Written answer to an MP's request about the goings-on in Teesside: apparently everything's totally kosher:
Discussed at PMQs: This is the Long FT article on Teesside: Trouble in Teesside: a Tory rising star and a divisive property deal It's paywalled *but* https://archive.ph/ is your friend.
Very interesting article but this bit caught my eye: That's the old Pfizer plant 'at' Sandwich. It is massive (about the size of Bushey) as all of Pfizer's manufacturing, packaging, admin, R&D, design, testing was done there. They had very close links with UKC's Chemistry department (I was a frequent visitor there '92 - '94 as it was my start as a research scientist). I still visit the area, at least, monthly (for fishing/crabbing) and drive past the ex-Pfizer plant - the only 'development' that I can see there are that the enormous staff car parks now are used by a handful of vehicles so extensive weed control takes palce and there's on-going work to obliterate all the 'Pfizer' signs. It was mentioned that when Pfizer returned to the US (part of a deal with the US government who leniently dealt with them over a huge court case over Pfizer mis-prescribing drugs), Pfizer 'kingly' gifted that site to the UK government (as opposed to demolition and remediation/decontamination of the area).
I'm trying to have some sympathy with them - but as they were extremely vociferous proponents of Brexit (and were used as a rallying point for "...regaining our sovereignty...")... https://twitter.com/NEastFC/status/1658166414648172550 But it's a later post that that really brought a smile to my face: Seeing what Mummery did to her own fishing community: I would suggest that the North East Fishing Collective tell her to "Foxtrot Oscar".
Wow, important news just in from the Express. It seems as if things are going to be ok after all. Leavers, Remainers and Rejoiners will all share the delight in this news. After hearing Boris and Carrie are expecting, it’s been quite the week!
I expect this to be the Tory attack line as we approach the next GE. The one constant about Brexit is that it always promises jam tomorrow. No logical or economic reasons given. Just trust us on this they say.
It’s surprising if anyone is surprised. Certain parts of the Brexit big tent quite openly campaigned on replacing EU migration with rest of the World migration. Priti Patel urged Brexit in order to allow migrants from the Asian Sub-Continent to staff curry houses. It was actually also a taunt used by some Brexiteers that favouring Europe was racist. They should have been clear if what they meant was no one at all. For more than a decade, right wing people have pleaded why can’t we talk about immigration as if we talked about much else. It’s been an absurd conversation, built on falsehoods and prejudice and we still seem no nearer to accepting the reality of the situation, protecting and housing UK workers, but welcoming migrants to help us.
Just spent a week in France as a support driver for one of our bike tours (which I can do now I have my Irish passport). I had to visit a supermarket every day for picnic supplies. The comparison with what we have become conditioned to here would make you weep for what the ***** who imposed brexit have done. Beautiful produce, masses of choice. It's quite expensive I admit, but the quality...! Out again in a week or two. I'll try to remember to take a few supermarket pics every day to cheer you up.
Not so sure an awful lot has changed there. Continental supermarkets have always provided a better variety of fresh fruit & veg. It's a culture and logistics thing. UK supermarkets have always been more cost and volume focussed. Your independent grocers, more often than not run by Asian or Eastern European families, certainly in the Meister manor area have a great array of fresh produce. I wouldn't get the casava for my chilli garlic mogo anywhere else.
Yes, maybe. But if you had walked into your local Tesco/Sainsbury on 24th June 2016 and it was like it is today, you'd be going "what the absolute ****?"
Wouldn't know, it's M&S or Waitrose for teh elite like me. In all seriousness most of my fresh shopping is done at Aldi & Lidl, which seem to have a better selection than the big places at very decent prices.
Aldi and Lidl don't carry as full a range of fresh produce as larger supermarkets. They operate a 'when it's gone, it's gone' model, stocking what is available rather than trying to provide everything at all times. Aldi and Lidl are lean operators. It's one of the things that helps them keep prices low. They also import a lot less fresh produce than the bigger chains – and make a virtue of providing British-grown goods. Now, you could certainly argue that this is more sustainable – it means better quality, albeit in smaller quantities, less waste, fewer supermarket miles – but it is not providing the same service as the big chains nor is it even trying to. And that's fine – they have a slot in the market but if everyone operated like Aldi and Lidl we'd be back to a 1960s and 1970s idea of seasonal eating and our choice would be considerably reduced. Again, there's probably a strong argument for flying fewer foodstuffs all around the world – an argument some Brexiteers have embraced on one hand while celebrating trade deals with New Zealand, Australia and the Moon on the other. It's always a curious one for me, this. I wonder if people realise that while the discounters such as Lidl and Aldi encourage everyone to buy British and they deliver low, low prices it's the British suppliers who are paying the price for that. Meanwhile the profits go to the head offices in Germany. That doesn't concern me in the slightest – we live in a global economy – but it does make me raise an eyebrow when I see some fervent Brexiter on social media going about buying British in Aldi or Lidl where it's cheap. Eat a strawberry from a packet with a union flag on it while sending your money to Germany and believing you've done Britain a great service. Fantastic marketing by the German lads, you have to say, Clive.
Awwww, people on the tills! Next you'll be asking whether the fish man drives round the neighbourhood on Fridays or whether they have Snappy Snaps in France!
I'll tell you what they don't have - AA or RAC. Recovery service is included in your insurance which is, naturally, about 1/3 price of UK.
But that's propaganda from researchers at the London School of Woke Snowflake Economics, which is a university – a breeding ground for wokery, cancel culture and left-wingism. It's nothing more than so-called "expert" professors – socialists and union members the lot of them – teaching layabout students. They're all just part of The Blob and all they do in their left wing echo chamber is breed the something-for-nothing culture rather than the Tories' preferred nothing-for-a-lot culture which at least benefits the poor, hard-done-by one percent. Also, it was totally worth becoming an expensive poor country in the space of five years. Every extra pound we spend on food, energy, water, our mortgages and rent, is just proof that we are an independent, sovereign country capable of making our own choices to pay way, way more for things than we need to.
Mick Hucknall used to talk about becoming a Labour MP didn't he: https://twitter.com/MarinaPurkiss/status/1663926779675910145
He did. IIRC he was a Labour donor and pro Blair/Iraq and then went off on one about Corbyn. Not sure he's a UK resident any more think he lives in Ireland.
Has the EU collapsed yet? I was reliably informed that the UK leaving was going to bring the whole thing down like the removal of a key Jenga block.
Of course. I did warn you... https://www.theguardian.com/comment...l-is-all-the-more-terrifying?ref=upstract.com I can only imagine that this is what remainers were secretly wishing for. Consistently my number one reason for leaving the EU, whilst you lot were saying... The answer seems to be far right populism, that is starting to find an EU, in which they are gaining power, quite attractive. For some reason.
