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.

Local leaders will back it - with an economic caveat for people and businesses that struggle of 'it was them, not us, that did it'

@BigChocFrenzy

Talking of smears and fakes, Scotland had better brace for this new onslaught ...

U.K.’s Tories Start War Gaming to Prevent Scottish Independence

https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2020-10-19/u-k-s-tories-start-war-gaming-to-stop-scottish-independence?twitterr_impression=true

Nicola got asked what she thought about this in the Q&As following her daily Covid briefing. She rightly refused to answer because it was a Covid briefing and any answer would be political - but that she would express an opinion on it elsewhere.

I did think that the idea of "pressuring the European Union to nix the idea of Scotland rejoining the bloc as an independent country" wonderfully illustrates how the Conservatives and their supporters still haven't got it into their thick heads that the UK (or should that be FUKD? ) is now a third country and that it won't have the influence with/within the EU that it used to have

And this bit: These measures could eventually be ratified via a referendum as a “placation” against the SNP’s demands for an independence vote, the document says.

Does that mean having a referendum about whether to have a referendum?

I did think that the idea of "pressuring the European Union to nix the idea of Scotland rejoining the bloc as an independent country" wonderfully illustrates how the Conservatives and their supporters still haven't got it into their thick heads that the UK (or should that be FUKD? wink) is now a third country and that it won't have the influence with/within the EU that it used to have

I laughed out loud at the bit about pressure on the EU. This would be pressure from a country that has stated its clear intention to break an agreement on which the ink is barely dry. A country that has shown more bad faith than you would think possible in its negotiations. Yeah, the EU will be only delighted to help.

I, for one, look forward to welcoming an independent Scotland into the EU.

Never mind scottish independence.

I shall be in favour of the reestablishment of the kingdoms of Northumbria and Mercia soon at this rate.

@BigChocFrenzy , local leaders here aren't against tier 3, they are against a poorly funded tier 3. Which is what will happen nationwide soon enough.

.

Hhhmmmm well I had a very disquieting thought on Saturday.... let me just say I spend ALOT of time on the northern part of the m25 and the m11 (first couple of junctions after the m25).... and on Saturday the number of troop vehicles heading up the m11 was incredible (oh and heading around the m25 towards the m11) . You will see a a group of say 10 vehicles - but this was way way way beyond this . I don't know .... 50-60 vehicles. Maybe more. Even my son commented on it (15yrs old) as he found it quite disquieting given the actual volume. Now I know that's not an obvious route up to Manchester..... but if you wanted to move some closer , but not obviously , moving troops to the Cambridgeshire bases could be an option....

@mrslaughan

Hhhmmmm well I had a very disquieting thought on Saturday.... let me just say I spend ALOT of time on the northern part of the m25 and the m11 (first couple of junctions after the m25).... and on Saturday the number of troop vehicles heading up the m11 was incredible (oh and heading around the m25 towards the m11) . You will see a a group of say 10 vehicles - but this was way way way beyond this . I don't know .... 50-60 vehicles. Maybe more. Even my son commented on it (15yrs old) as he found it quite disquieting given the actual volume. Now I know that's not an obvious route up to Manchester..... but if you wanted to move some closer , but not obviously , moving troops to the Cambridgeshire bases could be an option....

On their way to Peterloo ?

Burnham's speech was passionate and felt significant.

North v South cracks showing.

I have to say when speaking to very hardline brexiteers over the past four years, there was very much a unity and shared feeling about being ignored by Westminster.

I wonder if Johnson has misjudged this.

Dgr i am getting a peterloo feeling about this tbh...

@RedToothBrush

Dgr i am getting a peterloo feeling about this tbh...

Well the body bags are ready. Immunity has already been sorted (not that it's needed, now we know that ministers can order laws to be broken).

Who'd have thought, Boris Mugabe, eh ?

Will it work though? Having Tier 3 imposed by Westminster with many local leaders opposed? Won't people say 'well my MP/mayor/LA leader' doesn't agree with it? So I'm not bothering...'

Then it could get unpleasant. This is what BJ doesn't realise... Governing by consent/ taking people with you, is so much more effective.

A good article about it:

This week finds the Johnson administration in a sort of Spaghetti Western stand-off with, inter alia, twenty-seven EU nations, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Opposition, much of the North of England, London, its own scientific advisors, its own backbenchers, and the vast majority of voters who consider leaving the EU without a deal a bad outcome. [plus the Church.]...

In everything, from the unlawful prorogation of Parliament, to the Internal Market Bill, from failing to consult the regions over COVID-19 to failing to consult business over a ‘no deal’ Brexit, this Government has proved, again and again, that it is incapable of seeking consent....

