Singapore being expelled from Malaysia might be a better comparison to a no deal Brexit than Greenland's departure, one which caused initial disruption but was better for both parties in the long term.
Surely parliament passing repeated extensions (assuming the EU agree) is in practice little different than revoking Article 50?
Very good essay. I suppose there may be other myths. For instance I really think there are people who believe we are living in the 19th century---only that wouldn't be how they put it.
It looks like there is the potential for something positive to come of the fried chicken boxes. I do hope someone in government will put the time in to build relationships.
It strikes me that the Remainers' best argument should be, to misuse another of Johnson's favourite politician's quotes, "No-Deal is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. It [will only be] the end of the beginning. " No-Deal Brexit for years of Brexit turmoil.
"A charity for people with Tourette's syndrome has asked a comedian to apologise for his award-winning joke made at the Edinburgh Fringe festival."
I suspect they will get some ripe language thrown in their direction....
TBH, the striking thing about that list of puns was how unimaginative and unfunny they were. Foxy, Nigelb and I - to name just a few - come up with far better than that on a regular basis. Heck, a beggar trying to get the price of a meal (he claimed) out of me in London could do better.
It doesn't say much for contemporary comedy if that's the best they can offer, and still less if they think they're funny.
Brexit: Not as bad as the Algerian War of Independence.
Perhaps if the EU had been established 20 years earlier the Algerians would have decided to stay in France/Europe.
"Decided"???
You don't decide to leave the EU. You cannot leave the EU; not without mutilating yourself, or signing up to colonial status.
The idea that Britain was "sovereign" in the EU was, it turns out, another big fat myth - this time a Remainer myth. It should be added to Cyclefree's excellent list.
It is the last line that passes MPs by: Perhaps the biggest myth of all is that Brexit will be over on 31 October 2019. If only.
The only way this ends - finally and definitively - is if the EU collapses. Otherwise we will continue to be hopelessly split between those who wish to leave/stay out and those who wish to remain/rejoin.
But for all its institutional weaknesses, corruption and maladministration, the odds of that happening are the same as the odds of England getting Steve Smith for a duck.
New market: Next GE - Kensington (Lab Maj 20, Emma Dent Coad MP)
Con 4/7 Lab 7/4 LD 6/1
Is EDC standing again, do we know? Given her age, presumably her lack of interest in the job and the series of unmitigated public relations disasters her general thickness and lack of skill have caused, I was wondering if she might step down and give some ambitious young Labour staffer a run at it.
By the way, I'm sure this will have been noted by others before.
Might the Corbyn-McDonnell microphone seizing be deliberate misinformation? Wouldn't it in fact suit them really rather neatly if Britain does disastrously crash out on Oct 31st? The shitshow which will follow will see the total annihilation of the Conservative party for a generation and Labour would inevitably rise in the polls. Especially neat when you consider that the Corbynites don't really like the EU anyway.
By the way, I'm sure this will have been noted by others before.
Might the Corbyn-McDonnell microphone seizing be deliberate misinformation? Wouldn't it in fact suit them really rather neatly if Britain does disastrously crash out on Oct 31st? The shitshow which will follow will see the total annihilation of the Conservative party for a generation and Labour would inevitably rise in the polls. Especially neat when you consider that the Corbynites don't really like the EU anyway.
There. I've released my cynicism to the ether.
Unfortunately for them Labour have carefully calibrated matters so that if we crash out with no deal they will get no credit from Leavers and maximum ordure from Remainers.
The only real winners in that scenario would be the Liberal Democrats and SNP, who have both at least been clear and consistent, and Sinn Fein.
1. A50 will be extended again, covertly facilitated by Johnson. 2. There will be a general election in November. 3. The Tories will gain most seats but will be unable to form a government. The BXP will gain zero seats. 4. Labour will form a minority government with C&S from LDs and SNP. 5. Labour will then negotiate a permanent CU WDA which will not get the support of parliament. 6. There will then be a referendum with the permanent CU WDA versus Remain. 7. Labour will campaign for Remain. 8. Remain will win and we will revoke A50 in mid 2020. 9. The minority Labour government will turn out to be successful and transformative.
New market: Next GE - Kensington (Lab Maj 20, Emma Dent Coad MP)
Con 4/7 Lab 7/4 LD 6/1
Is EDC standing again, do we know? Given her age, presumably her lack of interest in the job and the series of unmitigated public relations disasters her general thickness and lack of skill have caused, I was wondering if she might step down and give some ambitious young Labour staffer a run at it.
AFAIAA none of the parties have announced PPCs for Kensington.
I note that the Greens and minor candidates got well over 1000 votes in Kensington last time. I wonder, if they don’t stand, could Labour maybe hold off the Tories?
It is the last line that passes MPs by: Perhaps the biggest myth of all is that Brexit will be over on 31 October 2019. If only.
The only way this ends - finally and definitively - is if the EU collapses. Otherwise we will continue to be hopelessly split between those who wish to leave/stay out and those who wish to remain/rejoin.
But for all its institutional weaknesses, corruption and maladministration, the odds of that happening are the same as the odds of England getting Steve Smith for a duck.
It will end, because greater, more significant events - war, disease, climate change, alien invasion, robot supremacy - will overtake it, and render the entire question irrelevant.
No doubt there were people who thought - for good reason, in, say 100AD - that the Roman Empire was eternal. They were wrong. Rome fell.
And the EU, whatever it is, is certainly not the Roman Empire straddling the world with a singular purpose.
1. A50 will be extended again, covertly facilitated by Johnson. 2. There will be a general election in November. 3. The Tories will gain most seats but will be unable to form a government. The BXP will gain zero seats. 4. Labour will form a minority government with C&S from LDs and SNP. 5. Labour will then negotiate a permanent CU WDA which will not get the support of parliament. 6. There will then be a referendum with the permanent CU WDA versus Remain. 7. Labour will campaign for Remain. 8. Remain will win and we will revoke A50 in mid 2020. 9. The minority Labour government will turn out to be successful and transformative.
Yes, Barnesian, of course. A government of tenth rate drunken Fascists with the IQ of dead stoats will be successful and transformative. Because it's working so well right now.
And I do not think there will be an attempt to extend. This is the crunch moment. Unfortunately having rejected rather a good deal and made no preparation for any other scenario we are not in a good situation to meet it.
My Italian wife has just booked a trip to see her elderly mother in Italy at Xmas...we've only been living back in the UK for 2 years. My wife doesn't meet the criteria for settled status. She has been a UK taxpayer for 25 years. My wife's birthday is the 1st November...the day when her entitlement to live in the UK ends.
1. A50 will be extended again, covertly facilitated by Johnson. 2. There will be a general election in November. 3. The Tories will gain most seats but will be unable to form a government. The BXP will gain zero seats. 4. Labour will form a minority government with C&S from LDs and SNP. 5. Labour will then negotiate a permanent CU WDA which will not get the support of parliament. 6. There will then be a referendum with the permanent CU WDA versus Remain. 7. Labour will campaign for Remain. 8. Remain will win and we will revoke A50 in mid 2020. 9. The minority Labour government will turn out to be successful and transformative.
