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.

The more embarrassing ex-Tory ageing eccentrics that join the Brexit party the better. (I can say this as an older eccentric myself.)

Another has been at least. Let us hope that younger people start to turn out. It would be so good if 18 million or so voted for Remain parties - it would be something to throw back at Leasdom.

Look on the bright side. Ann Widdecombe isn't going to help the Brexit Party recruit young blood to the party is it?

I don't know she got a lot of laughs on Strictly - there's a sort of perverse - let's stick our fingers up Boaty Mc Boatface cache about people like her.

For the daytime TV 'shows' to be repeating the same crap and failing to understand that the WA is a WITHDRAWAL Agreement is beyond ridiculous, as indeed is so much of Brexit.

Indeed. I watched an interview yesterday (I think it was Adam Boulton but they all start blurring together ) where I was shouting at the TV to get him to point out to whoever was being interviewed that the WA is not. The. Final. Trade. Deal. It is an interim position during which time the final trade deal will be negotiated.

So we don't know yet whether the final trade deal will include a Customs Union, the Single Market or anything.

That's why the Back Stop is so important - it's the only thing that is (or will be, once the WA is signed which it has to be before trade talks start ) set in stone.

And no, the UK can't invoke Article 24 of GATT in order not to trade with the EU under "bare" WTO terms as that requires both parties to agree and to be working towards a trade deal which would require, guess what? (to quote in a similar context, Mark Carney ), the WA to be signed

Random, KS2 sats are 13 to 17 may this year, so shouldn't be affected by the election.

Local elections Thursday 2 May
EP elections Thursday 23 May

The WA is also the Exit Deal, to tie up loose ends
e.g. exit bill, expat rights

I agree BigChoc - but the one thing it is not , absolutely not , in any way, is the ongoing Trade Deal with the EU, however much the Brexiters bleat on about it stopping the UK from signing trade deals .

It does stop trade deals from being implemented during the transition phase - but that is because of the concession that the DUP forced May pushed onto the EU which was to allow a UK wide Customs Union during transition, rather than a a limited concession for NI and a "border" in the Irish Sea, unless and until the fantasy, non infrastructure based technological solutions can be conjured up invented to solve the border problem on the island of Ireland.

Emma Barnett @Emmabarnett
Back in Westminster for my @bbc5live show at 10am and there’s an eerie quiet about the place. There is nothing to report about Brexit. No update. Zilch. How? Why? Speak to you soon....

No surprises there.

Lewis Goodall @lewis_goodall
I’ve been following @NigelFarage’s @brexitpartyuk from their first rallies. The thing which strikes me most, is how effectively he’s stolen the mantle of change. His message is now bigger than Brexit, it’s about national renewal. My piece from Brum.

Most of you will never have been to one: if you want to understand the potency and effectiveness of the story Farage is now telling and the very raw emotion motivating the party’s supporters, watch this piece.

Theo Usherwood @theousherwood
This piece is very good. The thing it touches on is that @NigelFarage needs a reason to be @NigelFarage ...

For a moment in 2016, that reason in UK politics disappeared.

But now he has it back. That's a big problem for the established parties.

Was always going to be the case. People should have seen it coming...

So, Jonny Mercer, earns 80k per year for 4 hours work per week.... man of the people & tipped to be a future Tory leader.

Also wants Brexit.

This might be the latest list of MEP candidates, although I can't see Greens in every region, or Brexit Party at all.

inews.co.uk/news/politics/european-elections-2019-candidates-mep-who-standing-eu-vote-full-list/

With several Remain parties, plus Labour who may become more Remainy closer to the date, it doesn't look good for returning many pro-EU MEPs.

The parties decided not to form an alliance and work tactically together to effectively use votes. So voters will have to be tactical. This is all we can do now, but it'd need a huge campaign to create awareness.

This article will need updating, but it suggests people vote for certain parties in each region to pool votes to full effect. Eg. in my area it says Remainers to vote Green. And in the North East for Lib Dem.

medium.com/@Metatone/a-strawman-on-ep-election-tactical-voting-for-remainers-9b17edcdbcfd

Tactical Voting
Key concepts about the UK EP elections:
Votes are counted and applied to seats using a regional list system, which means who you should vote for depends on where you are.
In Northern Ireland they use STV, but all the other regions use D’Hondt and going by previous results D’Hondt in these circumstances generally means a party needs to get a minimum of at least around 9 or 10% of the vote to get a seat (but for example in the North East last time, the threshold was 18%).
Because we hope for a decline (probably minor) in the UKIP/BrexitParty/Tory turnout and an increase (we hope a major one) in the turnout of Remainers all of the following ideas are open to discussion.
There appears to be no existing official co-operation between pro-Remain parties and at the time of writing it does not appear there is time or will to create one, so it is down to us, as voters, to make some hard choices.
As of writing the LibDems and the Greens are neck and neck in polling and this suggests that the LDs have not recovered from their losses in 2014, but equally have not fallen away further.

