Wes Tender

So unable to quantity if beyond that. Right. I'll accept that you are unwilling to stick your neck out beyond that.

I repeat, I have no qualms about Coogan favouring the furlough scheme as a socialist. My beef is with him abusing it, taking advantage of something that patently wasn't aimed at him. But go ahead excusing him on the basis that other wealthy people are doing the same if you wish.

And there has been no response to the request for what constitutes a considerable lag of time. Come on Gavyn, put a number of days/weeks on it

You sound just like Sir Humphrey, obfuscating to get out of a sticky situation. In the fullness of time, when the time is right, etc. Just for you: "In view of the somewhat nebulous and inexplicit nature of your remit, and the arguably marginal and peripheral nature of your influence within the central deliberations and decisions within the political process, there could be a case for restructuring their action priorities in such a way as to eliminate your liquidation from their immediate agenda." And you appear to have left my second question unanswered

I'm sure that it will be abused by other rich people all over the place. You seem to have missed the point, that they are in the main largely anonymous, whereas Coogan is an opinionated leftie luvvie. I'm not p*ssing my pants; I'm enjoying poking fun at the hypocrite when he's been found out, in much the same way as the left wing press would, if they found about a similar abuse by say somebody like Farage for example.

This is the excuse for you to leave, as you are being bested.

What a disappointment. You're usually so concise in your responses. What have current levels in London got to do with the rate of infection if there were widespread changes to the lockdown policy, such as the return of schooling, loosening of travel restrictions and the misinterpretation of the restrictions by idiots who decide to travel to popular tourist destinations (such as London)? And just as matter of interest, Gavyn, what foresight allows you to determine the height/size of fellow posters on an anonymous forum? We have some idea of what size you might be, because you are identifiable, but how do you know this of other posters on here?

How long is "a considerable lag" in your opinion?

I took it that you meant Easter.

I'm sure that you recognise the difference between supporting the furlough scheme as a good and necessary measure during these difficult times, and abusing it when it wasn't designed for millionaire luvvies like Coogan.

Were did anybody suggest that Remoaners were lefties? Many are, but then again, so were many on the right of the political spectrum. The Brexit question did not divide the country strictly along political lines. Ken Clarke has been pro-EEC/EU for as long as Corbyn has been anti it.

And all of them open themselves to criticism if they employed the same tactics as Coogan if they furloughed the likes of their gardeners and housekeepers. It is very interesting to note the support on here for Coogan over something that is arguably indefensible given his well known leftie political views. Apart from there being little reason for the gardener in particular not being able to carry on his work in presumably quite a large garden whilst self-isolating, most will wonder why he is using a government scheme designed to protest businesses, not wealthy private individuals. The next time this champagne socialist uses the platform he has gained as a media minor celebrity to spout his vitriol at the Conservative government, he should not be surprised if the interviewer ripostes with accusations of hypocrisy because of his readiness to avail himself of taxpayers' money to save him putting his hands in his pocket to pay his staff. He might like to reflect on the letter of support for Corbyn to which he was a signatory which stated "Labour's election manifesto under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership offers a transformative plan that prioritises the needs of people and the planet over private profit and the vested interests of a few".

Would the fruit and vegetable pickers have been able to come into the country during the Chinese virus restrictions? Have we finalised a deal with the USA yet? I appear to have missed it.

As the PD isn't legally binding, then either side can change parts of it as they wish during negotiations. Granted that the EU are not obliged to offer us the same sort of FTA that they gave to Canada/S.Korea and Japan, but as far as I can see, there is no mention of Canada in the summary of the PD. Perhaps you can oblige me by posting the details, although it obviously wasn't deemed important enough to be included in the summary. https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainers/brexit-deal-political-declaration Naturally, if the EU aren't prepared to offer us a similar sort of deal as they offered those other third countries, then we are quite likely to tell them that is unacceptable and walk away from the talks. So you seem a bit miffed that Frost has begun to accuse the EU of bad faith recently, but as far as I recall, you didn't appear to be critical of the numerous occasions when the EU acted badly. Tusk telling us that there a particular place in hell reserved for Brexiteers without a plan, or the Luxembourg PM attempting to humiliate Boris by empty chairing him during a meeting, or this catalogue of humiliation for the hapless May:https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jun/30/excluded-isolated-humiliated-history-theresa-may-visits-brussels Personally, I am very happy that Frost appears to be a tough negotiator, able to play a strong hand to good effect. For the first time in all of these discussions with the EU since they began under May and Robbins, we are on the front foot, and it is the EU who will either be forced to compromise on our red lines, or risk us leaving under WTO terms. Regarding our paying the full divorce bill, then yes, there are probably grounds upon which we could at least reduce the payment legally in the event of a no deal exit.

Frankly, who cares whether Gavyn frets about bad faith? I'm not losing a wink of sleep over it. The EU aren't exactly angels when it comes to bad faith on their part since June 2016 and indeed historically through much of our membership of the EEC/EU. The PD isn't legally binding, Boris got a large mandate to "get Brexit done" in the December election, and David Frost is doing a brilliant job of negotiating on our behalf.

Yes, we have to be eternally grateful to Miller for that.

Just as a general musing on the Brexit situation, where is the bad faith most likely to be? With the UK voting to leave, or from the EU, who have a substantial trade surplus with us put at risk, who received large annual contributions towards their budget from a major net contributor, declaring that we should be punished for wanting to leave, and that they would make an example of how fraught the process and end result would be to discourage others from following us out?

You've added considerably to the original post, which was what my response was to. As I said, things have moved on since October. Time that you moved on to the new reality too.

You mean the same sort of bad faith that the EU showed when under Article 50 they were obliged to negotiate a trade deal simultaneously with other aspects of a deal, like the negotiations over residency of EU nationals here and UK nationals in the EU / the Slush fund settlement payment / the Irish border question? They wouldn't discuss trade until those other three things were agreed, deemed to be an act of bad faith by many legal eagles. The same sort of bad faith that the EU have shown when they have FTA deals with Canada/S.Korea/Japan, and are not prepared to offer us a deal on the same basis. That sort of bad faith? It is accepted that in negotiations such as these, that a new government should not be bound by the decisions of a previous one. The political landscape has altered somewhat since October when Johnson led a minority government. Much as you would have preferred us to have remained hamstrung and weak in these negotiations, we are now in a far stronger position, thankfully.

The Political Declaration is not a legally binding document. It was tantamount to a wish list, a sort of route map to the negotiations. Here is the updated version, in case you wish to bring yourself up to speed.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/our-approach-to-the-future-relationship-with-the-eu Chapter and verse of our negotiating proposals for the future trading relationship with the EU. No longer can the EU claim that they don't understand what we want; it is all perfectly clear and concise.

https://www.finder.com/uk/cycling-statistics Yes, you're really starting to narrow it down, what with over 40% of the UK population owning bicycles, and the increased number going out for a bike ride as a form of exercise during the lockdown.

I'm doing a lot of cycling during the lockdown.

You've assumed a proxy to answer on Timmy's behalf, I see. You don't see any irony in you doing that, combined with the remarks you made, when your poster name is "Fan the Flames"? The air has been blowing here from the Arctic this past week. Perhaps that's why my posts appear a bit frosty.

Us having the same three start letters to our posting names has probably confused him.