The issue is not necessarily the DUP. It is the 'UK to concede that backstop cannot be time-limited'. That will doom any deal May tries to execute
So I will expect that Barnier will insist that if the backstop is executed the UK will have to observe FOM and pay money which will make it impossible for May to pass off - not that it will be possible anyway.
So he will force the Government to adopt FOM and payments for access. And the outcome will be EEA/CU as planned.
That is why May’s strategy is both stupid and dishonest. There should never be any agreement until the EU provide a binding trade deal. Until then we need to trade on WTO.
Another bold and brave call for a Diamond Hard WTO NI border-building Brexit, delivered from the safe pulpit of suburban Alice Springs.
Please stop this shit. We have Roger pontificating from France, Edmund in Japan and so forth. We even have occasional contributions from Johnny Foreigner, and all are welcome to do so.
Contributions from overseas are of course welcome; sometimes even it is easier to see things in a more balanced perspective from a distance.
What is peculiarly objectionable about archer's incessant urging of us to take the riskiest path is that he continually uses phrases such as "we..." this and "we.." that, as if he is somehow in the thick of things, whereas the reality is that he could hardly be less affected by the fallout from Brexit.
He is akin to the fellow at the clifftop urging his friend to jump off by saying "don't worry, we'll be fine", when he has no intention himself of going anywhere near the edge,
I grasp the thrust of the objection. However, it's still a dumb argument to make. No poster here is doing anything more than howling into the ether (satisfying though it might be). I might place more credence in peoples' opprobrium if our Antipodean friend was a serving member of HMG. As it happens, I don't particularly care for Mr Archer's posts simply on the basis of didacticism alone. However, I defend etc.
It's worth remembering that one doesn't have to be geographically distant from these shores to avoid the consequences of either Brexit or a Corbyn government.
It isn't accurate or acceptable to go posting things like "we should trade on WTO" when you're resident and working (or retired) on the other side of the world. None of our other esteemed expat posters talk in the misleading and dishonest way that archer does.
It looks very much as thought the EU have accepted a fudge which makes it possible to get round the barmy backstop block. It should never have been proposed by the EU or agreed by the UK in the first place; all it has done is get in the way of discussing the actual solutions to the border question which can only be discussed in the context of a deal which makes the backstop redundant.
You think a perpetual all UK backstop is an improvement? Er - how is this leaving?
No government can tie the hands of its successors. Anyone who believes that whatever is agreed today is cast in stone is a fool. Both on the EU side and the Brexit side.
It isn't accurate or acceptable to go posting things like "we should trade on WTO" when you're resident and working (or retired) on the other side of the world. None of our other esteemed expat posters talk in the misleading and dishonest way that archer does.
My country is Kiltartan Cross My countrymen Kiltartan's poor No likely end could bring them loss Or leave them happier than before.
My point being that the great insulator from the evil effects of brexit isn't geography, it's money. Perhaps you think posters should append their net worth and annual income to their posts, seeing as how you seem to be in charge of deciding who has locus standi to post here?
Plus we know nothing of, and have no business inquiring into, Mr Archer's continuing links with blighty. Plus going on and on and on about how a poster's country of residence affects his right to post may not be racism, but it's certainly a close cousin to it.
If the position of James Bond is vacant, I note merely that I scrub up well in a dinner suit.
Not sure your driving skills are quite up to chasing the baddies in an Aston Martin on a mountain road with a glamorous blonde tied up in the passenger seat, though.
I don't recall ever seeing James Bond reverse.
Frequently, and at speed. God lord, he even drove a 2CV once. Wrecked it, of course.
I didn't realise that 2 CV stood for 'deux (2) chevaux' till I went to France recently.
The most shocking thing about that post is that you're obviously completely unacquainted with the Lloyd Cole & The Commotions album Rattlesnakes, which is a stone cold classic.
Name a Lloyd Cole album that isn't a stone cold classic !
Rattlesnakes has to be one of the greatest debut albums of all time.
A rare degree of consensus emerges on pb. Lloyd Cole must have one of the most subterranean cult followings of any music act out there.
I don't have any problem with overseas posters opining on Brexit - distance can lend perspective. I do note, however, that distance from the UK seems to be more or less directly proportional to how cavalier such posters are about the consequences of short term disruption and their willingness to risk it on behalf of others who will experience it much more directly. It's reasonable enough for others to point that out also.
It looks very much as thought the EU have accepted a fudge which makes it possible to get round the barmy backstop block. It should never have been proposed by the EU or agreed by the UK in the first place; all it has done is get in the way of discussing the actual solutions to the border question which can only be discussed in the context of a deal which makes the backstop redundant.
You think a perpetual all UK backstop is an improvement? Er - how is this leaving?
