Westministenders: High Drama at The Ok Coral

[RedToothBrush]

3:00 p.m. Wednesday, October 26, 1881, Tombstone, Arizona.

After months of death threats from the Cowboy Billys, their long simmering feud with the law thing came to a head. The Earp Brothers and Doc Holliday faced the criminals down in a shootout.

Tomorrow's 'sleepover' is starting to feel like the Gunfight at the OK Coral.

The outcome of the real story was three of the outlaws were killed. Another two claimed they were unarmed and ran from the fight. Virgil, Morgan, and Doc Holliday were wounded, but Wyatt Earp was unharmed.

How many Brexiteers can we expect to roll over and resign from the Cabinet and how many will surrender to May and the Pro-Business lobby? ONly time will tell.

Please place your bets for the number of resignations and the number of 'I support the PM' comments.

But don't get too excited. The showdown wasn't the end of the matter.

One of the outlaws who legged it, filed murder charges against the Earps and Doc Holliday. It took them some time for them to be acquitted.

Then Virgil Earp was ambushed and disabled in the arm later that year in December and Morgan Earp was assassinated in March 1882. Wyatt Earp, then thinking he had no other option, went on a personal vendetta to kill the outlaws and then fled the state.

Given the Tory Cabinet and the perchant for stabbing each other in the back and settling personal scores, a repeat of a wild west gun fight, really doesn't sound too wildly off the cards now does it?

Buckle up. Its time to play at Chequers.

May would probably want a pal to run Brexit now, a safe pair of hands, who will work v closely with her & the Cabinet Office

• no more time for drama

Lidington ?

Also, she and Barnier could use these resignations as a good excuse to say they need a transition period after Brexit

• resignations mean new ministers must get up to speed etc

The EU really don't want to extend A50 / stop the clock, as it would mean UK MEPs after June and also let the UK retain voting rights and threaten to bugger up ordinary EU business if the UK govt don't get their way.
A transition could give more time, while avoiding this

lonelyplanetmum I agree, DD letter is badly written. Incorrect use of 'that' in second last sentence. Should be 'who'. Poor English is one of their 'things'.
But. No deal.
Yes Swedish Baker's majority is very slim. Was at a very jolly, very well publicly supported pro EU event on Saturday morning in a small town in his constituency. Many have a very realistic perception of him.

German view:

Der Bluffer tritt ab

"The bluffer quits"

DD always regarded here as a bluffer (as well as a stupid), because of his masterplan to hold out to the end and wait for the EU to blink.

http://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ausland/brexit-minister-david-davis-der-bluffer-tritt-ab-15681571.html

The bluffer quits I see that old Seehofer's poll ratings have gone south too. BCF

Davis has gone?

Good. His balloon is going to hiss and deflate rather than go bang if you ask me.

May is more liable to face a leadership challenge now (when Donnie arrives! Ha I joked about that being a possibility! Keep an eye on anyone who talks to Trump's team).

Let's see how this pans out. Gove says he supports May. Let's see how long that lasts too.

Not going to make any predictions on a leadership challenge just yet, other than to say I am not sure one can be avoided now.

AndrewAdonis @Andrew_Adonis

Just told @BBCr4today & @GMB that Mrs May now in same position as Callaghan in ‘winter of discontent’ & Eden after Suez - she has no policy which can credibly govern or unite the country. Resignation swiftly follows, one way or another
....
This is the end game of Brexit now that the government and Mrs May's policies are imploding. We need a people's vote so the British people can put an end to this tragic farce. People can then vote to stay in the EU to protect their jobs and their futures

Didn't Lidington write some tosh in yesterday's Observer?Of the Brexit will be wonderful, variety? Won't be sending oodles of money to the EU, will control our laws and borders. I.e. The full on Red Bus Brexit script writ large with not a word of detail, and no mention of the firms which are already making plans to wind up their businesses in this country and go elsewhere. (As indeed the wealthy Brexiters are too!).

(I don't remember whether it was him or another paper, but I wasn't impressed).

Stewart Jackson @ brexitstewart
It’s been a huge pleasure & a source of pride working with @DavidDavisMP, junior Ministers & the whole @DExUKgov team of dedicated and professional civil servants. What an experience! Goodbye & good luck delivering #Brexit and honouring the hopes & dreams of millions of Britons.

