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Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Posted: 18 Feb 2021, 23:35
by SKB
Thought I'd share this satirical masterpiece of recent British life....

Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Posted: 11 Mar 2021, 05:09
by ArmChairCivvy
While the public inquiry to the handling of the pandemic has not emerged from behind the horizon (yet), HuffPost has detected that the Tories’ claims to be the party of the NHS will be countered in local election campaigns with the slogan “a vote for Labour is a vote to support our nurses”.


There might be another U-turn in the making as Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak have made it exceedingly difficult for their PR-front to find and perform upbeat tunes in the pay offer dispute.

The PM now saying: “Of course, we will look at what the independent pay review body has to say, exceptionally, about the nursing profession, whom we particularly value.” It must play on his mind that without careful handling of public sector pay (NHS/ nurses, in particular) this could turn into another "read my lips" moment, big enough to carry over in people's minds to the the next GE.
- like what happened with Bush the Elder: his popularity soared in the wake of the first Gulf War, but a protracted economic recession then saw him break a pledge not to raise taxes, provoking fierce hostility across party lines
- BoJo has not (quite yet) emerged the victor from the war with Covid, but nurses' pay is likely to play stronger on people's minds (for now) than taxes

Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Posted: 19 Mar 2021, 09:15
by ArmChairCivvy
Interesting to see how the leaked 'committing of a "potential breach" of the ministerial code' will play for the Scottish First Minister vs. the 'unknowing breach' found in an official report on the part of a cabinet minister South of the border
- no self-pardon powers (even any speculated such) in play

Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Posted: 19 Mar 2021, 21:26
by dmereifield
The SNP shine has started to fade away now that they are finally being scrutinised. I believe we've reached peak SNP and peak support for independence. Support for both should subside, though it will take some time. They'll still win the upcoming election, but hopefully they'll fall short of securing a majority

Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Posted: 19 Mar 2021, 22:04
by Anthony58
and with the Green's, who support independance, get a majority either.

Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Posted: 20 Mar 2021, 09:36
by ArmChairCivvy
The upcoming high drama has a limited runtime as Holyrood rises for its pre-election recess on 25 March.

Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Posted: 20 Mar 2021, 13:33
by dmereifield
ArmChairCivvy wrote:The upcoming high drama has a limited runtime as Holyrood rises for its pre-election recess on 25 March.
True enough, but the brand, and the figure head is still damaged

Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Posted: 20 Mar 2021, 13:35
by dmereifield
Anthony58 wrote:and with the Green's, who support independance, get a majority either.
Yes, they'll get a majority with the Greens, but the Greens aren't a single issue independence party

Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Posted: 20 Apr 2021, 21:21
by SKB


Defence minister sacked.

Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Posted: 21 Apr 2021, 08:32
by Pseudo
SKB wrote:

Defence minister sacked.
Judging by the first sentence of the letter he resigned, which he had announced his intention to do earlier in the day. His resignation was prompted by Johnson failing to keep his leadership campaign promise to end the “scourge of vexatious historical investigations” of Northern Ireland veterans.

Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Posted: 23 Apr 2021, 12:45
by RichardIC
I do quite like Johnny


Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Posted: 02 May 2021, 20:29
by ArmChairCivvy
This headline "billions for the Scots" and a quote "we are now in a knuckle fight" - in the Torygraph, where else - does not gel well
- if you go into such a fight, you don't sack all the coaches and 'sparrers' in the run-up to it
- and then think you will win by throwing a sack of bank notes into the ring

NI was bought off twice and I am afraid that this latest move just repeats the pattern, i.e. buying votes
... with our money :roll:

Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Posted: 07 May 2021, 10:25
by SKB
Conservatives win Hartlepool by-election

(Sky News) 7th May 2021
The Conservatives have won the Hartlepool by-election - taking a seat that has been under Labour's control since it was created in the 1970s. Tory candidate Jill Mortimer's victory marks a rare gain for a governing party and delivers another brick in Labour's "red wall" to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Tory's won 51.9% of the vote share.

