Westminstenders: Why the Irish Border isn't a Remain/EU Plot

[RedToothBrush]

I hope the events of this week give the ERG the kick up the backside over this that they need.

I doubt it will, but I live in hope. The alternative is too horrid to contemplate.

I'll leave this here instead as a reminder of what choice Brexit was always going to come down to.

Happy Easter everyone.

@jas well, I suppose it depends if they take up their seats in Westminster... DUP wouldn't have such a firm hold though? Will be interesting to see what side DUP are on after the 'break' as they did seem to be indicating what they would be willing to debate with the indicative votes.

I thought amendments to a bill seeking more indicative votes was narrowly defeated?

PMK
Happy Easter to all.
Really rocked by what has happened in Sri Lanka.

What can happen when any group sets out to destabilise and divide :(

TM has said she will hold binding, not indicative, votes if she can't reach agreement with Labour. Prepare for this to be pulled, however.

What's on the parliamentary calendar this week then?

CrunchyCarrot - I think waiting for Godot pretty much summarises where we are

Are MPs back tomorrow?

Yes, they are. They need to have a concrete plan of action by the end of the week, IMO. They need to show that they're serious about sorting this shit show out.

I think MPs might come back from their break, think “sod it” and vote the WA through, if only to stop Farage in his tracks. But then I think a lot of things (mostly wrong).
Got an over-excited email from TIG to say they would be launching their new party and revealing lists of MEP candidates tomorrow (Tue) in Bristol. I’m (thankfully) not one of them (candidates)...but am still in two minds. On one hand I really think we need a new centre grouping and can see why the EP elections might be a good testing ground and possibly very successful if Remain Tory and Labour voters jump that way, which is what I would hope for. But there’s also the vote splitting...Heidi Allen in the Indy saying that she doesn’t think it will be a big problem and CUK could do very well in some areas...I’m thinking south of England primarily.

Saw this on FB and thought it was relevant given our earlier discussion on the role of education and history.

The SNP already has its 6 prospective candidates selected and is currently deciding the order of the candidates. I'm hoping that the lovely Alyn Smith will be top of the list.

Saw my db yesterday who moved to France with his young family 2 years ago. He said that he'd been incredibly moved by the lovely Alyn Smith's "leave the light on" speech and also that the French that he knows (both Parisians and those that he comes in to contact with in the part of Southern France in which he lives) are engrossed by the slow motion car crash that is Brexit He also talked about a meeting he went to in his prefecture for Brits who were affected: he said it was heartbreaking as the majority were much older and frailer than him (he was the youngest there and is young middle aged himself) and were terrified about the impact of Brexit on health care, income and their simple ability to continue to live in France

Strictly Carnage: Stacey runs off with Kevin, Ann Widdecome flirting with Farage.

PMK with a photo (pinched from Twitter) of the M&S canned cocktail shelf. There’s been a run on the mojitos.

In WW2, around 50-56 Million died as a result of military action.
7 Million were German. 19 Million were Chinese and 23 Million were Russian.

Bestis

Is this a rerun of the Babycham advert 'Make mine a mojito' ?

Itsll be the diane abbott effect surely

Dh loved the pina colada ones

Pretty I've been very surprised ever since the ref that the SNP have been by far the best party on Brexit,
both in having actual policies and what their individual politicians have been saying & doing.

Before the ref, I didn't expect that at all, but then I only expected the UK-wide parties to have relevant policies for me.

I'm definitely another fan of Alyn Smith after his wonderful "leave the light on" speech to the EP

I was also v impressed by NS right after the ref and also consistently since
saying that E27 expats were welcome in Scotland,

none of the disgraceful pandering - unlike both Tories & Labour - to those who see ending FOM as a cure for their problems

So, where are we now with the ongoing Brexit stuff in Parliament? Amazing how a few days away from it and I've lost the plot already. grin. Are we having indicative votes or not? Or are we still at the stage of 'discussions' behind the scenes and waiting for Godot?

Yes the TIGs should have stuck with TIGgers - I saw where they were going with Change as it was used in the ref so much but as you say Red, they never fully realised it or used it. Only hope is some really dim Leavers vote for Change instead of Brexit, but that's exactly why Nige called his one trick pony party that, to avoid confusion.

That culture war diagram exactly sums up my experience of Leave voters. My leave friend (that I've not spoken to for nearly 3 weeks) was an anti-feminist and thought the #metoo movement was ridiculous and sadly taught her psychology kids it was rubbish too

The culture war diagram shows up the split in my wider family perfectly.

Gosh, thank you Red for that!

Grayling's like a cat with 9 lives, but without the grace and intelligence of a feline.

I mentioned to DP about the possibility of a change to leadership election rules, to which he responded with a loud snort and 'will they keep changing them until they get what they want?' and me replying 'it's going to come back and bite them hard one day'.

Oh dear poor Tiggers!

Meanwhile Farage will lead many over the cliff edge lemming-like, whilst managing to avoid it himself and then making himself scarce after it all goes pear-shaped.

Just to comment on the culture diagram, as a Leave voter (and now with terrible Bregret about that)... I don't even recognise myself there as I am pro all those thing - i.e. multiculturalism, feminism, Greens, etc etc.

Hello. I went away for Easter, and dropped off the thread. I think it’s been good for me to step away from Brexit for a while. In fact I think I might try not to get too involved until after the local elections on 2 May.

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Also massive feature of the cultural war: competitive victimhood.

In which those who are actually the most vulnerable tend to be completely ignored by both sides. Cos they don't command large blocks of votes.

Crunchy. The only thing any of us can do is fight for those good values and hope for some common sense in our politicians.