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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Dealing with the Brexit trilemma : How Johnson’s approach diff

SystemSystem Posts: 11,686
edited October 2019 in General

imagepoliticalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Dealing with the Brexit trilemma : How Johnson’s approach differed from TMay’s

I have consistently misunderstood the Brexit options open to the UK as existing on a continuum, from the softest Single Market + Customs Union extreme on one end to the hardest No Deal extreme on the other. The choices made by Boris Johnson, and the relative speed with which the UK and EU were able to reach agreement on a radically different deal, have made it clear that the main options have been much more discrete.

Read the full story here


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Comments

  • Options
    SquareRootSquareRoot Posts: 7,095
    Premier
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    NigelbNigelb Posts: 62,631
    edited October 2019
    One argument that has been made to justify the opposition of Remainers to May’s deal was that it would have been wrong for Remainer MPs to effectively impose a deal on Leaver MPs that they did not consent to.

    Reallly ?
    I hadn’t come across that one before. It effectively argues that those who voted remain have no right to a say in what kind of Brexit we get to suffer.

    Though granted that does seem to be the attitude of a not inconsiderable number of leavers.
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    swing_voterswing_voter Posts: 1,435
    Does the NI assembley now need to be convened - dare I say re-elected?
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    TomsToms Posts: 2,478
    "Perhaps we ought to put the choice between May’s Deal, and Johnson’s, to a public vote?"

    Nice lateral thinking there. Indeed, there is more than one way to self harm.

    We could add a third possibility---revoke.
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    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,700
    There now exist two deals which represent the two combinations of the trilemma that respect the Good Friday Agreement. Perhaps we ought to put the choice between May’s Deal, and Johnson’s, to a public vote?

    Try getting that through Parliament......Grieve et al will want Remain on the ballot.....
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    edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,151
    edited October 2019
    Nigelb said:

    One argument that has been made to justify the opposition of Remainers to May’s deal was that it would have been wrong for Remainer MPs to effectively impose a deal on Leaver MPs that they did not consent to.

    Reallly ?
    I hadn’t come across that one before. It effectively argues that those who voted remain have no right to a say in what kind of Brexit we get to suffer.

    Though granted that does seem to be the attitude of a not inconsiderable number of leavers.

    I wouldn't have phrased it exactly like that but coming at this from the Remain end, I'm much more open to the procedural argument, that we had the vote so everyone should abide by the result for the sake of fairness and harmony, if the people who wanted the result are accepting that it's fair. If I'm expected to give them everything they want as far as reasonably possible and they're still going to accuse me of betrayal, I'm obviously going to say fuck this.

    BXP are still inevitably screaming betrayal so I'm still on the fuck this side: Nationalism is a disease, and trying to compromise with nationalists is dumb. But if at least the Tories are accepting it I do think that makes a material difference.
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    Black_RookBlack_Rook Posts: 8,905
    Meaningful vote fails narrowly, Government obeys Benn Act, dissolution passes Commons on Monday, GE on November 28th?
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    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,679

    Does the NI assembley now need to be convened - dare I say re-elected?

    Next NI Assembly elections are due May 2022.
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    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,679
    Is it true that there will be no customs checks on goods entering GB from NI, only on goods going the other way? This seems incompatible with WTO obligations.

    https://twitter.com/mdouganlpool/status/1184948125838008321?s=19
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    One positive about Johnson’s Brexit Deal is that it delivers victory for the people of the Republic of Ireland, who have had to live for three years with the uncertainty and worry caused by a Brexit they never asked for. After 800 years of taking our shite, they’ve won.
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    alex.alex. Posts: 4,658

    Meaningful vote fails narrowly, Government obeys Benn Act, dissolution passes Commons on Monday, GE on November 28th?

    Current local authority planning is for 5th or 12th December.

    Incidentally one of the little commented problems of the FTPA is the nightmare that it creates for LA election departments in election planning. Most do simply not have the resources to retain a constant high state of election readiness made worse when they have other things to deal with like annual canvass etc. Elections in this country do not happen seamlessly, they require a high degree of planning and this is traditionally aided by significant levels of under the radar communication with government officials. Taking the power to call elections out of the hands of the PM has made that much harder. Whilst they were probably OK with occasional unexpected snap elections a la 2017, that is very different from where we are now. Expect trouble if and when one is called.
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    alex.alex. Posts: 4,658
    Foxy said:

    Is it true that there will be no customs checks on goods entering GB from NI, only on goods going the other way? This seems incompatible with WTO obligations.

    https://twitter.com/mdouganlpool/status/1184948125838008321?s=19

    Sounds quite neat. It’s an internal border, why should it cause problems with WTO which relates to external borders?
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    moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,244
    Foxy said:

    Is it true that there will be no customs checks on goods entering GB from NI, only on goods going the other way? This seems incompatible with WTO obligations.

    https://twitter.com/mdouganlpool/status/1184948125838008321?s=19

    Why would it be incompatible with WTO rules to allow goods from one part of a country to move to another part of the same country without customs checks?
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    All the polling shows that Tory members put Brexit before the Union. As the ERG represents them better than anyone else in Parliament, it’s no surprise it’s members do, too. I am surprised that so many other Tory MPs feel the same, but I guess they know their members better than me and can see which way the wind is blowing. That said, given the trilemma Timothy so brilliantly describes, it’s probably true things would only ever end up this way. It’s time to move on and get it all done.
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    alex.alex. Posts: 4,658
    edited October 2019
    Lib Dems should have pushed for that election. A major blunder. Golden rule - oppositions should never turn down elections, especially those at which they stand to benefit. They were too obsessed with the belief that Johnson wanted no deal - he never did, even if he was almost recklessly driven into it by error and miscalculation.
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    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,679
    moonshine said:

    Foxy said:

