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.

UK test pillars

Pillar 1:
swab testing in Public Health England (PHE) labs and NHS hospitals
for those with a clinical need,
also health & care workers

Pillar 2:
swab testing by commercial labs with home tests etc for the wider population

Pillars 3 & 4 are serology tests (4 is swab & serology)
to find how many already had COVID and have some immunity

Did anybody notice an exchange of knowing looks (or smirks) when BJ was discussing hydrogen buses with Ian Paisley earlier.

The timing of the Wrightbus demise and sale was perfect wasn't it?

yorkshirebylines.co.uk/barnier-fires-starting-pistol-on-next-city-exodus/

Barnier has sent an uncompromising and blunt warning to London’s financial institutions that the trade talks currently being held in Brussels are not going to offer a back-door into the single market and that they must prepare for the EU and the UK to become “two separate markets, two jurisdictions.”

It was a stark ‘pack your bags’ message and a warning to start moving operations into a member state if firms want to continue to provide services inside the EU. Coming on the day the deadline for an extension passed, it was also a sign that Brussels is taking the gloves off and applying more pressure on Boris Johnson.

(contd)

I've stopped reading the "Ah but Germany" contributions as they are a squirrel and add nothing to the discussion.

It is also a useful filter to save time

Services are where the Uk has had a large trade surplus with the EU

I wonder how China will take the UKs offer to Hong Kong citizens ? I can't see them being thrilled, which is not a great way to start a negotiation.

"Workers at the Anglesey plant [Wales] told CNN that nobody stayed home when they felt unwell in the early days of the outbreak because they would only receive statutory sick pay worth around 20 per cent of their salary. 2 Sisters denied to the broadcaster that their sick pay policy had anything to do with the outbreak."

Thanks Listening, personally i’m very pleased to see the Govt offer to the people of Hong Kong

@LouiseCollins28

Thanks Listening, personally i’m very pleased to see the Govt offer to the people of Hong Kong

I thought Britain was full ?

Mind you, given what we know of the SOP of Tory governments, the headline is "3,000,000 people to be granted entry to UK".

I wonder what the detail is ?

And just to cheer up the anti immigration Brexiters...

www.neehao.co.uk/2015/05/british-chinese-more-likely-to-vote-conservative/

So 3,000,000 potential new souls for the UK ?

Where will they live ?

Will they have access to the NHS ?

Benefits ?

What happens to the criminal ones that we won't be able to deport ?

And most crucial of all, how will they get their wealth out ?

And given that it would be almost impossible for an entire family to just transplant themselves to the UK, what will be the situation when the Chinese authorities start "checking" on the relatives of people who come to the UK that are left behind ? Is there any suggestion we could be importing 3,000,000 potential enemy agents (by coercion) ?

Now those are my 5-a-day for 5 minutes thought. Who want's a bet that not a single one of those thoughts has been anywhere near Raabs head ?

^www.neehao.co.uk/2015/05/british-chinese-more-likely-to-vote-conservative/^

Yes. But not these conservatives. They want real ones that work. And are quite prepared to work for it. Hell, I'd vote for a Hong Kong Tory over a posh twat any day of the year.

I hope the govt builds up the necessary infrastructure for however many of the 3 million it invites
HOUSING, GP surgeries, hospitals etc

Otherwise we'll have another minority demonised for high rents

They'll of course be demonised for lost jobs / lower pay / sweat shops etc

even though they may well, like those of Indian origin, have a higher average income than white Brits

HK immigrants:

==> Hang on to your immigration documents and all proof of residence and income for you and your descendants in perpetuity

So people can come here based on their skills, not where they’re from

... unless you’re one of the 3 million eligible people from HK.

I wonder if there's a plan to sent 3,000,000 UK citizens back to Hong Kong in exchange ? I know where I'd start.

Of course the reality will be just enough Hong Kong people will take up the UKs offer to cause a lot of racist frothing and social instability whilst at the same time managing to be a nett drain on the economy, rather than a plus. Which would follow the Covid/Recession double bubble the UK managed to pull off so skilfully.

The HK wealthy and the highly mobile professionals will have their chocie of places to go, even in this recession

Same as when HK was handed back in 1997

Exactly Question Mark - I was horrified last night when I discovered that - as we actually have no idea about community infection as I think most people assumed (as I think the government wanted) that the positive tests were all tests . It's just a joke - but not the funny kind.

The HK wealthy and the highly mobile professionals will have their chocie of places to go, even in this recession

Thing is I can't see them flocking to the US for some reason. Maybe the racism of POTUS ?

I also have a nervy feeling about the Chinese government. I really can't see them just accepting the UK effectively calling them poundshop fascists without some form of protest. And the offer to the entire citizenry of HK might be classed a "provocative" act. After all this is a country that finds maps and words "provocative", let alone actions.

Currently, pillar 2 has >80% of new cases across most of the country

It matters if local and even national govt have to wait weeks before getting local data from these commercial testing firms

Particularly high Pillar 2 proportion in E. Midlands, Yorkshire and Humber

More FT charts:

Well, DG Williamson is in Education now (and needs it !) so can't send an empty aircraft carrier without escorts to "threaten" China

@BigChocFrenzy

Well, DG Williamson is in Education now (and needs it !) so can't send an empty aircraft carrier without escorts to "threaten" China

Of course, the Chinese authorities (unlike British MPs) might actually have read the detail of the "offer" and twigged it's a crock already.

No need to make a fuss if no fuss is needed, as I am sure Confucius would have said had it proved necessary.

DGR - maybe - but there is probably a matter of pride and also a belief that they have the right to control these people....

The Cynic in me wonders whether letting the Pillar 2 story hit the press just before Lockdown is meant to ease
is the cheap way to persuade a LOT of people to stay home on Saturday .....
I'm due a free drink at my local but I'll not take it up till I know what the true infection rate is round here .....