Westministenders: Festive Edition

[RedToothBrush]

Good King BBBBaBoris looked out,
on the Port of Dover,
There the shit lay round about,
Deep around the stopover;
Brightly shone the moon that night,
Tho’ the frost was cruel,
When a poor man came in sight,
Delivering stuff for Yule.

“Bugger SAGE and stand by me,
We've all stuff that needs selling,
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?”
“Sire, he lives a good league hence,
The other side the EU;
Though relations maybe tense,
He's trying to get goods through.”

“Oh god I need another wine,
I have many crisis to consider:
We must tell them its all fine,
I must not be seen to dither.”
SAGE and monarch, forth they went,
forth they went together;
Through the nation's sad lament
and really crappy weather.

“Sire, our plight is darker now,
And the covid transmission stronger;
Fails my heart, I know not how;
To keep Tier 2 much longer.”
“Soon we can drop their wage.
And treat them all more coldly
In Britain's new chrony age
A time to rob more boldly.”

In their master’s steps they trod,
On the quest to get minted;
Each and every last sod
Needs to be fingerprinted.
Therefore, Christian men, be sure,
DWP claimants are processing,
Ye who now will bless the poor,
God its all so depressing.

Pmk

PMK.

Toyota has shut down early for Christmas... In other news my garage has plenty of cat food and beer.

Borders will open but anyone going into France has to have a negative Covid test using either longer one or lateral flow one ( providing it can detect new strain) 72 hours before entry.

PMK and here's to some glimpse of light somewhere, not sure where...

I have posh cheese now. That's something isn't it.

I reckon I'd stake £10 on it but not much more! It seems that tomorrow is shaping up to be yet another interesting day!

Hugh Pym on BBC news just now not going as far as 'you're all going to hell in a handcart T4 for everybody on Boxing Day.'

Seems to think T4 expanded further across the south announcement tomorrow and T2's going to T3. He didn't say when the expansion of T4 would kick in, but the T2 to T3 confirms our earlier suspicion.

I might reduce my stake to £5 😬

There are explicit provisions for individual member states to temporarily introduce border controls, and no good reason for the EU to act as one entity with regard to the UK at the present time.

This is, I recall, called 'Sovereignty' which the Brexiters were especially keen on. They did rather appear to overlook the fact that other States might also value their Sovereignty, or forget that if you want to come the big 'I am' you need to have the clout of e.g. China or as The British Empire once had, but hasn't had since 1956.

If we're going to have alternative carols, here is my offering as used in our work Christmas do (via Teams) last week:

12 days of Christmas with PPE:

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me a mask that is FFP3

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me two rolls of aprons and a mask that is FFP3

On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me three yellow bags, two rolls of aprons and a mask that is FFP3

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me four sterile gowns, three yellow bags, two rolls of aprons and a mask that is FFP3

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me five coveralls! Four sterile gowns, three yellow bags, two rolls of aprons and a mask that is FFP3

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me six pairs of gloves, five coveralls! Four sterile gowns, three yellow bags, two rolls of aprons and a mask that is FFP3

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me seven super swabs, five coveralls! Four sterile gowns, three yellow bags, two rolls of aprons and a mask that is FFP3

On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me eight packs of wipes, seven super swabs, five coveralls! Four sterile gowns, three yellow bags, two rolls of aprons and a mask that is FFP3

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me nine waste containers, eight packs of wipes, seven super swabs, five coveralls! Four sterile gowns, three yellow bags, two rolls of aprons and a mask that is FFP3

On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ten see through visors, nine waste containers, eight packs of wipes, seven super swabs, five coveralls! Four sterile gowns, three yellow bags, two rolls of aprons and a mask that is FFP3

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me eleven cleaning tablets, ten see through visors, nine waste containers, eight packs of wipes, seven super swabs, five coveralls! Four sterile gowns, three yellow bags, two rolls of aprons and a mask that is FFP3

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me twelve pumps of hand gel, eleven cleaning tablets, ten see through visors, nine waste containers, eight packs of wipes, seven super swabs, five coveralls! Four sterile gowns, three yellow bags, two rolls of aprons and a mask that is FFP3

As you were.

