Westminstenders: Boom. The Brexit Backlash starts to hit.

[RedToothBrush]

So it turns out that immigration figures that stated students overstayed were wrong. The home office knew this. And sat on it. Since 2015. Under Theresa.

That smells a bit doesn't it?

Imagine it: "Let's do lunch Paul. I'll cover up and give you a nice immigration story for your front page. In return, crown me PM."

Then tonight BOOM. Labour look like they have made a move. Soft very swishy Brexit. Even less brexity than the Beano Brexit that the Tories have been trying to announce on the quiet over the summer whilst Brexiteers are on holiday.

amp.theguardian.com/global/2017/aug/26/labour-calls-for-lengthy-transitional-period-post-brexit
Labour makes dramatic shift on Brexit and single market
Party opens clear divide with Tories, with support for free movement and paying into EU budgets for up to four years

Labour is to announce a dramatic policy shift by backing continued membership of the EU single market beyond March 2019, when Britain leaves the EU, establishing a clear dividing line with the Tories on Brexit for the first time.

In a move that positions it decisively as the party of “soft Brexit”, Labour will support full participation in the single market and customs union during a lengthy “transitional period” that it believes could last between two and four years after the day of departure, it is to announce on Sunday.

This will mean that under a Labour government the UK would continue to abide by the EU’s free movement rules, accept the jurisdiction of the European court of justice on trade and economic issues, and pay into the EU budget for a period of years after Brexit, in the hope of lessening the shock of leaving to the UK economy. In a further move that will delight many pro-EU Labour backers, Jeremy Corbyn’s party will also leave open the option of the UK remaining a member of the customs union and single market for good, beyond the end of the transitional period.

Why would Labour suddenly do this? It's not just because of the youth vote. What about their leave voters?

Faisal Islam on the subject:
2. On Labour Leavers is very very interesting and involves quite the psephological judgement re the election....
...the calculation appears to be that Labour Leave voters had the chance to vote for Theresa May's brand of Brexit, and bar 5 seats, said No
Was that because Lableave voters were already signalled "hard Brexit"? Or many millions such voters much more concerned about other things?

Have Labour been polling their voters on this?

Theresa has also apparently set her sell by date: Friday 30th August 2019.

www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/theresa-sets-date-shell-quit-11061894.amp
Theresa May sets date she'll quit as Prime Minister - giving herself time to see Britain through Brexit

The longer the transition and the squishier it gets, the more the more you wonder.

Mr Barnier will enjoy his coffee and newspapers tomorrow as he prepares for round two of Brexit talks starting next week.

The question on his mind most: Will David Davis remember to bring his notes this time?

They're probably a bit shorter of cash now - probably just an intern.

(paywall) Thousands of Twitter users ‘deceived by Russian agent’

More on David Jones ...

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/thousands-of-twitter-users-deceived-by-russian-agent-david-jones-bv0c2ssj5

Hundreds of thousands of Twitter users are reading pro-Kremlin propaganda by a suspected Russian troll posing as a Ukip supporter, evidence suggests.

Analysis of tweets under the name @DavidJo52951945 indicates that they were likely to have been posted as part of a disinformation campaign.

The account has built up a following of more than 100,000 people,
including prominent British rightwingers,
and has been retweeted by Ukip officials with thousands more followers.

Since 2013 it has disseminated 130,000 tweets featuring anti-EU, anti-migration and pro-Brexit comments and news links.

A statistical analysis of recent tweets suggests they were almost all posted between 5am and 5pm UK time,
which is 8am to 8pm in Russia.

Employees at a notorious “troll factory” in St Petersburg are known to work 12-hour shifts.

Having said that, the quality has massively dropped of late.

Sad but true. I think this says something about those still hanging on in there.

artisan not Carl by any chance?

And don't forget shouting PARKLIFE on a regular basis.

Always a winner.

Thanks for that BigChoc. (Still can't get into Times. I realise I need to do something clever with cookies but that is well beyond me.)

(paywall) Shinzo Abe [Japanese PM] will not negotiate until Brexit goalposts are defined

< Sounds like May will be disappointed - she hoped during her visit to start the process of negotiating a UK-Japan trade deal, to be signed asap after Brexit.

