Westminstenders: Where are we now?

[RedToothBrush]

Twenty thousand people
Cross Bösebrücke
Fingers are crossed
Just in case
Walking the dead

Where are we now, where are we now?
The moment you know, you know, you know

Just that.

Don't really want to reflect more than that right now.

The cruise liners are currently at anchor in Weymouth Bay stinking the place out with their pollution rather than pay mooring fees.

Mockers
Look by the Isle of Wight and all along near the Solent ......

DGR
So a trial run for prison hulks ?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HM_Prison_Weare
Company I worked for fitted it out

It's curious how - as a so-called maritime nation - England has been so neglectful of using it's enormous coastline to provide cheap non-agricultural land.

But the continued underuse of the rail network for freight also remains a mystery.

Anyways:

www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/emmanuel-macron-speech-to-france-1-6707078

...
Indeed, Macron’s plan of reconstruction is, more than ever placed at the heart of Europe. He could not have said it more clearly; he wants to go on a “European adventure” by creating a powerful economical axis starting at the centre of Europe with the leading “power couple” that is France and Germany. Therefore, he wishes to build a strong bloc with Germany in order to face China and the USA as well as giving a new pulse to European cooperation after the pandemic, but does not mention the UK at all.
...

(It's probably best to note that "NewEuropean" does have a Eurocentric if not Europhilic agenda in reporting. Just in case someone feels the need to cite their "about" page. After all, balance is important when cutting and pasting, surely ?)

@DGRossetti

The Cruise ships are moored up and down the coast. Their poor crew are trapped on board They berth up once a fortnight to take on food but do not let crew ashore and then go back out to the Dorset coast to sit.

So a trial run for prison hulks ?

Or residential, intensive, "Catch-up" educational establishments?

(And this is a French website, in case there is any doubt, following the new rules.)

For the dim, this is the equivalent of Dominic Raab (a) making sense (shocking in itself) and then going on to (b) suggest the EU didn't understand how Brexit works.

www.thelocal.fr/20200617/frances-foreign-minister-not-sure-the-uk-understand-full-impact-of-its-withdrawal-from-eu

France's foreign minister 'not sure the UK understands full impact of its withdrawal from EU'

France does not rule out Europe failing to reach a deal on its post-Brexit relationship with Britain but very much wants to avoid such an outcome, its foreign minister was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

"We cannot exclude the prospect of a 'no deal' but we want to avoid it," Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in an interview with the French daily La Croix to be published on Wednesday.

"The British are playing against the clock but that is not always the way to reach a good agreement," he added.

Britain, which left the EU in January, is negotiating a trade deal to govern relations after December 31st, when it stops abiding by EU rules.

Le Drian's comments came as French President Emmanuel Macron visits Britain on Thursday for a visit expected to include talks with Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

He said Britain apparently still had not understood the full meaning of Brexit even after formally leaving the European Union.

"When you are outside the Union, you do not enjoy the same advantages as when you are inside. You cannot have a foot in and a foot out", he added.

"You have to choose and I am not sure that they have understood the full magnitude of their withdrawal," Le Drian said.

Separately France's Europe Minister Amelie de Montchalin told Europe 1 radio that We will not give in to this kind of time pressure, this final sprint the British want to force on us in the hope that we will give in."

The outcome of trade talks does not affect the position of British people living in France - their rights are already guaranteed under the Withdrawal Agreement, which covers everyone legally resident in France by December 31st.

To find out more about the rules on residency, healthcare, income requirements and second home owners, head to our Preparing for Brexit section.

TL;DR: UK government is (still) full of shit.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-53105642

Apple says it did not know the UK was working on a "hybrid" version of the NHS coronavirus contact-tracing app using tech it developed with Google.

The firm took the unusual step of saying it was also unaware of an issue regarding distance-measuring, which was flagged by Health Secretary Matt Hancock in Thursday's daily briefing.

Apple said it was "difficult to understand" the claims.

(contd)

DGR I did...

^A Downing Street spokesman said the government continued to work closely with both Apple and Google on the app, and had done so since development began.

"We've agreed with them to take forward our work on estimating distance through the app that we've developed and work to incorporate that into their app," he said.^

Apple and Google have not created an app.

Oops.

DGR do you suppose he means "The British Government" or "The British People"? I don't doubt there are some in government who know exactly what they are doing, but many that don't. I also think the same of the people.

I have been staggered by the amount of people I've seen saying things like "oh, but why wouldn't they let us still have [insert EU privilege]?" And seem genuinely appalled that the EU is a club and if you're not a member to you don't get it. Unfortunately the outrage comes down on the side of the EU. How dare they stick to their own rules?!

As the old analogy went, Brexit is cancelling your gym membership but still wanting to go for a swim every morning. Except now we've got the ex-member standing in reception making a fool of themselves screaming that their pass doesn't work any more.

Brexit is cancelling your gym membership but still wanting to go for a swim every morning.

...Minus your trunks and having a good fart in the shallow end.

Meanwhile, the Boy Gavin seems unable to grasp that many schools cannot accomodate fifteen kids in a classroom at 2m because there isn't enough room and so will not be able to fit 30 in at 1m.

Incidentally, it's rare - (in fact I can't recall when it last happened) for Apple to issue a statement like that. They must be mightily pissed off with HMG.

.

So Williamson has the "intention" that all kids will be back at school in September
Does he have a plan as well ?

