love* in the time of plague (and by love* i mean brexit* and other dreary matters of uk politics)

"The pound is now an emerging-market currency in all but name, according to analysts at Bank of America, who say that Brexit has turned it into a mirror of the “small and shrinking” UK economy.

In the four years since the UK voted to leave the EU, trading conditions in the pound and the big swings in exchange rates make it a better match with the Mexican peso than the US dollar, said Kamal Sharma, a currency analyst at BofA. He said that movements in the currency since the June 2016 Brexit vote have become “neurotic at best, unfathomable at worst”."

https://app.ft.com/content/4fd04fd9-7209-4b7c-97a1-97466f226159

Love to hear from BOFA

it's a pretty shit analyst that doesn't even mention what to do with deez nuts !

The important thing about re-opening pubs is that Boris Johnson can feel good about himself again, he can go back to quipping his way back into our hearts with his fun-loving Mr Positivity self-image fully repaired.

look the sooner everybody's drunk the sooner we can forget about the body count

“neurotic at best, unfathomable at worst

this is the most fertile ground for disaster capitalism surely

> Home Office has begun the process of evicting hundreds of refugees

the same day Pritti has had to admit that they will enact all the recommendations from the Windrush report.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jun/23/uk-government-to-act-on-all-30-windrush-recommendations

Other than the NHS, is there much left to privatise?

DWP

didn't they re-nationalise some railways?

They're in the process of reversing the Grayling privatisations.

they re-nationalised the parole service the other day too

can nationalised sausages be far behind

Keir Starmer concludes by saying the PM "dodges the question or gives dodgy answers", then leans into lawyer accusation: "No more witnesses, I rest my case." #PMQs

— Sienna Rodgers (@siennamarla) June 24, 2020

😷

http://www.lowculture.com/archives/images/kerry_convention_salute.jpg

This is on the incoming fire sale:

https://amp.theguardian.com/business/2020/jun/20/pandemic-fire-sale-property-assets-sunak-jenrick-sadiq-khan?

Just adds to the re-nationalize pile once communism comes in.

Critical support for Comrade Chris Grayling, doing important cointelpro work to popularise nationalisation.

Land seems like a likely answer but it looks like we're going to have a huge amount of commercial space under-utilised for years to come. I can't imagine the business case for building new offices is strong. Flooding the market with more private housing when there's already a risk to the stability of prices would be a gamble.

Briefly, this means anyone accusing an MP of abuse doesn’t have to have the accusation dissected in a parliamentary debate. Can’t wait to see the names who voted against it.

And crucially a debate where the accuser has parliamentary privilege?

Wonder how different things would've been if legend Bozza had carked it?

Raab or Gove would have stepped up to the plate in true "cometh the hour" style, dithered around doing fuck all and the outcome would've been the same, other than that the Tories would've self-destructed over the new danger to the Brexit Project and become even more distracted by that.

Also the Tory party would almost certainly have failed to resist the opportunity to dissolve into factional fighting - everyone would claim that they are the only true heir to Boris's "can win elections" aura.

I wonder whether any of the 'hawks' have tested positive. There's a theory that Bolsonaro's continued oafishness wrt COVID is partly because he had it and barely felt ill so he thinks everyone else should just pull their socks up and power through.

too rational

/ Briefly, this means anyone accusing an MP of abuse doesn’t have to have the accusation dissected in a parliamentary debate. Can’t wait to see the names who voted against it./

Andrea Leadsom, Penny Mordaunt and some obscure backbencher called Theresa May.

Interesting to see how Kier Starmer has changed his tune from "get a grip you are risking a second wave" to "government is doing the right thing, we support them" isn't it.

Watched a bit of PMQs and this is the line of attack/deflection that Johnson has settled on, in answer to almost every question. In reality the Labour line has been consistent for weeks now, variants on 'we want them to succeed in getting the pandemic under control, why aren't they?' And that's pretty much where most of the country is right now.

The Starmer approach is very much asking a question knowing that the PM will either bluster through it, lie about the numbers or get them wrong, and then have the government's own numbers ready for the follow-up. It's probably better to create the impression that Johnson can't remember his numbers, as opposed to lying about them, because that contributes to the narrative that Johnson just isn't capable of doing the job, a narrative to which increasing numbers of Tory backbenchers also appear to subscribe.

A subplot to last night's vote was the number of new Tory MPs who were perfectly happy to vote against the government, probably because they don't believe they have a long-term future/career in Parliament and see this as the best way to prolong it.

