Ken Clarke's comments about Gove in the clip above are very interesting. It suggests he is a loose cannon.
Clarke, or Gove?
If the latter, any given post of mine on the subject should have told you that a while ago.
Gove. As a loose cannon, sometimes he makes destructive change (eg education) and sometimes constructive change (environment) but he just can't help himself firing off. His tearing up of a Brexit paper is a small example of his need for drama. So is his last minute withdrawal of support for Boris. If you want dramatic change and an interesting experience, vote Gove for PM. He is the pole opposite of May. He is the one to watch at Chequers.
I agree with this on both the good sides and the bad. If there is to be serious resistance to the PM's position it will need a coherent and well constructed argument based on the large volume of papers the cabinet were issued with yesterday. I really don't see anyone in the cabinet capable of doing that other than Gove. He could well provide the structure within which the rather more incoherent opposition coalesces.
I am not saying Gove's analysis will necessarily be optimal or realistic or even possible but it will have intellectual heft and that counts for a lot in an argument. He is also brave enough to walk away if he has to. I am not sure if May is.
Gove is a loyalist. I cannot see him walking away.
"Maybe historians will look back at today and deem it to be Theresa’s finest hour."
This is a keeper.
Yes, it is hard to see Theresa managing deftly to come out with a coherent and viable proposal.
It is particularly absurd that it has taken 2 years for this meeting to happen. Fail to prepare? prepare to fail.
I think that this is the biggest problem. Why did this meeting not take place before Article 50 was even triggered? It really should have. In fairness there were some meetings before May's set piece speeches and also before the stage one deal was done in December last year but the lack of clarity about what we actually want in detail has been too profound to be anything other than deliberate.
May has used this ambiguity to keep a disunited government together. In the meantime the negotiations with the EU have narrowed the choices (although that might not have happened in the same way if we had a clear position from the start). If there is a lack of ambiguity after today it is very hard to imagine the Cabinet being the same as it is this morning.
100% right.
Tough job and all that, but the deliberate choice to not get agreement among less than 2 dozen cabinet members before now, just pushing it back and back, is not defendable. The Tories ain't getting my vote next time. They had best hope people who live in a seat that matters do not react the same way.
We’ll have a new leader by then. Won’t you listen to what they have to say?
A party is more than a single leader. Indeed, senior figures are lesser leaders, and the others direct and sway those leaders. May has done the best she could I think given the factions she has tried to keep on board, but when she's gone those factions remain and will ensure the incompetence continues as the new leader will face the same problems. Bluntly, they don't deserve my vote. Fortunately for them, they don't need mine in a safe seat.
T. May has had a very difficult task from the start - made much worse by the disaster of the GE for which she deserves and has accepted the full blame. However, given the intransigence and occasional vindictiveness of the EU negotiators she has probably done as well as anyone could have done thus far. The negotiations , as expected , have not gone well - their quality has only been exceeded in awfulness by the woeful state of the news commentary throughout, which is partial on both sides, untruthful on both sides and unrealistic on both sides. Indeed the awfulness of the referendum campaign continues unabated.
I expect there will be an agreement of sorts which will be sub-optimal for both sides without being catastrophic for either and the commentariat will move on - which most of the public did some time ago.
We are where we are because Theresa May triggered Article 50 when she did and drew her red lines where she did.
Plenty more time to post on PB from Southam Towers I hope!
I've just tracked down all these Southam references. Well done! Just shows that if you walk with the Angels by supporting Labour you get rich. Look no further than Tony Blair!
So all rich people support Labour. It's a view.
No but plenty of rich people are rich enough to afford to vote Labour
Ken Clarke's comments about Gove in the clip above are very interesting. It suggests he is a loose cannon.
Clarke, or Gove?
If the latter, any given post of mine on the subject should have told you that a while ago.
Gove. As a loose cannon, sometimes he makes destructive change (eg education) and sometimes constructive change (environment) but he just can't help himself firing off. His tearing up of a Brexit paper is a small example of his need for drama. So is his last minute withdrawal of support for Boris. If you want dramatic change and an interesting experience, vote Gove for PM. He is the pole opposite of May. He is the one to watch at Chequers.
I agree with this on both the good sides and the bad. If there is to be serious resistance to the PM's position it will need a coherent and well constructed argument based on the large volume of papers the cabinet were issued with yesterday. I really don't see anyone in the cabinet capable of doing that other than Gove. He could well provide the structure within which the rather more incoherent opposition coalesces.
I am not saying Gove's analysis will necessarily be optimal or realistic or even possible but it will have intellectual heft and that counts for a lot in an argument. He is also brave enough to walk away if he has to. I am not sure if May is.
Gove is a loyalist. I cannot see him walking away.
First, of the leading Brexiters, he will be the least known to the EU negotiators.
Secondly, they will have picked up on his musings about the whole EU being democratically liberated by Brexit.
If Michael Gove were given a more prominent role in negotiations now, the EU will be less certain they know how to handle him and still less enthralled with the British negotiating team. Given the point that has been reached, I'd have thought that was a gambit worth trying right now. Goodwill is not in such abundance that the loss of some will make much odds but instilling a bit of uncertainty in your counterpart probably is worth something.
Well said. You and I can agree on something to do with Brexit
"Maybe historians will look back at today and deem it to be Theresa’s finest hour."
This is a keeper.
Yes, it is hard to see Theresa managing deftly to come out with a coherent and viable proposal.
It is particularly absurd that it has taken 2 years for this meeting to happen. Fail to prepare? prepare to fail.
I think that this is the biggest problem. Why did this meeting not take place before Article 50 was even triggered? It really should have. In fairness there were some meetings before May's set piece speeches and also before the stage one deal was done in December last year but the lack of clarity about what we actually want in detail has been too profound to be anything other than deliberate.
May has used this ambiguity to keep a disunited government together. In the meantime the negotiations with the EU have narrowed the choices (although that might not have happened in the same way if we had a clear position from the start). If there is a lack of ambiguity after today it is very hard to imagine the Cabinet being the same as it is this morning.
100% right.
Tough job and all that, but the deliberate choice to not get agreement among less than 2 dozen cabinet members before now, just pushing it back and back, is not defendable. The Tories ain't getting my vote next time. They had best hope people who live in a seat that matters do not react the same way.
I think the EU are missing a trick. They could be playing the good cop, bad cop card. Use Barnier or Juncker as the bad cop, and Tusk as the good cop. Instead we have just bad cop and bad cop.
Alternatively, play the double-glazing 'this deals so good for you, I have to phone the boss first to get it authorised' card.
