Westminstenders: The Tory Party Spectacular

[RedToothBrush]

A row over parliamentary language and conduct and how MPs are afraid of extremists has over shadowed talk of Brexit.

Cummings has said if you don't want to leave without a deal, vote for a deal.

Yet there isn't a Johnson approved one in front of the Commons and the EU are utterly despairing of Johnson's blank non papers and his full on Trump bullshit.

Then there's the threats to the rule of law.

Apparently there are five known suggestions to bypass the Benn Act and refuse to ask for an extension.
See Twitter Thread Here

This weekend sees the start of the Tory Party Conference. With a parliamentary vote to block a recess, its rather scuppered plans for the rest of the conference. Johnson's planned speech at the conference clashes with PMQ so he may well not attend the Commons.

Expect the conference to be.... Er... Inflammatory...

I am imagining HMQ's inner monologue

For some reason there's a quote/scene from "The Usual Suspects" where Kint is bigging up Keyser Söze by explaining that he got to power ...

They realised that to be in power you
didn't need guns or money or numbers.
You just needed the will
to do what the other guy wouldn't.

that is tickling my mind

The Saj has just announced changes to the NMW which will bankrupt much of the public sector classy

Doesn't he need a vote in the HoC first ?

prettybird post Brexit we're going to get only "Made in the United Kingdom" or "Made in Great Britain". No mention of NI will be allowed on labels for food/stuff produced in NI. Is it either weird or prescient, or both?
Flags are, AFAIK, not a legal requirement, but the right code on the label is, and goods will not be allowed off the lorry on Nov the 1st unless they have the right label.

Other EU countries have implemented regulations to allow attendance to school AND nurseries only to kids that have up to date vaccinations, unless of course they have medical conditions that prevent them from being vaccinated. It wasn't popular - aka it's extremely unpopular and in Italy there's been a major backlash, but IMO it's all a by-product of the same 'alternative truths' approach that you see for other topics. I disagree with friends and family about this, but not to the point where I think you should have mandatory vaccinations and take the decision in lieu of parents. I think it is more useful to invest in some better campaign to reassure parents about safety of vaccination, or support peer-to-peer discussions about it, in real life and not only in blogs and media.

And I am recalling the prophetic observations of Douglas Adams in H2G2:

Anyone capable of getting themselves elected galactic president should on no account be allowed to do the job.

DGR
Yup, the NMW changes will need to go through as part of a budget
but luckily as the magic money trees are in full bloom, the house will probably fall for it

Javid can announce any old shit, as can Corbyn. It doesn't happen if Parliament doesn't let it happen.
Even secondary legislation (Statutory Instruments if you are a nerd ) can be stopped.

I couldn’t put my cats into a cattery if they hadn’t been vaccinated, so I don’t see why I should be able to send my DD to school or nursery in an unvaccinated state! Hence my lack of outcry on the subject.

I just had to do a two hour drive and listened to part of Sajid Javid's rousing conference speech. I was shouting at the radio. He has a quite good rabble rousing tone and sort of meter. But the substance of the speech was appalling.

One of his great reveals was yet another we are the party to roll back red tape. I was shouting back at him 'what do away with our food and product standards you xxxx'

Also the last time the Tories went said they were reducing red tape in fact they introduced ridiculous regulations. I remember at work I had to learn about the Tory "Employee Shareholder" scheme. It was so complex and so much red tape and we had to re rewrite so much stuff. The Torys pursued the idea against all advice from tax specialists and business. They insisted on bringing it in under the very red tapey Growth and Infrastructure Act in 2013. Basically there were some tax free shares which if employees jumped through many complexities could be exempt from CGT. No employers and employees could cope with the rules - take up was so low that the Tories quietly ditched it within 3 years in December 2016.

Sajid Javid would go well to remember stuff like that when he bangs on about red tape yet again.

I can't wait to see what Spitting Image make of all this.

I haven't tuned in to the conference. I think I'd explode if I listened to any of it. I just check the threads for the latest, and the news.

Cutting red tape is like "finding cost efficiencies in the NHS" - one of those easy things to promise that sounds like something that no-one would argue with. But maybe those rules and those costs are there for a good reason.

Ask the former residents of Grenfell Tower if they think even less regulation around building materials is a good idea - I mean, surely it would liberate builders to produce cheap places for people to live in?!

I'd be interested to know more about why the vaccination rate in England is so much worse than in Scotland

Is this something to do with the cuts and austerity? Sure Start centres have closed, plus cut backs in Health Visitors, means that people don't get reminders and it slips their minds?

I did wonder that Peregrina

It certainly doesn't seem to be as difficult to get a GP appointment, even in inner city Glasgow (with all those pesky immigrants ) as it does in England. Only delay is if you're wanting to see a specific doctor (and even then we can usually get a very quick telephone appointment with him - often same day but at the longest within a few days).

pretty the conversation I had with a Scot the other day went the other way.

I was saying I could get appts at my English GP and they were the opposite in Scotland

I'd be interested to know more about why the vaccination rate in England is so much worse than in Scotland

Education ?

I would guess education is the reason for better vaccination rates too.

Is Scotland a more equal society in general?

I think less secure housing in England might be a factor too. Moving about and missing reminder letters. Do we want to deny these kids schooling as well?

In Scotland different newspapers are sold........

I can't wait to see what Spitting Image make of all this.

I think I saw a comment from the Spitting Image people saying they wouldn’t be doing too much politics?

I don't think the unvaccinated kids all come from the underclass. There's quite a few of them in high property price areas.

Is Scotland a more equal society in general?

It never really suffered the Norman invasion which England is still reeling from ? Maybe one reason for the Auld Alliance, since the Normans were not drawn from the Celtic stock the French were ?

No VONC this week, but... From the Guardian:

However, Swinson said the parties would “use every opportunity to try and hold this government to account” this week, and would focus on using parliamentary mechanisms to seek access to three government reports on Brexit.

Ministers published Operation Yellowhammer, an assessment of the impact of a no-deal Brexit, after a “humble address” motion in parliament.

The other three reports sought will be Snow Bunting, about the police response to Brexit; Kingfisher, about the impact on businesses; and Black Swan, which covers the worst-case scenario planning.

Just goes to show regional variation then Random - although I've never heard the horror stories of weeks for a GP appointment up here as I have with English friends. The only delay is if you want to see a specific GP.

That’s a bit inaccurate DGR. There is substantial Scots- Norman heritage. Just as there are Hibernian-Normans due to the Norman invasions of Ireland.

One of differences though is that many of the Normans in Scotland were invited in, e.g. seconds sons of Anglo-Norman’s lords invited in to marry and for their fighting prowess. Scotland at the time had an Anglo-Saxon section, a Celtic section, a Pictish section and a Scandinavian fringe in terms of ethnic settlement. They generally fought with one another, and the Anglo-Normans were considered powerful allies. But they were invited in, and intermarried with the existing population, so the social division was not a huge gulf.

Robert the Bruce for example is Robert De Brus.

Why is Javid blathering on about reducing red tape when a no deal Brexit will do nothing but increase red tape for importers and exporters?

You can’t have it both ways.

Is it me or is this conference a bit well ‘limp’ ?

They keep showing the audience either asleep or arms folded.

At least Libs and Lab were livelier.

Where’s Gove ? On manoeuvres ?

Black Swan, which covers the worst-case scenario planning

But, but, didn't Gove say last week that Yellowhammer was already the reasonable worst case scenario? So this is even worse than worst. Or unreasonable?