UK - England, Wales, N.Ireland, Scotland

[Azastan]

Boris is bizzy making certain that Brexit is a big success.

His plan is absolutely brilliant.

[AndyinPA]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... s-to-crown

Late on Monday night, local time, Barbados will declare itself a republic, becoming the first nation to remove Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state in nearly three decades. The transition, flagged last year in the thick of activism inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, is being executed amicably, in the presence of Prince Charles, and circumspectly, more than 20 years since it was recommended by a government commission.

But, unmistakably, it is a repudiation of the British monarchy, part of a wider campaign that includes strengthening ties with the African nations from which most Barbadians claim heritage and renewing demands for the UK government to make reparations for its historical crimes. Aimed at authoring a liberated future, many hope it will also soothe the restless ghosts of the past.

[RTH10260]

Thousands more pigs to be culled on farms as emergency visa scheme for butchers comes too late
British farmers warn ‘well-intentioned’ measures from government risk causing ‘catastrophic collapse’ in price of pigs that will put them put of business

Ben Chapman
Wednesday 17 November 2021 09:44

Government measures aimed at halting a cull of thousands of pigs have come too late and risk causing a "catastrophic collapse" in the price of pork that would put British farmers out of business, an industry body has warned.

The National Pig Association said

thousands more animals are likely to be culled on farms

despite an emergency visa scheme unveiled last month to bring in 800 foreign butchers. The butchers are not now expected to be at work until some time in January.

More than 14,000 pigs are estimated to have already been culled due to an acute shortage of skilled labour in the UK after Brexit, according to the NPA.

The shortage has forced desperate farmers to sell pork at well below its normal market value, figures from the NPA show. Pig farmers are being squeezed further by surging costs for energy and food.




https://www.independent.co.uk/news/busi ... 58441.html

[RTH10260]

workers requested for by the industry in summer, lastest arrival for the holiday season in late summer, now may show up in January. While I have not located any published number on the web some commentators are mentioning the visa applications "in the tens", well far below the 800 target. Visa processing red tape seems to be slowing things down, also the search and paper work must be channeled by the industry thru a handful of government approved agencies.

[RTH10260]

a vlogger commenting on the UK foreign secretary:

Liz Truss the former International Trade Secretary and current Foreign Secretary tweeted a "win" for post-Brexit Britain on Friday, the lifting of a ban on lamb and sheep meat, in reality the ban is via tariffs that the US imposed and are now lifting for countries including the UK.

vlog

► Show Spoiler

[Ben-Prime]

More than 14,000 pigs are estimated to have already been culled due to an acute shortage of skilled labour in the UK after Brexit, according to the NPA.

The shortage has forced desperate farmers to sell pork at well below its normal market value, figures from the NPA show. Pig farmers are being squeezed further by surging costs for energy and food.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/busi ... 58441.html

The real shame of it is that British pork is pretty amazing. I mean, not that I'm typing this from London having just pushed away a plate that was formerly supporting pork shoulder chops baked on a bed of apple and onion slices, and served with those same baked apple and onion bits and some sliced courgettes (or, as we call them in the States, zucchini) sauteed in garlic butter on the side .... But, um, yeah, I totally am.

What I'm trying to say is if the Brits actually knew how to carve and cook bacon, their pork would take over the culinary world. Really. It's that damned good.

[Dave from down under]

When we were in the UK
The bacon was amazing!

(Also the cider that was cheaper and better than soft drinks )

[RTH10260]

‘Rife’ cocaine use reported in U.K. Parliament — just as Boris Johnson announces crackdown on drug crime

By Jennifer Hassan and William Booth
Today at 9:57 a.m. EST|Updated today at 11:45 a.m. EST


LONDON — The speaker of the House of Commons has said he is calling in police to investigate reports that drug use is “rife” in the British Parliament — as Prime Minister Boris Johnson dressed up as a police officer to promote his tough new anti-drug strategy for the country.

A report in Britain’s Sunday Times said a dozen sites inside the Palace of Westminster, which includes the House of Lords and House of Commons, tested positive for traces of cocaine.

Areas of interest included the bathrooms nearest Johnson’s office and those of Home Secretary Priti Patel, who is in charge of domestic security.

Drug residue, the newspaper reported, was also found close to rooms used by the opposition Labour Party, as well as a sedate dining room in the House of Lords, and the exclusive, sometimes raucous Thames-side pub called the Strangers’ Bar.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/20 ... e-toilets/

[RTH10260]

No 10 ‘plans to let ministers strike out legal rulings they disagree with’
Report increases fears government is determined to weaken judicial scrutiny

Haroon Siddique Legal affairs correspondent
Mon 6 Dec 2021 14.48 GMT

Boris Johnson is planning to let ministers throw out legal rulings they disagree with, according to a report that has increased fears that the government is determined to weaken judicial scrutiny after a series of defeats in court.

