Westministenders: The Art of the Deal

[RedToothBrush]

Well Trump seems to have put his foot in it.

Not that this should come as a surprise. For all the talk of closer ties with the US that was never going to happen. All that was need was for Trump to over step once too many.

By chance (?) Barnier also raised questions about our commitment to working with the EU on security.

Its almost as if we are being asked to choose whom we look to for security.

Meanwhile it sounds like the divorce bill is sorted - though this may not be as settled as that, if it comes with conditions. The deal might also be backtracked on, seeing as that appears to be the done thing presently.

Talks on Ireland are stalemated with Ireland threating to veto. No sign of a breakthrough here yet.

Talks on EU citz rights are reportedly going backwards (again) rather than going forward.

All of this is theatre for a British audience though, with the UK agreeing to everything. Because they gave again their cards when a50 was triggered.

The crunch is coming on whether we move to stage two before Christmas. We have no time to lose.

woman.

The other thing that chills me are the parallels of what I see being said about Muslims on comments pages with what was said about the Jews.

MrsLH showed me a post on a closed group she's on (MS support group). A member posted about being challenged for parking in a BB spot (with a BB) because she was able to get out of the car. When she pointed out her condition his response (as relayed) was that "can't you people wear some sort of badge or something ?"

And just for the lolz, said member said that the stress of the exchange wiped out her energy, and she had to return home .

Blessed be the fruit.

Under His eye.

Faisal Islam‏Verified account

And as to the thorny issue of ”what Leave voters voted for” - Survation find 92 of its 428 Leave voters (21%) say they want to stay in the Single Market and Customs Union, 67% want out in accordance with Gov plan, 13 (3%) want to stay in EU.

Presumably meaning they'd vote differently.

Can someone unpick the implications (apart from the obvious) about the Milburn et al resignation? Shamefully, it's not something I know much about

Lib Dem watchers might like to know that Nick Harvey (former MP, lost his seat in 2015, had been doing the job on an interim basis) is now the Lib Dem CEO

Kind, Kirche and Küche from BBC:

Why women fear a backlash over #MeToo

Katty Kay Presenter, BBC World News

The next fear is that men will get so nervous that they're going to be accused of harassment that they will simply stop hiring, meeting or socialising with female colleagues. There are reports this is already happening. We will get shut out of the room where important decisions are made because men fear our presence? How ironic would that be

It's known here as the Pence rule after Vice-President Mike Pence, who said he doesn't ever meet alone or have dinner alone with female colleagues in order to avoid any perception of impropriety. That can hinder female professionals by excluding us from work occasions that men can and do take advantage of

The backlash fear here is that if all cases of bad behaviour are treated equally this could quickly become a vendetta in which lots and lots of men are implicated and punished. Men will be seen as the bad guys simply for the crime of being male

^Already men are nervously asking what's acceptable and what's not. Is all flirting now banned? Is a pat on the back ok, but a pat on the bottom always a sackable offence? This confusion could fast turn to anger.
The risk is that men, feeling under siege, kick back and say "enough is enough, this is not fair". Then we risk losing the support and sympathy of our male colleagues. We do indeed become seen as witch hunters, or worse, as witches^

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42200092

'Pence as victim' thesis.

Urgh, of course it wouldn’t be the men that suffered from the consequences of their assaults, let’s find a way so that it can disadvantage women instead! It’s all a bit overwhelming sometimes, thinking how shit people are.

On a slightly lighter note

Nadine Dorries
@NadineDorries
My staff log onto my computer on my desk with my login everyday. Including interns on exchange programmes. For the officer on @BBCNews just now to claim that the computer on Greens desk was accessed and therefore it was Green is utterly preposterous !!

