Westminstenders: Beano or Bust

[RedToothBrush]

The last week has seemingly been eventful but not in the way that's on the surface.

It's what's going on behind the scenes and the little comments in less high profile speeches that's more telling.

On the one hand the Norths think the May speech is a laying down "an offer" that the EU can not accept, in order to set up a no deal situation.

On the other hand Telegraph Journalist Peter Foster thinks there things going on in Brussels with the EU set to compromise in someway and help May present a deal acceptable to the British. You have to wonder whether the "presentational" stuff is about a deal to essentially be in the EU but not in the EU. A Brexit Existing in A Name Only. Beano.

It's difficult to tell, and it will come down to brinkmanship over timing. For both a deal and for the Repel Bill as the two sides in parliament try to push things to their limit for their own ends.

In this vacuum of uncertainty CBI and their "arch enemies" the TUC have put out a joint statement saying no deal is nuts and will screw every one and the way EU cits have been treated has been dreadful.

As it stands it does look like May is serious about a deal and Davis is also acting in this way. Johnson and Hannan have launched their Institute for Free Trade (at the foreign office breaking ministerial code, but hell there's no consequences these days anyway cos May dare not let Johnson off the Brexit hook) in retaliation to try and retell the Brexit story as always being about free trade rather than racist. Unfortunately leavers seem to have bust that by admitting they are considerably more racist than Remainers by their own admission.

Then there's Trump and Bombardier. Just as Brexiteers are pushing for this closer relationship with the US in trade, despite May personally lobbying Trump he fucks her over slapping 220% tariff on Bombardier and putting the future of 4000 jobs at risk. This was inevitable as Trump fucks everyone for his own gain. The US won't ride to the aid of the British capitalists. They'll just eat them alive.

This week sees an important vote by the European Parliament on Brexit red lines. One of the votes states that the UK has to either stay in the customs union and internal market or NI has to have a special arrangement and stay in the customs union and the internal market in order to protect the EUs border integrity. Neither is compatible with what the Cons and the DUP have said they want.

It's also the Tory Party conference.May's big speech, in which she must throw red meat to the swivel eyed loons on right, is on Weds. There are of course, no debates at ConParty because, well, they can't behave like good little children without supervision. Instead the conference is to, erm... yeah we'll find out next week.

Dh is insistent that the hate that Trump and other white supremacists foments was/is the fertile ground that led to the Las Vegas shooting

This is then exacerbated by the easy availability of guns in the USA.

In this country the politics of hate of "foreigners" despite denials led to the narrow majority for Leave. NB: I am not saying that all those who voted Leave hate foreigners (there are some who had valid, thought-through reasons) but all those that hate foreigners voted Leave if they bothered voting and that hate appears to now have validation

Is it a coincidence that there has also been a rise in acid attacks in the UK? When "others" are deemed to be less than human not human beings with a right to live life without fear, then it becomes easy to throw acid at strangers

Is it a coincidence that there has also been a rise in acid attacks in the UK?

Don't worry about that, Rudds "on the case". With tiresome predictability, we are apparently "banning the sale of acid to under 18s".

So the condiments shelf will have age warnings, and checkout operators forced to ask adults buying lemon juice or vinegar if it's for a child ?

I wonder if possession will be banned too ? I can see groups of "yoots" being searched for Sarsons sachets ?

blogs.spectator.co.uk/2017/10/why-young-britain-is-repulsed-by-the-tories/ There's an article in the Spectator which is very close (although less detailed) than the Vice article, but it is interesting that the panic is becoming so clear during the conference.

Without trying to downplay an increase in acid attacks, the more talked about ones recently have largely been local to me and they're nothing new or sadly uncommon but reported on more due to where they're happening, IYSWIM. Not that there hasn't been an increase here either, but this comes hand in hand with decrease in police funding and their ability to even be present in some areas. I also think that some of it comes from what pretty suggests though, if you're seen as subhuman and there's no police presence then why not be what you are told you are.

My local MP has come under fire a bit recently for this, he keeps petitioning sadiq for an increase in funding for police here but it's been pointed out he regularly votes for cuts in police funding. He's also under fire for having a go at the eu for not getting involved in sovereign stuff in Spain when he argued that we needed to leave the eu for getting involved in sovereign stuff in UK.

UK government formally invite Sturgeon to talks 're brexit

Over a year too late I'd say.

