Westminstenders: The Brexit Apprentice

[RedToothBrush]

Theresa May is increasing looking like she is running an episode of the Apprentice with two teams trying to compete in their plan for Brexit. Complete with the obligatory reprehensible contestants.

On one side we have Team Creationists intent on hard Brexit and on the other we have Team Sensibles desperate to get a softer deal.
May herself has been held hostage by seasoned expert negotiators the DUP. Once No 10 has reported the deal was done, only for the DUP to say it wasn’t. Then it said, it would be settled today. But the DUP disagreed and said ‘the weekend’. Now its 'next week'.

Meanwhile the Queen has been messed about with a scapegoat over when her Queen’s Speech will be. It’s likely to be a week on Monday.
Meanwhile the Brexit department is also in chaos.

The Number two in the department was sacked and replaced by a Remainer, and the number three quit amongst reports that he no longer thought Brexit was achievable and that there was no way that the Great Repeal Act could pass through the Lords. He has been replaced by the Head of the infamous Arch-Brexit Whatsapp group.

Oh and Gove got hired. Nuff said on that one.

After some slight back tracking from David Davis, Hard Brexit is still on in all its glory. Negotiations are going ahead next week. Well that’s what we are saying. The EU, on the other hand, don’t won’t to go ahead until we have an officially sworn in government. Which seems pretty fair enough.

Tune in to find out which Team wins this week’ The Brexit Apprentice

Thanks for another great OP, Red

I don't think that there's any time limit on how long TM has got before she needs to get HMQ to make the Queen's Speech, but obviously the longer it takes, the worse it looks for her.

If I were JC, I'd be buying 10 mins on Channel 4 to read out my Alternative Queen's Speech (like they do with the Christmas message) tomorrow

FOX Business @FoxBusiness

.@Nigel_Farage: Many students voted twice in UK election t.co/G1ySLYgkr8?amp=1

May wanted to be seen in public after terrorist attacks because there is an external enemy responsible.

IMO this was because it played to the Farage plus extreme right wing Tories plus her own prejudice against immigrants/Muslim sentiments.

This event brings it right home to her. The man who was most recently responsible is now her adviser, her right hand man, and shows up exactly what they have been doing whilst in Government. Consistent as ever, she runs away. Strong and stable my arse.

Many students voted twice is the uk's millions of illegal voters isn't it?

In our case any way you can discredit the youth is good. But I don't think the youth will like being called cheats much.

Red In a way the scarcity of comment is an admission of culpability and the fact that she does not care about those affected compared to her own political future. Surely her days are even more numbered now. Please everyone, get this out. This could have happened in any major city that has Council tower blocks. I have seen far worse, much more apparently rundown, in northern cities though perhaps not gifted with renovation by lethal cladding, they would still lack sprinklers, decent alarm systems......

^.@Nigel_Farage: Many students voted twice in UK election t.co/G1ySLYgkr8?amp=1^

It is possible to check who voted, so it should be possible to cross check if any voted twice.

I won't say I have any sympathy for Farage but I suspect that the Tories cheated him out of victory in 2015, but they really are the sorest of losers, these Leavers, aren't they?

Hashi- I totally agree about Farron. His record speaks for itself. He's always been truly liberal.

This could have happened in any major city that has Council tower blocks

Just imagine how many people are going to go home tonight to such a block and be absolutely shit scared that it could happen to them. Where is the reassurance? Where is the action? They are poor people so they don't count. So much for May's Christian Charity.

Re the students voting twice - there has been a petition started on (I think) change.org (due to no Gov.uk petitions allowed yet).

It was started due to a tweet by a young female student who said something like "I voted twice for him".
It was based on a misunderstanding - she apparently meant she had voted for him twice in his leadership contests - once each time, not twice in the GE.

However, there's been quite a bit of noise around some groups of students doing the two votes in GE thing (one at home, one at uni address) - as they're allowed to be registered in two addresses (a vote in each address in council elections).

I quite like the fact that we vote in such an old fashioned way tbh, I'd not like a move to electronic voting, but the current system is open to being exploited and it needs to be tightened up.

