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.

My married name is English but sounds foreign iyswim?
Will be interesting....

Is it Farage? :)

So many posts on this thread are so eloquent. I’m seriously impressed; I’m Irish, from NI, and I can’t assemble my thoughts on this clusterfuck without hair-pulling, incoherent swearing and all encompassing rage.

I’m related to some NI farmers, whose livelihoods depend on EU help, who voted leave and are still parroting the (Tory) party line. I have never seen such an effective demonstration of brainwashing in my life.

I’m mainly lurking, because of said incoherent rage, but finding this thread has been helpful, thank you.

This serves to confirm my belief that this entire farce is aimed only at a British audience. As well as making the UK look even more foolish to the rEU.

www.politico.eu/article/uk-government-protocol-florence-speech/

In a striking departure from the customary protocol surrounding a visit by a head of government, May has no official host in Florence, where she will give a speech that the prime minister’s office has billed as a milestone in the Brexit process.

The unusual arrangements around the speech only serve to highlight the oddness of the event itself — a head of government giving a major speech in a foreign country outside of any international forum and without the high-level involvement of the host country’s government.

A senior official in the Florence city administration said although the British government had been in touch with the mayor’s office, they did not follow usual diplomatic norms and had not included city officials in setting up the logistics of the venue.

They also complained they have been provided with little information. “We do not know anything,” said the Florence official. “We are kept in the dark, it is a very abnormal situation.”

“The U.K. government is handling everything in absolute top secret,” the official said. “We do not even know who will attend. So far, the only confirmed guest we are aware of is the mayor of Florence.”

mayor of Florence.

For some reason I love that the Italian for Mayor is "sindicato" ....

Sindaco, sindacato is a trade union 😊

I was hoping to go to Florence today, if only for the opportunity to rant at the Tory fools. Probably best I can't as I'd probably have had s mad urge to headbutt Boris.

Like Littlegrey I find it impossible to express myself about Brexit without resorting to expletives and an urge to slap someone. Yet in my day job I'm usually quite eloquent, honest guv!

Of course ... muscle memory and all that ...

no official host in Florence

Ha ha ha ha.

Dutch teenagers apparently used to watch HOC question time for a good stoned giggle. This should be good for a laugh too.

The EU27 couldnae give a flying fuck about a darty eyed lady's hostage speech.

Although they are outclassing the brexit fools in style and humour at every stage of this rubbish.

May is the next stage after toast.

I'll paraphrase Shakespeare again, fuckit, it's a tragic comedy after all..
"(Her) crime is rank; it stinks to high heaven"
Stinky? Does that come after toast?

I'm just looking forward to the memes and twitter comments.
Ian Dunt will be a treat as usual.

I suspect the news about Uber will overshadow Theresa Mays navel gazing ...

Idont'very interesting analysis from K Shmasie

I can only agree to the fact that 'looking foreign' is now enough
And the fact we can NOTHING for granted in the UK.

that's another book that has ended up in my basket on Amazon. You lot are dangerous for that!!

looking foreign

It's been one of the many un funny things about brexit for women, is that not only to we have to conform to bullshit gendered ideas about appearance, but now have unfiltered and entitled english racism to contend with too.

I look dark. I used to be proud of being assumed to be Spanish, Greek, Italian, Israeli, when I've been in those countries. I was even asked if I was Vietnamese when working in Switzerland! (admittedly by Swiss villagers who didn't get out much ) Now it's meant I have been screamed at in a British airport security section by a 'security' woman who shouted: "Don't you speak English!". This was 3 years ago, and happened in front of one of my lovely DSs, hostile environment was getting rolling then.

Gruesome.

Two articles about Florence, neither of them complimentary about May and her approach to the Brexit negotiations.

http://news.sky.com/story/brexit-and-the-almost-impossible-line-may-must-tread-in-florence-11047266

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/sep/22/what-to-look-out-for-in-theresa-may-florence-speech-brexit

Both of them point out the difficulty she is having maintaining her balance on the narrow tightrope which she herself created What are her chances of getting to safety without falling off and taking the country with her ?

looking foreign
In the immediate aftermath of the election looking suspiciously foreign, like Irish or Polish or Scandinavian, had you called out round my way. But it's not racism as some people will tell you, because those people were white and presumably European . An attitude that shows you a lot about a person.

woman

I keep thinking about the predication that TM is going to offer to make payments until 2020.

