EU have just proposed an 80% reduction of checks on certain goods moving from the Uk to NI.
UK must put up border posts as previously agreed.
I could dryly observe that it just goes to demonstrate how overly officious and bureaucratic the EU were being in the first place if 80% of checks can be dropped and 100 certificates can be reduced to 1.
Just saying.
But itās to be welcomed that the EU are, at least, now approaching the issue with pragmatism that was previously missing.
The UK now needs to accept that it canāt be the ultimate arbitrator on this issue if thereās to remain a soft border between NI and ROI.
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Conversely I could say that it is the EU has been the party that has made all the suggestions here while the UK has been crying in the corner because they lost their ball. 
I assume the EU applied the same level of documentation to the UK as it does with other 3rd countries. Iād be interested to see how they are coping so perhaps we really donāt have much of a leg to stand on? I do however concede Northern Ireland is a special case.
I wonder what Teresa May is thinking right now? 
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The trouble is Starmer is a closet Tory.
He followed on from a useless git (even if popular with a certain section of the party).
They have moved too quickly imo, they needed a Kinnock and got a watered down version of Blair.
heās too bloody straight in my book. Parliament is a circus and itās full of animals. Being 100% down the line in there just makes you bland. Angela Rayner performed much better because she wasnāt afraid to play to the hoard.
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Heās a boring lawyer in my book.
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Again, the trouble Iām having here is that surely āboring lawyerā is better that āinveterate liar who doesnāt care if you live or dieā.
Like I said before, this Government is so bad Labour should be able to put up Mr Tumble as leader and win the next election. To me, the biggest problem is not the Labour Party. Itās that something has gone very badly wrong with British Politics.
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yep, couldnāt agree more. I guess @Flobs and my point is that Starmer needs to beat the āsystemā or smash through this issue and being a Geoffrey Boycott (Straight bat) politician isnāt cutting it.
Starmer should be an ideal PM candidate but he cant break through the problem
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Yep, the problem is that thereās no opposition.
I think Starmer is almost an end game type for Labour, PM material even if boring.
As metionned before they needed to play a longer game after Corbyn, get some character in there and start rallying the troops a la Kinnock after Foot (which lead to Blair). Of course the charismatic one might get in like Kinnock almost did (at the time he got the largest number of votes of any Labour leader and won the popular vote by some margin if I remember but was undone by the 1st past the post system).
Thereās no quick fixes thereās just too many hurdles in the way. The problem with Starmer is he exasperated the infighting within Labour. That stance is the opposite to what they needed.
The biggest problem is the English general public, particularly the older generation (even over 40ās) with their tow the line attitude. Just take the criticisms of demonstartions and blocking things. In France if a minister criticised demonstations blocking a road they would have a tonne of poop dumped outside their offices and house. 
Englands gone soft and horrible imo.
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People have realised that parliament is a sham, a charade, an exercise in smoke and mirrors. The response to which can either be uprising or apathy. At the moment we have apathy. This is the Labour Partyās job to combat - the Tories are quite happy with things as they are.
As Jonathan Pie rightly says, to paraphrase, - the opposition is discussing whether a man can have a cervix, when people are literally dying in the streets. I think Starmer sees this but lacks the fibre to combat it.
I forget whch politician said it, maybe Tony Benn, but politics when you boil it down, is not about grandiose abstract visions. It is about practical issues like roads and making sure the drains are working. Labour would do well to remember this.
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Thereās no fight except for over having the right not to wear a mask. 
What?
So they vote in Johnson?
That really can not be true, the problem is much deeper than that and is rooted in the general public now, surely?
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As I said - Tory voters are quite happy for the charade to continue - positively encourage it.
No; the problem is that the electorate has been dumbed down for the past forty years and so brainwashed by the Neoliberal agenda that they donāt have a fucking clue.
They are totally oblivious to the damage this government is causing to the country and, as long as they have a car, can go on holiday and still have a few quid in their pocket, they donāt give a flying fuck about anybody else.
āThereās no such thing as society.ā
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Do you think that they just dont understand what is happening, or they understand it and deliberately choose to not give a shit?
I am sad to say that I think most people just do not understand what is going on so choose to not engage.
I think thereās more. People are blind to it. Whether by choosing not to engage or simply too busy trying to make ends meet.
The Conservatives have moved into this void. The messaging isnāt strong enough while the slogans and gaslighting has been incredibly effective. Too many people donāt even know who Starmer is.
Red wall seats were lost because people thought Labour ran the NHS in their local area and cut services. (One reason).
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Similar with Local Authorities. People saw their Labour Councils cutting services without understanding it was the devastating cuts from Government that forced this. Tory candidates all too happy to push this misinformation.
You just keep enjoying your shit flavoured ice cream. Who wants vanilla. Vanilla is for squares!