Westminstenders: The Tory Party Spectacular

[RedToothBrush]

A row over parliamentary language and conduct and how MPs are afraid of extremists has over shadowed talk of Brexit.

Cummings has said if you don't want to leave without a deal, vote for a deal.

Yet there isn't a Johnson approved one in front of the Commons and the EU are utterly despairing of Johnson's blank non papers and his full on Trump bullshit.

Then there's the threats to the rule of law.

Apparently there are five known suggestions to bypass the Benn Act and refuse to ask for an extension.
See Twitter Thread Here

This weekend sees the start of the Tory Party Conference. With a parliamentary vote to block a recess, its rather scuppered plans for the rest of the conference. Johnson's planned speech at the conference clashes with PMQ so he may well not attend the Commons.

Expect the conference to be.... Er... Inflammatory...

"I don't see how France could wave through the migrants"

MissClimpson I understand that to mean that France would stop all checks from their side and not stop anyone trying to get onto lorries etc
so the onus would entirely be on the UK side, in particular the ferry companies and then the authorities at Dover,
to police this

Stopping illegal immigrants from Calais has thus far been via a series of filters, each in turn preventing a certain number of them
This would be removing all the French filtering process

The UK side would obviously ramp up checks; probably have HM Border officials on the ferries for the checks & searches normally done on French soil

Then more checks at Dover - maybe adding to the delays there

So it would be yet another new task to manage, in addition to all the other tasks after No Deal
More stress on many of the same officials; more delays

Placemats would you ever have worried about your daughters safety other than in the usual ‘mum’ way before all this.

and thank you s to all civil servants who are just trying to to their jobs.

Of course Farage was bouncing up and down with righteous indignation about a Jo Brand and her comments.

So one would think he would know better.....

The UK side would obviously ramp up checks; probably have HM Border officials on the ferries for the checks & searches normally done on French soil

And then ultimately blame the lorry drivers, French an EU when people do slip through the net a good manage to get across.

It's not catastrophising to say this govt doesn't respect the courts or the law, doesn't feel bound by them
and may be able to delay obeying them for those crucial 12 days from 19 October

Ok we are already backtracking on the 40 new hospitals headline on BBC and The Telegraph. Beeb have deleted their original story and replaced it with this one.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-49867376

Be good if you could just finish the ones you started TBH.

"I don't see how France could wave through the migrants"

In a no deal situation any EU arrangements will simply stop working. Including the rules surrounding asylum within the EU (because the UK is no longer a member). As far as France would be concerned they'd simply be passing any migrants onto a third country.

They are not EU arrangements though, are they, DGR. They are border control arrangements outside of Schengen and ferry companies simply carry people without passports. The ferry companies would still have to stop people boarding.
So other countries might very well wish to pass migrants on, but that could only be by ignoring people smuggling, which would bring large numbers of migrants to the ports. I really cannot see the French authorities wanting to encourage that.

... simply cannot carry

It's not catastrophising to say this govt doesn't respect the courts or the law, doesn't feel bound by them and may be able to delay obeying them for those crucial 12 days from 19 October

Indeed. BCF is right.

If you would like to explain why it is 'catastrophising' to observe how this government has behaved in recent weeks and how this might play out if they continue to act in this manner over the next few I'm all ears.

This government has acted beyond the limits of its power with proroguation and has said it doesn't respect the decision of the Supreme Court and is actively saying they will somehow get around the Benn Act by any means necessary.

Thats a serious undermining and challenge to the Rule of Law. Its open, deliberate and intentional. That alone raises risks. Even if they comply with the law. It has raised the stakes and is stoking political tensions. That has consequences.

We are hearing continual anti-EU sentiment. How do you think saying that there are people 'colluding' with the French government is going to play out? With an outpouring of support for the British position across Europe amongst politicians and the public???

Is that condusive to getting a deal or undermining our chances of getting a deal?

We also have the context of knowing that this government has a pattern of behaviour of being deliberately evasive or outright obstructive. Let me remind you, that if they are obstructive we have the danger of Accidental No Deal which is ALSO written into law, AS WELL AS the Benn Act being written into law.

We know there are 10 crucial days - after the EUCO summit - in which any deal must pass parliament. Yet we have a lot of evidence to say the UK isn't submitting ideas that are in anyway compatible with the Irish Border issue and we know that talk of progress has only come out of the mouths of our government. And we know that any legislation FOR a deal will struggle to pass parliament in just ten days, simply because there is so much of it.

