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?

There aren't enough warehouses in the country and especially not the climate-controlled ones for food

Happily parts of my flat can act as chilled storage over the winter months.

Soubry sounds like she totally despises both Tory & Labour parties - join the club !

Anna Soubry MP@Anna_Soubry

Spot on “I believe in Tory values, but the party is becoming repellent” | Matthew d’Ancona
amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/27/tory-values-conservative-party-repellent-brexit#
.........

Anna Soubry MP@Anna_Soubry

Apparently the Labour Party is abstaining on the 2nd Reading of the Immigration Bill. Yes the Labour Party. This Tory will be voting against it.

< Corbyn's feeble response was the deliberately meaningless 1-line whip >

Sainsbury’s shopping just been delivered. Woman delivering it apologises that the fresh pesto is missing

I'm fully expecting provisions to become a lot less diverse and much more .... bland ... as we creak forwards. Combination of shops prioritising the basics to match consumer demand, and an increase in prices making vast swathes of more "exotic" ingredients simply unviable in a retail environment. Someone should snap up the Vesta" brand again ...

People who weren't old enough to remember the 70s will be in for a shock treat, as the theme park experience starts becoming real.

Coming up after the break: OI ! The skinhead revival; "We call the mother in law 'Brexit' as she scares the kids'" - an affectionate look at the traditional comedic values of Bernard Manning; and obscure arts programs for your grandparents to wander past and say Blimey ! Is that a bloke ?!

anymore for anymore ?

Right I need to get up and go out. I'm planning a detour to the supermarket on way home so I'm out of it until at least 2pm though I will probably check in briefly during that time.

In anticipation that this thread is only going to last until about 11am, I've done a new thread trying to summarise where we are at.

I hope it makes sense!!!

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/eu_referendum_2016_/3493136-Westminstenders-Amendment-Fail?watched=1

Nicky Morgan is undoubtedly not the brightest - that was shown beyond doubt when she was Education Secretary.

Peston reporting now what we immediately surmised last night.

Very bad reaction from EU 27 to Baker/Morgan Brexit plan C. “Zero chance. Have just discussed over here. Viewed as both extraordinarily funny and tragic. No-one can understand how Nicky M and co would sign off on a proposition which leads so obviously to no-deal”.

Ds1 has a phsee day today.

They are "doing" brexit.

I've told him not to swear.

She's a jolly hockey sticks type.
No clue how the world really is.

I've told him not to swear.

What year is he in?

My DC are still in primary and have had it drilled into them to never mention the “B word” outside our four walls. If it ever got covered at school (obviously it won’t, at primary), they’d be sitting silently like

{Someone should snap up the Vesta" brand again}
With a range of 'new' flavours.
The 'roadkill' range, of which the 'premium' versions were recognisable before they went into the tin.

Maybe the EU should be more proactive? Seeing as the headlines come out late of an evening, maybe they should message Theresa bright and early the next morning saying 'No'.

Those opposing No Deal don't discuss or coordinate key actions with each other, even within the same party

Otherwise, surely one of her Tory chums would have pointed out to Morgan this was an ERG trap

SInce I spotted this with literally 20 seconds speedreading when half-asleep, surely their several lawyer bods did too

I accept Morgan is likely to sign over the national gold reserves to a charming Nigerian Prince 🤦🏻‍♀️
but Soubry, Grieve and co seem pretty bright

Unforunately, if several are working on their own, their dumbest member(s) are a major liability

Liam Fox was just on BBC News basically saying if this passes it proves no deal is the EU's fault.

I’ve been “doing” Brexit in lessons for ages now. Non partisan, legit sources, v. good for calculating things like 8% off GDP. Functional Maths, innit?
HS2 also a good one, £56 billion has a lot of zeros (which people sometimes find surprising). That’s the latest cost projection. Previously it was £46 billion, so good for doing percentage increase.
I get lots of my lessons straight off the BBC News.

Vests became a thing when I started uni in the mid-1970s
I remember how the soya mince-substitute would squeak against the teeth and feel horribly un-foodlike

We all said then that soya would never catch on as a substitute, except for the very poor like us
Amazing how food tech has progressed to fool us into thinking we're eating something else

So I suppose cardboard could be reprocessed if the worst comes

Year 11 :)

His whole class know his views (and the majority share them) so hopefully it'll be good natured!

We don't really talk about the B word in front of ds2 (Year 5)

This new compromise - the EU will never agree to it, surely? Motheroffour, that's the entire point of it.

If I were a bright (school) student activist opposed to Brexit, I’d be organising mass walkouts right now. But I’m a 60s child so I suppose out of touch. Students take their education far more seriously now, in general, and would (rightly, probably) be unwilling to jeopardise it. But a day here or there?

If I were a bright (school) student activist opposed to Brexit, I’d be organising mass walkouts right now. But I’m a 60s child so I suppose out of touch. Students take their education far more seriously now, in general, and would (rightly, probably) be unwilling to jeopardise it. But a day here or there?

Be interesting to speculate how many lists someone trying a stunt like that would end up on. Especially when it's added to the lists from the marches last year, and online activity.

Ds1 is very interested in politics.

I have told him to get involved at 6th form.

DG We can expect being Remainy being added to the Prevent criteria

Liam Fox was just on BBC News basically saying if this passes it proves no deal is the EU's fault. 

As expected. The U.K. gov spent two fucking years getting the EU to agree to something that in the end didn't pass our own Parliament. That is the EUs fault because...??

Leaver friend has today declared that the food issues aren't on "real food" just tomatoes and lettuce - "not stuff we eat". She was under the impression that it "doesn't include meat". I am now wondering if she leaves her chicken out on counters for days rather than in the fridge .

She also has some idea we will be able to set tariffs to 0% and all will be fine. I keep trying to tell her this will both kill our farmers and ensure other WTO countries impose sanctions but she thinks gov will step in with subsidies for farmers and "WTO countries can't impose sanctions. Besides this is the EU, they won't let us starve". I was so utterly confused by her last statement - as someone who didn't want EU "meddling in our affairs" expecting them to now help us with WTO somehow that I had to say i'd call her after lunch.

@ Labour. What is the point of them?

I feel so bloody impotent.

{Be interesting to speculate how many lists someone trying a stunt like that would end up on. }
The Stazi would wet themselves with the amount of data that everyone is generating. The fact that everyone's (phone) location is recorded down to the nearest few metres all the time it is powered for a start.