So long and thanks for the fish! The imminent catastrophic failure of the Brexit negotiations, that in fact the Tories had committed to well over a year ago, will be blamed on the arrogance and intransigence of the EU. However, as the UK very publically scream their exceptionalism and insult the very people they are supposed to be affording the utmost diplomacy, who is really storming out in a huff and slamming the door on a deal? The amateur dramatics should not have us fooled, instead we should seriously question if the major sticking point is actually over fish or if the British public are being deliberately distracted and duped by the serial liar Boris Johnson. Through the corrupt result of the Covert 2019 Rigged Election he stole the mandate to act as our current PM with the express purpose of totally eviscerating our democratic rights. When the charred remains of Johnson’s scorched earth “oven ready deal” and the harsh consequences of crash-out Brexit finally dawn on UK voters will people take to the streets in mass protests?
Johnson and his crooked cabal will try to stall for more time knowing that if they keep the public guessing they can minimize the opportunity for public protest while they continue to lie about their intentions until it is too late. Have the EU negotiators cottoned on to the fact that the UK has no intention of striking a deal or acting in good faith? Certainly the EU 27 should realize this by now, especially following the legislation the Tories tried to ram through Parliament declaring point blank that they could not be trusted and would break the terms of the treaty in specific and limited ways! I think the EU would be very foolish to allow Johnson to run down the clock while lying to the UK public, because the British people need to be given a chance to react. Of course Brexiteers are priming the public for the dishonest vilification of the EU as the blame game is already well underway. It will be a challenge trying to convince the public that Johnson is the bad guy while all of the right wing news Media and the BBC have his back.
The truth is well buried in a number of crucial votes that have taken place over the past year as Johnson has taken full advantage of that massive majority he fiddled with the Covert 2019 Covert Election. These votes strongly indicate that the priority issue for the Tories is not their newfound fascination with fish, but the ability to gain a massive competitive advantage by abolishing workers rights and the protection of the high standards we are signed up to that they casually dismiss as ‘red tape.’ It was the stripping away of so-called red tape safety requirements that contributed to the Grenfell Tower disaster. We must keep those EU regulations in place because we cannot trust this corrupt Tory Government to put the safety and wellbeing of our population ahead of their own personal rapacious greed. Although it’s too late to conduct a full Investigation into the Covert 2019 Rigged Election’s warped result, there are other reasons to see Johnson and a number of his Tory MPs jailed, but certainly removed from office: we must protest!
Back in early March, before Covid took centre stage there was already a strong hint of the Tory desire to ditch the EU Working Time Directive. Jess Miller’s Evolve Politics Article entitled, “Tory MP wants workers FORCED to work more than 48 hours a week to solve Brexit worker shortage” exposed the plan. She said, “A Tory MP has suggested that the government should allow bosses to force employees to work more days and longer hours in order to fill the gap caused by the inevitable shortage of migrant workers after Brexit. The Conservative MP for North Cornwall, Scott Mann, said on BBC Politics South West that the Government should consider scrapping the Working Time Directive – an EU regulation that protects employees’ rights, including preventing bosses from forcing anyone to work more than 48 hours a week. The Government plans to introduce a points-based immigration system when the transitional period ends – a policy which includes a minimum salary for migrants looking to live and work in Britain.”
Miller elaborated by saying that, “Many have suggested the Tories’ new immigration policy will lead to a severe shortage of workers in key low-paid sectors such as agriculture and care work – jobs which have been largely staffed by migrant workers since Free Movement from the EU came into practice. Mann said that the impending shortage of workers will be ‘one of the biggest challenges the government will have to solve after Brexit – and his solution is one that truly shows how much the Tories really care about the average worker. Mann suggested the government should scrap one of the most important workers’ rights, saying: ‘we need to have a serious think looking at the Working Time Directive.’ Sadly the vast majority of the British public have not cottoned on to the true relevance of ‘the Level Playing Field,’ but the ability to exploit the working poor with ruthless impunity is a far higher priority for the greedy Tory elite than potential expansion of exclusive UK fishing rights; Cod be damned they expect you to know your place!
