Westministenders: Reality Bytes

[RedToothBrush]

Tonight the Corbyn and McDonnell Labour Party supported the Tory Party in improving the tax allowance for higher rate tax payers.

Yes you read that right. Did you even blink?

You've been so conditioned into seeing non existant opposition which seems to go against everything the Labour Party stand for that you no longer are shocked.

That's what 2 and a half years of Brexit has done to you.

You no longer care that Boris Johnson got £14,000 from the Saudis a couple of days before the Khashoggi murder. You know longer care that the former Defence Secretary is employed for £75,000 a year to advise a major Saudi Investor.

You are just happy that Trump hasn't started a war with Iran or North Korea yet. And hasn't started a civil war. (Though he's trying hard and next week is his best opportunity to stir it all up). You aren't surprised to hear that predictions are that the Democrats will fail to make gains in the mid terms.

You've suffered the 4657 story about how Therea May is just about to be challenged for the leadership.

You've heard about the squad set up at the Home Office to clear up all the cases the media get their hands on as the latest burning injustice. You are hearing that EU nationals who have been promised they are 'safe' are being subjected to questions about their right to stay. And you just shrug and say, "Yeah well thats the Home Office for you. The Bastards". And you do mean it, but you are so jaded by it all. And you worry that another 12 months from now, you won't even be interested in another story like that, and the press will stop printing them as they no longer interest the reader. What happens to your friends, your family, or even you then? Who is going to care then?

And then you have today.

A day where you hear that Bannon is being investigated by the Senate Intel Committee, Farage has been upgraded to the FBI's Really Naughty List and Banks has (FINALLY) been refered to the NCA. (We were only speculating on the possibility, on the 26th March...)

And you go 'Ooooooooo maybe there is hope'.

Maybe we COULD remain in the EU and avoid Turnip Soup and wiping your arse with leaves because of the national bog roll shortage. Or at least get a decent deal which suits us as a nation. Maybe, just maybe!

And that lasts for about 2 minutes before you log into twitter and the very first thing you see this:

Tom Newton Dunn @tnewtondunn
Excl: David Cameron tells friends he’d like a return to frontline politics, and fancies Foreign Secretary
www.thesun.co.uk/news/7639377/david-cameron-return-to-politics/

And you let out a high pitched screech as if you are were a dying cat as you remember this is 2018, and it just wants to beat the life out of you.

On the plus side, it shows you do still care enough to think 'Don't let that fucking bastard anywhere near power ever, ever again.'.

Ho hum.

Keep on, keeping on. Don't let the bastards win.
Keep caring. It matters.

Tom Newton Dunn @tnewtondunn
Brexit latest: Whitehall sources say no deal is likely at all this week, nor will Cabinet be asked to decide on any fresh offer to the EU tomorrow. (1/2)
A mechanism to end the backstop is still the big block, and no solutions on the table yet. Prospective dates for an emergency EU summit to agree any deal also pushed back to Nov 27 or 28 #BrexitGroundHogDay (2/2)

Ibsen - from the same nation which gave us the word Quisling.

Who wrote "The Master Builder" ? Was it Ibsen (googles) ah, it was. Saw a great adaptation on TV years ago with Leo McKern, if memory serves.

Would those 'extra police required' be the ones that are already grumpy at such a low pay rise, shortage of manpower and viable equipment etc?
Wasn't it around 14 or more 'different' computer systems across the UK so communication between forces is 'patchy'?

DG, I was feeling less charitable when I read that and (after, of course, thinking 'lying sophist cunt'), just thought 'Yeah right, like all the DM readers are going to get and appreciate a theatre reference.'

DM readers are more likely to burn books than read them.

Would those 'extra police required' be the ones that are already grumpy at such a low pay rise, shortage of manpower and viable equipment
Pointed out elsewhere.
Also, how does policing civil strife work, when police and soldiers don't know if their families are safe and fed.

