Westminstenders: The English Gentleman and Martial Law

[RedToothBrush]

Ahead of Tuesday's vote, let's have a quick look at the week's developments.

The Cooper-Boles Amendment seems to be in trouble. The amendment is designed to force government to extend A50 if the WA fails to pass parliament in order to prevent No Deal.

It's in trouble in several ways.

After lots of loud noises from Labour about supporting it, they have made no formal move to. Thus there is no requirement for Labour MPs to vote for it. The noise was just for Remain ears whilst trying to keep leavers on board.

The amendment is struggling for numbers; many of the former Labour MPs are extremely unreliable at votes and haven't turned up even for important ones of late. In addition to this, Tory rebels are backing away from it out of fear from a backlash from their grassroots who believe they are trying to stop Brexit. There was talk of up to 20 ministers resigning to back it, including Amber Rudd, yet as Sunday has dawned there's no sign yet and its usually the day for such political statements. Though there is time yet.

And finally there is the prospect of Murrison II. Now also backed by 1922 heavyweights Graham Brady and Damien Green this seeks to remove the backstop from the WA on our side.

Except the EU has said that this would not be the WA if it does not contain the backstop. And they would not ratify it.

Yet rumours are May is close to a majority to get the WA through with Murrison II.

There has been much speculation over what would happen to the Irish border in a no deal with Farage sticking his oar in saying "nothing". Whilst Barnier states that there would, but the Irish government are avoiding the subject. We have now had the comment that it would mean the return of Irish soldiers to the border...

We could have a looming situation where parliament passes Murrison II AND Cooper-Boles. But Cooper-Boles deemed invalid cos the WA has been passed by Parliament but in effect isn't worth the paper (or goat skin) it's written on. Thus no deal could still happen by 'accident'.

There's been talk of Murrison II not being picked by Bercow, and how this would provoke a walkout by government. It seems that since he's done it once it would be difficult to ignore.

And whilst all this is going on we now have the mainstream newspapers saying that there are plans for martial law, 'forward purchasing' of food, fuel and ammunition. Talk of travel bans and property seizure. And just general plans for the collapse of free society and the supply of basic essentials for continuous of life. And many ERG MPs are tweeting things which seem to be rather fond and happy with the idea.

Do not forget: What happens when May is gone? Who replaces her, and what are their views on liberal society and freedom. Cos that all looks rather 'troubling' in an authoritarian state kind of way. What power would they wield?

Just what are we sleep walking into?

Am I right about this..the difference between voting on amendments and an indicative vote is that with the former, there's more tactics involved about stopping what you don't want. However with an indicative vote- we'd get more of a genuine idea of what MPs do want?

If so shouldn't there be an indicative vote, and why doesn't TM want one? Is it just the playing chicken tactic to force her WA through?

I'm still not getting a 'bigger picture' here.
Apart from relatively few making massive gains from disaster capitalist tactics what might the plans for the UK after the implosion be?

What long term issues does the world face - global warming, sea level rises, over population, running out of resources.

I'd go with the moat except they don't believe in global warming.

So I think it's more likely that apart from the disaster capitalism, Mistigri had it. The sort of people who believe in liberty as long as its theirs but not so much when the liberty in question is being claimed by women or black people. The sort of people for whom "socialised" medicine is a crime.

I think we're just seeing who people really are. The type who think doctors are not gentlemen because they work for a living. The type who believe the British are inherently superior. The type who believe tax is theft. The type who believe the Irish are peasants.

I don't think there is any master plan other than to reinforce the class divide and make inherited wealth the only kind of wealth. Like the good old times when Britannia ruled the waves.

have also heard nothing from Trussell Trust, apart from "we're on top of it"

Am I smelling a possible NDA there?

That hadn't occurred to me red !

Regarding a previous post asking what the point of it all (Brexit) is, those who voted leave to put the proverbial 2 fingers up at Cameron, just wondered how they hoped society would change after Brexit ? A fairer more egalitarian society, no austerity with well funded public services ?
Looking at the cabal of right wing nutters who want us to leave and usher in laxer employment rights, health and safety regulations etc all in the name of greater profit I doubt they’ll very much get that. Do they know this ?

Regarding a previous post asking what the point of it all (Brexit) is, those who voted leave to put the proverbial 2 fingers up at Cameron, just wondered how they hoped society would change after Brexit ? A fairer more egalitarian society, no austerity with well funded public services ?

Far too many words for the average Brexiteer there - quite aside from any nuance or subtlety.

I've drawn my own conclusions, and it's that for enough of them to swing the vote, it was a two word sentiment, with "out !" being the second word.

I'm just catching up on the past 12 hours of the thread.

Three of my cats are about 3kg so not much to eat....but one is a whopping 7kg. Sorry Skywhiskers you might be first to go

Here he is next to his sister from the same litter!

I posted this ages ago, but in case folk want to try squirrel before committing themselves ...

www.wildmeat.co.uk/products/squirrel

they also sell rabbit, hare and wild boar. Warning - don't click if you're squeamish (and if you are, wtf are you doing this far into the thread ?)

If life goes really belly-up thanks to Brexit, it's interesting to ponder how the environment will fare ... just thinking how hippopotamus are now extant in Columbia after the Escobar years saw them inadvertently released into the wild.

Without husbandry, could we see wild boar roaming our woods and forests ? People will have a shock if they ran into one of them ....