The alternative carols are great.

PMK to watch the denouement. Run run run as fast as you can, but you can’t fool us with messages on vans. (Or buses). Alack, alas, ‘twas all your doing Johnson. It’s wrong to start enjoying this isn’t it.

five coveralls!

Thank you Arrows!

pmk

Yep Pere looks like sovrentity to me too, in many guises. Also looks like no vote is needed to express Sovrenity over a Border either - you just do it.

I do not presume and assume your complete thinking process in any of the decisions you make. Is there a particular reason why you think that any thoughts you have about how the thought processes of others are explicitly the best explanation?

I just saw a truck driver from the Dover queue being interviewed. He's been told by police they won't do covid tests at the port and he is to drive to Maidstone or Canterbury. That can't be right surely?

I do not presume and assume your complete thinking process in any of the decisions you make. Is there a particular reason why you think that any thoughts you have about how the thought processes of others are explicitly the best explanation?

I understand each word in this sentence, but I am baffled as to what I am being asked.

My DCs will have to get tests 3 days before they go back to their work abroad. Planning to go on 28th, can anyone tell me who will be doing tests 3 days beforehand i.e. on Christmas Day and where? They had the same nonsense about testing when they came and couldn't get a word of sense out of anyone and have basically been under house arrest until early this week.

Merry Christmas one and all...oh wait...maybe not

Excellent work, RTB & Arrows.

Pmk - thank you RTB

@TurquoiseBaubles

I just saw a truck driver from the Dover queue being interviewed. He's been told by police they won't do covid tests at the port and he is to drive to Maidstone or Canterbury. That can't be right surely?

Anyone else wondering how long until some of the trucks run out of fuel? I know they have massive tanks, but at some point they'll need to top up.

@HateIsNotGood

Yes of course provision for EU Nation states to preserve/protect their own Borders is lawful and allowed for within EU legislation.

Really? But what about all that Leaver blather about sovereignty?

Just the timing for 'isolating' the UK for identifying a very infectious variant of CV19, before any confirmation of the variant's origin, does alter the Brexit Negs a bit.

I believe it was the Right Honourable Matthew Hancock MP, Minister for Health, who stated that the situation with the new strain was 'out of control'? What images does the phrase 'out of control' conjure up for you? An own goal if ever there was one.

Anyways France has come up with some ideas about how they will 'help' get the Flow going. Nice of them.
Individuals whose travel is deemed essential, along with truck drivers, will be allowed onto French soil if they have proof of a recent negative test for covid.

Meanwhile, the gross underfunding of UK ports by the UK government continues to threaten the ability of the UK to pull off a successful transition to a no deal Brexit. Chaos at the ports isn't a new development, nor is it a problem caused by France or the EU.

Drivers stuck near British ports were given a single cereal bar by local officials on Monday, said Rod McKenzie, the director of policy at the Road Haulage Association, which represents the road transport industry. While drivers pack their own food, he said, they usually do not take much more than they expect to need for their few hours in Britain.

“It’s a story of human misery,” Mr. McKenzie said. “The government planning has been shocking on this, and there are no adequate lavatory facilities on the motorway for the past couple of days with up to 1,000 trucks parked up.”

The British government introduced plans devised for similar problems at the border after the country finalizes its split from the European Union on Dec. 31. It shut off parts of a motorway to allow trucks to park on the road and opened an old airport with room for 4,000 trucks to park.

British commentators noted that the usefulness of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit plans for a once-in-a-century pandemic did not do much to raise people’s confidence about how the country would fare if it crashes out of the European Union at month’s end without a deal governing future commercial relations across the English Channel.
www.nytimes.com/2020/12/22/world/europe/uk-france-covid-19-border.html

I personally don't think the government could organise a dogfight, let alone the rapid testing of thousands of drivers even though they are sitting in their trucks.

