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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Rebels without a get-out clause. Why you shouldn’t expect many

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  • Options
    paulyork64paulyork64 Posts: 2,461

    kle4 said:

    On initialisms, surely we need something in place of LGBTIQ+? It was not pronounceable back when it was only 4 letters, but much more than that and it is clunky to sound out each character.

    Playing with fire there son...you miss off any of that and somebody loses their shit and calls you transphobic etc.
    when we were at LGBTI I spotted that we only needed an E for them to be GIBLETs. not sure how Q got in there or what it means TBH.
  • Options
    El_CapitanoEl_Capitano Posts: 3,870

    ERG & DUP are opposing all amendments to the MV, including the Swire and Murrison amendments.

    The ERG and the DUP are now the same party. Anyone any good at anagrams? You could also throw in UKIP and BNP for fun.
    Democratic European Research Party. DERP.

    https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/derp

    https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/derp
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,181

    kle4 said:

    On initialisms, surely we need something in place of LGBTIQ+? It was not pronounceable back when it was only 4 letters, but much more than that and it is clunky to sound out each character.

    Playing with fire there son...you miss off any of that and somebody loses their shit and calls you transphobic etc.
    when we were at LGBTI I spotted that we only needed an E for them to be GIBLETs. not sure how Q got in there or what it means TBH.
    Queer.

    I'm surprised it's survived, given its rather homophobic overtones.
  • Options
    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,095
    ydoethur said:

    https://twitter.com/PolhomeEditor/status/1084755578436624384

    Is this actually liable to escalate into some kind of crisis or is it just the media hyperventilating? The idea of Salmond and Sturgeon getting into a full-scale catfight with one another seems somewhat improbable, though then again what do I know?

    Surely a catfish fight?

    But I think they're just carping at each other.

    Entertaining though it would be to see the SNP implode over a sex scandal, I hope it doesn't happen just yet. Nicola should farm him out to the DUP or something.
    Fish puns! Brill......
  • Options
    murali_smurali_s Posts: 3,040
    Evening folks!

    No Brexit or No Deal - what will it be?
  • Options
    kinabalukinabalu Posts: 39,162


    Doesn’t take much to negotiate them both simultaneously and simply sign one and then the other in the EU’s desired sequencing with the effectiveness of the first conditional on signing the second.

    But in that case no Withdrawal Treaty would be required. We would just implement the Trade Deal having got it done in the 2 years from the triggering of article 50. Seems unrealistic.
  • Options
    BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 31,636
    edited January 2019

    Foxy said:

    I think I have been advocating for this as long as I have been posting on PB...disadvantaged kids would be far better off under this approach then the current “fair access” silliness.

    https://amp.theguardian.com/education/2019/jan/14/universities-should-give-offers-after-results-day-says-study

    My medical school has had this policy for some years, for undergraduate Medical Degrees. It has had an effect as private schools often over egg their predictions and state schools under do them. The extra year of maturity helps too.
    Even if they are over-egging / under doing it, given past performance I can imagine there is also plenty of conscious and subconscious bias of well that’s a good school they have had loads of kids come here with top grades vs we don’t get many / any from there, could be a bit risky if they will actually get that.
    Which brings us back to the inequities of private education. There was a very interesting article in The Observer at the weekend. It's well worth a read even if you are very pro private education.

    https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/jan/13/public-schools-david-kynaston-francis-green-engines-of-privilege
  • Options
    JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,901

    ydoethur said:

    https://twitter.com/PolhomeEditor/status/1084755578436624384

    Is this actually liable to escalate into some kind of crisis or is it just the media hyperventilating? The idea of Salmond and Sturgeon getting into a full-scale catfight with one another seems somewhat improbable, though then again what do I know?

    Surely a catfish fight?

    But I think they're just carping at each other.

    Entertaining though it would be to see the SNP implode over a sex scandal, I hope it doesn't happen just yet. Nicola should farm him out to the DUP or something.
    Fish puns! Brill......
    Hmm I need a good fish pun. I will have to mullet over.
  • Options
    paulyork64paulyork64 Posts: 2,461
    ydoethur said:

    kle4 said:

    On initialisms, surely we need something in place of LGBTIQ+? It was not pronounceable back when it was only 4 letters, but much more than that and it is clunky to sound out each character.

    Playing with fire there son...you miss off any of that and somebody loses their shit and calls you transphobic etc.
    when we were at LGBTI I spotted that we only needed an E for them to be GIBLETs. not sure how Q got in there or what it means TBH.
    Queer.

    I'm surprised it's survived, given its rather homophobic overtones.
    thanks. so how is that any different from the G?
  • Options
    NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,326

    https://twitter.com/PolhomeEditor/status/1084755578436624384

    Is this actually liable to escalate into some kind of crisis or is it just the media hyperventilating? The idea of Salmond and Sturgeon getting into a full-scale catfight with one another seems somewhat improbable, though then again what do I know?

    That's what I thought. But FWIW Radio 4's 5pm programme was absolutely hyperventilating about it - the commentators said it was "extraordinary", "civil war", and much more. If I were an SNP supporter I'd be pretty cheesed off that they weren't asked to reply.

    I've incidentally always thought it odd that there's an hour of news from 5 to 6, immediately followed by half an hour of news.
  • Options
    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,095
    Jonathan said:

    ydoethur said:

    https://twitter.com/PolhomeEditor/status/1084755578436624384

    Is this actually liable to escalate into some kind of crisis or is it just the media hyperventilating? The idea of Salmond and Sturgeon getting into a full-scale catfight with one another seems somewhat improbable, though then again what do I know?

    Surely a catfish fight?

    But I think they're just carping at each other.

    Entertaining though it would be to see the SNP implode over a sex scandal, I hope it doesn't happen just yet. Nicola should farm him out to the DUP or something.
    Fish puns! Brill......
    Hmm I need a good fish pun. I will have to mullet over.
    You could change your avatar - to Red Mullet....!
  • Options
    BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 31,636
    murali_s said:

    Evening folks!

    No Brexit or No Deal - what will it be?

    No Brexit
  • Options
    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,095

    https://twitter.com/PolhomeEditor/status/1084755578436624384

    Is this actually liable to escalate into some kind of crisis or is it just the media hyperventilating? The idea of Salmond and Sturgeon getting into a full-scale catfight with one another seems somewhat improbable, though then again what do I know?

    That's what I thought. But FWIW Radio 4's 5pm programme was absolutely hyperventilating about it - the commentators said it was "extraordinary", "civil war", and much more. If I were an SNP supporter I'd be pretty cheesed off that they weren't asked to reply.

    I've incidentally always thought it odd that there's an hour of news from 5 to 6, immediately followed by half an hour of news.
    Just to add an extra layer of complexity to a General Election - the SNP splitting into two factions who won't talk to each other!
  • Options
    JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,901
    edited January 2019
    murali_s said:

    Evening folks!

    No Brexit or No Deal - what will it be?

    "or"

    (nothing concrete, more delay, fudge or another vote)
  • Options

    https://twitter.com/PolhomeEditor/status/1084755578436624384

    Is this actually liable to escalate into some kind of crisis or is it just the media hyperventilating? The idea of Salmond and Sturgeon getting into a full-scale catfight with one another seems somewhat improbable, though then again what do I know?

    That's what I thought. But FWIW Radio 4's 5pm programme was absolutely hyperventilating about it - the commentators said it was "extraordinary", "civil war", and much more. If I were an SNP supporter I'd be pretty cheesed off that they weren't asked to reply.

    I've incidentally always thought it odd that there's an hour of news from 5 to 6, immediately followed by half an hour of news.
    Just to add an extra layer of complexity to a General Election - the SNP splitting into two factions who won't talk to each other!
    Well, they wouldn't want to be left out, would they?
  • Options
    Black_RookBlack_Rook Posts: 8,905

    https://twitter.com/PolhomeEditor/status/1084755578436624384

    Is this actually liable to escalate into some kind of crisis or is it just the media hyperventilating? The idea of Salmond and Sturgeon getting into a full-scale catfight with one another seems somewhat improbable, though then again what do I know?