Instead, we get a sulking Prime Minister, dripping with adolescent energy, obsessively tending to his fragile ego like a maniacal bonsai gardener. “Why is everyone not doing as I want?” is the subtext of every self-pitying press conference. More often than not, it is because he hasn’t bothered to make the case for it. There’s only sticks and no carrots....

bylinetimes.com/2020/10/19/no-one-likes-us-we-dont-care-is-no-way-to-govern/

@RedToothBrush

Burnham's speech was passionate and felt significant.

North v South cracks showing.

I have to say when speaking to very hardline brexiteers over the past four years, there was very much a unity and shared feeling about being ignored by Westminster.

I wonder if Johnson has misjudged this.

Absolutely! He is looking more furious too by the day. What is £5m in the bigger picture. This is just about control.

I almost feel like being deliberately openly defiant over this tbh.

Ive followed the rules and dont want the virus to spread.

But by god am i angry.

This is what BJ doesn't realise... Governing by consent/ taking people with you, is so much more effective.
I live as far south as you get London is North for us
and the feeling of disconnect with Westminster even among rich cosmopolitan friends is astounding

He's in the bubble and he cannot see outside it
at all

Well, Burnham has balls. Good for him.

Govt quibbling over an amount of money they would casually toss at a Tory donor rat-catching company operating out of a tin shed and flogging sub-standard PPE.

It all feels very "unfolding drama" from a south American or balkans state doesn't it?

I cannot believe what has become of my Country.

As dh has repeated: you couldn't buy a Premiership footballer for the amounts being requested

As a society, we have our fucking priorities fucking screwed

Andy Burnham is coming across really well - angry, passionate but still articulate

RedToothBrush
I almost feel like being deliberately openly defiant over this tbh
This man bodytechfitness.co.uk/
Is not taking it lying down.
He is refusing to close.
He's crowfunded his fines.
He's staying COVID safe in the way he operates
he's demanding answers from the Government.
GOOD ON HIM

@Shrillharridan

It all feels very "unfolding drama" from a south American or balkans state doesn't it?

I cannot believe what has become of my Country.

It certainly isnt a good feeling.

When old men do the fighting,
and young men they look on,
and babies drink their mothers milk
from tubes of plasticon

So beware, my gentle friend
of all the skin you breed
they have a nasty habit
that is they bite the hand that feeds

(Bit less obvious that Street Fightin' Man ...)

I am grimly waiting for the same in the West Midlands. What happens in Manchester will come here and then to London.

Until there's riots on the doorstep, I can't see this puncturing the WM bubble. On the plus side, it's good to see a figurehead like Andy Burnham standing up for his patch.

I have been told in the past that the Union/federalism does not work because England is stupidly big compared to the other countries. Perhaps the Anglo-Saxon devolution plan could a good step forward?

Boris would definitely go down in the history books as the man who undid Alfred's legacy...

Haven't heard the Burnham speech, I'll check it out. My principle memories of the guy are that he was in charge of health during the Mid Staffordshire hospital deaths scandal.

I largely agree with the "levelling up" agenda as I understand it, but it must be that "levelling", not special favours for whichever local leaders shout the loudest.

People who refuse to close their businesses when the rules say they must and continue to expose their customers and others to unnecessary risk are beneath contempt.

@TheABC

I am grimly waiting for the same in the West Midlands. What happens in Manchester will come here and then to London.

Until there's riots on the doorstep, I can't see this puncturing the WM bubble. On the plus side, it's good to see a figurehead like Andy Burnham standing up for his patch.

I have been told in the past that the Union/federalism does not work because England is stupidly big compared to the other countries. Perhaps the Anglo-Saxon devolution plan could a good step forward?

Boris would definitely go down in the history books as the man who undid Alfred's legacy...

Andy Street is a Boris loving Brexiteer, if that makes a difference.

I've always thought England an oddity in Europe as it is much more cohesive than Spain, or France because it seemed to unify under a single monarch much earlier. Certainly by the time of Henry VIII, there was a definite English ness which meant while there were internal struggles in France and Spain, England could concentrate on colonies. Which it needed after losing Calais.

Of course my Italian half had to wait until the 1800s for anything like a unified Italy to exist. Garibaldi and all that.

(Here's how modern life should work. It wasn't until I checked my thinking on Andy Street that I read he was gay. Never factored into my knowledge or concern until now ...)

Andy Burnham only became Secretary of State for Heslth in 2009, after the Staffordshire Hospital scandal had come to light and after the first full-scale investigation (carried out in 2008) and he was the one who launched a further independent inquiry into the care provided by the Trust