In todays news...

[Cousin Jack]

Being serious about devolution, let them have a vote. They can pay for it from the money they already receive, and if they do get a majority and wish to leave then they should be allowed to do so. They will then have to sort out a currency, and lots of stuff like that. They could use the £ (some small countries use the US$) but they get no say in how it is managed. If required we can move Defence stuff like Faslane back to England, but that will do their economy no good at all.
If they want to rejoin the EU I suppose they might be allowed to, but then THEY would have to put in a 'hard' border to stop the nasty English goods getting into the pure EU shops without restrictions.
Quite honestly it would be a nightmare, almost as unrealistic as Cornwall becoming truly independent!

[Noggin]

What’s the point in fighting about it? They can just vote whatever way they want, or not vote.

You don't know friends/family that fell out over the Brexit vote??

Nope.

Lucky you. I've had friends stop talking to me and some of my family are barely speaking to each other due to having differing views. Weird to me, but hey - some people are like that

[Ant]

Yep, there are some real fascists out there who can't comprehend that we all have different views, hence the right to vote. Democracy works for them if, they get their own way and when they could have their democratic vote. As soon as that vote was found to be the minority, they then have a problem with the democratic process in which they were perfectly happy to vote in. The remain camp really let themselves down with the hate and fascism they displayed towards those who didn't do exactly as they wanted other people to do, ditching friends and family who didn't succumb to the coercive control of those who can't stand a free democracy.

[Count Steer]

I'm doing well today.

On one thread my generation are all rapists and now I'm a fascist. Just need racist for the hat trick.

Is it International Completely Overstate Your Case Day?

[DefTrap]

I wonder how the Brexit lot turned their minority into a majority? Was it through shouty, fascist, coercive, hatred I wonder? :p
It really puts your head in a spin this democracy malarkey.

[cheb]

I'm doing well today.

On one thread my generation are all rapists and now I'm a fascist. Just need racist for the hat trick.

Is it International Completely Overstate Your Case Day?

Calm down fella, you're being hysterical.

[irie]

Elon Musk tweeted that "the bird is freed" after completing his acquisition of the platform.

Shortly afterwards, European commissioner Thierry Breton issued a curt reminder of the EU's content-moderation laws, saying: "In Europe, the bird will fly by our rules."

So Musk closed down the Brussels Twitter office.

[JackyJoll]

I don’t want Scotch independence, but people who do want it should vote for it. That’s what voting is for!

[cheb]

I love the vagueness of 'The next election will be a de facto referendum.' Any chance on some guidance about how we should interpret the results before the election, or will that have to wait until we got some figures to twist about?

[irie]

I love the vagueness of 'The next election will be a de facto referendum.' Any chance on some guidance about how we should interpret the results before the election, or will that have to wait until we got some figures to twist about?

I predict that whatever the numerical result it will be a triumph for the Wee Krankie.

[JackyJoll]

I love the vagueness of 'The next election will be a de facto referendum.' Any chance on some guidance about how we should interpret the results before the election, or will that have to wait until we got some figures to twist about?

The last one gave a de facto casting vote to the Greens, who won no constituency seats (so far as I can see on the Wikipedia map).

[irie]

Germany no longer in denial? Why now?

Puzzling, deeply puzzling.

Not.

https://www.euronews.com/2022/11/25/hol ... -a-genocid

Holodomor: Germany to call famine that killed millions of Ukrainians in the 1930s a 'genocide'

Germany will recognise the 1930s famine in Soviet Ukraine under Joseph Stalin as a "genocide", according to a draft resolution unveiled on Friday.

Between 1932 and 1933, some 3.5 million Ukrainians died in a man-made famine known as the Holodomor, meaning "extermination by starvation" in Ukrainian.

[demographic]

So the PPE procurement scandal is warming up slightly.
Where the government ignored existing UK PPE companies who promised to prioritise the NHS in favour of spivs who set up new companies and provided inadequate PPE and overcharged us all for it.
Wasting money and more importantly, costing lives.

More about it here.
https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics ... e-profits/

[Mussels]

Germany no longer in denial? Why now?

Puzzling, deeply puzzling.

Not.

https://www.euronews.com/2022/11/25/hol ... -a-genocid

Holodomor: Germany to call famine that killed millions of Ukrainians in the 1930s a 'genocide'

Germany will recognise the 1930s famine in Soviet Ukraine under Joseph Stalin as a "genocide", according to a draft resolution unveiled on Friday.

