…WHO IS THE PRINCE?
SIR Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, he of punch-up fame, and MP for the Cotswolds, has declared that the “principalities” of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are being too cautious about Covid and are interfering with people’s liberties.
He gave an interview to Times Radio in which he was asked: “How concerned are you about England being out of step with the rest of the country?”
His reply was that he thought it was the other way around.
“I think the principalities are out of step with with England. I think they have been overly cautious. I think they’re doing more damage to their economies than they need to. I think they’re doing more damage to people’s liberties than they need to.”
Neither Northern Ireland nor Scotland has ever been a principality. Scotland was and is a Kingdom, and the part of Wales that was a principality ceased to be so in the 1500s.
Now I know that Tories are traditionally a bit behind the times…
But seriously, we thought the 18th century was as far back as they went.
As for what OUR governments are doing compared with the English government, here’s a professor of public health:-
Is it just me or did the BBC presenter not seem happy with his answer?
Int the meantime, the number of people in hospital with COVID in England has risen to 9,546, according to Sky News. This is a 38% increase form last week.
My granny used to say of people who thought themselves right even when everyone was doing the opposite from them, “everyone’s oot o’ step but oor Jock”. It seems like in this case, “Everyone is out of step with the exception of our SIR Geoffrey Clifton Brown”.
MUNGUIN'S NEW REPUBLIC 
MPs talk such a load of rubbish…
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The speed of a snail would beat the Conservative response to omicron. It is a tad like someone in a race watching the winner disappear into the distance and, frankly, just give up.
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Well, they have been slow all the time but now, with Steve Baker and the Baker’s Hundred threatening to vote against them if they take sensible steps like most of Europe, they are stuck.
In any case, it’s Christmas and Johnson will likely be legless.
I bet Truss is sharpening her knife…
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You’d think that those and such living in a monarchy and embracing all that comes with it would at least go to the bother of learning how it all works and what the proper titles are. That’s before they infest the media using inaccuracies that only serve to reinforce how thick, gittish and entitled the political class is. ‘Colony’ would have been up for argument but at the same time much more accurate.
As far as Covid restrictions go, their effect will always be limited because we don’t control our borders. I wouldn’t describe myself as having a huge network of friends, acquaintances etc.. but I know of quite a few English people up here for the festive hols as I’m sure many others do also. How much Covid tagged along with them is anybodies guess.
I wonder if there are separate stats for areas containing lots of holiday homes? Given the increased transmissibility of the Omicron variant it would be interesting to see how the permanent residents fared compared to everybody else.
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Yes. That is our problem. And there is no reason why borders couldn’t have been controlled better, except of course, we aren’t allowed to do it and it would take vast numbers of police away from other duties.
In Australia and Malaysia and I think also in the USA, there were times and places where state borders were closed.
He is described as a “senior” Tory, but I’d never heard of him, although his fracas with security in Manchester did ring a bell. But you’d think these great British people would know what their empire consists of.
Anyway, if we become a principality, I hope we don’t get Wee Wullie as our prince, because we really couldn’t stand all that sexiness! Ummmmm.
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1. When the Scottish Government even attempts to discourage people from down south – because there is a higher prevalence of the virus there – from coming to Scotland, the Usual Suspects, e.g., Lord ffoulkes of Cumnock, scream blue murder. How much worse the reaction would be to any attempt to actually close the border to non-essential personnel – the mind boggles.
2. What pisses off those of us with independent minds the most is the secure knowledge that if the boot were on the other foot, the English / British authorities would close down the Border in a heartbeat, most likely without doing us the courtesy of warning us first. Except, of course, to visiting Royalty and Tory pols intent on showing us what Levelling Up and Muscular Unionism are all about.
As always, the asymmetry between the two founding States of the Union is striking – except to those who view Britain / the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as Greater England, with, of course, the inclusion of Wales. That is, if they think of us at all as anything more than quaint and scenic, industry-free tourist theme parks where people talk funny, and are prone to knifing each other in our major cities in drug- and alcohol-fueled rages.
