Westministenders: KAAAAABBBOOOOOOOOMMMMM

[RedToothBrush]

'Quick' Recap.

Once upon a time, despite warnings to the contrary after previously attempting to recreate a speech from the 1930s, Theresa May triggered a50.

A series of events, which included a disastrous unnecessary General Election and losing seats, ensured that we have Brexit by Timetable in which every piece of goodwill was burnt up a long time ago, and the EU decided to go "see ya then".

Only this General Election, made this politically impossible as well as practically impossible, given how this would destroy our economy.

So May did the only thing she could and agreed to lock us in with sufficient progress deal, which is legally binding, if no deal is agreed. Thus giving us in essence a choice between staying in the Single Market and Customs Union due to NI or breaking an international agreement which would destroy all our international credibility and trust.

Except none of the Brexiteers really grasped what was happening. Until this week.

In the meantime we still have had spectacles of Nadine Dorries asking on the infamous WhatsApp Group why we can't stay in the CU. Any Davis saying that he has now apparently 'changed his mind' on the matter. Not that Labour are any better, with Corbyn saying we can't stay in the Single Market and leave the EU. Except of course, Norway is in the Single Market...

Fast forward through a sex scandal that's swept through Westminster, installing self appointing the vampiric Gavin Williamson as Defence Secretary, we eventually ended up with a reshuffle which was possibly as pointless and as successful as the General Election. And Gavin Williamson is caught up in a sex scandal.

May has managed to drag the Great Repel Bill through the Commons, without breaking the party, but with much back room dealing and compromise with Remainers. Hailed as something of a victory by Brexiteers, this rather is a fools paradise. At what price to their ideological purity did this come? Is there much Brexit left? And there is much more to come in the Lords, with the LDs committed to working with Labour on securing at least 10 amendments. The two parties have a majority in the Lords if they work together.

Away from parliament we have had the glorious demise of Toby Young, who is forever to be remembered for eugenics.

As it has become apparent that we are increasingly looking like we are on track for BINO, the EU have told us, that we should have sucked up a compromise proposal earlier and now the Norway Option is off the table as we fucked that up by taking too long to disagree amongst ourselves and being arses to EU citz. I paraphrase slightly here, but that's about he long and short of it. Instead we get the pleasure of 21 months of the EU interfering in our law without representation. And we are already locked into this. Now Leavers can moan about this, and shock horror, actually be correct about it too! Transition will be up to 31st Dec 2020 at the latest. Which realistically is still too soon, not that any lying arsed Brexiteer is willing to admit to this. Yet.

The only way to get out of this proposal for better terms? Either beg the EU for something there is no way they will give us or revoke / extend a50.

The fall out from May's reshuffle is still going on in slow motion. Rees-Mogg has got a bigger platform to spout shit he knows nothing about, admit that he has never changed a nappy nor wiped his own arse, thinks women should give birth to football teams, and how he has never visited IKEA and has no plans to do so. Johnson has tried to build bridges. And effed that one up again. Gove has made us all be obsessed by plastic straws and turn into environmental maniacs because no other minister is good at press releases and media stunts. Arch Remainac Liddington, got Deputy PM and took over Brexshit even more from DExEU. Hunt is in no way after becoming PM and Greening is really pissed and when straight back to lead from the Naughty Step.

To cut the long story short: they all hate May and think she's shit

There are thought to be nearly 48 letters to trigger a leadership election in Graham Brady's hands. But not quite. And its not about the letters its about needing 159 MPs to no confidence her... but that is starting to sound more and more plausible in the face of Brexshit hitting the fan.

We now have a leaked impact assessment that we really were not supposed to see which is slightly less worse than Project Fear. But not by much. Its supposed to be by DExEU. Its been suggested that its actually by alt-DExEU aka the Cabinet Department (Robbins and Liddington).

Anyway, nothing is decided. May might zombie on forever. She won't, she's in a crowded field of Tories with stakes. But that sub-committee meeting on Wed 7th Feb is crunch time for something or someone.

Tick tock, tick tock, went the Brexit Clock.

Oh yeah and there's going to be a trade war between the US and EU. And there's some stuff about a ex-Belize diplomat. And Trump's coming to visit us.

Vast effort has gone in to those 'employment' figures BCF.
So much that has happened over the last 7 years makes so much sense now.

So many brexiteers up in arms about Soros donating money to anti brexit campaign. I pointed out to them there were plenty of millionaires backing brexit who are likely to benefit. But as always see no evil, hear no evil....

