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Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน Profile
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน

@mdbuckley

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Director @UKEUCommission | Commentator + journalist | Former @UKLabour adviser and aid worker ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ

Sheffield, England
Joined August 2008
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
This is incredible. #BLM #eng #ThreeLions
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
5 years
Spread this video far and wide - itโ€™s brilliant:
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
4 years
What kind of a man goes to visit his *elderly parents* when sick with an illness that disproportionately targets the old?
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
4 years
Brutal cartoon in The Times of all places. Governments in control of events donโ€™t let stuff like this happen.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
4 years
Iโ€™ve never understood the โ€˜itโ€™s all the Remainers faultโ€™ line. Literally none of this was our idea.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
4 years
Ireland spent โ‚ฌ770,000 on their test and trace system - and it works. Our Govt spent ยฃ12bn - and itโ€™s a disaster. Weโ€™re being taken for fools.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
The gulf between Johnson and Whitty at these press conferences grows and grows. Today Johnson said 'Omicron is mild, hospitalisations are less likely', Whitty said 'Omicron is not mild, we're heading towards the hospitalisation peak seen last January.' /1
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
4 years
Itโ€™s quite something when the PM and his advisor can unite @JuliaHB1 @montie @piersmorgan @Keir_Starmer , the entire opposition, many of their own backbenchers, almost all the media *and* most of the public in utter disgust at their incompetence and failure.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
Daily deaths at 314, +95 from the same day last week. And Johnson decides today is the day to announce he's ending all Covid restrictions a month early, in yet another desperate attempt to save his own skin. /1
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
5 years
Why on Earth is the government telling fishermen that theyโ€™ll be able to catch 7 times more fish after Brexit? There wonโ€™t be any more fish.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
5 years
So this week Johnson has: โœ…Melted down hundreds of thousands of 31 Oct 50p coins โœ…Given up ยฃ7bn windfall from European Investment Bank โœ…Spent ยฃ2bn on needless No Deal preparations โœ…Spent ยฃ100 million on 31 October Get Ready ads โœ…Failed to leave EU
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
4 years
So weโ€™ve reached the part of Brexit where government advisors tell UK companies to lay off British staff, open EU operations and employ EU based staff to circumvent Brexit barriers. Genuinely no one thought this through.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
4 years
Grant Shapps this morning on @BBCr4today said the 'UK is testing more people than any country other than China & Italy'. It isn't true. We're not testing anywhere near the numbers of other countries. Even NHS staff can't get tested. If they're going to lie what chance do we have.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
Listening to Frost speech in Lisbon which is supposed to be about Northern Ireland but in reality it seems to be a belated justification for why Brexit is going so badly. /1
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
4 years
The Govt is refusing to allow Matt Hancock to attend the EU Pandemic meeting - which weโ€™re still entitled to, and could choose to remain a member of - because theyโ€™re desperate to create distance. Politics above lives.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
Calls for Whitty and Vallance to set out the science - if any - behind the removal of restrictions are absolutely right. /1
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
I know weโ€™re all angry about the parties. Can we also be angry about the โ€˜lowest restrictions in Europeโ€™ in the nation that coincidentally has the highest deaths in Europe, and about the 5 day isolation which puts about 1/3 of people back into society while infectious.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
5 years
What Corbyn wants is not the point. What Corbyn will *do* is very much the point, which is hold a 2nd referendum with Remain on the ballot. This is the only way we get to stay in the EU. Itโ€™s easy for the Lib Dems to take pot shots. Itโ€™s impossible for them to stop Brexit.