    Is it true that there will be no customs checks on goods entering GB from NI, only on goods going the other way? This seems incompatible with WTO obligations.

    https://twitter.com/mdouganlpool/status/1184948125838008321?s=19

    Why would it be incompatible with WTO rules to allow goods from one part of a country to move to another part of the same country without customs checks?
    Because goods from the EU into NI are unchecked. They can then enter GB unchecked. Once GB leaves the SM we would be obliged by WTO obligations to have the same arrangements for all countries under Most Favoured Nation rules, as I understand them.
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    alex.alex. Posts: 4,658
    Scott_P said:
    Depends how Brexit eventually ends up, at least if the deal is passed it gives us a bit of breathing space for Brexiteers to genuinely test their theories about the possibilities of deals and trade growth outside of the EU. If a beneficial US trade deal proves to be a fantasy then we may be back pretty rapidly to confronting the reality that the most important deals are with our geographically closest neighbours.
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    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,012
    edited October 2019
    Given the new Comres polling voters clearly prefer the Boris Deal to the May Deal, more support than oppose the Boris Deal which was not the case for the May Deal
    https://twitter.com/Andrew_ComRes/status/1184938398328541185?s=20
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    alex. said:

    Lib Dems should have pushed for that election. A major blunder. Golden rule - oppositions should never turn down elections, especially those at which they stand to benefit. They were too obsessed with the belief that Johnson wanted no deal - he never did, even if he was almost recklessly driven into it by error and miscalculation.

    My guess is that the LDs will do OK whenever an election is called. If it happens post-Brexit, a lot of people who might have voted tactically for Labour will no longer feel the need to do so, while I imagine it’s going to be hard for Johnson’s brand of populist English nationalism to win back a lot of Remain-voting, liberal Tories.

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    alex.alex. Posts: 4,658
    Foxy said:

    moonshine said:

    Foxy said:

    Is it true that there will be no customs checks on goods entering GB from NI, only on goods going the other way? This seems incompatible with WTO obligations.

    https://twitter.com/mdouganlpool/status/1184948125838008321?s=19

    Why would it be incompatible with WTO rules to allow goods from one part of a country to move to another part of the same country without customs checks?
    Because goods from the EU into NI are unchecked. They can then enter GB unchecked. Once GB leaves the SM we would be obliged by WTO obligations to have the same arrangements for all countries under Most Favoured Nation rules, as I understand them.
    That is an issue to be answered in respect of the the Irish border, not the GB/NI one, no?
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    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,679
    alex. said:

    Foxy said:

    moonshine said:

    Foxy said:

    Is it true that there will be no customs checks on goods entering GB from NI, only on goods going the other way? This seems incompatible with WTO obligations.

    https://twitter.com/mdouganlpool/status/1184948125838008321?s=19

    Why would it be incompatible with WTO rules to allow goods from one part of a country to move to another part of the same country without customs checks?
    Because goods from the EU into NI are unchecked. They can then enter GB unchecked. Once GB leaves the SM we would be obliged by WTO obligations to have the same arrangements for all countries under Most Favoured Nation rules, as I understand them.
    That is an issue to be answered in respect of the the Irish border, not the GB/NI one, no?
    One border or the other in my understanding, but not neither.
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    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,125
    alex. said:

    Scott_P said:
    Depends how Brexit eventually ends up, at least if the deal is passed it gives us a bit of breathing space for Brexiteers to genuinely test their theories about the possibilities of deals and trade growth outside of the EU. If a beneficial US trade deal proves to be a fantasy then we may be back pretty rapidly to confronting the reality that the most important deals are with our geographically closest neighbours.
    But once we do start making trade deals with the likes of Australia and New Zealand, it makes Rejoin that much harder - we'll have to rip up those deals. And if they have been shown to be good for trade....



  • Options
    kyf_100kyf_100 Posts: 3,955

    alex. said:

    Lib Dems should have pushed for that election. A major blunder. Golden rule - oppositions should never turn down elections, especially those at which they stand to benefit. They were too obsessed with the belief that Johnson wanted no deal - he never did, even if he was almost recklessly driven into it by error and miscalculation.

    My guess is that the LDs will do OK whenever an election is called. If it happens post-Brexit, a lot of people who might have voted tactically for Labour will no longer feel the need to do so, while I imagine it’s going to be hard for Johnson’s brand of populist English nationalism to win back a lot of Remain-voting, liberal Tories.

    Tories will come running back when they see Labour's eat-the-rich manifesto, which will come down on the middle classes like a ton of bricks.
  • Options
    alex.alex. Posts: 4,658

    alex. said:

    Lib Dems should have pushed for that election. A major blunder. Golden rule - oppositions should never turn down elections, especially those at which they stand to benefit. They were too obsessed with the belief that Johnson wanted no deal - he never did, even if he was almost recklessly driven into it by error and miscalculation.

    My guess is that the LDs will do OK whenever an election is called. If it happens post-Brexit, a lot of people who might have voted tactically for Labour will no longer feel the need to do so, while I imagine it’s going to be hard for Johnson’s brand of populist English nationalism to win back a lot of Remain-voting, liberal Tories.

    Do you think his brand will remain the same post Brexit? The problem for the Libdems will be that their current Brexit policies are a solution to “making it all go away”. If Brexit happens they will suddenly be potentially positioning themselves as promising to make it all come back.

