2019-04-07 11:33:13
THIS CONTENT WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MY OLD SITE AND FORMS PART OF THIS SITE’S ARCHIVE
I’m experimenting with different formats of posts; predominantly to allow my regular readers the chance to work out which kind of post approach they like. This is a ‘listicle’ with commentary. Let me know what you prefer in the comments.
Philip Hammond – Second Referendum & No Red Lines
Chancellor Phillip Hammond has said the government has (or should that be should) have no red lines in their negotiations with the UK Labour Party. This comes just a few days after he told Robert Peston that a Second Referendum was not out of the question. It seems however that someone forgot to tell Number 10’s negotiating team; as one of the reasons cited for the breakdown of negotiations was that Number 10 was not negotiating, but was actually just trying to get agreement with its deal; whilst not altering the political declaration (which I’m not sure they can, anyway) but also were trying to wrap the Labour Party’s choices into some form of non-enforceable, but we can “try” and add it to the statue books, but really that’s up to parliament. Basically Number 10 has kept its red lines and isn’t negotiating, as First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon seemed to suggest had happened in her heart-to-heart with Theresa May.
Heidi Allan & John Redwood – Can’t Read the Numbers
One of Saturday’s comedy moments came when the two conservative MPs – Heidi Allan and John Redwood, whose vision of Brexit is contradictory – Ms Allan wants a second referendum, Mr Redwood wants no deal – declared that polling supported their viewpoints, and that the majority of the British public supported: in Ms Allan’s words “a second referendum”; and in Mr Redwood’s words “a no-deal brexit”. Channel 4 News’ Krishnan Guru-Murthy was there to argue against their nonsense. And I would like to highlight that I recently wrote an article, here, about some particular polling data was ignored by its own commissioning body (Progress Scotland) – primarily because, and this happens a-lot, although the data is incontrovertible it doesn’t support the narrative they wished to tell; so they broke it down (that’s normal) and then ignored the rest of it (pollsters would should be angry at this – blatant manipulation of the data) – but essentially that’s the same principle that either and or both Heidi Allan and John Redwood were working under when they made their claims.
Daily Mirror – Prematurely Explodes Brexit
Friday’s Daily Mirror proclaimed that Brexit was dead – because a brexit constituency had voted in a vocally remain MP in Labour’s Ruth Jones. And whilst the Daily Mirror’s article makes some great points, their particular headline was a step to far in the realms of reality. What they are right to point out, and which Labour could take some courage from is that just because a Constituency votes Brexit, doesn’t mean it rejects the MP who voted remain, of course we can’t extrapolate that beyond this local bi-election; but we could at least hypothesis that Labour Heartlands with large majorities may not end up switching to non-Labour candidates in any forthcoming General Election.
Diane Abbot Thinks Leave Would Win Second Referendum – Also Won’t Say Labour’s Negotiating Red Lines
Diane Abbot has been on the Today Programme on Saturday morning, which may not have been the best idea for her – she seems to have spent a large part of it refusing to spell out if Labour Party Policy (a Second Referendum) would be a Labour Party “red line” in the negotiations with Number 10. She then went on to say that she believed in any second referendum Leave would actually win. And perhaps she is right; perhaps she simply believes it, I don’t know – but I would like to see why she believes that, maybe she’s been reading the same parts of the same poll that Mr Redwood has been?
UK Passport Office sends out Red-Not-Blue Post-Brexit Not-Yet-Had-Brexit Passports
Whilst Brexit is yet to happen, the UK Passport Office has already started issuing red coloured Passports which omits the words “European Union” from the cover – I was sure they were supposed to be blue post-brexit; but maybe that was another false hope Mr Johnstone sold me – I want my beaten black-and-blue (by Brexiteer’s notorious U-Turns, it’s called whip lash) self to recieve my black-or-blue (but no one can seem to remember) passport back.
Financial Times – Pro-Europeans Unite
The Financial Times has called for pro-Europeans to united around the EU Parliamentary elections… I don’t have access to the Financial Times, I’m not snobby enough to pay for that; but I can’t help but wonder what they mean – I mean, what are we gonna do, gather round a sacred blue ballot box with yellow stars which we ceremoniously drop into the box, to signal to the box we’re are pro-Europeans? Or do they simply mean we should all vote Liberal Democrate/SNP/Plaid Cymru/Change UK? I don’t know, I also, frankly, don’t care!
Conservative Party Suicide Note
A Conservative MP and the Education Minister Nadhim Zahawi has told Ms May that a long brexit delay “could deal a fatal blow to the conservatives” (so good news) and that taking part in the forthcoming EU elections would be the Conservatives “Suicide Note” – and for those that are traumatised by this concept – which I am not; just remember the Tory’s have spent most of the last decade declaring the mentally ill “fit for work” – but don’t worry, I’m sure once the ERGers are locked up in mental health hospitals, I’m sure Mr Corbyn’s kinder-gentler politics won’t deprive them of food and good health-care; because you know, he’s not a Tory.
