Westminstenders: Distract and divert. Just close your eyes.

[RedToothBrush]

This morning Jeremy Hunt declared that, 'With vision on both sides we can find a way through that has the support of Parliament and also works for the EU'

Of course this is 18th February 2019 and the UK has yet to demostrate they understand the problem, much less have the vision to solve it. And we leave the EU next month.

It needs to be stressed at this point: DON'T FORGET TO FOCUS ON WHAT REALLY MATTERS

Everything else is a tactic to make you close your eyes and miss what is really going on. Everything. Brexit looks increasingly like a hypnotist making their subject do ever increasing acts of ridiculousness on stage. Except I do not know if the public or the politicians are that poor sod. It is the magician who uses tricks of slight of hand to make you look the wrong way, whilst they makes all the big moves out of your vision.

There are so many stories that are coming out to try and make you miss what the government are failing to do. Stay focused. We can't ignore all these stories, but understand whether they are really important to the end game too.

A labour split, a march on the 23rd March, talk of a PV, the Brady amendment, the Malthouse Compromise, Cooper-Boles halting no deal?

No we need more than that.

The time for fantasies are gone. Its time to face reality and be pragmatic. The only thing that matters is the approaching cliff. Which we will go over not on the 29th March but in the next couple of weeks. We might not realise the ground disappearing beneath our feet at first. Our momentum as we go forward will carry for a short while before gravity kicks in.

But we can not defy the laws of physics and suddenly be able to fly because we develop magic superhuman powers of vision.

And no one will come to save us either.

Our national humilation will be total, if we don't acknowledge what is coming and stop.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/eu_referendum_2016_/3492426-Westministenders-Abbreviation
Brexit Abbreviation Thread

When Boris Johnson said ‘fuck business’, stranded Flybmi passengers now know what he meant

Soon to be redundant Honda workers too. I can't help but imagine that the Tories insulting the Japanese didn't add anything positive when the Honda management were considering whether to stay or leave.

prettybird sorry to hear about cat

TM must revoke surely? We certainly can't go on like this much longer though I think its probably too late now.

Apparently Trump is about to start another trade war by putting up tariffs on cars from Europe up from 2.5% to as much as 25% which will push Germany into recession. This on radio BBC 4 a few minutes ago. What is going on? Surely that will damage the US too? What is Trump on?

At this rate there will be a KitKat and Wotsit shortage and riots outside the Asda. Personally I find a bowl of muesli at 3am a healthier alternative . The PV march fundraising is now over 85% of the target of £200000, that’s in two days and has given me a nice functional maths question, though I might make the numbers a bit harder.

Trump is in trouble according to the thread in AIBU as his tax cuts are biting back. Lots of people are finding that if they haven’t made the correct arrangements, they’re actually paying more. AcrossthePond55 describes it on Sunday (17th) at about 16:34:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/a3483245-Everybody-has-a-heart-Except-some-people-Trump-thread-90#84990794

Congrats on fund for march born and thanks for info on Trump.
On radio now talking about lab grown meat. That's final straw I'm going vegan!

Being vegan is great Sostenueto I've never enjoyed my food more (and I'm a big expert having been vegan since the start of Veganuary 2019 ). Of course come brexit I guess we'll all just have to eat what we can get, though I'm betting it's more likely to be lentils than steak and lobster...

BigChoc that's the way my mind was going unfortunately, re statutory redundancy, what's to stop the Government significantly reducing it ? I listened to a man who had worked at Honda for over 20 years on the radio who sounded close to tears, £15,000 isn't even going to buy him the car he has spent a lifetime building is it

I guess Honda could pay out more than the statutory maximum if they choose to do so ?

Surely just one of the following things should be enough to at least put an emergency brake on our current path.

In about 48 hours:

•	7 labour MPs jump with rumours that  a Tory minister and four Conservative backbench MPs <span class="italic">are</span> poised to join them.
•	Bird’s eye experienced food industry head says many food products <span class="italic">wil</span><span class="italic">l</span> rise by 2 to 20%.
•	Honda announce  closure and loss of 3,500 jobs,
•	FlyBmi appoints a administrators and loss of 400 jobs. 
•	Serious 18 months of inquiry by Parliamentary Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, finds evidence that "Democracy was at risk from the malicious and relentless targeting of citizens with disinformation and personalised 'dark adverts' from unidentifiable sources, delivered through the major social media platforms we use every day" .
•	Plus the committee found sufficient evidence to call on the government to reveal how many investigations are being carried out into the Russian interference into UK politics, particularly the EU referendum in 2016. 

• Polls showing minimum of 53% now back remain.

Any one of those things alone is new evidence enough for the gov to justify trying to delay or withdraw Art 50. What would it take? Ah yes -a further Tory plunge in the polls.

Ah Pretty so sorry to hear about your kitty 😢 💐.

from me too pretty.
I lost my dear little cat over six months ago and still miss her every day.

This cheered me a bit Syrians returning home and made me think how things can change so fast. I suspect they are all keen to return and rebuild. We've got a long way to go before we can even start that stage here in UK.

for all cats - we all dread that time fast approaching as ours are both about 11.

Not strictly Brexit but related. There was an Irexit conference in Cork this past weekend. Total attendees no more than 60 (many British living in Ireland) but there was lots of online activity. Look at this thread on what a Bot Net looks like and imagine the scale of this in Brexit.

twitter.com/DubLoony/status/1097522069263273985

On radio now talking about lab grown meat. That's final straw I'm going vegan!

I'd go vegan but my diet is so restricted by my IBS that it would just be too much. If good, cheap lab grown meat was available I'd happily eat that instead of animals.

Goodness me. Someone should send that botnet thread to Damian Collins, in case he hasn’t actually seen one in action!

The MPs leaving Labour maybe also don't want to be on the wrong side of history (supporting/facilitating Brexit.)
I don't blame them. As the Brexit prospects sour, how many other 'rats will leave the sinking ship' to protect their future reputations, and to say they did what they could?

Those are some lovely graphics on that bot thread. I've not seen it shown like that before. It's so clear how they are all coming from the same place.

That's a fascinating set of graphics.

It occurs to me that the Swindon news is one reason for May not wanting a People's vote. Now that the reality is hitting home and Brexit means lost jobs, how many in the privacy of the ballot box would put their cross now against Remain? Thus undoing Theresa May's work of the last 2 and three quarter years.

And yes, structural changes e.g. electric cars and overproduction would mean some plants closing, but why have we 'volunteered' to be the ones to go?

Morning. Feeling optimistic that there'll be more Tiggers this week as May and Corb carry on groundhog day. Very curious to see if and who any conservatives jump and if they do how did they vote in TM's no confidence votes.

yup I'm here for the gossip!

Harzard - if I were a betting person I would bet you a tenner that they won't jump. All talk. But I am not a betting person.

for you and your cat, pretty

I agree with peregrina as I said yesterday Tories are the most yellow- bellied of all and would they really jump ship in case JC gets in?
Yes hester agree that jumping triggers could well be concerned about their reputations perhaps more than the other reasons they said. After all they could have jumped a year ago but didn't. I'm a tad sceptical about their timing. Is it a case of doing the wrong thing for the right reasons or doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. Gosh I wish I could be more eloquent.