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Hello, Ed.
I trust you are well. You’ve been absent for a while. Munguin was getting concerned.
Well, I’m glad you mentioned “levelling up”. For a while I wondered what it mean. It was even more perplexing when I discovered that Little Sniffy was the minister for it.
But all has become clear.
https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/tory-aristocrat-uses-300k-from-governments-levelling-up-fund-to-fill-potholes-on-his-driveway-306427/
There is, after all, nothing more irritating than pot holes in one’s driveway when one is a Viscount (pronounces vi-count).
It’s enough to unsettle a fellow. So level up the drive Young Sniffer fellow m’lad. Look sharp. Aristocrats aren’t used to being kept waiting.
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But Tris, maybe the Viscnut hired some of the local peasantry to fill in his potholes – that must have given them a groat or two to catch the public omnibus to the food bank, eh what what?
I am moved by Munguin’s condescension (in the Jane Austen sense) in asking after my health – which is OK. I’ve just been doing a spot of hibernating in preparation for the New Year.
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Well, who knows what the Blue Bloods do, Ed. I’ve a mind to enquire of the Noble, Gallant and Rt Hon Baroness the next time I happen upon her.
Munguin was missing being told about life affirmation every Sunday. He has such a fragile ego!
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10351027/Virile-Viscount-levels-driveway-330k-money.html
Lovely picture there. I’d say he’s almost as much of a catch as Wee Wullie.
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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FHsh2fRWYAIrNzu?format=jpg&name=large
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That graph speaks of dire consequencies to come as hospital admissions can be 3 weeks behind infection rates.
I saw this and had it ready to post but you beat me to it. Maunguin’s whip cracking effect?
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Goodness, yes. If anyone is handy with a whip, Munguin is a cracker (as it were).
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Typical Tory git – expert on ‘principalities’, ignoramus when it comes to principles.
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Yes, the hyphenated Tory MP is a git. But his use of “principalities” is deliberate and intended to highlight the inferior status of the three territories. One way of highlighting the unimportance and inferiority of someone or something is to get their name wrong. Repeatedly.
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Yes, I imagine so.
Only the other day Mordant call the three Celtic countries “territories”.
We know our place.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/imageserver/image/%2Fmethode%2Ftimes%2Fprodmigration%2Fweb%2Fbin%2Fad91047c-f099-383a-aec7-b775efd1ec44.jpg?crop=1500%2C1000%2C0%2C0&resize=1200
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So expert that he can name three that don’t exist!
Liechtenstein, Monaco, Andorra, SIR Clifton-Brown.
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Another 130,000 new cases for englandland today, world record numbers, no figures released for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Problem is they’ve run out of test kits, so tomorrow the problem is over and the doris is proved correct, no need to do anything.
Media from englandland tonight, seems the colony has thumped the master race at cricket, huge coverage.
Todays Telegraph was full of mild virus, world beating vacination programme, empty hospital beds and fully staffed.
Reality, staff off isolating, vaccine not as effective, now needing another booster, number Four, hospitals becoming over run, younger groups seeing more symptoms.
What’s next, a new variant is on the cards I’m afraid to think.
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Where is Johnson?
Somewhere warm?
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I’ve just read that the Norwegian government is paying 33% of every household energy bill, because they used their oil money wisely.
Still, I’m sure it is very rare for the Norwegian Prime Minister to be invited to the White House
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The Irish government are paying €100 off every household electricity bill in that territory which, of course, is a principality.
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It seems to be a reasonable thing to do, given that the bills are set to soar.
Still having giver £37 billion to thier mates in SERCO, there’s nothing left from the Brits to give to the people.
That should kill a few more off this winter and please the leadership.
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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FHrraSpX0AEb-3f?format=jpg&name=small
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Umm 🤔 Geoff could have a point if the other regions of the UK follow
Different guidelines on Covid .
