UK Politics Thread IX: Try turning the UK off and on again.

[Chan Island]

DUP: Sir Jeffrey Donaldson refuses to commit to assembly speaker election

The DUP has refused to confirm if it will support the election of a new assembly speaker when MLAs meet on Friday.

It is due to be the first order of business after the assembly election, which saw Sinn Féin win the most seats.

The election of a new speaker needs cross-community support from both unionist and nationalist members.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said his party has not yet decided if it will support the move.

A new speaker would mean assembly business could take place for up to six months, even in the absence of a functioning executive.

The election cemented a majority for assembly members who accept the Northern Ireland Protocol, including the new largest party, the republican party Sinn Féin.

But the second largest party, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), said it would not nominate ministers to form a new executive in Northern Ireland until its concerns with the protocol were resolved.

=CONTINUES=

So you know that whole "The assembly can continue operating for six months if a government collapses or is not formed" legislation that was passed earlier in the year? Well that can only happen if a speaker has been appointed, which requires cross community support from both Nationalists and Unionists. And the DUP are refusing to commit to voting for a speaker, which means if a speaker is not selected, the assembly cant form for those six months, which means sweet fuck all will be done in stormont.


Shit like this also needs to be changed, there are three community designations in the Assembly: Nationalist, Unionist and Other. Others are excluded from some cross community stuff such as this and votes that are triggered by the use of the petition of concern. It needs to be changed so that Others can vote and give cross community support to things like this as well, and make it a 2/3 requirement that if two designations out of the total three back something it passes.

God this shit pisses me off.

Government Shutdown 4: This time we found a way around the safeguards to stop that happening again!

[Ifreann]

DUP: Sir Jeffrey Donaldson refuses to commit to assembly speaker election

The DUP has refused to confirm if it will support the election of a new assembly speaker when MLAs meet on Friday.

It is due to be the first order of business after the assembly election, which saw Sinn Féin win the most seats.

The election of a new speaker needs cross-community support from both unionist and nationalist members.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said his party has not yet decided if it will support the move.

A new speaker would mean assembly business could take place for up to six months, even in the absence of a functioning executive.

The election cemented a majority for assembly members who accept the Northern Ireland Protocol, including the new largest party, the republican party Sinn Féin.

But the second largest party, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), said it would not nominate ministers to form a new executive in Northern Ireland until its concerns with the protocol were resolved.

=CONTINUES=

So you know that whole "The assembly can continue operating for six months if a government collapses or is not formed" legislation that was passed earlier in the year? Well that can only happen if a speaker has been appointed, which requires cross community support from both Nationalists and Unionists. And the DUP are refusing to commit to voting for a speaker, which means if a speaker is not selected, the assembly cant form for those six months, which means sweet fuck all will be done in stormont.


Shit like this also needs to be changed, there are three community designations in the Assembly: Nationalist, Unionist and Other. Others are excluded from some cross community stuff such as this and votes that are triggered by the use of the petition of concern. It needs to be changed so that Others can vote and give cross community support to things like this as well, and make it a 2/3 requirement that if two designations out of the total three back something it passes.

God this shit pisses me off.

On the plus side, maybe you'll get to break your past record for time without a government.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Sorcha Eastwood: 'I faced disgusting abuse during election campaign'

Here is yet another female MLA candidate who faced a ton of abuse and harassment during the election campaign, including someone contacting her 30 times in the space of a single day leaving disgusting messages to her and her husband, people putting up defamatory material in parts of Lagan Valley (if i remember correctly this was posters and leaflets with fake imagery and stuff about her) and some people were also sending her images directly on polling day.

[The Huskar Social Union]

DUP: Sir Jeffrey Donaldson refuses to commit to assembly speaker election

So you know that whole "The assembly can continue operating for six months if a government collapses or is not formed" legislation that was passed earlier in the year? Well that can only happen if a speaker has been appointed, which requires cross community support from both Nationalists and Unionists. And the DUP are refusing to commit to voting for a speaker, which means if a speaker is not selected, the assembly cant form for those six months, which means sweet fuck all will be done in stormont.


Shit like this also needs to be changed, there are three community designations in the Assembly: Nationalist, Unionist and Other. Others are excluded from some cross community stuff such as this and votes that are triggered by the use of the petition of concern. It needs to be changed so that Others can vote and give cross community support to things like this as well, and make it a 2/3 requirement that if two designations out of the total three back something it passes.

God this shit pisses me off.