    That's what I thought. But FWIW Radio 4's 5pm programme was absolutely hyperventilating about it - the commentators said it was "extraordinary", "civil war", and much more. If I were an SNP supporter I'd be pretty cheesed off that they weren't asked to reply.

    I've incidentally always thought it odd that there's an hour of news from 5 to 6, immediately followed by half an hour of news.
    Maybe it's like the 24 hour news channel - recycling the same four stories in a loop to save money?
  • Options
    MTimTMTimT Posts: 7,034

    ERG & DUP are opposing all amendments to the MV, including the Swire and Murrison amendments.

    The ERG and the DUP are now the same party. Anyone any good at anagrams? You could also throw in UKIP and BNP for fun.
    Democratic European Research Party. DERP.

    https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/derp

    https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/derp

    ERG & DUP are opposing all amendments to the MV, including the Swire and Murrison amendments.

    The ERG and the DUP are now the same party. Anyone any good at anagrams? You could also throw in UKIP and BNP for fun.
    If you left out the DUP, you could end up with a stuttering swine, a Bunker P-pig
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,181

    ydoethur said:

    kle4 said:

    On initialisms, surely we need something in place of LGBTIQ+? It was not pronounceable back when it was only 4 letters, but much more than that and it is clunky to sound out each character.

    Playing with fire there son...you miss off any of that and somebody loses their shit and calls you transphobic etc.
    when we were at LGBTI I spotted that we only needed an E for them to be GIBLETs. not sure how Q got in there or what it means TBH.
    Queer.

    I'm surprised it's survived, given its rather homophobic overtones.
    thanks. so how is that any different from the G?
    Dunno. But I didn't come up with it, so I'm not responsible for any tautologies.
  • Options
    PolruanPolruan Posts: 2,083
    Jonathan said:

    ydoethur said:

    https://twitter.com/PolhomeEditor/status/1084755578436624384

    Is this actually liable to escalate into some kind of crisis or is it just the media hyperventilating? The idea of Salmond and Sturgeon getting into a full-scale catfight with one another seems somewhat improbable, though then again what do I know?

    Surely a catfish fight?

    But I think they're just carping at each other.

    Entertaining though it would be to see the SNP implode over a sex scandal, I hope it doesn't happen just yet. Nicola should farm him out to the DUP or something.
    Fish puns! Brill......
    Hmm I need a good fish pun. I will have to mullet over.
    The penultimate day of the withdrawal agreement debate is no time for cheerful matters like fish puns. We should delay tilapia times.
  • Options
    viewcodeviewcode Posts: 18,698
    edited January 2019
    DavidL said:

    I think I have done being polite. The morons in the ERG are a public menace. How they can think that we will have any kind of working relationship with the EU after spending 2 years agreeing what our liabilities are and then refusing to pay them, agreeing the framework of a trade deal and then telling them we want to start again and how it somehow doesn't matter that their government (on paper at least) doesn't have even the beginnings of a statutory framework or preparatory work done for no deal but we should somehow barge ahead anyway.

    I mean, seriously, how do they think that is going to go for us or for our relations with the EU?Idiots.

    You're assuming that they intend to act in the interest of the United Kingdom. That's not necessarily the case. The reasons why I disdain concepts like "Anglosphere", "Canzuk" is that they are abstract nouns not coterminous with the UK. If one is loyal to them one need not be loyal to the UK (which is inconveniently real and demands taxes), and in some cases one may even act against it. Couple that with English exceptionalism, the belief that distance doesn't matter, and the belief that it is better to trade with ones friends, and you see why they are acting as they are. They're not idiots: they're acting rationally. But I don't think they're acting for the people of the UK.
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,181
    Jonathan said:

    ydoethur said:

    https://twitter.com/PolhomeEditor/status/1084755578436624384

    Is this actually liable to escalate into some kind of crisis or is it just the media hyperventilating? The idea of Salmond and Sturgeon getting into a full-scale catfight with one another seems somewhat improbable, though then again what do I know?

    Surely a catfish fight?

    But I think they're just carping at each other.

    Entertaining though it would be to see the SNP implode over a sex scandal, I hope it doesn't happen just yet. Nicola should farm him out to the DUP or something.
    Fish puns! Brill......
    Hmm I need a good fish pun. I will have to mullet over.
    Your style isn't bad, but you come across as a bit crabbed.
  • Options
    AmpfieldAndyAmpfieldAndy Posts: 1,445
    edited January 2019
    Grieve and Boles and their supporters, by their actions, clearly telling the electorate that when they said they would listen to the voice of the electorate on Brexit, they didn’t mean it. Nor did they mean it when they campaigned on a manifesto commitment to exit the customs union and the Single Market.

    ERG have simply been too lazy to put together a coherent plan for Brexit. May has come up with a plan that breaches her own red lines and manifesto commitments that is universally reviled.

    Labour are utterly clueless on this subject as on most.

    Where it all ends up is anyone’s guess. Not a great advert for British democracy though, if you can still call it democracy given the direction Grieve is reported to be heading.
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,181
    Polruan said:

    Jonathan said:

    ydoethur said:

    https://twitter.com/PolhomeEditor/status/1084755578436624384

    Is this actually liable to escalate into some kind of crisis or is it just the media hyperventilating? The idea of Salmond and Sturgeon getting into a full-scale catfight with one another seems somewhat improbable, though then again what do I know?

    Surely a catfish fight?

    But I think they're just carping at each other.

    Entertaining though it would be to see the SNP implode over a sex scandal, I hope it doesn't happen just yet. Nicola should farm him out to the DUP or something.
    Fish puns! Brill......
    Hmm I need a good fish pun. I will have to mullet over.
    The penultimate day of the withdrawal agreement debate is no time for cheerful matters like fish puns. We should delay tilapia times.
    We're just trying to reduce the tench-un.
  • Options
    Black_RookBlack_Rook Posts: 8,905
    murali_s said:

    Evening folks!

    No Brexit or No Deal - what will it be?

    More likely No Brexit...

    https://twitter.com/hilarybennmp/status/1084859849735852032

    https://twitter.com/steverichards14/status/1084880122040254470

    https://twitter.com/steverichards14/status/1084881144934473729

    The more May digs her heels in, the more likely that some kind of ramshackle Parliamentary coalition will be patched together by desperate pro-EU MPs to stop Brexit, one would've thought.

    Of course, No Deal is the current default position, and it's still possible if no majority can be assembled to defeat May once and for all.
  • Options
    JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,901
    edited January 2019
    ydoethur said:

    Jonathan said:

    ydoethur said:

    https://twitter.com/PolhomeEditor/status/1084755578436624384

    Is this actually liable to escalate into some kind of crisis or is it just the media hyperventilating? The idea of Salmond and Sturgeon getting into a full-scale catfight with one another seems somewhat improbable, though then again what do I know?

    Surely a catfish fight?

    But I think they're just carping at each other.

    Entertaining though it would be to see the SNP implode over a sex scandal, I hope it doesn't happen just yet. Nicola should farm him out to the DUP or something.
    Fish puns! Brill......
    Hmm I need a good fish pun. I will have to mullet over.
    Your style isn't bad, but you come across as a bit crabbed.
    Eff Orfe.
  • Options
    Black_RookBlack_Rook Posts: 8,905
    ydoethur said:

    Polruan said:

    Jonathan said:

    ydoethur said:

    https://twitter.com/PolhomeEditor/status/1084755578436624384

    Is this actually liable to escalate into some kind of crisis or is it just the media hyperventilating? The idea of Salmond and Sturgeon getting into a full-scale catfight with one another seems somewhat improbable, though then again what do I know?

    Surely a catfish fight?

    But I think they're just carping at each other.