We know what will happen now though. Mrs May will produce a deal and Barnier will say it's unworkable. And then he'll complain that the UK hasn't said what it wants.
Stephen Bush has put forward a theory that she has actually played a blinder to frustrate the aims of the phobes. It certainly is the case that leaving without a deal is going to be even harder with no preparation so that strengthens the soft Brexit argument.
straw clutching at
Yes, you are probably right. But the alternative is to accept that we have not only engaged on a highly damaging course of action by choosing to leave the European Union, but have also gone about doing it in the most damaging way.
We now know without a shadow of doubt that those who had spent years campaigning to leave the EU had absolutely no idea about how the EU works, how integrated the UK is in EU-wide structures and institutions, how the customs union and the single market enable underpinned manufacturing business models or how free trade agreements are done. They made promises that they could not hope to keep, because they had absolutely no idea. Instead of doing the hard yards and the detailed thinking around how to leave, they preferred to talk to each other about high concepts and new world orders. Such privilege.
Proper preparation and attention to details are not attributes of our political class.
Though we were also constantly told that claims about how integrated we were within the EU were vast exaggerations and that the EU had supposedly minimal control of our lives.
It is not that the EU has control of our lives, it is that we have taken full advantage of being in the Single Market. The EU is not in control of integrated supply chains, and cross border trade in foods and goods. It is merely the enabler of such things.
"Maybe historians will look back at today and deem it to be Theresa’s finest hour."
This is a keeper.
Yes, it is hard to see Theresa managing deftly to come out with a coherent and viable proposal.
It is particularly absurd that it has taken 2 years for this meeting to happen. Fail to prepare? prepare to fail.
I think that this is the biggest problem. Why did this meeting not take place before Article 50 was even triggered? It really should have. In fairness there were some meetings before May's set piece speeches and also before the stage one deal was done in December last year but the lack of clarity about what we actually want in detail has been too profound to be anything other than deliberate.
May has used this ambiguity to keep a disunited government together. In the meantime the negotiations with the EU have narrowed the choices (although that might not have happened in the same way if we had a clear position from the start). If there is a lack of ambiguity after today it is very hard to imagine the Cabinet being the same as it is this morning.
100% right.
Tough job and all that, but the deliberate choice to not get agreement among less than 2 dozen cabinet members before now, just pushing it back and back, is not defendable. The Tories ain't getting my vote next time. They had best hope people who live in a seat that matters do not react the same way.
We’ll have a new leader by then. Won’t you listen to what they have to say?
A party is more than a single leader. Indeed, senior figures are lesser leaders, and the others direct and sway those leaders. May has done the best she could I think given the factions she has tried to keep on board, but when she's gone those factions remain and will ensure the incompetence continues as the new leader will face the same problems. Bluntly, they don't deserve my vote. Fortunately for them, they don't need mine in a safe seat.
Ken Clarke's comments about Gove in the clip above are very interesting. It suggests he is a loose cannon.
Clarke, or Gove?
If the latter, any given post of mine on the subject should have told you that a while ago.
Gove. As a loose cannon, sometimes he makes destructive change (eg education) and sometimes constructive change (environment) but he just can't help himself firing off. His tearing up of a Brexit paper is a small example of his need for drama. So is his last minute withdrawal of support for Boris. If you want dramatic change and an interesting experience, vote Gove for PM. He is the pole opposite of May. He is the one to watch at Chequers.
I agree with this on both the good sides and the bad. If there is to be serious resistance to the PM's position it will need a coherent and well constructed argument based on the large volume of papers the cabinet were issued with yesterday. I really don't see anyone in the cabinet capable of doing that other than Gove. He could well provide the structure within which the rather more incoherent opposition coalesces.
I am not saying Gove's analysis will necessarily be optimal or realistic or even possible but it will have intellectual heft and that counts for a lot in an argument. He is also brave enough to walk away if he has to. I am not sure if May is.
Gove is a loyalist. I cannot see him walking away.
The EU consultation on daylight savings time seems to have collapsed under its own weight and redirects to this sorry page https://sorry.ec.europa.eu/
I suppose this is another small area where we can do our own thing after Brexit but in practice it would be too chaotic so we'll just carry on with the rest of Europe.
I think the EU are missing a trick. They could be playing the good cop, bad cop card. Use Barnier or Juncker as the bad cop, and Tusk as the good cop. Instead we have just bad cop and bad cop.
Alternatively, play the double-glazing 'this deals so good for you, I have to phone the boss first to get it authorised' card.
We know what will happen now though. Mrs May will produce a deal and Barnier will say it's unworkable. And then he'll complain that the UK hasn't said what it wants.
That suggests that they give a damn. The truth is that our power and influence is diminishing by the day and the biggest market in the world are now barely noticing us let alone caring what we do or how we feel.
First, of the leading Brexiters, he will be the least known to the EU negotiators.
Secondly, they will have picked up on his musings about the whole EU being democratically liberated by Brexit.
If Michael Gove were given a more prominent role in negotiations now, the EU will be less certain they know how to handle him and still less enthralled with the British negotiating team. Given the point that has been reached, I'd have thought that was a gambit worth trying right now. Goodwill is not in such abundance that the loss of some will make much odds but instilling a bit of uncertainty in your counterpart probably is worth something.
I agree with this and giving him such a role would keep him inside the tent. Furthermore, I think he has by far the most credibility of the leading Brexiteers. If he came back and said, "this is as good as it is going to get and its still better than no deal at all" I think there would be very few dissenters. Maybe time to accept one of DD's threats of resignation.
Massively off-topic as we await "black smoke, white smoke or no smoke" from Chequers - no smoke meaning presumably the building is on fire ?
Anyway, back to the real cut and thrust of politics at street level and I was on my way home yesterday and walking down King William Street from Bank to Monument when I saw signs saying "Polling Station" - not just any old village hall or community Centre but St Mary Abchurch in Abchurch Lane which was being used for an election for an Alderman to serve on the City of London Council for Candlewick Ward.
Opposite the Church entrance, in the shade, sat or stood four people who turned out to be the two candidates plus two "friends" of other candidates - not telling or canvassing as such but just sitting there.
Candlewick Ward has just 304 eligible voters - if every Ward on Surrey was that size there would be 4,000 County Councillors.
150 of the 304 voted yesterday so nearly 50% and one Emma Edhem won the seat polling 50 votes. She is a practicing barrister and Deputy Head of International Law at No.5 Chambers. According to someone on Twitter who does seem to know his onions, a minor upset as James de Sausmarez, who came second with 43 votes, was one of the Common Councilmen for the Ward whereas Emma Edhem was a Councilman for a Ward all the way over at St Paul's (miles away, no, not really).
