I wrote earlier this year that, in time, all Brexiteers would disown the "deal" that Johnson brokered. I didn't think it would be quite this quick.
But as it is at the moment, Johnson's and Frost's confrontational attitude is the only show in town. What is needed is another way, something similar to Blair's third way.
Let us get this out of the way first, there is no rejoining the EU. Certainly not any time soon, maybe not in my lifetime, the wounds, damage and lies are too deep for that, but Brexit is yet illdefined, and now is the time to come up with a plan.
And I'm talking to you, Leader of the Opposition.
THere has to be another way.
Brexit has happened, the UK left the EU, but the manner of the exit was a political one by Johnson, and done of his own free will, not forced on him by the previous Parliament.
He won an election to implement it, the deal he waid was best for Britain.
The new Parliament then ratified it. If it was as bad as it now painted, they wouldn't have done.
And yet this "plan" is the only one in town. Its all very well to state that Johnson's and Frost's course of action is wrong, Starmer has to present an alternative and show the benfits to the UK of being closer to the EU and that is not against the "spirit" of Brexit.
Brexit spirit would come in a bottle marked with a skull and crossbones and be gammon red in colour. However, and with only 5% currently thinking Brexit is going well, the is hay to be made by showing the another way.
Friday, 23 July 2021
Thursday, 22 July 2021
Ping pong
Apparently, there's a scene in Chenobyl (the TV series) where to stop their giegercounters clicking too much, the machine's sensitivity is turned down.
One of the solutions to the pingdemic is to change the settings on the app.
Ignoring the reason why people are being pinged in ever greater numbers is the fact that the virus is now being allowed to rampage free through the younger part of the population.
Had the virus been surpressed and our borders secure, life could really be back to normal here, like it is in Australia and NZ, though there has been a surge in cases in Oz, though not on the scale we are seeing here.
Odd then to see our papers demanding that people be allowed to ignore the pings or be tested instead rather than actually surpressing the spread. Almost as though they are ignoring, like the Government, the mistakes in the unlocking last year.
Yesterday, the first real effect of the Government's unlocking policy was the decision of both the Australian and New Zealand rugby league teams not to compete in the world cup in England in December this year. Seems quite a sensible move to me, but drew sharp critism from the organisers and the UK Government.
Infection rates have dropped by about 20% this week, either due to a slowing down of infections (unlikely) or people not using or deleting the app so not getting tested.
Hospitalisation rates are now climbing, as are deaths. I mean, this is hardly mentioned, now that 84 people are dying a day again.
The country has lost it's collective mind.
Most papers on Thursday lead with the expected food shortages, caused, the mostly agreed, by the pingdemic. But there were 70,000 vacancies for drivers before the pings, and so that is not it. Much expected were problems once hospitality reopened fully and demand for supplies went up, there was no chance that the chains could cope.
And what caused the 70,000 vacancies? Well, partly because there have been no HGV tests for nearly 18 months, so natutal wastage hasn't been replaced, but there is the Brexit-shaped elephant in the room and the hoops that EU citizens have to jump through to live and work here, the red tape that the hard Brexit the UK Government imposed and the fact pay in the UK just isn't worth the effort to move here.
One of the solutions to the pingdemic is to change the settings on the app.
Ignoring the reason why people are being pinged in ever greater numbers is the fact that the virus is now being allowed to rampage free through the younger part of the population.
Had the virus been surpressed and our borders secure, life could really be back to normal here, like it is in Australia and NZ, though there has been a surge in cases in Oz, though not on the scale we are seeing here.
Odd then to see our papers demanding that people be allowed to ignore the pings or be tested instead rather than actually surpressing the spread. Almost as though they are ignoring, like the Government, the mistakes in the unlocking last year.
Yesterday, the first real effect of the Government's unlocking policy was the decision of both the Australian and New Zealand rugby league teams not to compete in the world cup in England in December this year. Seems quite a sensible move to me, but drew sharp critism from the organisers and the UK Government.
Infection rates have dropped by about 20% this week, either due to a slowing down of infections (unlikely) or people not using or deleting the app so not getting tested.
Hospitalisation rates are now climbing, as are deaths. I mean, this is hardly mentioned, now that 84 people are dying a day again.
The country has lost it's collective mind.
Most papers on Thursday lead with the expected food shortages, caused, the mostly agreed, by the pingdemic. But there were 70,000 vacancies for drivers before the pings, and so that is not it. Much expected were problems once hospitality reopened fully and demand for supplies went up, there was no chance that the chains could cope.
