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Photo du Jour: Members of the Independent Group pose for photographs after the announcement that three Tory MPs have joined them. By Stefan Rousseau/PA pic.twitter.com/Uihugvm3o7
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The penalty for stealing a first is to watch 37 repeats of Solo while eating pineapple pizza.
Rather more urgent at the moment is to assess how the splintering impacts on the Brexit outcome. TBH I'm not at the moment of the view that it makes much difference. The defectors will go through the lobbies as independents rather than as rebels, but I think they'll go through the same lobbies as they would have done anyway.
What might change that is if there really is a mass defection (or rather, two mass defections). If they were a group (and especially a reasonably coherent group, on Brexit at least) of a 100 MPs or so, then that would definitely change the short-term Brexit landscape.
I thought you preferred the old dominatrices fro your, umm, more extreme rewards.
But McDonnell went further, calling on the government to consider stripping [British citizens who served in the Israeli army] of their citizenship altogether.
"I am aware of the Government’s policy of detaining and prosecuting those British citizens travelling to fight in the current Middle East conflicts," he wrote. "I am writing to ask if you are aware of how many British citizens are currently fighting with, or are intending to join, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) in and around the Gaza Strip? Will you be making the necessary arrangements to assess the numbers involved?"
The letter, which was written in July 2014, at the height of Israel's war with terrorists in Gaza, went on to ask: "Will you be warning any British citizens considering engagement with the IDF that, in line with established British Government practice (e.g. the deprivation of British citizenship from, to date, at least 40 UK passport holders who have been involved in the Syrian civil war), such engagement may put their British citizenship in jeopardy?
"Given the seriousness of the current situation in Gaza and the apparent escalation of the Israeli attacks on Palestinians, I urge you to address these questions promptly so that any British citizen currently participating or planning to participate in these attacks is warned of the potential consequences and thus may be deterred from acting in this way."
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/200729
Dear god. Self awareness doth not overfloweth.
Therein lies the problem. The triggers aka the Hiroo Onodas of the Brexit referendum have found a party where they can pretend they are on a jungle covered island in which they can fight an irrelevant guerrilla war against peaceful peasants for the next 30 years.
A party free of policy - but rich in signalling virtue.
Ideal for retweets, likes and er not much else.
Those who go to fight with Daesh are making a conscious choice to join an independent terrorist organisation that has carried out attacks in this country.
If Macdonnell can't see the difference, he's a fool. If he can and doesn't care, he's a liar.
And I have never thought he's a fool.
Harking back to the days of the (EU) Empire. Britain needs to look to the future not a backward vision.
They have no respect for the decision taken by 17.4 million voters to leave the EU. The betrayal of brexit is well under way.
https://twitter.com/JenWilliamsMEN/status/1098609496522477568
https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/17206384.the-politics-file-whos-next-as-mps-three-decade-reign-comes-to-an-end/
More recent information here:
https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/17387490.conservatives-choose-newport-councillor-matthew-evans-as-mp-candidate/
And here:
https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/17422436.plaid-select-their-newport-west-parliamentary-candidate/
And here:
https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/17387647.ruth-jones-picked-as-labours-mp-candidate-for-the-third-time/
My instinctive answer is that Labour should still win in this field but Plaid and the Greens might eat into the majority, especially as the Tories haven't made the same dumb mistake of dropping in an outsider they made two years ago.
Have a good afternoon.
Overwise, enjoyed the header, excellent to have some thoughts on what happens next.
Uncaught third strike. Not a stolen base technically, but the same thing in practice.
Give Parliament an ultimatum: My deal or no deal, your choice.
The fact she is still messing around saying "its either my deal, or no deal, or no Brexit" is why she's in this conundrum. She's saying it hoping leavers hear "my deal or no Brexit" and remainers hear "my deal or no deal". But instead of course everyone can hear exactly what she's saying so remainers think "if I want no Brexit I need to reject this deal" and leavers think "if I think no deal is better than a bad deal I need to reject this deal".
Make it a binary choice - and Article 50 provides the options. We have a deal, if you want to take no deal off the table you have to accept it otherwise we will switch to solely preparing for no deal and that will be your choice.
