It's an interesting thread but he completely misses the emotional aspect of The Project. Mitterand insisted, for sentimental reasons, that Greece should be admitted to the EC despite not meeting the criteria for accession. It was felt that the very notion of Europe was incomplete without its cultural Hellenic bedrock.
I can't claim to be an expert EU kremlinologist but more than 10 of my old students work in the commission now so I do have some insight. They all think that Scotland will have 'sa propre place' in the Union as Ayrault said and a way will be found to make it happen.
I think that Scotland would be welcomed into the EU, and accession speedy, owing to the existing compliances being currently in place, and unlikely to be significantly deviated from in the intervening period.
With 6 million people and good GDP per capita, Scotland would be a midsized EU country, particularly as the South Balkans will be making up the numbers too.
The strength of a union is more evident to the individually less powerful, indeed that is why unions are formed.
Whilst I would agree with much of that the choice that an independent Scotland faces is stark and difficult. Do we remain in a SM with rUK or do we seek to leave that and rejoin the SM of the EU? If we choose the latter then we have customs posts and VAT complications on the English border in exactly the same way as France/Dover does now. Do we really want miles of lorries queuing at Carlisle? The rUK market is worth about 4x the EU market to Scotland in terms of trade, probably more so far as imports are concerned. We would be accepting a much, much greater share of our trade being disrupted than the UK has.
Its a genuinely difficult choice because if we remain in the SM with rUK the reality is that we will have very little economic independence whatever currency we end up using. We would also need to address our fiscal deficit a lot more urgently if we were to seek EU membership with real disruption of public services as they were sharply cut. It could of course be done but the short term price would be savage.
Rather than getting all angry and angsty on here about the schools issue, it's a genuinely really tricky decision. At least two of the counter-balancing arguments are heavy. On the one side it's clear that kids are rapidly spreading this virus. You can understand why teachers are concerned. A friend of mine is 'terrified.' They don't even get the kind of PPE of frontline health carers. Kids spread it and take it home. Not good.
On the other side of the scale, it's really important that children are in school for their education, mental and physical health. The last two also apply to parents and carers. And the latter extends into the economy. If children have to be at home it's nigh-impossible to work. I've tried.
This is NOT an easy one. So everyone needs to take the heat out of this.
What I don't understand is why the emphasis is on primary schoolchildren. Secondary school kids are largely adapted to the internet age - including spending a lot of non-school time online as the instinctively natural way to socialise. One can worry about that but it's been a thing for some time. With the exception of those who can't afford it at all or live in very remote areas with no signal, having a few weeks accessing lessons at home is not a huge deal. And older kids seem more vulnerable to the virus, even the new strain.
For primary kids, I'd have thought all that was less true. Sure, they access the internet routinely too, but the issues about mental health and learning to mix may loom larger if you've hardly been to school yet.
Personally I'd shut down all schools and universities until the crisis eases. But if we're going to be selective, why not concentrate on the older kids?
Because the Wazzock Williamson had declared everything was perfectly safe and his boss Shagger had weaponised the health of children and their teachers as a stick to beat Labour with.
To accept the truth - that it was never safe and that once again their cretinism has killed people - is something they are too arrogant to consider.
I have two school-age kids who need an education. But you cannot run a school in a covid-secure manner, as witness by the illnesses and sadly one death that I know of amongst local teachers. Frankly it really isn't helped by the mentality of some parents who clearly don't understand or care what safe behaviour is.
In Ireland the Public Health experts have emphasised that to keep schools safe you need to keep levels of Covid in the community low. So you have to stop the transmission of the virus everywhere else so that the chance of anyone bringing it into school is low.
If no-one in a school has the virus they can't spread it. That's where the government has failed, and that's why there's no option now but to close the schools until they bring that back under control.
This is no longer about choices and trade-offs. This is about the inevitable consequences of earlier failures.
"Schools are safe", he says, overlooking that it's the children bringing the virus home that isnt safe
Well, if it isn't right in front of his nose, he doesn't see it, does he?
Boris can do the right thing, but only at the last minute and when he’s fully exhausted all the alternatives. If the schools are to close he will do it in a way to cause maximum confusion.
An interesting Twitter thread on Scottish independence which looks at the issue from the wrong angle. It isn't reasons why departure is so problematic that is concerning people, its reasons why staying is so problematic.
We've just had Brexit. Leaving the EU, EEA and CU very clearly sets this country back yet it is supported because staying in was perceived as worse. The same is true in Scotland where the UK is increasingly the "other" that is repressing their ability to forge their own path.
Saying "leaving won't be easy" is to rerun the failed brexit remain campaign. Positive reasons to stay need to be argued - not just hot air ones but practicalities as to how Scotland can be made better inside a refreshed union. Not "rebellious Scots to crush" as advocated by the Baronet of Epping Forest.
I agree and the positive reasons for remaining in the union will become apparent when indyref2 happens
Off topic sadly but its day -1 before the start of term and can anyone say with certainty what the plan will be for schools tomorrow?
No. At this moment, I do not know who or what I am teaching this week.
In Scotland things are a little better in that schools are not to go back physically until the 18th and that may well be moved further. Online learning is due to start in State schools on the 11th although my son's school will start that again on the 6th. They have the considerable advantage of having an online system that actually works from the first lockdown which very few state schools do since most seem to have treated it as an extended holiday.
What is missing is an appreciation of how hard online learning is. Almost all the children at my son's school have both the kit and the familiarity with it, they have adequate space and quiet in which to work, they have motivated parents (who after all are paying for this) who generally had at least University level learning themselves and they have staff in schools with adequate access to resources to make it work. Imagining that it is possible to duplicate these elements in a state school setting involves a higher level of fantasy than even the Defence Department are capable of, it really can't be done. And that is before you get to issues such as vulnerable and abused children whose school is an essential sanctuary where they are temporarily safe and fed and treated like a human being.
So online learning is in reality a sop with just enough reality attached to allow a pretense. The Education establishment might get away with it because they have once again removed any objective criteria in the "assessment" of children. Many of those in the upper years of schooling will effectively finish their school year in January if they get to sit prelims (mocks, I believe the benighted call them). Some will not even do that but be "assessed" on class work already done and, much more significantly, on what the schools know their conditional offers are.
If I sound a little bitter its because I am. My son has had his 2 most important years of schooling wreaked, his opportunity to show what he can do taken away from him forever, his hard work (and god he works hard, much harder than I ever did) put to waste. The combination of incompetent ministers and a profession that frankly doesn't always come across as especially professional means that he will have certificates that are degraded and devalued for the rest of his life.
Few thoughts. First of all, I have a feeling, MrL, that your son is typical of his generation in working hard; I don't share the standard view that the youth of today are not what we/their grandfathers (etc) were. The massive charitable efforts are my evidence.
However, I agree with you that there is a massive difference between the internet access available in some homes as opposed to that in others. Laptops and iPads have been supplied to the (disadvantaged) school where my grandson teaches, and leads on on-line learning, but by no means enough. Nor is there always adequate supervision at home. I also agree that for abused and vulnerable children there's often no place like school!
I would though, suggest that most of those of us who are parents become over-fixated on exam results. While I would agree that a First indicates a potential for 'success', I would suggest that 'ability to do the job' counts for a lot more in all levels of society than paper qualifications.
We are in broad agreement but today's youth face different challenges than we did. In my generation about 10% got a degree, in yours even less I suspect. Today you need a degree for a huge range of jobs that did not require tertiary education at all in our time, as you say you learned on the job. So how, in a world where half the population have degrees do you stand out? The answer is not just passes because people are no longer allowed to fail, but exceptional performance. If you are denied your opportunity to show that you are exceptional you suffer. As my son has.
Rather than getting all angry and angsty on here about the schools issue, it's a genuinely really tricky decision. At least two of the counter-balancing arguments are heavy. On the one side it's clear that kids are rapidly spreading this virus. You can understand why teachers are concerned. A friend of mine is 'terrified.' They don't even get the kind of PPE of frontline health carers. Kids spread it and take it home. Not good.
On the other side of the scale, it's really important that children are in school for their education, mental and physical health. The last two also apply to parents and carers. And the latter extends into the economy. If children have to be at home it's nigh-impossible to work. I've tried.
This is NOT an easy one. So everyone needs to take the heat out of this.
What I don't understand is why the emphasis is on primary schoolchildren. Secondary school kids are largely adapted to the internet age - including spending a lot of non-school time online as the instinctively natural way to socialise. One can worry about that but it's been a thing for some time. With the exception of those who can't afford it at all or live in very remote areas with no signal, having a few weeks accessing lessons at home is not a huge deal. And older kids seem more vulnerable to the virus, even the new strain.
For primary kids, I'd have thought all that was less true. Sure, they access the internet routinely too, but the issues about mental health and learning to mix may loom larger if you've hardly been to school yet.
Personally I'd shut down all schools and universities until the crisis eases. But if we're going to be selective, why not concentrate on the older kids?
Because the Wazzock Williamson had declared everything was perfectly safe and his boss Shagger had weaponised the health of children and their teachers as a stick to beat Labour with.
To accept the truth - that it was never safe and that once again their cretinism has killed people - is something they are too arrogant to consider.
I have two school-age kids who need an education. But you cannot run a school in a covid-secure manner, as witness by the illnesses and sadly one death that I know of amongst local teachers. Frankly it really isn't helped by the mentality of some parents who clearly don't understand or care what safe behaviour is.
Not just that.
Back in August, one of the boffins described the situation as "schools or pubs, but not both". That may have been a simplification, but it was the right idea; open schools lead to lots of mixing, and that uses up pretty much all of your R budget.
But if course the government ignored that, opened up everything and looked surprised when cases rose again. And kept on rising.
But then, this is a government that always wants something for nothing- because that's what the public wants. So we end up with nothing for something.
Because the Wazzock Williamson had declared everything was perfectly safe and his boss Shagger had weaponised the health of children and their teachers as a stick to beat Labour with.
To accept the truth - that it was never safe and that once again their cretinism has killed people - is something they are too arrogant to consider.
The story that BoZo is postponing a reshuffle until November reveals his priority.
It's not about who is best in post. It's about a good headline. And he can't get a good headline out of the reshuffle because of the pandemic.
So Pike stays in post.
Tragic.
Quite right. He should have leaked that hes happy with his team if no change were coming, but instead we know he wants to change it but wont, despite the day to day damage a poor minister can do in 11 months being greater than some disruption now.
Rather than getting all angry and angsty on here about the schools issue, it's a genuinely really tricky decision. At least two of the counter-balancing arguments are heavy. On the one side it's clear that kids are rapidly spreading this virus. You can understand why teachers are concerned. A friend of mine is 'terrified.' They don't even get the kind of PPE of frontline health carers. Kids spread it and take it home. Not good.
On the other side of the scale, it's really important that children are in school for their education, mental and physical health. The last two also apply to parents and carers. And the latter extends into the economy. If children have to be at home it's nigh-impossible to work. I've tried.
This is NOT an easy one. So everyone needs to take the heat out of this.
What I don't understand is why the emphasis is on primary schoolchildren. Secondary school kids are largely adapted to the internet age - including spending a lot of non-school time online as the instinctively natural way to socialise. One can worry about that but it's been a thing for some time. With the exception of those who can't afford it at all or live in very remote areas with no signal, having a few weeks accessing lessons at home is not a huge deal. And older kids seem more vulnerable to the virus, even the new strain.
For primary kids, I'd have thought all that was less true. Sure, they access the internet routinely too, but the issues about mental health and learning to mix may loom larger if you've hardly been to school yet.
Personally I'd shut down all schools and universities until the crisis eases. But if we're going to be selective, why not concentrate on the older kids?
Because the Wazzock Williamson had declared everything was perfectly safe and his boss Shagger had weaponised the health of children and their teachers as a stick to beat Labour with.
To accept the truth - that it was never safe and that once again their cretinism has killed people - is something they are too arrogant to consider.
I have two school-age kids who need an education. But you cannot run a school in a covid-secure manner, as witness by the illnesses and sadly one death that I know of amongst local teachers. Frankly it really isn't helped by the mentality of some parents who clearly don't understand or care what safe behaviour is.
