Westministenders: Brevid

[RedToothBrush]

The government have FINALLY started to treat no deal brexit and covid as one entity in terms of fucking the economy.

On the one hand you have one camp who think they can sneak No Deal through as a consequence of Covid. On the other you have people who realise that it might be quite a good idea not to doubly screw your entire economy and to continue to be able to import medical supplies freely.

We now no that No Deal Brexit will involve passports to get into Kent and 7 mile queues of trucks because this has passed the lips of Gove. Y'know one of those who has been denying this for the past 4 years and presenting it as 'scaremongering'.

We are now firmly into the end game where businesses have to make plans based on the government plans and technology. Y'know the ones that aren't complete yet despite it only being 2 months to go.

Johnson has today done an interview about covid restrictions in the NE in which he got all the detail wrong. Its almost as if he forgot the lines he was instructed to recite and have no fundamental understanding of what rules he's putting into place to control the lives of the population.

As we lurch into October, there is speculation of full local lockdowns being brought in to try and deal with the spiralling number of cases which have to be the result, in no small part, of a dire lack of local testing facilities in the North of England. Meanwhile we've got The App finally. The one that doesn't work and the police and many health care staff are being advised not to use cos its so bobbins and will lead to them constantly isolating needlessly. Thats just something the rest of us have to contend with.

The feeling is that Cummings is up for No Deal. Johnson has been brainwashed into it, which lets face it, isn't too hard given how hard of thinking he is. However there is a growing sense that Johnson may now bottle it and declare victory in the jaws of defeat. That might be a premature hope.

We await the answer and the all important question of whether Christmas is indeed cancelled - that is for everyone who hasn't already cancelled it due to financial hardship...

#GovernmentByBaldrick

(Blackadder)
"Your brain is so minute Baldrick, that if a hungry cannibal cracked your head open, there wouldn’t be enough to cover a small water biscuit.

Let the likes of Baldrick run the country
and we'll be back to cavorting druids, death by stoning and dung for dinner."

I thought that was the Daily Mash

Nope just your typical Financial Times scoop from inside the Home Office.

Honestly I think it is only proximity and familiarity and posh accents that make us believe that the UK government is more competent and less batshit than the US govt.

But once again Clav you manage to divert from the mess that the UK is in over its Brexit (lack of) negotiation progress.

Who can say??

The Institute of Export & International Trade - 29 September 2020;

"Deal at the end of the tunnel? UK-EU trade talks enter final stages with renewed hope."

www.export.org.uk/news/528261/Deal-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-UK-EU-trade-talks-enter-final-stages-with-renewed-hope-.htm

"Britain has offered a three-year transition period for European fishing fleets to allow them to prepare for the post-Brexit changes as part of an 11th-hour deal sweetener."

"The catches of EU fishermen would be “phased down” between 2021 and 2024 to offer time for European coastal communities to adapt to the changes."

Seems like a perfectly reasonable concession to me.

For this kind of ask for the UK car industry,
the Uk needed to have built up trust and to be aiming for a close & friendly relationship with the EU .....

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-54345882

In a letter to the car industry, seen by the BBC, chief negotiator Lord Frost says
one of their key priorities - that parts and components from Japan and Turkey count as British in any deal - 🤯
has been rejected by the European Commission.
< Brexiters made a lot of fuss about Turkey in the ref campaign, hardly regarded them as British back then >

This risks some UK automotive production attracting taxes on trade, known as tariffs, when exported to the EU,
even if there is a "zero tariff" trade deal struck with the EU.

A separate draft legal text, also obtained by the BBC, lists the UK's request for manufacturing of electric cars, batteries, and bicycles to be treated leniently, and count as British, even if the majority of components come from elsewhere. 🤯

The letter says: "I am sorry to say that so far they [EU negotiators] have neither been willing to discuss these nor share any proposed text with us".

Both documents refer to the need, even in a deal, for UK manufacturers to prove that UK-exported goods are actually British-made, with a specified threshold of British parts, expected to be around a half.

Under the terms of an anticipated deal with the EU, any components from EU countries can count as British - something known as "cumulation".