That is like saying to a child "do you homework, or you risk having to go outside and play sport, or having to stay in your room and play computer games".
The reality is the deal is not what most MPs [outside payroll votes] want. They want to either go outside, or play inside. Those who want to go outside are hearing that's an option, those happy to stay inside are hearing that's an option.
The deal needs to be put as a binary choice and then Parliament needs to make a binary choice. Deal or no deal. Until that happens people will continue to reject the deal while still saying they oppose no deal.
Currently everyone has their own pretend deal they back (like I like many Tories back a revised deal minus the backstop), Labour backs their own pretend deal that also doesn't exist, Tigger extremists back neither no deal nor any other deal. Only the ERG out of all those who've rejected the deal are honest enough to say they're OK with no deal.
Let the Tiggers make a real choice. You can have no deal, or this deal. Time's up. Decide now.
If we're going to kick the can, we should kick out May (however that's possible) and say we need a new deal and we're only kicking the can in order to renegotiate a new one. Otherwise it serves no purpose.
Either way, one has to be realistic about the numbers. There's absolutely no point moaning at Theresa May, if all options are blocked to her by parliament.
Evidence based policy might result in the legalisation of drugs as per Portugal rather fighting on forlornly in a war we can't win.
Evidence based policy might conclude that free TV licences for the older population are pretty ridiculous when they are the only ones left watching the BBC.
Evidence based policy might suggest that a tax system which taxes dividend income at a lower rate than NMW earnings is in need of reform.
I could go on but how many groups are they willing to upset?
It's amazing what people will do to make themselves look virtuous.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-47311145
"US actor Jussie Smollett staged a fake attack on himself because he was "dissatisfied with his salary", according to Chicago Police."
https://twitter.com/DailyMailUK/status/1098615492904914946
More than that she is the one who didn't try and take Parliament along with her, she is the one who fought against then conceded on the backstop knowing her own MPs hated it. She is the one who who cancelled the December vote. She is the one who's refused to insist the WA gets reopened. She is the one who hasn't even tried to frame it as a binary vote.
Parliament last time rejected Cooper-Boles and May still keeps banging on about "the risk of no deal, or no Brexit" and hasn't even tried to take one option off the table.
She could have said that it was deal or no deal. Parliament may then override her but that would be their choice, so far that hasn't happened.
Or she could have said it was deal or no Brexit. Parliament may have still not listened to her, but again that would be their choice that hasn't happened.
Instead May has kept every option on the table and is threatening MPs with what they want may happen if they reject her deal. So MPs are acting quite frankly rationally by rejecting her deal to see what they want which is what she's threatnening them with!
They do not like the experience of evidence, because it means having to change deep and long held views in response. No-one likes to change their mind.
If we were honest that most political argument was about values, rather than evidence, then we might have better arguments.
If it looks like a binary choice then, then it will be; and I think it will pass. Because at that point TM will have the power to force a choice between two options. Until then almost everyone is in Micawber's position of waiting for something to turn up. I don't think anything will.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6728839/Englands-WORST-place-live-Peterborough-tops-insalubrious-list-cr-p-towns.html
There's no attack, the fact you think quoting Corbyn's own words is an attack speaks volumes.
The spanner is Cooper-Boles which achieves nothing and just drags the uncertainty on for months more. It is the worst possible thing to be done as it is no answer at all.
SNP are opposing because they don't want to be part of this country and chaos suits them.
DUP oppose because it goes against their very core.
Hardcore [former] Tory extremists like Soubry, Grieve et al oppose any deal.
So where are the votes to come from to see the WA over the line even if it was backed by Baker etc?
The opposition is coming from hardcore extreme Remain Tories who number less than a dozen and aren't shifted by the ERG, and the opposition benches who are playing party politics or have their own priorities.
Remain Tories are remaining remarkably loyal by and large.
Instead, the ERG trashed the agreement and with it their own brand. Soubry is right that very many inside the Tory party are thoroughly fed up with them.
Article 50 of the Treaties of the European Union is crystal clear. We leave automatically on 29 March [or whatever extension date is agreed] with no deal. Unless we agree a deal, or we revoke.
Unless or until Parliament is prepared to revoke, no deal remains firmly on the table. Only the date varies.