Westminstenders: Penny dropping time

[RedToothBrush]

Johnson already seems to be hinting at protections for workers rights and the environment that he promised are to be dropped.

Along with enshrining Brexit in law to the end of Dec 2020 thus creating another Brexit no deal date. This time without any safety net in parliament.

"won't Johnson be more liberal than he suggested" they cry

About that...

Here's an article from the Washington Post about how in the States where ID cards have in in place as long as I can remember, cuts poor people off from accessing the most basic of rights.

www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/what-happens-to-people-who-cant-prove-who-they-are/2017/06/14/fc0aaca2-4215-11e7-adba-394ee67a7582_story.html

and that's a country with established ID.

We're - what? - 6 days into this, and I'm already feeling so tired.

Exactly the same for me. Look at the potential damage he has done in a week.
However, do we know that Johnson can just arbitrarily change the Withdrawal Agreement? Will Barnier and Co say No, that's it chum, if you want in through by the end of January, it goes through as it stands. Cue Johnson caving in?

We need to look for crumbs of comfort.

Which is useless if all that extra money is soaked up by fat US megacorps charging the NHS 100x the going rate for providing services.

We have a good example of

Which is useless if all that extra money is soaked up by fat US megacorps charging the NHS 100x the going rate for providing services.

We have a good example of what to expect by looking at the education sector and what has happened there.

weownit.org.uk/public-ownership/schools

There was an excellent thread on Twitter recently laying out who owns which trusts - upsum a lot of Conservative donors. I'll post if I can find it again.

Sadly, Peregrina, I think Johnson will manage to negotiate a FTA by just going low in terms of benefits to the U.K. He has form for that.

And his intention of keeping Brexit from the headlines will please an awful lot of voters.

A lot of people voted just too never hear about Brexit again.'

And a lot of people really, really don't want to be told Brexit is harmful.

Populism.

This is what right-wing populism is.

It's absolutely bizarre to be sitting here, watching it.

And a lot of people really, really don't want to be told Brexit is harmful.

Then I hope they enjoy losing their jobs, and paying more for substandard food. Because however much Johnson shouts about making Britain great again, it won't just happen by itself.

We're - what? - 6 days into this, and I'm already feeling so tired

I don't know whether this has been posted already, but I really liked Ian Dunt's article on the New European

www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/ian-dunt-brexit-defeat-christmas-1-6432357?

It's a call to join the Labour party, support the myriad organisations that are fighting hate and keep talking to each other

This is what right-wing populism is.
It's absolutely bizarre to be sitting here, watching it.

Agreed.

On another note - thank you to everyone who gave ideas for persuading my LibDem DF to tactically vote Labour. He did. It didn't help in the overall scheme of things, but it helps me. So thank you.

My idea of an ID card would be the driving licence, minus the right to drive.

That was how it worked in Texas when we lived there - but it did have your address on it, so it still has that problem.

Oh, bless him, UltimateFiole.

I hope he doesn't feel he compromised/forewent his self-expression for nothing.

I, for one, appreciate what you snd he tried to achieve.

On another note - thank you to everyone who gave ideas for persuading my LibDem DF to tactically vote Labour. He did. It didn't help in the overall scheme of things, but it helps me. So thank you.

All of us, who voted for the best non-Tory or Brexit Party candidate in our constituency can hold our heads up and say that we didn't vote to enable this.

I hope he doesn't feel he compromised/forewent his self-expression for nothing.

I don't think so. He said it was a disappointing result on a low turn out in their constituency.

He did rather sweetly write me a letter telling me to try not to worry about it all on a day-to-day basis. And he's right in that we have to conserve energy for the long game now. Fretting will not help with that.

Listening to R4 this morning, it seems that Cummings is now busy trying to reform MoD purchasing - so if he’s still working for No 10 as a SPAD, how come he’s allowed to publicly interfere in UK politics via his blog? Doesn’t that break the SPAD code of conduct?

A lot of people voted just too never hear about Brexit again

They will get their wish - Huff Post reporting this:

Boris Johnson has ordered officials to drop the term “Brexit” after Britain leaves the EU on January 31, HuffPost UK has learnt.

Downing Street will also refuse to refer to the UK-EU free trade agreement to be negotiated next year as a “deal”, arguing that the prime minister’s withdrawal agreement is the Brexit deal.