    Entertaining though it would be to see the SNP implode over a sex scandal, I hope it doesn't happen just yet. Nicola should farm him out to the DUP or something.
    Fish puns! Brill......
    Hmm I need a good fish pun. I will have to mullet over.
    The penultimate day of the withdrawal agreement debate is no time for cheerful matters like fish puns. We should delay tilapia times.
    We're just trying to reduce the tench-un.
    Enough of this codswallop sir! Know your plaice.
  • Options
    JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,901

    ydoethur said:

    Polruan said:

    Jonathan said:

    ydoethur said:

    https://twitter.com/PolhomeEditor/status/1084755578436624384

    Is this actually liable to escalate into some kind of crisis or is it just the media hyperventilating? The idea of Salmond and Sturgeon getting into a full-scale catfight with one another seems somewhat improbable, though then again what do I know?

    Surely a catfish fight?

    But I think they're just carping at each other.

    Entertaining though it would be to see the SNP implode over a sex scandal, I hope it doesn't happen just yet. Nicola should farm him out to the DUP or something.
    Fish puns! Brill......
    Hmm I need a good fish pun. I will have to mullet over.
    The penultimate day of the withdrawal agreement debate is no time for cheerful matters like fish puns. We should delay tilapia times.
    We're just trying to reduce the tench-un.
    Enough of this codswallop sir! Know your plaice.
    We are but mere minnows, unlike grayling and rudd.
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,181

    ydoethur said:

    Polruan said:

    Jonathan said:

    ydoethur said:

    https://twitter.com/PolhomeEditor/status/1084755578436624384

    Is this actually liable to escalate into some kind of crisis or is it just the media hyperventilating? The idea of Salmond and Sturgeon getting into a full-scale catfight with one another seems somewhat improbable, though then again what do I know?

    Surely a catfish fight?

    But I think they're just carping at each other.

    Entertaining though it would be to see the SNP implode over a sex scandal, I hope it doesn't happen just yet. Nicola should farm him out to the DUP or something.
    Fish puns! Brill......
    Hmm I need a good fish pun. I will have to mullet over.
    The penultimate day of the withdrawal agreement debate is no time for cheerful matters like fish puns. We should delay tilapia times.
    We're just trying to reduce the tench-un.
    Enough of this codswallop sir! Know your plaice.
    Is that your sole contribution? If so it's a tartar.
  • Options
    Black_RookBlack_Rook Posts: 8,905
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Polruan said:

    Jonathan said:

    ydoethur said:

    https://twitter.com/PolhomeEditor/status/1084755578436624384

    Is this actually liable to escalate into some kind of crisis or is it just the media hyperventilating? The idea of Salmond and Sturgeon getting into a full-scale catfight with one another seems somewhat improbable, though then again what do I know?

    Surely a catfish fight?

    But I think they're just carping at each other.

    Entertaining though it would be to see the SNP implode over a sex scandal, I hope it doesn't happen just yet. Nicola should farm him out to the DUP or something.
    Fish puns! Brill......
    Hmm I need a good fish pun. I will have to mullet over.
    The penultimate day of the withdrawal agreement debate is no time for cheerful matters like fish puns. We should delay tilapia times.
    We're just trying to reduce the tench-un.
    Enough of this codswallop sir! Know your plaice.
    Is that your sole contribution? If so it's a tartar.
    I'm an old trout, I can't be putting up with all this sprattling on.
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,181
    Jonathan said:

    ydoethur said:

    Polruan said:

    Jonathan said:

    ydoethur said:

    https://twitter.com/PolhomeEditor/status/1084755578436624384

    Is this actually liable to escalate into some kind of crisis or is it just the media hyperventilating? The idea of Salmond and Sturgeon getting into a full-scale catfight with one another seems somewhat improbable, though then again what do I know?

    Surely a catfish fight?

    But I think they're just carping at each other.

    Entertaining though it would be to see the SNP implode over a sex scandal, I hope it doesn't happen just yet. Nicola should farm him out to the DUP or something.
    Fish puns! Brill......
    Hmm I need a good fish pun. I will have to mullet over.
    The penultimate day of the withdrawal agreement debate is no time for cheerful matters like fish puns. We should delay tilapia times.
    We're just trying to reduce the tench-un.
    Enough of this codswallop sir! Know your plaice.
    We are but mere minnows, unlike grayling and rudd.
    I have a vision of Grayling deep fried, served up with some nice chips.

    Before anyone thinks Justin or Tim/Grabcocque has hacked my account, I mean the fish!
  • Options
    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 55,302
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Polruan said:

    Jonathan said:

    ydoethur said:

    https://twitter.com/PolhomeEditor/status/1084755578436624384

    Is this actually liable to escalate into some kind of crisis or is it just the media hyperventilating? The idea of Salmond and Sturgeon getting into a full-scale catfight with one another seems somewhat improbable, though then again what do I know?

    Surely a catfish fight?

    But I think they're just carping at each other.

    Entertaining though it would be to see the SNP implode over a sex scandal, I hope it doesn't happen just yet. Nicola should farm him out to the DUP or something.
    Fish puns! Brill......
    Hmm I need a good fish pun. I will have to mullet over.
    The penultimate day of the withdrawal agreement debate is no time for cheerful matters like fish puns. We should delay tilapia times.
    We're just trying to reduce the tench-un.
    Enough of this codswallop sir! Know your plaice.
    Is that your sole contribution? If so it's a tartar.
    I’m going to skate this whole bit of banter.
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,181

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Polruan said:

    Jonathan said:

    ydoethur said:

    https://twitter.com/PolhomeEditor/status/1084755578436624384

    Is this actually liable to escalate into some kind of crisis or is it just the media hyperventilating? The idea of Salmond and Sturgeon getting into a full-scale catfight with one another seems somewhat improbable, though then again what do I know?

    Surely a catfish fight?

    But I think they're just carping at each other.

    Entertaining though it would be to see the SNP implode over a sex scandal, I hope it doesn't happen just yet. Nicola should farm him out to the DUP or something.
    Fish puns! Brill......
    Hmm I need a good fish pun. I will have to mullet over.
    The penultimate day of the withdrawal agreement debate is no time for cheerful matters like fish puns. We should delay tilapia times.
    We're just trying to reduce the tench-un.
    Enough of this codswallop sir! Know your plaice.
    Is that your sole contribution? If so it's a tartar.
    I'm an old trout, I can't be putting up with all this sprattling on.
    Now you're just spinning a line.
  • Options
    viewcodeviewcode Posts: 18,698
    ydoethur said:

    kle4 said:

    On initialisms, surely we need something in place of LGBTIQ+? It was not pronounceable back when it was only 4 letters, but much more than that and it is clunky to sound out each character.

    Playing with fire there son...you miss off any of that and somebody loses their shit and calls you transphobic etc.
    when we were at LGBTI I spotted that we only needed an E for them to be GIBLETs. not sure how Q got in there or what it means TBH.
    Queer.

    I'm surprised it's survived, given its rather homophobic overtones.
    It's been reclaimed. It refers to a state of mind, not matching societal or genre norms, but not so far away from them as to be rejected by the bourgeoisie. The point is to raise a frisson amongst the well-off, but not to shock them too much.

    Although to be honest, terms are evolving so fast it'll probably be outre again at some point.
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,717
    Jonathan said:

    murali_s said:

    Evening folks!

    No Brexit or No Deal - what will it be?

    "or"

    (nothing concrete, more delay, fudge or another vote)
    Those still end up with no brexit or no deal.
  • Options
    JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,901
    I love the idea that politicos/punters/anoraks are anxiously turning to PB as we perch on the precipice for a moment of clarity and insight, whereas all they are get is a bunch of increasingly bad fish puns, however well disguised.
  • Options
    williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 48,052

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Polruan said:

    Jonathan said:

    ydoethur said:

    https://twitter.com/PolhomeEditor/status/1084755578436624384

    Is this actually liable to escalate into some kind of crisis or is it just the media hyperventilating? The idea of Salmond and Sturgeon getting into a full-scale catfight with one another seems somewhat improbable, though then again what do I know?