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    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,679
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    Henry_CHenry_C Posts: 73
    edited October 2019
    The Express are running the line that Boris Johnson "snubbed" Angela Merkel by refusing to kiss her at yesterday's summit, although I don't think their video clip shows him disrespecting her at all. He has probably already kissed her. But does someone here know what's going on with the ceremonial bow to Charles Michel of Belgium at 0:18? Who is the guy bowing?
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    alex.alex. Posts: 4,658

    alex. said:

    Scott_P said:
    Depends how Brexit eventually ends up, at least if the deal is passed it gives us a bit of breathing space for Brexiteers to genuinely test their theories about the possibilities of deals and trade growth outside of the EU. If a beneficial US trade deal proves to be a fantasy then we may be back pretty rapidly to confronting the reality that the most important deals are with our geographically closest neighbours.
    But once we do start making trade deals with the likes of Australia and New Zealand, it makes Rejoin that much harder - we'll have to rip up those deals. And if they have been shown to be good for trade....



    Then that will be good as well.

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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,987
    Good morning, everyone.

    Still not convinced this will pass the Commons.
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    alex.alex. Posts: 4,658
    Anyone think the big problem for Johnson could be the House of Lords? Are we going to get more fun and games with prorogations testing the Attlee precedents?
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    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,012
    edited October 2019

    All the polling shows that Tory members put Brexit before the Union. As the ERG represents them better than anyone else in Parliament, it’s no surprise it’s members do, too. I am surprised that so many other Tory MPs feel the same, but I guess they know their members better than me and can see which way the wind is blowing. That said, given the trilemma Timothy so brilliantly describes, it’s probably true things would only ever end up this way. It’s time to move on and get it all done.

    The only ways to preserve the Union in full would have been first to cancel Brexit so the whole UK stays in the EU or second to keep the whole UK in the Single Market and Customs Union so the need for any backstop or equivalent is removed from the EU and Irish side but clearly the ERG and Leavers could not support stopping Brexit and reversing the Leave vote or a BINO Brexit that is in most respects staying in the EU in all but name with free movement and the inability to do our own trade deals.

    The other way of course would have been to go to No Deal and impose a hard border in Ireland between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland complete with checkpoints etc. The DUP might support that, as would some ERG hardliners like Owen Paterson however it would have made a return to terrorism and the Troubles in Northern Ireland likely and polls show a majority of Northern Ireland voters prefer a United Ireland to a hard border with the Republic of Ireland anyway so it would not in reality preserve the UK at all. Even if the British did not impose a hard border the Irish likely would have done and it would have required ripping up the Good Friday Agreement and the sending of troops back into Northern Ireland to keep the angry Catholic and Nationalist community under control and deal with a resurgent IRA.

    Plus of course No Deal would also have made Scots more likely to vote for independence too as Scottish polls show, again threatening the Union
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,267
    kyf_100 said:

    alex. said:

    Lib Dems should have pushed for that election. A major blunder. Golden rule - oppositions should never turn down elections, especially those at which they stand to benefit. They were too obsessed with the belief that Johnson wanted no deal - he never did, even if he was almost recklessly driven into it by error and miscalculation.

    My guess is that the LDs will do OK whenever an election is called. If it happens post-Brexit, a lot of people who might have voted tactically for Labour will no longer feel the need to do so, while I imagine it’s going to be hard for Johnson’s brand of populist English nationalism to win back a lot of Remain-voting, liberal Tories.

    Tories will come running back when they see Labour's eat-the-rich manifesto, which will come down on the middle classes like a ton of bricks.
    No they won't, because they believe Corbyn can't win. In this belief they are probably correct.
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    houndtanghoundtang Posts: 450
    HYUFD said:

    Given the new Comres polling voters clearly prefer the Boris Deal to the May Deal, more support than oppose the Boris Deal which was not the case for the May Deal
    https://twitter.com/Andrew_ComRes/status/1184938398328541185?s=20

    It shows that it's mostly about salesmanship and optics. May was sunk as soon as Raab resigned.
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    edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,151
    alex. said:

    Do you think his brand will remain the same post Brexit? The problem for the Libdems will be that their current Brexit policies are a solution to “making it all go away”. If Brexit happens they will suddenly be potentially positioning themselves as promising to make it all come back.

    There's plenty more it where that came from.
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    AndyJSAndyJS Posts: 29,395
    Foxy said:
    What happens if it's a tie?
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    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    HYUFD said:

    The only ways to preserve the Union in full would have been first to cancel Brexit

    This is the thing, the whole thing, and nothing but the thing.

    Brexit is the end of the union.
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    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,679
    edited October 2019

    alex. said:

    Scott_P said:
    Depends how Brexit eventually ends up, at least if the deal is passed it gives us a bit of breathing space for Brexiteers to genuinely test their theories about the possibilities of deals and trade growth outside of the EU. If a beneficial US trade deal proves to be a fantasy then we may be back pretty rapidly to confronting the reality that the most important deals are with our geographically closest neighbours.
    But once we do start making trade deals with the likes of Australia and New Zealand, it makes Rejoin that much harder - we'll have to rip up those deals. And if they have been shown to be good for trade....



    Though if those deals damage British agriculture, could be the reverse.

    Welcome to the next round of interminable Brexit related fractiousness.
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    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    AndyJS said:

    What happens if it's a tie?

    Bercow has the casting vote
  • Options
    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,125
    ydoethur said:

    kyf_100 said:

    alex. said:

    Lib Dems should have pushed for that election. A major blunder. Golden rule - oppositions should never turn down elections, especially those at which they stand to benefit. They were too obsessed with the belief that Johnson wanted no deal - he never did, even if he was almost recklessly driven into it by error and miscalculation.

    My guess is that the LDs will do OK whenever an election is called. If it happens post-Brexit, a lot of people who might have voted tactically for Labour will no longer feel the need to do so, while I imagine it’s going to be hard for Johnson’s brand of populist English nationalism to win back a lot of Remain-voting, liberal Tories.

