The threat to Starmer’s – and to any successor’s – dreams of office comes from failing to win back Scotland. So long as Scots insist on returning regiments of nationalist MPs to Westminster, Starmer will be forced at the next election to explain whether he will contemplate coming to some sort of post-election arrangement whereby the SNP agree to maintain a minority Labour government in office. It’s not a question on which he can prevaricate: everyone watching the TV news will know that a simple yes or no answer is within his grasp. If the answer is no, how will he form a government? If it’s yes, what will he give the SNP in return?
A Sindy referendum after 5 years.Nobody thinks they can be denied another try forever, and not that many people really care. Evem quite a few Tories fancy getting rid of the anti-Tory Scots. It's not as though many people expect them to win, with oil a busted flush.
The Nats will lose again. Heart of stone etc.
But since you lot have the heart of a chicken, you'll put every obstacle possible in the way of a referendum you think you'll win. Odd.
You're like the IRA. You only need to be lucky once, unionists need to be lucky every time.
(Though Remainers in Parliament tried to disprove that maxim)
This week we have seen the EU and ECJ take on Germany's consitutional court, serve UK notice re freedom of movement, threaten the UK over a bi lateral deal with France, and now seeking to stop the agreement reached with Baltic Countries to act in their own bubble allowing movement to each other
And on top of that show no awareness of the car crash that is a no deal
How can anyone defend this institution
Covid has thrown all it's structures into disarray
BT emailed me to announce live coverage of all this weekends Bundesliga games
It will be interesting to see how surreal it is and also if fans congregate around the grounds despite appeals not to
And live football of sorts back on tv
I assume leagues across Europe will be watching with great interest, not the football but the reactions and consequences
Watching the human cock fighting last weekend, sport with no crowd is just weird.
You don't strike me as a UFC aficionado.
No pun intended.
You wont catch me staying in a travel lodge or a motel6 (if you are from the US), but am actually really into watching these tattooed trailer park trash knocking seven bells out of one another.
In all seriousness, MMA is now high technically and skilled pursuit, while being a lot more exciting than average boxing match.
Bishop's Stortford is in Hertfordshire, of course - though if you go back far enough I believe that we used to be part of the Kingdom of Essex. As was the City of London.
The threat to Starmer’s – and to any successor’s – dreams of office comes from failing to win back Scotland. So long as Scots insist on returning regiments of nationalist MPs to Westminster, Starmer will be forced at the next election to explain whether he will contemplate coming to some sort of post-election arrangement whereby the SNP agree to maintain a minority Labour government in office. It’s not a question on which he can prevaricate: everyone watching the TV news will know that a simple yes or no answer is within his grasp. If the answer is no, how will he form a government? If it’s yes, what will he give the SNP in return?
If Labour reaches 40% in GB polls, there is a good prospect of polling 30% in Scotland - at which point many SNP seats would become vulnerable. Were Starmer to develop serious momentum and become seen as a likely PM in 2024, I expect there will be a significant impact in Scotland.
Its like France, beautiful country shame its full of French people (i am joking).
I've seen three episodes of TOWIE, you can understand my wariness about Essex, about 30 years ago I spent a lovely weekend in Southend, I still have a momento.
This week we have seen the EU and ECJ take on Germany's consitutional court, serve UK notice re freedom of movement, threaten the UK over a bi lateral deal with France, and now seeking to stop the agreement reached with Baltic Countries to act in their own bubble allowing movement to each other
And on top of that show no awareness of the car crash that is a no deal
How can anyone defend this institution
Covid has thrown all it's structures into disarray
It's become a culture wars/identity thing.
There are too many people in this country for whom the EU can either do no wrong or do no right.
Bishop's Stortford is in Hertfordshire, of course - though if you go back far enough I believe that we used to be part of the Kingdom of Essex. As was the City of London.
Interesting point. Many of the villages around there are in Herts but have Essex postcodes. Go figure.
The threat to Starmer’s – and to any successor’s – dreams of office comes from failing to win back Scotland. So long as Scots insist on returning regiments of nationalist MPs to Westminster, Starmer will be forced at the next election to explain whether he will contemplate coming to some sort of post-election arrangement whereby the SNP agree to maintain a minority Labour government in office. It’s not a question on which he can prevaricate: everyone watching the TV news will know that a simple yes or no answer is within his grasp. If the answer is no, how will he form a government? If it’s yes, what will he give the SNP in return?
If Labour reaches 40% in GB polls, there is a good prospect of polling 30% in Scotland - at which point many SNP seats would become vulnerable. Were Starmer to develop serious momentum and become seen as a likely PM in 2024, I expect there will be a significant impact in Scotland.
BT emailed me to announce live coverage of all this weekends Bundesliga games
It will be interesting to see how surreal it is and also if fans congregate around the grounds despite appeals not to
And live football of sorts back on tv
I assume leagues across Europe will be watching with great interest, not the football but the reactions and consequences
Watching the human cock fighting last weekend, sport with no crowd is just weird.
You don't strike me as a UFC aficionado.
No pun intended.
You wont catch me staying in a travel lodge or a motel6 (if you are from the US), but am actually really into watching these tattooed trailer park trash knocking seven bells out of one another.
In all seriousness, MMA is now high technically and skilled pursuit, while being a lot more exciting than average boxing match.
Not quite. I don't mind MMA but it's pretty agricultural. Never was a BJJ fan, that said.
Bishop's Stortford is in Hertfordshire, of course - though if you go back far enough I believe that we used to be part of the Kingdom of Essex. As was the City of London.
Interesting point. Many of the villages around there are in Herts but have Essex postcodes. Go figure.
"Post Counties" haven't been officially in use since 1996.
The threat to Starmer’s – and to any successor’s – dreams of office comes from failing to win back Scotland. So long as Scots insist on returning regiments of nationalist MPs to Westminster, Starmer will be forced at the next election to explain whether he will contemplate coming to some sort of post-election arrangement whereby the SNP agree to maintain a minority Labour government in office. It’s not a question on which he can prevaricate: everyone watching the TV news will know that a simple yes or no answer is within his grasp. If the answer is no, how will he form a government? If it’s yes, what will he give the SNP in return?
If Labour reaches 40% in GB polls, there is a good prospect of polling 30% in Scotland - at which point many SNP seats would become vulnerable. Were Starmer to develop serious momentum and become seen as a likely PM in 2024, I expect there will be a significant impact in Scotland.