Not just that.
Back in August, one of the boffins described the situation as "schools or pubs, but not both". That may have been a simplification, but it was the right idea; open schools lead to lots of mixing, and that uses up pretty much all of your R budget.
But if course the government ignored that, opened up everything and looked surprised when cases rose again. And kept on rising.
But then, this is a government that always wants something for nothing- because that's what the public wants. So we end up with nothing for something.
The problem with the new variant is that it is no longer schools or pubs but neither. The new variant means we have almost no budget to play with. So in keeping the schools open we are accepting more hospitalisations and deaths than would otherwise be the case. It is a trade off of harms and it is not straightforward.
An interesting Twitter thread on Scottish independence which looks at the issue from the wrong angle. It isn't reasons why departure is so problematic that is concerning people, its reasons why staying is so problematic.
We've just had Brexit. Leaving the EU, EEA and CU very clearly sets this country back yet it is supported because staying in was perceived as worse. The same is true in Scotland where the UK is increasingly the "other" that is repressing their ability to forge their own path.
Saying "leaving won't be easy" is to rerun the failed brexit remain campaign. Positive reasons to stay need to be argued - not just hot air ones but practicalities as to how Scotland can be made better inside a refreshed union. Not "rebellious Scots to crush" as advocated by the Baronet of Epping Forest.
I agree and the positive reasons for remaining in the union will become apparent when indyref2 happens
Don't forget that the positive reasons are actual things the Union will bring to Scotland, not "this is better than if you leave which will be really shit".
I really struggle for what those positives are right now. The UK is a disfunctional mess. If we were likely to have a constitutional convention where cross-party consensus emerges to remake the UK and the various mad crown dependencies into a modern functioning country then maybe that could work. Give Scotland the same kind of self-governance as the Isle of Man (yes I know it isn't in the UK but it is owned by Brenda and unberella'd extensively by the UK) and perhaps independence could be avoided.
An interesting Twitter thread on Scottish independence which looks at the issue from the wrong angle. It isn't reasons why departure is so problematic that is concerning people, its reasons why staying is so problematic.
We've just had Brexit. Leaving the EU, EEA and CU very clearly sets this country back yet it is supported because staying in was perceived as worse. The same is true in Scotland where the UK is increasingly the "other" that is repressing their ability to forge their own path.
Saying "leaving won't be easy" is to rerun the failed brexit remain campaign. Positive reasons to stay need to be argued - not just hot air ones but practicalities as to how Scotland can be made better inside a refreshed union. Not "rebellious Scots to crush" as advocated by the Baronet of Epping Forest.
Good post and quite right, although in fairness it is still wrong that people ignored that it would be hard with Brexit (personally I knew it would be but still underestimated) and it will be wrong when people ignore it with Scotland and simply any pointing it out is irrelevant.
But it will happen and to win remain needs to do other things as you say.
Good header @Dura_Ace, and thanks for keeping the jargon to a minimum.
Have we really considered who and where our forces are ever going to fight?
Aircraft carriers for example are only useful for fighting wars out of range of UK and Cyprus SBA range, or friendly nearby countries. It seems absurd for nearly our entire navy to be designed to protect a single carrier, which seems likely to never participate in active combat.
Similarly the Army has a devotion to main battle tanks and heavy artillery that it is never going to be used. We are not going to be facing down Ivan on the North German plain again, or invading Iraq, and even there it was lighter, mobile forces that were needed.
Even more so the Trident subs, everything seems oriented to fight the Cold War, despite it ending 30 years ago, rather than the counter insurgency wars, or light expeditionary service that we actually do engage in.
Even @HYUFD with his plans to invade Wales and Scotland should surely concede that we are unlikely to want to pound Stirling Castle to rubble with heavy howitzers.
Remember we do need to be able to send the SAS to Gibraltar and nuke Madrid.
Ignoring my weak joke a very good post Foxy to an excellent article Dura Ace. An area, like many others, where I have little knowledge.
"Schools are safe", he says, overlooking that it's the children bringing the virus home that isnt safe
This subject is divisive across the country
However, it is vital that schools remain open as the damage to the children with closures will be do dreadful damaging to their life chances
Schools should only close as a last resort
Have you seen the U.K. virus numbers?
Yes of course but it does not alter the fact that closing schools has to be a last resort as it has so many damaging effects on our children
Do you agree that the schools should stay open now whilst the nation struggles to get the new variant under control? When does your last resort kick in? When the hospitals are overflowing? Important to clarify that I think.
Marr asks if there may be a tier 5 set of restrictions in the near future. Johnson says that he still expects things to be better by Spring but says: “It may be that we need to do things in the next few weeks that will be tougher in many parts of the country, I’m fully fully reconciled to that.”
It's an interesting thread but he completely misses the emotional aspect of The Project. Mitterand insisted, for sentimental reasons, that Greece should be admitted to the EC despite not meeting the criteria for accession. It was felt that the very notion of Europe was incomplete without its cultural Hellenic bedrock.
I can't claim to be an expert EU kremlinologist but more than 10 of my old students work in the commission now so I do have some insight. They all think that Scotland will have 'sa propre place' in the Union as Ayrault said and a way will be found to make it happen.
You will scare the pants off Carlotta telling the truth like that, as an emigrant who joined the colonial establishment ( could not make it in Scotland as not enough Tory chancers) , her democratic view is the pesky Scots should be kept in captivity.
An interesting Twitter thread on Scottish independence which looks at the issue from the wrong angle. It isn't reasons why departure is so problematic that is concerning people, its reasons why staying is so problematic.
We've just had Brexit. Leaving the EU, EEA and CU very clearly sets this country back yet it is supported because staying in was perceived as worse. The same is true in Scotland where the UK is increasingly the "other" that is repressing their ability to forge their own path.
Saying "leaving won't be easy" is to rerun the failed brexit remain campaign. Positive reasons to stay need to be argued - not just hot air ones but practicalities as to how Scotland can be made better inside a refreshed union. Not "rebellious Scots to crush" as advocated by the Baronet of Epping Forest.
I agree and the positive reasons for remaining in the union will become apparent when indyref2 happens
Don't forget that the positive reasons are actual things the Union will bring to Scotland, not "this is better than if you leave which will be really shit".
I really struggle for what those positives are right now. The UK is a disfunctional mess. If we were likely to have a constitutional convention where cross-party consensus emerges to remake the UK and the various mad crown dependencies into a modern functioning country then maybe that could work. Give Scotland the same kind of self-governance as the Isle of Man (yes I know it isn't in the UK but it is owned by Brenda and unberella'd extensively by the UK) and perhaps independence could be avoided.
I do hope a cross party vision for Scotland can be agreed and to take on the SNP and win the argument that we are better together than apart
An interesting Twitter thread on Scottish independence which looks at the issue from the wrong angle. It isn't reasons why departure is so problematic that is concerning people, its reasons why staying is so problematic.
We've just had Brexit. Leaving the EU, EEA and CU very clearly sets this country back yet it is supported because staying in was perceived as worse. The same is true in Scotland where the UK is increasingly the "other" that is repressing their ability to forge their own path.
Saying "leaving won't be easy" is to rerun the failed brexit remain campaign. Positive reasons to stay need to be argued - not just hot air ones but practicalities as to how Scotland can be made better inside a refreshed union. Not "rebellious Scots to crush" as advocated by the Baronet of Epping Forest.
I agree and the positive reasons for remaining in the union will become apparent when indyref2 happens
Don't forget that the positive reasons are actual things the Union will bring to Scotland, not "this is better than if you leave which will be really shit".
I really struggle for what those positives are right now. The UK is a disfunctional mess.
Compare COVID vaccination rate with the EU. Could SINDY have afforded the furlough scheme etc? (Not that ScotGov has spent all the money on Scottish businesss).
"Schools are safe", he says, overlooking that it's the children bringing the virus home that isnt safe
This subject is divisive across the country
However, it is vital that schools remain open as the damage to the children with closures will be do dreadful damage to their life chances
Schools should only close as a last resort
In two months things will be a lot better because of lockdown and vaccine. In three months the pressure on the NHS will have largely gone.
This is a last resort and if schools are closed for say a month it really wont make much difference to life chances. It is not an open ended closure like last time.
Boris confirms referendums should only be once in a generation on Marr, comparing the period from the 1975 EEC referendum to the 2016 EU referendum to the period before a new Scottish referendum should be allowed by Westminster after 2014
An interesting Twitter thread on Scottish independence which looks at the issue from the wrong angle. It isn't reasons why departure is so problematic that is concerning people, its reasons why staying is so problematic.
We've just had Brexit. Leaving the EU, EEA and CU very clearly sets this country back yet it is supported because staying in was perceived as worse. The same is true in Scotland where the UK is increasingly the "other" that is repressing their ability to forge their own path.
Saying "leaving won't be easy" is to rerun the failed brexit remain campaign. Positive reasons to stay need to be argued - not just hot air ones but practicalities as to how Scotland can be made better inside a refreshed union. Not "rebellious Scots to crush" as advocated by the Baronet of Epping Forest.
I agree and the positive reasons for remaining in the union will become apparent when indyref2 happens
Don't forget that the positive reasons are actual things the Union will bring to Scotland, not "this is better than if you leave which will be really shit".
I really struggle for what those positives are right now. The UK is a disfunctional mess. If we were likely to have a constitutional convention where cross-party consensus emerges to remake the UK and the various mad crown dependencies into a modern functioning country then maybe that could work. Give Scotland the same kind of self-governance as the Isle of Man (yes I know it isn't in the UK but it is owned by Brenda and unberella'd extensively by the UK) and perhaps independence could be avoided.
I do hope a cross party vision for Scotland can be agreed and to take on the SNP and win the argument that we are better together than apart
So far, eligible people appear to be very patient waiting to hear about their COVID jab; that may reflect the older generation’s deference towards the NHS. My own Mother is adamant that she will wait to hear from her GP. However, as time passes and stories keep appearing on the news about this person and that person getting the jab, patience will begin to fade. What odds that “COVID jab” and “postcode lottery” appear in a Daily Mail headline before the year is out?
Well, the Sunday Times is running several articles today summed up by:
An interesting Twitter thread on Scottish independence which looks at the issue from the wrong angle. It isn't reasons why departure is so problematic that is concerning people, its reasons why staying is so problematic.
We've just had Brexit. Leaving the EU, EEA and CU very clearly sets this country back yet it is supported because staying in was perceived as worse. The same is true in Scotland where the UK is increasingly the "other" that is repressing their ability to forge their own path.
Saying "leaving won't be easy" is to rerun the failed brexit remain campaign. Positive reasons to stay need to be argued - not just hot air ones but practicalities as to how Scotland can be made better inside a refreshed union. Not "rebellious Scots to crush" as advocated by the Baronet of Epping Forest.
I agree and the positive reasons for remaining in the union will become apparent when indyref2 happens
Don't forget that the positive reasons are actual things the Union will bring to Scotland, not "this is better than if you leave which will be really shit".
I really struggle for what those positives are right now. The UK is a disfunctional mess. If we were likely to have a constitutional convention where cross-party consensus emerges to remake the UK and the various mad crown dependencies into a modern functioning country then maybe that could work. Give Scotland the same kind of self-governance as the Isle of Man (yes I know it isn't in the UK but it is owned by Brenda and unberella'd extensively by the UK) and perhaps independence could be avoided.
I agree with your general point that voting for the Union has to be presented as a positive choice, one where there is a genuine choice to be made, rather than, "you have no option".
My personal feeling is that, in voting for the Union, I would be doing so in order to benefit from the legal rights and freedoms that I gain as a result of the Union. It would be because I wanted to contribute to solidarity across the island of Britain, and not restrict that solidarity to Scotland alone.
It's an interesting thread but he completely misses the emotional aspect of The Project. Mitterand insisted, for sentimental reasons, that Greece should be admitted to the EC despite not meeting the criteria for accession. It was felt that the very notion of Europe was incomplete without its cultural Hellenic bedrock.