    Surely a catfish fight?

    But I think they're just carping at each other.

    Entertaining though it would be to see the SNP implode over a sex scandal, I hope it doesn't happen just yet. Nicola should farm him out to the DUP or something.
    Fish puns! Brill......
    Hmm I need a good fish pun. I will have to mullet over.
    The penultimate day of the withdrawal agreement debate is no time for cheerful matters like fish puns. We should delay tilapia times.
    We're just trying to reduce the tench-un.
    Enough of this codswallop sir! Know your plaice.
    Is that your sole contribution? If so it's a tartar.
    I’m going to skate this whole bit of banter.
    This thread is getting tilapia-dated.
  • Options

    murali_s said:

    Evening folks!

    No Brexit or No Deal - what will it be?

    More likely No Brexit...

    https://twitter.com/hilarybennmp/status/1084859849735852032

    https://twitter.com/steverichards14/status/1084880122040254470

    https://twitter.com/steverichards14/status/1084881144934473729

    The more May digs her heels in, the more likely that some kind of ramshackle Parliamentary coalition will be patched together by desperate pro-EU MPs to stop Brexit, one would've thought.

    Of course, No Deal is the current default position, and it's still possible if no majority can be assembled to defeat May once and for all.
    Thinking about the chances I make it

    60% No Deal Brexit

    15% A Deal is agreed (be it Mrs May’s deal or a variation thereof) and Parliament accepts it.

    25% No Brexit at the end of March, either through extension/revocation of A50 or a new plebiscite.
  • Options
    JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,901
    edited January 2019
    kle4 said:

    Jonathan said:

    murali_s said:

    Evening folks!

    No Brexit or No Deal - what will it be?

    "or"

    (nothing concrete, more delay, fudge or another vote)
    Those still end up with no brexit or no deal.
    But when??? You assume this ever ends. Perhaps we we'll get stuck in infinite A50 loop, where we are always leaving but never leave.

    It's one way to satisfy everyone.
  • Options
    viewcodeviewcode Posts: 18,698
    edited January 2019
    @Casino_Royale @ydoethur

    ...Is that your sole contribution? If so it's a tartar.
    I’m going to skate this whole bit of banter...


    That actually scans and rhymes... :)

  • Options
    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,192
    Jonathan said:

    I love the idea that politicos/punters/anoraks are anxiously turning to PB as we perch on the precipice for a moment of clarity and insight, whereas all they are get is a bunch of increasingly bad fish puns, however well disguised.

    And its not as if we have not had shoals of these puns before. Pretty much every time the SNP leadership is mentioned in fact.
  • Options
    BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 31,636

    murali_s said:

    Evening folks!

    No Brexit or No Deal - what will it be?

    More likely No Brexit...

    https://twitter.com/hilarybennmp/status/1084859849735852032

    https://twitter.com/steverichards14/status/1084880122040254470

    https://twitter.com/steverichards14/status/1084881144934473729

    The more May digs her heels in, the more likely that some kind of ramshackle Parliamentary coalition will be patched together by desperate pro-EU MPs to stop Brexit, one would've thought.

    Of course, No Deal is the current default position, and it's still possible if no majority can be assembled to defeat May once and for all.
    Thinking about the chances I make it

    60% No Deal Brexit

    15% A Deal is agreed (be it Mrs May’s deal or a variation thereof) and Parliament accepts it.

    25% No Brexit at the end of March, either through extension/revocation of A50 or a new plebiscite.
    All the right percentages but not necessarily in the right order:

    60% No Brexit at the end of March

    25% May's Deal

    15% No Deal Brexit
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,181
    viewcode said:

    @Casino_Royale @ydoethur

    ...Is that your sole contribution? If so it's a tartar.
    I’m going to skate this whole bit of banter...


    That actually scans and rhymes... :)

    I'm dancing a conger.
  • Options
    May has made one tremendous tactical mistake which is why she will lose her deal.

    She should have from the start made it clear that any Irish solution needed an all-Irish approval. Not just the government of Ireland (and the EU) and the government of the UK agreeing, but the parties of Northern Ireland represented foremost by the DUP as the largest party (but Sinn Fein etc too). In other words give the DUP a veto on a deal.

    Barnier never took May seriously. Harder to do with Arlene Foster.

    Had it been a case from the start that any Irish solution needed the DUP on board then by now when we're voting by definition the DUP would be on board. But not just the DUP, without their concerns its hard to see many Tories being concerned with a backstop that the Irish parties unanimously have agreed to.
  • Options
    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,192

    murali_s said:

    Evening folks!

    No Brexit or No Deal - what will it be?

    More likely No Brexit...

    https://twitter.com/hilarybennmp/status/1084859849735852032

    https://twitter.com/steverichards14/status/1084880122040254470

    https://twitter.com/steverichards14/status/1084881144934473729

    The more May digs her heels in, the more likely that some kind of ramshackle Parliamentary coalition will be patched together by desperate pro-EU MPs to stop Brexit, one would've thought.

    Of course, No Deal is the current default position, and it's still possible if no majority can be assembled to defeat May once and for all.
    Thinking about the chances I make it

    60% No Deal Brexit

    15% A Deal is agreed (be it Mrs May’s deal or a variation thereof) and Parliament accepts it.

    25% No Brexit at the end of March, either through extension/revocation of A50 or a new plebiscite.
    I think I would have your 60% and 25% the other way around. At the moment no Brexit really has to be favourite.
  • Options
    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,192

    murali_s said:

    Evening folks!

    No Brexit or No Deal - what will it be?

    More likely No Brexit...

    https://twitter.com/hilarybennmp/status/1084859849735852032

    https://twitter.com/steverichards14/status/1084880122040254470

    https://twitter.com/steverichards14/status/1084881144934473729

    The more May digs her heels in, the more likely that some kind of ramshackle Parliamentary coalition will be patched together by desperate pro-EU MPs to stop Brexit, one would've thought.

    Of course, No Deal is the current default position, and it's still possible if no majority can be assembled to defeat May once and for all.
    Thinking about the chances I make it

    60% No Deal Brexit

    15% A Deal is agreed (be it Mrs May’s deal or a variation thereof) and Parliament accepts it.

    25% No Brexit at the end of March, either through extension/revocation of A50 or a new plebiscite.
    All the right percentages but not necessarily in the right order:

    60% No Brexit at the end of March

    25% May's Deal

    15% No Deal Brexit
    Snap.
  • Options
    viewcodeviewcode Posts: 18,698
    Jonathan said:

    I love the idea that politicos/punters/anoraks are anxiously turning to PB as we perch on the precipice for a moment of clarity and insight, whereas all they are get is a bunch of increasingly bad fish puns, however well disguised.

    We can always speculate unlikely MPs to be party leaders. Quick. Um, Gavin Williamson for PM! There, that's Atticus's Times column sorted... :)
  • Options
    Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    edited January 2019
    ydoethur said:

    kle4 said:

    On initialisms, surely we need something in place of LGBTIQ+? It was not pronounceable back when it was only 4 letters, but much more than that and it is clunky to sound out each character.

    Playing with fire there son...you miss off any of that and somebody loses their shit and calls you transphobic etc.
    when we were at LGBTI I spotted that we only needed an E for them to be GIBLETs. not sure how Q got in there or what it means TBH.
    Queer.

    I'm surprised it's survived, given its rather homophobic overtones.
    I thought it was Questioning [ie people who aren't certain what their sexuality is]
  • Options
    Black_RookBlack_Rook Posts: 8,905

    murali_s said:

    Evening folks!

    No Brexit or No Deal - what will it be?