I saw this comment on a Facebook group discussing the so called "punishment" of the UK that was outlined in the leaked (but now officially released) EU document. I thought it was worthy of Westminstenders

"I told my parents I was leaving home. So there. I needed my freedom. But then they asked me to give my keys back! The cheek! They were actually going to lock me out! How unfair is that!!!!”

I also liked one of the replies, "And mummy is refusing to do my laundry any more too!"

- Or at least it would be, if it weren't that the consequences were so serious

Slightly off-topic, but good on Jo Swinson this morning for putting John Humphrys on the spot.

If he was one-tenth the interviewer he (or anyone else) thinks he is, I might have has some sympathy with him, as it did come across as a slightly digressive question.

However, his total and utter failure to challenge Swinson on what she was saying was cringeworthy (IMHO). She basically set out a stall that MPs are special snowflakes whose failures to be decent human beings is somehow more excusable than for the rest of us plebs. Or that's how I heard it.

There was a thread along those lines on Twitter too prettybird. I cancelled my library membership and now they won't let me borrow any books etc;

DGR - I had no sympathy whatsoever. JH was incredibly huffy with Jo Swinson when she asked him about Carrie Gracie - you could hear him bristling down the radio in a how-very-dare-you manner - and he came across as a complete cock. There was something quite Partridge-esque about the way he closed down the interview while continuing to haughtily self-justify. I'd love someone to ask Gracie what the email said if indeed she did receive one.

JH was incredibly huffy with Jo Swinson when she asked him about Carrie Gracie - you could hear him bristling down the radio in a how-very-dare-you manner - and he came across as a complete cock.

Well, yes. But the story - and interview - was about how Parliament intends to address the matter of sexual harassment within it's own walls. With the point that everyone else in the UK doesn't get to chose their courts and punishments like MPs.

Don't get me wrong - the emerging scandal of BBC pay inequality and the spotlight it is shining on the UK in general - is a disgrace, and I am completely supportive of all measures to address it. However Jo Swinsons question did nothing whatsoever towards that. Instead she took advantage of being in physical contact with another human being to bully them. Which isn't really advancing anyones cause. Unless we are moving into a new phase of "well they do it, so we may as well". And as a wise person once noted, an eye for an eye leaves us all blind.

And, frankly, my beef with John Humphies stems from the fact that he's cheerled so many Brexiteers on R4 in the past year, saving his "probing incisive" interview style for Remain supporters who can't say anything right.

I've not been following the minutia of the Carrie Gracie story, so I'm not aware of what JH was supposed to apologise for. However, in the absence of a statement from Carrie Gracie that only a public apology would suffice, I think it was also a little off to have the fact a private apology was sent made public. Presumably Jo Swinson had Carrie Gracies permission to delve into that matter ? (And before the flamethrower comes out, I ask because I don't know, and want to know, not because I'm point scoring).

Brave of JS. People need to be challenged on air, live, very directly, much more often
Yes, Hester She was excellent, Humphreys continues to betray more about himself than is wise..

@faisalislam
Japanese ambassador in Downing Street unusually candid after PM meet with Nissan, Toyota, Honda etc:
“If there’s no profitability of continuing operations in UK no private company can continue operations...simple as that... this is all high stakes all of us need to keep in mind.”

@faisalislam
also... “Customs union is one method....” for frictionless trade.. “Japanese companies have come to UK by invitation by solicitation [to access Europe] therefore it is expected that they will have free access”

So that's that then.
Wonder why the DT decided to run with that article today.

I think we're going to have to disagree about whether Jo Swinson was fair to JH or not - I was applauding her asking him. I think he behaved in a disgraceful way and, as is so often the case, seemed a lot sorrier that he had been caught than regretful about what he had said. His "blokey bantz" with Jon Sopel made me fume and I have no issue with someone taking him down a peg or two - he seems to think that is his mission in life with any politician who has a view that he does not share. His whole manner subsequent to Swinson's "irrelevant" question (not irrelevant to me, I'd really like to know if he apologised to CG afterwards and it isn't exactly unknown for Today interviewers to throw in a topical but off-brief question anyway) reeked with haughty male privilege.

Whether the private apology should have been made public doesn't particularly worry me - I'm thrilled that Humphrys has had to agree to a pay cut though. Hopefully he'll decide a mere £350k (or whatever the new cap is to be) isn't worth getting out of bed for and he'll disappear into a long-overdue retirement .

haughty male privilege other expressions are available, but that'll do nicely lala

I think we're going to have to disagree about whether Jo Swinson was fair to JH or not - I was applauding her asking him. I think he behaved in a disgraceful way and, as is so often the case, seemed a lot sorrier that he had been caught than regretful about what he had said.

