Westministenders: Oh No Not Another One. Thread that is.

[RedToothBrush]

In this edition of Westministers we play a game of ‘Where are they now?’

In June 2016 our screens were subjected to the sight of a number of particularly vocal MPs who participated in debates and stood on soap boxes to talk about the referendum.

The most noticeable of these for Leave were perhaps Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, Andrea Leadsom, Gisela Stuart, Nigel Farage, Priti Patel and Kate Hoey. For Remain it was David Cameron, George Osborne, Jeremy Corbyn, Ruth Davidson, Sadiq Khan, Nicola Sturgeon, Nick Clegg and Tim Farron.

It is starting to seem that anyone involved in campaigning either for or against Brexit in June 2016 has faced an epic battle for survival. Just how long can they last before being defeated or conceding defeat.

David Cameron’s scalp was the first to go, as he swanned off leaving everyone to clear up his mess.

Boris Johnson, who was keen to stamp his mark and pitch for the leadership by stitching up Cameron, got stitched up by Michael Gove who also lost his own bid for leadership as a result.

Johnson, of course, still lives to fight another day by getting a nice job as Theresa’s whipping boy. He’s occasionally let out by himself, but its Michael Fallon who does the ‘Grown Up Business’. He was said to be one of the last to support an early election. I can’t think why that might be.

Poor old Gove is now confined to a straight-jacket, the back benches where he’s been told to think about what he’s done like a naughty school child and a column in the Times

Andrea Leadsom was sent to a field of cows never to be seen again except to pop up for the odd cameo line shouting about ‘Jam’.

Queen Theresa also dealt with the other Conservative Leader Leave Candidate Mr Liam Fox, by shipping him off to every dodgy corner of the global to get pampered by state hostility.

Stephen Crabb simply crawled back under his rock.

The announcement of the General Election seems to be like the major soap incident episode where half the cast get killed off by a totally unrealistic disaster because their acting contracts weren’t being renewed.

The quitters and abdicators who now have legged it at the sight of a General Election are Gisela ‘Champion of the Brexit Bus’ Stuart and Nigel ‘Too chicken to be defeated for an eighth time and risk losing my nice EU pension’ Farage. George Osborne took the advice of his school teachers and had another career to fall back on when he didn’t become successful in his first choice.

Its rather starting to look like the curse of being a leading Brexiteer is to be made to disappear off the face of the earth or fuck off when the going gets tough. Have you seen Priti Patel lately? Does she even still exist? And Chris Grayling? He was convinced he was going to get chancellor when he supported May in her bid for the leadership.
Instead he got packed off transport and disappeared off the face of the earth much to the annoyance of everyone caught up in the rail strikes.

The only one who is remotely visible seems to be David Davis and is like May’s pet poodle who just tries to please his owner.

It’s almost like the only one still standing or hasn’t been banished is Kate Hoey. And the Lib Dems are trying to work on that one and make her sink beneath the waves, on board her Alan Partridge Titanic once and for all.

Conversely the visible Remainers seem to be – on the face of it - fairing rather better at the moment.

Sadiq Khan is hugely popular and actually does his job rather than fannying about on zip wires. Ruth Davidson is also well respected and apparently has saved Priti Patel’s job from abolition. If the rumours are to be believed bored with scrapping with Nicola, she might be lining herself up for ‘Big Things’ in Westminister. Cameron’s one time love interest, Nick Clegg hasn’t shaken the tarnish of the coalition but he is enjoying a new reputation as the Brexit Soothsayer and some people actually know who Tim Farron is now, which is progress. Nicola Sturgeon is of course riding high and seems to be a permanent thorn in Theresa’s side.

Jeremy ‘I’m a Remainer, honest comrades’ Corbyn is the one who seems to be something of a walking disaster area yet is also thriving with it like a zombie who just keeps going regardless of what you throw at him.