@ChukaUmunna
ChukaUmunna
5 years
Jeremy Corbyn cannot bring himself to say he wants the UK to stay in the EU,despite being asked multiple times, for one simple reason: he is a Brexiter.His "credible Leave option" does not even include Single Market membership.A vote for Corbyn is NOT a vote to #StopBrexit #Marr
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
5 years
Must watch - British people get told how much healthcare costs in the US.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
The biggest problem with โ€˜learning to live with the virusโ€™ is the growing number of people dying with the virus, all because our Govt refuses to act.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
A good chunk of our governing party - including we're told a third of the Cabinet - have devoted themselves to fighting the safety measures instead of the virus. That's a real problem.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
4 years
Looks like Brexit could mean that the UK gets any #COVID19 vaccine later than other countries, & for more money, due to us being out of the EUโ€™s joint procurement of medical countermeasures. I'm not sure this divergence thing is all it's cracked up to be.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
In all the North Shropshire coverage so far there's been basically zero mention of the fact that yes many rural voters voted Brexit but that since then the Govt has shafted farming and agriculture with its Australia and New Zealand trade deals. /1
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
4 years
How is AstraZenica is getting off so lightly. They promised the UK and EU the Earth, couldnโ€™t come up with the goods, told different stories to each side then sauntered off into the distance whistling. And here we are.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
Astounding we are not more angry about this. We donโ€™t have to put up with high case numbers, hospitalisations and deaths. Itโ€™s Govt choice - theyโ€™re choosing to let us die by the hundred, day after day after day.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
2 years
Itโ€™s all in the headline eh. โ€˜Sadiq Khan acts to save 3.5m from dirty air and ill healthโ€™ wouldโ€™ve done just as well.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
British messaging on Covid rates can be mind bending. A BBC interviewee today said 'we're ahead of the EU in our Delta wave', perhaps suggesting it's like a race and we're in the lead. What he meant was that we've just let more people die since the summer. Hardly an accolade.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
One unexpected result of the US departure from Afghanistan is the spotlight it has shone on Britainโ€™s isolation in the world. The special relationship has been shown for the sham it has long been. Our wilful abandonment of Europe now becomes apparent. And we find ourselves alone.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
4 years
If this is proved to be true Cummings shouldnโ€™t just lose his job, he should face a public enquiry & the law, as should anyone who assisted him. It was obvious to anyone aware of WHO guidance that the UK was making a huge mistake; if this is true we know it was deliberate choice.
@peterjukes
Peter Jukes
4 years
So we were right. The lethal โ€˜herd immunity without vaccineโ€™ strategy came from Dominic Cummings โ€œprotect the economy and if that means some pensioners die, too badโ€. Thereโ€™s an audit trail now. I hope lawyers are watching. Herd Immunity without a vaccine is unheard of.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
4 years
๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝA land of hope and glory does not allow a woman to die in poverty with her child at her side.โ€™ We should all be angry about the death of Mercy Baguma, dead at the hands of a system designed to be hostile. Well said โฆ @MatthewdAncona โฉ.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
Johnson reportedly 'raging' about young people not getting vaccinated in large enough numbers but he's spent 18 months telling young people Covid doesn't affect them, and refuses to vaccinate teens for the same reason and because he claims falsely that vaccines aren't safe. /1
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
6 years
If @UKLabour enables a Tory Brexit weโ€™re finished as a political force. All polling on this shows a huge drop in our support. We would own the social and economic damage of Brexit along with the Tories. The alternative is to oppose the Tories, win votes and end the Brexit damage.
@Peston
Robert Peston
6 years
How @jeremycorbyn is moving towards backing a Brexit deal
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
5 years
Long live the worldโ€™s greatest peace project. ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡บ
@BBCPolitics
BBC Politics
5 years
Singing of Auld Lang Syne starts in the European Parliament as the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement is approved by MEPs
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
Speaking to EU colleagues this morning clear that the Australian trade deal has reaffirmed EU intent to ensure full application of the NI Protocol. The arrival of large quantities of Aussie beef and lamb in GB means they need to be sure it doesn't get into the Single Market.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
4 years
The โ€˜watermelon smilesโ€™ column from Johnson is quite a read. Besides the naked racism, he thought then that the NHS was one of the worst health systems in Europe, that it should be part private funded and that we should pay to see GPs. Heโ€™s also, unsurprisingly, misogynist. Vile.
@joncstone
Jon Stone
4 years
the original Boris Johnson โ€˜piccaninniesโ€™ column is here - heโ€™s previously claimed the quote was taken out of contextโ€ฆ. so here it is:
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
5 years
Great job @Channel4News This is how to deal with a politician, or anyone else, telling blatant lies on your programme. Call out the lie and ask them to move along. ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
Another Labour gain from the Tories in the south. These elections are far more interesting than theyโ€™ve been made out to be.
@BritainElects
Britain Elects
3 years
Chipping Norton (Oxfordshire) council result: Lab: 42.6% (+8.5) Con: 40.9% (-4.3) Grn: 10.9% (+8.2) LDem: 5.6% (-10.6) Lab GAIN from Con More:
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
At what point do the English population tire of Johnsonโ€™s failure to control the pandemic. It can be done - as demonstrated by the rest of the UK. Itโ€™s Govt failure on a massive scale.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
4 years
In contrast to Starmer's reported comments in the @guardian interview, Labour clearly do have ambitions to improve the Brexit deal. They're laying 9 amendments today on issues including SIS II, economic impact, employment and environmental standards and Erasmus. Thread ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿ‘‡ /1
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
2 years
Starmer's tactic is comparing NHS waiting times now to when Labour left office in 2010 is a good one. The difference is stark. Sunak has no answer. #PMQs
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
4 years
Len McCluskey maintains his one man crusade to ensure perpetual Tory government. What a guy.
