Yep. I expect the next general election to be the last one the Tomic reality will do the rest.
To win these days, a party only hur.
Or 3) people in England who voted Tory in 2017 to stay at home.
Why would the numer.
Surveys rs.
It would however be a "Brexit election", in which voters might expect Labour to actually have a settled position on the matter. One that is a little more thought through than the current "exact same unicorn" policy.
But it would not be a Brexit election howevermpaign.
You and others might think that - as you douies of Brexit.
You may believe that but I doubt that maore salient.
And Corbyn of course lost.
Brexit is of course the defining issue of the age and will define our nation for decades even centuries either way. Corbyn is a here today gone tomorrow politician
That is clearly your opinion, but from my personal experience it is not representative of the public at large - most of whom are sick to death of Brexit and far more interested in other issues.Too many here are confusing 'important' with 'salient.'
The public can be 'sick to death' of it all they want but a majority of British voters voted for it on a higher turnout than any general election since 1992 and I am sorry but the future of public services and their funding and workforce, the economy, their jobs, immigration, the Union etc are all directly linked to Brexit. You cannot divorce any domestic issue from Brexit, they are all connected
Leaver hypocrisy about Gibraltar is gobsmacking, given that poll after poll has shown that Leavers are willing to jettison Northern Ireland and Scotland for Brexit. But one rock 1000 miles from Britain is supposedly to be inviolable.
May does what she does best. Utter and abject capitulation.
What happened to the gunboats the Tories were going to send to Spain to blast them into submission?
That was Michael Howard, he ceased being Tory leader in 2005 though as a Leaver I expect he would have taken a much tougher line with the EU and Spain than May, not that it would have done our prospects of a Deal much good
Leaver hypocrisy about Gibraltar is gobsmacking, given that poll after poll has shown that Leavers are willing to jettison Northern Ireland and Scotland for Brexit. But one rock 1000 miles from Britain is supposedly to be inviolable.
Leaver hypocrisy about Gibraltar is gobsmacking, given that poll after poll has shown that Leavers are willing to jettison Northern Ireland and Scotland for Brexit. But one rock 1000 miles from Britain is supposedly to be inviolable.
99% of Gibraltarians voted to stay British in 2002, rather more than the 55% of Scots who voted to stay part of the UK in 2014 and the 47% of Northern Irish voters who voted DUP, UUP, NI Con or TUV at the last general election.
I believe that poll showed Leavers would rather break up the UK and lose Remain voting Scotland, Northern Ireland and Gibraltar than abandon Brexit but it also showed they would be more reluctant to lose Gibraltar as a British territory than Scotland or Northern Ireland from the UK
Boris speech to the DUP was interesting that he accepts this is a good deal but for the backstop. He says that TM needs to withhold half of the 39 billion and demand the end of the backstop. He also said there should be a cabinet minister for no deal
He went down a storm and got a huge cheer for a Northern Ireland - Scotland bridge
Worth remembering there are regional elections in Andalucia next month. It will be the new government’s first big electoral test. Sanchez mentioned the Campo de Gibraltar, which is in Andalucia and borders the Rock, a number of times in his statement today. A lot if this was politics, but it does set the tone for the next few years when every country has a veto over whatever FTA ends up being done between us and the EU.
No Deal leaves one word engraved on May's political tombstone: "Backstop".
And on Barnier's.
Surely ‘no deal is better than a bad deal’ is her legacy.
She is about to discover that No Deal is a consequence of her Bad Deal......
Turn up to the signing. Strike through the Backstop provisions. Initial the change. Sign the deal. Get back on the plane with "Over to you, guys. It's all I can get approved...."
She'd be a legend.
A thought I had would be what if there was an amendment to the meaningful vote to the effect that they were rejecting it but that they would have accepted it if the backstop was struck out.
Would put Labour in an interesting spot. If they didn't back the amendment because their "better deal" was not about the backstop - then what was it? What suddenly changes May's Deal to make it OK to sign?
Was also thinking it gives May ammunition to take to Brussels
May only fires blanks. As the EU well knows.... Witness the latest cave-in on Gibraltar. Not that May will worry, she will be long-gone from Westminster before that comes back to cause chaos for the UK government of the day.
