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Quite Malumbu. Was about to say exactly the same thing. I would also point out that being able to engage in one's own language is a display of how non federal the EU really is.

Isolationism, protectionism and nationalism always emerge after severe economic crisis. This has been true for most of history. We are still in the trajectory of the 2008 financial crisis. And as always, you have a status quo struggling to hold onto their share of the profit (and increase it), while changing nothing for anyone else, hence the rise of populism. Populism loves vague notions and simplistic slogans around national pride and sovereign strength which is why historically a lot of wars have been started by populists.

Pugwash Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Neither of us have Zoom but are in contact by > phone and emails. If you don't have zoom, but have a smartphone and internet use, use whatsapp instead for a video call. I agree on the three day thing personally but think the five days relaxation has been set to allow for traveling. You can't travel to most other areas under the tier system, so the days before Xmas Eve and after Boxing Day are needed.

Christmas for us is usually seven households mixing for a big xmas feast. We won't be doing that this year. Everyone is staying in their own household, apart from the two family members that live alone. They will join a household each, in their bubble. That is a small effort to make for one year. Boxes of presents have been sent to everyone and we'll have a zoom xmas present opening shindig as well as copious 'our xmas dinner is better than yours' photos going back and forth. It will be different, but it won't kill us, and we'll make up for it next year hopefully. That should be perfectly possible for every household to do, but we know they won't. Government knows that people will still meet up with friends, travel all over the place in the days around xmas to drop off gifts, and took I think the decision that encouraging sensible behaviour was going to be more effective than demanding it. Who wants to be the government sending Police to people's homes over the Christmas Break? My impression is that most people are indeed going to be sensible. In London at least, you can see evidence that people have shopped early, possibly endeavoring to isolate a little in the days leading up to that five day period.

The thing about advice Penguin, is that it is a general guide. There will always be a small number of individuals who, for very understandable reasons, will decide otherwise. For most people though, keeping older relatives safe from infection, will be a factor in making sure hospitals do not fill up with a third spike in January. Otherwise, it will be another lockdown, and that helps no-one.

Yes, common sense is called for by everyone. It is one year and ask yourself, unless you can be absolutely sure you and those you plan to spend xmas with are not infected, if one Christmas is worth someone's life. Anyone planning to be in close contact with a vulnerable person absolutely needs to ask themselves this. If people (individually or as a family) can isolate in the 10 days leading up to Xmas gatherings, that would also be common sense. Xmas could actually be an opportunity to slow the spread of infection, if everyone does the right thing.

People have migrated from all sorts of places to get jobs. Why do you think major cities lost half their population at various times? Industries rise and decline, Scotland is not unique in that respect. If Scotland decides on independence, she can rejoin the huge trading bloc on her doorstep, and there are many advantages in her doing that. I too have strong connections to Scotland and as for scuppering dreams, leave voters just took away the dreams of generations of people who might want to live, work or study in any one of 27 other nations, so giving up access to little England for access to 27 other nations seems like a good trade off to me. Let's see how her small farmers do without EU protections and subsidy shall we? Westminster never handed the subsidies over in full when we were in the EU anyway. That move for independence may come sooner than we all think.

You have no way of knowing how the EU will evolve going forward, and of course it will change. Everything does, even if it is slow to do so. I don't what is worse, people bleating on about Empire and 'making Britain great again' and those latching on to equally nonsensical Franco-German desires for an Empire. These are the ideas that lead to conflicts and war historically too.

Stop playing the fool Keano.

Keano, whether you vote for an MEP or not makes absolutely no difference to your life. And that you cite a debunked story about the shape of bananas really shows the sum of your understanding of anything the EU does. So try again. Something tangible that directly will make your life better now that we have left the EU.

"But this whole time, the government have continued to smile and say we will "prosper mightily" - which is obviously a lie of the most morally reprehensible magnitude" Yes Sephiroth, and it is this that angers me most. The lies, lies and more damn lies. They don't even hide it anymore.

Nice bit of deflection there TheCat, if a little rambling. Where do you think the wealth of all those millionaires pushing Brexit, and especially a no deal one, comes from TheCat? Any ideas? Go and do some research and you will see how heavily invested in, and connected they are to the City, and big corporations. So no, these comments are not comparable to ridiculous claims about immigrants. One is based in fact, the other is not. Even John Redwood made a speech in the commons a few weeks ago asking where the VAT and other tax cut announcements are, in the middle of a pandemic with soaring government borrowing no less. These hard Brexiters want the UK to become a tax haven. It is all they think about. And by the way, the EU knows that full well too, and that is shaping their hardball negotiations with us especially on things like state aid. It is not childish to ask those who voted leave to cite one thing they expect to be better for them personally. That they all avoid answering the question is why we ask it. I would argue that it was childish to vote for something when they can't cite a single tangible benefit to them from it. As for life being a little bit sh+ttier, it already is for a lot of families struggling to make ends meet. Many in bed and breakfast, too many needing to rely on food banks. Up to 3 million jobs depend on exports to the EU. Any contraction in the economy (and especially on top of this pandemic) is going to hit many of those who voted for Brexit hardest and I see no policy from this government that even begins to address any of those fundamental issues. And all you can do is make silly analogies about mud huts. Good grief!

