Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. Sign in or register to get started.

Parliament must return in person and permanently – politicalbetting.com

SystemSystem Posts: 12,168
edited April 2021 in General
imageParliament must return in person and permanently – politicalbetting.com

Parliament will return from its Easter recess on Monday to allow MPs to make tributes to the late Duke of Edinburgh. It is right that they can do so. Most, however, will continue to dial in via videoconferencing; few will be in the chamber. That is no longer right.

Read the full story here

«13456710

Comments

  • MikeSmithsonMikeSmithson Posts: 7,382
    Link test
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,920
    Yes, Parliament should return but Boris and perhaps the government generally prefers an easier life.

    But what happens when major parts of the civil service are moved outside London? Either ministers go with them, in which case they will not be in the Commons most of the time, or ministers stay in London and lose control of their departments.

  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,176
    As ever, thank you for the thread header. MPs being in Westminster en masse isn’t something that’s upsetting the public from what I can tell. I emailed my MP for the first time this week and the fact he is working remotely didn’t once cross my mind.

    No, MPs can return in full when it’s safe to do so like everyone else.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,920
    tlg86 said:

    As ever, thank you for the thread header. MPs being in Westminster en masse isn’t something that’s upsetting the public from what I can tell. I emailed my MP for the first time this week and the fact he is working remotely didn’t once cross my mind.

    No, MPs can return in full when it’s safe to do so like everyone else.

    That rather begs the question. Not just is it safe now but can it be made safe? As the header suggests, additional testing and accelerated vaccination could quickly make Parliament safer. Given the will, it would not be necessary to wait for the entire country to be reopened.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 23,221
    edited April 2021
    Fifth.

    Good job, David - thank you for the piece.

    Today only nearly everybody still in bed. If you were.

    I might be inclined towards having a session in summer; keep the buggers busy. Though unfortunately they would then pass more laws.
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,176
    edited April 2021

    tlg86 said:

    As ever, thank you for the thread header. MPs being in Westminster en masse isn’t something that’s upsetting the public from what I can tell. I emailed my MP for the first time this week and the fact he is working remotely didn’t once cross my mind.

    No, MPs can return in full when it’s safe to do so like everyone else.

    That rather begs the question. Not just is it safe now but can it be made safe? As the header suggests, additional testing and accelerated vaccination could quickly make Parliament safer. Given the will, it would not be necessary to wait for the entire country to be reopened.
    I’m intensely relaxed about the COVID situation. Unfortunately for you, Labour aren’t. They can hardly argue for parliament to return to normal when they’re not arguing for that in general.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,595
    "To work properly, they need people to be able to talk to each other informally; to chat, to take the mood of MPs’ response to a proposal, to plan and plot, to lobby, to speculate. All that chatter oils the workings of what gets through, what gets amended and what gets dropped; it puts ministers under pressure, it creates momentum for change. None of this is happening."

    Except, it is happening. Not fully, but the numerous WhatsApp groups where MPs respond, plan, plot, lobby and speculate have a power. It wasn't Rashford that changed school meals for kids - it was the response to his involvement on the WhatsApp group that spooked MPs into action. That won't go away when MPs return.

    And there is now a lot of pressure on MPs to return. The average age of MPs is now around 50. That means half will have already had at least one jab. Once they have had their jab plus 3 weeks, they should be back. It wouldn't take that much effort for the rest of MPs to be given priority to receive "any spare vaccines at the end of the day, nudge nudge...." The rest could be quietly done within the week. Westminster could be back to normal on 10th May - by the time the local election results have been counted.

    The situation in Scotland following those votes needs discussion by a full House.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    Have we done this? Looks like an effort to kick it into the long grass (“set up a Royal Commission”).

    https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/09/joe-biden-supreme-court-expansion-commission-reform
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,421
    tlg86 said:

    As ever, thank you for the thread header. MPs being in Westminster en masse isn’t something that’s upsetting the public from what I can tell. I emailed my MP for the first time this week and the fact he is working remotely didn’t once cross my mind.

    No, MPs can return in full when it’s safe to do so like everyone else.

    Apparently schools are safe, and Parliament has a larger allowance of air than schools plus people have separate rather than open-plan offices (which appear to be the worst vector of transmission).

    Make them come back, and sit in the same seat in the chamber for six hours a day wearing masks.

    All their bullshit ideas on forcing schools to do this would vanish faster than Johnson’s fidelity on seeing a beautiful woman.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,599
    Charles said:

    Have we done this? Looks like an effort to kick it into the long grass (“set up a Royal Commission”).

    https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/09/joe-biden-supreme-court-expansion-commission-reform

    He doesn’t want to be seen to be packing the court, because he’s been around long enough to see how these things end up playing out in the medium to long term - but a lot of his supporters see it as a priority to do so.
  • Even with a full Commons, this government will continue to do whatever it likes with impunity. Thats what having an 80-seat majority does. Especially with a PM who is happy to fire his own MPs for having a brain and a conscience.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    edited April 2021
    Sandpit said:

    Charles said:

    Have we done this? Looks like an effort to kick it into the long grass (“set up a Royal Commission”).

    https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/09/joe-biden-supreme-court-expansion-commission-reform

    He doesn’t want to be seen to be packing the court, because he’s been around long enough to see how these things end up playing out in the medium to long term - but a lot of his supporters see it as a priority to do so.
    Exactly

    What amused me was the liberal judge who said it was wrong to pack the court - and faced calls from democrats to resign because he dared disagree with them
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,448
    edited April 2021

    Yes, Parliament should return but Boris and perhaps the government generally prefers an easier life.

    But what happens when major parts of the civil service are moved outside London? Either ministers go with them, in which case they will not be in the Commons most of the time, or ministers stay in London and lose control of their departments.

    Morning All! Cloudy here, but not, I think, raining. First day of the cricket season at our local club and 'they' have decided to dig up the road outside the ground, making access difficult.
    Not that one could go and watch of course, unless passing the ground ' happened' to be on one's walk. Bar's closed, of course.

    I suspect Mr L is right; our PM doesn't like being challenged, and perhaps the idea of being reminded of 'promises broken' by angry DUP MP's is playing on his mind.

    Incidentally can anyone explain why Carrie didn't lend him a hairbrush before he went out make his statement yesterday? Or check his tie? The phrase 'dragged through a hedge backwards' came to mind; one that was used to me long years ago when I didn't look like the neat, smart schoolboy my mother fondly imagined me to be.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,421

    Incidentally can anyone explain why Carrie didn't lend him a hairbrush before he went out make his statement yesterday? Or check his tie? The phrase 'dragged through a hedge backwards' came to mind; one that was used to me long years ago when I didn't look like the neat, smart schoolboy my mother fondly imagined me to be.

    I assume it’s because he’s now getting quite bald and the haystack impression is to hide the skin patches.

    Although I can hardly criticise him for that given I did much the same thing for 7 years.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,868
    FPT

    Andy_JS said:

    "What AstraZeneca vaccine fears reveal about our skewed sense of risk
    No one gives a second thought to the dangers of driving to a vaccination centre, yet that is a far more significant risk than blood clots.

    Phil Whitaker"

    https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/health/2021/04/what-astrazeneca-vaccine-fears-reveal-about-our-skewed-sense-risk

    Yes, we (as humans) are crap at understanding real risks. If we (think we) are in control, such as when we are driving, we think there is none.
    It isn’t just about assessment of risk, that’s the point. We are happier with risky situations when we have control, or at least a significant influence, over the outcome, compared to situations where it is just chance (or feels like chance, because we don’t understand the causal factors).

    With COVID itself, despite the randomness of a pandemic, we know that if we catch it, we will ourselves have decided to put ourselves at risk by being in the situation of being too close to other people. Most people also feel that, as such a disease plays out, we might have some influence over its course through the treatment and self-care we receive and from our underlying state of health.

    With an injection that has a tiny chance if death, we just have to take the chance and wait passively for the outcome.

