quote:

While no one could blame them for attempting to park their tanks on Labour's lawn in a bid to attract voters in leave constituencies away from Nigel Farage's Brexit Party, delegates here have understandably been left scratching their heads at the orchard of magic money trees seemingly being planted before their very eyes. Many agree it was right for austerity to be killed off, but with the potential economic fall out from a no-Deal Brexit looming, and small and medium sized businesses already feeling neglected by a party that once prided itself on representing Britain's 'nation of shopkeepers', could the Tories' sudden fiscal loosening actually prove to be self-defeating?

Captain Fargle posted:

I swear to god I know this guy's face from somewhere. He might have done some poo poo like this before or maybe he's an actor of some kind?

Either way my first reaction was "Where the hell do I know him from?"

JeremoudCorbynejad posted:

Lol @ BBC just going with a staged photo from the Tory party as their thumbnail image. Image doesn't even appear in the article

Steve2911 posted:

At least on first glance it looks like he's giving the finger.

Pesmerga posted:

It’s an affectation. They’re pitching to the whole jaded, ‘just lol if you actually care about anything’ demographic, who like the idea of someone who just doesn’t put effort in, dresses scruffily with unkempt hair. The whole ‘wot a legend’ thing. It’s why he’s carefully cultivated a buffoon image. Occasionally though, you see it slip and the calculating and very easily riled Etonian shines through.

Pilchenstein posted:

Bloody southerner

Top door knocking advice for people who'd like to campaign for Labour but don't like talking to strangers: learn how to do the clipboard - you basically just tell everyone which doors to knock and track what the outcomes were but every canvassing group needs someone who can manage the paperwork.

Tarnop posted:

I'm going to try to go to our next local canvassing meeting, but last time I tried I had a panic attack at my own front door and blacked out so who knows

Makes me feel like poo poo that I can't get out there and help

Jose posted:

The high court just hosed a lot of women over but as they're boomers I'm sure they won't vote against the tories for making the change

quote:

When the EU crushes Boris's chaotic Brexit plan, his only way out is no-deal

So, is the PM's 'delusional' offer deliberately designed to fail?

The strength of the Conservative Party is that it doesn’t know its own weakness. After three years spent on life support, the Government is almost supernaturally resurrecting: Theresa May’s botch-up has become an establishment stitch-up. An extension no longer necessarily spells Boris Johnson’s extinction. And the ease with which the Tories have swapped the sallow benevolence of austerity for the warm glow of Brexit populism has left Corbynistas incredulous.

Still, the natural party of government seems dangerously close to squandering its recovery in a fit of typical Tory complacency. No 10’s mindboggling proposal for a divorce deal is already a serious communications problem. The PM’s vow in his speech closing Conservative Party conference to deliver Brexit “come what may” has now been lost in the maelstrom of debate about checks on animals and customs borders. His quips comparing Parliament to the pizza wheel of doom were submerged beneath vaporous claptrap about ensuring “renewable democratic consent” in Northern Ireland.

Boris Johnson thrives on cutting through the Brexit pandemonium with the clarion cry: “the people versus Parliament”. But the very process of seeking a deal with the EU complicates this devillishly simple message. And the PM’s proposal – which involves two borders, and Northern Ireland leaving the customs union, but staying in the single market for agriculture and industrial goods for a period – is monstrously complicated.

It may well be possible to negotiate a free trade agreement on the basis of the divorce deal that No 10 has proposed. But three years of Tory lies and Brussels doublespeak have bred distrust. The public have acquired a sophisticated sixth sense for can-kicking measures disguised as clever solutions (like keeping Northern Ireland in the single market for four more years).

The Government’s silence on other problematic aspects of the Withdrawal Agreement has only heightened suspicion. (On thorny issues like fishing and European Investment Bank contributions, we are still none the wiser about its plans.) Nigel Farage was quick to suggest yesterday that Johnson is readying to “reheat” Mrs May’s “dreadful deal”. Many Brexiteers will be minded to agree.

Let us hope there is an intriguing twist to this story. It is rumoured that the PM has designed his proposal to be rejected by Europe after a few days of phoney talks, because he knows that no deal is his only route to a majority. Johnson understands all too well that if the narrative swings back from establishment conspiracy to Conservative catastrophe, his party will be eviscerated. He also no doubt senses that the Opposition is aching to deploy Brexiteer language against him, with accusations of “betraying” the union.

