The Brexit Thread

[Tubby Isaacs]

I bet you like the sound of this article. I've taken the liberty of not providing the link.

Post-truth politics? Don’t be so patronising
Why should people who vote with their hearts be dismissed as delusional?
Claire Fox

[Lang Spoon]

Excuse me while I go headbutt the wall for an hour.

[Diable Rouge]

Agreement has been reached today on a new European defence alliance - naturally, Ireland has opted out, but can imagine the Brexiteers foaming at the mouth already:

https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-europe-41971867

[Ginger Yellow]

I was thinking about posting this yesterday as an exercise in reading between the lines.

Mr Davis said there was an important role for business leaders in the UK and the rest of the EU to play. He underlined that economic considerations should be to the fore in the negotiations.

Carolyn Fairbairn Director-General of the CBI, represented the wider group in welcoming the opportunity to hear from and discuss such key issues for industry with the Prime Minister. And Emma Marcegaglia, President for BusinessEurope stated that the business groups stand together, ready to play a constructive role in supporting governments find the solutions they need.

There was a consensus among the business groups for the need for an implementation period and for economic relations between the UK and EU27 to remain close.

Turns out, we don't have to read between the lines.

“I asked Davis whether he still thought a deal was possible” by the European Union’s December summit, Emma Marcegaglia, head of the BusinessEurope lobby group, said in an interview. “He said there was a 50-50 chance.”

Another European business leader who attended the meeting, but asked not to be named, also said that, speaking in a one-to-one conversation, the U.K.’s chief negotiator had put the chances of a deal at 50 percent. A spokesman for the Brexit secretary said in an emailed statement that “this is categorically untrue. David Davis did not say this.”

...

“May in particular said that we business leaders should express our concerns to the EU governments,” Marcegaglia said. “She and Davis are trying to pass the buck, but it’s the British government which has to make a move.”

[Guy Profumo]

Frank Field speaking on BBC News Channel at noon referred to the Labour Party as "they" when asked what policy was.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

At the weekend, our glorious leader was saying that we needed to prepare for the likely outcome that the UK leaves without a deal, and that will be fairly extreme. It's one thing for The EU to be saying this. It's entirely another thing for the Irish govt to be saying it. That means the EU have completely given up on striking a deal. Meanwhile Up north, the London Govt has imposed a budget, and Direct rule in all but name is back. The only thing that really is keeping the Assembly "open" is that if they shut it down, Arlene Foster can't be leader of the DUP, and control reverts to the MP's.

The DUP's MP's are by in large the sort of people you are referring to when using the phrase "Social progress comes one funeral at a time." Unfortunately the ones most eager to embrace loyalist paramilitarism are the youngest ones.

[anton pulisov]

You can count on the Tories to fuck up the peace process.

[Ginger Yellow]

Frank Field speaking on BBC News Channel at noon referred to the Labour Party as "they" when asked what policy was.

Speaking of Field:

Eurosceptic Labour MP Frank Field said he had tabled amendments calling for the UK to leave the EU "on a certain date" and to give the EU no more money "until they start making concessions" in the Brexit talks.

Tool.

[Tubby Isaacs]

What does that even mean?

[Ginger Yellow]

Couldn't find the text so it's hard to say for sure, but on the face of it, withholding budget contributions as a negotiating tactic. I've certainly seen hard Brexiters propose that.

[ursus arctos]

The seizure of UK assets on the Continent to satisfy contractual debt obligations would add a certain frisson to the whole debacle

[Ginger Yellow]

Field speaking now, waffling on about British time and ignoring reasonable questions from his colleagues.

[Ginger Yellow]

Certainly sounds like he's talking about withholding budget contributions "until they start negotiating seriously", but he's waffling so much that it's pretty hard to tell.

[Ginger Yellow]

Huh. Just went through the list of amendments. Not seeing the extortion measure in there, unless it's not in his name.

[Ginger Yellow]

Bill Cash now complaining about the Council of Ministers making decisions in secret. You know, the council of ministers which includes his own party's ministers.If he wants transparency, why doesn't he just ask his party colleagues? I'm also not aware that cabinet minutes are made public in the UK contemporaneously.

[Snake Plissken]

Dumb fuck doesn't even realise that we are leaving on a certain date. Mrs May saw to that last March.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Dominic Grieve is getting stuck in nicely. Says the Commons debate has been "polemical nonsense" for the last 3 days, and says "I give way to my honourable friend" (John Redwood).

[Tubby Isaacs]

Quite a few Tory "hear hear"s for Grieve.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Liam Foxy Fox's department tweeted out "£135bn Brexit boost" bollocks, then deletes it.

Jolyon Maugham reckons it was a serious breach of the Civil Service code. Would Team Fox care about that? I think the Treasury might have been on the phone. It's their call, not Fox's what the financial outlook is. And one suspects the upcoming budget won't suggest imminent milk and honey.

[Snake Plissken]

Frank Field “We must leave as quickly as possible”

Speaking about the amendment that he tabled which would make us leave an hour later than the current schedule.

[Tubby Isaacs]

The Conservative MP Bernard Jenkin, a Brexiter, is speaking now. He says some MPs are complaining about the Henry VIII powers in the EU withdrawal bill. But the European Communities Act handed over power to Brussels, he says. It was the biggest Henry VIII power ever.

"Brussels", yeah.

[Lang Spoon]

Just the look of that Jenkin weasel, def go seems the sort of MP to go brothel creeping. At best. Check his wine cellar for a secret dungeon/collection of little shoes.

[Gerontophile]

May I just applaud everyone who continues to catalogue the shambles which is ongoing?

For the last 5 or 6 days, I have been scared to look, and I am not even there.

[Tubby Isaacs]

steve hawkesVerified account
@steve_hawkes
Iain Duncan Smith on George Freeman: “I am deeply saddened that a colleague who is supposed to be supporting the Government has chosen to attack the result of the referendum in this way.”

Freeman had said there was a danger of Brexit leading to national decline (though bizarrely he later said that he didn't).

That's "attacking the result of the referendum"?

[Tubby Isaacs]

Good one from Crossbench peer, Lord Haskins.

It is now clear Mrs May is only acting as a front for the Brexiteers. So why not place the real powers behind the throne on the throne? The following cabinet would reflect the present government policy: prime minister, Boris Johnson; chancellor, Lord Lawson; home secretary, Andrea Leadsom (demoted by May); foreign secretary, David Davis; lord chancellor, Bill Cash; defence, Penny Mordaunt; work and pensions, Iain Duncan Smith (sacked by Cameron); health, Liam Fox (sacked by Cameron); leader of the house, Bernard Jenkin; international development, George Eustice; education, Michael Gove (demoted by Cameron); leader of the Lords, Matt Ridley (former chair, Northern Rock); transport, Chris Grayling; business, Jacob Rees-Mogg; Northern Ireland, Theresa Villiers (sacked by Cameron); Defra, Owen Paterson (sacked by Cameron); communities, Priti Patel (sacked by May); Wales, Stephen Crabb (sacked by May); duchy of Lancaster, John Redwood; culture and sport, John Whittingdale (sacked by Cameron); Scotland, no takers; ambassador in Washington, Nigel Farage. It would be interesting to see what assessments the markets and other countries, parliament and the British public would make of this government of all the talents.

Though Stephen Crabb was Remainer.