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.

Indeed, I know of no company dying to get into the U.K. post-Brexit ( whatever form that takes ) . I am reading about major companies leaving and making plans to leave.

You know, companies are going to loose a lot of plant and equipment when they are forced to abandon factories ( though I would imagine they would try to take anything not nailed down ). I don't think it will be possible to sell many abandoned factories particularly the large ones due to practical issues.

These companies are not going to forget for a very long time the aggravation and cost of losing factories and having to establish new ones while still trying to make a product.

A lot of businesses ( actually pretty much all of them ) here in the U.S. operate on a Just-In-Time system too so there is not a lot of slack in terms of extra food or other supplies just sitting around in big warehouses.

In terms of food quality, say chicken, the higher priced chicken tends to be free-range and antibiotics-free. The cheaper varieties not so much. The U.S. despite it's size is simply not going to be in a position to help out the U.K. food wise very much due ( at least in the short term ) to it's JIT systems and the fact that U.S. shipping is not quite what it use to be.

If the U.K had been hit by say a big asteroid that severely damaged it, then U.S citizens would probably be prepared to say share and sacrifice in order to help out the U.K.

As it is, Brexit will be a self-inflicted injury and I don't think any country is going to go out on a limb and share it's food, provide money, donate medical supplies, etc for something that was totally preventable.

unsurprising slight manufacturing output increase due to the fall in the pound

I visit businesses all the time for work including exporters. They tell me their underbooks are bulging and they're struggling to keep up, until Brexit day. After that orders drop off a cliff. Customers overseas have brought forward orders and ordered extra to get things delivered before Brexit date, new orders after then are more difficult to secure because nobody knows what the regulatairy environment will be. In fairness Brexit rarely comes up because it's not what I'm there for and I never raise it for, when it does, 100% of exporters I've spoken to are negative about it, not even one has said it's a good thing. Probably spoken to about 20.

In other news
Brexit: Jeremy Hunt to hail 'bond of friendship' with France
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-46128372

The European army could be used to help deal with environment disasters (Obvioulsy that’s a very bad idea)
www.newsdump.co.uk/news/is-that-it-macrons-grand-plan-for-eu-army-will-focus-on-climate-crises-claims-minister

And France and UK must strengthen links 'to hedge against Trump' says ex NATO head
www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/08/uk-france-relations-trump-report-brexit-nato

None of them have mentioned the fall in the pound either.

Couldn't be arsed to name change.

I suppose that if things have the potential to go really bad all over it will be a lot easier for a government to exert control over a weak from hunger population than one that is decently fed and energetic

Thanks xebob

That's literally been the policy through 'universal credit' to starve a section of the populace into submission.

Now we all get to experience it.

Congratulations on the 100 women win, though. Splendid work from the dems grassroots.

More 'not good' news for you, Toshiba are pulling out of the NuGen power station project in Cumbria. It is not specifically Brexit related as it follows a bad buyout decision a while ago.
Maybe Moggy and friends would like to steer their capital into restarting that project and show solidarity with the British public?

I spent a while reading the comments on Brexit subjects in the Express and Mail online last night. With some of the disgusting things posted it would make many wish plague, fire and pestilence on them all. Being on the internet Europeans can read it too (some contribute, against a hailstorm of cr@p from some 'British', so Xebob's comments will apply to the EU sentiment too.
Like the advice about first aid, make sure that you remain safe so as not to be a second problem (misquote). The USA and EU will help out IF they have sufficient and get the 'best' price for it.

More evidence that Brexit is diverting resources and consuming normal Government operations.

Brexit: 'Raid' on Natural England staff condemned by MPs
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-46128368

OOh look.

@ThatTimWalker
The man in the inner circle of the Brexit decision-making process - whose views I keep hearing about these days - is Philip May.

And here's our Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab admitting that he hadn't really understood the importance of the Dover Calais route for goods:

twitter.com/wdjstraw/status/1060446473446477824

And David Davis this morning saying how Brexit negotiations would have gone much better if he'd been in charge of them. What a shame he never was.

The last vestige of the draconian reign of Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill has been put to bed

Only now, ffs !
They "supposedly" resigned after the last GE - but their system remained, like vampires leaving their mark

https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/london-playbook/politico-london-playbook-last-ditch-diplomacy-trump-unleashed-women-mps-descend-on-parliament/

... the pair’s notorious “CoS submissions” email address has at last been shut down, to the eternal relief of the Whitehall machine.

Chiefs of Staff Hill and Timothy had insisted all policy submissions to the prime minister had to be channeled through this CoS inbox

• and until they responded, nothing would get done.

The rest of Whitehall absolutely despised it,
and the submissions process has gradually softened since their hasty departure following the 2017 election disaster.

