It took seven and a half hours of Theresa May arguing about Brexit with Conservatives who want her job to come up with a great new strategy, and that great new strategy consists of arguing about Brexit with a Labour leader who wants her job. They could have done this by email and saved everyone a whole lot of hassle. Brexit strategy has now come down to the worst Prime Minister in history asking the worst opposition leader in history for help.
Sky News’ Beth Rigby reported that 14 cabinet members were pressing for a no-deal Brexit or a short extension. 12 were demanding a lengthy extension, two kept schtum, and David Mundell hasn’t resigned yet. With a cabinet so hopelessly divided, Theresa May scuttled out of the cabinet meeting to a lectern to tell everyone that what was needed was a cross party compromise because she couldn’t achieve one with her own colleagues.
Compromise? Really Theresa? You don’t say. You know, if you’d done that immediately after the EU referendum then perhaps we wouldn’t all be in this mess now, and it’s taken you an entire day of arguing in order to come up with a cunning plan that ought to have been your first option all those many months ago. The cabinet came out and immediately they individual climbed into separate cars, refusing to answer questions because they don’t have any answers, refusing to speak to one another because they’re no longer on speaking terms.
This is so bad that sitting down with a nice cup of tea and a chocolate hobnob won’t make it all feel better. It’s like after months of arguing about Brexit, and now we’ve drawn the office energy vampire as our secret santa. That’s the future for British politics, arguing about Brexit forever. We didn’t even get a reaction shot of one-man harrumphage Mark Francois as he heard the news that the Prime Minister was apparently ruling out a no-deal Brexit. We could have done with the laugh. Arch-Brexist Mark is what you would get if Captain Mainwaring and an erupting pluke had a love child.
Theresa May’s words were warm like a toilet seat in a public lavvy. It’s not what you expected and it leaves you feeling uncomfortable. And you’d be right to be uncomfortable. There is an implicit trap lurking in Theresa May’s offer to hold talks with Jeremy Corbyn and to seek a short extension to Article 50. Beware of Theresa Mays despairing rifts.
The concern here is that the Prime Minister still wants to avoid any need for the UK to participate in the EU elections. That’s why she’s insistent on a short extension, and she wants the UK to leave the EU by May 22. If the UK remains in the EU beyond that date, legally it must participate in the European elections, which the Prime Minister is determined to avoid, despite all her talk on Tuesday evening of finding a cross party compromise. The worry is that if Labour, and the EU, are foolish enough to consent to her short extension, then the date of May 22 becomes the last possible date for the UK to remain in the EU because by then it will be too late for the UK to organise European elections. It would mean that there could be no further extensions. Then it really does come down to a choice between Theresa May’s deal and no deal at all, because the Prime Minister will have succeeded in taking the possiblity of further extensions off the table.
The other part of the trap is by involving Corbyn, May broadens the blame for failure to come up with a deal that Parliament can agree on. It means that the Conservatives can blame Labour for a Conservative-made disaster. Theresa May doesn’t do compromise. She doesn’t do listening. She doesn’t do consensus. She doesn’t do honesty, and she certainly can’t be taken at her word because her words are always hedged about with caveats and unstated conditions. This is compromise, but only if you define compromise as setting up a fall guy so that there’s someone else to take the rap. This is a compromise that will consist of meeting with Jeremy, having a wee chat about a customs union, rejecting it, and then blaming Jezza for the breakdown in talks.
She’ll probably invite Chuka Umunna as well, so Jeremy will flounce off before the meeting even starts. May says she is offering to sit down with Jeremy to come up with a plan to leave with a deal. But that deal must include her withdrawal agreement. So in other words she doesn’t really want compromise at all. She just wants to see if she can get some Labour MPs to support her.
If Labour were at all wise, they would remind the Conservative leader that in 2016 she said that only the Conservatives could deliver Brexit, and they are going to ensure that she’s held to her word. This is a Tory mess, they need to own it. They need to take responsibility for it. But then Labour and wisdom are two concepts that usually only appear in the same sentence when there’s a negative in there too. Jeremy Corbyn has said that he’s “very happy” to meet with Theresa. The first item on the agenda at the meeting should be “How can anyone believe a word that Theresa May says?” Her last statement was to blame it on Parliament. Her next will be to blame it on Labour.
