A drop of Satan’s blood

risk
In a blatant attempt to use bad news to hide more bad news, on the evening that the British Government was reeling from three Scottish judges having called the Prime Minister liar liar pants on fire – I paraphrase – the Yellowhammer Operation document was officially released. The release comes following the defeat inflicted on the Government during the few days when it actually allowed Parliament to sit, and is one of the reasons why it doesn’t want Parliament to sit until Court Certified Lyin Bastert Johnson gets his way on Brexit.

Now there are those on social media saying, “Oh these documents were released aaaaaages ago, and you just weren’t paying attention. This isn’t new. Sheesh.” And this would be true. However the publication of a leaked document is a very different matter from the publication of a document which the government has been forced kicking and screaming to allow into the public domain. Governments famously do not comment on leaks, meaning that their contents can be ignored. They can’t ignore questions on a document which they themselves have officially published, especially a document which they very clearly didn’t want to be published until they were forced into doing so as the result of a vote in Parliament which the Prime Minister lost. Except that they’ve suspended Parliament, so they can ignore official scrutiny. Had the Prime Minister not suspended Parliament, he’d have faced Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday and would have had to explain himself.

As late as Wednesday morning, Andrea I’m a Mother Leadsom was still refusing to release the Yellowhammer documents. Her reason for not wanting them released was that if they were, then the public wouldn’t want Brexit. This is a problem because her government’s sole raison d’etre is because the public want something that they wouldn’t want if the government told them the truth.

So finally, late on Wednesday, the government published a redacted version of the report. Well I say report. It’s scarcely longer than your average blog post. They’re not exactly straining themselves this mob are they. Even this hauf-airsed piece of work isn’t complying with the instruction from Parliament, because they were told to release the full document and not just the bits that were the least embarrassing.

However there is some doubt about whether the Government has in fact complied with the instruction from Parliament. Late on Wednesday evening former Conservative MP Anna Soubry tweeted that these so-called Yellowhammer papers are not what Parliament demanded the Government publish. She said that this five page report is not a detailed and frank assessments of preparedness or otherwise for no deal nor the detail of the consequences. She added that she knows those papers exist because she saw them in March when she was still a Tory MP, and demanded that the updated versions must be published. Parliament is using the prorogation to hide from Parliamentary scrutiny. If Parliament was sitting the relevant ministers could be questioned directly on this point.

The Government was also told to release all the documents relating to the decision to progrogue parliament. They’re still holding out on those. Even the dug knows the real reason why Parliament was prorogued, and he’s currently lying on the sofa licking his bollocks. As long as the Government sits on the evidence it can keep lying to our faces. However the Government claims it would be an outrage if ministers and officials were to be forced to hand over their personal phones for inspection. I seem to recall that not too long ago women who were the victims of sexual assault were told that they needed to hand over their phones to the police. Seems that it’s only the powerful who have a right to privacy.

But back to Yellowhammer. A yellowhammer is a small bird. Its call is said to sound a bit like “a little bit of bread and no cheese”, which is a very accurate description of the diet we’ll all have following a no deal Brexit. According to legend, the bird was supposed to be a messenger from Satan. Its tongue was held to bear a drop of the Devil’s blood, and the markings on its eggs were said to be a message from Hell. So it’s all very appropriate for a no deal Brexit.

Even the redacted Yellowhammer document predicts riots, shortages of water and food, price rises which will disproportionately affect the poor, and major delays to the supply chain. Medicines and medical products will be particularly vulnerable to severe extended delays. Businesses are expected to cease trading. The agricultural sector will be very badly hit by tariffs. There’s a risk of contamination of the water supplies. But hey, taking back control from those unelected Brussels bureaucrats, ammarite? Bright sunny uplands and all that.