Boris speech to the DUP was interesting that he accepts this is a good deal but for the backstop. He says that TM needs to withhold half of the 39 billion and demand the end of the backstop. He also said there should be a cabinet minister for no deal
He went down a storm and got a huge cheer for a Northern Ireland - Scotland bridge
Interesting days
It's always easier to extol the virtues of a fictional deal over a real deal. Then when the fictional deal fails to materialise, just blame the EU. Rinse and repeat.
As much as I'm a fan of the deal, I think the real issue (And actually this hasn't changed today) is that Spain has a veto over the FTA; and there may well be a gov't in place at the time that does actually want Gibraltar ?
As much as I'm a fan of the deal, I think the real issue (And actually this hasn't changed today) is that Spain has a veto over the FTA; and there may well be a gov't in place at the time that does actually want Gibraltar ?
Spain has said the discussions it wants do not concern sovereignty but relate more to corporate tax issues etc. In any case until an agreement is found on the Irish border if ever under the Deal the UK and Gibraltar stay in the Customs Union and there will be no FTA
As much as I'm a fan of the deal, I think the real issue (And actually this hasn't changed today) is that Spain has a veto over the FTA; and there may well be a gov't in place at the time that does actually want Gibraltar ?
Actually an issue with any arrangement outside the EU and not just May's deal.
Boris speech to the DUP was interesting that he accepts this is a good deal but for the backstop. He says that TM needs to withhold half of the 39 billion and demand the end of the backstop. He also said there should be a cabinet minister for no deal
He went down a storm and got a huge cheer for a Northern Ireland - Scotland bridge
Interesting days
Send all the Northern Irish Protestant Unionists over that bridge to Scotland and kill two birds with one stone and resolve Brexit
Thanks as always for the piece, David. I've never supported a second referendum - a decision was taken and it needs to be enacted. Once enacted, it can be reversed either through a Party committed to seeking to rejoin the EU winning a majority at a GE or via another referendum but that's for the future.
For now, for good or ill, we have to leave on 29/3/19. It may be that will be economically disastrous for the country - I don't know and while I don't necessarily believe the prophecies of doom from some, I'm prepared to accept it won't be plain sailing in all areas - but to not enact the democratic will of the people on an assumption that it "might" be bad sets a dangerous precedent.
One day a Party might not like losing an election and may seek to see the election overturned or not enacted and might be tempted to use force to show the electorate how misguided they were and so on.
It's a mess though - it's not what or how I expected the process of negotiation to end up. May must take a big share of the responsibility - her foolhardy GE in 2017 weakened her position she's been forced ever since to try to achieve a Deal which everyone can accept and has come up with a Deal which is equally detested by everybody.
From a position of political strength and authority she could have dictated the Deal to be done. From a position of weakness she has had a Deal done to her and has been buffeted by the DUP, ERG, CBI, Labour and others into a Deal which satisfies no one.
Her apologists are forced to argue support simply on the basis there is no alternative beyond an economically damaging "supposedly" No Deal exit. I could care less about the Conservative Party and whether it tears itself apart over all this but the lack of Government and the lack of action in so many other areas has been and continues to be deeply damaging.
F1: Raikkonen bet was thoroughly wrong. Surprised by a few things in qualifying. Interesting session, though, and race could have the odd twist and turn.
The pre-race ramble will likely be up this evening.
If a trade deal needed unanimity before, then this changes absolutely nothing. Spain could always have vetoed the deal for Gibraltar-specific reasons.
Gibraltar has been British for longer than it was Castilian. If we’re going to give it back to anyone, it should be Morocco.
Let’s see how they like that.
The BBC are saying Spain has withdrawn its objections to the Deal after the UK provided written clarification on Gibraltar.
It reads as though the UK has climbed down on this so it will be good for the Spanish PM domestically but of course what actually has been said remains unclear.
To win these days, a party only has to be slightly less bad than its opponents. The Tories are doing everything they can for Labour.
Or 3) people in England who voted Tory in 2017 to stay at home.
Why would the numer.
Surveys showed Brexit was a motivator for far fewer Labour voters than Conservative voters. If both parties lost all voters motivated by Brexit one way or another Labour would be better off than the Conservatives.
Although Labour has less reason to lose its remainer voters than the Conservatives their leave voters.