Impressive but ridiculous.
You go wrong with point 1 (and get sillier). Just how will Boris "covertly facilitate" an extension of A50?
By the way, I'm sure this will have been noted by others before.
Might the Corbyn-McDonnell microphone seizing be deliberate misinformation? Wouldn't it in fact suit them really rather neatly if Britain does disastrously crash out on Oct 31st? The shitshow which will follow will see the total annihilation of the Conservative party for a generation and Labour would inevitably rise in the polls. Especially neat when you consider that the Corbynites don't really like the EU anyway.
There. I've released my cynicism to the ether.
Of course that's the plan. That's what they've wanted all along.
New market: Next GE - Kensington (Lab Maj 20, Emma Dent Coad MP)
Con 4/7 Lab 7/4 LD 6/1
Is EDC standing again, do we know? Given her age, presumably her lack of interest in the job and the series of unmitigated public relations disasters her general thickness and lack of skill have caused, I was wondering if she might step down and give some ambitious young Labour staffer a run at it.
AFAIAA none of the parties have announced PPCs for Kensington.
I note that the Greens and minor candidates got well over 1000 votes in Kensington last time. I wonder, if they don’t stand, could Labour maybe hold off the Tories?
Well, Kensington on its current boundaries is not that bad a seat for Labour. Most of the posher areas seem to have ended up in Chelsea. So yes, I think hey could, but whether they will with somebody as bad as Emma Dent Coad, who is a southern version of Jared O'Mara, is another question.
It is the last line that passes MPs by: Perhaps the biggest myth of all is that Brexit will be over on 31 October 2019. If only.
The only way this ends - finally and definitively - is if the EU collapses. Otherwise we will continue to be hopelessly split between those who wish to leave/stay out and those who wish to remain/rejoin.
But for all its institutional weaknesses, corruption and maladministration, the odds of that happening are the same as the odds of England getting Steve Smith for a duck.
It will end, because greater, more significant events - war, disease, climate change, alien invasion, robot supremacy - will overtake it, and render the entire question irrelevant.
No doubt there were people who thought - for good reason, in, say 100AD - that the Roman Empire was eternal. They were wrong. Rome fell.
And the EU, whatever it is, is certainly not the Roman Empire straddling the world with a singular purpose.
In 100 AD, the Roman Empire still had 1361 years to run. Indeed, on some measures it didn't end until 1806.
Waiting for it to fall, or indeed inciting rebellion in the hope of making it fall (check out the Gallic Empire) turned out not to be a profitable venture. To quote Keynes, in the long run we are all dead. But short of invading Hungary with Russian troops, there is no way the EU will collapse in time to be of any help in this situation.
"A charity for people with Tourette's syndrome has asked a comedian to apologise for his award-winning joke made at the Edinburgh Fringe festival."
I suspect they will get some ripe language thrown in their direction....
TBH, the striking thing about that list of puns was how unimaginative and unfunny they were. Foxy, Nigelb and I - to name just a few - come up with far better than that on a regular basis. Heck, a beggar trying to get the price of a meal (he claimed) out of me in London could do better.
It doesn't say much for contemporary comedy if that's the best they can offer, and still less if they think they're funny.
"A charity for people with Tourette's syndrome has asked a comedian to apologise for his award-winning joke made at the Edinburgh Fringe festival."
I suspect they will get some ripe language thrown in their direction....
TBH, the striking thing about that list of puns was how unimaginative and unfunny they were. Foxy, Nigelb and I - to name just a few - come up with far better than that on a regular basis. Heck, a beggar trying to get the price of a meal (he claimed) out of me in London could do better.
It doesn't say much for contemporary comedy if that's the best they can offer, and still less if they think they're funny.
The secret of comedy?
Timing.
If you peas...
Well, your timing was swede, but none of these others were a turnip for the books.
It is the last line that passes MPs by: Perhaps the biggest myth of all is that Brexit will be over on 31 October 2019. If only.
The only way this ends - finally and definitively - is if the EU collapses. Otherwise we will continue to be hopelessly split between those who wish to leave/stay out and those who wish to remain/rejoin.
But for all its institutional weaknesses, corruption and maladministration, the odds of that happening are the same as the odds of England getting Steve Smith for a duck.
It will end, because greater, more significant events - war, disease, climate change, alien invasion, robot supremacy - will overtake it, and render the entire question irrelevant.
No doubt there were people who thought - for good reason, in, say 100AD - that the Roman Empire was eternal. They were wrong. Rome fell.
And the EU, whatever it is, is certainly not the Roman Empire straddling the world with a singular purpose.
New definitions of what constitutes a successful Brecit, part 406.
By the way, I'm sure this will have been noted by others before.
Might the Corbyn-McDonnell microphone seizing be deliberate misinformation? Wouldn't it in fact suit them really rather neatly if Britain does disastrously crash out on Oct 31st? The shitshow which will follow will see the total annihilation of the Conservative party for a generation and Labour would inevitably rise in the polls. Especially neat when you consider that the Corbynites don't really like the EU anyway.
There. I've released my cynicism to the ether.
Of course that's the plan. That's what they've wanted all along.
I am not sure there is an inevitability to a Labour recovery in the polls. There won't be many Blue-Red switchers. There will be churn. But I am not sure that many current Tory voters will think - 'well that Jeremy is quite a decent chap after all, I shall vote for him now.' They will look for a different home.
My Italian wife has just booked a trip to see her elderly mother in Italy at Xmas...we've only been living back in the UK for 2 years. My wife doesn't meet the criteria for settled status. She has been a UK taxpayer for 25 years. My wife's birthday is the 1st November...the day when her entitlement to live in the UK ends.
She can apply for pre-settled status with six months proof of residence. Might be a bit of a queue though, with 2 million others.
It is the last line that passes MPs by: Perhaps the biggest myth of all is that Brexit will be over on 31 October 2019. If only.
The only way this ends - finally and definitively - is if the EU collapses. Otherwise we will continue to be hopelessly split between those who wish to leave/stay out and those who wish to remain/rejoin.
But for all its institutional weaknesses, corruption and maladministration, the odds of that happening are the same as the odds of England getting Steve Smith for a duck.
It will end, because greater, more significant events - war, disease, climate change, alien invasion, robot supremacy - will overtake it, and render the entire question irrelevant.
No doubt there were people who thought - for good reason, in, say 100AD - that the Roman Empire was eternal. They were wrong. Rome fell.
And the EU, whatever it is, is certainly not the Roman Empire straddling the world with a singular purpose.
In 100 AD, the Roman Empire still had 1361 years to run. Indeed, on some measures it didn't end until 1806.