    More likely No Brexit...

    https://twitter.com/hilarybennmp/status/1084859849735852032

    https://twitter.com/steverichards14/status/1084880122040254470

    https://twitter.com/steverichards14/status/1084881144934473729

    The more May digs her heels in, the more likely that some kind of ramshackle Parliamentary coalition will be patched together by desperate pro-EU MPs to stop Brexit, one would've thought.

    Of course, No Deal is the current default position, and it's still possible if no majority can be assembled to defeat May once and for all.
    Thinking about the chances I make it

    60% No Deal Brexit

    15% A Deal is agreed (be it Mrs May’s deal or a variation thereof) and Parliament accepts it.

    25% No Brexit at the end of March, either through extension/revocation of A50 or a new plebiscite.
    SO...

    Most MPs hate the Deal (liable to be defeated by a landslide tomorrow)
    Most MPs are terrified of No Deal
    Most MPs would probably like to stay in the EU

    And yet you reckon it's very likely that No Deal happens anyway - presumably because, even though they think it's disastrous, they're incapable of doing anything else?

    If that's how it pans out, would this qualify as the most useless Parliament ever?
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,181
    DavidL said:

    Jonathan said:

    I love the idea that politicos/punters/anoraks are anxiously turning to PB as we perch on the precipice for a moment of clarity and insight, whereas all they are get is a bunch of increasingly bad fish puns, however well disguised.

    And its not as if we have not had shoals of these puns before. Pretty much every time the SNP leadership is mentioned in fact.
    Well, it is rather a good opportunity, Salmond who now works for the Russians followed by Sturgeon.

    But maybe we should just can them.
  • Options
    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,192

    May has made one tremendous tactical mistake which is why she will lose her deal.

    She should have from the start made it clear that any Irish solution needed an all-Irish approval. Not just the government of Ireland (and the EU) and the government of the UK agreeing, but the parties of Northern Ireland represented foremost by the DUP as the largest party (but Sinn Fein etc too). In other words give the DUP a veto on a deal.

    Barnier never took May seriously. Harder to do with Arlene Foster.

    Had it been a case from the start that any Irish solution needed the DUP on board then by now when we're voting by definition the DUP would be on board. But not just the DUP, without their concerns its hard to see many Tories being concerned with a backstop that the Irish parties unanimously have agreed to.

    I am not sure OGH has enough bandwidth to start listing all of May's tremendous tactical mistakes.
  • Options
    williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 48,052

    May has made one tremendous tactical mistake which is why she will lose her deal.

    Thinking she could cash in her Queen of Brexit act for a big majority. It makes all of her posturing about representing the will of the people versus parliament look ridiculous.
  • Options
    DavidL said:

    May has made one tremendous tactical mistake which is why she will lose her deal.

    She should have from the start made it clear that any Irish solution needed an all-Irish approval. Not just the government of Ireland (and the EU) and the government of the UK agreeing, but the parties of Northern Ireland represented foremost by the DUP as the largest party (but Sinn Fein etc too). In other words give the DUP a veto on a deal.

    Barnier never took May seriously. Harder to do with Arlene Foster.

    Had it been a case from the start that any Irish solution needed the DUP on board then by now when we're voting by definition the DUP would be on board. But not just the DUP, without their concerns its hard to see many Tories being concerned with a backstop that the Irish parties unanimously have agreed to.

    I am not sure OGH has enough bandwidth to start listing all of May's tremendous tactical mistakes.
    True. Though I'd argue [given the totemic nature the backstop has become] that was the biggest but far from the only one.

    She really was a terrible choice.
  • Options
    viewcodeviewcode Posts: 18,698
    ydoethur said:

    viewcode said:

    @Casino_Royale @ydoethur

    ...Is that your sole contribution? If so it's a tartar.
    I’m going to skate this whole bit of banter...


    That actually scans and rhymes... :)

    I'm dancing a conger.
    Well, that put me in my plaice... :)
  • Options
    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 55,302
    viewcode said:

    @Casino_Royale @ydoethur

    ...Is that your sole contribution? If so it's a tartar.
    I’m going to skate this whole bit of banter...


    That actually scans and rhymes... :)

    The wisdom of the pb crowd.
  • Options
    Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    edited January 2019

    May has made one tremendous tactical mistake which is why she will lose her deal.

    Thinking she could cash in her Queen of Brexit act for a big majority. It makes all of her posturing about representing the will of the people versus parliament look ridiculous.
    Indeed I'd make that her second biggest flaw.

    Though the two were related. Throwing away her majority was bad enough, having to rely upon the DUP was bad enough ... throwing away her majority, having to rely upon the DUP then being arrogant enough to cut the DUP out of negotiations on the Irish border and assume she could ram through a deal those she relied upon opposed ... that was madness.
  • Options
    JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,901
    edited January 2019
    By End March

    34% May's deal *
    33% No deal default **
    33% Delay ***

    * through some as yet unidentified dubious technical instrument or some highly dangerous act of brinkmanship
    ** by the ERG disrupting parliament.
    ***probably to serve a GE.
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,181
    edited January 2019
    Jonathan said:

    I love the idea that politicos/punters/anoraks are anxiously turning to PB as we perch on the precipice for a moment of clarity and insight, whereas all they are get is a bunch of increasingly bad fish puns, however well disguised.

    Fish go off quickly. Perhaps we should put the puns on ice.

    And to be honest, giventhe total fucking idiocy, inanity, lack of knowledge, drunkenness, posturing and dishonesty we're getting from our politicians at the moment, fish puns are grown up by comparison.
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,181
    viewcode said:

    ydoethur said:

    viewcode said:

    @Casino_Royale @ydoethur

    ...Is that your sole contribution? If so it's a tartar.
    I’m going to skate this whole bit of banter...


    That actually scans and rhymes... :)

    I'm dancing a conger.
    Well, that put me in my plaice... :)
    We've already had that one and repeats make me eel.
  • Options

    murali_s said:

    Evening folks!

    No Brexit or No Deal - what will it be?

    More likely No Brexit...

    https://twitter.com/hilarybennmp/status/1084859849735852032

    https://twitter.com/steverichards14/status/1084880122040254470

    https://twitter.com/steverichards14/status/1084881144934473729

    The more May digs her heels in, the more likely that some kind of ramshackle Parliamentary coalition will be patched together by desperate pro-EU MPs to stop Brexit, one would've thought.

    Of course, No Deal is the current default position, and it's still possible if no majority can be assembled to defeat May once and for all.
    Thinking about the chances I make it

    60% No Deal Brexit

    15% A Deal is agreed (be it Mrs May’s deal or a variation thereof) and Parliament accepts it.

    25% No Brexit at the end of March, either through extension/revocation of A50 or a new plebiscite.
    SO...

    Most MPs hate the Deal (liable to be defeated by a landslide tomorrow)
    Most MPs are terrified of No Deal
    Most MPs would probably like to stay in the EU

    And yet you reckon it's very likely that No Deal happens anyway - presumably because, even though they think it's disastrous, they're incapable of doing anything else?

    If that's how it pans out, would this qualify as the most useless Parliament ever?
    I was talking to a Westminster friend an hour ago and they were quite pessimistic.

    Says the Stop No Deal Brexit coalition is fracturing between those that favour pivoting to Norway and those who want another plebiscite.
  • Options
    viewcodeviewcode Posts: 18,698

    ydoethur said:

    kle4 said:

    On initialisms, surely we need something in place of LGBTIQ+? It was not pronounceable back when it was only 4 letters, but much more than that and it is clunky to sound out each character.

    Playing with fire there son...you miss off any of that and somebody loses their shit and calls you transphobic etc.
    when we were at LGBTI I spotted that we only needed an E for them to be GIBLETs. not sure how Q got in there or what it means TBH.
    Queer.

