Westministenders: Groundhog Day

[RedToothBrush]

Groundhog day is 2nd Feb.

Its also today. And yesterday. And the day before. And the day before. And the day before. And the day before. And the day before. And the day before. And the day before. And the day before. And the day before. And the day before. And the day before. And the day before. And the day before. And the day before.

We have all turned into Bill Murray.

That's Brexit in the UK.

The only progress seems to be linguistic gymnastics not policy.

No action has been implemented, we are still on words going nowhere.

Tick tock, tick tock.

Nothing on earth makes me so angry as Tory arseholes pissing over the GFA because it disrupts their delusional fantasies. And as for Kate Hoey

The aftermath of WW2 brought many superbly talented MPs & cabinet ministers, "the big beasts," to both Tory and Labour parties.
Those who served were responsible adults, often with vision and a desire to make Britain better for ordinary people;
an unspoken social contract
even where the policies differed, these were common aims.

We had the advantage of such people right from the 1940s to the 1980s, when the quality and motivations started to clearly deteriorate
The sharp fall in talent really became apparent once Blair left - he had covered the lack of talent in depth with a superficial gloss

The govt / Brexiters could have chosen to avoid being held back by NI if they just cut the province loose, provided the RoI`& EU agreed to take over the huge subsidy and responsibility

but of course they would never piss on the Ulster Unionists, just on the Irish Nationalists

Britain has never been even-handed wrt NI, never an honest broker
Never honest at all in fact - so no surprise many want to break a treaty that won such huge majorities in referenda, both in NI and the RoI

The only constraints I see:
that the EU parliament or E27 veto any deal that weakens the GFA and does not fulfill the agreed A50 terms wrt the border
that the Irish-American lobby uses its muscle here, to slap down Brits who want to bully & stomp on Ireland

The govt / Brexiters could have chosen to avoid being held back by NI if they just cut the province loose, provided the RoI`& EU agreed to take over the huge subsidy and responsibilit

No argument here ... but now we see how the total and utter ignorance of the mainland English towards things Irish (which the IRA turned against us) falls out. 40,000,000 English would be more than happy to throw the few thousand DUP under a bus without even knowing they were there.

Anyone tweeted Julia Hartley Brewer's video rant where she'd just tell the EU to f off if they didn't do as she wanted? On Ian Dunt and Brexitshambles.

twitter.com/brexit_sham/status/965325386518327298

Who would want to be an MP now? I wouldn't...

Talented people have other avenues open to them, and right now I dont' blame them for taking them rather than pursuing any political ambitions.

But I agree with pp above, that what we are seeing at the moment is a crisis in leadership. May is a manager not a leader; Corbyn doesn't even seem to be trying to be a leader; the Lib Dems seem to have given up are in a period of naval gazing.

Also Ruth Davidson said 'untrue' things won't call them lies, trying to mislead people on Peston. Money, Citizens, NI.

Instead of asking how these things had been sorted, all Peston said was along the lines of 'great talking to you'. They can spout out any old prop and get away with it.

This is interesting. Icelandair to stop flying from Belfast to Reykjavik in May. Those with tickets can fly from Dublin instead. Icelandair relocating the route from the island as Dublin to Reykjavik.

As part of the 1billion bung the British Government agreed to commission a report into the impact of VAT and APD on tourism in Northern Ireland and to recommend how best to build upon the growing success of that sector.

www.breakingnews.ie/business/icelandair-to-stop-belfast-to-reykjavik-flights-from-may-828463.html

Since the UK govt cannot even agree with itself what they want for Brexit, EEA countries have to plan for a hard Brexit, just in case.

So, expect to see more switching from NI to RoI, airports and ports
and of course some switching from mainland UK.
The RoI may be getting a fair bit of new business, a Brexit windfall, which will help compensate for the Brexit mess the UK has dumped on them

The RoI may be getting a fair bit of new business, a Brexit windfall, which will help compensate for the Brexit mess the UK has dumped on them

They still need to send Westminster the bill though ....

The RoI may be getting a fair bit of new business, a Brexit windfall, which will help compensate for the Brexit mess the UK has dumped on them

They may get new business, but it will in no way make up for disruption and barriers to trade (particularly agriculture) that will be occasioned by brexit. They're preparing for a major economic hit.

