Westminstenders: Just another DEADline

[RedToothBrush]

Today is the last scheduled day for talks with the EU.

We have til 30th June to ask for a transition extension. We won't.

That leaves us starring down the barrel of a no deal exit, when we still could be in a covid-19 crisis and the US may be in turmoil given recent events and the coming election...

It's not a pretty picture.

Tim Mongomerie sticks the knife in, in the Staggers of all places:

www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2020/06/why-i-broke-boris-johnson

(And now he reports he has already received the anonymous threats to his future career.)

Why is any of that a surprise to Tim Mongomerie??

I mean seriously?

What was he expecting from Johnson. He was suckered into the myth of Johnson rather than looking at Johnson's track record.

It was always going to happen.

Well Quite

TM sounding like one of those old Junker reactionaries who thought they could control Adolf once they installed him.

(No. Not suggesting BJ is Hitler, before anyone tries it on.)

Farage leaving LBC. Funny, I was wondering the other day how long he’d continue on there.
Would love to know the backstory.

www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/nigel-farage-stepping-down-from-lbc-radio-1-6696037

@OldLace and others with older children, you may be interested to see my MP's letter to Bozo from a few days ago www.facebook.com/RosieDuffieldCanterbury/photos/pcb.1019346921814004/1019346391814057/?type=3&theater complaining about the growing chasm between private and state schools for A'Levels.

Our school has, rather optimistically IMO, sent out their yearly survey which holds several questions about their "educational provision"...I fear they may rather wish they had not as our class WhatsApp group is alive with appx 40+ messages a day complaining about boring links and the fact we pay taxes for a teacher not a faceless company to teach our children. It isn't made better by the constantly chipper posts many of us get from friends at other local schools where the teachers pre-record story time/topics for maths/English, mark work sent to them as well as managing to do other subjects such as Science and History as well as the bog standard Eng and Maths we get. I don't envy the school but there is a definite feeling they are learning from the govt how to cover up their inadequate response and stop comparison to other similar school examples...

Meanwhile ...

www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/we-must-be-told-what-cummings-and-palantir-are-doing-nhs-data/

Why is a firm backed by the CIA, and founded by a Trump-supporting billionaire, getting access to a massive store of our personal health information?

@JeSuisPoulet

That's a good letter by Rosie Duffield.
I went to (state) School in Canterbury myself.
When I went to Edinburgh University, I was in Hall next to a girl from the Kings School. I remarked that I had been to School in Canterbury too (she was 3 years younger than me, as I'd had a stint in London and went up as a 'mature' student, at 21). She looked puzzled as she 'didn't know me from the Uppers' so I said: 'not at Kings' , and she said: 'but there ARE no other Schools in Canterbury, are there?'
Now, she was young and naive, but I am very close to an ex-Wykehamist who has NO idea about state schools at all. Like Boris.
Like Govt, also doesn't give a damn as it doesn't impact him at all.

OldLace

Spot on. "Did you go to a school" is the potentially baffling interview question that still gets asked to sort the chaps from the chaffe.

Yes. The ex-Wykehamist asked why my Y10 ASD / SEN Ds (at a Needs Improvement Academy) isn't taking PPE or 'Arch & Anth'

I said I didn't think a max of £4K a year per student covered that.
(actually, it doesn't allow for books, or heating, or pens, or good food)
He just looks puzzled, then shakes his head and says: 'anyway...' Twit!
And, clearly, the problem at present is ALL the fault of the Bolshie Teachers Unions. That and the Generally Stupid Great British Public.
I try not to discuss politics with him as it just upsets me, and he's old now and has no power, but used to be quite high up in the Treasury.
But, I wonder how much things have really changed?

That experience doesn't surprise me at all. I have a friend who is Scottish and also went to Edinburgh who said that she often felt like an alien around her peers there and it made her feel very insecure. Very different from Manchester where other friends went, where going anywhere other than the state school was a fast track to ridicule.

I think Rosie is very good. She had some nasty press a couple of weeks ago because her new partner met for a distanced walk before we were technically "allowed" plus he is separating from his wife so she has been called a homewrecker by many men and women alike but she apologised immediately and stepped down as whip. Am so glad she didn't resign as MP.

Old I went to a mid-range Indie and have had a range of put downs from both sides

None of that at Scumbag Poly in the 80s. We had a Tory student. Made him sit on his own at the back.

I think our school produced a fairly mixed bag, although one of my year went to Lancing for A' Levels and always comments how many more of our school ralk about equality and social change which wasn't on the agenda in the same capacity at Lancing.

In other news, if your a prospective smuggler of goods across the NI/Irish border, here's where you sign up

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/questionnaire-for-businesses-who-move-goods-between-great-britain-and-northern-ireland?utmsource=e0f5d5d4-02c8-4c54-b833-3daa7ea36efd&utmmmedium=email&utmcampaign=govuk-notifications&utmmcontent=immediate

I went to Durham as a post grad. That was an eye opener given that I went to a crappy comprehensive and didn’t own a ball gown.

Mind you, the poshest hall was the best one to go drinking in as the girls in the bar couldn’t add up, had no idea how to handle cash and couldn’t do measures. Triples all round, give them a fiver and get change for a tenner.

You're ffs!

Funnily or not enough, I didn't experience any state v private prejudice when I went to St Andrews in 1978. Most of the teasing I got was because I was a young, naive 17.5 year old (even though I was "old" for my year, I went after S5, which is the equivalent of Y12).

I do remember that the worst snobbery & affectations (fortunately not in my Halls of Residence) were from the nouveaux riches and not from the genuinely "landed gentry" who were usually pretty self-effacing.

I went from from really poor school to an English Uni where there where two state school kids on the course (there was another Scot but she had gone to a public school)
I was given the Marxist lecturer as my tutor but people couldn't have been nicer (even if they couldn't all manage my fairly mild west coast accent for a while)

I was also 17 which caused comment, even though I'd been hanging around school with an unconditional offer for year.

Ds, who did do S6, was also 17 when he went to Uni (so was also able to have the reassurance of an unconditional offer although he still continued to work for his AHs ).

Turned 18 on his 1st day of lectures He still apparently managed to drink plenty during Freshers Week

Paramedics invited not to download the track and trace app
because if one of the team gets it, the whole lot have to sign off work for two weeks ....
The time for active track and trace was March, not June.

2m is the emperor's new clothes
the sooner its gone and replaced with

• wash hands regularly
• wear masks in crowded places
• don't gob on people

the better

Reading that link it looked as though you had to download the app, then turn on bluetooth, and then allow your location to be known. Since I don't intend to do the first two, I hope to be able to give this a miss.
I am quite happy to wash my hands regularly, and keep my distance from people.

I'm in Scotland anyway

...but if I were in England, it wouldn't work as I keep bluetooth switched off even if I were gullible enough to download it

(And no, I don't have the Google app downloaded either )

2m is the emperor's new underwear - it does have some merit in preventing transmission.

Paramedics invited not to download the track and trace app

I can't recall if I posted it, but there was a story 2 weeks ago that the police have also been advised not to get involved in T&T, as it would identify their undercover officers (and doubtless prevent them doing their vital work lying to innocent women in order to have sex, relationships and children with them).