    I'm surprised it's survived, given its rather homophobic overtones.
    I thought it was Questioning [ie people who aren't certain what their sexuality is]
    I learn something new every day. Thank you.
  • Options
    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 55,302

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Polruan said:

    Jonathan said:

    ydoethur said:

    https://twitter.com/PolhomeEditor/status/1084755578436624384

    Is this actually liable to escalate into some kind of crisis or is it just the media hyperventilating? The idea of Salmond and Sturgeon getting into a full-scale catfight with one another seems somewhat improbable, though then again what do I know?

    Surely a catfish fight?

    But I think they're just carping at each other.

    Entertaining though it would be to see the SNP implode over a sex scandal, I hope it doesn't happen just yet. Nicola should farm him out to the DUP or something.
    Fish puns! Brill......
    Hmm I need a good fish pun. I will have to mullet over.
    The penultimate day of the withdrawal agreement debate is no time for cheerful matters like fish puns. We should delay tilapia times.
    We're just trying to reduce the tench-un.
    Enough of this codswallop sir! Know your plaice.
    Is that your sole contribution? If so it's a tartar.
    I’m going to skate this whole bit of banter.
    This thread is getting tilapia-dated.
    It Flounder-ed some time ago.
  • Options
    StereotomyStereotomy Posts: 4,092

    May has made one tremendous tactical mistake which is why she will lose her deal.

    She should have from the start made it clear that any Irish solution needed an all-Irish approval. Not just the government of Ireland (and the EU) and the government of the UK agreeing, but the parties of Northern Ireland represented foremost by the DUP as the largest party (but Sinn Fein etc too). In other words give the DUP a veto on a deal.

    Barnier never took May seriously. Harder to do with Arlene Foster.

    Had it been a case from the start that any Irish solution needed the DUP on board then by now when we're voting by definition the DUP would be on board. But not just the DUP, without their concerns its hard to see many Tories being concerned with a backstop that the Irish parties unanimously have agreed to.

    I don't understand this argument that anyone could have made the EU back down if it was clear they were serious about rejecting the backstop. Isn't parliament making it clear right now that it's rejecting the backstop? And the EU aren't budging.
  • Options
    ydoethur said:

    viewcode said:

    @Casino_Royale @ydoethur

    ...Is that your sole contribution? If so it's a tartar.
    I’m going to skate this whole bit of banter...


    That actually scans and rhymes... :)

    I'm dancing a conger.
    Is that a song by Black Plaice?
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,181

    murali_s said:

    Evening folks!

    No Brexit or No Deal - what will it be?

    More likely No Brexit...

    https://twitter.com/hilarybennmp/status/1084859849735852032

    https://twitter.com/steverichards14/status/1084880122040254470

    https://twitter.com/steverichards14/status/1084881144934473729

    The more May digs her heels in, the more likely that some kind of ramshackle Parliamentary coalition will be patched together by desperate pro-EU MPs to stop Brexit, one would've thought.

    Of course, No Deal is the current default position, and it's still possible if no majority can be assembled to defeat May once and for all.
    Thinking about the chances I make it

    60% No Deal Brexit

    15% A Deal is agreed (be it Mrs May’s deal or a variation thereof) and Parliament accepts it.

    25% No Brexit at the end of March, either through extension/revocation of A50 or a new plebiscite.
    SO...

    Most MPs hate the Deal (liable to be defeated by a landslide tomorrow)
    Most MPs are terrified of No Deal
    Most MPs would probably like to stay in the EU

    And yet you reckon it's very likely that No Deal happens anyway - presumably because, even though they think it's disastrous, they're incapable of doing anything else?

    If that's how it pans out, would this qualify as the most useless Parliament ever?
    I was talking to a Westminster friend an hour ago and they were quite pessimistic.

    Says the Stop No Deal Brexit coalition is fracturing between those that favour pivoting to Norway and those who want another plebiscite.
    Since one of those options isn't available and the other would probably provoke a no-deal Brexit, that has the appearance of two monks fighting over a month's supply of the pill.
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,717
    Jonathan said:

    kle4 said:

    Jonathan said:

    murali_s said:

    Evening folks!

    No Brexit or No Deal - what will it be?

    "or"

    (nothing concrete, more delay, fudge or another vote)
    Those still end up with no brexit or no deal.
    But when??? You assume this ever ends. Perhaps we we'll get stuck in infinite A50 loop, where we are always leaving but never leave.

    It's one way to satisfy everyone.
    We should never have triggered A50, just constantly being about to trigger it.
  • Options
    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,095

    May has made one tremendous tactical mistake which is why she will lose her deal.

    Thinking she could cash in her Queen of Brexit act for a big majority. It makes all of her posturing about representing the will of the people versus parliament look ridiculous.
    Indeed I'd make that her second biggest flaw.

    Though the two were related. Throwing away her majority was bad enough, having to rely upon the DUP was bad enough ... throwing away her majority, having to rely upon the DUP then being arrogant enough to cut the DUP out of negotiations on the Irish border and assume she could ram through a deal those she relied upon opposed ... that was madness.
    About time we had a Sun headline:

    "HAS MAY GONE MAD?"
  • Options
    dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 27,952
    ydoethur said:

    murali_s said:

    Evening folks!

    No Brexit or No Deal - what will it be?

    More likely No Brexit...

    https://twitter.com/hilarybennmp/status/1084859849735852032

    https://twitter.com/steverichards14/status/1084880122040254470

    https://twitter.com/steverichards14/status/1084881144934473729

    The more May digs her heels in, the more likely that some kind of ramshackle Parliamentary coalition will be patched together by desperate pro-EU MPs to stop Brexit, one would've thought.

    Of course, No Deal is the current default position, and it's still possible if no majority can be assembled to defeat May once and for all.
    Thinking about the chances I make it

    60% No Deal Brexit

    15% A Deal is agreed (be it Mrs May’s deal or a variation thereof) and Parliament accepts it.

    25% No Brexit at the end of March, either through extension/revocation of A50 or a new plebiscite.
    SO...

    Most MPs hate the Deal (liable to be defeated by a landslide tomorrow)
    Most MPs are terrified of No Deal
    Most MPs would probably like to stay in the EU

    And yet you reckon it's very likely that No Deal happens anyway - presumably because, even though they think it's disastrous, they're incapable of doing anything else?

    If that's how it pans out, would this qualify as the most useless Parliament ever?
    I was talking to a Westminster friend an hour ago and they were quite pessimistic.

    Says the Stop No Deal Brexit coalition is fracturing between those that favour pivoting to Norway and those who want another plebiscite.
    Since one of those options isn't available and the other would probably provoke a no-deal Brexit, that has the appearance of two monks fighting over a month's supply of the pill.
    2 nuns surely? Wears the soap.
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,181
    dixiedean said:

    ydoethur said:

    murali_s said:

    Evening folks!

    No Brexit or No Deal - what will it be?

    More likely No Brexit...

    https://twitter.com/hilarybennmp/status/1084859849735852032

    https://twitter.com/steverichards14/status/1084880122040254470

    https://twitter.com/steverichards14/status/1084881144934473729

    The more May digs her heels in, the more likely that some kind of ramshackle Parliamentary coalition will be patched together by desperate pro-EU MPs to stop Brexit, one would've thought.

    Of course, No Deal is the current default position, and it's still possible if no majority can be assembled to defeat May once and for all.
    Thinking about the chances I make it

    60% No Deal Brexit

    15% A Deal is agreed (be it Mrs May’s deal or a variation thereof) and Parliament accepts it.

    25% No Brexit at the end of March, either through extension/revocation of A50 or a new plebiscite.
    SO...

    Most MPs hate the Deal (liable to be defeated by a landslide tomorrow)
    Most MPs are terrified of No Deal
    Most MPs would probably like to stay in the EU

    And yet you reckon it's very likely that No Deal happens anyway - presumably because, even though they think it's disastrous, they're incapable of doing anything else?

    If that's how it pans out, would this qualify as the most useless Parliament ever?
    I was talking to a Westminster friend an hour ago and they were quite pessimistic.

