United Kingdom VI: Summer Lovin'

[QualityChimp]

Again, totally get it, but it wasn't 100% their Government, so I guess we'll never really know if they were fully in charge what they would have done.

With the current Government and their lies, I'm equally angry at people in general, both happy to vote for and then stick up for them.

The number of people saying "I know what I voted for, I voted for No Deal" when No Deal was actively denied by all involved, including on the pamphlets the Leave party distributed.

I can't believe how badly they handle everything. Literally nothing is done right from lockdown to track & trace, PPE preparation and subsequent desperate acquisition via mates' non-PPE companies, school meals and so on.

How's Brexit going, guys?

Embedded Tweet

[MartyG]

It's not just a case of not thinking political reform is needed, but one of practicality on how you can make that effective. For example, Johnson said "we have an oven ready deal". Many have said that this was about the current Brexit negotiations, yet he could successfully claim he was referring to the transition agreement which was already negotiatied at the time he said the words.

Being able to establish the definition of a lie is difficult in itself as that changes with context - and here you need to be very careful. The falsehoods that politicians utter are often misleading or based on half-truths, but rarely are they outright lies (politicians evented absolute CYA to avoid be able to be nailed down) and often these belief of lies is bypartisan in nature - so what do you make criminally prosecutable?

Making these thing criminal acts outside of what's already available on the statute books, such as the Representation of the People Act or Misconduct in Public office is a non-starter given the likelihood of a law being definiable in such a way that would lead to convictions is extremely slim - or you end up in a situation where prosecutions are brought simply for political reasons. Rather, I think you need to empower the people to have a greater ability to sanction their MPs at a local level - more likely to succeed and more likely to be impactful.

[QualityChimp]

People say that, but if the Tories had to cope with a minority government, couldn't the LDs and Labour have done that anyway?

Replied before you'd seen this, but yeah, they should have done.
Instead they saw a shot at power, but at what cost? They've lost voters for life. It wasn't worth being a coalition Government in the long run.

What are people's thoughts on proportional representation?
There are calls on Labour to bring it in if they get elected, but I don't think they'd bite. They like being second most likely to be in charge.

Side note, I'm getting a bit tired of humanity, tbh. How is the US election so close?
How are racists able to be so open with their opinions?
Why can't people wear a mask whilst interacting with others?

[Asura]

Side note, I'm getting a bit tired of humanity, tbh. How is the US election so close?
How are racists able to be so open with their opinions?

Honestly, while I'm not defending people that will vote for Trump, as they can live with their own conscience on that... Part of the problem in the US comes, as you mention, from a lack of proportional representation.

US politics is dominated by wedge issues. The abortion one is a huge presence. There's just too much of the US that will vote for any party which might move the US towards banning it. They'll literally see the whole world burn to see that happen because their sky god tells them to do so, and they'll burn in hell if they don't.

The way some people have put it on Twitter, I think has been good:

"Voting for Trump doesn't instantly make you a bigot, a sexist, or a xenophobe. But he and many of his cohorts are, and you're saying that's not a deal-breaker for you."

That's the bit I find most depressing.

[saif]

I don't think you should be too harsh on the 2010 Liberal Democrats. They leaders were fairly clear in their tory leanings beforehand as they were all Orange Bookers.
And seeing as the 2015 saw a net movement from the Lib Dems to the Tories, it seems the voters were like that too (net).

The farce around test and trace should, I think, prompt an enquiry with legal proceedings but it won't. There has been clear corruption from the top of the government in how the tenders have been ignored. The sad thing is, once covid happened, there were quite a lot of people that thought of this ruse straight away.

[Neon Ignition]

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/

27,000 cases today so a steady pattern emerging

[teddymeow]

And Boris has taken Christmas out the back and dispatched it with his shotgun.

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/dec/19/covid-tier-4-what-are-the-new-restrictions-for-london-and-south-east-england

Tier 4 created and applied to London and the South East.

Far as Xmas goes the ship has sailed, few will cancel their plans now

[Golgo]

I reckon the government were only holding out for all that sweet, sweet VAT from the last Saturday of Christmas shopping. Wait 'til shops close, then bam!

[Blobcat]

Well, that's all our plans down the toilet. At least we get to spend Christmas together as a couple and we were smart enough to get some frozen Christmas food in advance just in case we couldn't see our parents.

I am now prepping the car tonight to meet my stepdad halfway up the country in the early hours of the morning, something I suggested WEEKS ago, so we can exchange gifts in a car park socially distanced. Poor mum is heartbroken and wants to offload a load of food she now cannot share with her family apart from Christmas Day. She is slightly relieved this is the safest way and we can be together for Christmas as a couple, we are just trying to cling onto some happy straws now.

Poopsicles

[fishbowlhead]

Maybe people just shouldn’t get so worked up over 1 day of the year and not worry about it so much.

[Family Fry]

My wife hasn’t seen her mum, dad and sister for around 7+ months now.
I mean there are other people out there that’s been even longer, the government gave people a glimmer of hope that they would be allowed to visit and spend some time with family and it’s now been taken away. It’s ok to be that person to say oh “I knew it was gonna happen” I’ve said similar myself but I’ve been reminded that there are people out there who will now be spending Christmas alone, it may even be their first Christmas alone, at this time of year it’s the worst feeling to be alone at Christmas.
Nothing wrong with having a little bit of compassion for people who will be disappointed or who’s plans have now had to be cancelled.

[Neon Ignition]

Main perk is I can contextually reuse a thread subtitle but my sis has already pulled the plug on my Mums Xmas plans on hearing this. Our plans aren't changed because my parents always were our bubble but I think more so everyone is bracing themselves less that Xmas plans are cancelled and more that it's increasingly clear that they won't be seeing each other proper till likely Summer 2021. Tier 4 is blatantly Lockdown 03: The Prologue

[Cassius_Smoke]

Well, that's all our plans down the toilet. At least we get to spend Christmas together as a couple and we were smart enough to get some frozen Christmas food in advance just in case we couldn't see our parents.

I am now prepping the car tonight to meet my stepdad halfway up the country in the early hours of the morning, something I suggested WEEKS ago, so we can exchange gifts in a car park socially distanced. Poor mum is heartbroken and wants to offload a load of food she now cannot share with her family apart from Christmas Day. She is slightly relieved this is the safest way and we can be together for Christmas as a couple, we are just trying to cling onto some happy straws now.

Poopsicles

Man this year has been ****e for you two.

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/dec/19/cannabis-users-fail-to-grasp-health-risks-of-smoking-study-says

A study has shown that hundreds of thousands of Cannabis smokers class themselves as non-smokers leading experts to fear that many users fail to understand the health damages caused by using the drug.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/dec/19/brexit-trade-talks-may-continue-after-meps-deadline-says-france

France says trade talks may run beyond the latest Sunday deadline because the country won't be rushed into agreeing a deal.