Waiting for it to fall, or indeed inciting rebellion in the hope of making it fall (check out the Gallic Empire) turned out not to be a profitable venture. To quote Keynes, in the long run we are all dead. But short of invading Hungary with Russian troops, there is no way the EU will collapse in time to be of any help in this situation.
Of course. But, likesay, the EU is not Rome. Not even close. It is a fissile andshaky construct, with an inbuilt lack of democracy, a massive divide between east and west, a nasty and probably insoluble migrant problem, and a fucking terrible currency rotting away at the core like Soviet era control rods in a rundown nuclear power station.
By the way, I'm sure this will have been noted by others before.
Might the Corbyn-McDonnell microphone seizing be deliberate misinformation? Wouldn't it in fact suit them really rather neatly if Britain does disastrously crash out on Oct 31st? The shitshow which will follow will see the total annihilation of the Conservative party for a generation and Labour would inevitably rise in the polls. Especially neat when you consider that the Corbynites don't really like the EU anyway.
There. I've released my cynicism to the ether.
Of course that's the plan. That's what they've wanted all along.
I am not sure there is an inevitability to a Labour recovery in the polls. There won't be many Blue-Red switchers. There will be churn. But I am not sure that many current Tory voters will think - 'well that Jeremy is quite a decent chap after all, I shall vote for him now.' They will look for a different home.
I agree. But I think Corbyn and McDonnell are somewhat equivocal about democracy. Brexit begets revolution is their game.
1. A50 will be extended again, covertly facilitated by Johnson. 2. There will be a general election in November. 3. The Tories will gain most seats but will be unable to form a government. The BXP will gain zero seats. 4. Labour will form a minority government with C&S from LDs and SNP. 5. Labour will then negotiate a permanent CU WDA which will not get the support of parliament. 6. There will then be a referendum with the permanent CU WDA versus Remain. 7. Labour will campaign for Remain. 8. Remain will win and we will revoke A50 in mid 2020. 9. The minority Labour government will turn out to be successful and transformative.
Impressive but ridiculous.
You go wrong with point 1 (and get sillier). Just how will Boris "covertly facilitate" an extension of A50?
If he can covertly facilitate Jeremy Hunt coming second, all things must be possible.
It is the last line that passes MPs by: Perhaps the biggest myth of all is that Brexit will be over on 31 October 2019. If only.
The only way this ends - finally and definitively - is if the EU collapses. Otherwise we will continue to be hopelessly split between those who wish to leave/stay out and those who wish to remain/rejoin.
But for all its institutional weaknesses, corruption and maladministration, the odds of that happening are the same as the odds of England getting Steve Smith for a duck.
It will end, because greater, more significant events - war, disease, climate change, alien invasion, robot supremacy - will overtake it, and render the entire question irrelevant.
No doubt there were people who thought - for good reason, in, say 100AD - that the Roman Empire was eternal. They were wrong. Rome fell.
And the EU, whatever it is, is certainly not the Roman Empire straddling the world with a singular purpose.
In 100 AD, the Roman Empire still had 1361 years to run. Indeed, on some measures it didn't end until 1806.
Waiting for it to fall, or indeed inciting rebellion in the hope of making it fall (check out the Gallic Empire) turned out not to be a profitable venture. To quote Keynes, in the long run we are all dead. But short of invading Hungary with Russian troops, there is no way the EU will collapse in time to be of any help in this situation.
Of course. But, likesay, the EU is not Rome. Not even close. It is a fissile andshaky construct, with an inbuilt lack of democracy, a massive divide between east and west, a nasty and probably insoluble migrant problem, and a fucking terrible currency rotting away at the core like Soviet era control rods in a rundown nuclear power station.
That sounded like a damn good approximation of Rome under the Empire to me, Byronic!
It is the last line that passes MPs by: Perhaps the biggest myth of all is that Brexit will be over on 31 October 2019. If only.
The only way this ends - finally and definitively - is if the EU collapses. Otherwise we will continue to be hopelessly split between those who wish to leave/stay out and those who wish to remain/rejoin.
But for all its institutional weaknesses, corruption and maladministration, the odds of that happening are the same as the odds of England getting Steve Smith for a duck.
It will end, because greater, more significant events - war, disease, climate change, alien invasion, robot supremacy - will overtake it, and render the entire question irrelevant.
No doubt there were people who thought - for good reason, in, say 100AD - that the Roman Empire was eternal. They were wrong. Rome fell.
And the EU, whatever it is, is certainly not the Roman Empire straddling the world with a singular purpose.
In 100 AD, the Roman Empire still had 1361 years to run. Indeed, on some measures it didn't end until 1806.
Waiting for it to fall, or indeed inciting rebellion in the hope of making it fall (check out the Gallic Empire) turned out not to be a profitable venture. To quote Keynes, in the long run we are all dead. But short of invading Hungary with Russian troops, there is no way the EU will collapse in time to be of any help in this situation.
Of course. But, likesay, the EU is not Rome. Not even close. It is a fissile andshaky construct, with an inbuilt lack of democracy, a massive divide between east and west, a nasty and probably insoluble migrant problem, and a fucking terrible currency rotting away at the core like Soviet era control rods in a rundown nuclear power station.
Sounds just like the Roman Empire...
Though after the Romans left, we did become a failed state.
My Italian wife has just booked a trip to see her elderly mother in Italy at Xmas...we've only been living back in the UK for 2 years. My wife doesn't meet the criteria for settled status. She has been a UK taxpayer for 25 years. My wife's birthday is the 1st November...the day when her entitlement to live in the UK ends.
She can apply for pre-settled status with six months proof of residence. Might be a bit of a queue though, with 2 million others.
Thanks Fox......I cannot begin to tell you just how relentlessly depressing and how intensely personal this whole Brexit debacle feels like to people like us caught in the crossfire........
I wish I could reciprocate with something as nasty and horribly undermining and personal to the likes of Farage, Rees Mogg, Johnson, Banks, Cummings and Gove..but what could I do?
It is the last line that passes MPs by: Perhaps the biggest myth of all is that Brexit will be over on 31 October 2019. If only.
The only way this ends - finally and definitively - is if the EU collapses. Otherwise we will continue to be hopelessly split between those who wish to leave/stay out and those who wish to remain/rejoin.
But for all its institutional weaknesses, corruption and maladministration, the odds of that happening are the same as the odds of England getting Steve Smith for a duck.
It will end, because greater, more significant events - war, disease, climate change, alien invasion, robot supremacy - will overtake it, and render the entire question irrelevant.
No doubt there were people who thought - for good reason, in, say 100AD - that the Roman Empire was eternal. They were wrong. Rome fell.
And the EU, whatever it is, is certainly not the Roman Empire straddling the world with a singular purpose.
In 100 AD, the Roman Empire still had 1361 years to run. Indeed, on some measures it didn't end until 1806.
Waiting for it to fall, or indeed inciting rebellion in the hope of making it fall (check out the Gallic Empire) turned out not to be a profitable venture. To quote Keynes, in the long run we are all dead. But short of invading Hungary with Russian troops, there is no way the EU will collapse in time to be of any help in this situation.
