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.

Have to admit to having a soft spot for the absolute unfettered mad bastardness of Lewes bonfire societies and their celebrations.

And why not ? It's no less fucked up than forcing children to revere a man who was nailed to a cross and tortured to death. Or is that too controversial ?

I'm expecting many people to have an indulgent Christmas & New Year:

Remainers and others worried about Brexit - seeing it as their last chance before the tough years bite
Leavers - to show there is nothing to worry about

I'm expecting many people to have an indulgent Christmas & New Year:

probably not these people or their families though

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-46103018

Vital home care services for the elderly and vulnerable could be disrupted, regulators say.

The Care Quality Commission has issued a notice saying it has serious doubts about the future of Allied Healthcare.

The CQC said it was concerned about its prospects from the end of this month, but the firm said the move was "premature and unwarranted".

(contd)

Mrsr8 Trump thread is hiding, but I found it. (It did not come up.title search, I had to search for regular posters.)
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3409109-He-s-the-match-we-re-the-ammo-Only-we-can-stop-ourselves-Trump-thread-86

Re: indulgent Christmas. I have started stockpiling Heston's mince pies and panettones as well as pot noodles.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46107834

New Look may close about 100 UK stores in a radical revamp intended to cut costs and improve profitability.

In March creditors approved the fashion retailer's plan to shut 60 stores and cut 1,000 jobs.

On Tuesday the chain said 85 stores had closed or were closing, while talks with landlords on a further 13 were continuing.

A further 26 stores are trading rent-free, with landlords or New Look able to end the arrangement at any time.

The closures - which could mean even more jobs will be lost - come as sales fell 3.7% for the 26 weeks to 22 September. That was an improvement on the 8.6% slump for the same period last year.

(contd)

Varadkar accused by Sinn Fein of watering down his stance on Irish backstop

lisa o'carrolll@lisaocarroll* (Guardian Brexit corresp)

Mary Lou McDonald [SInn Fein leader] attacks Varadkar:
"Yesterday when you said you were willing to consider a review clause. you shifted your position".
"I think your announcement yesterday was a cock-up plain and simply ""
3:18 PM . Nov 6, 2018

He immediately replies he is staying tough

BREAKING Varadkar tells Dail:
"We will not resile from our fundamental position.
That backstop cannot have an expiry date"
3:21 PM · Nov 6, 2018

Big Short's Eisman Is Shorting Two U.K. Banks on Brexit

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-04/big-short-s-eisman-is-betting-against-two-u-k-banks-on-brexit

The U.K. is one of the biggest risks Eisman is watching, he said at a conference in Dubai on Sunday, declining to name the banks he’s betting against.
The fund manager expects the U.K. government to agree its exit from the bloc, but said Parliament is likely to reject the deal after that.

"I’m shorting two stocks in the U.K., but I’ve got a screen of about 50, and I might short all 50 if I think Jeremy Corbyn is going to be prime minister,”

< would he really be that worse ? Maybe just to the US. The EU would probably welcome him after the defective Maybot >

frumpety Bonfires are fun. Sausages are fun. Safe firework displays can be lovely.
Just burning effigies of Catholics or anyone is well........ with the current state of the national psyche, maybe a bit..............? A Jew being tortured to death? DGR don't get me started!

Good article here in IT
^Fintan O'Toole: Why Caligula should be Theresa May's role model
It is vital that May is allowed to save face even as she performs the great Brexit climbdown^
Caligula faked a victory by getting his soldiers to collect sea shells and report a successful battle back home.

We must never forget how important it is for Britain to save face. National honour is no less potent for being idiotic

www.irishtimes.com/opinion/fintan-o-toole-why-caligula-should-be-theresa-may-s-role-model-1.3687047#

Theresa May as Caligula ...

I think I've just swallowed a tiny bit of sick

Caligula was murdered by the Praetorian guard (one of Romes worst innovations) as he left a spectacle, from memory. They then suddenly realised that with no emperor to guard, they could be out of a job, so quickly had to look for a successor. Enter C...C...C..C..Claudius.

There's simply too much parallel there for satire.

One of the advantages of a classical education is you were not only allowed to, but encouraged to read up the racier bits. Unlike Eng. Lit where we weren't trusted with the entire "St. Agnes Eve". (Remembers a Monty Python sketch with the line "... the expurgated version...^ )

Pretty certain it was Caligula that wished all of Rome "had but one neck" so that he could kill everyone in one fell swoop.

