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.

To bring in the Irish example (as we love to do, ) it is not unusual for many children of immigrants to be among the most eager to shut the drawbridge behind them. There was an embarrassment of Irish Americans in the Trump administration. Stephen Miller's family experience of Holocaust didn't stop him advocating for children to be separated from their parents in

@Clavinova

It's also fascinating to note that Kamala is very proud - and engaged with her Indian heritage.

Both Rishi Sunak and Priti Patel have Indian heritage of course - and they both hold two of the most important offices of state in the UK.

I look forward to their chances of becoming head of state too. You know - the same way you can in the US.

I think both fancy their chances of becoming PM. I don't see them becoming head of state until the Queen pops her clogs, and Charles makes a mess of being King, and we all say, let's get rid of the Monarchy.

I look forward to their chances of becoming head of state too.

I quite like all the history and pageantry of our royal family.

@Peregrina

I think both fancy their chances of becoming PM. I don't see them becoming head of state until the Queen pops her clogs, and Charles makes a mess of being King, and we all say, let's get rid of the Monarchy.

Exactly. So squirrelling about Patel and Sunak really made no sense.

I look forward to seeing Kamala Harris reach the highest office in the democratic world, while PMs Patel and Sunak are kissing Charles ring. From her family tree, she was meant for it.

So squirrelling about Patel and Sunak really made no sense.

Who were you referring to here then?
"I imagine she is looking forward to lectures about the British Empire from Boris and his team."

I thought you meant this team;
"Great Offices of State of Her Majesty's Government"

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Offices_of_State

I don't know enough about Sunak's background but Patel is Indian via Uganda - whether she knows India in the way that Harris does is an interesting point.

mathanxiety
290+ vs maybe 250, best case scenario, isn't that close.
Maybe go back and check how that Electoral College thing works.

Goodness knows what all the fuss was about last week then.

Clavinova - wrt the 'only for me' thing...
Brexit surely made the topic moot as far as the UK was concerned.

"The Brexit transition is the period agreed in the UK–EU Withdrawal Agreement in which the UK is no longer a member of the EU but continues to be subject to EU rules and remains a member of the single market and customs union."

And it seems everyone came to their senses in the end, so no reason to get so upset.

Not without a fight it seems;

"The European Commission sent a letter on April 7 to the French government urging it to lift export restrictions on dozens of vital medicines to treat coronavirus patients, EU officials told Reuters."

"But instead of heeding the call, Paris has vastly extended the list of drugs covered by restrictions, according to a letter seen by Reuters that was sent by the French drugs regulator ANSM to pharmaceutical distributors on April 21."

"A spokeswoman for the European Commission told Reuters [that] France was among the few EU countries that had ignored calls to lift certain trade barriers on medicines."

"She said talks were underway to persuade France, a key hub for drugs distribution across Europe, to remove “disproportionate” restrictions. If no compromise is reached, the Commission could take legal action against Paris..."

"France, the EU’s second-largest economy, caused an outcry from EU partners in early March when it decided to curb exports of personal protection gear, such as face masks."

www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-eu-drug-exclusive-idUSKCN2252HN

As a Brit who actually commemorates our Empire, I feel a twang of pride that someone from India has made it so far in the US - there is a shared history for better for worse

Those of us on the receiving end of the British empire see it as achieving in spite of the british empire, rather than something the british can take pride in.

Those of us on the receiving end of the British empire see it as achieving in spite of the british empire, rather than something the british can take pride in.

Yes, it's a bit like those war time myths: "We were in it alone after France fell", i.e. plucky little Britain - not the British Empire which provided thousands of Commonwealth troops. I read that yesterday's Remembrance Sunday commemorations include a representative of the Ghurkas, for only the second time. 75 years since the war and they are only represented twice!

I don't know enough about Sunak's background but Patel is Indian via Uganda - whether she knows India in the way that Harris does is an interesting point.

Sunak’s parents are East African born Indians too, Kenya and Tanzania, and migrated to the UK in the 60s.

@OchonAgusOchonO

As a Brit who actually commemorates our Empire, I feel a twang of pride that someone from India has made it so far in the US - there is a shared history for better for worse

Those of us on the receiving end of the British empire see it as achieving in spite of the british empire, rather than something the british can take pride in.

I was trying very hard to distance myself from using the word "celebrate" - the British Empire happened. It was a thing. Like 99% of Britons I had and have fuck all say in it and don't want to glorify it. But you can't ignore it either. And for better and for worse it's led to some confusing and weird cultural relations between the UK and the rest of the world. Although I take your point they are rarely mutual in character.

Message from LeClerc

About 2 years ago? when the WA was 'the thing' on peoples minds my
theory was(is) that the WA as written by the EU* is 585 pages of the important legal treaties and arrangements between the UK and EU and that as it stood the WA details pretty much all of substance that the UK will forfeit when it truly leaves the EU.
The attendant PD was the mechanism to clarify and moderate (possibly) some of the contents of the WA so that some elements might be retained to mutual benefit.
With all the (UK) shouting and waving of appendages the orderly departure has been vandalised and much good will squandered.
I saw a comment yesterday (?) that for the Japanese trade 'deal' which includes around 9400 items the UK only produces around 10 of the tradeable items that the Japanese might actually buy so the bulk of the deal is largely worthless. The devil being in the details of course as usual.