The replies to this are somewhat forthright, linking to parliamentary codes, policy and guidance, stats on (wasted) money spent on cyber security etc

Revealed: Universal Credit Requires The Terminally Ill To Meet ‘Work Coaches’

Exclusive: Campaigners lament ‘thoughtless’ regulations under flagship benefit reform.

m.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/universal-credit-terminally-ill_uk_5a21c76be4b03c44072d976c

I've read the whole of that article and while there are some bits I have some sympathy for, this bit I just can't deal with at all.

Already men are nervously asking what's acceptable and what's not. Is all flirting now banned? Is a pat on the back ok, but a pat on the bottom always a sackable offence? This confusion could fast turn to anger. The risk is that men, feeling under siege, kick back and say "enough is enough, this is not fair". Then we risk losing the support and sympathy of our male colleagues. We do indeed become seen as witch hunters, or worse, as witches

The vast majority of men I know seem to have no problems at all in working out what is acceptable and when. My husband managed to get to know me, flirt with me and start a relationship with me all without any sort of uncomfortable or unpleasant boundary crossing. I have had plenty of male friends and colleagues who have never made me feel uncomfortable or objectified.

It is not rocket science and I just have no sympathy at all with the idea that poor men just didn't know what's allowed anymore. If a man can't work out what actions are likely to make a woman uncomfortable this is purely due to the way in which they view women. Any man who views woman as thinking, feeling people with autonomy and value in their own right won't have a problem.

So some public servants in Parliament spend time when they should be representing their constituents on viewing porn. Others (maybe like Nadine Dorries MP) spend time writing many bestseller books. (Though I suppose she could be writing them at the weekend.) Others (Kezia Dugdale MSP) spend time on I'm a Celebrity.
Most public sector workers just WORK when they're at work, and would scoff if you suggested there was time to do anything else, or even that they'd still have the mental energy to have another career at the weekend.
Extremely disappointing.

Is a pat on the back ok, but a pat on the bottom always a sackable offence? This confusion could fast turn to anger.

Really? How many women find it acceptable to pat a man on the back or never mind the bottom, as a matter of course?

My staff log onto my computer on my desk with my login everyday. Including interns on exchange programmes

Oh. My. God!!! Seriously! And she admits this in Twitter. This is a security horror show. I think I need to go have a lie down.

I used to be IT support for some elected officials. A good deal of my job was spent telling them not to give out their passwords to anyone. Not even if they know them and they seem really nice. We had regular security breaches because of them handing out their passwords to anyone who asked.

FFS. Do these people have no idea about basic IT security? Do you trust someone who would give their passwords to a random intern to run your country?

Further down into those tweets she digs herself further into the hole explains that is ok as they've managed to get a security cleared pass for the building.

I'm sure Nadine is talking rubbish. I can't believe MPs would run the risk of giving any old randomer access to their email. The potential for forwarding/printing or even just sending embarrassing emails would be huge. This is just about a counter narrative for Damian.

Nadine talking rubbish. Now or any other time she opens her gob?

I'm sure Nadine is talking rubbish. I can't believe MPs would run the risk of giving any old randomer access to their email.

Sadly, having worked in this area with people just like her I really can believe it. Happens all the time. Getting accounts set up for an intern takes time and effort, and they seem really nice and trustworthy I'm sure. I am surprised she went on Twitter to tell everyone about it though and that the tweet is still there dispite everyone telling her it is a clear breach of security policies.

Nadine Dorries
@NadineDorries
All staff send emails in our name. To say emails were sent at the same time porn was viewed - therefore it must have been him - is also preposterous

Nadine Dorries
@NadineDorries
MPs receive 100s of emails every day. All accessed and triaged by a team of staff

Nadine Dorries
@NadineDorries
You don’t have a team of 4-6 staff answering the 300 emails you receive every day

Nadine Dorries
@NadineDorries
All my staff have my login details. A frequent shout when I manage to sit at my desk myself is, ‘what is the password?’

