Westminstenders: The New Era

[RedToothBrush]

Scotland.
The GFA.
Its not Brexit Honest.
Levelling Up Shitholes caused by Tory austerity.
Babymilk Shortages
Cronyism

But we did good with covid jabs.

Meanwhile (yet) another story showing that Britain held it's own when the "Romans" fucked off ...

www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1444634/archaeology-breakthrough-mosaic-roman-empire-chedworth-villa-dark-ages-spt

"Dark Ages" my arse.

That squirrel has outsourced its auto-fellatio good and proper

I don't get the 'we're free from the ECJ' line trotted out by leavers. Who do they think will settle disputes that arise as a result of the EU/UK trade deal? Because if they think it's not the ECJ then they've clearly not been following closely enough.

Explained here -

Dispute settlement
Both agreements [The Withdrawal Agreement and The Trade and Cooperation Agreement] include a dispute settlement system. These involve referral to an independent arbitration body if a dispute is not resolved between the two parties. The UK and EU have to nominate an equal number of independent arbitrators, with jointly agreed chairs.

The Joint Committee agreed a list of potential arbitrators for the WA in December. The Partnership Council has until the end of June to agree a list of arbitrators for the TCA. Interim arrangements for selecting a tribunal would apply if needed before then.

The main features of the two arbitration systems are set out in the table below...in both agreements, non-compliance can lead to suspension of treaty obligations...

Role of Court of Justice of EU
An important difference between the two arbitration systems relates to the involvement of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU). Under the WA, if any dispute involves questions regarding interpretation of EU law, the arbitration panel must refer the interpretation to the CJEU. The CJEU’s ruling will be binding on the panel.

The EU sought a similar role for the CJEU in the TCA, but this was opposed by the UK. There is no role for the CJEU in TCA dispute settlement. TCA provisions will be interpreted in line with customary international law.

commonslibrary.parliament.uk/governing-the-new-uk-eu-relationship-and-resolving-disputes/

@yellowspanner

Peregrina. As it happens I have voted for several parties including the Labour Party. I look at the policies not the headline name of the party. Obviously the windrush situation was a terrible mistake. The Government apologised. Everyone makes mistakes. I certainly do. The person who does not make mistakes is yet to be born. Or perhaps it's you? 🤷‍♀️

Thought you said you voted for Johnson to be conservative party leader?

Windrush went on for years, it was a deliberate policy, not a mistake, they apologised only when caught out.

The Tescos's ECJ ruling is a bit of a dilemma for you, support it and it destroys your argument against the ECJ, oppose it and you then support poor uk employment law and the exploitation of female workers.

So you admit that post brexit the UK is not free from the ECJ and have kindly provided a copy and paste that proves it. Thank you.

the latest ECJ ruling against the UK and in favour of Tesco (mainly female) workers and equal pay...
yet it is the ECJ that has stepped in to protect low paid women, when the UK would not...

The ECJ hasn't ruled against the UK - they have ruled against Tesco - similar court ruling involving Asda here in March;

Thousands of Asda supermarket workers have won a major victory at the Supreme Court in their battle for equal pay.

"Already an employment tribunal, the employment appeal tribunal and the Court of Appeal ruled that these roles can be compared, and now the Supreme Court has come to the same conclusion.

Lawyers say the ruling will have implications for supermarkets and other retailers...

"It is a watershed moment for the rest of the retail industry, particularly those defending their own equal pay claims - such as Sainsbury's, Tesco, Morrisons and Next - and which have similar staffing models and pay structures." ...

Following the Supreme Court ruling, lawyers say the next stage would involve an employment tribunal deciding whether specific store and distribution jobs were of "equal value"...

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56534988

Tesco claimed the law was not applicable in the UK.

The decision was sent to the European Court of Justice (CJEU) for clarification after being first heard at an employment tribunal in Watford, and is thought to be one of the last major decisions by the EU in relation to UK employment law before changes brought about by Brexit take hold...