May's silence about this is becoming more insulting by the minute.

Anyone care to join me in a collective wail about Tim Farron? It's very depressing that he has been edged out - he was a good communicator and seemed genuinely principled. His failure to do better at the election seems more a failure of our voting system than him.

The BBC were supposed to just broadcast a statement from May but there was a technical issue. Don't know whether she has still done it or not.

I think on the whole the appointment of Owen Smith to Ireland is a good move. He has experience in the area as he was adviser to the northern Ireland secretary under Blair, so has some chance of knowing vaguely what he is talking about. It also works well for the internal politics in labour as it's good for Corbyn to have a former opponent in the cabinet in a prominent position, while avoiding upsetting his loyal supporters so soon after the election by chucking one of them.

I wouldn't be overly surprised if in a few months, if everyone stays friendly, there are a few more changes and some more centerists find their way in.

She's done a statement to camera just now woman.

One of Corbyn's shadow cabinet had been an MP for only 6 days!

I quite like the fact that we vote in such an old fashioned way tbh, I'd not like a move to electronic voting, but the current system is open to being exploited and it needs to be tightened up.

Electronic voting is a security nightmare. On the whole I think paper and pens is the most secure system there is. While there may be small, isolated incidences of voter fraud it is very hard to have unnoticed, wholesale election rigging with lots of bits of paper. Introduce a computer and it's a different matter.

Thanks for the new thread red.

Re electronic voting_ I think it would be too vulnerable to sabotage. Someone would just need to hack into the system to either stop the election from happening or change the results

I can't get worked up about Farron. I respect him as an MP but I think he was a bit of a limp leader, and I don't have a lot of patience with Christians tbh. His voting record on homosexuality, while much better than many Tories, is problematic and a bit of a liability for a LibDem leader.

He voted against the 2007 Equality Act and abstained from a key vote on gay marriage having previously voted in favour of it.

My dds house which is privately rented because she cannot get social housing even though she was born and bought up in our town is a 2 up 2 down and is full of damp. The landlord is supposed to do repairs but refuses to do them. She contacts environment they come round, say he has to do it. This takes about 6 weeks. He refuses, they give him a certain amount of time to do it, about 2-3 months. If the landlord doesn't do it which is the case they fine him £100-200 and then she has to start the process all over again. The council says place needs a damp course, all plaster replaced, new heating and kitchen and bathroom to be modernised. This has been going on for 2 years and because there are no medical needs going nowhere fast.

Charm Yes she is finally answering questions at almost 9 in the evening when Sadiq Khan has been making measured and caring statements on behalf of Londoners since the early hours of this morning . He has been sounding increasingly exhausted and upset just like a Leader should. Meanwhile we finally get weak and unstable Mable finally facing the press when it is nearly another bedtime? I, and many others, are disgusted. I cannot imagine any other "leader" being this callous, not Thatcher who would have grated but said the right things, or Cameron., who would have soiled it with oiliness.

Those of us in London could not just see the smoke, we could smell it and there was a strong whiff of corruption and bad government that carried a lot of should away with it. This should not have happened in first world city, should it? And when it did you expect that a good leader would face it head on.

More proof that the buildings firewell was compromised when refurbishment hadn't replaced fireproof ceilings etc at Grenfell.

Autocorrect - "a lot of lives away with it accompanied by deep suffering"

I don't have a lot of patience with Christians tbh. I have a lot less with, uncaring people, intolerant people, self interested people, prejudiced people, admittedly Christians are certainly not immune from any of these qualities, indeed seem more than averagely endowed. Tim Farron was not one of them.

Yes she is finally answering questions at almost 9 in the evening

Just in time for the 10pm news.

(Regular poster here, recently regenerated with new name)

Ron I agree completely about May. The level of priority she gives loss of human life and mass suffering is pretty clear. And it's low. Sadiq, as usual serves as the perfect foil to her; he's in totally in this and strikes balance between empathy, pragmatism and leadership. Extremely sad.