Johnson is so keen to show Brexit will be “done”, as he promised in the election, that No.10’s Brexit press team will be renamed after January 31, with “Europe and economy” one new name being floated by officials.

m.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/brexit-boris-johnson-downing-street-officials-negotiations_uk_5dfb57f3e4b01834791c02a8?ncid=other_twitter_cooo9wqtham&utm_campaign=share_twitter&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly90LmNvL25SMXhMRTh5eks_YW1wPTE&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAJARn_OXWUK9ZHH-QT6opSopHCw2wdM9UyAomc078jU7ZSPAMVJU_N4NPlk8Gy5Jr4v0bbhbtuasm3IrZRD6C8URIE8v7mLEbI8zNHci5xh1klmZ1O8IXMV2eujvrFc2BLelJhqPQNQCQjrEkQ2EBB-vAXd1zKbK4aIwTyaxZNbe&guccounter=2

I think MoD purchasing does need reform. Whether a Cummings led reform is the way to do it, must be debatable.

Cummings is trying to reform MoD's purchasing?! That gave me my first real laugh of the day. The department is notorious for eating SPADs, so I don't know if I should salute his bravery or else welcome the stress it will cause him.

I find that I have stopped watching the news The upside is that I have loads of extra time - especially useful in the run up to Christmas

I did watch Nicola's well trailed announcement yesterday which I thought was very measured. The contrast with BJ in the way that she answered questions was very marked ( whole, coherent sentences for starters ) and I was impressed with the way that lay she politely wouldn't be drawn on precisely what her Plan B was, adding that the longer BJ refused the Scottish people and imposed Brexit on us, the easier he made her job of promoting the case for independence

I also saw Blackford's speech in Parliament, where he alluded to Parnell and his tactics in Parliament (which I have mentioned before ). Plus I loved the way that he called out BJ for the height of rudeness for fiddling with his phone while Blackford was talking (to which BJ said, "Say something interesting then" - which again played into Blackford's message)

Cummings is trying to reform MoD's purchasing?!

So the first department to be targeted is the one supposedly dedicated to the security of the UK.

What could possibly go wrong ?

The news just makes me want to cry at the moment. I found myself thinking this morning “Only 259 weeks to go until we can kick this lot out”, which was comforting for the nano second before I remembered how much damage they can wreak in that time.

I know, AlsoHuman. I have moments when it hits me like a brick wall & I just feel so, so down.

So the first department to be targeted is the one supposedly dedicated to the security of the UK

but that's ok because Cummings isn't a danger to National Security like Corbyn.

I see the Russian aircraft carrier has caught fire in dock.

I see a lot of people think we should flog off one of ours.

I see DC wants to save money at the MoD.

Only Connect

This cheered me up a bit.

DUP urges Johnson to address NI customs arrangements
Updated / Friday, 20 Dec 2019 11:43

Jeffrey Donaldson said there are concerns over customs arrangements Jeffrey Donaldson said there are concerns over customs arrangements

The DUP's new Westminster leader has urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to address the Northern Ireland customs arrangements in his Brexit deal.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Jeffrey Donaldson said: "We supported Brexit, and we want Brexit to happen and we acknowledge and recognise that the government has won a mandate to take forward its Withdrawal Agreement.

"But there is a major contradiction at the heart of that agreement which causes us great concern.

"At the one level the agreement does say that Northern Ireland should continue to have unfettered access to the rest of the UK for trade, but then we have customs arrangements that inhibit our ability to have that unfettered access, and that is our major concern, and one that we hope the government can address."

He added: "I want the Prime Minister to treat my part of the United Kingdom the same as the other parts in the context of leaving the European Union."

Mr Donaldson said that while he welcomes the fact that the Northern Ireland Assembly will have a say over special arrangements, he believes the arrangements "will continue unless the Assembly stops them" which requires a vote in the Assembly - and that there are "issues around how that would be exercised".

He added: "We do want the Assembly to have a say, but we want to ensure that say can be exercised in a fair manner that respects the principle of consent as set out in the Belfast Agreement."

He said: "We want Northern Ireland to benefit fully from any free trade agreement that is arranged with the European Union."

He continued: "But what we don't want, Mr Speaker, is barriers to trade with the rest of our own country - that is absolutely essential for us."

On customs arrangements, Mr Donaldson said "it is clear that those checks will take place".

He added: "We want to work with the Government to mitigate the impact on Northern Ireland business of the requirement for those checks, and again that's something we want to hear more from the government on and we will be looking towards committee stage to see what we can do to reflect the commitment in the agreement and the commitment from the Prime Minister that there will be unfettered access between Northern Ireland and Great Britain in relation to trade."

He said the DUP would "like to be in a position to support" the Prime Minister's deal, but "such is the gravity of our concern", they cannot at its present state

The DUP will never admit they made a complete mess of things. They are holding up the talks in NI because they don't want the Petition of Concern reformed as then they won't be able to abuse it. Plus they have to check back with UDA/UVF masters.

They're finished whatever happens.