Westminstenders: The Last Rites

[RedToothBrush]

After May's disastrous speech to the nation, we've hit the impasse once and for all.

She managed to enrage everyone from Brexiteers to hard Remainers and everyone in between. It was so poorly judged it's difficult to know where to begin. It just feeds the division and anger in our society in all quarters.

It's also massively undermines her appeal to the EU for an extension. If France thought we were a political basket case they were well shot of, and didn't want more social contagion from before 8pm, then they certainly won't have changed their minds since.

May's speech was that of a would be dictator. After next Friday, she effectively has both the justification and the power to act upon those instincts. She has spoken out against parliamentary democracy and consistently disregarded the law.

It's hard to see any outcome but no deal with no extension at this point. We are no waiting on a miracle to save us and that's no more than a forlorn hope. Something we hold on to, until reality presents itself.

The Last Rites of British Democracy have been served this week.

And now we face the wait for what seems now inevitable.

Now she's angered all MP's and has less backing for WA than ever, the EU would be stupid to give any extension. That is why EU have worded the "conditions" as support for WA.

Those wishing - even in jest - for a military coup:

talk about Frying Pan ==> Fire !

When the military take over anywhere, there is shoot to kill, people locked up & brutalised ....
and the military don't return to barracks for a very long time.

AND

Those in the military who might want to overturn elected politicans are overwhelmingly of the authoritarian far right

A military coup would only happen to stop Revoke or a soft SM Brexit

Meanwhile ...

FT reporting on a new Brexit impact study:

The paper, to be released by Germany’s Bertelsmann Foundation on Thursday, estimates that the UK alone will suffer income losses of €57bn a year if it leaves the EU without a deal. The rest of the EU will lose €22bn — almost half of which will fall on Germany, Europe’s largest economy and a big exporter to the UK.

But ... the study also shows that Brexit will lead to an increase of annual revenues for the USA by €13bn.

It also estimates that Brexit will cause annual loss of income per head in the UK of on average €873 [£756] but the effect will differ regionally.

www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/fileadmin/files/user_upload/EZ_Estimating_the_Impact_of_Brexit_2019_ENG.pdf

The FT is reporting this with some handy graphics.

amp.ft.com/content/f9a5fd52-4b2a-11e9-bbc9-6917dce3dc62?__twitter_impression=true

Good luck with the house move RTB, as if this sort of thing wasn’t stressful enough without brexit looming over you! Hope it goes smoothly

Do you remember straight after the Brexit result there was a huge petition for a second referendum or similar which grew at hundreds of signatures a minute, crashed, and was then dismissed by the government because the system was targeted by bots to boost the numbers?

The difference is that this time this is coming straight after a direct straight to camera address to the people by the Maybot. This is our response to that.

If they claim he system is easily manipulated (as they will) that does immediately raise the question: why have the bloody thing in the first place if it useless?

They need us more than we need them (as a gammon-faced loon of my acquaintance still keeps saying:

The paper, to be released by Germany’s Bertelsmann Foundation on Thursday, estimates that the UK alone will suffer income losses of €57bn a year if it leaves the EU without a deal. The rest of the EU will lose €22bn — almost half of which will fall on Germany, Europe’s largest economy and a big exporter to the UK.

On a per capita basis, however, Britain and Ireland will probably be the biggest losers by far. UK income is expected to fall by €873 per head, while the equivalent figure for Ireland is €726. The French are estimated to be worse off to the tune of €120 per head, and the Germans by €115.

www.ft.com/content/f9a5fd52-4b2a-11e9-bbc9-6917dce3dc62

Oops, x-post yet again with ContinuityError. Just can't keep up any more

But ... the study also shows that Brexit will lead to an increase of annual revenues for the USA by €13bn.

Well a hidden positive I suppose (if you like that sort of thing) - a little boost for the Trumpety.

I don’t think anyone seriously wants a military coup. It’s principally a comment on the fact that this sluggish Parliament (save some notable individuals) does not appear to have the wherewithal to take control of the crisis.

We should have had Parliamentary coups and we have not.

I am sitting at work today a barely contained ball of rage. I let some of it out earlier and a colleague went and made me a cup of tea.

Darkbendis - there doesn't apparently to be any match or rally organised in Scotland - all the effort seems to have been concentrated on one ginormous one in London.

Unless of course (as someone suggested earlier - sorry, can't scroll back to see who it was), we have a "spontaneous" one at, say, the Buchanan Gallery steps or George Square What do you think?

The only tolerable Brexit for me would be based on the SIngle Market plus a Customs Arrangement,
so with FOM and ECJ

I'm baffled why people are so keen on the CU alternative - while hating the WA
because imo a CU Brexit is basically a permanent all-UK backstop

We can't just have a CU like Turkey, because of NI - unless we have an NI-only backstop -
and because we have a significant manufacturing / JIT sector that they don't

Turkey's goods wait 15-30 hours at the EU border. We can't tolerate that

So with all the extra benefits we need added to the CU for Ni and JIT too,
the EU would copy all the trade regs from the SM, just as they did for the backstop,
in order to ensure their businesses aren't disadvantaged competing against a deregulated economy^

• what the EU call a "level playing field"

As an Irish person I'm so fucking pissed off that I'm going to be poorer (not to mention the upheaval in the North) due to a decision I had no part in, and which was clearly influenced by racists and bigots.

PMK

pmk

I'm sure people were kidding about a military coup,
but I don't want to normalise it even slightly.

There was a poll a while back, indicating a significant minority want a strongman leader unrestrained by democratic niceties, i.e. a dictatorship
iirc, the most alarming thing is that the young were most in favout

So they have not agreed to her extension

“I'm baffled why people are so keen on the CU alternative - while hating the WA”

I think it comes down to trust: people simply don’t trust TM at all and believe she will manipulate any vote in favour of WA for her own ends. She’s become associated with WA.

They never were going to agree to 30th June. She knew that, we knew that.

Anyone watching Victoria Derbyshire?
Infuriating but some good callers so far.

The wording of my email to TM - just sent.

Dear Mrs May ,

I am writing to you personally to inform you that you do not speak for me at all.
I was so angry about the way you used the word “you “ last night because you are 100% wrong in assuming you know what I think.

Your actions are certainly not in my name.

And then you have the nerve to blame Parliament and the Speaker for where we are now. How dare you, when you have refused to allow a mechanism to reach a consensus, delayed votes and even been found in contempt of Parliament yourself.

Your letter to the EU yesterday was appalling. You were advised very clearly by the EU and your own advisors what was needed - a clear justification and legally sound date , you ignored this. You also ignored the result of the extension vote by parliament last week, but still have the cheek to blame our MPs in your speech last night.

I have now decided to attend the march on Saturday. Yesterday was the last straw for me.

It is your leadership and your leadership alone which has got us into this mess.

Own it!

James Crispp@JamesCrisp6* (Telegraph)

Senior EU source tells me that EU-27 will reject June 30 extension date and insist on May 22 instead,
to avoid clash with the European Parliament elections. ^

So the EU-27 will be setting new Brexit day rather than Britain
and will demand a vote in the house of commons to boot!

which we already guessed

Hasenstein
for your family.

Perhaps fortunate that thanks to Tory cuts we no longer have the personnel available to General Walker in 1974 when he was plotting his coup.

I'm reciting this to myself:

FF to 2mins 45 secs