Of course. But, likesay, the EU is not Rome. Not even close. It is a fissile andshaky construct, with an inbuilt lack of democracy, a massive divide between east and west, a nasty and probably insoluble migrant problem, and a fucking terrible currency rotting away at the core like Soviet era control rods in a rundown nuclear power station.
Sounds just like the Roman Empire...
Though after the Romans left, we did become a failed state.
We had Arthur chance to build a kingdom if we took the right route, but we chose a Badon, and the whole place collapsed in an orgy of Saxon violence.
It is the last line that passes MPs by: Perhaps the biggest myth of all is that Brexit will be over on 31 October 2019. If only.
The only way this ends - finally and definitively - is if the EU collapses. Otherwise we will continue to be hopelessly split between those who wish to leave/stay out and those who wish to remain/rejoin.
But for all its institutional weaknesses, corruption and maladministration, the odds of that happening are the same as the odds of England getting Steve Smith for a duck.
It will end, because greater, more significant events - war, disease, climate change, alien invasion, robot supremacy - will overtake it, and render the entire question irrelevant.
No doubt there were people who thought - for good reason, in, say 100AD - that the Roman Empire was eternal. They were wrong. Rome fell.
And the EU, whatever it is, is certainly not the Roman Empire straddling the world with a singular purpose.
In 100 AD, the Roman Empire still had 1361 years to run. Indeed, on some measures it didn't end until 1806.
Waiting for it to fall, or indeed inciting rebellion in the hope of making it fall (check out the Gallic Empire) turned out not to be a profitable venture. To quote Keynes, in the long run we are all dead. But short of invading Hungary with Russian troops, there is no way the EU will collapse in time to be of any help in this situation.
Of course. But, likesay, the EU is not Rome. Not even close. It is a fissile andshaky construct, with an inbuilt lack of democracy, a massive divide between east and west, a nasty and probably insoluble migrant problem, and a fucking terrible currency rotting away at the core like Soviet era control rods in a rundown nuclear power station.
That sounded like a damn good approximation of Rome under the Empire to me, Byronic!
it would certainly be in with a serious chance at a Summarised Gibbon contest.
We're all fixated on how Brexit is going down, NOW (and for good reason. No Deal is a mildly terrifying prospect)
But how will it be seen in five or ten years, by the rest of Europe? I think it poses huge problems for the EU, however it turns out. Because....
Imagine Brexit is a surprising success (maybe take some acid first). The threat here is clear: if Britain can make Brexit work, then why shouldn't italy make Italexit work, or Hungary do a Hungquit? Especially as the EU tries to integrate even further? The EU could lose members quite quickly, in that scenario.
But, of course, Brexit is more likely to be bad news for Britain. Perhaps really bad news. And yet, even there it will be grim for the EU, too.
How so? Because, across Europe, other nations will look at the UK and think: "even the Brits - who were not in the euro, not in Schenghen, never fully committed, a rich powerful country - could not successfully exit the EU. They were, in effect, trapped: which means that me, us, my country (inside the euro etc) we are even more trapped".
Ancient nations do not like being trapped. No one wants to be in a room without a door. A bad Brexit will cause enormous psychological strains, in the EU, over time.
It is the last line that passes MPs by: Perhaps the biggest myth of all is that Brexit will be over on 31 October 2019. If only.
The only way this ends - finally and definitively - is if the EU collapses. Otherwise we will continue to be hopelessly split between those who wish to leave/stay out and those who wish to remain/rejoin.
But for all its institutional weaknesses, corruption and maladministration, the odds of that happening are the same as the odds of England getting Steve Smith for a duck.
It will end, because greater, more significant events - war, disease, climate change, alien invasion, robot supremacy - will overtake it, and render the entire question irrelevant.
No doubt there were people who thought - for good reason, in, say 100AD - that the Roman Empire was eternal. They were wrong. Rome fell.
And the EU, whatever it is, is certainly not the Roman Empire straddling the world with a singular purpose.
In 100 AD, the Roman Empire still had 1361 years to run. Indeed, on some measures it didn't end until 1806.
Waiting for it to fall, or indeed inciting rebellion in the hope of making it fall (check out the Gallic Empire) turned out not to be a profitable venture. To quote Keynes, in the long run we are all dead. But short of invading Hungary with Russian troops, there is no way the EU will collapse in time to be of any help in this situation.
Of course. But, likesay, the EU is not Rome. Not even close. It is a fissile andshaky construct, with an inbuilt lack of democracy, a massive divide between east and west, a nasty and probably insoluble migrant problem, and a fucking terrible currency rotting away at the core like Soviet era control rods in a rundown nuclear power station.
That sounded like a damn good approximation of Rome under the Empire to me, Byronic!
it would certainly be in with a serious chance at a Summarised Gibbon contest.
No.
It is, quite neatly, a good description of Rome at the end of the Western Empire. Say 400AD. It is not a good description of Rome at the height of her puissance. Three centuries earlier.
It is the last line that passes MPs by: Perhaps the biggest myth of all is that Brexit will be over on 31 October 2019. If only.
The only way this ends - finally and definitively - is if the EU collapses. Otherwise we will continue to be hopelessly split between those who wish to leave/stay out and those who wish to remain/rejoin.
But for all its institutional weaknesses, corruption and maladministration, the odds of that happening are the same as the odds of England getting Steve Smith for a duck.
It will end, because greater, more significant events - war, disease, climate change, alien invasion, robot supremacy - will overtake it, and render the entire question irrelevant.
No doubt there were people who thought - for good reason, in, say 100AD - that the Roman Empire was eternal. They were wrong. Rome fell.
And the EU, whatever it is, is certainly not the Roman Empire straddling the world with a singular purpose.
In 100 AD, the Roman Empire still had 1361 years to run. Indeed, on some measures it didn't end until 1806.
Waiting for it to fall, or indeed inciting rebellion in the hope of making it fall (check out the Gallic Empire) turned out not to be a profitable venture. To quote Keynes, in the long run we are all dead. But short of invading Hungary with Russian troops, there is no way the EU will collapse in time to be of any help in this situation.
Of course. But, likesay, the EU is not Rome. Not even close. It is a fissile andshaky construct, with an inbuilt lack of democracy, a massive divide between east and west, a nasty and probably insoluble migrant problem, and a fucking terrible currency rotting away at the core like Soviet era control rods in a rundown nuclear power station.
Sounds just like the Roman Empire...
Though after the Romans left, we did become a failed state.
We had Arthur chance to build a kingdom if we took the right route, but we chose a Badon, and the whole place collapsed in an orgy of Saxon violence.
By the way, I'm sure this will have been noted by others before.