On the plus side, maybe you'll get to break your past record for time without a government.

We got cheated out of the Guinness world records over the 2017-2020 Stormont collapse even though we beat Belgium who held the record for longest without a government, all because we were a devolved government and not a "national" one.

Fuck you it was ours! Cheated out of it! Cheated out of it i say!

[Ifreann]

On the plus side, maybe you'll get to break your past record for time without a government.

We got cheated out of the Guinness world records over the 2017-2020 Stormont collapse even though we beat Belgium who held the record for longest without a government, all because we were a devolved government and not a "national" one.

Fuck you it was ours! Cheated out of it! Cheated out of it i say!

Pan-nationalist Guinness confirmed.

[San Lumen]

Sorcha Eastwood: 'I faced disgusting abuse during election campaign'

Here is yet another female MLA candidate who faced a ton of abuse and harassment during the election campaign, including someone contacting her 30 times in the space of a single day leaving disgusting messages to her and her husband, people putting up defamatory material in parts of Lagan Valley (if i remember correctly this was posters and leaflets with fake imagery and stuff about her) and some people were also sending her images directly on polling day.

I find it flabbergasting people think this kind of behavior is even remotely acceptable.

[West Bromwich Holme]

I'm not a fan of the Express, but it's pushing the "Was Brexit a mistake?" narrative, at this link.

But as a whole, is it likely the EU could implode, especially with things like a planned EU army instead of army per-country etc.?

On a possibly lighter note, somewhat, what do you think of claims (saw this in a now-removed thread on a football forum) that the Rebekah Vardy vs Coleen Nolan trial had ties to Donald Trump, and that the media forgotten that bit.

[The Nihilistic view]

On the plus side, maybe you'll get to break your past record for time without a government.

We got cheated out of the Guinness world records over the 2017-2020 Stormont collapse even though we beat Belgium who held the record for longest without a government, all because we were a devolved government and not a "national" one.

Fuck you it was ours! Cheated out of it! Cheated out of it i say!

Well it's Irish essentially, of course they don't think NI is a country.

We in the Union would let you have it though...... come join us Huskar.

[The Huskar Social Union]

We got cheated out of the Guinness world records over the 2017-2020 Stormont collapse even though we beat Belgium who held the record for longest without a government, all because we were a devolved government and not a "national" one.

Fuck you it was ours! Cheated out of it! Cheated out of it i say!

Well it's Irish essentially, of course they don't think NI is a country.

We in the Union would let you have it though...... come join us Huskar.

Never! NEVER!

[The Huskar Social Union]

Northern Irish economy outperforming UK thanks to Brexit protocol: Experts

National Institute of Economic and Social Research says freedom to trade barrier-free with EU has ‘benefitted Northern Ireland post-Brexit.’

BELFAST — The post-Brexit trade protocol is helping, not hurting, growth and profitability in Northern Ireland because of its advantageous access to EU markets, according to a British economic think tank.

Wednesday’s findings from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research pour cold water on Conservative and Democratic Unionist claims that the protocol’s requirement for EU checks on British goods arriving in Northern Ireland has undermined business opportunities.

As part of its latest quarterly report on the U.K.’s economic outlook, the London-based research group says available data shows the reverse is true. It says Northern Ireland’s economic output “has slightly outperformed the U.K. average.”

“This is partly an outcome of the Northern Irish protocol and its special status in the Brexit arrangements, including better trade and investment conditions as part of the EU’s single market and customs union,” the report found.

“Closer links with the EU, through trade and also potentially labor mobility, have benefited Northern Ireland post-Brexit,” it added.

The protocol treaty between the U.K. government and European Commission, agreed in December 2019 as part of the wider Withdrawal Agreement, was designed to avoid creation of a two-way customs and sanitary border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, an EU member with extensive and growing connections with the U.K. region.

Instead, the protocol requires one-way EU checks on British goods arriving into Northern Irish ports as a less disruptive and more easily enforced option. Crucially, the protocol also leaves manufacturers in Northern Ireland, unlike the rest of the U.K., able to export barrier-free to the entire 27-nation EU.

But the U.K. government since March 2021 has refused to implement protocol-mandated checks in full and is currently threatening to reduce them further, citing alleged damage to the Northern Ireland economy.

Democratic Unionists, who oppose the protocol because it makes trade in goods easier with the Republic of Ireland than with the rest of the U.K., claim it has raised Northern Irish retail prices 27 percent — an assertion not backed by any publicly available data.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[Concejos Unidos]

Democratic Unionists claim it has raised Northern Irish retail prices 27 percent — an assertion not backed by any publicly available data.

