Westminstenders: Blue Passports

[RedToothBrush]

Yay for the blue passports.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all

May next year bring us £350 million for the NHS, cake, unicorns, financial passporting, access to the single market, Irish love and of course control to the people.

(Apologies been up to my eyeballs. Normal service will resume after Christmas).

Poor Nigel is feeling hard done by:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/nigel-farage-new-years-honours-knighthood-ukip-douglas-carswell-a8126846.html

The U.K. is now the most individualistic country in the EU
There's so much to admire JK Rowling for, but her decision to pay taxes to this country is definitely one of them.

It was the Uk who pushed so hard to let EE countries join - when the rest of the EU said those countries weren't ready yet, economically or politically.
The Uk was acting partly on US instructions, to strengthen the West against Russia

The EU longterm will be better without a USA poodle continually pushing their interests

The UK wanted to build a power base in the EU from these grateful EE countries

Also why neither Labour nor Tory wanted to offend these countries by limiting FOM in the early years, as other EU countries did
After it was no longer legal to limit them - the Uk wanted to: typically a day late & a dollar short !

So ironic that the UK's cunning plan to gain more power in the EU ..... resulted in UK citizens voting Brexit

Rule by Baldric

What's the difference between the UK and Baldrick? Baldrick had a plan.

Cracker joke for you all there

Some more cracker jokes for you:

What does Theresa May shout while Philip is cooking the turkey?

“Baste it means baste it”

How many Brexit MPs does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

None - they’re too busy screwing the country.

How do you stop Remainers from hogging the TV at Christmas?

Take back the remote control.

I’ll get me coat ...

"The question has always been whether it is better to be just in Europe, technically a member of the EU, but not taking part in its big projects such as the euro. Or whether it is better to be just out, not a member but cooperating closely and warmly on areas of mutual interest, especially trade. The first is much easier in the short-term because it is less disruptive, but maybe leads to more unpleasantness in the long run. The second, which we have of course chosen, is much harder in the short term, but maybe a cleaner and more honest way to work together in the long.

Actually, come 2030 I don’t think our relationship with Europe will turn out to be very so different from what it would have been had we voted to remain."

www.independent.co.uk/voices/brexit-european-union-uk-economy-2030-europe-germany-bloc-a8114461.html

I agree with this analysis.

I also agree with Hamish's take on trade imbalances.

www.standard.co.uk/business/angela-merkel-hasn-t-been-key-to-economic-success-writes-hamish-mcrae-a3643041.html

Agnes

Compare and contrast Brexit with the US involvement with Vietnam as a political and cutural phenomenon. Points will be awarded for a discussion covering the US Presidential contempt for the rule of law, and the UK governments similar.

Grade point marks will be awarded for noting that Richard Nixons claim that "it's not illegal when the president does it" has (a) been used by subsequent US presidents; and (b) seems to inform the current UK government stance on Brexit.

Merry Xmas !

Wonderful - watch this: Teresa May and the Holy Grail !

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7qOyT3ZkUxI

Forgive me if I have missed it, but has David Davis made any comment on his promise to resign on Damien Green's departure from office ?

Just wondering if anyone has tried to hold him to account...

Forgive me if I have missed it, but has David Davis made any comment on his promise to resign on Damien Green's departure from office ?

I think it was an advisory promise.

It was one of those promises that was just a possibility arborea

Looks like they didn't consider the tax implications of those large donations:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/dec/24/brexit-campaign-tax-demands-boris-johnson-michael-gove

