Westministenders: Where's my milk and cheese?

[RedToothBrush]

The 'smooth' exit from transition now leads to a million and one little things that you can't get hold of or took completely for granted.

Why is sainsbury in NI selling spa milk? Why can't you get hold of your favourite food stuff?

Its a slow strangulation of the country.

In which you get to learn all about the merits of the EU and what a donkey Johnson really is.

@Peregrina

"The UK can now regulate in more innovative and effective ways which suit the UK economy and UK businesses without being bound by EU rules

I'm blowed if I can see why adding a burden of red tape helps businesses to innovate.

And I’m blowed that the Government can set civil servants to work removing references to the EU from millions of documents in the middle of a pandemic and associated economic crisis, when they could presumably be doing more useful things.

I’m trying to think of an adequate historical parallel but am stumped.

And I’m blowed that the Government can set civil servants to work removing references to the EU from millions of documents in the middle of a pandemic and associated economic crisis, when they could presumably be doing more useful things. [] I’m trying to think of an adequate historical parallel but am stumped.

Of course, if the pandemic is really fake, that's exactly what I would expect to happen. Along with Boris actively protecting his mate Cummings.

In fact it's entirely possible that the reason Boris knew he didn't need a Brexit extension was because he knew Covid was all madey uppy.

(We all know that there are real people out there, with real coughs and splutters that believe that sort of thing ...)

Operation Bleach seems extremely Stalinist, if I may say so.
How much better it would be if those civil servants were employed to make Brexit work.

Still let us make a list of people that Johnson and cronies have pissed off or deliberately slighted.
Scotland,
Musicians - Patel's handiwork all over this
Potential Erasmus students.
Anyone exporting now burdened with more red tape.
Anyone importing, now burdened with more red tape
EU citizens in UK
UK residents in EU.

Then we add the brexiters - farmers and fishermen, but can't find too much sympathy for them.

Bonus - this one especially for Corcory, who hasn't been on the thread for a week or so. More black and brown immigrants, who may include Christians but may well not be.

@born - completely agree. Over 4000 Britons died in the last week, because of government incompetence..... completely avoidable deaths. Over 80000 so far.
The impact of the pandemic has meant we are one of the worst hit countries economically ... and then you have Brexit which they have fucked that up too , further strangling business's .... but what are the worried about ? Cleansing the statute books.
When will ordinary people sit up, take notice and get Mad?

When will ordinary people sit up, take notice and get Mad?

Why do you think lockdown has been strengthened ?

AND

People only care when it directly affects THEM

Rules of origin seem to be causing upset

Businesses have also been completely blindsided by the ‘rule of origin’ part of the deal, which leaves them at a major competitive disadvantage when selling in the EU.

"Unfortunately, not enough was done to prepare them for this. It takes years to build an effective supply chain — and using non-EU suppliers is often the best option both in terms of cost and quality.”

www.thejournal.ie/brexit-rules-of-origin-trade-5321296-Jan2021/

Rules of origin seem to be causing upset

I have seen the FSB (Federation of Small Business) hand wringing to all the press over the weekend.
I left them because they stayed on the fence about Brexit.
When I left I told them that they were selling members down the river by not giving warnings.

I told you so is the order of the day

I have seen the FSB (Federation of Small Business) hand wringing to all the press over the weekend. [] I left them because they stayed on the fence about Brexit.

As with Trump, the silence was enabling. Although given the ferocity of the medias "ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE" narrative, it's hard not to be a little sympathetic. But no like many (looks at Labour) they sold their souls for a quiet life and I suspect a little bit of that Money Tree that Theresa May started flashing (now there's an operation mind bleach for you) in a clear signal that as long as you shut up, and helped grease the tracks to the chambers, you'd be seen OK.

I hope they aren't too surprised that now it's going to shit, no one is really interested - just enough to sell papers, but not enough to actually do anything.

Can anyone tell me how much better we are with this agreement than if we had No Deal?

Operation Bleach isn’t going to stop the uk rejoining if it wants to. Just like having EU ref didn’t stop brexit.

I think it’s more about trying to erase an era and act as if it had never been. Personally I’d give it a year or two at most for people to accept and then forget.
Just like people have got used to the high number of covid deaths. Or not been able to see a GP, having more or less no social support (disability benefit, illness etc...). And still be totally convinced they have the best deal in the world

For centrist parties, there is "Renew" which launched in 2017 but seemed to go very quiet. It still exists. It would be nice to hear from Starmer exactly what he stands for, all I'm hearing is what he won't do. Like or hate Corbyn, we all knew he had some kind of vision. You just don't get that from Starmer, and someone who won't say anything for fear of offending someone is no less useless than populist leaders. I'm also feeling disenfranchised. My natural representatives are the Greens but I will not vote for the trans ideology or people who tell me that women believing in biology are not welcome.

