Westminstenders: Pah International Law. Who needs it?

[RedToothBrush]

I mean its not as if trade deals and human rights are relevant is it?

(sorry eating my dinner so must be brief)

@Darker

I think those they voted yes will regret this in the long run. It’s on their voting record now and could come back to haunt them.

I wish I could agree with you. Sadly, I suspect most voters won't care.

@Singasonga , I've been "enjoying " that too.
We live in Greater Manchester and can't book a test for a family member who has a temperature. Because there are no tests available. This is a fucking hot spot.
Shower of useless knobs.

Oh, this is Brexit central Coronovirus hot spot. Let's see if it makes people realise finally that they were conned by fucking charlatans.

They never will, bellini... and it'll only get worse. They will swallow anything.

CouldHaveCheckedFirst
Hester SNP abstained in the first vote. That link is for an amendment, in which they did vote
Ok thanks, that’s confused me. In that case, why did the SNP abstain?

Feeling ever more depressed.

Full on culture war. A Trump win in November will only galvanise populists in UK.

Sadly, I suspect most voters won't care.
Yep.
I've completely stopped listening to radio stations like LBC for instance because those calling in to defend the Tories seem intent on digging the same fetid hole with the same old tired anti EU rants. They don't care for rights, laws, the economy, anything. It's so dispiriting because they apparently still have the upper hand here and frankly if that's representative of this country nowadays, why should anyone care?

In that case, why did the SNP abstain?

Because the SNP gave up on the UK last year and all they care about is the mighty mess that will finally galvanize the pro independence movement.

Does anyone else feel that the notion of Britishness died with the last general election?

I don’t think there has ever been consensus on what “Britishness” is. Which is part of the problem.

@GhostofFrankGrimes

I don’t think there has ever been consensus on what “Britishness” is. Which is part of the problem.

You don't need consensus. You just need enough people feeling it.

See also "leaving the EU". It meant different things to different people. If we'd needed a consensus on what "leaving" meant, we wouldn't be in this mess now.

Not even slightly surprised by the vote, didn't I say they'd all obediently slither spinelessly through the government's lobby?

I have no idea why the SNP abstained - unless it's because (as one of the "anti-breaking International Law" Conservative MPs explained), you needed the bill to progress in order to a) get to vote on the amendment and b) get it to the committee stage and the HoL to be torn apart

One of the quirks of the UK's archaic parliamentary "democracy"

Yes. Well done to Roger Gale and one other whose name escapes me, for having some principles and voting to uphold the law.

On testing the lighthouse testing superlabs labs were staffed by volunteer scientists who left their normal research / teaching jobs to staff them, often staying in travelodges and the like. That is the reason that they were slow to get going, they were starting from nothing, no previous established processes for the testing but no organisational framework either, scientists do need HR finance etc too

So now the universities are restarting and so many are going back to their lives again. This was entirely foreseeable and during the summer a new crop of science graduates emerged to a situation where entry level jobs have been hard to come by without experience on your CV since 2016, never mind COVID. They could have been trained up to do the testing. The skills needed, containment level 4 for neutralising the virus, PCR reading etc are basic, learnable and transferable to future careers, providing there is some sort of clinical back up.

The small labs in the NHS, universities and research institutes of course face none of these issues. They already have the HR and training infrastructure to ensure they have the necessary skilled staff as well as the processes for prompt reporting of results and data. But they are in the public sector, so ideologically deemed inefficient and incapable of responding to a crisis (they did without any help from government)and of course no profit for cronies

Seems English MNetters should welcome Scottish MNetters into the fold.

Welcome ! We look forward to tales of how your country used to be in the coming dark months.

DGR it's like a scary mirror image of the Brexit argument for sovereignty, ie UK is stronger out of the EU, but only if all parts of the UK lose any sovereignty they had.

New geography.

Warrington has relocated to the Midlands according to the BBC.

@ICouldHaveCheckedFirst

DGR it's like a scary mirror image of the Brexit argument for sovereignty, ie UK is stronger out of the EU, but only if all parts of the UK lose any sovereignty they had.

Well it's happened - no point crying over spilt milk now.

Obviously we'll get around to replacing the Union flag with the cross of St. George in the next few weeks.

Keep "Scotland" or shall we (as in the English) call it "Scotlandshire" ? "Scotshire" ? Maybe have a referendum on it ?

@RedToothBrush

New geography.

Warrington has relocated to the Midlands according to the BBC.

My first week at Uni (remember I am a Londoner born & bred) I learned that Leicester is not in "the North".

It's the same view that sees Wolverhampton and Coventry lumped together as "Birmingham".

That isn't a joke. That was what I - and anyone else like me - thought.

Woke up as miserable as I was going to bed yesterday. Printing Patel probably made me feel more miserable watching the news this morning.
Redtoothbrush - Warrington is my hometown although I no longer live there I have family and friends there. The increase in COVID cases has been dramatic in the last week or so hasn't it?

@Menomadness

Woke up as miserable as I was going to bed yesterday. Printing Patel probably made me feel more miserable watching the news this morning. Redtoothbrush - Warrington is my hometown although I no longer live there I have family and friends there. The increase in COVID cases has been dramatic in the last week or so hasn't it?

Very dramatic.

Completely ignored by EVERYONE by what I can tell too. Its like a big black hole of information about it right now.

I'm FURIOUS.

Not simply because I have ties to the town but because of what this means on a wider scale.

You don't need consensus. You just need enough people feeling it.

Feelings won't pay the bills. Competent, fair governance would be nice.

@Emilyontmoor

On testing the lighthouse testing superlabs labs were staffed by volunteer scientists who left their normal research / teaching jobs to staff them, often staying in travelodges and the like. That is the reason that they were slow to get going, they were starting from nothing, no previous established processes for the testing but no organisational framework either, scientists do need HR finance etc too

So now the universities are restarting and so many are going back to their lives again. This was entirely foreseeable and during the summer a new crop of science graduates emerged to a situation where entry level jobs have been hard to come by without experience on your CV since 2016, never mind COVID. They could have been trained up to do the testing. The skills needed, containment level 4 for neutralising the virus, PCR reading etc are basic, learnable and transferable to future careers, providing there is some sort of clinical back up.

The small labs in the NHS, universities and research institutes of course face none of these issues. They already have the HR and training infrastructure to ensure they have the necessary skilled staff as well as the processes for prompt reporting of results and data. But they are in the public sector, so ideologically deemed inefficient and incapable of responding to a crisis (they did without any help from government)and of course no profit for cronies

I concur with this, and also can add (grapevine from friends and colleagues who were actually involved) that not only was testing propped up by volunteer postdocs and students, but the laboratory premises in which the testing was done, and many of the reagents and equipment, were also volunteered by actual research labs. In return, they got no acknowledgement (not so important) and no reimbursement (rather more important). Not surprisingly, as soon as the research labs were able to reopen for their own work, everybody decided "screw this" and abandoned the thankless expensive labour.

I don't suppose this whole shebang of the Internal Market Bill was thought up solely to effect Clause 32 and thereby solve the 'Scottish problem'? After all that could be classed as a specific and limited end?

But maybe I haven't been paying enough attention.