Thank you @umpteennamechanges . I needed that

This pretty much sums up things for me right now:

@davidschneider

2016
“Leave and we’ll get a car powered by raccoons”
EU: “That won’t be possible”

2017:
“Give us a raccoon car!”
EU: “Not possible”

2018
“Give us a raccoon car!”
EU: “Not possible”
“Raccoon car!”
EU: “We can’t”

2019:
“New idea. If we just insist they’ll give us a raccoon car”

{they also sell rabbit, hare and wild boar. Warning - don't click if you're squeamish}
Cannibalism could work quite well, providing food AND reducing the population.
A bit of a 'Win Win' situation.
Must say 'eat your neighbours' wasn't on the referendum paper.
'Bath with a friend' was OK way back and rather more genteel.

Destiel if we really are into contingency planning to do with shortages of food, then foodbanks would be a crucial part of distribution and would possibly need support in case of fights etc.

Since they have an existing network they would be ideal ways of enabling rationing. They may also know of people who they regard as particularly vulnerable.

The answer "we're on top of it", may just be phobing people off, but you would expect at this point if the Trussell Trust were getting very concerned by the news and that they would have said something publically if they DIDN'T have something in hand. Maybe they have been stockpiling themselves somehow, but if they were doing it off their own back, you would have thought that they would have made noises about it.

It strikes me, that the silence from the Trussell Trust says more than you might realise.

As I always say, don't just listen to what people are saying - also listen to what ISN'T being said, particularly from people you would EXPECT to say something. It can be revealling. As I say, it smells of NDA. I don't want to give you a false sense of security, but thats how I would read the situation without a comment like that. A comment along those lines makes me wonder.

I could be completely wrong, but it does seem strange that there isn't more going on. (And the counter argument, of course the Trussell Trust might not be getting the answers they want either, but are afraid that if they do say something, that could also spark a rush on their food banks out of panic too).

Trussell whilst they aren't politicially biased, certainly are against austerity and will be one of those organisation which will inadvertly be motived by political developments and respond to them. They WILL be concerned simply from the number of jobs that are being threaten by the likes of Airbus because that affects them directly.

Destiel
Raising the question of security to your local council and local police would be good, if you haven't already.
At some point there will be a lot of 'backside' covering and no doubt a ridiculous amount of blaming someone else. Getting your concerns out there would be good as it will put responsibility of those who should be considering these things, even if they aren't acting on them.

Cannibalism could work quite well, providing food AND reducing the population.

A couple of decades ago, the "hacker community" - ie. that which could trace it's antecedents back to the phone phreakers and people that wrote "The Anarchists Cookbook" (still have a copy ) circulated an awful lot of "forbidden knowledge". One guide that did the rounds was "How to butcher a human". It was a step by step guide to the best cuts of meat, how to get to them, and tools needed. Now you have the title, you can Google it yourself.

My recollection of the Andes rugby team story was that in terms of most for least, the liver is a good source of nutrition.

That said, DB (who's doctorate is in some form of human genetics) strongly suggests that as a rule, humans shouldn't eat things that are too genetically similar. There are all sorts of nasty virus lurking within. As the BSE/vCJD experiences show. Sadly that rule should exclude pork ... but you will pry my bacon sandwich from my cold dead hands.

If you want a moment when you SHOULD start to worry, it's when the Trussell Trust publicly come out criticising the government for not giving them help and advice over Brexit and making comments about being concerns over the loss of jobs and how much extra pressure that will put them under. (Needs to be both together too).

Until then, just keep doing your stuff.

And keep asking TT for the latest.

Apologies if this has been picked up already but I found this interesting from the Politico article that BCF posted about what will happen if TM requests an extension (either because of Cooper Boles or because we run out of time):

"What happens next: The FT’s Alex Barker tries to map out how the EU will respond to a U.K. request for an extension. “Diplomats see an outright refusal of a U.K. request as almost inconceivable,” he writes. “One senior Brussels official said it would entail the EU ‘taking responsibility for no-deal’ and breaking an important unwritten rule of the union’s Brexit strategy: avoiding blame. ‘Everyone’s instinct in that situation is to find time. Kicking the can down the road is what we do,’ said one senior member state official handling Brexit. ‘They will find any reason to avoid a crash out.’”
But but but: Crucially, Barker adds: “With any approval will come terms and conditions that are harder to predict.”

BBC have just announced that the CEOs of the largest food retailers (Sainsbury's, Starbucks, Tesco, etc) are issuing a letter today saying a no deal Brexit will lead to higher prices and empty shelves.

Haven't seen the letter yet.

Personally, I think there's an entirely existential issue around any extension, and that is whether the UK - as a functional albeit troubled nation - could actually withstand the agony of pushing uncertainty even further into the distance. Maybe politicians could. But I have serious concerns that as a whole the UK could not.

If anyone can foresee us being here in September, having these same discussions, then they have more imagination than me.

{BBC have just announced that the CEOs of the largest food retailers (Sainsbury's, Starbucks, Tesco, etc) are issuing a letter today saying a no deal Brexit will lead to higher prices and empty shelves.}

Followed by warnings that rain is usually wet and that it is inadvisable to go out into a snowstorm naked.

Scaremongering! What do supermarket bosses know about food anyway?

Bet that bloody TM wrote that letter. She told the Army to let everyone know it was stockpiling, sorry, forward purchasing, and she wrote that speech for the Queen. TM is so powerful she can get anything done ...... wait a minute.

Oh god, one of the women on my road said it's stupid worrying about food because the EU needs to sell it to us so they won't want to lose our custom to other countries. If we have to resort to cannibalism I'm tempted to start with her.

It's a sign o' the times that the Tesco news of a possible 15,000 jobs to go isn't really news anymore.

I hope cannibalism is avoided...particularly because I'm quite fat and a very slow runner