The DUP aren't interested. Their only aim is to run the clock down to fresh elections. They've implied as much. Yet no one seems to have read between the lines.
That is their prerogative. That is how power sharing in the Good Friday Agreement works.
Either make the DUP happy to share power by compromising enough to please them, or Stormont can't sit. That is what the GFA says.
So what is the EU's proposal to make the DUP happy?
Strange idea that the losers of an election should get their manifesto implemented.
The GFA is strange as Stromont elections are at least two elections run in parallel. SF won the Nationalist election and the DUP won the Unionist election.
The DUP aren't interested. Their only aim is to run the clock down to fresh elections. They've implied as much. Yet no one seems to have read between the lines.
That is their prerogative. That is how power sharing in the Good Friday Agreement works.
Either make the DUP happy to share power by compromising enough to please them, or Stormont can't sit. That is what the GFA says.
So what is the EU's proposal to make the DUP happy?
Strange idea that the losers of an election should get their manifesto implemented.
Only strange if you think PR systems should operate on the basis of FPTP taken to extremes.
The GFA is based on power sharing and a PR based electoral system that forces coalitions, it is not winner takes all FPTP majoritarianism.
The DUP won the race to be the first party for the unionist community, therefore they won the right to have their manifesto implemented. If you want that to be different, advocate for electoral reform to First Past the Post and the abolition of the Good Friday Agreement.
Yes but. You can't implement the DUP plan for the border and SF's plan for the border. For the simple reason that they are mutually exclusive. Therefore there is no cross-community consent.
Employment numbers look solid, I also spy a 1.2% increase in real wages including bonuses, sucks for the public sector but it seems that the private sector wage growth is just about keeping up with inflation.
I remember we used to get a regular series on state vs private sector employment which peaked under Labour at just under 25% and fell to ca. 17% under the the coalition and later Tory government. I wonder what that number is today, at 17% we get 5 private sector tax contributions for each public sector employee and at 25% it's just three (hence Labour running a huge deficit and Osborne bringing the budget almost into balance). It feels as though we've had a huge expansion of the state during COVID and now it's time to roll it all back, the 90k job cuts should be seen as just the start. All throughout the state sector unproductive people need to be moved on so they can find work in the private sector.
A simple move would be to institute a 1 in 2 out rule across the whole public administration body, including the NHS and care services. I'd even suggest that to hire a new nurse or doctor the hospital should be obliged to move on two non-front line staff as part of the efficiency savings. It's an extremely blunt tool, yet within a couple of years the state will suddenly be cut down to size and we'll have brought the budget back into balance allowing us to actually pay for things like new infrastructure to replace the crumbling schools, roads and ancient railways.
Pay growth is only keeping up with inflation because the utilities price cap has delayed the CPI increase to April. The consensus forecast for April CPI inflation tomorrow is 9.1% from 7.0% in March. Plus since pay is being boosted by bonuses not baseline pay, if these bonuses aren't maintained next year workers may see incomes eroded further in the future. With your proposals of further cuts to the public sector I can only assume you haven't actually used any public services recently, and so are unaware of how a decade of cuts has already degraded provision almost beyond recognition.
"Further cuts" isn't true because there haven't been any cuts. What I'm proposing is taking a gigantic axe to the administration body and allowing resource to be spent on front line services. The NHS has no need of any more middle management filling in paper work and ticking boxes, it needs front line staff. If it proposes to hire a new box ticker then the business case should require that two be moved on.
As for pay/bonuses it's why I said it sucks to be in the public sector as there's little chance of bonuses. We'll see what the next round of inflation figures brings tomorrow, as you say, I'm not hopeful and I think we're quickly heading for 11-12% this summer. Yet 1.2% real pay growth (and probably higher for the private sector) means that workers, for now, are still being shielded by the insanely hot employment market. It's why March only saw -0.1% rather than anything worse despite the absolutely atrocious weather.
On Brexit, a real cost to business is the fact that if you export from say France to Germany for a project (Or any two countries within the EU), the goods can no longer be zero rated across between the EU countries if you're an ex EU (As we are now) supplier.
We're in the process of sorting this by obtaining Dutch VAT status for our companies - and potentially we'll have to grab other EU nation VAT status depending on stuff only tax specialists fully grasp. I do VAT returns, though intra-EU VAT is a bit of a dark art even for myself.
The upshot is it will probably cost us between 2 and 10 grand a year to administer what was previously a simple intrastat declaration which took about an hour of my time every quarter. The alternative would be our business being completely unviable.
A real cost of Brexit for British business, and not needed when general inflation on metals etc is through the roof.
I believe businesses within Northern Ireland avoid this nonsense as they're part of the EU VAT orbit.
Obviously noone cares about this, but it's a pain for British exporters where you're buying and selling within the EU.
While my sympathies are with you, I believe Brexiteer Ministers would ask what efforts you have made to export to Ecuador, or similar.
We export everywhere. It's a problem that doesn't actually spring up anywhere else - it's created entirely by the EU single market existing. If it didn't exist, there wouldn't be a problem because everything would just be 'rest of world'. However it does exist and as it does and as we're so near you're better off being in the system.
Why?
If you're perfectly fine handling the rest of the world, what's wrong with France and Germany being RoW too?
Your logic is like saying since the USA exists that Canada should be a part of it. Just because a market exists does not mean you need to be a part of it.
Well I agree that's how it should work, and how I thought it did but it doesn't !
What you appear to be saying is that the single market isn't a single market - otherwise, once goods were in it they would be in it and there wouldn't be anything else to say.
Widget A is exported from a Spanish supplier (A) to a Polish customer (B) by a German company (C) overseeing a project for Polish customer. All the VAT is zero as Germany, Spain, Poland are within the single market.
Widget B is exported from a Spanish supplier to a Polish customer by a British VAT regged company (D) overseeing a project for Polish customer. Spanish supplier's invoices to British company should have VAT charged. British Company D needs to reclaim VAT directly with the Spanish tax authorities or reg for VAT within the EU.
It's a single market if you're fully in it, otherwise it isn't.
The concept of "exporting" from one part of it to another brings into question whether it's a single market.
Stormont functioning or not isn't the issue. It's not functioned for long periods before. And will do again. The issue is an agreement negotiated, trumpeted, triumphalised and enacted by a government and Parties that now decide it was fatally flawed. It's their job to come up with a solution.
The agreement comes with pre-agreed Safeguarding clauses in case the agreement was flawed.
So its the government's job to implement the Safeguarding clause and then renegotiations can begin.
The DUP aren't interested. Their only aim is to run the clock down to fresh elections. They've implied as much. Yet no one seems to have read between the lines.
That is their prerogative. That is how power sharing in the Good Friday Agreement works.
Either make the DUP happy to share power by compromising enough to please them, or Stormont can't sit. That is what the GFA says.
So what is the EU's proposal to make the DUP happy?
Strange idea that the losers of an election should get their manifesto implemented.
Only strange if you think PR systems should operate on the basis of FPTP taken to extremes.
The GFA is based on power sharing and a PR based electoral system that forces coalitions, it is not winner takes all FPTP majoritarianism.
The DUP won the race to be the first party for the unionist community, therefore they won the right to have their manifesto implemented. If you want that to be different, advocate for electoral reform to First Past the Post and the abolition of the Good Friday Agreement.
Yes but. You can't implement the DUP plan for the border and SF's plan for the border. For the simple reason that they are mutually exclusive. Therefore there is no cross-community consent.
And that's why there need to be negotiations to find a solution that both can live with!
The DUP aren't interested. Their only aim is to run the clock down to fresh elections. They've implied as much. Yet no one seems to have read between the lines.
That is their prerogative. That is how power sharing in the Good Friday Agreement works.
Either make the DUP happy to share power by compromising enough to please them, or Stormont can't sit. That is what the GFA says.
So what is the EU's proposal to make the DUP happy?
Strange idea that the losers of an election should get their manifesto implemented.
Only strange if you think PR systems should operate on the basis of FPTP taken to extremes.
The GFA is based on power sharing and a PR based electoral system that forces coalitions, it is not winner takes all FPTP majoritarianism.
The DUP won the race to be the first party for the unionist community, therefore they won the right to have their manifesto implemented. If you want that to be different, advocate for electoral reform to First Past the Post and the abolition of the Good Friday Agreement.
Yes but. You can't implement the DUP plan for the border and SF's plan for the border. For the simple reason that they are mutually exclusive. Therefore there is no cross-community consent.
You can, it just requires some fudge.
SF plan for the border is to have an open border North/South. DUP plan for the border is to have an open border East/West.
So you need to negotiate a deal whereby the UK and EU are not aligned, where there is no North/South checks and no East/West checks. The only way to do that is to reach a compromise whereby we mutually agree to put peace in NI above the integrity of our markets and so we will not do checks.
We can recognise each other's markets as equivalents even if not aligned to reduce red tape too.
In the meantime until a deal is reached, the Safeguarding can be implemented until a deal is reached all parties consent to.
I despise feminism as much as the next red-blooded Briton, and think women should be barefoot, squealing and bent over the Aga, as we all do, however it is hard to argue that masculine politics is having a good run right now, as the macho idiot Putin sends his brutes into Ukraine
Perhaps it is time for the women to run the show. At least for a while. Tho not Kamala Harris, please
I'm not sure President Le Pen would have been a good thing.
And the only good thing that can be said about GDR Merkel now is that Gazprom Zchroder was worse.
Keir Starmer isn't very good but at least he's not Rebecca Long-Bailey.
Some women can be good, some women not so much. No different to men really.
It's not so much 'better' or 'worse' but if you have a burning desire for the world to be more peaceful you'll want to see more women in positions of power. And I'm happy to reverse this and say that anybody who doesn't want to see more women in positions of power does not - regardless of any protests to the contrary - have a burning desire for a more peaceful world. They might quite fancy peace on earth but there is no burning desire for such. It's not a priority for them. Other things are. Eg tax cuts or border control or the BBC licence fee.
