Westministenders: One for the Women

[RedToothBrush]

Just remember that women are more likely to be worried about Brexit.

Their women's and workers rights are more at risk from departure from the EU, the ECJ and potentially the EHCR.
They are more likely to be worried as EU citizens in the UK due to taking time to have and raise families.
They are more likely to have been badly affected by austerity and an economic downturn will hit them first.
If they are leavers they are more likely to have changed their minds.
They are less likely to be MPs so have less representation.
They are more likely to be feeling politically unrepresented by any party and unsure of who they will vote for at the next election.
They are more likely to get abuse for expressing a political opinion. Many report having been subjected to sexual harassment from political colleagues.
They are more likely to be the target of abuse on social media.
They are earn less than their political colleagues, they earn less than their media colleagues, they earn less than their business colleagues. They are less likely to be in powerful lobby groups.

Then there's #metoo

And to cap it off women's groups are finding it hard to get their voice heard, and are frequently being labelled as hysterical or bigoted for merely wanting to discuss things and be reassured that their fears are acknowledged. They are frequently dismissed as liars or over sensitive.

This is 2018.

It doesn't feel progressive. It doesn't look equal.

Brexit has more of an impact on women.

Joris Luyendijk @ Joris Luijendijk
somebody I trust has had meetings with UK MPs, mostly Remain. Says many "still deep in denial" over the hard Brexit that is coming. 'They seem genuine in their belief that EU is not serious and will cut the UK a bespoke deal. It's bizarre, they are on a different planet.'

Steve Bullock @ GuitarMoog
Ghastly to read this. After a couple of weeks of listening to UK MEPs’ views on how very, very bad this is looking (and I agree), I’d highly recomend that MPs do the same.

That's alarming. How can they not see this?

That's kind of what we know must be happening but it still seems both impossible and, frankly, quite dangerous. Denial is not helpful at this stage.

What a horrible, terrible mess.

I've never tried transcribing a tweet before - but here goes:

Danny Blanchflower Mar 8 - replying to tweet from David Lammy re Impact Reports:

"David - in all the years I have been an economist I don't think I have ever seen a document showing potentially more disastrous outcomes - which would be made even worse if there was a hard NI border. It is the equivalent of choosing to impose the Great Depression on the UK"

Well. That's pretty frightening.

The replies to David Lammy's original tweet contain the usual idiocy about 'people who have nothing can't get poorer' (which shows a poor grasp of historical experiences of 'nothing') and 'I'd rather have less money than be in the EU" (which shows a poor grasp of what 'less money' may, actually, mean).

Why, oh why, are people so very, very stupid?

woman you are so right about this being a strange war, with M and S still open, and people wandering around with their eyes seemingly open but not really looking.

Stv news @ stvnews
WATCH: #Brexit must stop immigrants being used to undercut wages, @jeremycorbyn tells Scottish Labour conference #ScotLab18

Steve bullock @ guitarmoog
^Nope, I just can’t be arsed anymore.

There’s no good or jobs-first Brexit, even the SM would be damaging to the economy and jobs, the CU alone doesn’t solve the NI border, immigration does not reduce wages, the EU does not stop nationalisation 1/

...the hit to the economy will make your programme un-deliverable, the position is fundamentally anti-internationalist, UKIP has ceased to be an electoral threat, and people in Sunderland are not going to vote Tory en masse 2/

The majority of Labour voters overall and in every labour-held constituency are remain, Labour members are overwhelmingly remain and want a #finalsay referendum, Labour MPs are overwhelmingly remain. 3/

Voters, members, MPs and even shadow ministers all know all of this. You’re not fooling anyone.Please stop the self-defeating triangulation, and just listen to them. For your sake and ours. 4/4

Indeed.

I can't get my head around a Labour leader going along with a course of action that is going to impoverish - on a scale I have not seen in my lifetime - ordinary people.

This is insane.

I am getting to the point with Labour that I am so terrified by the shit they are coming out with that I will vote conservative at the next election.

What is coming direct from Labour is scaring the shit out of me. I don't need dead cats being dropped in the Mail. Or 'spy scandals' in the Telegraph.

When I'm seriously wondering if i'm going to have to lose my marbles and genuinely even consider that as a possibility, knowing full well what the consequences might well mean, theres a really big red flag here.

Corbyn is gambling on voters being so fed up of the cons they ll vote anyway to do so.

If im thinking jesus christ, which is the least dangerous option here and coming up 'ah yes the Tories' then holy fuck, just shoot me now.

Just to go back to health insurance - we moved to the US for a while, and as we were plannng to have more DC we had to pay significantly more (like double) to cover pregnancy. Even in a good company scheme it was a big chunk of money every month.

Who will be standing in your area, Red? They can't all be crazy?

I think another majority Conservative government would be an actual disaster - but I can completely understand the frustration wrt Labour. But you have the LibDems, don't you?

Our local option for Labour is good - which is what keeps me going.

Im in a Lab con marginal.

Next time will be an unknown con candidate as con mp who was booted wont stand again. The new lab mp frequently claims responsibility for local issues hes had no involvement with whatsoever. The local labour party is factional to the point of dysfunctional. The mp is BAME and apparently centrist (read here hes a jellyfish who will do anything to stay in favour with the many local factions).

As for the LDs. Jesus. Where to start. Most are pushing 70 and half make the conservatives look liberal atm. Plus they stand no chance at the next election.

I can't even vote ukip as the previous ukip candidate fell out with them prior to the last election and stood as an independent who couldn't spell.

And theres was no green party candidate to call me a 'non-man'.

