Westministenders: The bookends to a year of political chaos. Just how far have we come?

[RedToothBrush]

The 15th June 2016.

The Thames was filled with a flotilla of boats in a publicity stunt for the Leave campaign to draw attention to fisheries. Nigel Farage and Kate Hoey in their heads thought they were Leonardo and Kate, but the moment was rather more titanic in nature and could not have been more Alan Partridge if they had tried. Coming up behind was Bob Gedolf in a shameful and cringeworthy display of swearing and abuse that really didn’t help the Remain camp in anyway. Largely unnoticed was a small boat with a family following it all unfold…

The next day things went from fiasco to horror.

Farage unveiled the Dog Whistle Poster and Jo Cox was murdered. And the UK seemed set on its course for 7 days later when the world was turned upside down by the referendum itself.

14th June 2017.

Fast forward 365 days later and another tragedy unfolded. This time of a very different nature but with no less political significance.
Grenfell.

A moment of national shame. A symbol of so many things that had come to pass in the previous twelve months.

The election just the previous week had changed the direction of travel we seemed to be headed and left the Prime Minister exposed and looking wildly out of touch. The Maybot was given one more chance.

And the Maybot seems to be failing the test of her party who had the grace to grant her a second chance.

The Queen dressed in the same shade of blue, May delivered her ‘victory speech’ in, ignored the security threat and visited the ranks of the poor and the forgotten. A deliberate message to May not to forget who she serves? A Queen who feels aggrieved and angry by May’s behaviour? Who knows.

As for Brexit. The government looks lost. Adrift. The ‘Fight of the Summer’ over the EU’s plan for talks sounds out the window despite the denials from the Brexit Department. Hard Brexit is still on the cards. Apparently. But what does anyone believe now? May’s and the Brexiteers domination of the agenda is shattered, its power starting to be questioned.

What next?

This evening the anger is building.

Who knows, what will happen. Some of it might be predictable, but the future is far from certain and we have definitely entered a new era. We just don’t know who will lead it, or what its ambition or what the end goal now is.

What we do know, more acutely than ever is that we are all human and the wise words of Jo Cox about having ‘More in Common’ ring though ever more strongly.

Once again we feel ‘on the brink’.

Going back a bit but the other huge change in the UK economy is the increased automation. The industrial work carried out in the UK is about 10% of GDP. Germany is about 23% of their GDP, France is 11% of GDP.

However, only 2.7 million people are now employed in manufacturing. This is because of increased automation which means there is now one person operating a robot, rather than 100 doing the work. This unfortunately is only going to get worse, and no government has an answer for it, although Germany with workers on boards and a long history of employee engagement may be better placed than many.

Why is it hard to take citroen?

Im not sure I follow the thing about NI.
NI is part of the UK, why should it have an embassy?

Well, I feel slightly more positive about Brexit after finding out that a friend is on the negotiating team - there is at least one pair of safe hands around the table...

Going back briefly to the DUP demand for compensation from Libya, I think this has been a long standing issue for them since the families of the Lockerbie disaster received compensation from the Libyan government (though in that case the US acted as the lead negotiator, and I can't see them being prepared to play the same role again for victims of the IRA)

"Pink Yes I do see.... Barnier very much 'you got yourselves into this mess, don't forget' but it's still hard to take"

Why is it hard to take?

I'm very cross today. It really is insult added to injury when the gov't feign they have a clue what they are doing. And that they are doing it for the benefit of the country. If all you have to offer is a 'stay positive', that is a time to get worried. Redwood had a bloody cheek to tell everyone to get behind Brexit when he spent the last couple of decades engaging in EU bashing.

It was interesting on DP today when Mark Harper said that they share views with the DUP on security. Really? Is he going to don an Ulster Resistance paramilitary beret like Robinson and Paisley? What does he think of Loyalist paramilitaries? Tacitly if not explicit.

Think that is the Netherlands, NL Pink. May be wrong.

The whole Brexit thing is hard to take. The incompetence and shame of it. And yes, do mean NL (Netherlands). Typo.

But speaking of NI...there's going to be a legal challenge to DUP arrangement on basis it breaks GFA according to The Guardian. I asked this very question yesterday! Given that Ireland was a first wave concern and the arrangement with the DUP was a challenge to the GFA, could the EU27 refuse to negotiate? Seems the challenge is already here!
www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/20/theresa-may-faces-legal-challenge-proposed-deal-dup?CMP=share_btn_fb

The Conservative and Unionist Party does not include a reference to the DUP. They were started by Ian Paisley in the '70's. I don't know if the UUP weren't reactionary enough for him (in a NI view) or they wouldn't have him.

www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ivan-little-day-i-quizzed-emma-pengellys-gunrunner-dad-at-loyalist-blockade-31572599.html

It is just that there is such self righteous propaganda. So Mark Harper say they share similar views on security. Is that what goes on in Harper's constituency?

NL makes much more sense! We've had similar meetings with the french embassy in the UK too....

So "the deal to support the Conservative’s minority government may not be sealed until after the Queen’s speech".

Why not? So there is no paper trail if the Queen's Speech is rejected? In case knowing the deal in advance might sway MPs.

Sorry had to skip off quick. Sorry not replied to anyone must read all posts. Wow! Learning a lot though.

Sos For your gdd this shines a light on the Cambridge admissions process. it is a little old now but if anything as Miss Moon (who really knows) pointed out they will be making even more effort to take contextual information into account www.theguardian.com/education/2012/jan/10/how-cambridge-admissions-really-work

Hope the talks are as transparent as possible to highlight DD's incompetence.