Er naw.
Labour polled over 27% there in 2017 under Corbyn. Starmer should do better.
Apparently the UK is part funding 24 different vaccine approaches.
Hopefully it'll mean we're at or near the top of the queue for one of them should one come good.
Well if the PC police have their way we will be back of the queue...too white, too rich, too male...
The big thing the government got right , got lucky is already well on the ay to building this vaccine production facility and government pushed the fast forward button on getting it built 2 years early.
The threat to Starmer’s – and to any successor’s – dreams of office comes from failing to win back Scotland. So long as Scots insist on returning regiments of nationalist MPs to Westminster, Starmer will be forced at the next election to explain whether he will contemplate coming to some sort of post-election arrangement whereby the SNP agree to maintain a minority Labour government in office. It’s not a question on which he can prevaricate: everyone watching the TV news will know that a simple yes or no answer is within his grasp. If the answer is no, how will he form a government? If it’s yes, what will he give the SNP in return?
If Labour reaches 40% in GB polls, there is a good prospect of polling 30% in Scotland - at which point many SNP seats would become vulnerable. Were Starmer to develop serious momentum and become seen as a likely PM in 2024, I expect there will be a significant impact in Scotland.
Maybe. OTOH the Sainted Jeremy got to 40% in 2017 and was rewarded with half-a-dozen barely held marginals, all of which he lost again two years down the line.
Besides, when the SNP went a bit backwards the Tories made more gains than Labour did, so the performance was worse than useless from Labour's POV.
Its like France, beautiful country shame its full of French people (i am joking).
I am glad you owned up to a rather crude and offensive joke. It's not that beautiful.
You are either a complete crank or you have barely visited France.
Actually, don’t bother responding. I already know which it is!
I lived in Nice for three months.
I hope you liked the old town - and also took the opportunity to visit the plethora of other gems that contribute to its being the world’s most popular country for visitors.
BoJo was NOT seventeen and a half stone (!) before the virus He's only 5 ft 8 inches tall. If he had weighed that much he would have looked like Mr Creosote.
Is he spinning yet another self-serving yarn?
Agreed. No way he/is was that heavy. He’s very portly but that’s absurd.
Having met Bozza, I’d put him as 5-8 and about 14-7.
Fat, certainly.
Creosote, nope.
I can't see any possible motive for lying about it though.
Pure anecdata, but more of my friends have been discussing health and exercise recently and I've learned either I'm a rubbish judge of weight (very possible) or it's surprisingly hard to judge weight. The visual difference between modestly overweight and 5 stone heavier isn't that obvious, to me at least.
Bishop's Stortford is in Hertfordshire, of course - though if you go back far enough I believe that we used to be part of the Kingdom of Essex. As was the City of London.
Really? I though a London was always Mercian not East Anglian ?
Its like France, beautiful country shame its full of French people (i am joking).
I am glad you owned up to a rather crude and offensive joke. It's not that beautiful.
You are either a complete crank or you have barely visited France.
Actually, don’t bother responding. I already know which it is!
I lived in Nice for three months.
I hope you liked the old town - and also took the opportunity to visit the plethora of other gems that contribute to its being the world’s most popular country for visitors.
Bishop's Stortford is in Hertfordshire, of course - though if you go back far enough I believe that we used to be part of the Kingdom of Essex. As was the City of London.
Interesting point. Many of the villages around there are in Herts but have Essex postcodes. Go figure.
CM (for Chelmsford) I presume? Postal areas cross county and even national boundaries across most of the map.
This week we have seen the EU and ECJ take on Germany's consitutional court, serve UK notice re freedom of movement, threaten the UK over a bi lateral deal with France, and now seeking to stop the agreement reached with Baltic Countries to act in their own bubble allowing movement to each other
And on top of that show no awareness of the car crash that is a no deal
How can anyone defend this institution
Covid has thrown all it's structures into disarray
It's become a culture wars/identity thing.
There are too many people in this country for whom the EU can either do no wrong or do no right.
I think there are a fair few who couldn’t give a toss anymore. The covid lockdown is the only game in town nowadays.
In New Jersey, Clinton beat Trump by 14 in 2016 but Biden leads by 23. In Ohio, Trump won by 8 but is now up by only 3.
In Texas, Trump won by 9 and is now up by 6 while in North Carolina Trump won by four and now leads by three.
In Florida Trump won by one last time and now trails by six so we can deduce there's a 2.5-3% swing away from Trump out there.
Better news from California where Trump lost by 30 and is still only 30 behind Biden so he's doing all right.
Biden must be odds on to win the popular vote. The biased Electoral College is another matter.
Market certainly agrees, 67% chance Biden wins the vote but just over 40% he's next President. I must admit, a 25% chance of a vote/EC split seems a bit high to me (albeit not massively). I wonder if the prospect of Trump winning the vote too is underrated. Even with the midwest and so on giving a GOP EC advantage there's a fairly small target zone for a split taking place. Remember Clinton won the vote by 2.1% and she was very close in enough swing states to win the EC. 2.5% was probably the limit before she'd have been near certain to win the EC, I'm not convinced Biden has a limit any higher. If anything he may be a bit better in the Midwest so the vote/EC split may stop at lower.
The threat to Starmer’s – and to any successor’s – dreams of office comes from failing to win back Scotland. So long as Scots insist on returning regiments of nationalist MPs to Westminster, Starmer will be forced at the next election to explain whether he will contemplate coming to some sort of post-election arrangement whereby the SNP agree to maintain a minority Labour government in office. It’s not a question on which he can prevaricate: everyone watching the TV news will know that a simple yes or no answer is within his grasp. If the answer is no, how will he form a government? If it’s yes, what will he give the SNP in return?
If Labour reaches 40% in GB polls, there is a good prospect of polling 30% in Scotland - at which point many SNP seats would become vulnerable. Were Starmer to develop serious momentum and become seen as a likely PM in 2024, I expect there will be a significant impact in Scotland.
Maybe. OTOH the Sainted Jeremy got to 40% in 2017 and was rewarded with half-a-dozen barely held marginals, all of which he lost again two years down the line.
Besides, when the SNP went a bit backwards the Tories made more gains than Labour did, so the performance was worse than useless from Labour's POV.
