Westminstenders: Brexit means Brexit. A definition.

[RedToothBrush]

Keeping this short. This is the Brexit fall out thread.

The one where we might get another glimpse of what Brexit means.

I'll post an election special thread shortly with links to various times and important seats (I wont get it done before the other thread fills so this is also a stop gap but please try and use the election special thread for today's events instead of Westminstenders when it goes live)

PMK

Just voted in a completely empty polling station. I think the rabid leaver Tories round here may be shy to the point of not voting.

I think the rabid Leaver Tories aren't necessarily there when you are.

It seems like a genuine pic but if people are basing their vote on Abbotts shoes I'm pretty sure we know not only what they voted in the ref but what they are voting now to a 91% certainty

You're right, Panic, there's a groundswell of something positive going on. It's still undisciplined and furious, but if a punch to the gut of Johnson winning rallies resistance and coalesces people around a shared goal then brilliant. I just hope that we manage it before (more) irreversible damage is done to the NHS and our constitution.

On another note, this the 8th GE I've voted in. During that time I've voted in 5 different constituencies in England and Scotland, some pretty contentious - remember David Alton the anti abortionist? Got shot of him from Mossley Hill and David Mellor from Putney, but today is the FIRST time any canvasser of any political party has knocked on our door or even approached me. Gobsmacked.

I think the rabid Leaver Tories aren't necessarily there when you are

I think they’re all sulking because the Tory isn’t Brexity enough for them and they’ve been denied a BXP candidate. It’s a local issue. You know all about those @bellinisurge.

Our polling station twice as busy as usual according to staff.

No posters or boards anywhere. We're mysterious around these parts

Loads of Lib Dem ones here but there always are with a fair few labour ones too. The previous independent is displaying Lib Dem boards this time.

What time can we expect the results in? Well, the first ones?

The road I drive for the school run usually has loads of tory signs. This time there are a few labour and several LibDem. Not a single Tory. I think there are two scenarios, one more likely than the other. 1) people are more secretive about their Tory vote as it has got nasty or 2) The type of people who put up signs have switched or tactical voting.

says somebody who has managed to wear odd shoes to work once when getting dressed in the dark, both flat, one navy one black,

I can do better than that - one red and one navy. I felt a right idiot, but was able to rush home and change before anyone noticed - I hope. Later went out with one black patent and one black suede.

I once went out to a very posh restaurant for a celebration family meal.
As I sipped my prosecco with my starter
realised I was wearing my slippers rather than shoes.
I had much less reason to be exhausted than Diane Abbott.

So in the spirit of managing expectations, I am trying to write down some consoling thoughts to read tomorrow if it's the result I fear. So far I have;

-Tories have to own the mess they've created and not leave it to other parties to find a way out. If the outcome is as bad as I fear, that should doom conservative electoral prospects for a long time beyond. And if it's not as bad as I fear, that's something I'm happy to be wrong about.

-Avoiding protracted, nasty discussions on who should form a government (I have a nightmare that it's 31 Jan and we crash out because no government has been agreed!)

The next parliament might also be a short one.

That's about all I can come up with for now - feels rather meagre consolation in the circumstances. Any other suggestions?

Peter Oborne A lifelong Tory journalist is voting Labour.

evolvepolitics.com/lifelong-tory-journalist-peter-oborne-announces-he-will-vote-for-jeremy-corbyn-because-hes-sick-of-boris-johnsons-lies/?fbclid=IwAR2Qe4TpePlMEgnZw1GpLSZO5k5L3gYsG2hZyHGO-z_-lssEVIUWCIS3e68

I’m just angry that no politicians could really ever get it together for remain. If the Tories are in that’s it game over.

Which channel are we watching results on tonight? Always been BBC in the past but not sure I can stomach it.

park that's what I was thinking...

This way to the election special thread

Try and keep this one for tomorrow's Brexit fall out please.

I once had to have a colleague point out that I was wearing my dress inside out

It was a heavy merino wool knit dress so not immediately obvious - but the label on the outside was a bit of a clue I will have changed into in the loo after cycling to work (it was a great dress to pack into the pannier as it didn't crease ) but I do t have the excuse of darkness

Fortunately I wasn't seeing customers that day

I've worn inside out shirts and non-matching shoes (one red one black) in the past (not on the same day!) I didn't care about the shirt but i had to keep apologising to people about the shoes.

Virtually no signs up round here either. One Tory, one Labour. Usually loads of Tory ones.
It may be partly as it’s Christmas and people want to be more seasonal and put up their lights and deccies instead?

Recently on my travels far and wide, I saw what must have been a huge LEAVE sign in a field by the road. (Probably there since the ref.) It now has a huge banner stuck right across it saying:
‘You’ve let us down, [name of local Tory MP]’.

Could be a Tory Leaver disappointed that we’ve not left yet. Might it influence their vote?

amp.theguardian.com/law/2019/dec/12/judge-makes-preliminary-ruling-in-carole-cadwalladr-libel-case?CMP=share_btn_tw&__twitter_impression=true
Judge makes preliminary ruling in Carole Cadwalladr libel case
Arron Banks, who funded Leave.EU campaign, has brought defamation action against journalist

This is positive so far.

Some poetry:
Fascism: I sometimes fear...

I sometimes fear that
people think that fascism arrives in fancy dress
worn by grotesques and monsters
as played out in endless re-runs of the Nazis.

Fascism arrives as your friend.
It will restore your honour,
make you feel proud,
protect your house,
give you a job,
clean up the neighbourhood,
remind you of how great you once were,
clear out the venal and the corrupt,
remove anything you feel is unlike you...

Michael Rosen

It doesn't walk in saying,
"Our programme means militias, mass imprisonments, transportations, war and persecution."