Westministers: The Lords Strike Back

[RedToothBrush]

This needs no fanfare or lengthy post. Just this:

The Lords are demanding amendments unilateral protection for EU citizens.

Labour was split 358 for an amendment to 256 against.

This is after Amber Rudd had tried to reassure the Lords by writing a letter assuring peers that EU citizens would be treated with the utmost respect.

Utmost respect = an amendment to guarantee unilateral support.

Today is a good day. It should have been done in the first place.

They're not considering closing UK plants atm, but in the long run a plant that doesn't get investment will shut, as products and technology move on.

My impression is that is the state of play with BMW in Oxford at present.

Matthew Paris in cheerful form:

www.spectator.co.uk/2017/03/from-now-on-ill-greet-brexiteers-with-a-grin/

... sticking to my guns and with a merry two fingers up to the lot of you, I leave you Brexit types to the snarling din emanating from your Brexit cave. Chins up, Leaver trolls — you won — remember? It’s all going to be fabulous — remember? Why the cross faces?

... For the Leavers, sympathy rather than resentment will be my watchword. Out will go my complaints about the nervily hectoring tone of the Tory media. And what’s the point of lamentation about the cowed state of the rump of Conservative Remainer MPs? That’s their problem: get a spine or deserve your fate.

...instead of seeing the Leave side’s angry intolerance of dissent as threatening, we must find the confidence to understand it for what it is: symptomatic of anxiety. And how right they are to be anxious!

Matthew Paris has been consistently excellent pre and post ref

Leaver comments to that article are predictably hilarious, btw. Parris will enjoy them.

The comments on Parris' article are excellent:

What a condescending, self righteous, pathetic remoaner. Pretending to respect the democratic decision whilst supporting everything possible to undermine the UK's position and grovell to the EU.

The Spectator pushes the establishment line ... It would do better to go down the road of genuine reform, not promote globalist apologists, Murdoch pen-pushers. (This guy hasn't noticed that the establishment line right now is brexit or bust. Has he been living in a cave for 9 months?)

If only the remoaner whiners, jeremiahs and anti-democracy types would step back and let us do what's needed. That's what irritates us. You lost. You won't help, but at least have the common decency to get out of the way while we get on with it, instead of trying to fight endless rearguard actions. (well, get the fuck on with it, huh? you've had 9 months to produce a plan. A50 could have been done and dusted months ago if May hadn't fought a losing case all the way to the supreme court)

Parris' piece reminds me of that song from Annie:

'You're never fully dressed without a smile'

'Who cares what they're wearing
On Main Street or Saville Row,
It's what you wear from ear to ear
And not from head to toe that matters'

www.independent.co.uk/voices/brexit-article-50-leaving-european-union-three-reason-britons-will-regret-a7606581.html

May comes to Scotland to tell us to stick to our knitting and to tell us she will be getting more involved with even our own affairs as we're not supposedly doing a good enough job with our pocket money for the areas we are responsible even though Westminster is doing worse in the equivalent areas

May, "We will tell you what's best for you, don't worry your tartan heads about Brexit, you must just do as you're telt"

www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2017/03/theresa-may-moves-replace-devolution-westminster-control/

As a friend has already pointed out on fb, for all of Ruth Davidson's "advances", the 22% of votes she got is lower than the share of the votes when Maggie was PM and a single MP isn't much to shout about.

Thanks for the link, this bit is worth quoting in full:

It is perhaps unsurprising that May did not mention anywhere that Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU, and did not mention any possibility for special provision in Scotland’s future relationship with the EU. But that she did not even pay lip service to the notion of devolution as a good thing is surprising, and I am frankly astonished that she boldly asserted an intention for greater Westminster interference in current devolved areas.

This is a colossal act of hubris from a woman confident she faces no serious political resistance. That she adopts in Glasgow the false Thatcher like voice and rhetorical style that goes down so well with UKIP leaning Tories is indicative of the shallowness of her experience and the depth of her misjudgement.

Theresa May’s declaration of war on devolution today will come to be seen as a key moment in our path to Independence

She's so staggeringly naïve and politically inept - it's mindblowing.

That's an interesting speech she gave. More WM in Scotland? that's not going to go down well. Nice one, it'll help independence.

Northern Ireland politics is another thing I know very little about, but my takeaways from twitter:

big result fro Sinn Fein and part due to anti Brexit sentiment;
Very little coverage on mainland media;
Hope power sharing can resume otherwise Direct Rule, imposed Brexit on Scotland and Nuclear whoopsies as BCF posted;
and
us little ladies not allowed to breast feed.

Europe Elects‏ @EuropeElects 36m
UK (Northern Ireland): Historically the best election result for left-wing, pro EU, pro Irish unification party SF: 27.9%. #SinnFein #Brexit

Siobhan Fenton‏Verified account @SiobhanFenton 21m21 minutes ago
Sinn Féin will be very proud: DUP decline due to RHI scandal, fears over Brexit and anti-austerity sentiment have gone in their favour
2 replies . 8 retweets 10 likes

Siobhan Fenton Retweeted
Danielle Roberts‏ @DaniRNI 1h1 hour ago
Lots of young Sinn Fein women topping the polls, Flynn, Archibald, McCallion, Ennis and party leader O'Neill. A few first time out.

