Brexit Is Finished.

Cambo · November 15, 2018

3 minutes ago, Roger said:

No Deal is on the table. That was always my choice. That might focus some minds' if we were serious about leaving. Which we never have been ~ as a Govt. As for Jesse Norman he has never engaged enough with the Brexit process for my liking. He seems to be backing May with that tweet but he has been too low profile on this important issue. Or rather no profile.

It reads as a nonsensical but clear I don’t want to jeopardise my ministerial job type of tweet…oh dear Jesse still sitting on the the Brexit barb wire fence…I wonder why he’s not nailed his colours to one mast or the other?…given he’s a career politician looking to get up the greasy pole & all that...you’d think Brexit would be the perfect opportunity for a aspiring politician to make a name for themselves?

i think on the deal or no deal I’m prepared for a no deal…it’s was alway going to be a no deal in my mind especially as a number of prominent people namely Tony the evil one Blair his master of the evil spin Alastair Campbell,the wicked witch of wherever Anna Sudbury,Chuka the remain demon Umunna & Vince what the hell are you Cable along with the independent… since getting over their shock of Brexit have done nothing but divide the country in trying to get another vote by there doom & scare campaigns of terror we will face when we exit the Tower of Babel in Brussels instead of helping unify the country in us leaving the EU as was democratically decide in the referendum... couple that with a hard nosed bullying EU & the hardline brexiteers a deal in my mind was always going to be like a quest for the holy grail or getting to the end of the rainbow!!

ok I’m off now to clear the shelves in the local supermarket in preparation for a no deal then…oh & to fill up a bowser with diesel too!

megilleland · November 16, 2018

Quote

Bobby 47 said:

Our good friend Martin references Neville Chamberlain and his ‘peace in our time’ bit of paper that he waved about after his final act of appeasement with the Germans. It’s really not such a far fetched comparison. In my view it’s very apt considering how Britain has been treated by our so called allies.

Theresa May LIVE: I am NOT modern-day Chamberlain: May says UK will NOT be locked to EU

Daily Mail catches up.

Roger · November 16, 2018

This fudge is kicking the 'can' down the road. To be sorted out later. It's just not acceptable. The only thing that will focus the EU main Members' is 'No Deal'. I know that will lead to chaos in Kent but the EU machine has only one mission. To justify it's own existence.

megilleland · November 24, 2018

Leavers of Britain

We believe in a clean Brexit, one that means the UK controls its own laws, money and borders. We believe in the UK being an independent country from the EU. Simples.

We reject all forms of intolerance, discrimination or prejudice towards anyone, as well as Leave voters. We confront and condemn racists and others who seek to hijack the Leave vote for their own ends.

We support the efforts of our politicians and social leaders in creating a fairer, more enterprising and freer country. It’s time to see the best in our nation and the hard-working, good people who make it great. We’ll do everything in our power to achieve that – and it starts with the power of the pint!

Herefordshire for Brexit go national
A press release from Herefordshire for Brexit
Date 19/10/18

Herefordshire For Brexit has formed an association with national pro-Brexit organisation Leavers of Britain.

Herefordshire for Brexit founders Christopher Kingsley and Sarah Rogan commented:

“We are delighted to associate with a fast-growing national network of non party-political pro-Brexit groups. Brexit progress has been confused and over complicated because of the needs of the main party leaders to try to unite all factions of their highly divided parties. It is important that the pro-Brexit majority of voters see non-attached groups that can actually represent what they voted for in 2016”.

Leavers of Britain is headed by successful campaigner Lucy Harris who has appeared on national TV as a pro-Brexit spokesperson on several occasions. Lucy commented:

“I’m ecstatic to be working with Herefordshire for Brexit. They are a passionate and local team that have worked tirelessly to bring sovereignty back to our country and democracy back to the people of Herefordshire. Leavers of Britain are lucky to have them on board.”