Once again, I marvel at the idiosyncrasies of this thing called "democracy".
"Maybe historians will look back at today and deem it to be Theresa’s finest hour."
This is a keeper.
Yes, it is hard to see Theresa managing deftly to come out with a coherent and viable proposal.
It is particularly absurd that it has taken 2 years for this meeting to happen. Fail to prepare? prepare to fail.
I think that this is the biggest problem. Why did this meeting not take place before Article 50 was even triggered? It really should have. In fairness there were some meetings before May's set piece speeches and also before the stage one deal was done in December last year but the lack of clarity about what we actually want in detail has been too profound to be anything other than deliberate.
May has used this ambiguity to keep a disunited government together. In the meantime the negotiations with the EU have narrowed the choices (although that might not have happened in the same way if we had a clear position from the start). If there is a lack of ambiguity after today it is very hard to imagine the Cabinet being the same as it is this morning.
100% right.
Tough job and all that, but the deliberate choice to not get agreement among less than 2 dozen cabinet members before now, just pushing it back and back, is not defendable. The Tories ain't getting my vote next time. They had best hope people who live in a seat that matters do not react the same way.
We’ll have a new leader by then. Won’t you listen to what they have to say?
A party is more than a single leader. Indeed, senior figures are lesser leaders, and the others direct and sway those leaders. May has done the best she could I think given the factions she has tried to keep on board, but when she's gone those factions remain and will ensure the incompetence continues as the new leader will face the same problems. Bluntly, they don't deserve my vote. Fortunately for them, they don't need mine in a safe seat.
Good for you. Enjoy PM Corbyn.
Perhaps you missed that I live in a safe seat. My vote won't help or prevent Corbyn becoming PM. I voted tory in 2017 for the first time largely because of corbyn,not because my vote wold stop him, but since I disliked him so much I felt I needed to own the next Gov as it were - it would have been very easy to vote LD again and not bear responsibility for the current incompetence, but I figured I needed to take that hit if it came.
But that doesn't change that my MP will be a tory from now until the end of time no matter what I do.
I think a majority of the voters are fully in favour of tariff-free trade. It's the extras that come with it.
For example ... standardisation makes sense but uncontrolled FoM is an add-on. If goods move freely, so must labour? Why? Surely that 's a separate issue, and a political one.
Stephen Bush has put forward a theory that she has actually played a blinder to frustrate the aims of the phobes. It certainly is the case that leaving without a deal is going to be even harder with no preparation so that strengthens the soft Brexit argument.
straw clutching at
Yes, you are probably right. But the alternative is to accept that we have not only engaged on a highly damaging course of action by choosing to leave the European Union, but have also gone about doing it in the most damaging way.
We now know without a shadow of doubt that those who had spent years campaigning to leave the EU had absolutely no idea about how the EU works, how integrated the UK is in EU-wide structures and institutions, how the customs union and the single market enable underpinned manufacturing business models or how free trade agreements are done. They made promises that they could not hope to keep, because they had absolutely no idea. Instead of doing the hard yards and the detailed thinking around how to leave, they preferred to talk to each other about high concepts and new world orders. Such privilege.
Proper preparation and attention to details are not attributes of our political class.
Though we were also constantly told that claims about how integrated we were within the EU were vast exaggerations and that the EU had supposedly minimal control of our lives.
It is not that the EU has control of our lives, it is that we have taken full advantage of being in the Single Market. The EU is not in control of integrated supply chains, and cross border trade in foods and goods. It is merely the enabler of such things.
There's certainly an element of that but who has been gaining financially from that might be another matter.
A trip to the supermarket fruit and veg area will also show fresh food from countries all around the world while finding something 'Made in China' is not hard.
I think the EU are missing a trick. They could be playing the good cop, bad cop card. Use Barnier or Juncker as the bad cop, and Tusk as the good cop. Instead we have just bad cop and bad cop.
Alternatively, play the double-glazing 'this deals so good for you, I have to phone the boss first to get it authorised' card.
We know what will happen now though. Mrs May will produce a deal and Barnier will say it's unworkable. And then he'll complain that the UK hasn't said what it wants.
That suggests that they give a damn. The truth is that our power and influence is diminishing by the day and the biggest market in the world are now barely noticing us let alone caring what we do or how we feel.
Why do you think the EU is so stupid? I have more respect for them and assume they do care about large, wealthy nations on their doorstep.
The EU consultation on daylight savings time seems to have collapsed under its own weight and redirects to this sorry page https://sorry.ec.europa.eu/
I suppose this is another small area where we can do our own thing after Brexit but in practice it would be too chaotic so we'll just carry on with the rest of Europe.
I don't this has been reported here, but the EU has rejected its own proposal for the so-called "link-tax":
Perhaps. I've been speculating for some time about the apparently changed relationship with Boris these last few weeks, though otoh I now believe Boris is not a credible leadership candidate, so it is all a bit confusing.
The EU consultation on daylight savings time seems to have collapsed under its own weight and redirects to this sorry page https://sorry.ec.europa.eu/
I suppose this is another small area where we can do our own thing after Brexit but in practice it would be too chaotic so we'll just carry on with the rest of Europe.
I don't this has been reported here, but the EU has rejected its own proposal for the so-called "link-tax":
As a (very minor) content creator, website owner and Internet user, this is a good thing.
I heard on the radio yesterday that it was going back to the Parliament for further discussions. We are very unlikely to see anything out of that before we have left.
First, of the leading Brexiters, he will be the least known to the EU negotiators.
Secondly, they will have picked up on his musings about the whole EU being democratically liberated by Brexit.
If Michael Gove were given a more prominent role in negotiations now, the EU will be less certain they know how to handle him and still less enthralled with the British negotiating team. Given the point that has been reached, I'd have thought that was a gambit worth trying right now. Goodwill is not in such abundance that the loss of some will make much odds but instilling a bit of uncertainty in your counterpart probably is worth something.
I agree with this and giving him such a role would keep him inside the tent. Furthermore, I think he has by far the most credibility of the leading Brexiteers. If he came back and said, "this is as good as it is going to get and its still better than no deal at all" I think there would be very few dissenters. Maybe time to accept one of DD's threats of resignation.
Gove is reported to be more competent than the average government minister as well.
I suspect Barnier doesn't give a damn. He can sit back and listen to the more fanatical Remainers blame Mrs May for the lack of progress too. Not that she's exactly ace at negotiations.