Siobhan Fenton‏Verified account @SiobhanFenton 24m24 minutes ago
This is extraordinary- There is now just 0.2% between Sinn Féin and the DUP in first preference votes. Compared to 5.2% last year
3 replies . 34 retweets 33 likes

Jayne McCormack‏ @JayneMcCormack 4h4 hours ago
We've just been told Mid-Ulster Alliance candidate Fay Watson is breastfeeding her child but isn't allowed into the count to do so #ae17
23 replies . 124 retweets 46 likes

Michael McGilligan‏ @Roving_Mike 3h3 hours ago
Really big election in Northern Ireland today. Wanted to tell the rest of the UK because @bbcnews website doesn't think it's important #AE17

Siobhan Fenton‏Verified account @SiobhanFenton 1h1 hour ago
My thoughts on Michelle O'Neill's future as Sinn Féin leader- an impressive performance after a baptism of fire …

Funny that Teresa who's never won an election is now up against two, by all accounts, formidable women. ( I know there are very nuanced feelings about O' Neill in NI, but looking like a good day for Sinn Fein)

formidable women who have won elections, that should have read.

Badders put me off with her ball protest.

Hashi I know it is not funny, but couldn't help but smile.

Matthew Parris is good, but the commenters are far funnier. I especially like their hatred of Murdoch, who is most certainly not a remoaner.

May's -poodle- ally is not doing too well:
DUP leader Arlene Foster has topped the poll in Fermanagh and South Tyrone - but has failed to reach the quota in the first count. Mrs Foster is down over 300 first preference votes from last May's election

strikethrough fail

It would have taken me 15 minutes to fill it in (except my EU passport is due to expire in a few months, so I'd better apply for a new one now, it'd be too good an opportunity to refuse my application!).

Oooops wrong thread... sorry 😬

AnnieKenney

I have to say, I'm only very mildly surprised that the Government, despite its blithe handwaving assurances that it gives a shit about any people anywhere UK citizens abroad, hasn't bothered to engage with them and has lied that it has.

Gilligan Retweeted
Akash Paun‏ @AkashPaun Mar 1
Northern Ireland gets 21% more public spending per person than the UK average, but austerity has hit hard, contributing to recent crises 2/7

Also interesting is this NI political response to austerity is so different from the mainland.

"70% of those (in NI) who voted, voted for parties who stay in EU" from BBC Radio Ulster just now.

Nothing this Govt does surprises me - I am old enough to remember how evil the Tories were last time around and whilst I wasn't a great fan of Labour either, they were more incompetent than evil. Having worked in political environments for most of my career I am pretty cynical about politicians full stop. In the Thick of It is remarkably accurate albeit in reality the swearing is less inventive!

A Mini part's incredible journey shows how Brexit will hit the UK car industry

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/mar/03/brexit-uk-car-industry-mini-britain-eu

“one anecdote that succinctly sums up the problems that Brexit and the threat of tariffs pose to the UK car industry, it is this: the story behind the crankshaft used in the BMW Mini, which crosses the Channel 3 times in a 2,000-mile journey before the finished car rolls off the production line.

A cast of the raw crankshaft – the part of the car that translates the movement of the pistons into the rotational motion required to move the vehicle – is made by a supplier based in France.

From there it is shipped to BMW’s Hams Hall plant in Warwickshire, where it is drilled and milled into shape.

When that job is complete, each crankshaft is then sent back across the Channel to Munich, where it inserted into the engine.
From Munich, it is back to the Mini plant in Oxford, where the engine is then “married” with the car.

If the car is to be sold on the continent then the crankshaft, inside the finished motor, will cross the Channel for a fourth time.”

“Another well-travelled car part is the Bentley bumper.
It is made in eastern Europe before being sent to Crewe for further work, then on to Germany for finishing and finally back to Crewe where it is added to the luxury vehicle.”

“on average, just 41% of the parts used in a car assembled in the UK are actually produced in the country”

Nissan warned that “the future of the Sunderland plant will be at risk if the government does not provide £100m towards building the supply chain in Britain.”
Bosses in the automotive industry are not just concerned about the impact of tariffs on vehicles made in the UK that are sold abroad, but on the parts used to make them, and whether they will still be able to move parts across the Channel quickly and affordably

Most car plants in Britain operate with what is known as “just-in-time” (JIT) production, in which components are added straight to the car when they arrive at the factory rather than being stored in a warehouse.
The system dramatically improves the productivity of the plant – but any interruption to supply can bring production to an immediate halt.”

Sinn Fein could take up to 8 seats if they chose to take them in HOC.