Westminstenders: Political vacuums are very bad things

[RedToothBrush]

Johnson has been notible (once again) but his absence.

Whilst we appreciate he has been ill and has a new baby, we are in the midst of a national crisis and a sense of leadership and guidance from our prime minister has been lacking.

And its not gone unnoticed.

Not just by the press. And not just by opposition. Nor NHS and care managers. But on the ground where it matters.

The lack of the sense of seriousness has dissipated. The sense of duty to country to behave. The idea that it will some how be all over this week when it doesn't appear to be the government strategy. The total lack of policy for a week whilst it's become clear bit by bit that these things have been under discussion and decided upon prior to the supposed key meeting on Thursday from the announcements from the regional assemblies. All in favour of a TV stunt tomorrow night.

Let's see how that goes.

The grandstanding isn't a substitute for detail and substance in a crisis. And we still have the looming show down at the end of June over extension of transition. More optics. More lack of practicality at a time when things will really be on the brink.

The next month will be telling and we hit the wall of economic reality which will bring the whole world crashing in on the lives of so many people.

This is the calm before the storm. Enough the sunshine. Enjoy the time with families. Before this is over everything will have changed for so many.

This is just the start of things unravelling and it needs someone to take control and draw up solid blueprints for all our futures. Is a man who is so frequently awol from where he is supposed to be and doesn't take commitments and responsibilities seriously, really the man for that?

Churchill had a vision for the country that cited housing as our second social service, the NHS being our first.

Will Johnson manage to some how forge out so grand new venture which gives the resource and rewards it deserves to the NHS (beyond lipservice and empty platitudes and clapping, that recognises the importance of social care and can stop the almost inevitable coming wave of homelessness and unemployment

And can he do it without selling us off as a basement bargain to the us?

People consenting to something they otherwise wouldn't due to financial incentive?

(treads warily ....)

A lot of people (especially on parts on MN) would say it's not possible to buy consent.

(Ducks)

It most definitely is, but don't forget that this is what people voted for. There was no good reason for people in those "Red Wall" seats to put in Tory MPs, but they chose to do so. They also already knew that their Prime Minister was a liar and a cheat, but were apparently happy with this.

With clapping the political equivalent of taking confession ?

'With clapping the equivalent of taking confession'?

This is very odd, isn't it?
Clapping as Catharsis?

We (me and 2 young teens with ASD) haven't stood outside our door once. Partly, there is no point - they would get no sense of community / national 'effort' as we live on a sheep farm and have no neighbours.
But partly because I spoke to them about NHS workers not being (temporary) 'Heroes' but being professionals who are badly paid at the best of times and now being required to put themselves in danger.

But yes, some weird quasi-flagellation going on.

I wonder if there will be a requirement to lose weight for those over a certain BMI who are in receipt of benefits, regardless of whether their medical condition / restricted ability to afford healthy food contributes?

Clapping as Catharsis?

Not what I meant (checks meaning of "catharsis")

No. I meant clapping as the equivalent of whatever it is when Catholics confess so they can still go to heaven but carry on sinning. Quite a few (not all) but quite a few people who voted Tory damn well knew what they were doing and have done. The arithmetic of the people clapping makes it a certainty. But still they clap in the hope it will cleanse their soul, and remove the stain of not giving a shit about the most vulnerable in their own country.

They clap to purify their souls, so they can go and vote Tory again, just to make sure the nurses pay cut freeze goes through, and benefits are slashed, and the homeless get their sorry arses back on the streets where they belong.

I won't go on

yorkshirebylines.co.uk/wto-on-the-brink-as-chief-resigns-and-us-begins-process-of-withdrawal/

yorkshirebylines.co.uk
WTO “on the brink” as chief resigns and US begins process of withdrawal – Yorkshire Bylines
Anthony Robinson
3 minutes
World Trade Organization / CC BY-SA (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)

The world moved a step closer to a free-for-all in international trade as Robert Azevedo, World Trade Organisation (WTO) director general, announces he plans to quit with over a year to go on his four-year contract. It’s the latest in a series of crises to hit the organisation in the past year. Reuters describes the WTO as being “already on the brink.”

In December, the USA blocked new appointments to the seven-member adjudication panel, which rules on disputes between nations. This paralysed the appeals function. And this is in the middle of arguments over its budget, the cancellation of a scheduled ministerial conference and some members edging towards unilateral trade action that contravenes WTO principles, according to reports.

As if that wasn’t enough, in America a Bill was introduced in the House of Representatives, to begin a process that would see the total withdrawal of the USA from the WTO, a blow from which it’s hard to see a recovery. The Bill comes from the Democrats and follows a similar resolution in the Senate by a Republican. It enjoys cross-party support.

Mr Azevedo’s resignation is expected to fire the starting pistol on a race to find a replacement that is likely to take some time and create more division. Even then the US or other members could block some or all of the candidates.