Might the Corbyn-McDonnell microphone seizing be deliberate misinformation? Wouldn't it in fact suit them really rather neatly if Britain does disastrously crash out on Oct 31st? The shitshow which will follow will see the total annihilation of the Conservative party for a generation and Labour would inevitably rise in the polls. Especially neat when you consider that the Corbynites don't really like the EU anyway.
There. I've released my cynicism to the ether.
Of course that's the plan. That's what they've wanted all along.
I am not sure there is an inevitability to a Labour recovery in the polls. There won't be many Blue-Red switchers. There will be churn. But I am not sure that many current Tory voters will think - 'well that Jeremy is quite a decent chap after all, I shall vote for him now.' They will look for a different home.
Even if it's not that likely to work out, it's still Jez's best chance, and he knows it. Also, you don't necessarily have to get voters to switch to win elections - getting your lot fired up while the other guys voters are cheesed off and stay at home works too.
By the way, I'm sure this will have been noted by others before.
Might the Corbyn-McDonnell microphone seizing be deliberate misinformation? Wouldn't it in fact suit them really rather neatly if Britain does disastrously crash out on Oct 31st? The shitshow which will follow will see the total annihilation of the Conservative party for a generation and Labour would inevitably rise in the polls. Especially neat when you consider that the Corbynites don't really like the EU anyway.
There. I've released my cynicism to the ether.
Of course that's the plan. That's what they've wanted all along.
I am not sure there is an inevitability to a Labour recovery in the polls. There won't be many Blue-Red switchers. There will be churn. But I am not sure that many current Tory voters will think - 'well that Jeremy is quite a decent chap after all, I shall vote for him now.' They will look for a different home.
Even if it's not that likely to work out, it's still Jez's best chance, and he knows it. Also, you don't necessarily have to get voters to switch to win elections - getting your lot fired up while the other guys voters are cheesed off and stay at home works too.
Yeah. Agreed. My take on Corbyn and McD is that they've given up on a majority (probably wisely), They are going for a core-vote-plus-some-desperate-Remainers strategy. It could get them near 30.
And if Boris fucks up Brexit then the BXP could eat the Tory vote and 26-30 would perhaps be enough for Corbz to form a wobbly minority govt. From there they can build.
An election in thick dark? I just can't see that very readily. I feel that the election would either be before the clocks go back or in the Spring.
We had a November election in 1935. In the 20th century general elections were held in December , January and February. Moreover, the availability of postal votes makes such timing a more realistic option than in the past.
It is the last line that passes MPs by: Perhaps the biggest myth of all is that Brexit will be over on 31 October 2019. If only.
The only way this ends - finally and definitively - is if the EU collapses. Otherwise we will continue to be hopelessly split between those who wish to leave/stay out and those who wish to remain/rejoin.
But for all its institutional weaknesses, corruption and maladministration, the odds of that happening are the same as the odds of England getting Steve Smith for a duck.
It will end, because greater, more significant events - war, disease, climate change, alien invasion, robot supremacy - will overtake it, and render the entire question irrelevant.
No doubt there were people who thought - for good reason, in, say 100AD - that the Roman Empire was eternal. They were wrong. Rome fell.
And the EU, whatever it is, is certainly not the Roman Empire straddling the world with a singular purpose.
In 100 AD, the Roman Empire still had 1361 years to run. Indeed, on some measures it didn't end until 1806.
Waiting for it to fall, or indeed inciting rebellion in the hope of making it fall (check out the Gallic Empire) turned out not to be a profitable venture. To quote Keynes, in the long run we are all dead. But short of invading Hungary with Russian troops, there is no way the EU will collapse in time to be of any help in this situation.
Of course. But, likesay, the EU is not Rome. Not even close. It is a fissile andshaky construct, with an inbuilt lack of democracy, a massive divide between east and west, a nasty and probably insoluble migrant problem, and a fucking terrible currency rotting away at the core like Soviet era control rods in a rundown nuclear power station.
Sounds just like the Roman Empire...
Though after the Romans left, we did become a failed state.
The whole Roman Empire was a failed state by the time they finally cut the ties with Britannia. Iindeed thst was part if the reason why the ties were cut.
So perhaps yiur comparison is more accurate than you would like.
1. A50 will be extended again, covertly facilitated by Johnson. 2. There will be a general election in November. 3. The Tories will gain most seats but will be unable to form a government. The BXP will gain zero seats. 4. Labour will form a minority government with C&S from LDs and SNP. 5. Labour will then negotiate a permanent CU WDA which will not get the support of parliament. 6. There will then be a referendum with the permanent CU WDA versus Remain. 7. Labour will campaign for Remain. 8. Remain will win and we will revoke A50 in mid 2020. 9. The minority Labour government will turn out to be successful and transformative.
Spring 2020 for that election. Otherwise flawless.
It is the last line that passes MPs by: Perhaps the biggest myth of all is that Brexit will be over on 31 October 2019. If only.
But for all its institutional weaknesses, corruption and maladministration, the odds of that happening are the same as the odds of England getting Steve Smith for a duck.
It will end, because greater, more significant events - war, disease, climate change, alien invasion, robot supremacy - will overtake it, and render the entire question irrelevant.
No doubt there were people who thought - for good reason, in, say 100AD - that the Roman Empire was eternal. They were wrong. Rome fell.
And the EU, whatever it is, is certainly not the Roman Empire straddling the world with a singular purpose.
In 100 AD, the Roman Empire still had 1361 years to run. Indeed, on some measures it didn't end until 1806.
Waiting for it to fall, or indeed inciting rebellion in the hope of making it fall (check out the Gallic Empire) turned out not to be a profitable venture. To quote Keynes, in the long run we are all dead. But short of invading Hungary with Russian troops, there is no way the EU will collapse in time to be of any help in this situation.
Of course. But, likesay, the EU is not Rome. Not even close. It is a fissile andshaky construct, with an inbuilt lack of democracy, a massive divide between east and west, a nasty and probably insoluble migrant problem, and a fucking terrible currency rotting away at the core like Soviet era control rods in a rundown nuclear power station.
That sounded like a damn good approximation of Rome under the Empire to me, Byronic!
it would certainly be in with a serious chance at a Summarised Gibbon contest.
No.
It is, quite neatly, a good description of Rome at the end of the Western Empire. Say 400AD. It is not a good description of Rome at the height of her puissance. Three centuries earlier.
Which means the EU is about to fall to the Goths.
I just spent the weekend working on a paper (the editor likes it but it still has to pass the review board, so touch wood) and the soundtrack whilst I worked was "A Slight Case Of Overbombing: The Sisters of Mercy greatest hits, vol 1". My inner Goth needed a headpat. When the film of my life is made, it will end on a scene of me dancing around in the room in my pants with "Lucretia My Reflection" on the soundtrack. Thelma Schoonmaker will do a smash cut to the credits in black and all shall be amazed.
It is the last line that passes MPs by: Perhaps the biggest myth of all is that Brexit will be over on 31 October 2019. If only.
The only way this ends - finally and definitively - is if the EU collapses. Otherwise we will continue to be hopelessly split between those who wish to leave/stay out and those who wish to remain/rejoin.
