Westministenders: Its the waiting that kills you

[RedToothBrush]

Just waiting.

Talks between Frost and Barnier still unresolved issues. There are rumours but 'all without evidence' (the new in phrase on BBC news tonight) that the UK is waivering.

Less that two months to go.

And there is the small matter of what happens in the US than might influence events.

When will Twitter remove Trump (like Bannon) ?

@Clavinova

Similarly the WTO was no longer quorate - will Biden be sorting this out?

"Even if Biden stands for a stronger multilateralism, his ‘Buy American’ provisions for public procurement violate WTO rules. Thus, a Biden administration has no incentive to return quickly to business as usual, but rather to reform the WTO, which will be a difficult and lengthy undertaking."

You really mustn't judge all politicians by your own low standards. Some of them do not shy away from difficult undertakings. (Like COBRA meetings)

(Like COBRA meetings)

He was following normal procedure, despite claims to the contrary;

"the Independent review into the response to the 2009 swine flu pandemic:" ...

"The committee, and the structures that support it (frequently referred to as COBRA in the media), are the UK government’s dedicated crisis management mechanism" .... "In the event of an influenza pandemic, the committee would therefore normally be chaired by the Secretary of State for Health."

"The Exercise Cygnus report [Tier One Command Post Exercise Pandemic Influenza 2016]" -
"The exercise activity was based around four simulated COBR meetings" - chaired by the Secretary of State for Health and the Minister for the Cabinet Office."

The key word being 'normally'. This was not a normal situation, and Johnson being more interested in sorting out his divorce did not send a good message.

Sebastian Payne @SebastianEPayne
💥 How Boris Johnson plans to build bridges with Joe Biden: climate change, security, Hong Kong and human rights. 2021 is set to be a huge year for US-UK relations.

But first the PM needs to bridge personal and Brexit divides.

My @FinancialTimes latest
t.co/DKGEEwzBB0

Biden sees Johnson as a “a physical and emotional clone” of Trump.

But ministers are confident bonds can be forged. “Boris will reach out immediately to smooth things over. He’s not a mini-Trump and Joe Biden will find that out when they start chatting.”

Despite the upbeat rhetoric, British diplomats point the Trump era didn’t produce many positive results for the UK:

“What did the president ever actually do for us? He bullied us into cutting out Huawei, but did little of substance on Brexit or trade.”

Foreign Office reckons President Biden will focus on France and think Johnson needs to work on his relations with @EmmanuelMacron:

“We’re fully expecting the president to head first to France. Their teams have already been working closely together.”

Biggest challenge for Johnson is Brexit. Biden has warned the Good Friday Agreement cannot be a “casualty of Brexit.”

Whereas a Trump 2nd term could have eased no deal, Biden presidency piles much more pressure on No10 to secure a deal and they know it.

It has to be said that whatever you think of it, Johnson is an opportunist and will quickly reverse ferret on ever being a friend to Trump.

And that is not necessarily a bad thing at this point.

He now needs 'a face saving' climb down to be enabled.

Garage if you remember had 'friendly chats' with some people in the FBI. I can't see him being on the scene much longer.

I can well imagine a tightening of screws on money laundering now. The rumour of Putin cashing in his poker chips in January due to illness seems convenient timing.

I think there will be a very swift changing of tone.

I mean it looks like No10 have seen the result coming in and they've gone "shit get that popular black guy on the phone and talk about cooperation and working together since they are now the new buzz words and we must not miss jumping on this passing bandwagon" and "whats that joe fella into? Climate change brilliant. Perhaps we can persuade that Greta girl to come visit too and make us look fab".

mobile.twitter.com/DawnHFoster/status/1325143366984749056?s=09&fbclid=IwAR1PlzgA7HaN9-Dm2fcMVQMyBD_1JQbgj4abeTU2ck6fTYYdwucnEWIUoW0

The key word being 'normally'. This was not a normal situation

"Exercise Cygnus. The exercise was set seven weeks into a severe pandemic." ...
"The simulation took place over three days in October 2016 and asked participants to imagine they were fighting a fictitious “worst-case-scenario” flu pandemic affecting up to 50% of the population and causing up to 400,000 excess deaths."

"The exercise activity was based around four simulated COBR meetings" - chaired by the Secretary of State for Health and the Minister for the Cabinet Office."

One of the more vocal government critics at the moment;

"Devi Sridhar - 3:45 PM · Feb 17, 2020"
"WHO clearly saying it is NOT calling #COVID19 a pandemic b/c majority of cases are in China & majority of cases outside of China have direct link to China." @ DrMikeRyan # factsnotfear"

note the # factsnotfear mid February.

Twitter is on fire tonight

This of course, is not a flu pandemic, but a novel corona virus for which they were totally unprepared. Although taking some notice of contigency plans for a different epidemic would not have done them any harm.

So no, this does not give Johnson a free pass.

WTO : USA blockages gone
WHO : USA blockages gone
Paris : US rejoining
Brexit : fucking great wall

My US informant is very worried about what the orange one will do over the next few weeks
BUT
I hope that the employees look out for their kids

This is wonderful.