    I am quite happy to go ahead with my second AZN on the balance of odds, but I fully understand why people are nervous. When I had the Yellow Fever vaccination, the risks including a tiny chance of death were explained to me and I had to sign away my consent before it was given. Going through that procedure in itself makes you somewhat apprehensive.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,801
    Good morning, everyone.

    RIP, Prince Philip.

    Mr. Doethur, I just let it thin then shaved it all off. To be honest, if I'd known how much I prefer having no hair I would've done it years ago.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,200
    Charles said:

    Have we done this? Looks like an effort to kick it into the long grass (“set up a Royal Commission”).

    https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/09/joe-biden-supreme-court-expansion-commission-reform

    Does it ?
    ... Biden’s executive order directs the commission to complete its report within 180 days of its first meeting...

    “...What amused me was the liberal judge who said it was wrong to pack the court - and faced calls from democrats to resign because he dared disagree with them...”

    So you hadn’t noticed what happened with Ginsburg, then ?

    It’s as though you didn’t read the article.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,448

    Good morning, everyone.

    RIP, Prince Philip.

    Mr. Doethur, I just let it thin then shaved it all off. To be honest, if I'd known how much I prefer having no hair I would've done it years ago.

    I've still a full head of hair, in spite of the avatar, but have in cut very, very short. Quite unlike the sweeping DA of my youth, or the flowing locks I sported in the 70's.
    Untidy hair is, I was always taught, the sign of an untidy mind. I shall be delighted when, next week, I can take myself off to the barbers. The appointment was made as soon as the barbers announced their opening date.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,868

    Good morning, everyone.

    RIP, Prince Philip.

    Mr. Doethur, I just let it thin then shaved it all off. To be honest, if I'd known how much I prefer having no hair I would've done it years ago.

    I've still a full head of hair, in spite of the avatar, but have in cut very, very short. Quite unlike the sweeping DA of my youth, or the flowing locks I sported in the 70's.
    Untidy hair is, I was always taught, the sign of an untidy mind. I shall be delighted when, next week, I can take myself off to the barbers. The appointment was made as soon as the barbers announced their opening date.
    Who among us would think that the clown has a ‘tidy mind’ even with a sharp haircut?

    Which my iPad tried to correct to ‘Tory mind’, which is still pertinent.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,200

    Good morning, everyone.

    RIP, Prince Philip.

    Mr. Doethur, I just let it thin then shaved it all off. To be honest, if I'd known how much I prefer having no hair I would've done it years ago.

    I've still a full head of hair, in spite of the avatar, but have in cut very, very short. Quite unlike the sweeping DA of my youth, or the flowing locks I sported in the 70's.
    Untidy hair is, I was always taught, the sign of an untidy mind...
    Poor old Albert Einstein.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,448
    edited April 2021
    Nigelb said:

    Good morning, everyone.

    RIP, Prince Philip.

    Mr. Doethur, I just let it thin then shaved it all off. To be honest, if I'd known how much I prefer having no hair I would've done it years ago.

    I've still a full head of hair, in spite of the avatar, but have in cut very, very short. Quite unlike the sweeping DA of my youth, or the flowing locks I sported in the 70's.
    Untidy hair is, I was always taught, the sign of an untidy mind...
    Poor old Albert Einstein.
    Rule........ exception!

    I hope you are not saying our PM is trying to demonstrate wisdom?
    Of course he IS trying in many other ways!
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,421
    edited April 2021

    Good morning, everyone.

    RIP, Prince Philip.

    Mr. Doethur, I just let it thin then shaved it all off. To be honest, if I'd known how much I prefer having no hair I would've done it years ago.

    Yes, as would I.

    But I don’t know how it was for you - I found I was really upset by going bald and wanted to put it off as long as possible. That surprised me as I’ve never particularly cared about my appearance. And I’m not in a job where I’m constantly photographed and judged on how I look, where Johnson is.

    So although he looks a mess, and although I hate his guts, I think he should be cut (no pun intended) a bit of slack over this.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,448
    ydoethur said:

    Good morning, everyone.

    RIP, Prince Philip.

    Mr. Doethur, I just let it thin then shaved it all off. To be honest, if I'd known how much I prefer having no hair I would've done it years ago.

    Yes, as would I.

    But I don’t know how it was for you - I found I was really upset by going bald and wanted to put it off as long as possible. That surprised me as I’ve never particularly cared about my appearance. And I’m not in a job where I’m constantly photographed and judged on how I look, where Johnson is.

    So although he looks a mess, and although I hate his guts, I think he should be cut (no pun intended) a bit of slack over this.
    I believe there are a number of people, especially women, who think that he should have been 'cut'!
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,201

    Good morning, everyone.

    RIP, Prince Philip.

    Mr. Doethur, I just let it thin then shaved it all off. To be honest, if I'd known how much I prefer having no hair I would've done it years ago.

    Did you have any locks when we met in Ilkley ?

    My hair has finally got past the point it can be tied back which makes it neater
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,421

    ydoethur said:

    Good morning, everyone.

    RIP, Prince Philip.

    Mr. Doethur, I just let it thin then shaved it all off. To be honest, if I'd known how much I prefer having no hair I would've done it years ago.

    Yes, as would I.

    But I don’t know how it was for you - I found I was really upset by going bald and wanted to put it off as long as possible. That surprised me as I’ve never particularly cared about my appearance. And I’m not in a job where I’m constantly photographed and judged on how I look, where Johnson is.

    So although he looks a mess, and although I hate his guts, I think he should be cut (no pun intended) a bit of slack over this.
    I believe there are a number of people, especially women, who think that he should have been 'cut'!
    Possibly, but we’re talking about his nut not his nuts.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,801
    Mr. Doethur, I had similar feelings ahead of time, and seeing one's bald self for the first time is peculiar.

    But quickly realised it was much better than having hair.
  • AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670
    Charles said:

    Sandpit said:

    Charles said:

    Have we done this? Looks like an effort to kick it into the long grass (“set up a Royal Commission”).

    https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/09/joe-biden-supreme-court-expansion-commission-reform

    He doesn’t want to be seen to be packing the court, because he’s been around long enough to see how these things end up playing out in the medium to long term - but a lot of his supporters see it as a priority to do so.
    Exactly

    What amused me was the liberal judge who said it was wrong to pack the court - and faced calls from democrats to resign because he dared disagree with them
    No, but hey want him to resign because he's old and they don't want another RBG to happen.

    Breyer is a fine judge but politically a total moron. Just like RBG.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,801
    Mr. Pulpstar, I think I had short back and sides then. Probably started shaving my head a year or two later.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,346

    Yes, Parliament should return but Boris and perhaps the government generally prefers an easier life.

    But what happens when major parts of the civil service are moved outside London? Either ministers go with them, in which case they will not be in the Commons most of the time, or ministers stay in London and lose control of their departments.

    Morning All! Cloudy here, but not, I think, raining. First day of the cricket season at our local club and 'they' have decided to dig up the road outside the ground, making access difficult.
    Not that one could go and watch of course, unless passing the ground ' happened' to be on one's walk. Bar's closed, of course.

    I suspect Mr L is right; our PM doesn't like being challenged, and perhaps the idea of being reminded of 'promises broken' by angry DUP MP's is playing on his mind.

    Incidentally can anyone explain why Carrie didn't lend him a hairbrush before he went out make his statement yesterday? Or check his tie? The phrase 'dragged through a hedge backwards' came to mind; one that was used to me long years ago when I didn't look like the neat, smart schoolboy my mother fondly imagined me to be.
    morning OKC, blue sky and sunshine here.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,599
    Alistair said:

    Charles said:

    Sandpit said:

    Charles said:

    Have we done this? Looks like an effort to kick it into the long grass (“set up a Royal Commission”).

    https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/09/joe-biden-supreme-court-expansion-commission-reform

    He doesn’t want to be seen to be packing the court, because he’s been around long enough to see how these things end up playing out in the medium to long term - but a lot of his supporters see it as a priority to do so.
    Exactly

    What amused me was the liberal judge who said it was wrong to pack the court - and faced calls from democrats to resign because he dared disagree with them
    No, but hey want him to resign because he's old and they don't want another RBG to happen.