Now the final nail in the coffin has been hammered home^ a message went round recently saying the mailbox has been closed.^
It’s truly the end of an era.

So we have an NI Minister who is proud to boast of being ignorant of the Sectarian issues in NI.

We now have our chief EU negotiator not realising that much of our trade came in via Calais-Dover. Couldn't the man use his eyes?

Even if it were possible to make a success of Brexit, with staff of that calibre being the best available it is not possible. Why not find a class of 10 year olds to put onto the job - they couldn't do any worse.

I made the mistake of listening to David Davis on R4 this morning. It’s really not good for my blood pressure. Here are some gems:

no deal isn’t as bad as some people are making it out to be

there won’t be a shortage of insulin if there’s no deal - that’s been shown to be nonsense

the world already trades on a WTO deal

AAARRRGGGHHH

England in close to France shocker?!

Wait until someone tells Rabb where NI and Ireland are!

Geography is a traitor!

Theresa May's national security meetings repeatedly cancelled after UK became 'consumed' by Brexit

Again, as predicted. If anyone is surprised, they are stupid, thick, moronic, and a bit dim.

Re Rabb

Ian Dunt @IanDunt
For years, particularly over the ECHR and Brexit, this man was presented as the big brains on the Tory backbenches.

The only thing I could find was the unsurprising slight manufacturing output increase due to the fall in the pound

My Dads business premises were next to a 70-year old chemical factory (in Hounslow). It was bought by a US company in the late 80s, who ramped up production (some sort of dye) to the highest levels ever seen.

Turned out it was to stockpile while they closed it, sold the land, and moved production of that dye to America. We knew some of the employees, and they weren't told this was the plan.

And if you want to know what US companies do when there is a problem - in this case overcapacity production spilling chemical effluent into the sewers (it was foaming up from the drains all down the road) ... the send a man with a bucket, and need a court order for the local environmental health (that I called) to get in.

The whole project went south for then. As they were demolishing the factory, it turned out their cut-price surrveyors had missed an underground water course. I went in one Sunday to find an army of specialists erecting a 100ft drilling rig. Eventually they were requiredl to clear the ground to a depth of a metre to remove traces of heavy metals. Meaning they lost on the deal.

I left just after, but my DB saw the "luxury" flats they built there go up. Let's just say that neither of us will ever buy a new build.

{England in close to France shocker?! }
Just wait until the UK discovers that the rest of the EU read and understand English (all heads of governments at least), so they can understand the nonsense coming from the UK.
By understand, I mean they can understand what is being said and done, but not WHY.

Just found this and thought it summer things up nicely

Eventually they were requiredl to clear the ground to a depth of a metre to remove traces of heavy metals.

Even basic due diligence shoukd have flagged that up. I used to do those surveys, hated going into operational sites and having to lie to employees about why I was there.

Still, another thing to thank the EU for - initiating the Environmental Protection Act and Environment Act.

England in close to France shocker?!

Dominic,

It's this close. So close that several thousand people have been able to swim across. So close that London - Paris by train takes less time than London - Newcastle and half the time of London - Edinburgh. London - Brussels takes less time than London - Manchester. But as Brexit Minister, you surely know this?

I beginning to think this is all a deliberate piss take. The government are trolling us.

Their meeting today to sign off on an agreed deal (which is only agreed with themselves and unless radically different from chequers has already been rejected by the EU) is postponed to next week. Why? Because the ferrets in the sack are at it again. Theresa May won't give ministers the full legal advice that goes with it, despite ministerial code requiring that she does so.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/nov/07/crunch-cabinet-meeting-over-theresa-may-brexit-deal-delayed-amid-row

European Commission @EU_Commission

Growth forecast in 2019:
🇲🇹 4.9
🇮🇪 4.5
🇸🇰 4.1
🇷🇴 3.8
🇵🇱 3.7
🇧🇬 3.7
🇨🇾 3.5
🇭🇺 3.4
🇸🇮 3.3
🇱🇻 3.2
🇱🇺 3
🇨🇿 2.9
🇪🇪 2.8
🇭🇷 2.8
🇱🇹 2.8
🇳🇱 2.4
🇪🇸 2.2
🇫🇮 2.2
🇦🇹 2
🇬🇷 2
🇪🇺 1.9
🇩🇪 1.8
🇸🇪 1.8
🇩🇰 1.8
🇵🇹 1.8
🇫🇷 1.6
🇧🇪 1.5
🇮🇹 1.2
🇬🇧 1.2
#ECForecast europa.eu/!Xm99Nt

Not sure why only some of the flags worked (was OK in preview) but you get the gist ...