Westminstenders: The Maddest of May and Boris's Dare

[RedToothBrush]

Boris Johnson just dared May to fire him.

That's what his little rant about £350 million buses is.

Meanwhile its been pointed out that HMRC literally are incapable of handling a no deal and can only cope with an EEA / EFTA deal with no tariffs.

And given how good and on time the government are with computer systems even in a best case scenario are extremely unlikely to crack it in time.

Which makes Hammond's talk of a civil contingence plan, look, well half arsed and lacking.

We also wouldn't have planes able to fly to Europe under a no deal as we would no longer be part of Open Skies. This could leave thousands stranded. But no biggie there.

Meanwhile if the Leave Alliance have things right, May is about to serve our one year notice on leaving the EEA making all these things a reality.

Which is less like shooting yourself in the head and more like shooting yourself in the head, chest, foot, arm, leg and face (for a second time), whilst being run over at the same time.

But hey, Boris Johnson has it sussed in his 10 point plan. Especially the point where he says Brexit will be a success.

If you call success ending democracy, becoming a dictatorship, starving everyone, bankrupting the country and causing civil unrest.

Rule Britannia.

We didn't actually have petrol rationing during the 1973 crisis. So I for one, just chucked my coupons out. DH, who is a hoarder, probably still has his! My surname then began with an S, which is why I remember it, because I was one of the last to get my coupons - it went something like A-E, F-M, N-Z although I don't remember the exact split.

Ha, ha, just reading up on them.

"Since 2007, TFA has been running fringe events at the Conservative Party conference with speakers such as Daniel Hannan and John Redwood and groups including the Taxpayers' Alliance. "

Marina Hyde, writing in The Guardian, has called the organisation a "charmless libertarian pressure group". Yep, sounds spot on

I bet they attract FREEMAN ON THE LAND types.

We will also need Identity cards too. Now this used to be something which the Tories protested about. Will they still?

FYI, adult cards were blue, childrens', which expired when they were 16, had buff coloured ones. They were still issued after the war because DH and I were both post war babies, and yes, DH still has his, and mine got thrown out. I did find my late DM's card when clearing out her house, and have kept it as a souvenir. Late DF was like me, not a hoarder, so there was no trace of his card.

Oh and the Identity card number was alpha numeric and became the NHS number, which has also now changed, but not until a good many years later. The old alpha-numeric NHS numbers were still around when I last moved house in the mid eighties.

A HUGE bill for May in Florence
( but nothing to do with Brexit)

Back in the 14th century, King Edward III borrowed money from Florentine banking families to fund a war with France.... and then the royal bugger defaulted !

A Florentine banking descendant tried demanding their money back in the 19th century, from the Lord Mayor of London. No luck then

If they try again with May, the bill with interest is now estimated at
£43,750,656,753,571,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

< we're doomed, I tell thee, Brexit pales into insignificance >

www.beyondtheyalladog.com/2015/11/peruzzi-bank-and-the-interest-on-king-edward-iiis-loan/

Just had a look at Richard North's blog (was trying to see the ration books comments). This made me laugh.

According to “The Sun” comic – sorry, newspaper - of the speech to be made in Florence on Friday 22nd September 2017, Madame Mayhem's spokesman has stated it will be an; "update on Brexit negotiations so far" and will "underline the Government's wish for a deep and special partnership with the European Union once the UK leaves the EU".

Explaining Madame's choice of venue, the spokesman said: "The PM wanted to give a speech on the UK's future relationship with Europe in its historical heart. The UK has had deep cultural and economic ties spanning centuries with Florence, a city known for its historical trading power...... " As the UK leaves the EU we will retain those close ties. As the Prime Minister has said many times,
we are leaving the EU, not Europe."

*The spokesman is right about the historical connections: King Edward III defaulted on some Florentine loans and the interest has now accumulated to a considerable sum!

By 2015 it had grown to: £43,750,656,753,571 decillion (that is thirty three zeros!) It has since gone up!

Source: www.beyondtheyallado...

One wonders if Sig Dario Nardella, the Mayor of Florence will present Madame with the bill!*

The Freedom Association has been around quite a while on the hard right of Uk politics.
I remember them from the late 1970s and 1980s:
campaigning against sport sanctions on apartheid S Africa
Advocating anti trade union legislation in the Uk

What are you implying about some Brexiteers?

Explaining Madame's choice of venue, the spokesman said: "The PM wanted to give a speech on the UK's future relationship with Europe in its historical heart. The UK has had deep cultural and economic ties spanning centuries with Florence,

from The Magic Roundabout

(or should that be "money tree" )

(paywall) Britain told to wait for US trade deal

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/davis-left-isolated-after-key-brexit-official-joins-may-fzs9rlrbw

The United States’ top trade official has poured cold water on the prospect of a quick deal with Britain, saying that negotiations must wait until after the UK has left the European Union

Robert Lighthizer’s comments, made yesterday at an event in Washington DC,
are in stark contrast to President Trump’s bold comment earlier this summer that his administration would sign a “very powerful” agreement with Britain “very, very quickly”.

