Westminstenders: Happy Brexit Day!

[RedToothBrush]

Happy Brexit day!

Oh wait. No its not.

May looks like she is going to bring the MVIII (Meaningful Vote 3) tomorrow minus the PD (political declaration).

The legalities of this are questionable should the vote pass. The MV needs to have an accompanying PD, by law under the terms of the Withdrawal Act.

That's kind of irrelevant given the likelihood of the deal passing anyway. The DUP have apparently negotiated a 'Stormont Lock' to get more assurances, only for them promptly to say there's no chance of them voting for the deal anyway.

The vote is all about Labour v Conservatives and where we can lay the blame for no deal in two weeks time.

Meanwhile we are already into a prolonged Tory Leader Election with all its glorious gentlemanly behaviour.

Anyway its time for extra time and national riots for delaying Brexit.

Various commentators on Twatter claiming No.10 has indicated another MV next week, probably as a run-off with the indicative vote winner...

'The ERG would have led us towards their wet dream Singapore on Thames brexit and ripped up any agreements along the way. That would have been set in stone.'

Agreed. I'm mightily relieved at today's events whilst also being fully aware that we're still in a very precarious position.

DUP have said they prefer softer options to anything that harms the union. That could prove to be a game changer

could help Ken Clarke's customs union idea.

Yep the EU flag is on display at the front of the house. A neighbour was appreciating it earlier

Freddie singing "love of my life" is a wonderful, life affirming thing

That is such a beautiful song. I went to see Queen in concert in Dec 2017 and Brian may sang it. He told us if we all joined in a bit of magic might happen - and for the last verse a massive screen rolled down and Freddie came out singing, Live from Wembley (in 1986) - watching him and the real time Brian May take a bow together was a beautiful moment.

And Adam Lambert is great - and fully acknowledges that he's no Freddie.

And on non-Brexit day, look who has dropped their appeal

The way I see it is that politics is a zero-sum game for the DUP and, what with ministers openly saying that the Stormont Lock was going to be binned and Boris and JRM abandoning the "precious union" as soon as it was expedient, they now want to destroy the Conservative Party more than Sinn Fein. They are a party built on revenge... and TM is just about to find out what that means.

The DUP are finally getting a lot of stick from constituents, plus they see a general election coming down the line...hence the turnaround.
In other news, I’m slightly regretting buying a leather jacket, even though I’ve been looking for a suitable one for ages ( I’m 65 and it’s Jaeger, oh dear - but £99 off in the sale...)

I am oddly cheered up by the events of today.

My prediction is CU+PV and an extension to make that happen. Revoke is actually being discussed as an option, which helps.

I also think there will be a GE, almost as a side effect of the above. The Tories will grimly hang on for a while as their party finances are awful (and Labour is actually worse!) Until May goes, it's not happening. That could change quite quickly, mind you...

On a petty note, I am having great fun comparing the pro and anti Brexit marches. Length does matter!

I've been at work all day and only just glimpsed the TV news.

Did I just see an Orange Order type march complete with drums and tossing the baton among the Brexiteers at Westminster. Who were they?

As I live in Heidi Allen's constituency should I be worried about neighbourly disapproval of the absence of a EU flag on the front of my house? (To be clear, I'd have no objection to displaying one, it's just I'm not a flag-wavy sort of person).

I agree, I am feeling cheered by today's news. It doesn't end the uncertainty but it shows that MPs won't be blackmailed into an absurd situation where they pass the WA but have no idea who would be continuing the negotiations and what sort of Brexit they would push through. TM shot herself in the foot by saying she'd leave if the WA was passed because that causes further uncertainty, rather than the 'strong and sturdy' (hehe) approach she has tried to take when campaigning for her deal.

Junker lives in my neighborhood... am tempted to knock on his door and shake his hand. I feel that today there is a glimmer of hope we may actually not leave ever or for a long time.

The EC and the wonderful Tusk have handled this mess brilliantly and I hope they can keep their patience a little longer.

I truly don’t think the European Parliament will let us crash out with a no deal.

Red it's hard to keep up with the threads and try to listen to the debates and keep on top of life too, but wanted to say thanks and that I hope your son is feeling better and that you got some rest.

@Apileofballyhoo DS is bright as a button this afternoon. Nearly back to his normal bouncy self. I need about a week in bed to recover though!

Thank you. And everyone else who has well wished.

From Zoe Williams in the Guardian:
Nobody could have seen Theresa May’s learning strategies unfold in the way that they have. Some people learn by putting their hand in the fire. Some people learn by putting their hand in the fire twice. Nobody anywhere has learned by putting their hand in the fire three times, then daring the fire to not burn them by threatening to do it a fourth.

If you’d said in advance that a prime minister would behave like this, it would have been more than Project Fear. This is basically “strong point” strategy in the first world war: attack the strongest point and see what happens. Then in 1917 it was found that bad things happen, and it hasn’t been tried since.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/29/royal-yacht-brexit-theresa-defeat-parliament?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard

Actually managing to PMK. What a day. Again.

I'm so glad your ds is on the mend.

loveEU The EU don't want us to crash out, but they won't damage the SIngle market, the backstop or the EP to stop us.
They've been very patient and done all they reasonably can

We need to listen to what they keep telling us, publicly
These are their red lines:

• the WA cannot be renegotiated, only the non-binding PD. The backstop stays
• If we want an extension, we must legislate by 12 April for EP elections

It's No Deal or Revoke or this WA+another PD

Any Brexit is a leap into the unknown - the ERG can take over during transition, whatever PD we agree

Perhaps TM is the political equivalent of the woman who was on the news yesterday because she doesn’t feel pain. Apparently she would burn herself on the Rayburn hot plate and not know it until she smelled burning flesh. This may lead to a new generation of painkillers.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-47719718

Great stuff, red. Hope you catch up on some sleep now.

Tom Newton Dunn @tnewtondunn 4 hours ago
No10 has just refused three times to deny that PM is now considering a general election if the #Brexit deadlock lasts much longer. Only clarification: “She talked about reaching, not reached”.

Westfacing, we definitely just saw an orange order group taking part in the leave march on channel 4 news. Shocking, isn't it?