Westministenders: The One Where We Finally Get A Leadership Challenge?

[RedToothBrush]

Tick tick tick.

What do we think?

Yes? No?

Another week of wtf-ing at British politics.

Bruno Waterfieldd@BrunoBrussels*

Blimey. Straw clutching.
EU means "alternative arrangements" in the sense of, as one country's recent note put it, a "broad comprehensive customs union, with extensive plus agreements"

Imo, they mean Norway++, not a unicorn tech egg

Quick scoot through and these are names a see missing.

Jeremy Corbyn
Mary Creagh
Nic Dakin (teller)
Thangham Debbonaire (teller)
Mike Gapes
Andrew Gwynne
Mark Hendrick
Margaret Hodge
George Howarth
Lindsey Hoyle (deputy speaker)
Ian C Lucas
Holly Lynch
Madeline Moon
Fiona Onasanya
Laura Pidcock (maternity)
Stephen Powell
Virendra Sharma
Cat Smith (maternity?)
Keith Vaz
Rosie Winterton

Theresa May Did vote.

There is no plan or known route for the HoC to revoke A50 against the wishes of the PM. It is currently just wishful thinking
If anyone ever proposes a plan, then we can evaluate it.

The People’s Vote campaign has published a report with six different routes for Parliament to take control of the process, here: d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/in/pages/15721/attachments/original/1537354181/roadmap_pv_final.pdf?1537354181

See also the second half of this blog: europeanlawblog.eu/2018/09/24/can-the-united-kingdom-unilaterally-revoke-its-article-50-notification-to-withdraw-from-the-eu-wightman-v-secretary-of-state-for-dexeu-2018-csih-62/

Every option has its risks Bigchoc. Voting down the WA with a view to forcing Remain is no more risky than any other, actually. If it doesn’t work, no agreement is reached and we’re faced with no deal, the government will have to capitulate and accept the WA.

you think the govt won't change its mind during transition before July 2022, why the hell do you expect it to do so in the next few months?

I’m not saying it won’t I’m saying you can’t bank on it. If we accept this deal and Corbyn takes over in GE in a few years, it’s possible he may let it stand, if the country and Parliament don’t show any significant opposition to it.

But if the WA is voted down now and government changes off the back of it, it will be hard for Corbyn and Labour to deny the fundamental opposition to deal.

If Corbyn is to bring a fresh perspective it needs to happen now, while opposition is clear, not once the deal is already agreed and the country has already set its course.

Kevin Schofield@polhomeeditor
Labour sources insisting Jeremy Corbyn had permission to miss the vote on Labour’s amendment to the Finance Bill which lost by 5 votes.

Well that's OK then...

Corbyn doesn't want to govern the country.

Corbyn gave himself permission?

Will anyone other than the rainbow hair crew believe that Corbyn wants to be PM?

We are going to have a Tory government until Corbyn drops.

Jo swinson for the LD also missed the vote. She's another on maternity leave.

Remarkable even Jared Omara showed.

Keith Vaz though. Wtf has he been deselected yet?

Fiona Onasanya is currently on trial and appeared in court today at the old Bailey.

Ffs

He doesn't really want a GE
because then he'd actually risk being elected PM and have to work, instead of swanning around being the student agitator he's never grown out of^

I rather agree. He’s quite old a bit lazy and a bit thick. He’s in this for shit and giggles not the hard graft of running the country.

I rather agree. He’s quite old a bit lazy and a bit thick. He’s in this for shit and giggles £ too.

He is no orator either.

MissMoon Looks like a lot of wishful thinking

All those ways depend on there being a majority in the HoC prepared to vote for it,
against the govt and the DUP
To date, there is no majority, or at least none that are prepared to stand and be counted

Tatiana Labour can't even get out their vote on something as uncontroversial as this finance bill, where every single Labour MP should have the same opinion

Labour has 5-10 hard Brexiters of its own, who would oppose any PV or attempt to Remain

It is already reported that if the WA is voted down the first time, then May will introduce it again in 2019, when MPs are looking down the barrel of No Deal

As above, there is currently no Remain majority in the HoC that are actually prepared to vote that way

• in particular, the Tory Remainers, who would probably face deselection and the end of their career in politics

Plans for Remain need to actually be realistic, rather than wishful thinking

• and the Tory Remain MPs have been the most unrealistic of the lot, in believing May's promises, so easily hood winked before

If we had even a Miliband leading Labour, I'd be more optimistic
but Corbyn is imo as keen on Brexit as the ERG

We've just seen the organisational skills of Labour revealed in their hopelessness.

The best possibility - still v slim - is that May at the last moment puts country before party and revokes.
Even if the ECJ rule out unilateral revocation, the other 27 might all agree - but I'm worried about vetos from Hungary & maybe Poland

Matthew O'Toolee@MatthewOToole2* (was a no 10 press officer)

DUP takes off watch and wedding ring, pushes them into the middle of the table with what's left of the cash.
Glances nervously at cards.

Is there no legal way Labour MPs can get rid of Corbyn?

I got a call from the Labour Party asking why I'd cancelled my Direct Debit. Told them it was because of their failure to fight to remain. I was already pissed off with them over their stance on the Gender Recognition Act but held on in the hope of voting Corbyn out. I give up now as there is no will - they're just blundering on.

MPs can't. It has to be Das Party. Currently padded with Momentum idiots due to ridiculous voting rules that Milliband introduced. They are trying to drive everyone else out.
Like Millie Tant in the 80s if you are old enough. Only they never got a leader in post. Kinnock triedto fight them off.

Thank you @Motheroffourdragons . Made me smile

Why on earth can't we rejoin later ?
The reasons for doing so would be the same reasons as we originally joined in 1972 and confimed in 1975

Seeing how difficult the UK has been in the last two years, let alone the last 40, I wouod be very careful to assume that we will’just’ be able to rejoin.
At their place, I would Be thinking twice about it. Remember De Gaulle? Same thing can happen again

We can't rejoin because the hard fought sweet deal we have now would be off the table.

All the Member States have to agree on new members, which is why some commentators thought an independent Scotland might have difficulty joining - Spain would have have vetoed it as they wouldn't want to encourage their own separatist regions.

Assuming all the Member States did approve, I doubt very very much we'd get the concessions we have now. At the moment we get the rebate, we're not part of Schengen, we aren't joining the euro. I don't think we could expect a lot of flexibility on those requirements if we were negotiating our membership now, especially not after the last couple of years.

So we could rejoin, but it's not a certainty by any means, IMO.

I'm coming back round to remain as a possibility, albeit not as a zero sum game. Not sure it will happen, but still. It might?

The most frustrating part is that I believe the majority of the population want to remain, and the majority of the MPs personally want to remain but the mechanisms of government will prevent it. People talk about democracy, how can that situation be democracy!