No government can tie the hands of its successors. Anyone who believes that whatever is agreed today is cast in stone is a fool. Both on the EU side and the Brexit side.
I think this is true in principle, but in practice a previous govt can greatly restrict its successor's range of options. PFI deals for instance.
No-one kicks a dead dog. Labour has answers for issues that people think are important. The Conservatives don't. We and possibly the electorate as a whole may not like Labour's answers. Nevertheless Labour is ahead of the Conservatives on this.
The Conservatives have Brexit. Remainers will blame them for the many detriments of Brexit. Leavers will also blame them for the many detriments that they firmly believe have nothing to do with Brexit.
The irony of course being that Lab can't attack Brexit on account of its Lab Brexit heartlands.
They can't while it is work in progress. Once it is in place they can attack the implementation.
It looks very much as thought the EU have accepted a fudge which makes it possible to get round the barmy backstop block. It should never have been proposed by the EU or agreed by the UK in the first place; all it has done is get in the way of discussing the actual solutions to the border question which can only be discussed in the context of a deal which makes the backstop redundant.
You think a perpetual all UK backstop is an improvement? Er - how is this leaving?
No government can tie the hands of its successors. Anyone who believes that whatever is agreed today is cast in stone is a fool. Both on the EU side and the Brexit side.
I think this is true in principle, but in practice a previous govt can greatly restrict its successor's range of options. PFI deals for instance.
That's a money issue, the government was free to end the policy of PFI, which it did.
It isn't accurate or acceptable to go posting things like "we should trade on WTO" when you're resident and working (or retired) on the other side of the world. None of our other esteemed expat posters talk in the misleading and dishonest way that archer does.
My country is Kiltartan Cross My countrymen Kiltartan's poor No likely end could bring them loss Or leave them happier than before.
My point being that the great insulator from the evil effects of brexit isn't geography, it's money. Perhaps you think posters should append their net worth and annual income to their posts, seeing as how you seem to be in charge of deciding who has locus standi to post here?
Plus we know nothing of, and have no business inquiring into, Mr Archer's continuing links with blighty. Plus going on and on and on about how a poster's country of residence affects his right to post may not be racism, but it's certainly a close cousin to it.
Wealth is relative whereas geography is absolute. And I defend my right to call out a poster who pretends to be involved in something that s/he is not.
Trump is an idiot, so I don't think proving that adds much to the sum of human knowledge.
I don't believe that Kavanaugh has said no attack occurred but that the event as described - i.e. an attack by him did not
I agree with you on Trump, but I would note that probably over 40% of the American public have a different view of the US President, so I think it is relevant.
I think when Kavanaugh says "This is a smear, plain and simple" he is doing more than saying the event as described did not happen. He is saying that Ramirez is deliberately making this up to damage him, which is rather more than just saying she is mistaken.
Sorry thought you were referring to Dr. Ford.
I haven't really looked at the Ramirez allegation - I had thought she wasn't sure that it was Kavanaugh?
In any event a more reasonable reading of "smear" is that the association of him with the event is false. If he wasn't involved with such an incidence how could he logically argue that no such event occurred?
[I forget whether the NY Post is semi serious or not! I think it's about the level of the Sun rather than, say, the Washington Times (the Washington Times being laughable while the Washington Post is credible)]
Comments
My countrymen Kiltartan's poor
No likely end could bring them loss
Or leave them happier than before.
My point being that the great insulator from the evil effects of brexit isn't geography, it's money. Perhaps you think posters should append their net worth and annual income to their posts, seeing as how you seem to be in charge of deciding who has locus standi to post here?
Plus we know nothing of, and have no business inquiring into, Mr Archer's continuing links with blighty. Plus going on and on and on about how a poster's country of residence affects his right to post may not be racism, but it's certainly a close cousin to it.
Which means for Kavanaugh to be rejected Susan Collins (R) of Maine needs to vote NO and hold Joe Manchin (D) a conservative democrat to vote NO also.
My hunch is Collins will vote NO with the understanding that Manchin will vote YES, given he's up for re-election in very Red West Virginia.
I think kavanaugh will pass with 50 Republican votes.
NEW THREAD
I haven't really looked at the Ramirez allegation - I had thought she wasn't sure that it was Kavanaugh?
In any event a more reasonable reading of "smear" is that the association of him with the event is false. If he wasn't involved with such an incidence how could he logically argue that no such event occurred?
https://nypost.com/2018/09/24/new-accuser-told-classmates-she-wasnt-sure-kavanaugh-exposed-himself/
[I forget whether the NY Post is semi serious or not! I think it's about the level of the Sun rather than, say, the Washington Times (the Washington Times being laughable while the Washington Post is credible)]
https://www.refinery29.com/2017/03/143467/are-amy-chuck-schumer-related-cousins