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.

Glad people aren't giving up.

Can't Sinn Fein just take a slightly modified oath something like

" I do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to my role and be polite towards Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors, according to law."

lonely, yes, I agree. Surely there's an acceptable fudge? I feel like things are too serious now for them NOT to get over the oath thing somehow.

Or maybe a punctuation trick.

" I do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance. [ Then like a toast]Towards Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors, according to law."

prettybird - do you anticipate any problems with Scottish independence from the UK - eg in terms of the border between Scotland and England, which would then become a new border between England and the EU? And Scotland no longer being a member of all the zillions of things that it does/has as part of the UK?
If we've learned anything from the EU referendum result, it's that it is incredibly difficult / expensive / time consuming etc etc splitting up 2 bodies that are very closely entwined.
With all due respect to the SNP, they seem to have enough difficulty coping with the governing responsibilities that they have at the moment.

The only body that can adjudicate on entry to the House of Commons is ...the House of Commons.

So for an amended oath to be accepted, parliament would have to vote on it.

As we are seeing, parliament isn't voting on anything right now.

Toys'R'Us on the skids ...

www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/business-43213596/toys-r-us-facing-collapse-if-no-rescuer-found

I don't think Scottish independence will necessarily be easy - and it would have been a damn sight easier if the UK were still in the EU (remember, there isn't a "queue" per se to join the EU......it's wherever you meet the joining criteria, which Scotland on Day 1 post Brexit would meet and while the UK was a member we would've met post independence for the same reason )

We already have a lot of our systems which run differently but in parallel. For example our education system, our legal system and our NHS. And unlike the numpties in Westminster in advance of the EU Referendum, the Scottish Government produced a 470 page White Paper in advance of the Indyref, outlining its vision for how it would be achieved. Plenty to disagree with, but at least there was a starting point for proper debate.

The other difference is that we do actually co-own any of the UK wide services (plans for which were outlined in that White Paper). That includes the Bank of England, which despite its name, is actually the Bank of the United Kingdom.

With regard to the border: that's why the GFA and how the UK deals with it is so important. It's why understanding the difference between the Single Market and a (or even the ) Customs Union is so important. Otherwise there may need to be a hard(ish) border

.....and I think the SNP are doing a damn sight better running the Scottish Government than the Conservatives running the UK Government but I would say that, wouldn't I?

Not that anyone has asked me but my pennies worth is that there would be all sorts of headaches setting up an independent Scotland but longer term it is a much better option to be a country like Ireland rather than an ignored add on to Westminster as it sails out into the Atlantic by itself. I have given up on being Scottish, British and European and looking forward being British seems the least valuable asset.

Not that anyone has asked me but my pennies worth is that there would be all sorts of headaches setting up an independent Scotland but longer term it is a much better option to be a country like Ireland rather than an ignored add on to Westminster as it sails out into the Atlantic by itself

If Brexit does go ahead, then Scotlands argument for independence from Westminster is identical to Westminsters argument for independence from Brussels ...

s/EU/Westminster/

One of my friends and her dh voted No in the Indyref because she was concerned about Scotland's future in the EU - even though I tried to persuade her that the greater risk to Scotland's EU membership was if it stayed part of the UK .

I did extract a promise from her that if what I predicted came to pass, she would campaign for Scottish Independence. She is standing by that promise! (And so is her dh and his sons).

At the time of the indyref I was for staying

sentimentally I'm pretty Unionist. But at the end of the day its for Scotland to decide.

I would totally agree that the UKs membership of the EU played such a part in the IndyRef, that it would be totally understandable if Scotland wanted another.

@carolecadwalla
Alexander Nix of Cambridge Analytica asked about this. Says it’s untrue. Committee now invited @Arron_banks to give evidence. Can. Not. Wait

@Arron_banks
CA wanted a fee of £1m to start work & then said they would raise £6m in the states. We declined the offer because it was illegal.

popcorn?

Glad people aren't giving up.
Nope, wind's in the sails.

Apropos of nothing, but BBC series that aren't being revived ...

By The Sword Divided

The U.K. is currently engaging in a significant act of self harm for ideological reasons the way I see it Scotland gaining independence and rejoining the EU would be a pragmatic act for long term growth and stability. I have no interest in Nationalism for its own sake I just think we would be better off in all ways as part of Europe rather than part of a Brexit UK. I think we would be best of with what we have now right enough.

I don't know what it is, and I try to be scrupulously even-handed in my detestation of most politicains, but Liam Fox really does make my skin crawl.

I mean, Boris is a self-centred fool, Gove a sly backstabber, May out of her depth and so on (similar opinions are available about lots of the Labour cabinet too ), but there's something about Fox that really makes me feel quite ill.

Hi Hasenstein - here for a break ?

It's worth reminding ourselves, if not the world that both Boris and Fox have been sacked from previous cabinets - twice if I remember Boris correctly.

Funny the BBC doesn't use every opportunity to blindside them about whether they are sorry or not for that, like they did with Damien Green last week. FFS, even I felt sorry for him.

DGRosetti

. I need a good scrub down now and then. I look at it as detox.

Oops, sorry DGRossetti. I always spell Dante Gabriel's name wrong, too!

woman it's escalating

Adam Ramsay‏
@AdamRamsay
Nix just flat out denied this, which means that one of them is lying.

Arron Banks‏
More Arron Banks Retweeted Adam Ramsay
Nix & Cambridge Analytica are compulsive liars

Carole Cadwalladr
‏*@carolecadwalla*
More Carole Cadwalladr Retweeted Arron Banks
Whoa! Extraordinary claims from the man who bankrolled Brexit and previously claimed Cambridge Analytica helped them win...

Oops, sorry DGRossetti. I always spell Dante Gabriel's name wrong, too!

It's kind a mirror to real life, where everyone gets my surname wrong too DW didn't believe me, until she took it. (She also didn't believe it would draw insults, but that's England for you).

But it's always been a help rather that a hinderance. You'd be amazed how many chats it triggers when you are going for an interview ...

If it's any consolation I had to double-check your handle too :). I also find myself having to double check my own middle name, when I spell it, not being a native speaker.

woman it's escalating
Did we predict they'd turn on each other a little while back?
It would be better if some decent MPs like Yvette Cooper, Jo Cherry and Seema Malhotra could be drafted in to interrogate Banks. That committee had awful MPs questioning Nix.