    Breyer is a fine judge but politically a total moron. Just like RBG.
    Perhaps the easiest the Dems can do with regard to the Supreme Court, is persuade a couple of liberal judges to retire.

    Breyer is 82 and Sotomayor is 66, replacing those two with 50-year-olds would hopefully avoid another RBG situation for them down the line. Ginsberg could have retired in 2013 or 14, in her eighties, and have been replaced by someone nominated by a Dem President and confirmed by a Dem Senate.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,595
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Good morning, everyone.

    RIP, Prince Philip.

    Mr. Doethur, I just let it thin then shaved it all off. To be honest, if I'd known how much I prefer having no hair I would've done it years ago.

    Yes, as would I.

    But I don’t know how it was for you - I found I was really upset by going bald and wanted to put it off as long as possible. That surprised me as I’ve never particularly cared about my appearance. And I’m not in a job where I’m constantly photographed and judged on how I look, where Johnson is.

    So although he looks a mess, and although I hate his guts, I think he should be cut (no pun intended) a bit of slack over this.
    I believe there are a number of people, especially women, who think that he should have been 'cut'!
    Possibly, but we’re talking about his nut not his nuts.
    But what is Princess Nut Nuts saying?
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,200

    Nigelb said:

    Good morning, everyone.

    RIP, Prince Philip.

    Mr. Doethur, I just let it thin then shaved it all off. To be honest, if I'd known how much I prefer having no hair I would've done it years ago.

    I've still a full head of hair, in spite of the avatar, but have in cut very, very short. Quite unlike the sweeping DA of my youth, or the flowing locks I sported in the 70's.
    Untidy hair is, I was always taught, the sign of an untidy mind...
    Poor old Albert Einstein.
    Rule........ exception!

    I hope you are not saying our PM is trying to demonstrate wisdom? ...
    Rather that my opinion of him would not change were he to brush his hair.

    Perhaps it’s a generational thing ?

    From 1963...
    https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2017/dec/06/beatles-hair-cut-fashion-archive-1963
    Thomas Charnock (16) returns to work as an apprentice at a Birkenhead factory today after a two-week suspension imposed because he had a Beatles-style haircut.

    Thomas, of Pasture Road, Moreton, a first year apprentice at the K.W.K. engineering factory, at Park Street, Birkenhead, was told along with other apprentices by the managing director, Mr William Kaminski, to get his hair cut properly. Mr Kaminski said Beatles haircuts were unsightly, unsafe, unruly, and unclean....



  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 18,420
    Does the government want MPs to stay away?

    I remember last autumn Rees-Mogg tried to force them back (around the time someone in HMG briefed the Press that office workers should go back to work in the office or lose their job).

    I'm a bit mystified by the change in government tone compared to then. Maybe they saw how bad the winter really was in hospitals, to an extent that the media hasn't told the public, and are terrified of repeating their mistakes - so instead making new ones. It doesn't have to be driven by a desire to keep MPs away and prevent scrutiny.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,200
    edited April 2021
    Sandpit said:

    Alistair said:

    Charles said:

    Sandpit said:

    Charles said:

    Have we done this? Looks like an effort to kick it into the long grass (“set up a Royal Commission”).

    https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/09/joe-biden-supreme-court-expansion-commission-reform

    He doesn’t want to be seen to be packing the court, because he’s been around long enough to see how these things end up playing out in the medium to long term - but a lot of his supporters see it as a priority to do so.
    Exactly

    What amused me was the liberal judge who said it was wrong to pack the court - and faced calls from democrats to resign because he dared disagree with them
    No, but hey want him to resign because he's old and they don't want another RBG to happen.

    Breyer is a fine judge but politically a total moron. Just like RBG.
    Perhaps the easiest the Dems can do with regard to the Supreme Court, is persuade a couple of liberal judges to retire.

    Breyer is 82 and Sotomayor is 66, replacing those two with 50-year-olds would hopefully avoid another RBG situation for them down the line. Ginsberg could have retired in 2013 or 14, in her eighties, and have been replaced by someone nominated by a Dem President and confirmed by a Dem Senate.
    One thing the commission might usefully look at, and which Congress could fairly introduce, is term limits. (The idea that Sotomayor might resign in the next year or so is nuts, btw.)

    Though looking at its membership, it does not seem designed to do any such thing (a more pertinent critique than that Charles expressed).
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,599
    Nigelb said:

    Sandpit said:

    Alistair said:

    Charles said:

    Sandpit said:

    Charles said:

    Have we done this? Looks like an effort to kick it into the long grass (“set up a Royal Commission”).

    https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/09/joe-biden-supreme-court-expansion-commission-reform

    He doesn’t want to be seen to be packing the court, because he’s been around long enough to see how these things end up playing out in the medium to long term - but a lot of his supporters see it as a priority to do so.
    Exactly

    What amused me was the liberal judge who said it was wrong to pack the court - and faced calls from democrats to resign because he dared disagree with them
    No, but hey want him to resign because he's old and they don't want another RBG to happen.

    Breyer is a fine judge but politically a total moron. Just like RBG.
    Perhaps the easiest the Dems can do with regard to the Supreme Court, is persuade a couple of liberal judges to retire.

    Breyer is 82 and Sotomayor is 66, replacing those two with 50-year-olds would hopefully avoid another RBG situation for them down the line. Ginsberg could have retired in 2013 or 14, in her eighties, and have been replaced by someone nominated by a Dem President and confirmed by a Dem Senate.
    One thing the commission might usefully look at, and which Congress could fairly introduce, is term limits. (The idea that Sotomayor might resign in the next year or so is nuts, btw.)

    Though looking at its membership, it does not seem designed to do any such thing (a more pertinent critique than that Charles expressed).
    The fact that people think someone retiring from a full-time position at 67 or 68 is nuts, is a huge part of the problem they’ve got themselves into.

    The politicians will be against term limits, because it removes control from themselves over the process.
  • squareroot2squareroot2 Posts: 6,725
    I have been fortunate enough to still have a full head of hair at 65+. Its been an absolute pain in lockdown. I feel like its a mop on my head. Haircut scheduled on Friday thanks be to God!
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,990

    Interesting fact: Prince Philip’s parents met at the funeral of Queen Victoria.

    More cousins getting off than a Tennessee hoedown.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,200
    Agree with header. I'd like to see the benches packed again. Interesting how that will affect the 2 leaders. I think it will be better for both of them but more so for Starmer. Johnson's performing skills will come to the fore but so will his lack of grip.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,200
    Key phrase from Biden's tribute to Philip -

    "Ninety-nine years old, he never slowed down at all. Which I admire the devil out of."

    Strong hint that he intends to run for a 2nd term, health permitting.
  • Have a watch of this. The guy is an octopus!
    https://twitter.com/ianincyaak/status/1380782230834937856
  • squareroot2squareroot2 Posts: 6,725
    The Daily Mail says Harry is coming home to face the music without his wife... What larks. Oh to be a fly on the wall. Before a word is said, get the room checked out for bugs!
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,421
    kinabalu said:

    Key phrase from Biden's tribute to Philip -

    "Ninety-nine years old, he never slowed down at all. Which I admire the devil out of."

    Strong hint that he intends to run for a 2nd term, health permitting.

    Incorrect though. He retired aged 96.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,200

    I have been fortunate enough to still have a full head of hair at 65+. Its been an absolute pain in lockdown. I feel like its a mop on my head. Haircut scheduled on Friday thanks be to God!

