Brexit Arms - Out with the old and in with the new

[time4chocolate]

It’s time again for another Brexit Arms thread to see us into Christmas and beyond.

Well what a week it’s been!!

Boris has now completed his first week and he’s been busy. New conservatives have been sworn in, the Queens Speech yesterday shows promise (aware that the proof of the (Xmas) pudding is in the eating) and Boris’ Deal is going to be voted on today with the results being around 3pm I believe.

Meanwhile, on the other side all four wheels have definitely fallen off the red bus and were very nearly joined by a garden gate and a car door. Oh dear!!

Anyway, I have added a few more Christmas decs to the pub and popped the fairy back on the tree (it took a nasty tumble)

We are now good to go.
Cheers all 🍷🍷

Ps. If anyone wants to volunteer for outside catering that would be👍🏻

I miss the excitement of the kids when they were young Saucery 😟

That was always the bit I loved - putting stuff out for santa & rudolf & the HE'S BEEN!!! on Xmas morning

We used to follow the NORAD Santa Tracker all day when they still believed!
Was awesome 😍

And going to the school nativity, the meeting Santa at a garden centre or somewhere, various kids Xmas parties, ice skating, watching the Xmas lights being switched on in town...

All memories now 😢

I think the Big Ben chiming thing on 31st January is a bit premature if I am honest. Nothing happens then except we enter the period of slowly breaking away. We will still be paying into the EU and will still be following all the usual stuff while we prepare for the final exit.

I suspect it will be slow. Boris Johnson has a good majority now and I will be interested in his reshuffle over the coming months to see who he keeps close and who he doesn’t.
My feeling is he will extend that transition period if he has to until we have enough trade deals in place to properly go it alone.
We are not officially OUT until that happens so ringing bells and cracking open champagne is a bit OTT and best saved for the official exit,
Boris can extend the transition to two years if he wishes. I am predicting right now that he will do this ...and given the mess over the past three years he might have to.

So 31st January is just another date as far as I am concerned and meaningless apart from “we are now in transition.”

Morning all, I was at Sainsbury's for 6:30am to pick up the Xmas order and finish the food shopping, all ready now apart from tons of cooking!

Surely the Big Ben bells won't be tolling, it'll be a celebratory peal?

In other news, I see that Ed Miliband will be helping Labour to analyse why they lost, and plan for the future. So I guess Boris is looking at a landslide in 2024 too

Awww Dusty sorry, didn’t mean to make you sad!
It’s nearly as much fun saying “he’s BEEN !” when they are Big. Even funnier when they helped you out the presents out the night before

dusty

Its me...i just get a bit paranoid that ive fucked up, and its not as if i run round threads replying to everyone that posts so I’m also an attention seeking hypocrite...but at least i own it

Your Christmas sounds fab

Ds1 and his boyfriend are coming tonight to join me, dh and the other two children, going to the local indian restaurant for dinner and back for drinks in our pub shed

Christmas eve we go to a local cafe for a full english, then we will open the pub shed up for a few guests from 12 to 2 (supposed to be an open house, but ive had to change it this year as i over invite) then Christmas movies, a jigsaw, mexican for tea and more movies

Then my dad is round for Christmas day as well and we play a lot of games!

But my children are nearly 21, boyfriend is 23, 18 and 16 so its less hectic than it used to be

No idea about New Year...

Lol. The hysteria over some bells ringing, honestly. I do feel some people really hate this country, its people and any symbol of national pride should be treated with disdain. It's quite sad really.
A bit like the thread about remainers leaving - all happy to go to countries that have immigration requirements, benefit system limitations and will lose any right to vote in that countries elections. Talk about cutting your nose off to spite your face.

This weekend seemed to go loopy on Twitter land with the Owen Jones is a wanker hashtag and Stormzy debate. I saw Laura Pidcock tweeted that Tony Blair and Iraq war connotations had been toxic on the doorstep and probably cost Labour seats including her own. Quite bonkers when Laura was elected in 2017 14 years after the Iraq war started, which I will assume means voters weren't concerned about Tony Blair at that point of her election but suddenly two years on it is an issue?? Of course Messiah Corbyn not at fault in any way shape or form. It's a parallel universe out there in left wing circles.

NORAD santa!!!

He was fab....

Ds1 is very sad that he will have to adult this Christmas, he’ll have to see us bringing the presents into the living room as I won’t be able to make him and his boyfriend go to bed for 11pm

It’s the anticipation on Christmas Eve, isn’t it, Rufus

Exactly saucery

And my eldest at least still gets very excited

His boyfriend is excited but thats just at the thought of all the food

Lily's breakfast is never boring in the Arms. Such variety. 5* establishment for sure.

John Bercow doing the ch 4 Christmas message? FML! I'm getting a theme here... Stormzy on BBC, JB on ch 4
Lyndsay Hoyle is recommending JB gets a peerage for all the good work he's done.

Saucery You've made me think twice about the bell ringing on the 31st.

Festive shout out to Rufus🤶🏻🎉🎄

My DD16 still follows NORAD, she’s been in denial for 5 years😊.

Love Christmas Eve🎅Xx

Thanks time

Ds1 at 16 said to me ‘i know logically that Santa can’t exist...but I don’t know how else the presents get in the house’

Bless him

Dusty don't be sad. We'd nicely got into grown up Christmases with cocktail hour, wine and cheese hour, murder mystery game Boxing days etc when first DGC was announced . My youngest decided Christmas was ruined forever. Now we're back to reindeer food on the path and elf on the shelf.

