Westministenders: The Art of the Deal

[RedToothBrush]

Well Trump seems to have put his foot in it.

Not that this should come as a surprise. For all the talk of closer ties with the US that was never going to happen. All that was need was for Trump to over step once too many.

By chance (?) Barnier also raised questions about our commitment to working with the EU on security.

Its almost as if we are being asked to choose whom we look to for security.

Meanwhile it sounds like the divorce bill is sorted - though this may not be as settled as that, if it comes with conditions. The deal might also be backtracked on, seeing as that appears to be the done thing presently.

Talks on Ireland are stalemated with Ireland threating to veto. No sign of a breakthrough here yet.

Talks on EU citz rights are reportedly going backwards (again) rather than going forward.

All of this is theatre for a British audience though, with the UK agreeing to everything. Because they gave again their cards when a50 was triggered.

The crunch is coming on whether we move to stage two before Christmas. We have no time to lose.

Thanks Red

Just popping back to the end of the previous thread, Gaspode is right that government cannot bind the hands of a successor government. This Parliamentary committee report is an interesting - if dense - read. I was particularly interested in the fact that the legal experts were adamant that government could derogate from EU law - this view certainly wasn't shared by (m)any government lawyers, who were always very cautious in the advice they gave on policy and legislation which might be in conflict with EU treaty rights or other parts of EU-related legislation.

I wonder (in an alternative world type way) what would have happened if we had been as insouciant as some of the other countries about having to comply with all the various bits of legislation. Eg I remember colleagues being in a tizz about changes in standards for widgets, which were going to increase the widget cost almost fourfold in order to meet new EU requirements. The Brits ran around and brought in the changes more or less to the agreed deadline; the French and Germans were a couple of years late; the last time I spoke to former colleagues, the Spanish still hadn't adopted the new standards...

Woman
Watching footage of 1970s NI, one can't help noticing that loyalist areas look just like 'brexit britain': same flags, same thuggery, racism and idiocy.
Very true, excellent observation.

YYY to BigChoc - suggestion that TM ask the DUP who they would prefer to be dealing with.

The only problem is that the DUP trust their paramilitary wing to sort out governments who won't play their game. It is always their fallback position. They play the election game only as long as it suits them.

Thank you Red

A good night in local council elections for the Lib Dems. 4/4. One hold and three gains with large rises in vote share:

mobile.twitter.com/britainelects?lang=en-gb&ref_src=twsrc%5Eappleios%7Ctwcamp%5Esafari%7Ctwgr%5Esearch

.

Place marking

Just musing with dh that the term "negotiations" for this phase of the talks is actually misleading

These are not negotiations in the normal sense of the word; they are a process to confirm our legal obligations. In Scotland, during a house sale, we would say "Sold subject to concluded missives "

Once the UK has made sufficient progress on "concluding the missives", then we can get on to the Trade negotiations .

Place mat king.

Thanks RTB!

Thanks Red.

My main thoughts at the moment are

a) can't wait for Trump's visit so I can protest the hell out of it

b) Sinn Fein need to get over themselves and come to fucking Westminster. Someone could surely devise an oath that's worded along the lines of allegiance to the democratic process? And/or, isn't there a point at which they have to decide whether the good of the Irish nation is more important than one point of principle?

I fully agree with b), Rhiannon
As for a) - yes, I too was looking forward to making a protest. Ah well!

b) Sinn Fein need to get over themselves and come to fucking Westminster. Someone could surely devise an oath that's worded along the lines of allegiance to the democratic process? And/or, isn't there a point at which they have to decide whether the good of the Irish nation is more important than one point of principle?

I'd be curious as to what might happen if SF in Westminster could lead to a united Ireland ?

Paywalled, but the title is Brexit arrives early in Frankfurt property market

I hope no one here was unpatriotic enough to invest in Frankfurt property a year ago ?

www.ft.com/content/619583fe-c88e-11e7-ab18-7a9fb7d6163e

Telegraph is the only place so far that I've seen suggested that the state visit has been cancelled. I'd hold off the celebrations just yet He might not come to open the new American Embassy, but that's not to say he won't come at a later point for his State visit.

If he were to come to Scotland, I for one would be out there amongst those lining the streets in protest. And I would encourage condone ds dogging school to do so unless it's the day of one of his exams

I for one would be out there amongst those lining the streets in protest.

I suspect there are rafts of "anti terror" laws that can be deployed to ensure you don't.

Obviously "for public safety" crowds will need to be kept out of camera shot well back of the road in case of a lorry attack.

I realise that Lurking - but there again, policing is a devolved matter and Trump isn't popular with the Scottish Government

Policing is devolved but CT operations remain reserved pretty

In the event of SF deciding to take their seats at Westminster, apart from the proverbial flying pigs, I would expect to see a new republican political group emerge who continued to refuse to take their seats. The Parliamentary oath cannot be something about democracy, because the Crown is an integral part of Parliament. It's easy to forget this, and see HMQ's role as purely ceremonial once a year when she trots down for the Opening, but it's much more than that. At least it's now possible to take a non-Christian oath.

They could always follow the lead of MPs like Tony Benn and Dennis Skinner and take the oath under sufference, though IIRC the Sinn Fein constitution would need to be changed to allow SF MPs to do this

.

Would be a start if Stormont was back up and running before turning to SF's non attendance at Westminster. Will be interesting to see what happens to their vote share vs the SDLP next time there is an election?

I've just seen the most wonderful two-for-one offer:

David Davis threatens to quit if Damian Green is unfairly sacked

It sounds like it could be a double whammy or someone looking for a way out.

Sounds like a deal to me

@stephenkb
Davis fighting for the godgiven right to look at pornography on company time and not get sacked. Truly, he is a giant among pygmies.

@jessphillips
Jess Phillips Retweeted Stephen Bush
David Davis your red line, your hill to die on is really something. "What made you want to become an MP" "Great question, I really wanted to fight hard so people can wank at work"

@RobDotHutton
Robert Hutton Retweeted Jess Phillips
I wonder if we're finally getting to the root of Britain's productivity problem.

The Government will tell the EU it wishes to stay in the European Aviation Safety Agency ( Sky news)

Oh and Euratom; oh and the EBA; oh and the EMA; oh and Cities of culture.

Basically as a nation we just like a moan. The referendum just a huge moan that's gone worryingly wrong.