The problem is though, when a politician deflects an interviewers question by talking about their agenda, rather than the question asked we (rightly) criticise the evasion/deflection. So in this interview, Jo Swinson evaded/deflected (however well intentioned) - the very behaviour we criticise in other politicians. Which just underscores the asymmetric nature of the relationship between media, power and the public ....

His "blokey bantz" with Jon Sopel made me fume

I have to admit I didn't hear it, but I trust your reaction enough to know it would probably have annoyed me at the least.

Anyway, agreement to disagree noted.

Drifting waaaaaaaaaaaay OT, did anyone ever catch "The Secret World" a few years back. It was an R4 comedy show with impressionists doing celebs to surreal scripts. JH was taken off to a T, with a running joke that he was being stalked by Al Pacino who was convinced the BBC was an organisation set up by aliens. This was interspersed with Alan Bennet replying to every single spam email he got after finally getting online.

I guess you had to be there .

Faisal Islam @faisalislam
^So @JacobReesMogg just turned up at Number 10....
he was handing in a petition against the 0.7% aid budget, did an impromptu live @SkyNews interview said he would be “so presumptuous” as to be measuring the Number 10 curtains...^
I think Rees Mogg also just compared Japanese cars which he says post Brexit and post customs union there would be zero tariffs, rather than 12% tariffs to Peugeots “which probably won’t work”
Peugeot is now owner of Vauxhall, with plants in Ellesmere Port and Luton ... it might be worth saying
Also... Japanese car imports and parts into the EU are already due to have a zero tariff under terms of EU Japan agreement, terms of which UKG will apply

Japanese ambassador in Downing Street unusually candid after PM meet with Nissan, Toyota, Honda etc:
“If there’s no profitability of continuing operations in UK no private company can continue operations...simple as that... this is all high stakes all of us need to keep in mind.”
also... “Customs union is one method....” for frictionless trade.. “Japanese companies have come to UK by invitation by solicitation [to access Europe] therefore it is expected that they will have free access”

Remember the memo the Japanese got.

Remember how Margaret Thatcher made a special promise to Japan re the car industry about investment - and how this could leave us open to getting sued.

What a joke. How stupid does this JRM think British people are? (The answer probably is "Demonstrably quite thick")

You know what boils my piss?
Being called an elitist liberal snowflake by privately educated, upper class, independently wealthy white men!
😡😡😡😡😡😡
Im a working class woman who earns minimum wage
I supposed that's the real genius of the true elite....convincing the poor to vote against their best interests....?

I supposed that's the real genius of the true elite....convincing the poor to vote against their best interests....?

Ken Livingstones observation that if you treat people as middle class they will vote as middle class ....

Being called an elitist liberal snowflake by privately educated, upper class, independently wealthy white men!

Welcome to Orwellian Britain

It is quite something alright, MrsReynolds. I am still astounded at Frank Field having a go at Hilary Benn about people who had to buy their own house. All the absolute bustards sitting opposite him and he chose to have a go at Benn. People who think the poor are just dreadful, and the disabled or down at heel should be lucky enough to receive charity. Benn replied that he also bought his house himself. But that is neither here nor there.

The trouble is they do believe JRM. I've seen loads of brexiteers saying just tell the EU to sod off we'll buy Japanese cars and calling for tariffs on goods coming in to punish the EU. Some of them really aren't that bright and believe everything they're spoonfed.

One guy was bitching about Soros so I pointed out that the leave campaign has plenty of millionaires in it for their own rewards. He actually believes that JRM will be worse off after brexit and that JRM is prepared to lose money because he's so principled over brexit. Part of me thinks brexiteers have a big shock coming and the other half wishes I was on whatever they are.

I am still astounded at Frank Field having a go at Hilary Benn about people who had to buy their own house

Frank Field has a few issues, I think.

red wrote a while back about the importance of local papers in all this. Anyone else spotted anything in their locals?

Stop taking us for idiots': Theresa May facing Brexit backlash from North East employers

North East business bosses react to warnings Brexit will cause huge damage to the region's economy

www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/stop-taking-idiots-theresa-facing-14264972

I'm waiting for the backlash woman
I'm just not seeing it 😔

We're not allowed to see it MrsR.

There's this MrsR We'll see...........

@PolhomeEditor
Up to 80 Labour MPs now prepared to rebel against Jeremy Corbyn over party's Brexit stance, and demanding members are given a say.

Delurking.
Thank you Red.

www.lecho.be/dossier/brexit/La-Belgique-decroche-un-nouveau-trophee-avec-le-Brexit/9970945

Frank Field was a Tory member when he was young.