Hollycatberry I have a friend that fits your description perfectly: apologises for UK when abroad, hates Brits even though they are one, loves Europeans, hates any tradition or displays of national pride, hates US. No surprise that they are Corbynistas.

The hysteria over some bells ringing, honestly. I do feel some people really hate this country, its people and any symbol of national pride should be treated with disdain. It's quite sad really

Do you think that this country should celebrate something with bells ringing out that half the country don't want to happen? Is that a way of bringing a country together?

Top breakfast this morning. I'll have biscotti (someone needs to sort my spell checker cos it doesn't speak Italian food and I do) for my teabreak.

Scary you made me laugh with your motoring woes. My old work paid for my DH to relocate his American muscle car back to the UK. I made him do all the paperwork though. One of my old colleagues actually has a side hustle in dealing with such matters.

I have already cleaned the bathrooms Dusty. Left DD2 in her box till after 10 so she gets hoovering the stairs. She swerved her room yesterday by delegating to DD1, who sadly prefers Henry to my new Shark.

I am on the fence re ringing Big Ben. On the one hand it would provide a focus and drown out any temptation to have one last Remainer renting of garments and Braying. On the other hand I can't stand the thought of them going to town on "For whom the bell tolls" punnery.

Re car burning we eventually sold the muscle car partly because we kept having to replace its livery. There are several souped up boy racer golfs round our way with pony bling but I choose to see it as an homage rather than going round with a crowbar.

Rufus I still have an 8 year old so we get to do the whole thing properly. It is much more fun now I have 2 teens to help with the prep and entertainment though. The trick is to manage to keep some of the magic just for DD3 and me or I end up delegating it all away and missing out.

We have a small fridge so not picked up the Christmas dinner yet. You are all making me anxious. On the upside the teens and DH are already negotiating take away choices for the rest of the week.

Look I'm not fussed about bells ringing or not personally. I am sure the MPs asking for it are thinking it is a symbolic gesture to mark a milestone in the Brexit journey, not some nasty jingoistic plot to deliberately rub remainers noses in it as per some MN comments. Which then leaps further into "riots" and xenophobic behaviour happening on the streets. Do you not see that people get tired of the catastrophising of every situation. I am sure most people will note it happening and move on pretty quickly. Some will think its a good idea, some a bad idea and the vast majority indifferent since we now know brexit will happen.
And so what if some people celebrate it. Maybe it means something important to them, and as long as they are not causing trouble why let it bother you.

Top band from my teenage years for the kitchen radio.

www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=135&v=cxqQtUQErhQ&feature=emb_logo

I have a friend that fits your description perfectly: apologises for UK when abroad, hates Brits even though they are one, loves Europeans, hates any tradition or displays of national pride, hates US. No surprise that they are Corbynistas

It's really sad isn't it. I actually think its a fashion trend to hate our nationality and pour scorn on this country despite the many good things about it and great people we have. I am jealous when I see people from the USA standing with pride for their national anthem, even despite the political differences and issues in that country they are still really proud to be American.

back for drinks in our pub shed

😮 Well jel 😍😍😍

Do you not see that people get tired of the catastrophising of every situation. I am sure most people will note it happening and move on pretty quickly. Some will think its a good idea, some a bad idea and the vast majority indifferent since we now know brexit will happen.

So much this 👆👆👆

Loving hearing about everyone's xmas's!

Will hopefully be a while yet before I'm a granny Hospitality, but I'll be loving getting into all that carry on again 😍😂

Haha Holly I hope you didn’t take my post for being ashamed of Britain. Not at all, I love a bit of pomp and ceremony and in my opinion we do the best “pomp and ceremony” in the world.

I just think celebrating Brexit before it’s actually happened is a bit premature. Then again 31st January will herald the start of this so perhaps that’s good enough.

I do think we are going to need two years and although Boris is saying he won’t ask for that I suspect once things have settled down and he’s adjusted the people around him he will feel more confident and able to say “look I want to get this right” if he needs to.

is it completely mad to attempt a supermarket today? It's either that or the 27th which could be just as bad.

Meanwhile, I didn't have a hangover yesterday morning, but I feel like I have one today. Weird.

I don't think bells are necessary or a good idea on 31st Jan. Seems a bit odd. Like every kid graduating at the end of the school year or whatever it is they do.

A lot of analysis of the Labour Party defeat about already. This is the most balanced and insightful I have seen so far. Comes from Richard Burgon who is much aligned for oft times being left to defend the indefensible.

He rightly identifies the need to accept and move on from Brexit. He gives a lot of relevant context and analysis to where and when Labour lost votes. He correctly identifies where the manifesto focus should have been and where they should build. The one element missing is an acknowledgement of where the Conservatives have identified similar issues eg Green New Deal, economic levelling up, housing issues and the scope to regain trust by working across the aisle.

tribunemag.co.uk/2019/12/learning-the-right-lessons

(Just posting here as otherwise I tend to lose things I read in passing)

Hi Autumn, I just did Tesco and it was very busy but not overwhelming.

Our local Waitrose though had cars queuing round the block from what I hear.

Thanks Duck, I can just walk to mine and it is sunny....