It would however be a "Brexit election", in which voters might expect Labour to actually have a settled position on the matter. One that is a little more thought through than the current "exact same unicorn" policy.
But it would not be a Brexit election howevermpaign.
You and others might think that - as you douies of Brexit.
You may believe that but I doubt that many involved in the last month of the campaign are likely to agree. Attitudes to Corbyn were far more salient.
And Corbyn of course lost.
Brexit is of course the defining issue of the age and will define our nation for decades even centuries either way. Corbyn is a here today gone tomorrow politician
That is clearly your opinion, but from my personal experience it is not representative of the public at large - most of whom are sick to death of Brexit and far more interested in other issues.Too many here are confusing 'important' with 'salient.'
Not for the first time you are calling it as it is out there. I also believe you will be vindicated at the outcome in Scotland (Lab to gain more seats from the SNP) at the next election.
Here we go again. We will have to accept EU regulations on all sorts of things whatever happens if we want to sell into the world's biggest single market.
Boris speech to the DUP was interesting that he accepts this is a good deal but for the backstop. He says that TM needs to withhold half of the 39 billion and demand the end of the backstop. He also said there should be a cabinet minister for no deal
He went down a storm and got a huge cheer for a Northern Ireland - Scotland bridge
Interesting days
Send all the Northern Irish Protestant Unionists over that bridge to Scotland and kill two birds with one stone and resolve Brexit
Oh well, he'll have a seat waiting for him o'er the water when he loses Uxbridge I suppose.
As much as I'm a fan of the deal, I think the real issue (And actually this hasn't changed today) is that Spain has a veto over the FTA; and there may well be a gov't in place at the time that does actually want Gibraltar ?
Yep. But there will probably be lots of other issues that come out of the woodwork once the FTA starts being debated.
Didn't Belgium nearly sink the whole Canada FTA at last moment?
The Councils in Opposition are both Conservative and Labour controlled so it's a cross party issue.
Central government doesn't trust local councils to consider these issues. Whether that is justified or not of course local councils don't like the idea. It's the same principle by which parishes don't like it when a local authority approves something they don't like, which is all the time.
To win these days, a party only has to be slightly less bad than its opponents. The Tories are doing everything they can for Labour.
Or 3) people in England who voted Tory in 2017 to stay at home.
Why would the numer.
Surveys showed Brexit was a motivator for far fewer Labour voters than Conservative voters. If both parties lost all voters motivated by Brexit one way or another Labour would be better off than the Conservatives.
Although Labour has less reason to lose its remainer voters than the Conservatives their leave voters.
It would however be a "Brex" policy.
But it would not be a Brexit election howevermpaign.
You and others might think that - as you douies of Brexit.
You may believe that but I doubt that many involved in the last month of the campaign are likely to agree. Attitudes to Corbyn were far more salient.
And Corbyn of course lost.
Brexit is of course the defining issue of the age and will define our nation for decades even centuries either way. Corbyn is a here today gone tomorrow politician
That is clearly your opinion, but from my personal experience it is not representative of the public at large - most of whom are sick to death of Brexit and far more interested in other issues.Too many here are confusing 'important' with 'salient.'
Not for the first time you are calling it as it is out there. I also believe you will be vindicated at the outcome in Scotland (Lab to gain more seats from the SNP) at the next election.
They cannot escape Brexit even if they want to, until we sort out the withdrawal and the future relationship, the health of the economy, the public services funding and the workforce that helps man them all flow from Brexit and its consequences
Boris speech to the DUP was interesting that he accepts this is a good deal but for the backstop. He says that TM needs to withhold half of the 39 billion and demand the end of the backstop. He also said there should be a cabinet minister for no deal
He went down a storm and got a huge cheer for a Northern Ireland - Scotland bridge
Interesting days
Send all the Northern Irish Protestant Unionists over that bridge to Scotland and kill two birds with one stone and resolve Brexit
Oh well, he'll have a seat waiting for him o'er the water when he loses Uxbridge I suppose.
Yup. Intelligent. Articulate. Assertive. Exactly what we’re lacking.
Great communicator too, and concerned with real issues rather than abstract debates.
I've always been a fan of Stella's since she electrified a sleepy meeting in Broxtowe. She avoids being typecast in any particular faction as she focuses on issues like payday lenders which are substantial but not really left-right arguments.