    Yes, I'm really looking forward to mine. I look like Emily Maitlis and it doesn't really suit me.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,200
    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Key phrase from Biden's tribute to Philip -

    "Ninety-nine years old, he never slowed down at all. Which I admire the devil out of."

    Strong hint that he intends to run for a 2nd term, health permitting.

    Incorrect though. He retired aged 96.
    Yes, true enough. Joe didn't mention that.
  • not_on_firenot_on_fire Posts: 4,449
    I totally understand the emotional desire to recall Parliament. However, packing 650 people (who are themselves in contact with many people throughout the day) into a small room right now would be the height of madness and could lead to the mother of all super-spreading events. And the optics of MPs returning would probably lead to another Dominic Cummings effect.

    As much as we all want to go back to normal, we can't just casually ignore the potential impact of a disease that almost killed the Prime Minister. Cases need to be far lower to allow such things as what is proposed here.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,990
    Wasn’t there a book called 101 Uses for a Dead Cat? I think I’ve found the 102nd.

    https://twitter.com/crimeldn/status/1380575727389659137?s=21
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,421

    Have a watch of this. The guy is an octopus!
    https://twitter.com/ianincyaak/status/1380782230834937856

    Bloody slacker, getting somebody else to do the stop arrangements.

    Although the real problem with that piece is that uniquely in organ music AFAIK the manuals and the pedals have different time signatures. So he’s playing compound time with his fingers and simple time with his feet.
  • not_on_firenot_on_fire Posts: 4,449
    Sandpit said:

    Charles said:

    Have we done this? Looks like an effort to kick it into the long grass (“set up a Royal Commission”).

    https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/09/joe-biden-supreme-court-expansion-commission-reform

    He doesn’t want to be seen to be packing the court, because he’s been around long enough to see how these things end up playing out in the medium to long term - but a lot of his supporters see it as a priority to do so.
    It's a way to keep the left onside without having to actually do anything. There is no way Manchin would vote for any expansion.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,599
    kinabalu said:

    I have been fortunate enough to still have a full head of hair at 65+. Its been an absolute pain in lockdown. I feel like its a mop on my head. Haircut scheduled on Friday thanks be to God!

    Yes, I'm really looking forward to mine. I look like Emily Maitlis and it doesn't really suit me.
    As a student in the ‘90s, I quickly figured out that with haircuts at £5 and a decent set of clippers at £25, buying the clippers would quickly leave more money in the beer kitty.

    I still have them 25 years later, and they’ve come in awfully handy during a pandemic!
  • NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,531
    Interesting as always from David. We have the same issue locally - the Government has refused to give the same exemption to councils (from May) that it's given to Parliament to conduct business remotely, so the choice is between conducting no formal business, forcing councillors who feel vulnerable to come and sit next to each other, or having some novel pairing arrangement. For now, we're rushing through formal business (change of Mayor etc.) before the deadline.

    We all have points at which we feel to risk to ourselves has become minimal - personally I'd be up for it when i've had 2 weeks since my 2nd vaccination. But the general sense that we shouldn't force people to come in if they're scared remains, and that is a bad example to lots of businesses with rough employers and weak unions.

    Isn't there a middle course? Make sessions in Parliament the norm, but allow Members who feel vulnerable to take part remotely? That would be a shift from the current position and I'd guess most will return in person, but it avoids the element of effective compulsion. It wopuld also be a useful fallback in cases of MPs suffering lengthy illnesses but still willing and able to take part if they don't need to travel in.
  • geoffwgeoffw Posts: 8,720
    Some glitch on the main site - cannot see David H's piece there, instead we get: "Browsed by
    Author: Mike Smithson" et c'est tout.
  • not_on_firenot_on_fire Posts: 4,449

    Interesting as always from David. We have the same issue locally - the Government has refused to give the same exemption to councils (from May) that it's given to Parliament to conduct business remotely, so the choice is between conducting no formal business, forcing councillors who feel vulnerable to come and sit next to each other, or having some novel pairing arrangement. For now, we're rushing through formal business (change of Mayor etc.) before the deadline.

    We all have points at which we feel to risk to ourselves has become minimal - personally I'd be up for it when i've had 2 weeks since my 2nd vaccination. But the general sense that we shouldn't force people to come in if they're scared remains, and that is a bad example to lots of businesses with rough employers and weak unions.

    Isn't there a middle course? Make sessions in Parliament the norm, but allow Members who feel vulnerable to take part remotely? That would be a shift from the current position and I'd guess most will return in person, but it avoids the element of effective compulsion. It wopuld also be a useful fallback in cases of MPs suffering lengthy illnesses but still willing and able to take part if they don't need to travel in.

    It's laughably archaic that councils are required to meet in-person. Far more complicated business has been conducted over Zoom over the past year.
  • not_on_firenot_on_fire Posts: 4,449

    Interesting as always from David. We have the same issue locally - the Government has refused to give the same exemption to councils (from May) that it's given to Parliament to conduct business remotely, so the choice is between conducting no formal business, forcing councillors who feel vulnerable to come and sit next to each other, or having some novel pairing arrangement. For now, we're rushing through formal business (change of Mayor etc.) before the deadline.

    We all have points at which we feel to risk to ourselves has become minimal - personally I'd be up for it when i've had 2 weeks since my 2nd vaccination. But the general sense that we shouldn't force people to come in if they're scared remains, and that is a bad example to lots of businesses with rough employers and weak unions.

    Isn't there a middle course? Make sessions in Parliament the norm, but allow Members who feel vulnerable to take part remotely? That would be a shift from the current position and I'd guess most will return in person, but it avoids the element of effective compulsion. It wopuld also be a useful fallback in cases of MPs suffering lengthy illnesses but still willing and able to take part if they don't need to travel in.

    And in general the culture of presenteeism in Westminster is very much out of step with the modern world and sets a very bad example. Time for it to modernise. We need to end silliness like MPs having to be wheeled into Westminster on hospital beds to vote.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,421

    Interesting as always from David. We have the same issue locally - the Government has refused to give the same exemption to councils (from May) that it's given to Parliament to conduct business remotely, so the choice is between conducting no formal business, forcing councillors who feel vulnerable to come and sit next to each other, or having some novel pairing arrangement. For now, we're rushing through formal business (change of Mayor etc.) before the deadline.

    We all have points at which we feel to risk to ourselves has become minimal - personally I'd be up for it when i've had 2 weeks since my 2nd vaccination. But the general sense that we shouldn't force people to come in if they're scared remains, and that is a bad example to lots of businesses with rough employers and weak unions.

    Isn't there a middle course? Make sessions in Parliament the norm, but allow Members who feel vulnerable to take part remotely? That would be a shift from the current position and I'd guess most will return in person, but it avoids the element of effective compulsion. It wopuld also be a useful fallback in cases of MPs suffering lengthy illnesses but still willing and able to take part if they don't need to travel in.

    And in general the culture of presenteeism in Westminster is very much out of step with the modern world and sets a very bad example. Time for it to modernise. We need to end silliness like MPs having to be wheeled into Westminster on hospital beds to vote.
    It’s especially daft given there are 650 MPs and only capacity for 425.
  • squareroot2squareroot2 Posts: 6,725

    Interesting as always from David. We have the same issue locally - the Government has refused to give the same exemption to councils (from May) that it's given to Parliament to conduct business remotely, so the choice is between conducting no formal business, forcing councillors who feel vulnerable to come and sit next to each other, or having some novel pairing arrangement. For now, we're rushing through formal business (change of Mayor etc.) before the deadline.

    We all have points at which we feel to risk to ourselves has become minimal - personally I'd be up for it when i've had 2 weeks since my 2nd vaccination. But the general sense that we shouldn't force people to come in if they're scared remains, and that is a bad example to lots of businesses with rough employers and weak unions.

    Isn't there a middle course? Make sessions in Parliament the norm, but allow Members who feel vulnerable to take part remotely? That would be a shift from the current position and I'd guess most will return in person, but it avoids the element of effective compulsion. It wopuld also be a useful fallback in cases of MPs suffering lengthy illnesses but still willing and able to take part if they don't need to travel in.