An ally of the prime minister told the Times that the judicial review and courts bill going through parliament “doesn’t go far enough” for the prime minister, who is considering an option, drawn up by the lord chancellor, Dominic Raab, and the attorney general, Suella Braverman, which would enable it to strike out findings from judicial reviews with which the government does not agree.

A judicial review is a court proceeding where a judge examines the lawfulness of an action or a decision of a public body. It looks at the way a decision has been reached, rather than the rights and wrongs of that decision, but some Conservatives have accused judges of overreach.

On Monday, No 10 denied it was planning any significant changes beyond what had been already proposed. “The prime minister is not looking to take this approach. You can see which actions we are taking which we believe strike the right balance, maintaining the important independence of the judiciary in these sorts of issues.”

The government’s complaints date back to two Brexit-related government defeats in the supreme court on whether ministers or parliament had the right to trigger Brexit and the prorogation of parliament. The Conservative election manifesto subsequently pledged to end “abuse” of judicial review.



https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... agree-with

[Ben-Prime]

When we were in the UK
The bacon was amazing!

(Also the cider that was cheaper and better than soft drinks )

True. And also true. I have the advantage of being able to drink at one of the cheapest pubs in London, though. Which reminds me, I really do need to press Mike Dunford to join me there for a drink one of these days.

[RTH10260]

Evacuating cats and dogs while leaving cooperating Afghan security forces behind?

Letter suggests ‘cover-up’ of PM’s involvement in Afghan dog airlift, says MP
Chris Bryant reveals Pen Farthing was sent a letter from Boris Johnson’s PPS confirming evacuation

A leaked letter suggests Boris Johnson and the Foreign Office may have covered up the prime minister’s involvement in airlifting more than 150 dogs and cats from Afghanistan, a senior MP has said.

On Tuesday it emerged that the charity worker Pen Farthing received a letter from Johnson’s parliamentary secretary saying Farthing, his staff and the animals could be rescued from Kabul amid the Taliban takeover in August, when thousands of Afghans with UK connections were also trying to flee.

The letter, published on Twitter by LBC’s Theo Usherwood, was signed Trudy Harrison, MP for Copeland and parliamentary private secretary to the prime minister, and says: “I have received confirmation … that you, your staff and their dependents are permitted to travel.” All 68 people were to be provided with a place on a RAF plane, it continued, while the animals could be “evacuated on a separate, chartered flight”.


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... ft-says-mp

[RTH10260]

[tek]

"Mince pie and a wank"

So how do you really feel?

[RTH10260]

The clown car to lose its driver?

Boris on the brink: how Johnson reached the edge of disaster

Toby Helm and Michael Savage
Sun 12 Dec 2021 06.45 GMT

On 19 December last year Boris Johnson appeared in Downing Street to tell the nation more bad news about Covid-19 that would affect the plans of millions of people at Christmas. “Yesterday afternoon I was briefed on the latest data showing the virus spreading more rapidly in London and the south-east of England than would be expected,” he said.

Reading from a script that, a year on, seems depressingly familiar, he said a new strain of Covid-19 (which would become known as the Alpha variant) was taking hold and was thought to be up to 70% more transmissible than the old one.

“We know enough already to be sure we must act now,” Johnson told the country. So grave was the situation that the PM had convened an urgent meeting of ministers on the Covid operations committee the previous evening to discuss the need for tough and deeply unwelcome new restrictions, including rules that would mean people in tier 4 areas could not mix with anyone outside their household – even on Christmas Day.

On that same Friday evening when Johnson and his ministers met, however, the last thing on the minds of some members of his staff at Downing Street – and a favoured few across Whitehall departments – was a new variant or fresh Covid rules. Instead they were getting ready for some festive fun behind the big black door of No 10.

In an area of Downing Street occupied by advisers and his press team, through which Johnson and his wife, Carrie, have to pass to get to their flat at the top of the building, several dozen officials gathered over the course of that evening for drinks, nibbles and party games at the end of another long week.

It appears to have been a blatant breach of rules by people whose day job was to communicate the need for compliance to the nation. But this was the heart of power. “Most of them in there had had Covid. They had been ill. They thought somehow things didn’t apply to them,” said a senior government source.



https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... gate-covid

[RTH10260]

He never knew them ....

