Speculation is johnonson is waiting to see which way the US election goes. He wants a trump win so he can plough on with a no-deal (sorry, 'Australia style' deal) whereas Biden and his team would not provide an easy trade deal. There's the obvious problem of the Good Friday Agreement and also the general impression that brexit, johnson and trump are all parts of the same right wing populist nonsense. They also haven't forgotten johnson's "part-Kenyan president" comments from 2016 apprently. The guardian has a pretty good rundown from various sources:
Johnson has pretty much excised any Tory with a brain or a spine, so if he came back with anything he'd probably have the votes for it. Chrlorinated chickens, cows on more steroids than Hulk Hogan, 20g of insect mandible per can of beans, whatever: paint it as a victory, claim anyone who doesn't like it is doing Britain down, move on.
The Tories aren't going to say a deal they've negotiated is bad no matter what*. They can't. To do so would be to admit Brexit weakened the country, which they'd rather drive us all off a cliff than do.
EDIT: As Japan points out, they sort of did just that to the withdrawal agreement.
The Tories aren't going to say a deal they've negotiated is bad no matter what. They can't. To do so would be to admit Brexit weakened the country, which they'd rather drive us all off a cliff than do.
They did exactly this with the withdrawal agreement though
In a matter of weeks we went from Johnson being so pleased with himself that he summoned press photographers to snap him signing it, to it being an intolerable imposition that the country can't possibly abide by
It would not be a surprise that some kind of deal is made, BoJo immediately claims it to be the best deal ever struck in the history of mankind, and then as soon as real people see it it gets excoriated. So much so that BoJo turns around and claims that the UK was taken advantage of by all those double-dealing outsiders.
Then he admits on TV that of course the UK is weak. Otherwise they wouldn't have agreed to a deal that started with the words 'Even though the UK government are morons, here goes...' because duh.
I guess, though they angled the unacceptability of that agreement as someone else's fault, somehow. The EU is being intractable and unfair, which is a terrible disappointment to us, so that means we have to break these teensy little laws a tad. All totally normal.
Johnson has pretty much excised any Tory with a brain or a spine, so if he came back with anything he'd probably have the votes for it. Chrlorinated chickens, cows on more steroids than Hulk Hogan, 20g of insect mandible per can of beans, whatever: paint it as a victory, claim anyone who doesn't like it is doing Britain down, move on.
The Tories aren't going to say a deal they've negotiated is bad no matter what. They can't. To do so would be to admit Brexit weakened the country, which they'd rather drive us all off a cliff than do.
On he could push it through the House of Commons, but Johnson has absolutely no ability to sway the US House of Representatives.
fuck gendered marketing
+2
daveNYCWhy universe hate Waspinator?Registered Userregular
Speculation is johnonson is waiting to see which way the US election goes. He wants a trump win so he can plough on with a no-deal (sorry, 'Australia style' deal) whereas Biden and his team would not provide an easy trade deal. There's the obvious problem of the Good Friday Agreement and also the general impression that brexit, johnson and trump are all parts of the same right wing populist nonsense. They also haven't forgotten johnson's "part-Kenyan president" comments from 2016 apprently. The guardian has a pretty good rundown from various sources:
It's a stupid enough plan that it might be true. Even if Trump won, the House of Representatives would still, baring insane levels of electoral shenanigans, be held by the Democrats; and they've made it clear that any trade agreement is dependent on not breaking the Good Friday Accords. And thanks to the internal market even if any trade agreement included language protecting the GFA, there's no reason for the House to trust that it'd actually mean anything. Never mind that I can't think that any agreement with the USA hammered out in the next two months could come close to making up for the havoc that a no-deal with the EU would cause.
BoJo hoping that Trump can save him seems on point for 2020 though.
Shut up, Mr. Burton! You were not brought upon this world to get it!
Surely Biden would negotiate in good faith, where Trump would make us accept chlorinated chicken that has been shat upon in exchange for sending them Heinz Ketchup?
Biden has no reason to do Johnson any favours, and several reasons to press him hard. Putting the Good Friday Agreement in danger is something House Dems will not accept, for instance. Biden can grind Johnson between the desire for a trade agreement and his own weakness to grab a big win for himself.
Biden has no reason not to press the same shitty products on us that Trump would want to. He's not going to turn down the opportunity to grow US markets.
Surely Biden would negotiate in good faith, where Trump would make us accept chlorinated chicken that has been shat upon in exchange for sending them Heinz Ketchup?
Even negotiating in good faith, the things that are worth something to the US are, generally speaking, not those that can be agreed without some significant political cost in the UK
Conversely it isn't obvious what the US could offer in terms of trade concessions that would be worth the price
That's part of the concern around a US trade deal - it's difficult to conceive of a hypothetical trade deal with the US that delivers non-trivial benefits to the UK in the first place, and any trade deal with the US is going to mean at least sacrificing current standards to align with lower standards in a number of areas, and potentially giving up politically sensitive industry and public sector safeguards
0
daveNYCWhy universe hate Waspinator?Registered Userregular
Biden has no reason to do Johnson any favours, and several reasons to press him hard. Putting the Good Friday Agreement in danger is something House Dems will not accept, for instance. Biden can grind Johnson between the desire for a trade agreement and his own weakness to grab a big win for himself.
