#EUref the latest scaremongering, on #Brexit , is that PGS will be removed from Cornish pasties. Will French Champagne loses its PGS.

The latest scaremongering from the BBC and the Remainers is a claim that #Brexit will hit sales of Cornish pasties.

Shops up here sell pasties. They taste no worse for lacking the protected geographical status (PGS) naming of Cornish. It’s merely a meaningless snob thing.

PGS began as a dog-in-the-manger invention of the French to capitalise on the celebrity of Champagne’s name.
It’s a white sparkling wine, whose sole purpose seems to be to spray it over crowds in a victory celebration.

It’s ironic that this conceit of PGS is the biggest obstacle to the signing of TTIP (a treaty to open up EU markets to Yankee Trader’s).

U.S. manufacturer’s have caught on to the fact that all their cheeses etc. will have to have name changes, whilst French and German politicians are poring over the (English only) wording of the treaty details of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS).

If PGS persists in the EU, after signing TTIP, they’ll have to protect it here, also; lest our growing wine industry  starts selling its sparkling wine as Champagne (only fair, as it was a British invention)

“Labour together” sounds good but can you trust a Lothario?

Labour Together has come too late.
Around here, there were four Labour clubs, within walking distance.

Three have been closed and demolished in recent years , with one taken over by the local community, as its only venue for a social gathering.
My impression was that New Labour no longer felt it necessary to nurture its core vote, having decided to become “Centrist” and chase the Tory voters, whilst trying to entice donations from Big Business

(instead of relying on the meagre income offered by a diminishing workforce).
Labour doesn’t have the money to replace these Labour clubs, where Councillors and MP’s could mingle with their electorate and learn first hand what they thought, whilst offering a place that fostered community spirit and a nursery for activists.
All that Labour Together can do is to continue their incestuous meetings in Whitehall and Townhall’s, assuring each other that they are all working towards a common end (behind Jeremy? or maybe Hillary, or Yvette, or someone more Right wing.) and that they have the key to understanding how to get Labour voters to want to not only want to stay in the EU but to want to bother to vote (mainly by autodial badgering).

 

If Labour pushes its core voters to turn out for the EU Referendum could increase the #Brexit vote

Labour’s stated intent of chasing their core voters to ensure they vote in the EU referendum could be an own goal.
From my experience of canvassing in such an area, many would favour Brexit.

Those voters would probably avoid committing to a choice, rather than go against Labour’s official stance.

But, if pushed to vote, they might not see it as going against Labour but going against cheap immigrant Labour.
It’s unwise getting them to think about what loyalty they might owe Labour or what Labour has, or hasn’t, done for them, in recent decades.
In fact, what is the present Labour party to them, except an alternative to their present ally, Cameron and his Tories?

 

roads are often only just wide enough for a bus, fining motorists for driving too close to cyclists, is bad law.

The call to fine motorists, who drive too close to cyclists will only serve to antagonise both groups.
As with the use of mobile phones, most prosecutions will only occur after an accident, when it is too late to benefit anyone.
At least with mobile phones, the culprit has a choice, whereas, at times, the only choice possible with cyclists (and horses) is to sit behind them and wait for a chance to accelerate past them.

Of course I’m assuming that the cyclist is solo, hugging the verge and not having to dodge potholes etc.
I’d love to get on a bike and get some exercise but as a motorist I’m too aware of how dangerous it can be.
The correct action would be to build separate road networks, for bicycles, motorists and pedestrians.
The present mish-mash of pedestrian precincts, cycle lanes and now this threatened fine doesn’t even paper over the cracks.
Instead of spending £60Bn on HS2 to get a few VIP’s from London to Manchester in 1 hour, rather than 2 hours, why not examine the old footpaths, Beeching axed railway lines and canal towpaths to see if they can be utilised?
Separating different forms of traffic doesn’t have to be one-dimensional, either, major towns often have underground trains and overhead walkways.
If we are going to Victorianise Britain, let’s have politicians capable of taking Ministerial office and using it to achieve something more than the advancement of their own political career by enacting poorly thought out stop-gap laws.