British politics

[Robert5091]

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47036119

US lobby groups for agriculture and pharmaceutical firms want UK standards to be changed to match those of the US in post-Brexit trade deals.

They want the sale of growth hormone-fed beef, currently banned in the UK and EU, to be allowed in the UK.

The groups are also seeking changes to the NHS drugs approval process to allow it to buy a wider range of US drugs.

They are also asking US officials - who will hold a hearing later - to seek lower tariffs on agricultural goods.

The lobby groups say any deal should move away from EU standards, including rules governing genetically modified crops, antibiotics in meats, and pesticides, such as glyphosate.

If this does not happen, they say they will not back a US-UK trade deal.

If Mrs May has not got enough to worry about, the US wants the post-Brexit UK to abide by US laws and standards ... or else!

[The Hitch]

:lol:

I hadn't heard that one!

To quote Stewart Lee, Gove even had to out-do David Cameron (when it emerged that Cameron had inserted his penis into a dead pig's head) by doing something even more disgusting and sticking his penis into a Daily Mail** journalist*

*Gove is married to DM journalist Sarah Vine.
**For the unacquainted, the Daily Mail serves as an adjectival synonym for 'excrable'

There is a lot wrong with the Daily Mail. But I get the impression from you that the only news source you have is The Guardian. Or what it basically has become recently- Buzzfeed Uk.

On which point

Rees-Mogg plays his queen as Brexit enters a state of emergency

<span class="skimlinks-unlinked">https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/25/rees-mogg-brexit-emergency?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard</span>

" If you had to distil into one personage the British people’s gibbering historical deference to terrible ideas advanced by low-to-middlebrow post-feudal shitlords who openly detest them, this plastic aristocrat would be it. Rees-Mogg is the logical end of whole centuries of barking up the wrong tree."

Ah ha ha ha ha

Its interesting to me that the Guardian attack JRM on this - his identity. From people who seem to in other cases cherish "being different". I guess it matters the type of different.

I think its admirable for JRM to keep true to who he is and not to crudely pretend he is something else, or try to be in with the young cool hip in kids.

Its interesting to me, because I understand that to you guys Nigel Farage is the ultimate hate figure. A loud mouth, politician who does give off the vibe of being a bit dodgy. Of course other pro Brexiteers like Johnson or Gove get their fair share. They are total politicos though, in search for votes, they lie when it benefits them i get the dislike

But JRM is someone who is willing to go and debate people he disagrees with. He maintains calm, keeps his head around him while others are losing theirs. He treats his foes with respect. He simply doesn't agree with them

Its says a lot to me that even a figure like that inspires hatred for you guys.

[macbindle]

Then you know very little.

Even Rees-Mogg's contemporaries at Eton realised, and voiced their opinion, that his persona is/was a complete fabrication. You've completely failed to understand Marina Hyde's allusion to Rees-Mogg's feudal lord schtick, and why the fact that it still seems to work amongst the population is sickening.

Then there are Rees-Mogg's views themselves, which are repulsive. If I was female I would be horrified at The mere suggestion that he could eventually become PM.

Here's a link to an article on his voting record. It's from the Guardian, which of course means it's wrong...

Why Jacob Rees-Mogg for Tory leader is no laughing matter

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/20/jacob-rees-mogg-tory-leader-no-laughing-matter?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard

You, like many people, are seduced by cult of personality, and don't bother to actually listen to, or cogitate on, what these people say and do.

You are impressed by patrician figures and are amused that they can inflame others with inflammatory words and stay calm. Is it any wonder that in the age of social media your heroes are effectively real world internet trolls?

[Robert5091]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-29/brexit-s-latest-stockpiling-on-moet-chandon-champagne?srnd=premium-europe

It’s not just aircraft parts and printing ink accumulating in U.K. warehouses ahead of the country’s possible split from the European Union in two months’ time. The growing stockpiles also include booze.

Luxury giant LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the French maker of high-end beverage brands including Moet & Chandon champagne and Hennessy cognac, said Tuesday that it has added four months of wine and spirits inventory to the U.K. to prepare for the country’s expected exit from the European bloc.

What would the country come to with out the ol' champers, what? Cheers!

[Robert5091]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jan/31/theresa-may-will-not-be-flying-to-brussels-in-spitfire-bbc-clarifies

Theresa May will not be flying to Brussels in Spitfire, BBC clarifies

Blast! That would show 'em!

[Robert5091]

https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/brexit-enters-the-realm-of-science-fiction

“Yesterday, we found out what the UK doesn’t want. But we still don’t know what the UK does want,” Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, tweeted. President Emmanuel Macron, of France, said that there would be no renegotiation, a position that other European leaders took, as well. A European diplomat told the BBC that the only reason there wasn’t panic in Brussels about the U.K. careening to a no-deal Brexit was that officials there “still have the popcorn out”—meaning that they are fascinated by the self-destructive pyrotechnics on display in Parliament.

Popcorn sales must be at an all time high across EU!

[Robert5091]

It could get very smelly in Kent ... time to buy cloth-pegs futures!
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/01/revealed-plan-to-deal-with-putrefying-stockpiles-of-rubbish-after-no-deal-brexit

Government officials are preparing to deal with “putrefying stockpiles” of rubbish in the event of a no-deal Brexit, according to documents leaked to the Guardian.

If the UK leaves the EU without a deal on 29 March, export licences for millions of tonnes of waste will become invalid overnight. Environment Agency (EA) officials said leaking stockpiles could cause pollution.