Rosamund Urwin of the Sunday Times received a leaked copy of the Yellowhammer document last month. She says that there is only one significant difference between the version that she received, and the version that the British Government has just been forced to release. The difference is the heading. The leaked version said “BASE SCENARIO”, the newly published version says “HMG Reasonable Worst Case Planning Assumptions”.

Now there’s a bit of a difference between a base scenario and a worst case planning assumption, in that the base scenario is the least you expect to happen, whereas the worst case scenario is, well, the worst. It’s the difference between a doctor telling you that you have at least 5 years of life left in you, or telling you that you have at most 5 years. Neither of them are great news, but the second is considerably more alarming than the first. The base case of a no deal Brexit is a total galactofuck. No wonder they didn’t put that on the side of a bus. Let’s file the new title under “failed attempt at damage limitation”. Brought to you by the people who have suspended Parliament. If the Government really did alter the title of the document in an effort to minimise damage after it had been instructed by Parliament to publish, then it would be in contempt of parliament.

Given the less than rosy picture painted by the document that the Government allowed to be published, a lot of people were wondering exactly what the redacted bits said. On Twitter, Rosamund also published the redacted paragraph 15 of the document. It reads as follows:

“15. Facing EU tariffs makes petrol exports to the EU uncompetitive. Industry had plans to mitigate the impact on refinery margins and profitability but UK Government policy to set petrol import tariffs at 0% inadvertently undermines these plans. This leads to significant financial losses and announcement of two refinery closures (and transition to import terminals) and direct job losses (about 2000). Resulting strike action at refineries would lead to disruptions to fuel availability for 1-2 weeks in the regions directly supplied by the refineries.”

So on top of everything else, a no deal Brexit will lead to thousands of job losses in the refinery industry alone, shortages of fuel, and riots at petrol stations. There may be sunny uplands after Brexit, but you’ll have to walk there. There won’t be any fuel for a car or a bus.

It’s just two months into Court Certified Lyin’ Bastert Johnson’s time as prime minister. In that short time he’s managed to lose 22 of his MPs and with them his majority, he’s lost every single vote he’s had in the Commons, he’s broken the law with an illegal prorogation of Parliament, lied to the Queen, he’s in contempt of Parliament, and he’s had to admit that his core policy will lead to economic devastation, job losses, riots, and shortages of food and medicine. God knows what he will do tomorrow. As long as Scotland remains a part of this dysfunctional so-called union, we are at risk of the likes of unprincipled charlatans like this Prime Minister, a man who has a drop of Satan’s blood on his tongue.


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66 comments on “A drop of Satan’s blood

  1. Chicmac says:

    As I have pointed out a couple of times, something which gets absolutely no mention at all in MSM brexit discussions, is the rather salient point that Remain has lead Leave for over two years, since July 2017 in fact.

    https://whatukthinks.org/eu/questions/if-there-was-a-referendum-on-britains-membership-of-the-eu-how-would-you-vote-2/

    This fact should have been thrown in the face of Brexiteers every single time they say ‘Democracy must be respected.’ (probably their favourite mantra.)

  2. Well summarised, Paul.

    The ‘redacted Yellowhammer document’ is of course, not a ‘document’ at all.

    It is one side of an A4 Management Summary for the idiots who are in the cabinet, the frontispiece of a tome of Impact Analyses prepared by Government Departments in partnership with stakeholders in Mnufacturing Medicine, Agri- and Aquaculture, Finance, Transport, Security, the Defence of the Realm, Immigration, and so,so much more that doesn’t even feature in this laughable wee script.

    Anyone who has any experience or expertise in producing comprehensive reports, which should not only set the evidence of Research Documents, Consultations, Evidence, and Conclusions produced by myriads of working Groups, to inform the Impact Analyses of No Deal, Brexit Light, Brexit Mezzo, and Brexit USA, but also also describe plans to mitigate the adverse impact across a range of scenarios, and present low level contingency plans to politicians, civil service departments, and stakeholders in the Private Sector, and Public Bodies like the NHS, Police, Transport, to name but a few.