PM Boris Johnson took part in No 10 Christmas quiz last year

Boris Johnson took part in a Christmas quiz sitting between two colleagues in No 10 last year - while indoor household mixing was banned in London.

The Sunday Mirror has published a picture of Mr Johnson at the event, which it said was on 15 December.

Downing Street said the PM "briefly took part virtually" to thank staff for their work during the pandemic.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said it appeared Mr Johnson had breached Covid laws in place at the time.

He told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show the event had created "fury" and that trust in the prime minister was at an "all-time low".

It comes after the government launched an investigation into three allegations of gatherings last Christmas - including two in Downing Street - despite Covid rules banning them.




https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-59625432

[tek]

Boris Johnson took part in a Christmas quiz sitting between two colleagues in No 10 last year - while indoor household mixing was banned in London.

The Sunday Mirror has published a picture of Mr Johnson at the event, which it said was on 15 December.

Downing Street said the PM "briefly took part virtually" to thank staff for their work during the pandemic.

"briefly took part virtually" my ass.

When you find yourself in a hole, Boris, stop digging. Own up to it.

[RTH10260]

As a vlogger pointed out the security camera, top left in the picture, has been covered!

In the recent PMQ Prime Ministers Questions in Westminster parliament he used the wording "I was told" implying he knew nothing of the events

[RTH10260]

Raab to claim overhaul of human rights law will counter ‘political correctness’
‘Dangerous’ reforms to create a new bill of rights criticised as ‘blatant, unashamed power grab’

Haroon Siddique and Rajeev Syal
Tue 14 Dec 2021 00.01 GMT

Dominic Raab is to outline a sweeping overhaul of human rights law that he claims will counter “wokery and political correctness” and expedite the deportation of foreign criminals.

The highly controversial reforms, to be announced on Tuesday – which will create a new bill of rights – will introduce a permission stage to “deter spurious human rights claims” and change the balance between freedom of expression and privacy.

But lawyers described the proposed changes to the Human Rights Act as dangerous and fuelled by political rhetoric rather than necessity. They pointed out that the government has signalled its intentions before the independent review of the Human Rights Act, which is due to be published later on Tuesday.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said the intended reforms would allow judges to override rulings from the European court of human rights, rather than following them “blindly”.




https://www.theguardian.com/law/2021/de ... orrectness

[RTH10260]

Supply chain ‘must be fixed urgently’ to ensure food security in the UK
Coalition of industry groups calls for government commitment to keep Britain’s food production at 60%

PA Media
Tue 14 Dec 2021 00.01 GMT

The supply chain crisis must be fixed urgently if the government is to ensure food security in the UK, a coalition of industry groups has warned.

Food and farming leaders warn that the sector has been hit by shortages of workers from seasonal fruit pickers to abattoir staff and lorry drivers, alongside inflation that has driven up the price of energy, feed and fertiliser.

The National Farmers’ Union (NFU), which has convened a summit of organisations to discuss food security on Tuesday, called for the government to make a serious commitment to at least keep Britain’s self sufficiency in food production at 60%, and create an environment to support businesses.

Organisations involved in the summit are also calling for action to solve labour shortages throughout the supply chain and ensure a level playing field between British produce and imports.

The president of the NFU, Minette Batters, said: “Britain’s farmers are world-leaders in producing climate-friendly food and, over the past 18 months, have been working hard to keep shelves and fridges full despite many being affected by severe supply chain issues, particularly worker shortages.

“Government has tried to paper over the cracks with short-term fixes, but if we want to avoid this crisis continuing, long-term solutions are urgently needed to ensure a resilient supply chain that enables us to continue supplying everyone at home with fantastic produce, as well as leading on the global stage.”



https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... -in-the-uk

[RTH10260]

Headline in the Guardian


Johnson is as corrupt as Clinton – but at least Bubba bothered to brush his hair


https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... e-minister

[RTH10260]

Looks like Boris Johnsons reign will end really very soon now

North Shropshire byelection: Liberal Democrats win former safe Tory seat in blow to Johnson
Helen Morgan wins seat the Conservatives have held for almost 200 years in a byelection called after environment secretary Owen Paterson resigned

Peter Walker Political correspondent
Fri 17 Dec 2021 04.22 GMT

The Liberal Democrats have won a stunning victory in the North Shropshire byelection, taking what had previously been a safe Conservative seat by a margin of nearly 6,000 votes, and capping a disastrous few weeks for Boris Johnson.

Helen Morgan, the Lib Dem candidate, won 17,957 votes, ahead of the Conservatives’ Neil Shastri-Hurst, on 12,032, a majority of 5,925. Labour’s Ben Wood was third, with 3,686 votes. Turnout was 46.3%.