Golda Meir, Mrs. Gandhi, Mrs. Thatcher, Catherine the Great, Elizabeth I say "hello."
I'd be very wary of the notion that more women in power means a more peaceful world.
Or, worse, you get the Liberal-Fascism of Jacinda Ardern and the 'we will be your sole source of truth' garbage
Stormont functioning or not isn't the issue. It's not functioned for long periods before. And will do again. The issue is an agreement negotiated, trumpeted, triumphalised and enacted by a government and Parties that now decide it was fatally flawed. It's their job to come up with a solution.
The agreement comes with pre-agreed Safeguarding clauses in case the agreement was flawed.
So its the government's job to implement the Safeguarding clause and then renegotiations can begin.
So why aren't they doing that then?
Well given how badly the government negotiated the Northern Ireland Protocol originally they are worried they'll agree to an even worse deal.
Stormont functioning or not isn't the issue. It's not functioned for long periods before. And will do again. The issue is an agreement negotiated, trumpeted, triumphalised and enacted by a government and Parties that now decide it was fatally flawed. It's their job to come up with a solution.
The agreement comes with pre-agreed Safeguarding clauses in case the agreement was flawed.
So its the government's job to implement the Safeguarding clause and then renegotiations can begin.
So why aren't they doing that then?
That's a very good question.
Possibly because people like Scott will react hysterically if the Safeguarding is implemented acting as if its 'blowing up the deal' rather than simply implementing a pre-agreed element of the deal.
Hopefully soon either the EU come to the table or Truss decides enough is enough and pulls the A16 trigger.
The DUP aren't interested. Their only aim is to run the clock down to fresh elections. They've implied as much. Yet no one seems to have read between the lines.
That is their prerogative. That is how power sharing in the Good Friday Agreement works.
Either make the DUP happy to share power by compromising enough to please them, or Stormont can't sit. That is what the GFA says.
So what is the EU's proposal to make the DUP happy?
Strange idea that the losers of an election should get their manifesto implemented.
Only strange if you think PR systems should operate on the basis of FPTP taken to extremes.
The GFA is based on power sharing and a PR based electoral system that forces coalitions, it is not winner takes all FPTP majoritarianism.
The DUP won the race to be the first party for the unionist community, therefore they won the right to have their manifesto implemented. If you want that to be different, advocate for electoral reform to First Past the Post and the abolition of the Good Friday Agreement.
Yes but. You can't implement the DUP plan for the border and SF's plan for the border. For the simple reason that they are mutually exclusive. Therefore there is no cross-community consent.
And that's why there need to be negotiations to find a solution that both can live with!
Well absolutely! And it absolutely isn't the job of those who are happy to find a solution. It's the job of those who aren't to propose some ideas that the other side can live with. Which was happening slowly. But now isn't. And changes are being unilaterally announced which don't have cross-community support.
The DUP aren't interested. Their only aim is to run the clock down to fresh elections. They've implied as much. Yet no one seems to have read between the lines.
That is their prerogative. That is how power sharing in the Good Friday Agreement works.
Either make the DUP happy to share power by compromising enough to please them, or Stormont can't sit. That is what the GFA says.
So what is the EU's proposal to make the DUP happy?
Strange idea that the losers of an election should get their manifesto implemented.
Only strange if you think PR systems should operate on the basis of FPTP taken to extremes.
The GFA is based on power sharing and a PR based electoral system that forces coalitions, it is not winner takes all FPTP majoritarianism.
The DUP won the race to be the first party for the unionist community, therefore they won the right to have their manifesto implemented. If you want that to be different, advocate for electoral reform to First Past the Post and the abolition of the Good Friday Agreement.
Yes but. You can't implement the DUP plan for the border and SF's plan for the border. For the simple reason that they are mutually exclusive. Therefore there is no cross-community consent.
You can, it just requires some fudge.
SF plan for the border is to have an open border North/South. DUP plan for the border is to have an open border East/West.
So you need to negotiate a deal whereby the UK and EU are not aligned, where there is no North/South checks and no East/West checks. The only way to do that is to reach a compromise whereby we mutually agree to put peace in NI above the integrity of our markets and so we will not do checks.
We can recognise each other's markets as equivalents even if not aligned to reduce red tape too.
In the meantime until a deal is reached, the Safeguarding can be implemented until a deal is reached all parties consent to.
It can't be exaggerated how debillitating for a country it is to have an indiscriminate liar as Prime Minister.
Should the descriptor be 'indiscriminate' or 'inveterate'?
Whichever, I wonder how it goes down on the doorsteps? Other than among those for whom his dishonesty simply underlines the idea that 'all politicians lie'?
Very badly I should think. Someone posted one of those charts that showed 'liar' as his most defined characterisic. We're not used to crooked politicians. My sense is that Johnson is viewed as a mini Trump. To those who don't like him (over 60% on the latest poll) I imagine he makes them squirm. He does me.
(No I did mean 'indiscriminate' as in random without consideration of the consequences)
The DUP aren't interested. Their only aim is to run the clock down to fresh elections. They've implied as much. Yet no one seems to have read between the lines.
That is their prerogative. That is how power sharing in the Good Friday Agreement works.
Either make the DUP happy to share power by compromising enough to please them, or Stormont can't sit. That is what the GFA says.
So what is the EU's proposal to make the DUP happy?
Strange idea that the losers of an election should get their manifesto implemented.
Only strange if you think PR systems should operate on the basis of FPTP taken to extremes.
The GFA is based on power sharing and a PR based electoral system that forces coalitions, it is not winner takes all FPTP majoritarianism.
The DUP won the race to be the first party for the unionist community, therefore they won the right to have their manifesto implemented. If you want that to be different, advocate for electoral reform to First Past the Post and the abolition of the Good Friday Agreement.
Yes but. You can't implement the DUP plan for the border and SF's plan for the border. For the simple reason that they are mutually exclusive. Therefore there is no cross-community consent.
And that's why there need to be negotiations to find a solution that both can live with!
Well absolutely! And it absolutely isn't the job of those who are happy to find a solution. It's the job of those who aren't to propose some ideas that the other side can live with. Which was happening slowly. But now isn't. And changes are being unilaterally announced which don't have cross-community support.
Yes it is. It is the job of everyone to find a compromise.
Changes don't need cross-community support if they're part of the Safeguarding.
Your logic is to imply that people who are happy can indefinitely veto any actions to Safeguard the rights of those who are unhappy. How does that work? How does that fit with the GFA?
An example of how the market is working right now, the cafe local to work has got a £750 sign-on bonus payable after three months and a £250 referral bounty. A cafe.
I despise feminism as much as the next red-blooded Briton, and think women should be barefoot, squealing and bent over the Aga, as we all do, however it is hard to argue that masculine politics is having a good run right now, as the macho idiot Putin sends his brutes into Ukraine
Perhaps it is time for the women to run the show. At least for a while. Tho not Kamala Harris, please
I'm not sure President Le Pen would have been a good thing.
And the only good thing that can be said about GDR Merkel now is that Gazprom Zchroder was worse.
Keir Starmer isn't very good but at least he's not Rebecca Long-Bailey.
Some women can be good, some women not so much. No different to men really.
It's not so much 'better' or 'worse' but if you have a burning desire for the world to be more peaceful you'll want to see more women in positions of power. And I'm happy to reverse this and say that anybody who doesn't want to see more women in positions of power does not - regardless of any protests to the contrary - have a burning desire for a more peaceful world. They might quite fancy peace on earth but there is no burning desire for such. It's not a priority for them. Other things are. Eg tax cuts or border control or the BBC licence fee.
Isn't the Finnish PM the most pro-NATO voice in Finland? She's certainly got no "burning desire for peace". Your simplistic characterisation of women as all identikit peace warriors is laughable. Women, just like men, have got a huge range of complex thoughts on war, peace and everything else.
Boudica says 'hi' and 'let's get at 'em'.
And a not insignificant number of those fighting Russian aggression are women.
On Brexit, a real cost to business is the fact that if you export from say France to Germany for a project (Or any two countries within the EU), the goods can no longer be zero rated across between the EU countries if you're an ex EU (As we are now) supplier.
We're in the process of sorting this by obtaining Dutch VAT status for our companies - and potentially we'll have to grab other EU nation VAT status depending on stuff only tax specialists fully grasp. I do VAT returns, though intra-EU VAT is a bit of a dark art even for myself.
The upshot is it will probably cost us between 2 and 10 grand a year to administer what was previously a simple intrastat declaration which took about an hour of my time every quarter. The alternative would be our business being completely unviable.
A real cost of Brexit for British business, and not needed when general inflation on metals etc is through the roof.
I believe businesses within Northern Ireland avoid this nonsense as they're part of the EU VAT orbit.
Obviously noone cares about this, but it's a pain for British exporters where you're buying and selling within the EU.
While my sympathies are with you, I believe Brexiteer Ministers would ask what efforts you have made to export to Ecuador, or similar.
We export everywhere. It's a problem that doesn't actually spring up anywhere else - it's created entirely by the EU single market existing. If it didn't exist, there wouldn't be a problem because everything would just be 'rest of world'. However it does exist and as it does and as we're so near you're better off being in the system.
Why?
If you're perfectly fine handling the rest of the world, what's wrong with France and Germany being RoW too?
Your logic is like saying since the USA exists that Canada should be a part of it. Just because a market exists does not mean you need to be a part of it.
Well I agree that's how it should work, and how I thought it did but it doesn't !
What you appear to be saying is that the single market isn't a single market - otherwise, once goods were in it they would be in it and there wouldn't be anything else to say.
