Westminsterenders: The Ersatz ImitationThread

[OlennasWimple]

I am no RedToothBrush, so I'm not going to try to emulate her exception OP style.

Here, though, in the interests of carrying on our conversations about WTF is going on with Brexit and the weird political world we find ourselves in right now, is a sort of continuation thread

(Hurry back Red, we need you!)

I believe that The Archers always did have an element of propaganda in it, so talking about food waste is in line with that.

What half amuses me, is the staunch Leavers, like Martin of Wetherspoon, and Leave voting farmers, now wanting exceptions to be made for them, in terms of immigration. No, they should be telling us what they will be free to do when no longer shackled (as they see it) by Brussels.

UK in £36bn ‘Brexit bill’ offer to win trade deal

www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/uk-in-36bn-brexit-bill-offer-to-wintradedeal-tllp7gv3g

Britain is reportedly ready to offer the EU a €40bn (£36bn) divorce settlement linked to a post-Brexit trade deal when negotiations resume later this month.

The proposal, which could break the current impasse in talks, would see the UK continue to pay into the EU budget until 2021 as part of a “downpayment” on the final bill.

In the proposed deal Britain could be making net payments to the EU of £10bn a year for up to three years

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40842017

My parents won't be happy about this.

imo, that bill could be just for a "transition deal" discussed before in which the UK continues as before, but without voting rights
This would be intended to give time to negotiate post-Brexit deals with the EU and other countries, plus sorting out arrangements wrt flights and building up UK replacements for agencies like EURATOM

< DD will struggle to find enough competent negotiators to negotiate one trade deal - presumably with the EU -
so will be dependent on some other countries like Canada just doing a copy & paste deal of what they currently have with the EU

The tech knowhow for UK agencies would have to be built up; more likely to mean headhunting with higher salaries from other countries and giving them guarantees that families won't be split up, as was the case with the headhunted US surgeon.

Graduates who have paid off their student loans say they are continuing to have as much as £300 a month taken from their pay packets by the Student Loans Company, with some talking of two-year battles to obtain refunds:

^www.theguardian.com/money/2017/aug/05/student-loan-company-finance-complaints-debt^

I must show this to DH later (he's out at the moment). He had the same happen to him but did get a refund. He had been keeping an eye on it as he knew he was close to paying it off, so spotted it pretty quick after they overcharged him. However he's shit hot at maths and interest payments (he has worked in programming doing mortgage calculators and found mortgage lenders who were calculating incorrectly but that's another story...).

Still it took some time to get his money back and numerous growling telephone calls. I think he was overcharged around £300 in the end. I can well see many people being over charged a hell of a lot more.

He was not exactly happy about it to put it mildly.

It was a simple message from Austria's foreign minister to Britain's Brexit secretary.

After hearing that the British government wanted to guarantee the rights of EU citizens in the UK after Brexit, Sebastian Kurz told David Davis:

"You had better come to Austria and say that, because nobody in Austria knows it."
< no one in Germany either >
.....
But the UK's overall effort has been criticised as "lacking in strategy" by a minister from an EU country that recently received a British delegation.

"We were really perplexed by the poor quality. The UK used to be the benchmark for diplomacy but not any more," he told me.
"It all changed in the space of a month when they set up those new government departments."

< the DD effect >

oops www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40824818

"It all changed in the space of a month when they set up those new government departments."

Or a sign of May's incompetence as a leader? I can well imagine that May would make a very good No 2 or 3 in a department - she would have the attention to detail and thoroughness to flesh out the ideas of the leader, but lacks the vision and ability to communicate which a real leader needs. Despite my loathing both Blair and Thatcher, they did have some of those qualities.

I've been thinking about the Kings Lynn result that was posted a while back as something didn't sit right:

Kings Lynn & West Norfolk BC, St Margarets with St Nicholas – 3rd August 2017

Conservative 253 [36.2%; -6.6%]
Labour 210 [30%; -3.1%]
LD Helen Russell-Johnson 173 [24.7; +24.7%]
Green 63 [9%; -15.1%]
Majority 43
Turnout 19.19%
Conservative GAIN from Labour
Percentage changes from 2015

I was wondering how on earth the Tories could lose 6% and Labour only 3%, and this translate as a Con GAIN. This is mathematically impossible...

...except that in 2015 the election was for two seats, and the Tory came out in front, and Labour second. The by-election appears to have been triggered by the departure of the Labour councillor, and when re-run for a single seat - hey presto - the Tory gets the most votes (again), and claims that seat from Labour. Meanwhile, the LibDem "surge" is simply that a LibDem didn't stand in 2015.

So what might look at first sight like a "good" result for the Tories (a gain) is actually revealing a drop in support. (Of course, the turnout is abysmally low, so one can't really read anything into this).

So I think the moral of the story here is not to post by-election results devoid of their context.