I think a majority of the voters are fully in favour of tariff-free trade. It's the extras that come with it.
For example ... standardisation makes sense but uncontrolled FoM is an add-on. If goods move freely, so must labour? Why? Surely that 's a separate issue, and a political one.
Yes it is but since in practice almost everyone in government or business has spoken in favour of more immigration, there is room for ample helpings of fudge.
I think the EU are missing a trick. They could be playing the good cop, bad cop card. Use Barnier or Juncker as the bad cop, and Tusk as the good cop. Instead we have just bad cop and bad cop.
Alternatively, play the double-glazing 'this deals so good for you, I have to phone the boss first to get it authorised' card.
We know what will happen now though. Mrs May will produce a deal and Barnier will say it's unworkable. And then he'll complain that the UK hasn't said what it wants.
That suggests that they give a damn. The truth is that our power and influence is diminishing by the day and the biggest market in the world are now barely noticing us let alone caring what we do or how we feel.
Why do you think the EU is so stupid? I have more respect for them and assume they do care about large, wealthy nations on their doorstep.
In fairness to Roger evidence of the stupidity of the EU is over abundant and all around us. If they were not stupid we would very probably not be here at all.
"Maybe historians will look back at today and deem it to be Theresa’s finest hour."
This is a keeper.
Yes, it is hard to see Theresa managing deftly to come out with a coherent and viable proposal.
It is particularly absurd that it has taken 2 years for this meeting to happen. Fail to prepare? prepare to fail.
I think that this is the biggest problem. Why did this meeting not take place before Article 50 was even triggered? It really should have. In fairness there were some meetings before May's set piece speeches and also before the stage one deal was done . If there is a lack of ambiguity after today it is very hard to imagine the Cabinet being the same as it is this morning.
100% right.
Tough job and all that, but the deliberate choice to not get agreement among less than 2 dozen cabinet members before now, just pushing it back and back, is not defendable. The Tories ain't getting my vote next time. They had best hope people who live in a seat that matters do not react the same way.
We’ll have a new leader by then. Won’t you listen to what they have to say?
A party is more than a single leader. Indeed, senior figures are lesser leaders, and the others direct and sway those leaders. May has done the best she could I think given the factions she has tried to keep on board, but when she's gone those factions remain and will ensure the incompetence continues as the new leader will face the same problems. Bluntly, they don't deserve my vote. Fortunately for them, they don't need mine in a safe seat.
Good for you. Enjoy PM Corbyn.
Perhaps you missed that I live in a safe seat. My vote won't help or prevent Corbyn becoming PM. I voted tory in 2017 for the first time largely because of corbyn,not because my vote wold stop him, but since I disliked him so much I felt I needed to own the next Gov as it were - it would have been very easy to vote LD again and not bear responsibility for the current incompetence, but I figured I needed to take that hit if it came.
But that doesn't change that my MP will be a tory from now until the end of time no matter what I do.
The Tories won a majority in 2015 then when you did not vote Tory and you do not live in a marginal seat so to be brutally honest I think they can survive your voting LD again
I think the EU are missing a trick. They could be playing the good cop, bad cop card. Use Barnier or Juncker as the bad cop, and Tusk as the good cop. Instead we have just bad cop and bad cop.
Alternatively, play the double-glazing 'this deals so good for you, I have to phone the boss first to get it authorised' card.
We know what will happen now though. Mrs May will produce a deal and Barnier will say it's unworkable. And then he'll complain that the UK hasn't said what it wants.
That suggests that they give a damn. The truth is that our power and influence is diminishing by the day and the biggest market in the world are now barely noticing us let alone caring what we do or how we feel.
Why do you think the EU is so stupid? I have more respect for them and assume they do care about large, wealthy nations on their doorstep.
In fairness to Roger evidence of the stupidity of the EU is over abundant and all around us. If they were not stupid we would very probably not be here at all.
I don't think the EU is stupid necessarily - though it may be - but, it is not exactly democratically reactive to its population, so its interests are the survival of the empire rather than the betterment of its people. It is more important to the EU that those who think of leaving are seen to be punished (cf Italy) than that standards of living of those who remain are maintained.
I think a majority of the voters are fully in favour of tariff-free trade. It's the extras that come with it.
For example ... standardisation makes sense but uncontrolled FoM is an add-on. If goods move freely, so must labour? Why? Surely that 's a separate issue, and a political one.
Yes it is but since in practice almost everyone in government or business has spoken in favour of more immigration, there is room for ample helpings of fudge.
Business shows no willingness to contribute to the financial costs of more immigration let alone the social costs.
A housing fund charge for every immigrant employed would perhaps be a good idea.
The EU consultation on daylight savings time seems to have collapsed under its own weight and redirects to this sorry page https://sorry.ec.europa.eu/
I suppose this is another small area where we can do our own thing after Brexit but in practice it would be too chaotic so we'll just carry on with the rest of Europe.
I don't this has been reported here, but the EU has rejected its own proposal for the so-called "link-tax":
As a (very minor) content creator, website owner and Internet user, this is a good thing.
I heard on the radio yesterday that it was going back to the Parliament for further discussions. We are very unlikely to see anything out of that before we have left.
But there's another angle to this: the GDPR stuff has had an effect around the world. If the EU come up with something like the link tax, we might have no choice but to go along with it.
And as we've left, we will have no power to alter, influence or block it.
Theresa May is greatly aided by the cowardice and dimwittedness of her opponents. Her Premiership motto has been “faute de mieux”. Today may well on that test indeed be her finest hour.
Brexit means Brexit. Theresa May's opponents from the Remain side or, perhaps more remarkably, the Leave side, have no idea how to operationalise this slogan so their red lines are just as mercurial as the Prime Minister's. They won't know if the new proposals are any good or not until they've read the Sunday papers because they have no fixed position or ambition to judge them against.
On topic re the betting. One of those names is not like the others. Esther McVey's difficulties are quite separate so it might be worth revisiting that market once today's meeting is out of the way and no-one has resigned, or everyone has.
I think that the most interesting discussion at Chequers will be what May intends do when her compromise plan is rejected by Barnier.
I know, it is pathetic. Robbins is called in to brief all cabinet ministers that the EU will not agree a bespoke deal and we have to take one of the two existing approaches (eg EEA or CETA) on offer.
So, of course, May simultaneously tries to get the Cabinet to support a bespoke deal.
All this meeting is about is PROVING that the cabinet Brexiteers will never stand up to May and will always put their careers ahead of principles. As soon as this is proven, she can offer up her piece of crap deal to the EU for rejection knowing that she can then continue to make further concessions as demanded to arrive at a full EEA/CU capitulation.