It's all very simple. They got the number from their A-S-S (3 letters) and what's 3 to the 3rd power? 27%.

[The Archregimancy]

I predict that this next week, a day or two after the Queen's Speech (and the Queen is expected to make the effort to deliver it in person), the cabinet will be out and about in carefully selected Red Wall seats in the North of England and the Midlands in order to promote the dual messages of getting on with business and 'levelling up'. Places like Stoke, etc.

Bingo.

Wrong about the Queen, mind.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Nevermind Stoke, they should go to Stevenage, the greatest town in the land.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Tory MP Matt Vickers says the Northern Irish electorate 'put Sinn Féin in power' because of widespread opposition to the protocol – despite Sinn Féin supporting the NI Protocol.

"All im telling you is that the votes cast in those elections show that the Northern Ireland people, the majority of them, agreed with parties that support the protocol, thats not an opinion thats a fact"
"Well thats a perspective and an interpretation of that result"

Total MLAs in Stormont: 90

Total number of MLA's elected from Pro-Protocol parties: 53 (Sinn Fein, Alliance, SDLP, PBP)
Total number of MLA's elected from Anti-Protocol parties: 37 (UUP, DUP, TUV, Independent Unionists)

Now fellas im not great at the ole mathematics, but to me those numbers are pretty fucking clear.

If i have to listen to one more Tory MP yammer absolute nonsense about NI im gona cry

[The Blaatschapen]

Tory MP Matt Vickers says the Northern Irish electorate 'put Sinn Féin in power' because of widespread opposition to the protocol – despite Sinn Féin supporting the NI Protocol.

"All im telling you is that the votes cast in those elections show that the Northern Ireland people, the majority of them, agreed with parties that support the protocol, thats not an opinion thats a fact"
"Well thats a perspective and an interpretation of that result"

Total MLAs in Stormont: 90

Total number of MLA's elected from Pro-Protocol parties: 53 (Sinn Fein, Alliance, SDLP, PBP)
Total number of MLA's elected from Anti-Protocol parties: 37 (UUP, DUP, TUV, Independent Unionists)

Now fellas im not great at the ole mathematics, but to me those numbers are pretty fucking clear.

If i have to listen to one more Tory MP yammer absolute nonsense about NI im gona cry

*gives a handkerchief *

You know you're gonna need it.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Tory MP Matt Vickers says the Northern Irish electorate 'put Sinn Féin in power' because of widespread opposition to the protocol – despite Sinn Féin supporting the NI Protocol.

"All im telling you is that the votes cast in those elections show that the Northern Ireland people, the majority of them, agreed with parties that support the protocol, thats not an opinion thats a fact"
"Well thats a perspective and an interpretation of that result"

Total MLAs in Stormont: 90

Total number of MLA's elected from Pro-Protocol parties: 53 (Sinn Fein, Alliance, SDLP, PBP)
Total number of MLA's elected from Anti-Protocol parties: 37 (UUP, DUP, TUV, Independent Unionists)

Now fellas im not great at the ole mathematics, but to me those numbers are pretty fucking clear.

If i have to listen to one more Tory MP yammer absolute nonsense about NI im gona cry

*gives a handkerchief *

You know you're gonna need it.

Thank you noble sheep

[Hirota]

Nevermind Stoke, they should go to Stevenage, the greatest town in the land.

Kettering.

[Fartsniffage]

Nevermind Stoke, they should go to Stevenage, the greatest town in the land.

Kettering.

Boris is a twat but I'm not sure he deserves that.

[Ostroeuropa]

Calling a man bald counts as sexual harassment, tribunal finds.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/h ... 77545.html

The Independent ofcourse can't resist sneering about it because they're a feminist paper. Note as well how multiple papers note were judges on the tribunal, but the independent characterizes it as "three men", presumably to downplay their expertise.

https://metro.co.uk/2022/05/12/calling- ... -16632939/

Metro covering it more factually.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Climate activists who deflate car tyres reveal plan to target thousands more SUV drivers - and won't stop even if they cause accidents

Controversial climate activists who deflate tyres on SUVs say they will target thousands more drivers in the coming months - and they will not stop even if their actions result in road accidents.

The protesters, who call themselves the Tyre Extinguishers, told Sky News they want to "strike fear" into owners of the "gas guzzling" cars.

They claim they have already let down the tyres of about 3,000 vehicles across the UK since March.