And what caused the 70,000 vacancies? Well, partly because there have been no HGV tests for nearly 18 months, so natutal wastage hasn't been replaced, but there is the Brexit-shaped elephant in the room and the hoops that EU citizens have to jump through to live and work here, the red tape that the hard Brexit the UK Government imposed and the fact pay in the UK just isn't worth the effort to move here.
Wednesday 21st July 2021
Wednesday.
Still sunny and hot.
Or will be once the sun rises above the yardarm.
Jools now has a quieter morning, in that she doesn't leave the house until seven, due to the hours she has worked and been told to just do her contracted hours. So, she has time for a shower and water the tomatoes and so on.
I get up just before six and am slow to warm up and am drinking coffee as Jools goes about her stuff.
I can claim that I had a poor day at work, with four meetings and then an audit.
But at least it is July and most of Denmark is at the beach somewhere, doing what Danes do. It does mean that there are so few calls and mails. If only I could use the time wisely.
I have had a document to review for some time, and it raises more questions than it answers, so if I do nothing else today, I needed to finish that review. That would mean a third cup of strong coffee and some fresh raspberries from our garden for breakfast. There is also bread, so I can have a slice with butter and nutella. I know, I know. It goes well with coffee.
And listening to more podcasts.
The day warms up, various cats came and went, sometimes meowing for something or the other, Well, Mulder and Scully always meows. Cleo meows when she comes in, sometimes, but mostly sits on the stairs and stares. As does Poppy, who meows very rarely, but seems to have a very posh meow. But that could be my active imagtination.
There are more bagels for lunch, I split two in half, toast them and then smother with cream cheese. I could almost kid myself I was having breakfast in Dunkin Donuts, but I'm not drinking milky, over sweetened coffee from a paper cup.
Which is nice.
And then the meetings.
One on audits.
The next one, a pre-meeting meeting.
Then the actual meeting.
One on a different audit.
And then an actual audit.
I now audit factories all round the world. So far I have audited factories in Germany, Spain, Italy, China and now this is Colorado in the US. I check the map and Windsor is the other side of the freeway we took when we drove to Wyoming, and stayed in nearby Fort Collins and Loveland on the outward and then the return trip. One of the auditees lives in Loveland, and loved my accent.
Always do.
Anyway, I do things differently, and we have a good time. I get the info I need and are pleased to hear honesty from someone in a central position. I am beginning to see how I can get satisfaction in this new role.
Which would be really nice.
I am done by five, just time then to get dinner done.
I had made a ragu through the day, roasted some vegetables, and combined them. Cooked some marinaded chinese chicken and boiled some pasta. And put them all on the plate. And very, very nice it was too. Would have been nicer with a glass of red wine, but you know, gout.
I raked the glass clippings into new piles, so seeds would drop onto the ground, tomorrow I will gather them up and maybe mow the large remaining area near the raspberry canes.
Maybe.
We have the radio on, drink coffee, and wonder where Poppy is, I had not seen her since breakfast, but its what she does. And will appear during the night or in the morning.
I get up just before six and am slow to warm up and am drinking coffee as Jools goes about her stuff.I can claim that I had a poor day at work, with four meetings and then an audit.
But at least it is July and most of Denmark is at the beach somewhere, doing what Danes do. It does mean that there are so few calls and mails. If only I could use the time wisely.
I have had a document to review for some time, and it raises more questions than it answers, so if I do nothing else today, I needed to finish that review. That would mean a third cup of strong coffee and some fresh raspberries from our garden for breakfast. There is also bread, so I can have a slice with butter and nutella. I know, I know. It goes well with coffee.
And listening to more podcasts.The day warms up, various cats came and went, sometimes meowing for something or the other, Well, Mulder and Scully always meows. Cleo meows when she comes in, sometimes, but mostly sits on the stairs and stares. As does Poppy, who meows very rarely, but seems to have a very posh meow. But that could be my active imagtination.
There are more bagels for lunch, I split two in half, toast them and then smother with cream cheese. I could almost kid myself I was having breakfast in Dunkin Donuts, but I'm not drinking milky, over sweetened coffee from a paper cup.Which is nice.
And then the meetings.
One on audits.
The next one, a pre-meeting meeting.
Then the actual meeting.
One on a different audit.
And then an actual audit.
I now audit factories all round the world. So far I have audited factories in Germany, Spain, Italy, China and now this is Colorado in the US. I check the map and Windsor is the other side of the freeway we took when we drove to Wyoming, and stayed in nearby Fort Collins and Loveland on the outward and then the return trip. One of the auditees lives in Loveland, and loved my accent.