This of course, is not a flu pandemic, but a novel corona virus for which they were totally unprepared.

Indeed, France;
"As coronavirus arrived in France this winter, staff at an army base in the east of the country were dutifully burning hundreds of thousands of facemasks."

"The incinerations were part of a money-saving programme to run down the state’s stock of 1.7 billion protective masks that had reached a peak in 2011."

"Neither ministers nor MPs had questioned the initiative, which would almost certainly have escaped attention altogether if the pandemic had never struck."

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/coronavirus-frances-facemask-fiasco-burns-deep-for-macron-kfkbdsd57

So they nicked some of our face masks;

"6 March - France has forced a face mask manufacturer to cancel a major UK order as the coronavirus-inspired scramble for protective gear intensifies."

"The National Health Service ordered millions of masks from Valmy SAS near Lyon earlier this year as COVID-19 threatened."

"But amid a global shortage, France earlier this week ordered the requisition of all protective masks made in the country."

www.euronews.com/2020/03/06/coronavirus-french-protective-mask-manufacturer-scraps-nhs-order-to-keep-masks-in-france

ROI is letting out a breath tonight. Look I know Brexit is not all about the Irish situation, but between Pelosi, and now Biden and their attitude towards GFA and any breaches, I think the tide will turn for Johnson now.

I am a bit more hopeful of a deal. Hopeful I said, not certain.

Johnson needs to take stock. He is no more a Statesman than Trump was. Idiot.

Oh and does Trump's demise mean that Farage is gone too lol.

Just thinking about this...you know that outgoing Presidents can pardon someone...
Is he able to just pardon himself?
And if not, what's the betting he tries to.
😂😂

I've been watching CNN and Twitter feeds with tears in my eyes. The dancing in the streets feels like a genuine exhale.

I am sure it's bad for Covid-19 transmission, but it also feels like the first step back towards normalcy again.

And, if there's a new oven-ready stuffed and plucked deal...
Does that mean that the Farage Garage becomes a drive-thru?

ABC they're showing "anti-climb" fences at the White House. They're not rioters, they're just the eviction committee 😉

I've been watching CNN and Twitter feeds with tears in my eyes

@TheABC, I had a good, happy-cry to this:

It’s easier to be a parent this morning...it’s easier to tell your kids, ‘character matters’

@Clavinova, surgical masks have a use by date. If those masks had been stored for so many years, they were likely out of date and not usable.
Burnt or not, they wouldn’t have been used.

As for the cancelled order... are you surprised? And don’t you think the uk would have the same if it had been in that position? Tbh the end result isn’t different than the many other orders made that never turned up. Or were unsafe. At least the U.K. didn’t pay for them.

FWIW a country should never be reliant on one supplier anyway so the impact should have been small.

Both of my Informants are worried
but they are more glad
be glad

As for the cancelled order... are you surprised? And don’t you think the uk would have the same if it had been in that position?

And as Trump did when he invoked the Defense Production Act to block 3M from exporting respirator masks.

Meuniere
As for the cancelled order...are you surprised?

Somebody was;

"26 March - Von der Leyen slams ‘only for me’ coronavirus response."

"European Commission chief hits out at member countries."

"European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen excoriated EU member countries for failing to coordinate their initial response to the coronavirus outbreak, especially with regard to sharing medical supplies."

“When Europe really needed to be there for each other, too many initially looked out for themselves. When Europe really needed an all-for-one-spirit, too many initially gave an only-for-me response,” von der Leyen told the Parliament’s plenary session Thursday. “When Europe really needed to prove that this is not only a fair weather union, too many refused to share their umbrella.”

"Although she didn't name specific countries, von der Leyen’s comments were a clear reference to Germany, France and other countries that took steps to limit exports of masks and other personal protective equipment to other EU countries."

"The Commission threatened slapping Germany with an infringement proceeding—an official reprimand for defying EU law—before Berlin ultimately dropped its ban."

"She cast countries holding up supply shipments as letting down health professionals on the front lines."

"The Commission “took extraordinary measures,” von der Leyen said. “Since then things are improving."

www.politico.eu/article/von-der-leyen-slams-only-for-me-covid-19-response/

Farage has picked up on that video I posted from Twitter earlier.

As you can see from this clip, Biden hates the UK.

The Conservatives had 4 years to do a trade deal with the USA and pro-UK President, and they failed.

There is no chance now.

I did think that Biden's response was eyebrow raising.

Sad RIP to Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks. (1948-2020)

and some smiles. Poor old Nigel, eh ?

Why is it so surprising to the English/British that anyone with Irish Heritage would be suspicious of the British/English?

Also in the video he gives a funny expression- like it's almost a joke but there is some truth in it.

Elements of (Anglo)NZ culture is that we defer to British culture ... love the Queen etc BUT are very aware that it really is a one way relationship as far as the British/English are concerned- we're only bestest of friends when it suits them....... the way Westminster politicians carry on about the Irish and Scottish is appalling- they just don't like it when the Irish, in this case, have friends in high places...... the hypocrisy is breathtaking