And in our neighbours

[DaveP67 is back!]

Oh dear!
When will it all end.
Yes the news and journalism. Gone are the days when it was just a simple matter of Who, How, What When was the question. Now there is a narrative to start with and the report is then tailored to that narrative. It’s now called a “Story” from whomever BBC/ITV or even worse those Rags they call newspapers. Sensationalism, biased yes all of them.

Then there are those who choose to follow a doctrine, cult, ideology, religion etc and view the world from one viewpoint. Many on here do . 123 sees the world through a left wing lens, always distilling facts that suit his ideology with opposition to any Tory policy for the sake of it. But equally many others have bias at the other spectrum. Yes I’ve seen the posts on here.

Deviating somewhat but the real issues are much bigger than political extremes.

BUT let’s look at the real problem here
World Population is the biggest issue. Saw a report the other day of some unfortunate Covid fatality in East End who had 9 Kids and 28 grandchildren and counting . Honestly this has to stop. Some religious groups still encourage this and it has to stop, its unsustainable.

Encroaching on others species habitats and close contact. Those “Wet” markets have no place in a forward looking society. China, their influence is becoming pernicious. Little respect for human life and none for the animal kingdom

You are spot on that the real problem is overpopulation, green policies talk about reduction in consumption but really we need to reduce the number of people on the planet. Nature tries but we keep finding ways to beat it, ultimately we will be the cause of our own demise as we won’t grasp that nettle.

[mickd1961]

You are spot on that the real problem is overpopulation, green policies talk about reduction in consumption but really we need to reduce the number of people on the planet. Nature tries but we keep finding ways to beat it, ultimately we will be the cause of our own demise as we won’t grasp that nettle.

Good point.

On Monday my father in law is being moved to a new care home.

He’s 91 and not known anyone including himself for over four years now, he’s also virtually blind and doubly incontinent.

He has to be walked everywhere by two helpers and fed like a baby.

He’s had his Covid jab though and because of his wishes in legal documents he will be resuscitated if his heart ever stops.

He’s good to go for another 3-4 years I suspect.

How totally f u c k I n g pointless.

[9goals2hattricks3pen]

Maybe we have a bit of missed communication here. My point was and still is the EU's buying power is far greater than ours. They have an economy 10x larger than ours and 8x the population. Do you refute that?

I'm also constantly perplexed by this 'us v them' attitude. You do understand that it is in our interests for our largest trading partner to have a population that is also be vaccinated as well, right?

Finally, as for efficiency it's clear throughout the whole pandemic the EU have been more efficient than us. Otherwise we wouldn't have the highest death toll in Europe or one of the highest death rates in the world. Our Government have got almost EVERYTHING wrong. From not taking it seriously to begin with, to late lockdowns, to not checking arrivals into the country, to mixed public messaging, to wearing face masks in public, to sending kids back to school for one day, to PPE, to track and trace and many others. Seriously, I wouldn't be banging the drum about our 'efficiency'.

But lets hope they have got it right with the vaccine, again I wouldn't shout too loudly until the end is in sight. Our Government have decided to vaccinate against the manufacturers advice of 2 weeks after the first jab - instead it has been 12 weeks afterwards, now reducing to 6. Why? I would imagine as I have said all along - they care more about PR and polls than they do about saving lives. So everyday when they tell you 5m or 6m or however many have been vaccinated against and it gives us all hope - great. I hope that's true. But from what I have read, there hasn't been much research into the efficacy of a delayed 2nd jab. Which means they are taking a bit of a gamble. Correct me if I am wrong, as I know you seem to enjoy..

Oh dear 123 you do leave yourself wide open with such wildly incorrect figures. So yes I do refute your opening statement. Where do you get your figures from a European, 2 Europeans or perhaps one of them had a dog because yours is certainly is a shaggy dog post.

The EU economy is NOT 10 times the UK it's about 7 times. Just a small matter of $7.7 million wrong.

The EU population is NOT 8 times the UK its about 6.1/2 times bigger. That's all but 100 million wrong.

When you get such simple stuff so horribly wrong (always on your side of the argument) you make it very difficult for me to take anything you say seriously. Are you sure the figures in your user name are correct?

I thought we had already debunked the 'EU bought better because of its buying power myth' The EU bought Moderna cheaper because it invested heavily in its research. Turns out they chose the expensive option we chose Oxford the cheaper one.

Irrespective of the accuracy of the figures if you believe just because an organisation is big makes it an efficient buyer you are a fool. Three of the biggest procurement teams in the UK must be the NHS, MOD, and Goverment all of them amongst the very worst. Give me a small motivated buying team against these huge outfits any time.

As regards the EU I'm not sure what they purchase as a whole except for 5* hotel rooms, 5* meals, paper, office space and first class return rail tickets from Brussels to Strasbourg.

The EU have not been more efficient handling Covid than us because they haven't done anything (except badly buy the vaccine.) The individual states have all gone their own very different ways.

Just thought of something else the EU buy. They are The World's largest consumer of red tape 46 times the UK. Hope they have a good deal on it!