*Because the UK negotiators were largely fannying around.

It's also fascinating to note that Kamala is very proud - and engaged with her Indian heritage. I imagine she is looking forward to lectures about the British Empire from Boris and his team. After all, she's only heard rumours...

Feb -
"Indian press delighted at number of British-Indians in UK government after Boris Johnson's reshuffle."

"Along with Mr Sunak in cabinet are Priti Patel, Alok Sharma and Suella Braverman. Home secretary Ms Patel’s Gujarati parents left Uganda in the 1960s and settled in Hertfordshire. Agra-born Sharma is the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, as well as the head of the COP26 conference. And Suella Braverman, the new attorney general, traces her heritage to Goa." ...

"In an interview with the Indian daily The Business Standard in 2015, Mr Sunak said of his identity: “British Indian is what I tick on the census, we have a category for it. I am thoroughly British, this is my home and my country, but my religious and cultural heritage is Indian, my wife is Indian. I am open about being a Hindu.”

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/british-indian-cabinet-government-boris-johnson-india-press-rishi-sunak-a9340271.html

Not forgetting Boris Johnson's ex-wife;
"Marina Wheeler is the daughter of the then BBC’s Delhi correspondent, Sir Charles Wheeler and his second wife, Dip Singh (an Indian Sikh) who married in Delhi in 1961."

2 years ago though, it was May's WA - which was a better deal for the UK than Johnson's WA - which he know hopes to renege on.

What delightful carts of rotten fish squirrels to attempt to distract from ToryBrexitannianNationalPlague's latest posturing and bluster.

Let me assist with another wordy non-sequitur, although I apologise that I'm not so nifty with the C&Ping, and tend to type things out in person:

🐿 The human genome contains around 100000 pieces of viral DNA, comprising approximately 8 percent of our genome. These come from “endogenous retroviruses” which inserted their genetic material into the genomes of their hosts: if this occurs in germ line (reproductive) cells, they can then be inherited. Some of our endogenous retroviruses have been with us from pre-human times, millions of years ago. (BTW, SARS-CoV2 is a retrovirus). Therefore, undermining the GFA and stubbornly insisting that we will carry on breaking international law is simultaneously fiiiiiiiine and yet also something the nasty EU made us do! 🐿

Kamala Harris has always described herself as brown.
Her mother was a world class cancer researcher.
Her tolerance of scientific illiteracy is likely to be low.
Her Grandfather was an Indian diplomat who had to deal with Raj officers educated at Eton.
Her tolerance for their bluster is likely to be low.

Her father - admittedly not a major part of her life - is a professor of economics at Stanford who studies the impact of colonialism and that of inequality and racism.
Her tolerance for proponents of trickle down is likely to be low.

So Boris is caught in the jaws of a vice ... one side the completely bananas ERG for whom no deal is an article of faith and they will destroy the Tory party and Boris too if they don't get it.

On the other hand the most powerful democracy in the world under a leader that has made it crystal clear he doesn't like Boris. Doesn't like Brexit. And does not like the IMB.

And ahead the end of the transition period.

Meanwhile, having lost his meal ticket in the US, we are stuck with Farage, who will continue to be the siren of ignorance, trying to draw the UK onto the rocks.

That's before you factor in the more prosaic issues of the Northern Tory MPs, and levelling up the North.

Oh, and 6 days before any deal has to be ready for ratification by the EU states. So very little time to window dress it as a great British triumph. Although I'm thinking the weasel phrase "implementation period" could come to the rescue as a synonym for "extension".

FTSE indices have taken a massive leap upwards - Biden plus possible good news re COVID vaccine?

Jeez, IBEX is up over 9%!

Sabrina
Just wait till he actually concedes
I see that the margin in Georgia is up to 10,000 votes - so still going to be a recount but unlikely to change
and the national margin is over 4 million
Biden's transition website is encouraging too buildbackbetter.com/news/

So Boris is caught in the jaws of a vice ... one side the completely bananas ERG for whom no deal is an article of faith and they will destroy the Tory party and Boris too if they don't get it.

I find this an acceptable price to pay

The markets will be responding to the announcement that the Pfizer vaccine is 90% effective. Yay!

Interesting to see what the Dow does when it opens.

I think there’s a Biden bounce in there too - Japanese markets hit a 19 yr high overnight before the vaccine announcement.

@DGRossetti - I was trying very hard to distance myself from using the word "celebrate" - the British Empire happened. It was a thing. Like 99% of Britons I had and have fuck all say in it and don't want to glorify it. But you can't ignore it either. And for better and for worse it's led to some confusing and weird cultural relations between the UK and the rest of the world. Although I take your point they are rarely mutual in character.

Absolutely, the empire can't be ignored. I have no issue with your statement that you commemorate the empire - after all, commemoration and celebration are very different things. It was the suggestion that a British person would feel pride in the achievements of someone whose family and country have suffered at the hands of the empire that I found jarring. I see where you're coming from, but it comes across as a bit patronising at the very least.