Herefordshire For Brexit believes that the current government proposals are a betrayal both of the spirit of Brexit and of specific promises given by both David Cameron in announcing the referendum and, on several occasions, by Theresa May.

“If our Herefordshire MPs Bill Wiggin and Jesse Norman believe that supporting the government proposals honours the wishes of the large majority of Herefordians who voted to leave the EU, they are totally mistaken and Herefordshire For Brexit will campaign against them”.

In High Town today and signed a petition to come out off the EU. Something needs to happen to wake up our MPs.

megilleland · November 25, 2018

Time for Jesse and Bill to tell us which way they will be voting on May's Brexit deal. If it's voted down in Parliament the Cabinet and the EU have a plan B to make sure we are stitched up forever.

ragwert · November 25, 2018

About right ...https://www.facebook.com/100009762165737/videos/733671860301546/

megilleland · November 25, 2018

3 hours ago, ragwert said:

About right ...https://www.facebook.com/100009762165737/videos/733671860301546/

Bang on Ragwert. Why does it take German AfD leader Alice Weidel in German parliament (Bundestag) to say what our Government can't face up to about the workings of the EU? Angela Merkel's face throughout the speech was a picture. Merkel has been widely described as the de facto leader of the European Union, the most powerful woman in the world, and the leader of the Free World. Must be joking.

megilleland · November 25, 2018

From Leavers of Britain handout

We have been lied to for 40 years. The EU exists to take power from us, not give it.

1973 - Prime Minister Edward Heath
"There are some in the country who fear that in going into Europe we shall in some way sacrifice independence and sovereignty. These fears, I need hardly to say are completely unjustified"

1975 - Prime Minister Harold Wilson
"Another anxiety expressed about Britain's membership of the Common Market is that Parliament could lose its supremacy, and we would have to obey laws passed by the unelected faceless bureaucrats sitting in their headquarters in Brussels"

1988 - Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
"We have not successfully rolled back the frontiers of the state in Britain, only to see them re-imposed at a European level, with a European super-state exercising a new dominance form Brussels"

1993 - Jeremy Corbyn, Labour MP
"It takes away from the national parliaments the power to set economic policy and hands it over to an unelected set of bankers who will impose the economic policies of price stability, deflation and high unemployment throughout the European Community"

2018 - Guy Verhofshadt MEP
"Why is there such a problem in this crisis? Because member states are reluctant to transfer new sovereignty and powers to the EU"

megilleland · November 25, 2018

From facts4eu.org/

The Rt Hon Sir Winston Churchill KG
June 4, 1940
House of Commons

“We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender…”

78 years later

The Rt Hon Theresa May MP
24 November, 2018
Brussels

‘We shall go on to the end, we shall surrender in Belgium, we shall give away our seas, we shall give ground everywhere, we shall surrender our island whatever we have to pay Brussels, we shall welcome them on the beaches, we shall welcome them at our airports, we shall surrender in the Commons and in the Lords, we shall obey their rules and do what they say, we shall fully surrender…’

(Not her words, but our interpretation.)

Roger · November 26, 2018

I think this has all been a charade for 2 years. Running down the clock and carefully managing the expectations of the British Public. A text book attempt to convince people they were out of their minds'/ill informed/too stupid to vote the preferred (and £9M funded leaflet) Establishment way last time. A massive damage limitation exercise to negate a vote result that the UK 'system' never wanted or planned for has been played out for 2 years and everyone can see it! I wan't 'NO DEAL'. TM's plan will lose NI and Gibraltar somewhere down the line as the Brussels mob are all over the sneaky detail to ambush the UK over time.

Ubique · November 26, 2018

Rightly or wrongly I am now a BOB . ( Bored of Brexit )

megilleland · November 26, 2018

From The Guardian today:

How will your MP vote on Theresa May's Brexit deal?