    The Yellowhammer synopsis is alarming on many levels.
    To summarise the disaster that is about to hit these shores in 8 weeks time in 15 bullet points insults us all.

    Even on Newsnight tonight it was revealed that 18% of companies are leaving the UK regardless of the severity of Brexit, and 22% are laying off staff in anticipation of a massive downturn in their business.

    If WM were sitting tomorrow, I have no doubt that the Opposition would demand the release of the source documents upon which this risible set of bullet points was based.
    There are massive gaps in the Yellowhammer Study.
    Don’t mention the automative industry; I did but I think that I got away with it.

    What it tells me is that HMG have frittered away 3 years, that the civil servants assigned to Brexit have been hopelessly inadequate, and demonstrated little expertise in undertaking undertake an Impact Analysis of this magnitude, and that we are now governed by a bunch of hapless fools who are just not up to shepherding the UK through this massive Brexit blunder.

    There are massive gaps in this ‘document’, either by design, or ignorance, or a combination of both.

    I think I’ll make an early appointment for my winter ‘flu jab.

    • Ah but Jack, did you not here the bold Dr Whitford t’other night – flu jab? Where are you going to get that from, and who’s deciding the formula for this year right now…

      • I merely want to get my name in the queue, Keith.
        This is very serious stuff.
        The Talking Head (male) on BBC Breakfast announced this morning that HMG had published its ‘contingency plans’ referring to this piece of Yellowhammer tripe.

        The ‘Government’ will produce a similar Gove inspired Frightener, deliberately doom and gloom, because it appears that the YouGov polls incredibly still indicate that 1/3rd of English citizens would still vote for a hard No Deal Brexit.

        The Grand Scheme of the Ultra Right Wing Oligarchy is to plunge the UK into Victorian chaos and vast inequality.
        Consider this: foodbanks are now the norm, three child families are punished financially, the bedroom tax, rape clause, benefits caps, the rich getting richer via Government kick backs and tax breaks, while 130,000 citizens died as a direct result of Red and Beige Tory Collaboration and the tacit approval of the Red Tories and Corbyn Commies, since 2010.

        This farcical Yellowhammer scare story is designed to let the Great Unwashed know that the Many are fucked, and the Few are heading in the direction for which they planned: Dickensian England and its New Empire colonies of Scotland, Wales, and the Dominion of Northern Ireland.
        It’s out of control now.

      • Legerwood says:

        Keith,
        The WHO decides the cocktail of ‘flu strains that go into each year’s ‘flu jab.
        This years ‘flu vaccine will already be in production. It takes 6 to eight months to grow the vaccine and requires 1.5 billion hens’ eggs – to grow the vaccine. They are developing faster ways to produce the vaccine.
        I think there is only one producer in the UK.

    • Petra says:

      Winter flu jab Jack? Seemingly it won’t be available for over 65’s until after October 31st. And then?

      I’m presuming that you don’t fall into that category, being such a youngster … 21 again, so check out what Philippa Whitford has to say about Australian flu and the situation here. https://whitford.scot/2019/09/09/prorogation-disclosure-of-communications-debate-09-09-19/

    • Debbie Oliver says:

      YELLOWHAMMER is also an anagram of ORWELL MAYHEM………which also accurately describes a no deal Brexit. Coincidence?

  3. Bob Lamont says:

    A good and timely piece, not a good week for Doris and the Dreadnoughts.
    As Jack highlighted, what has been released is but an executive summary, and a woefully inadequate one at that, redacting what was already in the public domain by way of the leaked original, an act of monumental stupidity.
    As to the content of 15, fuel shortages (rationing?) and refinery closures are mentioned, but nothing on strangled oil revenue or the damage to the Scottish oil industry? Really?

  4. panda paws says:

    “Even the dug knows the real reason why Parliament was prorogued, and he’s currently lying on the sofa licking his bollocks.”

