Westminstenders: From Russia with Love

[RedToothBrush]

Things just got scary.

The colony of US puppet state or a vassel state of the EU?

Why not just let market forces take their course and let Russia buy the UK?

How did we get to stories of spies and mafia who buy politicians?

Just who are our enemies and allies?

Won't someone think of the effect on house prices in Salisbury?

Try not to don your foil hat, brace yourself and resist shouting 'money laundering too loud'.

More turbulence ahead.

Brexit still seems like such a cracking idea doesn't it?

I've only ever voted labour woman

Yes. It will feel very odd. Ballot spoiling seems my only option now...

Btw...how can I find out which constituencies have local elections?

@zachjourno
In response to our investigation on government plans for the #Brexit border 34 MPs have signed a letter to the PM demanding answers

Labour looks a bit splitty.

Ah
Found it
No local elections for me

Woman not yet they won't, I suspect. Ask me again in about a month.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_local_elections,_2018
Where the local elections are.

If you are in an area with local elections do check if a trial area for ID. There are quite a few.

Very odd, being so politically (and culturally) homeless isn't it MrsR. Have a
I think this is the relevant doc Election Timetable?
www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/487034/Electoral_cycles_-_from_May_2016.pdf

There are lots of people who feel the same woman. In a strange way this is also reassuring as it is alarming.

Ed Miliband @ ed_miliband
@margarethodge cross party campaign on dirty money and tax havens completely right and will come to vote after Easter. See episode 25 of @CheerfulPodcast for more on the issue.

Margaret Hodge @ margarethodge
If we want to get tough on Putin, we need to clamp down on Russia's use of Britain and it's overseas territories as safe havens for illegal wealth. My piece for the Guardian here:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/16/how-to-curb-putin-russian-kleptocrats-salisbury-dirty-money?CMP=twt_gu

TSE @ TSEofPB
Discuss: Vladimir Putin has just ensured a Hard/no deal/WTO Brexit with the events in Salisbury.

No Tory MP will rebel now, they just won’t risk making Corbyn PM after Corbyn's conduct this week.

Alistair @ alistairmay
Or alternatively, May will have to compromise with them because SHE won't risk making JC PM

David Herdson @ davidherdson
Maybe. But on the other hand, the case for international cooperation has just been given a boost. Isolation not quite so attractive.

Ian Blandford @ Cymraeg_lad
Unlikely but possible outcome, Corbyn removed, remainer Labour leader takes over.

Also see LABOUR MPs being too scared to let Corbyn in. May think it more important to protect UK than play party politics, especially if they think they are liable to be deselected in a Momentum purge anyway.

More incentive not to tow the whip and to rebel with the Tory Rebels.

The "Open Borders" import scenario has not been thought through - or it has and aomebody put profit & Brexit ideology before people

• WTO rules mean that the UK would have to let in goods from all countries, not just the E27
  Many developing countries, e.g. China, have much lower rules on safety of food, toys, electrical goods etc
  Obvious risk to public health and risk of increased accidents

• For this reason, the E27 will NOT throw open its borders to UK goods - because it would also have to do so to the entire world
  So UK exporters - food, agriculture, chemicals, manufactured goods etc - will still be hindered from exporting

• No country would offer the Uk a trade deal, if the UK already lets in its hoods freely
  Why would anyone want a trade deal to let in UK goods for no further advantage ?

if the UK already lets in its goods^ freely^
Unfortunately, the Uk already let in too many Russian hoods

Interesting article. Although created in Russia, this poison has been around in Europe for the last 20 years (breaking up of soviet States, black market etc..). By the same token , it has probably been in the UK since 1990. No evidence has been given to the public that the Russian Government is directly involved. I personally find it odd how quickly the UK government accused the Russian Government of murder.
There are a lot of questions to be asked first. What would be Putin's motives right now when in the midst of an election campaign? This whole situation is bizarre.

m.huffingtonpost.fr/patrick-martingenier/4-questions-que-pose-laffaire-de-lex-espion-russe-empoisonne_a_23387077/

Personally I can't see myself ever voting Tory - there are just too many areas where they can't be trusted to look after ordinary people. I don't like Corbyn either. As it happens, I am lucky and live in an area where Labour always poll badly, so I am not faced with the dilemma.

I think it's good that questions are being asked about Russian involvement. I can see this as an area where Theresa May goes and overplays her hand. I don't really know what I think about the situation, but did have a laugh about the Tories having to stick with their EU partners. Thought they wanted out at all costs.

I need to decide how to vote in the London elections. My borough is Labour through and through so my vote will make zero difference. Maybe Lib Dem, though they are useless these days.

It can be really hard to know how to vote - any place which has a virtual one party monopoly tends to have corruption and cronyism.

What would be Putin's motives right now when in the midst of an election campaign?

You're kidding, right?

