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?

Oh, dear. Hopefully, Brexiteers will disappear in a puff of indignation ...

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-41111553

The NHS in England is embarking on a £100m international recruitment drive to boost the number of GPs.

Contracts have been offered to agencies to help NHS England achieve its goal of recruiting 5,000 extra doctors by 2020.

It means over half the increase could now come from abroad as the NHS is struggling to train and retain its own. Support staff including nurses and therapists will also be targeted.

(contd)

woman I am praying so hard for a Thick of It Brexit special.

...i fear we've gone way beyond parody....

It means over half the increase could now come from abroad

Surely we have 17 million extremely able candidates ready and waiting, bursting with positive energy, to make Britain a success?

Apparently asking for clarification and wanting to know on what legal basis these sums are based is 'arrogant'

That's not what we're doing though.

We're saying we won't commit to a figure until the terms of our deal are known which ignores the fact the EU, who do hold the upper hand, have said from day 1 that those terms won't be agreed beforehand.

We can not and will not get to keep all the benefits of membership with none of the costs.

We need to start by showing what we are prepared to negotiate on as, as far as I can see, there's very little.

We still think we can stamp our feet and we'll get what we want- we won't.

I've been actually watching the things Barnier has said, rather than just reading the bits the press deem important. It is becoming increasingly evident that Barnier is getting more and more irritated at Britain just not even understanding the process of negotiation. The exit bill is a case in point, the EU produced a methodology of how the bill should be calculated months ago, the UK has just sniped at their methodology without making any suggestions of their own.

I'm with Dunt, hiding under a chair. This is just fist bitingly embarrassing.

I've been actually watching the things Barnier has said, rather than just reading the bits the press deem important

agenziaradicale.com/index.php/rassegnaweb/4777-brexit-negoziati-ue-gb-nebbia-fitta-sulla-manica

www.lefigaro.fr/conjoncture/2017/08/31/20002-20170831ARTFIG00191-brexit-aucun-progres-decisif-dans-les-negociations-selon-michel-barnier.php

(notably not front page news elsewhere ... )

LH what's the grown up way to translate that? No Italian here Or do you just have to feed bits into google translate?

LH what's the grown up way to translate that?

Google translate is pretty decent (or so my German friends tell me). Its clunky (as you'd expect), but gets the sense across which is measured; unhysterical; unemotional. However, there's a sly poke at the UK position ... I particularly like the bit where it says "without an unlikely improvement in the UKs approach it will be difficult to achieve the dates discussed in June ...". That "unlikely" is "unlikely" to make its way into the BBC story ...

Was it Eleanor Roosevelt who said that you'd stop worrying what people thought about you if you knew how seldom they did ? She might have been talking about Brexit discussions outside the UK ...

Thanks, used google translate. In diplomatic terms the gist seems to be we are up a creek with no way of steering.

In diplomatic terms the gist seems to be we are up a creek with no way of steering.

Try a non-English article a day . They all concur, diplomatically speaking .

No one knows the future. But I think it's fair to say the UK MSM are playing a dangerous game by having so much confidence they can spin the truth indefinitely.

I would like to be around (but have no choice) if something happens where they can't control the spin.

But the important thing is that the question ‘what action should we take if the talks break down?’ would be for Parliament to answer.

But what if the status of the 1972 Act was outside Parliament’s hands?

That’s a topical question because Parliament is just about to be asked to agree to repeal the 1972 Act in the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill.

The very first clause of that Bill says:

The European Communities Act 1972 is repealed on exit day.

And “exit day” is defined as “such day as a Minister of the Crown may by regulations appoint.”

Yep, that’s right. The government is proposing that a Minister gets to decide when our membership of the EU ends. And to make that decision without any Parliamentary control at all. None, zip, nada.

The consequence of Parliament agreeing to this clause is stark.

If talks do break down, it will be a Minister of the Crown – Boris Johnson, say – who has absolute unfettered discretion as to how to react Parliament – our sovereign and democratically elected Parliament – will be completely sidelined from the most important decision our nation has made in recent times^.

Giving unfettered power to a Minister, marginalising our Parliament, in respect of such an important decision is the very opposite of taking back control.

Parliament must vote against clause one

waitingfortax.com/2017/08/31/what-happens-if-the-talks-break-down/

I can't see that being acceptable to the DUP, let alone Tories in general ...

Lurking I was just about to post that link about recruiting forrin GPs. Oh, the irony.
There used to be a handful of posters who did actually make a reasoned argument for Brexit. They seem to have gone very quiet and the only thing we seem to hear is 'You lost, get over it' and 'the people have spoken' or variations of these.
Bigly Good luck with your training. I've been a mental health nurse for 21 years. It's tough but incredibly rewarding.

How much protest have Tories in general put up to any of Brexit so far (no matter how many of them claim to be remainers at heart)? God help us if we are relying on the DUP to rescue us from this.

There used to be a handful of posters who did actually make a reasoned argument for Brexit.

IRL, the ones I knew have gone very very quiet. Mainly because they have no answer to their whinge that "this isn't what they wanted", when people (not just me) point out that it was all predicted before they voted.

There is definitely something building up.

Howabout is still around, as is Corcory

I might not agree with Howabout but she does always argue constructively and will try to include proper links to support her arguments.

I'm struggling to think of any beyond that.

A lot of leavers voted for a soft Brexit too.
They were told that this could happened not that it was a 'stay in the EU or have a hard Brexit' choice.
I can't see those people happy with the current state of affair either.

Davis' says he wants more "creative thinking and imagination"

Maybe we could simply imagine that we've left.

So depressing...

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/society/2017/feb/28/gmc-poll-suggests-half-of-european-doctors-are-considering-quitting-uk

The link that Lurking posted about recruiting overseas GPs says that they are targetting EU countries first. So Brexit causes thousands of EU doctors to leave the UK and an NHS which has a massive staffing crisis and we then pay £100 million to recruiting agencies to try to persuade them to come back?
You really couldn't make it up.

MsHoolie It's just bonkers isn't it?

There is definitely something building up what sort of something LH? Don't reply if it's not nice.

I've still got visions of BJ. sidelining parliament and announcing a very sudden departure from the EU.

But it would explain why no one would want any one telling tales about senior ministers right now, ifyswim.

BJ is a bit redundant now though. Articles like the Rachel Sylvester one in the Times show that Murdoch doesn't want him and Dacre is already against. Otherwise JRM? David Davis? Philip Hammond? Gove? What a wealth of talent.

Bearbehind
And how is any of that different to what we could have done whilst in the EU
At the moment EU citizens have the right to live and work in any EU country without a VISA or work permit.