Between the opposition, the DUP and rebels from the pro and anti-EU wings of her party, May faces an uphill battle getting her deal through parliament

MPs may support or oppose the bill for a number of reasons: those on the government payroll, including cabinet ministers, must support the bill or resign. Those who have already resigned from government on this issue can be expected to vote against, as can those who have already submitted a letter of no confidence in the prime minister. Those of all parties who are campaigning for a “people’s vote” are also expected to vote against.

Looks like Jesse will be supporting Theresa May - can't see him resigning.
Bill Wigging is also down for supporting Theresa May.

Not much patriotism here.

Colin James · November 26, 2018

18 minutes ago, megilleland said:

From The Guardian today:

How will your MP vote on Theresa May's Brexit deal?

Between the opposition, the DUP and rebels from the pro and anti-EU wings of her party, May faces an uphill battle getting her deal through parliament

MPs may support or oppose the bill for a number of reasons: those on the government payroll, including cabinet ministers, must support the bill or resign. Those who have already resigned from government on this issue can be expected to vote against, as can those who have already submitted a letter of no confidence in the prime minister. Those of all parties who are campaigning for a “people’s vote” are also expected to vote against.

Looks like Jesse will be supporting Theresa May - can't see him resigning.
Bill Wigging is also down for supporting Theresa May.

Not much patriotism here.

I am keen to leave the EU and I supported the Tories however, this deal is not good at all, I would rather no deal at all than accept this.

bobby47 · December 8, 2018

Isn’t it pleasing to see little Manny the pompous French poodle stuck in the eye of a storm of protests sweeping across France. Once again the people were fooled into voting for a man who looked nice, said very little, promised much, delivered nothing and presented himself to the world as a man of great inner wisdom and a face you could trust. When I glance at his little snide face I see the Great Liar himself. Tony Blair. The same far away holier than thou eyes and that messianic look that pleads ‘trust me’! The only difference between the pair is one is a wannabe, the other a worn out has been and the younger of the two would drape a string of onions around his scrawny neck if it meant he’d win your vote.

And this is the man who would be king of Europe. A man who’ll happily strangle the life out of Britain, build an EU Army that’d be the ruin of Europe and steeped in the shameful French military ideology of defend, retreat, retreat again, desert, capitulate and then collaborate with their conquerer. As Merkle’s loyal poodle lap dog and a man so desperate to be listened to he’ll shamelessly rub Donald Trumps left bloody leg to win favour rather than face his reality that is ‘the French people can now see through him’.

I recall his interview with Andrew Marr where he called the British stupid for voting to leave the Union. When pressed by Marr, Macron stated that he wouldn’t ever give the French a referendum on the EU because they may vote like the British and want to leave the EU. If ever a western leader has demonstrated the contempt that he and his ilk have for people and democracy, it’s this pompous French President who sneers at anyone who demonstrates a pride in their Country and holds patriotic views that he and the EU Commision wish to crush.

As for the French Yellow Vest protests, very soon Macron, the EU and other Western leaders will mobilise the media, the people will be branded populist and like thousands of peaceful marchers who recently gathered in Poland to happily celebrate their nations independence, images on your television and your newspaper will convince you that sixty thousand marchers were neo nazis fascist Far right populist extremists who were a threat to western democracy. That’s exactly what will happen to these French people who’ve taken to the streets to protest against Macron and the political establishment.

Thereafter, once the dust settles, order will be restored, the people will give up the will to carry on and come the next presidential election they’ll vote to return Macron and Bridget to the Eleyse Palace and do exactly what they’re supposed to do. Conform and obey!

Cambo · December 8, 2018

5 hours ago, bobby47 said:

Isn’t it pleasing to see little Manny the pompous French poodle stuck in the eye of a storm of protests sweeping across France. Once again the people were fooled into voting for a man who looked nice, said very little, promised much, delivered nothing and presented himself to the world as a man of great inner wisdom and a face you could trust. When I glance at his little snide face I see the Great Liar himself. Tony Blair. The same far away holier than thou eyes and that messianic look that pleads ‘trust me’! The only difference between the pair is one is a wannabe, the other a worn out has been and the younger of the two would drape a string of onions around his scrawny neck if it meant he’d win your vote.