It could make the English region and
The Conservatives (god forbid ) 😞appear worse.
Give me Liberty and I will give you death 💀.
Seems to be Geoffs advice .
I think 🤔 I will give that a miss
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My goodness, Niko. I hope you are not suggesting that England is but “region”.
Mr Rees Mogg will be paying you a visit shortly and you’ll find yourself answering to his right honourableness!
The very idea!
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Can’t help but feel in me waters
The Torys are weary 😮💨 of letting people have carrot 🥕.
And are itching to return to what they love the most
administering to the ordinary People a fecking big stick whack ! Whack !
This pandemic 😷 has not for many Torys been as nasty or brutish and the plebs lives made as short as it should have been.
I fear the attack of the neoliberal mad 😡 men and women is on the horizon.
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I’m pretty sure that they now know that their time is running out.
There are around 100 of them that appear to be stark raving mad…well, madder than normal.
That is one of the problems when you chose your members from a very narrow and not very bright number of extremists.
Steve Baker and his merry band hold the Tories to account now. Johnson can’t move without their permission or they will vote agasint him and he can’t do anything about it.
Look forward to a raft of hard right policies, some of which will affect only England …as Patel batters along with her hard right agenda, and some will affect us all as they will either be reserved powers of, matters where there is a consequential (NHS privatisation?)
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“Ireland, Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Denmark, Netherlands, Poland, Croatia, Luxembourg, Portugal. ” most of these countries are currently experiencing more deaths per million people than the UK. Largely, I suspect because we have more immunity both through infection and because we have delivered a lot more jabs.
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Have you got some figures to prove that?
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So if somewhere has more deaths than England and other regions of the uk 🇬🇧.
That’s a good outcome ???
Perhaps 🤔 the lowest mortality possible in the UK 🇬🇧 is the metric
We should aim for.
Regardless of any where outside of the UK 🇬🇧.
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Surely the lowest number of deaths anywhere is what we should be aiming for, and the smallest possible number of people in the hospital system.
Regardless of politics, we are talking about people’s lives, and Gordon Brown is right, this won’t have a chance of being over until the world is vaccinated.
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And before any nats scream about
Indy and the snp will save us
This seems to fit the snp oligarchy
It is the decadent stage that comes when the party elite has understood that the utopia they promised is unattainable, but is enjoying the trappings of power too much to break the bad news to the people in whose name they seized power.
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Independence is of course, not unattainable. I mean there are rather a lot of independent countries in the world, and many in Northern Europe.
Most of them are far better off than we are. In fact it is hard to think of one that is worse off.
Now, that could be because we Scots are a uniquely stupid people , utterly incapable of doing, all 5.5 million of us what the 5 million in Norway are doing (did you see that the Norwegians are paying 33% of Norwegian’s electricity bills?), or what 400,000 Icelanders can do.
Or it could be because we are tied to an old imperial power that still thinks (Tory or Labour) that it is more important to be seen as leaders on the world stage than worry about poor people, old people and sick people?)
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Umm don’t poke the bear 🐻 (tris)
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Grrrrrrrr
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“Lord Gage, Tory aristocrat, is reported to have taken £330,000 from the £4.8 billion levelling up funds for, wait for it, filling in the potholes on his driveway.
Ok.
Now make him pay it back.”
Is this true? In what world is an unelected member (double entrendre deliberate!) a left behind community???
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Clearly the blue bloods think that leveling up means filling in pot holes.
The trouble is give them an inch and they will take a gallon… or some such old fashioned imperial stuff.
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We seem to have a princess not a prince and she’s no for moving!
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Well, it’s easy to get rid of someone who is there because she is elected… All people in her constituency have to do is vote for Anas Sarwar… and of course people all over Scotland could elect Wee Dougie as their first minister.
Not the same as getting rid of a useless prince who is there, not because people voted for him, but who, in fact, was chosen for his job by sexual intercourse.
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