Westminstenders: Super Saturday

[RedToothBrush]

Parliament sits on a Saturday for the first time since the Falklands.

A deal has been reached with the EU. Its utterly shite and worse for the UK than May's deal. It even leaves no deal as an option after transition.

The DUP don't like it. They got predictably shafted.

Tomorrow is a debate and vote on the deal. Amendments are key, in particular the Letwin amendment which seeks to close a loophole in the Benn Act and stop the Deal being adopted tomorrow, instead forcing the ultimate decision over the deal to a later date and forcing an extension.

Which the EU may or may not agree to.

There is also talk of forcing another ref via amendments but this, unlike the Letwin amendment is unlikely to pass.

The vote tomorrow looks to be very tight. The Letwin amendment passes looks likely to make Johnson fail to have the numbers. However there is talk that enough Labour MPs have decided to back the deal.

There is also a big anti Brexit march in London tomorrow (which runs the risk of having problems with the Extinction Rebellion ban). Good luck to everyone going tomorrow.

See you on the other side (which might now be on this thread!!)

red You read my mind !

I was just thinking of Macron's veto re Albania & N. Macedonia accension - and becoming a bit worried.
Brussels is hopping mad; so is Germany; many very critical statements of the veto
But Macron did it anyway

I’m mainly a lurker but I thought I would just leave this here...

Awful politicians and their Dr. Who villain counterparts

Enjoy, I did

Macron worries me.

Word is it will take a few days to find out if we will have an extension.

I'm really not convinced he will let us have one.

Being talked back round once, almost looks weak.

What does twice look like?

what are the chances that bj resigns before he is due to send 'the letter'?

Honestly, I find the situation with Northern Ireland utterly shocking.

Of all the crazy things Brexit has thrown up, this is the one that shocks me.

I never thought I'd see a Conservative government for this. And I can't believe how risky it is for the truce (and the GFA is a truce) in N Ireland.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/mar/25/profiles.parliament
I'm as old as Methuslah and I must admit I've never heard of the 'terrible things' that Trimble did. Above is a Guardian link to a biography.

Ah that's ok Cat it's a very stressful time, I'm sorry if I came across as defensive, my question was a genuine one though because I never heard what Corbyn wants, I know he doesn't want a border in the sea but as an Irish person a border in Ireland scares the hell out of me ( not that a border in sea isn't any scarier with loyalist parliamentaries threatening violence) . Brexit in all its glory terrifies me as it does all of you. I feel worn out from it, so can't imagine how all of ye feel.

< applauds all the Westministender marchers today 👏🏼 👏🏼 >

You all deserve a big 🍹 and 🍪 !

@listening Did anyone enquire why you were carrying so many red toothbrushes ? 😂
Just as well it's not the sort of march on which people get arrested - they'd look v suspicious !

Thanks for that flyingflamingo

I need to catch up after just getting home from the march. Food, tea and beer required. I'm not sure in which order.

It's quite fun watching Brexiters on twitter cast Macron in the role of true Brexit saviour.

As ever, they are wrong.

Yes, Misti.

God save us all from the macho posturing of politicians before their electorates.

Domestically, much of Brexit can be explained by that.

How strange if the UK is sunk by another politician pursuing the same, dangerous, path.

derxa Far right Vanguard - which was closely linked to Loyalist terrorist groups
Prominant in sectarian marches & parades, which were often ended in violence^
Using sectarian rhetoric to gain votes & power
Yelling abuse at the Taoiseach on an official visit

I'm not saying he was the worst by any means,
but he was an unusual choice for a Nobel peace Prize and it was remarked on at the time
BUT

John Hume was awarded the Nobel prize because he did so much for so many years, at greate personal risk, to bring about peace

Trimble was jointly awarded the prize, because at the time he was the leader of the main Unionist party and it would have been v awkward to just award it to a Nationalist.

He rallied round right at the end and showed courage in advocating the GFA in the NI referendum,
but he was awkward and obstructive at many stages of the negotiations, as well as having a dubious past

So my memory is that he only got it to enable Hume - who actually deserved it - to receive the prize

e.g. John Major did far more
So did Mo Mowlam

Has the letter been sent? I was reading something on Twitter that implied it had?

Back tired but happy from march. Shoved my red toothbrush in everyone's face and kept a beady eye out for others, but there were just too many (lovely) people there. Bring among such a friendly and knowledgeable crowd (and lots of other great conversations with strangers on the way there and back) has cheered me in my otherwise Eeyore-like gloom.

Didn't it bucket it down, though? DW had said we didn't need to take an umbrella, as the forecast was fine. The only time I listen to her and we ended up drenched. Still more than worth it, though. We all get accused of living in bubbles, but there are some really wonderful people out there.

Alberto Nardelli@AlbertoNardelli

EU source:
In a phone call earlier this evening, Johnson confirmed to Tusk that the letter requesting an extension would be sent today.

Tusk will on that basis start consulting with EU27 leaders on how to react,

this may take a few days.

Hello, OYBBK.

(And thanks, BigChoc.)

Matthew O'Toole@MatthewOToole2 (former No 10 civil servant)

The inexorable logic of the DUP position is that any Brexit other than the softest and most technical is negative and disruptive to NI.

Which is of course true.

Trimble and Arlene Foster also loathe each other, IIRC. I’ve heard they literally refuse to speak to each other when they’re in the same room. Since learning that I’ve noticed that Trimble takes the opposite view to the DUP too often for it to seem coincidence...

^ Trimble/Foster hatred I assume Barclay doesn’t know, since he used “Trimble said it is fine” in his speech today. Well, either that or he was purposely trying to wind up the DUP, which seems unlike since they were begging them behind the scenes to abstain rather than vote against.

Boris Johnson on May's deal:

"... the UK will have to remain in large part run by EU laws unless we are prepared to see a real rift with Northern Ireland
and a customs and regulatory border down the Irish sea

No British PM could agree to such a break-up of the Union"

Is there anything you don't know, BigChoc?

I remember Trimble winding me up no end - and the award pissing me off - but the detail is lost to time.

That was exemplary.

Panem I'd read about the Trimble-Foster loathing, but I wasn't sure if it's just media gossip
They certainly seem to have a history of opposing policies, not just over this WA