Westminstenders: The Brexit Apprentice

[RedToothBrush]

Theresa May is increasing looking like she is running an episode of the Apprentice with two teams trying to compete in their plan for Brexit. Complete with the obligatory reprehensible contestants.

On one side we have Team Creationists intent on hard Brexit and on the other we have Team Sensibles desperate to get a softer deal.
May herself has been held hostage by seasoned expert negotiators the DUP. Once No 10 has reported the deal was done, only for the DUP to say it wasn’t. Then it said, it would be settled today. But the DUP disagreed and said ‘the weekend’. Now its 'next week'.

Meanwhile the Queen has been messed about with a scapegoat over when her Queen’s Speech will be. It’s likely to be a week on Monday.
Meanwhile the Brexit department is also in chaos.

The Number two in the department was sacked and replaced by a Remainer, and the number three quit amongst reports that he no longer thought Brexit was achievable and that there was no way that the Great Repeal Act could pass through the Lords. He has been replaced by the Head of the infamous Arch-Brexit Whatsapp group.

Oh and Gove got hired. Nuff said on that one.

After some slight back tracking from David Davis, Hard Brexit is still on in all its glory. Negotiations are going ahead next week. Well that’s what we are saying. The EU, on the other hand, don’t won’t to go ahead until we have an officially sworn in government. Which seems pretty fair enough.

Tune in to find out which Team wins this week’ The Brexit Apprentice

The Queen, even at 90, continues to do her duty

Funny how a billionaire monarch can find more empathy for ordinary citizens who are suffering, than the govt that is supposed to govern - and isn't

Peregrina for PM

Aww peregina I thought it a serious question.

Print media influence clearly not what it was, because so many under 35s read no newspaper.

Large (52,615) YouGov poll showed
voting in the GE by newspaper readership:

If the GE had only used the 51% of voters who read papers, the results would have been:

CON 47 %
LAB 36%
LD 7%
Turnout (73%)

Also examined employment status:
Labour won these groups:
– full time workers
– part time workers
– unemployed
– students
– people with ‘other’ employment status (not atm in the employment market)

Tories won with
– pensioners
Pensioners are their core vote – and their only winning group.
They are a cohort that still obtains their info from newspapers rather than social media, but they probably choose their paper to reinforce their own views.

Because she's really stupid and doesn't listen to anyone.

Great suggestions EVERTHINK and thank you.x

And to be fair the queen has been visiting disasters since WWII. She could be putting her feet up with her corgis and watching Antiques Bargain Hunt.

May is a very strange woman. I'm glad that my instinctive loathing of her has turned out to be justified.

That's the Tories issue now. Their core is dying off. And they have zero policies for the young.

Death toll at 30 and 76 still missing. My thoughts and prayers for all to all involved in this horrific and still unfolding needless tragedy. XXX

There was a briefest of suggestions somewhere in this thread yesterday, that one possible Labour approach to Brexit, would be to start with the priorities of jobs and the economy with the implication that if (cross-party, and previously agreed criteria) analysis showed that it would not be possible to emerge from Brexit with both improved, there would be an escape route of just "not Brexiting".

If nothing else it seems a more measured and mature approach than "Brexit at all and any costs".

I wonder if the recent tragedies have in a small way woken the UK up to the society Mrs Thatcher said didn't exist ? Seeing communities of all stripes pull together rather undermines the fear of multiculturalism that the right have tried to instil in us.

I have to go folks peace to all of you always. Will catch up latsr.xx

From: Grenfell action Group
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Grenfell Tower- Ongoing concerns!
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2014

Dear Ben,

I am very sorry to trouble you again and I hope that you can understand that my reason for doing so is entirely genuine.

A number of residents of Grenfell Tower are very concerned at the fact that the new improvement works to Grenfell Tower have turned our building into a fire trap.

There is only one entry and exit to the tower block itself and, in the event of a fire, the LFB could only gain access to the entrance to the building by climbing four flights of narrow stairs.

On top of this the fire escape exit on the walkway level has now been sealed.

Residents of Grenfell Tower do not have any confidence that our building has been satisfactorily assessed to cope with the new improvement works and we are seeking a meeting with the Chief Fire Officer from Kensington Fire Station so that these concerns can be addressed.

Thank you for your continued assistance with this matter.

Kind regards,

Grenfell Action Group

grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/

*Also examined employment status:
Labour won these groups:
– full time workers
– part time workers
– unemployed
– students
– people with ‘other’ employment status (not atm in the employment market)

Tories won with
– pensioners
Pensioners are their core vote – and their only winning group.*

I'm struck by how this is almost exactly correlated with the Remain vote, with the exception of those with other employment status (who were more likely to vote Leave, after controlling for other factors).

That email is chilling. And damning.

Still struggling to catch up - and have a long post in draft form most of which we will have moved on from by the time I post it but there again, we seem to be constantly rehashing old mistakes but a couple of brief thoughts about the current news....

I see that May after being excoriated for not meeting the victims yesterday and being shown up by Brenda is going to visit victims in hospital. That suits her modus operandi: a captive small audience who can't escape are stuck in beds and have to appear grateful for her largesse

And second, in a bit of black humour - whatever happened to BoJo's water cannons? While he was shutting fire stations, he was spending money on them. Could they not have been re-purposed?

Cant remember which interview it was but Corbyn said that they wanted a managed migration so as people in britain gained skills there would be less need for skill based immigration

Pretty I'm not sure your last comment is really in good taste

pretty actually made me chuckle

Cant remember which interview it was but Corbyn said that they wanted a managed migration so as people in britain gained skills there would be less need for skill based immigration

But was that EU or non-EU immigration ? FOM makes "managing" EU immigration problematic. But the UK has always been free to manage non-EU immigration. My thoughts are that successive governments - of both sides - have been quite happy to bulk up the more skilled and educated jobs with non-voting foreigners as it avoided the need to deal with an educated electorate which might ask difficult questions.

From The Guardian:

The government appears to be determined to show that ministers are willing to listen to victims of the fire today, after the prime minister refused to do so yesterday.

Communities secretary Sajid Javid said the government was doing all it can.

Speaking to the BBC after visiting the Westway Sports Centre, he said:

I’m listening to the victims about some of their particular needs. I heard one family just say they have sadly lost their father, they don’t know yet. The mother has asked if her son, who doesn’t live locally, can be with her, and we have said absolutely we should be helping in every way we can to try to bring comfort to these families at this very very difficult time.

It didn't me. Not after seeing the lack of resources we had to tackle a fire in a tower as high as Grenfell

I half expect thats what boris thought would happen what he made those cuts pretty

Tories won with
– pensioners

Not this one, they didn't. I can't see them winning me over either.
There are also some young braying moneyed Tories. I had a certain enjoyment at last week's count seeing them grow silent as the results became known. (The candidate does know the result before the Returning Officer announces it.)

That email.

"A number of residents of Grenfell Tower are very concerned at the fact that the new improvement works to Grenfell Tower have turned our building into a fire trap."* *

Devastating that they were right.

Yes, HM is the very definition of strong and stable.

There was some talk before the election of "May-lennials" - young people who weren't around in the 80s/no remembrance of the "nasty party" and things like that and so supported the Tories. Whether they did and will continue to do so I don't know.

The Sun‏Verified account
@TheSun
Statement: The Sun wants to make it completely clear that no reporter has ‘impersonated’ any Grenfell Tower family members.