Westministenders: Game Over?

[RedToothBrush]

May has a draft deal which she has presented to the Cabinet. Woohooo!

The catch is, it doesn't mention the Irish Border. Just a minor point. This is because she has no way forward on it. There are so many red lines from so many different groups shes tangled up in knots with them.

She wrote a letter to the DUP to tell them to suck it up. Arlene has told her to stick it. And if she hadn't told her to stick it, Scottish Tories would have told her to stick it. David Davis has told her to stick it. Rees-Moog has told her to stick it. And this afternoon, one of the Ministers for Queues at Dover, Jo Johnson, told her to stick it and that we need a people's vote. On top of that, her plans to try and get cross party support and get the Labour Party to support it, have suffered a blow as Momentum voted to tell May to stick it.

In fact it might be harder to think of people who WILL support it.

Not that this is a surprise. We've all be aware of this for some time. Is it finally game over?

The government have at least seemingly realised that this month is the last opportunity they have for a deal. Dominic has also realised that Dover is quite close to France and this is quite a big deal.

The EU pushed back their meeting until the 27th. This coincidentally is the same day there is a decision over a50 at the ECJ and the right to revoke.

If May can't get her act together over the Irish Border, this might yet prove to be the last option open to her, to prevent Brexmaggeddon.

Jo Johnson is not too far from the mark with vassalage or chaos? Take your pick Mrs May.

We don't use STV in the Scottish elections STV arguably still perpetuates a two party system - although at least it permits relative preferences to be taken into account.

We have a hybrid d'Hondt - PR - system at Holyrood, with constituency MSPs and then list MSPs for larger regions elected under the d'Hondt system to reflect the proportions that people voted.

It was designed to ensure that an absolute majority of one party - only the SNP "broke" the system in 2011 to gain an overall majority (despite, iirc, not having an absolute majority of the votes) - but it worked better in 2016 to reflect the proportions of votes cast, resulting in a minority SNP government but an independence supporting majority in Holyrood (with the Greens).

It's the same system (without the hybrid bit) that is used in the EU elections. It's what Scotland, to its shame has one elected UKIP MEP, the execrable Coburn - the only UKIP elected representative in any capacity in Scotland (he only got in because the LibDem vote collapsed).

{But the ambassadors’ meeting was told, by Mr Barnier’s deputy Sabine Weyand, that there was no agreement on a joint review mechanism to allow the UK to break free of the Irish border “backstop”.

Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, raised the stakes when he insisted that decision must be made alone by the “sovereign British government”, without EU involvement.}
From Indy ref above.
Since when does a possible abandonment of the GFA with regard to a border in Ireland stop being a JOINT issue with the EU, and of course all the signatories of the GFA?
I can only presume he is being deliberately antagonistic by saying this at this late stage.

The UK had a chance to change voting system in 2012. It decided not to, so there's some merit in the feeling subsequent events are a result of that decision in some degree.

We did have the chance to change the voting system, but I don't recall there being any realistic discussion of the options and which system we might prefer. The AV system which was rejected isn't regarded as a proportional system.

I only see change coming when neither Labour nor the Tories are able to form Governments, and then they might wake up to the benefits of a PR system.

Maybe, post Brexit they will formally introduce the new parliamentary system, 'dog eat dog'.
A new 'shower' of leavers have popped up on another Brexit thread.

www.google.ie/amp/s/www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/brexit-shows-that-idiots-and-incompetents-are-in-charge-in-the-uk-1.3693980%3fmode=amp

The shower of Leavers have gone silent when someone asked them for 5 positives about No Deal.

I think they were on a 'timeshare' for the braincell and they are working out whose turn it is next.

pretty I was referring to STV in Scottish local elections - I think that's the system

‘Tsunami of vulnerable people’ [in NI] worried over impact of Brexit

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/tsunami-of-vulnerable-people-worried-over-impact-of-brexit-1.3693890

Michael Fallon, another veteran civil rights leader from the Northern Ireland movement of the late 1960s,
told the Liberty Hall seminar that

Brexit had polarised the North’s population,
and “threatens to remove or severely weaken mechanisms for protecting rights and equality”.