In 2017, Labour's surge in Scotland seemed to happen very late and appeared to take almost everybody by surprise. Even I only suggested the possibility of 4 or 5 seats rather than the 7 Labour ended up with.I also suspect that many pro-Union Labour voters misdirected themselves by voting Tory and effectively denied Labour a few seats which otherwise would have been won. However, if Starmer is perceived to be a serious challenger over an extended period long before the election, I would anticipate a psychological impact to Labour's benefit. Labour could reasonably aim for 20 seats there next time.
This week we have seen the EU and ECJ take on Germany's consitutional court, serve UK notice re freedom of movement, threaten the UK over a bi lateral deal with France, and now seeking to stop the agreement reached with Baltic Countries to act in their own bubble allowing movement to each other
And on top of that show no awareness of the car crash that is a no deal
How can anyone defend this institution
Covid has thrown all it's structures into disarray
It's become a culture wars/identity thing.
There are too many people in this country for whom the EU can either do no wrong or do no right.
I think there are a fair few who couldn’t give a toss anymore. The covid lockdown is the only game in town nowadays.
"This week we have seen the EU and ECJ take on Germany's constitutional court"
Bishop's Stortford is in Hertfordshire, of course - though if you go back far enough I believe that we used to be part of the Kingdom of Essex. As was the City of London.
Really? I though a London was always Mercian not East Anglian ?
No, it was Essex until the end of the seventh century, which stretched to St Alban’s. It was recaptured by the Danish East Anglians in the late eighth century. It was finally conquered and held by Aelfred and Aethelred after the Battle of Benfleet, whereupon it became officially part of Mercia but governed on its behalf by Wessex.
This week we have seen the EU and ECJ take on Germany's consitutional court, serve UK notice re freedom of movement, threaten the UK over a bi lateral deal with France, and now seeking to stop the agreement reached with Baltic Countries to act in their own bubble allowing movement to each other
And on top of that show no awareness of the car crash that is a no deal
How can anyone defend this institution
Covid has thrown all it's structures into disarray
It's become a culture wars/identity thing.
There are too many people in this country for whom the EU can either do no wrong or do no right.
I think there are a fair few who couldn’t give a toss anymore. The covid lockdown is the only game in town nowadays.
"This week we have seen the EU and ECJ take on Germany's constitutional court"
This week we have seen the EU and ECJ take on Germany's consitutional court, serve UK notice re freedom of movement, threaten the UK over a bi lateral deal with France, and now seeking to stop the agreement reached with Baltic Countries to act in their own bubble allowing movement to each other
And on top of that show no awareness of the car crash that is a no deal
How can anyone defend this institution
Covid has thrown all it's structures into disarray
That is one view.
A different view is that the above shows how crucial it is to have such institutions to do do these things, because that is the only way to balance the pursuit of common purpose against the conflicts of interests of different, sovereign nation states.
Bishop's Stortford is in Hertfordshire, of course - though if you go back far enough I believe that we used to be part of the Kingdom of Essex. As was the City of London.
Really? I though a London was always Mercian not East Anglian ?
Several kingdoms played pass the parcel with London during the Anglo-Saxon period. Broadly speaking, it started in Essex, then got nicked by the Mercians, and finally - after some nastiness with the Danes - it ended up in Wessex.
Essex itself was eventually overrun and passed back and forth between the Danes and Wessex a couple of times.
This week we have seen the EU and ECJ take on Germany's consitutional court, serve UK notice re freedom of movement, threaten the UK over a bi lateral deal with France, and now seeking to stop the agreement reached with Baltic Countries to act in their own bubble allowing movement to each other
And on top of that show no awareness of the car crash that is a no deal
How can anyone defend this institution
Covid has thrown all it's structures into disarray
It's become a culture wars/identity thing.
There are too many people in this country for whom the EU can either do no wrong or do no right.
I think there are a fair few who couldn’t give a toss anymore. The covid lockdown is the only game in town nowadays.
"This week we have seen the EU and ECJ take on Germany's constitutional court"
That article's behind the paywall so I can't read it but the Germans and their courts have been entirely consistent on this matter. Its the ECJ and ECB that are trying to go back on what the Treaties of the European Union actually say and the Germans agreed to in Maastricht.
If expecting others to live up to what they agreed to rather than what they think is right later is "selfish" and "unduly legalistic" then maybe don't share sovereignty with them.
Though the Germans are discovering, like we did, that what an agreement says and what the EU wants it to mean later down the line may not be the same thing. If the Germans want their court to be relevant and not overruled by the ECJ there's only one way to do that - otherwise they're going to have to go along with whatever the others decide without them if need be.
Maybe the full article has some evidence, but the bit of article under the headline just states 15m people are estimated to be about to drive this weekend. Anyone know where that comes from?
Who am I kidding. They're probably quoting someone with no expertise in the area.
This week we have seen the EU and ECJ take on Germany's consitutional court, serve UK notice re freedom of movement, threaten the UK over a bi lateral deal with France, and now seeking to stop the agreement reached with Baltic Countries to act in their own bubble allowing movement to each other
And on top of that show no awareness of the car crash that is a no deal
How can anyone defend this institution
Covid has thrown all it's structures into disarray
That is one view.
A different view is that the above shows how crucial it is to have such institutions to do do these things, because that is the only way to balance the pursuit of common purpose against the conflicts of interests of different, sovereign nation states.
That is the EU view but not that of countries responsible to their electorate
Maybe the full article has some evidence, but the bit of article under the headline just states 15m people are estimated to be about to drive this weekend. Anyone know where that comes from?
Who am I kidding. They're probably quoting someone with no expertise in the area.
They need to get back on the weather, which is turning into a full blown drought in my end of things.
Maybe the full article has some evidence, but the bit of article under the headline just states 15m people are estimated to be about to drive this weekend. Anyone know where that comes from?
Who am I kidding. They're probably quoting someone with no expertise in the area.
It was Diana’s ghost, of course. Particular alarm was expressed at the numbers who will be going through tunnels...
Hospital staff are treating just over 9,000 patients a day in England – down from 19,000 a few weeks ago. Admissions are now falling by around 2,000 a week.
Bishop's Stortford is in Hertfordshire, of course - though if you go back far enough I believe that we used to be part of the Kingdom of Essex. As was the City of London.
Interesting point. Many of the villages around there are in Herts but have Essex postcodes. Go figure.
CM (for Chelmsford) I presume? Postal areas cross county and even national boundaries across most of the map.
"Post Counties" haven't been officially in use since 1996.
Maybe the full article has some evidence, but the bit of article under the headline just states 15m people are estimated to be about to drive this weekend. Anyone know where that comes from?
