Westminstenders: Pragmatism versus Purity

[RedToothBrush]

There is one question for the HoC in the next week and that's will you persue pragmatism or purity?

May looks as if she is being sidelined after a backbench withdrawal of support, the DUPs withdrawal of support and an omminous silence eminenating from the Cabinet.

Her speech on Thursday where she pitted the people against parliament has been her last mistake. She's now a danger to the country's stability and the safety of MPs.

The priority for the week is to pass the SI to change the UK exit date from 29th March to the EU's new terms.

After that, with May's deal stuffed due to lack of support and a Bercow ruling it looks like we are facing some sort of indicative free vote. This seems to be being supported by ministers in government regardless of leave or remain.

The prospect of a Tory Leader Election contest looms. It remains to seen if that can happen in the next three weeks with so much else at stake. But this is the Tory party.

The penny seems to be finally dropping about the reality of leaving the EU and how we leave the EU. A week before we were due to go. The incompetence of Parliament is laid bare in all its glorious full scale.

It doesnt matter about the amount of signatures being mote than Finland etc..why would it?

I see leavers are saying the petition should be void because theres too many external signatories. Hmm

Meanwhile, in a display of incompetence which frankly seems a tad pedestrian, a BA flight manages to arrive at the wrong airport.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47691478

A British Airways flight destined for Dusseldorf in Germany has landed in Edinburgh by mistake, after the flight paperwork was submitted incorrectly.

(contd)

Ugh...I get cranky every time I remember I have to apply to the government to be allowed to stay here.

I mean logically I know I have to do it but I just find it upsetting when I've lived here since I was 5 years old.

I thought they had.

They have:
here

Not much use anymore people in Britain signing it (though it can't hurt) but if you know anyone living in the EU please share and get them to pass along. Mention it alongside the revoke petition - and how our government aren't listening to us no matter what, but they can really help us out by signing this one. And one day it might benefit them, as well.

5,509,650 signatures

Can really appricate the scale of the petition and amount of signitures when compared to populations.

To be fair, one of the reasons I'd have voted against devolution in 1979 (but was too young to vote even though the fact I was on the register meant that my vote counted towards the required threshold ) is that I was concerned about growing nationalism. I was happy to be Scottish and British and European . I felt that the world should be getting bigger (ie looking outwards - to, for example, Europe), not inwards into smaller countries.

It's only been over time (and accelerating since the mid 90s) that
a) I have come to understand the difference between ethnic and civic nationalism (so, for example, Scotland actively wants more immigration, and anyone who lives here and contributes, as well as anyone with Scottish ancestry can be Scottish) and
b) I no longer feel happy with the British (or rather, the UK-ish) bit of my identity.

hore I am an external signature, I am a UK citizen so entitled to sign. As it happens I am also a registered overseas voter but that isn't needed.

It is also 8.5% of our overall population and 12.2% of the electorate.

So, the coup that was reported over yesterday...did it ever even exist?

Ten minutes until Theresa May gets up and says nothing makes her statement

hore I know several external signatories - including (I am fairly certain) the single one from Eritrea
Leavers will do and say anything to try to illegitimise this petition

Yeh i know people.overseas can sign. I'm not disputing that. But it is meaningless if people not in your situation signs it. And comparing it to sizes of countries is just I mean isn't London's population 10million? Total UK population 65mil? So so far weve got half of london. Putting it like that well, meh. No one's doing anything with it. They will carry on as they wanted to anyway.

Leavers will do and say anything to try to illegitimise this petition

And their own at the same time. Not the brightest bunch, are they ?

Four British in Europe signed in my house.

The British in France seem to have been enthusiastic signers, probably because of the very active remain groups here who spread the word quickly when the petition started to take off.

Perfectly valid and the numbers are pretty much as you'd expect - in fact if there are really 400k Brits in France they are perhaps a bit on the low side. (That may be because some of those who are still on the electoral register gave their former U.K. post code).

I bet her statement will be more of the same nothingness we've had already. Mps need to make a choice and it has to be orderly. Let her be clear...

My friend from Nepal signed

It doesnt matter about the amount of signatures being mote than Finland etc..why would it?

Because any petition that gets more signatories than the entire population of a nation is damn impressive. It shows what a significant amount of people support something - if it is more people than it takes to run an entire first world nation. Certainly it should make the people of Finland realise the strength of feeling here.

I see leavers are saying the petition should be void because there's too many external signatories. Hmm

Because heavens forefend a British person move abroad and still care enough about home to sign a govt petition.

Yeh i know people.overseas can sign. I'm not disputing that. But it is meaningless if people not in your situation signs it.

If the starting conditions are the same for all petitions, then irrespective of the absolute value, the comparatives are valid. But, as I noted, Leavers aren't that au fait with maths. Or science. Or facts.

I am more and more convinced that the coup was a crafty way to keep the march off the front pages of the papers (getting into tin foil hat territory ).

Although it does somewhat presume against the evidence that the Government can be that organised in its machiavellianism

Let me guess, will she be absolutely clear that

Brexit means Brexit
She’s following the will of the people
We all need to work together in a cross-party way (to agree with her)
She is not resigning
And everyone who disagrees with her is wrong.

Can’t wait.

Sam Coates Times
@SamCoatesTimes
A Tory whip phoned one of their flock y’day. The MP asked what they were voting in this week. “Don’t know”. They asked if MV3 was coming back. “Don’t know”. They asked if the indicative votes would happen. “Don’t know”.

Then the whip asked, “But will you support the governemnt?”

I see leavers are saying the petition should be void because theres too many external signatories.

Well of course they're going to say that.

The Petitions Committee on the other hand have refuted this however. Who to believe...

Because any petition that gets more signatories than the entire population of a nation is damn impressive. Yeh, but not our nation which is the nation the petition relates to.

'I am more and more convinced that the coup was a crafty way to keep the march off the front pages of the papers'

No question.