    And in general the culture of presenteeism in Westminster is very much out of step with the modern world and sets a very bad example. Time for it to modernise. We need to end silliness like MPs having to be wheeled into Westminster on hospital beds to vote.
    Agreed, but It was one of the great dramas of my lifetime that saw this occur. I cannot begin to explain how I felt when Callaghan was defeated by one vote. I was sick of seeing rubbish piled high and the dead not being buried. Never again. Maggie saw to that, God rest her soul.
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,257

    Interesting as always from David. We have the same issue locally - the Government has refused to give the same exemption to councils (from May) that it's given to Parliament to conduct business remotely, so the choice is between conducting no formal business, forcing councillors who feel vulnerable to come and sit next to each other, or having some novel pairing arrangement. For now, we're rushing through formal business (change of Mayor etc.) before the deadline.

    We all have points at which we feel to risk to ourselves has become minimal - personally I'd be up for it when i've had 2 weeks since my 2nd vaccination. But the general sense that we shouldn't force people to come in if they're scared remains, and that is a bad example to lots of businesses with rough employers and weak unions.

    Isn't there a middle course? Make sessions in Parliament the norm, but allow Members who feel vulnerable to take part remotely? That would be a shift from the current position and I'd guess most will return in person, but it avoids the element of effective compulsion. It wopuld also be a useful fallback in cases of MPs suffering lengthy illnesses but still willing and able to take part if they don't need to travel in.

    Could you not just sit somewhere else which is bigger so you can sit further apart? Although in other neighbouring boroughs I know that Princes Hall and the Harlington are being used as vaccination centres so there may be a lack of suitable venues.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,599
    The slow blurring of the lines between parody and reality...
    https://spectator.us/life/vaccine-passports-enough-chip/amp/

    “ What I really want to examine in this piece is the concept of ‘vaccine passports’. The US has recently ruled out the possibility of implementing these schemes federally, and I for one am disappointed. A huge missed opportunity here. This was the one thing I felt I could get behind. The idea of being able to refuse entry or services to certain uncooperative members of society very much appealed to my social-justice roots. I am hoping that Joe Biden rethinks this decision over the coming weeks and realises just how beneficial a system like this could be.”
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,257

    Interesting as always from David. We have the same issue locally - the Government has refused to give the same exemption to councils (from May) that it's given to Parliament to conduct business remotely, so the choice is between conducting no formal business, forcing councillors who feel vulnerable to come and sit next to each other, or having some novel pairing arrangement. For now, we're rushing through formal business (change of Mayor etc.) before the deadline.

    We all have points at which we feel to risk to ourselves has become minimal - personally I'd be up for it when i've had 2 weeks since my 2nd vaccination. But the general sense that we shouldn't force people to come in if they're scared remains, and that is a bad example to lots of businesses with rough employers and weak unions.

    Isn't there a middle course? Make sessions in Parliament the norm, but allow Members who feel vulnerable to take part remotely? That would be a shift from the current position and I'd guess most will return in person, but it avoids the element of effective compulsion. It wopuld also be a useful fallback in cases of MPs suffering lengthy illnesses but still willing and able to take part if they don't need to travel in.

    Could you not just sit somewhere else which is bigger so you can sit further apart? Although in other neighbouring boroughs I know that Princes Hall and the Harlington are being used as vaccination centres so there may be a lack of suitable venues.
    Or, indeed, outdoors.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,421

    Interesting as always from David. We have the same issue locally - the Government has refused to give the same exemption to councils (from May) that it's given to Parliament to conduct business remotely, so the choice is between conducting no formal business, forcing councillors who feel vulnerable to come and sit next to each other, or having some novel pairing arrangement. For now, we're rushing through formal business (change of Mayor etc.) before the deadline.

    We all have points at which we feel to risk to ourselves has become minimal - personally I'd be up for it when i've had 2 weeks since my 2nd vaccination. But the general sense that we shouldn't force people to come in if they're scared remains, and that is a bad example to lots of businesses with rough employers and weak unions.

    Isn't there a middle course? Make sessions in Parliament the norm, but allow Members who feel vulnerable to take part remotely? That would be a shift from the current position and I'd guess most will return in person, but it avoids the element of effective compulsion. It wopuld also be a useful fallback in cases of MPs suffering lengthy illnesses but still willing and able to take part if they don't need to travel in.

    Could you not just sit somewhere else which is bigger so you can sit further apart? Although in other neighbouring boroughs I know that Princes Hall and the Harlington are being used as vaccination centres so there may be a lack of suitable venues.
    Or, indeed, outdoors.
    Doesn’t the House of Keys meet outdoors once a year as part of some obscure tradition?
  • not_on_firenot_on_fire Posts: 4,449

    Interesting as always from David. We have the same issue locally - the Government has refused to give the same exemption to councils (from May) that it's given to Parliament to conduct business remotely, so the choice is between conducting no formal business, forcing councillors who feel vulnerable to come and sit next to each other, or having some novel pairing arrangement. For now, we're rushing through formal business (change of Mayor etc.) before the deadline.

    We all have points at which we feel to risk to ourselves has become minimal - personally I'd be up for it when i've had 2 weeks since my 2nd vaccination. But the general sense that we shouldn't force people to come in if they're scared remains, and that is a bad example to lots of businesses with rough employers and weak unions.

    Isn't there a middle course? Make sessions in Parliament the norm, but allow Members who feel vulnerable to take part remotely? That would be a shift from the current position and I'd guess most will return in person, but it avoids the element of effective compulsion. It wopuld also be a useful fallback in cases of MPs suffering lengthy illnesses but still willing and able to take part if they don't need to travel in.

    And in general the culture of presenteeism in Westminster is very much out of step with the modern world and sets a very bad example. Time for it to modernise. We need to end silliness like MPs having to be wheeled into Westminster on hospital beds to vote.
    Agreed, but It was one of the great dramas of my lifetime that saw this occur. I cannot begin to explain how I felt when Callaghan was defeated by one vote.
    A yearning for the Fixed Term Parliaments Act? :)
  • not_on_firenot_on_fire Posts: 4,449

    Interesting as always from David. We have the same issue locally - the Government has refused to give the same exemption to councils (from May) that it's given to Parliament to conduct business remotely, so the choice is between conducting no formal business, forcing councillors who feel vulnerable to come and sit next to each other, or having some novel pairing arrangement. For now, we're rushing through formal business (change of Mayor etc.) before the deadline.

    We all have points at which we feel to risk to ourselves has become minimal - personally I'd be up for it when i've had 2 weeks since my 2nd vaccination. But the general sense that we shouldn't force people to come in if they're scared remains, and that is a bad example to lots of businesses with rough employers and weak unions.

    Isn't there a middle course? Make sessions in Parliament the norm, but allow Members who feel vulnerable to take part remotely? That would be a shift from the current position and I'd guess most will return in person, but it avoids the element of effective compulsion. It wopuld also be a useful fallback in cases of MPs suffering lengthy illnesses but still willing and able to take part if they don't need to travel in.

    Could you not just sit somewhere else which is bigger so you can sit further apart? Although in other neighbouring boroughs I know that Princes Hall and the Harlington are being used as vaccination centres so there may be a lack of suitable venues.
    Or, indeed, outdoors.
    Plenty of room in the gardens at Buck House and presumably good security
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,200
    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    I have been fortunate enough to still have a full head of hair at 65+. Its been an absolute pain in lockdown. I feel like its a mop on my head. Haircut scheduled on Friday thanks be to God!

    Yes, I'm really looking forward to mine. I look like Emily Maitlis and it doesn't really suit me.
    As a student in the ‘90s, I quickly figured out that with haircuts at £5 and a decent set of clippers at £25, buying the clippers would quickly leave more money in the beer kitty.

