Brexit and the waning days of the United Kingdom

[Duque de Bragança]

Some clever and/or lucky Britons managed to secure their supply of French wines in Calais, or booze in general, just in the nick of the time (news article from Saturday).

https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/hauts-de-france/pas-calais/calais/calais-anglais-devalisent-cavistes-francais-brexit-reconfinement-britannique-partiel-1907518.html

Calais : des Anglais dévalisent des cavistes français avant le Brexit et le reconfinement britannique partiel
A Calais, sur le parking des cavistes spécialisés dans la vente à destination des Britanniques, l'heure était au rush, alors que Boris Johnson a annoncé, ce samedi 19 décembre, un reconfinement de Londres et du sud-est de l'Angleterre.

[Maladict]

I've got my Christmas crackers, I'm good for UK products in the next 12 months.

[Syt]

[Sheilbh]

That gets shared a lot. It's a bit like this one:

[Josquius]

And come next election nobody will remember this or the more serious errors.

[Sheilbh]

In elderly British celebrities getting the vaccine - very pleased we've now saved Betty Boothroyd


Absolutely love her "going to get a vaccine" look: hair set, pearl earrings on

[HVC]

the queen get jabbed yet?

[Sheilbh]

the queen get jabbed yet?

Don't know. I imagine so - but don't think they'd announce that.

[Josquius]

the queen get jabbed yet?

Don't know. I imagine so - but don't think they'd announce that.

.
Why not?
It needs highlighting that this isn't a political issue, it's a purely medical one.

[Sheilbh]

Why not?
It needs highlighting that this isn't a political issue, it's a purely medical one.

I don't actually think it is a political issue in this country - I think most people trust the NHS, trust their GP/hospital and will go for a vaccination when they're asked (the polling on this shows the UK is one of the countries keenest to get vaccinated and far lower anti-vax sentiment than the US or most European countries). I think it's more us projecting issues especially from the US onto the UK.

I could be wrong but I think the medical point is why they won't - I don't think the royal family will want to get into what medical treatment they have or haven't had (especially given the Queen's age). It's not the royals but it's a bit like when Andrew Wakefield was first spreading anti-vax nonsense and the Blairs wouldn't comment on whether they'd given their kids the MMR vaccine. If they go public with this I don't see why the press wouldn't want Prince William to confirm whether his kids are being vaccinated etc.

Edit: And update on vaccinations - apparently over 500,000 people have now had their vaccination which is great given that they are still focusing on the most at risk, most vulnerable people (I think it's still just the over 80s who are treated by hospitals either in or out patient). From what I remember the fatality rate in that age group is around 15% so there's a big number of lives saved already.

[Sheilbh]

Seeing US Representatives (including young ones like AOC) and Senators getting the vaccination and there's a cultural difference noted by Josh Glancy. In the UK if young, low-risk MPs or ministers were getting the vaccine I think there'd be absolute outrage at the queue-jumping/"one rule for them". No judgement on them - it's US policy and Congress has a lot more at risk people than Parliament, but it is quite a striking difference.

Edit: Incidentally this question by Pippa Crerar on the PM over-promising and under-delivering is excellent and Johnson's response an example of it:
https://twitter.com/PippaCrerar/status/1341095828983844864?s=20

I think the vaccine will deliver but again - under-play and over-deliver not bluster

[Sheilbh]

Margaret Tebbit, Norman Tebbit's wife, has died aged 86. She was paralysed from the neck down in the IRA bomb at the Tory conference in 1986 and needed 24 hour care which caused Tebbit to step back from front-line politics. Obviously Tebbit is rightly a hugely controversial figure and someone on the very hard-right of the Tory party, but this is one of those examples of someone in politics/public life still having their own struggles and life. There have always been reports of how much time he spent personally caring for his wife and even if he was at events he would pester her nurses with phone calls every hour or so to check how she was.

I always thought the same in 2010 when it seemed remarkable to me that both Gordon Brown and David Cameron were men who had lost children.

Not really important but I was surprised the Brighton bomb wasn't included in The Crown because it was a big event, almost killed Thatcher and utterly changed the security picture in Britain.

[Tamas]

So do we think the French lorry thing was part of the Brexit negotiations? Something like a warning fire across the bows by Macron. Seemed too excessive, yet showed clearly what non-cooperation with the EU might look like.

[Sheilbh]

So do we think the French lorry thing was part of the Brexit negotiations? Something like a warning fire across the bows by Macron. Seemed too excessive, yet showed clearly what non-cooperation with the EU might look like.

No - I think it was just a reaction to the new covid report.

From my understanding we did exactly the same during the Danish zombie mink scare, it's just there's less accompanied freight from Denmark to the UK. It only lasted about 24 hours and then the UK scientists had got their head around the data from Denmark and government was able to move its policy. It feels the same here, 24 hour ban on accompanied freight but now the French scientists have got their head around it and UK and France are implementing testing at the border - that might get rolled out across other borders too (including GB-NI). It feels like the alternative is close the border to most travellers so you have a relatively small number of UK travellers (just truckers) and then you can track and trace that population.

Edit: Although, despite having many, many issues with Macron, it may be that my opinion of him is still too high and this was just theatre for Brexit negotiations.

Edit: And I see the European Commission is recommending that travel bans with the UK are lifted to ensure essential travel and limit supply chain disruption. Which I think is wrong - I feel like it should be the other way round and maintain a travel ban with limited exceptions for essential travel/supply chain. As I say I feel like one of the lessons from the first wave is that border closures can help (and I think possibly a reversion to open border and travel within Europe is a part of how this second wave started).

Edit: Incidentally on Brexit latest reports are that it is now just fishing that's open and that's a number's game. I think Commission have asked member states to consider their final offer again (which was I think that EU access gets cut by 25% for seven years - reportedly the UK's latest offer is that EU access gets cut by 30-35% for five years).

[garbon]

Not really important but I was surprised the Brighton bomb wasn't included in The Crown because it was a big event, almost killed Thatcher and utterly changed the security picture in Britain.

The whole Thatcher bit felt a bit rushed. Possibly because there was more focus on the royals and Diana.