Great! Thanks a bunch. too bleeding late now. Tuesday night quiz: who wrote the Grapes of Wrath..... FFS. Why weren’t you posting this Tuesday daytime
I thought grapes of wrath were hemaroids dangling painfully. Johnson and Cummings deserve a recurring case.
The economic choice between a rock and a place of very considerable firmness has arrived. With the announcement of the scaling back of the furlough arrangements many businesses are going to be faced with a fight for survival, and it is a fight many of them are destined to lose. I note that the Nationwide is going to dock the credit ratings of those taking a mortgage holiday, thereby ensuring the seizing up of the housing market. What will then ensue is a wider collapse of the whole rotten economic edifice. There will soon be boats trying to cross the channel loaded with economic migrants heading for the continent.
" History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce." Now I'm not entirely sure which category this falls under, but consider this weird coincidence. April 9 1992: Tories win the General Election. September 16 1992 Black Wednesday - the UK economy collapses in chaos. December 13 2019 Tories win the General Election. A similar amount of time later the Dominic Cummings affair breaks. The Tory government begins to disintegrate in a similar manner. I am now looking forward to the second coming of May 2 1997. According to my maths this should occur on January 5 2025. Norman Lamont on R4 commenting on the Bank of England's speculation of a "V" shaped recovery. More likely he says to be "L" shaped!
Clearly some companies are going to take advantage of the current situation. BA are still being reported as planning to lay off their entire work force, then rehire them with reduced benefits. BA are also believed to have £8 billion in the bank, so hardly on their uppers. If they get away with this, then I expect others will follow suit, whilst blaming the pandemic. This report is from May 1st https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-unions-accuse-ba-of-hidden-agenda-as-layoffs-loom-11981809
This is an interesting read. It would seem that the “cottage” Scummings was at great pains to point out that he stayed in, when breaching lockdown, doesn’t have planning permission nor is it registered for paying Council Tax. I am sure it is just an oversight which will be swept under the carpet by his willing accomplices in the government. https://universalcreditsuffer.com/2...-planning-permission-and-pays-no-council-tax/
Meanwhile, hacker group anonymous have released documents showing Trump was in court accused of rape, alongside Jeffrey Epstein. Not sure if they are real. America is craazyyy right now
The comments about Trump and Johnson quoted above offer a glimmer of hope that the tide is turning about populist politicians now that people are beginning to understand how dangerous their policies are. I have to be honest and say that I am still a little bit doubtful that Brexit will actually happen. The negotiations are becoming increasingly protracted with no sight of resolution. An article in yesterday's Sunday Telegraph suggested that Barnier is looking to delay the progress of the talks as the intention is to frustrate Brexit. I would do the same if I was in his position as it is obvious that the UK will very shortly be in need of a financial bale out. On the other side, I would also have to point out that the EU has been behind the curve in dealing with the pandemic and their response has not been as effective as some national governments. Without doubt, the EU will emerge a changed animal after this business is over and some of it's authority will be likely to have been diminished. I just think that the proposition to leave the EU will also seem less problematic from the other perspective, namely that the perceived "negatives" might be diminished. The question that needs to be addressed if whether people would prefer a weakened EU to be totally governed by a domestic government which has proved to be so ineffectual. If the argument against the EU was to take back power, surely this has failed not only with Boris's performance but in respect of the fact that the whole situation appears to have been managed so much better in Scotland. The political landscape is changing all around and it is now possible to perhaps see both Scottish independence and English EU membership as not incompatible outcomes. Without doubt, the last few months have been catastrophic for everyone in the UK and this is going to reflect itself in the political landscape. I am convinced that there will be a public enquiry where the whole scale of the issues experienced will be but the tip of the iceberg. As I said previously, Boris will not see out his term as PM and I think that the more liberal elements within the Conservatives will ultimately end up taking control of the party as they realise the initiative has been lost to Starmer. The weird thing about the position we are in at the moment is that Jeremey Corbyn has been arguing about such issues for about 4 years yet no one appears to be giving his credit albeit I somewhat think even he will have been surprised just how right he was about things! I just have the impression that Corbyn will be seen by future historians as perhaps one of the most significant politicians in the UK in the early 21s century. State intervention in the economy is now likely to take off in a big way.