Ireland’s Premier Seeks Extension to Article 50
The Irish Premier, Leo Varadkar, has stated that any EU member state who vetoes the UK’s Article 50 extension will not be forgiven. He does not, he says, believe any EU member would do so; but obviously Ireland prefers and in my opinion deserves from her nearest neighbour that any brexit be orderly; and not the proverbial crap-fest it has been up-and-until now. Clearly Ireland like myself would prefer no Brexit (though I’m sure some of them would probably wish the world’s longest gap between a suicide note and the cliff actually not be so bloody long – If you’re going to jump, just do it Britain (sorry too much?)… Anyway the Irish Premier does not believe the UK will leave the EU on April 12th with no deal. And it does look like Donald Tusk [not as I stated last night, Jean-Claude Junker] has rejected Theresa May’s June 30th extension request (again) in favour of his flexit – flexible extension of one year with the ability to shorten once a deal is actually agreed, if agreed too, the UK would have no choice but to take part in European Parliamentary elections – who knew the EU had democracy!
Owen Smith MP, Being Owen Smith MP
Owen Smith, MP, the former challenger to Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of Labour; and former shadow cabinet member – has written an opinion piece for the Guardian (also known as an Op-Ed). Mr Smith’s opinion piece argues essentially that Leave is wrong; Lexit is dead; Labour has been too-slow and should have chosen the correct remain side a long long time ago (and I’m guessing Mr Smith is in that fantastic land where Labour is in charge – a galaxy far far away). Mr Smith’s contention is that Lexiter’s only real issue with the EU is solved, just not among the people. The issue, as he sees it, is around models of national ownership – which Mr Smith claims is not prohibited by the EU; and that it was, was argued against by knowledgeable legal experts, however, this legal advice has not quite made it into common parlance, unlike the 1980s original Lexiter’s viewpoints, which had been thoroughly rebuffed and sorted when the EU became the bastion of human rights and workers protections. Mr Smith contends further that there could never have been a “leftwing brexit” because that would be an oxymoron.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”
According to John McLellan in The Scotsman, Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn in their attempts for a soft-brexit will keep us paying EU dues and being a member with none-of-the-voting power – which I think a lot of us kind of knew anyway – what he describes it as is the “worst of all worlds” – but if we’re honest it is probably better overall than being continually screwed over by Tories as they turn us into a low-cost tax haven for their friends who buy the NHS, because EU rules have come into effect preventing that disaster, if we’re wedded to the EU in way – and frankly Mr Mogg wants out because, ya know, money talks.
World War II Heroes Love EU
According to new research from London School of Economics finds that “Britian’s wartime generation are almost as pro-EU as millennials” – probably because they lives through the horrors of World War II and know that it takes one-snake-oil salesman (and we’ve got at least five – Mogg; Johnson; Farage; Gove; and Mr “My Name Isn’t Actually” Tommy Robinson) to screw over the rest of Europe.
Manufactoring Industry – Revoke Article 50
UK Manufacturers according to the Times are seeking an end to the damage of short-term decisions and are “urging” Theresa May to revoke article 50 is the “deal fails”.
Theresa May Singing “Clown’s To The Left of Me, Jokers To The Right” To Herself, Not Realising She’s The Clown, Mogg Is The Joker, & The UK Is “Stuck In The Middle” With Her. And This Is Too Long For a Segment Title…
The “Voice of the Mirror” wrote in their paper “The Mirror” on April 5th that “It is not hugely surprising that Brexit talks between the Government and Labour broke down.
Theresa May’s door was finally open but her mind remained closed, as she is a blinkered Conservative Prime Minister incapable of dealing fairly with other parties.”
Voice of the Mirror: Theresa May alienated Corbyn and the Right, now she’s stuck
The mirror article also highlights how she has no only alienated Jeremy Cornbyn, but also her narrow-minded hard-no-deal maniacal fanatic ERG right-wing zealots within her own party; and that the now-not-as-crazy-as-the-Tory-Party and we-have-our-own-yet-at-least-consistent-morality Democratic Unionist Party aren’t playing ball – that Theresa May is up a proverbial creek without even an idea of what paddle looks like, let alone an actual or imagined paddle.
The Mirror essentially argues that the Brexit fiasco and the Government & Prime-Minister in name only can only be solved by putting it back to the people – oh, and we’re likely to be in the EU a little while longer.
I don’t know if that’s all that happened in Brexit on Saturday (and some from Friday) but it’s probably the major stories – I was working, at a real job, so not actually trawling the internet for the whole day (you know I was for some of it) – sorry.