Westminstenders: Off he pops to Brussels

[RedToothBrush]

Alex Andreou @sturdyalex
There's no way Johnson has not already decided whether or not to concede on Level Playing Field. Which makes the trip to Brussels dressing. Whether it will dress a concession as "I have saved us" or No Deal as "I tried my best" remains to be seen. But the choice is already made.

Amanda Cole @amandajanecole
What's your gut feeling, will he put his job ahead of the country? Given his past self serving form?

Alex Andreou @sturdyalex
I think he is so cornered - and has done so badly on Covid19 - his instinct will be one last, double-or-nothing throw of the dice. Only no deal does that.

The issue is that coming back with a deal will earn him much heckling and zero back-slapping from his peers. But no deal will earn him just as much heckling, but also plenty of back-slapping. What I don't know is just how ominous the departmental briefings he's getting are.

Its also worth noting the following:

Mujtaba Rahman @mij_europe
I understand @BorisJohnson wanted @EmmanuelMacron & Merkel to join his phone call with @vonderleyen last night, but she rejected the idea

So even yesterday he was STILL looking to undermine the EU and split its leaders. After all this time and the number of times he's tried this on.

Have no doubt that a) everything will be blamed on Macron (probably personally, with Conservative hardliners coming out calling for the public to boycott French cheese and wine - I'm serious btw) and covid b) covid provides a handy distraction at least for the moment. It will be used accordingly - that means its possibly now not in Johnson's interest to stop a spike in January. All efforts will be put into the vaccine rollout for PR but thats going to hit the breaks fairly soon. No doubt the EU will be blamed for that too.

What I'm not anticipating is another full lockdown. I think at least parts of Greater Manchester will now get out of T3 on 16th December. Traffords numbers look exceptional and I think it politically impossible for Johnson to keep it in T3. Its Graham Brady's patch and Manchester as a whole looks far far better than T2 London.

Anyone who gets out of T3 before Christmas won't go back into it. I'm not anticipating London to go T3 unless No Deal turns really ugly and its useful to quell civil unrest.

I think if we head into no deal then tight restrictions won't be used for covid reasons no matter how bad the hospitals get - it will only be about civil unrest, it will all be about keeping the economy going - backbench revolts are what scare Johnson most, and he's already said no more Tiers after the start of Feb.

We shall see what the day brings...

Snap! Haha same article same time.

Biden's " I'm Irish" was a sweet moment that made me say " Fuck, yeah!"
I predict our WankStain PM is going to cave but he'll do his usual schtick to make it look
line he hasn't. UvDL will be "Whatever " about it. And then when things are inevitably shit at the border anyway it'll be Remainers/EU/Covid's fault.

Biden's " I'm Irish" was a sweet moment that made me say " Fuck, yeah!"

I think it was the start of a cold winter for Brexiteers, and a slow rearguard. (Think the Nazi retreat from Moscow).

It's hard to think of a more succinct - yet charming - way of signalling without signalling that "Things are gonna change around here".

I doubt Brexit (GFA issues excepted) is really anywhere near Team Bidens top 1000 things to do before 2024 either.

I also doubt it was anywhere near Trumps top 100,000 things to do before leaving Office either. But he is a conman. And Boris is dim, so I can easily see Boris and the ERG nutboys being taken in by him.

Updated Double Bill for festive period:

Boris Cancels Christmas
Boris Bungles Brexit

Popcorn will be available to patrons.

Re the Bloomberg article
Gosh, I am so surprised NOT
FFS I've been warning for effing ages that drivers will not go near the Channel if they face making a loss
how ON EARTH has it become news at this stage

My (very limited) knowledge of German doesn't allow me to know if there is any deeper linguistics in "Crown" and "Clown" in German. Nonetheless, so much for no humour grin

www.theneweuropean.co.uk/brexit-news/europe-news/brexit-comedy-sketch-the-clown-6754028

A German television show has mocked Boris Johnson and his Brexit proposals in a spoof of Netflix's The Crown entitled 'The Clown'.

...

And mocking the Tories who wanted a disclaimer at the end to point out parts of The Crown are fabricated, the end text reads that it is "all real - even if you can't believe it".

(contd)

Things seem to have dissipated a bit now in comparison to the drama lately.

Biden will kick ass. As DGR said, the more Biden speaks, the less UK have a voice now. Perfect. I think.

So where do we see ourselves on 1/1/2021?

Answers on a postcard please lol.

DH got a letter yesterday from the UK government informing him that the UK had left the EU, that the transition period is ending, and listing all he needs to sort out as result. Number one, sort out your residency status or apply for citizenship. Two, change your driving license for a Swedish one (which is wrong advice as Sweden say we don't need to). But how utterly shit and brexity is it to let us know what we need to do when we've reached the point where there's not a cat in hells chance of doing any of it before the deadline? Good job we're on the ball otherwise we'd be screwed.

Silence is golden or ominous. Take your pick.

Anyway, if there is a Trade Deal, nothing much else will change. Blue passports, non EU line, no FOM (apart from ROI), pets will be banned unless what? EHIC gone, I don't know, does anyone?

The article in the Telegraph that DGR linked to is of interest to me if anyone can get it out from behind the paywall.

Basically, there is an extension to current bilateral agreements for 2021-22, when they should have expired in 2021 (I think this is probably Covid-related, as no one had time to renegotiate Erasmus agreements in 2020). With our EU partners, it's done and dusted.
The UK has said they're up for that and will send students abroad with Erasmus funding from the UK Erasmus Agency.
The French Erasmus Agency has said that Erasmus is part and parcel of Brexit negotiations, not something to be dealt with on an ad hoc basis, so we have no idea what will happen in Sept. Definite sign of not wanting pay-as-you-go tweaking, was my impression. But I'd like to see what the Telegraph's take on it is...

Did anyone listen to You and Yours today? Quite remarkable that they were asking people if they were ready for Brexit. Not one good news story but still Winifred Robinson was asking inane "aren't you excited at all?" questions. Yes, she may have had to "for balance" but was bizarre listening at two weeks to go.

Oddly the commentator I mentioned earlier no longer show's up on Wiki, they did once I am sure. Its odd because she has such a prescence on so many other platforms, can you remove yourself entirely from Wiki ?

Or prevent yourself from being added in the first place ?

@FatCatThinCat

DH got a letter yesterday from the UK government informing him that the UK had left the EU, that the transition period is ending, and listing all he needs to sort out as result. Number one, sort out your residency status or apply for citizenship. Two, change your driving license for a Swedish one (which is wrong advice as Sweden say we don't need to). But how utterly shit and brexity is it to let us know what we need to do when we've reached the point where there's not a cat in hells chance of doing any of it before the deadline? Good job we're on the ball otherwise we'd be screwed.

I’m jealous @FatCatThinCat. I haven’t received such a letter yet...

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/eu_referendum_2016_/4107558-Westministenders-A-Turkey-for-Christmas?watched=1

New Thread...

Swedish I missed that but can perfectly imagine the tone of voice... I quite like Winifred Robinson but she’s of the school of female interviewers whose questions are asked in a slightly querulous way that conjures up the image of a furrowed brow and puzzled expression. They often start questions with “But...”. See also: Martha Kearney, Sarah Montague. Not Sarah Smith, though, she’s a pitbull.

"Querulous" - good word @borntobequiet.