Who am I kidding. They're probably quoting someone with no expertise in the area.
Weather and travel expert Piers Corbyn told the Daily Express...
"A respected medical journal that has published trusted scientific research since the 1800s has taken the unprecedented step of telling Americans not to vote for Donald Trump in the upcoming election."
Maybe the full article has some evidence, but the bit of article under the headline just states 15m people are estimated to be about to drive this weekend. Anyone know where that comes from?
Who am I kidding. They're probably quoting someone with no expertise in the area.
They need to get back on the weather, which is turning into a full blown drought in my end of things.
Yes, I started a herb garden out of boredom and it's more work than I'd hoped.
This week we have seen the EU and ECJ take on Germany's consitutional court, serve UK notice re freedom of movement, threaten the UK over a bi lateral deal with France, and now seeking to stop the agreement reached with Baltic Countries to act in their own bubble allowing movement to each other
And on top of that show no awareness of the car crash that is a no deal
How can anyone defend this institution
Covid has thrown all it's structures into disarray
MRDA - but I agree with you 100%
I'm glad now more than ever we've walked away and are walking away completely at the end of the transition period this year. What's coming in the next few years is going to not be great at the best of times but for Europe . . . its going to be one hot mess.
Its remarkable that the UK has outgrown the Eurozone every both completed decades since it was created despite all the supposed troubles we've had in those times they've consistently struggled more - and the forthcoming decadex is going to be no difference. Not the yarn we were being warned about if we stayed out.
If we were still in the EU the next decade would see relations going from bad to worse as we would end up on the hook for the bills for the Eurozone's ongoing malaise.
The Eurozone was the worst structural idea in the western world since the League of Nations.
Maybe the full article has some evidence, but the bit of article under the headline just states 15m people are estimated to be about to drive this weekend. Anyone know where that comes from?
Who am I kidding. They're probably quoting someone with no expertise in the area.
It was Diana’s ghost, of course. Particular alarm was expressed at the numbers who will be going through tunnels...
Maybe the full article has some evidence, but the bit of article under the headline just states 15m people are estimated to be about to drive this weekend. Anyone know where that comes from?
Who am I kidding. They're probably quoting someone with no expertise in the area.
They need to get back on the weather, which is turning into a full blown drought in my end of things.
Yes, I started a herb garden out of boredom and it's more work than I'd hoped.
Broad beans. Lovely plants, lovely close up smell, lovely beans.
Maybe the full article has some evidence, but the bit of article under the headline just states 15m people are estimated to be about to drive this weekend. Anyone know where that comes from?
Who am I kidding. They're probably quoting someone with no expertise in the area.
They need to get back on the weather, which is turning into a full blown drought in my end of things.
Yes, I started a herb garden out of boredom and it's more work than I'd hoped.
It's the news story that is not a news story. Weeks now with no rain.
What is happening in farming? Bet it isn't good for food prices.
I see there's some hilarity on my comment of earlier.
In the EU's words: the UK is too big and too close to have a deal like Canada's. In other words, they are worried about what we'd do with our powers to undercut their markets (an unlevel playing field).
If we don't do a deal, and do start to undercut it and do rather well, then they've (a) lost any cliff-edge leverage and (b) will want better access to that successful market which, remember, still represents 20% of Europe's economy. That's a big and meaningful chunk.
So we will get to a fair deal in the end but will have to go through a few years of WTO first to get there.
This isn't a controversial point.
It isn't a controversial point. But it's also why the LPF is the EU's absolute red line for any deal. We may go through WTO first and we will likely get to a deal eventually but it is very likely to include LPF conditions,
I think the UK might eventually even accept some LPF conditions.
But, not these conditions. Not now. And it would need to involve a level of UK-European co-governance.
The key LPF conditions for the EU, I think are State Aid and Taxation (exemptions more than rates), because these are the easiest to game. The environment and social standards probably could pass on an equivalence basis. So it's up to the UK to find a way it can live with state aid and taxation rules that are the same as the EU and applied in the same way and make the case for it to the EU. Otherwise all deals are off indefinitely, I think.
The threat to Starmer’s – and to any successor’s – dreams of office comes from failing to win back Scotland. So long as Scots insist on returning regiments of nationalist MPs to Westminster, Starmer will be forced at the next election to explain whether he will contemplate coming to some sort of post-election arrangement whereby the SNP agree to maintain a minority Labour government in office. It’s not a question on which he can prevaricate: everyone watching the TV news will know that a simple yes or no answer is within his grasp. If the answer is no, how will he form a government? If it’s yes, what will he give the SNP in return?
Striking an agreement under such circumstances is just the start of any prospective Labour PM's problems. Because the SNP will no doubt insist on Indyref2 (or Indyref3, if they've had and lost the second one in the meantime) and what happens if they win?
It'd be fascinating watching Starmer trying to justify negotiating independence with Scotland whilst simultaneously being kept in Government in London only by the votes of Scottish MPs.
Indeed, it's arguably in the long-term interests of English Labour as well as the English Tories for Scotland to go, given that Scottish Labour isn't coming back and independence would resolve this question permanently.
If Starmer becomes PM there is virtually zero chance of Scottish independence as we would be back in the single market and with devomax for Holyrood.
If there is indyref2 there will not be indyref3, 25 years after its indyref2 Quebec has still not had an independence vote from Canada
This week we have seen the EU and ECJ take on Germany's consitutional court, serve UK notice re freedom of movement, threaten the UK over a bi lateral deal with France, and now seeking to stop the agreement reached with Baltic Countries to act in their own bubble allowing movement to each other
And on top of that show no awareness of the car crash that is a no deal
How can anyone defend this institution
Covid has thrown all it's structures into disarray
That is one view.
A different view is that the above shows how crucial it is to have such institutions to do do these things, because that is the only way to balance the pursuit of common purpose against the conflicts of interests of different, sovereign nation states.
Why should there be a so-called 'common purpose'?
The different, sovereign nation states should surely be answerable to their own voters and whatever they decide.
The threat to Starmer’s – and to any successor’s – dreams of office comes from failing to win back Scotland. So long as Scots insist on returning regiments of nationalist MPs to Westminster, Starmer will be forced at the next election to explain whether he will contemplate coming to some sort of post-election arrangement whereby the SNP agree to maintain a minority Labour government in office. It’s not a question on which he can prevaricate: everyone watching the TV news will know that a simple yes or no answer is within his grasp. If the answer is no, how will he form a government? If it’s yes, what will he give the SNP in return?
