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.

Good advice from annandale. Write to your MP, falcon and make clear that all this fannying around is killing small businesses/causing them massive anxiety.

falcon All your questions remain unanswered.

Services don't seem to have been covered in this pyjama party release
and anyway, all UK govt efforts on services to date have been concentrated on City passporting, not services from small businesses (who don't make large donations to the Tory Party)

Unless there is something like a Norway+ deal - which imo is still only a 50:50 chance - the UK will end up as a third country,
in which case you would have the same issues as a business from say Nigeria in trading with the EU.

Sorry, but you are in a similar position to all those large firms who've been demanding the govt give clarity for the future. If they haven't been reassured, then noone else has.

Unfortunately, small businesses often don't have the reserves to weather "temporary teething problems" after Brexit, or the reserves & economies of scale to set up contingency plans, such as EU mainland offices.
There was a recent warning from the organisation of Small Businesses that those of their members who depend on EU trade may get into serious difficulties.

May & the Tory party are only interested in avoiding party splits.
They only think from day to day

They neither know nor care that businesses have to plan for the coming years and need concrete information about the trading environment from 1 April 2019

The policy is "F@@k business"

Major EU-Japan free trade deal to start early 2019

http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=1885
…
Once procedures are finalised both at the EU level and in Japan, the agreement will enter into force in early 2019.

Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström said:
"I'm very pleased that EU member states have now given their formal backing.

The EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement is the biggest and most advanced bilateral agreement ever negotiated by the European Union.

It creates a free trade zone covering 600 million people and a third of global GDP.
< the Uk wants to leave that … >

Together with our Japanese partners we are sending a strong signal to the world that we still believe in open trade and that protectionism is never the answer.

The economic benefits of this agreement are clear.
It will eliminate the vast majority of duties paid by our firms and simplify customs procedures across the board.

The deal will open huge market opportunities for both sides.

European agriculture also has something to celebrate, with access to the enormous Japanese market
and protection for over 200 distinctive food and drinks, like Champagne and Parma ham"

So we need to shift the EU to consider a third model

As my late DM sometimes said about my DB ...

Who's the big "I am" then?

I think I've said this here before , Gove reminds me of Tom Ripley.

If you read the TM and 10 Downing street tweets it seems to have finally united the country in unhappiness with her 12 step plan (AA anyone?)

It creates a free trade zone covering 600 million people and a third of global GDP.

And that's without the US ...

What's happening to the US now is what happened to Britain after 1918. It's slowly becoming less influential. Pure logic dictates that at some point, a collection of over half the planets population will overwhelm one-twentieth (or whatever the US population is as a fraction of the total).

The problem is the US - much like the UK - doesn't really do partnerships. Alliances where it's top dog - yes please, lots of those. Particularly military alliances. But true two-way partnerships ... not for us. Or indeed US .

Merely being pragmatic, I feel that Leavers whose reasoning was "closer ties with the US" are barking up the wrong tree. The US is so last century. We need to look East. It might mean some humble pie for our former behaviour (Brexiteers might need someone to teach them history here). But it's where things are right now.

Manned Chines mission to moon before 2025, anyone ?

{ "temporary teething problems" } @BCF, I loved this understatement, made me chuckle on a Sat morning.
On a wider view, IF the EU were to 'permit' trade agreements outside the current EU framework (what the UK wants) then the likes of Germany, who already do about twice the trade we do would rub their hands in glee and do their own 'deals' and as they have an attitude of proper investment, do far better than us.
@Falcon, yes write to your MP, in fact if you know others with ANY small business, get them to write too. They won't have an answer because not even Mrs May has an answer at the moment but it will ramp up the pressure.

A well-written critique of the ridiculous, childlike Brexiters' position. (I want it, you get it for me! Waaa!)

Should be read by every voter in the country.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/06/the-guardian-view-on-the-cabinet-brexiters-vacuous-dreary-and-incapable-of-responsibility?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

The bit that jumped out at me from May's letter was

"So we need to shift the EU to consider a third model

And this new model must provide for the friction-free movement of goods "

So very self-centred.

So just why should the EU do something just because the UK "needs" it - and more to the point, why must they allow free movement just the UK says so? Between NI and RoI, yes - and they've already said that they'll make an exception for that. But it's not a Carte Blanche for the rest of the UK.

Interesting election results from Thursday. Isn't Kingsmead Rees-Mogg territory?

R5 Live news leads with "Ministers have agreed a plan to create a free trade area with the EU....this will be....[etc]"

So the EU doesn't have a say in this? The UK finally snaps its fingers and the EU rolls over and agrees that what the UK decrees will happen

Yes, I’m sure all EU leaders are just waiting for TM to tell them what to do!