The calamitous collapse in Conservative support – a 34% swing in a seat where they had a near-23,000 majority in 2019 – will prompt significant jitters among many Tory MPs, and is likely to raise questions about Johnson’s future.

It was a swing even greater than the 25% seen last June when the Lib Dems won the Chesham and Amersham byelection.

North Shropshire was seen as a notably greater challenge for the party, given it is a largely rural and strongly pro-Brexit constituency, one which has been Tory for all but two of the past 189 years, from 1904 to 1906. Morgan fought the seat in 2019 and came third, with 10% support.



https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... -continues

[Uninformed]

“Top civil servant Simon Case quits No 10 party probe amid rule breach claims”:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-59701369

“The UK's top civil servant has stepped aside from his role leading an inquiry into Downing Street lockdown parties, after it emerged an event was held in his own office.”

[Ben-Prime]

“Top civil servant Simon Case quits No 10 party probe amid rule breach claims”:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-59701369

“The UK's top civil servant has stepped aside from his role leading an inquiry into Downing Street lockdown parties, after it emerged an event was held in his own office.”

Disclaimer: the below is not the official opinion of my employer. I kind of have to say that. To make it clear: I am reiterating an impression I get from reading the local paper coverage of this in the UK.

One of the apps on my Fire tablet is the Metro app which pulls up a copy of the daily free grab-it-on-the-London-Tube newspaper of the same name. Every morning, when I get into the Embassy just early enough to grab breakfast at the cafeteria before hitting my desk, I read the Metro. I prefer to keep aware of my surroundings on the actual Tube in case I miss my stop, and also because winter clothing makes it cumbersome to sit with my backpack and an open newspaper or working electronic device in my lap.

Reading the digital Metro every morning over breakfast, I am getting *whiplash* from how quickly this story is progressing. I can't compare it to the milkshake duck phenomenon because nobody here was innocent seeming or had a great rep to begin with. I guess it reminds me most of watching the comic effect 'superhero stops the common bad guy' scene in any modern superhero movie. You know, superhero shows up, all the bad guys start ineffectually attacking him, he swats them down a few at a time. Then there's a last 2 or 3 bad guys left and they try their luck one by one, and one by one the look on the superhero's face is like "are you effin' kidding me?"

That's what this is like. "Well, these dozen or fifteen people from XYZ minister's office were doing this totally bogus stuff. But surely this guy was honest and played by the rules? No? Okay, we'll have this guy invest---oh, crud, not him. Well, boss, looks like you're the only one left. Boss? Boss?"

[RTH10260]

"Lockdowngate" the 2nd (actually a precursor to the Christmas story)

Boris Johnson and staff pictured with wine in Downing Street garden in May 2020
Exclusive: photograph raises fresh questions for No 10 after denial of a social event at time of Covid restrictions

Rowena Mason, Heather Stewart and Peter Walker
Sun 19 Dec 2021 18.37 GMT

Boris Johnson has been pictured with wine and cheese alongside his wife and up to 17 staff in the Downing Street garden during lockdown, raising questions over No 10’s insistence a “work meeting” was taking place.

The photograph was shared with the Guardian following No 10’s denial last week that there was a social event on Friday 15 May 2020 including wine, spirits and pizza inside and outside the building. Johnson’s spokesman said Downing Street staff were working in the garden in the afternoon and evening.

However, the picture raises questions over that assertion. Bottles of wine are in evidence, there is a lack of social distancing and 19 people are gathered in groups across the Downing Street terrace and lawn.

At the time social mixing between households was limited to two people, who could only meet outdoors and at a distance of at least 2 metres. In workplaces, guidance said in-person meetings should only take place if “absolutely necessary”.


https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... n-may-2020

[RTH10260]

how UK labour unions invest their membeship fees

Unite launches inquiry into building costs of Birmingham project
Following leaked accounts, union’s new general secretary says possible ‘significant loss’ must be investigated

Rachel Hall
Mon 20 Dec 2021 21.50 GMT

Unite is launching an independent inquiry into how the building costs of a hotel and conference centre in Birmingham spiralled into a “potentially significant loss” for the trade union.

The inquiry follows reports at the beginning of the year of leaked accounts seeming to indicate that the union had overspent on the 170-room hotel and 1,000-person conference centre.

Unite, which is Labour’s most generous backer, later confirmed that the initial projected costs had been £57m, but that this had soared to £98m, an increase it defended as the result of safeguarding employment practices on site.



https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... am-project