Starmer could form a government with the LDs and ignore the SNP if say the LDs win 30 to 50 seats next time
Maybe the full article has some evidence, but the bit of article under the headline just states 15m people are estimated to be about to drive this weekend. Anyone know where that comes from?
Who am I kidding. They're probably quoting someone with no expertise in the area.
They need to get back on the weather, which is turning into a full blown drought in my end of things.
Yes, I started a herb garden out of boredom and it's more work than I'd hoped.
It's the news story that is not a news story. Weeks now with no rain.
What is happening in farming? Bet it isn't good for food prices.
I would imagine that we're still a long way from water shortages, owing to the very wet Winter. Certainly if this were starting to cause problems then it would probably appear somewhere in the news bulletins, even if the editors felt obliged to wait whilst they debated what would be the best way to shoehorn Covid into the story.
Everything has to mention Covid nowadays. It's the rules.
This week we have seen the EU and ECJ take on Germany's consitutional court, serve UK notice re freedom of movement, threaten the UK over a bi lateral deal with France, and now seeking to stop the agreement reached with Baltic Countries to act in their own bubble allowing movement to each other
And on top of that show no awareness of the car crash that is a no deal
How can anyone defend this institution
Covid has thrown all it's structures into disarray
That is one view.
A different view is that the above shows how crucial it is to have such institutions to do do these things, because that is the only way to balance the pursuit of common purpose against the conflicts of interests of different, sovereign nation states.
That is the EU view but not that of countries responsible to their electorate
You realise it those countries that are driving the hard line that the EU is taking with the UK on LPF and fishing quotas?
This week we have seen the EU and ECJ take on Germany's consitutional court, serve UK notice re freedom of movement, threaten the UK over a bi lateral deal with France, and now seeking to stop the agreement reached with Baltic Countries to act in their own bubble allowing movement to each other
And on top of that show no awareness of the car crash that is a no deal
How can anyone defend this institution
Covid has thrown all it's structures into disarray
That is one view.
A different view is that the above shows how crucial it is to have such institutions to do do these things, because that is the only way to balance the pursuit of common purpose against the conflicts of interests of different, sovereign nation states.
That is the EU view but not that of countries responsible to their electorate
That is my view, and - as of now - the official view of the governments of 27 different, sovereign and independent EU member states. That number may change, the views of some member states may change, because all these governments are ultimately responsible to their electorates, but as long as there is an organisation dedicated to the pursuit of a common purpose, there will need to be common institutions.
Government to abandon austerity and spend more on infrastructure and liberalise the tax regime not tighten it Boris says ie Treasury civil servants blueprint dismissed completely
The threat to Starmer’s – and to any successor’s – dreams of office comes from failing to win back Scotland. So long as Scots insist on returning regiments of nationalist MPs to Westminster, Starmer will be forced at the next election to explain whether he will contemplate coming to some sort of post-election arrangement whereby the SNP agree to maintain a minority Labour government in office. It’s not a question on which he can prevaricate: everyone watching the TV news will know that a simple yes or no answer is within his grasp. If the answer is no, how will he form a government? If it’s yes, what will he give the SNP in return?
Striking an agreement under such circumstances is just the start of any prospective Labour PM's problems. Because the SNP will no doubt insist on Indyref2 (or Indyref3, if they've had and lost the second one in the meantime) and what happens if they win?
It'd be fascinating watching Starmer trying to justify negotiating independence with Scotland whilst simultaneously being kept in Government in London only by the votes of Scottish MPs.
Indeed, it's arguably in the long-term interests of English Labour as well as the English Tories for Scotland to go, given that Scottish Labour isn't coming back and independence would resolve this question permanently.
If Starmer becomes PM there is virtually zero chance of Scottish independence as we would be back in the single market and with devomax for Holyrood.
If there is indyref2 there will not be indyref3, 25 years after its indyref2 Quebec has still not had an independence vote from Canada
You seem to have this bizarre idea that Starmer can radically transform the country before he becomes PM.
If Starmer requires the SNPs votes for confidence and supply then he'll need those before he enters Downing Street (like Cameron needed the Lib Dems votes) and he will have no choice but to agree to a referendum (like Cameron did the AV referendum). That would happen BEFORE any actions Starmer may want to do.
In which case there'd be no devomax because the SNP would demand a referendum first. And negotiations may start with the EU on the Single Market but that would take years and again the SNP would demand the referendum to be agreed first.
"Sweden’s Coronavirus Strategy Will Soon Be the World’s Herd Immunity Is the Only Realistic Option—the Question Is How to Get There Safely By Nils Karlson, Charlotta Stern, and Daniel B. Klein"
Of course, the argument hinges on the assumption that infection confers lasting immunity. They take that as read. It would be interesting to know why. They are a political scientist, a sociologist and an economist.
All the evidence is that there is strong T cell response to CV-19.
OK - a political scientist, a sociologist, an economist, and you.
This week we have seen the EU and ECJ take on Germany's consitutional court, serve UK notice re freedom of movement, threaten the UK over a bi lateral deal with France, and now seeking to stop the agreement reached with Baltic Countries to act in their own bubble allowing movement to each other
And on top of that show no awareness of the car crash that is a no deal
How can anyone defend this institution
Covid has thrown all it's structures into disarray
MRDA - but I agree with you 100%
I'm glad now more than ever we've walked away and are walking away completely at the end of the transition period this year. What's coming in the next few years is going to not be great at the best of times but for Europe . . . its going to be one hot mess.
Its remarkable that the UK has outgrown the Eurozone every both completed decades since it was created despite all the supposed troubles we've had in those times they've consistently struggled more - and the forthcoming decadex is going to be no difference. Not the yarn we were being warned about if we stayed out.
If we were still in the EU the next decade would see relations going from bad to worse as we would end up on the hook for the bills for the Eurozone's ongoing malaise.
The Eurozone was the worst structural idea in the western world since the League of Nations.
Regular predictions of the demise of the Eurozone have been being made at least since Greece first started circling the drain, with no result. And if what happened to the Greeks wasn't bad enough to persuade them to leave it, then I doubt that anybody else is going to either.
The amount of political investment and willpower behind the project is simply too vast. They'll find a way to keep it going, no matter what.
