Westministenders: A New Approach? No chance.

[RedToothBrush]

Next week we will have a new PM. He will be called Boris Johnson unless something very odd has happened.

His first 72 hours will be 'interesting' especially if today's events are anything to go by.

His Cabinet is sure to be a horror show. It was noticable who abstained today - they don't think they will be in a Johnson Cabinet and clearly don't want to be.

To move forward Johnson must be able to survive a rebellion and a Queen's speech before now and 31st October.

And be able to unit his party in order to find a way forward.

And whilst parliament has voted to block proroguing parliament, it could still be dissolved if there is a vote of no confidence.

And what happens if Johnson loses a vote? Will he manage to become PM? Will there be a GE.

All the signs are that next week is going to be a hell of a ride.

Enjoy your weekend.

[DGRossetti]

I wonder how well this would have gone if the UK were not a member of the EU ?

www.theregister.co.uk/2019/07/18/qualcomm_fined_242m_for_eliminating_a_british_competitor/

The European Commission has issued American chip maker Qualcomm with a hefty €242m fine for anti-competitive practices.

(contd)

[DarlingNikita]

Thanks Red. I'm off on hols next Weds and can't decide whether or not away is the best place to be while the next round of ShitShow Britain plays out.

To an extent I can bury my head in the sand, if you'll excuse the sort-of-pun, but God only knows what I'll be coming back to...

[BigChocFrenzy]

Thanks, red 💐

Apologies to all;
I was monitoring the old thread and was scribbling a skeleton OP after post 980 when .....

all those portions of ripe fruit that were soooo delicious last night reminded me why scoffing that much of them was a BAD idea

After the poonami clearup, I had to return home for a shower and fresh clothes

@red Your 4-year-old probably has more sense

[1tisILeClerc]

{But surely if they represent the commons they should contain nuts?}

No, they have no nuts as they can't be honest with the public and just say that Brexit is a clusterfuck., Or is that a nut cluster?

[1tisILeClerc]

Oh pleeaase BCF!

[BigChocFrenzy]

Hunt's oops ... ?

Jeremy Hunt@Jeremy_Hunt

I missed votes today because I thought I was slipped and it turns out I was not.

Apologies to my colleagues & Whips

(My position is that parliament should NOT restrict the hands of an incoming govt in this way & I remain opposed to how parl voted)

[BigChocFrenzy]

We let it all out here, leclerc

The weaker sex must beware !

[BigChocFrenzy]

Anyone:
When was HoC "pairing" renamed to "slipping" ?

[nuttynutjob]

PMK.

Bollocks to Boris!

[CrunchyCarrot]

Thanks, Red

Spot the real kitty.

[DGRossetti]

When was HoC "pairing" renamed to "slipping" ?

Probably some clever wheeze to break "old news" and "new news" and confound Google (not that it takes much) ?

[1tisILeClerc]

BCF, just NO!

[Lisette1940]

😄😂Flouncy. I'll add nuts into the next batch of Lower- house , preserving Toll-House as a name for choc chip only. Ta!

[DarlingNikita]

I missed votes today because I thought I was slipped and it turns out I was not.

I don't believe him.

[BigChocFrenzy]

BBC Newsnight reported a deal - don't get excited ! - between the Port of Calais and the Channel ferry companies,
to avoid Calais becoming logjammed:

In the event of No Deal Brexit,
the companies would prevent Uk trucks from boarding ferries at Dover if they didn't have the correct paperwork that Calais would require to let through goods from a 3rd country

Beware after ND of BJ and Brexit Central crowing that disruption hasn't happened:
blocking a lot of British exports is not a great achievement

btw, since 1 November is a Friday, we can expect many exporters / hauliers to hold back goods until Monday anyway,
so they can get to grips with whatever documentation is required and also the system of checking / filtering system at the UK end

[BigChocFrenzy]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jul/18/boris-johnson-no-deal-brexit-threat-risks-being-ignored-by-the-eu-michel-barnier

In another interview for Panorama, the European commission’s vice-president, Frans Timmermans,
expressed amazement at the lack of preparedness of the UK negotiators when they arrived in Brussels for the first talks.

“We thought they are so brilliant,” he said in comments recorded in March.

“That in some vault somewhere in Westminster there will be a Harry Potter-like book with all the tricks and all the things in it to do.”

He said he changed his mind after seeing the then Brexit secretary David Davis.

Timmermans said:

“I saw him not coming, not negotiating, grandstanding elsewhere [and] I thought,
‘Oh my God, they haven’t got a plan, they haven’t got a plan.

“That was really shocking, frankly, because the damage if you don’t have a plan …”

[BigChocFrenzy]

That link also has maybe the most sensible idea so far - comes from the EU side, of course:

Liddington reported that last year, Martin Selmayr asked him if the UK would like to pause A50 for 5 years
(so the UK has time to use both hands and a torch to finally locate its own arse)

“Martin sort of said,
‘Look, why don’t we have a deal whereby we just put all this on ice for five years?’

“Let’s see how things go, let’s get the UK involved with France and Germany, let’s see how the dust settles and let’s talk about whether we can come to a new deal for Europe.’”

Selmayr told Panorama that he was “very certain” the UK was not in a position to leave without a deal in March this year.
He said:
“We have seen what has been prepared on our side of the border for a hard Brexit.
We don’t see the same level of preparation on the other side of the border.”

“You would have to establish a lot of authorities in the United Kingdom that you don’t have at this moment in time
so I think the European Unionn^ have been very well prepared for that – we could live with a hard Brexit.

“We don’t think the same level of preparation is there on the UK side.”
< no kidding, mate >

[NoWordForFluffy]

PMK, thanks Red.

I have no pets to post, so here's the frog (toad?) which lives in our strawberry patch in the garden!

[BigChocFrenzy]

Gordon Brown: 'Boris Johnson could be UK's last prime minister

pretty and other Scottish Westministenders can maybe say if they agree with this assessment about BJ finally pissing off Scotland beyond the point of no return

I'm sure pretty will have a little fume over Brown's comments on the SNP - he had to have a go at them too and dilute the message / blame

www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jul/18/gordon-brown-boris-johnson-could-be-uk-last-prime-minister-

[tobee]

Yes indeed @bellinisurge

[OublietteBravo]

Hello! PMK.

[Hazardtired]

Ta red

[ThereWillBeAdequateFood]

PMK

No cats I’m afraid, nice picture of a tree fern instead.

[prettybird]

I do find it incredibly hypocritcal of Brown to talk about "the Scottish National party’s “extreme nationalism”, with its intention to abandon the pound and leave the UK single market and customs union." given that the SNP's preferred option, as set out in their White Paper "Scotland's Future" (the lengthy tome that was produced well in advance of the Referendum novel concept that ) was to use the pound and to be part of the single market and customs union within the EU . But we were told that we couldn't use the pound (even though we part own it ) and that the only way we could guarantee being part of the EU was if we voted to stay in the UK

The only reason that the SNP are now considering setting up a separate currency is that Westminster has made it clear that it would be as obstructive as possible about Scotland still having an involvement - even though Scotland had, last time round, decided that the small amount of sovereignty it would cede was worthwhile.

I'm sure the Bank of England will just love the Scottish Banks taking out the deposits, that they have to place with it in order to be able to print their own money It will do wonders for the value of sterling.