Westminstenders: Tachographs and Empty Shelves

[pointythings]

So Grant Shapps' solution to the shortage of lorry drivers is to allow them to drive longer hours.

Leading to more accidents and deaths on the UK's roads. But Brexit is Job Done and all is well - isn't it?

I saw that story Peregrina, and like you, thought it was a joke. But it's in the Independent too. Extraordinary that we can still benefit from EU money, too.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-eu-flag-covid-recovery-cash-councils-b1889502.html

Another one finding out the consequences of his vote...

And Brexshit making us all safer, or not, obviously...

@HannibalHayeski

Another one finding out the consequences of his vote...

Oh how my weary heart bleeds :)

@HannibalHayeski

And Brexshit making us all safer, or not, obviously...

It wont be Schapps getting mown down by a lorry, so he doesn't give a 4X

There is a very real danger that the UKs official position becomes one that it never intended to abide by it's treaty obligations. Arguably the worst possible outcome possible.
DGR

I doubt that will ever become the official position.

However, everyone else involved in this has already concluded that the UK acted in bad faith from the start, signed the Protocol with fingers crossed behind its back in order to 'make Brexit happen', and never had any intention of complying with it.

www.irishtimes.com/opinion/editorial/the-irish-times-view-on-the-northern-ireland-protocol-boris-johnson-s-demands-cannot-be-met-1.4628889

"The Irish Times view on the Northern Ireland protocol: Boris Johnson’s demands cannot be met"
Boris Johnson is asking the EU to accept a system based on trust, but trust is in short supply when it comes to a prime minister who has shown little evidence that he is acting in good faith

This is a hard hitting article and well worth reading.

Although the proposals [for a standstill/suspension of the Protocol's terms] are couched in the rhetoric of concern about the protocol’s impact on Northern Ireland, this British government has shown scant regard for the adverse effect of its policies on the people there. In proposing a blanket amnesty for Troubles-related offences, it ignored the concerns of victims and drew the opposition of every party in Northern Ireland for the sake of appeasing Conservative backbenchers. Brexit minister David Frost and Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis have made no effort to discourage unionist unrest over the protocol while they paid their respects to groups representing loyalist paramilitaries. They have nothing to say about the advantages the protocol gives to Northern businesses, which can trade freely with the EU as well as with the rest of the UK.

I doubt that will ever become the official position.

It may have to. That was my point. There are only so many credible answers the UK can give the world about why it wants to scrap a deal it pushed for less than a year ago. One is that the UK is run by incompetents and had no clue what it was signing. The other is that it jolly well did know, but signed anyway to shut the EU up.

Once you eliminate one, you are left with the other.

Or it signed to appease the Tory Party. I suspecte that they genuinely believed that they could 'renegotiate' if it didn't suit.

@Peregrina

Or it signed to appease the Tory Party. I suspecte that they genuinely believed that they could 'renegotiate' if it didn't suit.

TL;DR - they signed in bad faith.

You can use as many adjectives as you like around the nouns. But the precis will always be the same.

edition.cnn.com/2021/07/24/business/brexit-deal-northern-ireland-gbr-intl-cmd/index.html

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

UK Government orders councils to display EU flag as condition of receiving Covid high street cash

@DGRossetti

I doubt that will ever become the official position.

It may have to. That was my point. There are only so many credible answers the UK can give the world about why it wants to scrap a deal it pushed for less than a year ago. One is that the UK is run by incompetents and had no clue what it was signing. The other is that it jolly well did know, but signed anyway to shut the EU up.

Once you eliminate one, you are left with the other.

I’m not sure why you’re eliminating the first option, though? Cummings and whoever’s pulling his strings seem to have their sights set on Johnson now. If there’s going to be a leadership change, ‘well, the previous lot were a bunch of incompetents’ seems to be a good way to get out of this hole they’ve dug. Blame Johnson and his pals for everything that’s gone wrong, and possibly salvage the UK’s reputation internationally?

Either of those would play well for a leadership challenge - "Do you want to be led by people who are incompetent, or do you want to be led by people who are dishonest?" At the moment, the latter seems to be edging ahead.

I’m not sure why you’re eliminating the first option, though?

I'm not eliminating it. However some government official somewhere will. Meaning that only the second explanation can be true.

Of course they are free to insist that isn't the case - in which case we return to the first option being the only possible explanation.

Clearly some people here haven't had the luck of extended interviews with senior police detectives

Anway, surely most of the UK has well passed the point of taking anything this shower of shits say into account when making their judgements ? Johnson could say water is wet, and I would still wait until someone I trusted confirmed it.

Slightly OT, but one thing not out of stock at Sainsburys yesterday was ostrich steaks. So that's dinner tonight sorted

Still have squirrel on the "to eat" list for sometime soon ...

@Peregrina

Either of those would play well for a leadership challenge - "Do you want to be led by people who are incompetent, or do you want to be led by people who are dishonest?" At the moment, the latter seems to be edging ahead.

As the current crop seem to be hell bent on demonstrating that the two aren’t mutually exclusive, is the question really “Do you want to be led by people who are incompetent, people who are dishonest, or people who are both dishonest and incompetent?”

Expecting to find politicians who are neither seems to be unrealistic these days

@QueenOfThorns, you are being optimistic.
As Brazil and the USA have demonstrated, being incompetent AND dishonest are vote winners. Really.

Have fallen off these threads a bit...thanks to all the regulars for keeping them going.
Glad to hear BCF is OK.
Just popping by with this:
twitter.com/dwnews/status/1419206032182501377

[quote TheABC]@QueenOfThorns, you are being optimistic.
As Brazil and the USA have demonstrated, being incompetent AND dishonest are vote winners. Really.[/quote]
Sadly you're right. I do despair of people.

Seems to me that Brexit continues to fuel a weird apparent Anglo Saxon need to be angry. England needs to be angry to justify its position in the world and collaboration and consensus do not fit well in satisfying this need. Since EU is based on working together it has to be opposed.

Nail, meet head;

Withnail Jones
@withnailjones
·
18m
To summarise Cummings recent Twitter ramblings:

• Brexit is shit
• I never guaranteed Brexit wouldn’t be shit
• It’s the Trolley’s fault Brexit is shit
• Brexit would’ve been great if I’d been in charge as the EU would’ve done what I told them to do
• Why won’t you love me?

Should have been hammer, obv, but was looking at the name...

Ds just sent me this.... (and that we have to thole him )

BJ that is, not ds

UK asks for Brexshit standstill which would see Northern Ireland checks put on hold indefinitely.

So, er, "job done" apparently...