Westministers : Saving the Union

[RedToothBrush]

Apparently we need a tunnel. Just like we needed the £53 million failed Garden Bridge.

Nice little earner for anyone involved.

Mixed news here: Rutnam has agreed a six figure settlement in his case against Priti Patel. Mixed because it means that the taxpayer stumps up, not Patel or Johnson and that neither of them get hauled before an employment tribunal, but also good because of the size of the settlement.

Peregrina
In person Proxy voting on the day is new
www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter/voting-person-post-or-proxy/voting-proxy
Bosnia Herzegovina used it successfully last year so the UK has no excuse

My dad has regularly made use of the proxy voting facility as he's usually in South Africa in May or for other periods, 6 weeks at a time, so that he can't do a postal vote.

I would've been happy to do it but he's the other side of the city and I'd have had to travel across to his polling station so he's given it to a neighbour of his who he trusts.

This year of course he can vote in person

PS could somebody PLEASE lock Layla Moran in a cupboard.
I knew she was barking before but she is a gift to the Brexiters.

I do despair that we have three opposition parties who think that men are women
a leading opposition party who voted for the Brexit deal
and a government of crony vicious incompetence
fed by a right wing press

and now the Daily Mail has bought New Scientist

@ListeningQuietly

PS could somebody PLEASE lock Layla Moran in a cupboard. I knew she was barking before but she is a gift to the Brexiters.

I do despair that we have three opposition parties who think that men are women
a leading opposition party who voted for the Brexit deal
and a government of crony vicious incompetence
fed by a right wing press

and now the Daily Mail has bought New Scientist

Dreadful woman.

The LDs are having trouble attracting any candidates of any quality now.

Looks like LQ, RTB and me agree on something after all, although I wouldn't go as far as describing LM as a "a dreadful woman" --coz, she's probably not completely "dreadful", as a woman, or even person, but thoroughly agree that the 'political stage' is not the best place for her.

Dear Layla,
When you can get me, RTB and Hate in agreement
you KNOW you have bollocksed up

I was chatting to some LD folks this week and their response is but our local party are OK
FFS the local party are invisible even at local level
and if the national party are toxic
yeah, Corbyn, you were on that list
the local party are screwed.

and now the Daily Mail has bought New Scientist

At least the Fail abhors wokery of the wanky sort. So perhaps the NS will continue to believe in biological sex (I hope it still does, but nothing would surprise me now).

www.rte.ie/news/us/2021/0304/1201060-us-good-friday-agreement/

Biden 'unequivocal' in support for Good Friday Agreement

Updated / Thursday, 4 Mar 2021 20:23

Joe Biden's spokesperson described the agreement as "the bedrock of peace, stability and prosperity for all the people of Northern Ireland"

By Brian O'Donovan

Washington Correspondent

A spokesperson for US President Joe Biden has said that he has been unequivocal in his support for the Good Friday Agreement and that this remains the case.

The White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked a question about plans for a US-UK trade deal and about yesterday's move by the British government to unilaterally change how the Northern Ireland Protocol is implemented.

It also comes after loyalist paramilitary organisations said they were temporarily withdrawing support for the Good Friday Agreement.

Asked about President Biden's previous statement that a trade deal must be contingent on respect for the agreement, Ms Paski said that certainly remains the case.

"This agreement has been the bedrock of peace, stability and prosperity for all the people of Northern Ireland.

"We also welcome cooperation between our British and Irish partners on the Northern Irish Protocol and the recent strong statements on these governments' full commitment to the Good Friday Agreement," she added.

Ms Psaki was also asked about plans for the upcoming St Patrick's Day celebrations at the White House.

"The president has a special place in his heart for the Irish, as do I, and I expect certainly that we will have more details to share soon.

"Of course, any recognition of St Patrick’s Day would look different from past years but we will certainly mark the day and will have more to say on it as we get closer," she said.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin will meet virtually with President Biden later this month.

Officials in Dublin and Washington are finalising the programme of events.

Why isn't our press reporting like this, eh. Such an accurate and respectful article.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/03/01/world/europe/uk-covid-pandemic.html

my mum has completed her training (a million nhs modules, ridiculous) and is going to be a vaccinator shortly . so proud of her.

There is no political party for anyone under 35. And a lot of rage and unemployment.

What will happen?

I'm a nearly 50 year old woman squid and there's no political party for me either :(
That was a great article

@squid4
I'm 55 and I'm politically homeless too

I agree Bee - I turn 50 this year and am politically homeless.... not that I have ever been committed to one party ...... but if there was an election tomorrow- I guess I would vote Labour - but more because I was voting against the Tories

I'll be giving my (postal) vote to my son. Its his future after all.
I've voted Labour, green and LD in the past and I'm not above tactical voting but I cannot bring myself to vote for any of the current self serving wankers.
As an adult human female I'll assume that the woke-tastic parties don't want my vote, anyway as I don't actually exist.
Rather like the great brexshit 🦄

[quote ListeningQuietly]@squid4
I'm 55 and I'm politically homeless too[/quote]
Ditto.

Why aren't the opposition parties listening to us instead of pandering to students and twitter keyboard warriors!???

I feel much the same, but no matter how negative it seems, I will vote against the Tories. Because if I don’t, how can I possibly complain about anything they do?

I also read the article linked by squid4 - a good read, but very sad.

Thank you for the link, squid. Sobering.

Thanks for the article link squid - sobering reading. Hope things are going ok for you. Have requested a postal vote for local elections, never used one before how far before the election do they arrive? Very much voting against this government rather than for Labour, but they are the main opposition here.

Interesting article squid4 - heartbreaking

I also found the comments interesting.

But many of the American commenters seemed to blame "the NHS" for the awful UK death rate, rather than understanding that it was despite the best efforts of the NHS (plus of course, no one getting a bill for their healthcare) and more to do with mistakes in the Government policy than failings in healthcare.

And of course it did the usual conflating of England with the UK

Not sure why anyone is worrying about voting. Seems your vote is worth the square root of fuck all.

sussexbylines.co.uk/eu-nationals-second-class-citizens-in-post-brexit-britain/

On 11 February 2021 the High Court ruled that although thousands of EU citizens were denied their right to vote in the 2019 European elections, they will have no redress against the government. As Brighton & Hove City Council’s Brexit lead and as a German citizen, I am deeply disappointed at this injustice.

(contd)

More winning!

- before Brexit the UK used to belong to the European Investment Bank, which invested £5bn a year in UK infrastructure

- the UK's new National Infrastructure Bank, announced in the Budget, will provide just £1.5bn a year in projects

Thanks for the NY Times article squid4