Werthead Posted November 7, 2020 Share Posted November 7, 2020 Continue. News from the US should be interesting for its impact on the UK and on Brexit. Biden is lukewarm on the special relationship (once turning down a request for comment from the BBC by saying, "I'm Irish,") and has referred to Johnson as a "kind of a physical and emotional clone" of Donald Trump. Johnson's jibes against Obama are not going to have been forgotten either. In fact, some in the Biden camp believe that Johnson is cut from the same cloth as Trump and Bolsonaro, which is probably slightly harsh but will colour Biden's dealings with the UK. This could very much have a direct and moderating impact on how the UK proceeds from here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted November 7, 2020 Share Posted November 7, 2020 I laughed out loud when the guys at CNN read out Boris’s message to Biden. Especially the climate change part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 The government pick a good day to bury the inevitable school meals climbdown: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-54841316 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 3 minutes ago, mormont said: The government pick a good day to bury the inevitable school meals climbdown: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-54841316 I love that they headlined it with 'Marcus Rashford'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 1 hour ago, polishgenius said: I love that they headlined it with 'Marcus Rashford'. It's also weird that the Prime Minister is having to phone Rashford to explain himself. 1 hour ago, mormont said: The government pick a good day to bury the inevitable school meals climbdown: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-54841316 It must be hard to schedule all the U-turns. I think the current rate is about one every 5 days. I wonder what the next will be - maybe something Brexit related? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denvek Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 54 minutes ago, williamjm said: It must be hard to schedule all the U-turns. I think the current rate is about one every 5 days. I wonder what the next will be - maybe something Brexit related? It'll be the removal of the "We're allowed to break international law" clauses in the Internal Markets Bill, now that Biden's won the US election and won't give them a trade deal if they don't do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ants Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 On 11/8/2020 at 5:39 AM, Fragile Bird said: I laughed out loud when the guys at CNN read out Boris’s message to Biden. Especially the climate change part. What did he say? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 32 minutes ago, ants said: What did he say? “The US is our important ally and I look forward to working closely together on our shared priorities, from climate change to trade and security.” Just when exactly in the last 4 years did you hear Boris tell Trump that climate change was a shared priority? As far as I knew, BJ didn’t even know climate change existed! Was anyone else here aware that climate change was a priority of BJ’s? Honestly, I guffawed out loud! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pebble thats Stubby Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 6 hours ago, Fragile Bird said: “The US is our important ally and I look forward to working closely together on our shared priorities, from climate change to trade and security.” Just when exactly in the last 4 years did you hear Boris tell Trump that climate change was a shared priority? As far as I knew, BJ didn’t even know climate change existed! Was anyone else here aware that climate change was a priority of BJ’s? Honestly, I guffawed out loud! Boris's priority is the same as Trumps. Staying PM / President. Boris is just a little better at U turns, when it proves the current course is harmful to his priority. Appearing to have good relations with the US helps achieve staying PM. And also a trade deal. This as the new President is keen on the environment, Boris will claim to be so, probably without ever doing anything other than talk big posh words about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 Johnson is in fact chairing a meeting on climate change today. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54867442 It's something he does accept is an actual issue, albeit in a very typical Johnson way - white heat of technology will save us, nuclear power key to zero emissions, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 In other news, Joe Biden has a real crisis on his hands. https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/brexit-news/westminster-news/conservative-mp-john-rewood-warns-joe-biden-6215718 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IheartIheartTesla Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 Well, Biden and BoJo dont have that shared experience of suffering from, and subsequently recovering from COVID after receiving expensive therapeutics; so give this special relationship some time to incubate and flourish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 16 hours ago, Fragile Bird said: “The US is our important ally and I look forward to working closely together on our shared priorities, from climate change to trade and security.” Just when exactly in the last 4 years did you hear Boris tell Trump that climate change was a shared priority? As far as I knew, BJ didn’t even know climate change existed! Was anyone else here aware that climate change was a priority of