UK News and Discussions

[wjfox]

A general thread for non-Brexit related news and discussions (please see the Post-Brexit thread for that particular subject).

[wjfox]

UK economy could resemble that of Italy by end of 2020s – report

Tue 18 May 2021 00.01 BST

Britain risks mirroring Italy’s economic woes unless it develops a strategy for tackling the five seismic changes that will shape a decisive decade for the country, a report has warned.

A joint project by the Resolution Foundation thinktank and the London School of Economics said the UK was neither used to nor prepared for the challenges posed by the aftermath of Covid-19, Brexit, the net zero transition, automation and a changing population.

[...]

The launch report noted that Italy had suffered two decades of flatlining living standards, and in the absence of a comprehensive strategy for economic renewal, there was a risk the UK could face similar relative decline.

Sir Clive Cowdery, the Resolution Foundation’s founder and co-chair of the Economy 2030 inquiry, said: “The UK’s recent record of weak productivity, stagnant living standards and high inequality makes a new economic approach desirable. What makes a new approach essential is the scale of coming change.

“The UK now faces a decisive decade, as the aftermath of Covid-19, Brexit and the net zero transition come together with major shifts in technology and demography. This matters far more than economics. Failing to rise to this challenge risks leaving the nation diminished and divided.”

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... it-climate

[Time_Traveller]

Boris Johnson prepared to go to war with Tory backbenchers and grassroots over vast planning reforms

May 18, 2021

Boris Johnson is prepared to spark a war with his backbenches and Tory grassroots in a bid to push through the biggest overhaul of the planning process in more than 70 years.

Riding the wave of support from the recent elections and enjoying a bounce in the polls from the successful vaccination programme, the Prime Minister is now looking to implement “Project Speed”.

As set out in the Government’s Queen’s Speech, a key part of this will be to usher in major reforms to the planning system to deliver on the Tories’ manifesto pledge to build 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s.

https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/conse ... ms-1007172

[joe00uk]

Boris Johnson prepared to go to war with Tory backbenchers and grassroots over vast planning reforms

No surprises there, given the amount of bribes - sorry, I mean "donations" - they get from property developers.

[wjfox]

[weatheriscool]

Boris Johnson to marry fiancee Carrie Symonds in July 2022, report says

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... eport-says

Last modified on Sun 23 May 2021 19.32 EDT

323

Boris Johnson is reportedly to marry his fiancee, Carrie Symonds, in July 2022 after sending save-the-date cards to family and friends, according to the Sun.

They have been engaged since late 2019 but, like many couples, had put their marriage plans on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic with numbers able to attend ceremonies curtailed.

While this will be Johnson third marriage, it will be the first for Symonds.

It is unknown where exactly the couple will celebrate the occasion. However, the prime minister’s Buckinghamshire residence, Chequers, is tipped to host the wedding. Another possible venue is said to be the Port Lympne safari park in Kent, as Symonds works for the conservation charity.

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

[weatheriscool]

What's even more crackers is the reality that the polls show the conservatives leading heading into the next election by as much as they won by in the last.

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

From the BBC:

"More than 42,000 passengers flew between India and the UK in April, figures from the Civil Aviation Authority show."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-57278939

What a f***ing joke this government is.

[wjfox]

A dangerous cult now runs Britain – the worshippers at the Temple of Johnson

Fri 28 May 2021 14.50 BST

No matter what the prime minister does, no matter the consequences, his devotees line up to heatedly excuse it

Last night’s Downing Street coronavirus briefing was given by Matt Hancock, now identifiable only by his dental records. According to Dominic Cummings, Hancock was a serial liar at a deadly level who should have been sacked 15 or 20 times. According to himself, Matt Hancock “threw a ring around care homes”. It would have been a lot better if he’d thrown the ring into Mount Doom instead.

Elsewhere, it has emerged that a government that came to power promising to control our borders has allowed 1.59 million – ONE POINT FIVE NINE MILLION – travellers to fly into the UK in the four lockdown months from January to April alone, two-thirds of whom were not UK nationals. If we don’t open up fully in three weeks, make sure to thank the Conservatives by popping a couple more points on their poll ratings.

So yes: you’ve heard a lot of denials over the past 24 hours. But the biggest UK repository of denial remains the polls, where no revelation of incompetence or failure impacts other than positively for the government. A midweek poll saw the Conservatives climb six points, to 44%, which feels about perfect for a country where at that moment Cummings was claiming industrial levels of lying, incompetence and contempt for elderly and vulnerable people, and spiking it all with such details as Boris Johnson wanting Chris Whitty to inject him with the virus live on TV. Remember, even Donald Trump at his maddest only wanted other people to inject the disinfectant.

Still, we are where we are. The great puzzle is that so many of the people who talked about “the Corbyn cult” are so reluctant to face up to the fact of the Johnson cult. In many ways, Johnson is the much more classic cult leader. His decisions have led to the deaths of large numbers of people, and he’s got a lot of women pregnant.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... e-minister

[Time_Traveller]

UK government to ask citizens if it should ban fur trade

Mon 31 May 2021

The public is being asked to weigh in on the fur trade, as the government considers a potential ban on sales across the UK.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has launched a call for evidence amid plans for tighter animal welfare standards following Brexit. The consultation will consider the social and economic impacts of fur sales, both in the UK and overseas.