@Gabriel_Pogrund
Gabriel Pogrund
4 years
Unite source: "We are fed up with being taken for granted. Uniteโ€™s support is not guaranteed and we had to send a message. Letโ€™s hope Keir listens."
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
The problem of children needing to isolate due to a highly dangerous virus spreading through schools is not to end isolation but to restrict transmission. The fact *we're not even talking about* restricting transmission fails children, teachers and their households. /1
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
5 years
Astounding. @AmberRuddHR admits that Johnsonโ€™s deal will cause huge damage to the economy, and that sheโ€™d prefer regulatory alignment included, but says sheโ€™ll vote for it anyway. Itโ€™s not a compromise. Itโ€™s a walkover by the hard right. Wake up Amber.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
4 years
Watching Starmer on catch up, he says that Labour will inherit the Brexit deal in 2024 and needs to accept it. It isnโ€™t credible to say โ€˜vote Labour - we wonโ€™t change stuffโ€™. The public - the country - need better.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
5 years
Imagine what we could have done with ยฃ200bn.
@PickardJE
Jim Pickard ๐Ÿ‹
5 years
Brexit is set to have cost the UK more than ยฃ200 billion in lost economic growth by the end of this year โ€” a figure that almost eclipses the total amount the UK has paid toward the European Union budget over the past 47 years of its ENTIRE MEMEBERSHIP
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
Near unbelievable that lockdown decisions are *still* being presented as lives vs economy when it's been abundantly clear for well over a year that the best way to protect / free the economy is to reduce infections as far as possible, which also saves lives. /1
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
4 years
If The Times is to be believed Cummingsโ€™ number one goal is avoiding a Brexit extension. This one man has done huge damage to our country - and he is set to continue.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
4 years
The real solution to the NI Protocol that no one will talk about (yet)? The UK rejoining the Customs Union. Give the idea a bit of time though. We'll get there.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
So we're now living in a strange world where Jenny Harries, now head of the UK Health Security Agency, says Omicron is โ€œprobably the most significant threatโ€ since the start of the pandemic, and Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England, says it could lead to as many /1
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
4 years
Awkward moment for Priti Patel as her pet project has actual consequences.
@GerardAraud
Gรฉrard Araud
4 years
Actually, Madam Secretary, as you may know, the cooperation with France was enshrined in the EU rules. Youโ€™ll have to negotiate a new treaty with your neighbor.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
How others see us.
@BestForBritain
Best for Britain
3 years
"When I grew up, UK diplomacy was, for me, a symbol of credibility," says @ManfredWeber , leader of the *conservative* European Parliament grouping. "Today when we see the way Johnson behaves, the message is 'I don't care, I don't care even about my signature'." Hard to hear. ~AA
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
4 years
So we've reached the point of Brexit where the Government tells schools to stock up on long life milk. How the rest of the world must marvel at our pristine sovereignty and weep with jealousy.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
He says Brexit has allowed a bonfire of regulations - in reality it's the biggest imposition of regulations on business, and the biggest loss of freedoms for business and individuals in living memory. /2
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
I should be used to it but I'm still shocked by the people whose response to a potentially dangerous new variant is 'let's not do anything it'll be fine'. Meanwhile WHO and our own scientists are sounding the alarm and recommending masks, distancing etc. We've been here before.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
โ€˜Wales to keep home working, Covid pass and mandatory masks until 2022โ€™ Not everywhere in Britain is badly governed, which is something.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
Looks like turning Kent into a car park doesnโ€™t help you win votes. Shocker. Thereโ€™s a lesson here for Labour if itโ€™s willing to take it.
