Nissan saying their factory in Sunderland would be under threat in the event of a no deal Brexit.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52900528
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52900528
Off Topic Politics Thread
- Thread starter ChilcoSaint
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Comforting to know that the wife of a Tory MP, who is pro insurance based healthcare, is one of the top people at the Track and Trace company, that isn’t the world beating system we were promised.
https://www.channel4.com/news/revea...ce-data-in-england-leaked-to-channel-4-news-2
https://www.channel4.com/news/revea...ce-data-in-england-leaked-to-channel-4-news-2
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****ing 'ell. We had all better look out for ourselves then. This lot with him in charge has already cost us twice as many lives as should have been the case.
I would put it as high as 10 times what it should have been, if we had locked down a month earlier and had a working test and trace system in place, as other countries did. The way this government has handled the pandemic is nothing less than criminally hegligent.
Just been watching coverage of the peaceful demonstration in Hyde Park, in support of George Floyd.
As much as I can understand why they are doing it, now is not the time for 100s of people from the BAME group to be meeting and breaching social distancing, given their heightened death threat from covid-19.
Fingers crossed that they stay safe.
As much as I can understand why they are doing it, now is not the time for 100s of people from the BAME group to be meeting and breaching social distancing, given their heightened death threat from covid-19.
Fingers crossed that they stay safe.
Posted at 18:2618:26
Planning permission probe over Cummings' Durham cottage visit
Richard Moss
Political editor, North East & Cumbria
Council planners are investigating complaints that the Durham property which Dominic Cummings used during his lockdown trip doesn't have the correct planning permission.
The county council says it has received a number of complaints and is looking into them.
The Prime Minister's senior adviser stayed in what he described as a cottage on his parents' farm with his wife Mary Wakefield and four-year-old son during the start of April.
North Lodge, the Cummings family property, is on the outskirts of Durham.
The only planning applications listed on the council's website for the farm cover a pitched roof over a swimming pool in 2001, and the removal and trimming of various trees.
The City of Durham Labour MP Mary Foy, whose constituency includes North Lodge, says she has also raised questions with Durham County Council.
She says she received a number of complaints from constituents, and has asked the council whether the property Dominic Cummings stayed in had proper planning permission, and whether it was registered for council tax.
She has yet to receive a reply.
Downing Street declined to comment.
Planning permission probe over Cummings' Durham cottage visit
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Richard Moss
Political editor, North East & Cumbria
Council planners are investigating complaints that the Durham property which Dominic Cummings used during his lockdown trip doesn't have the correct planning permission.
The county council says it has received a number of complaints and is looking into them.
The Prime Minister's senior adviser stayed in what he described as a cottage on his parents' farm with his wife Mary Wakefield and four-year-old son during the start of April.
North Lodge, the Cummings family property, is on the outskirts of Durham.
The only planning applications listed on the council's website for the farm cover a pitched roof over a swimming pool in 2001, and the removal and trimming of various trees.
The City of Durham Labour MP Mary Foy, whose constituency includes North Lodge, says she has also raised questions with Durham County Council.
She says she received a number of complaints from constituents, and has asked the council whether the property Dominic Cummings stayed in had proper planning permission, and whether it was registered for council tax.
She has yet to receive a reply.
Downing Street declined to comment.
No forgetting, no forgiving, no moving on. Get the bastard by the balls and squeeze until the pips squeak.
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So the day after Rees-Mogg forces MP’s to return to Parliament, a government minister appears to have brought Covid-19 into the Commons chamber.
You really couldn’t make this government up.
Few clashes apparently. Let's hope the rain is still here come Saturdays one.
At least he can fall back on a world beating test , track and trace system.
Meanwhile, the protest on Monday filled the streets of Halifax...and then turned into a dance party.
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Hopefully should be okay from a COVID standpoint; we haven't had a case outside a single assisted living facility for a fair while now, though I still worry.
Black lives matter.
But protesting now, during a global pandemic is ridiculously stupid.
Not to mention that the virus impacts BAME the hardest.
Crazy, crazy, crazy times we are living in.
But protesting now, during a global pandemic is ridiculously stupid.
Not to mention that the virus impacts BAME the hardest.
Crazy, crazy, crazy times we are living in.
Jacob Rees-Morgue
What happened to the BBC being impartial. This is on their News website today:
In one of his first acts as Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer announced he would not indulge in opposition for opposition's sake.
This was seen as a decisive break from his own party's recent past.
But now he wants to create more distance between the government and the opposition.
Some say they have noted a more hostile, less consensual tone towards Boris Johnson from Sir Keir.
In an interview with the Guardian, he has suggested that the prime minister lacks "grip". At Prime Minister's Questions today, he accused the prime minister of undermining public trust in his own government with his actions, just at the time when it is needed most.
But, in truth, Sir Keir's stated policy of "constructive criticism" had already tended to emphasise the latter of those two words at PMQs.
And his approach to today's session had as much in common with his approach before - to put down a marker in case things go wrong.
One step beyond
Sir Keir called for an exit strategy from the government at a time when some of his own MPs - and certainly grassroots members - wanted to see him clash with No 10 more robustly on issues of the day.
He now feels vindicated as he believes the lack of a strategy - "an exit without a strategy", as he puts it - is becoming apparent.
The Labour leader is determined to stay one step ahead of the government.
So, by raising questions now over the easing of lockdown while doubts remain about the alert level and the efficacy of the track and trace system, he is positioning the party to distance itself further from the government's approach if the R number goes up.