    I’m not entirely sure you couldn’t have written the same sentence about LBJ.

  5. Macart says:

    Tories do have a LOT of questions to answer about now. Pointed ones.

    To be fair though, a great many parliamentarians have a LOT of question to answer on the rolling omnishambles that is both Brexit and UK politics in general.

    Karma! Accept no substitutes.

    (Also. How did the day off go then? *Ah’ll get ma coat*)

    • Terry callachan says:

      Worst case scenario as painted in yellowhammer describes things that most people over forty will remember from the shortages of sugar and butter and petrol that we have already experienced in the past.

      I am a remainer but I do think that there is a much nonsense talked on the remain side as the brexiters side.

      There will not be a shortage of food in the UK even with a no deal brexit sure some items might not be available for a while whilst alternative supply arrangements are made and some items might well cost more than at present but there will not be an increase in starvation .

      Winding things back the way I remind myself that I voted in this referendum thinking remain would win easily many many people thought that, the brexiters were surprised that they won.
      I did not think about what kind of brexit it would be but I was absolutely aware that trade and travel and immigration would be affected , I’m 64 I remember when all of those were more difficult and more costly before we joined the EU.

      I was sad when the YES side lost the Scottish independence referendum but did not think for a minute that the result should be reversed.
      I’m sad that the brexiters won too but again I do not think that the result should be reversed and what is never ever said in this big discussion is that “deals” are not set in stone they are not “ everlasting deals” so no matter what deal is brokered within the brexit arrangement you can guarantee that as time passes things will change ,new deals will be made even if we are out of the EU.

      The EU will want what is best for the EU

      We will have new governments in the future that will make new deals with the EU

      I’m not in favour of brexit but they won and so brexit should happen.

      What we are seeing right now is not just a fight to ensure “no deal” brexit does not happen

      What we are seeing right now is the losers trying to stop the winners having what they voted for

      We are seeing the losers trying to stop brexit

      I don’t like B Johnson’s way of doing things I’m sad that he was chosen as PM but just around the corner we could be getting N Farage as PM if the losers manage to stop brexit happening by 31/10/2019

      One thing is for sure and that is that we cannot turn the clock back to where we were before the brexit referendum
      People should accept the brexit result let it proceed and then use their vote to change things in the future and yes that will mean that brexit , possibly no deal brexit happens but it is for the brexiters to decide on what brexit we get , our vote did not restrict them to a soft brexit ,we know that and should accept that.

      It’s time for Scotland to leave the UK and become independent then we can ensure that we don’t always see our vote as a meaningless speck in the political sandstorm of things like brexit

      • Anne Martin says:

        Are you not contradicting yourself a wee bit there Terry? You say that the 2014 result should not be reversed, but it’s time for Scotland to leave the UK. You can’t have one without the other.

        • Terry callachan says:

          Hello Anne Martin
          You misunderstand what I said
          I said
          “ I did not think for a minute that the result should be reversed”
          The operative word being “did” rather than “do”

          I was talking about the time of the 2014 referendum result

          No contradiction in saying that I want Scottish independence now
          I wanted it then in 2014 too but the YES side lost and I am simply making the point now that I accepted that we lost in 2014 and that I did not expect the 2014 result to be reversed at that time

          Just like back then in 2014 when I thought it would be wrong to try and change the NO sides win , they won so Scottish independence rightly didn’t go ahead

          I believe now it would be wrong to try and change the brexiters win, they won the vote so brexit has to go ahead

          No contradiction Anne

          Whoever wins the vote wins

      • Marconatrix says:

        I’d normally have to agree with you, were it not that the result was so close and on top of that there was so much misinformation put about, not to mention outright cheating etc. At the very least what would amount to a serious change in the constitution should always require a clear and settled majority, not as it happens something closer to a dead-heat with the needle as it were swithering over the 50% mark.