And this is the man who would be king of Europe. A man who’ll happily strangle the life out of Britain, build an EU Army that’d be the ruin of Europe and steeped in the shameful French military ideology of defend, retreat, retreat again, desert, capitulate and then collaborate with their conquerer. As Merkle’s loyal poodle lap dog and a man so desperate to be listened to he’ll shamelessly rub Donald Trumps left bloody leg to win favour rather than face his reality that is ‘the French people can now see through him’.

I recall his interview with Andrew Marr where he called the British stupid for voting to leave the Union. When pressed by Marr, Macron stated that he wouldn’t ever give the French a referendum on the EU because they may vote like the British and want to leave the EU. If ever a western leader has demonstrated the contempt that he and his ilk have for people and democracy, it’s this pompous French President who sneers at anyone who demonstrates a pride in their Country and holds patriotic views that he and the EU Commision wish to crush.

As for the French Yellow Vest protests, very soon Macron, the EU and other Western leaders will mobilise the media, the people will be branded populist and like thousands of peaceful marchers who recently gathered in Poland to happily celebrate their nations independence, images on your television and your newspaper will convince you that sixty thousand marchers were neo nazis fascist Far right populist extremists who were a threat to western democracy. That’s exactly what will happen to these French people who’ve taken to the streets to protest against Macron and the political establishment.

Thereafter, once the dust settles, order will be restored, the people will give up the will to carry on and come the next presidential election they’ll vote to return Macron and Bridget to the Eleyse Palace and do exactly what they’re supposed to do. Conform and obey!

Totally agree Bobby macron banker turned president educated by jesuits is in my mind a dubious character…when he was elected at his swearing in ceremony he played the European anthem rather than his own French anthem La Marseillaise a kind of dress rehearsal one might think for when he’s crowned emperor of Europe I guess?

But if he’s not careful he could end up with more of this on his face

https://tenor.com/view/macron-oeuf-gif-7904929

ragwert · December 10, 2018

Premature Parliamentary ejaculation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErlnkBBxH58

Roger · December 10, 2018

Backstop.

Much has been written about this. Post Brexit the amount of smuggling over an invisible border in Ireland would be minimal compared to the current smuggling allowed via Dover. Where the trade checks have been removed as we are in the EU. That's why all the dodgy tobacco arrives in the Hereford shops! What is the Major Problem that would occur if the UK made a no deal exit and there were no visible border checks in Ireland? On the UK/Ireland border?

megilleland · December 13, 2018

Defence is not part of Brexit - we will remain in EU with respect to defence.
Handing over our hard-earned military forces to the EU and all MPs and Lords silent on military unification. There has been no change in the advancing integration of UK military forces into the EU structure - the subject is simply not discussed in political, public and media forums, which is testimony to the usual EU policy of implementation by stealth where possible.

BBC: Local News Partnerships - the takeover of local news and media across UK
Local newspapers, radio stations and media outlets are no longer independent
Main Stream Media now not competing any longer - they are reinforcing each other.

Next on agenda EU banking union: Tusk "EU treasury by June 2018". Brexit timetable might end with taxation without representation

While all this is going on no interest or discussion on UK domestic policies because at the end of the day we will become a region of the EU. The greatest lie ever told to the people of Great Britain: Brexit without the exit.

megilleland · December 13, 2018

On 15/11/2018 at 19:33, megilleland said:

J.C. Bamford Excavators Limited, universally known as JCB, is an English multinational corporation, with headquarters in Rocester, Staffordshire

The chairman of the digger company JCB was among the prominent financial backers of the Vote Leave campaign, and has repeatedly said his company can prosper just as well outside the EU as it does within it.