Widget A is exported from a Spanish supplier (A) to a Polish customer (B) by a German company (C) overseeing a project for Polish customer. All the VAT is zero as Germany, Spain, Poland are within the single market.
Widget B is exported from a Spanish supplier to a Polish customer by a British VAT regged company (D) overseeing a project for Polish customer. Spanish supplier's invoices to British company should have VAT charged. British Company D needs to reclaim VAT directly with the Spanish tax authorities or reg for VAT within the EU.
It's a single market if you're fully in it, otherwise it isn't.
The concept of "exporting" from one part of it to another brings into question whether it's a single market.
Ah yes sorry, 'Despatch' and 'Arrival' are the terms you use intra-EU.
The DUP aren't interested. Their only aim is to run the clock down to fresh elections. They've implied as much. Yet no one seems to have read between the lines.
That is their prerogative. That is how power sharing in the Good Friday Agreement works.
Either make the DUP happy to share power by compromising enough to please them, or Stormont can't sit. That is what the GFA says.
So what is the EU's proposal to make the DUP happy?
Strange idea that the losers of an election should get their manifesto implemented.
Only strange if you think PR systems should operate on the basis of FPTP taken to extremes.
The GFA is based on power sharing and a PR based electoral system that forces coalitions, it is not winner takes all FPTP majoritarianism.
The DUP won the race to be the first party for the unionist community, therefore they won the right to have their manifesto implemented. If you want that to be different, advocate for electoral reform to First Past the Post and the abolition of the Good Friday Agreement.
Yes but. You can't implement the DUP plan for the border and SF's plan for the border. For the simple reason that they are mutually exclusive. Therefore there is no cross-community consent.
And that's why there need to be negotiations to find a solution that both can live with!
Well absolutely! And it absolutely isn't the job of those who are happy to find a solution. It's the job of those who aren't to propose some ideas that the other side can live with. Which was happening slowly. But now isn't. And changes are being unilaterally announced which don't have cross-community support.
You keep repeating that those who are happy should make no effort to help the unhappy but it's a completely ridiculous idea. As I say, under this doctrine why should the well off middle classes make any effort to help the poor?
Employment numbers look solid, I also spy a 1.2% increase in real wages including bonuses, sucks for the public sector but it seems that the private sector wage growth is just about keeping up with inflation.
I remember we used to get a regular series on state vs private sector employment which peaked under Labour at just under 25% and fell to ca. 17% under the the coalition and later Tory government. I wonder what that number is today, at 17% we get 5 private sector tax contributions for each public sector employee and at 25% it's just three (hence Labour running a huge deficit and Osborne bringing the budget almost into balance). It feels as though we've had a huge expansion of the state during COVID and now it's time to roll it all back, the 90k job cuts should be seen as just the start. All throughout the state sector unproductive people need to be moved on so they can find work in the private sector.
A simple move would be to institute a 1 in 2 out rule across the whole public administration body, including the NHS and care services. I'd even suggest that to hire a new nurse or doctor the hospital should be obliged to move on two non-front line staff as part of the efficiency savings. It's an extremely blunt tool, yet within a couple of years the state will suddenly be cut down to size and we'll have brought the budget back into balance allowing us to actually pay for things like new infrastructure to replace the crumbling schools, roads and ancient railways.
Pay growth is only keeping up with inflation because the utilities price cap has delayed the CPI increase to April. The consensus forecast for April CPI inflation tomorrow is 9.1% from 7.0% in March. Plus since pay is being boosted by bonuses not baseline pay, if these bonuses aren't maintained next year workers may see incomes eroded further in the future. With your proposals of further cuts to the public sector I can only assume you haven't actually used any public services recently, and so are unaware of how a decade of cuts has already degraded provision almost beyond recognition.
"Further cuts" isn't true because there haven't been any cuts. What I'm proposing is taking a gigantic axe to the administration body and allowing resource to be spent on front line services. The NHS has no need of any more middle management filling in paper work and ticking boxes, it needs front line staff. If it proposes to hire a new box ticker then the business case should require that two be moved on.
As for pay/bonuses it's why I said it sucks to be in the public sector as there's little chance of bonuses. We'll see what the next round of inflation figures brings tomorrow, as you say, I'm not hopeful and I think we're quickly heading for 11-12% this summer. Yet 1.2% real pay growth (and probably higher for the private sector) means that workers, for now, are still being shielded by the insanely hot employment market. It's why March only saw -0.1% rather than anything worse despite the absolutely atrocious weather.
As is always the case when you have an inflationary wage-price spiral, some workers get lucky and end up ahead, others are unlucky and see their real incomes slashed by inflation. It's essentially arbitrary and explains why people hate inflation even though on average wages tend to keep up. I think your proposals for the public sector are well intentioned but naive - the distinction between "front line staff" (good) and "middle management" (bad) is simplistic and unrealistic. Organisations need management, including public sector organisations (no special pleading involved here, I work in the private sector). The reality is that an ageing population accounts for the increasing size of the state, while public services have seen a decline in like for like spending in real terms, as is immediately obvious to anyone using the services.
The DUP aren't interested. Their only aim is to run the clock down to fresh elections. They've implied as much. Yet no one seems to have read between the lines.
That is their prerogative. That is how power sharing in the Good Friday Agreement works.
Either make the DUP happy to share power by compromising enough to please them, or Stormont can't sit. That is what the GFA says.
So what is the EU's proposal to make the DUP happy?
Strange idea that the losers of an election should get their manifesto implemented.
Only strange if you think PR systems should operate on the basis of FPTP taken to extremes.
The GFA is based on power sharing and a PR based electoral system that forces coalitions, it is not winner takes all FPTP majoritarianism.
The DUP won the race to be the first party for the unionist community, therefore they won the right to have their manifesto implemented. If you want that to be different, advocate for electoral reform to First Past the Post and the abolition of the Good Friday Agreement.
Yes but. You can't implement the DUP plan for the border and SF's plan for the border. For the simple reason that they are mutually exclusive. Therefore there is no cross-community consent.
And that's why there need to be negotiations to find a solution that both can live with!
Well absolutely! And it absolutely isn't the job of those who are happy to find a solution. It's the job of those who aren't to propose some ideas that the other side can live with. Which was happening slowly. But now isn't. And changes are being unilaterally announced which don't have cross-community support.
Yes it is. It is the job of everyone to find a compromise.
Changes don't need cross-community support if they're part of the Safeguarding.
Your logic is to imply that people who are happy can indefinitely veto any actions to Safeguard the rights of those who are unhappy. How does that work? How does that fit with the GFA?
Maybe I'm unusual in that regard. I don't object to Article 16 being called. It's part of the agreement, but needs to be used as a last resort. Progress was being made. It would have continued glacially to an inevitable fudge. But now it isn't. Because Stormont sitting is suddenly vital. Why? It hasn't been vital for much longer periods before. And anyway. The DUP has no intention whatsoever of sitting before new elections. So it isn't even a necessary, let alone sufficient, condition.
Just been to the physio and got a good telling off. Apparently the limited amount I was supposed to do was carrying a cup of tea and not pushing a wheelbarrow.
An example of how the market is working right now, the cafe local to work has got a £750 sign-on bonus payable after three months and a £250 referral bounty. A cafe.
Doesn't that show what a shit Brexit has turned our hospitality industry into? I'm surprised anyone eats out in the UK anymore.
Service ihas gone down the pan now so many of the decent foreign staff have left and been replaced by English who have no interest or aptitude whatsoever.
(After a long gap, a pedant writes....) I think you will find that the Lib Dems have selected a candidate in Somerton & Frome, not Tiverton & Honiton. Despite the ampersand, they are in fact different places.
Augustus welcome back. Your posts are missed (well by me anyway).
The DUP aren't interested. Their only aim is to run the clock down to fresh elections. They've implied as much. Yet no one seems to have read between the lines.
That is their prerogative. That is how power sharing in the Good Friday Agreement works.
Either make the DUP happy to share power by compromising enough to please them, or Stormont can't sit. That is what the GFA says.
So what is the EU's proposal to make the DUP happy?
Strange idea that the losers of an election should get their manifesto implemented.
Only strange if you think PR systems should operate on the basis of FPTP taken to extremes.
The GFA is based on power sharing and a PR based electoral system that forces coalitions, it is not winner takes all FPTP majoritarianism.
The DUP won the race to be the first party for the unionist community, therefore they won the right to have their manifesto implemented. If you want that to be different, advocate for electoral reform to First Past the Post and the abolition of the Good Friday Agreement.
Yes but. You can't implement the DUP plan for the border and SF's plan for the border. For the simple reason that they are mutually exclusive. Therefore there is no cross-community consent.
And that's why there need to be negotiations to find a solution that both can live with!
Well absolutely! And it absolutely isn't the job of those who are happy to find a solution. It's the job of those who aren't to propose some ideas that the other side can live with. Which was happening slowly. But now isn't. And changes are being unilaterally announced which don't have cross-community support.
You keep repeating that those who are happy should make no effort to help the unhappy but it's a completely ridiculous idea. As I say, under this doctrine why should the well off middle classes make any effort to help the poor?
I didn't say no effort. That's why there have been ongoing negotiations. I said it isn't their job to come up with a solution. How does unilaterally re-writing the agreement on the say so of one side, do anything other than make the other side unhappy?
An example of how the market is working right now, the cafe local to work has got a £750 sign-on bonus payable after three months and a £250 referral bounty. A cafe.
Doesn't that show what a shit Brexit has turned our hospitality industry into? I'm surprised anyone eats out in the UK anymore.
Service ihas gone down the pan now so many of the decent foreign staff have left and been replaced by English who have no interest or aptitude whatsoever.
So you're saying that Brexit means that British staff are getting paid better than without Brexit? 🤔
You must be displeased at having some of your fellow countrymen being better paid to look after you rather than cheaper nubile serfs from Eastern Europe.