And then of course there is Queen Theresa. The Remainer. Who has crushed everyone in her party. Not just the saboteurs. Even her supposed ally Hammond and BBF Rudd have been thrown under the bus at her wimb when its suited May personally.

The General Election now sets a new scene and opportunity for new characters to emerge. Now the rats have left the ship or been put in their place.

Will May set course to the left or to the right or simply plow on like a bull in a china shop?

Anyway I’m now looking forward to the shocking soap opera moment where your favourite hero or villain gets killed off in a twist you didn’t see coming. Role on June 8th. If only to get pass the upcoming horror of the next six weeks.

Tony Connelly @tconnellyRTE
BREAKING: EU27 declaration: "entire territory of a United Ireland wd be part of the EU, in accordance with international law" full story 6.1

Confirmation of GDR clause?

At what point will they start digitally altering photos of May's 'supporters' a la Trump.

I wonder where the NI issue leaves Scotland. It would seem very hard on them if NI got to rejoin the EU on unification and Scotland was left out.

In response to Mark Durkan's point about people in NI being able to identify as Irish (only) and therefore EU citizens, Davis said something like "oh, yes. Because of the passport thing". Durkan had to point out to the Minister for exiting the EU that it was part of the Belfast agreement (of which the UK is a signatory. That was odd. I also find the shapes being thrown about (in the UK) the GDR clause strange, since the option of voting for a United Ireland is contained in the GFA. Signed, sealed and delivered. This isn't even about a majority voting for a UI. Just that if it did happen in the future, it would be seamless.

Tories and aficionados probably raging because they can't use it as a threat the way they did with Scotland. Mind you, they can't really use it with Scotland to the extent they did before either, as Spain have said they won't block.

Ireland have put in a bid for the EMA. There are quite a few cities vying for it, I believe. It would bring a lot of pharma HQ's with it as well.

emadublin.ie/

The May statement about the EU lining up to oppose the UK is bonkers. And even though designed for a home audience, I imagine if she keeps up slanging the EU for the UK's own decisions it will just succeed in eroding any goodwill. They should say 'Did you not know that Brexit means Brexit, Theresa?' I guess Junker and Barnier's dinner with TM made them realise how unreasonable the UK's Tories expectations demands were and maybe even their lack of willingness to negotiate reasonably. A disorderly brexit would not be good.

Edith, I thought that article was so funny. It said on one hand a trade agreement could take 6 years. Then it pointed out that the UK would not be contributing to the development aid as part of the EU budget anymore so should keep these contributions up anyways for 'moral' reasons.

So, no quick trade deal, but in the meantime give us the lolly you were committed to as part of the EU. It ain't gonna be a duck shoot as predicted, is it?

It means that whether or not NI stays as part of the union re Brexit, any future vote that may decide to split from UK means they have a definite, solid option in a more seamless reunification (as part of the EU).

Yes indeed, CopperRose.
This means any party seeking to use the complete uncertainty of a future outside of the UK as an argument in favour of supporting Brexit has the wind knocked out of its sails. Remainers in NI must be very pleased. Now there is an alternative to going down with the ship.

...and imagine if the Good Friday Agreement and the ECJ and ECHR were to become guarantors of the right of the Orange Order to march around the place in July and August every year in an all-island political entity...

Macron says he would renegotiate the Le Touquet border treaty, esp the part that deals with isolated child migrants.

A Tory spokesman says 'this shows that we need the strong and stable leadership of TM.'

Haha.

www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/28/emmanuel-macron-ill-renegotiate-le-touquet-border-treaty

How would PR work anyway ? Would there still be a set no of seats for Scotland, Wales and NI ? In which case something similar would have happened anyway. Plus you'd have had many fewer Tories, Labour probably about the same, and lots more UKIP and maybe a few more Lib Dems.

STV does not work by allocating seats according to percentage of votes cast for any particular party. This is because a high percentage of votes for a particular party could come in one particular constituency or region.

aceproject.org/ace-en/topics/es/esy/esy_ie
General remarks on PR-STV in Ireland.

www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/migrated-files/en/Publications/LocalGovernment/Voting/FileDownLoad%2C1895%2Cen.pdf
Here is how it works in Ireland in practice, in detail. The distribution of surplus votes is key. The details really matter here and there are many of them.

