Westminstenders: A photo opportunity

[RedToothBrush]

Johnson likes publicity.

Any attention is good attention. Whilst you are talking about how crazy his idea is, the less you come up with your own.

And there it is. The lack of plan to stop no deal. Just a bunch of idiots who argue over who is more right about politics without offering up a practical solution.

Unable to see their own flaws.

And leading us ever closer to the cliff edge and operation Yellowhammer.

@woman19 it's on the business but of the bbc website and says:
"A senior executive at a major food retailer has told the BBC it is considering introducing rationing.
It will prevent firms that have not made their own no-deal Brexit plan from using food retailers as wholesalers.
But he said he did not envisage that the limits would affect normal retail customers.
"One potential problem is that businesses who are struggling with their supply chains effectively use ours," he said.
"We would need to limit the amount restaurants or convenience stores, for example, that are short of stock could buy," said the executive, who spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity.
Not the first time
"We wouldn't use the word rationing but that is effectively what it is. Limiting the volumes small businesses can purchase so that our retail customers get a chance to get what they need."

Quite how it works out who is a small business and who is an ordinary punter, I don't know.

I think there is a lot of truth in that. I think we should be encouraging all anti brexiteers to get together once and for all and stop posturing about who is better, Ken Clarke, Harriet Harman, Corbyn, whoever. It doesn't really matter anymore, what matters is THIS THING IS STOPPED
Definitely mother *Hooo

Quite how it works out who is a small business and who is an ordinary punter, I don't know
Thanks bellini They won't know what it will envisage either; they've never done it before. If there are more power cuts...... Unknown unknowns.
That the poor and vulnerable will suffer is the only certainty.

@flouncyfanny they didn't- I heard it on 6 o'clock news. They were saying how this was normal and just like their limited offers on products as you have just described.
Nothing to see here, obviously. Ffs.

@NoWordForFluffy always helps! I am collecting different flavours for my Brexit stash. Just seen that blackberry has gone on special offer at Tesco

(I just hope it lasts longer than the Brexit crisps did in April, or I may have to be hospitalised)

Poor Angela Merkel, having to have dinner with the Fatberg

@achrisafis
Macron: there's “British democratic crisis” - “The British were asked to choose, in a simplistic way, without the government saying how it would be done....We have to help the British deal with this internal democratic crisis but we mustn't be hostage to it nor export it.” (4)

We know all about being hostages, mon ami........

A united front to mitigate this, suggested by mother earlier is all we got. That would be up to us.

Steve Bray collective made it to Paris.
twitter.com/pickledpuffin/status/1164232225631719424

Angelique Chrisafis @ achrisafis
Macron just spent 2 hours with reporters in Paris. Was very firm before meeting Johnson tomorrow. Here's what he said: Johnson's demand to renegotiate UK's exit is "not an option" (1)

Macron said scrapping Irish backstop was impossible and would give EU an unacceptable choice between protecting its internal market or preserving peace in Ireland (2)

Macron said Europe would not put peace in Ireland at risk. “There was war in this part of Europe until recently and those who play with that forget history too fast...Irish peace is European peace and we shouldn't weaken that just because of a British crisis.” (3)

Macron: there's “British democratic crisis” - “The British were asked to choose, in a simplistic way, without the government saying how it would be done....We have to help the British deal with this internal democratic crisis but we mustn't be hostage to it nor export it.” (4)

Macron said EU would not be to blame for a no-deal. "It will be the responsibility of the British government, always, because firstly it was the British people that decided Brexit, and the British government has the possibility up to the last second to revoke Article 50” (5)

Macron's support of Ireland clear here: “We have to help the British deal with this internal democratic crisis but we mustn't be hostage to it or export it.” (6)

Macron said he didn't fear Johnson & Trump teaming up against others at G7 in Biarritz this weekend. He didn't believe it was Johnson's plan for a UK that voted to leave the EU to regain its place in the world to then become a vassal state or "junior partner" of the US (7 ends)

I love tweet 7 in that thread!!!

Vassal state or junior partner to the US!

Throwing back the brexiteer hypocrisy good and proper!

flouncy it was a news item on Radio 4 6 o'clock news, I caught the end of it. Complain to them. Or better still complain to the regime that's doing this.

Bellini has been a kind and thoughtful poster on this throughout. She never 'frightens' people, and always tries to help and calm. People like her are going to be invaluable over the coming months.

This regime aims to frighten. That's the sort of blokes they are.

Macron talks sense.

"why are Merkel and Macron so prominent in talks with the UK"

They are 2 of the 3 biggest EU economies / powers (we were #3)

and - big reason:

Brexiters keep thinking Merkel especially will force the other EU members to give in, because
a) they think Germany runs the EU
b) and also that the German car industry will prioritise its UK market over the EU

Brexiters are wrong on both counts, but refuse to accept it

Merkel is the UK's strongest supporter, along with Rutte of the Netherlands
She will keep trying to talk the Uk away from the cliff edge with soothing words

But, she will never dump, or pressure, Ireland
It's not in her character or her record to do anything but support an innocent party in a dispute

She's not under pressure from German manufacturing to do so - that's never happened and it's been a major miscalculation from the Brexiter side to keep depending on it.
The manufacturers prioritise safeguarding the SM over keeping the UK market.

