MORE FREXIT PROBLEMS FOR MACRON
The Express reports that Frexit fears have arisen yet again for Emmanuel Macron with officials claiming the EU project is now over in a furious outburst against the bloc. French politicians responded with fury following claims the country must not leave the EU despite the uncertainty caused by the bloc’s Coronavirus vaccine programme. One politician for the Les Patriotes party Florian Philippot, claimed leaving the EU was like leaving prison. Mr Philippot has been an outspoken critic of the bloc and disputed claims from Rassemblement National (RN) MEP Jordan Bardella, who insisted leaving the EU will not happen. He said: To pretend to change policy by staying in the euro is like wanting to repaint the walls of your cell in a different colour. Leaving prison is leaving the euro and the EU! Everything else is fantasy and lies!”
MERKEL FACING POLITICAL PARTNERSHIP PROBLEMS
From the Express: Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition has nosedived in the polls as voters voice their dissatisfaction with Germany’s Coronavirus strategy with just six months to go until national elections.The CDU/CSU alliance climbed to 40 percent in opinion polls at the start of the pandemic 12 months ago but has suffered massive losses in recent months and had dropped to 32 percent, according to the latest survey. Analysts have warned the political partnership may not even achieve enough votes to appoint Germany’s next Chancellor unless the tide turns again before the autumn elections. And they say there is certainly a risk of bruising defeats when two states go to the polls in local elections this weekend.
UK CAN SEE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL
The Guardian reports that the UK can see light at the end of the Covid-19 tunnel but the economy will never fully return to its pre-pandemic pattern, the government of the Bank of England has said. Andrew Bailey said the shifts in spending and working patterns seen since the country first went into lockdown measures a year ago would prove permanent and he went on to say the economy had been through a traumatic experience but predicted the scarring caused by the deepest recession in 300 years would be less than that caused by the decline of heavy industry in the 1980s and early 1990s. Bailey said the UK needed to increase investment in order to limit the long-term damage and said the Bank would be cutting its forecast for the peak in unemployment after the decision to extend the furlough scheme until the end of September.
NEAR WORTHLESS BUDGET SUPPORT PACKAGE FOR RETAILERS
From the Guardian: Frasers Group, the retailer controlled by the Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley, has said it will be forced to close stores and cut jobs after a “near worthless” support package on business rates in the budget. The group, which includes Sports Direct, House of Fraser, Flannels and Evans Cycles, said retailers needed a complete overhaul of the business rates model for the high street to survive. The £2m rates cap on businesses from July 2021 to March 2022 makes it a near worthless support package for large retailers, the group said in a statement for the Frasers Group.This cap will make it nearly impossible to take on ex-Debenhams sites with the inherent jobs created. It will also mean we need to review our entire portfolio to ascertain stores that are not viable due to unrealistic business rates. Frasers Group said the retail industry had expected last week’s budget to offer suitable relief until structural reform is implemented.
GOVERNMENT SUPPORT NEEDED FOR AVIATION SECTOR
The Morning Star reports that unions representing tens of thousands of workers have united with employers to call on the government today to “protect the UK’s vital aviation sector and secure its recovery.” A joint statement issued by the TUC, following a meeting of unions and employers, warns that Britain’s aviation industry is in danger of financial meltdown unless it gets more government support. Aviation is one of the hardest hit industries by the coronavirus pandemic, with travel restrictions causing demand to fall to just 2 percent of its usual level. Thousands of jobs in the sector have already been lost. And it has been estimated by the New Economics Foundation that 124,000 jobs were at risk across aviation and the industries it supports. The statement, which includes employers at Heathrow Airport, calls for government funding “to help the industry survive until pre-pandemic levels of travel are safe again And it wants the Department for Transport (DfT) to establish a tripartite body of government, trade unions and industry to steer the industry to recovery.
ROYAL NAVY TO BE THE FOREMOST NAVAL POWER IN EUROPE
The Express reports: The Royal Navy is set to receive advanced vessels to improve Britain’s maritime military might and restore its place as the foremost naval power in Europe. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s defence upgrade will see the Royal Navy receive the new vessels as part of the Government’s defence review. The Integrated Review’s goal is to restore the United Kingdom as the foremost naval power in Europe through the construction of new vessels and the Treasury and Cabinet Office has promised a spending rise for the MoD of 4.2 percent per year.