Not for the first time you are calling it as it is out there. I also believe you will be vindicated at the outcome in Scotland (Lab to gain more seats from the SNP) at the next election.
As I expected, Tim Oliver won the SCC Leadership election yesterday.
If only Shadsy had run a book on it - I'd have cleaned up.
I do think I'm getting to the point of Brexit saturation. No one seriously seems to want a deal, unless they are planning to climb down and pretend some later deal is significantly different when it isn't, and that will only happen after a whole bunch more nonsense, and we're just in a limbo while we pretend we are't heading for no deal or remain. Might as well just pack it in, frankly.
Yup. Intelligent. Articulate. Assertive. Exactly what we’re lacking.
Great communicator too, and concerned with real issues rather than abstract debates.
I've always been a fan of Stella's since she electrified a sleepy meeting in Broxtowe. She avoids being typecast in any particular faction as she focuses on issues like payday lenders which are substantial but not really left-right arguments.
I have been green on her for some time, but seems difficult to see how she sneaks past the Momentum bloc in any likely election in near or medium future.
While I'm sure he's right about Hayes' motivation, the language and tone of this letter is everything one's come to expect from the ERG... rude, bullying, highly personal, unprofessional - on Commons paper addressed to a colleague, and allowed to leak out. Keep it for the pub.
If Frankie Boyle had made those comments about someone on TV, a lot of the people who are guffawing him on would be outraged.
Yes, unpleasant. As political honours go, Hayes' is actually not unreasonable - a (former?) vice-chair of the party and a veteran organiser of campaigns. I found him pleasant enough to opponents like me, too.
Here we go again. We will have to accept EU regulations on all sorts of things whatever happens if we want to sell into the world's biggest single market.
I'm somewhat intrigued: how big does Boris Johnson think the market for non EC* certified electronics is?
* I might add the US FCC and UL certifications, and the Chinese CCC mark.
Here we go again. We will have to accept EU regulations on all sorts of things whatever happens if we want to sell into the world's biggest single market.
I'm somewhat intrigued: how big does Boris Johnson think the market for non EC* certified electronics is?
* I might add the US FCC and UL certifications, and the Chinese CCC mark.
He either doesn't know, or simply, and more likely, doesn't care because it gets in the way of his rhetoric. Dishonest is one word for it.
One thing we have learned from all this. The so-called 'party of business', is stuffed full of people who have absolutely no clue how modern manufacturing, trade or business is carried out.
While I'm sure he's right about Hayes' motivation, the language and tone of this letter is everything one's come to expect from the ERG... rude, bullying, highly personal, unprofessional - on Commons paper addressed to a colleague, and allowed to leak out. Keep it for the pub.
If Frankie Boyle had made those comments about someone on TV, a lot of the people who are guffawing him on would be outraged.
Yes, unpleasant. As political honours go, Hayes' is actually not unreasonable - a (former?) vice-chair of the party and a veteran organiser of campaigns. I found him pleasant enough to opponents like me, too.
If the ERG are upset by this, wait until the Whips get properly cracking on the WA vote in December...
The Councils in Opposition are both Conservative and Labour controlled so it's a cross party issue.
Central government doesn't trust local councils to consider these issues. Whether that is justified or not of course local councils don't like the idea. It's the same principle by which parishes don't like it when a local authority approves something they don't like, which is all the time.
Perhaps and there may be an element of that but the fracking experience hasn't been very positive this year. The Surrey fracking site led to a series of minor tremors just as has occurred elsewhere and a lot of people aren't comfortable with that.
I do think I'm getting to the point of Brexit saturation. No one seriously seems to want a deal, unless they are planning to climb down and pretend some later deal is significantly different when it isn't, and that will only happen after a whole bunch more nonsense, and we're just in a limbo while we pretend we are't heading for no deal or remain. Might as well just pack it in, frankly.
I'm certainly sick of it all and the public must be too, and in spades.
As much as I'm a fan of the deal, I think the real issue (And actually this hasn't changed today) is that Spain has a veto over the FTA; and there may well be a gov't in place at the time that does actually want Gibraltar ?
Yep. But there will probably be lots of other issues that come out of the woodwork once the FTA starts being debated.
