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.

I couldn't agree with you more..... but the most important thing is that kids/people/families don't go hungry

The Tories are in favour of OTHER people volunteering their time and money, remember. Just as long as they don't have to pay. So charitable giving is better than a universal tax, as far as they're concerned. It rewards the selfish.

The Tories will say this vindicates their view.

mrslaughlan & Darker thank you for sharing that clip. It really is genius. It amuses me and makes me angry in equal measure.

Remember Cameron's "Big Society"? Where other people were expected to give of their time and money so that Cameron and his mates could save on their tax bills.
Because eveyone contributing by way of a professionally run welfare system is obviously unfair - it's those who are happy to pay (those who care about others) who should pay.

A long time ago I remember Bigchoc commenting
and being backed up by Hennig Wein on the radio
that Germany regards charitable giving for the poor as a failure of the government.

They are right.

You are absolutely right LQ - I remember that. But this is the country we live in

My dad (when he was a paediatric radiologist) hated the principle of charity fundraising for children's medical needs.

His view was that it demonstrated basic underfunding of the health service as a whole: children would get the funds because, well, they're children , whereas the "unsexy" services continue to be left short

The problem is that the data shows that the biggest donors to charities
as a proportion of income
are the poorest
and
that the rich give to charities from which they receive benefit - such as arts and opera
rather than those that entirely benefit others - such as food banks

the assumption that charity and donations will cover up for government failings
is the last gasp of trickle down theory
and the sooner it is ditched the better

Jeff Bezos is "worth" around $180 billion
so he could write a check and cover the costs of COVID safety nets for the whole USA
but he doesn't

Jim Ratcliffe is the richest man in the UK with a 'worth' of around £14 billion
and yet I saw him haggling over second hand furniture at a car boot sale

Jim Ratcliffe is the richest man in the UK with a 'worth' of around £14 billion and yet I saw him haggling over second hand furniture at a car boot sale

I don't care how unPC it is, but years of dealing with all sorts at my DFs garage showed me that there's a reason the well off are well off - it's because they are tight as a gnats chaff. In the same day we had a customer who lived in a house he owned in Connaught Square haggling over £3.50 on a bulb for their MOT, while a single mum who was doing 3 jobs paid £300 without complaint to keep her car running. And that was how it was.

Germany regards charitable giving for the poor as a failure of the government

I agree with that LQ.
It makes me feel like we are back to the 1800s.. not a good feeling really.

Workhouses will be next

At least the wealthy Victorians felt they had a moral imperative towards charity (especially unfranchised women - Ian Hislop did an excellent BB4 documentary on it a few years ago). For example the pre-Raphaelites (my namesake included) taught for free at Working Mens Colleges. As did Ruskin.

Presumably Dickens is off the syllabus. Otherwise more people would have wondered why it seems we're still living in the days of Oliver Twist.

It won't be long before a prominent Tory starts making noises about getting kids that can't go to school to damn well earn their keep - and they will already have a list of chimneys to clean. I bet they'd get that app: Sweeps2U - working well enough.

When I worked in hospitality I noticed that while everyone paid the same amount of money for what was supposed to be the same holiday, often very well off people seemed to feel that they deserved royal treatment, and that they were being overcharged. There's a weird logic which means that if you're extremely well paid you are not paid as much as you're worth. Whereas everyone else, however lowly paid, is paid more than they're worth. Rich people patronised, complained, demanded and asked for money off. Less well off people were generally appreciative and gave you presents.

Presumably Dickens is off the syllabus.

A Christmas Carol has slipped past Gove's cuts for GCSE.

www.businessinsider.com/brexit-food-companies-leave-northern-ireland-leaders-warn-boris-johnson-2020-10

The leaders of 40 UK food and drink industry bodies have written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government warning that many of companies they represent might pull out from Northern Ireland because of increased trading costs caused by Britain's exit from European Union trading rules.

The letter, which was sent to Environment Secretary George Eustice and Michael Gove, the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, on Monday, said "the added cost, complexity and trade friction this inevitably creates means it will no longer be practical for many of our businesses to supply goods from Great Britain for sale in the Northern Ireland market."

In the letter, seen by Business Insider, the industry leaders said they were concerned that several issues facing trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the end of the Brexit transition period in just over two months had not been addressed.

(contd)

Not sure if much has changed in the past few years, but when I was involved in shutting an office in NI, there was a lot of soft pressure not to, apparently.

and ...

DGR 😂😂😂
He's so photogenic too. What a man.🤦🏻‍♀️

It won't be long before a prominent Tory starts making noises about getting kids that can't go to school to damn well earn their keep - and they will already have a list of chimneys to clean

Made me think of this. twitter.com/BorisJohnson_MP/status/1319177243210428418?s=09

DGR
That was so good I just sang it to DH

Shutting operations in NI? Ie, walking away, leaving behind premises, equipment, trained people and other resources. Just remember that nature abhors a vacuum....

@ICouldHaveCheckedFirst

Shutting operations in NI? Ie, walking away, leaving behind premises, equipment, trained people and other resources. Just remember that nature abhors a vacuum....

As long as the subsequent inrush of air benefits all communities equally.

It was exposure to NI - in particular recruitment in NI (I had to deal with the system) that really opened my eyes to differences to the mainland.

It won't be a great boost for a settled province if - having backed the NI minority Brexit view - the DUPs pals start landing juicy businesses as a result. Folk may want to ensure their fire insurance is (a) up to date and (b) as immune as possible from being refused payouts for "civil unrest".

I believe it was I that pointed out how easy it will be to simply smudge labelling to ensure you and I can never know where our food comes from or what standards it hasn't been treated to.

www.fwi.co.uk/news/eu-referendum/shock-as-red-tractor-chair-votes-to-lower-food-standards

Farm leaders have expressed disbelief after the chair of the company behind the Red Tractor Assurance scheme voted against measures aimed at protecting British farmers from cheap food imports post Brexit.

Baroness Lucy Neville-Rolfe was appointed as chair of Assured Food Standards (ASF), the company which owns Red Tractor Assurance, in November 2017.

(contd)

I wonder how many people were vaguely imaging that the "nice red tractor" would remain unchanged in the sea of Brexit ?

I'm wondering how many people will ever become aware of that. They're not exactly going to publicise it.

I'm wondering how many people will ever become aware of that. They're not exactly going to publicise it.
Folks like the NAO and Private Eye and the Sunday Times are checking and digging day in, day out
It may take a while for the information to seep into peoples' consciousness
but it will
(hopefully before the next GE date)