And the PM is not the only player in this game who thrives on chaos. Like all bureaucracies, the EU derives its power from never-ending problems, rather than neat solutions. It also exists in a fifth logical dimension where things don't necessarily work in theory, even if they work in practice. It will therefore almost certainly throw out the PM’s proposal over the next few days, and opt for an extension. Negotiating with the EU is like being waterboarded by a librarian. Its decision to entertain talks with Britain is driven by the box-ticker’s disdain for rule breakers and weakness for passive-agressive vengeance. It will delight in dragging Johnson to Brussels in order to, demolish Britain’s offer with slow, pedantic viciousness.

As Johnson has said himself, if (or rather when) Brussels refuses to budge, no deal is the only alternative. No doubt, the Prime Minister’s 287 colleagues will try to cajole and flatter him into sticking lipstick on the existing Withdrawal Agreement. A lazy hypothesis has also taken root in Westminster that the amorphous grey human matter known as “public opinion” just wants “Brexit done”. Politicians have clearly forgotten how disastrously Theresa May’s deal polled. They also wrongly calculate that they can gaslight Leavers with the small print, deluging debate with arid detail to confuse the public’s gut instinct. It won’t work. Voters know that Brexit should smell like Brexit, not the exhumed Withdrawal Agreement.

Bogged down by their own dastardly brilliance, “centrist” Tories are blind to the bottom line. Most still do not grasp that they cannot win a majority with the promise of a half-baked Brexit compromise. They can, however, bring about a Leave landslide by signing up to a WTO exit, and agreeing a pact with Nigel Farage. This is not just because exasperated Eurosceptic Tories have one foot out of the door. Life-long Labour voters who want Brexit will never switch sides for the sake of a dubious Tory plan, but they could well rally to the anti-establishment rhetoric of no-deal.

And then there is the small point that it may well be later rather than sooner that Labour grants Mr Johnson his election. The PM must at all costs avoid being left both neutered by Parliament and clutching an unpopular deal. His popularity may defy the political odds, but he does not so much walk on water as on quicksand.

Lord of the Llamas posted:

Substantial power imbalances can exist in all of those situations. Sometimes one flatmate might be the principal on the lease. Sometimes a boyfriend/girlfriend will move into their partners home they already own. Sometimes one person in a relationship/marriage will earn significantly more than the other.

quote:

In a separate move in December 2017, the government announced they were putting rogue landlords 'on notice', with the introduction of new measures to stamp out overcrowding and improve standards for those renting in the private sector. This includes new rules setting minimum size requirements for bedrooms in houses of multiple occupation:

Room used for sleeping by 1 adult: No smaller than 6.51 sq. m.
Room used for sleeping by 2 adults: No smaller than 10.22 sq. m.
Room used for sleeping by children of 10 years and younger: No smaller than 4.64 sq. m.

Andrast posted:

Even if I had extra rooms I absolutely would not want a stranger to live with me. Even if I had financial problems I would try to avoid that as long as possible.

Lord Ludikrous posted:

So I have been sacked from the new job I started. In the middle of an afternoon training session with another manager my line manager comes in and explains that due to some “comments I’ve made” some “concerns had been raised” and “they felt I wasn’t the same person that I came across as in my interview” and that “I wasn’t going to be a good fit”. Leaving them with no choice but to let me go.

I’m frankly at a loss as to what these comments were, as I’m very careful about what I say to whom in a new job for obvious reasons. From my perspective everything was going extremely well and I was getting on with everyone and picking things up nicely. She refused to elaborate when I asked what these comments were, saying only that “I was on probation, the decision has been made and they have no wish to discuss it further.”

I cant help but think the other woman in the part of the office I was in simply didn’t like me and badmouthed me to our manager.

I’ve been in touch with my old boss and can probably get my old job back, but still, what a loving waste of everyone’s time.

Sanitary Naptime posted:

Podcasting is Pracis - Episode 8 - Atomic Kitten Malthusian is up for you listening pleasure!

Sorry for the wait, I got caught up in other poo poo today, but at least it's there for your commutes tomorrow!

tritsch posted:

My London take is that as far as I'm aware Sadiq Khan is very much well thought of and if he runs again Stewart doesn't have a chance.