Lord Bamford has said that he voted to stay in the common market in 1975, yet did not vote for political union. He quit the Confederation of British Industry lobby group saying it had ignored the voice of smaller businesses opposed to the EU and had become the voice of multinational firms.

JCB was fined €39.6m (£35.5m) by the European commission in 2000 for antitrust breaches. A major Conservative Party donor, Bamford believes the UK could strike trade deals around the world for the benefit of British businesses.

and 28 June 2018

JCB is investing £50m in building a new factory at its Staffordshire base that will create hundreds of skilled jobs.

The company best known for its bright yellow diggers aims to open the new plant next summer. It will build cabs for JCB’s plant equipment.

Graeme Macdonald, chief executive of the privately owned company, described the investment as one of the largest in JCB’s history.

More than 7,000 employees at manufacturing giant JCB will receive a £1,000 Christmas bonus.

JCB said machine production had reached a 73-year high in 2018 and it had recruited an additional 1,500 staff.

Its chairman Lord Bamford said JCB had had "a very successful year".

The firm - which has plants in Uttoxeter, Rugeley, Rocester, Cheadle in East Staffordshire and Foston, Derbyshire - said it was the biggest Christmas bonus giveaway since 2007.

Lord Bamford added: "I am delighted that we are able to award a substantial Christmas bonus to thank our employees for their contribution."

JCB has 22 plants on four continents manufacturing more than 300 products.

In March the firm said growing global demand drove the creation of 600 new JCB manufacturing jobs.

A new £50m JCB factory - set to open in summer 2019 - will create another 200 jobs, it added.

Looks like they will have a Merry Christmas

bobby47 · December 16, 2018

The final stage of Britain’s farcical attempt to extricate itself from this totalitarian centrist neo communist regime the EU, that’s intentionally designed to create vast wealth for some one hundred global multi billionaires by using cheap migrant labour that’s subsidised by us the worker ants is about to be finally played out.

Within a few months our parliamentarians will commit the British people to a second referendum thus enabling the people to correct their stupidity and their mistake in asking to leave the EU. The parliamentarians will finally drop all pretence of honouring the will of the people and with some underhand cross party collaboration they’ll get what they always wanted and secure Britain to the Union.

And this referendum will not be like our first one. It’ll be very different. It won’t be Leave or Remain. This original democratic mistake that the ruling elite made trusting us to vote for Remain will not be repeated for a second time. The options on the ballot paper will be cleverly designed to make sure we vote to choose between a raft of questions that are worded in such a way that they confuse, bewilder and make one wonder why on earth we ever bothered in the first place.

Three things will ensure we correct our mistake. One, the turn out will be far lower than the original 72%. Many like me will not bother because it’s all been a waste of time and are cognisant that Leave was, is and never will be an option that our rulers can accept. Two, the actual choice of confusing options on the ballot paper and finally, Three. Now the UN and the EU have committed themselves to the issue of Regular Migration and Irregular Migration that’ll make it European and International Law that stipulates anyone and everyone can move from Continent to Continent unchecked because of their Human Right, the issue of Free Movement Of People, which let’s face it was the driving force to vote Leave, will soon become an irrelevance. In short, no matter what you may think about the free movement of people, you’re getting it anyway whether you like it or not! And, more frightening, if the legislators across Europe are successful, and theyre are discussing it, it’ll become a criminal offence to ever question it because it’ll be the next Hate Crime, thus ensuring that the globalisation wealth creation machine continues unabated.

The consequences for this betrayal? The ruling elite won’t care that National election voter turnouts shoot downwards. Should General Election results become unpopular with the people and there’s widespread protest against the result and outcome. They won’t care about that either. And should civil disorder become commonplace and the people begin a programme of violent disorder. Well that’s easy. Nothing to do with them. It’ll be the result of Populist Far Right Neo Facist Racist thugs who’ve never understood how lucky they were to be born to a democratic Country such as Britain.

ragwert · December 22, 2018

LONELY WOMAN RESCUED FROM DINGHY HEADING AWAY FROM DOVER

A lonely woman has been rescued from a dinghy in the English Channel, unusually heading away from Britain.