Always do.
Anyway, I do things differently, and we have a good time. I get the info I need and are pleased to hear honesty from someone in a central position. I am beginning to see how I can get satisfaction in this new role.
Which would be really nice.
I am done by five, just time then to get dinner done.
I had made a ragu through the day, roasted some vegetables, and combined them. Cooked some marinaded chinese chicken and boiled some pasta. And put them all on the plate. And very, very nice it was too. Would have been nicer with a glass of red wine, but you know, gout.
I raked the glass clippings into new piles, so seeds would drop onto the ground, tomorrow I will gather them up and maybe mow the large remaining area near the raspberry canes.
Maybe.
We have the radio on, drink coffee, and wonder where Poppy is, I had not seen her since breakfast, but its what she does. And will appear during the night or in the morning.
Lying is so easy
Today, Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, was sent out on mdia duties to go on news shows and defend the UK Government's actions regarding the NIP, and to blame the EU.
The sheer state of it, the lack of awareness is staggering.
“The Northern Ireland protocol isn’t written in stone, it’s not something that was going to last for evermore, everybody realised at the time… it’s been six months.”
Only Brexiteers and the PM and NI Secretary were in denial about what the NIP contained and made explicit.
Denying it then, and denying it now does't make the NIP requirements under international law carry less legal force.
Once again, for those asleep at the back and those in Government: the NIP is part of the WA and is an international treaty, it clearly leaves little room for interpretation. As the UK have clearly, signed the WA, NIP and TCA in bad faith, there is little trust. The NIp describes, in great detail, how the EU trusted the UK to look after its regulatory border.
And the UK has failed.
The Government probably always intended to do this.
What happens now?
Depands on the response from the EU and US. I think Biden and Congress will take a dim view of this, as will our other trading partners who will now see bad faith in a lot of what the UK Government says and does. The damage will be huge and long lasting.
What constitues a material breach, however, is another matter. In extreme cases the whole of the WA and TCA could be suspended, and there be full checks on all goods in and out of the EU from the UK, but all other arrangements would fall too, including data, travel, aviation and so on. These are big stakes, and the truth is that Johnson either doesn't understand or doesn't care.
There is no policy from the UK Government, just announcements, no actual action, culture wars and clashing with the EU. And anti-immigration.
Taking back control IS taking responsibility for your choices.
The sheer state of it, the lack of awareness is staggering.
“The Northern Ireland protocol isn’t written in stone, it’s not something that was going to last for evermore, everybody realised at the time… it’s been six months.”
Only Brexiteers and the PM and NI Secretary were in denial about what the NIP contained and made explicit.
Denying it then, and denying it now does't make the NIP requirements under international law carry less legal force.
Once again, for those asleep at the back and those in Government: the NIP is part of the WA and is an international treaty, it clearly leaves little room for interpretation. As the UK have clearly, signed the WA, NIP and TCA in bad faith, there is little trust. The NIp describes, in great detail, how the EU trusted the UK to look after its regulatory border.
And the UK has failed.
The Government probably always intended to do this.
What happens now?
Depands on the response from the EU and US. I think Biden and Congress will take a dim view of this, as will our other trading partners who will now see bad faith in a lot of what the UK Government says and does. The damage will be huge and long lasting.
What constitues a material breach, however, is another matter. In extreme cases the whole of the WA and TCA could be suspended, and there be full checks on all goods in and out of the EU from the UK, but all other arrangements would fall too, including data, travel, aviation and so on. These are big stakes, and the truth is that Johnson either doesn't understand or doesn't care.
There is no policy from the UK Government, just announcements, no actual action, culture wars and clashing with the EU. And anti-immigration.
Taking back control IS taking responsibility for your choices.
Wednesday, 21 July 2021
All bets off
Decisions have consequences. Sometime we just don't know what.
Today, the UK announced it wants a substantial rewrite of the NIP, as it couldn't be made to work.
Needless to say, the EU are strongly refusing the request.
The US has warned the UK.
So, what happenes now?
It bears repeating, again that:
1. The WA and NIP are different to the agreement May had made.
2. May's deal had the backstop, this has the NIP.
3. Johnson was the PM and Frost his negotiator.
4. The NIP, a border in the Irish Sea is what May said no UK PM could accept.
5. Along came Johnson.
6. Johnson decided on the terms, Frost negotiated it.
7. The UK Cabinet accepted it.
8. Johnson called an election and was elected to implement his "oven ready" deal.
9. It was rushed through Parliament with little scrutiny.
10. UK Parliament ratified the WA and NIP. I wrote at the time, not the only one, that the NIP broke the UK single market.
