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.

I've just discovered that the French exercise at the channel tunnel which led to chaos in Kent wasn't what I, and possibly others, thought it was. It wasn't a trial run of the new customs arrangements, it was purely immigration controls. Each truck was stopped by immigration officials who asked to see the passports of those travelling, and asked where they were going and for how long. That's it. Each stop took just 70 seconds. That 70 seconds won't get any faster, that's how long the new process takes. Gridlocked Kent will be the norm.

Then add in customs and the shitshow is complete.

yorkshirebylines.co.uk/operation-yellowhammer-is-playing-out-as-black-comedy/?fbclid=IwAR0gLAmr8_B6GlY7E9Ot4zOmcUV4HaG4rxJRptTR40UtmgE7wA_fLbQkPL4

But I read, I think it was on the BBC, that the UK was whining that they didn't have enough Immigration staff on. But it's up to the French to decide how many staff they need - gridlocked roads in Kent are not their problem, however much the Tory Government think they should be.

Was it an EU sponsored immigration check trial? Or purely a French decision to do a dry run?

Good way to grab a few UK headlines as the trade talks reach a critical point.

The rabid brexiters won't care obviously as Brexit is worth it at any cost as long as it's a cost paid by someone else. But it amps the pressure up on the Gov nevertheless. The UK gov can complain all it likes that there were not enough staff checking the passports. Every non EU citizen who arrived at Heathrow in last few years would say the same about the number of Border Control staff on duty.

That's what I thought @Choux ....... highlights to UK a taste, abs only a taste of what's to come...

Well, I am annoyed this morning. I signed a petition about asking for an extension - yes, a complete waste of time I know.

It is the reply which angered me - we are not having an extension, it's a matter of law, was the response. Yes, true, but a) laws can be changed if they are no longer working and b) when did you and your chums care two hoots about the law? We know you are happy to break international law, and were happy to prorogue Parliament illegally, so why pretend that you are law abiding now.

But I do think that Biden will be piling on the pressure, so I am grateful for small mercies there.

Sunak made no mention of Brexit in his autumn statement.
Can't be important to the economy then, and we're all worrying unnecessarily. It'll all be fiiiine, right?

(Thanks again, Red)

Gove is up to something - am reading that he’s had the No 10 PR photographers outside his house today.

.

ICould
The word "Brexit" was banned on 1st February

LQ of course. I keep forgetting!

Was it an EU sponsored immigration check trial? Or purely a French decision to do a dry run?

French decision presumably as immigration is a devolved issue.

French decision presumably as immigration is a devolved issue.
What !!
You mean the French have control of their borders
Shocking

@ListeningQuietly

French decision presumably as immigration is a devolved issue. What !! You mean the French have control of their borders Shocking

Did you not know? The UK's borders were completely controlled by the EU but those sneaky foreigners cheat the system to take control of their borders. It's only honest, law-abiding UK that sticks to the rules (well, unless it's inconvenient).

@ListeningQuietly

French decision presumably as immigration is a devolved issue. What !! You mean the French have control of their borders Shocking

Indeed. And sans a deal, the UK will have to manage 28 channels of communication within the EU. One for EU matters, and then the 27 devolved matters that each state has competence for with 3rd countries.

If I've understood correctly.

Surely not, DGR, that would be bonkers. Don't they know who we are?

In practice French immigration officers will be applying Schengen rules.

Nevertheless I'd be confident in saying that tests run at Calais and Dunkerque will be the French testing their readiness and nothing to do with the EU.

At present both French and English border checks are done on the departure side of the Channel.
One bit of ill will from the UK side and it will get messy.

LeClerc asked me to send him a picture of a C88
not a tricky form to fill in when you are used to them
but European traders are not .....

Looks like skiing could be off this winter too.

@DGRossetti

Looks like skiing could be off this winter too.

That’ll solve the chalet girl problem then.

It's not the politics of envy, but the thought that some might have their year ruined by not being able to go skiing really doesn't bother me at all.

It would be amusing if the weather turned out to be the best for decades too. Maybe another very small thread in a growing blanket of belief in a supreme being that may just be Saying Something Important.

Re Sunak not mentioning Brexit, I have been wondering if it's because he knows there is goig to be a deal, regardless of what the deal is. Because the UK just canno afford to get with No Deal, esp at the back of Covid.

Yes, clutching at straws and hoping that Bj will do another of his experts U turns where he will present us with a deal right out of the pocket of the EU but it will be the bext deal ever.

Re Sunak not mentioning Brexit, I have been wondering if it's because he knows there is goig to be a deal, regardless of what the deal is

We know one thing. Any "deal" will be so tightly wrapped in penalty clauses that it might not survive the year. Also I suspect the UK is going to have to give an undertaking about the IMB falling down the back of a parliamentary sofa. Forever.

If you look at the odds of that happening, you can gauge the odds of a deal.

The only sliver of cheer in the process will be seeing Bridgen and his buddies dutifully troop through the "Ayes" as instructed, despite their Bertie Big Bollocks tweeting. He can then be reminded that he voted for it, and knew what he was voting for.

www.theneweuropean.co.uk/brexit-news/boris-johnson-is-trying-to-ban-the-word-brexit-from-66572

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-no-deal-foreign-office-staff-language-ban-boris-johnson-a9318156.html

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8726747/Boris-Johnson-bans-cabinet-ministers-using-word-Brexit.html

Sunak did not use the word because he's not allowed to.
There is nothing good coming down the tracks

@ListeningQuietly

www.theneweuropean.co.uk/brexit-news/boris-johnson-is-trying-to-ban-the-word-brexit-from-66572

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-no-deal-foreign-office-staff-language-ban-boris-johnson-a9318156.html

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8726747/Boris-Johnson-bans-cabinet-ministers-using-word-Brexit.html

Sunak did not use the word because he's not allowed to.
There is nothing good coming down the tracks

How long before the archives are "corrected".

(Did anyone see Lucy Worsleys latest raid on the dressing up box ? The UK can't even do mass propaganda and fake news properly. The Bolsheviks were clearly the worlds masters ....)

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000pjt8/royal-historys-biggest-fibs-with-lucy-worsley-series-2-3-the-russian-revolution

(In the same series I learned there are still French monarchists. Who knew ?)