SIGNIFICANT RISKS TO GOVERNMENT SPENDING PLANS
From the Evening Standard: There are significant risks to the Government’s spending plans laid out in last week’s budget by failing to cost up any post-pandemic spending beyond March next year, the Office for Budget Responsibility has said. They warned the lack of detail comes despite the government already flagging longer-term costs which would be required to cover annual vaccination programmes, ongoing test and trace services and longer-term health costs. Economists at the OBR told MPs on the Treasury Select Committee that they hoped for greater clarity later this year but said with no costings, departmental spending may need to be cut elsewhere to meet any shortfalls. The panel also revealed high income, middle income and retired households have saved a combined £180 billion from the pandemic – as shops, pubs and restaurants remain shut – but said this is unlikely to be spent as soon as restrictions end.
EXIT PERMIT HALF COCKED AND RUSHED OUT SAY TRAVEL BOSSES
The Telegraph reports: Travel industry leaders have lashed out at new exit permits required for leaving the country, claiming they are complex and lack clear messaging. The Declaration to Travel form, which comes into effect today, must be completed by anyone in England who enters “a port of departure to travel internationally”, with fines of up to £6,400 for those who flout the rules. But critics have highlighted a number of issues with the form, arguing that it appears ‘rushed’ and that several valid reasons for international travel are not covered.
NOW IT’S A PRUDENT AND CAUTIOUS BORIS
The Daily Mail reports: Boris Johnson today shot down more calls to end lockdown sooner as Britain recorded fewer coronavirus cases than at any time since late September with 4,712 more positive tests. The promising numbers come as Boris Johnson today announced the first step on the roadmap, hailing it as a ‘big day’, with schools reopening and indoor care home visits now permitted in England, but faced more pressure from anti-lockdown MPs. The Covid Recovery Group of Tory MPs said it would look ‘odd’ if the country were still in lockdown even as cases and deaths head close to zero. Batting away zealous calls for No 10 to speed up the route back to normality, however, Dr Harries said infection rates across the UK were now back to where they were in September but warned: This is the level at which a new wave could easily take off again from.
BRITS TO GET A NUDGE
The SUN reports: Brits will get a text inviting them to book their Covid jab from today. The NHS hopes this will encourage younger people to take up the vaccine. Around 400,000 people over 55 should soon get a nudge on their phones to join the millions already inoculated. They can then simply click on a link and choose when they want their first dose. It will make it even easier to get the life-saving shot sorted, as all Brits are encouraged to get protected against Covid.
BORIS TO PROMOTE MORE WOMEN TO CABINET
The Times reports: Boris Johnson considers himself a feminist and will promote more women to the cabinet in the next few months, No 10 said today. The prime minister’s press secretary, Allegra Stratton, said there were improvements to come on the representation of women in government. In the months and years ahead, as he perhaps rearranges his top team, he will be mindful of making sure that that cabinet looks like the British public,” she said. She said there were a great number of talented women in government and mentioned the children’s minister, Vicky Ford, and the care minister, Helen Whately.
AND FINALLY
From the Telegraph: a new scheme will see unwashed white potatoes sold across more than 260 Tesco supermarkets for the next six months. Muddy potatoes are to be sold in Tesco for the first time since the 1970s, but scales will be adjusted so that you only pay for spuds and not mud. The scheme, which could eventually be rolled out to all of the chain’s 2,650 shops, is being run alongside Lincolnshire-based potato suppliers Branston. Sales of unwashed potatoes in supermarkets and grocery stores was common practice until the1970s, as leaving the soil on would block out light and result in a longer shelf life.
Wot. nothing on Whinge and Ginge?
I bought a Daily Mail yesterday, there was thirty pages of it.
Arghhhhh!!
Goverors of the Bank.