11. Johnson denied a border in the Irish Sea was the reality. Even as border posts were being built.
Who knows where this ends up: maybe like the much vaunted reform of Judicial Review (the white paper for which was published today and hardly has any changes at all), maybe it all noise and Johnson will back down.
Maybe, maybe not.
It might well get rough, strap yourselves in.
Today, the UK announced it wants a substantial rewrite of the NIP, as it couldn't be made to work.
Needless to say, the EU are strongly refusing the request.
The US has warned the UK.
So, what happenes now?
It bears repeating, again that:
1. The WA and NIP are different to the agreement May had made.
2. May's deal had the backstop, this has the NIP.
3. Johnson was the PM and Frost his negotiator.
4. The NIP, a border in the Irish Sea is what May said no UK PM could accept.
5. Along came Johnson.
6. Johnson decided on the terms, Frost negotiated it.
7. The UK Cabinet accepted it.
8. Johnson called an election and was elected to implement his "oven ready" deal.
9. It was rushed through Parliament with little scrutiny.
10. UK Parliament ratified the WA and NIP. I wrote at the time, not the only one, that the NIP broke the UK single market.
11. Johnson denied a border in the Irish Sea was the reality. Even as border posts were being built.
Who knows where this ends up: maybe like the much vaunted reform of Judicial Review (the white paper for which was published today and hardly has any changes at all), maybe it all noise and Johnson will back down.
Maybe, maybe not.
It might well get rough, strap yourselves in.
Tuesday 20th July 2021
Tuesday: Market day in Kings Lynn.
That takes place on the Tuesday Market Place.
Pronounced Tooooosdee.
But that's not where the Saturday market takes place.
Oh no, that's at the Saturday Market Place.
Just sos you know.
We wake up at five. It is cool. Or cooler than it was when we went to bed. Outside the soon to be rising sun had caused mist to rise from the Dip. It looked like mist, but was thin enough to allow the light from the sun when it did rise to shine through and burn it off.
I take a picture so you can see.
Jools makes coffee, and takes her tme to get ready for work, taking time to water the garden so that our tomatoes and small flowers live to see another day. She left for work after seven, and here I am, on my own.
I make a second coffee, then make breakfast of more fruit and yogurt, fruit being our own raspberries.
Yummy.
And to work. It is July the world over, and in Denmark most people go on holiday, and this means the volume of mails and calls is much lower meaning there are less meetings too and so possible to get stuff done. But my mind find procrastination more attractive, so I put on an old podcast and stare into the middle distance.
Cleo comes in and sits on the stairs and stares until I do something she wants.
I try food.
I try cuddles. She runs away.
She wants kiddy kibbles.
I can pick her up and cddle her then, and then let her go to finish the treats.
With IT issues dogging work, I went out for a half hour's walk hoping that they would have either contacted me or fixed the issue. But no.
But a walk is never wasted, and during high summer after all the rain we had, I have rarely seen the countryside so green and still full of growth, certainly in the 3rd week of July.
The usual high summer flowers seen; field scabious, various vetches, teasels, oxtongues and sowthistles, knapweeds and the hedgerows full of blossom promising a bumper harvest of blackberries in a few weeks time.
Half an hour was just about the right amount of time to be out, as very hot once I returned home.
I have a long cool drink and get back to work.
IT not fixed.
(a day later and its still not fixed)
I have ham and coleslaw rolls for lunch, another cool drink and knuckle down to work.
Once three came along, I go into the garden to rake the grass into piles and to dry, thus allowing seeds to fall to the ground. This is the first part of preparing for next year's meadow. Get it right now and next year will be even better.
Dinner was caprese, but with over-ripe tomoatoes and some leaves of the new basil plant, and the flavours were amazing, I mean we both noticed and our tastebuds tingled. And I made another sourdough loaf (mith a mix) but still wonderful when fresh.
I watch another band of thunderstorms inch their way across Kent, and somehow miss us in St Maggies, Maidstone got it bad; train tracks flooded, though not as bad as in Germany and Belgium last week.
None here by nine, so we go to bed.
That takes place on the Tuesday Market Place.
Pronounced Tooooosdee.
But that's not where the Saturday market takes place.
Oh no, that's at the Saturday Market Place.
Just sos you know.
We wake up at five. It is cool. Or cooler than it was when we went to bed. Outside the soon to be rising sun had caused mist to rise from the Dip. It looked like mist, but was thin enough to allow the light from the sun when it did rise to shine through and burn it off.
