Westminstenders: "I don't give a flying flamingo"

[RedToothBrush]

Amid scenes parliament was shut down.

In an unprecedented comment the Speaker, stated it was not an ordinary prorogation and it was blatantly an attempt to stop the executive being held to account.

And now it seems a Scottish Court agree with him:
"Lord Brodie cont: "the principal reasons for the prorogation were to prevent or impede parliament holding the executive to account and legislating with regard to Brexit, and to allow the executive to pursue a policy of a no deal Brexit without further parliamentary interference"

Thus parliament must reopen. Unless the decision is overturned in a higher court.

This is constitutionally a big deal. The Queen is highly unlikely to attend a reopening, especially in this manner, due to how political it now is.

General Election campaigning has already began with parties trying to take full advantage of the fact that there are currently no rules over spending.

Dominic Cummings actively and openly campaigning for the Conservatives whilst paid as a civil servant by the tax payer is a huge breech of the Civil service code but MPs are struggling to pin the government down on this as its being obstructive.

Cummings is keen to use data to target and personalise people based on their usage of the .gov portal for Brexit. This is OK as its in the national interest apparently. Its also incredibly sinister and concerning about how this could be used against the population.

Anyway if you thought parliament closing would result in a lull in events you were very much mistaken!!

What next?

So basically they’re saying “dear passengers, we hope you’ve enjoyed your cruise so far. Your captain has decided to steer the boat right towards an iceberg and you might want to read this list of risks. You can die of frostbite, pneumonia, drowning etc etc. Of course it’s up to you to prepare. Oh by the way, you might find there’s no lifeboats or materials to make some, and we don’t think you need to get instructions on how exactly to get ready because you might get panicky”
Thanks a bunch

(I know, I know, we originally told you we’d go to the Caribbean, but after the first captain pulled out, the second one was thrown overboard, finally this third one decided that he never saw an iceberg from close view so that where he’s going. Pity for those bikinis with the pink Unicorns, you’re not going to wear them”)

It won't take the whole inventory to flare. Basically what will happen is every valve that can slam shut will and anything left would go to flare under the residual system pressure.

It's not something you want to happen & there are pretty strict reporting requirements over flaring but it's a hell of a lot better than pressurised tanks going bang.

Anyway
Most of the issues on the list boil down to transport, right? Permit for lorries, physical checks at the borders. A responsible government instead of “inviting” haulage companies to re-register their trucks and drivers should have given them a registration form and 15 days to do it. Would have hired thousands of border control officials 6 months ago, on time to train and prep them.

Thanks for the informed info, NoCryingInEngineering

Just a side note, I wonder how Amber Rudd's relationship with her boyfriend is at present.

(Its Kwasi Kwarteng)

On Twitter there is pressure on the Welsh Government to publish the full document. Philip Lee also suggested they may want to do this.

Strained, is my guess, RTB!

Iirc, from when I worked for ICI Petrochemicals & Plastics (shows my age ) and would regularly visit Wilton, flaring is noisy as well as wasteful

No deal needs rebranding. It's sanitising, trivialising, Tory/BXP party, game show language. Your lives are a game to us and we don't care language.

Moderates shouldn't use it.

Not that I have any useful suggestions for a replacement. A fuck-up Brexit? A fuck the families Brexit? A liars' Brexit? A failure of statecraft Brexit?

I wondered if he and Rudd were till an item

Dare he be - could be "fraternising with the enemy" now and get him sacked

A crash-out Brexit

Don't know if it's been mentioned, but among the parliamentary business lost to proroguing was the questioning of PayPal.

The company was due to give evidence to the DCMS committee today (Weds) about how PayPal is used for funding political parties, including the Brexit Party. Because payments can be pseudonymous and international, the platform is a gift for illegal donors.

twitter.com/carolecadwalla/status/1171554229011529728

According to who published some of yellowhammer a couple of weeks ago in the Times newspaper the title has changed from base effects or some such.
The Welsh should publish full document.

Just what you'd want in the middle of a shortage..

I can tell you how just how easy it is to shut down a refinery for a short while.

Wikipedia has Rudd and Kwarteng as former partners

A thread about whether the talk of a NI only backstop is viable

Peter Foster @pmdfoster
Can No 10's new approach to Northern Irish backstop break the #Brexit impasse? Tldr; it's a tall order - politically and technically.

Been doing a lot of asking about..here's what I discovered. 1/thread
www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/09/11/boris-johnsons-all-ireland-backstop-could-answer-wont-easy/
Boris Johnson's all-Ireland backstop could be the answer - but it won't be easy

To start with, let's be clear what No 10 is/isn't talking about.

They are ruling out an "NI-only" backstop which leaves Northern Irealand in EU's customs area and single market for the areas necessary to deliver a fully open border. /2

This is the NI-only backstop @MichelBarnier has in his bottom draw.

It was proposed in early 2018 and rejected by UK because it turned NI into a regulatory exclave of the EU.

No.10 and DUP say it remains unacceptable. BUT..../3

The UK is now considering, with DUP blessing apparently, that Northern Ireland should follow EU rules on plant and animal product regs ("SPS" in the jargon) in the hope that that forms launch pad for an agreement that fixes the border. Question. Can it? /4

To answer that question, you need to go back to what EU and Ireland says the deal must achieve, by whatever means:

1) a fully open Irish border
2) preservation of all-Ireland economy
3) north-south co-operation under Good friday

These, it says, are the bedrock of peace /5

Why? Because once you start creating two competing regulatory trade environments you create a differential that can be arbirtraged, that encourages crime, causes cost and friction to those on border, requires policing...in short destabilising spiral. /6

Given the above, does a UK offer to align on SPS rules do the trick? Does it create an open borer and all-Ireland economy?

The short answer is it does not.

These only account for about 30 per cent of checks at a border.

And UK offer is miles short on the rest. /7

The most gaping hole is on customs.

Per No 10 briefing the UK will NOT allow Northern Ireland to remain in the customs territory of the EU.

Instead it believe this issue can be sorted by technology and exemptions? But this will NOT fly with the EU. Why? /8

Well. The border starts with customs...which is knowing what is coming in to a territory, and where...that's how you know what to check, what tarriff to collect, what to enforce. See this @hayward_katy diagram below. /9

I really think Boris will resign quite soon. He's got nowhere to go. The wheels are coming off his Brexit Bus

I also think Carrie will be dumping him very soon.

Boris Johnson #ProxyPM

Yep, sos

Rosamund Urwinn@RosamundUrwin*

Just for clarity on Yellowhammer, as I am seeing some incorrect things about.
This is the same version The Sunday Times had in mid-August.

However, the header of that was different.

It said: "HMG Planning Assumptions" then "Base scenario"

Dr David Nicholls (Radio 4 now). What has been published re disruption to medicine supplies is "a million miles away" from the documents he saw when mitigation planning.

This from the FDA (senior civil servant Trade Union, not usually a rowdy lot) is extraordinary:
www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/sep/11/civil-service-union-tells-pm-dont-make-our-members-break-law

"Only you, as prime minister, can end this speculation. I am therefore asking you to categorically and publicly assure the civil service that no civil servant will be asked to breach their obligation under the civil service code to ‘comply with the law and uphold the administration of justice"