Morning, thank you and pmk.

I see the army have been brought in at Dover.

That's going to be for the foreseeable future i would imagine, if drivers need negative testing. That's not going away this week nor next. Nor the week after.

Its hard to work out how thats managed for the next 6 to 8 weeks because realistically thats the minimum you are looking at before we get more info on New Covid....

Tony Connelly @tconnellyRTE
After Michel Barnier's briefing of EU ambassadors this afternoon, here's where things stand:

2/ There is a basic deadline of Christmas Eve to get a deal. That will give the EU's legal services time to draw up a letter to send to the UK seeking provisional application of the treaty from Jan 1

3/ It's understood officials will need four days at a minimum to draft a letter seeking provisional application of the treaty (all this is on the basis that it is pretty much too late for the European Parliament to ratify the treaty on time for Jan 1)

4/ On the prospects for a deal: diplomats say they're not ruling out a deal by Christmas eve. Michel Barnier said there had been significant progress. Member states expect to convene a meeting of the Working Party (of Brexit coordinators) every day (except Christmas Day)

5/ Acc to one diplomat Barnier will publish the text once/if it's agreed, but before it's been legally scrubbed. Member states can approve the text via written procedure (sending a formal letter) as there are no Council meetings foreseen to do it in person between now and Dec 31

6/ There are still some issues around the level playing field and governance, areas the UK wants to change, or wants sunset clauses on. For example, London wants to limit the extent to which energy can be subject to the level playing field constraints

7/ Despite the cautious optimism that a deal can be done, fisheries remains a major problem. Member states say the UK offer of the EU handing over 35pc of the value of its catches does not count pelagic spieces and that's a serious problem

8/ The UK is proposing to hive off pelagics to the informal independent coastal state forum including Norway, Iceland, the Faroes etc. Problem for EU is boats would lose a stable outlook on access for pelagics + wd have to negotiate access annually

9/ Barnier told ambassadors the UK was still looking for a three year transition while the EU would accept 6 years, although some MS felt even that was not long enough

10/ The general feeling is that the UK offer does not give EU fishing communities stability and predictability - and it excludes the 6-12m zone. Also, acc to sources, the UK offer makes burden sharing difficult, eg Ireland + Denmark wd suffer disproportionately on pelagic stocks.

11/ Overall, member states believe fisheries is so sensitive and even non-coastal member states have not noticeably broken ranks on the issue (in Belgium, for example, fishing is a Flemish pursuit + the central govt can't afford to alienate Flemish nationalists on the issue)

12/ Barnier said the image of Brexit in Europe on Jan 1 would be angry protesting fishermen. How wd you explain to people we're going to give the UK interconnection rights in the North Sea to the EU grid + at the same time our boats aren't allowed to catch fish in UK waters?

13/ Other outstanding areas still not resolved: rules of origin for electric batteries; UK participation in Erasmus; and an EU demand for a non-discrimination clause...

14/ This wd mean that the UK cannot discriminate against any member state. It's been incorporated into social security cooperation, but not into the sphere of short term visas. This is a non-neogiable element for the EU, I'm told

15/ In particular there is a concern that, say, Romanian citizens would be given worse treatment compared to other member states when it came to short term visas.

16/ Council legal services told ambassadors that lawyer-linguists had been working "day and night" to try to get the draft text legally scrubbed and that even if the deal was done tonight MS would not get a watertight, legally scrubbed English text on time

17/ Officials refer to a non-legally scrubbed text as a "dirty" text (says here). The treaty wd need a special provision saying the 23 "authentic" legally-sound translated texts wd all be available in March / April and wd replace the "dirty" English text signed in the coming days

18/ Member states are getting increasingly frustrated that they cannot see a draft text yet. There will be a meeting of the Working Party tomorrow where member states will get a detailed outline of what's in the treaty (but no text) in a mtg which could last four hours

19/ And, wait for it, one official raised the possibility that the text is now 2,000 pages long, including annexes