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.

@ListeningQuietly

Also reports tonight that police will be given access to details of those people told to self isolate by Track and Trace. Of whom there are many many thousands at any time what an utter waste of scarce resources

Put Track and Trace entirely into the hands of the local public health teams who are experienced at persuading people to do the right thing

... We have those local teams in Germany, but they still need the local police for the absolute stubborn ones, including to issue fines etc

Those who need groceries, meds etc delivered will get help
People get decent sick pay here,
but there are still a small minority of selfish fuckers in every country who don't care about anyone else

BigChoc
We have those local teams in Germany, but they still need the local police for the absolute stubborn ones, including to issue fines etc
Indeed
and the UK Public Health teams have always had similar powers
to deal with notifiable diseases
but those teams have been cut out of the UK system

but those teams have been cut out of the English system

The Scottish public health teams are still involved. That's maybe probably why the Scottish Test and Protect system has been reaching far more people than the English one - although even it is now starting to creak under the strain of the increasing numbers something like 90% are notified within 48 hours of a positive test (36% within 24 hours) but that does still need to be improved upon.

George Orwell:

"“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves and traitors are not victims... but accomplices”

MPs in HoC bars flouting the law and Hancock reportedly refusing 30 times to say if he was one of them

ffs, if the govt want the public to follow the rules, then at least enforce them in Westminister
and make sure that all govt ministers follow them

It is all totally shit. I don't feel very erudite today. Bollocks and shift is all I have to contribute.

I'm in Kent and the motorway used for operation Stack at the end of summer reeked for ages after having been basically an open sewer/public loo for several days.

So strong you could smell it while you were driving down the M20 - Incredible.

I guess toilets weren't provided.

By all accounts from theres been no one in Liverpool today as they've all left the area for the day/evening!

It does seem that the Mail has turned against Johnson and Hancock. It's a start, I suppose.

@TheQuietWoman

I don't know the ins and outs but I can't see why anyone in Scotland wouldn't want independence. Not now, anyway.

There's a difference between wanting to be away from Westminster (a given!) and wanting the likely fallout of independence though. If Brexit has taught us anything, wishful thinking about new future arrangements doesn't make them materialise - so the questions about currency, rejoining EU etc are key.

But we have seen that Ireland knows how to conduct Referendums properly, with decent consultation with their population - not the half cock way that Cameron went ahead with ours and the empty promises he made.

@TheQuietWoman, NI will be on its knees in five years thanks to Brexit.

The danger of putting it off too long is that the economic devastation in NI will be so much harder to recover from.

How are elections going to be organised to ensure unionist voices aren't lost in the crowd. How would that impact on their hold on power?

PR as currently operated. Also 'devolving' more power to county councils.

Also, I suspect the more conservative views of the DUP might resonate in some cohorts of voters outside of the current NI. Eventually, the shift toward a culturally progressive/conservative axis of politics will be completed. A more left/right axis will also develop, I suspect, with SF already beginning to occupy territory that used to be claimed by the working class wing of Fianna Fail.

If the DUP were smart, they would be looking at points of convergence with conservative groups in the rest of the island and plotting strategies for a 32 county approach. Big IF there.

NI will be on its knees in five years thanks to Brexit.

Would we be able to learn from German re-unification here? A very similar situation must have pertained.

If the DUP were smart, they would be looking at points of convergence with conservative groups in the rest of the island and plotting strategies for a 32 county approach. Big IF there.

But wasn't that how the GFA came into being - by finding points of convergeance?

NI will be on its knees in five years thanks to Brexit.

Hopefully the special arrangements for NI will protect them from the worst of the Brexit impact lucky them - always assuming that BJ and his cronies don't break international law and bugger up the special arrangements

Yes, I know that that is an unrealistic assumption

We can guarantee that BJ and Cronies will be quite happy to break international law. I would think that we could rely on the Irish lobby in the US Congress, whoever wins the Presidency.

If the DUP were smart,

No point in reading the rest of that sentence then.....

Just thrown a dog's you at tv screen aimed at Gove on Andrew Marr show aarrgh!

Toy

@mathanxiety - PR as currently operated. Also 'devolving' more power to county councils.

STV (the PR approach used in Ireland) is already used for the NI assembly, so at least that won't be objected to. However, smaller parties do get a bit lost in the Dáil so that would be a concern. Increased devolution of powers is a good Idea though.

Also, I suspect the more conservative views of the DUP might resonate in some cohorts of voters outside of the current NI. Eventually, the shift toward a culturally progressive/conservative axis of politics will be completed. A more left/right axis will also develop, I suspect, with SF already beginning to occupy territory that used to be claimed by the working class wing of Fianna Fail.

I think you're right about that being an eventual outcome but it would require serious changes to the DUP'S identity so not likely to happen in the short term. Super conservative voters in Ireland tend to be staunchly Catholic. The DUP is, at its core, anti-catholic. You just have to look at some of Paisley's old speeches to see that. They will take a while to realise they have more in common than they think.

@Sostenueto

Just thrown a dog's you at tv screen aimed at Gove on Andrew Marr show aarrgh!

Don't do that Sos, no need to damage your stuff and make things even worse. I suggest shouting, or a stress ball.

Speaking of Hancock ...

Interesting article in this weeks Spectator about Scottish nationalism and independence.
It argues that the main push for independence is being driven by the twin crises of Brexit and Covid. To quote, "in more normal times the impetus would not be there, which should give the prudent pause for thought".
Whilst oil prices were high the economic future of such a move looked bright, but that ended with the current depressed prices since 2008.
EU membership is becoming increasingly expensive, and the smaller states such as Luxembourg and Ireland are both facing huge Bills for future projects.
Robert Tombs, Professor of French History at Cambridge is the author and, regardless of ones personal opinion, it makes for sobering reading.

@KonTikki

Interesting article in this weeks Spectator about Scottish nationalism and independence. It argues that the main push for independence is being driven by the twin crises of Brexit and Covid. To quote, "in more normal times the impetus would not be there, which should give the prudent pause for thought". Whilst oil prices were high the economic future of such a move looked bright, but that ended with the current depressed prices since 2008. EU membership is becoming increasingly expensive, and the smaller states such as Luxembourg and Ireland are both facing huge Bills for future projects. Robert Tombs, Professor of French History at Cambridge is the author and, regardless of ones personal opinion, it makes for sobering reading.

... which only serves to highlight how appalling Boris and the Boys must have been. If you'd rather take the lifeboat than the liner on a journey into the future, then the food and cabaret must be really dire.