Westminstenders: The Mask is Slipping

[RedToothBrush]

This week has seen the department of the Chancellor who launched a 50p piece, the serious contemplation of a tin pot bridge, the rebirth of eugenics as a subject for cabinet, the announcement of the end of the BBC as we know it, the cabinet chanting after the PM in a way Orwell would be proud of, suppression of a report into trade deals which dares to mention the effect of distance and geography, worrying signs of an ever growing rift with Europe over negotiations for a deal, an appointment which starts to make our membership of the ECHR look very dodgy and there have been rather a lot of floods which so far seemed to have escaped the attention of those in London busy in their own swamp.

It's becoming apparent very quickly just how Trump like our new government are and how they want the UK to emulate the very worst aspects of America.

We are falling fast and its not looking like it will be pretty.

All we need is a major global issue to test our national resilience and the incompetence will truly be laid bare for us all to see... But not necessarily speak of. Such us the way it works.

Brexit Britain is not a nice looking prospect.

All the farmland will end up being owned by the saudi's, emirates, Chinese and Russians......oh and Dyson

Consolidation probably needs to happen - but British farmers will cease to exist.......that in itself should be a concern for everyone when you have local food supply controlled by foreign powers

I'll be quite happy if the Rausing family buy more and more land
they seem to manage it well

But they mostly live here?

The Rausings now own more of Scotland than anybody else
they ban driven shooting
they ban persecution of birds of prey
they plant trees
they support tenants
they support local farm shops
SOME of them live here, others still in Scandinavia

I love the EU infographics- is the timeline one with steps for the talks a subtle way of flagging up ( yet again) that the 10 month time scale is a tad optimistic?

There are some huge estates round my sister bought by Saudi interests - closing/blocking bridle trails and foot paths , not managing the land ..... it's just about parking money overseas.....

Floodings and austerity.
How austerity impacted on the floods we have recently seen. And of course, BJ is nowhere to be seen either...

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/23/tories-ignored-flood-advice-austerity-pitt-review?CMP=share_btn_fb&fbclid=IwAR2ViNmKYkMClTuYMtuN_hNEKnSGmBXuhBCZIL1YA4lp_A9D4JbFqy0uCTM

All that's going to happen is a wholesale number of properties - to teh shock of some - will become uninsurable. Certainly uninsurable against flood. It's a matter of principle that the more likely an event becomes, the more insuring against it becomes.

Until you reach a threshold (beyond evens) where it goes from being insurance (i.e. it may happen within a specified timeframe) to assurance (i.e. it will happen within a specified timeframe).

Very few people understand the difference between life insurance, and life assurance ...

Anyway, back on tack ... uninsured flooded homes are bad enough for homeowners. I wonder how it would feed into rented houses and flooded tenants ?

Going back, the government staved off a mass decline in insurer interest by promising it would spend on flood defences. No spending means insurers aren't going to continue offering insurance on the basis of that or possibly any other promise.

And of course, BJ is nowhere to be seen either...

Is is on Twitter you know - you could follow him. He looks pretty busy to me - three engagements at Number 10 on Monday, including a meeting with the Croatian Prime Minister, the Chancellor of Austria yesterday...

Is is on Twitter you know - you could follow him.

Very good, Sherlock. Is he "TheWhipHand" ?

“ Cummings is running the country...”

Cummings thinks he’s running the country...

The point is, he's nowhere to be seen, not he's not busy. The new northern Tory heartlands could do with a morale boosting turbocharged PM visit, with his optimism and excellent slogans. Maybe, let's work together to 'Get the North Dry', could become busworthy ?

I'm probably late to the party, but there has been a lot of discussion on twitter (including by journalists with links to Westminster) that the reason for Johnson going AWOL is that he has been shagging around and Carrie (who is allegedly pg) gave him a shiner.

The bad part of me wants this to be true.

The responsible mumsnetter in me thinks that a man whose current salary is (according to him) not high enough for a man with his family responsibilities - thinks he needs to stop procreating and have a vasectomy.

@Clavinova, oh god, I think following him on Twitter would give me nightmares!!

@Mistigri, you know what, it woudnt even surprise me (and why on earth she thought it would be a good idea to have a child with him is beyond my understanding. He certainly has a track record for cheating and not caring for his offsprings)

..... and here I was wondering if I was just too cynical, and wondering if maybe he was (for once) playing the doting father over mid term......

I listened..... did anyone watch the Saj speech in parliament?
I heard commentary afterwards and apparently Bozo was looking very uncomfortable throughout, and then when he turned to that the Saj got his kind words was treated with stoney expressionless face - not much in the way of acknowledgement

I’m not sure what being on Twitter has to do with flooding.

But then BJ was London mayor during the 2010 riots and he couldn’t be arsed to schlep home from holiday for that. Ken Livingstone was out there on day 1 in the community and he was no longer the mayor!

Donald Trump is constantly on Twitter and there is no evidence whatever that that makes him a good head of state.

I did look at BJ's twitter.
It actually includes that video of the cabinet sitting around replying in chorus like mindless infants when he asks how many new hospitals they are going to build, while Rishi Sunak gazes at BJ in awed admiration.

Yes, he met the Croatian MP and the Austrian Chencellor.

And he invited some kids to no10 so they could share their creative designs and visions for the NHS.

He "hosted a working breakfast with consumer and lifestyle publications to discuss how this government is making a real difference to people’s lives, and empowering girls around the world through education." (aka blowing his gvmt's own trumpet and asking journalists to relay the tune)

The gossip about shiners, pregnancy, etc. is just the new normal, really, isn't it?

"Chencellor" - I was obviously typing in an Austrian accent.

Johnson's twitter account is not a personal one like Trump's, it's probably run by one of the vote leave airheads (didn't he take on that Aussie woman who used to post as Low Tax Chloe on Twitter?).

Obv the rumour about the black eye probably isn't true, though people are claiming to spot evidence of a make-up job in recent photos. (Though anyone claiming that Johnson's eyes looking puffy is out of the ordinary hasn't been paying attention. He looks permanently hung over).

On a more serious note, Muhtaba Rahman is saying that he thinks Johnson is going to claim that he has not signed an international treaty (!) and that the election mandate takes precedence.

That's the election that he ran on the "oven-ready deal" manifesto, and which g was FOLLOWED by legislation to write the withdrawal agreement into British law.

All I can say is that if I was in the U.K. right now I'd be carefully plotting my route to the nearest fire exit.

On a more serious note, Muhtaba Rahman is saying that he thinks Johnson is going to claim that he has not signed an international treaty (!) and that the election mandate takes precedence.

Goose/gander. Other countries would just reflect that back to the UK.

What treaties is the UK relying on that have been superseded by elections ?

What a time to be alive. Or is the UK becoming a theme park based on Germany 1933-1939 ?

the reason for Johnson going AWOL is that he has been shagging around and Carrie (who is allegedly pg) gave him a shiner.

Now that he's on the point of divorce, he could marry Carrie, and then of course there will be a vacancy.