Westminstenders: a feature of the system not a bug

[RedToothBrush]

Tests on the new queuing system in Kent have revealed that lengthy tail backs are a feature not a bug.

We should get used to them because thats normal not the system malfunctioning, but the planned system working as designed.

Today we have found out that there's no money left. The economy is fucked. And tomorrow we will probably all be in T3 with the Isles of Wight, the tip of Cornwall and inner Westminster the only places left in T1.

Christmas has apparently been 'saved' though. Well if you are dumb and lacking in functional brain cells its 'saved'. Trade for Christmas is already thoroughly goosed and indoor family gatherings may come with a extra side of covid. The BBC have done an epic job of 'doommongering project fear' style graphics on this wonderful subject.

Tis the season to be jolly. Jolly fucked.

@Pepperwort, as someone whose stake in society was disenfranchised by Mandy and his New Labour chums - laying the groundwork for some of the benefit bashing streamlined by Tory austerity - and as someone who taught Iraqi refugees, I find your comment about growing up disingenuous and patronising. Some of us only have the justice of a long memory. You might think he's part of a solution, but I respectfully disagree.

And that just as the congratulations are being doled out, someone says "...and of course you remove the IMB, as we mentioned two months ago ..."

And cue "Nasty EU won't let us have what we want. Wah, wah, wah."

@DGRossetti

So, still no-deal then.

uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-bill-idINKBN28C28C

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain stands by clauses in legislation the government has admitted breach a divorce deal with the European Union, a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday, repeating they were necessary to provide a legal safety net.

(contd).

What is the point of the HoL if the HoC can just reinstate the bits the HoL remove? I thought (vague memory from Inter Cert history so based on the position a couple of hundred years ago) that if the HoL rejected something, the HoC couldn't reintroduce it again for a couple of years?

I can't answer the HoL question, but I thought that they couldn't block a Manifesto commitment. However, the IMB wasn't in any Manifesto.....

@Peregrina

I can't answer the HoL question, but I thought that they couldn't block a Manifesto commitment. However, the IMB wasn't in any Manifesto.....

Isn't the IMB is contrary to the manifesto? They went to the polls on the basis of the WA being an oven-ready deal that as going to allow them to deliver brexit so surely breaking that agreement would be the exact opposite of a manifesto promise?

@DrBlackbird

And if there is no deal DGR will there be silence from the press on the repercussions? Probably...

Probably not, though. There's been plenty of coverage in serious newspapers and on Radio 4 - and there will be still more following a no deal. You just need to read them, not the Sun/Mail etc. Lots of discussion on Twitter too - that seems to be where the trade experts hang out.

@TheABC

If we have a No-Deal in Jan, what do you think the fall-out will be like, by February?

At this stage, I have moved on from the will-they, won't-they deal to the political fireworks that will follow.

Well the Pfizer vaccine, which we'd shit a brick about, will be in short supply and that will slow the vaccination programme down.

Johnson needs the vaccination programme to go to plan and to be rolled out very quickly to head off a Tory Mutiny.

That and there being people who will die.

And yeah the JIT stuff grinding to a halt will be interesting.

I've already had emails from seed companies saying they can no longer supply orders to the EU and NI after this week due to the new legal conditions and this being too prohibitive for their business.

Shit is going to start hitting the fan rather rapidly now, and it doesn't entirely member if we do get a deal because 3 weeks out the ordering / supply system is now at a point where any order placed is likely to be arriving after 31st December so the default for January is already no deal.

If we do get a deal (which is very very unlikely) this week or next, this might change things going forward from about February.

But we are now officially in 'deep shit' and will get a pretty good taste for no deal is looks like even if we don't no deal.

Happy Christmas everyone.

@pussycatinboots

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-55160499

Concerns over M6 lorry customs queues at new inland border

The site and six other inland facilities were given permission using special government orders which allowed them to bypass local councils' planning departments, meaning normal traffic assessments were not carried out.
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs said traffic assessments had been carried out and the impact on traffic would be "minimal".
HMRC guidance said: "When the site is operational, monitoring and reporting of potential traffic effects on neighbouring roads caused by vehicles travelling to and from the Warrington Inland Border Facility may be carried out if required."

No doubt it will be a world-beating queue.

Oh thats going to be bloody interesting.

Not only is it already a traffic blackspot, there's been a problem around the local area in the last couple of years with a lot of the roads unsuitable for HGVs being used as short cuts by HGVs...

