Brexit and the waning days of the United Kingdom

[Sheilbh]

Labour has been out of power for well over a decade, and Broon's cabinet wasn't exactly left-leaning either.
So the party needs to get used to having actual power. It went well for the Norwegian conservatives, and with all the think tanks and various interest groups ready to offer policy ideas and plans, I doubt Labour will be shy about changing the course to the terrain in the months to come.

Yeah and it is early days.

I think there's a tactical political advantages (although, in terms of making the case that the Tories were incompetent, it's a little "stop he's already dead") to laying out how bad the inheritance is etc. But I think there is a risk when you're the PM that people basically think you should be doing things/announcing what you're going to do about it.

But also just basically I do think that as a politician you need to be able to communicate some form of optimism/plan. You can't just analyse the problems - that's the job of the opposition.

Is there any support for rejoining the EU, really? From the outside, Brexit seemed like such a clusterfuck that it made British women in Greece on holiday seem semi-decent.

Perhaps not coincidentally, I think it's more about regret than anything else.

There is a consistent about 60% in the polls who think Brexit was a mistake. The idea of re-joining the EU has around 50-60% support in the polls.

But (and it's a big problem) once those polls get into questions about specific issues such as single market or no, free movement etc, support for re-joining shrinks/becomes a lot more doubtful. I think there is also relatively little appetite for going through the process of a referendum and lengthy negotiation process. I think Brexit was experienced as very divisive, quite unpleasant politics and a little all consuming (not unlike the impact of the Indy Ref in Scotland) - and only a minority are willing to pay the price of going through that again for the pay-off. I think that uncertainty would grow if there was a question of whether the EU would want the UK back in - I certainly wouldn't unless there was broad cross party support, or overwhelming public support consensus. I'm not sure the UK model of being in the EU but with very strong opposition in one of its two main parties (Labour until the late 80s/early 90s and the Tories after that) works.

I also bang on about this but currently there is no political mechanism for re-joining. Labour politicians generally have no interest in it (and have more seats where Reform are second than any other party), the Tories obviously back Brexit and even the Lib Dems have dropped their "bollocks to Brexit" stance. I think it will cause problems for Labour this term because a chunk of their MPs represent very pro-EU seats and their membership is very pro-EU.

But I find it a little odd that re-join has not really got a political home yet. I bang on about this but I think part of it is that many of the most passionate re-joiners sort of disdains politics and "populism" as the problem. So trying to actually persuade people, engaging in party politics, organising is all a little below their dignity. It is so self-evidently the correct thing to do and they just need, at some point, "sensible" Tories, Labour and Lib Dems to work together (I literally heard the head of a re-join campaign group explain that this is what they wanted to see - the lamb lying down with the lion). It's not how change happens ever - they want a really contested, difficult political outcome to fall out of the tree (and I suspect that's possibly because for the strongest re-joiners that has been their political experience: moderate Tory to Blairite to Cameron...I think it was for many their first taste of political adversity).

I find it insane they haven't, say, done some entryism to take over the Lib Dems (also the most democratic party in terms of policy formulation) to make it a political vehicle for re-join. I've said it before, but the model for re-joiners should be Nigel Farage. It's difficult without the European Parliament (and why I think taking over the Lib Dems would be better) - but if they want a model of building pressure and moving a fringe issue to the mainstream, there's no better model. But if they generally disdain politics - then that's definitely beneath them

[Sheilbh]

On the Met there's been a bit of a story that's gone viral. Basically a clip went viral online of a waitress in Nando's going to a table, speaking to a family and then the man hitting her in the face with a plate. The family then get up and leave.

I didn't actually see that do the rounds, but saw bits because waitress did TikTok videos about it. The wildest bit to me was that she said there were police officers in the restaurant when this happened. They didn't do anything. When she spoke to them about reporting the man they weren't interested and basically took her outside to try to discourage her (apparently saying "everybody has bad days") - and weren't interested in the CCTV (which kicked this all off).

I don't know what the policy solution is or what structural reform you need, but I feel like a really good start on law and order would be getting the police to basically do their job (or at the very least try - show a bit of willing)

Edit: Just realised my posts about the police sound like the sort of files you'd be creating to try and fire someone.

