BREXIT UPDATE 61: Brexit, COVID and the Price of Fish: Guest Post by Deborah Maccoby
On December 21, 2020
BREXIT UPDATE 61: BREXIT, COVID AND THE PRICE OF FISH
What has happened to the Internal Market Bill, which, as the UK government admitted – indeed almost boasted broke international law, albeit “in a very limited and specific way”? (see Brexit Updates 59 and 60).
As was widely predicted, the Bill easily passed its Third Reading in the House of Commons. But – as was equally widely predicted when the Bill went on November 10 to the House of Lords (where the government does not have a majority), the government suffered a heavy defeat, with peers voting by large majorities to remove two of the controversial clauses (other clauses were taken out without a vote).[1]
From Britannia Unleashed to Operation Capstone
In an edition of The Evergreen, a new season in the north, a contributors charts the gentrification of the Old Town of Edinburgh by smell. The pong of cheap aftershave from the mobs of endless Stag parties frequenting the strip clubs of the West Port mingled with the aroma of coffee which wafted out of the endless cafes serving lattes, frappuccinos and flat-whites and servicing the bland but ever-caffeinated new global culture. These scents of embourgoisement had replaced the old smells of the capital: pubs, soot and the waft of hops that used to float across the city from the giant brewing district at Fountainbridge.
If we all do the right thing, the virus cannot spread. When we see pictures of masses of people ignoring social distance, ignoring masks and generally behaving like they are immune, there is no surprise that the virus spreads. Some commentators are complaining that the tier system is not working therefore what’s the point of having them. My answer to this is that they would work if the 10-20% of the population who ignore the rules would stop behaving like Trumpist idiots and follow the rules.
Harry Key Largoward, Fife WITH further Christmas restrictions, lockdowns and the extension of the furlough scheme to April next year, it is past time to ask the uncomfortable question whether the lockdowns and other extreme measures against Covid-19 are actually justified.
OUTRAGE has become a reliable commodity on social media. Some people and some companies don’t care whether the attention they get is positive or negative, because all engagement is useful to them. Clickbait drives views which, in turn, boosts ad revenues. And there’s no more effective clickbait than outrage. At this time of year, it seems to get worse. Media outlets search for parents who they deem to be too selfish or stingy at Christmas. They sit them down for an interview and then send their story out into the digital universe so everybody can tell them what terrible people they are.
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Trade negotiations between Britain and the EU rumble on, as the threat of no deal looks increasingly likely. It is more than four years on from when 52 percent of the public voted to leave the bloc. A number of celebrities have vocalised their thoughts about Britain’s departure, including former Take That member Williams.