That's just BS.

This isn't the opposition opposing. This is Parliament as a whole asserting their supremacy over the executive and stopping a plan by a government that there is no majority for. The Labour Party are but one part of Parliament. Should they form, or lead, a future government then that will be the time to judge what their alternative plan might be. Until then the only issue is the plan of the current government.

As the moves by Johnson to call a GE at this time, after his prorogation fiasco, is clearly just a tactic to try to force through his plan it is absolutely the duty of Parliament to reject them. That Johnson tries to waffle about this being Labour "running scared" etc etc is just the scripted responses of the strategy team behind him. It has the stink of Trump like tactics all over it. Fortunately I believe that the British public aren't quite so gullible as a large section of that in the USA but some clearly are. I know where I can get my hands on some great snake oil, if you are interested.

Everyone in every walk of life has to determine their priorities. As Brexit is the overwhelming political priority then making sure we don't do something that Parliament doesn't want must be their priority. Promising election give aways and trying to shift the focus is such a transparent tactical ploy that only the really stupid are not going to see through it.

Edited by Wisbech Eagle (07 Sep 2019 10.12am)

For the avoidance of doubt any comments in response to a previous post are directed to its ideas and not at any, or all, posters personally.

You, together with all the other voters where you live, choose your MP! That's your role.

If collectively you are unhappy with the job they do then change them, when there is an opportunity to do so.

Until then they have a job to do. Which they are doing.

For the avoidance of doubt any comments in response to a previous post are directed to its ideas and not at any, or all, posters personally.

I am no fan of Corbyn but Johnson's problem is that it isn't Corbyn who he is up against, however much he tries to frame it that way. It's Parliament as a whole, including a significant number of people who until recently were senior figures in his own party.

As Corbyn is a very experienced Parliamentarian who understands the conventions and processes as well as anyone he also presents a formidable opponent at this time, whatever you think of his politics.

He is also handling himself with more dignity and gravitas than Johnson, which won't be missed by the average voter.

For the avoidance of doubt any comments in response to a previous post are directed to its ideas and not at any, or all, posters personally.

For the avoidance of doubt any comments in response to a previous post are directed to its ideas and not at any, or all, posters personally.

Yet he was only recently voted in as leader of the party by a significant majority of the Conservative Party members in the full knowledge of what he stood for so the renegade Tories are acting against the will of the party's own members as well as their own constituents

The idea that a rump of MPs....and that's what it is....can force a sitting PM to act for them with foreign bodies is intolerable. I can't see how that works.

We need an election for the will of the people to be properly represented.

Edited by Stirlingsays (07 Sep 2019 12.12pm)

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

In trying to find an exit route that they can all agree upon and which is also acceptable to the rest of the EU they have indeed honoured their commitment. When the whole of the "leave" campaign was predicated upon the idea that a deal would not only be negotiated but would be a piece of cake to arrange you must expect Parliament to seek one.

For the avoidance of doubt any comments in response to a previous post are directed to its ideas and not at any, or all, posters personally.

This should not be an issue as long as the planning has been done, over the years I have prepared contingency plans for all sorts of things.

The doctor who called JRM maybe a great neurosurgeon but he was scaremongering. He claims that he wrote the mitigation for Yellowhammer and than asked JRM what mortality rate was acceptable. JRM rightly said if he had written the document he hadn't done a very good job and that the document had since been rewritten.

I believe the main risk for medication is one that relates to transportation so why on earth would you ask a neurosurgeon? If I need brain surgery I don't ask a truck driver.

I think the good doctor was asked to make a contribution but his was one of many. If he was asked to write the report then the person who asked him is an idiot.

Off the top of my head my approach would be this:

1. Identify all drugs that the NHS import and have experts like the good doctor quantify the risk if we run out. A High risk would patients die because there is no alternative drug. Low risk would be something like acne cream.

2. Talk to the experts such as UK and French customs, transportation experts etc. about the possible risks that they see and base your findings on that. My guess is the real fear is that a truckload of cancer drugs is stuck in a 50 mile traffic jam at Calais.

Note: The head of the Calais port has already said he sees no issues and he is fully prepared but you still have to plan.

3. Your plan should be in 3 parts:
- Day 1 to day 14*
- Day 14 to day 28
- Day 28 to 6 months.

Day 1 is the real high risk my solution would be to tell UK border not to change anything for 6 months, no extra checks etc. The ex head of UK border has already proposed this. Any additional checks / documentation should be introduced gradually.

To be on the safe side I would order the high risk drugs to be transported to the UK via an alternative method for the first 2 weeks. Possible alternate routes could be fly them into a military airbase, or ship them via a port in Germany or Holland to a naval port in the UK. In short any route that does not involve the truck driver getting caught in a traffic jam.

Once we Brexit you monitor the first 2 weeks if there are no issues in the usual route then you revert to that after 2 weeks. Any problems you continue with your contingency until things have settled down.

This is real basic contingency planning maybe that the May government didn't do it properly but if someone mucks this up they should sacked it's not difficult.

Edited by Badger11 (07 Sep 2019 1.08pm)

One more point

is 17.4 million a small number in your world??

You have a lot of faith in the wisdom of people doing a job for which the only qualification required is to be 18 years old.