WEDNESDAY 23rd

UK-FRANCE DEAL
-Last night the government announced the deal agreed with France to reopen the border and allow freight to travel through

-The deal is based on mass testing of lorry drivers, 150-200 military personnel are being deployed to give lateral flow tests to hauliers in Kent
-Lorry drivers get their results in 20-30 minutes, they’ll then get a text message, allowing them proceed to France
-It appears Macron backed down on a demand to make the lorry drivers have more accurate PCR tests, which take 24 hours to give a result
-A government official says the PM was “full of praise” for how Transport Secretary Grant Shapps handled the crisis 💕
-It is expected to take days to clear the backlog and hauliers are still being asked not to come to port
-Rail, air and sea services will resume on Wednesday morning, all those travelling from the UK to France will need to show a negative test taken within the previous 72 hours
ABOUT THOSE LATERAL FLOW TESTS
-“The government shelved plans to open rapid-turnaround test centres across England amid concerns about the accuracy of their results”
-“Directors of public health had concerns about the potential false reassurance to those testing negative.” 😬
TIER 4
-More areas could be in Tier 4 from the 26th as cases rise, Ministers will meet today to discuss further possible measures after the UK recorded its highest daily increase in coronavirus cases
-Sources warn there is 'high chance' of full national lockdown in New Year
-"I’m told public health chiefs were pushing for a national Tier 4 across England from Boxing Day, unclear yet whether politicians have agreed to it."
-Health ministers could announce the changes today after review was brought forward from December 30
NAUGHTY NICOLA
-Nicola Sturgeon has apologized after the Sun got hold of pics of her chatting to pensioners in a pub without a face mask
-“This was a stupid mistake and I’m really sorry” She says, after she broke laws requiring pub customers to wear masks unless seated at a table
BREXIT
-A UK source said an agreement on a UK/EU trade deal is again possible today, EU sources stressed that they do not have much room for manoeuvre on fisheries
-"UK source now says agreement on a UK/EU trade deal is again possible tomorrow" - ITV's Peston *yawn*
USA
-US President Trump warned he will not sign the stimulus package until Congress amends it
-He called the bill a disgrace and full of wasteful and unnecessary items, He demanded that stimulus checks are increased to $2,000 from $600
-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded to Trump saying she welcomed his call for $2,000 checks for most Americans. "Democrats are ready to bring this to the Floor this week by unanimous consent. Let’s do it!”
Who would have thought
Housing Sec Jenrick on the morning broadcast round
-Hope there is no link between Brexit and border issues
-Hope to see trucks crossing today to Calais
-Will take a few days to work through backlog of trucks
-New variant is spreading fast
-No plan to change Christmas rules

More from Government

I don't normally do threads like this but I did want to provide some deeper thoughts on the below and why having a video game based on a real world war crime from the same people that received CIA funding isn't the best idea.

This will go pretty in depth FYI.


The core reason why I'm doing this thread is because:

1. It's clear the developers are marketing the game a certain way.

2. This is based on something that actually happened, a war crime no less. I don't have issues with shooter games in general ofc.

Firstly, It's important to acknowledge that the Iraq war was an illegal war, based on lies, a desire for regime change and control of resources in the region.

These were lies that people believed and still believe to this day.

It's also important to mention that the action taken by these aggressors is the reason there was a battle in Fallujah in the first place. People became resistance fighters because they were left with nothing but death and destruction all around them after the illegal invasion.

This is where one of the first red flags comes up.

The game is very much from an American point of view, as shown in the description.

When it mentions Iraqi civilians, it doesn't talk about them as victims, but mentions them as being pro US, fighting alongside them.
Typically excellent piece from @dsquareddigest The exponential insight is especially neat. Think of it a little like fishing...today you can’t export oysters to the EU (because you simply aren’t allowed to), tomorrow you don’t have a fish exporting business (to the EU).


The extremely small minority of people who known anything about this who think that Brexit will be good for the City make a number of arguments which I shall address in turn...

1. They need us more than we need them. This is a variant of the German carmakers argument. And we know how that went...Business will follow the profit opportunity and if that has moved then so will the business...

And what do we mean by us / we. We’re not talking about massed ranks of Euro investing / trading etc blue blooded British institutions.

Au contraire. We’re talking about the London based subs of US, Asian and indeed European capital markets players...As soon as they think the profit opportunity has moved then so will they...it’s a market innit...

You May Also Like

My top 10 tweets of the year

A thread 👇

https://t.co/xj4js6shhy


https://t.co/b81zoW6u1d


https://t.co/1147it02zs


https://t.co/A7XCU5fC2m