The EA is also concerned that if farmers cannot export beef and lamb, a backlog of livestock on farms could cause liquid manure stores to overflow. A senior MP said the problems could cause a public health and environmental pollution emergency. An EA source said: “It could all get very ugly, very quickly.”
...
As well as recycling waste, the UK ships about 3m tonnes of rubbish a year to the EU to be burned in incinerators that generate electricity. Most of this is household rubbish, which is sometimes shredded and has metal removed before being sent abroad.

If waste has to be stockpiled after a no-deal Brexit, industry experts say the populous south-east of England would be worst affected. The UK’s lack of incinerator capacity and shrinking number of landfill sites drives the exports.

[macbindle]

Absolutely any potential issues with no-deal Brexit are being decried as fear-mongering by the Leavers. It really is quite incredible.

[macbindle]

Anyway, Marina Hyde always makes me chuckle:

Brexit Britain is now the only argument on Earth for rising sea levels

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/01/brexit-britain-rising-sea-levels-parliament-uk?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard

[Robert5091]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/02/mcdonnell-accuses-pm-of-pork-barrel-politics-with-brexit-bribery

John McDonnell has criticised Theresa May’s rumoured approach to persuading Labour MPs to vote for her Brexit deal as “pork-barrel” politics, saying: “If there is money there to spend on our constituencies, it should be done anyway.”

The shadow chancellor’s accusation follows reports that the government is preparing to plough extra funding into deprived areas that supported leave, with Nottinghamshire MP John Mann claiming that a set of job-creation measures targeted at former industrial towns would make it “very difficult for Labour MPs in leave areas to vote against the deal unless they want a second referendum”.

So, if nothing else works, try "cash incentives" ...

[macbindle]

Well, they conjured up a billion quid for the DUP to be able to form a government.

[Robert5091]

Well, they conjured up a billion quid for the DUP to be able to form a government.

And I'm sure the British taxpayers are so glad for that.

[macbindle]

https://twitter.com/pauldalyesq/status/1091734003265224708

[Robert5091]

So it was poor people who voted leave -
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/brexit-austerity-welfare-cuts-vote-leave-social-market-foundation-report-a8760696.html

Research published by the Social Market Foundation suggests the best indicator of a person’s referendum vote was not age or education, but happiness or sadness about their personal finances – with unhappy people tending to vote Leave and contented ones preferring Remain.

The report, which analysed the level of cuts in each area of the UK alongside each area’s growth in support for Ukip, argues that had it not been for austerity, the referendum would not have turned out the way it did.
...
The report also challenged the idea that age was the dominant factor in referendum voting behaviour, with analysis showing that only the 18- to 24-year-old demographic showed a strong majority for Remain.

“Brexit was not delivered only by old people; leaving was the majority choice for most age groups and only the very young were substantially pro-Remain,” the report stated.

[Robert5091]

A long "Brexit for Foreigners" article -
https://psmag.com/ideas/brexit-how-austerity-and-a-cowardly-ruling-class-brought-down-england?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_todayworld

What Britons actually wanted wasn't Brexit. What we wanted was dignity, self respect, f**k the other guy, and f**k the government. Brexit, like The Wall, is not a real thing at all. It's a mood. A symbol. A story. A promise about power and pride and sovereignty told by swindlers and thugs to frightened children. What people voted for isn't the messy reality but the idea of "taking back control." In fact, it's our leaders who have lost control—of their senses, of their resources, of the plot. And it's the rest of us who are going to pay.

[Jagartrott]

Amazing, really (and why was the press not more critical at the time?)
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/06/donald-tusk-special-place-hell-brexit-promoters-most-likely-burn

[macbindle]

Amazing, really (and why was the press not more critical at the time?)
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/06/donald-tusk-special-place-hell-brexit-promoters-most-likely-burn

The press tells it's readers what they want to hear, which for the popular press means emotion-based nationalist rhetoric. The very last thing of interest to the popular press is to encourage their readership to pay attention to the details or, in other words, to engage with reality.

Even now the high street vox pops beloved of television news demonstrate that this tactic is still working. Half the nation is puffing out its chest in cognitive dissonance, and the other half are in despair.

Add to this mix party politics from the people steering this thing, and those supposedly tasked with holding them to account.

[Robert5091]

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-47152035

Jeremy Corbyn has written to the prime minister setting out his party's price for supporting a Brexit deal and to offer talks to secure "a sensible agreement that can win the support of Parliament and bring the country together".

The Labour leader's five demands include a "permanent and comprehensive UK-wide customs union" aligned with the EU's customs rules but with an agreement "that includes a UK say on future EU trade deals".

I think Brexit has turned from clown circus to "the Hokey Cokey" - in and out and shake it all about and lots of Rah, rah, rah!

Seriously, Labour wants to help Mrs May on Brexit. How smart is that? A bit of lapel clutching, national interests waffling aint going to go down too well amongst some of his own party members. Brexit is like quicksand - you try and help someone out and you'll go down too.

But the move was met with dismay by Labour members of the People's Vote campaign for another EU referendum, who accused Mr Corbyn of going back on his commitment, made at the party's conference, to back a public vote if he can't force a general election.

Labour MP Chris Leslie tweeted: "Seriously? Offering to help Tory Govt enable Brexit? It's not just Labour's conference policy in the bin.

"When the jobs go & revenues for services dry up as a result - Labour's leadership will have ZERO right to complain: they share responsibility."

[Jagartrott]

I like this story:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/07/billboard-campaigners-brexit-led-by-donkeys

[macbindle]

^I hadn't seen that