We'll see, the gap between Johnson's words and actions is sometimes huge and sometimes tiny. It means waiting a while, but let's see if he wants to try and get this in his next couple of budgets and his MPs are voting for it.
This week we have seen the EU and ECJ take on Germany's consitutional court, serve UK notice re freedom of movement, threaten the UK over a bi lateral deal with France, and now seeking to stop the agreement reached with Baltic Countries to act in their own bubble allowing movement to each other
And on top of that show no awareness of the car crash that is a no deal
How can anyone defend this institution
Covid has thrown all it's structures into disarray
MRDA - but I agree with you 100%
I'm glad now more than ever we've walked away and are walking away completely at the end of the transition period this year. What's coming in the next few years is going to not be great at the best of times but for Europe . . . its going to be one hot mess.
Its remarkable that the UK has outgrown the Eurozone every both completed decades since it was created despite all the supposed troubles we've had in those times they've consistently struggled more - and the forthcoming decadex is going to be no difference. Not the yarn we were being warned about if we stayed out.
If we were still in the EU the next decade would see relations going from bad to worse as we would end up on the hook for the bills for the Eurozone's ongoing malaise.
The Eurozone was the worst structural idea in the western world since the League of Nations.
Regular predictions of the demise of the Eurozone have been being made at least since Greece first started circling the drain, with no result. And if what happened to the Greeks wasn't bad enough to persuade them to leave it, then I doubt that anybody else is going to either.
The amount of political investment and willpower behind the project is simply too vast. They'll find a way to keep it going, no matter what.
I'm not predicting the demise of the Eurozone. What I'm predicting is worse than that - and more mundane.
The Eurozone isn't going to break up. Its just going to be shit. Its going to be sclerotic, unable to react to divergent nations requirements and countries are just going to struggle and fail to grow. They'll fall further and further behind freely floating countries that can adapt better.
In other words what we've seen for the last couple of decades will continue.
We'll see, the gap between Johnson's words and actions is sometimes huge and sometimes tiny. It means waiting a while, but let's see if he wants to try and get this in his next couple of budgets and his MPs are voting for it.
His MPs will vote for it given more of them are from northern and Midlands seats than ever before
Bishop's Stortford is in Hertfordshire, of course - though if you go back far enough I believe that we used to be part of the Kingdom of Essex. As was the City of London.
Interesting point. Many of the villages around there are in Herts but have Essex postcodes. Go figure.
CM (for Chelmsford) I presume? Postal areas cross county and even national boundaries across most of the map.
They watch as employees who can't work suddenly get 80% of their income paid by the state.
Yet we have been told for years that the country can't afford to increase benefits for disabled.
The employees have been paying taxes in the past and will be in the future. The payments they're getting are a proportion of their taxed income they were paying taxes on.
Anyone on benefits is living on the taxes taken off the workers.
Maybe the full article has some evidence, but the bit of article under the headline just states 15m people are estimated to be about to drive this weekend. Anyone know where that comes from?
Who am I kidding. They're probably quoting someone with no expertise in the area.
They need to get back on the weather, which is turning into a full blown drought in my end of things.
Yes, I started a herb garden out of boredom and it's more work than I'd hoped.
Broad beans. Lovely plants, lovely close up smell, lovely beans.
Borlotti beans are the finest beans of all. They grow well here in the south of England.
The threat to Starmer’s – and to any successor’s – dreams of office comes from failing to win back Scotland. So long as Scots insist on returning regiments of nationalist MPs to Westminster, Starmer will be forced at the next election to explain whether he will contemplate coming to some sort of post-election arrangement whereby the SNP agree to maintain a minority Labour government in office. It’s not a question on which he can prevaricate: everyone watching the TV news will know that a simple yes or no answer is within his grasp. If the answer is no, how will he form a government? If it’s yes, what will he give the SNP in return?
Striking an agreement under such circumstances is just the start of any prospective Labour PM's problems. Because the SNP will no doubt insist on Indyref2 (or Indyref3, if they've had and lost the second one in the meantime) and what happens if they win?
It'd be fascinating watching Starmer trying to justify negotiating independence with Scotland whilst simultaneously being kept in Government in London only by the votes of Scottish MPs.
Indeed, it's arguably in the long-term interests of English Labour as well as the English Tories for Scotland to go, given that Scottish Labour isn't coming back and independence would resolve this question permanently.
If Starmer becomes PM there is virtually zero chance of Scottish independence as we would be back in the single market and with devomax for Holyrood.
If there is indyref2 there will not be indyref3, 25 years after its indyref2 Quebec has still not had an independence vote from Canada
You seem to have this bizarre idea that Starmer can radically transform the country before he becomes PM.
If Starmer requires the SNPs votes for confidence and supply then he'll need those before he enters Downing Street (like Cameron needed the Lib Dems votes) and he will have no choice but to agree to a referendum (like Cameron did the AV referendum). That would happen BEFORE any actions Starmer may want to do.
In which case there'd be no devomax because the SNP would demand a referendum first. And negotiations may start with the EU on the Single Market but that would take years and again the SNP would demand the referendum to be agreed first.
Maybe but given Starmer will also be negotiating to rejoin the single market as soon as he enters No 10 and a referendum will take years to organise there is near zero chance of Scots voting Yes.
Obviously devomax would come after the referendum but as in 2014 promises of more powers increases the No vote.
The only chance the SNP have of a Yes vote is Boris in No 10 and the UK on WTO terms but of course Boris has banned indyref2 anyway and has a majority of 80
They watch as employees who can't work suddenly get 80% of their income paid by the state.
Yet we have been told for years that the country can't afford to increase benefits for disabled.
The employees have been paying taxes in the past and will be in the future. The payments they're getting are a proportion of their taxed income they were paying taxes on.
Anyone on benefits is living on the taxes taken off the workers.
Many carers are older and have paid taxes and NI for decades.
"Sweden’s Coronavirus Strategy Will Soon Be the World’s Herd Immunity Is the Only Realistic Option—the Question Is How to Get There Safely By Nils Karlson, Charlotta Stern, and Daniel B. Klein"
Of course, the argument hinges on the assumption that infection confers lasting immunity. They take that as read. It would be interesting to know why. They are a political scientist, a sociologist and an economist.
All the evidence is that there is strong T cell response to CV-19.
OK - a political scientist, a sociologist, an economist, and you.