British Industry has been dead since the early 60’s. Bankers have no understanding of even the simplest of needs to develope an industrial company and therefore, economy. They should stop their ignorant braying.. All that bankers know ithat they have the money needed but are determined not to lend.. And they are usually correct.. And then they make a killing with their colleagues Accountants, Lawyers, Courts, Administrators, Unions, Hopeful Creditors etc.. Circling Orcas.. Most existing industrial companies are living off written down assets, old irreplaceable Understanding, and old loyalty , and old supportive familiesassuaging guilt.
I am no longer in contact with my German relatives. So I have no idea how they educated their politician masters, But their stranglehold on Oxford carmakers and pseudo intellectual neighbours. Support the remain bubble necessary to their industrial power.
Most booms in recent years have only happened because the banks have abandoned caution and thrown vast fortunes into the mix, and hit a few goldmines such as were born in Silicon Valley..
Silicon Valley. We were up there developing Semi conductors and chips and all sorts in the late 50’s. Banks ?Government investment for Brit companies? Nothing. or derisory
In the 70’sNorth sea oil.? A nice boom brewing up nicely for Scotland. What happened TAX and our politics spent it. . Leaving a pathetic dribble of tiny companies subject to the famous Highland and Island Developement Board , et al. Banks disappeared overnight.
Since then what we have had has been “Busts followed by pitiful recoveries. Following each other like London Buses.
.Look around :- Shops and Internet retailers What do they do. They buy it then they sell it, Well Isuppose it has a limited value Builders of Government Offices,… Buying and selling buildings , or pretty Tops.. They do not even need to package.
But the tax keeps rolling in TODAY.
And as for the Patent system ( Now glorified into the Protection of intellectual property ) . The USA and our patent lawyers ( If there are any left ) reap the benefits.
TG Spokes….Have you quite finished now, talk about War and Peace. Two questions how do London buses fit into what you were ranting on about…..and as for pretty tops, again no idea. On another note I thought you said some time ago you were from Scottish ancestry. Now it is Deutscheland. I am not sure whether they are into Single Malt, Porridge, Oatcakes, Dundee Cake, Shortbread biscuits or Marmalade, or being woken up half way up a heather covered mountain side to the sound of a Piper and his sheep though. What is a Tardis in German?
Actually T.G.S. is fumbling after some sense there Colin. Particularly the ‘asset stripping’ of our economy by EU companies. Also the bad policies and practices at home, that led to boom and bust.
Now, whether it is North Sea oil, or Scottish oil is still a mute point but I’m pretty sure Deutschland gets it’s sustenance from Heineken rather than single malt.
‘All that bankers know that they have the money needed but are determined not to lend’
TG Its the standard way of working today. Its all upside down:-
Doctors dont want to see patients; teachers dont want to see youngsters; parliament dont want the population to govern their own lives; civil sevants dont want to do anything and still get paid; farmers moaning about making ends meet due to too much rain or not enough rain and then build a new half million quid barn; councils no money to empty bins, only pots of money to install humps; police are only ever appear in riot gear – and that is on the beat!
Funny old World innit?
Do London Buses still have that same herd instinct though.
Do you still honour the Cheyanne?
Getting like Chummy, the unhinged 32 yrs as a beat constable (bitten by a Scottie dog when he was small).
Interesting if the ‘Scamdemic’ hastens the end of the EU Superstate.
The Bank of England are talking sense in my opinion.
I hope our ‘Naval Power’ increase, includes:- 1) Aircraft carriers and aircraft to put on them. 2) English Channel patrols, against migrants and EU fishing vessels.
PPB Naval power?
Look at any american fleet with an aircraft carrier and count the number of ships that accompany them. Plus of course all the submarines you cannot see, that protect them.
Last time i looked, we had19 (nineteen) capital ships And them mostly in for repair or refitting.
Augmenting our most powerful navy in the world (PM coughs) with a few rubber boats provided by illegal immigrants doesnt cut it.
The army? The entirity fits seated into many many football grounds. And then there’s the airforce.
With such a shambolic approach to protecting what was once Great Britain why bother having any protective farces? Dispense with the lot?
Oh, wait – surely that’s not the intention?
But the Express says we are to be the foremost naval power in Europe. So it MUST be true!
PPB – sorry if the Express . . . it must be true – I stand corrected.
