosley. Perfection.

Nelson's Victory crew included a Brazilian and a Russian, 2 Indians, 2 Swiss, 2 Portuguese, 3 Danes and 3 Norwegian sailors. There were 3 Germans, 4 Italians, 6 Swedes, 7 Dutchmen, 9 West Indians and an African, as well as 21 Americans, 63 Irish, 64 Scots, 441 English.... oh, and 3 French men, too.

Welfare cuts have fuelled rise of far right and populism, top UN expert says Exclusive: Poverty rapporteur says governments must rethink welfare state as essential to fabric of society

No fucking shit. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

The data shows Brexit was a massive mistake and badly hurt the economy. We're all paying for it. It was Nigel Farage who sold the lies that it would make life better. How can anyone still listen to him about anything?

Rustaveli Avenue now, after several days of mass arrests, threats, and disappointments.

Georgians are not giving up.

Day 328 of uninterrupted protests.

Please don't call it a tax raid, Peter

This photo accompanying a news story about the heist at the Louvre is perfection.

FT graph showing massive UK public support for the opinion that it was wrong to vote to leave the EU.

Ah! Good morning, reality. And welcome. We’ve been expecting you…

nearly six years ago :)

#NoKings Miami!

This is probably the single thing I am most disappointed about