The woman, who would only answer to the name Theresa, was rescued off the coast of Dover at 4am on Saturday. A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: “The Border Force was contacted by maritime colleagues early on Saturday 16 December. A Border Force cutter and an RNLI lifeboat were deployed to assist the dinghy, and they were surprised to find just one middle-aged, grey-haired woman frantically rowing away from Dover”.

According to the BBC, at least 135 migrants have entered British waters since November 3, but as far as the Border Force is aware, this is the first record of a well-dressed middle-aged woman, wearing designer shoes, trying to leave Britain by dinghy under the cover of darkness.

“The woman was showing early signs of hypothermia as a result of being out in the cold for so long, but otherwise she was physically robust, but my staff were very concerned for her mental health,” said a Border Force officer. “She was uttering, ‘when will this ever end? Why can’t they listen to me? My deal is the best deal possible. Nebulous? I’m not nebulous. I told them, again and again, and still they hate me…’”

When Border Force offices offered to bring the woman back to the UK, she seemed increasingly stressed and anxious. “No, no, no”, she said, “Leave means leave, I must leave, I must leave. Let me be clear. No deal for is better than a bad deal I’m a bloody difficult woman. My boat is strong and stable, let me go. They said we have to leave, they all hate me, they hate me… must leave, must leave, repeat mode, malfunction, malfunction, malfunction…”

megilleland · January 10, 2019

More humour on a serious matter:

From The Slog - 7th January 2019

Quote

For example, rising to his feet this morning during a debate in the House of Lords on control of territorial kebab waters, The Baron Android of Adonis has this to say:

“The British people simply do not appreciate the immediately malign effects on our way of life that will follow Brexit. Nobody will be able to find a taxi in London, because most of the cabbies will be in Calais shipping over the last of the cheap booze before Brussels slaps a 250% tariff on all off it. The taxi queue at Dover will stretch back to Dundee. Our recycling services will be unable to cope with the empties. People will binge-drink, drown in vomit and bring the NHS to a standstill made even worse by the lack of hangover cures and stomach pumps, 137% of which are imported from the EU and….oh alright then, I will give way….”

Lord Fondlebum of Boy: If it in any way helps my friend the honourable Baron, it is also important to point out that our exports of Kentish Domestika to the European Union last year totalled some one hundred bottles, and this crop will now be uncompetitive, resulting in thousands of redundancies among the small boys who tread the grapes….

The Baron Adenoids of Arsinoe: I am grateful to my friend Lord Manglesum of Troy, and know only too well of his keen interest in the well being of these grape-treaders and part-time choristers, who bring so much joy to his diocese. But regarding the shared kebab territorial waters we enjoy with Cyprus as part of the endless benificence of the EU, this will of course be removed at three seconds past midnight on March 29th, thus resulting in a supply-chain breakdown between that bejewelled Mediterranean island and six restaurants in Charlotte Street, with the loss of some three million jobs and a fall in London tourist turnover of 463 Drachma. This is a travesty wrapped in a volcanic eruption and then tied in a disarrayed Dicky-Bow of Armageddon.”

Lord Phillizboots of Green: Baron Dicky Bow of Armageddon is a man of the finest character, and I refute that accusation utterly.

Baroness Thistlebotham of Hunt: I know a joke about health. It’s brirriant.

Lord Andonandon of Akropolis: Go on then.

Thistlebotham: Life sucks when your teeth fall out.

Lord Admonish: I don’t get it.

I thought we needed some light relief from our inept politicians who will sink this country at the end of March.

megilleland · February 1, 2019

This Sceptic Isle - Peter Hitchens

Well worth a watch considering the BBC are always brain washing us to remain in.

megilleland · February 1, 2019

Link to above.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY_BgnZdwko

ragwert · February 3, 2019

Pretty much what most people are thinking,remainers and leavers ..

