Westministenders: Can you tell your Rs from Elbows?

[RedToothBrush]

This week Mark Sedwill has resigned (or was he pushed?) and David Frost (chief brexit lead) was appointed National Security Adviser in a move that enraged Theresa May. The former prime minister felt that his appointment was unprofessional and that was a political appointment not an independent one and that he lacked experience. Of course in terms of national security we still haven't had that report on Russia and I don't believe The Intelligence and Security Committee has yet been named (not sat since Johnson was appointed as PM).

We have passed the deadline for extending transition and we have now apparently said that negotiations on the end of transition will finish at the end of September.

The bill ending Free movement of people has been signed, amongst much fanfare by the Conservatives saying they have delivered on the Referendum promise. However we might have up to 3million Hong Kongers who we are willing to allow into the country which might not go down too well with those who were unhappy with 'unrestricted EU immigration'.

We also have the demonstration of utter incompetence, outsourcing and lack of coordination and communication from central government and local government in the covid-19 crisis. A national scandal that isn't being properly reported by the press and leave you with the very large question of who is this government serving? If its contract with Deloittes over testing didn't require them to report positive tests to Public Health England, what was the point in the testing? How can this be consistent with 'The Government’s new approach to biosecurity will bring together the UK’s world-leading epidemiological expertise and fuse it with the best analytical capability from across Government in an integrated approach.' and will provide real time analysis and assessment of infection outbreaks at a community level, to enable rapid intervention before outbreaks grow.?

The growing feeling that Brexit is being exploited by this government for personal interests and those of big business at the expense of the general public is one which was feared and grows harder to argue against by the day.

www.businessinsider.com/leaked-liz-truss-letter-boris-johnson-brexit-border-plans-concerns-risks-2020-7?r=US&IR=T

The mind boggles. Truss???

Highlights:

EXCLUSIVE: Liz Truss, the UK's international trade secretary, privately raised deep concerns about Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit border plans in a letter leaked to Business Insider.

While Britain is set to leave European Union trading rules at the end of the year, the UK has announced that full border controls on goods will not come into effect until next July.

In a letter to other senior Cabinet figures on Wednesday, Truss said the plans could lead to smuggling from the EU and face a legal challenge from the World Trade Organisation.

She wrote to Rishi Sunak, the chancellor of the exchequer, and Michael Gove, the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, setting out four key concerns about the plans.

Truss also said the plans could break international trading rules and harm the UK's reputation at the WTO.

I like the idea of these people writing to one another like characters in a 19th century novel.
Don’t they ever speak?
Yes, I know, it’s for the paper trail. But really!

Yes MShip it has been mentioned the "risk" of world humiliation has already happened quite substantially enough for accusations of 'horse' and 'bolted' to have occurred

I think she is desperately trying to get it out before it looks like this was on her watch (ha ha haaa haaaa ha). Couldn't have happened to a nicer person.

It's actually a bit depressing when Liz Truss becomes the voice of reason within the cabinet. Really really depressing.

Maybe the last line was lowering Fox's expectations for the new role at WTO after all

before Truss, we had Fox being the "voice of reason" in stating that GATT Article 24 would NOT save UK trade in the event of a No Deal Brexit

Hence he was not included in BJ's new Cabinet

LouiseCollins I know people always look at the young unemployed,
but imo it's usually the older unemployed who are really in trouble:

they usually have financial & geographical commitments like kids, schools, mortgages

most firms don't want to take on people aged 50+
they want young blood, cheap, no commitments and able to work all hours

In Germany, many firms are ramping up existing schemes for early retirement
e.g. ¾ pay at 60 for a couple of years before taking pension early

This is partly to clear the decks for young education leavers & young unemployed workers,
but mainly because the risk of COVID ramps up significantly for 60+ so they want to quickly phase out their most vulnerable workers

I am munching popcorn and watching the pennies drop. This is just the start.

Yes that was what I was thinking BigChoc much harder to find work if you are laid off in your mid 50s I think.

Shoving people out of the labour market prematurely is, IMO a poor strategy. Better to keep people in the labour market (i.e. paying tax on their earnings, not drawing their pension) for longer, IMO.

I’ve always bargained on working until I am 70. The problem that needs to be solved is to get away from the notion of the last job being the best paid and the one on which someone’s occupational pension is based. Sort out the pension implications and keep people in work.

@BigChocFrenzy you have voiced my concerns exactly as I was watching the news today. It's a head fuck and a half.

"Shoving people out of the labour market prematurely is, IMO a poor strategy."