But it is true that his tone towards Boris Johnson himself is hardening.
Frustration
Labour insiders say this isn't so much the result of a strategic change, but is borne of a sense of frustration with the prime minister over recent days.
As part of the "constructive criticism" approach, the Labour leader sent a letter to Boris Johnson on 18 May about the re-opening of schools.
At PMQs, Sir Keir said he had not received a reply.
The Labour leader was also annoyed by the way advice to those who are shielding was released, without proper consultation.
And he is irritated by what he perceives as an attempt by the PM to keep shifting responsibility for the crisis away from the door of No 10 to local councils, officials, and individuals.
So, Sir Keir is attempting to ensure that if things do go wrong and there are local lockdowns and/or higher infection rates in the weeks ahead, the buck must stop at Downing Street.
And this all appears to be part of a wider narrative he has been pursuing - that the government was too slow to go in to lockdown, and potentially too cavalier in easing it.
Questions, questions
At PMQs, it is Boris Johnson's job to answer Sir Keir's questions.
But there are questions for the Labour leader too.
Some of his political opponents are finding it frustrating that it appears to be the Labour leader and not the prime minister who is having his cake and eating it.
While Sir Keir has been focussed on the government's handling of the crisis, his critics say there has been less scrutiny of what he would do instead.
For example, he has complained of a lack of consultation over the re-opening of schools.
He is also concerned about the effect the closures will have had on the educational attainment of disadvantaged pupils in particular.
But if he were prime minister, would he have led from the front and pushed for partial re-opening? Or would councils and unions have had an effective veto?
Perspiration not inspiration?
More widely though, is he prioritising perspiration over inspiration?
Sir Keir has done some heavy-lifting to make his party look like a more effective opposition and he has proved he can make Boris Johnson sweat.
His own standing in the polls has risen - but his party still lags behind the Conservatives.
So far, the more positive policies that will be necessary to rally new converts to his banner have been less apparent.
Of course, he has talked about valuing public sector workers more, and of rebuilding the economy in a fairer way after the crisis has passed.
He will seek to "win the peace".
But while we may see a laser-like focus on the government's perceived failings, Sir Keir's own vision for the UK remains hazy.
In one of his first acts as Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer announced he would not indulge in opposition for opposition's sake.
This was seen as a decisive break from his own party's recent past.
But now he wants to create more distance between the government and the opposition.
Some say they have noted a more hostile, less consensual tone towards Boris Johnson from Sir Keir.
In an interview with the Guardian, he has suggested that the prime minister lacks "grip". At Prime Minister's Questions today, he accused the prime minister of undermining public trust in his own government with his actions, just at the time when it is needed most.
But, in truth, Sir Keir's stated policy of "constructive criticism" had already tended to emphasise the latter of those two words at PMQs.
And his approach to today's session had as much in common with his approach before - to put down a marker in case things go wrong.
One step beyond
Sir Keir called for an exit strategy from the government at a time when some of his own MPs - and certainly grassroots members - wanted to see him clash with No 10 more robustly on issues of the day.
He now feels vindicated as he believes the lack of a strategy - "an exit without a strategy", as he puts it - is becoming apparent.
The Labour leader is determined to stay one step ahead of the government.
So, by raising questions now over the easing of lockdown while doubts remain about the alert level and the efficacy of the track and trace system, he is positioning the party to distance itself further from the government's approach if the R number goes up.
But it is true that his tone towards Boris Johnson himself is hardening.
Frustration
Labour insiders say this isn't so much the result of a strategic change, but is borne of a sense of frustration with the prime minister over recent days.
As part of the "constructive criticism" approach, the Labour leader sent a letter to Boris Johnson on 18 May about the re-opening of schools.
At PMQs, Sir Keir said he had not received a reply.
The Labour leader was also annoyed by the way advice to those who are shielding was released, without proper consultation.
And he is irritated by what he perceives as an attempt by the PM to keep shifting responsibility for the crisis away from the door of No 10 to local councils, officials, and individuals.
So, Sir Keir is attempting to ensure that if things do go wrong and there are local lockdowns and/or higher infection rates in the weeks ahead, the buck must stop at Downing Street.
And this all appears to be part of a wider narrative he has been pursuing - that the government was too slow to go in to lockdown, and potentially too cavalier in easing it.
Questions, questions
At PMQs, it is Boris Johnson's job to answer Sir Keir's questions.
But there are questions for the Labour leader too.
Some of his political opponents are finding it frustrating that it appears to be the Labour leader and not the prime minister who is having his cake and eating it.
While Sir Keir has been focussed on the government's handling of the crisis, his critics say there has been less scrutiny of what he would do instead.
For example, he has complained of a lack of consultation over the re-opening of schools.
He is also concerned about the effect the closures will have had on the educational attainment of disadvantaged pupils in particular.
But if he were prime minister, would he have led from the front and pushed for partial re-opening? Or would councils and unions have had an effective veto?
Perspiration not inspiration?
More widely though, is he prioritising perspiration over inspiration?
Sir Keir has done some heavy-lifting to make his party look like a more effective opposition and he has proved he can make Boris Johnson sweat.
His own standing in the polls has risen - but his party still lags behind the Conservatives.
So far, the more positive policies that will be necessary to rally new converts to his banner have been less apparent.
Of course, he has talked about valuing public sector workers more, and of rebuilding the economy in a fairer way after the crisis has passed.
He will seek to "win the peace".
But while we may see a laser-like focus on the government's perceived failings, Sir Keir's own vision for the UK remains hazy.