Image

Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Posted: 12 May 2021, 09:25
by ArmChairCivvy
Last night's Waugh Zone column catches from the Queen’s Speech debate that
" the PM told Ed Davey that a Covid inquiry would start “within this session” of parliament. That means within a year. Given such an inquiry will last well over a year itself, Johnson could hold an election before any damning final verdict emerges."
- so tactics have moved on from 'bury bad news' to delay them for so long that decisions (elections) in which they should inform the public are already in the past by the time the information will be released

I trust, though, that there will be leaks aplenty along the way.

Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Posted: 19 May 2021, 18:39
by ArmChairCivvy
delay ["]them["] for so long that decisions (elections) in which they should inform the public are already in the past by the time the information will be released
Seems to be coming the 'playbook' for this Gvmnt.

Parliament sovereignty means that 'it' makes and unmakes laws and no one person can override that. - no one person!

Heh-heh then:that's about domestic laws, but howabout Treaties?
- the p.49 of the Conservatives manifesto says: prerogative powers from the Gvmnt to :wtf: the Parliament

We have not seen much of that, have we?
Rather, using prerogative powers (did I say abusing them :lol: ) has invited the Courts into a field that they would rather not inhabit
- let's see about the process that by this hour must have concluded in the Belfast High Court (no doubt, not the last step)

Just to be the Mystic Meg for a sec:
the 1999 devolution (start of it) raised the question of how much of Unitary State and how much of a Federal Structure, to aim at

Now: When the folks that voted for leave or remain, whichever, they probably did not think of (unknowingly) voting for a reversal towards a unitary state... well, in legislative powers, Different from the power of the ballot that is.

With the pursuit of trade deals bringing us not just the best of traits, but also the downfall of farming of any ilk to produce meat (save for poultry?),
it is also (in the longer run) forcing a unitary (state) purse, where more of the spending in the devolved nations is dictated from the 'centre' than they may have thought up until now
... money is always welcome, but dependency is not: wait for the backslash :idea: :idea:

Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Posted: 19 May 2021, 18:46
by Caribbean
ArmChairCivvy wrote:the downfall of farming of any ilk to produce meat
Just as well so any people are turning to plant-based diets, then :twisted:

Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Posted: 19 May 2021, 20:08
by ArmChairCivvy
Caribbean wrote: turning to plant-based diets
that, or my beef / lamb from Oz/ NZ/ UK does not bother me at all
- the two-faced approach to/ propaganda about cancelling trade deals and getting better ones as replacement (fishermen first; this group of farmers that we are talking about now next) does bother me
- call it :o empathy (with people and their livelihoods being taken away by stealth)... I'm practising for the Parliament so in the preceding statement I substituted for 'lies' :)

Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Posted: 21 May 2021, 19:31
by ArmChairCivvy
Does not happen often; indeed yesterday was the first time the Public Accounts and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC), Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish committees sat together.

Nothing good came out of it.

Internal markets act (Westminster taking over from Brussels as the Santi & Good Fairy in spending decisions that the devolved administrations [may be] see as a distortion and enroachment) being the biggest point of 'rub'.

Who cares? that was just a discussion - but policies will follow. And then they will be condensed - if anyone can be that witty 8-) - into election platforms.

And guess what? The muscular Unionism that is the recipe the Gvmnt (now) is following will say that all that infrastructure spending will be good for you (and! there is no doubt about that - has anyone ever complained about receiving money), but once the priorities for the spending start to contradict what the devolved bodies may/ might have wanted to prioritise, then it will start to smack of buying votes - and may be viewed differently.