I've just remembered Caligulas pretensions as a dancer too ... it gets worse.

That article is basically saying the Uk must be treated like a mad psychopathic Emperor, with its ego and fantasies pandered to.

Depressing thing is: the Irish Times are right.

On the plus side, Claudius did revise the alphabet, and was a surprisingly competent administrator. When he asked for tenders for building grain silos, the companies all submitted vastly inflated bids, but he was able to pull previous copies they had submitted to Tiberius which were half the price and asked them to explain why - with no extra work - the prices were different.

Most people reading this thread would probably adjust to life in ancient Rome (language excepted) in a matter of days. Which should come as no surprise, really, since we've based our entire civilisation on aping the Romans.

We must never forget how important it is for Britain to save face. National honour is no less potent for being idiotic
That IS totally true.

We must never forget how important it is for Britain to save face. National honour is no less potent for being idiotic

Maybe, being only half British, I don't feel that way . I'd rather be fed, warm and clothed than right, any day.

DG this is classic snowflake talk, real Brits don't need any of those things. You are a disgrace to the country!

Is that an edge coming up ?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-46103051

Theresa May has told her senior ministers she is still confident of reaching a Brexit deal but it must "not be done at any cost" to the UK.

Following the PM's weekly cabinet meeting, No 10 said the main sticking point remained how to guarantee no new checks on goods at the Irish border.

(contd)

As DGR is only 'half British, they can only be half a disgrace.

Have to admit to having a soft spot for the absolute unfettered mad bastardness of Lewes bonfire societies and their celebrations.

Me too - love it- it's a childhood memory thing. Environmentally outrageous. Sheer bloody bonkers.

but it must "not be done at any cost" to the UK.

So what cost is ok? All the govts calculations on any deal or no deal show a huge negative cost. So what price is ok to get rid of Spanish nurses?

Not sure if I'm right, but the "at any cost" has slipped in quietly. Up until now it's been an emphatic "it has to happen". But now we've had the weasel words slipped it, is there a game change afoot ? If we assume the governments view is the worst possible outcome is no-deal ? Because if no-deal is better than some deals, then why not go no-deal now ?

Once again why is no one holding these people to what they are blathering on about ?

BBC Press Office @bbcpress
@FaisalIslam appointed as new @BBCNews Economics Editor

Raises eyebrow

I hope skynews carry on with their excellent Brexit coverage without him.

Britain’s arrogant attempts to hoodwink the EU have sacrificed all trust

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/06/britain-brexit-eu-british-government-irish-backstop

When Ireland’s foreign minister, Simon Coveney, tweeted on Sunday that Britain’s calls for a time-limited or unilaterally breakable backstop “are not backstops at all and don’t deliver on previous UK commitments”, he echoed the frustration across the EU.

The concern is not that the UK holds a different opinion, it is that it is reneging on the guarantees it has already made.

As the negotiators brace themselves for a lock-in at the last-chance saloon, the underlying problem is less about the backstop than the EU’s chronic lack of trust.

There is a reason why Britain is being dragged kicking and screaming from the backstop to the withdrawal agreement.

Since the start of this process, our government has confirmed every European fear and British stereotype.
The UK has sought to divide and rule, bypassing the European commission and playing member states off against one another;
ceaselessly demanded unique privileges unavailable to either members or non-members;
and continued to insist upon fantasy technology at the Irish border to prevent the return of all-too-real sectarian violence.

Our long reputation has always preceded us but, immediately after the referendum, the EU held out genuine hope that the government might behave reasonably.
Certainly, Britain’s official narrative centred around building goodwill and demonstrating good faith.

But, in reality, Theresa May quickly compounded tactical errors with pointless offence.
The 2016 “citizens of nowhere” conference speech horrified EU diplomats, < and it's an insult I will never forget >
who also objected to the threatening tone of the Lancaster House speech and Article 50 letter.
In May 2017, the prime minister even accused “bureaucrats of Brussels” of meddling in the UK election.
Boris Johnson’s rhetoric about punishment beatings and whistling for money,
and Jeremy Hunt’s likening of the bloc to a Soviet prison did little to help.

The EU expected domestic Tory theatre, but ministers’ hostile language has also bled into personal relationships.
Johnson, David Davis and Dominic Raab have all been deemed abrasive figures,
and EU officials report numerous breaches of courtesy and protocol.
Character and personality matter, and British arrogance has not won friends or influence.

We should send a gunship ....

Our aircraft carriers don't have planes; do our gunships have guns ?