Westminstenders: The Bill Cash Appreciation Society

[RedToothBrush]

We've had a new thread pretty much everyday for the last week or so, so I'm short on inspiration.

There haven't been too many new developments today. There have been two ministerial resignations. Both were ministers close to Boris Johnson.

We had a vote to add an extension if we still have no deal agreed at the end of next week to the Withdrawal Bill. May has said she will do this anyway; this would merely tie her hands. It passed by 5 votes. It now is fast tracked to the committee stage and third reading.

A business of the house amendment by Benn to secure a debate and Indicative Vote 3 next week failed after a speakers vote. Bercow followed convention and didn't create a majority where there was not one (though under Erskine May he is free to do the opposite at his discretion).

Corbyn has met May for talks which have been described as construction, though we have no further details though curiously Emily Thornberry put out a statement demanding a ref on whatever was decided which suggests Corbyn isn't keen on the idea. Rumours are of Schrodingers Customs Union: somehow being in a union but not a union. It can't be called a customs union. And Liam Fox has said Corbyn can't have his union. Though he may have a vested interest as he loses his job if Corbyn gets his way.

Oh and the Commons photocopier broke so no one knows what is currently supposed to be happening.

Otherwise it's been a quiet day, all things considered. Too quiet?

Robbie Gibb, eh? One for the notebook. Along with the godawful Nick Timothy.

Unelected minnows getting the elected to rage at the EU.

I think if I was ever an MP (not something I'm intending to become) I would be driven to spend most of my time in the bar. 🍺

tobee you have to be a certain type of person to stand for election.

The Newport West by- election should be fascinating. Apparently Brexit is on none of the leaflets of any party. It was 50/50 in the referendum and "there is no Brexit dividend ". So I was told by someone who knows this sort of thing.

Proof the country has gone mad
Will Crook @ wgjcrook
.@BBCParliament on at Leicester Forest East Service Station on the M1 ensuring motorists are kept updated on the #brexit debate in the House of Commons.

Obviously a decision was made that there was demand for this

I think I am inside the Westminster Bubble. I have no idea what is going on in the outside world. We are on Easter break and it has been raining/snowing all day so I haven’t left the house. I have BBC Parliament on in the sitting room. LBC on in the kitchen. The children are binging on the PS4. I am drinking the Baileys I and eating the chocs I got for Mother’s Day. This cannot continue!

They are voting - division

tobee you have to be a certain type of person to stand for election

Ponders this. Someone I know well did. He was sent good wishes from people who he never imagined would and he knew to be different rosette wearers precisely because he wasn't 'a certain type of person'.

It's frustrating.

More people who break the mould should stand.

Shouldn’t the mace be back on top of the table?

Prediction: Corbyn will ensure WA is passed. Johnson gets in; reneges on WA; very bad things happen but SWP is destroyed. but bad things happen.

@Belinda
Lol about BBC parliament in the sitting room and LBC in the kitchen. You've just described my house! I think I might be even further gone though as I've also spent the last 30min discussing brexit with my friends on WhatsApp. It's really bad...

I am not that type of person.

I usually try to persuade people of something and the go off and "vote" for the opposite.

They go off. See? Not cut out for communication

Now we know why the Daily Mail had such rabid frothing at the mouth anti EU headlines for the last few years.

They have been revealed as one of the organisations evading tax. Thank you EU.

uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-subsidies/eu-orders-uk-to-recover-illegal-tax-aid-from-multinationals-idUKKCN1RE0WB

Alex Wickham@alexwickham
NEW: Govt sources tonight saying that the talks with Labour were not as “constructive” as claimed.

One source says it “did not go well”.

So why have more talks been set up tomorrow and negotiating teams briefed out? Surely not to run down the clock to a final go at her deal...

Govt source says Corbyn made a series of demands other than a customs union but May would not give a view on whether she was willing to accept them.

Tobee my friend whilst out canvassing got talking to someone. During the course of the conversation the person said something to which friend replied, 'oh well actually I'm probably not the best person for you to be voting for. You should vote for x instead. I'd really like you to vote for me, but actually if they are going to help you more with that issue I'm not going to win so he's your best bet!'

She is probably trying to distract everyone so they don't vote through Yvette's Bill.

pmk

Robert Peston@peston
.@PhilipHammondUK has just told me Brexit delay will inevitably be long, that UK will have to prepare for participation in European elections and cabinet’s hope is UK would be allowed to Brexit earlier if deal passed in coming months. See full interview at 10.45 @itv 10.45. Big

Yeah I've done plenty of canvassing in my time. Used to restrict myself to just asking for a with us or against us and run away fast.

May is a very flawed politician of limited talent, trying to perform a task that would be horrendously difficult even for the most talented PM ever.

Don't look for hidden depths: there are none
there is no master plan, just May struggling since the GE to survive from one day to the next

Some Leavers think May always planned to Revoke;
some Remainers think she always planned No Deal.
I think you mean she is not doing what you want

The evidence is that she has been stubbornly trying to force her WA through the HoC
and losing allies by repeating this so often.

After its last failure, she appeared briefly tempted by No Deal,
but if that was ever a serious Plan B, she soon backed away.

Now she is putting herself & her party through the worst humiliation imaginable:
Going to Labour for help because Brexit has broken her party

She has also delayed Brexit, which has Brexiters spitting feathers.

Because of all this, her party will be totally hammered in the local elections and probably at the GE too

She could have avoided this months ago by going for No Deal and just running down the time
Even the attempt - if stopped by the HoC - would have avoided becoming a hate figure to the Brexiters.

Even if she switched to it now, it's too late - the damage to her party will be long-lasting

Rafals If by 10 April she has made her order in Council for EP elections
and she is still in talks with Corbyn, then the EU will probably grant a long extension.

If talks have broken down and the HoC have not voted in favour of anything, then the EU will not give an extension just to prolong the agony

Amendment 21 the noes had it now voting on amendment 22 and I'm off to bed.

Eustice amendment voted down. Can’t remember what exactly it was but it fucked something up. Ayes 304 Noes 314 I think.

How many amendments are they voting on before the third reading of the bill?

I have to say surely there has to be a more family friendly way of running Parliament.