Miller reported that, “The host of Politics South West responded by arguing that the Directive is there to protect the most vulnerable employees from being forced to work exhaustingly long hours, to which Mann replied nonchalantly, stating: ‘Indeed, but there might be an opportunity for people wanting to work over those hours, and I think you can voluntarily do that at the moment anyway, but there might be a case for the government actually saying ‘if you want do this, we could encourage it’. However, as a tweet from Ruth Fillery-Travis points out, there is a deeply insidious flaw in Mann’s suggestion. British workers already can voluntarily work longer hours by signing an opt-out form, but, if the Tories scrap the Working Time Directive, bosses would essentially be given free rein to *force* people to work as many hours as they see fit.” You can watch Mann’s comments in this Video Link. Miller notes that, “The Government originally said they did not plan on downgrading workers’ rights after Brexit, but later refused to promise not to remove key assurances in the Withdrawal Bill.”
A July Evolve Politics Article entitled, “BBC completely silent as Jeremy Corbyn is proved right after Tories vote against protecting NHS from Brexit trade deals,” they expose the BBC’s pro Tory bias. They say that, “The UK’s public broadcaster, the BBC, have made the astonishing decision not to report the fact that Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party last night reneged on their promise to protect the NHS after voting to keep the NHS on the table for future post-Brexit trade deals. The Tories’ decision to vote against protecting the NHS yesterday evening completely vindicates Jeremy Corbyn’s use of leaked documents during December’s General Election which showed that the Tories were already negotiating away the National Health Service. At the time, the former Labour leader encountered severe criticism from his opponents for supposedly ‘scaremongering’ – with Boris Johnson repeatedly refuting the claims by falsely declaring that the NHS has never, and would never, be on the table in any trade negotiations.”
Evolve Politics reported that, “The documents showed that the government had already engaged in at least six rounds of talks with EU negotiators on topics such as medicine pricing and the possibility of allowing private companies market access to the NHS. However, despite the documents being 100% genuine, Corbyn’s revelations were met with disdain by the majority of the mainstream media – with many suggesting that Russia had been involved in leaking the document.” Back then the said, “just last week, seemingly in anticipation of today’s release of the Russia report, the former Labour leader was confronted on his doorstep by an ITV news journalist asking him whether he regretted using the documents during the General Election campaign because of the allegations surrounding Russia’s involvement.” We can always count on the Russian boogeyman just as reliable as fantisemitism.
In June however, “despite their repeated refutations that the NHS would be protected, the Conservative Party last night refused to put their promises into action after voting down an amendment to do just that. The cross-party amendment, New Clause 17, was a proposed addition the crucial Brexit Trade Bill which would have ensured numerous aspects of our NHS were protected, including.
– Ensuring the ability to provide a ‘comprehensive and publicly funded health service free at the point of delivery’ was not compromised by any future trade deal
– Protecting hard-working NHS staff from having their wages or rights slashed by any future trade deal
– Protecting the quality and safety of health and care services
– Regulating the control and pricing of medicines
– Protecting patient data from being sold off
– Protecting the NHS from so-called investor-state dispute settlements (ISDS) – clauses which allow foreign investors to sue national governments for any measures which harm their profits.”
“Evolve Politics were the first outlet to report the story and – with no other news outlets reporting the story at the time – the article went viral and has so far been seen by more than half a million people.” Belatedly they said, “This morning, numerous mainstream outlets rightly followed suit, with The Mirror, The Evening Standard, and even the normally pro-Tory Daily Express reporting the story. Numerous tweets on the revelation have also gone viral, with the official House of Commons tweet gaining more than 12,000 retweets before, incredibly, being deleted over ‘impartiality’ rules. Despite the clearly massive public interest in the story, no BBC reporter, including their chief political editor Laura Kuenssberg, has bothered to mention it, and the BBC have completely excluded the story from both their 24-hour news channel and the official BBC News website.” The Tories can always count on ‘Auntie!’
Evolve Politics reminded us that, “The BBC encountered widespread criticism during December’s General Election for making numerous ‘mistakes’ over impartiality, all of which just happened to benefit Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party.” They said, “just last month it was revealed that the BBC’s new Director General, Tim Davie, was literally a Conservative Party election candidate! Trust in the UK media has plummeted since the media debacle during December’s General Election, with left-leaning peoples’ trust falling the most sharply, from 38% in January 2019 to just 15% in January 2020. The BBC’s astonishing omission of the Tories’ disgraceful anti-NHS actions last night will surely do absolutely nothing to improve the corporation’s already battered reputation amongst progressive voters.” The BBC propaganda machine did not stop after the Covert 2019 Rigged Election as they prioritized interviews with crestfallen Labour PMs forcing them to explain why they lost so that Tory election lies could be sold as true fact.