[Grey Fox]

The MET is the police corps?

[Sheilbh]

Yeah, short for Metropolitan Police - the police in London (plus some other national stuff).

[Josquius]

I've not heard of this nandos thing before. Googling it, jesus
So many results banging on about how a MUSLIM attacked the waitress.
Wonder what the hell happened.

[HVC]

Everyone hates paperwork.

[Valmy]

This is a constant problem in the US. The police just ignoring crimes happening or being called while a crime is in progress and deciding not to intervene and then the most extreme example in Uvalde.

The Supreme Court ruled they have no obligation to protect us though. So you just have to hope the police feel like doing something when a crime occurs.

[garbon]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/aug/29/smoking-could-be-banned-uk-pub-gardens-outdoor-restaurants

Smoking could be banned in UK's pub gardens and outdoor restaurants

Smoking could be banned in pub gardens, outdoor restaurants, outside hospitals and at sports grounds in the UK under tighter restrictions being considered by ministers, according to leaked documents.

The measures are being proposed as part of a tougher version of the previous government's tobacco and vapes bill, which would prohibit the sale of tobacco to people born on or after January 2009, the Sun reports.

Secret Whitehall papers confirmed plans to extend the indoor smoking ban, despite some opposition within government, the newspaper said.

It added that under the proposals lighting up would also be banned at open-air spaces at clubs and restaurants, and pavements next to both, as well as outside universities, children's play areas and small parks.

Ministers could also target vapers as well as shisha bars, it said. The restrictions will not cover private homes or large open spaces, such as parks, or streets.

The tobacco and vapes bill was introduced in parliament earlier this year but fell when the general election was called. Last month's king's speech promised to reintroduce legislation to increase progressively the age at which people can buy cigarettes, though it made no mention of an outdoor ban.

Dr Layla McCay, the director of policy at the NHS Confederation, said she was "heartened" to see progress being made on abolishing smoking.

She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I'm obviously in favour of measures that help abolish smoking. We have seen from the previous government – and from this current government and indeed from wider society – this strong commitment to move towards abolishing smoking.

"It is absolutely the health challenge of our time. It's the leading cause of preventable illness in the UK, so we are heartened to see that progress is being made and that the intention is moving forward to really address one of Britain's main drivers of health inequalities."

She added: "Ultimately, all of these steps are steps in the same journey, which is towards a smoke-free future for Britain, reducing those health inequalities, reducing the huge problems that are caused to the individual and to society from smoking. So, it's not surprising but in this journey there will be different types of decisions, and there will be hard decisions that need to be made."

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: "We do not comment on leaks. Smoking claims 80,000 lives a year, puts huge pressure on our NHS, and costs taxpayers billions. We are determined to protect children and non-smokers from the harms of second-hand smoking. We're considering a range of measures to finally make Britain smoke-free."

In 2007, under the Labour government, smoking in enclosed public places and workplaces was made illegal across the UK.

According to the charity Action on Smoking (Ash), in the year after the introduction of smoke-free laws there was a 2.4% reduction in hospital admissions for heart attacks in England, resulting in 12,000 fewer admissions to hospitals, which saved the NHS £8.4m in a year.

In the first year after the introduction of the indoor smoking ban there was a 12.3% reduction in hospital admissions for childhood asthma, equivalent to 6,803 fewer admissions over three years.

...

 

[The Brain]

Only tobacco and vapes? Or smoking in general?

[Josquius]

Great. I do love going outside at the pub even if it means often suffering.

[Sheilbh]

Getting a repeat prescription and the pharmacy had some issue connecting to the GP's surgery.

I get in touch with the GP that I've been registered with for over a year and apparently they de-registered me without telling me And then sent me a link to their site on how to register with them

[Sheilbh]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/aug/
 

We do love banning things.

[Josquius]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/aug/
 

We do love banning things.

This is the way towards creating a civilized society.

