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

What if Rutnam himself has made the recordings? He's nothing to lose now.

.

StarbucksSmarterSister
Oh, now she is an adorable lady, isn't she? ❤️

BJ on the forthcoming trade deal with the US: “Trading Scottish smoked salmon for Stetson hats, we will deliver lower prices and more choice for our shoppers."

No doubt UK shoppers who've been suffering from a shortage of affordable stetsons will be relieved. If they're not too dazzled by BJ's use of alliteration to think about what he's actually saying.

I didn't even know Stetsons were edible.

we will deliver lower prices and more choice for our shoppers.

Those of you who are as old as me will remember Ted Heath saying that he would 'cut prices at a stroke'. He didn't.

We won't get lower prices and we won't get choice. Johnson has now won the election so he can cut out the slogans and get on with running the country although running it into the ground may be more what his intention is.

A Bridge too Far

Mary Beard blocked by Downing St for being a Remainer.
Still, if Boris is a Caesar for our times, it's worth reflecting how that ended for Caesar ....

The Guardian headline is misleading - not sure why Mary Beard mentions Boris Johnson either - it was Theresa May's No 10 who blocked her appointment;

"Asked why she thought she had been rejected earlier, Beard, who most recently presented the Shock of the Nude on BBC2, replied: “There are cock-ups and conspiracies.I’m not, however, going to diss Boris Johnson or the Department of Culture.”

"The decision to turn down Beard is believed to have happened at the end of Theresa May’s premiership, when the museum proposed four new candidates for its board."... "It is understood that the museum, noting that Beard was not among the names appointed by No 10, then made some discreet inquiries before eventually being told that the Brexit-embattled government did not appreciate her pro-EU social media remarks."

Tweeting remarks like this (2017) probably didn't help much either;

"Many reasons NOT to vote Tory; one is not to reward a campaign that has smeared, dealt dishonest platitudes, refused to engage in argument."

I didn't know that the British Museum was part of the Tory party, so I fail to see why Mary Beard's politics are relevant.

Clavinova would be the first to have the screaming habdabs if a Labour PM had denied someone a post on political grounds.

Clavinova would be the first to have the screaming habdabs if a Labour PM had denied someone a post on political grounds.

It wouldn't bother me at all. I do however point out bias from people who have been appointment in various positions.

appointed

🎵🎶🎵🎶

So if Boris is promising the USians cheap smoked salmon, then smoked salmon manufacturers will have to lower their prices ...

I rather think they already have a lot of salmon in Alaska.

So are they going to allow haggis, which is currently classified in the USA as food waste not fit for human consumption.

So are they going to allow haggis, which is currently classified in the USA as food waste not fit for human consumption.

Jan 2020 Macsween sends haggis to US for first time in five decades.

Edinburgh firm does deal to stock chain of shops with vegetarian* version of dish.

The company's vegetarian haggis will be available this year in 14 Fairway Market stores in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, branded as "Scottish veggie crumble".

Macsween has sent 360 cases of the product to the US this month and is appointing a sales agent in the US to support its international expansion.

www.insider.co.uk/news/macsweens-send-haggis-first-time-21316176

So are they going to allow haggis, which is currently classified in the USA as food waste not fit for human consumption.

Edinburgh firm does deal to stock chain of shops with vegetarian* version of dish.

So that's a "No" then.

You can buy haggis-a-likey in the US, but made in the US with lamb meat rather than offal.

So still a “No”.

:)

So that's a "No" then.

My post was lighthearted hence the grin.

I rather think they already have a lot of salmon in Alaska.

The USA is obviously an important market for Scottish salmon although France is ahead;

"Scottish salmon exports hit a record high in 2019"
"France, USA, and China were the top three markets of a total of 54 countries which imported Scottish salmon. For the third year running, France emerged as the largest market for Scottish salmon with sales worth £221 million, followed by USA (£179 million), and China (£59 million)."

"Fergus Ewing [SNP] Scotland’s Rural Economy Secretary, welcomed the export figures. He said: “These record-breaking figures demonstrate that demand for Scottish salmon is soaring and highlights the world-class reputation our producers enjoy."

“The need to explore and take advantage of international markets could not be clearer given the current uncertainty around our future trading relationship with Europe."

fishfocus.co.uk/salmon-exports-achieve-record-value-of-618million/

The USA is obviously an important market for Scottish salmon although France is ahead;

So it makes sense to prioritise a deal with France than.

Righty-ho ....

Not to mention my bold fail on "vegetarian*"

So it makes sense to prioritise a deal with France than.

I thought we were doing both.

Government has released its US negotiation document - by its own estimates, best case is it boosts GDP, “over the long run” by 0.16% or £3.4bn compared to 2018 levels.

Dropping frictionless trade with the EU for a negligible increase in trade with the US isn’t looking like the smartest move?

That 0.1% increase has to be offset by whatever effect losing frictioness trade for 45% of our exports has
and the inferior deals we get after the transition rollover ends for non-EU countries that have EU FTAs

There's also the fact that no matter what is agreed at a federal level, each US state will have it's own take on the matter - that's 50 individual marketing campaigns that will be needed. And even then, you can't force US companies to buy from the UK. And there won't be much in the mass retail market.