I have just been semi sleepingly listening to a R4 programme about Brexit and there was a direct quote from DD (can’t remember when he said it) basically saying that a democracy that can’t change its mind ceases to be a democracy and I just thought ‘Yes, Gotcha!’. It somehow just crystallised things for me.
Most reasonable people accept that, if a decision is taken in good faith, but subsequently turns out to have been taken on the basis of false information, and more and more information comes to light indicating that this decision is actually going to be a catastrophe, it would be idiotic to just keep blundering on.
Robert Peston was on there and gave a really common sense summary of how Parliamentary democracy is supposed to work. He said that politicians, who have access to highly informed civil servants with specialist knowledge, shouldn’t be able to say about something with such huge ramifications, ‘I dunno. this is too difficult.Let’s ask the public’.
So many politicians have demonstrated that their knowledge about the EU and the logistics of leaving are virtually non existent so how do they expect Joe Public to decide?And that is absolutely not to say that voters are thick. I have a Politics degree (admittedly from a long time ago) and I don’t consider that I am nearly well enough informed about the EU to make such a huge decision.
After capital punishment was abolished, a majority of the population supported it for years - I think it has recently tipped below 50% - but Parliament always voted against bringing it back and there weren’t mass protests of people demanding that hanging be brought back as it was the will of the people. The public generally accepted the right of the MPs that they had elected to make that decision on their behalf.

Arborea DD has made his promise and has eaten it

Happy Christmas Westministenders

And a Christmas message from the non-leader of the Uk:

I have just been semi sleepingly listening to a R4 programme about Brexit and there was a direct quote from DD (can’t remember when he said it) basically saying that a democracy that can’t change its mind ceases to be a democracy and I just thought ‘Yes, Gotcha!’. It somehow just crystallised things for me.

That's been (re) quoted many time here. Assuming it's original (and not a rehash of Voltaire or Coke) it's a wonderfully succinct statement.

I missed this on Weds, but it seems the amendment to set the date of Brexit (to 29.3.19) was passed by 319 to 294 votes. This was, I believe, the one against which the 'rebels' had threatened to vote. Dominic Grieve had said in November this move was 'incoherent and thoroughly stupid'.

www.google.co.uk/amp/www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-latest-theresa-may-date-leave-eu-uk-pressure-u-turn-scrap-exact-time-a8055166.html%3famp

He voted for it now though. I think the Govt added a sentence saying the date could be changed:
[Oliver] Letwin’s amendment tweaked the government’s own amendment, leaving the Brexit date (29 March, 2019) in the legislation, but giving MPs the power to push it back if the EU27 agree.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/politics/2017/dec/21/government-passes-bill-allowing-mps-push-back-brexit-date

Anna Soubry abstained though.

Oh, and Field and Hoey voted with the Govt.

lh There are many reliable sources that DD indeed said in a 2012 speech, criticising the EU
“If a democracy cannot change its mind, it ceases to be a democracy”.
e.g.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/david-davis-countries-democracy-brexit-vote-article-50-second-referendum-a7629636.html

Brexit Cabinet ministers pushing to protect zillionaire Leave donors from HMRC

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/dec/24/brexit-campaign-tax-demands-boris-johnson-michael-gove

Senior UK cabinet ministers have reportedly expressed concerns
after prominent leave campaigners who donated large sums to the Brexit campaigns during the 2016 referendum recently received tax demands from HMRC.
…
Eurosceptics have argued they will bear more of a tax burden for donations to the leave campaign than remain supporters, because the large donations were more likely to come from wealthy individuals or businessmen, not listed companies.

< they want HMRC exemptions / cake for being rich ? >

A HMRC spokesman said:
“Donations to campaign groups don’t qualify as exempt gifts to political parties, unless the recipient is a political party meeting the criteria set out in section 24 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984.

“No special exemption was granted ahead of the 2016 referendum.
Obviously, the legislation is applied equally to all organisations and groups.”

As a mental health nurse, I have serious doubts about Kate Hoey’s sanity.I will never forget that footage of her bobbing up the Thames with Fromage a few days before Jo Cox was killed. What is wrong with the woman? Why not just join the Tories as this cognitive dissonance would drive anyone bonkers?

Trump gloats with his wealthy chums over tax cuts he gave them

He himself became $15 million richer from these cuts

Expect the same here after Brexit, as the govt tries to entice the rich to remain ?

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/24/sanders-attacks-tax-plan-as-trump-celebrates-with-friends-you-all-just-got-a-lot-richer

Senator Bernie Sanders on Sunday refreshed his attack on Donald Trump’s tax cuts,
criticizing the measures for making cuts to middle class Americans temporary but those to corporations permanent.

Sanders’ criticism came as a report claimed Trump had said to wealthy guests at a dinner at Mar-a-Lago on Friday evening,
“You all just got a lot richer”.