But for all its institutional weaknesses, corruption and maladministration, the odds of that happening are the same as the odds of England getting Steve Smith for a duck.
It will end, because greater, more significant events - war, disease, climate change, alien invasion, robot supremacy - will overtake it, and render the entire question irrelevant.
No doubt there were people who thought - for good reason, in, say 100AD - that the Roman Empire was eternal. They were wrong. Rome fell.
And the EU, whatever it is, is certainly not the Roman Empire straddling the world with a singular purpose.
In 100 AD, the Roman Empire still had 1361 years to run. Indeed, on some measures it didn't end until 1806.
Waiting for it to fall, or indeed inciting rebellion in the hope of making it fall (check out the Gallic Empire) turned out not to be a profitable venture. To quote Keynes, in the long run we are all dead. But short of invading Hungary with Russian troops, there is no way the EU will collapse in time to be of any help in this situation.
Of course. But, likesay, the EU is not Rome. Not even close. It is a fissile andshaky construct, with an inbuilt lack of democracy, a massive divide between east and west, a nasty and probably insoluble migrant problem, and a fucking terrible currency rotting away at the core like Soviet era control rods in a rundown nuclear power station.
Sounds just like the Roman Empire...
Though after the Romans left, we did become a failed state.
The whole Roman Empire was a failed state by the time they finally cut the ties with Britannia. Iindeed thst was part if the reason why the ties were cut.
So perhaps yiur comparison is more accurate than you would like.
Yes, the loss of Britannia was the clearest sign that Rome was in terminal decline. A rich, fertile province, full of tin and furs and game and fish, with one of the greatest Roman cities north of the Alps. A province so important the Romans built a fucking big wall to defend it? Yet they had to let it go. And it didn't help them: the decline accelerated.
By the way, I'm sure this will have been noted by others before.
Might the Corbyn-McDonnell microphone seizing be deliberate misinformation? Wouldn't it in fact suit them really rather neatly if Britain does disastrously crash out on Oct 31st? The shitshow which will follow will see the total annihilation of the Conservative party for a generation and Labour would inevitably rise in the polls. Especially neat when you consider that the Corbynites don't really like the EU anyway.
There. I've released my cynicism to the ether.
How can No Deal crash-out followed by election be the wet dream of Corbyn and McDonnell and at the same time of Johnson and Cummings?
Boris releasing his letter is a sensible move and he needs to publish all correspondence between his office and the EU as this builds towards October
He is obviously seeking to win the public debate. Sky did a vox pops from Corby following Corbyn's speech and Boris received considerable backing for his stance from those interviewed. The mood seemed to be lets get this done
An election in thick dark? I just can't see that very readily. I feel that the election would either be before the clocks go back or in the Spring.
We had a November election in 1935. In the 20th century general elections were held in December , January and February. Moreover, the availability of postal votes makes such timing a more realistic option than in the past.
I haven't got time to check this as I'm working on something but I'd be interested to know how governing parties have fared in winter elections compared to spring and summer ones?
Feb 1974 didn't go too well for Ted Heath iirc. But Wilson managed to nudge up to a majority in the election held on October 10th of the same year.
By the way, I'm sure this will have been noted by others before.
Might the Corbyn-McDonnell microphone seizing be deliberate misinformation? Wouldn't it in fact suit them really rather neatly if Britain does disastrously crash out on Oct 31st? The shitshow which will follow will see the total annihilation of the Conservative party for a generation and Labour would inevitably rise in the polls. Especially neat when you consider that the Corbynites don't really like the EU anyway.
There. I've released my cynicism to the ether.
How can No Deal crash-out followed by election be the wet dream of Corbyn and McDonnell and at the same time of Johnson and Cummings?
Oh, only if you believe as I do and almost every sane member of the human species (and probably much of the animal kingdom) that a No Deal Brexit will be a total and utter shitshow of the most epic proportions ever seen on these Isles.
1. A50 will be extended again, covertly facilitated by Johnson. 2. There will be a general election in November. 3. The Tories will gain most seats but will be unable to form a government. The BXP will gain zero seats. 4. Labour will form a minority government with C&S from LDs and SNP. 5. Labour will then negotiate a permanent CU WDA which will not get the support of parliament. 6. There will then be a referendum with the permanent CU WDA versus Remain. 7. Labour will campaign for Remain. 8. Remain will win and we will revoke A50 in mid 2020. 9. The minority Labour government will turn out to be successful and transformative.
Spring 2020 for that election. Otherwise flawless.
Yes there will be an extension to Art 50 but that will be to enable a WA deal outlined on or before 31 October. Parliament passes it. Election 2020. Crystal ball fails thereafter.
We're all fixated on how Brexit is going down, NOW (and for good reason. No Deal is a mildly terrifying prospect)
But how will it be seen in five or ten years, by the rest of Europe? I think it poses huge problems for the EU, however it turns out. Because....
Imagine Brexit is a surprising success (maybe take some acid first). The threat here is clear: if Britain can make Brexit work, then why shouldn't italy make Italexit work, or Hungary do a Hungquit? Especially as the EU tries to integrate even further? The EU could lose members quite quickly, in that scenario.
But, of course, Brexit is more likely to be bad news for Britain. Perhaps really bad news. And yet, even there it will be grim for the EU, too.
How so? Because, across Europe, other nations will look at the UK and think: "even the Brits - who were not in the euro, not in Schenghen, never fully committed, a rich powerful country - could not successfully exit the EU. They were, in effect, trapped: which means that me, us, my country (inside the euro etc) we are even more trapped".
Ancient nations do not like being trapped. No one wants to be in a room without a door. A bad Brexit will cause enormous psychological strains, in the EU, over time.
Bollocks. The EU is more popular than ever. You're just projecting your own desires as usual.
There is, actually, quite an obvious deal to be made here, if both sides dial it down.
A longer transition period. 3 years? 4? In which both sides endeavour to do their best to find a solution to the Irish Border issue, knowing that No Deal is a clear risk as the alternative.
Then, at the end of that, if they HAVEN'T found a solution, Britain will legislate a referendum for Northern Ireland, in which the Northern Irish themselves can choose which they prefer: to remain in the CU and SM, or to cut EU/Irish ties and allow a Border.
It is quite obvious Ulster would go with the former (in fact it would put Ulster in an enviable position, without all the risk of a proper Border poll and the anger that comes with).
It is the last line that passes MPs by: Perhaps the biggest myth of all is that Brexit will be over on 31 October 2019. If only.
The only way this ends - finally and definitively - is if the EU collapses. Otherwise we will continue to be hopelessly split between those who wish to leave/stay out and those who wish to remain/rejoin.
But for all its institutional weaknesses, corruption and maladministration, the odds of that happening are the same as the odds of England getting Steve Smith for a duck.
It will end, because greater, more significant events - war, disease, climate change, alien invasion, robot supremacy - will overtake it, and render the entire question irrelevant.