The Tory party have been selling out the UK on Europe for 50 years. Can't see them stopping today.
But, if someone does resign, I suspect they will be Tory leader inside three months.
"Maybe historians will look back at today and deem it to be Theresa’s finest hour."
This is a keeper.
Yes, it is hard to see Theresa managing deftly to come out with a coherent and viable proposal.
It is particularly absurd that it has taken 2 years for this meeting to happen. Fail to prepare? prepare to fail.
I think that this is the biggest problem. Why did this meeting not take place before Article 50 was even triggered? It really should have. In fairness there were some meetings before May's set piece speeches and also before the stage one deal was done . If there is a lack of ambiguity after today it is very hard to imagine the Cabinet being the same as it is this morning.
100% right.
Tough job and all that, but the deliberate choice to not get agreement among less than 2 dozen cabinet members before now, just pushing it back and back, is not defendable. The Tories ain't getting my vote next time. They had best hope people who live in a seat that matters do not react the same way.
We’ll have a new leader by then. Won’t you listen to what they have to say?
A party is more than a single leader. Indeed, senior figures are lesser leaders, and the others direct and sway those leaders. May has done the best she could I think given the factions she has tried to keep on board, but when she's gone those factions remain and will ensure the incompetence continues as the new leader will face the same problems. Bluntly, they don't deserve my vote. Fortunately for them, they don't need mine in a safe seat.
Good for you. Enjoy PM Corbyn.
Perhaps you missed that I live in a safe seat. My vote won't help or prevent Corbyn becoming PM. I voted tory in 2017 for the first time largely because of corbyn,not because my vote wold stop him, but since I disliked him so much I felt I needed to own the next Gov as it were - it would have been very easy to vote LD again and not bear responsibility for the current incompetence, but I figured I needed to take that hit if it came.
But that doesn't change that my MP will be a tory from now until the end of time no matter what I do.
The Tories won a majority in 2015 then when you did not vote Tory and you do not live in a marginal seat so to be brutally honest I think they can survive your voting LD again
Do you find the 'your vote isn't important, who cares how you vote' strategy works well on the doorstep?
I would rather shoot myself in the fucking face than attend 5 minutes of any of that.
Whenever people complain about the money that City lawyers get paid, they should remember that we have to annually attend partners' conferences for three days with agendas that make that one look full of pizzazz.
Mind you, I initially misread the afternoon session as The Grand Parkour and now I have visions of the Cabinet showing off their wall runs and muscle ups along Chequers balustrades.
I would rather shoot myself in the fucking face than attend 5 minutes of any of that.
Whenever people complain about the money that City lawyers get paid, they should remember that we have to annually attend partners' conferences for three days with agendas that make that one look full of pizzazz.
Mind you, I initially misread the afternoon session as The Grand Parkour and now I have visions of the Cabinet showing off their wall runs and muscle ups along Chequers balustrades.
If you think that's bad I called the William Hawtrey Room the Charles Hawtrey Room.
I would rather shoot myself in the fucking face than attend 5 minutes of any of that.
Whenever people complain about the money that City lawyers get paid, they should remember that we have to annually attend partners' conferences for three days with agendas that make that one look full of pizzazz.
Mind you, I initially misread the afternoon session as The Grand Parkour and now I have visions of the Cabinet showing off their wall runs and muscle ups along Chequers balustrades.
LOL.
An old colleague of mine told me of the time in the early 1980s he flew out with a team to somewhere in Europe for a several-day meeting on the naming of a variable in a telecoms system...
And an acquaintance of mine recently had to go up to Manchester for a multi-day meeting on the format of documents needed on a large archaeological study.
I would rather shoot myself in the fucking face than attend 5 minutes of any of that.
Whenever people complain about the money that City lawyers get paid, they should remember that we have to annually attend partners' conferences for three days with agendas that make that one look full of pizzazz.
Mind you, I initially misread the afternoon session as The Grand Parkour and now I have visions of the Cabinet showing off their wall runs and muscle ups along Chequers balustrades.
I just like the fact that they have a Hawtrey Room. It would be nice (and rather fittiing!) to think they named all the rooms in Chequers after the Carry On team.
It is amazing that this line gets any traction. It is the PM's sellout deal that cannot get through Parliament. Labour and the SNP will oppose it and there are more than enough Tory MPs who will simply refuse to vote it through. I doubt the DUP will vote in favour. On the contrary, there is really no prospect of Tory MPs voting down a CETA deal because the alternative would be no deal and why would Tory remainers vote for that?
This is simply justification rather than motivation. May is proposing sellout Brexit because that is what she and the majority of the Cabinet have always wanted.
I would rather shoot myself in the fucking face than attend 5 minutes of any of that.
Whenever people complain about the money that City lawyers get paid, they should remember that we have to annually attend partners' conferences for three days with agendas that make that one look full of pizzazz.
Mind you, I initially misread the afternoon session as The Grand Parkour and now I have visions of the Cabinet showing off their wall runs and muscle ups along Chequers balustrades.
I just like the fact that they have a Hawtrey Room. It would be nice (and rather fittiing!) to think they named all the rooms in Chequers after the Carry On team.
I would rather shoot myself in the fucking face than attend 5 minutes of any of that.
Whenever people complain about the money that City lawyers get paid, they should remember that we have to annually attend partners' conferences for three days with agendas that make that one look full of pizzazz.
Mind you, I initially misread the afternoon session as The Grand Parkour and now I have visions of the Cabinet showing off their wall runs and muscle ups along Chequers balustrades.
Jeez Alastair, my heart bleeds for you!
Frequent three-day jollies with very boring agendas punctuated by food and drinks, and all for just a measely six figure salary? I'm sure you'd much rather get a job in a call centre.
To be honest I can't see TM surviving that kind of arrogance - Given the way she ****** up the general election she's already on very thin ice with most of the Parliamentary Conservative Party (remember her grovelling on her hands and knees to the 1922 after last years balls up telling them she'd serve as PM for "as long as they wanted her to" ? )
She acting as though she's got a 100 seat majority. This won't end well for her...
I would rather shoot myself in the fucking face than attend 5 minutes of any of that.
Whenever people complain about the money that City lawyers get paid, they should remember that we have to annually attend partners' conferences for three days with agendas that make that one look full of pizzazz.
Mind you, I initially misread the afternoon session as The Grand Parkour and now I have visions of the Cabinet showing off their wall runs and muscle ups along Chequers balustrades.