(Weirdly enough, the system is not unlike the Central Applications Office system that allocates places to university applicants in Ireland, which is in effect a single transferable preference list...)

It would make a lot of sense to have the EMA in Dublin since Ireland is the largest exporter of pharmaceuticals to the EU.

................
I can imagine a good deal of chortling around the cabinet tables of the African, Caribbean and Pacific group of states as they educate Westminster on the topic of reality..

EU telling us what we can and can't do.
The African, Caribbean and Pacific nations telling us what we can and can't do.
The US telling us what we can and can't do.
The WTO telling us what we can and can't do.
It's almost as if trade requires mutual respect and cooperation these days and is connected to sovereignty directly. Rather than flag waving disrespect and arrogance.

But we apparently can afford to have morals and sanction those we have political differences with.

Arghhh. In all the months this thread has been running i think that's probably the most frustrating thing. That there is still this naivety and intellectual black hole in understanding what democracy is and is not and what sovereignty is and is not from government.

Sod the public. If this country believed in and stood for those principles they'd be promoted by government. The fact they are not and indeed are being actively undermined says everything.

Who needs enemies when you point a loaded gun into your own mouth?

www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/28/emmanuel-macron-ill-renegotiate-le-touquet-border-treaty

“I want to put the Le Touquet border deal back on the table. It must be renegotiated, especially the parts that deal with the fate of isolated child migrants.”

No FTA. Migrant camps on UK soil. A prospect of a united Ireland.

Gosh this is shaping up to be so unpredictable. I would never have predicted any of this.

This has been Macron's policy for a long time. When he was economy minister he got slapped down by Cazeneuve (home sec) for saying that brexit would lead to the end of the le Touquet agreement (which wasn't official govt policy at the time).

In other French news, the interim FN president who turned out to be a holocaust denier has stepped down, and into his shoes has stepped another piece of shit currently under police investigation for sending death threats to a fellow mayor (mayors are elected officials in France) and for publishing hate speech on social media.

And a part of the left refuses to stand up to this. I have often thought that accusations of anti-semitism against the left were at least partly manufactured outrage, but Ive changed my mind in the last week. It takes a profoundly anti-Semitic mindset to consider that there is a moral equivalence between someone who once worked for a bank and a bunch of actual facists.

Govt spokesperson:
“We have always been very clear that protecting and enhancing the shared border between the UK and France at Calais is in both the UK and France’s best interests"

But legally we don't have a border with France, certainly not at Calais, which is inside France.
Uk and British territory both end in the Channel

I've always been astonished that France tolerated this, plus the consequent chaos in their country around Calais.
And I've thought since 24 June that French politicians would probably want the domestic kudos of telling the UK to sod off and scrapping this agreement - they have bolshy nationalist voters too and this is an easy political concession that costs France nothing.

After Brexit, there is no reason for any French govt to suffer domestic political aggro to help out the UK.
It is probably not in French interests to basically give up some of their territory by allowing the "border" to remain at Calais.

Note: with the difficulties / impossibilities of creating customs facilities in the UK before Brexit, there is obviously another reason the Uk govt might wish to propogate the idea that we have a border at Calais:
to rescue exports.

I suppose building such facilities could be part of a post-Brexit deal, but that would take a lot of negotiations and concessions from the Uk, including the UK footing the bills.

Govt spokesperson:
“We have always been very clear that protecting and enhancing the shared border between the UK and France at Calais is in both the UK and France’s best interests"

Perhaps the Government intends to annex the Channel. Or wants to avenge that poor old -cow- Mary Tudor.

(Sorry, can't format properly on stupid tablet)

I heard on R4 this morning that there is discontent in the Tory ranks because May won't let cabinet have final say on the manifesto. She is just getting more and more dictatorish.