I can't claim to be an expert EU kremlinologist but more than 10 of my old students work in the commission now so I do have some insight. They all think that Scotland will have 'sa propre place' in the Union as Ayrault said and a way will be found to make it happen.
You will scare the pants off Carlotta telling the truth like that, as an emigrant who joined the colonial establishment ( could not make it in Scotland as not enough Tory chancers) , her democratic view is the pesky Scots should be kept in captivity.
My democratic view is that the results of referendums should be respected.
Your view appears to be “keep asking until I get the result I want”.
2 million Scots voted to remain in the U.K. 1.6 million Scots voted to remain in the EU.
So far, eligible people appear to be very patient waiting to hear about their COVID jab; that may reflect the older generation’s deference towards the NHS. My own Mother is adamant that she will wait to hear from her GP. However, as time passes and stories keep appearing on the news about this person and that person getting the jab, patience will begin to fade. What odds that “COVID jab” and “postcode lottery” appear in a Daily Mail headline before the year is out?
Well, the Sunday Times is running several articles today summed up by:
So who thinks we should vaccinate at the pace of the slowest post code to ensure all post codes are treated equally? Anyone???
"Schools are safe", he says, overlooking that it's the children bringing the virus home that isnt safe
This subject is divisive across the country
However, it is vital that schools remain open as the damage to the children with closures will be do dreadful damaging to their life chances
Schools should only close as a last resort
Have you seen the U.K. virus numbers?
Yes of course but it does not alter the fact that closing schools has to be a last resort as it has so many damaging effects on our children
Do you agree that the schools should stay open now whilst the nation struggles to get the new variant under control? When does your last resort kick in? When the hospitals are overflowing? Important to clarify that I think.
Once the schools close when are they going to reopen
Furthermore the schools are staying open for key workers children
I am not saying all schools should remain open but blanket closures is a bad decision for those children in low infection areas
Boris confirms referendums should only be once in a generation on Marr, comparing the period from the 1975 EEC referendum to the 2016 EU referendum to the period before a new Scottish referendum should be allowed by Westminster after 2014
An interesting Twitter thread on Scottish independence which looks at the issue from the wrong angle. It isn't reasons why departure is so problematic that is concerning people, its reasons why staying is so problematic.
We've just had Brexit. Leaving the EU, EEA and CU very clearly sets this country back yet it is supported because staying in was perceived as worse. The same is true in Scotland where the UK is increasingly the "other" that is repressing their ability to forge their own path.
Saying "leaving won't be easy" is to rerun the failed brexit remain campaign. Positive reasons to stay need to be argued - not just hot air ones but practicalities as to how Scotland can be made better inside a refreshed union. Not "rebellious Scots to crush" as advocated by the Baronet of Epping Forest.
I agree and the positive reasons for remaining in the union will become apparent when indyref2 happens
Don't forget that the positive reasons are actual things the Union will bring to Scotland, not "this is better than if you leave which will be really shit".
I really struggle for what those positives are right now. The UK is a disfunctional mess.
Compare COVID vaccination rate with the EU. Could SINDY have afforded the furlough scheme etc? (Not that ScotGov has spent all the money on Scottish businesss).
You really are a nasty piece of work. We would of course have just borrowed money for it , just like the UK did. How can unionists be so dumb to assume other people don't understand that.
"Schools are safe", he says, overlooking that it's the children bringing the virus home that isnt safe
This subject is divisive across the country
However, it is vital that schools remain open as the damage to the children with closures will be do dreadful damage to their life chances
Schools should only close as a last resort
In two months things will be a lot better because of lockdown and vaccine. In three months the pressure on the NHS will have largely gone.
This is a last resort and if schools are closed for say a month it really wont make much difference to life chances. It is not an open ended closure like last time.
it is for people doing exams this year - they have already been delayed a month and the rules changed so that the topics being examined are highlighted so teaching and revision can be more focussed on exam subjects.
any ideas of what else can be done to allow for another month of poor teaching?
An interesting Twitter thread on Scottish independence which looks at the issue from the wrong angle. It isn't reasons why departure is so problematic that is concerning people, its reasons why staying is so problematic.
We've just had Brexit. Leaving the EU, EEA and CU very clearly sets this country back yet it is supported because staying in was perceived as worse. The same is true in Scotland where the UK is increasingly the "other" that is repressing their ability to forge their own path.
Saying "leaving won't be easy" is to rerun the failed brexit remain campaign. Positive reasons to stay need to be argued - not just hot air ones but practicalities as to how Scotland can be made better inside a refreshed union. Not "rebellious Scots to crush" as advocated by the Baronet of Epping Forest.
I agree and the positive reasons for remaining in the union will become apparent when indyref2 happens
Which is why international trade is going to be such a important department this year. Liz Truss needs to build on her hard work so far, and construct trade deals that are clearly better than what we have rolled over from EU membership, with an emphasis on services as well as goods. The UK needs quickly to prove international competitiveness, and Scotland is part of the reason why. Fishermen and farmers need a quick win that shows them how much better life is outside the CAP and CFP.
We should also be moving civil service jobs around the U.K, and (on topic) keeping Scottish shipyards busy with Naval orders. Politically, we should be devolving more powers of taxation so that Scotland is responsible for raising more of what it spends.
In other words, we need to show Scotland that being in the U.K. is tangibly better than being in the EU.
When the campaign comes, and it will likely still be a few years away, we need to make sure that different people are on positive and negative reasons, and making left and right wing arguments.
An interesting Twitter thread on Scottish independence which looks at the issue from the wrong angle. It isn't reasons why departure is so problematic that is concerning people, its reasons why staying is so problematic.
We've just had Brexit. Leaving the EU, EEA and CU very clearly sets this country back yet it is supported because staying in was perceived as worse. The same is true in Scotland where the UK is increasingly the "other" that is repressing their ability to forge their own path.
Saying "leaving won't be easy" is to rerun the failed brexit remain campaign. Positive reasons to stay need to be argued - not just hot air ones but practicalities as to how Scotland can be made better inside a refreshed union. Not "rebellious Scots to crush" as advocated by the Baronet of Epping Forest.
I agree and the positive reasons for remaining in the union will become apparent when indyref2 happens
Don't forget that the positive reasons are actual things the Union will bring to Scotland, not "this is better than if you leave which will be really shit".
I really struggle for what those positives are right now. The UK is a disfunctional mess. If we were likely to have a constitutional convention where cross-party consensus emerges to remake the UK and the various mad crown dependencies into a modern functioning country then maybe that could work. Give Scotland the same kind of self-governance as the Isle of Man (yes I know it isn't in the UK but it is owned by Brenda and unberella'd extensively by the UK) and perhaps independence could be avoided.
I do hope a cross party vision for Scotland can be agreed and to take on the SNP and win the argument that we are better together than apart
I think it's really important that there isn't a cross-party vision. The argument will be better made if Labour makes the Labour case for the Union and the Conservatives a Conservative case.
"Schools are safe", he says, overlooking that it's the children bringing the virus home that isnt safe
This subject is divisive across the country
However, it is vital that schools remain open as the damage to the children with closures will be do dreadful damaging to their life chances
Schools should only close as a last resort
Have you seen the U.K. virus numbers?
Yes of course but it does not alter the fact that closing schools has to be a last resort as it has so many damaging effects on our children
Do you agree that the schools should stay open now whilst the nation struggles to get the new variant under control? When does your last resort kick in? When the hospitals are overflowing? Important to clarify that I think.
Once the schools close when are they going to reopen
Furthermore the schools are staying open for key workers children
I am not saying all schools should remain open but blanket closures is a bad decision for those children in low infection areas
This variant doesn’t work like that. My rural area went from a consistently low infection rate to very high in just two weeks. The rules of the game have changed.
An interesting Twitter thread on Scottish independence which looks at the issue from the wrong angle. It isn't reasons why departure is so problematic that is concerning people, its reasons why staying is so problematic.
We've just had Brexit. Leaving the EU, EEA and CU very clearly sets this country back yet it is supported because staying in was perceived as worse. The same is true in Scotland where the UK is increasingly the "other" that is repressing their ability to forge their own path.
Saying "leaving won't be easy" is to rerun the failed brexit remain campaign. Positive reasons to stay need to be argued - not just hot air ones but practicalities as to how Scotland can be made better inside a refreshed union. Not "rebellious Scots to crush" as advocated by the Baronet of Epping Forest.
I agree and the positive reasons for remaining in the union will become apparent when indyref2 happens
Don't forget that the positive reasons are actual things the Union will bring to Scotland, not "this is better than if you leave which will be really shit".
I really struggle for what those positives are right now. The UK is a disfunctional mess.
Compare COVID vaccination rate with the EU. Could SINDY have afforded the furlough scheme etc? (Not that ScotGov has spent all the money on Scottish businesss).
You really are a nasty piece of work. We would of course have just borrowed money for it , just like the UK did. How can unionists be so dumb to assume other people don't understand that.
Is that before or after you’ve met the Copenhagen criteria to join the EU?
An interesting Twitter thread on Scottish independence which looks at the issue from the wrong angle. It isn't reasons why departure is so problematic that is concerning people, its reasons why staying is so problematic.
We've just had Brexit. Leaving the EU, EEA and CU very clearly sets this country back yet it is supported because staying in was perceived as worse. The same is true in Scotland where the UK is increasingly the "other" that is repressing their ability to forge their own path.
Saying "leaving won't be easy" is to rerun the failed brexit remain campaign. Positive reasons to stay need to be argued - not just hot air ones but practicalities as to how Scotland can be made better inside a refreshed union. Not "rebellious Scots to crush" as advocated by the Baronet of Epping Forest.
I agree and the positive reasons for remaining in the union will become apparent when indyref2 happens
Don't forget that the positive reasons are actual things the Union will bring to Scotland, not "this is better than if you leave which will be really shit".
I really struggle for what those positives are right now. The UK is a disfunctional mess. If we were likely to have a constitutional convention where cross-party consensus emerges to remake the UK and the various mad crown dependencies into a modern functioning country then maybe that could work. Give Scotland the same kind of self-governance as the Isle of Man (yes I know it isn't in the UK but it is owned by Brenda and unberella'd extensively by the UK) and perhaps independence could be avoided.
I think it is far too late for that, the people have been lied to far too often to believe the perfidious Westminster overlords would not wait long before renaging on any deal. When you look at the numbers now on people under 65 it is inevitable that Independence will be with us in the near future.
It's an interesting thread but he completely misses the emotional aspect of The Project. Mitterand insisted, for sentimental reasons, that Greece should be admitted to the EC despite not meeting the criteria for accession. It was felt that the very notion of Europe was incomplete without its cultural Hellenic bedrock.
I can't claim to be an expert EU kremlinologist but more than 10 of my old students work in the commission now so I do have some insight. They all think that Scotland will have 'sa propre place' in the Union as Ayrault said and a way will be found to make it happen.
You will scare the pants off Carlotta telling the truth like that, as an emigrant who joined the colonial establishment ( could not make it in Scotland as not enough Tory chancers) , her democratic view is the pesky Scots should be kept in captivity.
My democratic view is that the results of referendums should be respected.
Your view appears to be “keep asking until I get the result I want”.
2 million Scots voted to remain in the U.K. 1.6 million Scots voted to remain in the EU.
If a settlement short of independence is found that is acceptable to the majority of Scots, then the SNP will surely accept it. We know this because they have spent the last four and a half years telling us that Brexit was not the will of the Scottish people and so could not be implemented there.
"Schools are safe", he says, overlooking that it's the children bringing the virus home that isnt safe
This subject is divisive across the country
However, it is vital that schools remain open as the damage to the children with closures will be do dreadful damaging to their life chances
Schools should only close as a last resort
Have you seen the U.K. virus numbers?
Yes of course but it does not alter the fact that closing schools has to be a last resort as it has so many damaging effects on our children
Do you agree that the schools should stay open now whilst the nation struggles to get the new variant under control? When does your last resort kick in? When the hospitals are overflowing? Important to clarify that I think.