From @Hester's Guardian clip. I like the second 'comment' below the actual article saying the Guardian's comments were so pathetic and denouncing them as worse than the 'rag' papers.
The whole situation has gone beyond party politics, none of them can pull a sufficiently large rabbit out of a hat to 'save' the UK unless it is true 'Remain', and even that will not be good enough as a significant number of bigger businesses will have heeded the way that the Gov (of all sides) treat business so have lost confidence.
Mrs May and 'rabble' are simply pouring more petrol onto the fire.

I see the EU 'reply' as like show and tell at nursery. Mrs May can stand in the middle of a circle of the other 27 and they can all shout simultaneously 'F£$% Off'.

Agree pretty.

And 54321 yes, haven't we now got to the point where we say, well all the projected upsides are impossible; the latest proposal is very close to 'remaining but without agency', that what IS the point in leaving at all?

Any 'projected upside' would have to be by close alliance to either the USA, Russia, China or the EU (not sure if there are many other large trading blocs). So, which is it to be? Which of them will say 'oh you poor dear, come and enjoy new prosperity joining us with absolutely no strings attached'.

A win, makes Brexiteers making noise less likely
Aren't men funny....
I do hope 'england' lose, for so many reasons.

I dream of Theresa May expanding her new-found Nanny authority to tell the public:

“World Cup win or Brexit: which do you want? Because you can’t have both!”

Anyone care to guess which they’d choose?

Actually I think N Korea is looking out for new friends, maybe we can form an alliance with them? 11 years 'national service' will certainly sort out youth unemployment. Fruit picking sorted too, do it or you starve.

Does anyone remember the agreement signed by the EU and the UK?
The one that laid the protection of EU citizens (sort of).
Did the UK not agree too to have à regulatory alignment with the EU anyway?
Because I thought that was something they couldnt get out off, which also means that TM proposal is only the consequence of that (bar a WTO of course)

Guy Verhofstadt pointing out to Andrea Jenkyns that we are not trading off with each other.

So the upshot is that we still want cake, but the cabinet have agreed that it's Victoria sponge instead of arguing over a tray bake/chocolate cake/etc?

With regard to this juvenile document.

Who is it intended for?
Why now?
Communications haven't been issued before, as it's supposedly all too jeopardising and secret?

Why does it contain some Leave pre referendum propaganda?
Why does it contain tosh?

Is the govt going to issue other messages about say attempts to address the Paygap by a weird notice?
Is it going to be airdropped into our streets and gardens during the Match?

It should of course say:
'taking back control of 0.7% of GDP.'

'implementing border monitoring which we chose not to before'

Also I got this from Labour Leave ( don't know why they think I'm a supporter..

How bizarre for an opposition subgroup to be indignant that the Tories aren't delivering for them.

"Last night the Prime Minister betrayed the nation, LPM.Theresa May and her quisling Cabinet have quietly knifed democracy, draped an EU flag over the corpse and now sit obediently at Barnier’s feet.

On Friday, the British government agreed to ensure we keep in alignment with EU rules, including state-aid prohibitions, crippling our ability to develop our own economy as we see fit. This effectively locks us into a single market on goods but not services - free trade where we have a big deficit, but not where we have a big surplus. Incredible.

The government has changed freedom of movement to ‘freedom of mobility’ - this theme is continued throughout May’s proposal: the fundamentals are largely unchanged, they simply have new names. LMP this is not what we voted for.

The Prime Minister has agreed to a “customs territory” meaning our ability to strike trade deals will be severely limited. Our weak Prime Minister has also agreed to our courts observing due regard to the European Court which means, effectively, we will not control our own laws. She has made clear the UK courts will sign off on any new laws, but the reality is quite simple: if the UK does not maintain complete legal alignment, the EU says no more free trade. This is recognised in May’s document, where it acknowledges failure to port over the laws would have consequences. This is a charade, sovereignty as little more than a pretty light show.

We have been betrayed.

The sell out we have been warning of has come. The Prime Minister has abandoned her manifesto. Parliament has abandoned the manifestos which 84% of the public voted for. Incredibly, May has managed to find a proposition which betrays Leavers, and yet still won’t satisfy the EU - make no mistake, there will be substantial climbdowns still to come.

The British people voted to take back control of their money, their trade, their borders and their laws. The Prime Minister has achieved not one of those commitments with her proposal today."

BrexitWife Expat protection is not definite until the Withdrawal Agreement has been approved by the Uk and the E27.

Until then, as DD says "nothing is agreed until evetything is agreed"

i.e. the UK (and EU) may take back any concessions on expats, NI & the due bill, unless the WA - in particular the future trade arrangements - if the WA falls through, or ends up as WTO