I started my working career back in the 80s as a graduate recruit in the Petrochemicals and Plastics Division of ICI - one of the few females. Most of my career I've been in male dominated industries. Strangely , all the men I worked with, both alongside and for, understood proper boundaries

I had one minor incident when a married work colleague came on to me - but he took his rejection with equanimity and we continued to work well together. I never felt threatened or pressured.

I've even managed to go away on lots of business trips with men - and stayed professional throughout

Funny how most men seem to understand how to behave appropriately and not assume that they are god's gift to women

All my staff have my login details. A frequent shout when I manage to sit at my desk myself is, ‘what is the password?’

Anyone want to hang around near Nadine Dorris' office and overhear her passwords? I bet she uses the same one for everything as well.

I feel so sorry for her IT security officer right now. The poor person must be crying into their coffee this morning.

How many women find it acceptable to pat a man on the back or never mind the bottom, as a matter of course

I agree Peregrina and Hester I agree too.It disgusts me on behaviour in public office.

The fact is that the BBC, with 4 fascists on and counting this week is publishing this poorly written alt right drivel makes me hope for a national TV licence strike soonish.

Would make a nice xmas surprise for the powers that be to cancel direct debits en masse.

Worked last time there was a mass non payment of unfair tax, I seem to remember.

Nadine Dorries @NadineDorries My staff log onto my computer on my desk with my login everyday.

In that case, she is a fucking idiot.

And if a computer was a car, and broke the law, if the registered keeper couldn't identify the driver they get the points.

If what Nadine Dorries says is true (she is an MP, and Tory after all) then it's almost as if the Westminster IT system has plausible deniability baked in.

I refuse to believe that the Westminster network works the way @NadineDorries believes it does.

I have set up many email systems. And none of them needed a shared login. You just grant the right permissions to the right person.

Revealed: Trump guru Steve Bannon's secret trip to Scotland for think tank event

www.heraldscotland.com/news/15698835.Revealed__Trump_guru_Steve_Bannon_s_secret_trip_to_Scotland/?ref=twtrec

THE notorious figurehead for the US ‘alt-right’ movement who helped get Donald Trump into the White House has made a secret appearance in Scotland.

Steve Bannon, who has been accused of being a “white nationalist”, is said to have given a staunch defence of the Republican President at a gathering of the think-tank Scotland International Ltd (SIL) in Gleneagles on Friday.

[...]SIL, which was set up in the 1990s, is a think tank fronted by Edinburgh-based tycoon Sir Angus Grossart and has been described as an annual gathering of business leaders.

The organisation staged an event last week at the five star Gleneagles hotel. A source in the room said Bannon was part of a panel and he spoke for about 25 minutes, which was followed by a question and answer session.

“The great and good of Scotland didn’t hold back,” the insider said. “I don’t think there was anybody in the room who supported what he [Bannon] was saying.”

Asked what Bannon spoke about, the source said: “Just basically his philosophy. His philosophy is that the world needs a dramatic change like Reagan, and Trump is the man.”

The source said attendees questioned why Trump needed to post offensive tweets: “He defended it all. He said we’ve all got to wake up.”

A picture of the event obtained by the Sunday Herald shows Bannon sitting in the middle of a three-man panel, with Grossart standing in the room.

Bannon’s session at Gleneagles was part of a UK trip that also included a meeting with prominent Tory MP Jacob Rees Mogg.

It was reported last week that the pair had an hour-long meeting in a Mayfair hotel to talk about how conservative movements can win in the US and UK.

He is also believed to have met Nigel Farage, the former Ukip leader, and another Conservative MP during the short trip.

I started my working career back in the 80s as a graduate recruit in the Petrochemicals and Plastics Division of ICI - one of the few females.

for my sandwich year mid 80s, I worked at British Gas (in IT). My boss, and her boss were women. And bloody good too.

Tom Newton Dunn‏ @tnewtondunn
Nigel Farage refuses to give up his £73k MEPs’ pension. “Why should my family suffer”? He really just said that #Marr