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...

Yes, I suspected the stories in the UK press came from No10 - I haven't seen anything serious in papers here about a deal happening
although tbh, Brexit is down to about #10 in the list of priorities here, so is rarely in the papers

This comment is typical of those I've read from journos in Brussels or Berlin:

Adam Parsons @adamparsons (Sky News, Brussels)

I’m not saying that EU/UK talks won’t progress massively, enter a tunnel and emerge gloriously...but - breathe, everyone.

These stories of wild optimism seem to be coming from Westminster.
Brussels sources are a lot more sanguine
< because they are not the side desperate for a deal >

Yns Mon has always been a bit stroppy - even for the celtic fringes of Wales - just now on R4 evening news local Councillor or Welsh MP (sorry missed the intro) let rip gloriously, with both barrels, at the shambolic preparations for handling queuing lorries at Holyhead.
Apparently proposal was to route them through local villages to a holding area - anyone who's motored in that part of the world knows how many of those roads are effectively single track - as he said these preparations should have been done a year ago.

(That said I might have expected them to route off the a55 to valley - London planners probably don't know it exists. )

Interesting snippet here;

September 1 -
"BERLIN -- The head of an association representing German medical laboratories has criticized proposals to use veterinary and industrial labs to process coronavirus tests."

"Andreas Bobrowksi, chairman of the medical laboratories association BDL, says the capacity to conduct more tests is limited by the shortage of materials required to process them, which he says has been “covered up by rationing.”

"Bobrowski says the available test capacity also would be needed to screen for influenza in the coming months. He called for other measures such as preventive quarantine and travel restrictions rather than expanding the number of people who are tested."

apnews.com/article/f131c1b26dc90507b951202bfeaea23c

BigChoc
Indeed I did not predict the breaching of international treaties
and I knew little about Northern Ireland at the time
but
I did know a LOT about the freight land bridge
and how easily Kent could be brought to a standstill
and the fact that the tunnel opened after the end of customs checks
so
sadly I get to polish my told you so badge all over again

Yns Mon has always been a bit stroppy

Well as the place where the Romans wiped druids off the map forever ...

Goods traffic through villages ?
That sounds particularly stupid and stressful for both drivers and villagers

Ooh, if there is a shortage of materials, Germany and Italy had better stop processing the overflow of Uk tests

and maybe temporarily prioritise Covid tests this winter over those for animals and for flu

and how easily Kent could be brought to a standstill

From memory, there are less than 20 locations in England where a simultaneous "incident" could gridlock the country.

Does anyone remember when most of the southwest was bought to it's knees by a Fathers4Justice twat dangling of a gantry around the M5/42 a few years back.

🐿"Jupiter's moon Io is probably the most volcanically active body in the Solar System, which therefore means that geological disasters on Earth are fiiiiiine!" 🐿

Tory council leader condemns PM's 'unacceptable' Covid restrictions

I wondered when the red wall would start revolting

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/29/tory-bolton-council-leader-condemns-pms-unacceptable-covid-restrictions

Boris Johnson has come under stinging attack from a Tory council leader over the “sheer unfairness” of regional coronavirus restrictions,
as the prime minister faced ridicule for muddling new lockdown rules.

David Greenhalgh, the council leader in Bolton, one of the UK’s worst-hit areas, said government handling of the measures was “breeding resentment” among “red wall” voters who switched to the Conservativess* in December’s general election.

“It’s become too complex, too complicated.
The amount of resentment that’s built up now because of the unfairness. People feel very let down, they feel frustrated, there’s a lot of anger,”
....
“At the moment we just feel very forgotten and,
I’ll be honest, the fact that I’m a Conservative leader and I’m appealing to my own government – it’s not a great position to be in.”

John Crace: Boris's speech was designed as a quick win. Then he opened his mouth 😂😂

www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/sep/29/boriss-speech-was-designed-as-a-quick-win-then-he-opened-his-mouth

I certainly know how Kent can be brought to a massive standstill - it only needs a go-slow by workers on the Calais side for the traffic to be backed up.........