The DUP aren't interested. Their only aim is to run the clock down to fresh elections. They've implied as much. Yet no one seems to have read between the lines.
That is their prerogative. That is how power sharing in the Good Friday Agreement works.
Either make the DUP happy to share power by compromising enough to please them, or Stormont can't sit. That is what the GFA says.
So what is the EU's proposal to make the DUP happy?
Strange idea that the losers of an election should get their manifesto implemented.
Only strange if you think PR systems should operate on the basis of FPTP taken to extremes.
The GFA is based on power sharing and a PR based electoral system that forces coalitions, it is not winner takes all FPTP majoritarianism.
The DUP won the race to be the first party for the unionist community, therefore they won the right to have their manifesto implemented. If you want that to be different, advocate for electoral reform to First Past the Post and the abolition of the Good Friday Agreement.
Yes but. You can't implement the DUP plan for the border and SF's plan for the border. For the simple reason that they are mutually exclusive. Therefore there is no cross-community consent.
And that's why there need to be negotiations to find a solution that both can live with!
Well absolutely! And it absolutely isn't the job of those who are happy to find a solution. It's the job of those who aren't to propose some ideas that the other side can live with. Which was happening slowly. But now isn't. And changes are being unilaterally announced which don't have cross-community support.
You keep repeating that those who are happy should make no effort to help the unhappy but it's a completely ridiculous idea. As I say, under this doctrine why should the well off middle classes make any effort to help the poor?
I didn't say no effort. That's why there have been ongoing negotiations. I said it isn't their job to come up with a solution. How does unilaterally re-writing the agreement on the say so of one side, do anything other than make the other side unhappy?
If all parties are unhappy they can come to the table to compromise and reach an agreement.
The DUP aren't interested. Their only aim is to run the clock down to fresh elections. They've implied as much. Yet no one seems to have read between the lines.
That is their prerogative. That is how power sharing in the Good Friday Agreement works.
Either make the DUP happy to share power by compromising enough to please them, or Stormont can't sit. That is what the GFA says.
So what is the EU's proposal to make the DUP happy?
Strange idea that the losers of an election should get their manifesto implemented.
Only strange if you think PR systems should operate on the basis of FPTP taken to extremes.
The GFA is based on power sharing and a PR based electoral system that forces coalitions, it is not winner takes all FPTP majoritarianism.
The DUP won the race to be the first party for the unionist community, therefore they won the right to have their manifesto implemented. If you want that to be different, advocate for electoral reform to First Past the Post and the abolition of the Good Friday Agreement.
Yes but. You can't implement the DUP plan for the border and SF's plan for the border. For the simple reason that they are mutually exclusive. Therefore there is no cross-community consent.
And that's why there need to be negotiations to find a solution that both can live with!
Well absolutely! And it absolutely isn't the job of those who are happy to find a solution. It's the job of those who aren't to propose some ideas that the other side can live with. Which was happening slowly. But now isn't. And changes are being unilaterally announced which don't have cross-community support.
You keep repeating that those who are happy should make no effort to help the unhappy but it's a completely ridiculous idea. As I say, under this doctrine why should the well off middle classes make any effort to help the poor?
I didn't say no effort. That's why there have been ongoing negotiations. How does unilaterally re-writing the agreement on the say so of one side, do anything other than make the other side unhappy?
I didn't say I supported rewriting anything, again, my broader point is that your suggestion that the winners of life not needing to help the losers is not something to live and die by. An unequal settlement, whether in NI or in wealth, will eventually lead to a very poor outcome. In NI it could lead to sectarian violence restarting and in wider terms it if we don't make any effort to fix wealth and income inequality it won't be too many cycles until we get commissar Corbyn expropriating assets.
Thank you, KJH. My absence has been due to employment, educational and technical issues. That and a complete loathing for everything that has been going on in British and world politics for the last 10 years or so!
An example of how the market is working right now, the cafe local to work has got a £750 sign-on bonus payable after three months and a £250 referral bounty. A cafe.
Doesn't that show what a shit Brexit has turned our hospitality industry into? I'm surprised anyone eats out in the UK anymore.
Service ihas gone down the pan now so many of the decent foreign staff have left and been replaced by English who have no interest or aptitude whatsoever.
Maybe those British staff just hate tampon advert directors? I went for an excellent pizza at lunch yesterday, all the staff were English and the service was as good as ever.
An example of how the market is working right now, the cafe local to work has got a £750 sign-on bonus payable after three months and a £250 referral bounty. A cafe.
Doesn't that show what a shit Brexit has turned our hospitality industry into? I'm surprised anyone eats out in the UK anymore.
Service ihas gone down the pan now so many of the decent foreign staff have left and been replaced by English who have no interest or aptitude whatsoever.
An example of how the market is working right now, the cafe local to work has got a £750 sign-on bonus payable after three months and a £250 referral bounty. A cafe.
Doesn't that show what a shit Brexit has turned our hospitality industry into? I'm surprised anyone eats out in the UK anymore.
Service ihas gone down the pan now so many of the decent foreign staff have left and been replaced by English who have no interest or aptitude whatsoever.
To answer your question, did I vote leave in 2016. I was (just) too young to vote in 2015 general election but old enough to vote in Brexit referendum. My mum voted staunchly leave, my dad voted staunchly remain.
I found the long campaign full of crazy rhetorics and wild arguments from both sides, it was hard to know what to believe. It felt long and all over the news even though I went to Spain in middle of it!
What I didn’t like was commission in Brussels of failed useless politicians on a gravy train wasting money, and it’s completely undemocratic we surrender decisions to them because we Can’t vote them out. That’s like you have surrendered your sovereignty and get less influence and democracy in return. But at same time the vote leave arguments on UK being better off didn’t convince me one iota. It felt bogus but I couldn’t explain it at the time. If you ask me today what was Brexit ref 2016 boil down as, I think it’s FOM and all immigration helps business and economy, it means not just growth but people of working age paying into government so government can afford bills, so it was odd in 2016 that FOM in EU was sold as scroungers and drag on government finance. On the other hand the country is full, housing, NHS waiting lists, building on lovely countryside green belt etc is all because of too much immigration down the years and freedom of movement, so if we aren’t going to lose growth and our government will be wealthier because we aren’t paying so much money into the EU we get that money back, then why not vote for it if you can have it?
I am pleased how I used my first ever vote, I didn’t just rush into it keen to use the vote, I wanted to understand it and not get it wrong. But I couldn’t understand which option would prove best so I didn’t vote.
An example of how the market is working right now, the cafe local to work has got a £750 sign-on bonus payable after three months and a £250 referral bounty. A cafe.
Doesn't that show what a shit Brexit has turned our hospitality industry into? I'm surprised anyone eats out in the UK anymore.
Service ihas gone down the pan now so many of the decent foreign staff have left and been replaced by English who have no interest or aptitude whatsoever.
It's odd for a country to have to rely on foreign workers in order to have a decent hospitality industry.
An example of how the market is working right now, the cafe local to work has got a £750 sign-on bonus payable after three months and a £250 referral bounty. A cafe.
Doesn't that show what a shit Brexit has turned our hospitality industry into? I'm surprised anyone eats out in the UK anymore.
Service ihas gone down the pan now so many of the decent foreign staff have left and been replaced by English who have no interest or aptitude whatsoever.
Maybe those British staff just hate tampon advert directors? I went for an excellent pizza at lunch yesterday, all the staff were English and the service was as good as ever.
It's probably snapping his fingers and shouting "garcon", that makes Roger unpopular with waiters.
An example of how the market is working right now, the cafe local to work has got a £750 sign-on bonus payable after three months and a £250 referral bounty. A cafe.
Doesn't that show what a shit Brexit has turned our hospitality industry into? I'm surprised anyone eats out in the UK anymore.
Service ihas gone down the pan now so many of the decent foreign staff have left and been replaced by English who have no interest or aptitude whatsoever.
An example of how the market is working right now, the cafe local to work has got a £750 sign-on bonus payable after three months and a £250 referral bounty. A cafe.
Doesn't that show what a shit Brexit has turned our hospitality industry into? I'm surprised anyone eats out in the UK anymore.
Service ihas gone down the pan now so many of the decent foreign staff have left and been replaced by English who have no interest or aptitude whatsoever.
You just can't get the servants, these days.
My own people can't do grovelling servility like the foreigners. It's in their blood and everything. The imperialism of supper out.
An example of how the market is working right now, the cafe local to work has got a £750 sign-on bonus payable after three months and a £250 referral bounty. A cafe.
Doesn't that show what a shit Brexit has turned our hospitality industry into? I'm surprised anyone eats out in the UK anymore.
Service ihas gone down the pan now so many of the decent foreign staff have left and been replaced by English who have no interest or aptitude whatsoever.
Maybe those British staff just hate tampon advert directors? I went for an excellent pizza at lunch yesterday, all the staff were English and the service was as good as ever.
Roger is an expert on service on the British hospitality industry from the comfort of his home in France.
We eat out two times a week at least and the service we have had has been generally excellent. With the students back there is certainly less of an issue in Newcastle or Durham to get staff for hospitality than there was twelve months ago.
An example of how the market is working right now, the cafe local to work has got a £750 sign-on bonus payable after three months and a £250 referral bounty. A cafe.
Doesn't that show what a shit Brexit has turned our hospitality industry into? I'm surprised anyone eats out in the UK anymore.
Service ihas gone down the pan now so many of the decent foreign staff have left and been replaced by English who have no interest or aptitude whatsoever.
It's odd for a country to have to rely on foreign workers in order to have a decent hospitality industry.
The DUP aren't interested. Their only aim is to run the clock down to fresh elections. They've implied as much. Yet no one seems to have read between the lines.
That is their prerogative. That is how power sharing in the Good Friday Agreement works.
Either make the DUP happy to share power by compromising enough to please them, or Stormont can't sit. That is what the GFA says.