        • Terry callachan says:

          Look you cannot set out to take part in a vote and then try and change the rules when you lose
          Anything over 50% wins
          Anything that is 50% or less loses

          If it were 50-50 then the remain side would have won
          Brexiters needed over 50%

  6. Andy Anderson says:

    It is getting a wee bit scary right enough. Hopefully some way will be found to stop a ‘no deal’ Brexit even if it means Brexit with a deal.

    Surely what the government is doing must be considered criminal as they wish to deliberately make life worse for all of us.

    I talk to Brexit supporters and raise these negative effects. There heads appear to be up their arses as they will not listen. It is not only horses that wear blinkers. They are in denial.

    The only solution is Independence although I suspect we will be even more economically damaged by the time we get it. We are being damaged now in many ways. I see unemployment is going up already and long time profitable businesses like John Lewis are now in a loss situation.

    In my many years on this Earth this is the worst it have ever been political.

  7. Alba woman says:

    Thank the lord for WGD…you can put into words the emotional storm raging in this country…I feel we have stepped back in time to some sort of dystopian Dickensian nightmare…..looking forward to the great ship of Scotland sailing forth to 2019 and beyond.

    Many thanks and belated birthday wishes.

  8. Brian Powell says:

    It should be said that Labour and the LibDems are happy to stick us with this. To them a bird in the hand is worth nothing, the two or more birds they say the saw in a bush is the important thing.

  9. bringiton says:

    Northern Ireland is still the obstacle the Brexiteers have to overcome to avoid no deal.
    I think BoJo will be desperately trying to find a way to allow NI to effectively remain within the EU.
    This,however,will demand an answer as to why NI can remain but Scotland can’t,both having voted for that outcome.
    When May’s representatives were negotiating with the EU,I believe they told the EU that any deal for NI must not apply to Scotland.
    I wonder why?

    • Bob Lamont says:

      Not sure Johnson has ever desperately done anything, his current focus is on his survival despite being the latest sacrificial goat. All the devious games that have been played since the start of the year have been about undermining EU principles, in Ireland’s case, borders.
      The nutters are still pursuing this despite potential damage to the UK and Ireland, and with majority support enjoyed in England maintained via MSM, the con is still going.

      NI has to be under some form of EU regulatory alignment to avoid a hard border in compliance with EU law but contravention of the GFA. Neither a bordering EU state nor the GFA apply to Scotland.

  10. Terry callachan says:

    There is nothing to be scared of with brexit
    People will get enough food
    People will get their medicines
    Sure we might see certain food items not available your choice might be restricted but you will be able to buy enough food to feed yourselves

    Medicines might be restricted to smaller supplies than normal for example four weeks tablets at a time instead of eight but there is not going to be shortages that lead to people being without
    We are leaving the EU not moving to another planet
    We have had three years preparing for this
    Everything is being hyped by both sides

    • Petra says:

      “There’s nothing to be scared of with Brexit.”

      Do you think so Terry? Look at the damage that has been done to this country, the extent of the misery and deaths that have ensued, due to a Westminster that’s been curbed to some extent by the EU. The repercussions of Westminster unshackled from the EU doesn’t bear thinking about, IMO.

      • Terry callachan says:

        What deaths ? Petra

        • Petra says:

          Google it Terry. There’s dozens of articles about it online, (too many for me to choose from) relating to England only. You can also bet your bottom dollar that that figure is just the tip of the iceberg.

          • Terry callachan says:

            But are you referring to deaths caused by “austerity” or specifically by brexit I mean brexit hasn’t even happened yet how can you blame brexit ?

            • Petra says:

              Deaths due to austerity measures Terry, around 120,000 alone in England … tip of the iceberg no doubt, but do you really think that “austerity” will end if the Tories (or Labour) are in power? Brexit of course is going to result in job losses and a higher cost of living affecting the quality of “survival” for the poorest most of all. The list of the negative impact of Brexit is endless Terry. Too long for me to go into on here, especially as I’m rushing out now.

