Westministenders: Transition

[RedToothBrush]

Last thread opener, it was all about the government buzz word being shown to listen at every opportunity.

Now transition is creeping in as people realise that no we can't just do a settlement, arrange a new trade deal with the EU and have a whole host of other deals in place in two years.

Who'd have thought.

We will be getting Brexit because we give in to threats of terrorism. Not quite getting how that takes back control.

But Brexit will be good. It will be glorious. And in the long term we will be better off for it.

Er ok.

.....that would assume that he is open to advice from experts Bigly and admitting that perhaps he doesn't know everything and that "positive thinking" on its own needs to be founded on skills and knowledge as well as native ability

Fair point pretty I am probably giving him a bit too much credit.

The Corbyn talk was interesting. More policy heavy and less overtly populist rhetoric than I was expecting. Recognition that the manifesto policies cost money and needed to be paid for. Pointed out that he was calling for a change in the perception of government from the Tory small government to one that was much more active in supporting citizens and providing services for the good of the people, such as free education, healthcare, etc as well as nationalising key industries. A good shout out that the cuts in social care services disproportionately impact women who end up being the ones who give up work to care.

It didn't come across to me as a mass Marxist unicorn hunting party. While there was some chanting and a few t-shirts and pro-corbyn placards I didn't find it scarily hero worshipy.

I'm glad I went along as it was pretty different to the image you get on the internet or in the press of these things. Admittedly I am a fan of labours policies in general and my mum used to read me Karl Marx quotes as a child, so possibly my assessment is not one everyone would agree with

Did Corbyn say anything about brexit or is it still the elephant in the policy room?

Will be interested to see if Corbyn and Labour start to respond to affordability criticisms by broadening the tax raising aspect of their manifesto. The LibDems and the Conservatives are making a lot of the arguments in support of this for them and also public opinion seems to be moving in this direction. Fits with the Large vs Small State narrative.

Briefly mentioned but very light imho. Just talked around it mentioning more cooperative foreign policy, talked about full rights for EU citizens. Nothing new. To be fair dd started getting antsy towards the end so didn't hear that bit so well as trying to stop her screaming too much.

My biggest issue with Corbyn is that I just don't think he is interested in the brexit issues. Thankfully I have more faith in Starmer on that score. I would be really interested in hearing Starmer talk about brexit in person.

I would be really interested in hearing Starmer talk about brexit in person.

I did go to hear in speak about it. It was just after the election was called so it was not intended to be party political speech. It was more about the reality of what needs to be considered etc. I came away from it feeling slightly calmer (he was pretty devastated with the result) but then remembered it wouldn't be him negotiating. Interestingly, he wasn't (then) scathing about Davis or May.

how I thought it was telling that one of the biggest cheers came when he said something along the lines of 'all this will cost a lot of money, but we have to pay more tax so everyone gets what they need out no matter who they are'.

There does seem to be a shift people wanting to pay more tax for more public services. Agree with you that it will be worth watching out for labour being more open about more people needing to pay more tax.

red
You wrote "because it doesn't really make much difference to our circumstances as think it better for DS in the long run but it obviously would to others".

I think it is so true. In my field of work, even if you move sideways, you lose out A LOT. Moving it is simply not an option. You move out, you can't come back easily or withlt having really good connections who remember your work and give you a leg up for free work of course.
Then, the question is how much pressure would you take once you come back, considering the way some STEM fields are moving.
It doesn't take rocket science to figure why women scientists fade away after having kids. I have no idea how it affects the metal well being of someone who has been pushed out this way.

.

There does seem to be a shift people wanting to pay more tax for more public services

This is great news if true. I was alarmed by Labours stance on increasing the tax take during the election. The idea that only those earning 80K+ would have to pay more doesn't work for me.

www.ft.com/content/6f5ea78a-67cd-11e7-8526-7b38dcaef614
Conservatives fear descent into chaotic leadership battle
Some ministers seen as manoeuvring to replace May as party limps to summer recess

Cracking speculation about a summer as a Tory MP and the leadership battle

1. Senior Tories fear leadership battle could descend into Tory Civil War.
2. A leadership contest would put Brexit in danger.
3. It would put Corbyn into No 10.
4. 1922 Committee support May for this reason but this plan A is under threat for one reason: Ambition
5. Talk of a possible Davis bid, with his close friend Andrew Mitchell having a private dinner with May telling her she's dead in the water and George Osborne is egging Davis on to go for it.
6. The idea of any possible coronation are a no go. Why? Because of the existence of Andrea Leadsom! Much to the exasperation of some Tory MPs.
7. Phillip Hammond has been going out for drinks. Which is out of character.
8. Phillip Hammond is viewed as pointless as its seen as replacing a Volvo with another Volvo (when they are hoping for a Ferrari)
9. Boris Johnson is down to 13th in favourability for the Cabinet on Conservative Home
10. Dominic Raab and Roy Stewart are also positioning themselves.

George Osborne is egging Davis on to go for it.

I bet he is...not for Davis' benefit though I imagine. Osborne seems to have got himself another new job as professional shit stirrer these days.

Valentine one of the people who has made the biggest comment about it was a couple who both work in the science industry. For us it particularly relevant as we literally had the choice of DS being Aug or Sept. This couple said they would choose the other way around. They subsequently had a son who was born right at the end of the Aug.

Agree with Bigly about DD and GO.
God no to Raab, who was, iirc, the man who said people who used food banks have cash flow problems.

