Jenny1

I believe Grayling first articulated the 'no checks' plan in March last year. It may well have been said earlier given that it's the kind of thing that Patrick Minford is keen on. I'm happy to be corrected. It's not a good idea. It will make these fantasy 'trade deals' that Brexiters talk about even more unlikely (although I know that seems hardly possible...) and our farming and manufacturing industry will pay a heavy price. http://www.politics.co.uk/comment-analysis/2018/03/23/grayling-s-fantasy-brexit-plan-would-make-trade-deals-imposs

Robbin - you've already pointed out that any rise in food prices (even if fairly small, and hopefully temporary) will affect those on small incomes. Therefore it's sensible, if you have cash available, to stock up on non-perishable items you use regularly. Do also remember that there are people - like myself - who already have a limited diet for medical reasons. Some substantial surgery a few years back means there are a lot of foods I can't digest. So it's sensible to make sure I have some supplies of the non-freah foods that I can eat, in case they're suddenly less available than normal. My view is that our politicians are showing great irresponsibility. They should not have placed us in a position where these issues are even being discussed.

rahrahrah Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The riots were pretty scary and demonstrated how > thin the veneer of order actually is. Police > numbers have significantly reduced since then. If > there are delays to supply chains and shortages in > the shops, I don't think it would take much / long > for people to kick off. That's the logical conclusion, sadly.

....although this government shows few signs of sanity. They may well not be interested in the views of those army insiders. What would happen if the PM and her 'advisers' 'ordered' the army to take action?

malumbu Wrote: ----------------------------------- It would be surprising if > COBR was even being used at this moment seeing as > we are not yet in crisis. Yes. But the reference was to potential future action. As to the specific role of the armed forces. I see the Times Defence Correspondent saying the army doesn't have the training to quell domestic unrest at the moment as it's too long since they were active on the streets of Northern Ireland. This means army and defence insiders she's spoken to in recent weeks are cool about the idea. Thus reinforcing your comment that it would likely be the job of the police to deal with any civil unrest post No-Deal.

I guess if the ST meant 'Cabinet Office Briefing Room A' - then the 'A' is fine. I think malumbu was making a general point that there's often confusion between the acronym COBR or COBRA and the people who meet there to take decisions. But the most important point is clearly that our government should not be even considering such things.

Isn't it simply that the word 'Committee' has got left out malumbu, and that a stray 'A' has been added to the end of COBR? The committee in question being formed of ministers (among others) who would meet in the COBR to manage army deployment to quell civil unrest in the event of No Deal? So less 'poppycock', more 'typo'? I quite agree that we will need to fully deploy 'chin up' as the weeks advance....

TheCat Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > i'd > optimistically hoped after the vote, we migh be > able to assess those things with a more informed > public debate, but thats never happened > unfortunately. Absolutely. In reality we could, of course, begin such a process now - after an extension to Article 50. And I'm angry that May and Corbyn are still not prioritising thoughtful discussion about the long-term direction of this country. It suits them to pretend that we have a gun held to our heads and must make rushed decisions. This has, of course, been May's tactic all along. I think it stems from the fact that she is essentially approaching the whole situation as Cameron did - ie the priority is the continued unity of the Conservative Party, and the week by week survival of her own government.

Hi TheCat. I take your point that the referendum in 2016 didn't offer us the chance to get into the detail of what the future might look like for the UK, either in or out of the EU. I was wondering if you thought, in retrospect, that it would have been useful if that process had allowed more time and space for that very thing (along with fuller debate of all the issues)? See my mention above of the 'peoples assemblies' they held in Ireland to fully dive into the contentious debate over abortion.

Hemingway. UKIP did, of course, do comparatively well in the 2015 election. But why would that result, out of interest, be of more relevance than the much better showing by the Liberal Democrats in 2010, when considering UK attitudes towards the EU? The fact that UKIP were polling better in 2015 than in the past doesn't negate the point I make that the in/out referendum of 2016 was not designed to cause a deep, thorough debate about this country's place in or out of Europe. Imagine you had actually wanted a proper, national consideration of this issue. How would you have gone about it? I'm sure you could have come up with a model which might well have included the types of public assemblies which I referenced in Ireland, and which would have grappled with the issues much more effectively than the one that Cameron picked. As to Cambridge Analytica ('etc, etc, etc!) - Doesn't it show more 'contempt for the plebs' not to abide by our own electoral rules? Doesn't that trivialise our democracy, and hence all the votes we caste, to an unforgivable degree?

Macron was quite right to say that the referendum did not 'allow for an informed, transparent and calm debate', thus leaving us open to disinformation and manipulation. This was mainly because the referendum was, of course, not called with the intention of starting such a debate but because a lazy and foolish Prime Minister couldn't be bothered to manage the internal tensions in his own party and was looking for an easy way to achieve a quiet life. I doubt we'll get them now, but I wish we could have had the 'citizen assemblies' that informed the debate over abortion rights in Ireland. We'll never see a 'Mueller' type inquiry of course, that would be too much to hope for.

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I've just sent this to Craig at the Royal Mail, copied to Helen Hayes and James McAsh Dear Craig, I received an email this morning telling me that a tracked parcel had been delivered by Royal Mail to my address. It had not been delivered to me and after checking with neighbours, and in any possible 'hiding places' at the front of the property, I established that it had not been delivered at all. Since the item was ordered via eBay I am now establishing if it is I, or the seller, who has the obligation to complete your complaints process. I am furious. I have been aware for a long time that, since the closure of the Silvester Road Delivery Office in East Dulwich, there has been a chronic problem of theft and inefficiency in our local Royal Mail service. I now consider that we can no longer rely on Royal Mail to operate in our area. Royal Mail is therefore in breach of its legal obligations. I am copying this email to Helen Hayes and James McAsh who I know are pursuing this matter.

You could ask Jacqui5254 who works for Peckham 'food cycle' (see the post about it in the Lounge).

Hi Jacqui. I've got a couple of things for you. I live in ED but happy to drop them off to you if that's easier. Do just DM me to arrange. Thanks.

pebs Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > meanwhile country carry's on going to the dogs. > just great! Agreed peas. I'm afraid we're seeing what we've been seeing all along. This process is about those in power in making sure they hang on to their authority as long as possible. They don't care about anything else.

ianr Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > I suspect a friendly postie might be a good source > of information. I wouldn't discourage asking RM > Enquiries, if only for the opportunity it offereed > of expressing concern about Peckham DO. That's a good idea Ian. Thanks.

I have had a problem with a parcel posted out of LL recently not arriving. I'm now chasing that up. But post can go astray every now and then, no matter what route it's taken. I'm just trying to establish what depot post gets sent to once it's left local post offices ie LL. If it's via Peckham then I'll post elsewhere for the time being.

Re Sue's post above. I don't know how the system works. But if the Peckham office deals with the processing of mail leaving the area then I assume it would be a good idea not to post Christmas parcels from local post offices this year. Could someone who knows more about how the postal system operates confirm?

Hi Penguin I kind of wish we had the old sort of boiler right now! In such a situation that would be a blessing. But I guess we're lucky the weather is so mild.

The pressure remains low on Melbourne Grove. We're lucky enough to have water - which clearly not everybody does - but are having to prioritise its use. I've turned the boiler off altogether as it's struggling (due to lack of water pressure) to even supply the hot taps.

Still low pressure on Melbourne Grove