"There are a number of British laws relating to equality which were made when the UK was part of the EU," said Ms Daurka [a partner in the employment team at law firm Leigh Day, which represented the Tesco employees]."British Parliament has chosen to retain those laws, including ones relating to equal pay, so they still form part of British law."

In a statement following the decision, Tesco maintained that the jobs in its stores and distribution centres were different.

"These roles require different skills and demands which lead to variations in pay - but this has absolutely nothing to do with gender," a spokesperson for Tesco said. "We continue to strongly defend these claims..."

news.sky.com/story/top-european-court-rules-against-tesco-in-equal-pay-case-12323737

The Tescos's ECJ ruling is a bit of a dilemma for you, support it and it destroys your argument against the ECJ, oppose it and you then support poor uk employment law and the exploitation of female workers.

I wouldn't worry too much if I were YS. It seems Tesco have fuck all intention of abiding by it anyway.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57343892

A Tesco spokesperson said: "[]These claims are extremely complex and will take many years to reach a conclusion. We continue to strongly defend these claims."

So they'll just carry on as before. After all, who's gonna enforce it ?

Meanwhile, back on the Ranch ...

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-57335499

The Home Office's decision to house cross-channel migrants in a "squalid" barracks in Folkestone was unlawful, the High Court has ruled.

(contd)

Presumably YS will accuse the judges of being pinko-"got-at" (as my DM would say in spy thrillers)-liberal-metropolitan-elite types who are even more reasons to do away with courts everywhere. After all, who are they to defy the Will Of The People ?

FatCatThinCat

You quite clearly referred to the "trade deal" and you were not aware of the independent arbitration body.

The ECJ hasn't ruled against the UK - they have ruled against Tesco

Err the ECJ has over ruled the interpretation of UK law..... which Tesco sought to rely on.

The Tesco case seems to be further ahead than Asda, which still has to go to an employment tribunal to decide if the roles are indeed equal.

@Clavinova

FatCatThinCat

You quite clearly referred to the "trade deal" and you were not aware of the independent arbitration body.

The point, as you well know, was that the UK is not and will never be free from the ECJ. Brexit is a sham. Get pedantic over the precise words I used if it makes you feel better about being conned. I used the wrong technical words, typing quickly while trying to wrangle my autistic son, Everyone makes mistakes. The person who does not make mistakes is yet to be born.

FFS, it's like trying to reason with custard.

And another thing, the independent arbitration panel, which I know nothing about despite doing a law degree in the EU, will be made of arbitrators picked by the EU and UK. Who do you think they will be? The very same people who sit in the ECJ or sat in the ECJ before Britain threw its toys out the pram. Decisions will be taken by the same people who would have made the decision before brexit. It's all smoke and mirrors to fool the useful idiots. And it's working.

FatCatThinCat
Get pedantic over the precise words I used if it makes you feel better about being conned

I don't feel conned at all - I was trying to be helpful - but you quite clearly posted;

Who do they think will settle disputes that arise as a result of the EU/UK trade deal? Because if they think it's not the ECJ then they've clearly not been following closely enough.

You are right DGR. The judges are pinko "got at" liberal metropolitan elite types. You don't say who "got at" them. Who was it?

FatCatThinCat

Just found one of the Arbitration panels here;

28 December 2020

Council Decision on Members of the EU-UK Arbitration Panel
...
Under Article 171 of the Withdrawal Agreement, the Joint Committee is to establish, no later than by the end of the transition period, a list of 25 persons who are willing and able to serve as members of an arbitration panel. The list is to only comprise persons whose independence is beyond doubt, who possess the qualifications required for appointment to the highest judicial office in their respective countries or who are jurisconsults of recognised competence, and who possess specialised knowledge or experience of EU law and public international law. The list is not to comprise persons who are members, officials or other servants of the EU institutions, of the government of a Member State, or of the government of the UK.

eulawlive.com/council-decision-on-members-of-the-eu-uk-arbitration-panel/

So previous judges (who are not servants to the EU and never were) can i would expect be on this panel?

