Westministenders: Slow News Fake News

[RedToothBrush]

Things have been slow whilst we are in proroguation, ahead of next weeks Queen's Speech and the EU summit.

We've been in full spin mode, from the likes of the far right and an unnamed source at No.10.

People seem to be waking up to the reality that its highly unlikely we will get a deal now, unless something significant. And No.10 has worked out the NI problem. FINALLY.

Anyway, if you have a little time this week and you are interested in the history of where technology change and fake news meet and how where we are now is merely things repeating themselves, Ian Hislop's Fake News: A True History, is essential viewing.
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m00095hv/ian-hislops-fake-news-a-true-history

I really feel strongly this is stuff that should be being taught in schools somehow as its what protects us from extremism.

Assuming Boris can sell whatever has been going on these past few days as a "deal" to the people that matter (which most certainly is not the UK public) then is there a possibility that he might request an extension - maybe just a month - to get his deal finished ?

Pretty sure the Tory-friendly media can easily spin this as a triumph for Boris and quite easily "forget" the Benn act in it's entirety since it falls into irrelevance.

Or am I just still not getting it ?

There could be a clause in the extension that says, as in the April extension,
that the extension lapses and allows Brexit, as soon as all legislation for a WA has passed everywhere it needs to

No surprise:
it was always Mission Impossible to complete even the legal text for the E27 heads of govt and Parliament to approve by 31 October,

Even if this just involved minor changes to legal text in an existing WA draft, it needed to be ready 14 days before EUCO,
so that the Sherpas could analyse it and give summaries etc to the E27 heads of govt, in time for them to study.

At most, EUCO would give / withhold approval of the basic principles that Barnier would summarise

I'd expect a 31 January extension, with lapse clause for Brexit WA actually happening

And at the risk of sounding like I've forgotten my medication (again) I think it's worth remembering that this has nothing to do with Brexit, the UKs relationship with Europe or anything other than what is best for Boris. When assessing the likelihood of any outcome, or where it could lead, the first question is "Is this good for Boris ?".

big twitter spats about id requirement to vote.
what am I missing?
to me it seems absolutely logical to show id. anyone can get hold of vote cards from unsecure letter boxes.

You're missing the fact that many, many people don't have the right type of ID, and can't afford to get it.

A country with an ID card as standard? Fine, have ID to vote. A country where you don't have to have any photo ID at all? Disenfranchisement here we come.

I don't have the right type of ID.

Disabled and have never had a driving licence. No longer have a valid passport (too unwell to travel).

Money's tight, but I actually use a more expensive utility company because they still do paper bills. Without them, I can't access services which require a bill dated within three months. (Council tax is annual. I'm lucky that I'm actually the named council tax payer at my address; if I weren't I wouldn't have that either.)

And I'm fairly stable in terms of addresses, and am the addressee for all of the bills. For someone renting, or who isn't the name on the account...

As NoWordForFluffy says, countries with universal ID cards as standard: no (well, not much) problem. The UK? Disenfranchises at a stroke the poorest and most vulnerable.

Disenfranchisement of the very poorest, who have no passport or driving licence

If photo ID is to be mandatory, then there must be a free ID card issued - just the most basic details with photo -
for which forms can be easily obtained from e.g. post offices - not just online

There must be enough notice period for people to obtain ID
and there must be a sustained information campaign to tell everone where and how to get this ID - and that it is free.

And even then, the most disadvantaged will be discouraged from obtaining ID and hence voting

Perking, most places take the online PDF bills as the required bill now, by the way.

And we're both named on our Council Tax bill, though I'm the one who pays it.

fluffy is this a route to id cards by the back door? It was tried a few years back, I think under Cameron? Can't recall, but eventually shot down by the libertarian wing. The rise of the authoritarian wing in the Tory party might indicate a move towards resurrecting that policy.

I live in a county where having an id card is mandatory. and no, it's not free. as I'm a forriner it's a card from the home office.

for me, personally, having an id card or passport is a priority.

Jonathon Lis, on Twitter, is highlighting an interview with Rebecca Long -Bailey (Corbyn's heir-apparent) saying she isn't opposed to a second referendum/PV before a GE.

That's quite a shift.

Tom Watson was hounded for saying that, John McDonnell likewise at the end of the week - so R L-B also taking this line is significant.

twitter.com/jonlis1/status/1183323538096349191?s=21

But don't worry for the next GE:
these plans are in the Queen's Speech and will NOT happen .... unless the Tories win a GE

I hope that the rebels replace BJ as PM and can immediately bring in a bill to give votes to 16+

However, I'm not sure the Tory rebels would go along with this - they are still Tories really - so there may not be the votes

redchocolate
My former next door neighbour had neither a driving licence nor a passport despite being a white British civil servant.
Should she have been denied a vote?

Voter fraud at the booth is not and has never been an issue in the UK

in the USA, ID checks are used to actively disenfranchise black and poor voters
is that the path the UK wants to go down?

Thanks, NoWordForFluffy, I have to use a service in the next few months and have my fingers crossed they will decide to accept a downloaded one.

The thing is, widescale, result-changing voter fraud doesn't usually happen by physical theft from individual letter boxes, or by individuals voting twice in different constituencies.

It's very rare that the margins for an individual seat are close enough for that sort of one-off fraud to make a difference. It's also uncommon (though less so) for a general election to be decided on a very tiny majority of seats.

So "voter-ID" is a solution to a problem that doesn't exist., But voter suppression... that's all the rage.

Nick Gutteridgee@nick*_gutteridge

EU Commission statement on this weekend's Brexit talks - 'constructive' but 'a lot of work remains to be done'.

but how do you show who you are when renting/buying a home/work/opening a bank account.

The Tories using the GOP manual again

Many of the disadvantaged are not doing those things,
but I think copies of bills are still accepted for some things and written references by smaller employers

There are 3.5 million adults without photo ID

They are living somehow - probably many of them are older and haven't moved house, job or bank in about the last 15 years or so,
before which ID was not so necessary

I can't easily open a bank account with a new bank. Fortunately for me, I had several before the Hostile Environment / money laundering stuff came in.

I've been able to open new accounts with banks where I'm already a customer.

I've also lived in the same place for a long time, again since before the "landlords/ladies as border guards" shit came in.

When I have had to do stuff to do with accommodation recently, I timed it to have copies of lots of utility bills and a disability benefits letter (thank god that wasn't in one of the periods when all of my benefits had been stopped again thanks to ATOS liars). And it helped that the person the other side of the transaction really wanted to do it, so was willing to take the minimum they could.

I did, however, have the Electoral Roll officer attempt to refuse to register me to vote because I didn't have photo ID.

I handed her the letter she had sent me, giving the list of documents I could provide instead (have to show lots of docs if no photo).

She shut up and registered me.

No, she wasn't "just doing her job". She'd invented extra rules, just to be on the safe side.

One day she will get screwed by an election result that only came about because she refused to register lots of people like me. At which point she can bleat about "just doing her job" to the birds in the sky. This will give me no joy, as she will probably have screwed me, too.

but how do you show who you are when renting/buying a home/work/opening a bank account.
Payslips
Utility Bills
Council Tax bills
current bank statements

but there are lots and lots of people who are utterly trapped by the Hostile Environment and cannot move home or bank or utility supplier
and most of them are British born and bred

Where's the reliable reference for '3.5 million adults without photo ID'?

82yo FIL could be one. He never learnt to drive & last travelled abroad in the 1950s. I'm willing to think there could be 1.5 mln people. 3.5 mln seems quite high. 7% of all adults?