    Tories will come running back when they see Labour's eat-the-rich manifesto, which will come down on the middle classes like a ton of bricks.
    No they won't, because they believe Corbyn can't win. In this belief they are probably correct.
    Voting LibDem allows a second route to power for Corbyn. Not a risk worth taking, many will assess.
  • Options
    kyf_100 said:

    alex. said:

    Lib Dems should have pushed for that election. A major blunder. Golden rule - oppositions should never turn down elections, especially those at which they stand to benefit. They were too obsessed with the belief that Johnson wanted no deal - he never did, even if he was almost recklessly driven into it by error and miscalculation.

    My guess is that the LDs will do OK whenever an election is called. If it happens post-Brexit, a lot of people who might have voted tactically for Labour will no longer feel the need to do so, while I imagine it’s going to be hard for Johnson’s brand of populist English nationalism to win back a lot of Remain-voting, liberal Tories.

    Tories will come running back when they see Labour's eat-the-rich manifesto, which will come down on the middle classes like a ton of bricks.

    Everyone knows Labour can’t win. And, as we keep being told by wealthy Brexit supporters, it’s not about money anyway.

  • Options
    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,679

    kyf_100 said:

    alex. said:

    Lib Dems should have pushed for that election. A major blunder. Golden rule - oppositions should never turn down elections, especially those at which they stand to benefit. They were too obsessed with the belief that Johnson wanted no deal - he never did, even if he was almost recklessly driven into it by error and miscalculation.

    My guess is that the LDs will do OK whenever an election is called. If it happens post-Brexit, a lot of people who might have voted tactically for Labour will no longer feel the need to do so, while I imagine it’s going to be hard for Johnson’s brand of populist English nationalism to win back a lot of Remain-voting, liberal Tories.

    Tories will come running back when they see Labour's eat-the-rich manifesto, which will come down on the middle classes like a ton of bricks.

    Everyone knows Labour can’t win. And, as we keep being told by wealthy Brexit supporters, it’s not about money anyway.

    Can anyone name a target seat for a Lab gain? They all seem pretty implausible to me. In which case the threat of a Corbyn government is a hollow one.
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    Henry_CHenry_C Posts: 73
    HYUFD said:

    All the polling shows that Tory members put Brexit before the Union. As the ERG represents them better than anyone else in Parliament, it’s no surprise it’s members do, too. I am surprised that so many other Tory MPs feel the same, but I guess they know their members better than me and can see which way the wind is blowing. That said, given the trilemma Timothy so brilliantly describes, it’s probably true things would only ever end up this way. It’s time to move on and get it all done.

    The only ways to preserve the Union in full would have been first to cancel Brexit so the whole UK stays in the EU or second to keep the whole UK in the Single Market and Customs Union so the need for any backstop or equivalent is removed from the EU and Irish side but clearly the ERG and Leavers could not support stopping Brexit and reversing the Leave vote or a BINO Brexit that is in most respects staying in the EU in all but name with free movement and the inability to do our own trade deals.

    The other way of course would have been to go to No Deal and impose a hard border in Ireland between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland complete with checkpoints etc. The DUP might support that, as would some ERG hardliners like Owen Paterson however it would have made a return to terrorism and the Troubles in Northern Ireland likely and polls show a majority of Northern Ireland voters prefer a United Ireland to a hard border with the Republic of Ireland anyway so it would not in reality preserve the UK at all. Even if the British did not impose a hard border the Irish likely would have done and it would have required ripping up the Good Friday Agreement and the sending of troops back into Northern Ireland to keep the angry Catholic and Nationalist community under control and deal with a resurgent IRA.

    Plus of course No Deal would also have made Scots more likely to vote for independence too as Scottish polls show, again threatening the Union
    I was with you until that last paragraph. Seeing the consequences of a hard border in Ireland would make Scots less likely to vote for independence. There are probably more Scots with family on both sides of the border than there are Irish people.
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    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,125
    Foxy said:
    Those 5 Independents for Change. Soubry and ??? - I've lost track. But might not some/all of the remaining 4 ex-Labour MPs abstain, if it helps see a route to prevent Corbyn getting power? (Victorious Boris, withCorbyn stepping down as a result.)
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    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,267
    alex. said:

    Anyone think the big problem for Johnson could be the House of Lords? Are we going to get more fun and games with prorogations testing the Attlee precedents?

    Are you sure it has to go before the Lords? It isn't legislation.
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    HYUFD said:

    All the polling shows that Tory members put Brexit before the Union. As the ERG represents them better than anyone else in Parliament, it’s no surprise it’s members do, too. I am surprised that so many other Tory MPs feel the same, but I guess they know their members better than me and can see which way the wind is blowing. That said, given the trilemma Timothy so brilliantly describes, it’s probably true things would only ever end up this way. It’s time to move on and get it all done.

    The only ways to preserve the Union in full would have been first to cancel Brexit so the whole UK stays in the EU or second to keep the whole UK in the Single Market and Customs Union so the need for any backstop or equivalent is removed from the EU and Irish side but clearly the ERG and Leavers could not support stopping Brexit and reversing the Leave vote or a BINO Brexit that is in most respects staying in the EU in all but name with free movement and the inability to do our own trade deals.

    The other way of course would have been to go to No Deal and impose a hard border in Ireland between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland complete with checkpoints etc. The DUP might support that, as would some ERG hardliners like Owen Paterson however it would have made a return to terrorism and the Troubles in Northern Ireland likely and polls show a majority of Northern Ireland voters prefer a United Ireland to a hard border with the Republic of Ireland anyway so it would not in reality preserve the UK at all. Even if the British did not impose a hard border the Irish likely would have done and it would have required ripping up the Good Friday Agreement and the sending of troops back into Northern Ireland to keep the angry Catholic and Nationalist community under control and deal with a resurgent IRA.

    Plus of course No Deal would also have made Scots more likely to vote for independence too as Scottish polls show, again threatening the Union

    As Timothy says, the Tories have chosen taking back control over the Union. For right-wing English nationalists it’s an entirely rational move. I am also very pleased it means a big victory for Ireland. The Irish people never deserved the uncertainty and worry Brexit inflicted on them. I see all this as the first step to England finally learning where it truly sits in the world. It’ll take a while longer yet, but we’re now starting. That is a good thing.