Brexit & the spayed Parliament

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-x6Ct2OwOA

megilleland · February 15, 2019

Another piece by John Ward spelling it out what is going on regarding Brexit and the continual disregard they have for the electorate of our country.

The People Come Last

From The Slog Feb 15, 2019John Ward

A threader at The Slog yesterday recommended action by Parliament (or whoever) to kill every tenth Remainer. This struck me as a little extreme, albeit potentially enjoyable. The goings-on at Westminster, on the other hand, were unendurably painful.

_

The pain came from various directions: watching the midget bombast John Bercow, listening to SNP rentagobs, enduring Labour hypocrisy, hearing the assertions of third-rate Tory backbenchers and so forth. But primarily, the upsetting part of watching the British political “system” in action these days involves the sheer chaos of it all. Brexit as a crisis has found this out as never before: but if we’re being honest here, the archaic nature of the process at times beggars belief.

The interventions, the giving way and the feigned politesse really do rankle in a Parliament more divided than at any time since Cromwell – and (as opposed to the mid 17th century) unable to choose civil war as an option.

But the complications we’re seeing on Brexit could only have been created by the Whitehall mind. Just as with Rail privatisation in Britain, a negotiation conducted by bureaucrats (without recourse to Parliament) has produced a stream of illogical mayhem.

The architect of this farrago, Oliver Robbins, can sit back and mouth off in Belgian bars: unlike MPs, he will not be ejected from his job. Unlike most workers, he has been paid a whopping bonus for negotiating capitulation to a foreign power – itself in the midst of an existential fiscal and economic crisis. Unlike 1950s born female State pensioners, he can look forward to a gold-plated, index-linked pension. He is the unaccountable authoritarian sociopath predicted by Franz Kafka over a century ago: above the Law, and beneath contempt.

But the anarchy he and the Remoaners have unleashed permeated everything yesterday in the Commons. Backstops, alternatives as yet undefined to backstops, No Deals on and off tables, extensions ruled out and factored in, Customs Unions to be left or embraced, Labour factions, Tory factions, potty SNP amendments, Government amendments, Remain amendments, mass abstentions and redoubled efforts by a Theresa May who didn’t even bother to turn up, and gave precious few clues as to what exactly her next effort will be, redoubled or otherwise.

How many voters in the UK have the time, motivation, discernment and intelligence to extract something from this palace of gasbags? For myself, I can only offer these observations on the day’s proceedings:

* The Corbyn amendment demanding a meaningful vote by February 27th at the latest was defeated. It was important for the élites to do this, because success for Corbyn would’ve made it easier to stop the May/Robbins drift into an Article 50 extension.

* A predictable defeat for the Government requesting a majority to retain confidence in Mother Theresa’s current search for a backstop breakthrough. While not legally binding, this does pave the way for Parliament to stop the May/Robbins drift into an Article 50 extension.

* If these two outcomes strike you as contradictory, congratulations – you are sane and awake.

Beyond this comedy of manners, there is a very real possibility that Robbins and his German ladyfriend in Brussels have concocted a pre-agreed plan (of which May and Hammond will be aware) for an 11.59 pm deal to be revealed some time in mid March.

But knowing the European Commission as I do, I am fairly sure there will be a bitter pill to swallow with it, designed to save their already overly crispy bacon.

So on the basis that this too will founder, the Remaindeer majority in Parliament will take control away from the Executive, legislate to take No Deal off the table, and mandate the Government to ask for an Article 50 extension.

Very, very few people in Britain grasp the profound and potentially calamitous consequences of the Commons seizing power in this way. It could well be that, come March 30th, we will all be citizens of a country where the bureaucrats are engaged in a battle with elected politicians, and elected backbenchers (plus a bent Speaker) are in turn trying to wrest power from the Executive.

