UK Politics Thread XIII: The Brexit Ship Departs

[Dakini]

So having spent £2.6 million on a Downing Street briefing room so they could have American style daily briefings, the idea has now been abandoned.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-56814575

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-56818750

Was one of Boris Johnson's friends paid to do up the room as well?

[The New California Republic]

So having spent £2.6 million on a Downing Street briefing room so they could have American style daily briefings, the idea has now been abandoned.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-56814575

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-56818750

Was one of Boris Johnson's friends paid to do up the room as well?

Tbh it wouldn't surprise me if the contract for some of the equipment for the room was given to a friend.

[An Alan Smithee Nation]

So having spent £2.6 million on a Downing Street briefing room so they could have American style daily briefings, the idea has now been abandoned.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-56814575

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-56818750

Was one of Boris Johnson's friends paid to do up the room as well?

It wouldn't surprise me if Boris Johnson put on a pair of overalls and a false moustache and pocketed the fees for the refurbishment.

[The Huskar Social Union]

So some interesting polling results done by Lucidtalk for tonight's BBC NI spotlight episode (which im just about to watch myself). These polls were done in NI and the ROI and involved 2,845 responses and 1,088 responses respectively over the course of 5-7th April and 6-9th April respectively.

Could Violence Return?

Northern Ireland Poll:
76% Agree
11% Disagree

Republic of Ireland Poll:
87% Agree
4% Disagree
9% Not sure/neutral

Should Northern Irelands Centenary be celebrated?

Northern Ireland Poll:
40% Yes
45% No
15% Dont Know/Neutral

Republic of Ireland Poll:
12% Yes
50% No
37% Dont Know/Neutral

Should the NI Protocol be Scrapped?

Northern Ireland Poll:
48% Agree
46% Disagree
6% Dont Know/Neutral

Republic of Ireland Poll:
10% Agree
74% Disagree
16% Dont Know/Neutral

Should Northern Ireland stay in the United Kingdom?

Northern Ireland Poll:
49% Remain in the UK
43% Leave the UK
8% Dont Know/Not Sure

Republic of Ireland Poll:
27% Remain in the UK
51% Leave the UK
22% Dont Know/Not Sure

Will Northern Ireland be part of the United Kingdom in 10 years?

Northern Ireland Poll:
55% Yes
32% No
13% Dont Know

Republic of Ireland Poll:
59% Yes
26% No
15% Dont Know

Will Northern Ireland be part of the United Kingdom in 25 years?

Northern Ireland Poll:
37% Yes
51% No
12% Dont Know

Republic of Ireland Poll:
26% Yes
54% No
20% Dont Know

Should NI stay in the UK? People aged under 45

50% favour a United Ireland
43% favour remaining in the United Kingdom

Should Northern Ireland stay in the EU Single Market?

56% Stay in the EU Single Market
38% Leave the EU Single Market
6% Dont Know

In short for people in Northern Ireland:

-Majority for staying in the EU Single Market.
-No Majority for scrapping or keeping the NI Protocol.
-No Majority for celebrating the NI Centenary.
-No Majority for staying in the United Kingdom or Joining a United Ireland.
-Majority who feel violence can return.
-Majority who feel NI will be part of the United Kingdom in 10 years but not in 25 years.
-Half of Under 45's would vote for a United Ireland

[Kowani]

UK moves to make it a terror offense to be a member of the US-based Neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division

[CoraSpia]

UK moves to make it a terror offense to be a member of the US-based Neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division

Oh lovely, guilt by association laws. We needed more of them right?

[Vassenor]

UK moves to make it a terror offense to be a member of the US-based Neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division

Oh lovely, guilt by association laws. We needed more of them right?

And who made you the arbiter of what terrorist groups the government is and is not allowed to proscribed?

[CoraSpia]

Oh lovely, guilt by association laws. We needed more of them right?

And who made you the arbiter of what terrorist groups the government is and is not allowed to proscribed?

