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?

Boris Johnson says bridge from N Ireland to Scotland 'would only cost £15bn'

Can we all forget about that fucking bridge. It will never happen, thanks to the UKs bright idea of filling the sea with dumped explosives

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaufort%27s_Dyke

If you hear anyone giving it any time whatsoever, then it's a new moron filter. Not because the necessarily should know intimate details of the hydrography of the British Isles, but because it was flagged up over a year ago.

www.businessinsider.com/boris-johnson-bridge-between-ireland-and-scotland-2018-6

But DGR, aren't the BBC reporting on it now ?

I stand by my words.

How does Boris Johnson's idea of a bridge between Scotland and Ireland eliminate the border between RoI and NI? Is his grasp of geography as comprehensives as Raab's? I.e. non-existent.

A previous employer (insurer) once spent 3 years deciding whether or not they should go "on the internet" with a succession of reports, studies, use case scenarios etc.

It would have taken 2 days to actually have got them on "the internet" quoting to have some real figures to decide if it was worth doing ...

www.theregister.co.uk/2019/09/12/gov_splashed_97m_on_brexit_consultants_but_no_one_knows_what_on_mps/

"Excessive secrecy" surrounds departmental spending on Brexit consultants, though 96 per cent of the £97m spaffed to date has gone to just six firms, according to the UK government's spending watchdog.

...

The report also warned that too much of the work procured to date appears to have been focused on "thinking and shaping", rather than getting things done. "This only compounds our concerns over the speed of preparations for Brexit across

I take it a tunnel is out of the question, too?

(gibbers quietly)

"The danger is Brexiteers will seize on it as "proof" that the EU blinks at the last, and be tempted to over-egg the pudding ..."

Distraction, distraction, imo

Such stories have been leaked all the time to the Uk media for many months
All so far have turned out to be fake

Their purposes are to make rebel Tories and ex-Tories reluctant to act against the govt
and of course to reassure the faithful that there won't be a disastrous No Deal.

Before we believe any of this,
wait until you hear that the Irish govt are prepared for the backstop to be abandoned, as BJ demands

• can Varadkar survive if he gives in to the Brits after saying for so long he won't ? -

or that the rest of the EU are prepared to abandon Ireland - which would alarm the other 18 small EU countries

Also, the ERG say they object to 40 other things about the WA, which restrict UK govt freedom of action after Brexit, especially making it v difficut to get a US FTA.
Is BJ prepared to fight those who gave him his place in the last 2 of the leadership contest ?

Remember:
Ollie Robbins had a staff of 50, while the staff for David Frost has been cut to only 4

If the backstop were being replaced, there would be a huge amount of renegotiating to complete it all by very latest mid-October, in time for approval by the HoC, E27 leaders and the HoC

• BJ doesn't dare request an extension to do any of this later

I rate the claims of the backstop being replaced as about on the par with the Ni-Scotland bridge

I think the imminent invention of matter transfer beams will solve everything. Got to be imminent. I saw it in Star Trek reruns and they all have kindles and tablets.
That level of ingenious thinking in the Johnson cabinet.

It has to be a zipwire, avoiding ammunition dumps and far above the storm-toss'd seas.

On the other hand....

The European parliament is to criticise the British government’s treatment of EU citizens living in the UK and insist it will refuse to ratify a deal that fails to include an Irish backstop and provisions that tie the UK into EU standards after Brexit.

www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/12/european-parliament-to-criticise-uk-treatment-eu-citizens-veto-brexit-deal

Like this

Zip wire would be cool. Like the one Johnson got stuck on. He could be the first one across it.

Not sure if this has been posted: parallels with the first English Civil War

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-12/will-brexit-trigger-england-s-second-civil-war

@htscotpol
Spot the difference: Scottish Govt's copy of Yellowhammer says it's a 'base scenario', while UK Govt's says it's a 'reasonable worst case'.
Scottish Govt says it's 'puzzling' and 'curious'

^www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-12/will-brexit-trigger-england-s-second-civil-war^

Englands civil war ?

With a grasp of history like that, you know there's not going to be much for the higher intellect beyond .....

@OhLookHeKickedTheBall

Puzzling and curious is one way of describing it!

It's just so blatant, very poor effort to hide their deceit...I just don't get it!

Is there any chance they are messing this up, releasing the wrong docs etc just to get an extension or to pass the WA - i.e. no deal is NOT their ultimate aim?

I think a renaming of the backstop is more liking than a replacing of the backstop.

Make it NI only, tinker around the edges and call it “Alternative Arrangements” The ERG can still vote for it because they always wanted alternative arrangements. Some other MPs might vote for it rather than No Deal.
GB can still be sold off to Americans but as long as the divorce bill is paid, the Irish border is open and EU citizens are safe the EU don’t care.

@bbclornag

The Court of Session in Edinburgh is being asked to compel the Prime Minister to request an extension to Article 50 if no deal is in place for leaving the EU.

The case is being brought by the businessman Dale Vince, Jo Maugham QC and the MP Joanna Cherry QC who say they want to force Boris Johnson to comply with legislation (Benn bill ) passed at Westminster.

The litigants say the proceedings are in Scotland because Inner House Court of Session has a power not available to English Courts (nobile officium) which they say would allow the court, if it found in their favour, to sign letter mandated by the Benn Act if PM refuses to do so.

So those bringing the case are going to ask the court to sign the letter to EU requesting an extension if the PM doesn’t get a deal and refuses to sign the letter mandated by the Benn Bill.

Legal team will be the same one which won the ruling in the ECJ that the U.K. could unilaterally revoke Article 50, and which won a ruling in the Inner House yesterday that suspension of parliament unlawful

@TheLawyermag

Breaking: New #Brexit case from @balfourmanson, @JolyonMaugham and @dalevince seeks to take Article 50 extension letter out of Boris Johnson’s hands if he pursues ‘dead in a ditch’ obstruction tactic

Englands civil war ?

We've been through this before. Yes 'English' is correct in this circumstance. There is the war of the three kingdoms (England, Scotland and Ireland) but the specific 'civil' way aspect is English and taking place in England (and Wales ... but no one ever seems to remember Wales. Sorry Wales!) We could not have civil wars with Scotland and Ireland at the time as we were all separate political entities (Ireland having made a run for it when they noticed shit kicking off in the earlier 1640s - and Scotland having not yet joined the union) .

What is incorrect however is that it is the first English civil war - it's the third since 1066 that I can name off the top of my head.

lake I caught something about an MP saying base scenario and worst case meant the same thing. Because everyone is stoopid apparently.

I agree Inniu. Also throw in a few promises for Arlene and the DUP. A border and no deal is not a good outcome for them, no matter what they say and they need a (goldplated) ladder to climb down. Economic depression in NI will push people towards a united Ireland and the DUP are already pissing off the business and farming community with their no deal stance which has been a total strategic error. Johnson's waffling about NI cattle being Irish just reminded us of the different ways in which unionists like Paisley are happy to differentiate themselves from GB when it suits (see also abortion, gay marriage....)

Interestingly, the latest David Williams podcast (an Irish pop economist) claims that senior DUP people have told him Arlene is not particularly popular with the leadership and her time as leader is marked...