Westminstenders: How many Dead Cats Do You Get In A Thunderstorm?

[RedToothBrush]

It never rains. It only pours.

What I wouldn't give for a bit of old fashioned drizzle right now.

4 years on and we are facing a torment of calamities. Brexit, serious political instability in the USA ahead of an election that Trump will refuse to lose even if he does, trade deals with the rest of the world put on 6 week deadlines, anger within the commonwealth, a sick weak dependent PM on the back foot and ill briefed, rampant growing corruption in the Tory party, woke nut jobs out of touch with reality, councils on the brink of bankruptcy and the whole covid-19 crisis.

PMK with cat in sunbeam...
Thanks to RTB et al.

Did anyone else see Sammy Wilson from the DUP ask Johnson at PMQs about why the Port of Larne has received a letter telling it to prepare for border controls? I liked his would he (Johnson) advise the management to tear this letter up as well? line.

A bit of schadenfreude is in order with the DUP.

And yesterday’s quick 3 questions from YouGov (7500 respondents) result.

PMK

I cannot believe there will be no updates on Covid fatalities. How r we supposed to know wtf is going on? I looked on you gov and National health England site and it had June 22nd numbers on.

PMK having last been on these threads in 2017

Sostenueto

In case you have not noticed the gov daily briefings were full of sound bites anyway as no tangible substance and made up stats for completeness.

Things are probably better on Covid but use your own judgement (and don’t just be another sheep) as it all depends on your health vulnerability and locality amongst countless other factors! If you are female, white, adult not too old, and no health issues and not in a Covid hot spot then probably can slightly relax but I always side on caution and insist on some PPE and SD when out! Good luck as Bojo is probably having a wedding and fatherhood catch up and gov can’t trust the scientific SAGA to do dailies without gov minsters. This is a massive shame and home goal as it’s their scientific advice that is important not politics! Look out for a summer free for all!

ResIpsaLoquiturInterAlia

I'm not Scottish nor in Scotland. But it was well talked about at the time that Scotland had been very thorough, outlined what they wanted to happen, how the envisioned it working, what relationship they'd like to have etc, and sent a copy to every home.

Westminster, however, just said "yeah, we'll sort that out after I guess" and allowed an absolutely outrageous referendum to be run, with electoral laws and standards being broken left, right and center. I believe it was said that had it been a general election the results would have been declared invalid. Unfortunately there are no such standards for referenda.

The failure of government to research and publicise the likely outcome is theirs alone. The failure to come up with a strategy for the relationship they wanted. The failure to come up with a set of negotiating "red lines" that weren't both impossible and ridiculous. The inability to understand that we are no longer an Empire, we are a rather annoying, obstructive little island of idiots (I refer to MP and MEPs by "we") who don't understand how insignificant they are to everyone else.

So yeah, it might have been sensible to explore these things first. Saying "oh but no-one knew it would be like this" is untrue. Yes we bloody did. Experts have been shouting about it since well before the referendum. And the Government then and each one since has sat with their fingers in their ears, complaining that the mean nasty EU won't break their own legal obligations to benefit us. Fucks sake.

Got latest figures ( on bottom of screen on BBC news.) 154 fatalities now 43,084. Swissport cutting 4,500 jobs. And glad the idiot who hired a plane to fly over Bolton's stadium with 'white lives matter' just got the sack from his firm for being racist.

@ HoneysuckIejasmine

Thanks for the Scots Indy ref info. Just wondering like any divorce it does seem a touch unilateral as if the rest of remaining home nations don’t matter much. I fully understand the numbers disparity (if free for all UK Scot Independence vote) which obviously explains the differences re Brexshit for different home nations.

@ Sostenueto

Thank you so still sadly people saying good bye before their time. Many countries have less than 154 total ie half year fatalities!

Perhaps the banner should have read lives matter stay safe!

@pointythings

Well, on a positive note the peas in my raised beds are doing brilliantly. Peas and goodwill to all, I say. Also radishes and lettuce.

My lettuces have come up a treat. The radishes are a bit tough tho I have to say.

@ TatianaBis

Well done as sounds delightful. I am just cultivating (not massively successfully) potted strawberries! Just need a cow or just some fresh cream.

Positive PMK. We have a decent-looking opposition leader. Doing nothing - and offending no one.

I said to my bosses in local council years ago that we needed to take back more control and find a way to resist centralisation (they not unreasonably told me to shut up and keep my head down). We have no local resilience in the systems.

PMK so 4 years since Brexit (& these threads - thanks RTB for keeping them going) it feels like a lifetime ago and still the fall out continues. Have been catching up with some old Charlie Brooker ‘wipe’ programmes, interesting to watch the years pre- Brexit. In some ways it seems strangely nostalgic. But what’s striking is you can see the rise of Farage as BBC ‘go to’ politician, the rise of Benefits Street type programmes, and increasing reports about firstly Bulgarian immigrants & then Syrian refugees in Europe.

Tatiana our first batch of radishes were lovely, not tough, perfect crunch, none of that nasty spongy hollowness inside and hot.

Any bets on the jenrick defence strategy?
"Robert assured me he behaved with propriety and legally, he has made himself available for questions and answered them in full - time to move on."

Or perhaps;
"Robert who?"

(I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at Desmond's spelling of 'doe', tabloid proprietor after all.)

Thanks red

I couldn’t be bothered with radishes this year, my lettuces are having mixed results, but my broad beans are doing marvellously!

Veggie PMK

FrankieStein - maybe they'll just ignore it and wait for it to go away. Like the Russia report and so much else.

I rather we as a UK pick and choose our friends globally (if it’s mutually advantageous).

@ResIpsaLoquiturInterAlia
What would make friendship with the UK advantageous to anyone?

The idea that there will be any 'mutually advantageous' international relationships available to the UK and the notion that the UK will have the luxury of picking and choosing international friendships are both ludicrous propositions.

Prettybird I remember your post! I have learnt so much from your posts in relation to Scotland; in particular how the govt played on EU as highly important for Scotland in particular as a major reason they should stick to UK in the Indy Ref, then denied it's importance for the Brexit referendum!

DGR personally I wondered if the All Lives Matter protest would see higher peaks as none of them were wearing masks, unlike many at the BLM. Plus they are men, obese, bald...lots of spitting and urinating going on without hand washing

My positives are that I have managed the "bread trick" of dampening a tail end of baguette that was solid and re-cooking it. I now intend to eat an entire box of Camembert

Veg PMK:
Please could somebody breed a city happy goshawk to bring the wood pigeons back under control
Beans are short, tomatoes and courgettes are late but I transplanted my leeks on the Solstice
as is my wont

I have 3 remaining tomato plants and a bed of flowering rocket. Everything else died in the freeze after our hot week) I got over eager and planted them out). Raspberry bush doing very well though! I also bundled up lots of lavender parcels today and left them out with a note for passers-by to take them. I have no idea if they will be taken this year but I hope they cheer someone up.