The now-enacted will of (some of) the people

[LondonLax]

On 26/07/2021 at 17:20, bickster said:

Exactly, most of it is entirely believable and some of it is provable. I think most of it is true because there has hardly been any defence of it and those that have defended Johnson are in the category "Who the eff are you?" because leading Tories worry about what Cummings knows about them they haven't stuck their heads over the top because a) they know they'll be lying and b) they don't know what dirt he has on them

That doesn’t really prove it’s true though, just that people in government are not willing to call out Cummings. 

[blandy]

On 26/07/2021 at 15:06, chrisp65 said:

Tories 43 (+2)

They're actually going down in the polls and Labour is going up, last I saw, but otherwise I agree with your post.

[blandy]

On 26/07/2021 at 15:06, chrisp65 said:

The smiling bully and the sneering bully’s assistant are equally odious, just in very different ways.

There's nothing more dangerous than a clever fool. And that's both of them. 2 clever and very different fools.

[bickster]

Link To Tweet that contains swears

Well done to whoever did that

[Genie]

I’ve never seen the shelves so empty in my local spar as today. 
It’s hard to know where to draw the line between Covid and Brexit but it’s not good at all.

I’m surprised there isn’t more panic in the public / media about it.

 

[Enda]

2 hours ago, Genie said:

I’ve never seen the shelves so empty in my local spar as today. 
It’s hard to know where to draw the line between Covid and Brexit but it’s not good at all.

I’m surprised there isn’t more panic in the public / media about it.

 

FWIW I’ve been in two EU countries this week (Ireland and Spain) and there’s no shortages in either.

Also, wait until the GB-EU grace periods end 

 

[Genie]

Very pro-Brexit Warburtons apparently have big issues delivering bread due to lack of drivers as they have returned to the EU. Who’d have thought it? Maybe someone should have warned them?

Funnily enough one of the things I went to the shop for this morning was bread, and I ended up getting Hovis as our usual Warburtons was not available.

TBH, I hadn’t realised until now they were so pro-Brexit so I’ll probably make the switch permanent.

[Genie]

In other news Honda in Swindon closes today. Brexit being the final nail in the coffin. Got to feel sorry for the 46% who didn’t vote for it but have to deal with the fallout.

[HanoiVillan]

 

[ml1dch]

Well, ain't that an interesting turn-of-phrase in the last five words.

 

As had been said before, give it ten years and admitting you supported it would be akin to championing the Iraq war. Or being Jimmy Saville's wingman. 

[Genie]

I was sat on a sunny beach earlier wondering if the UK will get its shit together and rejoin before I retire in 15-20 years? 
The thought of retiring to the Spanish sunshine seemed very appealing.

[bickster]

Apologies for the Heil

Quote

Army on standby to stock Britain's shelves: Up to 2,000 HGV drivers from Royal Logistics Corps are on five-day to notice to deliver food and essentials to UK supermarkets due to shortage of 100,000 truckers

• The Government is expected to make a formal request to the military for help 'imminently' to cope with crisis
• Thousands of prospective drivers are waiting for their HGV tests due to a backlog caused by the pandemic 
• Problem has been exacerbated in recent months by scores of 'pinged' drivers having to go into self-isolation

So from the Mail's own first few lines

• 2,000 troops are not going to replace 100,000 missing truckers
• thousands (note not tens of) are waiting for tests (this bit is pandemic related but I doubt its much more than 3k, see line above)
• Do we really think pinged drivers is causing the shortfall?

There's a Daily Heil shaped elephant in the room of this article

[Genie]

3 minutes ago, bickster said:

Apologies for the Heil

So from the Mail's own first few lines

• 2,000 troops are not going to replace 100,000 missing truckers
• thousands (note not tens of) are waiting for tests (this bit is pandemic related but I doubt its much more than 3k, see line above)
• Do we really think pinged drivers is causing the shortfall?