              • Terry callachan says:

                Austerity has been going on for a decade , nothing to do with brexit
                I agree with you that it has been terrible what the Westminster government has done in the name of austerity but brexit is something else

                Brexit has not happened yet so it cannot be blamed for the 120,000 deaths

                I agree that brexit might cause deaths and great hardship to many but it’s not happened yet

    • Bob Lamont says:

      Whilst I agree there is much hyperbole circulating over Brexit, there is a massive difference between Brexit and “No Deal” Brexit outcomes.

      The “We have had three years preparing for this” is speculative as to which exit was prepared for when and what eventuates. May’s deal had transition, “No Deal” offers “Yellowhammer” which is baseline bad….

      • Terry callachan says:

        Brexit from the very beginning was about changing trade travel and immigration with the EU
        The first thing N Farage did was fly over to the USA for a meeting with D Trump

        OK we might not be able to get fresh fruit and vegetables from the EU at the cheap prices we have become used to but frozen stuff from elsewhere can be brought in easily

        Medicines can be brought in easily from anywhere in the world

      • Bob Lamont says:

        Changing existing arrangement under a managed exit is far removed from the outcome of “No Deal” which is a sudden stop with only basic emergency functions prepared.
        Mirage’s visit to Trump you appear to believe was more important rather than his normal self-promotion, but for the life of me I cannot understand why?
        Fresh fruit and veg is 90-95% from the EU in November, the Freight Association advised the Committee only a few days ago that they were still in disarray over HMG/EU arrangements, yet you suggest it’s simply a case of ordering frozen from the US and waiting 17 days?
        There are a range of medicines which have no alternative sources to the EU (eg – there is no UK insulin production, isotopes, etc., etc.), so it is naive to suggest UK approved treatments can be sourced elsewhere or ensure they get the current rapid delivery required before they become useless. JRM made the same daft assertion last week and got torn to ribbons by the BMA, we are not talking about aspirin.
        Whatever your view on Brexit, “No Deal” is simply plain daft and completely avoidable.

        • Terry callachan says:

          Not true Bob
          People around the world have a need for insulin and all the other medicines we use in UK
          There are no UK specific medicines exist that I know of , we in the UK do not suffer any illnesses that are unique to UK
          The medicines required will be sourced from alternative suppliers if necessary or we will simply have to pay more to the EU for them

          As for fruit and veg the same applies we either pay the cost if we buy from EU or we buy elsewhere

          The idea that just because we leave the EU we will no longer be able to get fruit veg and medicines is just outrageously stupid and quite frankly it’s unecessary scaremongering

        • Bob Lamont says:

          Agreed that there is a lot of scaremongering, but your notion that it is simply a sourcing issue under “No Deal” ignores the changed environment of the UK supply chain and dependence on external supplies.
          Existing arrangements for everything in the UK follows the JIT model (aside minor stockpiling), warehousing capacity and mass refrigerated storage as previously existed is no more.
          All our supply chains rely on rapid and cyclic transport which even the Freight people slated to Evette Cooper’s Committee this week as in chaos under “No Deal” despite preparations. One truck with the wrong paperwork in the line halts it’s own cycle and everything in the queue behind. There will doubtless be priority for urgent or short life meds, but that doesn’t help if you’re stuck in back of a traffic jam before hitting the priority lane.
          “No Deal” is not simply a cost or sourcing issue but a logistical nightmare on changeover, the ramifications of which for those depending on imported meds should not be lightly dismissed.

    • ArtyHetty says:

      The idea that it’ll all be just a bit inconvenient is absolutely staggeringly stupid.

      You say ‘we have had three years preparing for this’. Maybe speak to a few folk in the EU who have been trying to encourage the Tory gov in England to ‘prepare’ and the UK so called, gov have done absolutely diddly squat!

