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.

Hunt's wife is Chinese.

I think the most frustrating thing in all this is watching all the "no more foreign aid" Brexit types spouting off about Britain's special place in the world while clearly not paying the slightest attention to China's steady, careful, determined rise.

Indeed. The signs are there for those who have eyes to see. It reminds me of my late DF talking about WW2 and how you could read between the lines if you chose to e.g. "the Maginot line is said to extend to ... " i.e. it doesn't extend to where it was supposed to go.

China's ambitions and tactics shouldn't be a surprise to anyone with their eyes remotely open.

Sam Coates Times @SamCoatesTimes
For those - many many normal people - - who don’t follow every twist and turn of the last 24 hours in British politics, here in summary is where we are:

Totally unclear whether the UK political classes are one step closer to sanity or one step close to calamity

The BBC World Service used to have one of the best reputations for balanced reporting from around the globe. It was funded by the Home Office and it's budget was slashed a few years back. it stood for fairness and even handed discussion which rubbed off on all who listened to it. The cost/benefit ratio was good, it 'promoted' a sensible view of the world. More efficient than many of the foreign aid budgets.

@RTB
You mean this is real? I thought it was a new script for 'Yes Prime Minister'.

@10DowningStreet
The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of @Geoffrey_Cox QC MP as Attorney General attending Cabinet. Her Majesty has been pleased to approve that he be sworn of Her Majesty's most honourable Privy Council.

Tory MP Geoffrey Cox resigns from sleaze watchdog after failing to declare hundreds of thousands of pounds

Tory MP failed to declare hundreds of thousands of pounds of outside income on time despite sitting on Parliament's sleaze watchdog

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/11940456/Tory-MP-Geoffrey-Cox-resigns-from-sleaze-watchdog-after-failing-to-declare-hundreds-of-thousands-of-pounds.html

Glad to see so many white men getting the opportunity of cabinet positions. Well done boys.

Yep, this is a real hang out for Jeremy Corbyn fans.

Anyone who can come up with a vaguely possible plan and can attempt to back it up is very welcome here. Those promoting unicorns only may get a bit of a battering however.

Jeremy Corbyn has hardly got a mention this evening.

I have to say, I thought Emily Thornberry was commendable on c4 news tonight. After all the wet soundbite nonsense from Rees-Mogg, she succinctly outlined Labour's ambition for a soft Brexit.

I'm getting pretty desperate, I know, but it was like a breath of fresh air. If there is a GE and labour come out fighting with full customs union, a mangled version of single market membership and pausing the a50 clock (which I do think the EU would grant, if labour were to win) so they could have some grace to get ducks properly in a row, they could really win. For all Labour's many faults, they could be head and shoulders above the hilarious* mess that's going on in the Tory party right now.

*gallows humour.

Well, that's the economy buggered if she stays on:

In the HoC, Ian Blackford (SNP) asked May if she would work with all parties to ensure the UK stayed in the Single Market (and the Customs Union) for National Prosperity.

May said 'No'

So, as we thought, at best it's Canada Dry

However, the EU won't even agree to that, without an NI backstop, without time limit, that will definitely be used until the technomages produce a IT solution
(this will probably be when peregrina & I are no longer still around)

Funny that Her Maj didn't go to Louis' christening today.

Obviously knew she'd have writer's cramp approving all the new cabinet appointments!

View from abroad:
mobile.twitter.com/rtenews/status/1016334038934740992

RTE
"Theresa May says if the EU continues on its current course there is a big risk of a disorderly no deal Brexit."

The comments btl are very unflattering about the UK govt & UK entitlement !

May
"I am happy to say that I continue to reject the protocol proposal - the so-called backstop - put forward by the EU earlier this year. The fact that that effectively carved Northern Irland out of the rest of the UK and would have kept NI in the custom union and most of the single market would have meant a border down the Irish sea. That is completely unacceptable to the government of the United Kingdom".

So not even Canada Dry

What the hell was everyone resigning for ?
If May stays, it's no deal

You mean this is real? I thought it was a new script for 'Yes Prime Minister

TV drama isn't that far fetched. Everyone would say it wasn't believable.

Steven Swinford @ steven_swinford
Eurosceptics are already bearing their teeth. 'It's a Remainer Government,' said one. 'They just don't care about Brexiteers any more'

Richard Johnstone @ richrjohnstone
"After resigning, we are shocked we are no longer in government," say people who resigned in order to not be part of the government.

It's really not a remain government. Not even close.

It makes you wonder just how hard brexit would have to be to satisfy some. Or whether they can even tell the difference between remain and leave.

www.thesun.co.uk/news/6736722/rebels-risk-a-no-deal-exit-nick-timothy/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
Conservative big beasts Boris Johnson and David Davis risk Brexit by quitting Cabinet — get ready for a no-deal exit

Nick Timothy predicts no deal

"i am not sure that I agree there Tanith. Give Cameron a bloody nose yes. Destroy the Tory party in revenge for Austerity - no. No because they are all extremely wealthy and won't be the ones to suffer from austerity."

I didn't really mean the leaders, but rather the ordinary people from deprived areas who felt they'd been left on the scrap heap to rot.

For two years now, they've been noticed as never before and their reasoning analysed. They've never had so much attention.

Ross Kempsall @ rosskempsall
During more than 13 years in Parliament new Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Jeremy Wright has said the word "digital" twice - Hansard #digitalrevolution

May put a lawyer in charge of social media...

Remember it's the DSCM select committee which is looking into Facebook antics.

Interesting.

Jennifer Williams @ jenwiliamsMEN
Know the government’s melting but feel the British citizen who died in a small town from a suspected Russian spy plot might warrant more attention tomorrow
also wonder whether if she hadn’t been homeless, if she’d had more social ‘status’, she might already have warranted more attention. I hope that’s not it. but it’s a nagging feeling

No just me with this opinion then. Jen Williams is a fab journalist. Maybe 'only' a local journalist, but I rate her better than a lot of national journalists who are supposed to be at the top.

John McKendrick QC 🇦🇮 🇬🇧 🇵🇦 🇪🇺 🏳️‍🌈
‏*@JohnMQC*

Meeting the worst Foreign Secretary we’ve ever had amongst the destruction of Hurricane Irma in Anguilla. Disinterested and out of his depth he cared nothing for our situation. Good riddance

twitter.com/JohnMQC/status/1016339437184266240

The fact that May is now saying that the backstop position is not acceptable demonstrates that the EU (in general) and Ireland (in particular) is right to insist on everything being in black and white and signed before progressing.

So at the moment, there's not much chance of trade talks getting anywhere not that DD was doing anything

This man isn't mincing his words on Boris.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/09/boris-johnson-resignation-self-serving-charlatan

(and he isn't especially nice about the rest of them either - including Cameron who he used to work for!)