Westministenders: Unilateral Ignoring of WHO rules

[RedToothBrush]

Where we are:

On 1st January the EU started to apply checks on all goods from the UK coming into the Union.

However the UK decided to take a slower route to this, and planned that on the 1st April the UK we would be carrying out Sanitary & Phytosanitary paperwork for animal and plant EU imports like meat and eggs.

Then on 1 July we'd implement a full customs check on all goods arriving into the UK from EU member states.

Obviously we've struggled with exports as we weren't ready for this and its fucked business. But ultimately the import side of things has yet to hit the shit fan still.

It sounds like there is likely to be issues with imports of food in particular, so there is talk of delaying our plan of checks until later in the day. There is concern that the reopening of pubs and restuarants which will up demands of imports occuring at the same time as checks are put in place is likely to be 'problematic'.

Remember we get 2/3 of fruit, veg and cheese from the EU. And half our wine. And to date these largely have only been affected by haulage issues NOT UK customs issues...

You might want to keep that in mind.

But at least giving the rise now, when the pandemic is still raging sends the right note - staff being rewarded for their dedication to their jobs, often going above and beyond what is their duty.

When Johnson does it in 2024 and we hope the pandemic is passed, it will look like the cynical action it is. Not that it will stop people voting Tory.

Too good not to share.

I am still gobsmacked that the Whitehall Civil Servants are allowing the jingoism and squirrel chasing
to utterly distract ministers from signing legislation to keep government functioning after May 6th

Ministers are either very stupid
or very, very stupid

Unusually, because of the pandemic, the Scottish Parliament hasn't been formally dissolved yet - technically it is now in recess although purdah now applies. It will only be formally dissolved on 5th May, the day before the Holyrood elections. This is apparently in case Parliament needs to be recalled to deal with Coronavirus issues.

@ListeningQuietly

I am still gobsmacked that the Whitehall Civil Servants are allowing the jingoism and squirrel chasing to utterly distract ministers from signing legislation to keep government functioning after May 6th

Ministers are either very stupid
or very, very stupid

Odd things might be going on.

Interesting to see the news that Nationwide are declaring a "work anywhere" culture for 13,000 employees. Anyone who was imagining that after would look like before is going to be disappointed. Not least the government who appear to have too much riding on things returning to 2019.

It was interesting to note that the Torygraph called the Festival of Brexit a waste of time and money. - Disclaimer, only read the headline.

The change in work patterns could have some interesting effects: younger people moving out of cities, places which tend to vote Labour. Well, we shall see.

@Peregrina

It was interesting to note that the Torygraph called the Festival of Brexit a waste of time and money. - Disclaimer, only read the headline.

The change in work patterns could have some interesting effects: younger people moving out of cities, places which tend to vote Labour. Well, we shall see.

I have a feeling that any change in working patterns is going to be in the face of a government determined it should not happen. Lets see how the tax system gets used to deter changes.

DGR
If meetings cannot be held and legal decisions taken
the location of desks becomes an utter irrelevance.

Peregrina
The Purdah rules are an impediment to coping with COVID
but the lack of anything for after the elections is a potential catastrophe.

Interesting to see the news that Nationwide are declaring a "work anywhere" culture for 13,000 employees

I heard their representative talking about this on the news this morning. he sounded so sensible. I found myself thinking that I wished I worked for Nationwide...

to utterly distract ministers from signing legislation to keep government functioning after May 6th

This sort of thing can have strange effects, once people realise that the Government no longer has legal authority. I can think of a couple of examples, one trivial that I know about - the local authority was happily charging people to use a car park for a good number of years. Eventually someone challenged them to say they had no authority to charge because the land belonged to the neighbouring authority. Whoops, those who could prove they had paid had to have their charges refunded and now the car park is free. The neighbouring authority seemed not to be interested in charging.

A second example, the one I have only read about: the day after the partition of India violence broke out. An ex Army officer of the Raj, who being British now had no authority whatever, went to the crowd and fired his gun in the air - causing them to disperse. But if they had realised he had no authority, or if he'd not been prepared to bluff, it could have got very very nasty indeed.

In both cases people didn't realise the legal authority was absent. In my car parking case, it was a local solicitor who took on the authority - I don't remember now whether it got to court or not.

Interesting to see the news that Nationwide are declaring a "work anywhere" culture for 13,000 employees

If I had still be working, I think I would probably have wanted to go in maybe one day a week for a team meeting, or similar and just for the interchange of ideas you get face to face. Zoom and Microsoft Teams are OK but only up to a point.

