UK Politics - General News & Discussion

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ArmChairCivvy
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Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Post by ArmChairCivvy »

I don't think I have ever linked to The Spectator gossip column, but as it seems that people still find time for nonsensical discussions when there are grave matters to pay attention to, here's a taster:
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/-i- ... 62cdfd2276
... and they call this awareness
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking (attributed to Patton)

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whitelancer
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Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Post by whitelancer »

Some people are determined to be offended no matter what. She obviously had no intention of engaging in any reasonable discussion. Interestingly what she said could be described as racist! If the situation was reversed it certainly would have been taken that way.

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ArmChairCivvy
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Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Post by ArmChairCivvy »

I often buy the i and unfortunately it does not say on its cover who are the day's (normally 2 of them, in the main good ones) columnists. Were there a 'health warning' I would skip those days with her appearance, and that says quite a lot as the guy from the New Statesman used to make me puke with his argumentation
... but just like with allergen sensitization, with gradual exposure I have learnt to put up with him (even found ONE v good article :lol: )
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking (attributed to Patton)

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ArmChairCivvy
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Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Post by ArmChairCivvy »

One rule for all... and then another for some? Unintended consequences from the 'flight to the country':

"The leader of Durham County Council, Simon Henig, said there was mounting anger about the Valuation Office Agency's (VOA) decision not to pursue council tax on two buildings which had been converted into homes without planning permission at Mr Cummings' parents' farm.

It has been estimated that the backdated council tax bill for the two homes could be more than £30,000"
https://www.aol.co.uk/news/2020/10/20/r ... f-dominic/
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking (attributed to Patton)

Caribbean
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Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Post by Caribbean »

It looks as if the council ran foul of a time-limitation for any planning enforcement action (as the change of use is over ten years ago). When I built my house, the Council were only able to enforce conditions (like retaining certain boundary trees) for a maximum of ten years from completion, so it sounds feasible.

As to the Council Tax, a Council is Statute Barred from going back more than 6 years to reclaim unpaid council tax (they need to get a Magistrates Court order each year for any unpaid tax, which then preserves their claim "until paid"). If they haven't done that, then they have no case for the earlier years.

It also depends on what the original change of use was for. If it was to house "farm labourers", then they would probably be exempt from Council Tax, but subject to Business Rates as part of the farm (only derelict buildings are exempt from Business Rates), so maybe there was also a judgment call on whether it was worth the legal/ admin costs to reclaim the difference (if any).

Without knowing the exact details of who lived where for how long and who legally owns what etc etc, you really can't say whether some journalist's estimate of £30,000 bears any relationship to reality (I suspect it doesn't). I suspect that the decision has a lot more to do with the real situation, rather than the fact that Dominic Cummings is involved.

It reminds me of an experiment from some years ago, when a group of people who thought that "sentences for criminals were too light" were tested aginst real cases and sentencing guidelines, only to discover that in most cases they were giving lighter sentences than the magistrates/ judges involved in the real trials.
The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
Winston Churchill

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ArmChairCivvy
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Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Post by ArmChairCivvy »

One of the first things to read in the news today " Baroness Harding retains - at least for now - the support and respect of her two direct bosses: Boris Johnson and Cabinet Secretary Simon Case. And she remains a convenient lightning rod for criticism."
- Boris is an expert as he was one of the trio put in place by Mrs May to isolate herself from 'blunders': FCO, Minister for exiting (himself, mainly) and the Trade with the 'RoW',,, all overlapping mightily
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking (attributed to Patton)

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Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

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They say that bad news do not travel alone and just when the self-confessed Tory hacks have given themselves hope that in a week's time one of this trio will fall off as
"There is still some hope on the Tory backbenches
- that No.10 can stop the self-inflicted wounds,
- that the Covid curve will flatten before Christmas,
- that a Brexit deal will lift the gloom in part"
so that even the PM’s own poor ratings would start bottoming out.

AND hot on the heals of the holiday-time school meals controversy follows the government's decision to reinstate VAT on personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face masks
... just to make double-sure that if one of the three 'that's in the above quoted list should fall off, the top-up will be available immediately
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking (attributed to Patton)

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ArmChairCivvy
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Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Post by ArmChairCivvy »

So much has been happening that one 'almost got away' with it, as in
"The Committee on Standards in Public Life advises the prime minister on ethical standards across public life in England and is chaired by ex-MI5 boss Lord Evans of Weardale.

