Westminstenders: The Tunnel or Bridge

[RedToothBrush]

Apparently negotiations are in the black hole of the EU tunnel or should that be on the back of the fantasy of the Boris Bridge?

Another week closer to complete meltdown.

I'm guessing that our world beating customs solution will be based on blackboard and chalk.

@Clavinova - It was an interesting and useful comparison on a topic already discussed on this board (A-level results).

No, it wasn't an "interesting and useful comparison" to the discussion on A-level results. The A-level discussion was a illustration of the incompetence and lack of accountability of the British government, thus reinforcing the notion that the mess they are making of brexit is incompetence rather than any sort of cunning plan.

I suppose even though you have shown you didn't actually understand the relevance of the A-level discussion to this thread, at least you have finally made an attempt at answering my question.

I'm afraid that you (and OchonAgusOchonO) lost your argument last night when you entered into a discussion on the very topic that I had introduced. In fact, it was quite obvious to me that you took the trouble to research the pending court cases OchonAgusOchonO was referring to

How on earth did our discussion result in "losing the argument"? We went off piste completely with our discussion. It happens. It doesn't make our points or yours any more relevant to the topic.

Yes sorry @prettybird, you’re quite right - our eldest DC was in the first cohort of CfE (and that was a bit of a shit show - quite ridiculous only being able to sit 6 no Nat 5s including maths and English but the indie schools were taking 8 - cue lots of hurried clarifications from the universities about entry requirements) but now in the English system for our youngest.

Why do we bother to respond to this stuff?

I don't bother - I don't even read it, saves many minutes of my life that I wouldn't get back

Whereas, of course, I like to think I am shining a little additional light of knowledge and amusement upon the thread when I post entirely irrelevant snippets. Or I could revert to photos of DCat, but she gets a bit boring because in these autumnal days, she looks like a furry tortoiseshell circle all the time.

What a shame about Werrity-sniffer Liam Fox - how rude of the WTO to snub our monumental offering, Don't They Know Who We Are?

OchonAgusOchonO

The A-level discussion was a illustration of the incompetence and lack of accountability of the British government

And yet the Irish government made a mess with their algorithm as well. Not only that - they didn't tell their coalition partners for 6 days after the discovery. All revealed on a link to the Irish Times via BigChoc's post - the same newspaper linked to on this board when it's convenient - i.e. when columnist Fintan O'Toole mocks the British government.

Ds took his Nat 5s a few years into the implementation of CfE (iirc, he was the 3rd year to sit Nat 5s) but fortunately was at a (state) school that allowed, nay encouraged , sitting 8. To give Glasgow City Council its due, it left it up to the individual schools to decide how to implement it, rather than issue a LA wide decree.

TheElementsOfMedical

And I haven't read a single one of your 'fun facts' either.

STOP IT!! STOP IT!!!

A few of you are spoiling a usually great board. I can't be the only one getting fed up now

We had an LA wide restriction of only 6 Nat 5s because it was implementing the CfE as intended, so BGE up to the end of S3 and the Nat 5 courses in S4 - schools could only cover the curriculum for a maximum of 6 Nat 5 courses in the S4 year, hence the restriction.

The following year the LA decided to end the BGE at the end of S2 and spend 2 years on the Nats, which was what all the indies had done from the get go.

I forgot to put in the required descriptor when mentioning Laim Fox: Werrity sniffing Liam Fox

So here is my post, corrected :

"But you're right KonTikki - it is really good news that the Werrity Sniffing Liam Fox has been knocked out of the WTO race. If ever there was someone so totally unsuitable for the role, it was him."

@Clavinova

TheElementsOfMedical

And I haven't read a single one of your 'fun facts' either.

Well you must have read some because you declared them kinky.

And yet the Irish government made a mess with their algorithm as well.

But still completely irrelevant to this thread.

OchonAgusOchonO
But still completely irrelevant to this thread.

Very relevant in my opinion. We shall have to agree to disagree - I hope you find the mental strength to move on regardless. I'm going out for the day now.

Just noticed -
Well you must have read some because you declared them kinky.

No I didn't - I just noticed one particular word relating to the male anatomy - plus another poster's comment.