So yeah. The choice is fuckwit without a spine or unknown arse imposed by tory Central office as the local party are all dead (the last one died recently), leaving tory hq to send out mailshots to see if they can get a bite from ANYONE locally so they might find anyone with a pulse capable of staying at the next locals/by election.

Dire. Worst options ive ever had to choose from.

thecatfromjapan Fri 09-Mar-18 10:05:24

An excellent post. An excellent description of the USA, and also what's in store for the UK.

To answer your question:
...we may well see graft, and non-payment of taxes, on a scale we really haven't seen in the UK.
I don't think the full extent of the graft and tax avoidance that goes on in the UK could even be guessed at right now. After Brexit the sky's the limit. The UK will turn into a massive money laundering operation.

to you, wishing you health.

KenDodd He owned a small business and said Brexit was costing him £2,000 a month at the moment but once we Brexit he'll be able to import this particular item from 'Trumps American' instead of the EU and that will save him £4,000 a time.

Does he not know that gouging is considered a sound business practice in the US? The price of that particular item will mysteriously rise about 8000% after Brexit.

RTB
Is pregnancy covered by health insurance?
In a word, no. Health insurance does not cover pregnancy as it is deemed as a lifestyle choice.

I have personally experienced the horrible sinking feeling that came with the realisation that pregnancy was not covered by the health insurance self-employed exH had bought, in the US. I had a MC at 13 weeks, having not visited a doctor. I fell pg again very soon and most unexpectedly, and applied for Kidcare (state-run healthcare for pregnant women and babies). It operated as a backup for those without pregnancy coverage as well as for those with none at all. An example of the state having to step in to make up for the massive shortcomings of the insurance industry (like food stamps and Medicaid for Walmart employees, while Walmart continues to pay the lowest wages it can get away with).

The notion of pregnancy as a lifestyle choice is one that came about in the wake of Roe v Wade. 'Freedom of Choice' means you 'choose' to proceed with the pregnancy, in the minds of the bean counters. It is of course 100% discriminatory against women because while both men and women may possibly be assumed to participate willingly in unprotected sex, the health consequences of that willing participation are borne entirely by women (and by babies too).

Sometimes the curtain is parted and you see capitalism in all its obscene ugliness.

Well it's now abundantly clear that Corbyn is a fuckwit. Utterly clueless on Brexit.

This is very good: twitter.com/andymoz78/status/972364191049895937?s=21

Silly, and naive. Those are the people who are negotiating Brexit.

If i was still in the UK I'd be looking for the exit. I had a dream last night that I had Spanish citizenship!

RTB, if I had a vote in the UK it would no longer be along party lines, I'd vote based on the candidates' Brexit position, and more generally for any candidate with a conscience and a three figure IQ. If I get my vote back, that means Labour in my old constituency (David Lammy) even though I despise the Labour leadership.

Terrifying
Just terrifying
I wish we could leave
I wish dh would take me seriously

Apologies, I meant to post a direct link to the blog below but seem to have posted a twitter link. The correct link is: chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.fr/2018/03/brexit-gets-silly.html

I think this guy might be the best writer on Brexit I've come across (not in terms of the technical content, but great political analysis and a good unfrilly writing style).

It must have been terrible waking up and realising it was nothing but a dream misti. I have been fantasising about being able to purchase Cypriot citizenship (it seems more realistic that averting Brexit sometimes) but I suppose if I had that sort of money, I'd probably be cheering Brexit on as I could probably personally profit from it.

This isn't any old coup...it's a Marks and Spencer coup

BBC Question Time
@bbcquestiontime
"There was a life before we were in the EU"

@PrueLeith says that people must stop fighting over the result of the referendum result #bbcqt

malgosia skawinski #FBPE
@solamiga
So, Prue Leith is mother to Danny Kruger, a senior fellow at the Legatum Institute. Legatum Institute = #altBrexit. And suddenly her appearance on tonight's #bbcqt makes sense; all in glorious technicolour.

Matt Thomas
@Trickyjabs
Laura Piddock: "There are people dying on the street"
Prue Leith: "Oh for heavens sake stop it Laura"

What, stop caring about people dying? #bbcqt

Will Black
@WillBlackWriter
For those too angry to spell @PrueLeith's name right

#WriteAPoemAboutBBCQT

"People dying on the streets" says Laura Pidcock
So Pru Leith, whose career is literally
"Let them eat cake"
Says: "Oh for heaven's sake"

#bbcqt

Pain I do have the right to seek French citizenship, fortunately. Just haven't got the energy for it at the moment. When Teen 1 leaves home in September I will do it! Both Teens are French, thank god.

Ah that is good! Although it must be infuriating that you have to jump through hoops to retain something you already have and don't want to give up.

I'm a second generation immigrant and so while I'm born and bred here, a lot of my family are spread across the world. As a teenager (and before it even crossed my mind that being British conferred a whole host of privileges and opportunities because I had simply taken it for granted) we used to laugh at how British citizenship was often one of the most desirable attributes on the "arranged marriages CVs" and thought how awful it was that people would be so opportunistic and not seek companionship and compatibility and mutual attraction etc but would rather prioritise the right type of passport. I wasn't a very switched on teen.

And here I am all these years later secretly hoping that when my DC are old enough, they might marry someone from the EU so they can have their rights restored (and they're both in primary school now so it's a very long way off!).

Catching up on this thread, and now I'm depressed . Well, more depressed.

To be clear, my immediate family didn't believe in arranged marriages and nor would I try and force my DC to marry someone just because of their EU citizenship (or expect to have any say in who they choose to marry, if they choose to marry at all!). It's just that when looking at ways to keep citizenship, apart from completing military service in the France to get French citizenship, this seemed like the most probable way. But of course, it isn't actually a priority when choosing a life partner and it would be awful if we got to the stage where it did.