Westminstenders: Oh Look is that a fire in the Italian Capital?

[RedToothBrush]

Next stop: 27th Feb.

Where we will apparently have Cooper-Boles II which apparently will pass but still assumes that
a) the EU will grant us an extension despite our fuckwittery
b) that it will prevent accidental no deal, which it doesn't
c) glosses over the minor point that the only way to 100% prevent no deal is to say you'll revoke if everything else fails

Meanwhile in reality we leave in law on 29th March, despite the rest of the law having zero chance of being ready in time. Withdrawal Agreement and No Deal alike.

All that is actually happening is the Tories and Labour fighting amongst themselves. Corbyn is still pretending that Brexit isn't really that important and hoping it will just go away. May is still trying to compromise with the ERG - whom if you paying attention 18 months ago were obviously were never going to compromise on anything - cos they are fuckwitted swivel eyed loons.

Meanwhile the entire country has no other alternative but to assume no deal and act accordingly.

A deal on the 21st March (as is the planned date of the Meaningful Vote) is simply too late for planners. For them no deal has already happened even if it does never come to pass.

The strategy of brinkmanship has destroyed us. We just don't know it yet.

A Split in the Tory and Labour parties may well make matters even worse going forward with further political polarisation.

Where next for Brexit?

Who knows and does it even matter now? The damage is irreversible and will take at least a generation to heal wounds. Economically it may never be recoverable.

FUKD.

Planning , well they wield very little power at all. The most annoying thing that has trickled down from national Government is the fact that Parish councils are no longer able to access any funds for builds of 5 or less houses, guess how many of the builds locally have been above 5 and for bonus points how many have included low cost housing , another victim of Government policy .

Public don't know this.

If you are an indy you are an instant minority. Thus you can blame party politics.

It's about making the right noises more than anything.

If enough people eventually do get in, on an independent ticket, if they are smart, they will outshine careerist party politicians anyway.

Showing this up locally simply by being organised should create a stir or force people to up their game by actually reading national policy rather than merely towing party lines like zombies.

Concentration camps may not have been intended as death camps, but having initially been set up as places of refuge, Kitchener changed tactics and adopted a "Scorched earth policy" to drive the Boers from the land area by area, burning crops and killing animals and herding the women, children and unfit men into the camps where there was poor sanitation and meagre food supplies. Some of Emily Hobhouse's photographs show the appalling condition of the children . Rees Mogg's attempt to rewrite history reveals him as the fascist that he is.

And if conditions in Glasgow were as bad (and they may well have been ) then that's another cause for shame. The conditions in which the urban poor lived at the start of the twentieth century are hardly a paradigm.

I've been approached to stand by 2 local people who are active within labour at a local level.

I refused.

But as an independent I might...

I’ve been thinking of standing for a while and have been asked by LDs in the past...but personal circs made it difficult...when I (semi) retired I thought now’s the time but am now nearly full time again. Still, might give it a go this year. Transport, particularly roads and traffic lights seem to push everyone’s buttons round here. And trains of course.

JRM comments about the concentration camps during the boer war were so disingenuous. I imagine quality of life for the vast majority of those living in Glasgow at that time wouldn't have been great, poor sanitation, poor access to health care (it was probably non-existent), poor diet. From what I have read about the people the British people interred, they were farmers..... good access to higher quality food, not the population density (by the very nature of living on a farm) so sanitary conditions that they had experienced would be vastly superior. The death rate would have been vastly diff before the British army took it upon itself to round them all up.

I can't wait to hear how he defends the British behaviour towards the aboriginals in Australia.

Something I have wondered about recently is the link between the upper class British and facism. I remember discussing Mosley with my mother and her describing him as evil. I always thought/assumes the UK has learnt its lesson - but it seemingly just went underground and has now reared it's ugly head again? Has it always been here in the background?

With regards to Singapore- my husband worked there for 6 months and couldn't cope with the corruption and feathering those in powers nest. I presume you all realise it is not really a democracy? It is really just run by a group of "Elite" .
One thing I do like about Singapore is how well educated the population is - you get into a taxi and your driver is articulate, intelligent and educated.

This is what my local community council says, The Community Council consists of 20 members together with various ex-officio members including our local Councillors. Unlike Councillors, and MSPs, Community Councillors are elected or co-opted for their four-year term as individuals. By law the community council must work without bias towards any political party. Party politics plays no part in Community Councils.

And it very definitely doesn't manage a multi-million pound budget : it gets a very small allowance from Glasgow City Council for operating costs (well under £10k) and the rest (under £100k from the last set of accounts that I can see ) were generated from a variety of sources and funding applications.

Things are operated differently in Scotland: in the same way that we don't have school boards (parent councils are more like PTAs and it is only if they exist which they don't have to if the parents don't want to get involved that they get to exercise any of their statutory powers which in practice just means being the minority on interview panels for heads and deputes and being asked to respond to consultations )

Not defending Mogg's comments at all but concentration camps were not intended to be extermination camps thus 'death rates' may well have been similar to poorer parts of Glasgow, although of course you should argue that there should have been no deaths at all.

That was exactly my first reaction LeClerc, which is why I googled.

That first report I found shows that the intention of the camps was not the benign assistance that JRM implied. And that was found within just 30 seconds on google.

But as an independent I might
Lousie Irvine gave Hunt a run for his money and came second. I understand he was very cross about her campaign.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Irvine

Pesky Scots not knowing their place

When you start to look at most countries history, it was pretty shit, and usually very shit for the indigenous people.
Brexit may well unleash quite a bit of 'bum biting'.

the UKs population are too stupid to understand what PR is,

Two countries in the UK do have PR for some elections, and we all do for the EU Parliament (which Leavers brag about never voting for when going on about democracy.)

I firmly believe that we will only get it when both Labour and the Tories realise that they can no longer win outright majorities, and then suddenly being the largest party with first, second and third votes taken into account (depending on the system) will suddenly become appealing.

You're not misreading it

At least I haven't totally cracked then. Not mis reading it, just they are leaving it too bloody late.

Building on the Green belt is what pushes buttons locally... hence the Tories falling out with themselves in South Oxfordshire DC.

I think my tagline will be:

"I'm really fucking cross"

Current life expectancy for men in Glasgow is approx 7% lower than U.K. average, women 4%.
Apparently this is called the Glasgow effect. I learn something every day off the back of these threads.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasgow_effect
www.gcph.co.uk/population_health_trends/life_expectancy_in_glasgow

67chevy mine would be “Enough of this shite”. Perhaps.

I like that born!

There are still some areas in Glasgow where the average life expectancy of men is below the official age of retirement

After a quick google into the origins of concentration camps (Britain was 3rd to use the term behind Spain and America) it think it is time for and fluffy kitten pictures. Although they turn into vicious killers too.

67chevy you continue to inspire me. Not sure if I am brave enough to do what you do, but I am definitely inspired.

I owe part of my pesky international background to the Boer War: my great grandmother (Irish but also with Huguenot ancestry) went out to South Africa to "nurse the underdogs" and helped in the concentration camps. That's where she met my Afrikans speaking Boer farmer great grandfather - so that is why my branch of the family then became English speaking

I'm not sure anyone should try to emulate me jericho 😁 but thank you x

Theres an "info" night next month for prospective candidates.

I might just go along and watch the parish clerk panic 😂

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/feb/16/brexit-florists-cambridge-prices-border-delays

If it is Parish you are thinking of, getting 'in' with the clerk is a good move if possible.

It does show that every aspect of life will take a hit.