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    alex. said:

    Do you think his brand will remain the same post Brexit? The problem for the Libdems will be that their current Brexit policies are a solution to “making it all go away”. If Brexit happens they will suddenly be potentially positioning themselves as promising to make it all come back.

    There's plenty more it where that came from.
    And presumably it starts coming soon, given that the initial transition deadline is the end of net year. By which time the UK either needs a frictionless trade deal with the EU or the facilities to deal with the friction or an extension.
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    AndyJSAndyJS Posts: 29,395
    Scott_P said:

    AndyJS said:

    What happens if it's a tie?

    Bercow has the casting vote
    Which way would he vote? Usually the Speaker supports the status quo but I'm not sure what that would be on this occasion.
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    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,125
    Jonathan said:
    The FT number of 2 more votes needed assumes DUP abstaining I think.
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    Foxy said:

    kyf_100 said:

    alex. said:

    Lib Dems should have pushed for that election. A major blunder. Golden rule - oppositions should never turn down elections, especially those at which they stand to benefit. They were too obsessed with the belief that Johnson wanted no deal - he never did, even if he was almost recklessly driven into it by error and miscalculation.

    My guess is that the LDs will do OK whenever an election is called. If it happens post-Brexit, a lot of people who might have voted tactically for Labour will no longer feel the need to do so, while I imagine it’s going to be hard for Johnson’s brand of populist English nationalism to win back a lot of Remain-voting, liberal Tories.

    Tories will come running back when they see Labour's eat-the-rich manifesto, which will come down on the middle classes like a ton of bricks.

    Everyone knows Labour can’t win. And, as we keep being told by wealthy Brexit supporters, it’s not about money anyway.

    Can anyone name a target seat for a Lab gain? They all seem pretty implausible to me. In which case the threat of a Corbyn government is a hollow one.

    Labour will do well to return to the next Parliament with close to its current number of MPs. Sub-220 must be odds on.

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    Henry_CHenry_C Posts: 73
    Scott_P said:

    AndyJS said:

    What happens if it's a tie?

    Bercow has the casting vote
    The status quo is no ratification, but Speaker Bercow might not follow Speaker Denison's rule.
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    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,267

    ydoethur said:

    kyf_100 said:

    alex. said:

    Lib Dems should have pushed for that election. A major blunder. Golden rule - oppositions should never turn down elections, especially those at which they stand to benefit. They were too obsessed with the belief that Johnson wanted no deal - he never did, even if he was almost recklessly driven into it by error and miscalculation.

    My guess is that the LDs will do OK whenever an election is called. If it happens post-Brexit, a lot of people who might have voted tactically for Labour will no longer feel the need to do so, while I imagine it’s going to be hard for Johnson’s brand of populist English nationalism to win back a lot of Remain-voting, liberal Tories.

    Tories will come running back when they see Labour's eat-the-rich manifesto, which will come down on the middle classes like a ton of bricks.
    No they won't, because they believe Corbyn can't win. In this belief they are probably correct.
    Voting LibDem allows a second route to power for Corbyn. Not a risk worth taking, many will assess.
    Unless something very dramatic happens, the key for Corbyn entering Downing Street would be not the Oranges but the Yellows.

    The price of Yellow support is a 2nd referendum, as with the Oranges, but with a rather different question.

    Corbyn has already ruled this out. All other considerations aside the overwhelming likelihood is the Tories will win a clear majority in England.

    Therefore, he either has to renege on a public commitment and look like a liar on day 1 of his administration (admittedly anyone who has been watching knows that already) or he has to go for majority government.

    Which of those options do you think is on the table?
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    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,267
    Scott_P said:
    The DUP must be really regretting providing political cover for the rejection of May's deal.
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    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,012

    Foxy said:

    kyf_100 said:

    alex. said:

    Lib Dems should have pushed for that election. A major blunder. Golden rule - oppositions should never turn down elections, especially those at which they stand to benefit. They were too obsessed with the belief that Johnson wanted no deal - he never did, even if he was almost recklessly driven into it by error and miscalculation.

    My guess is that the LDs will do OK whenever an election is called. If it happens post-Brexit, a lot of people who might have voted tactically for Labour will no longer feel the need to do so, while I imagine it’s going to be hard for Johnson’s brand of populist English nationalism to win back a lot of Remain-voting, liberal Tories.

    Tories will come running back when they see Labour's eat-the-rich manifesto, which will come down on the middle classes like a ton of bricks.

    Everyone knows Labour can’t win. And, as we keep being told by wealthy Brexit supporters, it’s not about money anyway.

    Can anyone name a target seat for a Lab gain? They all seem pretty implausible to me. In which case the threat of a Corbyn government is a hollow one.

    Labour will do well to return to the next Parliament with close to its current number of MPs. Sub-220 must be odds on.

    If the Boris Deal gets through with votes from Labour MPs, the LDs beating Corbyn Labour in voteshare is more likely than a Corbyn government, with Boris comfortably re elected with a split opposition under FPTP
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    Jonathan said:
    The FT number of 2 more votes needed assumes DUP abstaining I think.

    That explains it. I knew it looked strange but could not work out why.

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    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,012
    edited October 2019
    Scott_P said:

    HYUFD said:

    The only ways to preserve the Union in full would have been first to cancel Brexit

    This is the thing, the whole thing, and nothing but the thing.

    Brexit is the end of the union.
    No, No Deal would have made the end of the Union more likely, the Boris Deal keeps the UK just with looser ties
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    MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 37,607
    Whatever one thinks of Boris, it's clear that he is a much better politician than Theresa. He's managed to sell his deal to the public where May completely forgot to include anyone other than herself and Robbins from being in agreement.
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    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,267

    Jonathan said:
    The FT number of 2 more votes needed assumes DUP abstaining I think.

