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!!)

With any luck the DUP will be hammered in the next GE.

@squid4 BJ is sending the specified extension request letter. He is also looking for legal ways to circumvent the request.

t.co/kZSBPzbd0s?amp=1
“The Times has been told that government lawyers have been assessing the “limits of the frustration principle” — actions that Johnson could take that are not in breach of the law.”

TheCat The GFA was a brilliant achievement and its preservation is an EU priority

John Hume worked hard for decades,
but he would have got nowhere if John Major and then Tony Blair - with the power of having won a huge majority -
hadn't twisted the arms of the Unionist party and not accepted "no".

Clinton also kept pressuring Major & then Blair to make concessions,
e.g. to resume talks as soon as the IRA ceasefire resumed

imo, Important findings relevant to today:

. A PM with a really big majority can force through policies and render opposition impotent
That can be good. Or bad.

. When a POTUS really wants something, he will force even the strongest UK govt to concede
That's often bad.

Both of the above worry me wrt what happens after Brexit

On the march, pissing down with rain, this was on the sound system. Cheered me up, DS too:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=ntuqTuc6HxM

thank you MShip

I thought he said in the afternoon he wasn't going to?? He lies as easily as breathing...

I'm glad people are recognising what a wonderful thing the GFA is after all the bloodshed. DH and I have a 'mixed' marriage Protestant/Catholic.
We don't have any truck with sectarianism.
As you were.

@squid4 BJ is a slippery fuck. In the HoC he said he would not "negotiate" a delay with the EU. Clearly he doesn't count sending the extension request letter as negotiating.

I don't think there's any time - or much interest, outside the SNP - for a VoNC this month

Too much to do and to much risk a VoNC could go wrong and land us in No Deal

Anyone here with an ear on the Labour ground ?

Could the Tories try again to force a GE ?

MShip

Clearly he doesn't count sending the extension request letter as negotiating

Strictly speaking, I suppose it isn't, as there's nothing to negotiate. As I understand it, he's required to ask for 3 months or whatever the EU deem right. If the latter, doesn't the period granted have to come back for discussion in Parliament? Either way, you can't really call it negotiating. Weasel words, I know, but then it's the kind of pedantic debating point Johnson loves.

Explain this. It's not about Brexit, Nationalism, Unionism, Catholicism or Protestanism. It's nasty protection racket/mafia intimidation and power grabbing. It's this that is the problem and nothing excuses it. It's never gone away and any attempts to profess that GFA solved it is nonsense.

The minority of people that intimidate the majority of people into appearing to accept this disgusting behaviour (when they hate it but are too scared to say so) as normal are the real enemy to any stability on the Island of Ireland.

www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/15/the-untouchables-ireland-horrified-by-brutal-mafia-style-abduction

BBC is saying 11 pm deadline.

Under the terms of the so-called Benn Act, passed last month by MPs, he has until 2300 BST on Saturday to send it.

Ah, so it is 11pm - not sure why previous posters are saying 12. Thanks for confirming.

My understanding was that if the EU agree to 31 January, then there is no HoC vote

but if the EU reply with a different date, then this must be put to MPs for approval in a govt motion

He's sent the letter - unsigned

It's 12 midnight Brussels time, which is currently 23:00 BST.

And now we know the cunning plan: Send the letter, ....but he's not going to sign it.

This is Government by petulant teenager.

Tusk has received the letter.

BCF Feasible GE timings will also be playing a role here. To get a GE before the Benn Act-specified 31 Jan 2020 extension deadline, a VONC to get a GE would have to happen by 24 Oct - taking into account the
2 week grace period for confidence to be regained by the gov't or sought by a GNU, giving a 12 Dec election date. There will be huge reluctance to have a GE campaign over the holiday season, so the next opportunity would come in early January, pushing an election date into February.

The actual Act says 'no later than 19 October'. It doesn't say 11pm. And the BBC is now reporting midnight. My interpretation is by the end of today.

And apparently he's sending the letter but not signing it. Then sending a second, signed, letter saying he doesn't want it.

Dick.

No idea, wrt Labour.

John McDonnell was talking about a PV before a GE at the March but ... we've been there before, yes?

He's sent the letter - unsigned What's going on?

Reports are saying letter has been sent, but BJ has not signed it..

What an arrogant slippery shit he's proving to be over and over again..

They'd be mad to go for a GE at this stage ... but 🤷‍♀️

Donald Tusk
@eucopresident
· 10m
The extension request has just arrived. I will now start consulting EU leaders on how to react. #Brexit

It's 12 midnight Brussels time, which is currently 23:00 BST.

So 11pm is correct then, for anyone posting from Britain! Others were saying earlier that it wasn’t, which was confusing.