What happened on 31st March 2023

On Friday Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hurried to delight Britons with his twit about the UK joined the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership and 'trade opportunities for British businesses.'

 

 

It's strange enough but his co-nationals weren't optimistic about this news.

 

"Joining the CPTPP will unleash a HUGE 0.08% increase in GDP in ten years’ time, which is a MASSIVE 2% of the loss in GDP that Brexit has already caused. Fantastic!"

 

"A 0.08% boost to GDP over 10 years, along with lower food standards and an undercut British farming sector. You Brexiters just can't stop winning, can you?"

 

"We will fight this deregulatory scheme. Why would you join something so many thousands of miles away when we have a perfectly good trading bloc on our doorstep?" 

 

"0.08% growth in 10 years! Brexit shrunk our GDP by 4%."

 

"Calling the CPTPP a ‘benefit of Brexit’ is pushing it. Brexit has curtailed our trade and shrunk our GDP by 4% long-term. A deal that is projected to add back 0.08% in ten years is hardly ‘growing the economy’. Damage limitation and a bit of swagger for the terminally gullible."  

In fact, this twit has become a battlefield for brexiters and their opponents. Brexiters' comments, however, were more aggressive and unfounded likr "Wrong" 

or "Dry your eyes remoaners. As set out, we will leave the EU, get an FTA with the EU and then agree lots of other trade deals around the world. It’s happening."

or  "Don't be such a doomster, if I had known that we could reap a huge dividend of 0.8% in ten years time then I may have embraced Brexit! Wow this trade group really effectively replaces those EU bureaucrats..."

"When did you consult the British people on this?" - "When were the public consulted on the Lisbon Treaty? When were the public consulted on Blair negotiating away the opt-outs that John Major had put in the Maastrict Treaty? Why do you constantly tweet about issues that you clearly do not understand?"

Following the Met scandal came the His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) report on shocking bullying, harassment and discrimination in every fire and rescue service in England.

Users from the UK found the news very disturbing. Everyone agrees that that is all about poor financing and the outdated system of the UK services needing reforms.

"In recent weeks all public services have been criticised in similar reports, in particular policing. Surely this suggests that it is an issue with society as a whole rather than the public sector itself? Don't get me wrong, I don't condone any of this behaviour, but how far can you try to push reform when it isn't isolated to one particular organisation?"

"When these stories come out about the fire service, police, NHS etc. the one thing I’m surprised at is why nobody talks about compassion fatigue and PTSD (that continues the Thursday topic about lack of accessibility of the GPs including mental health services in the UK).

I know mental health trouble isn’t a get out of jail free card for bad behaviour - but these threads tend to descend into a bunch of office workers looking down their noses at first responders. These people risk their lives on a daily basis. They get nothing but abuse from the public. They see things in a standard day that most people wouldn’t see in their lifetimes. And yet they get all raked over the coals for some off colour texts probably taken out of context.

It’s getting tiresome now. If it doesn’t impact their duty as a public servant and how they perform their role, it’s fucking not relative.

And anyone imply that because a firefighter made an off colour joke about a woman means they wouldn’t save a woman from a burning building can just get in the bin."

The news that anyone born after 1979 will have to wait until they are 69 to collect the state pension under proposals to stop the Treasury overspending added no joy to the Friday digest. 

 

"Another scummy proposal from the tories to keep the people of this country working until we drop."

 

"I’ve already forgotten about retirement. It’s not going to happen for my generation and I’m in my 40s. Pension schemes seem like an additional tax right now as I doubt I’ll be able to recoup the benefits."

"That's how I feel as someone in the 40s. I don't expect to ever be able to really retire so I'm trying to set things up now so that when I reach the traditional retirement age I have easier work to fall back upon.

The thought of being able to significantly invest in a pension with my general expenses seems so far fetched that I just don't worry about it.

They could make it 90 for all I think it will matter"

 These are main reactions of those who will be affected first.