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?

I had assumed that the WEP would support biological women!

You assume incorrectly.

got so fed up of waiting for the landlord to do essential repairs, they have moved away

My current landlord took 6 months to fix the broken (to the point of unusable) sink in my only bathroom. As I have no bath I had to wash my hands downstairs in the kitchen. It should have been done within three days because it was a sanitation issue. But I don't want to complain too forcefully because they are generally pretty good (ie leave me alone and don't have massive rent increases) and last time I complained to a landlord about an essential repair taking too long they didn't fix it and instead asked me to leave at the end of the year contract.

When is the Euro elections legislation hitting the Commons next week?

Not that I think it has the numbers to pass especially after last night's Cooper vote.

I think 2016 leavers voting remain is considerably more likely than 2016 remainers voting for any kind of Brexit. Perhaps I’m missing something?

Trouble is we only know what has happened in our own near circle of family / friends. So it is impossible to call it.

I live in an area that voted marginally to Leave.

So far of the people I know -

Leave voters -
one has changed to Remain,
one will abstain as it 'is for the younger family members to decide
their future'.
two have died
four would still vote Leave

Remain voters - all would still vote Remain

New voters - three new voters would all vote Remain & most of their friends would all vote Remain.

My landlord in the US is very pleasant personally but the lack of regulation is eye opening. We have discovered we have a faulty gas stove, who knows for how long. There are no mandatory gas checks.

power to decide whether to No Deal or Revoke rests entirely in the hands of a Tory PM

She absolutely will not choose to revoke without at least getting a majority in HoC for it. And, to be fair, even as a Remainer I think it would set a dangerous precedent if she did.

not to support the Cherry Motion, power to decide whether to No Deal or Revoke

I dont think there was anyway Labour could come out of supporting the Cherry motion and look good, IMO revoke is the remain unicorn to the brexit no deal unicorn

If I were the EU I wouldn't give an extension on the idea that we've agreed to talk about having a plan.

Guy Verhofstadt
‏*@guyverhofstadt*
For 70 years, NATO has been a cornerstone of our security. Now it is vital we strengthen @NATO by building its European pillar, based on a European defence community and a European Army, so that Europeans can take their future into their own hands.

www.dw.com/en/nato-turns-70-as-rifts-within-the-alliance-deepen/a-48168434

Good afternoon all!

Been catching up.

Why is Keir Starmar talking to David Lidington and not Steve Barclay?

Cos nobody in their right mind would want to talk to Steve Barclay. About anything.

I can't seem to get Talkins link on Revoke Article50 Petition analysis to load. My laptop has taken a dislike to it.

Frustrating.

WEP? Women's equality party? They have a very niche target audience, not wc, carers, stay at home mums, women with a basic grasp of biology.

It's a shame. I love Sandy on bake off

Why is Keir Starmar talking to David Lidington and not Steve Barclay?

Cos the Cabinet office is in charge of EU negotiation. The Brexit office was demoted to only covering domestic Brexit affairs. Barclay is sometimes given nice foreign trips to keep him feeling important but he's a bit player with the EU. Lidington is the boss when we are over there. Barclay is also wheeled out periodically in the Commons to pacify the mobs in there.

"My patience with some richer Remainers who express a desire for no deal in any form, is really wearing thin atm (as you might be able to tell). I've heard a few too many comments I greatly despise."

Me too, red
I grew up very poor after my dad died.

We just managed to have basic food & shelter, no extras, no activities, no pocket money, not even biscuits or chocs, of course no holidays anywhere.
We had nothing to cut back on, no relatives nearby to help

We would have been finished as an SP family - I'd have presumably been put into care to get fed - if things had got suddenly more expensive or required more travel to obtain.
50 years on, I look back on that period of childhood with horror, not nostalgia

Some people don't understand what it's like to be really poor,
how you can't cope with sudden costs or problems, the constant worry and atruggle
For the comfortably off, hard times might mean cutting back on coffees / meals out or foreign holidays
A different world.

What my brother posted earlier today when I questioned him re posting that AfD post ( originally posted by JRM)

Because Barclay is an arse?

@littlespaces
it can be very glitchy to load .... I often leave it in a spare tab and then it magically decides to
but its worth the wait

Nope, the WEP proclaim the TWAW fantasy

Not getting my vote,
because what is the point of a specifically "pro-woman" party denying our biology and supporting policies which harm women

Thanks Talkin. I will try that solution.

2bees. Nothing good EVER comes from fascism.

I saw this diagram on Femis twiiter page. It made me smile.

2bees DH showed me a conversation with a FB friend this morning. Friend was saying the afd were making a lot of sense. Dh was unimpressed.

The AfD were originally middle class eccentric conservatives who wanted to retain the DM

Then they were infiltrated and mostly taken over by neoNazis and by people who grew up warped in the communist dictatorship of East Germany
Their focus now is anti-Muslim

They are also against environmental regulations on cars etc which has brought in some motorheads locally to me

Aren't they partly funded by the grand daughter of Hitler's secretary?

Well I just googled "German economists UK GDP no deal Brexit" and got various stories which said impact on Germany likely to be greater than impact on UK, and impact on Ireland startlingly awful (8% of GDP).

I'm not an economist but I know stats can lie, and I know you can manipulate them any way you want. So I don't know who or what to believe.

So I am sticking with my view that no deal is not an option for anyone (except JRM and his arrogant posse) and everything will be done to prevent it.

And on the WEP point, I am glad I mentioned that here!

I'm torn on settling for a very bad deal v ND. I am insulated against the worst of the no deal impact although not immune so it is probably easier for me to take a longer term view. I grew up horribly poor, eating free EU cheese ironically, so do understand the impact it would have but also want the best future possible for my dc and any dgc in the long run.