So what is the EU's proposal to make the DUP happy?
Strange idea that the losers of an election should get their manifesto implemented.
Only strange if you think PR systems should operate on the basis of FPTP taken to extremes.
The GFA is based on power sharing and a PR based electoral system that forces coalitions, it is not winner takes all FPTP majoritarianism.
The DUP won the race to be the first party for the unionist community, therefore they won the right to have their manifesto implemented. If you want that to be different, advocate for electoral reform to First Past the Post and the abolition of the Good Friday Agreement.
Yes but. You can't implement the DUP plan for the border and SF's plan for the border. For the simple reason that they are mutually exclusive. Therefore there is no cross-community consent.
And that's why there need to be negotiations to find a solution that both can live with!
Well absolutely! And it absolutely isn't the job of those who are happy to find a solution. It's the job of those who aren't to propose some ideas that the other side can live with. Which was happening slowly. But now isn't. And changes are being unilaterally announced which don't have cross-community support.
You keep repeating that those who are happy should make no effort to help the unhappy but it's a completely ridiculous idea. As I say, under this doctrine why should the well off middle classes make any effort to help the poor?
I didn't say no effort. That's why there have been ongoing negotiations. I said it isn't their job to come up with a solution. How does unilaterally re-writing the agreement on the say so of one side, do anything other than make the other side unhappy?
If all parties are unhappy they can come to the table to compromise and reach an agreement.
The DUP aren't interested. Their only aim is to run the clock down to fresh elections. They've implied as much. Yet no one seems to have read between the lines.
That is their prerogative. That is how power sharing in the Good Friday Agreement works.
Either make the DUP happy to share power by compromising enough to please them, or Stormont can't sit. That is what the GFA says.
So what is the EU's proposal to make the DUP happy?
Strange idea that the losers of an election should get their manifesto implemented.
Only strange if you think PR systems should operate on the basis of FPTP taken to extremes.
The GFA is based on power sharing and a PR based electoral system that forces coalitions, it is not winner takes all FPTP majoritarianism.
The DUP won the race to be the first party for the unionist community, therefore they won the right to have their manifesto implemented. If you want that to be different, advocate for electoral reform to First Past the Post and the abolition of the Good Friday Agreement.
Yes but. You can't implement the DUP plan for the border and SF's plan for the border. For the simple reason that they are mutually exclusive. Therefore there is no cross-community consent.
And that's why there need to be negotiations to find a solution that both can live with!
Well absolutely! And it absolutely isn't the job of those who are happy to find a solution. It's the job of those who aren't to propose some ideas that the other side can live with. Which was happening slowly. But now isn't. And changes are being unilaterally announced which don't have cross-community support.
You keep repeating that those who are happy should make no effort to help the unhappy but it's a completely ridiculous idea. As I say, under this doctrine why should the well off middle classes make any effort to help the poor?
I didn't say no effort. That's why there have been ongoing negotiations. I said it isn't their job to come up with a solution. How does unilaterally re-writing the agreement on the say so of one side, do anything other than make the other side unhappy?
If all parties are unhappy they can come to the table to compromise and reach an agreement.
Which is precisely what was happening.
It was?
I don't recall the EU or Sinn Fein compromising to the level that the DUP were happy with the compromise. When did it happen?
Brexit Hawk Liz Looks ready to lead us into the latest Brexit war with EU. Here we go then folks, it’s happening. Big Dog saved, now to win that General Election by getting the big calls right, and send Labour heads into ground like Ostriches at mere mention of Brexit
An example of how the market is working right now, the cafe local to work has got a £750 sign-on bonus payable after three months and a £250 referral bounty. A cafe.
Doesn't that show what a shit Brexit has turned our hospitality industry into? I'm surprised anyone eats out in the UK anymore.
Service ihas gone down the pan now so many of the decent foreign staff have left and been replaced by English who have no interest or aptitude whatsoever.
Maybe those British staff just hate tampon advert directors? I went for an excellent pizza at lunch yesterday, all the staff were English and the service was as good as ever.
Roger is an expert on service in tithe British hospitality industry from the comfort of his home in France.
We eat out two times a week at least and the service we have had has been generally excellent. With the students back there is certainly less of an issue in Newcastle or Durham to get staff for hospitality than there was twelve months ago.
Tbf, if they take my order and bring my order and the order is what I ordered that will do me. 'Service' should be purely functional. I don't need them groveling around, being servile or debasing themselves in any way. Others might prefer more hands on, but it's not for me. He's my brother, not my punkawallah. I'm sure all the Brits Roger has just outed as shit will be extremely grateful for his comments as they earn fuck all pandering to pompous buffoons.
Brexit Hawk Liz Looks ready to lead us into the latest Brexit war with EU. Here we go then folks, it’s happening. Big Dog saved, now to win that General Election by getting the big calls right, and send Labour heads into ground like Ostriches at mere mention of Brexit
Brexit Hawk Liz Looks ready to lead us into the latest Brexit war with EU. Here we go then folks, it’s happening. Big Dog saved, now to win that General Election by getting the big calls right, and send Labour heads into ground like Ostriches at mere mention of Brexit
Send the troops back into West Berlin, United Germany isn't working out for us. Let slip the dogs of brexit war
Brexit Hawk Liz Looks ready to lead us into the latest Brexit war with EU. Here we go then folks, it’s happening. Big Dog saved, now to win that General Election by getting the big calls right, and send Labour heads into ground like Ostriches at mere mention of Brexit
Brexit Hawk Liz Looks ready to lead us into the latest Brexit war with EU. Here we go then folks, it’s happening. Big Dog saved, now to win that General Election by getting the big calls right, and send Labour heads into ground like Ostriches at mere mention of Brexit
Send the troops back into West Berlin, United Germany isn't working out for us. Let slip the dogs of brexit war
Breaking international law isn't the answer.
Unless you are Vladimir Putin. In which case one of our chief partners, France, offers you bits of another country, while we in Dublin say nothing.
Brexit Hawk Liz Looks ready to lead us into the latest Brexit war with EU. Here we go then folks, it’s happening. Big Dog saved, now to win that General Election by getting the big calls right, and send Labour heads into ground like Ostriches at mere mention of Brexit
Send the troops back into West Berlin, United Germany isn't working out for us. Let slip the dogs of brexit war
Breaking international law isn't the answer.
Unless you are Vladimir Putin. In which case one of our chief partners, France, offers you bits of another country, while we in Dublin say nothing.
In the Russo-Ukrainian War of 2022 the first nation to surrender was France.
Brexit Hawk Liz Looks ready to lead us into the latest Brexit war with EU. Here we go then folks, it’s happening. Big Dog saved, now to win that General Election by getting the big calls right, and send Labour heads into ground like Ostriches at mere mention of Brexit
What could possibly go wrong.
I think nothing really. What do you suggest will go wrong?
There will be some sort of deal, and UK government will get boost soon as the deal agreed. Meanwhile during patriotic Brexit war v EU the Tories get to bait Labour mercilessly at every PMQs and debate and media interview in the coming months. Why do you think Tories chosen precisely this moment to launch the first salvo? It’s a no brainier win win for them.
Brexit Hawk Liz Looks ready to lead us into the latest Brexit war with EU. Here we go then folks, it’s happening. Big Dog saved, now to win that General Election by getting the big calls right, and send Labour heads into ground like Ostriches at mere mention of Brexit
Send the troops back into West Berlin, United Germany isn't working out for us. Let slip the dogs of brexit war
Breaking international law isn't the answer.
Unless you are Vladimir Putin. In which case one of our chief partners, France, offers you bits of another country, while we in Dublin say nothing.
Very true. But West Berlin or bust anyway, just because I miss 1989
Thank you, KJH. My absence has been due to employment, educational and technical issues. That and a complete loathing for everything that has been going on in British and world politics for the last 10 years or so!
I still fondly remember an exchange from the early days because I got a smiley face from Jack W which was a real badge of honour. Andreas (sp?) responded to one of your posts but with a typo in your name so the response started Augustus Crap, to which I responded that seems a bit harsh. Not funny on retelling but it makes me smile every time it springs to mind.
Brexit Hawk Liz Looks ready to lead us into the latest Brexit war with EU. Here we go then folks, it’s happening. Big Dog saved, now to win that General Election by getting the big calls right, and send Labour heads into ground like Ostriches at mere mention of Brexit
The Truss clearly still has an eye on the Tory leadership. A trade war with the EU would be utterly disastrous for UK exporters and the economy, but you can be sure that the Tory membership is the one entity - the only entity - that will be completely nonchalant about all of that. So this is probably shrewd management for Truss and her ambitions.
Brexit Hawk Liz Looks ready to lead us into the latest Brexit war with EU. Here we go then folks, it’s happening. Big Dog saved, now to win that General Election by getting the big calls right, and send Labour heads into ground like Ostriches at mere mention of Brexit
What could possibly go wrong.
I think nothing really. What do you suggest will go wrong?
Oh dear. And there I was thinking you were parodying.
You are ACTUALLY being serious that nothing where Liz Truss is involved could possibly go wrong?
She's not known as The Human Hand Grenade for nothing you know. The last person you want involved in negotiating anything.
On the other hand, if you think lobbing grenades into delicate situations is good for winning Labour red wall votes then you're clearly going to take some persuading.
Brexit Hawk Liz Looks ready to lead us into the latest Brexit war with EU. Here we go then folks, it’s happening. Big Dog saved, now to win that General Election by getting the big calls right, and send Labour heads into ground like Ostriches at mere mention of Brexit
If Article 16 is already part of the Protocol, why do we need this performative activity in Parliament? Why not just invoke Article 16?
Brexit Hawk Liz Looks ready to lead us into the latest Brexit war with EU. Here we go then folks, it’s happening. Big Dog saved, now to win that General Election by getting the big calls right, and send Labour heads into ground like Ostriches at mere mention of Brexit
What could possibly go wrong.
