UK Politics - Taking the Land Rover to Heaven

[Which Tyler]

Oh dear, what a pity.

[Derfel Cadarn]

19 minutes ago, Which Tyler said:

Oh dear, what a pity.

Did Hugh Janus turn up?

[Which Tyler]

Anyone know what the capacity is at the Pittsburgh Airport Marriott?
Because, either it's 3,002 - which is a really odd number; or it's higher; and the "campaign" to take tickets and not turn up was ultimately irrelevant, as only 14 people wanted to attend anyway.

[Werthead]

Britain questionably threatening to use force majeure to overrule the Northern Ireland directive, placing it in breach of the EU Withdrawal Agreement.

Force majeure only applies in the advent of "unforeseen circumstances", to which "reading the actual document months after you agreed to it and signed it" does not apply.

Meanwhile, Britain has gone to its equivalent of DEFCOM 2 in response to a rapidly-developing crisis that threatens this nation to its very core:

 

[Maltaran]

They could argue that the pandemic is a genuinely unforeseen circumstance, but that’s a bit undercut by them deciding last year that they weren’t going to use it as a reason to extend the transition period.

[Werthead]

The Lib Dems, Labour and Greens have joined to form coalitions to take control from the Tories in both Cambridgeshire and Oxfordshire. Some outlets calling this an erosion of the "blue wall," though I doubt this is a phrase that will catch on.

 

[Derfel Cadarn]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-57160291
 

Dominic Cummings accusing the government of secrecy over Covid. The brass neck on this prick!

[Pebble thats Stubby]

48 minutes ago, Derfel Cadarn said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-57160291
 

Dominic Cummings accusing the government of secrecy over Covid. The brass neck on this prick!

if he takes out Boris and the Conservatives, then I don't really care about Cummings* or the hypocrisy of the guy.

 

 

*this assumes he never again has any real power and stays away from future politics.

[Maltaran]

1 hour ago, Werthead said:

The Lib Dems, Labour and Greens have joined to form coalitions to take control from the Tories in both Cambridgeshire and Oxfordshire. Some outlets calling this an erosion of the "blue wall," though I doubt this is a phrase that will catch on.

 

The Tories and the Greens joined forces to take Lancaster council from Labour, so it's not a universal trend (other than Greens being anti-incumbent)

[Spockydog]

1 hour ago, Werthead said:

The Lib Dems, Labour and Greens have joined to form coalitions to take control from the Tories in both Cambridgeshire and Oxfordshire. Some outlets calling this an erosion of the "blue wall," though I doubt this is a phrase that will catch on.

 

This is interesting. What are the chances of it being done on a national basis? I mean, these parties occupy the same ground on such a wide range of issues, from a policy perspective, it could actually work. 

 

 

[Werthead]

7 minutes ago, Spockydog said:

This is interesting. What are the chances of it being done on a national basis? I mean, these parties occupy the same ground on such a wide range of issues, from a policy perspective, it could actually work. 

Potentially. Labour and the Lib Dems had agreement over a huge array of issues under Blair/Ashdown, to the point that they discussed a formal pact despite having a massive majority over the Tories. However, the LibDems joining the Tory coalition in 2010 seemed to sour that relationship. Maybe this is the start of it coming back.

It would be a nice move. The British right's historic dominance of Parliament (despite not being reflected in vote share) is down to the political right's ability to stay united even in the face of massive internal differences (the EU issue would have probably splintered and torn apart any left-leaning party quite easily whilst the Tories somehow stayed together on it), whilst the political left splinters, fragments and forms a new party every time there's a disagreement about whose turn it is to put the kettle on.

[mormont]

So the government are screwing up their messaging again by YET AGAIN telling people they're allowed to do things but then also telling them they really shouldn't, though. In this case, foreign travel: although there is a list of 'amber' countries you can travel to, the PM would rather you stuck to green list countries for your holidays.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57158372

 

Quote

 

"The position remains that people should not travel to amber list countries and that is to protect public health," the spokesman said.

"There are some limited reasons why it might be acceptable to travel - for work purposes, protecting essential services or compassionate reasons such as a funeral or care of a family member - but otherwise people should not be travelling to these countries."

He said holidays and leisure travel should be restricted to the short "green list" of destinations such as Portugal.

 

The words 'such as' are doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence. Green list countries where you can go on holiday:

- Portugal.

- Iceland. Yes, Iceland is the second best option on this list.

- Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Brunei. None of whom will let you in, because they're on our green list but we're on their red list.

- Israel. But the Foreign Office advise that you don't go there right now.

- The Faroe Islands, Falkland Islands, South Georgia, Tristan de Cunha, Gibraltar, Ascension Island and St Helena. Good luck with those.

[Raja]

1 hour ago, mormont said:

So the government are screwing up their messaging again by YET AGAIN telling people they're allowed to do things but then also telling them they really shouldn't, though. In this case, foreign travel: although there is a list of 'amber' countries you can travel to, the PM would rather you stuck to green list countries for your holidays.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57158372

The words 'such as' are doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence. Green list countries where you can go on holiday:

It is the repeated abdication of responsibility by this government. Leaving it up to the population to decide what to do as opposed to taking responsibility for the population & public health. So individuals can be blamed ( yet again) whilst the govt can appear to look like they're 'trying'.  Also, don't forget this

Messaging, communication and inaction for the last year has led to cases & deaths, and might do so again.

Led by donkeys.