Biden has no reason not to press the same shitty products on us that Trump would want to. He's not going to turn down the opportunity to grow US markets.
Biden has also put out statements in very strong support of the GFA in all of this, so that'd increase the pressure on Boris on that front. Not that I know what that would actually result in since the government's position has varied from breaking international law to create an internal border that might well break up the UK.
Only upside to Biden on a trade deal for the UK is that he might not push for whatever NHS breaking items that Trump would.
Shut up, Mr. Burton! You were not brought upon this world to get it!
Isn't biden publicly against the Medicare for all idea in the US? I really wouldn't expect him to give a damn about NHS protections, particularly at the expense of us companies.
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daveNYCWhy universe hate Waspinator?Registered Userregular
Isn't biden publicly against the Medicare for all idea in the US? I really wouldn't expect him to give a damn about NHS protections, particularly at the expense of us companies.
He's not the most progressive guy out there, sure. It's more that Trump and his team would go into negotiations with busting open the NHS market as a major goal. Not just for the business opportunities there, they're the sort who would wreck the NHS just on principle. Biden... I'm not saying he'd have his team work to protect the NHS or anything, just that he probably wouldn't roll in demanding that the whole thing be shut down and sold off to Kaiser or whatever. Boris would probably off it up on a silver platter, but it's not quite as automatic.
Shut up, Mr. Burton! You were not brought upon this world to get it!
There are plenty of US trade negotiating objectives that would negatively impact the NHS without necessarily being directly anti-NHS
Mandatory open commissioning and prohibiting reference pricing and collective purchasing for drugs are probably the two biggest
Drug pricing is a massive deal for the US pharma industry, and the UK's purchasing approach makes the NHS one of the few major purchasers worldwide that can go toe to toe with the pharma companies
The thing about it is that it's easy to spin doing away with collective purchasing as a good thing, because it's the thing that occasionally generates headlines when the NHS won't fund some wildly expensive and/or questionably effective treatments in particular cases
+5
BethrynUnhappiness is MandatoryRegistered Userregular
Apparently a group of conservative MPs intend to form some sort of group equivalent to the ERG, except for 'business interests during covid', essentially to act 'as a counterweight' (Telegraph's words) to SAGE etc.
That's honestly some of the politest graffiti I've seen, unless some of it's already been painted over.
Can they prove that Gary Sambrook does not, in fact, eat big dinners?
The way it's laid out, Scum might be the author's name and they're just signing their work, like Banksy.
Nobody remembers the singer. The song remains.
+4
FencingsaxIt is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understandingGNU Terry PratchettRegistered Userregular
You're missing the point. What the message says is irrelevant the point is Sambrook is letting you know that he and all our other much maligned right wing MPs are the real victims here not the starving children.
That's honestly some of the politest graffiti I've seen, unless some of it's already been painted over.
Can they prove that Gary Sambrook does not, in fact, eat big dinners?
The way it's laid out, Scum might be the author's name and they're just signing their work, like Banksy.
You have clearly not seen protests in Cambridge against upmarket housing developments
Tastyfish on
+14
FencingsaxIt is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understandingGNU Terry PratchettRegistered Userregular
Gleefully mowing down cyclists is like the third favourite columnist fantasy of the right wing press. This could be an eight dimensional chess move to get them on side!
The bakers used a lot of soya sauce in the first challenge on #GBBO, so it's a good thing it will be made cheaper thanks to our trade deal with Japan 🇯🇵
They have met with a couple of objections:
[1] It's soy sauce, not soya sauce
[2] Japanese soy sauce is already imported with a 0% tariff thanks to existing EU trade deals
[3] Most of our soy sauce is made in the EU, so it's going to get more expensive
Just in case people were thinking that things were going well in Westminster
The deaths of two children and two adults after a migrant boat sank off the coast of northern France should serve as a "wake-up call" to those in power, charities have said.
Fifteen others were taken to hospital but the French authorities believe at least one more could be lost at sea.
Does anyone think this will be taken by those in power as anything but a sign that things are working correctly?
Boris has said his thoughts were with the victims' loved ones. Not prayers though, so that's even less than usual.
The bakers used a lot of soya sauce in the first challenge on #GBBO, so it's a good thing it will be made cheaper thanks to our trade deal with Japan 🇯🇵
They have met with a couple of objections:
[1] It's soy sauce, not soya sauce
[2] Japanese soy sauce is already imported with a 0% tariff thanks to existing EU trade deals
[3] Most of our soy sauce is made in the EU, so it's going to get more expensive
Just in case people were thinking that things were going well in Westminster
While the rest is true. Soya sauce is an acceptable British English spelling and pronunciation (that I happen to use)
In this moment, I am euphoric. Not because of any phony god’s blessing. But because, I am enlightened by my intelligence.
The same Twitter account is pointing out that, under WTO rules, the tariff on soy sauce is 6%.
However, given that we are not currently trading under WTO terms (and hopefully will not be in 2021, despite the fervent wishes of people even more economically illiterate than I), they have failed to prove that soy sauce will be cheaper thanks to the trade deal with Japan.
