Westminstenders: Constitutional History

[RedToothBrush]

The Supreme Court case continues
(ruling possible Friday but likely Monday)

The new NI proposal is bollocks and Johnson didn't get why until it was discussed in Europe.

There was a press conference in Luxembourg which looks good for Johnson.

Johnsons approval ratings are up.

And we are making no obvious progress to anything but no deal...

This Mail link (I know!) has a much longer version of the hospital episode.

It shows BJ being filmed before the confrontation and afterwards, when he continues his tour of the hospital. Look out for his solution to NHS problems by getting us all to be treated at home!

Incidentally, although the Mail/MOS are very very Brexity, they don't seem to be very enamoured with Boris.

I know that second letter thing has been doing the rounds for a bit and it's exactly the kind of shyster behaviour you'd expect from Johnson/Cummings. Hopefully the opposition/rebels are successfully working out "what would do if I was a total shit?"

Oh, here's the link!
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7477887/Labour-activist-confronts-Boris-Johnson-hospital.html#v-7092751201099560696

Neither Dominic Cummings nor Michael Gove can get Boris Johnson out of this hole

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/neither-cummings-nor-gove-can-get-boris-johnson-out-of-this-hole-5wnxhwtd2

Inside No 10 a split and bruised government is divided over how to escape the quagmire it has marched into.

By now Boris Johnsonon_ and his team had intended to be in the middle of an election campaign, giving him a new mandate for Brexit.^
Their mismanagement of parliament, party and the public has stymied all that.

The government has only six weeks left before its own deadline to leave the EU, do or die.
It is struggling not to die.

‘They are riven,” says a senior Tory. “They realise the first strategy failed.
Now there are two schools of thought competing in No 10.

Thanks red

Krishna Guru-Murthy demonstrating what journalists ought to do.

On a side note: the word stymie is trending well these days.

Hooo mostly asking why she’s sent out the tweet, with some accusations of bullying and why she’s not tweeting about BJ lying.

'They are riven,” says a senior Tory.

What's with the sudden surge of old language ? So pleased I've read much much more than is good for me over the years - certainly had no problem with "stymie" ...

Or about why Johnson is clearly electioneering with public money and no purdah.

European Parliament has just voted 544-126 in support of UK being given an article 50 extension should the request be made

And I suppose a largeish proportion of the 126 would be BXPers, and Leave Tories and Labour MEPs?

Lewis Goodall@lewis_goodall

Ah well. Over and out for another day with the Supremes.

Tomorrow is no biggie.
Just a former Conservative Prime Minister effectively taking one of his successors to court.

Good old Brexit Britain.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-eu-boris-johnson-deal-plan-deadline-ultimatum-latest-a9111066.html

Just seen this... Not too sure of the implications or whether it's posturing, but it does seem like we are going over the cliff edge.

Sorry thought it would post a more informative link...here's the c and p of the opening paras...

Top EU leaders have given Boris Johnson an ultimatum to come up with a new Brexit plan by the end of September, or face up to a no-deal.

The deadline, agreed at a meeting in Paris on Wednesday evening, comes as the bloc's chief negotiator Michel Barnier told Mr Johnson to stop "pretending" to negotiate.

There were only 4 Tory MEPs returned at the EP elections, so they wouldn't have made much difference

Only 10 Labour MEPs, nearly all Remainers

There were 29 BXP MEPs

• and note that Brexit would lower the total of hard right & eurosceptic MEPs to under 100 in a Parliament of 751

There are now over 6k vitriolic comments on Laura’s tweet. Hopefully this is career terminating.

"whether it's [EU] posturing,"

Nope
With EUCO on 17-18 October, that 30 September date gives just enough time for the EU Sherpas to analyse any British proposals and prepare information summaries for the individual govts to examine at home and formulate their position, before they travel

If BJ / Cummings thinks he is going to spring a surprise at the EUCO mtg and bump the EU heads of govt into agreeing,
then they have no idea how the EU works, or indeed how any international summit works

BJ / Cummings seem very ignorant of how things work
and the UK will suffer because of it

Also, even if the proposed UK plan was by some miracle acceptable to the EU,
I doubt if there would be time for a legal draft, revisions etc to be made and then approved by all 27 govts plus the EP, without an A50 extension

That times article you've just linked to BCF is really interesting if read in combination with this one from the Guardian, which has just been published about the rift between Johnson and The Saj

amp.theguardian.com/politics/2019/sep/18/it-has-got-worse-boris-johnson-hamstrung-by-rift-with-sajid-javid?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&__twitter_impression=true
‘It has got worse’: Boris Johnson ‘hamstrung’ by rift with Sajid Javid
Chancellor trying to water down spending announcements PM wants to make at party conference, say sources

Makes sense, BCF. I hadn't even taken into account that they'd need to go through anything he prepared in time for the summit .

Given his first 'go' was to scribble out the bits re the backstop it's not going to happen is it...

The rift between Boris Johnson’s team and Sajid Javid is widening, government sources have said, with growing concerns in Whitehall that disagreements are harming the effectiveness of the Downing Street operation.

Two government sources said there was frustration in No 10 and other departments that the chancellor was trying to water down big spending announcements Boris Johnson wants to make at the Conservative party conference.

They said No 10 was becoming increasingly annoyed by what it regarded as Javid’s intransigence, and was sidelining him in favour of Rishi Sunak, the chief secretary to the Treasury, with departments being directed to talk to him rather than the chancellor.

Insiders said Javid was still without a chief media adviser after Sonia Khan was sacked by Johnson’s chief of staff, Dominic Cummings, and marched out of the building for maintaining contact with an associate of the previous chancellor, Philip Hammond.

A Whitehall source said: “There is no sign of change, in fact it has got worse. Saj [Javid] remains furious because he is not part of the decision-making process on government expenditure. It all comes from Cummings and a small number of No 10 people. A lot of people are saying that Saj’s days are numbered. No 10 is much happier with Rishi.”

Johnson's problem is Johnson.

He's never had to be accountable for anything in his life. He either blags it or someone else bails him out.

His reported ignorance that the UK proposals wouldn't be enough to avoid goods checks in Ireland is staggering

Was he just trying his bumbling Boris routine on a very unreceptive audience - the EU Commission - who aren't in the mood for silliness

or was it genuine

I fear the latter, due to his chronic laziness and unwillingness to actually do this or any of his past jobs properly

I've just attempted to complain on the BBC website about that Laura Kuenssberg tweet, but got an error on the form submission. Maybe I'm not the only one. I've reported it for harassment on Twitter as well. Bloody appalling behaviour.

The Saj would have examined the books and be as aware as Hammond that the Magic Money Tree isn't there

,