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.

Farage is the recognised leader of the Brexit movement

How humiliating for Boris and Gove though.

I'm just interested to see who of the main brexiteers will write a book in 20 years time, spilling the beans and admitting brexit was a mistake. I'm thinking Gove at the moment.

Or Johnson ? He's more the author (quite a good one).

This is what happens when a celebrity/media obsessed population finally gets the politicians it deserves. I would wager that if you could find a way of breaking the cabinets thoughts down, you'd find they are devoting 1% the the problem in hand (Brexit) and the other 99% to the political equivalent of "does my bum look big in this ?"

I recall reading somewhere that for all his Sunnines, Jim Callaghan had zero patience for such ministers ... you would have heard the first time if you hadn't been making notes for you memoirs

Actually the best candidate for a history of Brexit might be Spreadsheet Phil - he's relatively untainted at the moment.

"I'm thinking Gove at the moment."

Good thinking, "Brexit: how I sold Britain to a very nice Russian lady".

lonely Farage and some others have had their salary docked, because of misusing EU funds for party political activities in the UK.

However, they will still receive their 70k per year pensions after Brexit until they die

• they have a guaranteed soft landing from Brexit

How humiliating for Boris and Gove though.

Right now, being associated with Brexit is starting to look toxic.

(P.J. O Rourke once make a jibe about Lloyd Bentsen (Micheal Dukaksis' 1992 running mate) saying that a 1993 survey showed that 80% of Americans didn't recognise the name ...

That's great news, it means Bentsen only has to get 20% of the public to forget he ever had anything to do with Dukasis )

Could the letter of last week may be seen as some sort of point ? I think the 62 (or whoever) lost an awful lot of credibility by basically sending an unsigned threatening letter. Suggests weakness, not strength. Mario Puzo fans (in a nod to another thread I read "The Godfather" aged 11) will remember the Don lost respect for enemies that made threats that weren't necessary.

I agree that's logical, save for the fact that the Kremlin has talent, intelligence, money and experience. They would recruit someone much better than a third rate radio show host.

Everyone needs a useful idiot to take the blame if it goes wrong. Why expose your best assets?

I bet Farage is so starstruck by Trump etc that he's probably easier to manipulate.

I don't think it's Trump that is doing the manipulating.

The useful idiots, also those who are venal or blackmailed, are expendable

The best assets, e.g. longterm moles or "Agents of Influence", rarely get exposed
They are tucked deep into the heart of the British State
They just keep truckin'

On the rare occasion the best guys are rumbled and arrested, the former USSR had a great record for getting them back:
either jailbreaks like George Blake (assisted by other sympathisers) or by grabbing Uk spies or just entrapped idiots and doing a swap.

Expect Putin to follow that tradition of looking after his moles & stooges.

Labour backs staying in EU customs union, Keir Starmer confirms

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/feb/25/labour-backs-staying-in-eu-customs-union-keir-starmer-confirms

The shadow Brexit secretary has formally confirmed that Labour wants the UK to effectively remain permanently in the EU’s customs union.

Sir Keir Starmer told The Andrew Marr Show on BBC One on Sunday
the shadow cabinet had unanimous support for the new policy,
which Jeremy Corbyn will flesh out in a speech in Coventry on Monday.

Interesting.....

The Brexit vision that reveals England’s perfidy over Ireland

I hate to admit it, but all those IRA supporters monotonously repeating that England should never be trusted to keep its word … were right

www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/feb/25/brexit-vision-england-perfidy-over-ireland-good-friday-agreemnt

As Corbyn shifts Labour towards soft Brexit, Tory jitters grow

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/feb/24/jeremy-corbyn-shifts-labout-soft-brexit

Labour’s expected move on staying in a customs union will embolden its own MPs – and Tory rebels
…
“We are going at a snail’s pace, but at least the snail is moving,”
was how one Labour frontbencher described the tortuously slow evolution of his party’s policy on Brexit last week. “

The question now is, can we hurry the bloody thing along to where it needs to be before it is too late?”
…
“Jeremy and his people will try to play this down,” says one shadow cabinet source. “He is a lifelong Eurosceptic.