Pauline….Like the Daily Express weather correspondent comes out with the same guff every winter, namely minus 30 degrees, Snow Bombs, and 20 feet snow drifts in central London. Perhaps he/she like the odd bottle of Single Malt as well….About the only entertaining article in the Daily Express these days is the Adventures of Rupert Bear.
Of course it is Burnt Toast, the great European Army will come to the rescue of barmy, bumbling, bungling Boris….
Unwashed potatoes – longer life.
This principle may be applied to raw meat also. EU rules (which some believe led to the closure of hundreds and hundreds of small slaughterhouses and the creation of huge ones – surprise, surprise!) demanded that all carcases be washed after slaughter to supposedly control pathogenic disease.
When washing potatoes before packaging you not only wash off the soil but also natural, harmless protective floras accelerating decay.
Slightly different principle when washing raw meat carcases. Hosing down the carcase encourages spoilage bacteria to grow shortening the storage life of the product at room and chilled display temperatures. The old slaughter method allowed residual latent heat in the slaughtered animal carcase to create a very dry surface on the raw flesh thus inhibiting the growth of spoilage bacteria.
Sometimes the old ways really are the best but not for the agendas, growth and profits of big business, big business and its agencies.
Thank you Jake. Of course the old ways were best. You are right about the ‘agendas’ in your last sentence.
I often wondered what it was caused us to close down those small slaughterhouses. I suspected it was membership of the EU. My problem about it, was that it caused far more distress to the animals, being transported greater and greater distances. That also caused deterioration in the resulting meat.
Pauline, It goes back to 1997 and the arrival of Tomy BLiar onto the political stage. One of his earlier ideas was that “… henceforth all livestock should be sent to the nearest practicable market and from there to the nearest practicable slaughterhouse.” I and many of my fellow farmers welcomed this. It was a genuine step in the right direction of animal welfare by cutting down travelling time.
What happened…?
Some numpty gold-plated an EU directive which caused the closure of many of our smaller abattoirs, thus increasing the travelling times dramatically. Example; lambs from Cockermouth, (NW Cumbria) being taken to Holyhead,Anglesey.And,if you remember the begining of the 2001 FMD, Fat Sows (heavy hogs) taken from Ponteland, Northumbria, to Cheale Meats in ESSEX.
Thanks Richard. Bliar, plus EU, plus a numpty, (civil servant?). More or less as I thought.
PPB – HSE hygene regs plus supermarkets with their ‘national supply chains’ nominating fewer than five acceptable abertoires across the country have provided the result you mention.
To avoid this is the answer halall. Just cut the animals throat in the street. Animals transportation nil, HSE interference nil, distribution costs nil, interference from tho police hell no.
I’ll ignore that one dear Biscotte. You are probably on the single malt and will undoubtedly burn the toast.
When you have seen a camel being killed by throat slitting with your own eyes, maybe you could brace yourself for what is to come.
What’s with all the toast business? For these who cannot do any research for themselves:
Oxford English Dictionary
Brit. /bɪsˈkɒtəʊ/, U.S. /bɪsˈkɑdoʊ/
Plural biscotti, biscottis[irreg.]
Forms: 19– biscotto, 19– biscotti[irreg.]
[‹ Italian biscotto (sweet) biscuit, cookie (see biscuit n.).]
A long, thin, hard (usually twice-baked) biscuit, typically served with a hot drink, into which it is dipped.
The Italian word biscotto denotes a variety of types of crisp biscuit, including this specific type.
1946 N.Y. Herald Tribune 19 Sept. 23/8 Biscotti for sale, two kinds—the anise and nut. 1976 Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Press 28 Dec. 24/4 In Italy, a similar cookie‥is often dipped in sweet red wine. But in the United States the perfect texture of Italian Anise Biscotti make them great for dunking into coffee. 1995 Toronto Life Jan. 60/3 Hanging out over a fine steaming cup of joe (and maybe just a teensy biscotti) is a good cheap date. 2003 S. M. Kaminsky Midnight Pass 171, I had finished my biscotto in the waiting room while reading the four-year-old Smithsonian.
You are getting like Chummy, the unhinged 32 yrs as a beat constable (bitten by a Scottie dog when he was small).
Back to your knitting, Princess.