This would make us easy meat for the vassal-creators in Brussels. Meanwhile, The People are nowhere to be seen in this nightmare landscape.

megilleland · February 25, 2019

A bit of humour on a serious issue from The Slog

The following is a script based very heavily on the Harry Enfield sketch I Saw You Coming.

Open on exterior shot of pretentious antique shop called I Saw You Coming.

Cut to interior of the shop, where a bored proprietor (played by Jean-Claude Juncker) is reading Machiavelli’s Tax Evasion for Dummies.

A woman enters, instantly recognisable as Theresa May. She browses briefly before spotting an eleven-storey leaning tower of Pisa made entirely of balsa wood matchsticks.

May: This is rather interesting….

Juncker: Oh that? Yes, well….that’s a fine example of 1990s ****. It was made by an obscure Emu called Monnet. Very rare, because it was sold only to a tiny clique in Belgium, and a British enthusiast called Tony Blair. It’s very much a collectors’ item, because even pricks in the currency exchange space rejected it as ****.

May: But it is rather nice.

Juncker: Oh quite…it does have a certain naive charm. I can see you have a good eye….

May: Oh, thank you…

Juncker: What does your husband do?

May: He’s an investment banker…..earns absolutely squillions…..

Juncker: Ah, right….well I tell you what, I can let you have it for 39 billion pounds, and as you’re the Prime Minister….tell you what, I’ll throw in the sandy foundations for a mere £7 billion a day in perpetuity….

May: I say, that’s very kind of you….why would you do that?

Juncker: Well, I saw you coming you see….

megilleland · March 2, 2019

Parallels here to what is happening or going to happen here in the UK. Maybe someone will impeach Theresa May and her conservative colleagues for their abuse of the citizens of the UK.

http://robertreich.org/ (Unable to link as button doesn't work)

Dear Mr. President,

While many of us disagree on ideology and values, we agree on practical things like obeying the Constitution and not letting big corporations and the wealthy run everything.

Your 35-day government shutdown was a senseless abuse of power. So too your “national emergency” to build your wall with money Congress refused to appropriate.

When you passed your tax bill, you promised our paychecks would increase by an average of $4,000, but we never got the raise. Our employers used the tax savings to buy back their shares of stock and give themselves raises instead.

Then you fooled us into thinking we were getting a tax cut by lowering the amounts withheld from our 2018 paychecks. We know that now because we’re getting smaller tax refunds.

At the same time, many big corporations aren’t paying a dime in taxes. Worse yet, they’re getting refunds.

For example, GM is paying zilch and claiming a $104 million refund on $11.8 billion of profits. Amazon is paying no taxes and claiming a $129 million refund on profits of $11.2 billion. (This is after New York offered it $3 billion to put its second headquarters there.)

They aren’t breaking any tax laws or regulations. That’s because they made the tax laws and regulations. You gave them a free hand.

You’re supposed to be working for us, not for giant corporations. But they’re doing better than ever, as are their top executives and biggest investors. Yet nothing has trickled down. We’re getting shafted.

Which is why more than half of us support Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s proposed 70 percent tax on dollars earned in excess of $10 million a year, and more than 60 percent of us support Elizabeth Warren’s proposed 2 percent tax on households with a net worth of $50 million or more.

You’ve also shown you don’t have a clue about health care. You promised us something better than the Affordable Care Act, but all you’ve done is whittle it back.

A big reason we gave Democrats control of the House last November was your threat to eliminate protection for people with pre-existing conditions. Are you even aware that 70 percent of us now favor Medicare for All?

Most of us don’t pay much attention to national policy, but we pay a lot of attention to home economics. You’ve made our own home economics worse.

We’ll give you official notice you’re fired on Nov. 3, 2020, if not before. Until then, you can keep the house and perks, but you’re toast.

Respectfully,

America

megilleland · March 2, 2019