Once the schools close when are they going to reopen
Furthermore the schools are staying open for key workers children
I am not saying all schools should remain open but blanket closures is a bad decision for those children in low infection areas
This variant doesn’t work like that. My rural area went from a consistently low infection rate to very high in just two weeks. The rules of the game have changed.
If over 50,000 new cases every day for more than a week, backed by research that closing schools is one of the top three ways to reduce its spread, doesn't persuade Big G that schools need to close, nothing will. Remember that denial is his specialist subject.
An interesting Twitter thread on Scottish independence which looks at the issue from the wrong angle. It isn't reasons why departure is so problematic that is concerning people, its reasons why staying is so problematic.
We've just had Brexit. Leaving the EU, EEA and CU very clearly sets this country back yet it is supported because staying in was perceived as worse. The same is true in Scotland where the UK is increasingly the "other" that is repressing their ability to forge their own path.
Saying "leaving won't be easy" is to rerun the failed brexit remain campaign. Positive reasons to stay need to be argued - not just hot air ones but practicalities as to how Scotland can be made better inside a refreshed union. Not "rebellious Scots to crush" as advocated by the Baronet of Epping Forest.
I agree and the positive reasons for remaining in the union will become apparent when indyref2 happens
Don't forget that the positive reasons are actual things the Union will bring to Scotland, not "this is better than if you leave which will be really shit".
I really struggle for what those positives are right now. The UK is a disfunctional mess. If we were likely to have a constitutional convention where cross-party consensus emerges to remake the UK and the various mad crown dependencies into a modern functioning country then maybe that could work. Give Scotland the same kind of self-governance as the Isle of Man (yes I know it isn't in the UK but it is owned by Brenda and unberella'd extensively by the UK) and perhaps independence could be avoided.
I do hope a cross party vision for Scotland can be agreed and to take on the SNP and win the argument that we are better together than apart
Not a chance G.
More than that Malc, I believe as strongly as ever that the union will remain so let us just agree to disagree
I understand vaccination of teachers does not solve all the problems of transmission in schools, but -- if politicians & parents want the schools open -- then teachers need to be jabbed now. They (along with other frontline staff) need to be absolutely the highest priority.
Not geriatrics who want to go out for fine dining and skiing (Baroness Bakewell & Baron Barnesian).
Drakeford as usual is fucking it up worse than Johnson. Hardly anyone has been vaccinated in Wales outside Cardiff.
"Schools are safe", he says, overlooking that it's the children bringing the virus home that isnt safe
This subject is divisive across the country
However, it is vital that schools remain open as the damage to the children with closures will be do dreadful damage to their life chances
Schools should only close as a last resort
In two months things will be a lot better because of lockdown and vaccine. In three months the pressure on the NHS will have largely gone.
This is a last resort and if schools are closed for say a month it really wont make much difference to life chances. It is not an open ended closure like last time.
it is for people doing exams this year - they have already been delayed a month and the rules changed so that the topics being examined are highlighted so teaching and revision can be more focussed on exam subjects.
any ideas of what else can be done to allow for another month of poor teaching?
1) the exams probably wont happen 2) the value of their exam results is mostly vs their own cohort who are in the same boat 3) we massively overplay exam results as a factor in life chances. Once past mid twenties employment records, skills and degrees are far more important 4) online teaching does not have to be poor
Yes there will be some further inequality between the cohort based on their background but if we were serious about tackling this we have done little to show it over the last 50 years with meritocracy falling away to be replaced with a drawbridge approach to enhance the life chances of the middle classes.
Boris confirms referendums should only be once in a generation on Marr, comparing the period from the 1975 EEC referendum to the 2016 EU referendum to the period before a new Scottish referendum should be allowed by Westminster after 2014
No parliament can bind its successor.
Better keep electing Tory Governments then, just to ensure continuity.....
"Schools are safe", he says, overlooking that it's the children bringing the virus home that isnt safe
This subject is divisive across the country
However, it is vital that schools remain open as the damage to the children with closures will be do dreadful damaging to their life chances
Schools should only close as a last resort
Have you seen the U.K. virus numbers?
Yes of course but it does not alter the fact that closing schools has to be a last resort as it has so many damaging effects on our children
Trouble is that there are two aspects to a Last Resort.
One is that it's the last thing you do.
The other, which is more important, is that you try everything in order to avoid the Last Resort.
If you look at the infection graph in the UK since September, and at the control measures taken, and at the government rhetoric, does it look like they have tried very hard to avoid the Last Resort?
Off topic sadly but its day -1 before the start of term and can anyone say with certainty what the plan will be for schools tomorrow?
No. At this moment, I do not know who or what I am teaching this week.
In Scotland things are a little better in that schools are not to go back physically until the 18th and that may well be moved further. Online learning is due to start in State schools on the 11th although my son's school will start that again on the 6th. They have the considerable advantage of having an online system that actually works from the first lockdown which very few state schools do since most seem to have treated it as an extended holiday.
What is missing is an appreciation of how hard online learning is. Almost all the children at my son's school have both the kit and the familiarity with it, they have adequate space and quiet in which to work, they have motivated parents (who after all are paying for this) who generally had at least University level learning themselves and they have staff in schools with adequate access to resources to make it work. Imagining that it is possible to duplicate these elements in a state school setting involves a higher level of fantasy than even the Defence Department are capable of, it really can't be done. And that is before you get to issues such as vulnerable and abused children whose school is an essential sanctuary where they are temporarily safe and fed and treated like a human being.
So online learning is in reality a sop with just enough reality attached to allow a pretense. The Education establishment might get away with it because they have once again removed any objective criteria in the "assessment" of children. Many of those in the upper years of schooling will effectively finish their school year in January if they get to sit prelims (mocks, I believe the benighted call them). Some will not even do that but be "assessed" on class work already done and, much more significantly, on what the schools know their conditional offers are.
If I sound a little bitter its because I am. My son has had his 2 most important years of schooling wreaked, his opportunity to show what he can do taken away from him forever, his hard work (and god he works hard, much harder than I ever did) put to waste. The combination of incompetent ministers and a profession that frankly doesn't always come across as especially professional means that he will have certificates that are degraded and devalued for the rest of his life.
Few thoughts. First of all, I have a feeling, MrL, that your son is typical of his generation in working hard; I don't share the standard view that the youth of today are not what we/their grandfathers (etc) were. The massive charitable efforts are my evidence.
However, I agree with you that there is a massive difference between the internet access available in some homes as opposed to that in others. Laptops and iPads have been supplied to the (disadvantaged) school where my grandson teaches, and leads on on-line learning, but by no means enough. Nor is there always adequate supervision at home. I also agree that for abused and vulnerable children there's often no place like school!
I would though, suggest that most of those of us who are parents become over-fixated on exam results. While I would agree that a First indicates a potential for 'success', I would suggest that 'ability to do the job' counts for a lot more in all levels of society than paper qualifications.
We are in broad agreement but today's youth face different challenges than we did. In my generation about 10% got a degree, in yours even less I suspect. Today you need a degree for a huge range of jobs that did not require tertiary education at all in our time, as you say you learned on the job. So how, in a world where half the population have degrees do you stand out? The answer is not just passes because people are no longer allowed to fail, but exceptional performance. If you are denied your opportunity to show that you are exceptional you suffer. As my son has.
You are of course right about the need for a degree in many jobs which at one time didn't, law and pharmacy being two examples! The tertiary level education was provided by the appropriate professional societies.
However, looking back at my working life, I have no idea what class of degree many of my colleagues had, apart from one who 'traded' on his excellent one, but sadly, couldn't do the job at a senior level.
Having a degree indicates considerable technical or theoretical knowledge; it's the ability to put that into practice which matters.
“ He has ordered a review and made it clear that he intends to cut any red tape to make it as streamlined as possible for retired GPs to help with administering Covid-19 jabs.
The move has won the backing of Jeremy Hunt, the health and social care select committee chairman, who told The Telegraph on Saturday: "In this new post-Brexit era of getting rid of unnecessary red tape, this should be top of the list. Never have we needed the help of skilled volunteers more badly or more urgently." ”
Good - but don’t you wish we had politicians with the foresight to have done stuff like this last year?
The other obvious question is why do the rest of us have to put up with the box ticking nonsense of revalidation? With predictable regularity, colleagues coming up for revalidation retire as they cannot be arsed. Ordinarily some at least would have stayed on longer. Has anyone ever proven that it has raised standards in medicine or nursing?
A bit like OFSTED, why not abolish the whole self serving edifice?
Because every now and then patients died because their doctors were still practising 1980s medicine, not having opened a BMJ since registration.
Boris confirms referendums should only be once in a generation on Marr, comparing the period from the 1975 EEC referendum to the 2016 EU referendum to the period before a new Scottish referendum should be allowed by Westminster after 2014
No parliament can bind its successor.
No but Boris' statement confirms there is zero chance of indyref2 being granted by this Tory government whatever happens at Holyrood in May, if Starmer decides to grant indyref2 if he is reliant on SNP support to become PM after 2024 that would be up to him. However it is not happening under the Tories
Boris confirms referendums should only be once in a generation on Marr, comparing the period from the 1975 EEC referendum to the 2016 EU referendum to the period before a new Scottish referendum should be allowed by Westminster after 2014
No parliament can bind its successor.
Better keep electing Tory Governments then, just to ensure continuity.....
Hmmmm. Tory governments consistently delivering chaos is not quite the same thing as continuity.
"Schools are safe", he says, overlooking that it's the children bringing the virus home that isnt safe
This subject is divisive across the country
However, it is vital that schools remain open as the damage to the children with closures will be do dreadful damage to their life chances
Schools should only close as a last resort
In two months things will be a lot better because of lockdown and vaccine. In three months the pressure on the NHS will have largely gone.
This is a last resort and if schools are closed for say a month it really wont make much difference to life chances. It is not an open ended closure like last time.
Have you any idea just how much damage this has already caused my granddaughter as she takes her A levels to secure her place in University in September. She is exceptionally talented but is receiving counselling for the stress she is undergoing with school closures and the lack of social connection with her friends
Marr asks if there may be a tier 5 set of restrictions in the near future. Johnson says that he still expects things to be better by Spring but says: “It may be that we need to do things in the next few weeks that will be tougher in many parts of the country, I’m fully fully reconciled to that.”
Tier 11 incoming...
I know this has been said so many times in recent months, but we are again in the situation where the next three or four days are absolutely crucial.
If the infection rates, and importantly hospitalilisation rates, continue their steep increase thanks to the new variant, then by the end of the week it’ll be back to “go home and stay home”, with only supermarkets and pharmacies open in large parts of the country.
Re the points below about Erdogan/Turkey/Greece below, a fascinating fact is that the accession of Greece was both the crucial precedent for later geographical expansion of the entire EC and EU, and at the same time pretty much the only arena where Britain and France have acted in an equivalently "European" way outside World War II for the last 200 years.
Britain gave Greece a vital helping hand to its independence for exactly the same reason that Mitterand made sure it got in, and Macron is making it a cornerstone of his policy now - a mixture of European idealism and brute strategic realpolitik. Exactly the same thing occurred when both Britain and France backed Greece against Turkey after the first world war. A hidden history of Europe.
It's an interesting thread but he completely misses the emotional aspect of The Project. Mitterand insisted, for sentimental reasons, that Greece should be admitted to the EC despite not meeting the criteria for accession. It was felt that the very notion of Europe was incomplete without its cultural Hellenic bedrock.
I can't claim to be an expert EU kremlinologist but more than 10 of my old students work in the commission now so I do have some insight. They all think that Scotland will have 'sa propre place' in the Union as Ayrault said and a way will be found to make it happen.
You will scare the pants off Carlotta telling the truth like that, as an emigrant who joined the colonial establishment ( could not make it in Scotland as not enough Tory chancers) , her democratic view is the pesky Scots should be kept in captivity.
My democratic view is that the results of referendums should be respected.
Your view appears to be “keep asking until I get the result I want”.
2 million Scots voted to remain in the U.K. 1.6 million Scots voted to remain in the EU.
Nobody is saying “keep asking until I get the result I want”, you can make up as many lies as you want. The people in each election since 2014 have voted in a government that had their main aim as independence. That is called democracy , alien to Tories like you. You would not know democracy if it ran over your face.
