Thursday 27th January 2022

[refitman]

Morning all.

[Willow904]

https://www.theguardian.com/society/202 ... -crackdown

Universal credit claimants face tough sanctions in UK job crackdown
Jobseekers will have just four weeks to find employment in their preferred sector under the government’s Way to Work campaign

This is clearly about trying to help businesses, particularly care homes, with their recruitment issues, which have been made much worse by Brexit, and nothing at all to do with helping unemployed people.

[gilsey]

They get off on making poor, miserable people even more poor and miserable.

[notnowsonny]

Barry Cryer has died, which is a sad moment for all of us who appreciated his sense of humour. A true great in my opinion.

Elsewhere, the Guardian's Politics Live celebrated 2500 editions. It's quite an anniversary, although all I do nowadays is read is (and BTL as well, obviously)

[frog222]

Worthwhile watch --

[gilsey]

RIP Barry Cryer.
Whenever I hear his name it reminds me of the much-missed Simon Hoggart.

[AnatolyKasparov]

https://www.theguardian.com/society/202 ... -crackdown

Universal credit claimants face tough sanctions in UK job crackdown
Jobseekers will have just four weeks to find employment in their preferred sector under the government’s Way to Work campaign

This is clearly about trying to help businesses, particularly care homes, with their recruitment issues, which have been made much worse by Brexit, and nothing at all to do with helping unemployed people.

Businesses don't really want people who aren't interested in working for them, though.

[gilsey]

Yes, that too.


In fact it's almost impossible to find anything good to say about a govt policy, what a surprise.

[gilsey]

Blog here about a much overlooked element of prosperity, occupational pensions.
The economy of Teesside has been propped up for decades by British Steel and, especially, ICI pensioners, and is still in a parlous state. God help us when they're gone.

https://flipchartfairytales.wordpress.c ... -pensions/

[AnatolyKasparov]

But of course, the Tories have never been more popular there.....

[frog222]

Phot op not going to plan ---



TheBarman40m ago Liveblog

I’m going to take the unusual step of suggesting readers take a quick look at a photo on the home page of the Telegraph website. (You can hold your nose). It shows Boris in his well worn “Bob the Builder” outfit sitting in the cab of a bin lorry.

The driver’s face shows exactly what he thinks about Boris and Boris’s face shows he knows it.

[refitman]

It's nice that the ECHR has decided that it shouldn't be easier for trans people in Scotland to get their gender recognised - despite there already being 2 consultations on it and the ECHR itself responding positively to both consultations.

Nothing to do with the Tories packing the ECHR.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/202 ... on-reforms

[AnatolyKasparov]

Meanwhile, we still await them doing anything about anti-Muslim sentiment in the Tories.

[frog222]

Is your MSM reporting this ?

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Just back from Tesco and the Tories won't be happy, just about everybody was still wearing a mask. Which I must admit came as a surprise, last time the legal requirement was ditched the effect was immediate. I guess having around 90,000 cases a day (that we know of) is making people more cautious. It'll be interesting to see how long that lasts for.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Is your MSM reporting this?

Barely, and when they have it's simply been to parrot the government and Port of Dover's nonsense excuses.

Thanks for the video.

I would guess it's going to be largely ignored until it has an impact on people's lives with empty shelves, delayed deliveries and the like.

[frog222]

@Sky -- very pleased to hear that !

Wicked pleasure that it goes against the Suspect's encouragement not to wear them, particularly in schools , where the English government have been completely out of sync all along .

Much noise here that the supermarkets are selling TOO cheaply, which also is different from the UK news ? Basically the giants are squeezing the farmers who have had very high cost rises on inputs .

ONE reply only on my 6.21 question on the MSM treatment of Dover ....

EDIT Whoops "crossed in the post" TWO replies !!!

[AnatolyKasparov]

Just back from Tesco and the Tories won't be happy, just about everybody was still wearing a mask. Which I must admit came as a surprise, last time the legal requirement was ditched the effect was immediate. I guess having around 90,000 cases a day (that we know of) is making people more cautious. It'll be interesting to see how long that lasts for.

I stopped wearing a mask in most places last time round, now I am being much more cautious. Motwyw.

[gilsey]

Mask wearing as civil disobedience is the way to go, win/win.

[frog222]

Mask wearing as civil disobedience is the way to go, win/win.

Brilliant, another way of sticking it to the Suspect

Crace --
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... p-in-wales

[Sky'sGoneOut]

This looks pretty grim, a GB news clown and an 'Entrepreneur' whose Twitter feed is mainly the kind of inspirational quotes you might get on a tea towel and retweets of Piers Morgan. I think I'll need a snifter of gin before this one even begins.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Mask wearing as civil disobedience is the way to go, win/win.

I like it. So much so I'm going to pretend I thought of it myself while saying it other people. Thanks Gilsey.

[gilsey]

No problem.

[AnatolyKasparov]

Jonny Reynolds is an underrated member of Labour's front bench IMO.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

QT tonight from Morecambe. Apparently a place full of angry older Tory ladies. I would say someone should tell them Johnson isn't going to shag them, but you never know.

For the Tories we had James Heappey. I've neither seen nor heard Mr Heappey before and I have to say compared to the usual standard of his colleagues he was quite impressive. He seemed like a genuine human being, maybe not the brightest human being but you would recognise him as one of our own species. Given he's a minister (for the armed forces) it was interesting how much he was prepared hedge his bets this evening. He defended Johnson technically while still making his anger at the situation apparent, while also defending the National Insurance rise technically while pointing out how unpopular it was. I suspect Mr Heappey is quite ambitious and if I were Johnson he's one tall poppy I'd be aiming my pruning shears at.

For Labour we had Jonathan Reynolds. Feeble. I'm not sure I have much else to add. A posh Scottish woman in the audience claimed we have no credible opposition. Here was Jonathan's time to shine, to extoll the virtues of truth, honesty and the Labour way as an alternative to a Tory Prime Minister being investigated by the police. But instead Jonathan decided to ramble on about fuel bills. Which had been the subject of the previous question so he and everyone else had already talked about them at length. You could almost sense the collective psychic yawn from the audience. Pitiful.

For whatever reason we had 'entrepreneur' Kavita Oberoi who offered nothing of any substance whatsoever besides making me take a good half hour to work out her hairstyle reminded me of Bobbie Gentry.

For the Mirror we had Alison Phillips who was great and incited the ire of the angry older Tory ladies who thought this was all a media plot to bring down their cuddly Boris maturbatory fantasy.

And for GB News we had Liam Halligan who did ok while he was being a populist advocating for the scrapping of the rise in NI, but not so well when he tried to get the audience to see Russia surrounding Ukraine with hundreds of thousands of troops from Putin's point of view. Apparently it's all NATO and Ukraine's fault and we all imagined Russia invading a country, forcibly expropriating its territory while killing thousands of people.

What is it with the far left and far right getting a hard on for Putin and Russia? I just don't get it.

[AnatolyKasparov]

I have long been familiar with "tankies", but right wing Russophilia is a different beast entirely.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

I have long been familiar with "tankies", but right wing Russophilia is a different beast entirely.

On the Left it's Soviet fetishism, on the right it's money.

I suspect nobody on the Left would exchange their life for someone in 60's East Germany, nor anyone at GB News for a job as a journalist in present day Russia.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Anyway thanks AK for the response. I must admit I do this QT shit mainly for myself as some form of perverse therapy but it's nice to know someone's reading it.

[AnatolyKasparov]

I always look forward to them

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Thanks AK.

[Sky'sGoneOut]