Absolutely Not The Daily Troll-o-Graph

The data suggests the time has come for some sort of easing of this crushing lockdown, but I won't hold my breath. Source - Daily Telegraph - 14/02/20 Link The contrast was pretty stark on Sunday between Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, not normally a happy-go-lucky sort of chap, and Scottish transport minister Michael Matheson in their different broadcast performances. The former waxed lyrically about how the UK was poised to hit its target of having all those in the older and vulnerable groups vaccinated by Monday's date and looked forward to the ‘roadmap’ due soon on from Boris Johnson about easing this crushing lockdown.  There was no such good cheer from Mr Matheson; instead we got another SNP whinge about ‘perfidious Albion’ over the fact that the dastardly English authorities wouldn’t help his government impose their total ban on foreigners entering Scotland. Rather than talk about lifting some of the restrictions now affecting Scots, the minister and his boss would much ...

When I worked for the European Commission, I witnessed its lack of accountability first-hand. Source - Daily Telegraph - 13/02/20 Link The last time a President of the European Commission resigned, in March 1999, I was lucky enough to have a ringside seat. Mired in allegations of fraud and mismanagement, President Jacques Santer not only fell on his sword but ran it through his entire team of Commissioners. The final straw was the revelation that the French Commissioner had appointed her dentist as a personal political adviser – awarding him European Union contracts for jobs for which he was unqualified and on which he did little work. We never really found out what the dentist was offering beyond root canal surgery. Now another Commission President - Ursula Von der Leyen - is under pressure of a kind not seen since then. For Brussels wags, the initials VDL now stand for Very Damaged Leader. But this time it is not just about fraud and mismanagement, but about death and disease. Von de...

 Even if he does not run for the White House again Trump intends to dominate the landscape. Source - Daily Telegraph - 13/02/21 Link Remember Sarah Palin? She lives in Alaska now, and you don't hear much about her. There are senior Republicans who hope Donald Trump will similarly become a voice at the fringes of the party, shouting into the wind, a subject for the occasional "Where are they now?" TV segment. But that is certainly not how the former president envisions his future, and the future of Republicanism. Instead, Mr Trump intends to use his impeachment trial as a launching pad for a forceful return to the political stage. Even if he does not run for the White House again himself he intends to dominate the landscape. Mr Trump is looking ahead to holding rallies, although that would not be "immediate," an adviser told The Sunday Telegraph. The former president plans to target his enemies and back Republican candidates loyal to him in next year's congre...

 The boss of the accountancy giant has been sacked for criticising unconscious-bias training. SOURCE - Spiked - 12/02/21 LINK KPMG’s UK chairman, Bill Michael, has lost his job for daring to question unconscious-bias training. In a Zoom meeting on Monday, Michael said ‘unconscious bias is complete crap’. He complained that ‘after every single unconscious-bias training [session] that’s ever been done, nothing’s ever improved’. He also accused staff of using Covid as an excuse to play ‘the role of the victim’, adding that they work in a ‘very lucky sector’. He said they should ‘take control’ of their lives rather than ‘sit there and moan’ about the pandemic. Following complaints from staff, KPMG started an investigation into Michael’s comments. He initially stood aside from his role, pending the results of the investigation, but has now resigned, saying that his position is ‘untenable’. He has also apologised. So ends his 30-year tenure at the company. But what Michael said was corr...

Here is some information on the new VMIC Source - Daily Mail- 17/01/21 LINK The entire population of the UK could be vaccinated against new Covid variants within four months when a new £158million state-of-the-art vaccine production hub opens in Oxfordshire later this year, say experts. The Vaccines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (VMIC) will launch this year It will add significant firepower to Britain's immunisation infrastructure  Dr Matthew Duchars said it could make 70million doses within five months  A cutting-edge vaccine production factory will be capable of inoculating the entire UK population against any future coronavirus variants within months, its chief executive claimed tonight.  The Vaccines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (VMIC) will add significant firepower to Britain's immunisation infrastructure when it launches later this year.  Dr Matthew Duchars, who will oversee the Oxfordshire hub, told The Telegraph: 'We'll be able to make 70million doses w...

Brussels' determination to rein in the City of London could be self-defeating, experts warn. Source - Daily Telegraph - 11/02/20 Link In the words of former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, the UK has been “Europe’s investment banker” for years. But experts say that Brussels has “never been 100pc comfortable” with London's dominance in financial services. PwC’s global head of Brexit policy Andrew Gray points to the “political ambition from Europe to have a degree of self-sufficiency in its own financial services industry and capital markets”. That aspiration - super-charged by Brexit - has been underlined by the European Union’s hardline refusal to grant equivalence to the Square Mile, which drew the wrath of Carney’s successor, Andrew Bailey, this week. “All regulation is political,” says William Wright, founder of the New Financial thinktank.  But experts also warn that punishing London for leaving the EU also risks leaving Europe markets with deeper scars as the bloc ta...

 It came as Lord Frost warned the EU was struggling to adapt to a 'genuinely independent actor in their neighbourhood' Source - Daily Telegraph  09/02/21 Link French fishermen could face lengthy delays before gaining access to the UK’s fishing waters under retaliatory measures being discussed if Brussels refuses to cave on its live shellfish ban, The Telegraph has learnt. In a bid to force an EU climb down over “indefensible” trade barriers to British fishermen, it is understood that the granting of new licences for vessels hoping to fish in the UK’s six to 12 mile nautical zone could be slowed down.  The UK has already issued licences beyond the 12-mile range but applications for those inside are still being processed, suggesting the row could backfire on the European Commission and France, which is suspected of fuelling it. “There are things we could do to make their life difficult,” a Whitehall insider said, although a Downing Street source said they did not recognise ...