[Albionic68]

Neighbours was sh it in the 80s. Can't believe it's still going. People eating carrot cake, slurping orange juice and talking sh it e about nothing. A soap without suds. It's a bit like the fallout from Brexit. A never ending soap opera of pettiness, oneupmanship and woes. Minus the carrot cake, orange juice and slurping.

[DaveP67 is back!]

Good point.

On Monday my father in law is being moved to a new care home.

He’s 91 and not known anyone including himself for over four years now, he’s also virtually blind and doubly incontinent.

He has to be walked everywhere by two helpers and fed like a baby.

He’s had his Covid jab though and because of his wishes in legal documents he will be resuscitated if his heart ever stops.

He’s good to go for another 3-4 years I suspect.

How totally f u c k I n g pointless.

It is and I’m sure the poor guy wouldn’t want to be kept alive like this, I certainly wouldn’t. But what’s the solution, limit the number of children I guess, but that’s going to take tough calls, nature is trying by lowering men’s sperm count but with ivf etc we sidestep nature...

[mickd1961]

It is and I’m sure the poor guy wouldn’t want to be kept alive like this, I certainly wouldn’t. But what’s the solution, limit the number of children I guess, but that’s going to take tough calls, nature is trying by lowering men’s sperm count but with ivf etc we sidestep nature...

My father in law refused to agree to a “Don’t resuscitate” clause even when it was clear his health was heading rapidly downhill.

It was a selfish and stupid decision in my opinion but summed the man up perfectly!

[WBA123]

Oh dear 123 you do leave yourself wide open with such wildly incorrect figures. So yes I do refute your opening statement. Where do you get your figures from a European, 2 Europeans or perhaps one of them had a dog because yours is certainly is a shaggy dog post.

The EU economy is NOT 10 times the UK it's about 7 times. Just a small matter of $7.7 million wrong.

The EU population is NOT 8 times the UK its about 6.1/2 times bigger. That's all but 100 million wrong.

When you get such simple stuff so horribly wrong (always on your side of the argument) you make it very difficult for me to take anything you say seriously. Are you sure the figures in your user name are correct?

I thought we had already debunked the 'EU bought better because of its buying power myth' The EU bought Moderna cheaper because it invested heavily in its research. Turns out they chose the expensive option we chose Oxford the cheaper one.

Irrespective of the accuracy of the figures if you believe just because an organisation is big makes it an efficient buyer you are a fool. Three of the biggest procurement teams in the UK must be the NHS, MOD, and Goverment all of them amongst the very worst. Give me a small motivated buying team against these huge outfits any time.

As regards the EU I'm not sure what they purchase as a whole except for 5* hotel rooms, 5* meals, paper, office space and first class return rail tickets from Brussels to Strasbourg.

The EU have not been more efficient handling Covid than us because they haven't done anything (except badly buy the vaccine.) The individual states have all gone their own very different ways.

Just thought of something else the EU buy. They are The World's largest consumer of red tape 46 times the UK. Hope they have a good deal on it!

A bit pedantic this isn't it?

And only because the figures I was looking at included the UK in the EU.

Either way, the original point still remains. You can point at individual examples if it makes you feel better about yourself. But the fact is, the EU will always have better negotiating power than we will because their economy and population is much larger than ours.

As for your final statement, ask any business owner (and there are some who regularly post on here) about the red tape they have now in comparison to when we were an EU member.

The EU isn't perfect, but we were an influential cog within it and we had the best deal for trade we could have when we were a member compared to now.

[boingy]

Yes the EU couldn't even negotiate a vaccine. The world knows how slow the EU is at doing anything, especially trade deals. Anyway, gone now. Look forward, let the EU do what it wants, who cares? Oh Sorry 123 does, lol.

[WBA123]

Yes the EU couldn't even negotiate a vaccine. The world knows how slow the EU is at doing anything, especially trade deals. Anyway, gone now. Look forward, let the EU do what it wants, who cares? Oh Sorry 123 does, lol.

I'm sure business owners care who are struggling with the new regulations and are losing customers. I'm sure workers will care who lose their jobs on the back of Brexit.

But as long as you don't care, everything is fine

[9goals2hattricks3pen]

A bit pedantic this isn't it?

And only because the figures I was looking at included the UK in the EU.

Either way, the original point still remains. You can point at individual examples if it makes you feel better about yourself. But the fact is, the EU will always have better negotiating power than we will because their economy and population is much larger than ours.

As for your final statement, ask any business owner (and there are some who regularly post on here) about the red tape they have now in comparison to when we were an EU member.

The EU isn't perfect, but we were an influential cog within it and we had the best deal for trade we could have when we were a member compared to now.

I only corrected your figures because YOU challenged me to 'Do you refute that' is what you asked so the answer you got was 'Yes I do'

The individual case was YOURS not mine. I can give you numerous examples of large organisations doing bad deals. Big does not always equal beautiful.

I don't know anyone who thought things would be better within 1 month.

'The EU isn't perfect' now there is something we can agree on.

How many would argue with

:Common Market: Yes

European Union: No