    Says the Stop No Deal Brexit coalition is fracturing between those that favour pivoting to Norway and those who want another plebiscite.
    Since one of those options isn't available and the other would probably provoke a no-deal Brexit, that has the appearance of two monks fighting over a month's supply of the pill.
    2 nuns surely? Wears the soap.
    No, two monks. Even if they win, it's useless.
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,717

    May has made one tremendous tactical mistake which is why she will lose her deal.

    She should have from the start made it clear that any Irish solution needed an all-Irish approval. Not just the government of Ireland (and the EU) and the government of the UK agreeing, but the parties of Northern Ireland represented foremost by the DUP as the largest party (but Sinn Fein etc too). In other words give the DUP a veto on a deal.

    Barnier never took May seriously. Harder to do with Arlene Foster.

    Had it been a case from the start that any Irish solution needed the DUP on board then by now when we're voting by definition the DUP would be on board. But not just the DUP, without their concerns its hard to see many Tories being concerned with a backstop that the Irish parties unanimously have agreed to.

    I don't understand this argument that anyone could have made the EU back down if it was clear they were serious about rejecting the backstop. Isn't parliament making it clear right now that it's rejecting the backstop? And the EU aren't budging.
    Indeed so. It's one reason the MV should never have been pulled since it is being lost anyway, and at least the 'going back to the EU' stage to ask for more would have been done then with the proof from May that parliament would not back it. Not that it would affect the EU's position any, but it would cut out the argument, still seen, that despite begging for it to be taken out or at least legally time limited, the EU are still not budging only because we have not said no firmly enough yet.
  • Options
    Black_RookBlack_Rook Posts: 8,905

    murali_s said:

    Evening folks!

    No Brexit or No Deal - what will it be?

    More likely No Brexit...

    https://twitter.com/hilarybennmp/status/1084859849735852032

    https://twitter.com/steverichards14/status/1084880122040254470

    https://twitter.com/steverichards14/status/1084881144934473729

    The more May digs her heels in, the more likely that some kind of ramshackle Parliamentary coalition will be patched together by desperate pro-EU MPs to stop Brexit, one would've thought.

    Of course, No Deal is the current default position, and it's still possible if no majority can be assembled to defeat May once and for all.
    Thinking about the chances I make it

    60% No Deal Brexit

    15% A Deal is agreed (be it Mrs May’s deal or a variation thereof) and Parliament accepts it.

    25% No Brexit at the end of March, either through extension/revocation of A50 or a new plebiscite.
    SO...

    Most MPs hate the Deal (liable to be defeated by a landslide tomorrow)
    Most MPs are terrified of No Deal
    Most MPs would probably like to stay in the EU

    And yet you reckon it's very likely that No Deal happens anyway - presumably because, even though they think it's disastrous, they're incapable of doing anything else?

    If that's how it pans out, would this qualify as the most useless Parliament ever?
    I was talking to a Westminster friend an hour ago and they were quite pessimistic.

    Says the Stop No Deal Brexit coalition is fracturing between those that favour pivoting to Norway and those who want another plebiscite.
    I'm surprised that they're not considering an attempt at negotiating a Norwayesque settlement and then holding a BINO vs Remain vote after that (with revocation held in reserve just in case the EU27 can't or won't all agree to extend.)
  • Options
    williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 48,052
    kle4 said:

    Jonathan said:

    kle4 said:

    Jonathan said:

    murali_s said:

    Evening folks!

    No Brexit or No Deal - what will it be?

    "or"

    (nothing concrete, more delay, fudge or another vote)
    Those still end up with no brexit or no deal.
    But when??? You assume this ever ends. Perhaps we we'll get stuck in infinite A50 loop, where we are always leaving but never leave.

    It's one way to satisfy everyone.
    We should never have triggered A50, just constantly being about to trigger it.
    At the very beginning I thought that was quite plausible. May could have set up endless domestic hurdles to triggering A50 and given herself a long list of political 'enemies' to 'fight' against in her quest to honour the referendum.
  • Options
    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    ydoethur said:

    kle4 said:

    On initialisms, surely we need something in place of LGBTIQ+? It was not pronounceable back when it was only 4 letters, but much more than that and it is clunky to sound out each character.

    Playing with fire there son...you miss off any of that and somebody loses their shit and calls you transphobic etc.
    when we were at LGBTI I spotted that we only needed an E for them to be GIBLETs. not sure how Q got in there or what it means TBH.
    Queer.

    I'm surprised it's survived, given its rather homophobic overtones.
    I thought it was Questioning ie can’t make up your f****** mind
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,181
    edited January 2019
    Charles said:

    ydoethur said:

    kle4 said:

    On initialisms, surely we need something in place of LGBTIQ+? It was not pronounceable back when it was only 4 letters, but much more than that and it is clunky to sound out each character.

    Playing with fire there son...you miss off any of that and somebody loses their shit and calls you transphobic etc.
    when we were at LGBTI I spotted that we only needed an E for them to be GIBLETs. not sure how Q got in there or what it means TBH.
    Queer.

    I'm surprised it's survived, given its rather homophobic overtones.
    I thought it was Questioning ie can’t make up your f****** mind
    So somebody else has said upthread, but when I was researching various forms of subculture I was told it was Queer.

    It puzzled me and it still does, but as I am not gay it didn't really seem either important or my problem.

    Incidentally, was that a deliberate pun?
  • Options
    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    Jonathan said:

    ydoethur said:

    https://twitter.com/PolhomeEditor/status/1084755578436624384

    Is this actually liable to escalate into some kind of crisis or is it just the media hyperventilating? The idea of Salmond and Sturgeon getting into a full-scale catfight with one another seems somewhat improbable, though then again what do I know?

    Surely a catfish fight?

    But I think they're just carping at each other.

    Entertaining though it would be to see the SNP implode over a sex scandal, I hope it doesn't happen just yet. Nicola should farm him out to the DUP or something.
    Fish puns! Brill......
    Hmm I need a good fish pun. I will have to mullet over.
    Cod! That’s a red herring.
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,717
    edited January 2019
    Charles said:

    ydoethur said:

    kle4 said:

    On initialisms, surely we need something in place of LGBTIQ+? It was not pronounceable back when it was only 4 letters, but much more than that and it is clunky to sound out each character.

    Playing with fire there son...you miss off any of that and somebody loses their shit and calls you transphobic etc.
    when we were at LGBTI I spotted that we only needed an E for them to be GIBLETs. not sure how Q got in there or what it means TBH.
    Queer.

    I'm surprised it's survived, given its rather homophobic overtones.
    I thought it was Questioning ie can’t make up your f****** mind
    I've seen it both ways.

    Edit: Not a joke by the way, though it sounds like one
  • Options
    AmpfieldAndyAmpfieldAndy Posts: 1,445
    kle4 said:

    Jonathan said:

    kle4 said:

    Jonathan said:

    murali_s said:

    Evening folks!

    No Brexit or No Deal - what will it be?

    "or"

    (nothing concrete, more delay, fudge or another vote)
    Those still end up with no brexit or no deal.
    But when??? You assume this ever ends. Perhaps we we'll get stuck in infinite A50 loop, where we are always leaving but never leave.

    It's one way to satisfy everyone.
    We should never have triggered A50, just constantly being about to trigger it.
    Not without being better prepared. May is like the ERG - she had no idea of what she wanted or where she wanted to end up when she triggered it. She has just taken what the EU gave her and ignored trade altogether.

    Had she gone for a trade deal from the start, it would have been a more painful start but she’d have ended up in a much better place.
  • Options

    May has made one tremendous tactical mistake which is why she will lose her deal.

    She should have from the start made it clear that any Irish solution needed an all-Irish approval. Not just the government of Ireland (and the EU) and the government of the UK agreeing, but the parties of Northern Ireland represented foremost by the DUP as the largest party (but Sinn Fein etc too). In other words give the DUP a veto on a deal.