    I still have them 25 years later, and they’ve come in awfully handy during a pandemic!
    Yes, smart approach. My wife has been known to do mine but this time I've let it run riot. After a while a certain grim curiosity sets in and you kind of just want to see how ludicrous a look you can tolerate. Helped by sticking a hat on every time you go out. But it's over now. It was part and parcel of the pandemic and just like the other accoutrements of Covid - masks, social distancing, the rule of six etc - my hair has to go.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,200
    Long read story in the New Yorker on one woman’s escape from China’s genocidal system in Xinjiang.
    Depressing, but highly recommended.
    https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/04/12/surviving-the-crackdown-in-xinjiang
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,487
    FPT - Charles has been Charles for far too long to ever be anything else.

    It's pointless angling to be George VII - everyone will just call him Charles III, so he may as well own it.
  • NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,531



    Could you not just sit somewhere else which is bigger so you can sit further apart? Although in other neighbouring boroughs I know that Princes Hall and the Harlington are being used as vaccination centres so there may be a lack of suitable venues.

    Yes, we looked at that, but there is as you say a lack of suitable venues - there are practical issues about installing individual microphones (expensive, barely feasible in some places) or having a wandering mike (doubtful social distancing issues). Councillors tend to be elderly, so have been vaccinated but many have pre-existing conditions and don't feel too safe - perhaps unreasonably, but can we really judge that? Should we force them to come in against their will so we can debate, say, renovation of a sports pavilion?

  • state_go_awaystate_go_away Posts: 5,815



    Could you not just sit somewhere else which is bigger so you can sit further apart? Although in other neighbouring boroughs I know that Princes Hall and the Harlington are being used as vaccination centres so there may be a lack of suitable venues.

    Yes, we looked at that, but there is as you say a lack of suitable venues - there are practical issues about installing individual microphones (expensive, barely feasible in some places) or having a wandering mike (doubtful social distancing issues). Councillors tend to be elderly, so have been vaccinated but many have pre-existing conditions and don't feel too safe - perhaps unreasonably, but can we really judge that? Should we force them to come in against their will so we can debate, say, renovation of a sports pavilion?

    I would say yes they should come in or resign.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,487

    Even with a full Commons, this government will continue to do whatever it likes with impunity. Thats what having an 80-seat majority does. Especially with a PM who is happy to fire his own MPs for having a brain and a conscience.

    Not necessarily. The Government has had to row back on China and also on vaccine passports (to some extent).

    It all depends on how docile its own MPs are and how smart the Opposition is.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,599
    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    I have been fortunate enough to still have a full head of hair at 65+. Its been an absolute pain in lockdown. I feel like its a mop on my head. Haircut scheduled on Friday thanks be to God!

    Yes, I'm really looking forward to mine. I look like Emily Maitlis and it doesn't really suit me.
    As a student in the ‘90s, I quickly figured out that with haircuts at £5 and a decent set of clippers at £25, buying the clippers would quickly leave more money in the beer kitty.

    I still have them 25 years later, and they’ve come in awfully handy during a pandemic!
    Yes, smart approach. My wife has been known to do mine but this time I've let it run riot. After a while a certain grim curiosity sets in and you kind of just want to see how ludicrous a look you can tolerate. Helped by sticking a hat on every time you go out. But it's over now. It was part and parcel of the pandemic and just like the other accoutrements of Covid - masks, social distancing, the rule of six etc - my hair has to go.
    When we were properly locked down last April and May, I shaved a Mohican for a family call with my young nephews one day. It stayed for a couple of months, covered as you say by a hat when venturing out! :D
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,487

    The Daily Mail says Harry is coming home to face the music without his wife... What larks. Oh to be a fly on the wall. Before a word is said, get the room checked out for bugs!

    Harry will have to live with the guilt over his behaviour during Philip's final weeks for the rest of his life.

    That carries its own punishment.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,487
    Pulpstar said:

    Good morning, everyone.

    RIP, Prince Philip.

    Mr. Doethur, I just let it thin then shaved it all off. To be honest, if I'd known how much I prefer having no hair I would've done it years ago.

    Did you have any locks when we met in Ilkley ?

    My hair has finally got past the point it can be tied back which makes it neater
    God, you don't have a pony tail, do you?
  • squareroot2squareroot2 Posts: 6,725

    Interesting as always from David. We have the same issue locally - the Government has refused to give the same exemption to councils (from May) that it's given to Parliament to conduct business remotely, so the choice is between conducting no formal business, forcing councillors who feel vulnerable to come and sit next to each other, or having some novel pairing arrangement. For now, we're rushing through formal business (change of Mayor etc.) before the deadline.

    We all have points at which we feel to risk to ourselves has become minimal - personally I'd be up for it when i've had 2 weeks since my 2nd vaccination. But the general sense that we shouldn't force people to come in if they're scared remains, and that is a bad example to lots of businesses with rough employers and weak unions.

    Isn't there a middle course? Make sessions in Parliament the norm, but allow Members who feel vulnerable to take part remotely? That would be a shift from the current position and I'd guess most will return in person, but it avoids the element of effective compulsion. It wopuld also be a useful fallback in cases of MPs suffering lengthy illnesses but still willing and able to take part if they don't need to travel in.

    It's laughably archaic that councils are required to meet in-person. Far more complicated business has been conducted over Zoom over the past year.
    And they have provided much amusement with their squabbling.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,761
    "most — most! — overseas profits reported by U.S. corporations are in tiny tax havens that can’t realistically be major profit centers. "

    https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/09/opinion/trump-corporate-tax-reform.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

    Interesting, if technical piece on the failure of Trump's corporation tax changes to spur on investment.

  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,312

    Even with a full Commons, this government will continue to do whatever it likes with impunity. Thats what having an 80-seat majority does. Especially with a PM who is happy to fire his own MPs for having a brain and a conscience.

    MPs voted themselves into irrelevance when they passed the Coronavirus Act instead of insisting on the Civil Contingencies Act which required the government to have its decisions scrutinised every 30 days. Fools.

    The Daily Mail says Harry is coming home to face the music without his wife... What larks. Oh to be a fly on the wall. Before a word is said, get the room checked out for bugs!

    How? Doesn't he have to quarantine like everyone else? And wouldn't that mean that he misses the funeral?

    Plenty of people have had to miss attendance at funerals because of the Covid rules. The rules shouldn't be bent for him.

  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,200

    Pulpstar said:

    Good morning, everyone.

    RIP, Prince Philip.

    Mr. Doethur, I just let it thin then shaved it all off. To be honest, if I'd known how much I prefer having no hair I would've done it years ago.

    Did you have any locks when we met in Ilkley ?

    My hair has finally got past the point it can be tied back which makes it neater
    God, you don't have a pony tail, do you?
    That's the clear implication, I'm afraid, yes.
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 8,388
    ydoethur said:

    Good morning, everyone.

    RIP, Prince Philip.

    Mr. Doethur, I just let it thin then shaved it all off. To be honest, if I'd known how much I prefer having no hair I would've done it years ago.

    Yes, as would I.

    But I don’t know how it was for you - I found I was really upset by going bald and wanted to put it off as long as possible. That surprised me as I’ve never particularly cared about my appearance. And I’m not in a job where I’m constantly photographed and judged on how I look, where Johnson is.

    So although he looks a mess, and although I hate his guts, I think he should be cut (no pun intended) a bit of slack over this.
    Mr Ydoethur, I could have sworn you were a teacher. Are you sure that you're "not in a job where (you're) constantly.... judged on how (you) look"? If so, things have changed since my teaching days.
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,176
    ydoethur said:

    tlg86 said:

    As ever, thank you for the thread header. MPs being in Westminster en masse isn’t something that’s upsetting the public from what I can tell. I emailed my MP for the first time this week and the fact he is working remotely didn’t once cross my mind.

    No, MPs can return in full when it’s safe to do so like everyone else.