But the letter reveals the requirement for that to be extended to other partners of the UK and EU, in particular Japan and Turkey, is being refused.

If there were the makings of a deal, fish would easily be sorted

It's only plonked on the table now, because of disagreements about so much else that is fundamental

e.g. protecting the SIngle Market,
the EU demanding penalties if / when the UK reneges on this deal too,
the total lack of trust the EU now have that the UK would keep its work,
the veto by the European Parliament - and several heads of govt - if the Irish Protocol is not implemented in full and the IMB abandoned

"Your brain is so minute Baldrick, that if a hungry cannibal cracked your head open, there wouldn’t be enough to cover a small water biscuit.

They obviously have small brains in Greece as well;

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51308506

I was messing about with maps earlier.
Putin just needs seven lorries in the right places and the UK goes hungry
he's already got his keyboard warriors laying into Biden

when will the military- industrial complex learn that racks of servers have made them obsolete

One of the things I most admire about Clav is his/her dogged insistence on keeping up the appearance of keeping up. Keep going! You always almost manage it.

Months ago, John Crace summed up BJ:

"A man who would happily reduce the UK to 4 failed states just to stay in power for a week longer"

and Nick Cohen:

"The characters who have taken over the British right have not provided us with a ruling class but a ruling chaos

@ListeningQuietly

I was messing about with maps earlier. Putin just needs seven lorries in the right places and the UK goes hungry he's already got his keyboard warriors laying into Biden

when will the military- industrial complex learn that racks of servers have made them obsolete

.... Head of armed forces says both China and Russia trying to undermine cohesion in west

Especially using Covid, which was a nice bonus after Putin's Brexit and Trump plans worked so well,
leaving incompetent fools in charge of a pandemic

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/sep/30/russia-spreading-lies-about-covid-vaccines-says-uk-military-chief

In a letter to the car industry, seen by the BBC, chief negotiator Lord Frost says one of their key priorities - that parts and components from Japan and Turkey count as British in any deal.

From the link;

"The commission has made clear that it will not agree third-country cumulation in any circumstances, which we regret, but obviously cannot insist upon," says Lord Frost's letter, written on 7 September."

"Senior figures in the car industry expressed the view that the government could have chosen to insist on a deal that did contain such measures. But discussions on such subjects have been stalled by the impasse over fishing rights and subsidy powers."

The letter was written on the 7th September - things have moved on a bit - not least the Internal Market Bill and 'today's' offer of a three-year transition period for European fishing fleets.

Yep, Russia's life expectancy is still only about 65, isn't it
and they have a kleptocracy looting and running their country into the ground

.... Still wiping the floor with the UK and USA

btw, that Trump-Biden debate 🤦🏻‍♀️....
I gather US Google was swamped afterwards with enquiries "How to move to Canada"

"things have moved on a bit"

but hardly improved

One of the things I most admire about Clav is his/her dogged insistence on keeping up the appearance of keeping up. Keep going! You always almost manage it.

I am outnumbered here you know.

Somehow, I doubt it ....

Did you know that the worlds largest rodent, the capybara, runs with the same gait as a horse?

"Ukraine can feed Brexit Britain."

www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/ukraine-can-feed-brexit-britain/

"things have moved on a bit"
but hardly improved

That's debatable.

[quote Clavinova]"Ukraine can feed Brexit Britain."

www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/ukraine-can-feed-brexit-britain/[/quote]
Yes lets jump into bed with a country that is in a virtual state of war with Russia....

In theory, yes, but it is not especially stable. Half of it is still consolidating ties with the EU too.
Is Britain prepared to guard the Eastern frontier of Europe all of a sudden?

From one of our much missed cat lovers:

www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-54329606

Their description of themselves:

"The Atlantic Council is a ..... organisation that galvanises US leadership & engagement in the world"

Yes lets jump into bed with a country that is in a virtual state of war with Russia....

Well obviously I only linked because ListeningQuietly posted;

"Putin just needs seven lorries in the right places and the UK goes hungry."

Clav
You need to look at maps for real,
not just copy and paste to make sense of what I posted.
It has nothing to do with Ukraine