Westminstenders: The gall of the french

[RedToothBrush]

We are full steam ahead with European Parliamentary Elections! Something that seemed unthinkable a few weeks ago.

May still remains adament that they will not happen, but the die has been cast.

May is off to beg Macron and Merkel to back an extension but the French are already stating they want assurances we won't screw thing up for everyone else.

May still is pushing for a deal with Corbyn and a Not a compromise.

Still there is no sign of a breakthrough either for an extension nor over a cross party deal. It drags on, but at least no one has mentioned the WA for ten minutes.

We might yet be in Europe for another Eurovision. Psychologically this feels important.

The ERG are not happy.

EU27 debate at dinner, June, Dec, or March 2020 & conditions.

The extension with a referendum-shaped-hole, please.

To go.

Cordelia tell your sister to step away from the razor! To get rid of nits you just leave the conditioner on your hair and then comb through with a fine toothed comb. The conditioner means your hair is so slippery the nits can't hold on.
If DNiece keeps getting them then just do the conditioner/comb trick every time she washes her hair. No fuss no muss no buzz cuts.

If we scrape through today's game of Jeopardy then it looks like we will have EU elections in May. Lib Dem's have put their potential candidates list out to supporters and the Torres are going through their own selection process this week. No idea about Labour.

Will we miss all this when it's over?
🤔

Daniel Boffey @ danielboffey
Theresa May has spoken this morning to the Dutch PM, Mark Rutte, about what is likely to happen this evening - or early tomorrow morning - following her doomed attempt to limit the ext to 30 June.

Banking Views @ bankingviews
Is 30 June really doomed? Reading @Peston and others yet steady it sounds like EU decision now skewed towards shorter, rather than longer decision. Cc @MijEurope @CERGrant

Mujtaba Rahman @mij_europe
@DanielBoffey is good and 5close to the debate. My 2 cents: Think long extension is numerically where MS/Council are heading but ultimately this will depend on the 27 leaders debate & dynamic in the room. Tusk conc & COREPER not necessarily indicative of where #EUCO will land

Charles Grant @ CER_Grant
Apparently in Coreper yesterday only France was against long extension of A50

I view this as good news. The pressure is on France to compromise. France vetoing alone is not good for Macron's long term EU ambitions.

May will not be happy about this, as I am not sure she will have much option but to accept it. The Tories will be furious. The ERG will be raging. And Mark Francois might have a minor stroke.

If I were the EU, I wouldn't give an extension to June. It isn't long enough to grant a new referendum or kill off brexit entirely - but as she hasn't achieved anything in the past three years, there is no reason to assume she will pull something out of the bag in the next two months. It just means two months later, they end up having another summit, kicking the can further down the road.
With the UK properly in the naughty corner, a longer extension means they can ignore brexit and get on with stuff they actually care about. Meanwhile it gives time, over here, for the poison to slowly drip out of brexit. The further we get past March 29th, the more pointless it all becomes, the more stupid the posturing looks. And once we're past the three year mark on the referendum we have to start thinking about it's shelf life.

Agree with Pretzels. One of my Brexit chickens is now laying. First couple of days lovely eggs with nice hard shells, albeit a bit small. Then after that it’s all gone a bit pear shaped with eggs with no shells. Today has improved, nearly there but just as I was about to celebrate friend pointed out there was a hole in one end that was hidden from view at first.

The other two go into the nest box and sit in a row with her. They look like they know what they are doing but no eggs at the end of it. So definitely don’t count on your chickens, they are not reliable and lull you into a false sense of security (though great fun).

Lib Dem's have put their potential candidates list out to supporters and the Torres are going through their own selection process this week. No idea about Labour.

Weren't they in a similar boat to the Tories and holding back under the assumption that we've be out by now or, (for the Brexit conspiracy theorists that will be looking for clues) maybe they had to add to the pretence of looking as if we were leaving

Either way, I look forward to a very interesting campaign ... how are the Tories and Labour going to woo voters while simultaneously telling them that those same voters have committed to leave ???????

Oybkk Labour put out requests for candidates early last week I believe.

LDs are usually first off the mark and in recent years the Tories have been slowest at getting candidates for anything.

May will not be happy about this, as I am not sure she will have much option but to accept it. The Tories will be furious. The ERG will be raging. And Mark Francois might have a minor stroke.

What are the downsides then ?

