The Westminster Arms

Singing Greece is still suffering....capital controls still in place iirc.

Funnily enough, the only place that could finance a bail out of DB is....London. Perhaps that's why they are making nice to us (the Island Monkeys as they call us).

Afternoon all. 5 days to freedom.

Len McCluskey & Rebecca Wrong Bailey seem to have plans to kick out the moderate MPs if they win. Guess Corbyn must have missed a few.

Lily "To bail out Deutsche Bank would mean completely overturning the stringent rules applied ruthlessly to Greece - and wholly approved by one Angela Merkel."

ah, thank you, that's the kind of information I was looking for.

re Italy, I've been aware of that for some time - have they been kicking it into the long grass?

I also think other countries will agitate for their exits, and I completely understand why.

It's hard to know, Autumn. Deutsche Bank occupies a very different place in the domestic German economy than Northern Rock did. As far as I can see, in terms of the domestic economy, it is unthinkable that it would allowed to go under as it would affect too many German households. However, politically, Angela Merkel is between a rock and a hard place because of the rules rigorously applied to Greece when it was bailed out.

RBS was bailed out with taxpayers' money in October 2018 before the Lisbon treaty came into effect on 1 January 2009. In any case, we are not part of the eurozone.

The Greek bailout by the troika did not take place until 2013. Greece suffered dreadfully as a result of the draconian measures. To bail out Deutsche Bank would mean completely overturning the stringent rules applied ruthlessly to Greece - and wholly approved by one Angela Merkel.

The news about the Italian banks is worrying but not at all surprising. Italy has been teetering for some time and according to many economists, the ECB has pretty much run out of options.

Dan Hannan is still of the view that Brexit will prompt more exits; that Italy will be an accidental Leaver because it will fall out of the eurozone and thus the EU but that The Netherlands and Denmark have one eye on the exit because of growing Euroscepticism and the loss of a major player. I don't know how much credence to give to this but certainly, Italy's economic woes are not improving and neither is its political situation.

If some Remainers still wish to make a case for Rejoin after Friday, that's their democratic right and I wish them luck. However, they would have to make a pretty solid case for it. The EU is already a very different entity to its 2016 model and will be even more so after Friday.

Lily appreciate your wisdom on this.

having looked it up, I can't tell if the papers are being dramatic about it or if there's a real problem here a la Northern Rock? What do you think?

Rumours that Deutsche Bank is just about to announce its biggest loss since 2015. It ran down capital levels, with regulators permission, to allow for restructuring charges and to write off bad debts. The loss appears to be related to this rather than the way it was performing. However, from a political and economic perspective, especially domestically, this will be causing Angela Merkel a big headache as well as ordinary German households. There must be a temptation to many to get their cash out. Such things are contagious.

scary oh I didn't know

I'm so glad we aren't in the Euro.

Problems in Italy, some banks not opening on Monday, and Deutsche Bank closing branches all over. Their share price is not looking good. We are better off out.

morning all
I'm not supposed to eat till about 4pm.

Twitter is going to be unbearable the next week isn't it? In theory, I'm only following people related to hobbies etc but the wailing and gnashing of teeth has started already.

meanwhile, I don't use cash much but would love a Brexit 50p.

I registered with the Royal Mint but that's not a guarantee of anything is it!

Morning, all,

It's a lazy Sunday morning here in the Arms but the kitchen staff have been busy and a proper breakfast awaits so please help yourselves.

I've had a look at the Parliamentary diary for the week ahead for both Houses and it seems to be mainly tidying-up legislation ready for our legal departure on Friday including continuity payments for farmers, although the NHS Funding bill could provide some fireworks on Monday. More on that tomorrow.

Kettle's on ☕️☕️☕️

That article by the editor-at-large at Bild demonstrated a generosity of spirit as well as some interesting insights that seem to confirm what our negotiators must know. The UK and EU are in very different places, both politically and economically, than we were in 2016. On one level, I'm glad that Theresa was so useless a poker player because we have a far stronger chance of succeeding now than we would have done under her dreadful deal and equally dreadful leadership. I just wish the Conservative Party hadn't played such silly games with the leadership question four years ago.

Anyway, I found more old till receipts stuffed under the cash drawer so if anyone knows how the following are doing, please let them know a drink and a warm welcome await them in the newly-named Westminster Arms:

@MichaelFabricantsHair
@MarySidney
@mummmy2017
@BovaryX
@notangelinajolie

A warm welcome back to Megan and Dapple - glad you found us. Must see if I can find any more old receipts in the back of the till now. Just going to read the Bild article.

Yes, the cat woke me up at 5.21. He's had his cuddle and early breakfast and now he's asleep again. I'm not.

Here you all are . thanks for the tag smiling or I wouldn't have found you. I've been amazed how all the frenzy and unpleasantness died down and frankly enjoying things being normal again. Read the article fromBild editor - I wouldn't generally trust the Bild or the mail but I hear those sentiments from German friends and colleagues all the time.

Autumn In Belgium one could buy a non alcoholic mojito; fresh juice, lemon/lime and mint. Dh got through stacks of it, and ds added rum!

Enjoyed reading that Bild article Scary, thanks. It's such a change to read positive thoughts on post brexit matters.

Barry Gardiner in the dream team? I'm with Lily there with the headache. That man does not know when to stop with the verbal diarrhoea. I absolutely cringe when he sounds the h in 'wHat'. Was it on Andrew Neil when he got the rage?

Hello Singing here I am enjoying the banter.
Looking forward to the chat here on Jan 31st.

I used to buy non alcoholic mojito syrup

Wonder if this will get a cinema showing. Also wonder if it’s annoying 😂
www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/death-of-england

Just popping in to tidy up the bar ready for tomorrow and looking in the till, I can see old receipts from @MeganBacon and @Dapplegrey as well as @TheWorldturnedUpsideDown. Wonder how they are doing?

It has been a good day and takings are up so I'm having a non-alcoholic mojito - an absolutely epic drink - as a nightcap and leaving another on the bar for later.

Hasta mañana, por la mañana.

Copper thank you for that 😂

Good article from Bild, Scary. I thought the banker's comment that we wanted to align with higher growth economies, without fetters, rang true.

On another thread, someone posted a railway map of Ireland in history (I didn't hoist in the date) compared to today's rail map of Ireland. And the loss of connection was appalling.

individual frozen cakes of dauphinoise potatoes

Try Ocado - Picardy brand. Highly recommended by this household

My feline overlord would be jealous about the cat food though...

If money is to be invested in rail, then sorting out the line at Dawlish would help, as would building a branch line from Tavi into Plymouth.

Singing Just a bit of chocolate, and some beer to make carbonnade with. Two of my biggest food misses wouldn't make it home....individual frozen cakes of dauphinoise potatoes, and almond ice cream. I bought loads of mayo for ds though, and flavours of cat food unavailable here for the imperial overlords.