Venomous posted:

Ah, bollocks, I must have had him confused with some good socialist physicist

Venomous posted:

No, Stephen Hawking looked nothing like Rory Stewart

quote:

Action, Brexit · 4th October 2019

You will recall that Church leaders, and over 2000 supporters, signed a letter to the Prime Minister on 24 July asking that he publish evidence of how those who are most vulnerable will be protected in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

It took over two months, but we have finally received a response from 10 Downing Street. You can read this http://www.jointpublicissues.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Letter-from-10-Downing-Street.pdf

This reply came only after over 100 supporters also then wrote to their MPs, asking them to press the Prime Minister for a response. This is a great example of the impact of people power.

The Prime Minister’s reply goes into some detail regarding plans and preparations being made for Brexit, specifically detailing supply chain concerns. However, the letter’s only reference to those held back by poverty – the centre of our concerns – is in reference to the topic of our initial correspondence and a single line commitment to ‘providing support for those who need it most’.

The Prime Minister’s response does not help us to understand:

Who will need support as a consequences of the changes a no-deal Brexit would provoke;
What kind of support will be required;
What the government plans to do in order to mitigate the potential risks of a no-deal Brexit to those locked in poverty.
The government chose not to address these concerns expressed in our initial correspondence. It is likely that parliament will try and seek this information over the coming weeks, as they pursue clarity over Brexit plans.

Our fear remains that the government has not been able to respond to these questions because they do not yet have sufficient answers.

If this is the case, the government is at risk of proposing a policy which fails to consider the welfare and safety of the poorest citizens and communities in the UK. It is hard to square this with their claims to ‘provide support for those who need it most’.

What can we do next to continue raising these concerns?

Please encourage your MP to continue asking for assessments to examine the risks of a no-deal Brexit on the poorest citizens and communities in the UK, and the steps taken to mitigate these risks. You can ask that they continue to ask that the government urgently publishes its current evidence of the impact of a no-deal Brexit on disadvantaged communities.
Sign up to our newsletter to keep up to date with our work in this area, or visit https://www.jointpublicissues.org.uk/brexit to see some assembled resources to read, study and support prayer.
If you contact your MP further about this issue and receive a response, please let us know by emailing enquiries@jointpublicissues.org.uk.

Rarity posted:

Glad they remembered they're supposed to be to the left of Labour

quote:

Jewish grandmother’ Islington councillor defends Jeremy Corbyn in TV clash
Cllr Sue Lukes, who represents Highbury East, took aim at former Labour MP over anti-semitism claims

27 September, 2019 — By Emily Finch in Brighton

THE political jousting was not just confined to within the walls of Brighton Centre where this year’s Labour Party conference was taking place.

One Islington councillor took aim at former Labour MP Ian Austin as he drew TV crews over to denounce Jeremy Corbyn in front of a portable neon sign which read: “Jeremy Corbyn: Unfit to lead the Labour Party, Unfit to lead the country.”

The former Labour MP for Dudley North resigned in February and now sits as an independent in parliament after accusing the Islington North MP of failing to tackle anti-semitism claims within the party.

Cllr Sue Lukes, who represents Highbury East, and is a self-confessed “Jewish grandmother who has no problem saying my opinions”, criticised Mr Austin in front of the cameras for his attempts to embarrass her local MP.

She was heard saying: “I am not having a decent man slandered like that, Jeremy Corbyn is not an anti-semite.

“I can tell you because I am a Jewish member of the party and I know Jeremy Corbyn is not an anti-semite and how dare you say that.”

It appears that Mr Austin was at conference – or the area surrounding it – to try to promote his new cross-party campaign “Mainstream” which aims to tackle “extremism” in politics.

After the confrontation, Cllr Lukes told the Tribune: “I was just angry. From a point of view of a councillor I see extremism all the time. I see a family of five in one-bedroom flats, I’ve got people unable to get their kids into mental health services and that’s extremism.

“It makes me really mad when people do a little sort of media circus about having a go at an essentially decent man who has made it his work to try to change everything for the better, and I told him what I thought.”

Lord Ludikrous posted:

Yeah I think that I would have eventually grenaded my working relationship with her sooner or later and it’s probably best it happened now while I still have a very good chance of getting my old job back.

Not now, there’s no way I can articulate all that without coming across as a rambling lunatic. If the topic comes up with them in future I may mention that some old fashioned morals and sensibilities caused an issue but no more than that.