I'm an equal opportunities kind of person. I don't think we should be making it an offence to associate with any particular group. Charge people if they actually do something, not just for associating with people.

Before somebody asks: communist revolutionaries, Islamic extremists etc are all covered by this statement.

[Kowani]

Senior police officers "encouraged or tolerated" undercover officers having sexual relationships with activists they were sent to spy on, tribunal hears

Metropolitan Police is being sued by an environmental campaigner who had a long-term relationship with an officer she believed was a fellow activist.

They had met while working together at a community hub in Nottingham.

Kate Wilson, 41, said the deception had breached her human rights.

The Investigatory Powers Tribunal at the Royal Courts of Justice was told by Ms Wilson's solicitor that Mark Kennedy had been sent to infiltrate the Sumac Centre in Nottingham in 2003.

Charlotte Kilroy QC said the Met's National Public Order Intelligence Unit believed the centre was used by people "involved in extremism relating to animal rights, environmentalism, anarchy, anti-weapons and war issues and anti-globalisation".


"In truth, it was a community space with a vegan cafe used by a wide range of people and groups," she said.
Ms Wilson began a relationship with Mark Stone shortly after first meeting him in 2003 before they split amicably in 2005, when she moved to Spain.

In 2010, she learned he was actually a married police officer called Mark Kennedy.

Her legal action against the Met and the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) cites breaches of her right to freedom from inhuman and degrading treatment, her right to privacy and right to freedom of expression.

The Met and NPCC have accepted Mr Kennedy's actions amounted to a breach of those rights but deny that other officers, apart from Mr Kennedy and his cover officer, knew or suspected that Ms Wilson was in a sexual relationship with the officer.

However, Ms Wilson argues there was "widespread indifference, or express or tacit encouragement" for undercover officers to begin intimate relationships while they were deployed.

She says her relationship with Mr Kennedy "was known or suspected by several other police officers, including more senior ones" and was "part of a practice of permitting undercover officers ... to enter into sexual relationships". Ms Kilroy argued Mr Kennedy "used her contacts, her organisational role and her standing to bolster his own credentials as an activist", which allowed him to "infiltrate new protest groups, gather intelligence and maintain trust".

"What Mark [Kennedy] did could not have occurred without the express or tacit agreement or tolerance of other police officers," she said.

The hearing is expected to last about a week with a ruling expected at a later date.

[An Alan Smithee Nation]

So some interesting polling results done by Lucidtalk for tonight's BBC NI spotlight episode (which im just about to watch myself). These polls were done in NI and the ROI and involved 2,845 responses and 1,088 responses respectively over the course of 5-7th April and 6-9th April respectively.

Might make an interesting poll for this thread, whether people still see the UK intact in 10 years, 25 years etc.

[The Huskar Social Union]

So some interesting polling results done by Lucidtalk for tonight's BBC NI spotlight episode (which im just about to watch myself). These polls were done in NI and the ROI and involved 2,845 responses and 1,088 responses respectively over the course of 5-7th April and 6-9th April respectively.

Might make an interesting poll for this thread, whether people still see the UK intact in 10 years, 25 years etc.

It would yeah.

Also side note i took part in that lucidtalk polling that was shown off last night : P

[The New California Republic]

Might make an interesting poll for this thread, whether people still see the UK intact in 10 years, 25 years etc.

Not going to, as we are drawing close to the end of this iteration of the thread, so it can be saved for the next one. The current poll is still pertinent enough to warrant leaving it in place until the end.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Might make an interesting poll for this thread, whether people still see the UK intact in 10 years, 25 years etc.

Not going to, as we are drawing close to the end of this iteration of the thread, so it can be saved for the next one. The current poll is still pertinent enough to warrant leaving it in place until the end.

Who is OP'ing the next one or are you doing it again as you have made the last few iirc

[An Alan Smithee Nation]

Might make an interesting poll for this thread, whether people still see the UK intact in 10 years, 25 years etc.