I think nothing really. What do you suggest will go wrong?
Oh dear. And there I was thinking you were parodying.
You are ACTUALLY being serious that nothing where Liz Truss is involved could possibly go wrong?
She's not known as The Human Hand Grenade for nothing you know. The last person you want involved in negotiating anything.
On the other hand, if you think lobbing grenades into delicate situations is good for winning Labour red wall votes then you're clearly going to take some persuading.
😂😂😂😂
Absolutely lobbing a metaphorical grenade is precisely the right thing for Truss to be doing right now.
Just been to the physio and got a good telling off. Apparently the limited amount I was supposed to do was carrying a cup of tea and not pushing a wheelbarrow.
They should have been more clear on the details! Generally people have very different expectations of what constitutes exercise and doing stuff.
No women's only lists required in the LibDems, they have 9 out of 13 women MPs.
Only after being embarrassed about the least diverse Parliamentary Party of the modern era in 2015.
From memory 100% of their elected MPs after that election were white, middle aged men who were in the same age bracket too.
The Lib Dem PLP was certainly late to the party when it came to gender balance. Still is when it comes to persons of colour. It is very very white.
The problem with stressing over gender balance is that while MPs like Sarah Olney seem very respectable and interesting, it promotes the notion that other people like Wera Hobhouse might be a good idea for aiding the gender balance, but they also tip the party in the batshit crazy balance stakes.
"In one of the neighborhoods where many of the roughly 400 bodies of Ukrainian citizens were discovered in April, technicians were laying cable to restore internet service. At one house, a resident was removing pieces of destroyed Russian tanks still littering his garden."
"Two days before it was due to reopen last week, the cafe and its outdoor terrace looked spotless and Mr. Markaryan was taste-testing the espresso to see if it was up to par."
Ah yes, Andrea! I assumed that was a woman, but he was in fact a man - Italian, with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the internal machinations of the British Labour Party. I wonder whatever happened to some of the names from the Good Old Days.......
I despise feminism as much as the next red-blooded Briton, and think women should be barefoot, squealing and bent over the Aga, as we all do, however it is hard to argue that masculine politics is having a good run right now, as the macho idiot Putin sends his brutes into Ukraine
Perhaps it is time for the women to run the show. At least for a while. Tho not Kamala Harris, please
Yes. Time for women leaders in Russia, Cuba, North Korea, China, Congo, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Uganda, Somalia, Syria and quite a few others.
Agreed - though I'm not convinced fat Kim's sister would be an improvement. Their problems are deeper rooted.
An example of how the market is working right now, the cafe local to work has got a £750 sign-on bonus payable after three months and a £250 referral bounty. A cafe.
Doesn't that show what a shit Brexit has turned our hospitality industry into? I'm surprised anyone eats out in the UK anymore.
Service ihas gone down the pan now so many of the decent foreign staff have left and been replaced by English who have no interest or aptitude whatsoever.
It's odd for a country to have to rely on foreign workers in order to have a decent hospitality industry.
Don't get Rog started on strawberry picking....
Isn't it about time for the yearly wall to wall stories in the guardian that there will be widespread strawberry shortages....
Brexit Hawk Liz Looks ready to lead us into the latest Brexit war with EU. Here we go then folks, it’s happening. Big Dog saved, now to win that General Election by getting the big calls right, and send Labour heads into ground like Ostriches at mere mention of Brexit
If Article 16 is already part of the Protocol, why do we need this performative activity in Parliament? Why not just invoke Article 16?
Brexit Hawk Liz Looks ready to lead us into the latest Brexit war with EU. Here we go then folks, it’s happening. Big Dog saved, now to win that General Election by getting the big calls right, and send Labour heads into ground like Ostriches at mere mention of Brexit
The Truss clearly still has an eye on the Tory leadership. A trade war with the EU would be utterly disastrous for UK exporters and the economy, but you can be sure that the Tory membership is the one entity - the only entity - that will be completely nonchalant about all of that. So this is probably shrewd management for Truss and her ambitions.
Johnson is going to have to do a Sunak style demolition job on her sooner or later. It might be better to wait until she's got a few arrows in her from the impending Great Patriotic Trade War.
For an alternative take on the NI protocol, see here...
On Brexit, a real cost to business is the fact that if you export from say France to Germany for a project (Or any two countries within the EU), the goods can no longer be zero rated across between the EU countries if you're an ex EU (As we are now) supplier.
We're in the process of sorting this by obtaining Dutch VAT status for our companies - and potentially we'll have to grab other EU nation VAT status depending on stuff only tax specialists fully grasp. I do VAT returns, though intra-EU VAT is a bit of a dark art even for myself.
The upshot is it will probably cost us between 2 and 10 grand a year to administer what was previously a simple intrastat declaration which took about an hour of my time every quarter. The alternative would be our business being completely unviable.
A real cost of Brexit for British business, and not needed when general inflation on metals etc is through the roof.
I believe businesses within Northern Ireland avoid this nonsense as they're part of the EU VAT orbit so can carry on with intrastat
Obviously noone cares about this, but it's a pain for British exporters where you're buying and selling within the EU.
And the reason you didn't have to pay when we were in the eu was because every damn taxpayer in the country was having money taken off them to pay the club fees so your company didn't have to pay the same fees as companies that had to export to non eu countries. Tax payers many of whom saw no benefit whatsoever from us being in the eu apart from spending 10 minutes less in a queue when flying to spain for their two weeks holiday. Your company is not entitled to corporate welfare where you get taxpayers to foot the bill to save you money .
Brexit Hawk Liz Looks ready to lead us into the latest Brexit war with EU. Here we go then folks, it’s happening. Big Dog saved, now to win that General Election by getting the big calls right, and send Labour heads into ground like Ostriches at mere mention of Brexit
The Truss clearly still has an eye on the Tory leadership. A trade war with the EU would be utterly disastrous for UK exporters and the economy, but you can be sure that the Tory membership is the one entity - the only entity - that will be completely nonchalant about all of that. So this is probably shrewd management for Truss and her ambitions.
F*ck business is written on the side of the tin isn't it?
Brexit Hawk Liz Looks ready to lead us into the latest Brexit war with EU. Here we go then folks, it’s happening. Big Dog saved, now to win that General Election by getting the big calls right, and send Labour heads into ground like Ostriches at mere mention of Brexit
What could possibly go wrong.
I think nothing really. What do you suggest will go wrong?
Oh dear. And there I was thinking you were parodying.
You are ACTUALLY being serious that nothing where Liz Truss is involved could possibly go wrong?
She's not known as The Human Hand Grenade for nothing you know. The last person you want involved in negotiating anything.
On the other hand, if you think lobbing grenades into delicate situations is good for winning Labour red wall votes then you're clearly going to take some persuading.
Calm down, and answer honestly.
There will be some sort of deal? and UK government will get boost soon as the deal agreed? (Big G and HY in unison will remind us of this fact soon as deal agreed) And it puts Labour on back foot now the commons is back in action? And it obscures what’s going on in partygate?
When in power it gives you some control over resetting the narrative to suit you, which is what the Tories are doing, choosing precise time and issue to control the narrative. Even hating them and wishing them ill, you gave to concede what is actually happening and how it likely plays out?
Brexit Hawk Liz Looks ready to lead us into the latest Brexit war with EU. Here we go then folks, it’s happening. Big Dog saved, now to win that General Election by getting the big calls right, and send Labour heads into ground like Ostriches at mere mention of Brexit
What could possibly go wrong.
I think nothing really. What do you suggest will go wrong?
Oh dear. And there I was thinking you were parodying.
You are ACTUALLY being serious that nothing where Liz Truss is involved could possibly go wrong?
She's not known as The Human Hand Grenade for nothing you know. The last person you want involved in negotiating anything.
On the other hand, if you think lobbing grenades into delicate situations is good for winning Labour red wall votes then you're clearly going to take some persuading.
Calm down, and answer honestly.
[...]
I stopped right there and didn't read anything else.
Any man telling a lady to 'calm down' (dear) isn't worthy of a response.
An example of how the market is working right now, the cafe local to work has got a £750 sign-on bonus payable after three months and a £250 referral bounty. A cafe.
Doesn't that show what a shit Brexit has turned our hospitality industry into? I'm surprised anyone eats out in the UK anymore.
Service ihas gone down the pan now so many of the decent foreign staff have left and been replaced by English who have no interest or aptitude whatsoever.
It's odd for a country to have to rely on foreign workers in order to have a decent hospitality industry.
Don't get Rog started on strawberry picking....
Isn't it about time for the yearly wall to wall stories in the guardian that there will be widespread strawberry shortages....
They are busy at the moment promoting the word hepeating as another trait of evil 'cis' males
Brexit Hawk Liz Looks ready to lead us into the latest Brexit war with EU. Here we go then folks, it’s happening. Big Dog saved, now to win that General Election by getting the big calls right, and send Labour heads into ground like Ostriches at mere mention of Brexit
The Truss clearly still has an eye on the Tory leadership. A trade war with the EU would be utterly disastrous for UK exporters and the economy, but you can be sure that the Tory membership is the one entity - the only entity - that will be completely nonchalant about all of that. So this is probably shrewd management for Truss and her ambitions.
Johnson is going to have to do a Sunak style demolition job on her sooner or later. It might be better to wait until she's got a few arrows in her from the impending Great Patriotic Trade War.
More likely she is like the one in old Monty Python film who manages to run over herself.
Just been to the physio and got a good telling off. Apparently the limited amount I was supposed to do was carrying a cup of tea and not pushing a wheelbarrow.
Listen to your physio. If they're any good, they really know what they're talking about.
