Westminstenders: Waiting for Sanity

[RedToothBrush]

We could be waiting a long time, but that's what we have to wait for as that's what the EU is waiting for.

The EU has requested we expand on our plans for 'alternative arrangements' with regard to the backstop.

We need to do so before the next HoC vote on 14th Feb. The EU see no point in shifting their position before than. And the UK will struggle to provide the info the EU want before then. So there is now some doubt as to whether the vote will go ahead as planned.

About a third of the Cabinet now believe that Brexit will have to be delayed due to legislation not being ready for exit date. However we don't have power over this and we might still exit without it.

There is no Brexit related business next week in the HoC to prevent pesky amendments. The recess has been cancelled but MPs have been told its OK to go on their ski holidays so it's just a PR stunt.

Meanwhile No Deal is in full effect as businesses trigger their exit strategy in the absence of certainty. No Deal is reality for many even if we do have a last minute deal...

We are all about to get poorer. As that's what we voted for.

Just spent a some days staying with elderly relatives, and met up with extended family. Where we didn’t use to talk about politics much, the advent of Brexit pushed politics into conversations and it was much discussed. People felt emboldened to be very emphatic and dogmatic. Particularly the Leavers. It made me realise and decide that I don’t like some of them very much. It exposed their attitudes: small-minded, insular, ungenerous, opinionated, authoritarian. I’m not, of course, saying that all Leave voters are like that. They’re not. But I think these particular people voted Leave because they’re like that.

So with regard to people getting on with each other after Brexit... I’m not sure. I don’t much want to see these relatives again, now my eyes are opened. We have nothing in common.

Mistigri the grammar taught in Primary schools is grammar for the English language. Grammar for MFL is taught by MFL teachers.

I’m not, of course, saying that all Leave voters are like that. They’re not. But I think these particular people voted Leave because they’re like that.

I have met people who voted leaver for researched and valid reasons. They're pretty horrified at what they are now part of - best way I heard it described was one lady who "feels dirty" now. They'd vote remain in future. By contrast, any Leaver who spouts off a soundbite now (looks at these threads) is a brexiteer ....

There's the old adage that the greatest trick the devil pulled was making us think he didn't exist. I think the greatest trick the EU pulled was persuading us to leave Because in 20 years time given the current trajectories, I love the idea of Hans, Christine and Aldo all sitting around a Riviera cafe, sipping schnapps, Pernod, and grappa, toasting themselves at the masterstroke they had of offloading the troublesome UK by it's own hand.

Maybe the UK has an existential problem being a member of a club that will have it ?

You may find this helpful Mistigri. This is just KS1 and 2.
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/335190/English_Appendix_2_-_Vocabulary_grammar_and_punctuation.pdf

I'm intrigued to see what alternatives to the backstop they come up with seeing as one hasn't been found to be acceptable in over 2 years

Don't know if anyone has posted this yet, but it seems we're managing to spread the suffering around the globe:

www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/04/brexit-could-put-17-million-people-around-globe-into-extreme-poverty-study

Particularly liked this quite:

"Stephen Higgins, managing partner at investment firm Mekong Strategic Partners, said it was unlikely that the UK government would take potential negative effects on other countries into account in its decision-making.

Given the UK is showing such a blatant disregard for its own economic welfare by pushing ahead with Brexit, it is probably a big stretch to expect it to put a high weighting on the economic welfare of others,” he said in an email."

quite = quote (fat fingers and letters next to each other always catches me iut!)

Destiel

I have a Foodbank Trustees meeting this evening and am intending yet again to make myself unpopular by raising the topic of Brexit preparedness. Have you heard anything from TT recently? I've heard nothing since receiving a bland assurance that their "policy team will be on top of this". Still can't believe that no firm policy announcements have been made about donations input or potential rises in distributions.

Absolutely nada hasenstein

I will be raising it at my 1st trustees meeting next week...that'll make me popular!

I'm wondering whether the headmaster of dd's boarding school will ever recognise the need to make contingency plans (let alone actually do anything, eg stockpile food) for the event of a no deal Brexit. When I wrote to him about 2 weeks ago he responded quite aggressively that it was too soon to be making any plans, and that other schools weren't doing so.

I'm going to be raising it at the next school governors meeting in March too.

I'll be everyone's favourite!!

We were taught English grammar at both primary and secondary school, and I would say quite well too, and I have never heard of fronted adverbials. Things like, nouns, verbs, adverbs and adjectives prepositions and conjunctions, to my mind are perfectly adequate at 9-10 years old with the more sophisticated concepts coming later.

I did hear something on the radio last week about Trussell Trust responding to Brexit. I can only find this article about it, but it did sound like the issue of food supply problems had crossed their radar.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/m.huffingtonpost.co.uk/amp/entry/brexit-food-banks-warn-of-looming-crisis-as-stockpiling-reaches-record-high_uk_5c5413a4e4b0bdf0e7da0927/

I had to look up fronted adverbial when I first heard of it, which at least told me the name of that annoying literary tic that is one of the first things that makes me abandon a book.

Sadly Peregrina Michael Gove doesn't agree with you. 😀 As someone who was heavily involved in the implementation, I think the Literacy Strategy in the late nineties was sorely needed. It was implemented too quickly, but later revisions got it more or less right I think. The additions from the Gove / Cummings years took it too far and it is a real struggle for lower-ability children.

Talking about Gove, have there been any sightings recently?

I'm not surprised that public and voluntary sector has been so woeful once you get down to individual school/ food bank level.

I work for a big company and they just did an AMA on Brexit and it wasn't reassuring at all! Not least because they claimed to have contacted all affected employees and this is definitely not true.

missclimpson - I fully agree with you. We did need a literacy strategy, we did not need the Gove 'reforms'. Not just in English - in other subjects too they have done enormous damage. In maths for example, I believe there was an idea for a double maths award for those wishing to go on to maths and science at A level, and something called functional maths for the less able. It sounded like a good balance, scrapped by Gove.

On the subject of the more general curriculum, I don't dislike the idea of the ebacc, but why on earth are we still holding major exams at 16 when we now expect children to remain in education or training until 18? It really ought to be possible to have an integrated 14-18 syllabus, where some subjects would be continued with at a minor level similar to GCSE. I don't know a lot about the Scottish system of Standard and Higher grades but I think they have probably got a better idea.

Where's MJ and her endless wisdom? I need a laugh today.

I agree peregrina

Ds1 is a summer born.
He wont be 16 til his exams end.

The high stakes exams at 16 (or 15 for some) really does set the U.K. apart from most other developed countries. It's very hard to see what the point is these days.

The very narrow post 16 curriculum is also an outlier.

Peregrina - Standard grades went superceded 5+ years ago

Curriculum for Excellence, which replaced Standard Grades with National 5s (and National 4s for the less able) is supposed to be integrated from 3-18 (so ds was "converted" to the new way of teaching in 2010 --but because his school was an exemplar of best practice, nothing really changed and although

Oops - posted by accident . Bear with me while I do my full post.

Oh my Lord - anyone listening to R4 at the moment?!

Lots of
" Brexit is undefined and very, very hard"!

(That's the BBC by the way!)

I had to look up fronted adverbial when I first heard of it, which at least told me the name of that annoying literary tic that is one of the first things that makes me abandon a book.

I’ve just had to look it up too. Looking at the examples put me in mind of how Yoda speaks...