The Times first reported that Lord Evans wanted the Patel report to be made public."
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking (attributed to Patton)

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ArmChairCivvy
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Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Post by ArmChairCivvy »

Looks like I am not the only one who thinks that this government is a mess in its heart (does not imply that all ministers would be doing a bad job):
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-54913107
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking (attributed to Patton)

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ArmChairCivvy
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Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Post by ArmChairCivvy »

And two days later
Senior Tory MP Sir Bernard Jenkin said it was time to restore "respect, integrity and trust"
but he forgot competence,
translates to not treating the Civil Service as the/ an enemy
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking (attributed to Patton)

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SKB
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Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Post by SKB »



Notice the 1707-1801 Union Flag? ^ Obviously made in the UAE. :mrgreen:

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ArmChairCivvy
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Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Post by ArmChairCivvy »

Moving the drill-down on this here, from the Brexit thread:
We might even see a (good) u-turn in that respect
- but taking a year to see the difference between campaigning and governing has been very costly
I hear that the hidden (inside the N:o 10) Ministry of Truth is being abolished and ministers will be allowed to brief again, i.e let us know what is going on and what they intend to do/ achieve.

Amazing (but shouldn't be) that when we first elect the MPs, then from within the majority the PM (by his party) and ministers are nominated
... that we will be allowed to hear only slightly modified feedback (from folks accountable to voters... in due course) rather than a wholly twisted story through some unelected folks.

Talk about the difference of drawing the picture vs. colouring it in.
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking (attributed to Patton)

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ArmChairCivvy
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Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Post by ArmChairCivvy »

Between this, on Sky's Sophie Ridge Sunday 'show', at the end - obviously on Brexit

"Boris Johnson is going to end up as the most isolated prime minister in peacetime history with no friends around the world, because he has simply chosen a path of confrontation when everybody knows it is Britain's economic interest - maybe not in the Brexiteers' ideological interest - to get a deal and get a deal now."
and the normal " where do we stand in the attempts for a new Indyref" at the beginning of the interview, there are some jewels in-between about how all the going-ons have impacted and will affect the devolution discussion and the model that is likely to emerge
- Gordon Brown seems to be a thinker, after all, now that he does not have the opportunity to 'micro-manage'
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking (attributed to Patton)

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Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Post by Pseudo »

ArmChairCivvy wrote:Between this, on Sky's Sophie Ridge Sunday 'show', at the end - obviously on Brexit

"Boris Johnson is going to end up as the most isolated prime minister in peacetime history with no friends around the world, because he has simply chosen a path of confrontation when everybody knows it is Britain's economic interest - maybe not in the Brexiteers' ideological interest - to get a deal and get a deal now."
and the normal " where do we stand in the attempts for a new Indyref" at the beginning of the interview, there are some jewels in-between about how all the going-ons have impacted and will affect the devolution discussion and the model that is likely to emerge
- Gordon Brown seems to be a thinker, after all, now that he does not have the opportunity to 'micro-manage'
I always consider 1994 Gordon Brown to be one of the best Prime Minister's the UK never had, and let's be honest Blair would have been perfectly happy spending eight years as Foreign Secretary.

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Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Post by dmereifield »

ArmChairCivvy wrote:Between this, on Sky's Sophie Ridge Sunday 'show', at the end - obviously on Brexit

"Boris Johnson is going to end up as the most isolated prime minister in peacetime history with no friends around the world, because he has simply chosen a path of confrontation when everybody knows it is Britain's economic interest - maybe not in the Brexiteers' ideological interest - to get a deal and get a deal now."
and the normal " where do we stand in the attempts for a new Indyref" at the beginning of the interview, there are some jewels in-between about how all the going-ons have impacted and will affect the devolution discussion and the model that is likely to emerge
- Gordon Brown seems to be a thinker, after all, now that he does not have the opportunity to 'micro-manage'
Yes of course, completely isolated with no friends, despite the fact that 55 nations have signed FTA's with us, dozens more are working towards agreeing FTAs with us, membership of the G7, G20, Nato, UN P5, still being a global soft power, having hard power capabilities that many allies rely on, intelligence agencies that many allies depend on etc etc...but sure, just because we don't have an FTA with the EU (because we refuse to accept subjugation allow them to exploit our EEZ) we'll be isolated...

This kind of nonsense is beneath you

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Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Post by ArmChairCivvy »

dmereifield wrote:This kind of nonsense is beneath you
Indeed. A couple of points
- BoJo was the topic; not the country (if you read it again, I'm sure you can tell the difference)
- if you disagree with the point, write to Gordon Brown (he might see the light?). But more to the point, you will need to write to many ex-PMs if you keep running close to Boris and Co... five of them. For starters, if you agree with the IM (though the text might look different tomorrow - reserving my opinion until I see it).