Didn't Belgium nearly sink the whole Canada FTA at last moment?
The fundamental question is this: what happens to the UK position vis-à-vis the EU whilst these countries dick us around? Where does May's deal leave us for potentially years and years?
Mr. Borough, there are significant areas of ignorance across the whole political class.
The approach of May, Rudd, and Cooper to the internet/technology is one revealing example. They behaved as though a magic algorithm, like some sort of mystic incantation, could somehow make the net safe for kids and hide away the naughtiness and horror.
Similarly, the Government's authoritarian wet dream of uFap, or whatever the database of trouser massage enthusiasts is to be called, is utterly bonkers.
One story which hasn't get enough coverage (besides the hereditaries, which I learnt of here and which hasn't apparently percolated through the endless rambling hysteria about the EU [was amused that James Landale's segment on Iran suffering economically due to US sanctions was more upbeat than the general tenor of conversation about the UK's prospects]) is the incoming Article 13, which I was unhappily aware of but which has only been raised recently by some Youtube videos on games I watch.
As much as I'm a fan of the deal, I think the real issue (And actually this hasn't changed today) is that Spain has a veto over the FTA; and there may well be a gov't in place at the time that does actually want Gibraltar ?
Yep. But there will probably be lots of other issues that come out of the woodwork once the FTA starts being debated.
Didn't Belgium nearly sink the whole Canada FTA at last moment?
The fundamental question is this: what happens to the UK position vis-à-vis the EU whilst these countries dick us around? Where does May's deal leave us for potentially years and years?
Endless arguments I suspect.
This is sucking all energy out of government. Little else seems to be being done.
Yep. I expect the next general election to be the last one the Tomic reality will do the rest.
To win these days, a party only hur.
Or 3) people in England who voted Tory in 2017 to stay at home.
Why would the numer.
Surveys rs.
It would however be a "Brexit election", in which voters might expect Labour to actually have a settled position on the matter. One that is a little more thought through than the current "exact same unicorn" policy.
But it would not be a Brexit election howevermpaign.
You and others might think that - as you douies of Brexit.
You may believe that but I doubt that maore salient.
And Corbyn of course lost.
Brexit is of course the defining issue of the age and will define our nation for decades even centuries either way. Corbyn is a here today gone tomorrow politician
That is clearly your opinion, but from my personal experience it is not representative of the public at large - most of whom are sick to death of Brexit and far more interested in other issues.Too many here are confusing 'important' with 'salient.'
The public can be 'sick to death' of it all they want but a majority of British voters voted for it on a higher turnout than any general election since 1992 and I am sorry but the future of public services and their funding and workforce, the economy, their jobs, immigration, the Union etc are all directly linked to Brexit. You cannot divorce any domestic issue from Brexit, they are all connected
The Councils in Opposition are both Conservative and Labour controlled so it's a cross party issue.
Central government doesn't trust local councils to consider these issues. Whether that is justified or not of course local councils don't like the idea. It's the same principle by which parishes don't like it when a local authority approves something they don't like, which is all the time.
Perhaps and there may be an element of that but the fracking experience hasn't been very positive this year. The Surrey fracking site led to a series of minor tremors just as has occurred elsewhere and a lot of people aren't comfortable with that.
I was intrigued by your reference to Surrey earthquakes but it seems that linkage to fracking seems unlikely: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-44727326 The recent tremors in Lnacashire associated with fracking were not detectable by humans and were as would be expected. They only got recorded and investigated due to the extremely stringent regulations that apply.
As much as I'm a fan of the deal, I think the real issue (And actually this hasn't changed today) is that Spain has a veto over the FTA; and there may well be a gov't in place at the time that does actually want Gibraltar ?
Yep. But there will probably be lots of other issues that come out of the woodwork once the FTA starts being debated.
Didn't Belgium nearly sink the whole Canada FTA at last moment?
The fundamental question is this: what happens to the UK position vis-à-vis the EU whilst these countries dick us around? Where does May's deal leave us for potentially years and years?
Err, that's a fundamental aspect of Brexit and has nothing to do with May's deal specifically.
I do think I'm getting to the point of Brexit saturation. No one seriously seems to want a deal, unless they are planning to climb down and pretend some later deal is significantly different when it isn't, and that will only happen after a whole bunch more nonsense, and we're just in a limbo while we pretend we are't heading for no deal or remain. Might as well just pack it in, frankly.