Police have warned the group's actions "will absolutely not be tolerated" and have sought to catch those involved.

But a spokesperson for the Tyre Extinguishers said they believed they were unlikely to be arrested and they will not be deterred despite facing death threats.

So far, the activists say they have struck in London, Brighton, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Sheffield and Cambridge - and their campaign is "escalating fast".

They have warned more cities are set to be targeted as they aim to deflate tyres on more than 10,000 vehicles by the end of the year.

The group's spokesperson, who gave their name as Marion Walker, told Sky News: "We want to strike fear into anyone who drives a huge polluting SUV in a UK city.

"There comes a point where asking politely and protesting has stopped working, and it's time for action, to sabotage the machines that are killing us.

"Some of our number are people who live near busy polluted roads, slowly choked by gas guzzlers.

"Others are cyclists who have been nearly killed by an SUV too many times.

"We are all united by the science that SUVs are a climate disaster."

=CONTINUES=

Absolute morons.

[Fartsniffage]

Climate activists who deflate car tyres reveal plan to target thousands more SUV drivers - and won't stop even if they cause accidents

Controversial climate activists who deflate tyres on SUVs say they will target thousands more drivers in the coming months - and they will not stop even if their actions result in road accidents.

The protesters, who call themselves the Tyre Extinguishers, told Sky News they want to "strike fear" into owners of the "gas guzzling" cars.

They claim they have already let down the tyres of about 3,000 vehicles across the UK since March.

Police have warned the group's actions "will absolutely not be tolerated" and have sought to catch those involved.

But a spokesperson for the Tyre Extinguishers said they believed they were unlikely to be arrested and they will not be deterred despite facing death threats.

So far, the activists say they have struck in London, Brighton, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Sheffield and Cambridge - and their campaign is "escalating fast".

They have warned more cities are set to be targeted as they aim to deflate tyres on more than 10,000 vehicles by the end of the year.

The group's spokesperson, who gave their name as Marion Walker, told Sky News: "We want to strike fear into anyone who drives a huge polluting SUV in a UK city.

"There comes a point where asking politely and protesting has stopped working, and it's time for action, to sabotage the machines that are killing us.

"Some of our number are people who live near busy polluted roads, slowly choked by gas guzzlers.

"Others are cyclists who have been nearly killed by an SUV too many times.

"We are all united by the science that SUVs are a climate disaster."

=CONTINUES=

Absolute morons.

Eh, I kind of support them. Doesn't cause damage and inconveniences twats.

[The Nihilistic view]

Calling a man bald counts as sexual harassment, tribunal finds.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/h ... 77545.html

The Independent ofcourse can't resist sneering about it because they're a feminist paper. Note as well how multiple papers note were judges on the tribunal, but the independent characterizes it as "three men", presumably to downplay their expertise.

https://metro.co.uk/2022/05/12/calling- ... -16632939/

Metro covering it more factually.

I guess it's harder to prove you aren't a cunt than it is to prove you are bald.

[The Nihilistic view]

Climate activists who deflate car tyres reveal plan to target thousands more SUV drivers - and won't stop even if they cause accidents

Absolute morons.

Eh, I kind of support them. Doesn't cause damage and inconveniences twats.

No it's fucking moronic, I hate SUVs but death or injury (which could result with the right circumstances) from what is essentially a stupid prank is neither not causing damage and nor is it just an inconvenience should the worst happen. This also includes potential victims not in the SUV.

[Ifreann]

Eh, I kind of support them. Doesn't cause damage and inconveniences twats.

No it's fucking moronic, I hate SUVs but death or injury (which could result with the right circumstances) from what is essentially a stupid prank is neither not causing damage and nor is it just an inconvenience should the worst happen. This also includes potential victims not in the SUV.

They're leaving letters explaining what they've done and why. Seems to me that if a driver is out on the road without having noticed either that all of their tires are flat or the letter under their windscreen wiper then any resulting accidents are the fault of that driver.

[Fartsniffage]

Eh, I kind of support them. Doesn't cause damage and inconveniences twats.

No it's fucking moronic, I hate SUVs but death or injury (which could result with the right circumstances) from what is essentially a stupid prank is neither not causing damage and nor is it just an inconvenience should the worst happen. This also includes potential victims not in the SUV.

They leave a notice on the car that tyres have been let down. If you drive after seeing that then it's on you.

That's not to say the most modern cars tell you it is unsafe to drive if a tyre is flat.