Westminstenders: Prepare for what we said would never happen

[RedToothBrush]

I think that there may be a run on tinned tomatoes and pasta coming. Pizza will no longer have mozzarella in 2021.

On the plus side turnips are in season.

Troublesome priests.

Let's hope Gove, Cummings, Raab and Patel don't decide to go on a murderous rampage to Canterbury.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-54592062

The leaders of the UK's Anglican Churches have warned the government that its new Brexit bill could set a "disastrous precedent".

(contd)

Maybe they need a quiet word with the head of the Church of England ?

I have worked out how to reorganise my kitchen to make more space for my Brexit stockpile.
When my kids first saw it they said I was being ridiculous to have it.
Now they help me keep it tidy.

Johnson will want to go but nobody sane will stand against him soon
so he will hang around like a bad smell for a while

Johnson will want to go but nobody sane will stand against him soon so he will hang around like a bad smell for a while

I think Theresa May was persuaded to stay in place "for the good of the party" (bet she regrets that now). I can't see such an appeal being able to keep Boris in place.

@ICouldHaveCheckedFirst

Sunak as leader/PM?

Be careful what you wish for - he's a hard line Brexiteer.

Not only that, he hasn't really shown thy he has grasped the Covid situation- as in fully understands the implications...... so I worry you end up with another intellectual lightweight who is actually capable.

Who isn't actually capable.

Hunt is interesting- I don't particularly like him - but saw him interviewed the other day on Covid- and he was asked some very difficult questions on how he (to be fair it was the whole Tory government)had run down the nhs - and he handled them well, not the normal bluff and bullshit.

Also do we think the ERG are tearing themselves apart? There's the Steve Baker quote .... but then I saw an IDS interview that was full celebratory no deal.....

I expect the RoI will put customs checkpoints well back from the border, on all the main roads, where HGVs would travel
and just ignore all the footpaths etc where local people go back & forth

That would be a politically delicate decision.

The smaller crossingd are not just footpaths. There are an awful lot of minor roads going back and forth. There are stretches that cross the border 5 or 6 times in a few km. There are roads where the border runs down the middle of the road. There are businesses on one side of the border that you can only access from the other side of the border.

The truth is, nobody actually knows how many crossings there are.

From our French friend:

archive.org/details/ca-docs-with-redactions-sept-23-2020-4pm/page/n229/mode/2up

Cambridge analytica

Ochon
For there to be checkpoints on some of those roads - particularly south of Enniskillen where all trace of the border has been erased - would be politically very very inflammatory

The WA has been signed - the border HAS to be in the North Sea.

I remember this article being good
www.bloomberg.com/features/2019-irish-border/

@ListeningQuietly - For there to be checkpoints on some of those roads - particularly south of Enniskillen where all trace of the border has been erased - would be politically very very inflammatory

Which is why I said it would be politically delicate...

Another good resource
www.irishborderlands.com/index.html

Hasn't Pelosi already said that there absolutely won't be a trade deal with the States should the border be anywhere except in the sea? Hopefully this will give Johnson pause.

Hopefully this will give Johnson pause.
He never keeps his word.
He assumes everybody else is like him.

Re the local input - those mayors have been in place long enough to have some feeling for their areas.

One of the many 'local' things that won't have occurred to the London centric team is that travelling 12-20 miles for food/beer/get together wouldn't be given a second thought in most of the Midlands and North because it doesn't take very long - whilst a 12 mile journey that crosses London wouldn't be considered outside of special occasions - it'd be over an hour each way.

May well be part of the reason the Bolton lockdown hasn't had much impact.

One of the many 'local' things that won't have occurred to the London centric team is that travelling 12-20 miles for food/beer/get together wouldn't be given a second thought in most of the Midlands and North because it doesn't take very long - whilst a 12 mile journey that crosses London wouldn't be considered outside of special occasions - it'd be over an hour each way.

In 2018, we twice travelled from home to the City Centre for a gig. Both times it took 90 minutes by car. It would have been quicker to have wheeled the 3 miles, if pavements were wheelchair (and old git like me) friendly, of course.

74 Days to go and the list of agents is getting longer
but as there is no quality checking or location tagging
its data rather than information
www.gov.uk/guidance/list-of-customs-agents-and-fast-parcel-operators

Because nothing can possibly go wrong when people try to follow this lot
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/910155/How_to_import_goods_from_the_EU_into_GB_from_January_2021.pdf

How many portaloos have they booked ?

Am I going mad or did I see somewhere that there was a discussion in WM today re circuit breaker for England?

On the adult side of the Channel the guidance is in plain English
www.portboulognecalais.fr/en/brexit-the-port-of-calais-will-be-ready-will-you

@CoffeeNights

Am I going mad or did I see somewhere that there was a discussion in WM today re circuit breaker for England?

Frankly I'm past caring.

None of these lockdown measures make any sense when they are delayed by enough time to render them fucking useless. Like Wales. "Oh, we'll have a lockdown in 96 hours time". And yes, I appreciate the complexities of trying to reduce that time period. But it really does beg the question "Why bother ?"

Reading Too Much Political News Is Bad for Your Well-Being

A really nice ticle there about the effects of the News on wellbeing. I can relate a lot to that (How many times did I start swearing after reading about yet another stupid action from this government...) but I don't seem to be able to stop myself either.

I thought many of you on here would relate to that

www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2020/10/reading-too-much-political-news-bad-happiness/616651/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-global-en-GB&fbclid=IwAR1AZ6uzUFVeyZzbSNR10C5kzren-CWd-hch4WwuCoRno6kkjXWvOBGEZVA

None of these lockdown measures make any sense when they are delayed by enough time to render them fucking useless
And Leicester has been at the equivalent of Tier 3 for months but its cases keep on rising.
The Lockdowns are not working.
Time for a rethink.

74 days to go.
Christmas is going to be very odd this year

[quote Meuniere]Reading Too Much Political News Is Bad for Your Well-Being

A really nice ticle there about the effects of the News on wellbeing. I can relate a lot to that (How many times did I start swearing after reading about yet another stupid action from this government...) but I don't seem to be able to stop myself either.

I thought many of you on here would relate to that

www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2020/10/reading-too-much-political-news-bad-happiness/616651/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-global-en-GB&fbclid=IwAR1AZ6uzUFVeyZzbSNR10C5kzren-CWd-hch4WwuCoRno6kkjXWvOBGEZVA[/quote]
I think the solution to that is for politicians to stop being such evil incompetents, rather than us all stop watching what they do.

@OchonAgusOchonO

*I expect the RoI will put customs checkpoints well back from the border, on all the main roads, where HGVs would travel and just ignore all the footpaths etc where local people go back & forth*

That would be a politically delicate decision.

The smaller crossingd are not just footpaths. There are an awful lot of minor roads going back and forth. There are stretches that cross the border 5 or 6 times in a few km. There are roads where the border runs down the middle of the road. There are businesses on one side of the border that you can only access from the other side of the border.

The truth is, nobody actually knows how many crossings there are.

... That's why I think the RoI govt can only set up checkpoints on the main roads, miles away from the border and ignore the minor border roads that the locals use

I think the rest of the EU and RoW would accept that as the best they could do, considering the history and the very sensitive feelings

Reading Too Much Political News Is Bad for Your Well-Being

Depends, really, on what you are reading. Certainly reading what team Boris are up to isn't good for anyones blood pressure. That's before you wonder whether that statement was pointing towards the "so don't worry your pretty little heads about it, we know best" line of travel ?