Post-Brexit fallout - we can't have our cake or eat it

[buzby]

I would rather have freedom of movement but this is something to cling to - despite it making virtually no difference to me:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/comment/unexpected-brexit-bonus-dazzling-clarity/

Edit - it seems to be behind a paywall but the upshot is the new MOT regs say aftermarket Led bulbs will now cause a fail. They did anyway but no-one was arsed to check. Still, The Telegraph are heralding it as a Brexit bonus. Something to do with standards marks. They also believe it could result in Britain becoming leaders in technology and common sense.

The changes in the MOT regs are nothing to do with being in or out of the EU though - the TuV in Germany for instance have always been far more strict on the legality of aftermarket modifications, and as you say LED & HID  'upgrade' bulb replacement kits have always been illegal across Europe, because the headlamp reflector patterns were designed around halogen bulbs and so give the wrong beam pattern when these 'upgrade' kits are fitted. We were just never arsed about checking for them, unless you caught the MOT tester on a bad day.

the irony of this is that the only legal route for upgrading to LED for headlamps are sealed units that have been designed around LEDs, and the legal versions of these have to conform to EU regs, and be tested to qualify for an 'E' mark.

[paruses]

It's common for people going through a plight together to look out for one another, even strangers. That isn't romantic at all. There may still be many ignorant cunts around but haven't you noticed something like this since the onset of Covid?

The "blitz spirit" lasted way past the end of WWII; Thatcherism drove the last of it away with its "me first" message above all else. Made the world a less friendly place by far.

I agree but I probably used "blitz spirit" as a shorthand for something that people invoke and exists only as long as that person is on an equal footing as all the others who are in the shit. As soon as they pull ahead or fall behind then it's a case of "gotta look out for yourself in this world".

By romanticised bullshit I just meant that it's the usual obsession with WWII that persists and (self-)mythologising around the British character (see also queuing) - I am sure I have seen figures around the increased number of rapes and looting during the blitz (citation needed, obvs). I don't think it's a peculiarly British thing to do - footage of terrible events across the world and people desperately helping others is testament to that.

But I really wanted to point out the fact that this woman (already mentioned up-thread) actively invited this situation by voting for Brexit and was vocal about it, and has been saved by fluke of being on the (BBC) News and having pity taken on her by a mega-wealthy restaurateur who could probably write this off as advertising cost in the long run.  Her comment that this will all be fine if we all pull together is just not attached to reality. It pisses me off that she probably now feels vindicated in her vote and has found a new supplier (and maybe even cut her transport costs). And I also imagine she is of the opinion that if they can do it then why is everyone else struggling (although that last bit is in my head and just based on having met a lot of people).

[katzenjammer]

I am sure I have seen figures around the increased number of rapes and looting during the blitz (citation needed, obvs)

I seem to remember someone here (sheepy?) saying their parents or grandparents house got bombed in the blitz and the fire fighters wouldn't let them back in because they were busy looting the place.

Edit: here it is from 2009, fuck me how can i remember that but not what i had but not where I put my glasses?: https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,20380.msg1049321.html#msg1049321

[jobotic]

Love the idea that Stein is some sort of selfless benefactor.

[Paul Calf]

What's the difference between The Blitz and Brexit?

One is a massive anthropogenic catastrophe perpetrated by a right-wing authoritarian regime that killed thousands and made millions homeless but that benefitted a tiny elite of well-connected criminals and the other...

[BlodwynPig]

Kate Hoey is very unhappy about how Brexit has affected Northern Ireland.

In July 2019, she was the only Labour MP to have voted against allowing abortion and same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland

[Buelligan]

I hate that woman.  I used to live in the same building as her.  Spent time, many times, alone in the lift with her.  Should've dealt with her when I had the chance.  A lesson learned in bitter regret.  I shall not stay my hand again.

[jobotic]

It beggars belief that she was not chucked out of the party for her love of the far-right. Posing with Farage and addressing crowds with Generation Identity flags.

[NoSleep]

I don't think it's a peculiarly British thing to do - footage of terrible events across the world and people desperately helping others is testament to that.

All that "blitz spirit" means is that the last time people remember it happening in Britain was WWII.

[TrenterPercenter]

All that "blitz spirit" means is that the last time people remember it happening in Britain was WWII.

It's more than that; it's the retelling of history by the elites.  it is what they always do; all those paintings etc... they are all there to create narrative about what happen then and why what they say now should happen.  People want "something" to remember and use as a yardstick for their contemporary lives; it is comforting; it makes "sense, religion works the same way.  They are all narrative structures for the brain; without these mnemonic structures, and in the absence of understanding much about ones own psychology,  emotions can feel uncontrollable, leading to anxieties. in the main people avoid these mental states wherever they can.

McLuhan said we view the present through the rear-view mirror and march backwards into the future.  This is true although McLuhan did not understand the bio-psychological nature of memory in the way we do now at the time.  So controlling how what is perceived in the past is of course a great way of shaping and present behaviour; the biggest predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour but it doesn't really matter whether that past behaviour actually ever occurred or not.

[NoSleep]

Whatever.

[TrenterPercenter]

Whatever.

You are so cool; just imagining you at the back of the class with your leather coat and shades right now.

[NoSleep]

I was the last time people remember it collectively happening. The subsequent propaganda doesn't make it otherwise.