An interesting Twitter thread on Scottish independence which looks at the issue from the wrong angle. It isn't reasons why departure is so problematic that is concerning people, its reasons why staying is so problematic.
We've just had Brexit. Leaving the EU, EEA and CU very clearly sets this country back yet it is supported because staying in was perceived as worse. The same is true in Scotland where the UK is increasingly the "other" that is repressing their ability to forge their own path.
Saying "leaving won't be easy" is to rerun the failed brexit remain campaign. Positive reasons to stay need to be argued - not just hot air ones but practicalities as to how Scotland can be made better inside a refreshed union. Not "rebellious Scots to crush" as advocated by the Baronet of Epping Forest.
The issue is that I cannot think of a single positive reason why Remain voting Scotland would want to remain as part of the UK - and I'm sat in England and I've been asking myself that question for a few years.
I really do think you end up campaigning on the problems that departing would create because there are few sellable upsides - the SNP have made sure of that.
An interesting Twitter thread on Scottish independence which looks at the issue from the wrong angle. It isn't reasons why departure is so problematic that is concerning people, its reasons why staying is so problematic.
We've just had Brexit. Leaving the EU, EEA and CU very clearly sets this country back yet it is supported because staying in was perceived as worse. The same is true in Scotland where the UK is increasingly the "other" that is repressing their ability to forge their own path.
Saying "leaving won't be easy" is to rerun the failed brexit remain campaign. Positive reasons to stay need to be argued - not just hot air ones but practicalities as to how Scotland can be made better inside a refreshed union. Not "rebellious Scots to crush" as advocated by the Baronet of Epping Forest.
I agree and the positive reasons for remaining in the union will become apparent when indyref2 happens
Don't forget that the positive reasons are actual things the Union will bring to Scotland, not "this is better than if you leave which will be really shit".
I really struggle for what those positives are right now. The UK is a disfunctional mess.
Compare COVID vaccination rate with the EU. Could SINDY have afforded the furlough scheme etc? (Not that ScotGov has spent all the money on Scottish businesss).
You really are a nasty piece of work. We would of course have just borrowed money for it , just like the UK did. How can unionists be so dumb to assume other people don't understand that.
Is that before or after you’ve met the Copenhagen criteria to join the EU?
Debt free and balanced budget , it will be a breeze without the anchor of Westminster dragging us under PS: what is really scaring you is even if not Europe will welcome Scotland in tout suite
An interesting Twitter thread on Scottish independence which looks at the issue from the wrong angle. It isn't reasons why departure is so problematic that is concerning people, its reasons why staying is so problematic.
We've just had Brexit. Leaving the EU, EEA and CU very clearly sets this country back yet it is supported because staying in was perceived as worse. The same is true in Scotland where the UK is increasingly the "other" that is repressing their ability to forge their own path.
Saying "leaving won't be easy" is to rerun the failed brexit remain campaign. Positive reasons to stay need to be argued - not just hot air ones but practicalities as to how Scotland can be made better inside a refreshed union. Not "rebellious Scots to crush" as advocated by the Baronet of Epping Forest.
I agree and the positive reasons for remaining in the union will become apparent when indyref2 happens
Don't forget that the positive reasons are actual things the Union will bring to Scotland, not "this is better than if you leave which will be really shit".
I really struggle for what those positives are right now. The UK is a disfunctional mess. If we were likely to have a constitutional convention where cross-party consensus emerges to remake the UK and the various mad crown dependencies into a modern functioning country then maybe that could work. Give Scotland the same kind of self-governance as the Isle of Man (yes I know it isn't in the UK but it is owned by Brenda and unberella'd extensively by the UK) and perhaps independence could be avoided.
I do hope a cross party vision for Scotland can be agreed and to take on the SNP and win the argument that we are better together than apart
I think it's really important that there isn't a cross-party vision. The argument will be better made if Labour makes the Labour case for the Union and the Conservatives a Conservative case.
An interesting Twitter thread on Scottish independence which looks at the issue from the wrong angle. It isn't reasons why departure is so problematic that is concerning people, its reasons why staying is so problematic.
We've just had Brexit. Leaving the EU, EEA and CU very clearly sets this country back yet it is supported because staying in was perceived as worse. The same is true in Scotland where the UK is increasingly the "other" that is repressing their ability to forge their own path.
Saying "leaving won't be easy" is to rerun the failed brexit remain campaign. Positive reasons to stay need to be argued - not just hot air ones but practicalities as to how Scotland can be made better inside a refreshed union. Not "rebellious Scots to crush" as advocated by the Baronet of Epping Forest.
I agree and the positive reasons for remaining in the union will become apparent when indyref2 happens
Which is why international trade is going to be such a important department this year. Liz Truss needs to build on her hard work so far, and construct trade deals that are clearly better than what we have rolled over from EU membership, with an emphasis on services as well as goods. The UK needs quickly to prove international competitiveness, and Scotland is part of the reason why. Fishermen and farmers need a quick win that shows them how much better life is outside the CAP and CFP.
We should also be moving civil service jobs around the U.K, and (on topic) keeping Scottish shipyards busy with Naval orders. Politically, we should be devolving more powers of taxation so that Scotland is responsible for raising more of what it spends.
In other words, we need to show Scotland that being in the U.K. is tangibly better than being in the EU.
When the campaign comes, and it will likely still be a few years away, we need to make sure that different people are on positive and negative reasons, and making left and right wing arguments.
, the old ones are the best ones. Roll out the lies yet again they are too stupid to notice.
Because the Wazzock Williamson had declared everything was perfectly safe and his boss Shagger had weaponised the health of children and their teachers as a stick to beat Labour with.
To accept the truth - that it was never safe and that once again their cretinism has killed people - is something they are too arrogant to consider.
The story that BoZo is postponing a reshuffle until November reveals his priority.
It's not about who is best in post. It's about a good headline. And he can't get a good headline out of the reshuffle because of the pandemic.
So Pike stays in post.
Tragic.
No reshuffle till November might mean Boris has spotted an elephant trap we have all missed that means he needs the current, loyal to the point of subservient, ministers to remain in place to protect the Prime Minister.
An interesting Twitter thread on Scottish independence which looks at the issue from the wrong angle. It isn't reasons why departure is so problematic that is concerning people, its reasons why staying is so problematic.
We've just had Brexit. Leaving the EU, EEA and CU very clearly sets this country back yet it is supported because staying in was perceived as worse. The same is true in Scotland where the UK is increasingly the "other" that is repressing their ability to forge their own path.
Saying "leaving won't be easy" is to rerun the failed brexit remain campaign. Positive reasons to stay need to be argued - not just hot air ones but practicalities as to how Scotland can be made better inside a refreshed union. Not "rebellious Scots to crush" as advocated by the Baronet of Epping Forest.
I agree and the positive reasons for remaining in the union will become apparent when indyref2 happens
Don't forget that the positive reasons are actual things the Union will bring to Scotland, not "this is better than if you leave which will be really shit".
I really struggle for what those positives are right now. The UK is a disfunctional mess. If we were likely to have a constitutional convention where cross-party consensus emerges to remake the UK and the various mad crown dependencies into a modern functioning country then maybe that could work. Give Scotland the same kind of self-governance as the Isle of Man (yes I know it isn't in the UK but it is owned by Brenda and unberella'd extensively by the UK) and perhaps independence could be avoided.
I agree with your general point that voting for the Union has to be presented as a positive choice, one where there is a genuine choice to be made, rather than, "you have no option".
My personal feeling is that, in voting for the Union, I would be doing so in order to benefit from the legal rights and freedoms that I gain as a result of the Union. It would be because I wanted to contribute to solidarity across the island of Britain, and not restrict that solidarity to Scotland alone.
That's the essence of it.
That is some sort of bollox. Mumbo jumbo vacuous crap excuse for a union. You halfwit you can have the same rights and freedoms as an Independent country.
Interesting article from DA, in terms of our armed forces we do need to modernise them but theoretically we would only be fighting a war on our own to defend the Falklands against Argentina again, as we did in 1982, or even less likely Gibraltar from Spain, so we only really need to ensure our armed forces our more modern and effective than those of Argentina and Spain.
Otherwise our military would only be deployed as part of UN or Nato forces or under the umbrella of a US led operation and should be focused on ensuring it is able to be an effective part of that
"Schools are safe", he says, overlooking that it's the children bringing the virus home that isnt safe
This subject is divisive across the country
However, it is vital that schools remain open as the damage to the children with closures will be do dreadful damage to their life chances
Schools should only close as a last resort
In two months things will be a lot better because of lockdown and vaccine. In three months the pressure on the NHS will have largely gone.
This is a last resort and if schools are closed for say a month it really wont make much difference to life chances. It is not an open ended closure like last time.
Have you any idea just how much damage this has already caused my granddaughter as she takes her A levels to secure her place in University in September. She is exceptionally talented but is receiving counselling for the stress she is undergoing with school closures and the lack of social connection with her friends
Sorry to disagree but my son gets a hell of a lot more social connection with his friends online via Zoom or Discord during lockdown than he does at school when any social contact outside of the classroom is banned and in the classroom it is strictly controlled for the purposes of teaching.
Anyone who thinks there is any meaningful social connection going on in school compared to online is not living in the real world.
An interesting Twitter thread on Scottish independence which looks at the issue from the wrong angle. It isn't reasons why departure is so problematic that is concerning people, its reasons why staying is so problematic.
We've just had Brexit. Leaving the EU, EEA and CU very clearly sets this country back yet it is supported because staying in was perceived as worse. The same is true in Scotland where the UK is increasingly the "other" that is repressing their ability to forge their own path.
Saying "leaving won't be easy" is to rerun the failed brexit remain campaign. Positive reasons to stay need to be argued - not just hot air ones but practicalities as to how Scotland can be made better inside a refreshed union. Not "rebellious Scots to crush" as advocated by the Baronet of Epping Forest.
The issue is that I cannot think of a single positive reason why Remain voting Scotland would want to remain as part of the UK - and I'm sat in England and I've been asking myself that question for a few years.
I really do think you end up campaigning on the problems that departing would create because there are few sellable upsides - the SNP have made sure of that.
The prospect of a hard border with England and loss of sterling is enough to send many Scots from Yes to No
Rather than getting all angry and angsty on here about the schools issue, it's a genuinely really tricky decision. At least two of the counter-balancing arguments are heavy. On the one side it's clear that kids are rapidly spreading this virus. You can understand why teachers are concerned. A friend of mine is 'terrified.' They don't even get the kind of PPE of frontline health carers. Kids spread it and take it home. Not good.
On the other side of the scale, it's really important that children are in school for their education, mental and physical health. The last two also apply to parents and carers. And the latter extends into the economy. If children have to be at home it's nigh-impossible to work. I've tried.
This is NOT an easy one. So everyone needs to take the heat out of this.
What I don't understand is why the emphasis is on primary schoolchildren. Secondary school kids are largely adapted to the internet age - including spending a lot of non-school time online as the instinctively natural way to socialise. One can worry about that but it's been a thing for some time. With the exception of those who can't afford it at all or live in very remote areas with no signal, having a few weeks accessing lessons at home is not a huge deal. And older kids seem more vulnerable to the virus, even the new strain.
For primary kids, I'd have thought all that was less true. Sure, they access the internet routinely too, but the issues about mental health and learning to mix may loom larger if you've hardly been to school yet.
Personally I'd shut down all schools and universities until the crisis eases. But if we're going to be selective, why not concentrate on the older kids?
Because you have to get much closer to small children them to teach them effectively, and they tend to be less clear about space and touching.
I can command a class of year nine from the front with just my voice. It’s difficult, and it’s not good educationally, but it can just about be done. But I have taught Year 5 as well and it simply wasn’t possible to teach them the same way.
Primary school children are also more likely to be taken home from school by their parents, who spend half an hour mingling at the school gates. Older children spread aerosolised saliva on buses though TfL now designates some buses as schoolchildren-only (or -mainly).