I'm certainly sick of it all and the public must be too, and in spades.
Not enough, or politicians would stop dicking around. My final thought on the subject is just that I don't quite know how Labour and Tory rebels reconcile claiming the noises from the EU that they are not keen on renegotiation, and the very tough negotiation the EU has already done, with their view that they will get what they want no problem. It's incredibly naiive and seems to boil down to 'Of course it will be ok, don't believe what the EU says...but do believe the EU later when they will change position and make things easy for us, for no reason'.
I do think I'm getting to the point of Brexit saturation. No one seriously seems to want a deal, unless they are planning to climb down and pretend some later deal is significantly different when it isn't, and that will only happen after a whole bunch more nonsense, and we're just in a limbo while we pretend we are't heading for no deal or remain. Might as well just pack it in, frankly.
I'm certainly sick of it all and the public must be too, and in spades.
Agreed , it certainly affects this site as well.
The repetition of the same points becomes tiresome.
Worth remembering there are regional elections in Andalucia next month. It will be the new government’s first big electoral test. Sanchez mentioned the Campo de Gibraltar, which is in Andalucia and borders the Rock, a number of times in his statement today. A lot if this was politics, but it does set the tone for the next few years when every country has a veto over whatever FTA ends up being done between us and the EU.
Two pounds of flesh obtained by Ireland and Spain. 25 lbs to go and some may come back for second helpings. Denmark for fish and France for financial services look to be dead certs. We'll need to get used to the squeeze.
As much as I'm a fan of the deal, I think the real issue (And actually this hasn't changed today) is that Spain has a veto over the FTA; and there may well be a gov't in place at the time that does actually want Gibraltar ?
Yep. But there will probably be lots of other issues that come out of the woodwork once the FTA starts being debated.
Didn't Belgium nearly sink the whole Canada FTA at last moment?
The fundamental question is this: what happens to the UK position vis-à-vis the EU whilst these countries dick us around? Where does May's deal leave us for potentially years and years?
Err, that's a fundamental aspect of Brexit and has nothing to do with May's deal specifically.
Hard to tell if you are deliberately obtuse - or just thick....
Anti-immigration rhetoric is always likely to fall flat in both Australia and Canada, due to their low population densities.
And, of course, they are almost all immigrants. Certainly, the vast majority of the population will be aware of relatives who are or were from overseas
Not for the first time you are calling it as it is out there. I also believe you will be vindicated at the outcome in Scotland (Lab to gain more seats from the SNP) at the next election.
As I expected, Tim Oliver won the SCC Leadership election yesterday.
If only Shadsy had run a book on it - I'd have cleaned up.
There REALLY was no alternative! I was a strong supporter and he will be first rate.
Not for the first time you are calling it as it is out there. I also believe you will be vindicated at the outcome in Scotland (Lab to gain more seats from the SNP) at the next election.
As I expected, Tim Oliver won the SCC Leadership election yesterday.
If only Shadsy had run a book on it - I'd have cleaned up.
There REALLY was no alternative! I was a strong supporter and he will be first rate.
Well, yes, given he has been Elmbridge BC leader but will of course have to step down from that role and presumably will have to give up his Borough seat as well.
Was the Borough seat due to be contested in 2019 - if not, I presume it will just be held as a by-election on the day of the May locals.
I think the next thing I will be looking at will be changes in the composition of the Cabinet at SCC - will Furey stay and if not who will come in as Deputy and who will take CC Oliver's position representing "People" (not quite sure what that means to be honest).
I've found Bellingcat very interesting reading. My question, though, is this: who are they? Who pays their bills? How do I know I'm not just reading made up shit?
Not for the first time you are calling it as it is out there. I also believe you will be vindicated at the outcome in Scotland (Lab to gain more seats from the SNP) at the next election.
As I expected, Tim Oliver won the SCC Leadership election yesterday.
If only Shadsy had run a book on it - I'd have cleaned up.
There REALLY was no alternative! I was a strong supporter and he will be first rate.
Well, yes, given he has been Elmbridge BC leader but will of course have to step down from that role and presumably will have to give up his Borough seat as well.