I should add DH called the SLC up a month or two before his last payment was due and discussed his last couple of payments and they still overcharged him.

www.theguardian.com/travel/2017/aug/05/heatwaves-airport-queues-protests-holiday-season-from-hell
Heatwaves and airport queues make for holiday season from hell

And in a further blow to tourism, some disgruntled locals in regions where holidaymakers are an economic mainstay have turned against an industry they say now brings more harm than good to their communities. “Tourism-phobia: the worst message at the worst time,” Spain’s El Mundo said in an editorial.

Only weeks after thousands of Venetians took to the streets for a peaceful demonstration against mass tourism, activists in Spain launched a more violent protest. Anti-tourism group Arran vandalised tourist bikes and a bus in Barcelona, slashing tyres and daubing slogans on the bus windows. In Palma de Mallorca, members of the same group burst into restaurants and boarded boats in the harbour with flares, carrying banners saying “tourism is killing Mallorca”. There have also been protests in Valencia, and one has been called in the Basque city of San Sebastián.

Ironically DH and I talked about this whilst on holiday a couple of weeks ago. I think there are elements of truth to it.

Its similar to what has happened in London in terms of housing. Where have all the locals gone? We've been to the same place twice before, the last time 9 years ago. The difference was profound. There were also public spaces that had been free to visit in the past which were now charging admission.

I think Spain will be relieved to know that the UK are understanding of this issue and about to pass laws which will restrict levels of tourism from UK citizens.

(Not that I think this will alleviate the problem. Its an issue of government policy not valuing the worth of people and putting profits first. There are lots of apartments that are being let for holiday rather than restrictions on this being in place and being enforced. Its similar to overseas investors in property in London. I personally expect this issue to expand and become bigger. Its too easy to blame the foreigners rather than the politicians. It might not bode too well for Brits abroad in Spain in the future if they fail to integrate...).

It's not over till it's over (Mar 2019?).
George still poking a stick into the Govt over at the Standard:
www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/antibrexit-group-planning-wave-of-mass-protests-next-month-a3603531.html

Anti-tourism group Arran

Sounds very like Meibion Glyndwr. Locals being outpriced of property is not new really. But, globalisation/changes to the type of work available mean young people don't necessarily want to/can stay where they were born either. All sounds a bit Brexity.

Britain First is now registered as a political party in Northern Ireland. This is a further threat to the GFA and very worrying.

www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/handful-of-supporters-turn-up-for-britain-first-rally-in-belfast-1.3178488?mode=amp

Keep a good eye on NI. That's where it will all kick off. But of course I hope it won't.

There are so many issues there rumbling under the surface, it will only take a minor issue to set it off.

I am kind of (very) concerned re Brexit there and the effect it will have, when you factor in ROI being shafted aswell, and they are not happy either.

I really hope this does not result in anything approaching pre GFA days. But who knows.

But no one is listening.

agree Rosie. I am also very worried. The peace has been so hard won and is such a fragile thing. I get really upset at the cavalier attitude of so many Brexiteers regarding NI but I am furious that DC did not consider this before the referendum and more furious with the current government for completely ignoring the potential fallout and danger for NI.

I feel so guilty about what might happen to ROI as a result of this - just when you thought the days of the British political class fucking the Irish over was done and dusted - we manage to pull Brexit out of the hat. And this time it isn't just the political class, the normal people of Britain (well, England and Wales) decided to do this.

I hope Dublin sweeps up all the businesses and banks that London will lose, and that they become the world's gateway to Europe.

Are we about to go full circle or is old Dave having a laugh only? Either way, this leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Britain First and the DUP are six of one and half a dozen of the other.

Can't help AngloIrish relations that the Tories appointed the #1 and #2 worst ever NI secretaries:
< some previous ones have been ignorant, but did their best - none so nakedly partisan and irresponsible >

• Theresa Villiers (Cameron) who blithely insisted before the ref that Brexit wouldn't harm NI or the GFA, but didn't bother to say why

• followed by James Brokenshire

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/june2017/2017/05/not-first-time-james-brokenshire-making-things-worse-northern-ireland

"An overriding concern among nationalist and cross-community parties is that the Northern Ireland secretary cannot and has not acted as a neutral or honest broker in his time in office.

They believe him to be both too close to the DUP and
all too ready to take nakedly partisan lines on the issues that continue to disrupt the business of devolved government."

I woke up this morning feeling incredibly sad for this country, again

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40846830

LH, are negative nellies related to moaning Minnie's?

J.J. Patrick @ J_amesp
If we were still in the EU when the tax avoidance laws came into force, we'd lose parliament within months.

How much truth do you think there is to this?

I suspect it's more than we think.

If we were still in the EU when the tax avoidance laws came into force, we'd lose parliament within months.

Could you give us a link or a bit more context to this rather cryptic comment?