@tnewtondunn
So, the likelihood is now a December 13/14 summit, which pushes the Meaningful Vote into January. Will be very tight to pass all the ensuing Brexit deal legislation in less than 3 months, meaning Article 50 could have to be extended by a month or two.

Why would they extend it for more of the same crap from the UK. We had two years and we still seem no closer to sorting how to fuck over the GFA in a way that nobody notices.

^^There's won't be an extension, it'll be a hard Brexit.

A50 cannot slip back by more than a couple of weeks for various reasons.

Of course the timetable is now gone as the Nov deadline has slipped. It'd now take a miracle to avoid a hard Brexit.

Did someone mention rabies, earlier ?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46180330

A Briton has died after contracting rabies while on holiday in Morocco, health officials have said.

Public Health England said the victim became infected after being bitten by a cat

(contd)

I have a soft spot for the Alternative Vote and was sorry we didn’t get it after that referendum. No it’s not ideal but it’s fairer than FPTP. Also it was always the method invented by Y9 once they realised the iniquity of FPTP (used to do this at election time under the guise of percentages/interpreting graphs).

{(used to do this at election time under the guise of percentages/interpreting graphs).}
From that Irish times link above, on tat page is another 'report' about a group of schoolgirls in Crossmaglen who think the 'Adults are making a mess of Brexit'.
Unfortunately you have to sign in to read the article.

Looks like the RoW thinks the UK banging on about being "open for business" is also a load of cobblers :

www.theregister.co.uk/2018/11/12/uk_digital_sales_tax_consultation/

Critics have complained that the UK government's proposed digital services tax is complex, confusing and off-putting for international business.

Announced by chancellor Philip Hammond in the budget, the tax aims to address what UK lawmakers see as holes in the international tax framework, which they say fails to recognise the value that UK users generate for digital firms.

(contd)

Looks like Hammond is trying to drive business into the EU too ...

Looks like Hammond is trying to drive business into the EU too ...

Isn't that missing the point of the digital services tax? Isn't it intended that Google will pay tax on its UK activities even if all its sales are logged in Ireland and Amazon will pay tax on its UK sales even if the profits are logged in Luxembourg? I can't see how that would drive businesses into the EU from the UK.

Thread derailing alert...

Couldn't resist sharing this gem straight out of a Black Mirror episode:

amp.theguardian.com/technology/2018/nov/11/alarm-over-talks-to-implant-uk-employees-with-microchips

Now picture that in a deregulated environment where workers rights have been decimated.

Personally I'd rather starve than comply...

Isn't that missing the point of the digital services tax? Isn't it intended that Google will pay tax on its UK activities even if all its sales are logged in Ireland and Amazon will pay tax on its UK sales even if the profits are logged in Luxembourg? I can't see how that would drive businesses into the EU from the UK.

Because after Brexit, the UK won't be in the EU. So businesses (such as Google) will be faced with a complex UK tax, or (currently) no equivalent EU tax. It's not rocket science to see how that will simply cause Google to rearrange affairs to dodge the UK tax.

Although, given how much money the UK has given to Google, it's really better to describe the situation as Google currently taxes the UK.

Reports are that the EU would extend A50 if a deal had been agreed between the UK and EU,
AND approved in the UK Parliament & signed off by May
but just needed more time for the EP approval.

It would be tricky extending for more than 1 month, as then the EU Parliament starts closing down before the MEP elections and then we get into whether the UK should participate in these.

However, a deal is so important to the EU too, that a way would be found

The EU would not extend if there was no deal agreed and the UK politicians just wanted longer to dither and demand cake

However, they would probably extend / stop the clock if there were a UK GE or 2nd referendum

{Thread derailing alert...

Couldn't resist sharing this gem straight out of a Black Mirror episode: }
Mrs may already has one, she is actually a malfunctioning 'Furby'.