Government Watch - 2

Definitely dj. She's sounding like the headteacher who is getting more and more shrill while trying to control an unruly assembly!

"An amendment is going to added to the withdrawal bill explicitly stating that the terms come into force "before, after or at 11.00 p.m. on 29 March 2019". This is, of course, profoundly stupid. According to European law, we leave two years after the Article 50 notification. No-one but the government can stop that and the government is not going to stop that, so putting it in a bill makes no difference. If there was another government which did want to stop it, it would anyway need to repeal the withdrawal bill in order to do that, so putting this line in there is irrelevant."

This is funny, as well. What was all the fuss about?
She hasn't said anything.
"I am going to put in an extra clause to show you I really mean what I say."
I wonder how long it will take for her to realise that what she said is meaningless.

Interesting to read about the Younger Tories demand that Maybot get rid of the “dead wood” and make way for a younger set of ministers. I wonder who this dead wood is? Most of them imo.

Including Maybot!
I wonder where the Younger Tories red line is.

Guy Verhofstadt is becoming increasingly irritated.
She said that the EU 3 million would be treated the same as now, but apparently there are 25 clauses to keep things the same!

Watched a political debating programme with a brexiter on it who said that moderate Brexiters are getting more and more disallusioned with the shambles that is the government and the way they are conducting themselves - they have good reason.

I have just watched Michael Heseltine on Channel 4. He sounded like a man watching the party he loves crashing into an abyss.

gg I think that there are a lot of Tories think the same.

I should have known this but I was shocked to find out today whilst walking that the waterways board was no more [government cuts] and that maintenance of our waterways is now a charity. I'm assuming this means just canals and not rivers as well?

Crumbs. I'm not sure how we can know how all the cuts are affecting different areas specifically. That is certainly one I wouldn't have anticipated. I imagine there are more shocks to be had.

weownit.org.uk/public-ownership/water

Doesn't mention waterways on this, but all those people who want to take back control don't seem to want us to take back our water supplies.
Our water is owned by Malaysia, Hong Kong, Canada and Australia, among others.

Ceased to exist in 2012.
www.canalrivertrust.org.uk/

'On 2 July 2012, British Waterways ceased to exist in England and Wales and in its place Canal & River Trust was set up to care for 2,000 miles of historic waterways.
In Scotland British Waterways continues to exist as a legal entity caring for the canals under the trading name 'Scottish Canals'.
Please use this website to view meetings, consultations and documents relating to British Waterways'

That's clever of them, Tegan. They forgot they had changed their name, or ceased to exist.

visit
www.canalrivertrust.org.uk
For England and Wales
Visit
www.scottishcanals.co.uk
For Scotland
..no, they did manage to pass on the buck to these people...
...I feel bad that I just haven't got the money to support them, as I give money to the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust each month, and can't afford to pay out any more.

I don't know why it has to be separated from the water supply. After all, the reservoirs are part of it and they are owned by the water companies. Kielder and the Derwent Reservoir round here are owned by Northumbrian Water, which is owned by Li Ka-Shing, in Hong Kong.

If the canals and rivers can be owned by us, why can't the water supply?

tegan all inland water is ultimately the responsibility of the EA. Not sure about canals, but presumably if they became a flood risk? Or something.

Certainly the EA is in control of all rivers, flood, pollution etc. As well as if some body tries to extract too much water to the detriment of wildlife.

Johnson mouthed the words “this case is very sensitive, and so I won’t say anything further” what an utter idiot.

Can't wait for a Govism about the rivers and flooding, as he's suddenly so interested in the environment, whitewave.

He's agreed that the use of neonics should be stopped as they damage insect health.
However, Roundup is okay, so the flowers they feed on can be killed.
I wonder if he's thought that through.

I see JC is the bookies favourite to be the next PM

news.huffingtonpost.com/t/t-l-kkdillk-bdttdydit-i/

From the new Labour MP for Kensington and Chelsea. A microcosm of the whole country.
If trickle down economics worked, there would be no poverty and no Grenfell in Kensington and Chelsea.

"Among the most shocking examples of deprivation in this wealthiest of boroughs are: children hospitalised with hypocalceamic shock caused by a lack of calcium; one child diagnosed with rickets; adults with TB; a man in the wealthy Hans Town area has a life expectancy of 94, 22 years longer than his counterpart in the deprived Golborne wards, where the average age of a man is 72. “If trickle down economics worked, we would not have four food banks in K&C,” she says."

This is a response about HS2 and not chopping down ancient forests.

"Thank you for your email regarding the importance of this country’s ancient woodland. The Government recognises the significant value and irreplaceable nature of ancient woodland and veteran trees, including the part they play in our natural heritage and their intrinsic value to society.

We are committed to ensuring stronger protection of our woodlands and to ensure they are sustainably managed to provide a wide range of environmental, societal and economic benefits. This is why the Government acknowledges their special status in the National Planning Policy Framework, and is very clear that the development of such areas should be avoided where possible.

As far as High Speed 2 is concerned a robust assessment of environmental factors, including the location of ancient woodlands, was carried out before the decision on the line of route was made. Where it was not possible to avoid them completely, refinements to the proposed line have been sought to reduce the impact on these areas. For example, the size of the cutting through Cubbington Wood in Warwickshire was reduced in size, thereby minimising loss of woodland

Going forward, as part of the construction of Britain’s new high speed railway up to 7 million trees and shrubs will be planted as part of the scheme’s landscape and habitat creation programme. This will cover over 900 hectares between London and the West Midlands, using UK grown trees wherever possible and tree species that reflect the local landscape.

In addition to this extensive tree planting programme, a separate fund, which is being managed by the Forestry Commission on behalf of HS2 Ltd, has been established to help local landowners create new native, broadleaf woodlands and enhance existing ancient woodlands. An initial £1million of grant funding will be open to applications in January 2018. In the meantime, eligible landowners are being encouraged to consider their plans and discuss potential applications with the Forestry Commission.

Thank you again for taking the time to write and express your views."

The government recognises the value and importance of ancient woodlands, so will chop them down and replace with British grown tress.
What? They just don't understand the word ancient.

I guess as with any theory there is a grain of truth. If business thrives then jobs are created. However in the unregulated Victorian age business thrived and jobs were created - hideously unsafe jobs in factories and mines. Yes, those jobs did pay more than the agricultural wages which which were the alternative (otherwise why did ALL my ancestors flock to the nearest industrial city in that era...) And huge profits were generated. At least in those days rich people spent their money on employing hundreds of servants, and building extravagant country houses. These days they salt their money away overseas, spend thousands on overseas holidays, buy overseas property and overseas yachts or invest in gambling on the stock exchange. Someone showed me a phot0 they had taken of a UK property developer yacht recently, that they's clocked on holiday. It was rather larger than most of the vessels in the royal navy.

Apart from the obvious things such as holiday homes, flash cars etc why do these people need/want SOOOO much money? At the end of the day we can only sleep in one bed at a time and eat a certain amount of food. At least Bill Gates does good with much of the money he has made - does interesting things with it too - not just usual run of the mill stuff.

Just had a discussion today about Bill Gates with my grandson.
Yes, he spends lots of money helping people in Africa. However if his company, and all the others, paid taxes in the country where the transactions occurred, including the UK, we would be able to spend more money on Africa because we would have closed the tax gap.
The people in Africa do not care who helps them as long as they are helped.
However, Bill Gates is still a good man. He could be better.

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/if-bill-gates-walked-the-talk-hed-be-a-lot-more-credible/