In another Evolve Politics Article entitled, “Tories vote down amendment to protect NHS from foreign control in Brexit trade deals,” they detail the devastating Commons vote. They wrote, “The Conservative Party have tonight used their 78-seat majority to vote down an amendment designed to protect the NHS and publicly-funded health and care services from being subject to any form of control from outside the UK in a future post-Brexit Trade Deal. The amendment, which was put forward by Green Party MP Caroline Lucas and supported by Labour leader Keir Starmer and a number of other senior Labour MPs, was voted down by a margin of 340 to 241 thanks to the Tories’ overwhelming parliamentary majority. In addition to protecting the NHS from foreign control, the amendment also contained numerous other measures to protect the NHS, including,” and they list all of the priorities outlined in the above article.
One of these priorities, “Protecting the NHS from so-called investor-state dispute settlements (ISDS) – clauses which allow foreign investors to sue national governments for any measures which harm their profits,” was further explained by Evolve Politics for those unfamiliar with ISDS. They said that, “ISDS agreements have been widely criticised, with The Guardian recently publishing a letter signed by numerous campaigners which states that: ‘[ISDS] cases take place in secretive private arbitration courts and can cost the taxpayer billions. Previous cases brought against governments using ISDS include a Swedish energy firm suing Germany for introducing policies to curb water pollution; US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly suing Canada for trying to keep medicines affordable; and French multinational Veolia suing Egypt for increasing its national minimum wage’.”
Regarding, “New Clause 17, the pro-NHS amendment which the Conservative Party have just rejected,” Evolve Politics stated that, “All of these measures designed to protect our NHS will now not be included in the crucial Trade Bill, which MPs have just passed by a margin of 335 to 243.” The had a Tweet from Luke Pollard MPL “Conservative MPs defeat Labour’s amendment to stop our British farmers being undercut in future trade deals by 251 to 337. Labour voted to protect our high food and farming standards MPs are now voting on a Labour amendment that would explicitly exclude the NHS from future trade deals. Despite all their warm words on the NHS the Government whipped Tory MPs to oppose it and it was defeated 251 to 340. NHS remains on the table for a deal with Trump.” It is devastating that the fake majority the Tories claimed in the Covert 2019 Rigged Election is taking such a massive toll and destroying our democracy; that’s why it is so important to challenge the legitimacy of this Tory Government ASAP!
Another Evolve Politics Article is entitled, “Tories vote down amendment to protect Food and Animal Welfare standards from post-Brexit Trade Deals.” Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party have rowed back on one of their key manifesto pledges after voting down an amendment designed to protect the UK’s current Food Standards and Animal Welfare regulations from being watered down in any future trade deals. Despite a rebellion by several Tory backbenchers, Boris Johnson’s government managed to defeat the key amendment to last night’s Agriculture Bill by a margin of 332-279. Had it passed, Amendment 16 would have enshrined the UK’s current food standards and animal welfare regulations in law so that the government could not negotiate them away in any post-Brexit trade deal. The amendment had significant support from across the political divide – with a National Farmers’ Union petition garnering more than a million signatures, and even the Conservative Party’s own affiliated animal welfare organisation coming out in favour of it.”
Evolve Politics reported in October that, “British farmers are concerned that any lowering of food and animal welfare standards would lead to inhumane and unsafe food imports, and would ultimately undermine the viability of domestic producers. The Tories’ decision to reject the amendment comes despite Boris Johnson promising to uphold the UK’s food and animal welfare standards during the 2019 General Election. The Conservative Party’s 2019 manifesto claimed that, under their leadership, Britain would ‘lead the world in the quality of our food’, before promising: ‘In all of our trade negotiations, we will not compromise on our high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards.’ The Tories’ decision to renege on their manifesto promise came as a Channel Four Dispatches investigation revealed the horrifying hygiene and welfare standards that ‘could soon be coming to Britain’ if protections are negotiated away as part of post-Brexit trade deals.”