That meeting was different from what the Opposition may want to say/ offer: takes us to what DevoMax might be, as it will be different from what was offered (Well, in the end it was NOT offered on the ballot paper) in the 2013 Scottish Referendum.
- you can go up from what the Welsh Assembly can reside over
- BUT if you go higher from what Scotland (Holyrood) already has... then we are v soon into 'federal state' territory

IN FACT, Labour launched a review of what the options / the preferred choice going forward might be:
NOTHING heard
... loadsa time; abt 2 yrs. More of DevoMax = a federal Britain (as opposed to a unitary state, with Westminster having the last say)
BUT: If you want to drive something forward in such a complex field and then ask the voters to agree, you need to consult, formulate, consult again - to make it a sellable (an understandable proposition) at the ballot box. Which ballot might that be; Indyref2 is a long way off so the the GE is likely to be the ground over which these things will be fought

Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Posted: 21 May 2021, 19:51
by dmereifield
EU logos pretending to have funded projects/infrastructure seemed to have convinced people that the European Union was of value, the UK Government taking over and getting the credit for things it actually funded all along, is no bad thing

Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Posted: 21 May 2021, 20:03
by ArmChairCivvy
Sorry,
:D , did I wake you up?

I was actually about to put in a mention about that strategy ( A209/ M4 :lol: ) with loadsa placards all along the way while you are still being held back at the bottlenecks, in the way it has been for decades, saying
"this improvement is being brought to you by the British Government" just like you will find such signs all over Europe, about roads, bridges, agro-tourism... and all good things you could ever think/ dream of"
- AKA Internal Markets Act, AKA repatriated powers, AKA centrally-held spending powers

Those who take the power have a habit (this comes from the annals of the Roman Senate 8-) ) of usurping it; rather than passing it to the people(s :!: )

Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Posted: 22 May 2021, 06:45
by dmereifield
By removing those powers from the unelected commission and returning then to Westminster, which is comprised of MPs that are accountable to the electorate, they've returned the power to the people. That was the whole point of Brexit

Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Posted: 22 May 2021, 09:27
by ArmChairCivvy
I tried to be subtle :)
dmereifield wrote: to the people
ArmChairCivvy wrote: to the people(s :!:
i.e. the discussion has moved on, and some observers have coined this 'muscular Unionism' approach as the Gvmnt's policy re:devolution
- whereas the approach adopted by Labour seems to be 'more of DevoMax' and I made a feeble attempt to try and understand what does more than what Scotland has - which is more than what Wales has - actually mean
ArmChairCivvy wrote:More of DevoMax = a federal Britain
... us not ;) being on the Brexit thread here

Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Posted: 13 Jun 2021, 06:26
by ArmChairCivvy
Churchill & Roosevelt
Monty & Eisenhower

How will the relationships form as the EU's heavy-weight will be the first to the WH "Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany to the White House on July 15"
- OK, there might be a bit of a hurry with that (with the view to a new person soon coming into the post) and not too much should be read into the order of invitations

Macron tried to steal one on one time... not fair play :o in a multilateral meeting. But in the three-way race, to be the closest ally with the US, perhaps Germany came off the blocks first with AKK declaring that Germany's view of what strategic autonomy means differs from that espoused by Macron.

Anyway, Boris will surely want to be Churchill, not Monty, in these pairings.

Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Posted: 06 Jul 2021, 09:26
by SKB
Image

All UK registered cars going overseas will need new "UK" bumper stickers and/or number plates from 28th September 2021.

"UK" will be replacing "GB" under the UN's Geneva Convention on Road Traffic as a British vehicle identifier. The full name of our sovereign state is officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - and not just Great Britain ("GB") under the current system.

https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication ... 21-Eng.pdf

And no, Ukraine won't be annoyed, they already use "UA".

Re: UK Politics - General News & Discussion

Posted: 15 Sep 2021, 16:19
by jedibeeftrix
Definition of a #Seapower
1. Adopted by peripheral states from a position of weakness.
2. Pluralistic politics in the service of maximising external trade...
3. ...which has a circular dependency on the naval power that protects it.
4. Ensures foreign policy has limited aims achieved via coalition.
5. Only works in the absence of a dominant hegemon (that seeks conformity with its preferences).