I see the idea that A50 might need to be extended has finally occurred to some MPs.

Project reality finally picking up some momentum?

Irene, I'm struggling too, for the same reason as you.

When it comes down to it I'll probably go Lib Dem, though. I think they are at least in part useless because not enough people vote for them…

I think I'm in a very lucky position in that I've always felt disenfranchised my entire voting life and I've always voted for the party I disagree with least, so currently it doesn't feel any different. This to me just further proves why FPTP is a load of unrepresentative bollocks.

The lib dems very kindly sent me a leaflet showing that in my area labour (and thankfully UKIP) have never won in local elections. it's a race between the LDs and the cons...so LD it is. Choice made.

As has been said, London was predominantly Remain so I don’t know how significant it is but the fact that there is any appetite for a second referendum, particularly amongst conservative voters (regardless of their Remain/leave leanings) seems noteworthy. Might be missing something though!

Brexit: Most Conservative voters who backed Theresa May in 2017 would favour second referendum

Exclusive: In London a big majority of those who backed Ms May's party in the last two elections support a second national vote

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/conservatives-poll-second-brexit-referendum-spring-conference-survation-theresa-may-a8259966.html

PainInThe Ear:
Bernie Sanders has continually made problematic statements revealing that he courts the white working class vote at the expense or exclusion of the black communities. There have been several dog whistles eg

Bernie Sanders: Guns In Vermont Are Not The Same As Guns In Chicago Or Los Angeles

That is hardly dog whistles unless you think it's racist of Bernie to point out that the un-infringed right to bear arms means gang members have the right to bear arms just as much as your grandad who owns a little patch of wetland where he has built duck hunting blinds. People being shot at with AK-47s while sitting out on their front stoops, bystanders being hit and killed as gang wars over turf drag on all summer is a far cry from having a gun that you use to go out hinting with.

Politics is the art of the possible - Bernie seems to have accepted that the Second Amendment most likely will not be repealed and is proposing realistic regulation, which is brave of him considering the amount of money the NRA is able to pump into opposing candidates who campaign for even mild reform.

There are plenty of Second Amendment warriors who are happy to see guns of all calibres in the hands of anyone who wants them because among other 'advantages', they make life difficult and dangerous for black and hispanic people living in American cities. Gang keep neighbourhoods poor. Sanders is right to insist there are differences among the reasons people want to own guns. His attempt at provoking thought on the matter is actually compassionate towards the people who tend to be victims of guns boasting incredible fire power in crime-ridden cities, many of whom are also happy to support reasonable gun ownership regulations as opposed to a repeal of the Second Amendment.

Black voters tend to be conservative when it comes to many issues, though they tend to vote Democratic. Gun control initiatives were once used the same way that voter ID initiatives are used today, and while many black people tend to argue that it is illegal possession of guns that is the problem, and would like to see sensible gun control, they want it to be fair and respectful of the fact that they too have rights as citizens.

..................
Peregrina and Lonelyplanetmum:
China has a massive presence in Africa, especially in civil engineering projects to develop infrastructure that enables the transportation of oil and minerals to ports. Also in energy projects.
thediplomat.com/2017/06/sudan-chinas-original-foothold-in-africa/
US geopolitical games with Russia leave Africa with only China to turn to for trade and infrastructure development, and Russia, Belarus and Ukraine to supply arms.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Belt_One_Road_Initiative
The Belt and Road Initiative.

Lico, thank you for that article. I too find the haste puzzling.
Putin doesn't have to lift a finger to win the Russian election. If necessary even the dead shall arise and vote.

Otoh, push has come to shove in the Brexit talks - the government must offer a solution on NI, on trade, on extending A50, and the Repeal Bill lumbers forward.
Project reality finally picking up some momentum? Indeed.

I am confused by Lico's article. I thought we established in the chemistry section upthread that these novichok'agents are not just knocking around anywhere in Europe that including here.

The suggestion in that article that an unhappy prospective father in law may have been targeting the daughter and would have access to nerve agents like this is simply absurd.

It said upthread that these devastating chemicals 'were developed in the 70s and 80s by Vil Mirzayanov among others, who now lives as an exile in the US. He was so horrified that he went public an eventually to jail in Russia .'
'Novichok' is a generic term given to a family of organophosphorus acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. They look like this. The structure on the right is A-232 3/ [ no picture]

VX in comparison looks like this. It has a different chemical structure. Just by looking at the structure, a chemist can tell you what the mass, infrared, NMR, UV and other spectra are likely to look like with a high degree of confidence .

It was concluded upthread that a Russian source was far far more likely and if it walks, looks and quacks like a duck then, it is.

Oh look, another back down
www.ft.com/content/89ef8760-2931-11e8-b27e-cc62a39d57a0?desktop=true&segmentId=7c8f09b9-9b61-4fbb-9430-9208a9e233c8