Starmer, in fact, is beginning to feel like a caretaker.

Enough already with the Starmer bashing. Brexit is a Tory beast. I am pretty sure he's a remainer but do you really want him to be headline news whilst the electorate are still pro Brexit. There isn't an election for years and the fallout from Brexit is like a slow puncture. The penny hasn't dropped yet. Surely if we've learned nothing in the last few years it is that you have to play the long game and play the right wing media at their own game.

LQ - I know you are in a low Covid area , but I have friends who are working in the nhs and it's horrific - so I don't think lockdown has anything to do with suppressing protest. But unfortunately- this is not a "proper" lockdown - it's a halfway house and so I I think we will continue to limp on - not actually knocking Covid on the head - and it combining with Brexit to strangle the economy

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55609315

I’m afraid that in the same way remainers expect brexiteers to own their shit, the centrists who endorsed Starmer are going to have to do the same thing.

With a border in the Irish Sea and with the call for Scottish independence growing stronger England is likely to be forever Tory. 2017 was the last opportunity to make a difference but others apparently knew better.

@GhostofFrankGrimes

I’m afraid that in the same way remainers expect brexiteers to own their shit, the centrists who endorsed Starmer are going to have to do the same thing.

With a border in the Irish Sea and with the call for Scottish independence growing stronger England is likely to be forever Tory. 2017 was the last opportunity to make a difference but others apparently knew better.

Centrists who embraced the only viable alternative to Corbyn will have to own something akin to nuking the U.K. economy and international status? Really?

I don’t see what else Starmer can do but wait for the Brexit noose to hang itself.

To reassure those that think that Scotland becoming independent would result in England being forever Tory: it is very rare that the Scottish MPs make a difference to the colour of the Government . In fact, in the last government, it was the new Scottish Conservative MPs who gave May enough MPs to even be in a position to make a deal with the DUP fat lot of good it did them

Indeed, the few times when the MPs elected in Scotland made a difference, it's usually resulted in an unstable or short lived government.

England gets what England votes for. Whether that be Labour or Conservative.

I don’t know that anyone will be forever Tory after the fallout of Brexit.

The Tory brand will become toxic eventually. But we’re talking long term 5-10 years.

Centrists who embraced the only viable alternative to Corbyn will have to own something akin to nuking the U.K. economy and international status? Really?

The thing is Starmer doesn't look very viable at the moment does he? A bit of robust opposition during a pandemic, after 10 years of austerity and with populism on the march would be lovely right now. Waiting for some sort of day of reckoning when the penny drops that Brexit is crap is never going to come anyway.

He looks far more viable than any of the other candidates.

I would prefer more opposition. But being arsed and argumentative in a pandemic wouldn’t achieve much.

Still let us make a list of people that Johnson and cronies have pissed off or deliberately slighted.
Scotland,
Musicians - Patel's handiwork all over this
Potential Erasmus students.
Anyone exporting now burdened with more red tape.
Anyone importing, now burdened with more red tape
EU citizens in UK
UK residents in EU.

add to that EU citizens who had lived in uk for many years and had to relocate due to brexit and have been properly shafted wrt pensions, bank accounts...

I would prefer more opposition. But being arsed and argumentative in a pandemic wouldn’t achieve much.
But on the basis that Johnson has +80
The Opposition could openly and constructively oppose

• by abstaining on the "deal"
• by asking awkward questions every day about contracts
• by asking about laptops and sure start and cancer care

in fact if Labour had decent advisers they could be highlighting the shittiness of the current mob
day in day out
without being seen to weaken the country

I don’t see what else Starmer can do but wait for the Brexit noose to hang itself.

Yeah. I have thought about this a lot and my considered opinion after reading a lot of bad takes is that the best take is: it's politics. Political statements have a very short half life. If/when Brexit turns out to be a pile of steaming dog shit, Starmer's position will change as quick as you can say oven ready deal.

I don’t agree with a whip to abstain on the deal because it’s a strong an anti-Brexit message to all the Lexiters who hung with Labour that they will need at the next election. I’d have gone for a free vote.

But I can’t disagree with anything else.

One problem is that at the top of any party you need a group with a vision who can work together. Thatcher had that around her, Blair did. Starmer, and indeed whoever might have been in his place, is a bit isolated.