No doubt there were people who thought - for good reason, in, say 100AD - that the Roman Empire was eternal. They were wrong. Rome fell.
And the EU, whatever it is, is certainly not the Roman Empire straddling the world with a singular purpose.
In 100 AD, the Roman Empire still had 1361 years to run. Indeed, on some measures it didn't end until 1806.
Waiting for it to fall, .
Of course. But, likesay, the EU is not Rome. Not even close. It is a fissile andshaky construct, with an inbuilt lack of democracy, a massive divide between east and west, a nasty and probably insoluble migrant problem, and a fucking terrible currency rotting away at the core like Soviet era control rods in a rundown nuclear power station.
Sounds just like the Roman Empire...
Though after the Romans left, we did become a failed state.
The whole Roman Empire was a failed state by the time they finally cut the ties with Britannia. Iindeed thst was part if the reason why the ties were cut.
So perhaps yiur comparison is more accurate than you would like.
Yes, the loss of Britannia was the clearest sign that Rome was in terminal decline. A rich, fertile province, full of tin and furs and game and fish, with one of the greatest Roman cities north of the Alps. A province so important the Romans built a fucking big wall to defend it? Yet they had to let it go. And it didn't help them: the decline accelerated.
We're all doomed, so we might as well enjoy the drama.
"It's shite being a Remainer! We're the lowest of the low! The scum of the f*cking Earth! The most wretched, miserable, servile, pathetic trash, that was shat into civilisation! Some people hate the Brexiteers, I don't! They're just w*nkers! We, on the other hand, lost a referendum to w*nkers! Can't even find a decent campaign to lose a referendum to! We're ruled by effete arseholes! It's a shite state of affairs to be in, SeanT, and all the fresh air in the world won't make any f*cking difference!"
We're all fixated on how Brexit is going down, NOW (and for good reason. No Deal is a mildly terrifying prospect)
But how will it be seen in five or ten years, by the rest of Europe? I think it poses huge problems for the EU, however it turns out. Because....
Imagine Brexit is a surprising success (maybe take some acid first). The threat here is clear: if Britain can make Brexit work, then why shouldn't italy make Italexit work, or Hungary do a Hungquit? Especially as the EU tries to integrate even further? The EU could lose members quite quickly, in that scenario.
But, of course, Brexit is more likely to be bad news for Britain. Perhaps really bad news. And yet, even there it will be grim for the EU, too.
How so? Because, across Europe, other nations will look at the UK and think: "even the Brits - who were not in the euro, not in Schenghen, never fully committed, a rich powerful country - could not successfully exit the EU. They were, in effect, trapped: which means that me, us, my country (inside the euro etc) we are even more trapped".
Ancient nations do not like being trapped. No one wants to be in a room without a door. A bad Brexit will cause enormous psychological strains, in the EU, over time.
Bollocks. The EU is more popular than ever. You're just projecting your own desires as usual.
Duhhh. The EU is more popular NOW. Of course. Dimwit.
Who is gonna look at Brexit right now and think Ooh. I want that, it looks fab, let's do it here as well? This reaction, of improved support for the EU, was entirely predictable.
I'm positing the psychological dynamics 5-10 years hence. And I am right.
Oh, only if you believe as I do and almost every sane member of the human species (and probably much of the animal kingdom) that a No Deal Brexit will be a total and utter shitshow of the most epic proportions ever seen on these Isles.
Which would suit Cummings admirably.
But hardly Johnson. He wants to win the next election. So it seems odd that he plans to fight it in the exact circumstances that Corbyn supposedly wants.
Something not scanning with all this.
I think Johnson wants an election after he has delivered Brexit with a deal. And Corbyn wants an election before any Brexit has been delivered.
We're all doomed, so we might as well enjoy the drama.
"It's shite being a Remainer! We're the lowest of the low! The scum of the f*cking Earth! The most wretched, miserable, servile, pathetic trash, that was shat into civilisation! Some people hate the Brexiteers, I don't! They're just w*nkers! We, on the other hand, lost a referendum to w*nkers! Can't even find a decent campaign to lose a referendum to! We're ruled by effete arseholes! It's a shite state of affairs to be in, SeanT, and all the fresh air in the world won't make any f*cking difference!"
We're all fixated on how Brexit is going down, NOW (and for good reason. No Deal is a mildly terrifying prospect)
But how will it be seen in five or ten years, by the rest of Europe? I think it poses huge problems for the EU, however it turns out. Because....
Imagine Brexit is a surprising success (maybe take some acid first). The threat here is clear: if Britain can make Brexit work, then why shouldn't italy make Italexit work, or Hungary do a Hungquit? Especially as the EU tries to integrate even further? The EU could lose members quite quickly, in that scenario.
But, of course, Brexit is more likely to be bad news for Britain. Perhaps really bad news. And yet, even there it will be grim for the EU, too.
How so? Because, across Europe, other nations will look at the UK and think: "even the Brits - who were not in the euro, not in Schenghen, never fully committed, a rich powerful country - could not successfully exit the EU. They were, in effect, trapped: which means that me, us, my country (inside the euro etc) we are even more trapped".
Ancient nations do not like being trapped. No one wants to be in a room without a door. A bad Brexit will cause enormous psychological strains, in the EU, over time.
Bollocks. The EU is more popular than ever. You're just projecting your own desires as usual.
It is the last line that passes MPs by: Perhaps the biggest myth of all is that Brexit will be over on 31 October 2019. If only.
The only way this ends - finally and definitively - is if the EU collapses. Otherwise we will continue to be hopelessly split between those who wish to leave/stay out and those who wish to remain/rejoin.
But for all its institutional weaknesses, corruption and maladministration, the odds of that happening are the same as the odds of England getting Steve Smith for a duck.
My Italian wife has just booked a trip to see her elderly mother in Italy at Xmas...we've only been living back in the UK for 2 years. My wife doesn't meet the criteria for settled status. She has been a UK taxpayer for 25 years. My wife's birthday is the 1st November...the day when her entitlement to live in the UK ends.
Presumably as the wife of a U.K. citizen she can apply for a spousal visa followed by indefinite leave to remain
We're all doomed, so we might as well enjoy the drama.
"It's shite being a Remainer! We're the lowest of the low! The scum of the f*cking Earth! The most wretched, miserable, servile, pathetic trash, that was shat into civilisation! Some people hate the Brexiteers, I don't! They're just w*nkers! We, on the other hand, lost a referendum to w*nkers! Can't even find a decent campaign to lose a referendum to! We're ruled by effete arseholes! It's a shite state of affairs to be in, SeanT, and all the fresh air in the world won't make any f*cking difference!"
pish and piffle
"Your message on PB horrifies me! Of course there is no possible connection between Byronic and SeanT. If you suggest such a thing anywhere it will be the end of our beautiful friendship. For Christ's sake lay off the idea that Byronic = SeanT. Just shut up about Byronic, Fuck You, Evelyn Waugh SeanT"
Comments
Surely parliament passing repeated extensions (assuming the EU agree) is in practice little different than revoking Article 50?