    Apparently schools are safe, and Parliament has a larger allowance of air than schools plus people have separate rather than open-plan offices (which appear to be the worst vector of transmission).

    Make them come back, and sit in the same seat in the chamber for six hours a day wearing masks.

    All their bullshit ideas on forcing schools to do this would vanish faster than Johnson’s fidelity on seeing a beautiful woman.
    Whilst I have sympathy for your plight - I think making masks mandatory in schools is abhorrent - MPs don’t have to be in person to do their jobs.
  • ydoethur said:

    Have a watch of this. The guy is an octopus!
    https://twitter.com/ianincyaak/status/1380782230834937856

    Bloody slacker, getting somebody else to do the stop arrangements.

    Although the real problem with that piece is that uniquely in organ music AFAIK the manuals and the pedals have different time signatures. So he’s playing compound time with his fingers and simple time with his feet.
    Which is why I didn't object to his assistant pulling out the stops. Unless he grew an extra arm to do so.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,346

    The Daily Mail says Harry is coming home to face the music without his wife... What larks. Oh to be a fly on the wall. Before a word is said, get the room checked out for bugs!

    maybe he will bunk up in a Travel Lodge or Premier Inn and avoid the embarrassment of being further down the pecking order than Andy..
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,710

    Sandpit said:

    The slow blurring of the lines between parody and reality...
    https://spectator.us/life/vaccine-passports-enough-chip/amp/

    “ What I really want to examine in this piece is the concept of ‘vaccine passports’. The US has recently ruled out the possibility of implementing these schemes federally, and I for one am disappointed. A huge missed opportunity here. This was the one thing I felt I could get behind. The idea of being able to refuse entry or services to certain uncooperative members of society very much appealed to my social-justice roots. I am hoping that Joe Biden rethinks this decision over the coming weeks and realises just how beneficial a system like this could be.”

    "to refuse entry or services to certain uncooperative members of society"

    It's called Social Credit and the Chinese are up and running with it.

    It is one of the reasons I am utterly opposed to an app for vaxports. We will never get rid of it and it will be constantly upgraded and extended to add "useful" features.

    Seems so far the public don't care. I am hoping Starmer isn't one of them, but I have real doubts.

    I found out the day that China spends more on internal security than on defence.

    Their Social Credit system is far more Orwellian than Orwell himself could conceive.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,487
    Cyclefree said:

    I am having a haircut at the end of this month. I have also booked myself in for a spa weekend at the start of June - for proper massages, manicures and pedicures. I cannot wait!

    Even more thrillingly I bought myself new lingerie yesterday. I may only have sheep and newborn lambs to speak to but I shall be soignée while I do so.

    I'm feeling all a bit Frankie Howerd reading this!
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,487
    Cyclefree said:

    Sandpit said:

    The slow blurring of the lines between parody and reality...
    https://spectator.us/life/vaccine-passports-enough-chip/amp/

    “ What I really want to examine in this piece is the concept of ‘vaccine passports’. The US has recently ruled out the possibility of implementing these schemes federally, and I for one am disappointed. A huge missed opportunity here. This was the one thing I felt I could get behind. The idea of being able to refuse entry or services to certain uncooperative members of society very much appealed to my social-justice roots. I am hoping that Joe Biden rethinks this decision over the coming weeks and realises just how beneficial a system like this could be.”

    "to refuse entry or services to certain uncooperative members of society"

    It's called Social Credit and the Chinese are up and running with it.

    It is one of the reasons I am utterly opposed to an app for vaxports. We will never get rid of it and it will be constantly upgraded and extended to add "useful" features.

    Seems so far the public don't care. I am hoping Starmer isn't one of them, but I have real doubts.

    There was a time when politicians in Western liberal democracies looked at how totalitarian communist societies behaved and said: "No - that's not how we do things here. We're better than that."

    Now they rush to copy them. Very depressing and sinister. There is nothing good about a social credit system or anything remotely like it - certainly not if you value freedom and what it brings you. No wonder China thinks the West is on the decline when it cannot even stand up for what it claims to value most.
    It was somewhat depressing to see we had the architect of this site quote on the previous thread, seemingly approvingly, "You have no privacy. Get over it."
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,710
    edited April 2021
    Cyclefree said:

    Even with a full Commons, this government will continue to do whatever it likes with impunity. Thats what having an 80-seat majority does. Especially with a PM who is happy to fire his own MPs for having a brain and a conscience.

    MPs voted themselves into irrelevance when they passed the Coronavirus Act instead of insisting on the Civil Contingencies Act which required the government to have its decisions scrutinised every 30 days. Fools.

    The Daily Mail says Harry is coming home to face the music without his wife... What larks. Oh to be a fly on the wall. Before a word is said, get the room checked out for bugs!

    How? Doesn't he have to quarantine like everyone else? And wouldn't that mean that he misses the funeral?

    Plenty of people have had to miss attendance at funerals because of the Covid rules. The rules shouldn't be bent for him.

    Has a date been set for the funeral? He might have enough notice.

    Harry has always had a good relationship with the Queen, it seems to be the apparatchicks and courtiers that get his goat, and of course the British Press.

    "Two pieces Daily Mail columnists can have ready to go right now:

    1. Why Meghan Markle’s presence at the funeral is an insult, designed to overshadow a somber occasion.

    2. Why Meghan Markle’s absence from the funeral, is an insult, designed to overshadow a somber occasion."

    https://twitter.com/sturdyAlex/status/1380503080245063681?s=19

    Equally true for Harry. It is interesting that it is the supposedly Royalists that are egging up Harry as the issue.

  • https://twitter.com/ChloeKerr_/status/1380800740382359552

    Most of these people won’t even know him. I find this really quite weird.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,378
    edited April 2021
    ydoethur said:

    Good morning, everyone.

    RIP, Prince Philip.

    Mr. Doethur, I just let it thin then shaved it all off. To be honest, if I'd known how much I prefer having no hair I would've done it years ago.

    Yes, as would I.

    But I don’t know how it was for you - I found I was really upset by going bald and wanted to put it off as long as possible. That surprised me as I’ve never particularly cared about my appearance. And I’m not in a job where I’m constantly photographed and judged on how I look, where Johnson is.

    So although he looks a mess, and although I hate his guts, I think he should be cut (no pun intended) a bit of slack over this.
    He can do what he likes with his hair, it's his head.

    However, I won't cut him any slack simply because the unkempt look is part of his Benny Hill/ Ken Dodd, national treasure schtick. His main role is not that of music hall comic, but Prime Minister, therefore making the effort to look more like a Prime Minister, rather than a 1970s TV character seems most appropriate. His appearance should reflect the seriousness of the role, therefore he is not taking his office seriously.

    A decent haircut is the uniform of Prime Ministerial office. If any of our military personnel turned up to work looking like Johnson, they would do it only once, and find themselves whitewashing an awful lot of flagstones.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,761

    Cyclefree said:

    Sandpit said:

    The slow blurring of the lines between parody and reality...
    https://spectator.us/life/vaccine-passports-enough-chip/amp/

    “ What I really want to examine in this piece is the concept of ‘vaccine passports’. The US has recently ruled out the possibility of implementing these schemes federally, and I for one am disappointed. A huge missed opportunity here. This was the one thing I felt I could get behind. The idea of being able to refuse entry or services to certain uncooperative members of society very much appealed to my social-justice roots. I am hoping that Joe Biden rethinks this decision over the coming weeks and realises just how beneficial a system like this could be.”

    "to refuse entry or services to certain uncooperative members of society"

    It's called Social Credit and the Chinese are up and running with it.

    It is one of the reasons I am utterly opposed to an app for vaxports. We will never get rid of it and it will be constantly upgraded and extended to add "useful" features.

    Seems so far the public don't care. I am hoping Starmer isn't one of them, but I have real doubts.

    There was a time when politicians in Western liberal democracies looked at how totalitarian communist societies behaved and said: "No - that's not how we do things here. We're better than that."