I'd never heard of Stewart but a quick Google tells me he sits for a Borders seat and has a very Tory patrician background.

Stewart, whose family seat is Broich House near Crieff in Perthshire, Scotland, was born in Hong Kong, the child of the diplomat Brian Stewart, was brought up in Malaysia and Scotland and educated at the Dragon School and Eton College. During his gap year in 1991 he was commissioned in the Black Watch for nine months as second lieutenant (on probation).[5][6] He then attended Balliol College, Oxford, where he read modern history and politics, philosophy and economics (PPE).

Stewart did support Remain though.

Until he made the train driver comment, I was all for Hammond because he seemed to be a boring grown up.

Yep unfortunately PH may claim to be able to drive a train but his performance so far in supercharging the UK economy is even more pedestrian than the average beaten up 70s Volvo.

DD strikes me as having far too much fun making jokes at GO and other journo's expense to want to be PM.

Is this the FT throwing in the towel and getting behind the TM plan?

Osborne seems to have got himself another new job as professional shit stirrer these days.

Once again, Theresa Mays judgement is proving to be shit. If only someone had warned her at the time that a powerful beast like Osborne was much safer contained in the tent, than being kicked out and then pissing in.

What's that you say ? She was warned at the time ? So wtf didn't she listen ?

In that case, I take my current opinion of her, and divide it by another 1,000.

She really is thick as pigshit, isn't she ?

I am sure Osborne has plenty more mischief in his party bag ... remember he's completely untainted by Brexit, so Osborne for Tory party leader could still be a thing.

Red my 3 are all different times of the school year. The one who is the oldest in her year has had a much easier time all the way through and the research backs up my anecdotal experience. An extra year of childcare is a very small element of the overall calculation.

I also don't buy the need for universal FT provision before 5 at the earliest. For all 3 of mine they benefited from 1/2 days aged 4 but the provision when they were 3 was more hindrance than help. I accept that this would not be true for every child but higher quality resources could be far more effectively targeted to those children who would benefit - goes back to the education vs childcare provision discussion.

Tbf, we don't know the context of the train driver comment - it could be a reference to something someone else said or meant as deliberately ironic. I can be a bit when these gaffes are reported as entities in their own right (the report in the Guardian, btw, makes the remark sound a lot more nuanced).

I don't think the Tories could elect another Old Etonian as leader - especially one who is a Remainer. Rory Stewart does seem fairly sensible on the whole although he is largely an unknown quantity.

LH from where I'm standing GO is doing a mighty fine job of digging around in his own mess.

I always preferred Osborne to Cameron, mainly because while both of them are heartless immoral bastards who were not really up to their jobs, at least he seemed to have the courage of his convictions, whereas DC basically has no convictions whatsoever except the divine right to rule of the Tories.

I wouldnt say GO has exactly redeemed himself, but he is at least fun to watch in his new job, and he's doing a better job of holding the govt to account than most MPs.

Re Hammond I'm no Tory but he has limited scope for manoeuvre when even sensible "small c" policies like his national insurance proposal get howled down by the far right press and the loons in the HoC. He is plainly not PM material, but who in the Tory party is these days? I honestly can't think of any who would be willing to stand and who would be up to the job, especially with stormy brexit waters to steer through. I don't think Labour is overrun with good PM material either right now, but MPs like Starmer and Yvette Cooper would be better than any of the Tory candidates mentioned above.

Ds is a September birthday which means that in Scotland technically he should be slap bang in the middle of the cohort but in practice he is at the younger end of the year (because of deferrals). It means he has a friend in his year who is 10 months older than him - and another who is nearly 6 months younger than him (as it happens, the cleverest in his class!)

He also has another friend who is in the year below but who is only one month younger than him (he's from Turkey but made the most of the Scottish flexibility to allow him time to establish in the schooling system here).

I was fortunate when I went back to work (only 6 months back in the day to be guaranteed my old job back) that a) my child minder loved literally next door and b) that I was earning enough that it was easily affordable.

I do have a bugbear that we don't value childcare enough (in contrast with the attitude in say, Finland). When dh was Chair of our Out of School Service he had a big argument with one of the other board members about giving the low paid staff a rise (and the manager, who had got her child care degree a raise too). In her view they were "just earning pocket money" and " I've not had a rise for years" (she was well paid, in a 2 income family hence why she needed the out of school service ) . But she wanted them to look after her children and create a positive "learning" environment for the 3 hours after school/in the holidays

In my year at school we had a girl born 1st September and a boy born 31st August the year later. No allowances were ever made for the poor boy being a year younger than some people he was being compared too, let alone that boys at that age aren't usually as academic (completely the wrong term I know) as girls.

I was august too, but fared better. Because I'm naturally that way inclined. Some of those born the September prior weren't and struggled to perform as well as me from early on.

I don't think age is the answer here. There has to be a cut off obviously but I can see this still repeating in my DC's school all these years later. There's a big difference between 4 and 5 compared to 13 and 14.

According to an interview in the New Statesman Rory Stewart wants a fully functioning Batmobile. Sounds promising

www.newstatesman.com/culture/qa/2017/05/rory-stewart-qa-i-ve-always-wanted-full-size-fully-functioning-batmobile

I was fully prepared to defer ds if I'd felt he wasn't ready (although a September deferral, although legal, would have been unusual). As it was, he didn't "get" reading until near the end of P2 (age 6.5).

But at 16, he has just sat his English Higher and should get at least a B (possibly probably an A)

Just shows how kids do vary