Which is why I think the answer is partly in addressing design and standardising a few things to maximise safety. A bigger front wheel would be one. Standards on brakes and speed and acceleration could be another. Even handlebar and platform size. Wider handlebars alone make it harder to zip between traffic. Standardisation would also make it easier for police to determine between legal and illegal ones.

Alan Medic Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I noticed for the first time doing an online shop > that restrictions have been implemented on how > many of an item you could buy. Maximum three. Supermarkets are expecting panic buying if there is no deal and expect that to be compounded by delays in imports deliveries. There is a real risk of shortages of fresh food if it is no deal.

Some excellent points by Sephiroth and others there. The fundamental question to ask here is, what do those pushing for Brexit really want and why. This has always been a Tory Party battle for a very good reason. It is the battle of a big business mantra that seeks optimum profit, minimal regulation that it sees as a barrier to that, and demands as little taxation as possible. What do those wealthy pushers of Brexit really want? The UK to become some offshore tax haven. They have never cared how that would impact on the public or anyone else. People like Dyson want corporation tax abolished for example. Yes that is right, big business paying no tax. He also wants the freedom to hire and fire at will without compensation to the worker, so no job protection for employees either. This is what these people want. A race to the bottom for the rest of us, while they boost their own coffers. Is this what people voting for Brexit wanted? As others have said, the idea of sovereignty as they sold it, is a nonsense. ALL trade deals comes with regulatory alignment. Even with fish, most of what our fishermen catch is sold to the EU! How many of them will be screaming from Jan 1st when they can't land that fish on the continent and compete in EU markets because tariffs just made their catch a whole lot more expensive. That is if they can even get it into the EU after days of being sat in a lorry queue at some port or customs border. There is one question I have consistently asked leave voters through all this, and never got any answer. What exactly do they think will change for the better in a way that will directly impact them after we leave? Our economy will still be beholden to big corporations and tax dodgers, just as it is now. We will still see trillions in tax avoidance by them. Just what do we gain in real terms? Because right now, there is a long list of everything we lose, and didly squat on the gain side.

This is what typifies everything that is wrong with a certain Brexit view. Those who think a hit is fine, but won't say how long that can be expected to be, and then go on about risk aversion when the kinds of jobs at risk are not their job. There are areas that rely heavily on UK exports for local jobs. No deal will be an exercise in self harm that will hurt those regions hardest. There is no B plan to save any of them. The country is run by hedge fund managers who believe in the myth of trickle down economics while avoiding tax in offshore accounts.

I agree that the club have worked to kick racism out but you only have to look at the Supporters Club statement to see the doubling down and denial.

Sephiroth Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > That isn?t what I said. > > I described why people voted the way they did in > 2016 - which is the exact opposite of you saying > ?most ardent brexiter said there would be > problems? > > But you view them as idiots which is... > instructive If we end up with no deal, there will be a conservative voter backlash, that is guaranteed. I personally know quite a few conservative voters that voted leave but expected there to be a trade deal, so that their small businesses could carry on trading. Anecdotal I know but they will have a lot to say if nothing is sorted.

TheCat Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Blah blah....Your question is emblematic of many > remainer attitudes, in my view. A discomfort with > uncertainty. That's a fair position, but I believe > that many remainers are risk aversse and prefer > the certainty of the status quo. Sorry but that is a cop out and emblematic of leavers lack of interest in details. How long matters to business. 10,000 road haulage firms for example, small exporters reliant on EU trade. 44 percent of our export trade in fact. Will you be losing YOUR job in the short term? I am guessing not.

What the players did was a statement against racism. Those booing were either too stupid to understand that, or are racists. Given Millwall's track record on some of their fans and racism, I am going to wager the latter.

Define 'short term'. Months, years, decades, what?

That's a really good lock, one of Trelock's most secure. Hopefully it finds a good home :)

The problem with mice is that they multiply fast and by fast, that is tenfold over a matter of months. They also chew through just about anything, including electrical wiring. More importantly, they carry disease in their urine, droppings and saliva. So as Seabag says, you have to get rid of them. How you do that depends on how bad the numbers are and whether or not there are nests in the walls and/ or under the floorboards.

Theory one. If Boris comes back with no deal, he is definitely toast. After 1 month of the chaos that ensues, he will be pushed out, probably to be replaced by Sunak, with whom the EU will reopen negotiations, and a deal will be done. Theory two. He settles for a deal and the ERG throw a temper tantrum over the concessions we all know he is going to have to make on fishing etc. He clings on, but for how long? Theory three. Everyone wakes up and it is 2010 again. It was all just a terrible dream ;)

It's human nature to want to stay alive Seabag. And who wouldn't try and get as high up the queue as they can for a limited supply of a potentially life saving vaccine? It is going to take some time though, even to get the first phase rollout completed, so some patience is going to be needed. If things go well, that is to say, several vaccines come online and they all work well, then it should speed up that first phase rollout. Otherwise it could take most of next year to complete phase one. The UK's biggest hopes are pinned on the Qxford vaccine ultimately.