There's a Daily Heil shaped elephant in the room of this article

A friend of mine is a bus driver, he was suggesting that the surplus of bus and coach drivers created by the pandemic could be fast tracked through the HGV training go kill 2 birds with 1 stone. 
It sounded like a decent idea to me (so clearly won’t be entertained by this government).

Edit: actually it looks like there’s a petition

Quote

Grant PSV holders automatic Class 2 entitlement for free

As a psv driver, you are driving vehicles that are longer than a class 2 lorry. And buses can weigh a lot more than a lorry as well. With a bus you are carrying precious cargo (passengers) so why can you not allow a psv licence holder to be allowed an automatic right to a class 2 licence.

 

Edited August 8, 2021 by Genie

[bickster]

1 minute ago, Genie said:

A friend of mine is a bus driver, he was suggesting that the surplus of bus and coach drivers created by the pandemic could be fast tracked through the HGV training go kill 2 birds with 1 stone. 
It sounded like a decent idea to me (so clearly won’t be entertained by this government).

What surplus of bus drivers created by the pandemic? You mean the ones that are all required again now?

Bus companies were taking on and training drivers in the pandemic, there is no surplus I'm aware of. Some of our taxi drivers are now bus drivers, they aren't coming back to taxis.

[Genie]

Just now, bickster said:

What surplus of bus drivers created by the pandemic? You mean the ones that are all required again now?

Bus companies were taking on and training drivers in the pandemic, there is no surplus I'm aware of. Some of our taxi drivers are now bus drivers, they aren't coming back to taxis.

He mentioned that a lot of coach drivers in particular were out of work but I don’t have a proper source.

[bickster]

Just now, Genie said:

He mentioned that a lot of coach drivers in particular were out of work but I don’t have a proper source.

They'll have been furloughed but they'll also be back now. Schools are back, day trips have returned, football starts again next week, UK based holidays will be higher than normal, people are trabelling around the country again.

Coach drivers are also usually retired bus drivers, they do it on a part-time basis because thats what they want to do for additional money. They will not want to be full time HGV drivers

[Davkaus]

Sounds like more jobs are being created for HGV license examiners, and that the free market is going to need to resolve this by funding training as well as improving salary/benefits and/or improving working conditions so that people want to do it. Temporary shortages may well be a price worth paying tbh.

I'm seeing plenty of restauranteurs and pub owners bemoaning the lack of cheap European labour as well, hilariously, including that chief gammon from Weatherspoons. Turns out people don't want to do shit jobs for minimum wage, and they're going to need to resolve at least part of that equation. I have been advocating for remain for years, but if wages go up for working class jobs due to a shortage of cheap immigrant labour, this might not have been such a bad idea.

Edited August 8, 2021 by Davkaus

[Xela]

2 hours ago, Genie said:

He mentioned that a lot of coach drivers in particular were out of work but I don’t have a proper source.

The coach industry is still well behind where they used to be. I manage a large number of accounts in this industry. 

Its picking up in some certain areas -  UK day trips are coming back,  but coaches heading into Europe on 3/5/7 day trips are massively down, as are coach companies that rely on inward bound tourism - there are a number of operators in London that rely on visitors from Asia (especially Japan and China) and work is still almost zero for them. They've pretty much lost 2 whole summers, which is where they make their money - the busy summer months cover the quieter winter months. 

Corporate private hire is still down as well but sports team transport has been buoyant and busy. 

[Genie]

Vodafone reintroducing data roaming charges in the EU from January.

Another “project fear” come true.

[Enda]

On 04/08/2021 at 15:35, Genie said:

I was sat on a sunny beach earlier wondering if the UK will get its shit together and rejoin before I retire in 15-20 years? 
The thought of retiring to the Spanish sunshine seemed very appealing.

* Reapply for membership.

I think the UK would of course be welcome back, but the behaviour of HMG isn’t doing your reputation any favours.