Breaking news here in Sweden: AstraZeneca vaccine can now be used again but only for people over 65. The conclusion of the Swedish medicines regulators is that there is a risk with it and the benefits only outweigh those risks in older people.

www.krisinformation.se/nyheter/20212/mars/aldre-kan-vaccineras-med-astra-zenecas-vaccin?fbclid=IwAR1oYcFKcNdbEonLPuchrZp-PKLJkGEIf7EISU1xFP4vaApCaA55IfEPwcs

That's what I call an Arse covering exercise

I agree with Kon Tikki.

The risk of COVID is thousands of times more severe than the risk of the vaccine.

But hey, give it a couple of years and this will all feel like a bad dream.

Some more of our money being spent

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/deloitte-is-being-paid-to-draft-ministers-parliamentary-answers-on-test-and-trace-260680/?utmmedium=social&utmmsource=facebook&utmcampaign=sfeu&fbclid=IwAR0kkmkZkBwgQbvVI36OAhl1xJF9fZ9baMKDnbEZrasKi2AvOkpCQqzqU8Q

If I had still be working, I think I would probably have wanted to go in maybe one day a week for a team meeting, or similar and just for the interchange of ideas you get face to face.

The Nationwide guy said similar and that it would be up to individuals to decide how they would manage it.

This just in.

www.lcdviews.com/breaking-babies-to-be-taught-to-recognise-union-flag-before-parents/

BREAKING : Babies to be taught to recognise Union Flag before parents

EARLY INTERVENTION : Great news today for infants with the announcement by Downing Street that the long mothballed Sure Start programme is to be rebooted, albeit it with a different focus.

“From 9am this morning a battalion of specially trained officers from the Home Office will be in attendance at all hospital maternity wards,” a Downing Street source says. “They will be recognisable by their Union Flag patterned uniforms and the decks of playful cards they will be brandishing. These are also flag patterned.”

The officers are tasked with ensuring all newborns in Brexit Britain receive immediate education on how to recognise the flag.

DGR don't give them ideas!

Yashin' frackin' idiot ministers
trying to cripple local government
SEETHING

www.thedailymash.co.uk/politics/politics-headlines/how-to-actually-have-sex-with-a-union-jack-20210326206528
How to actually have sex with a Union Jack

ARE you an ardent ‘flag shagger’ who’d like to literally have sexual intercourse with a Union Jack? Here’s how to go about it if you’re a patriotic weirdo or a Tory MP.

@RedToothBrush

www.thedailymash.co.uk/politics/politics-headlines/how-to-actually-have-sex-with-a-union-jack-20210326206528 How to actually have sex with a Union Jack

ARE you an ardent ‘flag shagger’ who’d like to literally have sexual intercourse with a Union Jack? Here’s how to go about it if you’re a patriotic weirdo or a Tory MP.

You beat me to it RTB

People may quit if forced to work from home, Rishi Sunak warns

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56535575

Seems to chime with what I've picked up that the government really can't cope with a collapse in commuting.

This is the softly softly. It'll be interesting to see what the stick looks like. Some sort of tax based on the property being used for work I guess.

DGR
Yeah, Shy have given Rishi loads of space too
news.sky.com/story/reopen-offices-after-lockdown-ends-or-your-staff-may-quit-rishi-sunak-warns-british-businesses-12256912

But he is talking bollocks

Employees do not want to go back to 5 day a week commuting

Companies do not want to have to fund 5 day a week office spaces

The environment is better without it

Cities and landlords will just have to adapt

Some sort of tax based on the property being used for work I guess.

As opposed to Capital gains tax on properties used for businesses?

From the employers point of view it cuts down the amount of office space required. I would imagine that significant numbers would choose hybrid working - which might well depend on their personal circumstances e.g. ages of children. What about those people who have already decided to move away from London, knowing that a once a fortnight journey into the Office is feasible from quite a long distance away, but too far for a daily commute?

Interesting times hey?

If significant numbers did move out of cities, one might speculate what electoral effect it would have. Cities tend to have younger Labour voters. Imagine comfortably off Richmond, which Sunak represents, if people decide that they no longer need to live near Leeds or Newcastle but could go down the A1(M) once a week with no problem. It might not work, Richmond may well be pricier than Leeds or Newcastle.