I take a picture so you can see.Jools makes coffee, and takes her tme to get ready for work, taking time to water the garden so that our tomatoes and small flowers live to see another day. She left for work after seven, and here I am, on my own.
I make a second coffee, then make breakfast of more fruit and yogurt, fruit being our own raspberries.
Yummy.
And to work. It is July the world over, and in Denmark most people go on holiday, and this means the volume of mails and calls is much lower meaning there are less meetings too and so possible to get stuff done. But my mind find procrastination more attractive, so I put on an old podcast and stare into the middle distance.
Cleo comes in and sits on the stairs and stares until I do something she wants.
I try food.
I try cuddles. She runs away.
She wants kiddy kibbles.
I can pick her up and cddle her then, and then let her go to finish the treats.
With IT issues dogging work, I went out for a half hour's walk hoping that they would have either contacted me or fixed the issue. But no.But a walk is never wasted, and during high summer after all the rain we had, I have rarely seen the countryside so green and still full of growth, certainly in the 3rd week of July.
The usual high summer flowers seen; field scabious, various vetches, teasels, oxtongues and sowthistles, knapweeds and the hedgerows full of blossom promising a bumper harvest of blackberries in a few weeks time.
Half an hour was just about the right amount of time to be out, as very hot once I returned home.I have a long cool drink and get back to work.
IT not fixed.
(a day later and its still not fixed)
I have ham and coleslaw rolls for lunch, another cool drink and knuckle down to work.
Once three came along, I go into the garden to rake the grass into piles and to dry, thus allowing seeds to fall to the ground. This is the first part of preparing for next year's meadow. Get it right now and next year will be even better.
Dinner was caprese, but with over-ripe tomoatoes and some leaves of the new basil plant, and the flavours were amazing, I mean we both noticed and our tastebuds tingled. And I made another sourdough loaf (mith a mix) but still wonderful when fresh.
I watch another band of thunderstorms inch their way across Kent, and somehow miss us in St Maggies, Maidstone got it bad; train tracks flooded, though not as bad as in Germany and Belgium last week.None here by nine, so we go to bed.
Tuesday, 20 July 2021
“Get Covid & live longer”
The start of the week has been marked by a war of words, well from one side, as Laura K interviewed the walking brain that is Dominic Cummings.
It became clear weeks after the election that Johnson wasn't fit to be PM.
No, really.
He, and his crack team only used Johnson to deliver Brexit and win the following election.
“He doesn't have a plan, he doesn't know how to be prime minister and we'd only got him in there because we had to solve a certain problem"
Despite doing the legwork in Vote Leave, he now says, apparently, he quesries if it was the right course of action.
And on COVID, well, that allowing the virus to rip through the population as most people who would die would be over 80. This coming just six months after the PM himself nearly died after contracting the virus.
A broken clock will tell the time twice a day.
Thing is, Johnson lies. He is a liar, and for the most part, the public don't care. The Tories are currently polling at over 40% and really cannot lose the next election, unless something really changes. Nearly 170,000 excess deaths and corruption on a grand scale hasn't changed much, it seems little else will.
It seems Brexit, and to a certain extent COVID too, was part of some kind of game to obtain power, though once they have it, they don't know what to do with it.
Should we be happy with that, or really scared?
Johnson will brush Cummings' comments off, as someone who used lies and disinformation to win the referendum and election, now pleads he is telling the truth.
Nothing will change.
Other than getting worse. Obviously.
It became clear weeks after the election that Johnson wasn't fit to be PM.
No, really.
He, and his crack team only used Johnson to deliver Brexit and win the following election.
“He doesn't have a plan, he doesn't know how to be prime minister and we'd only got him in there because we had to solve a certain problem"
Despite doing the legwork in Vote Leave, he now says, apparently, he quesries if it was the right course of action.
And on COVID, well, that allowing the virus to rip through the population as most people who would die would be over 80. This coming just six months after the PM himself nearly died after contracting the virus.
A broken clock will tell the time twice a day.
Thing is, Johnson lies. He is a liar, and for the most part, the public don't care. The Tories are currently polling at over 40% and really cannot lose the next election, unless something really changes. Nearly 170,000 excess deaths and corruption on a grand scale hasn't changed much, it seems little else will.
It seems Brexit, and to a certain extent COVID too, was part of some kind of game to obtain power, though once they have it, they don't know what to do with it.
Should we be happy with that, or really scared?
Johnson will brush Cummings' comments off, as someone who used lies and disinformation to win the referendum and election, now pleads he is telling the truth.
Nothing will change.
Other than getting worse. Obviously.
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