The list is to only comprise persons whose independence is beyond doubt, who possess the qualifications required for appointment to the highest judicial office in their respective countries or who are jurisconsults of recognised competence, and who possess specialised knowledge or experience of EU law and public international law

jasjas1973
The Tesco case seems to be further ahead than Asda, which still has to go to an employment tribunal to decide if the roles are indeed equal.

A Tesco spokesperson said: "The jobs in our stores and distribution centres are different. These roles require different skills and demands which lead to variations in pay - but this has absolutely nothing to do with gender.

"We reward our colleagues fairly for the jobs they do and work hard to ensure that the pay and benefits we offer are fair, competitive and sustainable.

"These claims are extremely complex and will take many years to reach a conclusion. We continue to strongly defend these claims."

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57343892

@Clavinova Yes, i read that, whats the point you are trying to make?

Yes, I read that, what's the point you are trying to make?

I should have looked at my link more closely and quoted this - (the Asda case is further ahead);

The legal test for comparability is only the first of three stages within Asda's overall pay claim, which is expected to take several years to conclude.

Leigh Day is also handing similar equal pay claims against Sainsbury's, Tesco, Morrisons and Co-op, which are not as far advanced.

.

Yes but the Tesco case has already been to an Employment Tribunal where comparability would have been decided but ECJ clarification was sought on EU law, which tbh is all they ever did really.... clarify EU law which we helped draw up and agreed to too.... this idea they "over ruled" uk courts is ridiculous!

Not really sure where Tesco will go with this now, they are bound by the ECJ judgement, regardless of what they have said.

yellowspanner Everyone makes mistakes. I certainly do. The person who does not make mistakes is yet to be born. Or perhaps it's you?.

Whatever 'side' you lie on re Brexit, or any issue, I completely with YH's comment I've quoted above, my own saying is "I've yet to meet the perfect person". I'm only 58 so there's a chance I still misght.

Converging the Windrush scandal with Brexit is harking back to the post-Ref huffing and puffing and 'Gammon Days' - they are not the same; Windrush is a 'Scandal' and Brexit is not.

The Scandal was created by a Civil Servant on a Low Pay Scale clearing out the Filing, not an intentional policy designed to ruin the lives of some of the first West Indian Immigrants that the UK asked to come here.

Brexit is different because millions of the Electorate voted for it. With many payscales involved.

Good to see the old 'candles' still burning and some new ones too - debate and working through disagreements is a Fine Art.

Sorry but the scandal started in 2012 and was eventually bought to national prominence in 2017.

This wasn't some admin error, it came out of the "hostile environment" policy, which sought to remove those without papers and May and Cameron were will aware or should have been that Windrush children (now adults) were being deported.

You are just belittling a very serious issue, people died, denied being with loved ones, couldn't attend funerals.

Doubtless the Napier Barracks scandal is also just another "mistake"

Paul Mason article on how populism is not a safety valve for fascism.

"The modus operandi of right wing populism is now to gain power, eviscerate democracy, creating space on the streets, the media and online for the fascists to operate, and even – in the case of Trump – to turn official conservative parties into the willing hosts of fascism."

And...

"Everything fascists do is designed to propagate a myth: that a global ethnic civil war is coming, from which will emerge ethnically “pure” continental powers; that in order to prevent “white genocide”, western societies must be rid of ethnic and religious diversity; that all forms of liberalism and democracy are – in reality – Marxism; that western society will endure a cataclysmic end, from which a pre-Enlightement society will emerge.

Over the past ten years I have watched this new thought-architecture of fascism colonise the minds of people who were once only motivated by racism, ignorance and xenophobia. They have backfilled their prejudices with theory. And that’s why the danger has increased."

progressive-governance.eu/blog/2021/05/31/modern-fascism-on-the-net/

Nigel Farage on LBC today:
'I never said it would be a beneficial thing to leave'

Yes he bloody well did!