Of course no one over the age of eighteen would commit an acid attack.

I'm watching W1A on iplayer...
Anyone else think that it could be similar to what goes on at DfexEU?

That Rees-Mogg thingie.

"It's Waterloo, it's Agincourt, it's Crécy. We win all these things"

Really? Put in mind Hastings. Didn't win that one. And one could argue that the Normans put the country into a shape that made England a force to be reckoned with, subsequently. They were a big battle machine. Kill and build a Cathedral. Agincourt was full of Norman names on the English side. Lots of Welsh and Irish normans joining in. Squabbling over land that was a vestige of their mainland European roots and patrimony of their royal rulers.

Love to see the charm used to negotiate a trade deal with one of the former colonies. We came here and we fought and killed people to claim it. We win these things. The missiles will be coming if you don't agree. mind you, they will have to say pretty please to the US to get the nuclear codes, so won't work there

Instead, she insisted only that "we expect a significant number of new powers will come down to Holyrood as a result of the Brexit decision and we will set those out in due course".

Really inspires me with confidence

These mass shootings are enough to make you weep. The tragedy of them time and time again. Nothing to do with the easy availability of guns, of course.

Not that individual shootings are any better.

Robert Peston @peston
Is this Amber Rudd warming up Tories for taking students out of immigration stats?

George Eaton @ GeorgeEaton
Amber Rudd defies Theresa May on immigration - didn't even mention net migration target in her speech.

www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2017/10/amber-rudds-liberal-immigration-stance-sets-her-odds-theresa-may?amp
Rather than threatening to "name and shame" businesses for employing foreign workers, Rudd vowed not to "impose unnecessary burdens, or create damaging labour shortages".

After commissioning a long-overdue study into the benefits of immigration, Rudd hinted that she wanted, at the very least, for foreign students to be excluded from the target. "I have commissioned the government’s independent advisers on migration to prepare reports – for the first time ever – on both the impact of free movement on the British economy and the value that international students bring to our world class university sector."

reaction.life/conservative-party-needs-canzuk-migration-deal-attract-young-voters/
The Conservative Party needs a CANZUK migration deal to attract young voters

Andrew Lilico @ Andrew_Lilico
The Conservative Party needs a CANZUK migration deal to attract young voters

What was wrong with the EU one...?

Oliver Norgrove @ olivernorgrove
1/ There is a very distinct reason why Nigel Farage now uses terms like 'ransom' and advocates storming out of negotiations altogether.
2/ It is because Brexit, the centrepiece of his life and career, is difficult enough to flop...and badly. If it does, he will be blamed.
3/ That isn't to say that it definitely will turn into a mess, but it's obviously plausible. He and his legacy are now conscious of this.
4/ Remember that Nigel Farage is a populist. Populism relies on the principle of 'bemoan the status quo and avoid proposing solutions'.
5/ Populists tend to be outsiders who attack the establishment (note: they always want to be a part of it). Farage is no different.
6/ This is the inherent and necessary contradiction of populism. But, going back to my last point, populists aren't solution setters.
7/ This is because they need to sweep up as many of the disenfranchised as they can. They build their base by tapping into frustration.
8/ If, along the way, they are constructive and proactive, and begin proposing actual solutions to the problems they expose, they fall.
9/ I think this is because doing so would mean dividing/discouraging the 'masses' and the 'ordinary people' whose votes they are seeking.
10/ It is therefore a necessary condition that a populist must spend his/her time solely exposing problems. People often buy into it.
11/ This is where we are with Farage & Brexit. Because leaving the EU in practice is more difficult than imagined (by idiots), he is stuck.
12/ Current negotiating hurdles aren't impassable. We just aren't approaching/engaging with the issues correctly. But, never mind that.
13/ Farage knows his dream and legacy are at risk of collapse so he needs to flip the agenda on its head. He needs to run before he's burnt.
14/ The practical realisation of Brexit was always going to be an immense undertaking. But, as any populist, he made it all look simple.
15/ With reality on his tail, Farage will appear on TV, angry and on the offensive. Watch out for it. It's a deliberate tactic.
16/ His use of the word 'ransom' is beyond amateurism. It doesn't reflect EU demands or the nature of untangling from political integration.
17/ I am often asked by Leavers: do you still support Brexit? Of course I do. But the insinuation that I don't reflects debate as a whole.
18/ Scream it to the skies: "I support Brexit" and "Brexit will be difficult to carry out" are perfectly compatible opinions.
19/ Brexit discourse is angry and heated in general because there is so much on the line. Legacy, economic growth, sovereignty, etc.
20/ The only way forward is to be proactive (unlike populists), intellectually honest and respect opponents. As in any healthy democracy.