Lord Ludikrous posted:

I replaced a much older woman who had been there for nearly three decades who left something like six months prior. I was the first new hire in over nine years and the youngest by far (I’m 32 and the next youngest person was over 40). Incidentally the recruitment process was going to take far longer than it did; I got shortlisted the start of July, first interview was mid July, and the second interview was mid August, and a final decision made late August. Originally the second interview was supposed to take place mid to late September, but the recruiter advised them that good people don’t wait around and would get snapped up by other companies if they take too long.

Just goes to show the sheer amount of time and effort thrown away in less than three days. I was in the words of the company and the recruiter by far and away the best candidate, which shows the difficulty they’re going to have.


At work I have an excellent poker face and dialogue filter, but not good enough it seems. The other staff don’t share her sense of morality judging by the shows they watch, but they’ve probably learned when to keep quiet over the years. If I’d known this was going to happen I could’ve gone in singing The Red Flag.

Bobstar posted:

I read the Hobbit when I was quite young, loved it, and asked my dad if there was another one. He said there was Lord of the Rings but it was too old for me. I grumbled.

And that's the story of how I narrowly avoided becoming a fantasy person. Except Pratchett, who doesn't count.

Vitamin P posted:

But yeah the left has absolutely failed in it's response to Rotherham and the widespread, still spreading issue. The actual left response should be obvious, there is a hateful sub-culture using religion to justify racially targeting vulnerable young women and girls, but it's all been hosed up by woke neoliberalism and the liberal left just refuse to engage with it.

Ms Adequate posted:

Not to do with any current thread issue but I wanted to share this because it's a good video about why plastic straw bans are real bad for some disabled people.

Bobstar posted:

If Pizza Express fails, I'm not coming back to the UK any more . They're my go-to hot food when I arrive in a strange city (quiet food snobs, it's predictable and I know my ridiculous digestion can take it!)

Guavanaut posted:

Ask are really good for that if you want Italian and have one in your area.

Rustybear posted:

Confused here; I'm sure i was told millennial's were chronic over-spenders stuffed to bursting with avocado and coffee.

Also at what point are the zoomers going to take some slack here, the average millennial is about 35 at this point and still shouldering the burden of being the cause of all societies problems.

Darth Walrus posted:

Ted Heath broke the UK's postwar economic model, creating massive economic hardship and directly setting the table for Thatcher, and was very probably a paedophilic serial killer. He was not a good Tory.

Jose posted:

just casually threatening to destroy a nato member on twitter. probably good news for the kurds though

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1181232251390042118

quote:

Local MSP Gil Paterson has again called for East Dunbartonshire MP Jo Swinson to return the money she accepted from the director of Warwickshire-based Warwick Energy Ltd, a firm with fracking licences across England.

Mr Paterson, who previously wrote an open letter to Ms Swinson calling for the return of the £14,000 she received from the director of the fracking company, spoke this week in a debate in the Scottish Parliament to highlight, what he called “the hypocrisy” of Ms Swinson’s stance on the issue. The letter has not been answered.

During the debate, in which SNP Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse confirmed that the Scottish Government would not licence any fracking development in Scotland, Mr Paterson also pointed out that Ms Swinson had voted in favour of fracking when she was a Minister in David Cameron’s Tory/Libdem coalition government but professes to be against fracking.

In a statement to the Herald, Mr Paterson said: “I’m delighted that people and homes will be protected from the effects of fracking in Scotland because of the Scottish Government bans it.

“On the other hand, Jo Swinson, helped put in place the legislation to frack UK wide, votes for fracking, takes £14,000 from the director of a fracking company but expects us to believe she is against fracking. I don’t think so.”

Bundy posted:

Has it been mentioned that Heidi Allen has joined the fibdems?

quote:

How Number 10 view the state of the negotiations
James Forsyth

James Forsyth

7 October 2019

9:00 PM

Earlier today, I sent a message to a contact in Number 10 asking them how the Brexit talks were going. They sent a long reply which I think gives a pretty clear sense of where they think things are.

So, in the interest of trying to let people understand where Number 10 reckon the negotiations are, here is their response:

‘The negotiations will probably end this week. Varadkar doesn’t want to negotiate. Varadkar was keen on talking before the Benn Act when he thought that the choice would be ‘new deal or no deal’. Since the Benn Act passed he has gone very cold and in the last week the official channels and the backchannels have also gone cold. Varadkar has also gone back on his commitments — he said if we moved on manufactured goods then he would also move but instead he just attacked us publicly. It’s clear he wants to gamble on a second referendum and that he’s encouraging Barnier to stick to the line that the UK cannot leave the EU without leaving Northern Ireland behind.