Still, at least she’s not seeking to speak to the SNP as well. But then Scotland isn’t for listening to, it’s only for being ignored and existing as a reason that whatever Brexit plan is finally decided the British government will still be able to threaten the Scots with pauperisation. We learned today that one of the reasons Theresa May is opposed to the so-called Norway plus option is because it would mean that in a future Scottish independence referendum campaign, the British government would no longer be able to threaten Scotland with a hard border and trade barriers.
So we will give the final word to Douglas Carswell, the Tory MP who left to join Ukip, and who was a co-founder of the Vote Leave campaign. Today Douglas shared some wisdom, and said, “Imagine that there was a union of free nations, but that it then attempted to punish one of its members for wanting to leave it? What might that say about the moral claims of such a union?”
Yes Douglas. Indeed. What does it say about the UK?
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Reblogged this on Ramblings of a 50+ Female.
[…] Wee Ginger Dug Beware of Theresas despairing rifts It took seven and a half hours of Theresa May arguing about Brexit with Conservatives […]
The real deadline remains 12 April. Unless Westminster passes legislation, it will be impossible to run EU elections on May 22. If we get past 12 April with no EU election legislation, the choice becomes stark: TM’s deal, or no deal. We’ve been there before and the cliff edge looms.
This latest offer to talk with Corbyn is a fiction.
Meantime the Conservatives continue to fight like rats in a sack. We need to lob a few bricks in the sack and dump them in the Thames. I think Guy Fawkes had the right idea, all that time ago,
What would happen if Art.50 were revoked, as the UK is entitled to do unilaterally at any time, after it was too late to arrange euro elections? (Is there a lawyer in the house?)
FAB.Described succinctly
We should by now have learned that Theresa mays deal is likely to succeed although there is still a chance of a crash out brexit.
Labour and Conservative and Lib Dem are all in it together they all want brexit and they all want to keep Scotland in UK or rather keep Scotland under the control of England.
Brexit of any sort will cause a Scottish independence referendum.
There will be an almighty battle ahead
we will have to fight those in Scotland wishing Scotland to remain under the control of England
we will have to fight those in Scotland wishing Scotland to remain outside the EU
we will have to fight England for our survival as a country
We will do it
Theatre, misdirection, contradiction, misrepresentation and scapegoating in full flow at this point tbs. Tonight’s lectern non event really was full to bursting with … (let’s be kind), nonsense.
It has never been clearer that Scotland simply has to gain independence.
When folk like Douglas Carswell are accidentally telling us what we should do, its time to wise up.
There can be no silly arguments about too wee, to poor etc. All that rubbish has been conceded as nonsense and propaganda.
The only thing holding us back is simple stupidly.
I know another good poster for the yes campaign.
Theresa said she wanted to break the logJAM with Brexit…..surely she is just merely trying to sort out the PICKLE that she and her party are in. She is desperately trying to PRESERVE her own party and I am sure she does not RELISH the idea of BUTTERING up to Corbyn….as I am sure she will need to CONSERVE her energy for the Brexiteers within her own party
Will she make MINCEMEAT of Corbyn by verbally beating him to a PULP…..If I were Corbyn I would have blown a RASPBERRY at her suggestion and not play GOOSEBERRY to her and her Brexit deal….he would be better SPREADING the word that tis she who is in a JAM as opposed to Brexit being at a logJAM ………………..and state that he would prefer that he was not put in the position of the meat in the SANDWICH between her and her party……….that’s only if he doesn’t turn to JELLY and DISSOLVE….cause this is all reaching BOILING point.
So it looks like we are being offered a Red and Blue Tory Brexit…………….but the SEEDS they plant on this may give us all the PIP in the future…………….however we are not all in a STICKY situation with Brexit……….us Scots do not have to SCRAPE the bottom of the Brexit barrel……..the future for us could be SWEET…………..as opposed to being SOUR if we accept Brexit……….don’t even get me started on SAVOURY !!