On the broader front, nice to see you back (all the other true-Brexiteers have disappeared/ are taking cover). Of course it would not hurt if the responses were more considered (no need to be considerate, as I am not always paying attention to that angle either... I even regret two :shock: things I've said to you over the years).
- and of course I might be buying into the view that Boris just got into bad company, woke up, got rid of them right there & then
... a good man; may be I :?: should write to him while you are busy with all those others ;)
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking (attributed to Patton)

zanahoria
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Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Post by zanahoria »

Yes, what you write about the United Kingdom is true; trade deals have been signed, the United Kingdom is indeed a member of the various organisations you list.

None of the above detracts from the fact that Johnson’s credibility and trustworthiness is shot through. His willingness to risk the good Friday Agreement, whose guarantors I believe are the US and EU, saw to that. I’m not sure the internal market bill is winning him any admirers amongst our allies either. I’d say he was isolated because he can’t be trusted.

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Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

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For starters, if you agree with the IM (though the text might look different tomorrow - reserving my opinion until I see it).

On the broader front, nice to see you back (all the other true-Brexiteers have disappeared/ are taking cover).
One of the things they (being on single track... tunnel vision that is normally called) seem not to have considered, so for your benefit (you still one of them, right?) I will bring this over from the BREXIT thread:
the Brexit+IM+Devolution link is starting to emerge through the scrutiny. Paul Waugh writes tonight [not tonight anymore for the ref]:

" A ministerial belief that it [IM] would somehow “strengthen the union” was apparently the key driver.

‌The problem is that the bill has backfired spectacularly and by effectively destroying the authority of devolved areas, the legislation has further fuelled independence demands. The reaction was so bad that even in Wales, where support for a breakaway is much lower than in Scotland, independence has suddenly become a hot topic.

‌Reflecting all this, one of the government’s biggest Lords defeats was on an amendment by Lord Hope, a former Supreme Court judge, that gutted the entire devolution segment from the bill. And I’m told that it was this defeat that finally brought home to Gove just what a mess the legislation was now in."
- it is anybody's guess who that observer was
- to my eyes correct (but I have no way of knowing what Gove thinks... and most people probably have no way of telling when he changes/ has changed :lol: his mind
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking (attributed to Patton)

zanahoria
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Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Post by zanahoria »

I think number 9 is the only kept promise in this list.



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ArmChairCivvy
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Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Post by ArmChairCivvy »

zanahoria wrote:number 9 is the only kept promise in this list.
You are so wrong :) ; it was almost a year later
... but the others don't seem like EVER getting anywhere near, true
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking (attributed to Patton)

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Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Post by SW1 »

Reading some of the stuff negotiations on fishing and the whole brexit thing this caught my eye

“One diplomat told the BBC that British negotiators are now insisting that boats must be majority British owned in order to take advantage of a larger catch in UK waters.

The source said it was unclear whether the proposal would apply to the current fleet operating in British waters or to future fishing boats, but that it was “an egregious, last minute demand.”

But a second EU diplomat said the claim was wholly inaccurate and revealed a “complete of lack of understanding of the dynamic in the negotiating room.”

British sources suggested the UK position had long been clear that vessels should have “genuine economic ties” to their flagged country.

One wonders if this will be a standard applied to other British flagged vessels doubt the one in the gulf last year would meet the criteria.

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ArmChairCivvy
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Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Post by ArmChairCivvy »

Priti Patel is sailing clear (??) of her bullying scandal as there are much bigger matters occupying the headlines.

And for a change she seems to be up to something useful, with the proposal to make it illegal for protestors to block Parliament, newspaper distribution or judicial hearings.
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking (attributed to Patton)

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Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Post by Pseudo »

ArmChairCivvy wrote:Priti Patel is sailing clear (??) of her bullying scandal as there are much bigger matters occupying the headlines.

And for a change she seems to be up to something useful, with the proposal to make it illegal for protestors to block Parliament, newspaper distribution or judicial hearings.
Coronavirus and the breakneck final Brexit negotiations, it's certainly a good day to bury bad news.;)

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ArmChairCivvy
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Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Post by ArmChairCivvy »

Well, so far we have seen 'bread and circuses' politics – cut taxes, borrow more, build bridges, let’s not worry about tomorrow.

I am in agreement, btw, like I said at election time that what, if anything, was there to tell Boris apart from a true Keynesian.

But this is 'crunch time' in other ways, too, and not just with the artificial Brexit deadlines.

Wave :wave: good-bye to a trade deal
... and wave good-bye to the 'V' shaped recovery as well. Just as the patient was half a year away from full recovery, someone hit 'him' on the head with a hammer :thumbdown:
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking (attributed to Patton)

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Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Post by ArmChairCivvy »

A new front definitely now being opened (a little skirmish already fought during the IMB's journey thru the Parliament), with Keir Starmer on manoeuvres:
" is to commit Labour to delivering a new wave of devolution across the UK as he seeks to head off demands for Scottish independence"

In a keynote speech on Monday [according to The Telegraph]
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking (attributed to Patton)

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