I think Govey would display a certain gecko-like dexterity in scuttling up and down the walls.
I think that the most interesting discussion at Chequers will be what May intends do when her compromise plan is rejected by Barnier.
I know, it is pathetic. Robbins is called in to brief all cabinet ministers that the EU will not agree a bespoke deal and we have to take one of the two existing approaches (eg EEA or CETA) on offer.
So, of course, May simultaneously tries to get the Cabinet to support a bespoke deal.
All this meeting is about is PROVING that the cabinet Brexiteers will never stand up to May and will always put their careers ahead of principles. As soon as this is proven, she can offer up her piece of crap deal to the EU for rejection knowing that she can then continue to make further concessions as demanded to arrive at a full EEA/CU capitulation.
The Tory party have been selling out the UK on Europe for 50 years. Can't see them stopping today.
But, if someone does resign, I suspect they will be Tory leader inside three months.
Why will they not just sit round the table and say "We do not believe the EU will accept this deal, Who told you they would accept it?" Then when the name is produced say "So you will resign when it is rejected?" Then "Well lets get on to the no deal planning sessions as that is the vitally important one."
I would rather shoot myself in the fucking face than attend 5 minutes of any of that.
Amusing comment but come on, be honest, most of us on PB are political geeks to some extent and would love to be a fly on the wall at Chequers throughout today. I know I would (and if I could chip in, so much the better!)
I think that the most interesting discussion at Chequers will be what May intends do when her compromise plan is rejected by Barnier.
I know, it is pathetic. Robbins is called in to brief all cabinet ministers that the EU will not agree a bespoke deal and we have to take one of the two existing approaches (eg EEA or CETA) on offer.
So, of course, May simultaneously tries to get the Cabinet to support a bespoke deal.
All this meeting is about is PROVING that the cabinet Brexiteers will never stand up to May and will always put their careers ahead of principles. As soon as this is proven, she can offer up her piece of crap deal to the EU for rejection knowing that she can then continue to make further concessions as demanded to arrive at a full EEA/CU capitulation.
The Tory party have been selling out the UK on Europe for 50 years. Can't see them stopping today.
But, if someone does resign, I suspect they will be Tory leader inside three months.
Why will they not just sit round the table and say "We do not believe the EU will accept this deal, Who told you they would accept it?" Then when the name is produced say "So you will resign when it is rejected?" Then "Well lets get on to the no deal planning sessions as that is the vitally important one."
I think that the most interesting discussion at Chequers will be what May intends do when her compromise plan is rejected by Barnier.
I don't think they will discuss that. It's about getting them through the day, and that crisis will wait.
I'm not convinced they'll have agreement on what to have for lunch.
Theresa’s ordered pizza: she’d like everyone to agree to the Deep Pan Special [relationship] but there are concerns that nobody knows what it’s made of and that it’ll immediately fall apart.
T. May has had a very difficult task from the start - made much worse by the disaster of the GE for which she deserves and has accepted the full blame. However, given the intransigence and occasional vindictiveness of the EU negotiators she has probably done as well as anyone could have done thus far. The negotiations , as expected , have not gone well - their quality has only been exceeded in awfulness by the woeful state of the news commentary throughout, which is partial on both sides, untruthful on both sides and unrealistic on both sides. Indeed the awfulness of the referendum campaign continues unabated.
I expect there will be an agreement of sorts which will be sub-optimal for both sides without being catastrophic for either and the commentariat will move on - which most of the public did some time ago.
We are where we are because Theresa May triggered Article 50 when she did and drew her red lines where she did.
Plenty more time to post on PB from Southam Towers I hope!
I've just tracked down all these Southam references. Well done! Just shows that if you walk with the Angels by supporting Labour you get rich. Look no further than Tony Blair!
I would rather shoot myself in the fucking face than attend 5 minutes of any of that.
Whenever people complain about the money that City lawyers get paid, they should remember that we have to annually attend partners' conferences for three days with agendas that make that one look full of pizzazz.
Mind you, I initially misread the afternoon session as The Grand Parkour and now I have visions of the Cabinet showing off their wall runs and muscle ups along Chequers balustrades.
LOL.
An old colleague of mine told me of the time in the early 1980s he flew out with a team to somewhere in Europe for a several-day meeting on the naming of a variable in a telecoms system...
And an acquaintance of mine recently had to go up to Manchester for a multi-day meeting on the format of documents needed on a large archaeological study.
Sometimes I'm in favour of dictators ...
My punishment beating was to attend several meetings of the Common Criteria committee on Infosec. There's nothing like large, bureaucratic, multinational conclaves of civil servants for siphoning away one's will to live.
I would rather shoot myself in the fucking face than attend 5 minutes of any of that.
Whenever people complain about the money that City lawyers get paid, they should remember that we have to annually attend partners' conferences for three days with agendas that make that one look full of pizzazz.
Mind you, I initially misread the afternoon session as The Grand Parkour and now I have visions of the Cabinet showing off their wall runs and muscle ups along Chequers balustrades.
Jeez Alastair, my heart bleeds for you!
Frequent three-day jollies with very boring agendas punctuated by food and drinks, and all for just a measely six figure salary? I'm sure you'd much rather get a job in a call centre.
No amount of money can make that time go any quicker, believe you me. And you clearly have never had to eat conference 'food' or drink the 'wine'. I make a beeline for the nearest decent restaurant if I can.
With the EU negotiating team behaving as they are can anyone here suggest what May should do that will be acceptable to the public who voted to leave, to the House of Commons and to the EU?
The EU’s second option — if the UK balks at EEA plus customs union — is the “Canada model”. Again this is very misleading as the Canada-style free trade agreement (FTA) comes with a backstop that will draw a border in the Irish Sea and change Northern Ireland’s territorial status in relation to the rest of Britain.
So it is not Canada. When Justin Trudeau signed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (Ceta) he did not commit Canada to draw a border around part of his country’s territory, which would then be treated by the EU under a completely different legal order.
"Well lets get on to the no deal planning sessions as that is the vitally important one."
Q1. When we crash the economy, how do we avoid the pitchforks and piano wire?
The economy will only crash with a total no deal scenario i.e no air travel agreement, no land transport agreement, etc. This is also mutually assured destruction. The no deal planning session should deal with getting those bilaterals in place. People who say "No deal will crash the economy" are basically saying "We believe the EU is so stupid that they will cut their head off to spite their face." Sensible people believe this to have a less than 1% chance of happening.
I would rather shoot myself in the fucking face than attend 5 minutes of any of that.