Would that there were consequences for a lie coming directly from a government body.
Posts
edit: I was unclear, I meant the US House that's Dem-controlled and extremely pro-GFA, not the spine-lacking Commons.
The Tories aren't going to say a deal they've negotiated is bad no matter what*. They can't. To do so would be to admit Brexit weakened the country, which they'd rather drive us all off a cliff than do.
EDIT: As Japan points out, they sort of did just that to the withdrawal agreement.
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
They did exactly this with the withdrawal agreement though
In a matter of weeks we went from Johnson being so pleased with himself that he summoned press photographers to snap him signing it, to it being an intolerable imposition that the country can't possibly abide by
Then he admits on TV that of course the UK is weak. Otherwise they wouldn't have agreed to a deal that started with the words 'Even though the UK government are morons, here goes...' because duh.
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
On he could push it through the House of Commons, but Johnson has absolutely no ability to sway the US House of Representatives.
It's a stupid enough plan that it might be true. Even if Trump won, the House of Representatives would still, baring insane levels of electoral shenanigans, be held by the Democrats; and they've made it clear that any trade agreement is dependent on not breaking the Good Friday Accords. And thanks to the internal market even if any trade agreement included language protecting the GFA, there's no reason for the House to trust that it'd actually mean anything. Never mind that I can't think that any agreement with the USA hammered out in the next two months could come close to making up for the havoc that a no-deal with the EU would cause.
BoJo hoping that Trump can save him seems on point for 2020 though.
Biden has no reason not to press the same shitty products on us that Trump would want to. He's not going to turn down the opportunity to grow US markets.
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
Even negotiating in good faith, the things that are worth something to the US are, generally speaking, not those that can be agreed without some significant political cost in the UK
Conversely it isn't obvious what the US could offer in terms of trade concessions that would be worth the price
That's part of the concern around a US trade deal - it's difficult to conceive of a hypothetical trade deal with the US that delivers non-trivial benefits to the UK in the first place, and any trade deal with the US is going to mean at least sacrificing current standards to align with lower standards in a number of areas, and potentially giving up politically sensitive industry and public sector safeguards
Biden has also put out statements in very strong support of the GFA in all of this, so that'd increase the pressure on Boris on that front. Not that I know what that would actually result in since the government's position has varied from breaking international law to create an internal border that might well break up the UK.
Only upside to Biden on a trade deal for the UK is that he might not push for whatever NHS breaking items that Trump would.
He's not the most progressive guy out there, sure. It's more that Trump and his team would go into negotiations with busting open the NHS market as a major goal. Not just for the business opportunities there, they're the sort who would wreck the NHS just on principle. Biden... I'm not saying he'd have his team work to protect the NHS or anything, just that he probably wouldn't roll in demanding that the whole thing be shut down and sold off to Kaiser or whatever. Boris would probably off it up on a silver platter, but it's not quite as automatic.
Mandatory open commissioning and prohibiting reference pricing and collective purchasing for drugs are probably the two biggest
Drug pricing is a massive deal for the US pharma industry, and the UK's purchasing approach makes the NHS one of the few major purchasers worldwide that can go toe to toe with the pharma companies
The thing about it is that it's easy to spin doing away with collective purchasing as a good thing, because it's the thing that occasionally generates headlines when the NHS won't fund some wildly expensive and/or questionably effective treatments in particular cases
...
(MP for Birmingham Northfield)
EVERYBODY WANTS TO SIT IN THE BIG CHAIR, MEG!
Steam | XBL
Can they prove that Gary Sambrook does not, in fact, eat big dinners?
The way it's laid out, Scum might be the author's name and they're just signing their work, like Banksy.
You have clearly not seen protests in Cambridge against upmarket housing developments
Battlenet ID: MildC#11186 - If I'm in the game, send me an invite at anytime and I'll play.
He's just been picked up by German police and is already being extradited back to us.
Good job we're getting rid of it! Bloody foreigners arresting our criminals....
I'm pretty sure Captain Planet villains, unlike the Tories, would actually want to feed starving children.
Alright, so that they could cause an obesity problem and then sell them some kind of training program, but they'd probably still feed them.
Maybe this will be what gets Jeremy Clarkson on to Labour's side.
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
And thus we have the front pages of the rags for the next 4 years or more.
Anyway I hope he wasn't at fault.
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
They have met with a couple of objections:
[1] It's soy sauce, not soya sauce
[2] Japanese soy sauce is already imported with a 0% tariff thanks to existing EU trade deals
[3] Most of our soy sauce is made in the EU, so it's going to get more expensive
Just in case people were thinking that things were going well in Westminster
Boris has said his thoughts were with the victims' loved ones. Not prayers though, so that's even less than usual.
While the rest is true. Soya sauce is an acceptable British English spelling and pronunciation (that I happen to use)
However, given that we are not currently trading under WTO terms (and hopefully will not be in 2021, despite the fervent wishes of people even more economically illiterate than I), they have failed to prove that soy sauce will be cheaper thanks to the trade deal with Japan.
Would that there were consequences for a lie coming directly from a government body.