Evolve Politics said that, “Following the vote, the Green Party MP, Caroline Lucas, tweeted that the Tories’ decision to vote down the amendment showed that their promises were ‘totally utterly & completely worthless’: Lucas Tweeted: Government just voted with majority of 53 to strip amendment 16 from #AgricultureBill, which would have safeguarded food standards in trade deals – demonstrating beyond doubt that their promises are totally utterly & completely worthless, even when enshrined in their manifesto. Labour’s Shadow Environment Secretary, Luke Pollard, echoed Lucas’ sentiment, saying: ‘The Conservatives have again broken their promise to British farmers and the public. No one wants lower quality food on our plates, but there is an increasing risk that this could happen because the prime minister is refusing to show leadership. Labour will always back British farmers and it is a disgrace that the Tories won’t do the same’.”
Evolve Politics said, “Labour Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner, labelled the Tories as a ‘disgrace’, adding that they were ‘letting our farmers down, letting consumers down, our high animal welfare standards in the gutter’: Rayner Tweeted, ‘Govt votes to remove Amendment 16 from #AgricultureBill result: 332 to 279. Tories are a disgrace, letting our farmers down, letting consumers down, our high animal welfare standards in the gutter, we must campaign against substandard imports undercutting our high standards!’ They reported that, “during the debate even a number of Tory MPs questioned why their own party was opposing the amendment.” One of the serious concerns that is little talked about is the prophylactic use of antibiotics in farm animals in the US. This practice contributes to the development of antibiotic resistance at a time when there is very little financial incentive for Big Pharma to invest in new antibiotics. Covid 19 really should have taught humanity that, no we are not invincible!
Evolve Politics noted that, “The Tory Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, Neil Parish, said the government should ‘move in a more environmental way’, adding: ‘Why are we not a great beacon of animal welfare and the environment as we negotiate these trade deals? We have in our manifesto the commitment, both on animal welfare and the environment as we move forward. Would it not be right for the Secretary of State for Trade to have the armour of having the backing of Parliament to actually say ‘I can’t actually negotiate away that particular part of the deal with you because it is written down in law?’ In response, the government has dismissed concerns about the potential lowering of food standards and animal welfare protections as simply ‘unhelpful scaremongering’ and claim that critics should simply trust them to uphold their manifesto pledge on the issue. You can check how your MP voted on last night’s amendment here.
A year old New European Article entitled, “No 10 indicates Boris Johnson could ditch promises to protect workers’ rights after Brexit,” fills in the details. “Downing Street has refused to confirm pledges made by Boris Johnson to MPs in October will be included in his amended Brexit bill this week. The promises, which focused on safeguarding workers’ rights and environmental standards, could be ditched after Brexit after the government appeared to backtrack on a promise to guarantee them in law. A Downing Street spokesperson appeared to suggest they were no longer commitments from the prime minister, alongside a promise MPs would be given a vote on whether or not the transition period would be extended by the end of 2020 to avoid a no-deal Brexit. The pledges were made by Boris Johnson’s team in October when he tried to convince MPs to vote for his Brexit deal ahead of the 31st October deadline.” But that was late last year and, “in the end Johnson pulled his deal from a vote and called a general election instead.”
Those who were so eager to “Take Back Control” must wake up to the nightmare reality that absolute and unstoppable control is already in the untrustworthy hands of those eager to grotesquely exploit the working poor, abandon safety standards, pollute our food supply and sell off our NHS! This is not about the fish! Other European countries took advantage of a matching EU funds scheme to invest in their fishing fleet; the UK failed to take advantage of this or stip our fish quotas being sold off to foreign fleets. The UK sellas a high proportion of their catch to the EU, but with crash-out Brexit and an uncompromising fxxk you attitude towards the EU our fishermen could see high tariffs make their products too costly to be salable. The Norwegan Prime Minister is quoted as saying: “There is nothing that’s in such a hurry as a dead fish in the back of a lorry!” Johnson doesn’t care; trust me it’s not about the fish. The apathetic British public need to wise up, stop falling for the PMs endless distractions and lies: take to the streets in protest! DO NOT MOVE ON!