New year, new chaos

Hello, and welcome to a review of Brexit and other chaos thanks o our ever wonderful Conservative Government.

1. The ex-Chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, paid unpaid taxes and a fine to HMRC while he was Chacellor and the defacto head of HMRC, despite denying that any of this was the case. Paying taxes is something most of us small people have no choice in doing, but the rich and Ministers, apparently, it is. Not doing so is a clear breach of the Ministerial Code and should be a resignation matter.

Truth should matter, as should paying taxes when it is you that decides how other people's taxes are spent.

2. The Prime Minister received a fixed penalty notice for being filmed in the back of an official car without a seat belt on. He is now twich the criminal that Boris Johnson is. So much for a fresh start.

3. The aim of a £15 trillion export economy will now take, it has been estimated, an additional 15 years, thanks to Brexit.

4. The Inland Border Facility in Ashford is now almost unused as the checks on imports it was supposed to be carrying out have been delayed four times now, and there are doubts that it will ever be used. Its only current use is for checks on pets coming in from Ukraine, a task that should be taken over by the facility being built in Whitfield near Dover than is still being built.

5. Talks creep in between the UK and EU on the NIP, and there is optomism that an agreement can be reached, but the DUP and Brexit ultras in the ERG are likely to see any agreement as Brexit-treason, and won't accept it. An agreement that the DUP might like and signals a return to power sharing won't almost certainly be liked by the Republican side and they could refuse to rejoin using the same excuse as the DUP.

6. The Prime Minister has blocked Scottish legislation in self-certifcation of genger, something that was clearly in scope of the Scottish Parliament. This is in line, as I understand it, with most of Europe. The Scottish Government is going to appeal. But this comes to the heart of the Union: its not a Union if one part can bock laws and policies of another, it becomes a prison, and step by step, Westminster strengthens to case for Scottish independance.

7. The Government, despite having a majority, at least on paper, of 70 seats, only now Governs with the agreement of the Conservative Party's two extreme wings, meaning that for some policies, would only be passed with the support of the opposition. A Conswervative Leader who has less than 100% support of the Parliamentary Party isn't going to last long, but until this issue is tackled, the Party will be held hostage by the extremists.

8. Oh, and Johnson's friend helped arrange an £800,000 loan, and a month later Johnson made him Governor of the BBC, but no conflict of interest here, of course.

Other than that, happy days.