We also know that to No Deal in a managed way we also need to legislate. If we don't legislate we face legal chaos with condictory law. Which is an additional crisis, in addition to simple No Deal. There is in fact Managed Planned No Deal and Chaotic Accidential No Deal, not just a mere singular form of No Deal.

If you weigh up the balance of obstacles to stop No Deal versus either an extension (which I've not even mentioned in this post) or a Deal, then the likilihood of No Deal is higher, yet to verbalise this and the possible consequences of the authoritarian tactics being used at the moment is being rubbished as 'catastrophising'.

If you want to feel better I'm guessing wearing blinkers is nice.

Otherwise observation of what is actually happening has legitimacy, even if it leads to concerns of a very bleak nature.

Bottomline is this government lacks empathy, competence and compassion. Without any of those it is a recipe for disaster in its own right. Brexit or No Brexit.

Oh no, I’m not at all head in the sand about the current shitshow, but I’m not at the point of “the rule of law can’t save us” (to paraphrase).

In the Basil household a certain well known footballer went by the moniker racist philanderer or philandering racist depending on the mood.

It’s now been revived and revamped at the bullshitting racist philanderer or racist philandering bullshitter to apply to a certain politician.

copyright Basiljunior.

Peter Geoghegan @PeterKGeoghegan
Not seeing this reported anywhere in Britain but what's happening in Quinn country (the Fermanagh/Cavan border) is really, really worrying.

Rodney Edwards @rodneyedwards
In Ballyconnell for @impartialrep as Fr. Oliver O’Reilly condemns attack on Quinn Industrial Holdings Director Kevin Lunney, describing it as a “modern form of crucifixion deployed by terrorist groups such as Islamic State”.

“This senseless atrocity follows years of threats, abuse, lies and various forms of violent intimidation, against the directors of Quinn Industrial Holdings,” Fr O’Reilly tells Ballyconnell Mass.

Fr O’Reilly tells congregation in Ballyconnell that “a Mafia-style group with its own ‘Godfather’” was behind the savage attack on Kevin Lunney which left the father of six with life-changing injuries. @impartialrep

The attack on QIH director Kevin Lunney was “barbaric, horrific and depraved”, Fr O’Reilly tells Mass goers in Ballyconnell, County Cavan this morning. He says those responsible were “hired savage thugs”. @impartialrep

Fr O’Reilly tells Ballyconnell Mass that Kevin Lunney attack “could only have happened when some person with ulterior motives agreed to pay these criminals a sum of money and give instructions on what he required to be done to an unsuspecting victim”. @impartialrep

“Nobody should be above the law; these bully boys and their paymaster must be stopped,” Fr. O’Reilly hits out at those behind attack on QIH’s Kevin Lunney. More on @impartialrep soon.

Fr O’Reilly tells Mass goers in Ballyconnell that some people in the region “need to examine their consciences about the statements they made”, saying it added to the “climate of intimidation and incited hatred”. @impartialrep

In Ballyconnell as Fr Oliver O’Reilly hits out at “devious people” behind attack on Kevin Lunney whom he says “are so consumed with hatred and enmity that they lose their moral compass and are prepared to hire the most ruthless of criminals to achieve their sinister goals”.

Fr O’Reilly believes there is now a threat to the “lives and livelihoods” of people in the Fermanagh and Cavan area following the attack on QIH’s Kevin Lunney and says a “false narrative” needs to be challenged by the community. @impartialrep

“There is now an obvious cancer of evil in our midst that needs to be exorcised before someone is murdered and the norms of human decency and mutual respect that we all believe in and treasure are destroyed before our eyes,” Fr O’Reilly tells Mass goers in Ballyconnell.

Background:
www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/kevin-lunney-beaten-to-within-an-inch-of-his-life-says-psni-1.4022758
Kevin Lunney ‘beaten to within an inch of his life’, says PSNI
Abduction of Quinn executive described as ‘savage attack’ that was ‘severe beyond comprehension’

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-49738666
Kevin Lunney: Quinn Industrial Holdings director abducted and beaten

Not sure how to do a link to this on my phone.
Model of restraint my arse!

“There is now an obvious cancer of evil in our midst that needs to be exorcised before someone is murdered and the norms of human decency and mutual respect that we all believe in and treasure are destroyed before our eyes,” Fr O’Reilly tells Mass goers in Ballyconnell.