Also, how does policing civil strife work, when police and soldiers don't know if their families are safe and fed.

it doesn't. Remember, history is not a strong point with Brexiteers - especially Theresa May.

I think at the end of WW1 after the Russian Revolution a lot of their soldiers just deserted and went home, because of the same worries for their families. If enough do it, it is difficult for the authorities to do much about it.

peregrina Your DN is the type who steps in a lift, farts horribly and steps off at the next floor.

My DN is actually a nice bloke in other ways, so this Leave vote absolutely stunned us. His DB, who does live in the UK, could not express his disgust in strong enough terms.

MIL by contrast, who does live here, and is as racist as they come, voted Remain, and still thinks that was the right decision.

Simon Coveney@simoncoveney

The Irish position remains consistent and v clear⁩ that a “time-limited backstop” or a backstop that could be ended by UK unilaterally would never be agreed to by IRE or EU.
These ideas are not backstops at all + don’t deliver on previous UK commitments ⁦⁦#Brexit

8:37 AM · Nov 5, 2018

peregrina Your DM may simply be more realistic than her family realise:

Someone who is against non-white immigration might well recognise that the EU is overwhelmingly full of white people,
that the E27 immigrants do some essential jobs in the UK
and that the EU, with its greater international clout, is more likely than the UK to find a way of helping refugees in their own regions, rather than settling them in Europe.

She may also be aware that the UK economy would be hammered by leaving the SIngle Market
and that could make family members poorer.

Equally, your DN probably didn't even consider race, but had too few facts:
he thought he was voting for more local democracy, rather than a hard right spivs charter

Not everyone who farts in a lift intends to do so !

BigChoc I'd be interested to see if this lady is in German newspapers tonight.
(isn't farting in a lift a strict liability offence?)
Or the #3Millionhumanchain/Rally/ meeting at HOC
twitter.com/The3Million/status/1059397157596340230

MIL (Not DM) lived through the war. I think that makes a difference.
DN has had life jolly easy, and I am not sure that he knows just how easy.

Brexit latest: Dominic Raab insists he will not quit in Irish backstop battle - live updates

< resignation letter already written, then ? >

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/11/05/brexit-latest-mps-oweit-country-consider-backing-theresa-mays/

Dominic Raab has denied speculation that he might resign in protest if there is no time limit or satisfactory exit clause on the Irish backstop.

One of the most enthusiastic Europeans I've ever met had been a POW in WW2 (captured at Dunkirk). He had to march from East to West keeping ahead of the Red Army as the Nazis evacuated the POWs.

He said every town he went through was rubble, and if a few silly rules were the price of avoiding that again, it was cheap.

Of course he's probably passed away now (this was in 1993).

Perhaps we're all being too negative, and peace is overrated ? Maybe we should shake things up a bit so the youth of the future get a chance to show what they can do in mortal combat ? Who are we to deny them such a glorious opportunity ?

Edwin Starr, famously asked "War ! What is it good for ?" but I notice he never stayed around to listen to the replies. Typical pinko lefty.

www.theregister.co.uk/2018/11/05/uk_gov_voter_id_trial_2019/

UK.gov to roll out voter ID trials in 2019 local elections

Eleven areas will require people to prove identity in advance or on the day

The government is to expand its controversial voter ID trials in next year’s local elections.

The trials require people to bring personal identification before they are allowed to vote, and were rolled out in five cities earlier this year.

The idea is to crack down on election fraud, but critics have said the plan risks damaging voter turnout – especially in less well-represented groups – and tackles a non-problem, as the Electoral Commission found there were just 44 allegations of impersonation in 64 million votes in 2016.

Nonetheless, the Cabinet Office is ploughing ahead, today announcing 11 new regions that will pilot the approach in the 2019 local elections in May.

In Pendle, East Staffordshire and Woking, people will be asked to show photo ID before they are given their ballot papers – this might be a passport or driving licence.