There's also a definite factor of 'Labour were seen as needlessly obstructive over Brexit and can't be seen to be needlessly obstructive now'.

If that is the logic why Starmer would find some way to triangulate having a shit or telling someone the correct. Then that is why the gutless tory cunt will never amount to anything, triangulated his arse into the delta quadrant!

Correct time. Shit posting on phone!

Probably a bad idea to be seen to be actively hoping for Tory failure given that would mean thousands more avoidable deaths.

The actual lines of attack - on failure of test-and-trace and child poverty, were pretty well chosen. Johnson tried to bounce the child poverty question into an issue over schools so he could say "yo yo-ing" for the tenth time but I'm not sure it quite landed.

They concluded that Boris pulled that 400000 number out of his rectum re:child poverty on the R 4 stats show earlier, but nothing matters.

it’s always a good time to actively hope for tory failure

Nothing to see here.

.@eastantrimmp asks the Prime Minister to explain, “how Northern Ireland can remain a full part of the United Kingdom if people coming from the rest of the UK into Northern Ireland have to pass through a border control post?”. pic.twitter.com/zN7h94mdK7

— DUP (@duponline) June 24, 2020

You tell 'em, Sammy.

People were always sitting that far from him even before the rona y/n

boris' little half-smirk as he blithely rolls out the purest bullshit in response to questions will never not be profoundly punchable

(xp) No need to sit too close when you could probably hear him standing on Westminster Bridge.

https://m.huffingtonpost.co.uk/amp/entry/uk-coronavirus-r-rate_uk_5ef1f629c5b645f5d4871f61/

https://t.co/Ha8bH2fp9E pic.twitter.com/cr4hMGbifc

— Gwdihŵ 🦉 (@youwouldknow) June 24, 2020

a bit a classic of its genre on twitter from much happier days.

Johnny Merk Ya

Bung a bob for a Billabong1965

Dismissing calls from medics and scientists into a review of second wave planning is going to backfire, massively.

Hmmm, no. https://t.co/FP3tP3zo09 pic.twitter.com/RetaGSUg8P

— Dawn “Join A Union” Foster (@DawnHFoster) June 24, 2020

wrong!

Only just watched this one, jfc

As the economy reopens and people head out with friends we need to be aware of the most risky places.

I asked @BorisJohnson how we can keep places like beachfront bars safe where it’s impossible to get customer addresses.

His answer: ‘show some guts’ 🤦🏻‍♂️ 🤡 pic.twitter.com/LHiIjouUPF

— Peter Kyle MP (@peterkyle) June 23, 2020

one thing boris was probably correct about at PMQs today was that proximity apps are a dead end, especially in the densely populated cities and human based contact tracing is the correct way forward. Not that the UK govt have managed to implement a functional version of that. But Starmer is so weak and lacking in conviction on anything and treads so carefully, he will never be able to put any pressure on the govt on how much they are fucking this up. He's fucking useless. He's so easy to dismiss, because he is gutless and his barrister routine will come across as parody opposition through repetition. Fucking useless on every level is that cunt.

Jenrick won't have to go, even though they seem to have got him bang to rights here, but nothing matters.

I was actually hoping to enjoy at least seeing Kier making the tories sweat a bit seeing as he is an establishment LOTO, even though I've got more respect for shit on the pavement than him. But no, even that doesn't make any difference when someone's first instinct is invariably be just slightly less tory than the Johnson govt.

This is the face of the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson being held to account for his disastrous record over COVID19. Not a pretty picture. #PMQs #BorisJohnson pic.twitter.com/5pIeKe1ogK

— Gerry Hassan (@GerryHassan) June 24, 2020

He looks fucked. There's the usual outrage that anyone has had the temerity to ask him a question but there's real bewilderment in there as well. Interested in who he's turning to look at there.

back in happier times...

Currently trying to figure out which circle of hell this picture of Boris Johnson and Richard Desmond originated from. pic.twitter.com/ZoxxXjCNMo

— Steven Sheil (@SSheil) June 25, 2020

Absolutely the plan now is to just brazen everything out and hope for the best.

If this was, say, the Blair era then Jenrick would have been made to resign by now after weeks of hostile front pages but I doubt most of the country even knows what the story is about.

How is it possible that the staring unnoticed child in the tunnel is not the creepiest thing about that photo?

Cursed image alert.