BJ’s? Honestly, I guffawed out loud! There is a big UN Climate Change conference the UK is hosting next year (originally meant to be this year). As the leader of the host country Boris probably wants to at least give the appearance that he might take some action. I suppose one small benefit of the delay to the conference is the US might actually show up to it now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted November 9, 2020 Author Share Posted November 9, 2020 Yeah, to be fair to Boris, whilst he has been happy to ride the coattails of populism, he's not quite in that bracket himself (he's been part of the British political establishment/elite for well over twenty years; his man of the people schtick is so inauthentic as to be laughable) and he does acknowledge that COVID is a real problem and been prepared to damage his own brand to tackle it, and he has also been a strong proponent of tackling climate change. He's mishandled both, of course, because he is awful at following through in detail on his big picture ideals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A wilding Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 Yes, I am actually quite impressed at Johnson sounding a note of caution about today's vaccine announcement: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54879676 Okay, it is clearly the sensible and correct thing to do, we don't want a mass abandonment of the current lockdown, but for him to take the sensible approach, however obvious, feels like a step up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Anti-Targ Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 On 11/8/2020 at 7:23 AM, Werthead said: Continue. News from the US should be interesting for its impact on the UK and on Brexit. Biden is lukewarm on the special relationship (once turning down a request for comment from the BBC by saying, "I'm Irish,") and has referred to Johnson as a "kind of a physical and emotional clone" of Donald Trump. Johnson's jibes against Obama are not going to have been forgotten either. In fact, some in the Biden camp believe that Johnson is cut from the same cloth as Trump and Bolsonaro, which is probably slightly harsh but will colour Biden's dealings with the UK. This could very much have a direct and moderating impact on how the UK proceeds from here. Or to put it less politely, Johnson is probably pooping his pants right now, or he should be if he fully understands the implications of a Biden win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Horse Named Stranger Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 On 11/8/2020 at 12:57 PM, polishgenius said: I love that they headlined it with 'Marcus Rashford'. Ofc, everybody (even outside the UK) knows, the order of relevance in British society. PM, the Queen, Marcus Rashford. He is the next generation Gary Lineker. In twenty years, when we talk about the difference in pay between male and female moderators at the BBC, the public will be outraged by his wages as host for Match of the Day - even more than about his wages as an actual player. 54 minutes ago, The Anti-Targ said: Or to put it less politely, Johnson is probably pooping his pants right now, or he should be if he fully understands the implications of a Biden win. Well, another major U-turn climbdown from him and his goverment would be the most logical next step. But Brexit and logic are almost mutually exclusive. So maybe he will be knocking at China's door seeking for a new trade deal next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Anti-Targ Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 Interesting, I just had a short conversation with an English colleague in the office and he actually believes it is the EUs fault if there is a hard border between NI and Ireland and that the UK won't have broken the GFA. I pointed out that every country has a hard border between it and the rest of the world (Except for the EU of course because it's essentially a super-state), and without a hard border you have you have a free movement people in and out of the UK. And at the very least Brexit was about preventing the free movement of people from the EU into the UK. Not having border somewhere on either side of NI means free movement of people. He thought a hard border in Ireland was only about the EU protecting the single market and that the UK have no problem with a great big Northern Ireland sized hole in its border with the EU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 24 minutes ago, The Anti-Targ said: Interesting, I just had a short conversation with an English colleague in the office and he actually believes it is the EUs fault if there is a hard border between NI and Ireland and that the UK won't have broken the GFA. I mean the UK definitely won't have broken the Good Friday Agreement because it doesn't say anything about the border. It's probably not really in the spirit of closer cooperation with the Republic that the Good Friday Agreement embodies but the UK isn't actually breaking it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Anti-Targ Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 1 minute ago, ljkeane said: I mean the UK definitely won't have broken the Good Friday Agreement because it doesn't say anything about the border. It's probably not really in the spirit of closer cooperation with the Republic that the Good Friday Agreement embodies but the UK isn't actually breaking it. So the GFA doesn't include free movement of Irish across the border in both directions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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