(slight derail, apologies ) I know that the BGE was supposed to be followed up to the end of S3 and yes, ds' school made its selections at the end of S2 (and I know of a Lanarkshire school that did it at the end of S1 ), yet it always passed its BGE audits with flying colours. I don't know if that was because its 8 "columns" for choices were the 8 areas that were supposed to be covered under the BGE to the end of S3

In theory under CfE, the original idea was that Higher candidates should have gone all the way through to Highers and not sit Nat 5s at all, although very few schools actually did that, as they thought pupils needed the experience of sitting formal exams before the critical Highers (I think Hermitage Academy in Helensburgh was one such school, but even it ended up changing its policy). So it could be argued that the current situation has had as a side effect, the correct implementation of the CfE plans

As I've mentioned before, I think that it is a "between a rock and a hard place" situation - but at least the Scottish Government has come out and made the hard decision sooner rather than later. It will be interesting to see when/if Gavin Williamson faces up to the tough choices that he needs to make.

No I didn't - I just noticed one particular word relating to the male anatomy - plus another poster's comment.

So you read it enough to notice the word penis then?

Maybe you only read Element’s squirrel facts in a limited and specific way

@prettybird Strongly suspect The Boy Gavin will keep fudging until it’s too late to do anything properly.

SabrinaThwaite

I need to go - I read LQ's post (? - no time to check) about LeClerc's email - so not Element's 'fun facts' no.

Typical of the WM Government - and it will be the teachers fault

In the same way that it will be businesses' fault that they've not prepared enough and the RHA's members' fault for not having the right documentation when the country grinds to a halt in January

....see what I did there to bring it back on topic?

@FusionChefGeoff

STOP IT!! STOP IT!!!

A few of you are spoiling a usually great board. I can't be the only one getting fed up now

I don't know why people respond to the derailer-in-chief. Their posts are all so pointless, mostly tedious, and occasionally offensive.

In the same way that it will be businesses' fault that they've not prepared enough and the RHA's members' fault for not having the right documentation when the country grinds to a halt in January

And in the run-up to No Deal gridlock in January, we'll no doubt have to endure a tedious derailing scurry* of squirrels about stockpiling/prepping being either UnBeLeaving Cowardly Fearmongering Treason and/or Patriotic Stoic British Common Sense [which of these is yet to be determined, please wait for instructions from ToryBrexitannianNationalPlague High Command].

• Yes, this is the actual collective noun for squirrels

Sabina - our school did the general curriculum till near the end of S3, and then 7 Nat5s near the end of S4. Followed by 5 Highers at the end of S5.
I'm not a fan of spending more time on Nat 5s (or Highers). There's too much working to the exams as it is. The children do actually need to learn things, which often seems to get forgotten in the obsession to get good exam results. It's a general problem in the UK, and I'm thoroughly sick of it.

PMK so I don’t lose track as the threads are moving so quickly and I can’t keep up.

Nothing to report from Italy apart from a bizarre article in the Guardian about our PM begging the UK to behave during negotiations as apparently Italian suppliers (we seem to have moved on from German carmakers) have been lobbying Conte for a deal. Or something. Then the article continues with a brief bio of Giuseppe and info re the COVID response.

I’m not sure what suppliers these are, most have moved on from depending on the UK market and have expanded elsewhere. Whatever the national stereotypes re the Italians we are a canny lot and won’t have been hanging around waiting for the UK to see sense. Not many fucks are given at present, the Brits have burnt far too much goodwill and anyway the Germans/French/Dutch/Japanese etc. have more money.

On another note, Ferrero have just bought Northern Foods Grocery Group, so Fox’s biscuits are now Italian

@Legit At least with 7 Nat 5s there was a more straightforward choice of subjects to continue to Highers. My DC didn’t want to do one of the Nat 5 choices or English at Higher, so had to pick up a crash Higher in S5.

What we see wrt Ireland's mistake is that it was on a far smaller scale
but
much more importantly:

it was dealt with promptly without 2 hugely embarassing U-turns from Gav & BJ

What it demonstrates again is how incompetent this Tory govt is in coping when things go wrong

• which they will occasionally in any country, especially during a pandemic

tbf, this useless Tory Crony party would have performed poorly even without Covid and Brexit

They lurch from one crisis to the next, often self-made

#ToryU-TurnPanic

“We’re going to have a great vaccine very, very shortly,” Trump said. “I think we should have it before the election but frankly the politics gets involved and that’s OK. They want to play their games. It’s going to be right after the election.”
So the Trump strategy appears to be - pretend to get Covid, say that you have taken an experimental US produced drug and that is has cured you of Covid in a day, promise that if you are re-elected all Americans who have Covid will get the (extremely expensive) drug for free (but otherwise won't). Win the election.
I can imagine this working.