Looks like the epidemic of people requiring Food Bank support has finally(?) come to the North; or at least, this is the first I've sen of it reported occurring. Wonder what is causing the sudden surge up there? Meanwhile, the DUP continue to flex its veto to stop local government actually addressing the issue.
DEMAND FOR FOOD bank parcels in Northern Ireland has increased by 23% this year compared with last and is outstripping supply from donations, according to a network of 22 such services.
Trussel Trust’s Northern Ireland manager warned that the “cost of living crisis has pushed more and more people to food banks who never thought they would have to darken [their] doors”.
The charity, which operates food banks across the United Kingdom, handed out 39,344 food parcels for adults and children in the North between the start of April and the end of September.
This marks a 23% increase on the same period last year, and is the most the charity has ever distributed in this time period. It is also a greater increase than England, Scotland and Wales.
Seems Pritti Patel is the great new hope for Unionists. Good luck with that then, another Boris IMO.
Oh, God. When are "unionists" going to stop fawning over Brexiteers who despise them? It's like they enjoy being kicked in the goolies.
Your regular reminder that Priti Patel campaigned and voted for the NI Protocol, and voted to enshrine it in UK law. She was a senior cabinet member in the government that approached the EU and asked for the NI Protocol in the first place.
If the most senior voices in British politics that you can point to in support of your anti-Protocol views are the very people who engineered the Protocol in the first place in support of the NI-harming Union-harming Brexit project, you're better off not looking for support in British politics.
Can anyone give an update on whats happening here? Surely the DUP cant just indefinitely hold up Stormont?
What does justification have to do with it? As long as they can, they will. There is nothing in it for them to be the junior members of the government in NI. As long as the UK government are not going to force their hand they will continue as is.
The UK government are trying to offer the parties a financial settlement of £2.5Bn to return to Stormont (aka a bribe) but the DUP are not agreeing to the terms - according to the FT...
One person with knowledge of the talks said the DUP’s demands remained unclear and kept changing. “It’s like darts being thrown in the dark at a moving dartboard,” the person said.
But they do have a mandate from their voters and whilst it is completely undemocratic and is exactly what Jeffrey was complaining about SF doing in the past, they are allowed to do it.
Unclear to me how the UK government could force their hand.
It's happening. The choreography is clear. Jeffrey is going to try and sell a deal to go back IMO
Exactly. The DUP know this so do they neither need justification nor have any reason to go back into Stormont.
Is it gonna be some Extra Special Medal for Good Boys they're gonna get cos not sure what "legislation" could be put in place that would amount to much in real terms - and not also unset the Windsor agreement et al.
Depends what undemocratic means. The form of government allows for this
This is interesting. Unionists are divided on whether jeffry was incompetent in his questioning or whether it was deception. I genuinely can’t guess.
he asked about ni access to gb market. Well ni has 100% access ni to gb currently, the problem is gb to ni
if this access is two-way then that is game-changing and the mass of unionism will accept it and laud him for a great victory. He really will have pulled off something special. If it turns out to be deception then he is finished.
get the popcorn out.
Absolutely. Couldn’t agree more.
And we forget the headstands over 7 tests.
It’ll be take the bung and climbdown and move on to the next attempt to veto.
Did you ever sell a car Francie? Do you start with your final price?
I couldn’t give a toss about either the DUP or their seven tests. If the outcome is genuine, unfettered access GB to Ni, then that will be a dramatic win. And sure if it does not threaten you, then we are all happy and we can move on to even more prosperity in OWC. I have no idea whether this gain is real or not,
but would you oppose unfettered access GB to NI?
Yeh, heard it all before downcow.
Unionism strategically self harming and calling it a win. Carry on.
So is Sammy telling us that there is now no border in the Irish sea?
As one reply suggests, shall we soon see dinghies in Larne? 😁
Now where would those dinghys be going and why? 🤔
Imaginationland, along with all the other b*llocks Sammy talks.
Tbh I didn’t listen to Sammy. I have little time for his views.
I was responding to the poster’s comments
Then you've clearly missed the point of the poster you were responding to, perhaps because you didn't listen to Sammy, whose comments the post was in reference to.
It's hard brexiters who oppose unfettered access GB to NI, because that gets in the way of their precious hard Brexit. And the DUP, of course, were — and, indeed, as far as I can see still are — uncritical and enthusiastic supporters of hard Brexit.
And this is the basic problem. The DUP push for policies whose outcome they find they don't like, and then they whinge about the outcome, blame others for it and demand that others fix it, all the while refusing to reconsider their own position which caused the problem in the first place.
This makes it very hard to take the DUP seriously. In a world of rational, democratic politics, the DUP would alter their policy position towards one conducive to the outcome they want and, if they didn't, their voters would punish them for it. In the bizarro world of NI tribal politics, neither of these things happens. But it leaves the DUP in an extremely weak negotiating position — they demand that others sacrifice their goals and objectives to deliver what the DUP wants, while simultaneously signalling that they don't want it, by supporting policies inconsistent with it. Seriously, would you make a deal with these people? Because they simultaneously want and don't want something, you'll be in the wrong whether you give it to them or not, and any deal you make with them will contain the seeds of its own betrayal.
Potentially.
I rarely listen to Sammy’s rants
Thankfully it is the Northern Ireland unionist people who have held the DUP feet to the fire on this. Yes of course the DUP were going to betray us - and still might. But we are in a very different place than Nationalists, Republicans, etc said we could ever get to. Will we get enough? - I just don’t know.
So where have you got to?
That is a bit like that time you said you hated the DUP but you were going to vote for them.
Well, no offence, but you haven't held the DUP's feet to the fire very effectively, given that they are still consorting with hard Brexiters and supporting the union-undermining hard Brexit. If they're feeling any pressure to prioritise the union, they're certainly not showing it.
As for being in a "very different place" — honestly, I'm not seeing that. The transition from NI Protocol to Windsor Framework was more than some expected, but the WF is still a lot closer to the NI Protocol than it is to anything like the NI-GB trading relationship that existed before brexit. And, as long as the UK hews to hard Brexit, I'm not seeing much scope for further change. The talks going on right now are between the UK government and the DUP; the EU is not involved. Which means they can't change anything that has been agreed with the EU, which is quite the limitation.
The key to significant change is the UK moving away from hard Brexit. That would open up all kinds of possibilities. But the DUP aren't even hinting at such a possibility, must less demanding it and making it a test for anyone who claims to value the union. And if the DUP won't press for that, don't delude yourself — the chances of their getting it are not high.
Can't argue with you on that one in fairness, Downcow.
Bryson has tweeted about 10 times this morning already, gonna be a long Christmas for some Unionists/Loyalists as Jeffrey sells his 'deal'. I'd expect more choreography today.
How's that any different from the usual for Bryson? I'd imagine it is some combination of, 'jackboots', 'Unionist subjugating Protocol', 'No Surrender' and calling a few people Lundys.
Do yourself a favour and ignore the gobsh*te.