I can remember the horror of watching two off duty British soldiers being dragged from their cars, beaten, and finally killed with a bullet to the back of the head after their car "accidentally" strayed into a funeral procession for the victims of the Michael Stone (not that one) attack a few days previously. Just over 30 years ago.

Bloody hell!

Sheesh Brexit may not be the direct cause of an increase of unrest in NI but it certainly is the facilitator.

Which of course the Brexiteers will deny.

Fingers in ears La la la. Nothing to see here.

Peter Walker @peterwalker99
One of the stalls at the usual trade fair/market inside the Conservative conference is selling luxury tinned fish. Insert your own no-deal Brexit supplies joke here.

Other stalls sell posh gin and handcrafted wood-handled pens. There’s a definite “upmarket survivalism” theme emerging.

The “environment” section of the Tory conference trade fair section is a huge stall for e-scooter firm Bird. Yup, they’re much more ecological than cars. But notably less so than bikes - only cycling doesn’t have the same corporate clout.

E-scooters are also, currently, illegal to use on UK roads and pavements. Notable to see such a corporate push when the government is looking at changing these rules (which, for clarity, I think they should, whatever my caveats about e-scooters).

The Tory conference trade fair always has stalls from governments of Falkands and Gibraltar. This year there seems to be a new arrival: a plush Cayman Islands stall. I wonder what they’re here to lobby about?

Noone here said he was just forwarding something, so that doesn't matter

BCF, I can categorically state that how you've decided to interpret what Dontlick said is wrong. I've known her for some 20-odd years, so please don't put words into her mouth.

And do you have a link to the EU and who can ask for an extension story, as you've mentioned it a couple of times, but it's not one I recall being linked on here (or isn't one that I read, anyway)? (Not that I disbelieve you, but I'd like to read the whole story, not just the 'headline news' as it were.)

BigChoc a lot of the ferry companies are French. I can't see the ferry companies being very pleased if the gendarmes stopped policing the port, which would probably mean that they would be unable to sail. I live near one of the smaller French ports and there is a constant presence of gendarmes in the town and around the port area.
As a foot passenger I have seen people turned away several times because their documents were not valid. I have heard people told that they cannot travel without the passport they have forgotten, because the ferry company would be subject to a fine (£2000 per passenger from memory). I even know of someone who went on her honeymoon on her own, because her new husband's ID card was out of date and she left him behind on the quay!
I have heard nothing on French TV or in the papers that border control and gendarme patrols would change, apart from the checks of people coming into France establishing how long they will be staying.
I think there are lots of things to worry about, but I don't think this is one of them.

I remember seeing that shooting on screen too, DGR. I've never encountered anyone since who recalls it . It was not shown in the next news programme.

I remember that as well, it was horrifying.

I remember seeing that shooting on screen too, DGR. I've never encountered anyone since who recalls it . It was not shown in the next news programme.

The actual shootings weren't shown - there was no way a TV crew could have got there (although the overhead army helicopters caught every detail). What was shown - and the picture was the front page of the next days papers - was them being dragged out of the car. They were both holding their service pistols, and in a credit to British Army training managed not to fire into the crowd. They were quickly bundled into a black taxi driven to wasteground, stripped to their underwear, beaten and shot.

An incredibly brave priest approached them to give them last rites.

Their bodies were flown back via RAF Northolt (which wasn't far from my end of Harrow).

checking

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporals_killings

shows my memory isn't that bad .

I have to question what species someone who lived through that as I did, and now "can't remember it" belongs to. It's a stretch to think they're human.

It's also a testament to how long I have been reading Private Eye that their version of what happened has never been repeated ... even the Wiki swerves it.

Yes, DG I remember the mob swarming over those 2 soldiers, who'd just accidentally driven into the "wrong" area
It was horrific, even after having watched the Troubles unfold since 1968

That wasn't an individual or a small gang being violent; it was a large mob taking out their hatred on 2 helpless people

btw, I read that the priest who condemned the savage beating of Kevin Lunney has since been told to "watch yourself"
coming from sources which make that sound like a threat, not concern for his welfare

BCF
The Ballymena and Bloody Sunday massacres in NI were NOT planned by the Heath govt,
but by a handful of officers who decided to copy the playbook of dirty wars in fascist S American countries.

As an ex - Army officer who served in NI during the 70's, I don't know what you're taking - but can I have some please !