@BritainElects
Britain Elects
3 years
Folkestone East (Kent) council result: Lab: 38.2% (+12.5) Con: 32.7% (-3.0) Oth: 18.7% (+17.3) LDem: 10.4% (-6.3) No UKIP (-20.4) as prev. Lab GAIN from Con More:
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
5 years
Jo Swinsonโ€™s refusal to work with Corbyn to stop No Deal is very poor politics. She says Corbyn wonโ€™t get the numbers - heโ€™d be more likely to do so if she signed up. Thereโ€™s little point being anti Brexit if youโ€™re going to reject a real, available means of stopping it.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
Most comment on this will focus on the EU-UK battle of words. But think too of Northern Ireland - as ever stuck in the middle of this - and its still fragile peace process. The lack of concern for the GFA and peace in NI from Johnson's Govt is a dereliction of duty. /23
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
He says Brexit is about safeguarding British democracy - but at the same time his Govt is pushing through an Elections Bill which is a direct attack on British democracy - voter ID, restricting third party campaigning and more. /3
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
Listening to this it seems ever more likely that Johnson and Frost may - as surmised by others - have decided that given NI isn't suffering the shortages faced in GB that it may be too much proof that Brexit is the cause of GB shortages and trials. /10
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
Finally he's on the Northern Ireland Protocol. He says the EU tried to use NI to force the UK to reverse Brexit - which is a flagrant lie. The EU was careful not to interfere in the Brexit process the whole way through. They still are. /5
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
Johnson says that it's a choice between Plan B and lockdown, which has its own harms. He ignores - again - the vaccines plus strategy adopted in many other nations and recommended by WHO. Ventilation in schools, working test and trace, support to stay at home if infected ... /5
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
4 years
Kate Hoey spent years making this happen. The people of Northern Ireland spoke up for themselves when they voted clearly for Remain, a vote she and her ilk ignored. Now we have the consequences.
@SkyNews
Sky News
4 years
"No one is speaking up for Northern Ireland." Baroness Kate Hoey says the Northern Ireland Protocol "has to be looked at" as it is causing "huge delays" to deliveries travelling to Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK. Latest politics news:
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
Itโ€™s kind of depressing that the media are more incensed by the boozy parties than the 175,000 deaths, the constant failure to listen to experts, the callous disregard for the grief of others. /1
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
He says he 'just wants friendly relations and free trade' yet he refuses to implement the agreements he not only signed, he negotiated, just months ago. /4
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
Johnsonโ€™s โ€˜freedom dayโ€™ is the exact opposite for many. Anyone who wants to avoid COVID infection, the risk of Long COVID, the risk of passing infection on to loved ones or strangers, will have no choice but to withdraw from public spaces as cases skyrocket.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
He says the Protocol means that NI needs to run EU law 'without consent' which may be true BUT crucially that was his choice in 2019. No one forced him to negotiate the WA - he did so willingly and at the time he and Johnson celebrated it as an act of strategic genius. /6
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
4 years
Labour need to do far more than tell the Govt to โ€˜get a gripโ€™ or sort out โ€˜dither and delayโ€™. Brexit outcomes arenโ€™t primarily a problem of execution but design - the problem is Brexit itself, made worse by their choice of its hardest form. /1
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
Other nations will trust Britain again but it will be after Johnson, and as with the US after Trump that trust will be cautious. Thereโ€™ll always be the thought โ€˜they did it once, they could do it againโ€™.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
or even more hospitalisations as last winter, yet the Govt have 'no plans' to introduce measures beyond the clearly inadequate ones they've brought in so far. Which means more cases, more hospitalisations, more deaths and more Long Covid. /2
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
4 years
The UK Parliament had a single day to scrutinise the deal. The European Parliament will have about 3 months. Now JRM closes the Brexit select committee. They know the deal is a dud - they just donโ€™t want us to know it.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
Essentially he's saying 'we signed it hoping the EU would actually just let us off, but they didn't so now we don't like it'. Which isn't exactly grown up politics. /19
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
This is absolutely a consequence of Johnson's failing leadership and his inability to bring his party with him. It's also the result of letting infections run in the tens of thousands per day since July. /3
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
4 years
'I'm starting to wonder if Boris Johnson has been furloughed. I don't trust him at all. You hardly ever see him. What the Govt says doesn't have any logic to it, whether they follow the alert system anymore, whether they follow scientists.' Brutal voter interview on @BBCr4today .