There are quite a few people in Paris and Berlin who would like to discuss our offer but Merkel and Macron won’t push Barnier unless Ireland says it wants to negotiate. Those who think Merkel will help us are deluded. As things stand, Dublin will do nothing, hoping we offer more, then at the end of this week they may say ‘OK, let’s do a Northern Ireland only backstop with a time limit’, which is what various players have been hinting at, then we’ll say No, and that will probably be the end.

Varadkar thinks that either there will be a referendum or we win a majority but we will just put this offer back on the table so he thinks he can’t lose by refusing to compromise now. Given his assumptions, Varadkar’s behaviour is arguably rational but his assumptions are, I think, false. Ireland and Brussels listen to all the people who lost the referendum, they don’t listen to those who won the referendum and they don’t understand the electoral dynamics here.

If this deal dies in the next few days, then it won’t be revived. To marginalise the Brexit Party, we will have to fight the election on the basis of ‘no more delays, get Brexit done immediately’. They thought that if May went then Brexit would get softer. It seems few have learned from this mistake. They think we’re bluffing and there’s nothing we can do about that, not least given the way May and Hammond constantly talked tough then folded.

So, if talks go nowhere this week, the next phase will require us to set out our view on the Surrender Act. The Act imposes narrow duties. Our legal advice is clear that we can do all sorts of things to scupper delay which for obvious reasons we aren’t going into details about. Different lawyers see the “frustration principle” very differently especially on a case like this where there is no precedent for primary legislation directing how the PM conducts international discussions.

We will make clear privately and publicly that countries which oppose delay will go the front of the queue for future cooperation — cooperation on things both within and outside EU competences. Those who support delay will go to the bottom of the queue. [This source also made clear that defence and security cooperation will inevitably be affected if the EU tries to keep Britain in against the will of its government] Supporting delay will be seen by this government as hostile interference in domestic politics, and over half of the public will agree with us.

We will also make clear that this government will not negotiate further so any delay would be totally pointless. They think now that if there is another delay we will keep coming back with new proposals. This won’t happen. We’ll either leave with no deal on 31 October or there will be an election and then we will leave with no deal.

‘When they say ‘so what is the point of delay?’, we will say “This is not our delay, the government is not asking for a delay — Parliament is sending you a letter and Parliament is asking for a delay but official government policy remains that delay is an atrocious idea that everyone should dismiss. Any delay will in effect be negotiated between you, Parliament, and the courts — we will wash our hands of it, we won’t engage in further talks, we obviously won’t given any undertakings about cooperative behaviour, everything to do with ‘duty of sincere cooperation’ will be in the toilet, we will focus on winning the election on a manifesto of immediately revoking the entire EU legal order without further talks, and then we will leave. Those who supported delay will face the inevitable consequences of being seen to interfere in domestic politics in a deeply unpopular way by colluding with a Parliament that is as popular as the clap.

Those who pushed the Benn Act intended to sabotage a deal and they’ve probably succeeded. So the main effect of it will probably be to help us win an election by uniting the leave vote and then a no deal Brexit. History is full of such ironies and tragedies.’

Now, this is—obviously—only one side of the negotiations view of things. It does, though, make clear Downing Street’s pessimism about getting a deal this week and its thinking about how to handle the coming extension and election campaign.

Pochoclo posted:

Pffft please who needs Europe when you can tour *checks map* Paddleswock-upon-Humber and... Chickensesterescester... with their energetic populations of... 80 year olds average

Guavanaut posted:

My mam went to that and met Jimi getting an ice cream.

(The Isle of Wight festival, but as I'm saying unprovable things on the internet let's also say Cambodia and the moon.)

Rust Martialis posted:

quote:

How King Crimson’s masterpiece led a generation to Pink Floyd’s ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’

sebzilla posted:

It would take quite a long time to save up 5kg of crisp packets.

Like, two or three weeks at least imo

namesake posted:

Yeah basically it's why many of them are so blasè about being arrested. They think they're just making a statement that the authorities will understand and they can basically walk it off.

The actual experience of being bashed, kettled and imprisoned is going to cause significant damage to that self image.

Ash Crimson posted:

With brexit coming up, what can i do beyond stockpiling medicine (well the ones that can be stockpiled...) and food?