[Sheilbh]

More on Labour's plan to ban smoking areas outside (which I can only interpret as a deliberate assault on gay culture), reminded of Marie Le Conte's piece (which she's been re-sharing):

Will any politician let us have fun?
After misery piled on misery, we deserve better than calorie counts on alcohol.
By Marie Le Conte

There are political quotes that stay with you for a long time. They lodge themselves in your brain and become a part of who you are. Michelle Obama's "when they go low, we go high" became a mantra for countless campaigners. Thatcher's "if you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman" is still pointedly quoted by many feminists.

In an odd turn of events, the quote I currently cannot get out of my head is about grilled meat. In January, Brazil's president Lula addressed some supporters in São Paulo. "They think that the poor don't have rights," he told them. When sworn in as president, he promised that he would fight for their rights – "the right to barbecue with family on the weekend, to buy a little picanha [a cut of beef], to that piece of picanha with the fat dipped in flour, and to a glass of cold beer".

I couldn't tell you how many times I've thought about that sentence in the past four months. It almost certainly runs in the dozens. A little picanha! The fat dipped in flour! A glass of beer! It's perfect. It's poetry. You can close your eyes and think about it and life feels a bit lighter. May we all soon be in a garden in the summer sun, eating and drinking and surrounded by our loved ones.

The reason I love that quote so much, I think, is that it is truly joyous. It is from a politician who recognises that life isn't wholly about the place you live in and the job you have and the taxes you pay. It's also about having a good time while we can. Who in the UK's national mainstream politics is making that offer?

On this side of the Atlantic, what we have is a shadow minister who recently suggested that pubs should put calorie counts on alcohol drinks, and a Home Secretary hell-bent on stopping youths from loitering in parks. Going for a drink with your friends or sitting on the grass on a warm day are, apparently, not things that we should be able to do freely or unthinkingly. Please, no cheap, carefree fun – we're British.

It is a depressing state of affairs, especially because everything right now seems pretty, well, depressing. We have just come out of a pandemic that saw hundreds of thousands of people dying and millions more being shuttered in their homes for months at a time. We are having to deal with the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.

Oh, and it was announced this week that the state pension age would not rise anytime soon as there have been "slowing improvements in life expectancy". It's like living inside the punchline of that old joke – it's both bad food and small portions.

As an Onward study found last week, Britons are also having less leisure time than ever. Using data collected by the Centre for Time Use Research, Anoosh Chakelian in this very magazine concluded that "we are spending less time seeing our friends, eating at restaurants, going out, exercising and volunteering".

That time has also been split into chunks small enough to no longer be truly relaxing. On a weekend in 1974, Anoosh found, a person could expect to "spend over five hours on leisure activities, broken up into four episodes across the day". By 2014-15, the overall time had gone down to four hours and was, perhaps more importantly, split into seven 25-minute "leisure episodes". Is it any wonder that just under half of British workers were "close to burnout" last year?

Of course, the place you live in and the job you have and the taxes you pay will influence how your life feels day to day, and politicians are right to focus on them. That doesn't mean they should be the end of our ambitions. The neighbourhood Lula spoke at was a very poor one, which is why his speech felt especially poignant.

In speaking of the delight of having some grilled beef and a bit of beer, he acknowledged that small pleasures can go a long way towards building a happier life. Again, who is making that case in Britain? Who is trying to make our public spaces nicer and easier to access so people can meet even if they don't have the money to go to bars or restaurants? Who is campaigning to reopen spaces in which young people can gather and have fun together?

Who is trying to make childcare so affordable and efficient that parents can not only survive but really thrive? Who is fighting to stop pubs and clubs closing so early so anyone who wants a drink and a dance can get them without military-levels of advance planning? Who remembers the golden era of terrace Britain right after the pandemic, and is working to convince councils to let people sit in the sun again? Really, what I'm asking is: who will give us our piece of picanha, with the fat dipped in flour? Who will stand up for good times Britain?

I think it is a problem that in politics here the only people who talk about this stuff are basically libertarian freaks who are deservedly ignored. It's no surprise that that piece was written by a journalist from France

Edit: Also slightly mad that so many Tories are going mad about it given that they introduced a bill (now picked up by Labour) just months ago to gradually ban smoking

[Tamas]

I remember the angst when inside smoking was banned, the world was to end then as well. It didn't. It's a nasty habit practiced by a minority, negatively impacting a large number of people around them.