It is understood that the UK could introduce an outright ban depending on the feedback it receives.

The UK was the first country in Europe to ban fur farming in 2000, and has introduced strict rules prohibiting the import of skin and fur products from commercial seal hunting and domestic cats and dogs. However, the sale of other furs are still legal in the UK. Carrie Symonds, Boris Johnson’s wife, has described anyone who buys fur as “really sick”.

The government has been been mulling tougher rules after Brexit, given the UK is no longer bound by the EU’s single market rules that blocked any individual country from taking a unilateral stance on fur trading.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... -fur-trade

This is something that's hard what section to put it in as it's both UK, Environment and Business but i think that it should but what is your opinion on this subject? (Feel free to move to relevant section if it isn't)

[wjfox]

It absolutely should be banned. Synthetic alternatives are easily available.

[Time_Traveller]

It absolutely should be banned. Synthetic alternatives are easily available.

I am interested on what platform they are going to ask the public on this issue.

[Time_Traveller]

UK growth upgraded but OECD warns of deepest economic scar in G7

Mon 31 May 2021

The UK economy will post its fastest growth since the second world war this year but also faces deeper economic scarring than other major economies, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has predicted.

In its latest economic outlook, the Paris-based thinktank sharply upgraded its view for UK growth, thanks to the success of the Covid-19 vaccination programme.

It forecasts UK GDP will rise by 7.2% in 2021, the fastest growth since 1941, after a 9.8% contraction in 2020 – the worst in almost 300 years. Back in March, it had forecast UK growth of 5.1% this year. For 2022, growth has been revised significantly higher, too – to 5.5%, from 4.7% three months ago.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... t-covid-19

[Time_Traveller]

School day to be extended in England, leaked ‘Covid catch-up’ plan suggests

Tue 1 Jun 2021

The government is considering paying teachers to add an extra 30 minutes to the school day in England under leaked proposals to help pupils overcome a year of disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

A plan drawn up by Sir Kevan Collins, the government’s education recovery commissioner, seeks to establish a minimum 35-hour week and add 100 hours of additional schooling compared with existing timetables in many state schools and colleges.

The details come from a 56-page document reported by the Times newspaper, which said Boris Johnson had been briefed on the plan. The proposals are also expected to include further individual or small-group tutoring for five million students and professional development for teachers.

The government has been working on a promised “catch-up” plan for schools and colleges, expected to be published before the summer holidays, but the rumoured £15bn price tag – £700 per pupil over three years – is said to have run into opposition from the Treasury and the chancellor, Rishi Sunak.

Funding the package will hinge on support from No 10 but it adds to the battles the Department for Education (DfE) faces before the autumn spending review, as it is already seeking additional funding for the government’s lifetime skills guarantee as well as an £11bn bill for school and college repairs identified in a report published last week.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2 ... -proposals

[Ozzie guy]

So is the UK actually full of pubs that act as a hub for the local community where people can get breakfast, lunch, dinner and a bed for the night?

I love the idea of that.

[joe00uk]

So is the UK actually full of pubs that act as a hub for the local community where people can get breakfast, lunch, dinner and a bed for the night?

I love the idea of that.

Pubs used to be communal hubs until a few decades ago, but gradually they just became more and more like ordinary restaurants. Traditional family-owned or independent pubs have largely been replaced with generic, commercialised chains. That said, there are still independent pubs to be found and even with the chain pubs, many of them still use the old buildings. On the whole though, over the last 40 years, as communities themselves have eroded and become atomised, pubs no longer fill the same role as before. There are some places which still have intact communities where pubs are the same as they ever were, but the list of these places is shrinking. As for breakfast, lunch and dinner - yes, you can do that (just like any restaurant), but if you're looking for a bed for the night, your best bet is a hotel with a bar - the same as anywhere else in the neoliberal world. Bed and Breakfasts exist too, although they're also a lot less common and less frequented than they used to be.

[Time_Traveller]

Priti Patel planning ‘stealth tax on frontline heroes’ with visa fee hike for NHS staff from EU

2 hours ago

Priti Patel is planning to hike visa fees for NHS and other workers from EU countries, triggering criticism of “a stealth tax on frontline heroes”.

Labour is also accusing the home secretary of partially going back on her promise to scrap the immigration surcharge paid by overseas health and care workers, conceded after huge protests.

The row has blown up because Ms Patel is exploring removing a £55 discount on application fees for citizens from 26 countries, most of which are EU members.

The move would hit workers in the NHS and care sectors, as well as seasonal workers such as fruit pickers – all areas where there are fears of staff shortages after Brexit.

It would also mean employers would lose their exemption from paying a £199 fee as part of their sponsorship of foreign workers.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/p ... l2j-lgKgU4