Brexit Hawk Liz Looks ready to lead us into the latest Brexit war with EU. Here we go then folks, it’s happening. Big Dog saved, now to win that General Election by getting the big calls right, and send Labour heads into ground like Ostriches at mere mention of Brexit
What could possibly go wrong.
I think nothing really. What do you suggest will go wrong?
Oh dear. And there I was thinking you were parodying.
You are ACTUALLY being serious that nothing where Liz Truss is involved could possibly go wrong?
She's not known as The Human Hand Grenade for nothing you know. The last person you want involved in negotiating anything.
On the other hand, if you think lobbing grenades into delicate situations is good for winning Labour red wall votes then you're clearly going to take some persuading.
😂😂😂😂
Absolutely lobbing a metaphorical grenade is precisely the right thing for Truss to be doing right now.
Boris should go. In Truss we Trust.
I know you hate it when I remind people of this but you're the person who said you'd be prepared (happy) for the Troubles to return to Northern Ireland if it meant a pure Brexit.
Mike Smithson was utterly appalled by your comments then, as were most everyone else.
So that's the context for you thinking it's a good idea to lob a grenade into the Northern Ireland situation.
For an alternative take on the NI protocol, see here...
On Brexit, a real cost to business is the fact that if you export from say France to Germany for a project (Or any two countries within the EU), the goods can no longer be zero rated across between the EU countries if you're an ex EU (As we are now) supplier.
We're in the process of sorting this by obtaining Dutch VAT status for our companies - and potentially we'll have to grab other EU nation VAT status depending on stuff only tax specialists fully grasp. I do VAT returns, though intra-EU VAT is a bit of a dark art even for myself.
The upshot is it will probably cost us between 2 and 10 grand a year to administer what was previously a simple intrastat declaration which took about an hour of my time every quarter. The alternative would be our business being completely unviable.
A real cost of Brexit for British business, and not needed when general inflation on metals etc is through the roof.
I believe businesses within Northern Ireland avoid this nonsense as they're part of the EU VAT orbit so can carry on with intrastat
Obviously noone cares about this, but it's a pain for British exporters where you're buying and selling within the EU.
And the reason you didn't have to pay when we were in the eu was because every damn taxpayer in the country was having money taken off them to pay the club fees so your company didn't have to pay the same fees as companies that had to export to non eu countries. Tax payers many of whom saw no benefit whatsoever from us being in the eu apart from spending 10 minutes less in a queue when flying to spain for their two weeks holiday. Your company is not entitled to corporate welfare where you get taxpayers to foot the bill to save you money .
An example of how the market is working right now, the cafe local to work has got a £750 sign-on bonus payable after three months and a £250 referral bounty. A cafe.
Doesn't that show what a shit Brexit has turned our hospitality industry into? I'm surprised anyone eats out in the UK anymore.
Service ihas gone down the pan now so many of the decent foreign staff have left and been replaced by English who have no interest or aptitude whatsoever.
It's odd for a country to have to rely on foreign workers in order to have a decent hospitality industry.
Don't get Rog started on strawberry picking....
Isn't it about time for the yearly wall to wall stories in the guardian that there will be widespread strawberry shortages....
They are busy at the moment promoting the word hepeating as another trait of evil 'cis' males
Jesus. Can’t they just fuck off.
Arabella Weir did the running gag about it in The Fast Show in the nineties.
Brexit Hawk Liz Looks ready to lead us into the latest Brexit war with EU. Here we go then folks, it’s happening. Big Dog saved, now to win that General Election by getting the big calls right, and send Labour heads into ground like Ostriches at mere mention of Brexit
Brexit Hawk Liz Looks ready to lead us into the latest Brexit war with EU. Here we go then folks, it’s happening. Big Dog saved, now to win that General Election by getting the big calls right, and send Labour heads into ground like Ostriches at mere mention of Brexit
The Truss clearly still has an eye on the Tory leadership. A trade war with the EU would be utterly disastrous for UK exporters and the economy, but you can be sure that the Tory membership is the one entity - the only entity - that will be completely nonchalant about all of that. So this is probably shrewd management for Truss and her ambitions.
Johnson is going to have to do a Sunak style demolition job on her sooner or later. It might be better to wait until she's got a few arrows in her from the impending Great Patriotic Trade War.
More likely she is like the one in old Monty Python film who manages to run over herself.
An example of how the market is working right now, the cafe local to work has got a £750 sign-on bonus payable after three months and a £250 referral bounty. A cafe.
Doesn't that show what a shit Brexit has turned our hospitality industry into? I'm surprised anyone eats out in the UK anymore.
Service ihas gone down the pan now so many of the decent foreign staff have left and been replaced by English who have no interest or aptitude whatsoever.
It's odd for a country to have to rely on foreign workers in order to have a decent hospitality industry.
Don't get Rog started on strawberry picking....
Isn't it about time for the yearly wall to wall stories in the guardian that there will be widespread strawberry shortages....
They are busy at the moment promoting the word hepeating as another trait of evil 'cis' males
Jesus. Can’t they just fuck off.
No, the narrative must be boosted, maintained and advanced They had a few women who have suffered this abysmal crime sharing their stories too (the story being this bloke copied what I said once)
Brexit Hawk Liz Looks ready to lead us into the latest Brexit war with EU. Here we go then folks, it’s happening. Big Dog saved, now to win that General Election by getting the big calls right, and send Labour heads into ground like Ostriches at mere mention of Brexit
Look at that bloody jacket. Dynasty revisited.
Don’t her shoulders go all the way up into those nobly bits?
For an alternative take on the NI protocol, see here...
On Brexit, a real cost to business is the fact that if you export from say France to Germany for a project (Or any two countries within the EU), the goods can no longer be zero rated across between the EU countries if you're an ex EU (As we are now) supplier.
We're in the process of sorting this by obtaining Dutch VAT status for our companies - and potentially we'll have to grab other EU nation VAT status depending on stuff only tax specialists fully grasp. I do VAT returns, though intra-EU VAT is a bit of a dark art even for myself.
The upshot is it will probably cost us between 2 and 10 grand a year to administer what was previously a simple intrastat declaration which took about an hour of my time every quarter. The alternative would be our business being completely unviable.
A real cost of Brexit for British business, and not needed when general inflation on metals etc is through the roof.
I believe businesses within Northern Ireland avoid this nonsense as they're part of the EU VAT orbit so can carry on with intrastat
Obviously noone cares about this, but it's a pain for British exporters where you're buying and selling within the EU.
And the reason you didn't have to pay when we were in the eu was because every damn taxpayer in the country was having money taken off them to pay the club fees so your company didn't have to pay the same fees as companies that had to export to non eu countries. Tax payers many of whom saw no benefit whatsoever from us being in the eu apart from spending 10 minutes less in a queue when flying to spain for their two weeks holiday. Your company is not entitled to corporate welfare where you get taxpayers to foot the bill to save you money .
Tldr; fuck business.
Younger son, who deals in International trade, says that since Brexit the UK C&E have become a serious delaying factor. That's for trade outside the EU; he largely deals with Asia. He thinks C&E are simply overwhelmed.
Brexit Hawk Liz Looks ready to lead us into the latest Brexit war with EU. Here we go then folks, it’s happening. Big Dog saved, now to win that General Election by getting the big calls right, and send Labour heads into ground like Ostriches at mere mention of Brexit
What could possibly go wrong.
I think nothing really. What do you suggest will go wrong?
Oh dear. And there I was thinking you were parodying.
You are ACTUALLY being serious that nothing where Liz Truss is involved could possibly go wrong?
She's not known as The Human Hand Grenade for nothing you know. The last person you want involved in negotiating anything.
On the other hand, if you think lobbing grenades into delicate situations is good for winning Labour red wall votes then you're clearly going to take some persuading.
😂😂😂😂
Absolutely lobbing a metaphorical grenade is precisely the right thing for Truss to be doing right now.
Boris should go. In Truss we Trust.
I know you hate it when I remind people of this but you're the person who said you'd be prepared (happy) for the Troubles to return to Northern Ireland if it meant a pure Brexit.
Mike Smithson was utterly appalled by your comments then, as were most everyone else.
So that's the context for you thinking it's a good idea to lob a grenade into the Northern Ireland situation.
That's a lie, I never said that.
I stand by the comments I actually said, but you don't have enough integrity to say those, so you spin it into things I didn't say.
For an alternative take on the NI protocol, see here...
On Brexit, a real cost to business is the fact that if you export from say France to Germany for a project (Or any two countries within the EU), the goods can no longer be zero rated across between the EU countries if you're an ex EU (As we are now) supplier.
We're in the process of sorting this by obtaining Dutch VAT status for our companies - and potentially we'll have to grab other EU nation VAT status depending on stuff only tax specialists fully grasp. I do VAT returns, though intra-EU VAT is a bit of a dark art even for myself.
The upshot is it will probably cost us between 2 and 10 grand a year to administer what was previously a simple intrastat declaration which took about an hour of my time every quarter. The alternative would be our business being completely unviable.
A real cost of Brexit for British business, and not needed when general inflation on metals etc is through the roof.
I believe businesses within Northern Ireland avoid this nonsense as they're part of the EU VAT orbit so can carry on with intrastat
Obviously noone cares about this, but it's a pain for British exporters where you're buying and selling within the EU.
And the reason you didn't have to pay when we were in the eu was because every damn taxpayer in the country was having money taken off them to pay the club fees so your company didn't have to pay the same fees as companies that had to export to non eu countries. Tax payers many of whom saw no benefit whatsoever from us being in the eu apart from spending 10 minutes less in a queue when flying to spain for their two weeks holiday. Your company is not entitled to corporate welfare where you get taxpayers to foot the bill to save you money .
Tldr; fuck business.
This Government are to UKPLC what Keith Moon was to hotel rooms.
A group of Ministers to whom self- aggrandisement is the number one consideration.