An interesting Twitter thread on Scottish independence which looks at the issue from the wrong angle. It isn't reasons why departure is so problematic that is concerning people, its reasons why staying is so problematic.
We've just had Brexit. Leaving the EU, EEA and CU very clearly sets this country back yet it is supported because staying in was perceived as worse. The same is true in Scotland where the UK is increasingly the "other" that is repressing their ability to forge their own path.
Saying "leaving won't be easy" is to rerun the failed brexit remain campaign. Positive reasons to stay need to be argued - not just hot air ones but practicalities as to how Scotland can be made better inside a refreshed union. Not "rebellious Scots to crush" as advocated by the Baronet of Epping Forest.
The issue is that I cannot think of a single positive reason why Remain voting Scotland would want to remain as part of the UK - and I'm sat in England and I've been asking myself that question for a few years.
I really do think you end up campaigning on the problems that departing would create because there are few sellable upsides - the SNP have made sure of that.
Me neither - and I'm moving to Scotland! It comes down to the reality that the UK in its current form is a disfunctional mess, made even worse by the bonkers new status for NI and the intra-UK border down the Irish Sea. A case can't be made why we are Stronger Together when the UK government has imposed customs checks for traffic between Belfast and Cairnryan. Customs checks inside the UK are no longer a threat, they are a reality actively pursued by the same government who claims they would be a Bad Thing at Gretna.
The elephant in the Brexit room used to be the Irish Border - you can't Brexit without sticking the border somewhere. We chose to insert it internally. An internal border is suggested as the elephant in the Sindy room yet by the time we get there people will have got used to the cost and difficulties of punting stuff inside the UK yet will see the benefits NI has inside the CTA and EEA...
An interesting Twitter thread on Scottish independence which looks at the issue from the wrong angle. It isn't reasons why departure is so problematic that is concerning people, its reasons why staying is so problematic.
We've just had Brexit. Leaving the EU, EEA and CU very clearly sets this country back yet it is supported because staying in was perceived as worse. The same is true in Scotland where the UK is increasingly the "other" that is repressing their ability to forge their own path.
Saying "leaving won't be easy" is to rerun the failed brexit remain campaign. Positive reasons to stay need to be argued - not just hot air ones but practicalities as to how Scotland can be made better inside a refreshed union. Not "rebellious Scots to crush" as advocated by the Baronet of Epping Forest.
I agree and the positive reasons for remaining in the union will become apparent when indyref2 happens
Don't forget that the positive reasons are actual things the Union will bring to Scotland, not "this is better than if you leave which will be really shit".
I really struggle for what those positives are right now. The UK is a disfunctional mess. If we were likely to have a constitutional convention where cross-party consensus emerges to remake the UK and the various mad crown dependencies into a modern functioning country then maybe that could work. Give Scotland the same kind of self-governance as the Isle of Man (yes I know it isn't in the UK but it is owned by Brenda and unberella'd extensively by the UK) and perhaps independence could be avoided.
I agree with your general point that voting for the Union has to be presented as a positive choice, one where there is a genuine choice to be made, rather than, "you have no option".
My personal feeling is that, in voting for the Union, I would be doing so in order to benefit from the legal rights and freedoms that I gain as a result of the Union. It would be because I wanted to contribute to solidarity across the island of Britain, and not restrict that solidarity to Scotland alone.
That's the essence of it.
That is some sort of bollox. Mumbo jumbo vacuous crap excuse for a union. You halfwit you can have the same rights and freedoms as an Independent country.
But the SNP don’t want Scotland to be an independent country, they want to be part of an increasingly federal EU.
“ He has ordered a review and made it clear that he intends to cut any red tape to make it as streamlined as possible for retired GPs to help with administering Covid-19 jabs.
The move has won the backing of Jeremy Hunt, the health and social care select committee chairman, who told The Telegraph on Saturday: "In this new post-Brexit era of getting rid of unnecessary red tape, this should be top of the list. Never have we needed the help of skilled volunteers more badly or more urgently." ”
Good - but don’t you wish we had politicians with the foresight to have done stuff like this last year?
The other obvious question is why do the rest of us have to put up with the box ticking nonsense of revalidation? With predictable regularity, colleagues coming up for revalidation retire as they cannot be arsed. Ordinarily some at least would have stayed on longer. Has anyone ever proven that it has raised standards in medicine or nursing?
A bit like OFSTED, why not abolish the whole self serving edifice?
Because every now and then patients died because their doctors were still practising 1980s medicine, not having opened a BMJ since registration.
I did quite a lot of work on Continuing Education quite a few years ago, and quite frankly there were a few frightening statistics. There was an admittedly small, but significant, percentage of medics who never changed what they did in spite of of CE. I strongly suspect that, working for a PCT, I met one or two of them!
In spite of saying that, part of the reason that I retired from the practice of pharmacy was because I couldn't be bothered with the costs of the requirements for the limited amount of work I wanted to do.
Close all schools until half term. Thereafter they will remain open.
All 2021 exams to be cancelled.
Use the time until mid-February to jab as many arms as possible. Prioritiy: over 80's, NHS staff (and anyone who has to access NHS premises or work), teachers, anyone over 60 in multi-generational households. Anybody that has wielded a hyperdermic needle to be signed up. 24 hour programme once suppplies are sufficient, based in supermarket car-parks.
Tier 42 lockdown between now and mid-Februry. Food shopping/meds collection and dog walking about the only permitted reason to leave the house. Anybody breaking lockdown to be subject to a minimum £5,000 fine. Anybody not following strict lockdown after a positive test to be fined £10,000 or to live on a tent on Gruinard Island for six months - their choice. From mid-February, tiers set by county, dependent on ability of the local NHS to cope with cases. No movement between counties until cleared by central government.
International travel to and from the UK to be made damned near impossible until 1st April; thereafter, gradually released but ONLY to those with vaccination passports.
Furlough scheme kept under review. Businesses to get meaningful additional support.
An interesting Twitter thread on Scottish independence which looks at the issue from the wrong angle. It isn't reasons why departure is so problematic that is concerning people, its reasons why staying is so problematic.
We've just had Brexit. Leaving the EU, EEA and CU very clearly sets this country back yet it is supported because staying in was perceived as worse. The same is true in Scotland where the UK is increasingly the "other" that is repressing their ability to forge their own path.
Saying "leaving won't be easy" is to rerun the failed brexit remain campaign. Positive reasons to stay need to be argued - not just hot air ones but practicalities as to how Scotland can be made better inside a refreshed union. Not "rebellious Scots to crush" as advocated by the Baronet of Epping Forest.
I agree and the positive reasons for remaining in the union will become apparent when indyref2 happens
Don't forget that the positive reasons are actual things the Union will bring to Scotland, not "this is better than if you leave which will be really shit".
I really struggle for what those positives are right now. The UK is a disfunctional mess. If we were likely to have a constitutional convention where cross-party consensus emerges to remake the UK and the various mad crown dependencies into a modern functioning country then maybe that could work. Give Scotland the same kind of self-governance as the Isle of Man (yes I know it isn't in the UK but it is owned by Brenda and unberella'd extensively by the UK) and perhaps independence could be avoided.
I do hope a cross party vision for Scotland can be agreed and to take on the SNP and win the argument that we are better together than apart
An argument which is diminished every day that Johnson remains PM.
Close all schools until half term. Thereafter they will remain open.
All 2021 exams to be cancelled.
Use the time until mid-February to jab as many arms as possible. Prioritiy: over 80's, NHS staff (and anyone who has to access NHS premises or work), teachers, anyone over 60 in multi-generational households. Anybody that has wielded a hyperdermic needle to be signed up. 24 hour programme once suppplies are sufficient, based in supermarket car-parks.
Tier 42 lockdown between now and mid-Februry. Food shopping/meds collection and dog walking about the only permitted reason to leave the house. Anybody breaking lockdown to be subject to a minimum £5,000 fine. Anybody not following strict lockdown after a positive test to be fined £10,000 or to live on a tent on Gruinard Island for six months - their choice. From mid-February, tiers set by county, dependent on ability of the local NHS to cope with cases. No movement between counties until cleared by central government.
International travel to and from the UK to be made damned near impossible until 1st April; thereafter, gradually released but ONLY to those with vaccination passports.
Furlough scheme kept under review. Businesses to get meaningful additional support.
This is how MarqueeMark would battle Covid.
Your fines are too low. Your numbers are okay for minimums, but £5k and £10k need to be one month or two months’ salary, based on 2019 tax return, if higher than the minimum fines. (So that singer would have got a £250k fine for her birthday party, and Kay Burley £100k).
Oh, and they need to double for each offence, so Piers Corbyn would be getting £80k and £160k fines this week.
Also, anyone entering the U.K. must quarantine for 14 days in a government-run hotel, with no exceptions for anyone whatsoever, as they do in Australia and NZ.
Boris confirms referendums should only be once in a generation on Marr, comparing the period from the 1975 EEC referendum to the 2016 EU referendum to the period before a new Scottish referendum should be allowed by Westminster after 2014
No parliament can bind its successor.
Better keep electing Tory Governments then, just to ensure continuity.....
Whether or not the last three Tory governments have delivered continuity will be left as an exercise for the reader.
An interesting Twitter thread on Scottish independence which looks at the issue from the wrong angle. It isn't reasons why departure is so problematic that is concerning people, its reasons why staying is so problematic.
We've just had Brexit. Leaving the EU, EEA and CU very clearly sets this country back yet it is supported because staying in was perceived as worse. The same is true in Scotland where the UK is increasingly the "other" that is repressing their ability to forge their own path.
Saying "leaving won't be easy" is to rerun the failed brexit remain campaign. Positive reasons to stay need to be argued - not just hot air ones but practicalities as to how Scotland can be made better inside a refreshed union. Not "rebellious Scots to crush" as advocated by the Baronet of Epping Forest.
I agree and the positive reasons for remaining in the union will become apparent when indyref2 happens
Don't forget that the positive reasons are actual things the Union will bring to Scotland, not "this is better than if you leave which will be really shit".
I really struggle for what those positives are right now. The UK is a disfunctional mess.
Compare COVID vaccination rate with the EU. Could SINDY have afforded the furlough scheme etc? (Not that ScotGov has spent all the money on Scottish businesss).
You really are a nasty piece of work. We would of course have just borrowed money for it , just like the UK did. How can unionists be so dumb to assume other people don't understand that.
Is that before or after you’ve met the Copenhagen criteria to join the EU?
Debt free and balanced budget , it will be a breeze without the anchor of Westminster dragging us under
As dangerous as the anti-vaxxers.
You might as well wish in one hand and shit in the other. Yes, Scotland MIGHT get to that point, after many years - but not without putting in place economic measures that would make the SNP reviled for their false manifesto that got them there.
Micky is crowing about the UK banning EU fisherman from electric pulse fishing in our waters. Micky is ignoring that the EU has already prohibited such fishing with certain exemptions. The two countries that mainly used these exemptions were The Netherlands and, you guessed it, the UK. Micky also seems unaware that France, despite being in the Anaconda-like grip of the EU, banned all its fishermen from using pulse fishing in 2019.
Micky is crowing about VAT being taken off sanitary products to the FM of a country that made such products free of charge to all who need them.
"Schools are safe", he says, overlooking that it's the children bringing the virus home that isnt safe
This subject is divisive across the country
However, it is vital that schools remain open as the damage to the children with closures will be do dreadful damage to their life chances
Schools should only close as a last resort
In two months things will be a lot better because of lockdown and vaccine. In three months the pressure on the NHS will have largely gone.
This is a last resort and if schools are closed for say a month it really wont make much difference to life chances. It is not an open ended closure like last time.
Have you any idea just how much damage this has already caused my granddaughter as she takes her A levels to secure her place in University in September. She is exceptionally talented but is receiving counselling for the stress she is undergoing with school closures and the lack of social connection with her friends
Oh please. I have a daughter who just started at university this year. I didn't get to see her at all for nine and a half months because of this. I know how hard it is for her.
I also have a friend whose friend has had their life-saving surgery cancelled because the operating theatre is being converted into Covid ICU.
