Boris Watch - Thread 1

[chomalungma]

Well, it's been done for Trump since he got elected.
No doubt some people will complain it's on AIBU - but it's a place with traffic.

So let's use this to keep an eye on the changes under Boris.

First Thing:

Boris introduces clause in the withdrawal agreement so the UK must leave with WTO rules if there is no trade agreement with the EU by the end of 2020

www.theguardian.com/business/2019/dec/17/pound-slides-to-pre-election-levels-in-wake-of-bid-to-outlaw-brexit-extension

Feel free to comment and add things that you notice changing. The Trump threads are at 97 now.

I wonder what is going to happen to the older nurses to encourage them to stay?

The demographics are interesting

Out of 701,000 registered nurses, 57,000 are aged over 60.

I don't know what age nurses can retire at...

@Soen there is a thread on the Telly Addicts board which also includes an interview with John Pilger about the documentary.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/dec/18/three-generations-of-windrush-family-struggling-to-prove-they-are-british?CMP=share_btn_tw

Three generations of Windrush family struggling to prove they are British
Courtney Lawrence and two-year old son face homelessness in fight over documentation

One assumes that had the result gone the other way there would also have been a Corbyn watch. No, thought not

Of course there would have been
What a ridiculous statement to make! It’s about holding the prime minister of the U.K. accountable!

Lower courts are to be able to ignore EU law on workers’ rights, instead of just the Supreme Court, to speed up the amount of time before worker rights begin to be downgraded relative to the rest of the EU.

This should put all those pesky cycle couriers back in their place, with their wretched little holiday pay claims.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/politics/2019/dec/18/lower-courts-can-roll-back-eu-laws-after-brexit-no10-johnson-confirms

The thought occurs to me, if the cycle couriers are mostly EU citizens, then they will just up and leave. Then with an aging population, who will provide the cycle couriers?

Interesting time, hey?

Why are so many people against this thread? Could it be you don't want a light held up to all the lies and broken promises from Johnson? It appears that even people who voted for him and want to defend him know it's inevitable.

@HelenaDove thanks for that.

I don't think BJ will give a stuff about Windrush victims any time soon either. It is all so wrong.

tillytrotter1 well if you somehow manage to find your way into that alternate reality, feel free to start one.

Johnson has had a nice endorsement from the far right racists.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-far-right-extremists-join-conservatives-support-britain-first-a9252201.html

Thanks for this thread OP.

Jo Johnson, brother of Boris, is married to journalist Amelia Gentleman who has covered Windrush extensively. Hoping that will keep it in his notice.

Good to see things being recorded.

www.economist.com/britain/2019/12/18/who-are-the-conservatives-new-voters-in-the-north

Bore off OP

What's the matter @Legomadx2

Genuinely baffled why people are coming on here to complain. Scroll on if you don't like the Fuhrer being scrutinised. We are only doing this cos we care.

It’s such a weird kind of hypocrisy to complain about this thread, isn’t it? Like we should all be so happy about this glorious leader because democracy is FINALLY being upheld and hooray for Brexit (can’t name any positives though) and yey, labour lost! But at the same time, don’t look too closely at what’s he’s up to because it will expose the whole thing as a sham.

This thread and the threads that WILL follow will be very interesting to track the Conservatives and the progress of Brexit.

The good thing about being on AIBU is that threads stay on here for a long time, unlike on chat. And with cross referencing, people should be able to track back to the beginning.

Who knows what 2024 will be like?

As we have said - we can also celebrate his successes.

If he forswears his lying, cheating behaviour, we can be the first to give him his due.

🎶Boris the bare-faced liar had a very pointy nose. And if you ever saw him, you would even say it grows 🎶

Ah, sorry, couldn't resist. Let's stick to fact-based reality.

I'm going to take a good hard look at everything Johnson does WRT Northern Ireland. He has lied REPEATEDLY to us regarding the customs paperwork and costs. Everyone in the North of Ireland is just ready for Bullshit Boris to do his worst then we are OUT!

How to create legal instability Volume 1
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-50840595

From that BBC article...

"There is no real detail in the government's pledge - but it marks a potentially really significant development.

It means that UK civil courts below the Supreme Court, for example the Court of Appeal, High Court, county courts, and tribunals such as the Employment Appeal Tribunal could depart from ECJ rulings in areas such as workers' rights.

Take for instance the right to paid holidays. The ECJ has interpreted this right more generously than the UK courts: for example, on the inclusion of overtime in holiday pay, and currently its interpretation binds the UK courts.

Following the 11 month transition period after Brexit, the way is open, for example, for an employer to take a case to one of the UK's lower civil courts and invite a judge to apply a more restrictive interpretation to the right to paid holidays.

This would create plenty of work for lawyers, but it opens a can of worms and could affect many workers"

And the EU's view on the transition period

www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/dec/18/cliff-edge-brexit-will-hurt-uk-more-than-eu-says-von-der-leyen?CMP=share_btn_tw

Charles Michel, the president of the European council, said the next stage of the negotiations would be guided by ensuring the UK cannot undercut EU standards after Brexit.

“The idea of a level playing field will be our guide over the next stage of negotiations,” he said, referring to the need for the UK to sign up to EU rules on state aid, tax and the environment.

Michel said EU leaders had taken the news of Johnson’s election triumph at a Brussels summit last week “very calmly” and “very serenely”.

The former prime minister of Belgium added that it was not the EU’s intention to extend the trade talks deadline of the end of 2020 – but he left the option open. The EU is within its rights to ask for an extension from the UK.

Such is the lack of time, the EU is planning to prioritise issues around trade, fisheries and security, leaving key areas of cooperation such as data sharing, transport, including the rights of British air carriers, and any arrangements for the services sector, for after the 2020 deadline.

The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, said the extent to which tariffs and quotas on goods could be lifted, and friction on trade alleviated, would depend on the UK’s answer to a single question: “Does it want to distance itself, and if so how far, from our regulatory model?”

Leaving without a deal in place at the end of next year will mean the UK will trade with the EU’s 27 member states on World Trade Organization terms, which would include hefty tariffs on British goods entering the European market.