In Ribble Valley, Broxtowe, Derby, North Kesteven and Braintree, people will be given the option of showing two forms of non-photo ID or a photo ID.

Voters in Mid Sussex, Watford and North West Leicestershire are testing pre-issued poll cards, which are seen as a less restrictive solution. If someone turns up without the card on polling day, they must present another form of ID.

This method requires the biggest IT spend, as the poll cards have barcodes that are scanned with tablets on election day. In the May trials, the cost of the software licences and hiring the IT kit and other equipment was, on average, £659 per polling station in Swindon; in Watford, where no additional licenses were needed, it was on average £332 per station.

Peterborough, and Pendle, will also run a postal vote pilot that aims to assess the security of postal votes. Peterborough – which was involved in postal and proxy vote trials in May – will also requite proxy voters to show ID before they can cast their ballot.

The May pilot reported in July, and according to the evaluation (PDF), a public opinion survey found “no indication that the ID requirements impacted the reasons for not voting for any specific demographic group”. The main reason in all areas was “too busy/other commitments”.

The evaluation report added that in the areas where a photo ID was needed, confidence in how to vote, and satisfaction with the process, “significantly increased”.

In areas that trialled the poll card, this was the favoured method of proving identity, and polling station staff in particular gave positive feedback on the process.

That report was written by the Cabinet Office, though; the Electoral Commission will carry out an independent evaluation of the pilots and publish its findings in the summer of next year.

Looks like we're rapidly heading for a no deal now. 144 days left to get your house in order!

I just spat my tea out at typical pinko leftie dg

Warning - I’m quite depressed about the whole thing atm so might be very logical.

Looks like we're rapidly heading for a no deal now.
Yes. I think it’s good. That’s what should be happening. To see the UK leaving the EU completely and fully.
The U.K. has never actually bought into the EU dream and its aim. It’s has actually stopped it from moving forward, been the country who opposed decisions and voted NO the most in the EU Parliament.
The U.K. has been cherry picking for a long time, wanting special treatment, special this and that. Wanting Eastern Europe citizens to come in at one point (and refusing to put quotas etc..) only to grumble that there was none etc etc.
Time for the U.K. to move and let the EU alone.
Time also for the U.K. to learn what been in their know means nowdays. No empire anymore to support them but numerous countries who will be very happy to see it fail.

It’s not going to help me. Rather the opposite. But I have enough of the winny, grumpy Britain that thinks it can have whatever it wants and its opposite all at the same time. And the grumble because what it asked for is just too hard/‘impossible’

Apparently, Brexit is democracy. Brexit will be hard for a while but it’s worth it.
Great. Do it, just do it.

Maybe after two generations, the U.K. will actually WANT to join the EU and what it stands for. But it will have a hell of lot of work/change to do before arriving at that point.

Ive also encouraged my teens dcs to read 1984 because we are right in the middle of it.
I wish other countries were realising that as well as the impact it has on democracy.
Maybe, just maybe, that would help them to protect themselves from that sort of abuse of power.

www.politicshome.com/news/uk/foreign-affairs/brexit/news/99630/minister-embarrassing-u-turn-she-rules-out-extra-checks-eu
Minister in embarrassing U-turn as she rules out extra checks on EU citizens under no-deal Brexit

Bosses will not have to carry out fresh checks on EU nationals working in Britain after a no-deal Brexit, a minister has confirmed - less than a week after saying the opposite.

Ive also encouraged my teens dcs to read 1984 because we are right in the middle of it.

It would be interesting to know (I'm not an expert on Orwell) whether it was set in the future based on the immediate past of the 20th century, or a more generalised past from

I've always found 1984 a bit like Tolkien. Absolutely amazing imagination and breadth and vision and scope and rather clunky prose at times.

"Edwin Starr, famously asked "War ! What is it good for ?" but I notice he never stayed around to listen to the replies."

I thought the immediate answer was "Absolutely nothing" (Say it again).