Unsurprisingly, almost all countries want to wait until the UK Brexit terms are known, before even starting to negotiate with the Uk.
This means an even longer gap after Brexit, without trade deals with non-EU countries

Does that mean the rest of the world is also "punishing" Britain ? >

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/shinzo-abe-will-not-negotiate-on-trade-with-japan-until-brexit-goalposts-are-defined-r780zlcm0

A year ago the Japanese ministry of foreign affairs issued an unusually frank message to the UK and the EU, detailing its businesses’ fears over Brexit.

“We hope that predictability is secured whereby all stakeholders, not just the negotiating parties, have a clear idea of the post-Brexit landscape,”
it said, calling for an interim period for businesses to adjust to any changes, no introduction of tariffs and a harmonisation of regulations between Britain and the EU.

A year later the Japanese wish list looks just as uncertain.
That explains the soundings emerging from Tokyo that the prime minister’s mission will not be heralded by a morale-boosting promise of a free-trade agreement with the world’s third-largest economy.

It sees little point in opening negotiations when the baselines are undefined.
For example, will parts made in Britain be able to be shipped to Europe without additional checks, paperwork and tariffs, for instance?
What tariffs is Britain likely to apply to goods coming from third countries?

As the saga over Nissan’s investment in its Sunderland plant has shown, Japan has skin in the game.
Its corporations were the fourth-biggest international investor in Britain in 2015 and have invested a net £10 billion in British assets since 2010.

Trade with Japan is also sizeable given its physical distance:
it is our 13th-largest export partner, taking about £8 billion of British goods and services annually.
Japanese goods and services flowing in the other direction amount to about £11 billion.

In the meantime Japan is concluding a free-trade deal with the EU, one that would mark the EU’s largest effort to date.

I'm probably too ancient to understand the frequent references to Parklife, so that's another GF slogan wasted on me.

On the suggestion of using the eu deal as the bedrock of a uk-Japan deal, I give you @vincecable
Govt now wants to copy and paste EU trade deals. Instead of jet-setting round the world, Liam Fox could be left in a room with a photocopier

Hit too soon.
The first response is:
No, don't. He'll only start photocopying his bottom.....

BCF - I had to Google it, but since its from 2014 it's a bit old hat now.

No, don't. He'll only start photocopying his bottom.

Do they make photocopiers that big?

Photocopied EU treaties with the UK's name written in = sovereignty.

That and blue passports - so worth it!!

Thought it was from the 90's? Totally confused now.

@ Hashi.

It sounds as though Japan is not even responding positively to the idea of a photocopied deal. Which is not good. Unsurprising, really, because (unrealistically) the UK appears to want to offer the photocopied deal with the idea that it will all be subsequently re-negotiated. So, uncertainty and then a little more uncertainty for the trading partner.

No, don't. He'll only start photocopying his bottom.

Do they make photocopiers that big?

... and not at all desperate-sounding, oh no.

That was my phone coming out in sympathy with photocopiers for having to deal with Fox buttocks.

For the love of God & Richard Dawkins, can we please stop talking about Fox's bottom
< shudders >

Our visitor made some claim, earlier up thread, that young folk shout "Parklife" at Russell Brand. "Parklife" being a song by Blur which features a monologue by the chap from Quadrophenia. I think it was some sort of veracity-guarantee by our friend.

Parklife is definitely from the 90s. DS asked for it as a Christmas present. For a short while we had to endure PARKLIFE ad nauseam. Thankfully, he tired of it quickly.

Artisanjam
I don't need to know much about fintech
I would never have guessed.
Other that what my neighbour at a supremely fascinating dinner kept telling me. I just assumed as CIO at a large bank, my neighbour knew what he was talking about

Yes indeed. The London banks are THE authority on this topic and their forays into the field are always a resounding success...

Well it's near the end of my shift here in Moscow. The authorities let us have a few hours off.

Shouting PARKLIFE at Brand was a thing for a couple of weeks about 3 years ago.

Apparently.

Most countries, as well as wanting to know the Uk's final Brexit terms with the EU probably aren't keen on photocopying Eu trade deals anyway:

A country of 65 million, suddenly without any trade deals whatsoever, is quite different from a trade bloc of 450 million, with a continuing network of several hundred MRAs and FTAs with blocs & countries around the world

To be blunt, most countries fancy their chances of negotiating better terms with desperate UK after Brexit, than those it obtained from the EU

veracity-guarantee
Love it