    That explains it. I knew it looked strange but could not work out why.

    So actually it's 20 more votes needed. My prediction yesterday of a defeat by 20 is looking quite close.
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    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    edited October 2019
    HYUFD said:

    the Boris Deal keeps the UK just with looser ties

    It really doesn't

    It has already carved off NI, and as pointed out earlier, if NI can have special arrangements, why can't Scotland?

    The Little Englanders have prioritized Brexit over the Union.
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    Very well thought through and explained. Thank you, Obitus.

    It is hard to see a referendum of the type you imagine however, and I suspect you were proposing it slightly tongue in cheek. People are simply too fed up with Brexit and the point has been reached where almost any decision is preferable to no decision.

    Johnson will get this through, and we will all digest it at our leisure.
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    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,125

    As Timothy says, the Tories have chosen taking back control over the Union. For right-wing English nationalists it’s an entirely rational move. I am also very pleased it means a big victory for Ireland. The Irish people never deserved the uncertainty and worry Brexit inflicted on them. I see all this as the first step to England finally learning where it truly sits in the world. It’ll take a while longer yet, but we’re now starting. That is a good thing.

    In an election, Boris just repeatedly makes the point that he is still a unionist in his every bone, has always fought and will always fight for the union - but that there was no arrangment to be achieved with the EU that would have satisfied the DUP. As he has got a great deal for NI, he will say he has done all that he can to protect NI from being hurt economically within the constraints of having a long shared porous border and the Good Friday Agreement. All other avenues were explored. None worked.

    The business community is on board with his deal. The DUP are not. But they have come up with no workable alternative proposals. They are chasing unicorns.

    Most voters will buy that.
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    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    MaxPB said:

    Whatever one thinks of Boris, it's clear that he is a much better politician than Theresa. He's managed to sell his deal to the public

    This is not a good thing.

    He sold Brexit to the public, despite it being a crock of shit.

    Now he has sold a worse deal than May, despite it being a crock of shit.

    This is not the measure of a good politician.
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    JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,901
    MaxPB said:

    Whatever one thinks of Boris, it's clear that he is a much better politician than Theresa. He's managed to sell his deal to the public where May completely forgot to include anyone other than herself and Robbins from being in agreement.

    Not sure that’s true. The main difference is that Boris doesn’t have Boris on the backbenches.
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    ydoethur said:

    Jonathan said:
    The FT number of 2 more votes needed assumes DUP abstaining I think.

    That explains it. I knew it looked strange but could not work out why.

    So actually it's 20 more votes needed. My prediction yesterday of a defeat by 20 is looking quite close.

    Looked again and the DUP is in the No column, so it’s back to being too close to call.

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    Henry_CHenry_C Posts: 73
    edited October 2019

    Jonathan said:
    The FT number of 2 more votes needed assumes DUP abstaining I think.
    Why would the DUP abstain? Is the idea that they are caught in the middle between pressure from pragmatic business interests and headbanging no-surrenderist ideology? Having EU customs officials at Larne is a huge ask.
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    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,700
    Scott_P said:

    HYUFD said:

    the Boris Deal keeps the UK just with looser ties

    if NI can have special arrangements, why can't Scotland?
    i) Its a land not a sea border between Scotland and rUK
    ii) No recent history of terrorism on that border.

    But apart from that......
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    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    This is not the line that Jezza was spinning

    https://twitter.com/tamcohen/status/1185082630506717184

    The ongoing war within Labour high command is not over
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    AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670
    HYUFD said:

    Given the new Comres polling voters clearly prefer the Boris Deal to the May Deal, more support than oppose the Boris Deal which was not the case for the May Deal
    https://twitter.com/Andrew_ComRes/status/1184938398328541185?s=20

    Sophistry
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    OblitusSumMeOblitusSumMe Posts: 9,143
    Nigelb said:

    One argument that has been made to justify the opposition of Remainers to May’s deal was that it would have been wrong for Remainer MPs to effectively impose a deal on Leaver MPs that they did not consent to.

    Reallly ?
    I hadn’t come across that one before. It effectively argues that those who voted remain have no right to a say in what kind of Brexit we get to suffer.

    Though granted that does seem to be the attitude of a not inconsiderable number of leavers.

    I'm referring to the betrayal narrative argument that I've seen most often from Alistair Meeks. It has the benefit of ensuring that Leavers have to take responsibility for making a choice, rather than being able to oppose everything.

    Remainers have still been able to stop Leavers from making the most destructive choice, No Deal, so it's not the same as saying they shouldn't be involved at all.
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    MaxPB said:

    Whatever one thinks of Boris, it's clear that he is a much better politician than Theresa. He's managed to sell his deal to the public where May completely forgot to include anyone other than herself and Robbins from being in agreement.

    This is undoubtedly true. He made the process about him.

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    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453

    i) Its a land not a sea border between Scotland and rUK
    ii) No recent history of terrorism on that border.

    So MUCH easier to manage...
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    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,012
    edited October 2019

    HYUFD said:

    All the polling shows that Tory members put Brexit before the Union. As the ERG represents them better than anyone else in Parliament, it’s no surprise it’s members do, too. I am surprised that so many other Tory MPs feel the same, but I guess they know their members better than me and can see which way the wind is blowing. That said, given the trilemma Timothy so brilliantly describes, it’s probably true things would only ever end up this way. It’s time to move on and get it all done.