Between 1932 and 1933, some 3.5 million Ukrainians died in a man-made famine known as the Holodomor, meaning "extermination by starvation" in Ukrainian.

It's a technicality, the concept of genocide didn't exist until after that happened so the argument is it can't be applied retrospectively. The UK still hasn't classified it as such but agree it happened.
There's also a debate about whether it was intentional or not.

[Count Steer]

So the PPE procurement scandal is warming up slightly.
Where the government ignored existing UK PPE companies who promised to prioritise the NHS in favour of spivs who set up new companies and provided inadequate PPE and overcharged us all for it.
Wasting money and more importantly, costing lives.

More about it here.
https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics ... e-profits/

Not to mention the ongoing storage costs (including penalty charges on shipping containers that can't be returned) for hundreds of tons of surplus/not fit for purpose stuff. There doesn't appear to be 'VIP lane' for dodgy disposal contracts of mountains of plastic.

[demographic]

So the PPE procurement scandal is warming up slightly.
Where the government ignored existing UK PPE companies who promised to prioritise the NHS in favour of spivs who set up new companies and provided inadequate PPE and overcharged us all for it.
Wasting money and more importantly, costing lives.

More about it here.
https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics ... e-profits/

Not to mention the ongoing storage costs (including penalty charges on shipping containers that can't be returned) for hundreds of tons of surplus/not fit for purpose stuff. There doesn't appear to be 'VIP lane' for dodgy disposal contracts of mountains of plastic.

Aye, to my uneducated eyes it would seem that some of it was criminal activity and Lady Mone seem to have been recieving backhanders for helping supply inadequate kit

It costing a fortune to store is just taking the piss.

[Horse]

So the PPE procurement scandal is warming up slightly.

I do work for government. The hoops and hurdles we have to go through, including providing relevant experience in delivering what is required, then justifying what we will charge (within a maximum vmbudget that they decide for us) ...

[irie]

Germany no longer in denial? Why now?

Puzzling, deeply puzzling.

Not.

https://www.euronews.com/2022/11/25/hol ... -a-genocid

Holodomor: Germany to call famine that killed millions of Ukrainians in the 1930s a 'genocide'

Germany will recognise the 1930s famine in Soviet Ukraine under Joseph Stalin as a "genocide", according to a draft resolution unveiled on Friday.

Between 1932 and 1933, some 3.5 million Ukrainians died in a man-made famine known as the Holodomor, meaning "extermination by starvation" in Ukrainian.

It's a technicality, the concept of genocide didn't exist until after that happened so the argument is it can't be applied retrospectively. The UK still hasn't classified it as such but agree it happened.
There's also a debate about whether it was intentional or not.

Some technicality.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodom ... %20Romania.

Sovereign states to have recognized Holodomor as genocide[9][10] include Argentina, Australia, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Moldova[11], Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Ukraine, the Holy See in Vatican City[12] and Romania.

https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/act ... r%E2%80%9D)%20Memorial%20Day%E2%80%9D.

Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (“holodomor”) Memorial Day
Marginal note:Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (“Holodomor”) Memorial Day

2 Throughout Canada, in each and every year, the fourth Saturday in November shall be known as “Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (“Holodomor”) Memorial Day”.

[demographic]

So the PPE procurement scandal is warming up slightly.

I do work for government. The hoops and hurdles we have to go through, including providing relevant experience in delivering what is required, then justifying what we will charge (within a maximum vmbudget that they decide for us) ...

Just give Mone and Gove a bung and it'll be sorted in no time.

[Potter]

So the PPE procurement scandal is warming up slightly.
Where the government ignored existing UK PPE companies who promised to prioritise the NHS in favour of spivs who set up new companies and provided inadequate PPE and overcharged us all for it.
Wasting money and more importantly, costing lives.

More about it here.
https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics ... e-profits/

Not to mention the ongoing storage costs (including penalty charges on shipping containers that can't be returned) for hundreds of tons of surplus/not fit for purpose stuff. There doesn't appear to be 'VIP lane' for dodgy disposal contracts of mountains of plastic.

Aye, to my uneducated eyes it would seem that some of it was criminal activity and Lady Mone seem to have been recieving backhanders for helping supply inadequate kit

It costing a fortune to store is just taking the piss.

I'm normally sympathetic to the challenges of big procurement, it's fraught with pitfalls that honest people can fall into, but based on what I've read on this then I think jail sentences might be appropriate, the corruption in government needs to be hit hard because it's utterly taking the piss now.