Westminstenders: Operation Shock and Awe

[RedToothBrush]

The government is launching its get ready for the end of transition campaign which has been dubbed a 'shock and awe' campaign.

In this campaign we will learn all about what Brexit means and what amazing opportunities lie for having increased customs and borders, beaucracy and increased costs. Bet you are all really excited and looking forward to this.

We will also get a 'Farage Garage' in Kent to cope with these wonderful opportunities in traffic jams. This will be something that businesses throughout the country will be super excited to plan for in their socially distanced Zoom meetings or across warehouses with their face masks on. And banks will be delighted to see an uptick in applications in CCJs and debt reconstruction plans.

It will be a super fun time for the under 30s who have zero hours contracts, worked in retail or hospitality. Or should I say 'worked'.

Meanwhile the right to a jury trial has been binned due to 'long covid delays' which are shorter than they were several years ago. The NHS isn't getting the funding it expected, and waiting lists are longer than ever with no way to clear them. The plan to build more hospitals seems to have disappeared with the Nightingales. Many councils are about to go into insolvency and be taken over by accountancy firms. The civil service is being dismantled and conservative loyalists with no experience being put in charge of important functions of state. Communications with the press are being 'streamlined' to make them incredible of holding power to account and only able to repeat government public announcements.

Anyone looking forward to Christmas? When you write a letter to Santa remember to add 'visa application form', 'a sleeping bag for use at Dover', 'tinned tomatoes' and 'packets of seeds to grow your own' to the list.

Ok so I see there are vague references to "the vacancy created by Carrie" - DH mentioned rumours.
I assumed she hadn't been seen because she had a young baby ......
Is there something I am missing?

Oh I get it now - sorry as you were....

.

and

I knew I shouldn’t make a cheap remark about an honest Tory, I know they do exist but they did cull rather a lot of them before the last election. My own MP seems genuinely to want to serve his constituency, rather than line his own pockets, but I do wonder how he he squares his values with Sharing a bench with Robert Jenrick

I do thanks Listening I made no mention whatever of “cheap apprentices”. Seems like a good opportunity to have some other folks get a chance at these plum jobs, no? No need to sack anyone who can do their job remotely, just don’t see the need to move 6000 plus Londoners at public expense.

Please don’t move them to Heslington East, York is not one of the universities in financial trouble.

Whilst rumours of SOAS’s demise are overegged and I sincerely hope they survive it is a thought that they could force those MPs into the academic world’s answer to Mong Kok, especially the third world loos.

Emily
I was mainly laughing at the dea of York finding space for all those extra people in the centre

Louise
If the Londoners have the right SKILLS to do the job during a temporary relocation
then it would be Govian level stupidity to fire them all and hire people who had to learn from scratch.

If a whole campus was taken over then the costs would be minimised

• including site security

Also, I'm not keen on sacking skilled people who are doing a good job
(not their fault what the elected MPs and unelected Lords do)

They'll have built the new mega-prison near York by 2024. Ideal place for them.

If the Londoners have the right SKILLS to do the job during a temporary relocation then it would be Govian level stupidity to fire them all and hire people who had to learn from scratch.

If we have learned nothing in the past few years, it's that "stupid" is never a bar to consideration, if not adoption as long as it's ideologically correct.

Remember, this is a country which has made it a mission to avoid evidence based policy at all costs. As the Covid experiment has shown.

The Grayling news, Russian Report and Good Law Project proceedings have immensely cheered me up. It's good to know there are people who give a fuck (or not, in some cases) about what the Government is doing.

York is impractical for housing Parliament although I can appreciate the symbolic importance. I also agree with everyone above; the constitutional bust-up that's coming is the one to watch. As is the red Wall lobbying as the Brexit implications sink in.

Fun times ahead!

Well looky here.... the government trying to now control the narrative and frame the information about to be released in the Russian report.

twitter.com/bbclaurak/status/1283733966709821442?s=21

Nick tolhurst having an interesting speculation that the Russian report contains info that could be embarrassing for trump. Interesting point - one I hadn't considered.

Read the photo caption ;-)
www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/18586170.dr-julian-lewis-loses-tory-whip-beating-chris-grayling/

That was my immediate thought mrslaughan when I got the "Sky Breaking News" notification.

....the Government trying to create new squirrels and outrage at Russia over events since the report was written, to divert attention to what went before....

It stinks of Dominic Cummings trying to control the narrative again - having lost control when the anointed eejit didn't get the role of Chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee in order to bury the report

Forgot the link

Russian groups sought to interfere in general election over leaked trade documents, says government http://news.sky.com/story/russian-actors-sought-to-interfere-in-general-election-over-leaked-trade-documents-says-government-12029697

It was amusing to read Trump has fired his campaign manager.

As the story I read said Maybe it's not his [the managers] fault ...

I have LauraK on permanent mute.

Slightly sideways but how about this for "Military Intelligence"
news.sky.com/story/royal-navy-nuclear-submarine-almost-collided-with-ferry-after-speed-miscalculation-report-finds-12029528

[quote ListeningQuietly]Slightly sideways but how about this for "Military Intelligence"
news.sky.com/story/royal-navy-nuclear-submarine-almost-collided-with-ferry-after-speed-miscalculation-report-finds-12029528[/quote]
The Royal Navy said there were no nuclear safety issues during the incident.

Which makes me wonder if Trident actually works. After all, how would we know ?

That is an interesting story Listening. Might have missed it, but they don’t appear to name the submarine, so I wonder why?!

Even from an initial glance at the Marine Accident Investigation Branch report the senior officers in charge of the submarine at the time of this “near miss” would appear to be very inexperienced overall as a group? See page 17.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5f0d7a44e90e070312c4c44e/2020-13-StenaSuperfastVII-RNSubmarine.pdf

Louise
They will not name it because then they would have to court martial the senior officers for crassly endangering so many lives

but it does show why proper comprehending oversight of such bodies is essential
and thus why I'm delighted Julian Lewis decided not to reply to his text

and why it would be disastrous to NOT ensure continuity of professional officers during the relocation of the HoC

The idea of Londoners currently filling the civil service isnt entirely accurate.
Considerable numbers of people are recruited from all over the UK and end up in London.
There are plenty of York graduates and similar working for the civil service in London.
I worked in London for five years but was a Scot recruited from York.
London has a huge economic pull but that isn't the same as everyone starting from there.

Gosh, poor Julian though. Imagine being the ONLY person who has the credentials and to be overlooked for Grayling. No wonder he's sticking two fingers up. I think a check-out person would be similarly affronted to be honest.