The Brazilian told an interviewer, “It’s the best thing for me, my family and the organization,” adding that it’s not for health reasons or other political ambitions.

“We are doing nothing now – no negotiations, everything is stuck. There’s nothing happening in terms of regular work.”
Robert Azevedo, World Trade Organisation director general

This comes as Britain prepares to leave the EU and take its place at the Geneva-based WTO as an independent member; the organisation itself moribund and under threat like never before.

To add to Britain’s post-Brexit trade woes, the UN calculated this week that global trade is expected to fall by an unprecedented 27 per cent this year.

With the USA and China sounding increasingly belligerent on a trade war the prospects for Britain’s exporters after our exit from the EU in January next year seem bleak.

I was raised catholic.

I got chucked out of sunday school aged 9 for pointing out that you could be the most evil person in the world, recant on your deathbed and still get into heaven.

I'd also been reading about the Borgias and may have made comments about Papal infallibility :)

I got chucked out of sunday school aged 9 for pointing out that you could be the most evil person in the world, recant on your deathbed and still get into heaven.

Apparently "it doesn't work like that"

I still have doubts about anyone that feels they need a sky fairy to be a decent human being.

.

Re Boris and having to slim - Maybe Carrie has laid down the law on this?

I think the govt are focusing on changing media narrative.

They’ve just chucked Khan under the bus as the TFL deal included congestion charge being raised and extended, free child travel being reduced etc. Of course many headlines have Khan and not govt as the architect.

I also think BJ fat drive is to turn away from him catching it through shaking hands.

I’m so fucking sick of this shit.

DGR
The whole selling indulgencies drove me mad!
They obviously never read the Beatitudes!

From Khan

twitter.com/sadiqkhan/status/1261190869660700672?s=21

A little MN amusement from Jason Groves who acts as lobby chair for the government press briefings. He has a show pineapple!

twitter.com/SamCoatesSky/status/1261231473937580032

Just been listening to a massive rant from one of our local farmers about the US food trade deal. He doesn't seem to share Liz Truss's optimism at all.

www.fwi.co.uk/news/farm-policy/liz-truss-us-trade-deal-will-benefit-uk-farmers

I suppose this is one of the things Boris Johnson's car-crash announcement and subsequent fuss was intended to distract from. I wonder what else has slipped by.

By all means find new markets to mop up excess capacity, but to close down the option of exports to existing markets and then have to hunt around for new ones seems utterly crazy. How many farmers will go out of business before Liz Truss manages her deal?

How many farmers will go out of business before Liz Truss manages her deal?

Enough to have some nice land to flog to the oligarchy ?

And get us all hooked on meat full of growth hormones and invert corn syrup.

So much for BJ's fat-busting policy.

Think I may go veggie

Think I may go veggie

Fuck that. Plenty of game meat to be had. I still haven't got round to trying squirrel.

and, also as predicted, the Coronaovirus laws were as much use as a chocolate teapot.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/coronavirus-act-unlawful-prosecutions-review-uk-a9516566.html

All prosecutions under the new Coronavirus Act have been unlawful, a review has found.

If parliament were a business, then surely voters would have a case for a refund as they clearly aren't fit for purpose.

I still haven't got round to trying squirrel.

Nutty flavour, I'm guessing.

Maybe time to revive the old country practice of baking hedgehogs in clay so the prickles come away.

Maybe time to revive the old country practice of baking hedgehogs in clay so the prickles come away.

Aren't hedgehogs a protected species ?

Rabbit and squirrel ... well you'd be doing someone a favour.

The last I heard was the concern that vaccine trials in lockdown will be fairly inconclusive as exposure will be so low, and the ethics around challenge were being discussed. Haven’t heard anything further.

The results of trials on 6 macaques look promising.

We got brought a full grown dead squirrel by one of the cats at the weekend

Maybe they were trying to help out

I'm just grateful that it wasn't brought up onto the bed which has a white duvet cover.

@DGRossetti
I think we are talking about exactly the same thing, but I explained myself badly. What i meant was:
Catharsis = the process of releasing strong / repressed emotions.
Confession = the process of 'releasing / admitting' sin for the purpose of forgiveness
I see a strong parallel here. As a Catholic myself, I have always struggled with the notion that simply 'confessing' then absolves one from sin / gains forgiveness.
I firmly believe that God knows perfectly well whether you a) genuinely repent, b) make amends where possible c). crucially, where possible, alter your future behaviour and I think all of these matter.
I feel depressed when I think that the Church allows / allows itself to be represented as a place where lifelong poor behavior followed by a deathbed confession is OK.

Similarly, are some of those clapping our Hero Carers (soon to be our Hero Teachers if the Daily Wail have their way) the same people who have voted in a political party who have deliberately economically starved those professions for years (and, even more horribly, cheered at pay cuts etc): Yes. Will they then stand and clap and go back to voting for that party again in 5 years time when 'all this is over'? Yes :(

I wont have phrased that well as I am not a theologian or a politician.