IainMartin @ iainmartin1
Lovely Fallon digs at Boris. Says spending £18bn on new defence kit. "That really is £350m per week."

Several people pointing out on twitter that his conference speech is packed unlike previous days.

Interesting to see which side Fallon seems to be on with this.

Alex Wickham @ wikiguido
Priti used "I" 30 times in her speech. "My" 9 times.

By contrast Corbyn is a 'we'er

Another gift from the conference:

Carl Gardner @ carlgardner
Apparently Liam Fox quoted low prices at Aldi and Lidl as an example of the benefits of free trade he wants after Brexit. Erm ...

Alex Wickham @ wikiguido
That's three Boris jibes in this Fallon speech so far

Sky news desk @ skynewsbreak
MEPs have voted against moving on to the second phase of Brexit talks in a non-binding vote in the European Parliament

Law and Order @ davidallengreen
Not a decision for the European Parliament but for the Council/Barnier's team.
So a political (daft) vote but not insignificant. Parliament has veto on Brexit deal. Complacent to assume Parliament will nod it through.
Those who say "of course" Brexit deal will not be vetoed by European Parliament overlook how often recent politics has been unpredictable.

Shale Bing @ angeallic
The paradox is that the better the deal for the UK that DD can negotiate with MB, the more likely that the EP will kill it.

Ian Dunt @ iandunt
BJ is up, God help us all.
He starts w Las Vegas & references Manchester attack. The gravity of the times highlights the shame of this clown being foreign secretary.
He lists his ministers. Silence. "Thank you for the applause." People start up. Hasn't quite got hall in his hand as he usually does.
"I don't think I've ever known so many to be sunk in gloom about Britain"
BJ, like Fox and Davis, clearly smarting from critical coverage of Brexit.
Remarkable, that despite having vast majority of the press onside as vocal cheerleaders, the few remaining critical outlets haunt them so.

Replace Farage in the Oliver Norgrove thread with Boris Johnson. The same thing applies to the letter.

Ian Dunt @ iandunt
BJ retries his "Caracas" joke from the London mayoral campaign trail. Tories, easily pleased, laugh along.
Top Corbyn: "You didn't win. We won. We won."
Florence speech: "On whose every syllable the whole Cabinet is united".
Attacks Labour for not having coherent position. Just after praising "every syllable" of speech he has undermined since it was made.
BJ banging on about "semi-Marxist" agenda of Corbyn. Not for the first time this week, Tories sound thoroughly spooked.

The Tory party conference that keeps giving:

www.buzzfeed.com/amphtml/emilyashton/this-tory-minister-says-students-can-cover-living-costs-by
This Tory Minister Says Students Can Cover Living Costs By Having A "Frugal Existence"
Labour has accused the universities minister of "breathtaking" ignorance over the claim.

Jo Johnson the university minister.

Beth Rigby @ BethRigby
From 'Glorious Brexit' essay to One Nation conservatism, Johnson delivering a rather expansive speech here, well beyond his FCO brief ....

George Eaton @ GeorgeEaton
Nothing on foreign policy in Boris Johnson's speech so far - proxy leadership address.

He's not the only one guilty of this though.

Marie le Conte @ youngvulgarian
Preparing my notes for a fringe I'm doing later on the Tories' woes with young people and...I am...not even sure where to start?

Iain Martin @ iainmartin1
Not a patch on @RuthDavidsonMSP this Boris speech.

Ian Dunt @ iandunt
BJ now talking about Tripoli, in exact same tone he makes jokes about sport. Whole speech is a desperate, yearning waste of time.
Boris celebrating Britain's sense of humour - yawn - while demonstrating that it is really not all it's cracked up to be.
"We will be no less European" after Brexit because "our most important exports are our values". Speech basically meaningless at this stage.
"Without pain and doubt and anxiety there would be no pleasure". Fuck knows what he's on about.

BBC politics @ bbcpolitics
"I can tell you the whole cabinet is united" says @BorisJohnson #cpc17

United in what exactly? Thinking you should be sacked? There's almost as many Boris jokes flying around as digs at Corbyn.