Sounds like he's gone too.

People can then vote to stay in the EU to protect their jobs and their futures

But would they? Sunderland were warned last time by Nissan that a vote to Leave would be detrimental, but they went ahead anyway.

As already said, one major difference is the change of Editor at the Mail.

Yup, woman All Seehofer's pandering to the anti-immigrant vote has done is to crash his "credibilty rating" to 25%.

However, that might actually mean the AfD gain a lot in the Bavarian elections, because CSU supporters are demotivated to turn out and vote for someone who sounds nearly as unpleasant

Guido Fawkes @ guidofawkes
Jeremy Hunt holding up Michael Gove as the only senior Brexiteer who supports the government's policy

www.newstatesman.com/politics/brexit/2018/07/david-davis-s-resignation-isn-t-one-theresa-may-should-be-worried-about

Interesting article about Steve Baker and he is guiding the ‘ultra’ brexiters.
It is not an exaggeration to say that Baker wields more personal influence than any government whip. His return to the ERG's WhatsApp group, the crucible of Tory mutiny, shows he is going to use it.
So basically he is the one who will toppled TM government. But for what instead?

@lonelyplanetmum
agree on the justification! Shoddy.

peregrina Who is impressive among the feasiblt candidates ?
I think we can say that May wouldn't dare - and wouldn't wish - any of the few outspoken Tory Remainers like Anna Soubry

Btw, I loved the Indie's description of her career

"she has a record of unusually free speech"
< sad it's unusual though for those on the liberal wing of the party to dare this >

Unfortunately, that is a career killer - unless one is a Brexiter

Power struggle between Grease-Smug and Baker for control of ERG?
Who is impressive? No one that I can see.

Listened over the weekend to Andrea Jenkyn bleating about all the emails she had received from her constituents saying how they felt sick and angry over May’s Chequers deal and they wanted hard Brexit.

Guess she doesn’t care about her husband’s constituents in Filton losing their jobs then?

There is always the minor snag that of Mrs May's 12 point plan, at least half of them are very firm EU red lines and others will be very difficult to negotiate as they are affected by the detail of the ones with red lines.
They need to be working on 'plan 4', something that might be vaguely achievable.

Well, I wonder what Jenkyn's husband's constituents have written?
"Yes please, let us lose our jobs and give us a nice redundancy package, and we'll retire to Spain"?

And meanwhile English people are waking to the fact that a lot of people are anti English (both within Britain and outside Britain) thanks to the WC.

So basically England now has to content with huge political instability due to Brexit AND divisions within the country that have been highlighted by the WC.

I’m not sure we coud have imagined a situation more divisive than that.

And once again: brilliant idea to end the Tory European divisions on Europe with a referendum David Cameron. Country in a mess and Tories more divided than ever. Fuckwitt.

Sam Coates Times@ samcoatestimes
David Davis on @bbcradio4 an argument for a very very different type of Brexit than the current government path, which carries a completely different set of pros (sovereignty) and cons (economic)

And meanwhile English people are waking to the fact that a lot of people are anti English (both within Britain and outside Britain) thanks to the WC.

That ought to give them some clue as to how easy it's going to be to negotiate trade deals with the rest of the world, and 'the country being open for business' in May's words. I found out a long time ago, that a lot of the rest of the world especially those who were colonised, do not like the English.

As an aside, I wonder how this week's political turmoil will play with the Trump visit?

Power struggle between Grease-Smug and Baker for control of ERG?

Why do we have an accepted insurrection within government anyway?
As I understand it this single issue group is funded by MP expenses and taking time away from constituency matters.

Andrea Jenkins said she had had about 400 emails, not just from her constituents, but from all round the country. I actually don't think that's that many, when you consider that up until last night she was one of the very few speaking out against the white paper.

I wonder how it compares to emails of support to Nicky Morgan or Anna Soubry when they were speaking out.

I wonder if you could put in a freedom of information request asking to see the research done by the tax payer funded ERG. Or is it as I suspect, that th don't do any research at all, but just plot how to crash the country out of the EU?