Westministenders: Its Really Not Getting Any Better Is It?

[RedToothBrush]

We are STILL on collision course for no deal.

Christmas is here, and whilst we might appreciate the respite from Brexit News, its really a luxury we can't afford.

The meaningful vote is scheduled for January.

Chaos is scheduled for shortly after.

I wish you all a happy and enjoyable Christmas.

Sam Coates Times @SamCoatesTimes
Uh oh. There are also problems at Heathrow. The BA IT system has crashed, according to a passenger from The Westminster Bubble who is there now - they've been told paperwork now being manually delivered to planes. "150 aircraft awaiting clearance to take off", their pilot said

I work in the community setting up and sustaining services for vulnerable people and I am so worried about how to prepare for next year. I have been working non-stop since 2016 to secure as many multi-year grants for as many of my groups as possible to try and ensure that we can at least offer some level of stability over the next 2 years but its a really tough environment out there. Funding is hard to come by, the numbers of rough sleepers are going up and people are presenting to services in really chaotic states. We are all really worried - I just don't know what else we can do to prepare.

I am also really sorry bovril. 💐

Our essential systems don't cope well with some kinds of glitches or unexpected events
but these usually only last a day or so
and all the other systems and facilities are working normally.
So effects are very limited, even if all makes headlines.

What happens though when dozens of unexpected things happen at once, then cascade failures, while some basic services aren't working properly either,
all of which is quite likely with a No Deal Brexit.

Uh oh. There are also problems at Heathrow.

chains and weakest links spring to mind. Returning to my theme that running things at 100% is great for profits, until you need that extra 0.000001%. At which point you, my friend, are what the army calls fucked.

Mrs8 I am a fundraiser - you are welcome to PM me if you want any advice. Its a horrible environment to be working in, everyone is getting knock backs - projects and services that would have sailed through a couple of years ago are seriously at risk. Its really concerning.

Thank goodness they’ve all been packed off to their constituencies for Xmas!

While I’d have loved to have a parliament composed of grownups, who could delay their Xmas hols to help solve a national crisis, yesterday’s debacle was a brutal lesson in how broken our politics have become.
Today has been dreadful. Quite a lot of them are just demob happy .

I’m on my way home. Absolutely heartsick at what has become of our country.

Thanks. Maybe we'll be using our Brexit prep stash sooner than planned. At least we do have that. And at least DH has now, finally, got a current reference - all his previous employers went bust several years ago.

I don't know why they can't shoot the drones down with beanbag rounds or something? Or is that a really silly thing to say? I have no experience with drones, or firearms, FWIW.

Oh no @AwdBovril. I am so sorry. You and @Quietrebel have had such bad news at the worst possible time.

I am so furious and sad on both your behalves. It's now starting to hit home at the people in this little community of ours isn't it

I post sporadically but read every day without fail. I often imagine what a real life meet up would be like. With Skype for @mistigirl and @BigChocFrenzy and @tisIleclerc...and any other Eu based lurkers out there.

And @RedToothBrush would have free drinks and food from us all in thanks for this huge thing she's doing for us.

I completely disagree on having a written constitution. That leads to all the problems in the US with the judiciary effectively legislating and in turn the politicisation of judicial appointments.

It is not for the courts to determine proper Parliamentary process that is for Parliament. ie MPs get to decide on the appropriate mechanism to Revoke should they wish to do so. Effectively that means the Government gets to decide unless there is a vote of No Confidence.

howabout We'll have to disagree there

Floundering away, with our elected MPs having no idea how to stop a secretive PM from doing whatever it is she plans to do, even if they wanted
It reduces our democracy

I'd never compare with the US constitition, the US Supreme Court, or with the US health service, when trying to change any of ours

Our system is more like an absolute monarchy, but with the PM having long taken over the former powers of the monarch.

We need more checks on the power of the PM, more definition on the powers of the HoC
The UK PM has fewer checks on her power than even Trump

Too late for the current crisis of course, but there's always another around the corner

Call me cynical but does anyone think these airport problems have anything to do with the no deal planning? Dry runs of certain scenarios perhaps?

Hi cynical!
There are many things that are probably not coincidences, the poisonings earlier in the year and there have been other little bits and pieces as well.

Just seems very fishy. Army called in, airport shut. It would be an ideal modelling scenario for no deal chaos.

Call me cynical but does anyone think these airport problems have anything to do with the no deal planning? Dry runs of certain scenarios perhaps?

Nope I don't believe that.

As DH just said to me on the phone 'It's a weakness in the system that was always going to happen at some point'.

And as we probably all understand now, our contingency planning on a government level is utterly crap due to cuts and lack of brain power.

The incident at Heathrow isn't the first they've had. The BA system there has left a lot to be desired on more than one occasion.

I'm afraid I am too familiar with weaknesses in computer systems due to a lack of skill in IT to believe differently. I think most people have higher expectations and a certain belief that technology is more infallible than it is in reality. Thanks DH for opening my eyes of the horrors of that one!

DH is also convinced that the army being drafted in, now means the man with the drone (and it will be a man) will get shot, if only to send the message to the public that if you mess about with drones at airports you can expect to be shot.

SIGH

Today feels in general like a limbo day. The local school only finished today, though DS is in nursery tomorrow. And it's too early to go and to the last few bits of the Christmas food shop. And DH has been in London today and not due back until after 10pm.

It's just meh. Depressing and it's not nice seeing posters here facing real hardships too cos you feel so imputant to be able to do any thing to help.

I cant shake the feeling about it being the last Christmas as we know it. It's just not nice.

Oh and if it was someone 'testing' our strategic ability and crisis capability, I wouldn't say it was domestic led.

You wouldn't pull a domestic led one, the week before one of the busiest weeks of the year, when mid Jan is much quieter.

Sam Coates Times @samcoatestimes
^They are now having to check everyone's passport manually on board a plane at Heathrow because of the crash
-- I'm less clear how unusual this kind of IT problem is. It's certainly not a great day at the border.^

I can only imagine what @BorderIrish is thinking tonight

Technical solutions for the Irish border...

Yep.

Enjoy, MrsR8 How long have you got ?
Today is my 1st day of 3.5 blissful weeks of staycation on the Rhine

Well, they would have been blissful, but I had an early morning blazing Facetime row (not Brexit) with an old family "friend" I've known for 60 years

She's always been toxic, so I'm well rid, but I've wasted a whole day brooding on the names I should have called her !

From tomorrow on, it'll be Kindle, gym, Rhine jogs and glorious little cafes

Sorry to hear that BCF.

I've been brooding all day too. After my words with the Leave Mum which rumbled on all day. Perhaps New Year's resolution should be to re evaluate and pursue new friendships.

Sorry if I've missed it upthread, but have we noted that Ivan Lewis has quit the Labour party over concerns regarding antisemitism? He was suspended pending an investigation into sexual harassment (which will now be shelved)

Michael Crick @michaellcrick
Fiona Onasanya, found guilty today, is one of the 36 new Labour MPs in 2017 - like Jared O’Mara In Sheffield Hallam - whom Labour picked without a proper selection process in 2017 - no interview, no speech, no selection by local members. Just picked by a small NEC panel.

Ffs.

Due process isn't there to annoy people.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/dec/20/theresa-may-cabinet-collectively-focused-on-passing-brexit-deal

I'm not a Guardian fan but this looks like good news. Yay, Yvette Cooper. She's trying to get an amendment to the Finance Bill which says No Deal can only happen if MPs vote for it.
I think it is for Bercow to decide whether there will be a chance to debate the amendment.