Westministenders: Crisis, which crisis ?

[BigChocFrenzy]

Main crises facing the government:

. Negotiating a Brexit deal with the EU
. Coronoavirus
. Floods
. Allegations of some ministers - and Cummings - bullying civil servants
. More trouble threatened from Turkey / Syria

Unfortunately with all these parallel crises, we have a workshy lying arse as PM
and the worst collection yet of incompetents in Cabinet
who seem to have decided on a strategy of bullying their civil servants to avoid hearing any facts that don't fit with current Tory party ideology

Dare I suggest hesitantly that the tax-avoiding denizens of IoM and the CI could afford to stump up a subsidy

Most of them really aren't tax avoiders and they earn very little and have high housing costs especially in Jersey. Yes you have the "high net worth individuals" but most of them aren't.

However, maybe we really do need that bridge to Northern Ireland

You mean "tunnel"

Iirc, unless the EU regulations have changed, using vaccination to control against TB will prohibit exports of beef from vaccinated cows to the EU.

Is that a problem ? Sounds like an added bonus to me. Not only are farmers being shafted, they are being double-shafted.

I think Gordon Brown was contemplating invading the Isle of Man, or at any rate making it a fully integral part of the UK under HMRC jurisdiction.

Can't come soon enough IMO, and Channel Isles too.

I think Gordon Brown was contemplating invading the Isle of Man, or at any rate making it a fully integral part of the UK under HMRC jurisdiction.

Does the UK have that power ? Isn't the IoM governed by the IoM ?

It is a Crown Dependancy. Queenie can change its status with an order in council, on the advice of her ministers.

Following on from my thoughts about the destruction of the UK, I would fully expect the UK to be deliberately excluded by the government from any passporting moves by the finance sector. Also Gibraltar to be quietly given back to Spain.

(Goes back to running AI simulations for more gems )

Alistair Jack is not exactly demonstrating the quality of his education if he thinks that it is appropriate to say that "bridge" is a euphemism for "tunnel"

euphemism
/ˈjuːfəmɪz(ə)m/

Learn to pronounce
noun
1 a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing."the jargon has given us ‘downsizing’ as a euphemism for cuts"

I'm waiting for the first Cummings Wierdo to suggest teleportation from Scotland to NI.

Maybe "a bridge is a euphemism for a tunnel" is itself, in fact, a euphemism for "a bridge is just as monumentally stupid an idea as a tunnel would be"?

Maybe "a bridge is a euphemism for a tunnel" is itself, in fact, a euphemism for "a bridge is just as monumentally stupid an idea as a tunnel would be"?

For some reason I have just remembered a Greg Davies joke about a lad he once taught who wanted to be a gynaecologist or a train driver.

I'd agree with that AuldAlliance

Iirc, unless the EU regulations have changed, using vaccination to control against TB will prohibit exports of beef from vaccinated cows to the EU.
I believe this is the next generation of vaccines - that were held back by the cull priority - that are immediately traceable in a blood test
and the EU will be chilled

"bridge" ==> "tunnel" ==> "add 1 extra ferry crossing per week"

(judging by all the promises of extra nurses, police etc)

Ferry = floating bridge

QED

Here's one he can buy
www.amazon.co.uk/Lowry-Speciality-Print-Picture-SOUTHAMPTON/dp/B00VAODNZE?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

I posted this this afternoon and was a bit suspicious about what it meant:

Treasury officials... argued that controlling low-skilled migration could have a positive effect on the productivity levels of those workers already in the UK and raise economic output per head.

Then this came up, and I thought ‘is this a way they’re thinking might increase productivity’?

Wilko is set to slash sick pay for tens of thousands of retail and distribution workers

Staff will only be permitted one occasion of paid sick leave per year.

They’re probably already on minimum wage and will be pushed into poverty if unlucky enough to be ill twice in a year. I don’t know - is this worsening of workers’ conditions something they can do now we’re not bound by EU regs?

www.gmb.org.uk/news/wilko-slashes-sick-pay-tens-thousands-workers

afaik, that isn't part of EU regs
There are a lot of other workers rights that are e.g. Working time directive, holiday pay for agency staff etc

Contrary to public / Tory beliefs, the EU leaves each member country with a lot of freedom to decide how to run things

Thanks bigchoc I didn’t really know the conditions. It is going to be difficult for those staff though.

Tbf the chances of the Condor Liberation managing an extra sailing a week are similar to the chances of an increase in the number of nurses or police officers.

OK, so typical BJ fantasy then

www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/split-over-human-rights-is-grave-threat-to-post-brexit-deal-says-michel-barnier-5jvns70br?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1583430474
Split over human rights is grave threat to post-Brexit deal, says Michel Barnier

There are “very grave and serious” disagreements between Britain and the European Union over a trade and security deal including a human rights row that threatens police co-operation, Michel Barnier has said.

The EU’s chief negotiator said four major disagreements had emerged after a first round of negotiations in Brussels this week that could derail a deal by the end of the year unless they are resolved.

“To be completely frank there are many divergences and they are very serious divergences,” he said.

He highlighted Britain’s refusal to agree to a treaty clause applying the European Convention on Human Rights and jurisdiction for the EU courts.

“They do not wish formally to commit to continuing to apply the ECHR"

EU red line to a trade deal. One that they will not shift on.

running AI simulations
Sadly doomed to fail - will never encompass the range of crass iodicy that our leaders will enact - the clue is in the 'I' - this lot are bereft of both intelligence and common sense, a rare combination that simulations have never been able to match.

Well, this might be interesting:

Sebastian Payne @SebastianEPayne

🚨 Exclusive: Tory grandees will table an amendment next week to block all Huawei equipment from the UK’s telecommunications network after 2022.

Rebels think they’re “in the ball park” of having the support of the 40 Tory MPs needed to defeat the govt.

Slight diversion ....
population pyramid of Italy over time
www.populationpyramid.net/italy/2015/

and south Korea
www.populationpyramid.net/republic-of-korea/1950/

and China
www.populationpyramid.net/china/2010/