The emergency is now. This is the time to take all the remaining "last resort" actions we have left.
Close all schools until half term. Thereafter they will remain open.
All 2021 exams to be cancelled.
Use the time until mid-February to jab as many arms as possible. Prioritiy: over 80's, NHS staff (and anyone who has to access NHS premises or work), teachers, anyone over 60 in multi-generational households. Anybody that has wielded a hyperdermic needle to be signed up. 24 hour programme once suppplies are sufficient, based in supermarket car-parks.
Tier 42 lockdown between now and mid-Februry. Food shopping/meds collection and dog walking about the only permitted reason to leave the house. Anybody breaking lockdown to be subject to a minimum £5,000 fine. Anybody not following strict lockdown after a positive test to be fined £10,000 or to live on a tent on Gruinard Island for six months - their choice. From mid-February, tiers set by county, dependent on ability of the local NHS to cope with cases. No movement between counties until cleared by central government.
International travel to and from the UK to be made damned near impossible until 1st April; thereafter, gradually released but ONLY to those with vaccination passports.
Furlough scheme kept under review. Businesses to get meaningful additional support.
This is how MarqueeMark would battle Covid.
Your fines are too low. Your numbers are okay for minimums, but £5k and £10k need to be one month or two months’ salary, based on 2019 tax return, if higher than the minimum fines. (So that singer would have got a £250k fine for her birthday party, and Kay Burley £100k).
Oh, and they need to double for each offence, so Piers Corbyn would be getting £80k and £160k fines this week.
Also, anyone entering the U.K. must quarantine for 14 days in a government-run hotel, with no exceptions for anyone whatsoever, as they do in Australia and NZ.
Haha was just chuckling to myself at that wonderful moment in HP when Dolores Umbridge declares,
'I really hate children'
Every one of us who has been involved in education knows of some teachers, inspectors and educationalists of whom that could be said.
I always thought that Delores Umbridge was the most brilliantly drawn "baddy" in those books, evil but instantly recognisable. The motivation of most of the other baddies was often hard to work out but her obsession with rules, her self indulgence and her willingness to do anything that the rules required was just superb.
And brilliantly portrayed by Imelda Staunton.
I just thought it was a sloppy Margaret Thatcher parody written by somebody who didn't understand who the lady was or what motivated her.
As @Mysticrose said in this thread, we can all (for some values of all) recognise figures like that, and not just in education. Last night I was watching an old documentary on Youtube about Ian Fleming where a teacher described Fleming's housemaster (presumably safely dead and unlikely to issue a libel writ) as a sadist.
I'm going to make a concise couple of predictions.
Boris Johnson will NOT step down before the next election.
He will win a handsome majority of more than 40 seats. Most people who voted Conservative last time will do so again.
What about the people who voted Brexit Party, who do they vote for?
Possible that Farage will have some kind of party for them to vote for, that might even contest seats held by the Tories this time, which would change the effect it has.
Wonder if he'll contest my seat, think my MP is one of the biggest brexiteers of the lot ! But the seat is very brexity so could be interesting. Labour doesn't have a chance next time here anyway, despite the seat being very historically labour.
"Schools are safe", he says, overlooking that it's the children bringing the virus home that isnt safe
This subject is divisive across the country
However, it is vital that schools remain open as the damage to the children with closures will be do dreadful damage to their life chances
Schools should only close as a last resort
In two months things will be a lot better because of lockdown and vaccine. In three months the pressure on the NHS will have largely gone.
This is a last resort and if schools are closed for say a month it really wont make much difference to life chances. It is not an open ended closure like last time.
Have you any idea just how much damage this has already caused my granddaughter as she takes her A levels to secure her place in University in September. She is exceptionally talented but is receiving counselling for the stress she is undergoing with school closures and the lack of social connection with her friends
Sorry to disagree but my son gets a hell of a lot more social connection with his friends online via Zoom or Discord during lockdown than he does at school when any social contact outside of the classroom is banned and in the classroom it is strictly controlled for the purposes of teaching.
Anyone who thinks there is any meaningful social connection going on in school compared to online is not living in the real world.
I disagree. Kids really aren't that different from us in this respect. Screen contact serves a purpose but it is nothing like meeting in the flesh. Nothing at all. I think this is true for all ages but it is especially true for younger kids. My sister is a primary school teacher and her description of how children were delighted to see and interact with their friends again after the first lockdown was vivid. The youngest also wanted a cuddle from their teacher which rather blew social distancing apart on day 1.
An interesting Twitter thread on Scottish independence which looks at the issue from the wrong angle. It isn't reasons why departure is so problematic that is concerning people, its reasons why staying is so problematic.
We've just had Brexit. Leaving the EU, EEA and CU very clearly sets this country back yet it is supported because staying in was perceived as worse. The same is true in Scotland where the UK is increasingly the "other" that is repressing their ability to forge their own path.
Saying "leaving won't be easy" is to rerun the failed brexit remain campaign. Positive reasons to stay need to be argued - not just hot air ones but practicalities as to how Scotland can be made better inside a refreshed union. Not "rebellious Scots to crush" as advocated by the Baronet of Epping Forest.
I agree and the positive reasons for remaining in the union will become apparent when indyref2 happens
Don't forget that the positive reasons are actual things the Union will bring to Scotland, not "this is better than if you leave which will be really shit".
I really struggle for what those positives are right now. The UK is a disfunctional mess. If we were likely to have a constitutional convention where cross-party consensus emerges to remake the UK and the various mad crown dependencies into a modern functioning country then maybe that could work. Give Scotland the same kind of self-governance as the Isle of Man (yes I know it isn't in the UK but it is owned by Brenda and unberella'd extensively by the UK) and perhaps independence could be avoided.
I agree with your general point that voting for the Union has to be presented as a positive choice, one where there is a genuine choice to be made, rather than, "you have no option".
My personal feeling is that, in voting for the Union, I would be doing so in order to benefit from the legal rights and freedoms that I gain as a result of the Union. It would be because I wanted to contribute to solidarity across the island of Britain, and not restrict that solidarity to Scotland alone.
That's the essence of it.
That is some sort of bollox. Mumbo jumbo vacuous crap excuse for a union. You halfwit you can have the same rights and freedoms as an Independent country.
With the UK leaving the EU I lost the rights I had to live and work across the EU.
The Union between England and Scotland is the guarantee that I have the right and freedom to live and work across Britain - with no risk of a politician infringing on that right.
Because the Wazzock Williamson had declared everything was perfectly safe and his boss Shagger had weaponised the health of children and their teachers as a stick to beat Labour with.
To accept the truth - that it was never safe and that once again their cretinism has killed people - is something they are too arrogant to consider.
The story that BoZo is postponing a reshuffle until November reveals his priority.
It's not about who is best in post. It's about a good headline. And he can't get a good headline out of the reshuffle because of the pandemic.
So Pike stays in post.
Tragic.
No reshuffle till November might mean Boris has spotted an elephant trap we have all missed that means he needs the current, loyal to the point of subservient, ministers to remain in place to protect the Prime Minister.
The first poll of the year showing Boris losing his majority and his own seat may well be the high point for him. There is little doubt that the incompetence is indeed beginning to cut through. The 360 that was pulled on the second jab for the elderly who had already had their first, both infuriated a core demographic for the Tories and more importantly their families. The Ministers are increasingly loathed, I have heard matrons in twin sets uttering the words of the Christmas Number 2 every time Johnson appears on screen. So all in all I think that by November the brickbats will be coming in every window of every Conservative constituency office in the country. According to his lights, then Johnson is indeed wise to husband his political capital a while longer and wield the knife later in order to try to change the mood music.
It won´t work of course, because reshuffles never do. Meanwhile the mess in every single government department from the Attorney General´s office to the Welsh Office will get worse, the stench of sleaze and corruption will grow and Johnson will touch levels of unpopularity never seen in modern times.
"Schools are safe", he says, overlooking that it's the children bringing the virus home that isnt safe
This subject is divisive across the country
However, it is vital that schools remain open as the damage to the children with closures will be do dreadful damage to their life chances
Schools should only close as a last resort
In two months things will be a lot better because of lockdown and vaccine. In three months the pressure on the NHS will have largely gone.
This is a last resort and if schools are closed for say a month it really wont make much difference to life chances. It is not an open ended closure like last time.
Have you any idea just how much damage this has already caused my granddaughter as she takes her A levels to secure her place in University in September. She is exceptionally talented but is receiving counselling for the stress she is undergoing with school closures and the lack of social connection with her friends
Sorry to disagree but my son gets a hell of a lot more social connection with his friends online via Zoom or Discord during lockdown than he does at school when any social contact outside of the classroom is banned and in the classroom it is strictly controlled for the purposes of teaching.
Anyone who thinks there is any meaningful social connection going on in school compared to online is not living in the real world.
I disagree. Kids really aren't that different from us in this respect. Screen contact serves a purpose but it is nothing like meeting in the flesh. Nothing at all. I think this is true for all ages but it is especially true for younger kids. My sister is a primary school teacher and her description of how children were delighted to see and interact with their friends again after the first lockdown was vivid. The youngest also wanted a cuddle from their teacher which rather blew social distancing apart on day 1.
Yourself and Mr Tyndall are also comfortably in the top quartile or even decile of incomes, send your kids to the best schools in town and care about their education more than the vast majority of other parents do.
Your demographic is vastly over-represented on PB. It’s those kids at the other end of the spectrum for whom we need to keep schools open as long as possible.
An interesting Twitter thread on Scottish independence which looks at the issue from the wrong angle. It isn't reasons why departure is so problematic that is concerning people, its reasons why staying is so problematic.
We've just had Brexit. Leaving the EU, EEA and CU very clearly sets this country back yet it is supported because staying in was perceived as worse. The same is true in Scotland where the UK is increasingly the "other" that is repressing their ability to forge their own path.
Saying "leaving won't be easy" is to rerun the failed brexit remain campaign. Positive reasons to stay need to be argued - not just hot air ones but practicalities as to how Scotland can be made better inside a refreshed union. Not "rebellious Scots to crush" as advocated by the Baronet of Epping Forest.
I agree and the positive reasons for remaining in the union will become apparent when indyref2 happens
Don't forget that the positive reasons are actual things the Union will bring to Scotland, not "this is better than if you leave which will be really shit".
I really struggle for what those positives are right now. The UK is a disfunctional mess.
Compare COVID vaccination rate with the EU. Could SINDY have afforded the furlough scheme etc? (Not that ScotGov has spent all the money on Scottish businesss).
You really are a nasty piece of work. We would of course have just borrowed money for it , just like the UK did. How can unionists be so dumb to assume other people don't understand that.
Is that before or after you’ve met the Copenhagen criteria to join the EU?
Debt free and balanced budget , it will be a breeze without the anchor of Westminster dragging us under
As dangerous as the anti-vaxxers.
You might as well wish in one hand and shit in the other. Yes, Scotland MIGHT get to that point, after many years - but not without putting in place economic measures that would make the SNP reviled for their false manifesto that got them there.
Weren’t you the bloke that was bleating piously about me using the phrase ‘pish on your chips’? Glad you’ve got over that fit of the vapours.
An interesting Twitter thread on Scottish independence which looks at the issue from the wrong angle. It isn't reasons why departure is so problematic that is concerning people, its reasons why staying is so problematic.
We've just had Brexit. Leaving the EU, EEA and CU very clearly sets this country back yet it is supported because staying in was perceived as worse. The same is true in Scotland where the UK is increasingly the "other" that is repressing their ability to forge their own path.
Saying "leaving won't be easy" is to rerun the failed brexit remain campaign. Positive reasons to stay need to be argued - not just hot air ones but practicalities as to how Scotland can be made better inside a refreshed union. Not "rebellious Scots to crush" as advocated by the Baronet of Epping Forest.
I agree and the positive reasons for remaining in the union will become apparent when indyref2 happens
Don't forget that the positive reasons are actual things the Union will bring to Scotland, not "this is better than if you leave which will be really shit".
I really struggle for what those positives are right now. The UK is a disfunctional mess.