But it is very significant.
It moves us decisively away from the Tories and away from hard Brexit.
It rejects the Tory model of global Britain, under which they would spend years trying to agree trade deals across the globe.
And it will sort the Northern Ireland problem out, which otherwise would be a nightmare.”

I actually think labour have played a blinder. If JC stands up tomorrow and lays out the case for a customs union he will essentially have solved most of the issues of brexit. TM is now going to have to defend her policy of hard brexit on Friday and explain how she's going to do it. Because if she doesn't all the debates will then centre on tories having to solve all the ongoing problems while labour sits smugly saying our policy solves that issue.

I probably still won't vote labour as I'm determined to vote for a pro European party that supports EU membership but TM is going to be on the back foot.

I know the die hards will tell labour they are not respecting the ref but I suspect most people wouldn't really be too bothered about staying in the customs union.

In a riposte to the article which claimed that nearly 40 'brains' backed Brexit:

More than 1,400 academics have written to The Sunday Times urging that Britain remains in the EU. Below is the text of their letter, followed by the complete list of signatories.

"You report that “nearly 40” academics have come together in support of Brexit (“Brainy Brits come out for Brexit”, News, last week). We would like you to know that there are very many more who are of the opposite view."

Does give the impression that Remain is backed by intellect and thinking. (Don't know how that will go down with Leavers...)

Sorry paywall.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/brains-for-remain-full-letter-bp8z30t5d

Can’t gwt behind the paywall but if the headline is really reflective of what’s happening...

Tories hire army of tweeters to take social media fight to Labour

www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/02/24/tories-hire-army-tweeters-take-social-media-fight-labour/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

www.facebook.com/scientistsforeu/videos/1278986455536694/

And there's the rub Susan. Labour bending over backwards to keep / win over Remain supporters BUT you and Anna Soubry / Ken Clarke supporters would still NEVER vote for them.

If I were TM I would be tempted to tell her rebels to put up or shut up if JC does come out with this stance.

Tories hire army of tweeters to take social media fight to Labour

One of the bitter pleasures of the past year (returning to the Leavers Lagoon) has been seeing the confusion of Brexiteers as their backing vocalists of paid bots has disappeared.

I vaguely recall reading somewhere that a CIA destabilisation technique for fermenting unrest in hostile regimes (along with blocking toilets) was to create a support surge for one side, and then withdraw it suddenly, causing chaos and confusion.

If I were TM I would be tempted to tell her rebels to put up or shut up if JC does come out with this stance.

Would that work? She has the soft Brexit faction in Soubry, Clarke, Rudd, Hammond, and the Hard Brexit faction, Johnson, Gove etc. She would risk fighting a battle on two fronts - which is not a good idea.

JC is coming out with this stance and I doubt there is anything TM can do to stop her rebels voting with labour.

In fact I would be surprised if the hard core tory rebels aren't fully prepared to be deselected at the next election but have decided this is a hill they are prepared to die on. In the meantime TM can't withdraw the whip as she has no overall majority and would risk another GE.

Apologies if it’s already been posted on here:

Brexit: Tory and Labour MPs sound alarm over moves to block Lords from changing Theresa May's EU withdrawal plans

Exclusive: MPs have raised concerns that the Government wants to avoid scrutiny of plans for post-Brexit customs arrangements

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-lords-theresa-may-plan-deal-block-government-labour-tory-conservatives-john-bercow-commons-a8225566.html?amp&__twitter_impression=true

That is precisely the point Susan. A new GE with Labour standing on this platform and Tory rebels with slim majorities like Soubry, Rudd etc might yet deliver the Brexit majority TM missed last time.

LibDem votes almost always help Conservatives at expense of Labour - see 2010.

Brexit: Tory and Labour MPs sound alarm over moves to block Lords from changing Theresa May's EU withdrawal plans

The joys of an unwritten "constitution" ...