    Now they rush to copy them. Very depressing and sinister. There is nothing good about a social credit system or anything remotely like it - certainly not if you value freedom and what it brings you. No wonder China thinks the West is on the decline when it cannot even stand up for what it claims to value most.
    It was somewhat depressing to see we had the architect of this site quote on the previous thread, seemingly approvingly, "You have no privacy. Get over it."
    And where are Sun Microsystems now?

    They were the future once when they said 'the network was the computer' and then...
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,599
    There’s some lovely anecdotes coming out in today’s press:

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-truth-about-prince-philip-s-gaffes-/amp

    “His whole body language was aimed at not producing any deference. He kept his drink in his right hand – so we couldn’t shake hands – and there was no expectation that we should bow, as I’d have been delighted to do.

    ‘Who roped you into this?’ Prince Philip asked us. His tone wasn’t aggressive or rude. Quite the opposite – it was conspiratorial and friendly; another way to break the ice.

    I went on to tell him how Thomas Longford had been killed at Gallipoli in 1915, after his last words to his second-in-command, crouching down to avoid the hail of shells overhead: ‘Please don’t duck, Fred. It won’t help you and it’s no good for the men’s morale.’ Longford was shot dead moments later.

    'Were you allowed to duck in the Navy during the war?' I asked Prince Philip, who served with great distinction in the war.

    ...

    His words may look rude on the page. In fact, they were funny and teasing (and quite right) – I burst into laughter, while he kept a straight, deadpan face. I realised afterwards that all his so-called ‘gaffes’ were quite the reverse. They were masterclasses in putting people at their ease – and drawing out their most interesting side.

    If he’d kept the royal drawbridge up and encouraged deference, all he would have had in his 73 years as the Queen’s husband would have been a series of terrified, tongue-tied people to talk to at a thousand events. For a serious, curious, clever man, that would have been agony.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,710

    https://twitter.com/ChloeKerr_/status/1380800740382359552

    Most of these people won’t even know him. I find this really quite weird.

    I met Prince Philip once as a teenager. I was in Devon on holiday during the Silver Jubilee tour. Up close he looked just like he did on the telly, bemused and bored by the crowd. He passed without speaking.

    Is that enough for a Sun obituary?
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,448
    ydoethur said:

    Interesting as always from David. We have the same issue locally - the Government has refused to give the same exemption to councils (from May) that it's given to Parliament to conduct business remotely, so the choice is between conducting no formal business, forcing councillors who feel vulnerable to come and sit next to each other, or having some novel pairing arrangement. For now, we're rushing through formal business (change of Mayor etc.) before the deadline.

    We all have points at which we feel to risk to ourselves has become minimal - personally I'd be up for it when i've had 2 weeks since my 2nd vaccination. But the general sense that we shouldn't force people to come in if they're scared remains, and that is a bad example to lots of businesses with rough employers and weak unions.

    Isn't there a middle course? Make sessions in Parliament the norm, but allow Members who feel vulnerable to take part remotely? That would be a shift from the current position and I'd guess most will return in person, but it avoids the element of effective compulsion. It wopuld also be a useful fallback in cases of MPs suffering lengthy illnesses but still willing and able to take part if they don't need to travel in.

    And in general the culture of presenteeism in Westminster is very much out of step with the modern world and sets a very bad example. Time for it to modernise. We need to end silliness like MPs having to be wheeled into Westminster on hospital beds to vote.
    It’s especially daft given there are 650 MPs and only capacity for 425.
    After the Commons was bombed during WWII there were plans for substantial rebuilding, with enough space for everyone. IIRC Churchill himself stopped them, on the grounds that it would change the spirit of the place. Or some such.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,599

    Cyclefree said:

    Sandpit said:

    The slow blurring of the lines between parody and reality...
    https://spectator.us/life/vaccine-passports-enough-chip/amp/

    “ What I really want to examine in this piece is the concept of ‘vaccine passports’. The US has recently ruled out the possibility of implementing these schemes federally, and I for one am disappointed. A huge missed opportunity here. This was the one thing I felt I could get behind. The idea of being able to refuse entry or services to certain uncooperative members of society very much appealed to my social-justice roots. I am hoping that Joe Biden rethinks this decision over the coming weeks and realises just how beneficial a system like this could be.”

    "to refuse entry or services to certain uncooperative members of society"

    It's called Social Credit and the Chinese are up and running with it.

    It is one of the reasons I am utterly opposed to an app for vaxports. We will never get rid of it and it will be constantly upgraded and extended to add "useful" features.

    Seems so far the public don't care. I am hoping Starmer isn't one of them, but I have real doubts.

    There was a time when politicians in Western liberal democracies looked at how totalitarian communist societies behaved and said: "No - that's not how we do things here. We're better than that."

    Now they rush to copy them. Very depressing and sinister. There is nothing good about a social credit system or anything remotely like it - certainly not if you value freedom and what it brings you. No wonder China thinks the West is on the decline when it cannot even stand up for what it claims to value most.
    It was somewhat depressing to see we had the architect of this site quote on the previous thread, seemingly approvingly, "You have no privacy. Get over it."
    I’d assumed that was a reference from this famous (and scary!) IT security talk, from a few years ago:

    https://youtube.com/watch?v=Vsxxsrn2Tfs
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,126
    edited April 2021

    https://twitter.com/ChloeKerr_/status/1380800740382359552

    Most of these people won’t even know him. I find this really quite weird.

    You've never encountered public reaction to celebrity before?

    If it's weird, it's a very common kind of weird, and I find the surprise at that weirdness, well, very weird.

    People have strong emotional reactions to the goings on of fictional people, too, in movies and books. I do not believe it can be a surprise some people react about a public figure. People didn't know Churchill but showed up for his funeral.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,486
    In his leader, David seems to be predicting that this won’t be the last lockdown and we’ll be back to restrictions this winter.

    If I have interpreted that correctly I have disagree: this has to be the last lockdown. If we need to tweak the vaccinations in the autumn for new ‘variants’ then so be it. But we cannot go through this ever again.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,378
    Foxy said:

    https://twitter.com/ChloeKerr_/status/1380800740382359552

    Most of these people won’t even know him. I find this really quite weird.

    I met Prince Philip once as a teenager. I was in Devon on holiday during the Silver Jubilee tour. Up close he looked just like he did on the telly, bemused and bored by the crowd. He passed without speaking.

    Is that enough for a Sun obituary?
    I kept away yesterday. I have nothing to say about Philip or the Office of Duke of Edinburgh. I found it best to let those who wanted to mourn, mourn.

    It has been interesting from a media perpective. I am sure the BBC used yesterday as a dry-run for any future, more intense, national mourning events, hence the pulling of all programming.

    Politically too, Philip's lamented passing was a fortunate divine intervention for Johnson. I remarked during Thursday night's news that the bulletin, for the first time since December, was disproportunately bad for Johnson; Northern Ireland, AZ and the Cameron, Sunak affair. The tide had turned...or so I thought, then nature took its turn.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 22,030
    I believe that Bozo is due to get his hair cut on Monday.

    Let's see what the clown looks like afterwards.

  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,200

    In his leader, David seems to be predicting that this won’t be the last lockdown and we’ll be back to restrictions this winter.

    If I have interpreted that correctly I have disagree: this has to be the last lockdown. If we need to tweak the vaccinations in the autumn for new ‘variants’ then so be it. But we cannot go through this ever again.

    There is imo no chance of further lockdowns unless something horribly unexpected happens with variants.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,595
    Cyclefree said:

    I am having a haircut at the end of this month. I have also booked myself in for a spa weekend at the start of June - for proper massages, manicures and pedicures. I cannot wait!

    Even more thrillingly I bought myself new lingerie yesterday. I may only have sheep and newborn lambs to speak to but I shall be soignée while I do so.

    The Oscars might be out of reach, but not so the Golden Globes.....
This discussion has been closed.