A contemptuous Eton mess…
Why can we not just end the treaty of the union.? It’s going to need explaining to a lot of us that want independence and can’t understand how only two countries signed it,and now one of those signaturies wishes to end it,what is the obstacle, why can’t we do it? Am getting to old to wait and see if there’s a happy ever after.
We can James but we need to take a majority of the voting population with us, ideally 60%. or over to highlight a clear democratic desire and to stop any backlash with a narrow margin win as we have with Brexit
James, You have just articulated my questions and sentiments perfectly.
A bit o/t its actually a Question ,
Have the 13 Clowns representing England in Scotland been abducted ? ,not one was present during business today in the Commons , maybe no one has had any time to write their lines for them , because that’s all they have been doing
I believe it’s called Cannon Fodder because they haven’t even pretended to respect the whole of Scotland voting to remain in the EU ,
These clowns just like the ones who plant their arses in our parliament are totally out of step with the rest of the country .
This threat of a hard border is nonsense that the SNP should be destroying with relish. With an Independent Scotland as a full member of the EU, the full might and power of the EU would be behind us. By that time, whether it’s a No deal disaster or Theresa May’s toxic deal, the EU will be calling the shots over UKs trade policy. The EU can veto WTO member ship for the UK, they can veto a trade deal with Japan and if the UK is going to rely on a deal with Trump, he’s going to screw them as well. The UK has already tried to bully a smaller EU member in Ireland and ended up with a bloody nose.
So the point is that, if the UK thought of bullying Scotland with a trade ban, then the EU would quickly come to our defence and put them in their place. Fact is, the UK know this but are just using it as part of project fear Part 2, before Indyref 2
This is why we need to be a full EU member. None of this Norway type membership, where we don’t have a seat, along with the other 27, at the decision making table.
No, Scotland will be sitting at the top table, with a veto over Wangland. Wangland, a much more appropriate name now for rUK.
Well all I can say to the lack of enthusiasm to ending the the treaty of union 1707, except maybe for Margaret Barrie,s response, is this. Teresa May is more worried about the treaty of the union ending than negotiating a good deal for Britain, and I don’t mean the false flag about the backstop, but Scotland being lost to the rest of uk and all it’s resources, including using it for nato practice as it is doing at the moment, Scotland becomes a military target by default for uk wars. I grew up near faslane and the Clyde, I remember having to vacate the beautiful beaches when the siren sounded and warnings came to go indoors, and this was not during war time.
With nuclear plants that have cracks in them on the west coast of Scotland and uk still running them how long do you think you have before waiting for the right moment. I read only yesterday that the military are not commenting on a incident of the North Sea? ehmmm, research it. Yep I,ll vote for independence after we’re blown up.
As a side comment I see under business in Westminster that Angela Leadsom is interested in some amendment to the Scotland Act.
James Cheyne
It’s not so much lack of enthusiasm as being aware that sitting at a keyboard banging out comments to the already Yes on a pro indy site isn’t going to change anything.
I agree with what u say, so I make an effort to casually leave the national in waiting rooms, and mention what a mess Westminster & the uk are in anyone willing to stand still with me for more than five minutes, in a friendly manner as possible and that we need a solution, I seldom mention a political party, I like the person I spoke with to start thinking for themselves of the solution.
I read all the independence sites but do not comment that often on them, Every little bit helps. But I firmly believe that treaty of the union 1707 is no longer legal binding as it has been broken repeatedly and besides the sovereign people of Scotland were never asked in any way as far back as the 1706/1707 if they wished their country to be in a union with England. Anything that came afterwards is illegal by default, even the referendum in 2014 asking us if we wanted to stay with the rest of the uk, because the uk did not exist in 1707.
There is not meant to be a standing army in Britain according to the illegal treaty of the union, the poll tax was also illegal, and of corse when David Cameron allowed the changes to monarchy in 2011 on religion basis that also broke any treaty of the 1707 union, and it does not mention in the treaty of the union 1707 that England will/would become the successor of that treaty, the treaty is an internationally recognised treaty supposedly, so It is easier to become an independent Scotland through the broken treaty than to ask for a long for some sort of referendum, but I don’t understand why we aren’t challenging this.