      That is why ‘we’ are being so wrecklessly driven towards a catastrophically damaging Brexit for business, for agriculture, fishing, for yes basics like food and medicines. The one that will really upset people, even the Brexiters, is not having any petrol, and maybe unless they have wood burners, having no electricity in the deep mid, extremely cold winter that we are apparently going to suffer just as Brexit kicks in.

      ‘We’ here in Scotland are certainly ‘NOT LEAVING THE EU’, we are being draggged out kicking and screaming by the hair, and the British Nationalists about to make a few £billion, will not care if that whole head is ripped off of Scotland!

      There has been NO preparation, and the contemptous UK London English government, have utterly disgracefully locked Scotland out of any negotiations, which in any case led to nothing positive, and no solution to the backstop.

      The Tories are about to throw England to the dogs along with the other three nations of the so called UK.

      I think we all know who will suffer most when the sh*t really hits the fan with regard to food, fuel and medicine shortages and it won’t be the south of England that’s for sure.

      Scotland will be last on the list for delivery of life saving essentials, it will be sanctioning by default.

      Not what ‘we’ in Scotland voted for in any shape or form, nor were included in re, the ‘preparation’ you are so sure took place. ( which is laughable quite frankly).

      I bet you will be one of the first to scream and shout when your food rations run low or you can’t get any petrol. The Britnats will be the ones rioting and whingeing about that!

      People will die, it’s quite obvious and not rocket science to see just what is in store for the people of the UKok.

      We are royally screwed if brexit goes ahead, no matter which form it takes.

    • Hr Anderson says:

      “People will get their medicines”

      And you know this how? I rely on two sets of drugs to keep me alive. One I know for sure comes from Germany, this is the anti cancer drug, the other from somewhere in England.

  11. Petra says:

    Brilliant contribution once again Paul. Keeping on top of the political shenanigans, no mean feat, and condensing / clarifying it all as we go along. Great stuff.

    I see that the NIrish court has dismissed the legal challenge in relation to a No Deal Brexit now. I wonder if they’ll be deemed to be biased?

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-49676133

    • Terry callachan says:

      I believe the wording used by the courts has been that what B Johnston has done was either unlawful or lawful but they have not used the words illegal or legal and I believe the difference in those two sets of words is particularly important in a legal framework.
      None of the courts has directed that B Johnston should now take particular action and OK the Scottish court has still to give its full decision tomorrow but if they were directing him to take certain action we would have heard about it by now.

      The Scottish court has left it to the Supreme Court to make any direction but will they do so ?
      The chances are that the Supreme Court will do what it normally does which is say that the government makes the laws ,the courts decide if the laws have been broken and then just like the Scottish court they will stop short of saying that what the government / B Johnston did was illegal .

      Do you honestly see the Supreme Court to say that the Westminster government broke the law

      • Bob Lamont says:

        The difference may perhaps swing it Terry, the judgements of CoS (allegedly by different methodologies) were that the normal leeway afforded politicians was breached in this case, and crucially it was a unanimous verdict of 3 judges.
        That will carry massive weight with the SC irrespective of the jurisdiction, precisely because the prior case as others followed the principle of leeway, yet was given leave to appeal to the “big boys” in CoS. In CoS now deferring “action” to the SC the fuse was lit unanimously by finding of guilt so SC now sit on the bomb. How far leeway extends before devious politicians are called to account is that old chestnut of “regaining sovereignty and control over our own laws”, another Mail headline before they attempted to besmirch senior judges, again.. 🙂

        • Terry callachan says:

          I agree , we will see what the SC come up with
          I think they will bottle it
          I’m looking forward to seeing how Lord Reed words his cop out

          Reed is only deputy he becomes head honcho January 2019 but I cannot see the outgoing head honcho dame whatshername putting such a crucial decision in her name

      • Golfnut says:

        @Terry Callaghan.