I think assumptions are based on the 2014 election, so things are a bit different now, but it's a start.

I don't think many Brexit party candidates are very attractive - Anne Widdecombe?? And I reckon there'll be a bigger turnout of Remainers this time. However we still need to get those young people signed up. Many young folk are more focussed on environmental issues than Brexit, so it's worth pointing out that working with the EU is the best way to pass laws to preserve the environment. It's truly a global issue which needs co-operation between nations to improve.

www.vfyf.co.uk

I really must stop reading the comments sections on some of the UK online papers. Sickening attitudes and display of ignorance and negativity.
That Farage clip, all negativity.
I wanted the UK to either leave or revoke on 29 March so I could get on with being positive, but it it is just a continual grind of excrement.

I think Ann Widdecombe will get a significant number of votes. She’s been on quite a few popular tv programs. Leave supporters will know who she is and will vote for her.

She’s also been on TV a few times lately supporting No Deal

My cousin lives in Tenerife and apparently they're quite relaxed about fewer Brits. (She commented that there's enough living there that they're unlikely to be forgotten).

if you want to understand the potency and effectiveness of the story Farage is now telling

I watched that clip and I think the Brexit party have a very strong message - after all, Leave had the majority in the referendum and I can fully understand and relate to the sentiment that the result should be respected. This 'betrayal' aspect is very powerful emotionally. However I've now learned to look beyond that at the actual consequences of leaving the EU.

Remainers on the other hand can't fall back on the referendum result, instead they must focus on the damage that will be caused by leaving the EU, which will of course be dismissed as Project Fear. Leave are focusing very much on betrayal and democracy at the expense of What Comes Next, which is being totally ignored (again!).

I think Remain is up against it unless we can get a PV, and even then, it depends on how pervasive the Brexit party is by that point, bearing in mind another referendum will take a few months to organise.

That "full" list on the "i" site posted by Hester doesn't include the SNP candidates for Scotland - yet they were announced at the weekend , although the order of the candidates hasn't, afaik, hasn't been confirmed yet .

Looks like the odious and execrable current Scottish UKIP MEP will be standing for the turquoise party as his name is not on the UKIP list.

Ann Widdecombe
likes publicity: Panto Celebrity Big Brother Strickly
Really dignified

She's a perfect match for the South West region after all.

Feb 2019 Remain campaigner Rachel Johnson strips off (topless) on Sky News.

www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/brexit-news-latest-moment-remain-campaigner-rachel-johnson-strips-off-on-sky-news-a4067476.html

Feb 2019 Molly Scott Cato (Green Party MEP) arrested during nuclear protest in Belgium.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-47305735

Unbelievable the UK has apparently agreed to allow Huawei equipment in our role out of 5G... despite 3 of the five-eye countries banning any Chinese involvement.... all so we can secure a chinese trade agreement, Brexit is having far reaching unforeseen consequences and May yet again shows why she is unfit for any form of public office.

Huawei put in public wifi at train stations throughout India, they then "accidently" fitted piggyback wifi antenna accessible only by chinese technicians and kept this from the Indian govt.

Unbelievable the UK has apparently agreed to allow Huawei equipment in our role out of 5G... despite 3 of the five-eye countries banning any Chinese involvement.... all so we can secure a chinese trade agreement,

If the US are serious, that's the UK out of the 5-eyes. Couple that with reduced access to the EU databases, and I wouldn't be surprised to read of a "surprise" surge in immigration to the UK. Get in while no one can find you.

As an aside, relying on any single supplier is so socialist it's untrue. When did the Tories become so anti-competition ?

She's a perfect match for the South West region after all.

What do you mean?

One of the links posted by someone else this morning (I read them!) - also contains the news that Change UK candidate, Ali Sadjady was forced to resign yesterday - after derogatory remarks he made about Romanian pickpockets on the London Underground were discovered on his twitter account.

We are also reminded that Angela Smith, MP, Independent Group/Change UK founder member, described people from ethnic minorities as having a “funny tinge” in a discussion about racism and skin colour on live TV earlier this year.

Not a great start...

She's a perfect match for the South West region after all.
What do you mean?

Likes publicity Really dignified - she fits in nicely with the other wallflowers contesting the South West region.

Molly Cato Scott is not a wallflower.