Transparency is a good thing - much harder to spin at as 'all the nasty EU's' fault. Still hoping someone in government will say 'we are being monumentally stupid and committing economic suicide, let's just stop dicking about now'.

The EU will want them to be transparent. I am sure they will have fact checkers all over the governments speeches from now on

This symbolic rabble are used to getting away with lying to us with some of our media backing them

Let's see how 27 other countries watching them affects how they act. They are so stupid they are bound to slip up very quickly.

Thank you whatwouldrondo

Have you heard what Barnier / Davis brought each other as gifts for starting Brexit talks?

Both are avid walkers so Davis gave Barnier a book, whilst Barnier gave Davis a walking stick.

Davis's choice of book is really bizarre. Its Annapurna by Maurice Herzog. Its the story of the first ascent of the Himalayan mountain which was done without oxygen by the Frenchman. It was the only ascent of a mountain of over 8000m (there are only 14 of these in the world and Annapurna is regarded as the most dangerous with the highest fatality rate. It occurred just a couple of years before Everest was conquered) which was achieved on the first ascent.

Its a little bit of an obscure read for most people, but its one I have read and its quite an amazing story. It is one of the first books about climbing and more or less created the genre and is something of an inspiration for writers like Joe Simpson (Touching the Void).

HOWEVER, the achievement is controversial and the account by Herzog is somewhat disputed.

This is a good summary though:

Jonathan Gaventa‏*@jonathangaventa*
Some laugh about the walking stick, but those in search of metaphor should read Davis's gift to Barnier: Herzog's Annapurna 1/
Annapurna was an incredibly risky journey into the unknown, driven by patriotic pride and a macho refusal to turn around 2/
The team had actually set off to climb Dhaulagiri, but after that proved too difficult decided to try for Annapurna instead 3/
The journey was far from straightforward. For weeks the team couldn't even find the right mountain, let alone figure out how to climb it 4/
The porters were treated like slaves. The locals were treated with utter contempt. 5/
The climb was buffeted by storms and icefall. Despite adverse conditions Herzog pressed on, as the coming monsoon gave a hard deadline 6/
The experienced members of the party judged the risks too great and advised turning back. Consumed by summit fever, Herzog ignored them 7/
Hallucinating from altitude but wildly euphoric, Herzog summited Annapurna - but is lucky to have returned alive 8/
The summit came at great cost. Herzog lost fingers and toes to frostbite. Others went snowblind, and nearly died helping Herzog retreat 9/
(the account of the field amputations as Herzog was being carried homeward by porters is amongst the most gruesome things I have read) 10/
“I had made up my mind irrevocably,” Herzog wrote. “Today we were consecrating an ideal and no sacrifice was too great.” 11/
Annapurna is a cracking read. I'm sure Barnier will love it.
^But as a gift to mark the start of Brexit negotiations? Odd choice.
12/12^

Herzog rather romanticised the adventure (despite the description of the amputations). He was a regarded hero who restored post-war France's self esteem by many. But in the years that followed accounts by other climbers on the expedition have questioned and challenged Herzog's account of the events in rather uncomplimentary terms. Indeed it has been contested that he had carefully cultivated his image for his own political and personal interests.

The book finishes with these lines:

“Annapurna, to which we had gone emptyhanded, was a treasure on which we should live the rest of our days. With this realization we turn the page: a new life begins.

There are other Annapurnas in the lives of men.”

Suggesting that every man has different challenges in their life.

Now, I'm not quite sure who is having the laugh at who here. Is it Davis who was given the book to give to Barnier not knowing the story? Or is it a take on an inside joke that Barnier has cracked in the past at his expense? Or is Davis admitting that Brexit is an act driven by an romanticised idea which is an act of self harm to the country and is patriotic drivel built on a lost of empire and risked the lives of others deemed less important in its selfish pursuit by its leader?

It has to be said that the use of the book is quite something. It about an age of imperialism, which has passed, which drove various European nations to race to the summits as a matter of national pride. The desire to capture this Western Dream of climbing mountains has largely shat on the countries whose guides helped achieve it. The idea of climbing Everest has something of a dark side these days which is not glamourous and rather exploitative and has destroyed the environment of the mountain. It has brought wealth to some locals, but at extreme risk to their personal safety.

So yeah. I find the choice of book, almost alarming - regardless of who it is aimed at.

Red I think you may be reading too much into the gift. I think DD told a minion "I need a gift for Barnier, he likes hill walking".

Minion Googles, finds book about mountains featuring a Frenchman (rather than an Englishman) - job done.

Sam Coates Times‏*@SamCoatesTimes*

Sounds like DUP deal not now til Thursday .... after the Queen's speech

Patty, a really don't think a minion wouldn't pick THAT book by accident.

You'd choose something about Mt Blanc or the Eiger. Not one about the Himalayas.

Plenty to choose from.

(Guess what I like to read).

If nothing else the minion had a good laugh there.

That book sounds good red I might have a look at that! Sounds like Gove's suggestion. Frankie Boyle also used mountaineering references in his latest piece on May, some one posted a while back.

Talks between the DUP and the Government "haven't proceeded in a way that DUP would have expected", sources have told Sky News.

The sources say the Democratic Unionist Party is urging the Government to give "greater focus" to the negotiations and that the "party can't be taken for granted"

If deal with DUP not complete till Thursday so not in QS will the opposition be told what deal with DUP is? Or more to the point how much money is promised?