The govt / Brexiters could have chosen to avoid being held back by NI if they just cut the province loose, provided the RoI`& EU agreed to take over the huge subsidy and responsibility. but of course they would never piss on the Ulster Unionists, just on the Irish Nationalists

Actually I don't think it's as simple as this. Firstly, under the terms of the GFA I think they owe it to the UU not to fire them under the bus (and I say that as a NI catholic) and secondly, it's not a given that the ROI would be happy to take NI on at this point.

However, that doesn't excuse the government's horrific negligence in failing to plan for NI in the event of a brexit vote. It's clear that they couldn't give the tiniest fuck about either side.

I do hope this guy will not be given too much air time. The comments beneath are mostly in support. I hate the continued demonisation of Muslims.

mobile.twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/965170754076602368

It seems Labour might be listening to us after yesterday's thread rant - Corbyn says UK will have to stay in the CU.

Asked how Labour’s position on Brexit differed to that of the government, Corbyn said: “We have to have access to European markets, we have to have a customs union that makes sure we can continue that trade, particularly between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. That is key to it.”

Private Eye has a very good Mogg cover-Brilliant.
Tried to upload but could not.

They're still fannying around with talk of 'a' customs union, though, and not 'the' customs union. If a change in article is all it takes to brexit then can't we be in 'a' single market instead of 'the' single market. Or -here's an idea, let's be part of 'a' European Union, just not 'the' European Union.
FFS everyone needs to start saying what they mean. If they mean 'the' customs union then they need to say it and then defend it -it isn't hard to defend - it will stop civil war breaking out in NI!
And if they don't mean 'the' customs union then they bloody well need to stop talking and start preparing the ground for something new.

"A" customs union sounds a lot more attractive than Theresa May ruling out "the" "a" or indeed "any" customs union as she did earlier this month. Getting the Corbyn tanker to change course is a very slow process but maybe it is happening?

Genius idea of belonging to "a" European Union, that could work .

This cover?

Robert Peston @Peston
Tory arch Brexiteers seek to bind cabinet’s hands ahead of that ministerial lock in on Thursday that is supposed to determine future EU trade relationship

62 signatories to an ERG letter to the PM.

Yes. Susan-thanks

Laurie A united Ireland is only feasible if the EU invest considerable resources into supporting it - as they did when RoI joined the then EC and was transformed

Also, I'm not suggesting that the NI Unionist be thrown under a bus, merely contrasting the idea with how ready Brexiters are to trash the GFA and throw NI Catholics under the bus.
One set of people can be trashed as they are "other"; the other set are 'our kind of people"

Sam Coates Times
Sam Coates Times
@SamCoatesTimes
Here's a piece of trivia about tonight's ERG letter - which I had all day then when I told the ERG they sent it everywhere. My version was subtly different. Names in different places. This variation allowed the ERG to work out where the leak came from, had I published

Spycraft!

That's how much everyone in the Tory party doesn't trust each other. They do different variations of letters to work out who might leak

I didn't publish my version of the letter. So the ERG don't know where the leak came from.

Laura Kuenssberg
Laura Kuenssberg
@bbclaurak

1. What matters about *@SamCoatesTimes*' scoop of Tory Brexiteer letter tonight - No 10 and Cabinet Remainers have been increasingly hopeful they could reach compromise this week, but now reminded in strong terms by eurosceptics they won't give much ground without a fight

1. ERG vision for crucial implementation phase inc WTO rules certainly different to what's been on the table, and it won't go unnoticed that number of signatories is WAY more than would be required to spark a leadership contest

1. With apologies for all the acronyms, in short - Brexiteers on the backbenches have not given up either trying to stop the PM from compromising much on the EU deal or, perhaps more importantly, trying to persuade Cabinet Brexiteers to hold their ground

1. And this matters so much NOW (honest) because govt hopeful of finding a compromise at Chequers on Thursday that would be outlined in PM's big speech next week

Sam Coates Times
@SamCoatesTimes
So what does the letter from 62 Tory MPs mean? What do their demands amount to and how different is it from what the cabinet were likely to agree?