[Bernice]

His face is turned toward the past. Where we perceive a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe which keeps piling wreckage upon wreckage and hurls it in front of his feet. The angel would like to stay, awaken the dead, and make whole what has been smashed. But a storm is blowing from Paradise; it has got caught in his wings with such violence that the angel can no longer close them. The storm irresistibly propels him into the future to which his back his turned, while the pile of debris before him grows skyward. The storm is what we call progress.

[Fambo Number Mive]

The latest government distraction is Johnson bringing up a "Boris Burrow", having presumably decided not to go down the railway line he was previously talking about.

An undersea tunnel between Great Britain and Northern Ireland could get the green light as early next month and help unblock trade which has been hit by Brexit tensions

Another Alexander Johnson project which will not happen but will mean millions of pounds of public money being given to consultants and cronies.

Bung a Bob for Boris's Burrow.

Remember when the Garden Bridge costs £43m of public money: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-london-47228698

It's fine when it's the Tories wasting public money though.

[Fambo Number Mive]

We should be taking a "ten year view" on Brexit, everyone:

Asked about the structural issues facing exporters to the EU, which have already forced some businesses to close just weeks into 2021, Dominic Raab reassures them that "if you take a ten-year view" growth will be elsewhere

https://twitter.com/adampayne26/status/1360893050789183488

Imagine if that was what had been on the side of the bus during the referendum.

[Buelligan]

I know where the growth's gonna be sir, I know where it's gonna be.  Not in the UK, if it even exists.  There, I've said it.

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

well if you take a twenty year view civilisation as we know it will have collapsed because of climate change and all the billionaires will have fucked off to Mars with plenty of plebs they conned into coming with them. "oh you can work off your ticket once we get to Mars" they'll say.

[Fambo Number Mive]

"A new life awaits you in the off-world colonies. Working for Deliveroo on a zero-hour contract, with a second-hand spacesuit and a leaky shuttlecraft. And no Earth laws apply on Mars, so we can do what we like to you."

[Buelligan]

When you put it like that, it almost makes getting a ticket and contracting Ebola something to look forward to.

[EOLAN]

The latest government distraction is Johnson bringing up a "Boris Burrow", having presumably decided not to go down the railway line he was previously talking about.


Another Alexander Johnson project which will not happen but will mean millions of pounds of public money being given to consultants and cronies.

Bung a Bob for Boris's Burrow.

Remember when the Garden Bridge costs £43m of public money: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-london-47228698

It's fine when it's the Tories wasting public money though.

Where was the original quote from. Don't see how a tunnel would unblock trade arisen from Brexit issues as the checks required to maintain an open island border would still be required and lead to checks between trade across the Irish Sea under current circumstances.

Of course this unlikely Burrow would also probably be completed when one or both of Northern Ireland and Scotland are conceivably independent of the UK.

[Fambo Number Mive]

Original quote was from the Telegraph who tweeted a link to their story, most of it behind a paywall.

[Fambo Number Mive]

From the Independent

Talks to rebuild security cooperation with the EU must restart now after the Brexit deal left the UK "less safe and less secure", a Conservative group says.

Boris Johnson is accused of "not being ambitious enough" after the agreement shut down access to vital criminal databases, including records of stolen identities and wanted people.

Ejection from the European Arrest Warrant system means "some criminals will not be extradited", while leaving Europol means the UK will lose crucial influence, a report says.

Significantly, it has been carried out for the Conservative European Forum (CEF) – led by Tory heavyweights David Lidington and Dominic Grieve – and written by a former head of the Bar Council...

Lord Sandhurst added: "I do not wish to see the UK less safe or less secure as result of our changed relationship with the EU.

"This is not a debate about sovereignty, trade or tariffs. It's about security and, as a Conservative, I believe that the security of the UK and its citizens must always come first."

However, No 10 has shown no enthusiasm to return to the negotiating table since Mr Johnson signed what he called his "fantastic" deal.

A new "partnership council" with the EU has yet to be set up, and the government has insisted the agreement cannot be reopened.

[Darles Chickens]

Also from the Independent: that'll show them metropolitan elites:

It is difficult to think of a policy more antithetical to the "levelling up" agenda than uncapped bonuses for bankers.

Yet, at a time of immense financial hardship for millions of people, rising unemployment, a looming evictions crisis and soaring food bank use, the Treasury is reportedly considering just such a rescue package for London's financial elite.

According to Financial Times columnist Robert Shrimsley, the government is looking into the merits of scrapping the bonus cap, brought in under an EU directive in 2015, which limits discretionary pay to two times a person's basic salary.

It's one of a number of rule changes said to be under consideration to hit back at the EU for it's increasingly robust attempts to wrest financial services business from the City of London.

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

did these stupid bastards not think about of course they didn't

[paruses]

They weren't told these things Poirots. They weren't told any of this at the time. Haven't you heard?

[Fambo Number Mive]

Funny how bankers don't get fobbed off with a weekly clap.

[evilcommiedictator]

I'm enjoying this thread goign through all the new foods BREXIT will provide, such as "British Fancy Peas", "Brussel British Sprouts", "British Haggis" and finally, "Ice Cubes - but with British Water"

https://twitter.com/nicktolhurst/status/1364917215649280001

[olliebean]

"British Fancy Peas"

"Fancy" in what sense?

[NoSleep]

They're small.