Was the Borough seat due to be contested in 2019 - if not, I presume it will just be held as a by-election on the day of the May locals.
I think the next thing I will be looking at will be changes in the composition of the Cabinet at SCC - will Furey stay and if not who will come in as Deputy and who will take CC Oliver's position representing "People" (not quite sure what that means to be honest).
He was my Deputy for several years at Elmbridge so I know him particularly well. As for the rest, we’ll wait and see, particularly regarding your third paragraph!
When it comes to speechifying there are few who can hold a candle to Boris. Transcript here
I can't have read that right. Did he seriously really actually say "funkapolitan"?
Words fail me.
EDit: also he doesn't know what "putative" means. What a terrible waste of an expensive education.
That's sad. One doesn't even have to know any Latin to know it's cognate with "reputed". He's got problems with "illustrious" too:
"And UK-NI will have to accept large swathes of EU regulations now and in the future. On lawnmower noise. On the labelling of sardines. On the use of coins and tokens that may be deemed to resemble a euro. And on the use of personal recreational watercraft. And nowhere has a more illustrious history than Northern Ireland when it comes to the creation of recreational watercraft. The Titanic springs to mind"
He continues
"and now is the time to point out the iceberg ahead"
I've found Bellingcat very interesting reading. My question, though, is this: who are they? Who pays their bills? How do I know I'm not just reading made up shit?
All options look implausible from here. One has to occur.
Trying to renegotiate looks more of a timewasting distraction to me than a second referendum. A second referendum, however, should not include a Deal option. Either Parliament blesses the deal or it is discarded. The public should not be expected to opine on 500 page documents but on concepts.
The issue then is that the messaging is
1. The voters told us to leave 2. MPs, who supported remain on the whole, discarded the deal that would let us leave in reasonably good order 3. Then asked the people to leave in disarray or change their mind
That’s an appalling message to send to democrats the world over
There are no good routes out of this now !
Pass the deal, sort out an FTA and improve it over time
I've found Bellingcat very interesting reading. My question, though, is this: who are they? Who pays their bills? How do I know I'm not just reading made up shit?
They are our Fancy Bears, just innocent tourists interested in Russian cathedral architecture etc.
I've found Bellingcat very interesting reading. My question, though, is this: who are they? Who pays their bills? How do I know I'm not just reading made up shit?
You might be reading made-up shit, either deliberately or through poor open-source intelligence work.
As for their accuracy, they were fairly on the money, early on, about Malaysian Airlines 17, and did some great work on that - especially in bashing down the many laughably ludicrous Russian 'explanations'. IMO their findings pretty much matched some of the findings of the official report; although thee official report has much more information.
Comments
Gibraltar has been British for longer than it was Castilian. If we’re going to give it back to anyone, it should be Morocco.
Let’s see how they like that.
Perhaps not Morocco. Algeria.
I believe that poll showed Leavers would rather break up the UK and lose Remain voting Scotland, Northern Ireland and Gibraltar than abandon Brexit but it also showed they would be more reluctant to lose Gibraltar as a British territory than Scotland or Northern Ireland from the UK
He went down a storm and got a huge cheer for a Northern Ireland - Scotland bridge
Interesting days
Leavers aren’t the ones who have a problem with self-determination.
Thanks as always for the piece, David. I've never supported a second referendum - a decision was taken and it needs to be enacted. Once enacted, it can be reversed either through a Party committed to seeking to rejoin the EU winning a majority at a GE or via another referendum but that's for the future.
For now, for good or ill, we have to leave on 29/3/19. It may be that will be economically disastrous for the country - I don't know and while I don't necessarily believe the prophecies of doom from some, I'm prepared to accept it won't be plain sailing in all areas - but to not enact the democratic will of the people on an assumption that it "might" be bad sets a dangerous precedent.
One day a Party might not like losing an election and may seek to see the election overturned or not enacted and might be tempted to use force to show the electorate how misguided they were and so on.
It's a mess though - it's not what or how I expected the process of negotiation to end up. May must take a big share of the responsibility - her foolhardy GE in 2017 weakened her position she's been forced ever since to try to achieve a Deal which everyone can accept and has come up with a Deal which is equally detested by everybody.