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
โ€˜People who had recovered from COVID exhibited significant cognitive deficitsโ€™ Allowing this virus to spread unimpeded, particularly among the young, is barbaric. We urgently need a rethink and change of strategy before more harm is done.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
Frost seems to think there's a way for the Belfast Agreement to exist and be implemented *without* the Protocol *and* with the UK outside the EU and Single Market. Only there isn't - we went through all this in excrutiating detail from 2016 - 2019. /12
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
โ€˜By definition the variants we are most worried about are the ones that infect vaccinated people. So making vaccinated people exempt from quarantine doesnโ€™t make any sense if variants are what we are most worried about.โ€™ Well said โฆ @chrischirp โฉ
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
4 years
This is just sad - for performers, for lost audiences in Europe, for British soft power - whatever that means now. โฆ @BorisJohnson โฉ โฆ @michaelgove โฉ et al have caused so much harm, for no gain other than their own short term electoral advantage.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
use and provision of high quality masks, vaccination of children, etc would all keep cases - and hence hospitalisations and deaths - down while allowing us to continue living our lives. Instead we have minimal and inadequate restrictions with the inevitable results we see today/6
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
4 years
Even the Telegraph seems to be admitting that Brexit is a disaster - even if that means theyโ€™re now desperately casting around for a scapegoat.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
The rest of us pointed out the downsides, and that Johnson had said not long before that he would never countenance a border in the Irish Sea, but he and Frost did it, chose it, knew exactly what it meant. /7
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
Frost now complains that NI being de facto in the Single Market means that the EU can make laws which apply in NI without NI consent. True - but again this was Johnson and Frost's choice. /9
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
2 years
Itโ€™s another own goal, another attempt to look like theyโ€™re reducing no regulation when theyโ€™re creating it. British businesses will have to abide by GDPR anyway if theyโ€™re going to trade with the EU. Theyโ€™ll now need to do double the work. Red tape courtesy of hard Brexit.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
4 years
@AlokSharma_RDG It was developed in Germany and manufactured in Belgium. I'm not sure that counts as 'UK led charge'.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
It might be quicker if Sue Gray worked out which days there wasnโ€™t a party in Downing St attended by Boris Johnson in 2020.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
We landed at the Protocol because Johnson, Frost and the ERG refused to accept May's backstop. Attempting to suggest now that there is a magical 3rd way that is not the backstop or Protocol is ludicrous. For obvious reasons. /13
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
5 years
The message of the locals, at least for @UKLabour , is not to get Brexit through - but to stop it.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
2 years
Depressing if unsurprising that @theresecoffey has abandoned the health inequalities white paper, sending the clear signal that she and her Govt don't care about inequality that gives the rich 19 more years of life than the poor.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
Which of course would mean that Frost and Johnson are running scared, and that they're more terrified of the political impact of shortages (which aren't going away until Brexit is at least in part unwound) than they're letting on. /11
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
Frost refers to the Belfast Agreement - which the EU have shown far more commitment to than Johnson and Frost throughout. To her credit May did see its value and importance, Frost and Johnson never have. /8
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
Thereโ€™s something quite chilling about a Govt announcement which is essentially โ€˜more of you will die, but weโ€™re going to carry on with our plan anywayโ€™.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
All of which rather depressingly points to the likelihood that Frost and Johnson don't want a negotiated solution, and instead want ongoing arguments and a deepening loss of respect, trust and communication between the UK and EU. /22
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
"Brussels has warned that it will sever a data-sharing agreement with the UK if Londonโ€™s attempts to rewrite its internet laws are found to pose a threat to EU citizensโ€™ privacy." Sure looks as if we had more control on the inside...
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
They agree on boosters but neither gave the unwelcome news that booster effectiveness starts to wane after 10 weeks (and likely goes down from there, we don't have data to know yet). Still absolutely worth getting but it's no guarantee of avoiding infection or illness. /2
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
4 years
This is so wrongheaded. Had Labour not backed a 2nd ref we'd have done substantially worse last December, losing more voters to the Lib Dems, Greens and Plaid. We'd be below 200 seats now. Had we backed Remain we'd have done far better. Facts matter.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
At some point the Govt is going to have to stop pretending that it didn't know what it was signing up to in 2019.
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
Meanwhile millions remain in work, there are no significant protection measures in schools (as throughout the pandemic), children remain unvaccinated, as do around 6 million adults. But you can still meet however many people you want, and you don't need a vaccine passport to /4
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
Good - but damage has already been done
@PeterStefanovi2
Peter Stefanovic
3 years
The Prime Minister & Chancellor Rishi Sunak have U-turned amid public fury just two and a half hours after claiming they would be able to avoid self-isolation by taking part in a daily pilot
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@mdbuckley
Mike Buckley ๐ŸŒน
3 years
The conclusion is that Frost (and Johnson) are no closer to accepting the reality of what it means for the UK to leave the EU and Single Market while at the same time having NI as one part of the UK which has a land border with the EU/SM. /14
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