But remember 16 out of 17 MPs in Kent are Tories, so this is what the people in Kent want. Some people are never satisfied.

Pmk thanks Red and all contributors.

MrsL my greatest sympathy to your friend. I suffer from chronic illness and it is absolutely rotten. I've been dealing with mins since my late teens so I've always had to accommodate it in my lifestyle. Suddenly finding yourself in that situation after previously good health must be absolutely horrendous.

Thanks red

Pmk with a new nn (twirls)
its yoikes btw

@BigChocFrenzy

Goods traffic through villages ? That sounds particularly stupid and stressful for both drivers and villagers

Haven’t you heard? ‘Stupid and stressful’ is the motto of the current government - they decided that ‘strong and stable’ sounded a bit too much like hard work (and it required a level of competence of which they could only dream)

(Or maybe it’s a new description for BJ and Dom - easy to work out which would be which )

Brussels rebuffs new UK proposals on state subsidies

Surprise:
UK reneged on a previous international agreement
==> EU want consequences of reneging written into post-Brexit deal

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/sep/29/brexit-brussels-rebuffs-new-uk-proposals-on-state-subsidies

But the paper failed to offer appropriate “governance” proposals that would allow Brussels to keep the UK to its pledges,
EU sources said.

The EU wanted to ensure that any commitments were seen through and that in the event of a breach, parts of the trade deal could be immediately suspended.

Tory council leader condemns PM's 'unacceptable' Covid restrictions

PM's Covid restrictions? Reported locally;

"Leader of Bolton Council David Greenhalgh is lobbying for the restrictions to change in Bolton."

"He said: "Currently the brick wall appears to be the health advisors and the Sage Committee, they seem to be highly averse to lifting restrictions in Bolton."

"What needs to be clarified is this is not the Council's decision to enforce these restrictions."

Queen Yes, you guessed the new govt motto

@Clavinova

Tory council leader condemns PM's 'unacceptable' Covid restrictions

PM's Covid restrictions? Reported locally;

"Leader of Bolton Council David Greenhalgh is lobbying for the restrictions to change in Bolton."

"He said: "Currently the brick wall appears to be the health advisors and the Sage Committee, they seem to be highly averse to lifting restrictions in Bolton."

"What needs to be clarified is this is not the Council's decision to enforce these restrictions."

.... Who is making the decisions for the country ?

If the government have stepped aside to let SAGE do so, then they should say so - and accept those decisions

The Tories are in charge ==> stop trying to blame others for Tory fuckups

Tories are running the government ==> the buck stops here

If Tory councils oppose Tory government decisions, then they should tell the Tory government

SAGE are advisers only; the Tory government can take their advice or reject it.

That's what being the government means
Nowhere to hide

"BOLTON's seven-day rolling rate of new coronavirus cases has risen slightly but fallen one place from fourth to the fifth highest in the country, figures have revealed."

Not a great boast in my opinion.

@Clavinova

"BOLTON's seven-day rolling rate of new coronavirus cases has risen slightly but fallen one place from fourth to the fifth highest in the country, figures have revealed."

Not a great boast in my opinion.

.... Is it the Tory council leader boasting ?

The situation is serious, but imo continuation of current restrictions around the country now need to be debated in Parliament followed by a vote

and there should be a vote on any new restrictions anywhere

This government by dictat has gone on too long, too many restrictions and too hard restrictions just to let them keep deciding alone

Fortunately, there is cross-party agreement, including the chair of the 1922 Committee, on trying to bring in Parliamentary scrutiny of government restrictions

I'm particularly concerned about any "chainbreak" - a 2nd lockdown just renamed (like Sellafield / WIndscale)

That absolutely should have approval by parliament first

IMB now goes to the HoL, I think

PARLY @PARLYapp

#InternalMarketBill passes third reading
ayes 340 noes 256