Whenever people complain about the money that City lawyers get paid, they should remember that we have to annually attend partners' conferences for three days with agendas that make that one look full of pizzazz.
Mind you, I initially misread the afternoon session as The Grand Parkour and now I have visions of the Cabinet showing off their wall runs and muscle ups along Chequers balustrades.
I just like the fact that they have a Hawtrey Room. It would be nice (and rather fittiing!) to think they named all the rooms in Chequers after the Carry On team.
Start with the Windsor room, and see how long it takes people to notice. Edit: Damn, Jonathan beat me to the joke.
With the EU negotiating team behaving as they are can anyone here suggest what May should do that will be acceptable to the public who voted to leave, to the House of Commons and to the EU?
Walk away and go to No Deal planning.
That doesn't mean No Deal will happen. The EU are only behaving as they are as they are convinced the UK isn't willing to countenance No Deal. They have more than 40 billion reasons to avoid No Deal themselves but think they don't need to change. If we walk away they might.
I would rather shoot myself in the fucking face than attend 5 minutes of any of that.
Whenever people complain about the money that City lawyers get paid, they should remember that we have to annually attend partners' conferences for three days with agendas that make that one look full of pizzazz.
Mind you, I initially misread the afternoon session as The Grand Parkour and now I have visions of the Cabinet showing off their wall runs and muscle ups along Chequers balustrades.
LOL.
An old colleague of mine told me of the time in the early 1980s he flew out with a team to somewhere in Europe for a several-day meeting on the naming of a variable in a telecoms system...
And an acquaintance of mine recently had to go up to Manchester for a multi-day meeting on the format of documents needed on a large archaeological study.
Sometimes I'm in favour of dictators ...
My punishment beating was to attend several meetings of the Common Criteria committee on Infosec. There's nothing like large, bureaucratic, multinational conclaves of civil servants for siphoning away one's will to live.
Mrs J once had to spend a few days locked in the back of a white van with some Korean engineers as it drove around Spain ...
(They were testing a receiver she had helped design, but she was never quite sure why the doors needed to be locked...)
I would rather shoot myself in the fucking face than attend 5 minutes of any of that.
Whenever people complain about the money that City lawyers get paid, they should remember that we have to annually attend partners' conferences for three days with agendas that make that one look full of pizzazz.
Mind you, I initially misread the afternoon session as The Grand Parkour and now I have visions of the Cabinet showing off their wall runs and muscle ups along Chequers balustrades.
I just like the fact that they have a Hawtrey Room. It would be nice (and rather fittiing!) to think they named all the rooms in Chequers after the Carry On team.
Start with the Windsor room, and see how long it takes people to notice. Edit: Damn, Jonathan beat me to the joke.
Charles Hawtrey always struck me as a truly tragic figure. I was quite sorry when I found out about his personal life, as I found him (remembering I was but a child!) very funny in the Carry On films.
With the EU negotiating team behaving as they are can anyone here suggest what May should do that will be acceptable to the public who voted to leave, to the House of Commons and to the EU?
Check with those who voted to leave whether they want to leave on terms that are available in the real world. If a few % of them say ‘actually, not so much’ explain to the remaining minority in favour of Leave that the vote has overwhelmingly shown the will of the people is to remain in the EU.
Otherwise, the only option she really has is to come up with something that can be called Brexit but doesn’t really change anything much for the worse in the short term - which seems to be where she’s heading in any case. How much will Leave voters, as opposed to those in the political bubble, really object to this?
With the EU negotiating team behaving as they are can anyone here suggest what May should do that will be acceptable to the public who voted to leave, to the House of Commons and to the EU?
Walk away and go to No Deal planning.
That doesn't mean No Deal will happen. The EU are only behaving as they are as they are convinced the UK isn't willing to countenance No Deal. They have more than 40 billion reasons to avoid No Deal themselves but think they don't need to change. If we walk away they might.
What does No Deal planning look like in practice in your view? Perhaps they could dust off Tony Benn’s Alternative Economic Strategy.
With the EU negotiating team behaving as they are can anyone here suggest what May should do that will be acceptable to the public who voted to leave, to the House of Commons and to the EU?
Walk away and go to No Deal planning.
That doesn't mean No Deal will happen. The EU are only behaving as they are as they are convinced the UK isn't willing to countenance No Deal. They have more than 40 billion reasons to avoid No Deal themselves but think they don't need to change. If we walk away they might.
What does No Deal planning look like in practice in your view? Perhaps they could dust off Tony Benn’s Alternative Economic Strategy.
Ensuring we have sufficient customs preparations (both in Dover and Ireland), plans for certification for medicines, airplanes etc.
Start building temporary customs posts on the Irish border and see how long it takes the Taoiseach to change his tune.
With the EU negotiating team behaving as they are can anyone here suggest what May should do that will be acceptable to the public who voted to leave, to the House of Commons and to the EU?
Walk away and go to No Deal planning.
That doesn't mean No Deal will happen. The EU are only behaving as they are as they are convinced the UK isn't willing to countenance No Deal. They have more than 40 billion reasons to avoid No Deal themselves but think they don't need to change. If we walk away they might.
What does No Deal planning look like in practice in your view? Perhaps they could dust off Tony Benn’s Alternative Economic Strategy.
Turning gardens into allotments. Nationalisation of Lidl's distribution centres. And commissioning Jamie Oliver to write "Jamie's quick Canabalism Suppers".
With the EU negotiating team behaving as they are can anyone here suggest what May should do that will be acceptable to the public who voted to leave, to the House of Commons and to the EU?
Walk away and go to No Deal planning.
That doesn't mean No Deal will happen. The EU are only behaving as they are as they are convinced the UK isn't willing to countenance No Deal. They have more than 40 billion reasons to avoid No Deal themselves but think they don't need to change. If we walk away they might.
What does No Deal planning look like in practice in your view? Perhaps they could dust off Tony Benn’s Alternative Economic Strategy.
Ensuring we have sufficient customs preparations (both in Dover and Ireland), plans for certification for medicines, airplanes etc.
Start building temporary customs posts on the Irish border and see how long it takes the Taoiseach to change his tune.
And what should businesses who cannot operate in that environment do to prepare?
I note that the definition of "philistine" applies to an indifference or hostility to the arts and culture, whatever the latter may mean. If there is an obverse word to describe an indifference to and ignorance of technical and scientific knowledge then that I think would describe Gove.
With the EU negotiating team behaving as they are can anyone here suggest what May should do that will be acceptable to the public who voted to leave, to the House of Commons and to the EU?
Walk away and go to No Deal planning.