Here’s why it’s significant

1. Theresa May is being told by over 60 Tory MPs they will no longer support her brexit plans if members of the cabinet agree on Thursday to keep Britain too closely aligned to the European Union.

1. It’s signed by 4 members of the government (at a PPS level), four former cabinet ministers including one ex leader and on Tory Vice Chair (Kemi Badenoch)

1. But what of the demands. Of the six, two look the most significant. Firstly on alignment

Here’s our “translation” of what this pint means [photo 1]

1. Could it scupper the transition / implementation phase. Another of the six points suggests it can [photo 2]

1. The ERG claim this is all loyal and supportive of government policy. It’s actually a selective interpretation of government policy however, cherry picking Lancaster House passages

1. Remain supporting Tory MPs are angry about the letter [photo 3]

1. Get this: the letter was actually sent on Friday and didn’t leak til I got it last night. But Government appeared to pay a lot of attention: today Jacob Rees Mogg and other Brexiteers went into Number 10 to meet Theresa May to discuss its contents.

🙄

1. Downing Street say they welcome all contributions from across the party. As well they might.

Lesson: think twice before revealing you have a leaked doc. And remember just how much Tories don’t trust one another that different versions of letters have different markings.

What a lot of shy brexists didn't sign that letter, red.

Sam Coates got the a leaked version of the letter above but didn't publish it. Instead he asked around about it. And it was suddenly public as every journo had a copy.

Laura Kuenssberg @ bbclaurak

1. What matters about @SamCoatesTimes' scoop of Tory Brexiteer letter tonight - No 10 and Cabinet Remainers have been increasingly hopeful they could reach compromise this week, but now reminded in strong terms by eurosceptics they won't give much ground without a fight
2. ERG vision for crucial implementation phase inc WTO rules certainly different to what's been on the table, and it won't go unnoticed that number of signatories is WAY more than would be required to spark a leadership contest
3. With apologies for all the acronyms, in short - Brexiteers on the backbenches have not given up either trying to stop the PM from compromising much on the EU deal or, perhaps more importantly, trying to persuade Cabinet Brexiteers to hold their ground
4. And this matters so much NOW (honest) because govt hopeful of finding a compromise at Chequers on Thursday that would be outlined in PM's big speech next week

Sam Coates @ SamCoatesTimes
Here's a piece of trivia about tonight's ERG letter - which I had all day then when I told the ERG they sent it everywhere. My version was subtly different. Names in different places. This variation allowed the ERG to work out where the leak came from, had I published

Spycraft!

That's how much everyone in the Tory party doesn't trust each other. They do different variations of letters to work out who might leak

I didn't publish my version of the letter. So the ERG don't know where the leak came from.

So what does the letter from 62 Tory MPs mean? What do their demands amount to and how different is it from what the cabinet were likely to agree?

Here’s why it’s significant

1. Theresa May is being told by over 60 Tory MPs they will no longer support her brexit plans if members of the cabinet agree on Thursday to keep Britain too closely aligned to the European Union.

1. It’s signed by 4 members of the government (at a PPS level), four former cabinet ministers including one ex leader and on Tory Vice Chair (Kemi Badenoch)

1. But what of the demands. Of the six, two look the most significant. Firstly on alignment

Here’s our “translation” of what this pint means
«««««

1. Could it scupper the transition / implementation phase. Another of the six points suggests it can

««««««

1. Could it scupper the transition / implementation phase. Another of the six points suggests it can

1. The ERG claim this is all loyal and supportive of government policy. It’s actually a selective interpretation of government policy however, cherry picking Lancaster House passages

1. Remain supporting Tory MPs are angry about the letter

1. Get this: the letter was actually sent on Friday and didn’t leak til I got it last night. But Government appeared to pay a lot of attention: today Jacob Rees Mogg and other Brexiteers went into Number 10 to meet Theresa May to discuss its contents.

🙄

1. Downing Street say they welcome all contributions from across the party. As well they might.

Lesson: think twice before revealing you have a leaked doc. And remember just how much Tories don’t trust one another that different versions of letters have different markings.