I suppose there may be other myths. For instance I really think there are people who believe we are living in the 19th century---only that wouldn't be how they put it.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/aug/19/chicken-boxes-home-office-knife-crime
Actually Algeria also left.
"A charity for people with Tourette's syndrome has asked a comedian to apologise for his award-winning joke made at the Edinburgh Fringe festival."
It strikes me that the Remainers' best argument should be, to misuse another of Johnson's favourite politician's quotes, "No-Deal is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. It [will only be] the end of the beginning. " No-Deal Brexit for years of Brexit turmoil.
It doesn't say much for contemporary comedy if that's the best they can offer, and still less if they think they're funny.
That's it.
You don't decide to leave the EU. You cannot leave the EU; not without mutilating yourself, or signing up to colonial status.
The idea that Britain was "sovereign" in the EU was, it turns out, another big fat myth - this time a Remainer myth. It should be added to Cyclefree's excellent list.
Con 4/7
Lab 7/4
LD 6/1
But for all its institutional weaknesses, corruption and maladministration, the odds of that happening are the same as the odds of England getting Steve Smith for a duck.
Might the Corbyn-McDonnell microphone seizing be deliberate misinformation? Wouldn't it in fact suit them really rather neatly if Britain does disastrously crash out on Oct 31st? The shitshow which will follow will see the total annihilation of the Conservative party for a generation and Labour would inevitably rise in the polls. Especially neat when you consider that the Corbynites don't really like the EU anyway.
There. I've released my cynicism to the ether.
The only real winners in that scenario would be the Liberal Democrats and SNP, who have both at least been clear and consistent, and Sinn Fein.
1. A50 will be extended again, covertly facilitated by Johnson.
2. There will be a general election in November.
3. The Tories will gain most seats but will be unable to form a government. The BXP will gain zero seats.
4. Labour will form a minority government with C&S from LDs and SNP.
5. Labour will then negotiate a permanent CU WDA which will not get the support of parliament.
6. There will then be a referendum with the permanent CU WDA versus Remain.
7. Labour will campaign for Remain.
8. Remain will win and we will revoke A50 in mid 2020.
9. The minority Labour government will turn out to be successful and transformative.
I note that the Greens and minor candidates got well over 1000 votes in Kensington last time. I wonder, if they don’t stand, could Labour maybe hold off the Tories?
No doubt there were people who thought - for good reason, in, say 100AD - that the Roman Empire was eternal. They were wrong. Rome fell.
And the EU, whatever it is, is certainly not the Roman Empire straddling the world with a singular purpose.
And I do not think there will be an attempt to extend. This is the crunch moment. Unfortunately having rejected rather a good deal and made no preparation for any other scenario we are not in a good situation to meet it.
He said I was lack-toes intolerant.
You go wrong with point 1 (and get sillier). Just how will Boris "covertly facilitate" an extension of A50?
But then, she won last time.
Waiting for it to fall, or indeed inciting rebellion in the hope of making it fall (check out the Gallic Empire) turned out not to be a profitable venture. To quote Keynes, in the long run we are all dead. But short of invading Hungary with Russian troops, there is no way the EU will collapse in time to be of any help in this situation.
Timing.
If you peas...
The Dark Ages
Wouldn't it have been easier for you if the EU referendum had never happened and you could claim the moral high ground and moan from afar?
Though after the Romans left, we did become a failed state.
I wish I could reciprocate with something as nasty and horribly undermining and personal to the likes of Farage, Rees Mogg, Johnson, Banks, Cummings and Gove..but what could I do?
Have a good evening.
*bangs table*
We're all fixated on how Brexit is going down, NOW (and for good reason. No Deal is a mildly terrifying prospect)
But how will it be seen in five or ten years, by the rest of Europe? I think it poses huge problems for the EU, however it turns out. Because....
Imagine Brexit is a surprising success (maybe take some acid first). The threat here is clear: if Britain can make Brexit work, then why shouldn't italy make Italexit work, or Hungary do a Hungquit? Especially as the EU tries to integrate even further? The EU could lose members quite quickly, in that scenario.
But, of course, Brexit is more likely to be bad news for Britain. Perhaps really bad news. And yet, even there it will be grim for the EU, too.
How so? Because, across Europe, other nations will look at the UK and think: "even the Brits - who were not in the euro, not in Schenghen, never fully committed, a rich powerful country - could not successfully exit the EU. They were, in effect, trapped: which means that me, us, my country (inside the euro etc) we are even more trapped".
Ancient nations do not like being trapped. No one wants to be in a room without a door. A bad Brexit will cause enormous psychological strains, in the EU, over time.
It is, quite neatly, a good description of Rome at the end of the Western Empire. Say 400AD. It is not a good description of Rome at the height of her puissance. Three centuries earlier.
Which means the EU is about to fall to the Goths.
And if Boris fucks up Brexit then the BXP could eat the Tory vote and 26-30 would perhaps be enough for Corbz to form a wobbly minority govt. From there they can build.
So perhaps yiur comparison is more accurate than you would like.
So that is you told John
And Corbyn wants to be PM
An intriguing echo. We await Hengist and Horsa.
He is obviously seeking to win the public debate. Sky did a vox pops from Corby following Corbyn's speech and Boris received considerable backing for his stance from those interviewed. The mood seemed to be lets get this done
Feb 1974 didn't go too well for Ted Heath iirc. But Wilson managed to nudge up to a majority in the election held on October 10th of the same year.
It's all about the clocks. Even today.
Which would suit Cummings admirably.
We're all doomed, so we might as well enjoy the drama.
A longer transition period. 3 years? 4? In which both sides endeavour to do their best to find a solution to the Irish Border issue, knowing that No Deal is a clear risk as the alternative.
Then, at the end of that, if they HAVEN'T found a solution, Britain will legislate a referendum for Northern Ireland, in which the Northern Irish themselves can choose which they prefer: to remain in the CU and SM, or to cut EU/Irish ties and allow a Border.
It is quite obvious Ulster would go with the former (in fact it would put Ulster in an enviable position, without all the risk of a proper Border poll and the anger that comes with).
There. I've just solved Brexit. Next.
We, on the other hand, lost a referendum to w*nkers! Can't even find a decent campaign to lose a referendum to! We're ruled by effete arseholes! It's a shite state of affairs to be in, SeanT, and all the fresh air in the world won't make any f*cking difference!"
Who is gonna look at Brexit right now and think Ooh. I want that, it looks fab, let's do it here as well? This reaction, of improved support for the EU, was entirely predictable.
I'm positing the psychological dynamics 5-10 years hence. And I am right.
Something not scanning with all this.
I think Johnson wants an election after he has delivered Brexit with a deal. And Corbyn wants an election before any Brexit has been delivered.