Not going to, as we are drawing close to the end of this iteration of the thread, so it can be saved for the next one. The current poll is still pertinent enough to warrant leaving it in place until the end.

It's more one for the lean periods when nothing else is going on.

[The New California Republic]

Not going to, as we are drawing close to the end of this iteration of the thread, so it can be saved for the next one. The current poll is still pertinent enough to warrant leaving it in place until the end.

Who is OP'ing the next one or are you doing it again as you have made the last few iirc

Someone else can do it if they want (within reason, as it clearly needs someone who is going to maintain it and be neutral enough to have fairly sensible poll questions and options, bar the occasional joke here and there of course). If nobody is really wanting to do it though then I can continue it if needed.

[An Alan Smithee Nation]

Who is OP'ing the next one or are you doing it again as you have made the last few iirc

Someone else can do it if they want (within reason, as it clearly needs someone who is going to maintain it and be neutral enough to have fairly sensible poll questions and options, bar the occasional joke here and there of course). If nobody is really wanting to do it though then I can continue it if needed.

I look forward to a poll on supporting Northumbrian Independence where you can either vote Yes, or Yes.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Someone else can do it if they want (within reason, as it clearly needs someone who is going to maintain it and be neutral enough to have fairly sensible poll questions and options, bar the occasional joke here and there of course). If nobody is really wanting to do it though then I can continue it if needed.

I look forward to a poll on supporting Northumbrian Independence where you can either vote Yes, or Yes.

"Do you support Northumbrian Independence and the annexation of the North Sea and half of Scotland?"

YES
Yes
Lmao Keith
No because im a mainstream elite from London

[The New California Republic]

I think that if...a certain individual with that particular proclivity...did sneak in to take over the new iteration of the thread and utterly derail its established purpose towards that direction, then the Mods would likely see it as a very good case to transfer thread ownership to someone else.

[Philjia]

My postal ballot for the local elections has arrived.

Voting for the Northumbria PCC is a bit of a bit of a challenge, I don't really like any of these people. I think I've narrowed it down to the incumbent Labour candidate and the Lib Dem who wants to abolish the role. Not voting is not an option because nobody votes in these elections so someone has to take responsibility for keeping the Tories grubby mitts of the job.

[An Alan Smithee Nation]

I'm not sure which particular question did it, because I've got the sound turned down, but Johnson is getting a bit rattled in PMQs.

[Philjia]

I'm not sure which particular question did it, because I've got the sound turned down, but Johnson is getting a bit rattled in PMQs.

I suspect he wasn't ready for the revelation that he said he'd fix it for Dyson.

[The New California Republic]

My postal ballot for the local elections has arrived.

Voting for the Northumbria PCC is a bit of a bit of a challenge, I don't really like any of these people. I think I've narrowed it down to the incumbent Labour candidate and the Lib Dem who wants to abolish the role. Not voting is not an option because nobody votes in these elections so someone has to take responsibility for keeping the Tories grubby mitts of the job.

I've always gone to the polling station in person, and even Coronavirus isn't going to stop that tradition. I will be changing how I conduct myself there though: I'm taking my own pen, staying as far as I can from the workers at the desk when I get my ballot paper, and not putting the ballot paper down on the shelf/desk in the booth (I'll just put the X in the box while holding it in my hand).

[The Huskar Social Union]

Ill need to pop down to the electoral office some time this year to get some of my details changed. Near certain they still have my old address down for where i live.

edit: Or even check it online, yeah that makes sense Huskar you idiot

[Borderlands of Rojava]

UK moves to make it a terror offense to be a member of the US-based Neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division

Oh lovely, guilt by association laws. We needed more of them right?

GVH, atomwaffen division is a full on terrorist group. They have killed people before. It's like bring part of ISIS. You should have the right to be a Nazi but not a member of a criminal group.

[Borderlands of Rojava]

So what other great things are happening right now in jolly old Ulster?