Mr Lighthizer, the US trade representative, told an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies:
“Even when it’s going to happen is not quite clear yet . . .
But we have had meetings.
It’s too early to have a negotiation.
They don’t really have competence in that area, but it’s something that’s on the horizon.”

Swedish The ration books comments were on yesterday's RN blog, poster JDD

I can't remember if this was posted back in Feb, but Boris raking up 350 million again reminded me

Vote Leave director admits they won because they lied to the public

especially the lie about 350 million that MN Leavers keep claiming noone believed

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/vote-leave-director-admits-won-lied-public/08/02/

Buried in a 19,800 word Spectator essay written by former online editor and Vote Leave director Dominic Cummings is an admission:

The Brexit referendum was won by lying to the public.

"Pundits and MPs kept saying ‘why isn’t Leave arguing about the economy and living standards’.

They did not realise that for millions of people, £350m/NHS was about the economy and living standards – that’s why it was so effective.

It was clearly the most effective argument not only with the crucial swing fifth but with almost every demographic.

Even with UKIP voters it was level-pegging with immigration.

Would we have won without immigration? No.

Would we have won without £350m/NHS ?
All our research and the close result strongly suggests No.

Would we have won by spending our time talking about trade and the Single Market? No way."

Thanks BCF. I think the "insider" is a bullshitter. From quickly reading that blog, they see to have inconsistent record on being right.

The thing I wonder is , how much is BJ worth ? He , isn't dirt poor , on the breadline etc , so how much does he have ? Brexiteer's are always telling us nowadays that there was always going to be hard times following Brexit , so I am curious as to how much BJ has to endure those hard times , say for 10 years ?

Not sure if anyone heard about Dave Cameron and his association with a company that owns the leasehold on new build properties ? Poor broken Dave , sure you will be making amends by selling those leaseholds at a reasonable rate , given the hardships those home 'owners' might face in the near future due to Brexit ?

Oh the leasehold bit was mentioned on Radio 2 , so sue them if it is wrong

Is it just me or have things taken a turn these last few days? We've had both the PM and the foreign secretary having to insist that they're not going to resign, the Home Secretary dissing the foreign secretary on live tv, fun and games in the civil service, an ex special advisor going rogue... and no real sense of what we might be moving towards. If this is Brexit going well (as the Leavebots insist) I'd hate to see what it would look like if it were going badly.

For me, the elephant in the room is the complete absence of a vision for what the uk might look like in 10 or 20 years time. the closest to this was our friend Minford who seemed to think we'd all like to live in a country filled with piles of cheap tat, this being all we could afford because there won't be any jobs left.

The mention of the Taxpayers Alliance just reminded me how once during a local election they made vociferous complaints in our local paper (lovely front page spread) about the outrageous costs of holding elections. Apparently £1m, which works out about £1 per head, was just too much.

Democracy is just such a shocking waste of tax payers money. We really should come up with something cheaper.

swedish North knows and meets JDD sometimes.
However, she says she posts things and then politicians change their minds

May spent £143 million on her GE, only 2 years after the last one
Taxpayers Alliance havven't critiicised that waste

frumpety BJ is reportedly very rich

He described his previous 250k salary from the Telegraph

• which he had to give up on becoming a cabinet minister - as "chickenfeed"

Yeah, I read that Big. Still not convinced - why post on there rather than just tell North?

David Davis' by-election cost taxpayers £200,000. Bet TA didn't mind about that either.

Every time I read "deep and special partnership" I can't help thinking "friends with benefits".

Oh no! I have just found the article and it was actually another anti-tax group called IsItFair who complained about the cost. Now I must apologise profusely for besmirching the marginally less crazy name of the Taxpayers Alliance.

www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/4362396.Vote_that_will_cost_you___1m/?ref=arc

Swedish Maybe ego, maybe to be 100% sure of how her comments go on the blog - she risks prosecution under the Official Secrrets Act if she steps over the line.

I think she sometimes posts ideas that are only being discussed - maybe to add to the pressure to stop them. Maybe to show off. Maybe to cover her tracks when she leaks sensitive info,

Also, she posts about the chaos in DexEU, which many other sources agree.
So, decisions being rapidly reversed would bee quite likely

I am reminded of Deep Throat, who was also rather theatrical
< yes, I remember Watergate unfolding. I am that old >

The horrid 2-year persecution by the Home Office of a Japanese woman married to a Polish man
Both legally in the UK with their little son
No wonder the EU wants ECJ protection for their expats

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/sep/18/fighting-the-home-office-womans-traumatic-two-year-battle-to-stay-in-uk