Most of us are delighted to retire before 65, to have several (hopefully) fit years to enjoy ourselves and do what we had no time to do before

I am SOOO glad I retired just weeks before COVID blew up, so I could just chill at home with no work, commute etc to worry about

Manual workers in particular are often physically knackered - joints, back etc -
but office workers can be v stressed too with presenteeism & unpaid overtime, high BP etc

Almost everyone works only for money to live, so if pension is reasonable

• and state pension is related to your earnings in Germany, so usually much higher than in the UK -

then a couple of in effect retired years on ¾ pay is a welcome start to retirement

I would like to see UBI at the same rate as state pension, for all those aged 60+ who stop paid work before retirement age, or already have stopped

It would help especially those knackered older workers on NMW, the elderly precariat who are more likely to die earlier anyway,

but I appreciate not so useful for medium or higher earners

Truss said the plans could lead to smuggling from the EU and face a legal challenge from the World Trade Organisation.

This explains Fox's name being put forward - a true Brexiter, who will be able to hobble any legal challenges. You could not make it up, but we didn't need to - Bozo and his clowns have done so for us.

Warning of serious brain disorders in people with mild coronavirus symptoms

Seems to be just in a v small % of mild cases
(won't be a small total globally though)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/08/warning-of-serious-brain-disorders-in-people-with-mild-covid-symptoms

Doctors may be missing signs of serious and potentially fatal brain disorders triggered by coronavirus, as they emerge in mildly affected or recovering patients,
scientists have warned.

Neurologists are on Wednesday publishing details of more than 40 UK Covid-19 patients whose complications ranged from brain inflammation and delirium to nerve damage and stroke.

In some cases, the neurological problem was the patient’s first and main symptom.
....
David Strain, a senior clinical lecturer at the University of Exeter Medical School, said that
only a small number of patients appeared to experience serious neurological complications
and that more work was needed to understand their prevalence.

“This is very important as we start to prepare post-Covid-19 rehabilitation programs,”
he said.
“We’ve already seen that some people with Covid-19 may need a long rehabilitation period, both physical rehabilitation such as exercise, and brain rehabilitation.
We need to understand more about the impact of this infection on the brain.”

It's all a bit of a mess isn't it??

Oh well. Not like anyone preducted it....oh, wait....🤦‍♀️

I am munching popcorn and watching the pennies drop. This is just the start.

176 days.

Clock is ticking.

I must admit to a certain amount of weary amusement at the number of MPs and ministers who are finally getting around to reading the WA and....well....shitting themselves 💩😀

and don't overlook this .... Pretty will probably comment soon

Lewis Goodall@lewisgoodall (BBC Newsnight)

What’s happening in Scotland is the biggest political story in Britain right now
but it’s barely registering in the Westminster conversation.
....
Latest Scottish independence polling from @thetimesscot and @Panelbase:

Yes: 54% (+5)
No: 46% (-5%)

< and look at Holyrood projections >

Holyrood constituency:

SNP: 55% (+4%)
Con 20% (-6%)
Lab 15% (+1%)
Lib Dem 6% (-)
Greens 3% (-)

Holyrood list:

SNP: 50% (+2%)
Con: 18% (-8%)
Lab: 15% (+2%)
Greens: 8% (+2%)
Lib Dems: 6% (-)

Hush, hush money or guilty conscience .... ?

Heather Stewartt@GuardianHeather*

NEW - the PM has authorised a “compensation payment” of almost £250k into Mark Sedwill’s pension pot.

So Johnson has had to sign off on a £250k golden handshake to Sedwill. Most likely to stave off litigation.

Tom Newton Dunnn@tnewtondunn*

How did the Government manage to spend £15bn on PPE in just three months (more than the Home Office’s entire budget for a whole year, £14bn)?
< and what did we get for it ? >

Who are the new PPE millionaires?

snap, sabrina !

Oops

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/foreigners-to-net-uk-fish-after-brexit-hpf6njhvt

Britain’s fish will still belong to Europe after Brexit
— because Spain, Holland and Iceland have bought up nearly 90% of the entire fishing quota of Wales and more than half the quota assigned to England.

Foreign owners of the fishing rights have also set up UK businesses to hold the quota, making meaningful change unlikely after the country leaves the EU.

The revelation is in fishery statistics from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), run by Michael Gove.

The environment secretary’s civil servants were compiling the data at the same time as he was claiming that leaving Europe would let Britain “take back control” of its seas.

Colour me suprised

My thoughts exactly with Sedwill - being bought off.

As for fishing. Ha bloody ha. I have already tried to argue with Brexiters who witter on about fishing whether our one time trawler owners would want to buy new boats and their quotas back, even if they could afford to do so.