Also, there has always been considerable public sympathy here for Ireland wrt Brexit
and the German public overwhelmingly say in polls that they don't want more concessions for the Uk

No-one wants to use the r-word

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49426434

A senior executive at a major food retailer has told the BBC it is considering introducing rationing

It will prevent firms that have not made their own no-deal Brexit plan from using food retailers as wholesalers

But he said he did not envisage that the limits would affect normal retail customers

One potential problem is that businesses who are struggling with their supply chains effectively use ours," he said

We would need to limit the amount restaurants or convenience stores, for example, that are short of stock could buy," said the executive, who spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity
Not the first time

We wouldn't use the word rationing but that is effectively what it is. Limiting the volumes small businesses can purchase so that our retail customers get a chance to get what they need

Supermarkets already use rationing of sorts to limit the amount of items on special promotions people can buy

No-deal Brexit rationing would work in a similar way - with the limits advertised on the shelf labels and enforced at the checkout

Another boss, former Sainsbury's chief executive Justin King, agreed that some bigger retailers would effectively become wholesalers as it has happened before

It's very likely that businesses will turn to supermarkets as they have the most sophisticated supply logistics. In previous weather related hold-ups or port blockades you have quite quickly seen smaller traders going to where the last stocks can be found

No-one wants to use the r-word, rationing, but in a no deal scenario it will be inevitable. Suppliers are the ones who support and pay for promotions and they have access to point of sale data to make sure they are not being treated as wholesalers

The attitude is very different at discounters like Aldi and Lidl according to a former employee. For them, selling out of an item it is not a problem in the same way as the major supermarkets

You don't lose points for selling out - in fact it enhances the "value" proposition to shoppers - this was such a good deal it's now gone," said the BBC's discounter source. "The truth is, a lot of market traders, restaurants and convenience stores already use discount grocery retailers as wholesalers

Hard to pick worse date

Food retailers say that a no-deal Brexit date of October 31st is much more challenging that the previous deadline of March 29th. Justin King said there were two reasons

^First, retailers have started accumulating stock for Christmas, which means warehouses are full of frozen, chilled and ambient goods%

Second, the beginning of autumn sees the UK much more reliant on overseas fresh produce

Year-round we import nearly a third of our food from the EU. If you had to pick a time to leave the EU without a deal - it would be hard to pick a worse date than October 31

Recently leaked government no-deal preparation documents revealed that in a worst case scenario, flows of imports after three months could still be between 50-70% of current levels. Cabinet minister Michael Gove, who is in charge of planning for a no-deal scenario in exiting the EU, said this was a worst-case scenario and that Brexit planning had accelerated since Boris Johnson became PM

The government has since tried to distance itself from this analysis describing it as out of date and irrelevant. Food retailers will be hoping they are correct - because according to Justin King, "if import levels are that low for that long we will have a major crisis

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "We have a highly-resilient food supply chain and consumers in the UK have access to a range of sources of food. This will continue to be the case when we leave the EU on 31 October, whatever the circumstances

The food industry is well versed at dealing with scenarios that can affect food supply, from adverse weather damaging crops in other countries to transport issues abroad. The UK has robust supply chains across a range of countries to provide our food, in addition to the countless domestic food producers across the UK

Flu, measles and rickets.

In an average month I might visit up to 10 different supermarkets as I'm not terribly loyal and tend to buy certain things only from certain shops.

Not sure how rationing is going to stop that.

And no I don't own a loyalty card.

She's not under pressure from German manufacturing to do so - that's never happened and it's been a major miscalculation from the Brexiter side to keep depending on it

Because all countries are run the same way the UK is, surely ...?

Feeding a family on a poverty income is like being in a war as it is.

Feeding a family during rationing run not by public authorities but private companies will lead to a certain conclusion.

British crisis

That's gone on for 3 years and resulted in a government that is less productive than the government in power during world war 2.

I read the sentence Priminister Boris Johnson the other day and was taken aback because I hadn't actually let that fact sink in even though it's been weeks. It reads like a joke...Boris? Johnson? Priminister? It doesn't seem real.

I belly laughed at the news tonight because the president of America tweeted he wasn't going to his meeting because they wouldn't let him by Greenland....

I'm not sure if I know how to process all this, whatever this is.

Macron could have done with mentioning how many Brits didnt vote for this, how many have marched, how many have signed petitions because not being acknowledged is adding to the surreal factor and turning us invisible in this very British crisis.

It depends on what else I'm doing! I just call in where ever I'm near. It's the joys of commuter belt life.

Easy to hit up a few different stores if I run in to Manchester a lot. (I did drop / pick up DH at work / from station / metro a fair bit but I'm not doing that so much now thankfully)

hazard If Macron or any other leader mentions the 48%, or the huge marches, the 6 million partition .....
then the UK press would be hysterical with rage about the EU siding with Remainers

EU leaders want to give - and be seen to give - BJ every chance to propose something sensible

German Foreign minister says you can't make gold out of straw and that this goes for Brexit too

He also said that the EU will stand firm both on peace in NI and on the integrity of the SM.

Michael Roth MdB@MiRo_SPD

Es hat noch nie funktioniert, aus Stroh Gold zu spinnen.
Das gilt auch für den #Brexit.
Der Frieden in Nordirland sowie die Integrität des Binnenmarktes sind für die #EU nicht verhandelbar.
Über zukünftige Beziehungen zwischen & ist zu reden.

In the last three or four months I've shopped in at least 5 Tesco stores alone. More than once.

I'm just disorganised and end up in the nearest supermarket by accident rather than design doing a shop for a handful of items.