Westminstenders: Off he pops to Brussels

[RedToothBrush]

Alex Andreou @sturdyalex
There's no way Johnson has not already decided whether or not to concede on Level Playing Field. Which makes the trip to Brussels dressing. Whether it will dress a concession as "I have saved us" or No Deal as "I tried my best" remains to be seen. But the choice is already made.

Amanda Cole @amandajanecole
What's your gut feeling, will he put his job ahead of the country? Given his past self serving form?

Alex Andreou @sturdyalex
I think he is so cornered - and has done so badly on Covid19 - his instinct will be one last, double-or-nothing throw of the dice. Only no deal does that.

The issue is that coming back with a deal will earn him much heckling and zero back-slapping from his peers. But no deal will earn him just as much heckling, but also plenty of back-slapping. What I don't know is just how ominous the departmental briefings he's getting are.

Its also worth noting the following:

Mujtaba Rahman @mij_europe
I understand @BorisJohnson wanted @EmmanuelMacron & Merkel to join his phone call with @vonderleyen last night, but she rejected the idea

So even yesterday he was STILL looking to undermine the EU and split its leaders. After all this time and the number of times he's tried this on.

Have no doubt that a) everything will be blamed on Macron (probably personally, with Conservative hardliners coming out calling for the public to boycott French cheese and wine - I'm serious btw) and covid b) covid provides a handy distraction at least for the moment. It will be used accordingly - that means its possibly now not in Johnson's interest to stop a spike in January. All efforts will be put into the vaccine rollout for PR but thats going to hit the breaks fairly soon. No doubt the EU will be blamed for that too.

What I'm not anticipating is another full lockdown. I think at least parts of Greater Manchester will now get out of T3 on 16th December. Traffords numbers look exceptional and I think it politically impossible for Johnson to keep it in T3. Its Graham Brady's patch and Manchester as a whole looks far far better than T2 London.

Anyone who gets out of T3 before Christmas won't go back into it. I'm not anticipating London to go T3 unless No Deal turns really ugly and its useful to quell civil unrest.

I think if we head into no deal then tight restrictions won't be used for covid reasons no matter how bad the hospitals get - it will only be about civil unrest, it will all be about keeping the economy going - backbench revolts are what scare Johnson most, and he's already said no more Tiers after the start of Feb.

We shall see what the day brings...

Non
Nein

www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/not-again-pm-rebuffed-in-new-bid-to-speak-with-merkel-and-macron-over-brexit/13/12/

I get so angry about calling what happened in March panic buying. I don't know a single soul who went out and bought more than they'd need.
The bloody loo roll thing gets me. What could be more normal, if you know several people who can't find loo roll, to think, oh I know, I'll get a packet of 12 instead of my usual 4, because then I can give some to my old mum/step daughter who's a nurse and working crazy hours/next door neighbour.
Ffs.

Texas has been under six flags. It makes Texans ... different.

Visiting the Museum in Baton Rouge, there was a display outside of all the flags that have flown over the state of Louisiana.

The Union Jack was upside down, and the curator didn't know it meant anything.

At the San Jacinto museum (in Texas) one of the items in a glass case was a penknife dated to the battle and which the inlay card said "Must have belonged to a soldier named "Sheffield" since it had his name stamped on the blade".

Just leave those there.

(Both are well worth a visit by the way).

.

My personal favourite from living in Texas was " so what do you guys usually do in Scotland for 4th July?"

Britons told not to stockpile food ahead of January

Isn't that going to instantly make people think they should?

I think I need to stockpile more Italian wine especially as there is 25% off at Sainsburys...

@TheABC

Good summary, *@Choux*.

I often wonder what it would take for the Tories to be unelectable.

They could bludgeon kittens, eat babies & physically kick the shite out of the vulnerable, sick & elderly & they will still be electable. Feeling particularly helpless & sad today I’m afraid.

@ListeningQuietly

Mark Francois is trending because he has been cleared to attend the HoC next week shall we say

That's interesting.

Apparently the rape case against "an MP" has been dropped by the Met.

In unrelated news, Mark Francois is allowed to return to the HoC.

While no amount of preparation by retailers can entirely prevent disruption there is no need for the public to buy more food than usual as the main impact will be on imported fresh produce, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, which cannot be stored for long periods by either retailers or consumers."

What a good way to discourage people from panic buying salad stuff. Not.

Wow! The Daily Heil has published a superb list of things we can all do to make Brexit a success.

It includes buying an Aston Martin, and a second home in the country.

Why haven't we been doing that all along? Has the nasty EU been holding us all back?

Hannibal
Don't forget buy a second home

On that BBC page, there’s a handy guide: what does a no-deal “Australia style” Brexit mean?

I’m going to compile a similar list:

Australia style Christmas: no Christmas (due to Covid restrictions, possibly).
Australia style pay rise: pay cut.
Australia style weight loss: you put on a stone.
Australia style exam pass: fail.
Australia style prospering mightily: lose all your money and self respect, end up in gutter.

Etc etc

And buy English wine. Nope I'm going to carry on stockpiling Pinot Grigio.

@Ellie56

Britons told not to stockpile food ahead of January

Isn't that going to instantly make people think they should?

I think I need to stockpile more Italian wine especially as there is 25% off at Sainsburys...

Seems sensible to me.

The government can fuck off with their 'don't stockpile'. My stockpile is in place and I'm maintaining it. I'm going to make sure my two who are returning to uni in January also have food stashed.

I read that online in the mail about ' how to make a no deal brexit work for you ' or something. Ok if your rich of course.
They mostly have or do all those things anyway! Or will be able to afford the higher tariffs on food items.

Britons told not to stockpile food ahead of January

I assume that this instruction only applies to Leavers because they know it will be fine. Remainers don't count as far as the current Government is concerned, so we can carry on prepping.

My children cant afford a first home let alone a second one!
That article today was nuts. Even the comments were skeptical about that one!
Who gets paid to write this shit?

Barbour clothing. Made in the UK. Well the classic wax jacket is.
Everything else?
Turkey, Portugal, Croatia, Lituania, Indonesia, India ... etc.

Good work there Daily Mail.

@Ellie56

Britons told not to stockpile food ahead of January

Isn't that going to instantly make people think they should?

I think I need to stockpile more Italian wine especially as there is 25% off at Sainsburys...

The press will cause the panic buying. And that will increase the pressure on Johnson.

I only hope the people with special dietary requirements have learnt from March and have the specific products they need in their cupboards now.

Beyond fantasy land. Who decides to print this garbage. Plenty of people can't dream of buying a first home. Absolute bilge.

@willsantausesantatize

My children cant afford a first home let alone a second one! That article today was nuts. Even the comments were skeptical about that one! Who gets paid to write this shit?

Written by the hard of thinking for the hard of thinking.

Because we can all buy Aston Martins (with their 40%+ of imported parts) and second homes. And use more electricity since wattage is a measure of power consumption and not performance.

It really was poorly written and I'm not a writer! Knocked out quickly to appease the DM faithful.
It's fine: you won't be affected by a nasty no deal. Just everybody else will.

@Peregrina

Britons told not to stockpile food ahead of January

I assume that this instruction only applies to Leavers because they know it will be fine. Remainers don't count as far as the current Government is concerned, so we can carry on prepping.

That's true, only Leavers are TruBrits, who make up 100% of the population; Remainers don't exist. So we can do what the hell we like