Westminstenders: Welcome to 2019

[RedToothBrush]

Welcome to 2019.

Bit of a different thread starter; instead of me speculating what are your predictions for the coming year politically? Will be interesting to see how people are viewing things right now.

How is Brexit going to play out?

Who is going to be framed as the scapegoat for whatever scenario you think likely?

What are going to be the biggest political issues that the media / politicians push (as opposed to what the real issues are)?

What is going to be the most shocking thing that will happen either here or abroad?

What will happen with Trump?

Who will be the next Tory leader and when?

Whats on the cards for the various political parties in general?

{Almost 1,000 officers from rest of UK to start training to deal with trouble arising from hard border}
So that's 500 for NI and 500 to assist in the mainland?

SingingBabooshkaBadly.
With Grayling shelling out £14 Million and talks of possible renewed tension in NI and you are worried about an apostrophe, that is serious class!

1tisILeClerc
From the article in the Guardian it's 1000 going to NI.

Inspirational and heartwarming. This is what we need here. New blood, honour, integrity.

Rdoo
Yes I know but I was sort of speculating as the report says that only an additional 500 are made available for the matching season so why 1000?

2bees:
If you are in London, you can make appointments with a private GP at any private hospital if you are able to (Cromwell Hospital or Portland Hospital). There are private practices in South Ken. Edgware Road and all around Harley Street. Some pharmacies do have private GP's too; they just call them up!
I made two separate appointments with two different GPs who each gave me a six months supply of meds. If you are private, the pharmacist will sell you all the prescribed meds-no restriction.

I am fortunate that I am able to pay for myself and I do realise that many people are not able to do so. A private GP can charge anything between £60 and £250.
A private specialist normally will charge north of £200.
This is very sad and not right as most of these private guys work for the NHS but this is an entire different debate ...

1tisILeClerc
1000 for border arrangements according to the article.
Strange, the govt have been insisting they won't put a border in place.

babooshka, 2bees Some private specialists may have stocks, more likely if they are linked to a private hospital which does.

However, what is most feasible is to obtain a prescription for an additional supply - obviously take along your previous prescription.

btw, a few years ago, I chose my eye specialist near Harley St myself, no referral or previous medical report necessary.
I did the same in Germany, researched which clinic I wanted - eye and then MRI for an injured ankle, then just made an appointment.

If you plan a European holiday anyway, you could make an appointment beforehand to visit a private doctor there and get a prescription, then have it filled at the chemist within a day.

That's if UK meds are rationed later

LeClerc They need double the police because going against the principles of the GFA is potentially a whole lot more serious than marches

BigChoc is right. Easy to see a GP on continent when on holidays - it will cost you circa 24 or 30 euros and have your blood tests there much cheaper than if you were having them done privately in the UK. You just make an appointment with a lab and that's it..

sos If there is a shortage of meds, there is no way to prevent those with money buying what they need, either from available stocks or from abroad.

Bettter off people may on principle e.g. not send their DC to private schools, but noone on principle would deprive their dc or themselves of meds when they can pay for them.

Leclerc I think I’ve lost all sense of proportion...

May is such a nasty petty racist xenophobe

This is an unvarnished truth. Vile excuse for a supposed Christian.

Her whole Brexit strategy was driven by her determination to reduce the numbers of furrin coming to Britain

• which of course she won't, as even this govt can't make the UK less welcoming than Syria, Afghanistan etc

One of DPs meds had a shortage. Supply issue not brexit and as it was private he got his over and above NHS patients. I understand the frustrations with nhs vs private but f
as I've waffled on before if it's serious and you have money just pay. DP would be dead without us paying out and he has his parents inheritance so we pay. Just don't think what happens when the money runs out.

{as even this govt can't make the UK less welcoming than Syria, Afghanistan etc}
Are you setting that as a challenge?

Many people seem to have forgotten that 3000 people have been killed on mainland Britain during the troubles.
I was working very near the Hyde Park bombing and saw some horrendous sights of wounded horses. I also remember the Harrods'bombing, Bishopsgate's bombing and the the Sussex Arms pub's bombing in Long Acre (now turned into a luxury flats.
I really hope that these times will not return- it was horrendous.

leclerc I was wondering until recently if the EU public would strt complaining about "hordes" of desperate Brits coming over after Brexit.

However, it now seems that Germany and probably others would happily soak up a few million enterprising Brit expats,
as they at least are trying to improve their demographics

Placemarking nervously.

Benefit cap: single mothers make up 85% of those affected, data shows

www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jan/04/benefit-cap-single-mothers-make-up-85percent-of-those-affected-data-shows#img-1

DWP records show 134,044 households had support capped, with single mothers accounting for 114,337
.... 13,743 single claimant men.

Dd rang me last night and said in April minimum wage goes up and tax threshold goes up which is good. Then she tells me her pension contributions will go up to 10% of her wages. She can't afford that. She doesn't know what to do. Can she opt out of that or not? Any advice would be welcome please.

I know there are few positives in this whole surreal meltdown, but there are some benefits for our neighbouring countries ...

Small comfort I know.

www.rte.ie/news/business/2019/0103/1020110-employment-growth-in-ida-firms-last-year-averaged-7/

Sorry not to follow the train of the thread - just thought that the following was worth sharing..

"Job creation results for 2018 published by the Industrial Development Authority also show a direct gain ( in Ireland) in employment from Brexit.
The agency says it has secured 55 investments that it directly links to Brexit, producing an estimated 4,500 jobs.
Much of the Brexit-related investment and jobs growth has been as a result of expansion at existing Irish based companies seeking to switch EU-related business activity out of the UK.
Leading names in the Brexit-related expansion include Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Legal & General, Barclays, AXA XL, Thomson Reuters and Depository Trust and Clearing Company (DTCC)."

And even if we were to cancel Brexit, those firms won't move back in a hurry.