Westministenders: The Slow Reveal

[RedToothBrush]

The DUP are playing silly buggers.
The EU are getting nervous and turning down the pressure.
The ERG still want Schroedingers Brexit.
The Budget is coming. So is a government defeat or climb down.
The M26 is closing.

Keep thinking of the glorious freedom your blue passport will give up whilst you search waste tips.

My head's spinning with all this. I don't understand half of it fully.

I just want to know if I should spend some of the money I'd saved up for Christmas on tins of beans instead. When are we likely to get a firm indicator of whether we're heading to disaster or not?

@Easilyflattered . No one is going to tell us. My suggestion is to add a couple of extras to your weekly shop of stuff you actually eat. Sounds a bit weird and freaky because we are all so used to the shops being full and what you want being there.
Think of it as being snowed in for a few days and what you would like to have - including soap and toothpaste.
If you want to go further then go further but just building a buffer of food is a good idea. You probably do it anyway and don't even realise. I know pennies are tight for everyone. Don't waste it and your precious storage space on tins of shit no one in your house eats. Don't get overwhelmed and think "why bother?". You aren't turning your home into Morrison's or wherever, just take it slow, steady and realistic.

If there's no deal by Christmas I'll start getting seriously concerned. But it's still most likely that something will have been sorted out by then (even if just an extension of Article 50). If not we will still have 3 months to plan - both as individuals and as a country.

Thanks to you both. I won't panic just yet, I'll just get a bit extra with each weekly shop.

We're not totally skint, we're just an average family who need to budget a bit, but the cupboards always got a bit tucked at the back. It's going to worse for any poor sod who doesn't have any slack in their budget

A whole 3 months for this bunch of tossers to plan for the country - terrific.

I think mid November things will start to ramp up. There is talk of a 13th December deadline but as one EU ambassador has pointed out, once serious money starts to be spent on no deal it starts to become politically more difficult for the UK to get a deal as the EU are starting to commit.

The danger is in thinking Dec is the (next) deadline, when the EU have already made the decision that they can't take that risk and have to commit to no deal themselves.

Ultimately 29th March does remain the last deadline, but my feeling is that once we get past mid Nov any soft, slow exit starts to get increasingly unlikely.

There will be a deal. There has to be, and I sure have my optimistic hat on here.

But honestly anything else would be pure treason.

This to me is the usual Theatre of the Absurd.

Hopefully!

Even if there is not a proper deal, there will be various mini-deals to ensure essential imports get to the UK. We wouldn't starve (but some disruption would be likely).

Glad you both trust these bunch of crooks to ensure we wont die.

@IrenetheQuaint Who exactly is going to be doing these mini deals? and what will it cost us all?

I am still wondering if anyone cares anymore. This has been dragging on for far too long. Maybe that was engineered, you know, just make people yawn and hope for the best.

Honestly, there is more talk of Meghan's baby than the potential fallout from this.

Are we just putting the blinkers on and hoping it will be ok, or are we just totally bonkers thinking this is all for our benefit.

"@IrenetheQuaint Who exactly is going to be doing these mini deals?"

The UK government will be doing them with the EU and a few other parties. The no-deal guidance on flights provides some explanation:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/flights-to-and-from-the-uk-if-theres-no-brexit-deal/flights-to-and-from-the-uk-if-theres-no-brexit-deal

Regarding that IT article ("Irish house prices are heading for ‘soft landing’ - S&P"): the words "soft landing" combined with "house prices" should fill anyone familiar with the Irish housing market with dread. That's what they said just before the economy fell off a cliff in 2007 - both the IT and SP were in the cheerleader camp back then, if I remember correctly.

Saying that, if Ireland must be subjected to Brexit now probably isn't the worst time - it feels like 2005 all over again...

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-deal-theresa-may-rejected-eu-offer-deadlock-billions-divorce-a8588941.html?amp

One of my DFs is an older British NI gentleman who sadly (for him) sees this going the way of Irish independence. That said he's always been very pragmatic and never a fan of the DUP. I know he gets infuriated that they're what some people think NI unionists are like.

That was remarked in the IT article, SmallAndFarAway, but I suspect the 'government source' is hoping his unfounded remarks will give the Irish government the jitters.