The council has done the sum total of fuck all about it. It has turned out than in some cases the local council has been directing HGV onto these unsuitable roads.

Speaking of Warrington Council, there is apparently a major scandal brewing. Its invested money in schemes to raise money for the council and has racked up major debts over covid (the figure I've heard is eye watering and more that the whole of Greater Manchester - whether this is true I'm not sure). From what I hear, its very liable to end up being a financial casualty and end up going bankrupt and its a question of when rather than if.

So I suspect that there will be lots of bending over backwards to try and keep the government onside over this particular issue...

But can anyone envisage an Irish lorry bearing goods for say Bangor or Llandudno is really going to drive all the way to Warrington to check them in and then drive all the way back?

@borntobequiet

Dr Angela Raffle on the Today programme talking about lateral flow tests, to be used when visiting care homes. (Some councils are worried about the reliability of these tests when administered/supervised by poorly trained staff.) Dr Raffle gives a long and detailed explanation as to why they should be concerned, and finishes by baldly stating the the Government (specifically Johnson and Hancock) have made false claims. It's worth a listen, just before 8 am as far as I can remember (will be on Sounds a bit later I expect).

I listened to this too. She called out Johnson and Hancock for telling outright lies.

And will they have to be electric lorries,
so will putter to a halt long before they get there, or anywhere else.

@Peregrina

But can anyone envisage an Irish lorry bearing goods for say Bangor or Llandudno is really going to drive all the way to Warrington to check them in and then drive all the way back?

The Rosslare-Dunkirk ferry is always an option.

The Rosslare-Dunkirk ferry is always an option.

That would be a pretty roundabout way to get to Bangor...

DGR exhibits a Raabsian sense of geography there.

(blushes and tries to style it out ...)

read too quickly - although to be fair it's not the most ridiculous suggestion that's been made regarding Brexit, is it ?

Did anyone see Tony Blair on Brexitcast late last night? He was in a jolly mood - he actually seemed to enjoy Gavin Williamson's comments about the UK being the best. And to be fair to Williamson, his comments came after the EMA's (misguided) statements undermining confidence in the MHRA.

Blair seemed fairly optimistic there might be a deal announced today - and the presenters all agreed that the IMB would be redundant in any case if there was a deal.

DGRossetti
Back to the flood of good news. Hard to keep up really. I bet Clav is glad that I'm here to help with it all.

Did Peregrina need to lie down after reading your copy and paste?

How will the withdrawal of the IMB be handled to accommodate the deal ?

@Peregrina

But can anyone envisage an Irish lorry bearing goods for say Bangor or Llandudno is really going to drive all the way to Warrington to check them in and then drive all the way back?

Some will. Some won't.

Not sure why I am singled out for needing to lie down after an unreferenced cutn'paste.

Peregrina
Multiple copy and pastes - too much for you to cope with.

Johnson needs the vaccination programme to go to plan and to be rolled out very quickly to head off a Tory Mutiny

He really does, and it not going to plan would be a real disaster for both the Tory party and the country.
I'm not particularly worried about the safety of efficacy of the vaccine(s), but with my cynical hat on the thought had crossed my mind that the elderly and their carers, being among the least regarded sections of the community, may be considered collateral damage if there are any problems with vaccines. After all, no one was terribly bothered about their safety and wellbeing back in March/April, were they? And though there's been plenty of hand-wringing, there's not been much else done for them, has there? Being top of the priority list is great if all goes well, not so great if there's a problem. And once more the UK becomes a giant natural experiment in progress.
As to the roll out generally, the NHS and local public health authorities are probably capable of handling it. But they will need time, staff and funding. If any of these are not forthcoming, or if the Government hands over any part of it to cronies as with T&T...who knows what might go wrong?

How will the withdrawal of the IMB be handled to accommodate the deal?

Fade away/slip away unnoticed was how they described it in a previous episode.

borntobequiet

10 Nov -
"GPs are to receive £150 million in vaccine roll-out funding."

www.standard.co.uk/news/health/covid-vaccine-nhs-start-december-matt-hancock-b62446.html

Multiple copy and pastes - too much for you to cope with.

I don't know where you get that idea from. Now with some posters, mentioning no names, a large wodge of cutn'paste is an invitation to scroll on past.

My thoughts exactly re the vaccination, born
May I say once again how much I appreciate the the Westminstenders thread Red and all the regulars.
I enjoy the wit and wisdom. Would be lost trying to make sense of it all without you