Government to abandon austerity and spend more on infrastructure and liberalise the tax regime not tighten it Boris says ie Treasury civil servants blueprint dismissed completely
The simple reality is nobody knows right now and its impossible to guess now what the future holds. That is literally a bridge that will need to be crossed when we get there.
But the PM does need to inspire confidence for the future. The more confidence there is in the future, the more likely we are to bridge this crisis and come out the other side with less damage and thus need fewer hard decisions going forwards.
If the PM was running around now like a headless chicken saying "this is awful, just awful, I'm going to have to raise taxes, we're going to have to cut benefits" and basically all the nonsense that George Osborne came out with just before the referendum but believed then that would make the long term effects of the recession worse. Which means more hard choices will be needed as a result.
Bishop's Stortford is in Hertfordshire, of course - though if you go back far enough I believe that we used to be part of the Kingdom of Essex. As was the City of London.
Really? I though a London was always Mercian not East Anglian ?
No, it was Essex until the end of the seventh century, which stretched to St Alban’s. It was recaptured by the Danish East Anglians in the late eighth century. It was finally conquered and held by Aelfred and Aethelred after the Battle of Benfleet, whereupon it became officially part of Mercia but governed on its behalf by Wessex.
Its like France, beautiful country shame its full of French people (i am joking).
I am glad you owned up to a rather crude and offensive joke. It's not that beautiful.
You are either a complete crank or you have barely visited France.
Actually, don’t bother responding. I already know which it is!
I lived in Nice for three months.
I hope you liked the old town - and also took the opportunity to visit the plethora of other gems that contribute to its being the world’s most popular country for visitors.
Too much dog shit in Nice.
Still better than the human shit in Monoco
Haha - remember the dogshit well. It was almost religious the way the residents insisted their little rat dogs decorated the pavement.
But there are of course some delightful aspects. I preferred Antibes and the surrounding area to Nice itself. There is a cute adjoining town Cagnes Sur Mer, which was nice.
Government to abandon austerity and spend more on infrastructure and liberalise the tax regime not tighten it Boris says ie Treasury civil servants blueprint dismissed completely
That’s the right move from Boris. The cranky deficit hawks must be kept at bay. Raising taxes and cutting spending would be utterly insane given the fragility of any recovery.
They watch as employees who can't work suddenly get 80% of their income paid by the state.
Yet we have been told for years that the country can't afford to increase benefits for disabled.
The employees have been paying taxes in the past and will be in the future. The payments they're getting are a proportion of their taxed income they were paying taxes on.
Anyone on benefits is living on the taxes taken off the workers.
Many carers are older and have paid taxes and NI for decades.
And they'll be eligible to pensions etc based upon those contributions no doubt if they're old enough.
Paying for a one off crisis is one thing, paying someone's wages at a higher rate permanently is something else. The government couldn't permanently pay the furlough scheme yet you're trying to permanently adjust benefits for those who aren't working based on a one-off temporary scheme.
This week we have seen the EU and ECJ take on Germany's consitutional court, serve UK notice re freedom of movement, threaten the UK over a bi lateral deal with France, and now seeking to stop the agreement reached with Baltic Countries to act in their own bubble allowing movement to each other
And on top of that show no awareness of the car crash that is a no deal
How can anyone defend this institution
Covid has thrown all it's structures into disarray
That is one view.
A different view is that the above shows how crucial it is to have such institutions to do do these things, because that is the only way to balance the pursuit of common purpose against the conflicts of interests of different, sovereign nation states.
That is the EU view but not that of countries responsible to their electorate
You realise it those countries that are driving the hard line that the EU is taking with the UK on LPF and fishing quotas?
New York, March 25th 2113: almost a century since the former United Kingdom left the former European Union, and 38 years after England became the 61st state, trade negotiations between the US and the New Hanseatic League broke down yet again over the vexed issue of shellfish quotas...
Maybe the full article has some evidence, but the bit of article under the headline just states 15m people are estimated to be about to drive this weekend. Anyone know where that comes from?
Who am I kidding. They're probably quoting someone with no expertise in the area.
They need to get back on the weather, which is turning into a full blown drought in my end of things.
Yes, I started a herb garden out of boredom and it's more work than I'd hoped.
It's the news story that is not a news story. Weeks now with no rain.
What is happening in farming? Bet it isn't good for food prices.
I would imagine that we're still a long way from water shortages, owing to the very wet Winter. Certainly if this were starting to cause problems then it would probably appear somewhere in the news bulletins, even if the editors felt obliged to wait whilst they debated what would be the best way to shoehorn Covid into the story.
Everything has to mention Covid nowadays. It's the rules.
Full reservoirs don't help crops though. The grass has stopped growing here in Devon, and no rain forecast for weeks.
Government to abandon austerity and spend more on infrastructure and liberalise the tax regime not tighten it Boris says ie Treasury civil servants blueprint dismissed completely
That’s the right move from Boris. The cranky deficit hawks must be kept at bay. Raising taxes and cutting spending would be utterly insane given the fragility of any recovery.
Borrow and print.
Yes Boris is a Keynesian not a Monetarist, a Berlusconi not an Osborne
This week we have seen the EU and ECJ take on Germany's consitutional court, serve UK notice re freedom of movement, threaten the UK over a bi lateral deal with France, and now seeking to stop the agreement reached with Baltic Countries to act in their own bubble allowing movement to each other
And on top of that show no awareness of the car crash that is a no deal
How can anyone defend this institution
Covid has thrown all it's structures into disarray
That is one view.
A different view is that the above shows how crucial it is to have such institutions to do do these things, because that is the only way to balance the pursuit of common purpose against the conflicts of interests of different, sovereign nation states.
That is the EU view but not that of countries responsible to their electorate
You realise it those countries that are driving the hard line that the EU is taking with the UK on LPF and fishing quotas?
New York, March 25th 2113: almost a century since the former United Kingdom left the former European Union, and 38 years after England became the 61st state, trade negotiations between the US and the New Hanseatic League broke down yet again over the vexed issue of shellfish quotas...
Maybe the full article has some evidence, but the bit of article under the headline just states 15m people are estimated to be about to drive this weekend. Anyone know where that comes from?
Who am I kidding. They're probably quoting someone with no expertise in the area.
They need to get back on the weather, which is turning into a full blown drought in my end of things.
Yes, I started a herb garden out of boredom and it's more work than I'd hoped.
It's the news story that is not a news story. Weeks now with no rain.
What is happening in farming? Bet it isn't good for food prices.