        Since you don’t understand what unlawful and nullification mean in legal terms, I don’t think anybody should give credence to your assertion that Brexit in any form won’t be that bad.
        For your information, nullification means that the courts judgement is that because it was unlawful that Parliament hasn’t been prorogued. The SC will either uphold or reverse that judgement.

        • Terry callachan says:

          Hello Golfnut and a good evening to you too

          I don’t think you are correct, parliament has been prorogued there is nobody there, it’s closed for business.
          What we have seen is a court in england saying nothing to do with the courts and a court in Scotland saying it is something to do with the courts
          but they have not instructed the Westminster government to do anything
          They have instead said we will just let the Supreme Court make a decision and let them instruct the government to take any action they deem necessary.

  12. Petra says:

    Caring, compassionate Tories, eh? A policy that’s actually underway already. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-49676133

  13. Petra says:

    Jeezo! I’ve just seen the front page of the Daily Mail on the Politics Live programme. The whole page is taken up with photographs of the three Scottish judges along with comment tearing them apart. On a positive note this should get right up the noses of many Scots, including the judiciary in Scotland. Apologies for not being able to post it.

  14. Welsh Sion says:

    I am currently busy editing a Welsh translation of the following document:

    Transporting goods between the UK and EU in a no-deal Brexit:
    guidance for hauliers

    September 2019

    as just published by the UK Department for Transport.

    As you can see, HMG are cutting it extremely fine if the UK leaves the EU without a deal on 31 October 2019 (as anticipated). The mind boggles how hauliers, drivers, exporters etc will be able to fully comply with the requirements by the time limit.

    Take just this one example:

    “UK drivers working or wanting to work for EU businesses should therefore exchange their UK Driver CPC [Certificate of Professional Competence] (for an EU Driver CPC before the UK leaves the EU. Apply to the relevant body in an EU or EEA country to exchange a UK Driver CPC. Visit gov.uk/brexit-hauliers. […]

    This is because in a no-deal Brexit UK-issued CPC will no longer be recognised as a valid qualification by EU employers.”

    Or this:

    “UK passport holders may need to renew their British passports earlier if they are travelling after a no-deal Brexit. On the day of travel, a driver will need the passport to have at least 6 months left to travel to countries in Europe (not including Ireland).”

    And there’s a whole list of documentation the drivers must carry in their cabs at all times. And if they don’t have them … I guess they’re at the mercy of those Johnny Furriners who man the customs’ posts for their countries …

    And as for yellowhammers – consider a Welsh translation: ‘Gwas y Neidr’ (The Snake’s man-servant). Allegedly because the squiggly lines on its eggs resembles a snake. Though, as was mentioned before, with regards to ‘Satan’s Messenger’ and the oft equating of Old Nick with a serpent, the analogy fits.

    Anyone wanna send some optimism my way? Please?

  15. Welsh Sion says:

    NI backstop info from that DfT document I’m editing:

    Drivers moving goods between Ireland and Northern Ireland will face different customs procedures compared to other UK–EU trade. Further information can be found on GOV.UK.19

    19 http://www.gov.uk/guidance/trading-and-moving-from-northern-ireland-to-ireland-in-a-no-deal-brexit

  16. Yellowhammer is not the worst case scenario. That is Black Swan and they are not publishing that, or even admitting its existence at the moment.

    • These are the vast archives of source documents ‘behind’ the farcical one page redacted Management Summary to which I refer earlier.
      They are available and a matter of public record.

      What Gove doesn’t want us to see are comprehensive and factually accurate submissions from Captains of Industry, Bankers, Surgeons, Clinicians, TOTO in the Police/ Armed Forces, and so on.
      There is a danger that we might actually believe the ‘experts’ whom the slack jawed Gove has dismissed as scaremongers.
      I note on twitter that someone has worked out that Yellowhammer is an anagram of Orwell Mayhem.
      Chapeaux to the mandarin who assigner ‘Yellowhammer’ to this farce, if deliberate.

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