Huh - I lost the end of my post. I was going to say that December seemed like the compromise position to me. But - what do I know? I wouldn't lay money on it.

Also - because I am spiteful and this may not affect the Eu's reasoning but it should I wouldn't give a June extension because that is what TM wants and she shouldn't be given an opportunity to spin today as a victory for her. She's already asked for June - and they already said no. She shouldn't be rewarded for asking for the same thing twice.

Fiachra O Ciannaith @ociannaith
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has told reporters in Brussels he:
* believes a one year #Brexit flex-tension "has merit"
* says Britain and the EU should be reasonable
* says a customs union is a priority as if it happens the EU can offer UK more than US president Donald Trump #iestaff

pretzels, I thought the conditioner method doesn't kill the eggs? DSis is terrified of critters so would (most likely) shave her head rather than risk head lice hatching. I honestly don't think she'd sleep with the anxiety. Plus, the time between checking (even if it's every day) means she'd be able to pass them on to others.

How are the EP elections funded from a party POV ? Is it different for Labour and Tories.

Presumably the fact these are proper parliamentary elections means they are subject to much closer scrutiny re: spending than the referendum was ?

Will the Brexit backers feel like putting even more money into a Brexit that is clearly not turning out as sold ?

www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/04/10/emmanuel-macron-left-isolated-eu-high-horse-brexit-summit/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
Emmanuel Macron is left isolated on his EU high horse at Brexit summit

Emmanuel Macron will find himself isolated at tonight’s European Union summit in Brussels, after overplaying his hand by threatening Britain with a no deal Brexit.

So that's a few places suggesting similar.

What do EU leaders actually want. Do they want to be shot of us or would they like this whole problem to go away and for us to stay?

I think that will decide whether they give us a long extension or not. Extend for another year and hope we have a referendum and we vote remain. Or even for the WA, but then it will be ratified. I've said all along I don't want another referendum, but it is better than crashing out.

The further we get past March 29th, the more pointless it all becomes, the more stupid the posturing looks. And once we're past the three year mark on the referendum we have to start thinking about it's shelf life

And then we could revoke, hopefully.

What do EU leaders actually want

I'd guess they want the EU to deliver the maximum possible benefits for it's 450,000,000 citizens in terms of wealth, health, and security.

It's more a question what the fuck does the UK want - and clearly it's not the wealth, health and security of it's citizens.

Cordelia It doesn't kill them but it's very effective. It's only when they haven't been treated for ages and ages that it's a problem and chemicals would be needed. According to the NHS info w3et combing gets rid of the eggs as well as the lice.
Head shaving wouldn't necessarily work either - nits don't actually care about length of hair - it just makes them more visible. And -whilst I'm not a lice expert - surely when you catch nits you catch already hatched ones? An egg can't make it's way onto your head by itself. If there are eggs in their hair then there are already live nits in there too.

and clearly it's not the wealth, health and security of it's citizens.

At the mo it's the wealth of some of its citizens.

I understand that live lice hop onto hair, usually when heads are close together. You see small girls in particular with their long hair entwined when playing or chatting.

@BethRigby

May arrives at EU summit. Still clinging to idea that she can get her deal done insisting she’s not prepared to delay Brexit any further than June 30. Two minutes earlier the Lithuania President arrived & told me EU 27 would demand a long extension

May arrives at EU summit. Still clinging to idea that she can get her deal done insisting she’s not prepared to delay Brexit any further than June 30. Two minutes earlier the Lithuania President arrived & told me EU 27 would demand a long extension

Brexiteers can spin it how they like, but May is in no position to refuse what is offered. And she needs to be a little careful how she takes it too ... (bet she isn't). This is not a time to be ungracious. Not only is she representing the country, she's also carrying it's shame.

Cordelia conditioner, preferably tea tree, and combing through at least twice a week breaks the laying cycle. Nitty Gritty comb is the best I have found for the job. No point to most of the treatments if they just go to school and get reinfected or if you miss someone. No need to bother with burning the bedsheets or buzzcuts etc.

Also recommend Vosene shampoo which they seem to not like.

I have long hair and 3 long haired DDs. Have lots of friends with boys. Used to be endlessly frustrating when they chopped their DSs' hair without actually ridding them of the critters.

I like the BBC headline atm:

"May 'clear' she wants short delay"

quotes around clear BBCs, not mine

Cordelia if your Dsis would rather shave her DDs head than deal with her anxiety over nits I'd say that's a significant parenting problem