That doesn't mean No Deal will happen. The EU are only behaving as they are as they are convinced the UK isn't willing to countenance No Deal. They have more than 40 billion reasons to avoid No Deal themselves but think they don't need to change. If we walk away they might.
What does No Deal planning look like in practice in your view? Perhaps they could dust off Tony Benn’s Alternative Economic Strategy.
Ensuring we have sufficient customs preparations (both in Dover and Ireland), plans for certification for medicines, airplanes etc.
Start building temporary customs posts on the Irish border and see how long it takes the Taoiseach to change his tune.
And what should businesses who cannot operate in that environment do to prepare?
With the EU negotiating team behaving as they are can anyone here suggest what May should do that will be acceptable to the public who voted to leave, to the House of Commons and to the EU?
Walk away and go to No Deal planning.
That doesn't mean No Deal will happen. The EU are only behaving as they are as they are convinced the UK isn't willing to countenance No Deal. They have more than 40 billion reasons to avoid No Deal themselves but think they don't need to change. If we walk away they might.
Theresa wouldn't make a very good poker player would she?
Comments
Support this and I'll support you.
Alternatively, play the double-glazing 'this deals so good for you, I have to phone the boss first to get it authorised' card.
We know what will happen now though. Mrs May will produce a deal and Barnier will say it's unworkable. And then he'll complain that the UK hasn't said what it wants.
https://sorry.ec.europa.eu/
I suppose this is another small area where we can do our own thing after Brexit but in practice it would be too chaotic so we'll just carry on with the rest of Europe.
Massively off-topic as we await "black smoke, white smoke or no smoke" from Chequers - no smoke meaning presumably the building is on fire ?
Anyway, back to the real cut and thrust of politics at street level and I was on my way home yesterday and walking down King William Street from Bank to Monument when I saw signs saying "Polling Station" - not just any old village hall or community Centre but St Mary Abchurch in Abchurch Lane which was being used for an election for an Alderman to serve on the City of London Council for Candlewick Ward.
Opposite the Church entrance, in the shade, sat or stood four people who turned out to be the two candidates plus two "friends" of other candidates - not telling or canvassing as such but just sitting there.
Candlewick Ward has just 304 eligible voters - if every Ward on Surrey was that size there would be 4,000 County Councillors.
150 of the 304 voted yesterday so nearly 50% and one Emma Edhem won the seat polling 50 votes. She is a practicing barrister and Deputy Head of International Law at No.5 Chambers. According to someone on Twitter who does seem to know his onions, a minor upset as James de Sausmarez, who came second with 43 votes, was one of the Common Councilmen for the Ward whereas Emma Edhem was a Councilman for a Ward all the way over at St Paul's (miles away, no, not really).
Once again, I marvel at the idiosyncrasies of this thing called "democracy".
But that doesn't change that my MP will be a tory from now until the end of time no matter what I do.
I think a majority of the voters are fully in favour of tariff-free trade. It's the extras that come with it.
For example ... standardisation makes sense but uncontrolled FoM is an add-on. If goods move freely, so must labour? Why? Surely that 's a separate issue, and a political one.
A trip to the supermarket fruit and veg area will also show fresh food from countries all around the world while finding something 'Made in China' is not hard.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-44712475
As a (very minor) content creator, website owner and Internet user, this is a good thing.
Admittedly not the highest bar to cross.
I suspect Barnier doesn't give a damn. He can sit back and listen to the more fanatical Remainers blame Mrs May for the lack of progress too. Not that she's exactly ace at negotiations.
" almost everyone in government or business has spoken in favour of more immigration,"
As in … 'the owners of the means of production.' I can see why they would. But I'm a little surprised that Labour members are so enthusiastic
A housing fund charge for every immigrant employed would perhaps be a good idea.
And as we've left, we will have no power to alter, influence or block it.
On topic re the betting. One of those names is not like the others. Esther McVey's difficulties are quite separate so it might be worth revisiting that market once today's meeting is out of the way and no-one has resigned, or everyone has.
So, of course, May simultaneously tries to get the Cabinet to support a bespoke deal.
All this meeting is about is PROVING that the cabinet Brexiteers will never stand up to May and will always put their careers ahead of principles. As soon as this is proven, she can offer up her piece of crap deal to the EU for rejection knowing that she can then continue to make further concessions as demanded to arrive at a full EEA/CU capitulation.
The Tory party have been selling out the UK on Europe for 50 years. Can't see them stopping today.
But, if someone does resign, I suspect they will be Tory leader inside three months.
Mind you, I initially misread the afternoon session as The Grand Parkour and now I have visions of the Cabinet showing off their wall runs and muscle ups along Chequers balustrades.
Would be apt for Carry On Brexit.
An old colleague of mine told me of the time in the early 1980s he flew out with a team to somewhere in Europe for a several-day meeting on the naming of a variable in a telecoms system...
And an acquaintance of mine recently had to go up to Manchester for a multi-day meeting on the format of documents needed on a large archaeological study.
Sometimes I'm in favour of dictators ...
This is simply justification rather than motivation. May is proposing sellout Brexit because that is what she and the majority of the Cabinet have always wanted.
Frequent three-day jollies with very boring agendas punctuated by food and drinks, and all for just a measely six figure salary? I'm sure you'd much rather get a job in a call centre.
She acting as though she's got a 100 seat majority. This won't end well for her...
Reminds me of King John increasing the rate and frequency of scutage.
Edited extra bit: anyway, must be off.
So it is not Canada. When Justin Trudeau signed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (Ceta) he did not commit Canada to draw a border around part of his country’s territory, which would then be treated by the EU under a completely different legal order.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/eu-has-been-dishonest-about-the-brexit-options-l0w9s87lv
Leak my arse.
People who say "No deal will crash the economy" are basically saying "We believe the EU is so stupid that they will cut their head off to spite their face." Sensible people believe this to have a less than 1% chance of happening.
Edit: Damn, Jonathan beat me to the joke.
That doesn't mean No Deal will happen. The EU are only behaving as they are as they are convinced the UK isn't willing to countenance No Deal. They have more than 40 billion reasons to avoid No Deal themselves but think they don't need to change. If we walk away they might.
(They were testing a receiver she had helped design, but she was never quite sure why the doors needed to be locked...)
Otherwise, the only option she really has is to come up with something that can be called Brexit but doesn’t really change anything much for the worse in the short term - which seems to be where she’s heading in any case. How much will Leave voters, as opposed to those in the political bubble, really object to this?
Start building temporary customs posts on the Irish border and see how long it takes the Taoiseach to change his tune.