I believe we've now reached the point beyond stupidity where words have been replaced by mere bursts of air escaping from the lungs. The clown show continues.
Theresa May has told MPs she will seek to re-open negotiations with the EU over the Northern Ireland backstop. The PM said she would go back to Brussels to get a "significant and legally binding change" to the controversial proposal, which aims to stop the return of border checks. The EU has said it will not change the legal text agreed with the UK PM. Mrs May said she knew there was a "limited appetite" in the EU, but she believed she could "secure" it.
That's just aaargh. What in the world makes her think she could do that ? Has the EU shown the slightest hint that they would be willing to change on that ? Of course not, because if they did, they'd be treating Ireland unfairly through no fault of its own. Brexit on the other hand is Britain's fault; what causes problems for us is not really the EU's problem. This continued insistence that "they need us more than we need them" is Flat Earth level of heroic stupidity.
Mrs May said the vote later would be a chance to "send a clear message" to EU on the backstop... Mrs May said backing it would "give the mandate I need to negotiate with Brussels an arrangement that commands a majority in this House - not a further exchange of letters, but a significant and legally binding change to the withdrawal agreement".
Da fuq ? The EU isn't going to change stance, because it can't. What Britain wants is of little consequence. Brexiteers are still acting as though Brexit is some sort of threat we can scare the EU with, somehow. Unless there's some actual, credible alternative to the backstop, then May is little more than an oxygen thief.
But Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Mrs May herself was the "obstacle to a solution"...
Of fer cryin' out loud... NO SHE ISN'T. She's a daft old bat, but she isn't the problem. The problem is Brexit itself. In two years, no-one has proposed a workable solution, because there isn't one. The whole thing is an unnecessary, omnishambolic and farcical solution to a purely fictitious problem conjured as a scapegoat to Tory policies, advocated by demagogues and endorsed by the (sometimes wilfully) ignorant. It is wholly and utterly a self-destructive act of stupidity.
"... and that, whatever happened in the votes later, it had "now become inevitable" that the government would have to extend Article 50 - the mechanism which means the UK leaves the EU on 29 March."
Well, I can't disagree with that, at least in principle. The government clearly should extend Article 50 at the absolute minimum. But will they ? They seem hell-bent on always adopting the stupidest option possible. And it gets worse :
However, Mr Corbyn, told the Commons they wanted a shorter window of three months to allow time for a deal to be finalised.
AAAAAAAARGHHHH.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-47037365
I think it's fairly clear, at this point, that the conservatives are aiming for "No deal" and are just trying to set up the narrative that the nasty EU were being unreasonable. I have no idea what labour are trying to achieve!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I failed to capitalise either party's name for a reason: they don't command enough of my respect to justify it.
ReplyDeleteThis continued insistence that "they need us more than we need them" is Flat Earth level of heroic stupidity.
ReplyDeleteDr Taylor described the efforts of PM May (as well as the Flat Earth movement) as "heroic", defending here as Jeremy Corbyn called here an "obstacle to the solution".
According to him, the problems with Brexit negotiations come from "oxygen thief", which we can no doubt attribute to illegal immigration and undemocratic EU regulations...
(Sorry, couldn't resist)
Thank you, Rhys Taylor.
ReplyDeleteBesides all this travestic tragedy, I had to laugh out loudly!
May I copy your briliant rant over to the "Brexit Insider" Facebook group?
meanwhile, somewhere in the EU: 🍿
ReplyDeleteHere s what i don't understand.
ReplyDeleteIreland doesn't want borders. Northern Ireland doesn't want a hard border. Britain doesn't want one, and The EU doesn't want to make Ireland have it.
But the EU will force it if Brexit.
So doesn't that strengthen Mays position?
In short, Adam Black:
ReplyDeleteWhen the EU and the UK are in different trade areas (this is, after the UK will have left the Single Market), there has to be a border to inspect travelling people and goods.
Being a WTO member, the EU is obliged to do this, because not doing so would effectively be like treating the UK better than other non EU countries, and that would be violating the WTO non discrimatory rules.
These rules basically say that outside of free trade agreements, any WTO member has to offer any other member the same terms for trade an services.
Gerhard Torges can't they offr the same terms but not put in a hard border ? It would the spirit of WTO but so what?
ReplyDeleteSeems like WTO rules are flouted all the time.
Gerhard Torges Thanks ! Yes, of course you can. :)
ReplyDeleteAdam Black The way I see it, it's the UK's fault, not the EU's. The EU is designed to foster peace through greater economic integration. That's it's whole raison d'etre. It must deal with Ireland on the same terms as it deals with the other member states. It cannot and will not punish them by revoking its membership of the customs union.
ReplyDeleteThe UK's first mistake is (obviously, but it needs to be stated) choosing to leave the EU. It wasn't obligated to do so, but it had the option. It's worth remembering that it was a Scottish politician that drafted Article 50, so the UK knew full well what it was potentially getting itself in for. It may not like the possible paths, but it choose to go down one anyway. It could have done things differently. It could have said, "we need to redraft Article 50 before we consider leaving". Difficult, but not impossible. It also could have done and released a full assessment of what leaving would actually mean before holding the vote, which would have been the responsible thing to do to keep voters properly informed. It chose not to do this.
The UK's second mistake has been in deciding absurd terms of exit. It isn't obliged to leave at all, and it isn't obliged to leave the customs union either. But that's what the politicians have decided is the will of the people (God knows how they came to that conclusion, but they did). We could have decided to remain in the customs union. That would require a membership fee, we wouldn't get a say in the rules (if I understand it correctly) but we would still get the economic benefits whilst avoiding at least some of the political aspects of the EU the Brexiteers find so unfathomably objectionable. But we decided that nope, we want to leave the customs union as well.
And that's the problem. The UK has decided to go for the worst possible set of options. The EU doesn't want a hard border any more than the UK does, but the UK is struggling to choose between a hard border and a customs union - and is collapsing under a ridiculous, impossible choice. If Northern Ireland doesn't have a hard border, it is by definition in the customs union because it will allow the free movement of goods. But Northern Ireland cannot be treated differently to the rest of the UK without risking (and it would be a very real, serious risk) the peace process. So if Northern Ireland stays in, we stay in.
It's a stupid situation which the UK bears the full measure of responsibility for.
The way I read it, there's a bunch of filthy rich bastards who stand to gain in a brexit triggered collapse of the UK economy, and them, plus the putin faction, have essentially bought or blackmailed all the main players into sticking to the narrative that it was set in stone ever since the advisory referendum with its known illegal misinformation campaigns. And for them, the worst brexit is the best brexit.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it's time to delete the world and start again. Too much corrupt code.
ReplyDelete