    The only ways to preserve the Union in full would have been first to cancel Brexit so the whole UK stays in the EU or second to keep the whole UK in the Single Market and Customs Union so the need for any backstop or equivalent is removed from the EU and Irish side but clearly the ERG and Leavers could not support stopping Brexit and reversing the Leave vote or a BINO Brexit that is in most respects staying in the EU f troops back into Northern Ireland to keep the angry Catholic and Nationalist community under control and deal with a resurgent IRA.

    Plus of course No Deal would also have made Scots more likely to vote for independence too as Scottish polls show, again threatening the Union

    As Timothy says, the Tories have chosen taking back control over the Union. For right-wing English nationalists it’s an entirely rational move. I am also very pleased it means a big victory for Ireland. The Irish people never deserved the uncertainty and worry Brexit inflicted on them. I see all this as the first step to England finally learning where it truly sits in the world. It’ll take a while longer yet, but we’re now starting. That is a good thing.

    Victory for the Nationalists would have meant No Deal leading to a hard border in Ireland and Northern Irish voters voting for a United Ireland, the Boris Deal avoids a hard border and keeps Northern Ireland in the UK and UK customs area but with looser ties between GB and NI.

    The UK is currently the 5th largest economy in the world, England alone would be the 7th largest economy in the world, so little different even if Wales and Scotland voted for independence and Northern Ireland for a united Ireland. The loss of India and the British Empire was much more significant than the breakup of the Union would be as it saw us lose our superpower status
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    Not much really. The border in the Irish Sea was always on the table. It’s just that Theresa thought it was too stupid an idea to countenance.
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    DecrepitJohnLDecrepitJohnL Posts: 13,300
    edited October 2019
    kyf_100 said:

    alex. said:

    Lib Dems should have pushed for that election. A major blunder. Golden rule - oppositions should never turn down elections, especially those at which they stand to benefit. They were too obsessed with the belief that Johnson wanted no deal - he never did, even if he was almost recklessly driven into it by error and miscalculation.

    My guess is that the LDs will do OK whenever an election is called. If it happens post-Brexit, a lot of people who might have voted tactically for Labour will no longer feel the need to do so, while I imagine it’s going to be hard for Johnson’s brand of populist English nationalism to win back a lot of Remain-voting, liberal Tories.

    Tories will come running back when they see Labour's eat-the-rich manifesto, which will come down on the middle classes like a ton of bricks.
    Which is why Labour will not have an eat-the-rich manifesto.

    Which is why the CCHQ spin team will use social media to remind voters of Labour's eat-the-rich policies that are not in the manifesto.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/boris-johnson-s-conservatives-hire-kiwi-gurus-who-worked-on-morrison-s-shock-win-20191008-p52yia.html
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    AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670

    Scott_P said:

    HYUFD said:

    the Boris Deal keeps the UK just with looser ties

    if NI can have special arrangements, why can't Scotland?
    i) Its a land not a sea border between Scotland and rUK
    ii) No recent history of terrorism on that border.

    But apart from that......
    Ah, we are back to the "Scots need to start a bombing campaign" phase of Brexit discussion again.
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    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,125

    ydoethur said:

    Jonathan said:
    The FT number of 2 more votes needed assumes DUP abstaining I think.

    That explains it. I knew it looked strange but could not work out why.

    So actually it's 20 more votes needed. My prediction yesterday of a defeat by 20 is looking quite close.

    Looked again and the DUP is in the No column, so it’s back to being too close to call.

    Apologies, so they are. In which case it needs 9 Labour rebels to avoid Bercow's casting vote (assuming all else in the FT number sis right). There's a hell of a lot more than that going to have to explain to their Leave-voting electorates why they crashed this deal.

    As I've said before (and as Corbyn nudged and winked), an abstention won't cause them to lose the whip/be deselected. 15 abstentions will probably do the job....and get Corbyn his Brexit.
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    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,012
    Scott_P said:

    HYUFD said:

    the Boris Deal keeps the UK just with looser ties

    It really doesn't

    It has already carved off NI, and as pointed out earlier, if NI can have special arrangements, why can't Scotland?

    The Little Englanders have prioritized Brexit over the Union.
    Scotland does not have a history of terrorism unlike Northern Ireland, nor does it have a border with another EU nation like Northern Ireland.

    Avoiding No Deal will be enough for most Scots bar the SNP and diehard Nationalists who only want to use Brexit as their latest excuse for independence anyway
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    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,267
    Scott_P said:

    This is not the line that Jezza was spinning

    https://twitter.com/tamcohen/status/1185082630506717184

    The ongoing war within Labour high command is not over

    You’d have to have a heart of stone not to laugh your head off...
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    MaxPB said:

    Whatever one thinks of Boris, it's clear that he is a much better politician than Theresa. He's managed to sell his deal to the public where May completely forgot to include anyone other than herself and Robbins from being in agreement.

    This is undoubtedly true. He made the process about him.

    The way Boris manipulated Leavers’ brains - turning their fundamental concern from being about leaving the EU to his career prospects - was one of the greatest political accomplishments of the modern age.
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    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,125

    MaxPB said:

    Whatever one thinks of Boris, it's clear that he is a much better politician than Theresa. He's managed to sell his deal to the public where May completely forgot to include anyone other than herself and Robbins from being in agreement.

    This is undoubtedly true. He made the process about him.

    The way Boris manipulated Leavers’ brains - turning their fundamental concern from being about leaving the EU to his career prospects - was one of the greatest political accomplishments of the modern age.
    Yawn.....
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    NigelbNigelb Posts: 62,631

    ydoethur said:

    kyf_100 said:

    alex. said:

    Lib Dems should have pushed for that election. A major blunder. Golden rule - oppositions should never turn down elections, especially those at which they stand to benefit. They were too obsessed with the belief that Johnson wanted no deal - he never did, even if he was almost recklessly driven into it by error and miscalculation.