May is the leader but she is not a leader. She has no charisma, no imagination and no people skills. I once worked at a school with a headmistress (yes, a while ago) rather like May. Everyone went from mild dislike tinged with respect for her good qualities - there were some, she worked hard and was good at detail - to detesting her. There was a collective sigh of relief when she left.

Everyone went from mild dislike tinged with respect for her good qualities - there were some, she worked hard and was good at detail - to detesting her.
I was about to say my old boss was like TM. This is very true of my old boss too. Definitely the leader but not a leader. She had no self realisation either, so often criticised other managers for doing precisely what she did too.

Everyone went from mild dislike tinged with respect for her good qualities - there were some, she worked hard and was good at detail - to detesting her.

Such people don't usually stay long in one top job. They cause a mess, and then clear off, to cause a mess elsewhere.* Meanwhile the people left behind have to clear up.

• Like May at the Home Office, although I am not sure that the mess is being cleared up yet.

But Eric Pickles says TM is 'just wonderfully normal.'

Hmmm.

He also says women MPs are 'by and large better than men.'

I wonder if they'll select a woman to replace him as the Brentwood candidate?

www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/apr/29/sir-eric-pickles-female-mps-better-men-bbc-radio-4-interview

I work in local government and i say Eric Pickles is a deluded arsehole of the highest order. Horrible man

Well, Lawes would disagree with Pickles, Hester

Article on TM has been removed, but extract from it on this link:

"David Lawes' memoirs paint a picture of a secretive, rigid, controlling and even vengeful minister, so unpleasant to colleagues, that a dread of meetings with her was something that cabinet members from both parties could bond over."
"it is time for conservatives to look behind her carefully wrought image and consider if she really is the right person to lead this party and country".

twitter.com/hayloftbooks?lang=en

@hayloftbooks Apr 27
Daily Telegraph report 2 July 2016 on T May this article has been 'pulled' but a few ppl have copies. This is not whole article only part

Twitter feed on the 'Pets for Passports' regarding migrant hamsters with more rights than their human owners.

@faisalislam
... and while this is not the economic priority (!) - it does serve as a rather interesting case study in how on earth Repeal Bill works...

DD confirming united Ireland.

@faisalislam
Also this letter from David Davis to @markdurkan

Conflict of interest concerns between Fabricant and Street.

@MichaelLCrick Apr 26
Andy Street and Michael Fabricant share a holiday home in North Wales. They are "close friends", Street's spokesman says, and that's all.

@MichaelLCrick Apr 26
Shouldn't Michael Fabricant declare interest when asking PMQ about W Midlands mayoral elelction? He's close friend of Cons cand Andy Street

In England (unlike what's allegedly happening in Scotland) worries about electoral expenses problems:

@tnewtondunn
Excl: Tory MPs tell party bosses to keep PM's election battle bus away from their seats after spending probe;

‏ @nickreeves9876
We must stop the Tory right seizing this one chance to gain the #Brexit tax haven of their dreams.

People seem pretty unanimous about how ill-informed/dangerous/ignorant Donald Trump.

Yet I see so many parallels between the 11 times that Merkel had to tell him that the US couldn't negotiate a trade deal with Germany - it had to be with the EU - before it got through his thick skull to him and the UK's attitude, sticking its fingers in its ears against all facts that don't fit with our prejudices.

Difference is that after 11 attempts, the Donald did eventually get it.....

If two goods could come from this: no HS2 and we could offer homes to Syrian refugees.

Noticed that Woolton Pie (root vegetable austerity recipe; patriotic turnips)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolton_pie
was also on Radio 4 'More or Less' yesterday, along with examination of food security during the last war.
Is there something they've been meaning to tell us?

......food security during the last war.
Is there something they've been meaning to tell us?

A further good, could be that sweets would be rationed. After the war, once sweets came off ration, my DM went crazy about buying sweets. No wonder I have a lot of fillings.