Brexit Hawk Liz Looks ready to lead us into the latest Brexit war with EU. Here we go then folks, it’s happening. Big Dog saved, now to win that General Election by getting the big calls right, and send Labour heads into ground like Ostriches at mere mention of Brexit
The Truss clearly still has an eye on the Tory leadership. A trade war with the EU would be utterly disastrous for UK exporters and the economy, but you can be sure that the Tory membership is the one entity - the only entity - that will be completely nonchalant about all of that. So this is probably shrewd management for Truss and her ambitions.
Johnson is going to have to do a Sunak style demolition job on her sooner or later. It might be better to wait until she's got a few arrows in her from the impending Great Patriotic Trade War.
More likely she is like the one in old Monty Python film who manages to run over herself.
Brexit Hawk Liz Looks ready to lead us into the latest Brexit war with EU. Here we go then folks, it’s happening. Big Dog saved, now to win that General Election by getting the big calls right, and send Labour heads into ground like Ostriches at mere mention of Brexit
What could possibly go wrong.
I think nothing really. What do you suggest will go wrong?
Oh dear. And there I was thinking you were parodying.
You are ACTUALLY being serious that nothing where Liz Truss is involved could possibly go wrong?
She's not known as The Human Hand Grenade for nothing you know. The last person you want involved in negotiating anything.
On the other hand, if you think lobbing grenades into delicate situations is good for winning Labour red wall votes then you're clearly going to take some persuading.
Calm down, and answer honestly.
[...]
I stopped right there and didn't read anything else.
Any man telling a lady to 'calm down' (dear) isn't worthy of a response.
Then take it from a girly! 🤣
Answer the questions. It will do you good to realise what actually going on.
Comments
You can't implement the DUP plan for the border and SF's plan for the border.
For the simple reason that they are mutually exclusive.
Therefore there is no cross-community consent.
As for pay/bonuses it's why I said it sucks to be in the public sector as there's little chance of bonuses. We'll see what the next round of inflation figures brings tomorrow, as you say, I'm not hopeful and I think we're quickly heading for 11-12% this summer. Yet 1.2% real pay growth (and probably higher for the private sector) means that workers, for now, are still being shielded by the insanely hot employment market. It's why March only saw -0.1% rather than anything worse despite the absolutely atrocious weather.
SF plan for the border is to have an open border North/South.
DUP plan for the border is to have an open border East/West.
So you need to negotiate a deal whereby the UK and EU are not aligned, where there is no North/South checks and no East/West checks. The only way to do that is to reach a compromise whereby we mutually agree to put peace in NI above the integrity of our markets and so we will not do checks.
We can recognise each other's markets as equivalents even if not aligned to reduce red tape too.
In the meantime until a deal is reached, the Safeguarding can be implemented until a deal is reached all parties consent to.
Possibly because people like Scott will react hysterically if the Safeguarding is implemented acting as if its 'blowing up the deal' rather than simply implementing a pre-agreed element of the deal.
Hopefully soon either the EU come to the table or Truss decides enough is enough and pulls the A16 trigger.
And it absolutely isn't the job of those who are happy to find a solution. It's the job of those who aren't to propose some ideas that the other side can live with.
Which was happening slowly.
But now isn't. And changes are being unilaterally announced which don't have cross-community support.
(No I did mean 'indiscriminate' as in random without consideration of the consequences)
Changes don't need cross-community support if they're part of the Safeguarding.
Your logic is to imply that people who are happy can indefinitely veto any actions to Safeguard the rights of those who are unhappy. How does that work? How does that fit with the GFA?
Labour have let the side down, the blue meanies have had two female PMs whilst they've not had a GB/UK wide female leader ever.
(No, Margaret Beckett and Harriet Harman do not count.)
Anyone want that? 😱
I think your proposals for the public sector are well intentioned but naive - the distinction between "front line staff" (good) and "middle management" (bad) is simplistic and unrealistic. Organisations need management, including public sector organisations (no special pleading involved here, I work in the private sector). The reality is that an ageing population accounts for the increasing size of the state, while public services have seen a decline in like for like spending in real terms, as is immediately obvious to anyone using the services.
Then 2 minutes in to the Premiership of Priti Patel and the joke will be over.
As somebody said on here, Priti Patel is the sort of person who would unplug your life support machine so she could charge her mobile.
Progress was being made. It would have continued glacially to an inevitable fudge.
But now it isn't.
Because Stormont sitting is suddenly vital.
Why? It hasn't been vital for much longer periods before.
And anyway. The DUP has no intention whatsoever of sitting before new elections. So it isn't even a necessary, let alone sufficient, condition.
Service ihas gone down the pan now so many of the decent foreign staff have left and been replaced by English who have no interest or aptitude whatsoever.
How does unilaterally re-writing the agreement on the say so of one side, do anything other than make the other side unhappy?
You must be displeased at having some of your fellow countrymen being better paid to look after you rather than cheaper nubile serfs from Eastern Europe.
I found the long campaign full of crazy rhetorics and wild arguments from both sides, it was hard to know what to believe. It felt long and all over the news even though I went to Spain in middle of it!
What I didn’t like was commission in Brussels of failed useless politicians on a gravy train wasting money, and it’s completely undemocratic we surrender decisions to them because we Can’t vote them out. That’s like you have surrendered your sovereignty and get less influence and democracy in return. But at same time the vote leave arguments on UK being better off didn’t convince me one iota. It felt bogus but I couldn’t explain it at the time. If you ask me today what was Brexit ref 2016 boil down as, I think it’s FOM and all immigration helps business and economy, it means not just growth but people of working age paying into government so government can afford bills, so it was odd in 2016 that FOM in EU was sold as scroungers and drag on government finance. On the other hand the country is full, housing, NHS waiting lists, building on lovely countryside green belt etc is all because of too much immigration down the years and freedom of movement, so if we aren’t going to lose growth and our government will be wealthier because we aren’t paying so much money into the EU we get that money back, then why not vote for it if you can have it?
I am pleased how I used my first ever vote, I didn’t just rush into it keen to use the vote, I wanted to understand it and not get it wrong. But I couldn’t understand which option would prove best so I didn’t vote.
The imperialism of supper out.
We eat out two times a week at least and the service we have had has been generally excellent. With the students back there is certainly less of an issue in Newcastle or Durham to get staff for hospitality than there was twelve months ago.
I don't recall the EU or Sinn Fein compromising to the level that the DUP were happy with the compromise. When did it happen?
I don't need them groveling around, being servile or debasing themselves in any way. Others might prefer more hands on, but it's not for me. He's my brother, not my punkawallah.
I'm sure all the Brits Roger has just outed as shit will be extremely grateful for his comments as they earn fuck all pandering to pompous buffoons.
Apparently he told Russian TV last night the situation was not as good as some are saying.
Reminds me of a comment I saw that Morrissey is the kind of person who wakes you up to tell you he's going to bed.
Unless you are Vladimir Putin. In which case one of our chief partners, France, offers you bits of another country, while we in Dublin say nothing.
There will be some sort of deal, and UK government will get boost soon as the deal agreed. Meanwhile during patriotic Brexit war v EU the Tories get to bait Labour mercilessly at every PMQs and debate and media interview in the coming months. Why do you think Tories chosen precisely this moment to launch the first salvo? It’s a no brainier win win for them.
But West Berlin or bust anyway, just because I miss 1989
You are ACTUALLY being serious that nothing where Liz Truss is involved could possibly go wrong?
She's not known as The Human Hand Grenade for nothing you know. The last person you want involved in negotiating anything.
On the other hand, if you think lobbing grenades into delicate situations is good for winning Labour red wall votes then you're clearly going to take some persuading.
She's a prat.
Why not just invoke Article 16?
Absolutely lobbing a metaphorical grenade is precisely the right thing for Truss to be doing right now.
Boris should go. In Truss we Trust.
"In one of the neighborhoods where many of the roughly 400 bodies of Ukrainian citizens were discovered in April, technicians were laying cable to restore internet service. At one house, a resident was removing pieces of destroyed Russian tanks still littering his garden."
"Two days before it was due to reopen last week, the cafe and its outdoor terrace looked spotless and Mr. Markaryan was taste-testing the espresso to see if it was up to par."
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/05/17/world/russia-ukraine-war-news#bucha-ukraine-russia
Their problems are deeper rooted.
There will be some sort of deal?
and UK government will get boost soon as the deal agreed? (Big G and HY in unison will remind us of this fact soon as deal agreed)
And it puts Labour on back foot now the commons is back in action?
And it obscures what’s going on in partygate?
When in power it gives you some control over resetting the narrative to suit you, which is what the Tories are doing, choosing precise time and issue to control the narrative. Even hating them and wishing them ill, you gave to concede what is actually happening and how it likely plays out?
Any man telling a lady to 'calm down' (dear) isn't worthy of a response.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVYA3oTG8fg
If they're any good, they really know what they're talking about.
Mike Smithson was utterly appalled by your comments then, as were most everyone else.
So that's the context for you thinking it's a good idea to lob a grenade into the Northern Ireland situation.
She's at the head of the Field as it stands
Next time I tell y'all that Labour must elect a female leader please reply 'Truss'.
Look at what Johnson says and does these days and I don't think its Liz he fears.
Its Frost. And so he should.
Arabella Weir did the running gag about it in The Fast Show in the nineties.
Though having survived the local elections and with Labour's poll lead narrowing, Boris is almost certainly secure now until the next general election
I love the line "his father was a cabinet minister and his mother won the derby" 😂
They had a few women who have suffered this abysmal crime sharing their stories too (the story being this bloke copied what I said once)
I stand by the comments I actually said, but you don't have enough integrity to say those, so you spin it into things I didn't say.
A group of Ministers to whom self- aggrandisement is the number one consideration.
Answer the questions. It will do you good to realise what actually going on.