    My guess is that the LDs will do OK whenever an election is called. If it happens post-Brexit, a lot of people who might have voted tactically for Labour will no longer feel the need to do so, while I imagine it’s going to be hard for Johnson’s brand of populist English nationalism to win back a lot of Remain-voting, liberal Tories.

    Tories will come running back when they see Labour's eat-the-rich manifesto, which will come down on the middle classes like a ton of bricks.
    No they won't, because they believe Corbyn can't win. In this belief they are probably correct.
    Voting LibDem allows a second route to power for Corbyn. Not a risk worth taking, many will assess.
    A paper tiger. Only those determined to vote Tory in any event will make that assessment.
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    Foxy said:

    kyf_100 said:

    alex. said:

    Lib Dems should have pushed for that election. A major blunder. Golden rule - oppositions should never turn down elections, especially those at which they stand to benefit. They were too obsessed with the belief that Johnson wanted no deal - he never did, even if he was almost recklessly driven into it by error and miscalculation.

    My guess is that the LDs will do OK whenever an election is called. If it happens post-Brexit, a lot of people who might have voted tactically for Labour will no longer feel the need to do so, while I imagine it’s going to be hard for Johnson’s brand of populist English nationalism to win back a lot of Remain-voting, liberal Tories.

    Tories will come running back when they see Labour's eat-the-rich manifesto, which will come down on the middle classes like a ton of bricks.

    Everyone knows Labour can’t win. And, as we keep being told by wealthy Brexit supporters, it’s not about money anyway.

    Can anyone name a target seat for a Lab gain? They all seem pretty implausible to me. In which case the threat of a Corbyn government is a hollow one.
    Putney and some others in London probably
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    The theoretical possibility that NI can vote to leave this arrangement, but that's more ornamental than useful.

    Can we rule out the possibility that this is going to play out like the "Sufficient Progress" talks did? There's a Deal, everyone seems happy, but the UK's concessions (then the No Hard Border stuff, now the slicing off of NI) weaken it in the next stage?
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    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,125
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    NigelbNigelb Posts: 62,631
    Scott_P said:

    As Letwin said exactly that on the radio this morning, he’s probably right....
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    MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 37,607
    edited October 2019
    Jonathan said:

    MaxPB said:

    Whatever one thinks of Boris, it's clear that he is a much better politician than Theresa. He's managed to sell his deal to the public where May completely forgot to include anyone other than herself and Robbins from being in agreement.

    Not sure that’s true. The main difference is that Boris doesn’t have Boris on the backbenches.
    Hmm, he does have the likes of Grieve and Hammond plotting against him though. Again, the difference is that he's better at politics. By enforcing party discipline on the first vote he's forced the ERG nutters to fall in line with a deal they probably think isn't great and most of those MPs he kicked out will be welcomed back when they vote in favour on Saturday making the party look more united on Brexit that it ever has been.

    May was just very poor at politics. Her deal may have been economically a bit better (which I'm not convinced about either) but politically it was poison for her, the party and the country as it would have allowed the betrayal narrative to continue and the likes of Nige would have taken advantage of public loathing of it.

    The best stamp of approval for this deal was Nige's tweet yesterday about not being allowed another delay. He, like the rest of the Spartans, realises the game is up, Boris has delivered a deal that is acceptable to the public, the EU and it should get just about enough support in the commons. It also fulfils the "Leave" criteria in a way that May's deal didn't leaving him with nothing but crumbs to feed brexit party voters at the next election.
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    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,267

    Foxy said:

    kyf_100 said:

    alex. said:

    Lib Dems should have pushed for that election. A major blunder. Golden rule - oppositions should never turn down elections, especially those at which they stand to benefit. They were too obsessed with the belief that Johnson wanted no deal - he never did, even if he was almost recklessly driven into it by error and miscalculation.

    My guess is that the LDs will do OK whenever an election is called. If it happens post-Brexit, a lot of people who might have voted tactically for Labour will no longer feel the need to do so, while I imagine it’s going to be hard for Johnson’s brand of populist English nationalism to win back a lot of Remain-voting, liberal Tories.

    Tories will come running back when they see Labour's eat-the-rich manifesto, which will come down on the middle classes like a ton of bricks.

    Everyone knows Labour can’t win. And, as we keep being told by wealthy Brexit supporters, it’s not about money anyway.

    Can anyone name a target seat for a Lab gain? They all seem pretty implausible to me. In which case the threat of a Corbyn government is a hollow one.
    Putney and some others in London probably
    The evidence suggests Labour are going backwards in London. If so, they’re struggling to win Putney. Indeed, if such polling as we have is to be believed that’s one seat the Liberal Democrats could take from third despite how far back they were in 2017.
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    NigelbNigelb Posts: 62,631

    Nigelb said:

    One argument that has been made to justify the opposition of Remainers to May’s deal was that it would have been wrong for Remainer MPs to effectively impose a deal on Leaver MPs that they did not consent to.

    Reallly ?
    I hadn’t come across that one before. It effectively argues that those who voted remain have no right to a say in what kind of Brexit we get to suffer.

    Though granted that does seem to be the attitude of a not inconsiderable number of leavers.

    I'm referring to the betrayal narrative argument that I've seen most often from Alistair Meeks. It has the benefit of ensuring that Leavers have to take responsibility for making a choice, rather than being able to oppose everything..
    Fair enough.
    I still think it’s a crap argument, though. Leavers did not win an election which gave them the right to dictate Brexit terms, and only May and Corbyn’s utter uselessness allowed them to do so.
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    One positive about Johnson’s Brexit Deal is that it delivers victory for the people of the Republic of Ireland, who have had to live for three years with the uncertainty and worry caused by a Brexit they never asked for. After 800 years of taking our shite, they’ve won.

    I'm certainly cheered by the thought this deal should help to unify Ireland and make it a happier and more prosperous place. The people there deserve some good fortune.
This discussion has been closed.