And does he really mean back ft ,
which would involve abandoning SD and requiring vulnerable teachers - and possibly shielded too - to come in school

He's still talking about bubbles - each form ?
What about streamed subjects ?

His June "intentions" didn't materialise, due to failure to plan

At last, Whitty must have been satisfied the UK is now Level 3

Department of Health and Social Care @DHSCgovuk

This morning the UK COVID-19 alert level was lowered from Level 4 to Level 3.

It is critical that you continue to wash your hands and keep a safe distance from others.

They haven't worked out the plan yet. Its due in two weeks. Our head will be 'thrilled' its another two weeks before she gets it.

The school has a problem with staff not getting their contracted holiday for the year. Its apparently still under discussion that the school will close a week earlier than planned for the summer holiday - but they haven't finally confirmed this and they certainly haven't told the parents yet. It'll be interesting to see the reaction when they do tell the parents...

In fairness to the head she has outlined a 'provisional plan' pending what the government decide when they get off their arse to write it. The provisional plan is sensible and I bloody hope it goes ahead.

DS could have gone back this week, but we decided not to. Pointless exercise for us.

More plain speaking from Yorkshire ...

yorkshirebylines.co.uk/has-johnson-accidentally-thrown-cummings-under-a-bus/

How casually the lie came out. The prime minister told the world at his press conference yesterday he only learned about Marcus Rashford’s campaign to get free school meals extended through the summer, earlier in the day. If true he must have been the only person in Britain who didn’t know and I assume therefore that he did.

Johnson’s habitual difficulty with the truth has been a lifelong failing but yesterday may be one lie too many for Dominic Cummings, perhaps the first ever case of the monkey accidentally pushing his organ grinder under a bus. The prime minister can hardly admit to telling a fib on national television and so the spotlight has now fallen on his Svengali-like adviser.

Watching Tory MPs were apparently gobsmacked. One of them wondered how Johnson could have been unaware of an issue that was “visible from outer space”, according to Nick Watt from BBC’s Newsnight. Watt claimed all the MPs he spoke to were universally furious – “spitting tacks” – and all, unprompted, brought up the prime minister’s special adviser as the person to blame. He is once again under serious threat.

If a senior SPAD can’t keep the PM abreast of key issues, ones raging across the media, and particularly those that eventually force a humiliating U-turn in government policy, what are they for?

This would apply to any adviser but Cummings regards himself as a near genius and is openly contemptuous of MPs, even cabinet ministers. He thinks they are too dense even to be vegetables and probably classifies them as minerals.

(contd)

.

BJ might indeed be that ignorant and out of touch

Remember his foreign secretary Raab was so ignorant of US affairs that in a recent interview he thought that "take the knee" came from Game of Thrones.

Maybe we should refer to Raab's Dover II moment

"Cummings regards himself as a near genius "

DG He would be stamping his feet with indignation at your claim
Dim Dom regards himself as a fully-fledged genius beyond compare

He'd only agree with you about the veg & mineral characteristics of Tory MPs
He's a nihilist cuckoo in their nest, not a Tory - which make their tolerance for him so surprising

Grim in the 21st Century;
are nearly 20% of English people really so fucking stupid & prejudiced that they blame Jews for any disaster ?

https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/one-in-five-english-people-believe-covid-is-a-jewish-conspiracy-survey-629187

The Oxford Coronavirus Explanations, Attitudes, and Narratives Survey (OCEANS), was published in the journal Psychological Medicine on Friday.

It surveyed 2,500 adults who were representative of the English population according to age, gender, region and income,
on their attitudes toward the government narrative on coronavirus and related conspiracy theories between May 4 and May 11.
......
Presented with the statement “Jews have created the virus to collapse the economy for financial gain,”

5.3% of the interviewees “agreed a little,”
6.8% “agreed moderately,”
4.6% “agreed a lot,” and
2.4% “agreed completely,”

while some 80.8% did not agree with it at all.

The surprisingly high % of batshit conspiracy believers helps explain how the mad, incompetent populist right came to power in the Uk and US

• they provided a powerful core vote

“If a person blamed Jews, they were also more likely to blame Muslims, Bill Gates and pharmaceutical companies too.

What we are observing is most likely a conspiracy mentality:
a way of seeing the world that is marked by antipathy to official or mainstream accounts or to those in higher status positions.”
....
,they tended to be associated with “higher levels of religiosity” and a “slightly more right wing political orientation”
.....
“Coronavirus conspiracy beliefs are more likely to be held in the young,
those who feel marginalized,
and those at the extremes of political belief,”

.

I wonder if that same number of people would have mentioned the Jews if they had been simply been asked about what they believed caused Covid-19, with no structured response ideas. China would have been up there, and mobile tech.

Some good news: the hateful Katie Hopkins has been permanently suspended from twitter.

But they wont say why.

They allowed the JKR pileon, they allow self declared MAPs but they can honestly say they dont allow hateful conduct, because look!

Hopkins can be hateful but she is far from the only one - Twitter are making a statement here, imo.

The Guardian:
analysis of official figures showed more than 1,000 people died every day in the UK for 22 consecutive days.

The i:
76% of people think the coronavirus lockdown was imposed too late
55% believe the government has not handled the crisis well.
< the other 45% are baffling >

Telegraph:
claims 2m will be reduced to 1m as BJ slashes back lockdown