Am I missing something or is that not just paying for access to the Single Market during the transition period we need until at least then?

I don't understand how TM thinks that is part of the 'divorce' settlement.

Also when we gets drop-in poster demanding where we all came from / why don't we leave

• and claiming they can't be racist "because I'm brown-skinned / Asian / African ..."

I'm embarassed to say that most of my mother's huge extended (brown, Arab Christian) family who've emigrated from the ME to the USA over the decades .....
are the most racist people I used to talk to - I'm basically NC with all but one (who is non-racist) now

They have copied the worst racism of the far-right Republicans they vote for.
They are all prosperous, highly educated graduates, many with higher degrees too, mostly doctors, some scientists and financial bods.
Their comments on African Americans, welfare, IQ ... < shudders >

In contrast, I've never heard the slightest racial slur from my (white English wc) dad's family who live in NE England
My late mum always related how they welcomed her with open arms & hearts, back in 1949 when she returned with dad on his posting home.
Racism then was socially acceptable & normal, but decent human beings like my dad's family never joined in.

Peregrina What would have happened to the firm? Probably nothing.

There is a plethora of criminal offences surrounding failure to comply with anti money laundering regulations (AML), and it's also likely that the solicitors would have been struck off, so lots of reasons not to ignore them. The Solicitors Regulation Authority are hot on seeing evidence of procedures being in place used, so there's also a pressure there to comply.

AML is currently going through yet another iteration, with even more stringent requirements so anyone who wants to open a bank account or instruct a solicitor, estate agent or IF A will need to expect to be checked. Many places use electronic checks these days, and unless you actually read the small print there's a good chance you have been checked without knowing it.

AML compliance has actually led to a whole industry forming to take advantage of the fact that compliance is mandatory, so the person who posted John Prescott's quote about the Tories wanting an economy where everyone sells insurance to each other really made me smile: it feels to me that we're not very far away from that!

Having said that about looking foreign being enough round here, we have noticed how outward and common the use of the p and n words towards poc have become too. It's a sad affair.

Uber decision is going to throw a political grenade....

PM Khan?
Hell hath no fury like a Gideon scorned, though.

Flags out in Florence:

Ouch

And this as it won't be on the BBC:

Well Khan apparently had no role in the decision and it was made by TfL on advice of lawyers alone.

I think Khan probably has stayed as far away as possible from this one for the sheer sensitivity of it.

My point is more that the whole thing feeds into the political climate, with the reasons given by TfL about being "not fit and proper" and "lack of corporate responsibility".

This is really in contrast to the whole deregulation thing of Brexit and the tragedy at Grenfell.

Plus you also have objections by unions over Uber (which again is about this idea of responsibility and standards).

Personally I think that overall there is a public mood for this - the trouble is people don't want to pay for these standards - mainly because they don't necessarily value them until you get a huge scandal, like Grenfell.

Its always something that happens to other people. Until it happens to you.

One way or another though, we are going to see a LOT of debate along the same lines post-brexit.

Even with the Banks. Are they fit and proper to be doing the checks the government wants to. Are banks going to vet employees for racism for example?

If you have nothing to fear because you have nothing wrong then why should you object to these checks?

Because of cost cutting, incompetence and malicious individuals who breech trust.

And believe me, with what I know with how shitty banks are internally, you really don't want to go down that route. "Corporate responsibility" and "social responsibility" are not phrases you often see in a sentence with banks, in a positive way. I'm not really sure measures that are being proposed are really going to help. There are plenty of other things they could get banks to focus their energies on rather than policing the general population. Like having an idea where money goes, when it leaves the UK and taking corporate responsibility for that....

I think its a distraction for the whole tax debate myself.

"The U.K. government is handling everything in absolute top secret,” the official said. “We do not even know who will attend. So far, the only confirmed guest we are aware of is the mayor of Florence.”

What a friggin show. Euro Disney would have been a more appropriate setting for this childish spectacle.

woman11017 That's outrageous!

One of my oldest friends in German, a rather handsome and lovely author and coach once told me that hostility against immigrants in Germany was basically down to envy and that all those fair pale looking Germans i am one of them are insanely jealous of the good looking people from Southern Europe.

Blue eyed and blonde highlights I can pass as British until I open my mouth to speak. Maybe it's my own insecurity about May's speech today or increased coverage of Brexit since the summer break but when I was out during my lunch break I felt very self conscious about sounding forrin and tried to not speak where possible. Horrible feeling.