Compare COVID vaccination rate with the EU. Could SINDY have afforded the furlough scheme etc? (Not that ScotGov has spent all the money on Scottish businesss).
You really are a nasty piece of work. We would of course have just borrowed money for it , just like the UK did. How can unionists be so dumb to assume other people don't understand that.
Is that before or after you’ve met the Copenhagen criteria to join the EU?
Debt free and balanced budget , it will be a breeze without the anchor of Westminster dragging us under
When I read such crap it's quite obvious that any UK Government should insist on agreeing the precise terms of any separation with the Scottish Parliament before ever agreeing to allow a referendum to go ahead. A red line should be that Scotland inherits exactly the same share of the UK's debt as its share of the UK's spending under the Barnett Formula. If that's not acceptable to you, you can go whistle.
It's an interesting thread but he completely misses the emotional aspect of The Project. Mitterand insisted, for sentimental reasons, that Greece should be admitted to the EC despite not meeting the criteria for accession. It was felt that the very notion of Europe was incomplete without its cultural Hellenic bedrock.
I can't claim to be an expert EU kremlinologist but more than 10 of my old students work in the commission now so I do have some insight. They all think that Scotland will have 'sa propre place' in the Union as Ayrault said and a way will be found to make it happen.
You will scare the pants off Carlotta telling the truth like that, as an emigrant who joined the colonial establishment ( could not make it in Scotland as not enough Tory chancers) , her democratic view is the pesky Scots should be kept in captivity.
My democratic view is that the results of referendums should be respected.
Your view appears to be “keep asking until I get the result I want”.
2 million Scots voted to remain in the U.K. 1.6 million Scots voted to remain in the EU.
Nobody is saying “keep asking until I get the result I want”
So if a second referendum was held, and again the answer was to Remain in the UK, the SNP would say "fair enough then, we'll stop asking"?
Close all schools until half term. Thereafter they will remain open.
All 2021 exams to be cancelled.
Use the time until mid-February to jab as many arms as possible. Prioritiy: over 80's, NHS staff (and anyone who has to access NHS premises or work), teachers, anyone over 60 in multi-generational households. Anybody that has wielded a hyperdermic needle to be signed up. 24 hour programme once suppplies are sufficient, based in supermarket car-parks.
Tier 42 lockdown between now and mid-Februry. Food shopping/meds collection and dog walking about the only permitted reason to leave the house. Anybody breaking lockdown to be subject to a minimum £5,000 fine. Anybody not following strict lockdown after a positive test to be fined £10,000 or to live on a tent on Gruinard Island for six months - their choice. From mid-February, tiers set by county, dependent on ability of the local NHS to cope with cases. No movement between counties until cleared by central government.
International travel to and from the UK to be made damned near impossible until 1st April; thereafter, gradually released but ONLY to those with vaccination passports.
Furlough scheme kept under review. Businesses to get meaningful additional support.
This is how MarqueeMark would battle Covid.
Any plans about how you pay for the economic demolition you have just proposed?
Comments
https://twitter.com/kateferguson4/status/1345664976359481346
Its a genuinely difficult choice because if we remain in the SM with rUK the reality is that we will have very little economic independence whatever currency we end up using. We would also need to address our fiscal deficit a lot more urgently if we were to seek EU membership with real disruption of public services as they were sharply cut. It could of course be done but the short term price would be savage.
If no-one in a school has the virus they can't spread it. That's where the government has failed, and that's why there's no option now but to close the schools until they bring that back under control.
This is no longer about choices and trade-offs. This is about the inevitable consequences of earlier failures.
Back in August, one of the boffins described the situation as "schools or pubs, but not both". That may have been a simplification, but it was the right idea; open schools lead to lots of mixing, and that uses up pretty much all of your R budget.
But if course the government ignored that, opened up everything and looked surprised when cases rose again. And kept on rising.
But then, this is a government that always wants something for nothing- because that's what the public wants. So we end up with nothing for something.
However, it is vital that schools remain open as the damage to the children with closures will be do dreadful damage to their life chances
Schools should only close as a last resort
I really struggle for what those positives are right now. The UK is a disfunctional mess. If we were likely to have a constitutional convention where cross-party consensus emerges to remake the UK and the various mad crown dependencies into a modern functioning country then maybe that could work. Give Scotland the same kind of self-governance as the Isle of Man (yes I know it isn't in the UK but it is owned by Brenda and unberella'd extensively by the UK) and perhaps independence could be avoided.
But it will happen and to win remain needs to do other things as you say.
Tier 11 incoming...
This is a last resort and if schools are closed for say a month it really wont make much difference to life chances. It is not an open ended closure like last time.
So far, eligible people appear to be very patient waiting to hear about their COVID jab; that may reflect the older generation’s deference towards the NHS. My own Mother is adamant that she will wait to hear from her GP. However, as time passes and stories keep appearing on the news about this person and that person getting the jab, patience will begin to fade. What odds that “COVID jab” and “postcode lottery” appear in a Daily Mail headline before the year is out?
Well, the Sunday Times is running several articles today summed up by:
My personal feeling is that, in voting for the Union, I would be doing so in order to benefit from the legal rights and freedoms that I gain as a result of the Union. It would be because I wanted to contribute to solidarity across the island of Britain, and not restrict that solidarity to Scotland alone.
That's the essence of it.
Your view appears to be “keep asking until I get the result I want”.
2 million Scots voted to remain in the U.K.
1.6 million Scots voted to remain in the EU.
Furthermore the schools are staying open for key workers children
I am not saying all schools should remain open but blanket closures is a bad decision for those children in low infection areas
any ideas of what else can be done to allow for another month of poor teaching?
We should also be moving civil service jobs around the U.K, and (on topic) keeping Scottish shipyards busy with Naval orders. Politically, we should be devolving more powers of taxation so that Scotland is responsible for raising more of what it spends.
In other words, we need to show Scotland that being in the U.K. is tangibly better than being in the EU.
When the campaign comes, and it will likely still be a few years away, we need to make sure that different people are on positive and negative reasons, and making left and right wing arguments.
He hates scrutiny because he is not up to it.
Is it JCVI with members listed here?
https://tinyurl.com/y8usey4f
I understand vaccination of teachers does not solve all the problems of transmission in schools, but -- if politicians & parents want the schools open -- then teachers need to be jabbed now. They (along with other frontline staff) need to be absolutely the highest priority.
Not geriatrics who want to go out for fine dining and skiing (Baroness Bakewell & Baron Barnesian).
Drakeford as usual is fucking it up worse than Johnson. Hardly anyone has been vaccinated in Wales outside Cardiff.
But, I was astonished by this
https://tinyurl.com/yb4qdadn
Why does this make any sense? Who came up with the priorities?
I note that the media were careful to describe her as a 108 year old former nurse.
2) the value of their exam results is mostly vs their own cohort who are in the same boat
3) we massively overplay exam results as a factor in life chances. Once past mid twenties employment records, skills and degrees are far more important
4) online teaching does not have to be poor
Yes there will be some further inequality between the cohort based on their background but if we were serious about tackling this we have done little to show it over the last 50 years with meritocracy falling away to be replaced with a drawbridge approach to enhance the life chances of the middle classes.
One is that it's the last thing you do.
The other, which is more important, is that you try everything in order to avoid the Last Resort.
If you look at the infection graph in the UK since September, and at the control measures taken, and at the government rhetoric, does it look like they have tried very hard to avoid the Last Resort?
However, looking back at my working life, I have no idea what class of degree many of my colleagues had, apart from one who 'traded' on his excellent one, but sadly, couldn't do the job at a senior level.
Having a degree indicates considerable technical or theoretical knowledge; it's the ability to put that into practice which matters.
If the infection rates, and importantly hospitalilisation rates, continue their steep increase thanks to the new variant, then by the end of the week it’ll be back to “go home and stay home”, with only supermarkets and pharmacies open in large parts of the country.
Britain gave Greece a vital helping hand to its independence for exactly the same reason that Mitterand made sure it got in, and Macron is making it a cornerstone of his policy now - a mixture of European idealism and brute strategic realpolitik. Exactly the same thing occurred when both Britain and France backed Greece against Turkey after the first world war. A hidden history of Europe.
I really do think you end up campaigning on the problems that departing would create because there are few sellable upsides - the SNP have made sure of that.
We should be in spring 2020 lockdown mode for the next 2 to 3 months. Not faffing about with schools and universities.
PS: what is really scaring you is even if not Europe will welcome Scotland in tout suite
Otherwise our military would only be deployed as part of UN or Nato forces or under the umbrella of a US led operation and should be focused on ensuring it is able to be an effective part of that
Anyone who thinks there is any meaningful social connection going on in school compared to online is not living in the real world.
https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/poll-most-scots-would-reject-independence-after-considering-issues-2976093
The elephant in the Brexit room used to be the Irish Border - you can't Brexit without sticking the border somewhere. We chose to insert it internally. An internal border is suggested as the elephant in the Sindy room yet by the time we get there people will have got used to the cost and difficulties of punting stuff inside the UK yet will see the benefits NI has inside the CTA and EEA...
In spite of saying that, part of the reason that I retired from the practice of pharmacy was because I couldn't be bothered with the costs of the requirements for the limited amount of work I wanted to do.
All 2021 exams to be cancelled.
Use the time until mid-February to jab as many arms as possible. Prioritiy: over 80's, NHS staff (and anyone who has to access NHS premises or work), teachers, anyone over 60 in multi-generational households. Anybody that has wielded a hyperdermic needle to be signed up. 24 hour programme once suppplies are sufficient, based in supermarket car-parks.
Tier 42 lockdown between now and mid-Februry. Food shopping/meds collection and dog walking about the only permitted reason to leave the house. Anybody breaking lockdown to be subject to a minimum £5,000 fine. Anybody not following strict lockdown after a positive test to be fined £10,000 or to live on a tent on Gruinard Island for six months - their choice. From mid-February, tiers set by county, dependent on ability of the local NHS to cope with cases. No movement between counties until cleared by central government.
International travel to and from the UK to be made damned near impossible until 1st April; thereafter, gradually released but ONLY to those with vaccination passports.
Furlough scheme kept under review. Businesses to get meaningful additional support.
This is how MarqueeMark would battle Covid.
(So that singer would have got a £250k fine for her birthday party, and Kay Burley £100k).
Oh, and they need to double for each offence, so Piers Corbyn would be getting £80k and £160k fines this week.
Also, anyone entering the U.K. must quarantine for 14 days in a government-run hotel, with no exceptions for anyone whatsoever, as they do in Australia and NZ.
You might as well wish in one hand and shit in the other. Yes, Scotland MIGHT get to that point, after many years - but not without putting in place economic measures that would make the SNP reviled for their false manifesto that got them there.
Micky is crowing about the UK banning EU fisherman from electric pulse fishing in our waters. Micky is ignoring that the EU has already prohibited such fishing with certain exemptions. The two countries that mainly used these exemptions were The Netherlands and, you guessed it, the UK. Micky also seems unaware that France, despite being in the Anaconda-like grip of the EU, banned all its fishermen from using pulse fishing in 2019.
Micky is crowing about VAT being taken off sanitary products to the FM of a country that made such products free of charge to all who need them.
Don’t be like Micky.
https://twitter.com/lord_forsyth/status/1345361490488995840?s=21
I also have a friend whose friend has had their life-saving surgery cancelled because the operating theatre is being converted into Covid ICU.
The emergency is now. This is the time to take all the remaining "last resort" actions we have left.
But the seat is very brexity so could be interesting. Labour doesn't have a chance next time here anyway, despite the seat being very historically labour.
The Union between England and Scotland is the guarantee that I have the right and freedom to live and work across Britain - with no risk of a politician infringing on that right.
And a good day to you.
It won´t work of course, because reshuffles never do. Meanwhile the mess in every single government department from the Attorney General´s office to the Welsh Office will get worse, the stench of sleaze and corruption will grow and Johnson will touch levels of unpopularity never seen in modern times.
Your demographic is vastly over-represented on PB. It’s those kids at the other end of the spectrum for whom we need to keep schools open as long as possible.
Aye, right.