I would imagine that we're still a long way from water shortages, owing to the very wet Winter. Certainly if this were starting to cause problems then it would probably appear somewhere in the news bulletins, even if the editors felt obliged to wait whilst they debated what would be the best way to shoehorn Covid into the story.
Everything has to mention Covid nowadays. It's the rules.
Full reservoirs don't help crops though. The grass has stopped growing here in Devon, and no rain forecast for weeks.
This spring is incredibly dry. I’m a keen gardener and slightly obsessive about my lawn. My water bill is going to be seriously ugly.
Comments
You kind of think do we exist on the same planet?
(Though Remainers in Parliament tried to disprove that maxim)
And on top of that show no awareness of the car crash that is a no deal
How can anyone defend this institution
Covid has thrown all it's structures into disarray
In all seriousness, MMA is now high technically and skilled pursuit, while being a lot more exciting than average boxing match.
I have only ever been through Essex. I am sure parts of it are delightful.
Actually, don’t bother responding. I already know which it is!
And we have covid
There are too many people in this country for whom the EU can either do no wrong or do no right.
This, meanwhile, is pure art.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQYeSXpC244
Besides, when the SNP went a bit backwards the Tories made more gains than Labour did, so the performance was worse than useless from Labour's POV.
Still better than the human shit in Monoco
One could argue it was the other way around.
Selfish Germany is dynamiting the eurozone
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/05/14/selfish-germany-dynamiting-eurozone/
https://twitter.com/MsHelicat/status/1261379649239519232?s=19
https://twitter.com/MsHelicat/status/1261403509708251136
And this will be the story of the nations in the EU in the next few years
A different view is that the above shows how crucial it is to have such institutions to do do these things, because that is the only way to balance the pursuit of common purpose against the conflicts of interests of different, sovereign nation states.
Essex itself was eventually overrun and passed back and forth between the Danes and Wessex a couple of times.
If expecting others to live up to what they agreed to rather than what they think is right later is "selfish" and "unduly legalistic" then maybe don't share sovereignty with them.
Though the Germans are discovering, like we did, that what an agreement says and what the EU wants it to mean later down the line may not be the same thing. If the Germans want their court to be relevant and not overruled by the ECJ there's only one way to do that - otherwise they're going to have to go along with whatever the others decide without them if need be.
https://twitter.com/MsHelicat/status/1261397985252040707?s=09
Who am I kidding. They're probably quoting someone with no expertise in the area.
Good night.
Still a long way to go.
Telegraph
I'm glad now more than ever we've walked away and are walking away completely at the end of the transition period this year. What's coming in the next few years is going to not be great at the best of times but for Europe . . . its going to be one hot mess.
Its remarkable that the UK has outgrown the Eurozone every both completed decades since it was created despite all the supposed troubles we've had in those times they've consistently struggled more - and the forthcoming decadex is going to be no difference. Not the yarn we were being warned about if we stayed out.
If we were still in the EU the next decade would see relations going from bad to worse as we would end up on the hook for the bills for the Eurozone's ongoing malaise.
The Eurozone was the worst structural idea in the western world since the League of Nations.
What is happening in farming? Bet it isn't good for food prices.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/05/15/boris-johnson-no-public-sector-pay-freeze-no-austerity-uk-emerges/
If there is indyref2 there will not be indyref3, 25 years after its indyref2 Quebec has still not had an independence vote from Canada
The different, sovereign nation states should surely be answerable to their own voters and whatever they decide.
Why should internationalism trump democracy?
Everything has to mention Covid nowadays. It's the rules.
https://twitter.com/christopherhope/status/1261390282123288576?s=20
If Starmer requires the SNPs votes for confidence and supply then he'll need those before he enters Downing Street (like Cameron needed the Lib Dems votes) and he will have no choice but to agree to a referendum (like Cameron did the AV referendum). That would happen BEFORE any actions Starmer may want to do.
In which case there'd be no devomax because the SNP would demand a referendum first. And negotiations may start with the EU on the Single Market but that would take years and again the SNP would demand the referendum to be agreed first.
The amount of political investment and willpower behind the project is simply too vast. They'll find a way to keep it going, no matter what.
They watch as employees who can't work suddenly get 80% of their income paid by the state.
Yet we have been told for years that the country can't afford to increase benefits for disabled.
https://twitter.com/Politics_Polls/status/1261368139763220480?s=20
The Eurozone isn't going to break up. Its just going to be shit. Its going to be sclerotic, unable to react to divergent nations requirements and countries are just going to struggle and fail to grow. They'll fall further and further behind freely floating countries that can adapt better.
In other words what we've seen for the last couple of decades will continue.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/11635237/premier-league-ace-lockdown-paris-sex-party/
Anyone on benefits is living on the taxes taken off the workers.
Obviously devomax would come after the referendum but as in 2014 promises of more powers increases the No vote.
The only chance the SNP have of a Yes vote is Boris in No 10 and the UK on WTO terms but of course Boris has banned indyref2 anyway and has a majority of 80
https://www-thedailymash-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/health/man-self-diagnoses-as-expert-epidemiologist-20200415195502?amp_js_v=a3&amp_gsa=1&format=amp&usqp=mq331AQFKAGwASA=#aoh=15895788892653&referrer=https://www.google.com&amp_tf=From %1$s&ampshare=https://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/health/man-self-diagnoses-as-expert-epidemiologist-20200415195502
But the PM does need to inspire confidence for the future. The more confidence there is in the future, the more likely we are to bridge this crisis and come out the other side with less damage and thus need fewer hard decisions going forwards.
If the PM was running around now like a headless chicken saying "this is awful, just awful, I'm going to have to raise taxes, we're going to have to cut benefits" and basically all the nonsense that George Osborne came out with just before the referendum but believed then that would make the long term effects of the recession worse. Which means more hard choices will be needed as a result.
She is a liability with no compassion
But there are of course some delightful aspects. I preferred Antibes and the surrounding area to Nice itself. There is a cute adjoining town Cagnes Sur Mer, which was nice.
Raising taxes and cutting spending would be utterly insane given the fragility of any recovery.
Borrow and print.
Paying for a one off crisis is one thing, paying someone's wages at a higher rate permanently is something else. The government couldn't permanently pay the furlough scheme yet you're trying to permanently adjust benefits for those who aren't working based on a one-off temporary scheme.
COVID-19: Unprecedented Challenges and Chances
https://hdsr.mitpress.mit.edu/specialissue1