From a position of political strength and authority she could have dictated the Deal to be done. From a position of weakness she has had a Deal done to her and has been buffeted by the DUP, ERG, CBI, Labour and others into a Deal which satisfies no one.
Her apologists are forced to argue support simply on the basis there is no alternative beyond an economically damaging "supposedly" No Deal exit. I could care less about the Conservative Party and whether it tears itself apart over all this but the lack of Government and the lack of action in so many other areas has been and continues to be deeply damaging.
F1: Raikkonen bet was thoroughly wrong. Surprised by a few things in qualifying. Interesting session, though, and race could have the odd twist and turn.
The pre-race ramble will likely be up this evening.
It reads as though the UK has climbed down on this so it will be good for the Spanish PM domestically but of course what actually has been said remains unclear.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-45969448
The Councils in Opposition are both Conservative and Labour controlled so it's a cross party issue.
Didn't Belgium nearly sink the whole Canada FTA at last moment?
If only Shadsy had run a book on it - I'd have cleaned up.
* I might add the US FCC and UL certifications, and the Chinese CCC mark.
Betting PostF1: backed Ricciardo and Verstappen for podium finishes at 2.87 and 2.9 respectively. Reckon the Red Bull will be tasty in the race.
Might make more bets or just leave it there, depending how the markets go.
Transcript here
It would be funny if it wasn't so serious.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/nov/24/labor-secures-stunning-victory-in-victorian-election-as-voters-reject-fear
The approach of May, Rudd, and Cooper to the internet/technology is one revealing example. They behaved as though a magic algorithm, like some sort of mystic incantation, could somehow make the net safe for kids and hide away the naughtiness and horror.
Similarly, the Government's authoritarian wet dream of uFap, or whatever the database of trouser massage enthusiasts is to be called, is utterly bonkers.
One story which hasn't get enough coverage (besides the hereditaries, which I learnt of here and which hasn't apparently percolated through the endless rambling hysteria about the EU [was amused that James Landale's segment on Iran suffering economically due to US sanctions was more upbeat than the general tenor of conversation about the UK's prospects]) is the incoming Article 13, which I was unhappily aware of but which has only been raised recently by some Youtube videos on games I watch.
This is sucking all energy out of government. Little else seems to be being done.
Labor secures stunning victory in Victorian election
Words fail me.
EDit: also he doesn't know what "putative" means. What a terrible waste of an expensive education.
The recent tremors in Lnacashire associated with fracking were not detectable by humans and were as would be expected. They only got recorded and investigated due to the extremely stringent regulations that apply.
It's all such a bloody waste of time.
The repetition of the same points becomes tiresome.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6424087/Scared-locals-paying-wardens-patrol-streets.html
https://twitter.com/faisalislam/status/1066365345043308546
https://www.20minutes.fr/faits_divers/2377911-20181122-gilets-jaunes-mulhouse-soupe-remplie-laxatifs-servie-manifestants
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2018/11/22/second-gru-officer-indicted-montenegro-coup-unmasked/
Was the Borough seat due to be contested in 2019 - if not, I presume it will just be held as a by-election on the day of the May locals.
I think the next thing I will be looking at will be changes in the composition of the Cabinet at SCC - will Furey stay and if not who will come in as Deputy and who will take CC Oliver's position representing "People" (not quite sure what that means to be honest).
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/23/mitt-romney-senate-republicans-fundraising-pac-1012658
"And UK-NI will have to accept large swathes of EU regulations now and in the future. On lawnmower noise. On the labelling of sardines. On the use of coins and tokens that may be deemed to resemble a euro. And on the use of personal recreational watercraft. And nowhere has a more illustrious history than Northern Ireland when it comes to the creation of recreational watercraft. The Titanic springs to mind"
He continues
"and now is the time to point out the iceberg ahead"
In any event, I’d like to hear them both on the Third Division of Poland. Either football or geographic would be fine.
If there is a conspiracy, it's that they are fronting actual military intelligence!
However the person behind it is fairly open:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliot_Higgins
As for their accuracy, they were fairly on the money, early on, about Malaysian Airlines 17, and did some great work on that - especially in bashing down the many laughably ludicrous Russian 'explanations'. IMO their findings pretty much matched some of the findings of the official report; although thee official report has much more information.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schleswig_plebiscites,_1920