    Barnier never took May seriously. Harder to do with Arlene Foster.

    Had it been a case from the start that any Irish solution needed the DUP on board then by now when we're voting by definition the DUP would be on board. But not just the DUP, without their concerns its hard to see many Tories being concerned with a backstop that the Irish parties unanimously have agreed to.

    I don't understand this argument that anyone could have made the EU back down if it was clear they were serious about rejecting the backstop. Isn't parliament making it clear right now that it's rejecting the backstop? And the EU aren't budging.
    Currently Parliament hasn't yet rejected the deal and the PM is still backing it. Plus I think once they agreed it with May they assumed Parliament would back it and by that point had put their eggs in this basket.

    Had the DUP had crystal clear veto rights from the beginning the negotiations would have gone differently. May by making it clear she would sign absolutely anything (combined with the assumption Parliament would back whatever she signed) left them with a blank cheque.
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,181
    kle4 said:

    Charles said:

    ydoethur said:

    kle4 said:

    On initialisms, surely we need something in place of LGBTIQ+? It was not pronounceable back when it was only 4 letters, but much more than that and it is clunky to sound out each character.

    Playing with fire there son...you miss off any of that and somebody loses their shit and calls you transphobic etc.
    when we were at LGBTI I spotted that we only needed an E for them to be GIBLETs. not sure how Q got in there or what it means TBH.
    Queer.

    I'm surprised it's survived, given its rather homophobic overtones.
    I thought it was Questioning ie can’t make up your f****** mind
    I've seen it both ways.

    Edit: Not a joke by the way, though it sounds like one
    Too much information...
  • Options
    volcanopetevolcanopete Posts: 2,078
    Didn't a former PM once say something about "banging on about Europe"?
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,181
    kle4 said:
    The Tory party just aren't what they were. They can't even organise a decent coup these days.

    Where is the party of Duncan Smith, Hague, Major, Thatcher, Heath, Home, Eden, Chamberlain, Lloyd George (sort of) Austen Chamberlain, Balfour and Bentinck when you need it?!!
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,181

    Didn't a former PM once say something about "banging on about Europe"?

    Well, having banged it hard, we're all screwed.
  • Options

    murali_s said:

    Evening folks!

    No Brexit or No Deal - what will it be?

    More likely No Brexit...

    https://twitter.com/hilarybennmp/status/1084859849735852032

    https://twitter.com/steverichards14/status/1084880122040254470

    https://twitter.com/steverichards14/status/1084881144934473729

    The more May digs her heels in, the more likely that some kind of ramshackle Parliamentary coalition will be patched together by desperate pro-EU MPs to stop Brexit, one would've thought.

    Of course, No Deal is the current default position, and it's still possible if no majority can be assembled to defeat May once and for all.
    Thinking about the chances I make it

    60% No Deal Brexit

    15% A Deal is agreed (be it Mrs May’s deal or a variation thereof) and Parliament accepts it.

    25% No Brexit at the end of March, either through extension/revocation of A50 or a new plebiscite.
    SO...

    Most MPs hate the Deal (liable to be defeated by a landslide tomorrow)
    Most MPs are terrified of No Deal
    Most MPs would probably like to stay in the EU

    And yet you reckon it's very likely that No Deal happens anyway - presumably because, even though they think it's disastrous, they're incapable of doing anything else?

    If that's how it pans out, would this qualify as the most useless Parliament ever?
    The problem is that most of the MPs who are terrified of No Deal and who would probably like to stay in the EU are in the opposition benches - and it would take a government to stop Brexit.

    If the government benches were shaped by your maths this would be easy. But stopping Brexit now would probably worse than decimate the Tory Party.
  • Options
    StereotomyStereotomy Posts: 4,092

    May has made one tremendous tactical mistake which is why she will lose her deal.

    She should have from the start made it clear that any Irish solution needed an all-Irish approval. Not just the government of Ireland (and the EU) and the government of the UK agreeing, but the parties of Northern Ireland represented foremost by the DUP as the largest party (but Sinn Fein etc too). In other words give the DUP a veto on a deal.

    Barnier never took May seriously. Harder to do with Arlene Foster.

    Had it been a case from the start that any Irish solution needed the DUP on board then by now when we're voting by definition the DUP would be on board. But not just the DUP, without their concerns its hard to see many Tories being concerned with a backstop that the Irish parties unanimously have agreed to.

    I don't understand this argument that anyone could have made the EU back down if it was clear they were serious about rejecting the backstop. Isn't parliament making it clear right now that it's rejecting the backstop? And the EU aren't budging.
    Currently Parliament hasn't yet rejected the deal and the PM is still backing it. Plus I think once they agreed it with May they assumed Parliament would back it and by that point had put their eggs in this basket.

    Had the DUP had crystal clear veto rights from the beginning the negotiations would have gone differently. May by making it clear she would sign absolutely anything (combined with the assumption Parliament would back whatever she signed) left them with a blank cheque.
    They must not have been looking very carefully if they thought parliament would back whatever she brought back.
  • Options

    May has made one tremendous tactical mistake which is why she will lose her deal.

    She should have from the start made it clear that any Irish solution needed an all-Irish approval. Not just the government of Ireland (and the EU) and the government of the UK agreeing, but the parties of Northern Ireland represented foremost by the DUP as the largest party (but Sinn Fein etc too). In other words give the DUP a veto on a deal.

    Barnier never took May seriously. Harder to do with Arlene Foster.

    Had it been a case from the start that any Irish solution needed the DUP on board then by now when we're voting by definition the DUP would be on board. But not just the DUP, without their concerns its hard to see many Tories being concerned with a backstop that the Irish parties unanimously have agreed to.

    I don't understand this argument that anyone could have made the EU back down if it was clear they were serious about rejecting the backstop. Isn't parliament making it clear right now that it's rejecting the backstop? And the EU aren't budging.
    Currently Parliament hasn't yet rejected the deal and the PM is still backing it. Plus I think once they agreed it with May they assumed Parliament would back it and by that point had put their eggs in this basket.

    Had the DUP had crystal clear veto rights from the beginning the negotiations would have gone differently. May by making it clear she would sign absolutely anything (combined with the assumption Parliament would back whatever she signed) left them with a blank cheque.
    They must not have been looking very carefully if they thought parliament would back whatever she brought back.
    I honestly thought it would. I thought Parliament would be too terrified of no deal not to do so. I was wrong.
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,181
    edited January 2019

    May has made one tremendous tactical mistake which is why she will lose her deal.

    She should have from the start made it clear that any Irish solution needed an all-Irish approval. Not just the government of Ireland (and the EU) and the government of the UK agreeing, but the parties of Northern Ireland represented foremost by the DUP as the largest party (but Sinn Fein etc too). In other words give the DUP a veto on a deal.

    Barnier never took May seriously. Harder to do with Arlene Foster.

    Had it been a case from the start that any Irish solution needed the DUP on board then by now when we're voting by definition the DUP would be on board. But not just the DUP, without their concerns its hard to see many Tories being concerned with a backstop that the Irish parties unanimously have agreed to.

    I don't understand this argument that anyone could have made the EU back down if it was clear they were serious about rejecting the backstop. Isn't parliament making it clear right now that it's rejecting the backstop? And the EU aren't budging.
    Currently Parliament hasn't yet rejected the deal and the PM is still backing it. Plus I think once they agreed it with May they assumed Parliament would back it and by that point had put their eggs in this basket.

    Had the DUP had crystal clear veto rights from the beginning the negotiations would have gone differently. May by making it clear she would sign absolutely anything (combined with the assumption Parliament would back whatever she signed) left them with a blank cheque.
    They must not have been looking very carefully if they thought parliament would back whatever she brought back.
    I honestly thought it would. I thought Parliament would be too terrified of no deal not to do so. I was wrong.
    If the CJEU had not come up with that ludicrous ruling, Parliament still would. Because there wouldn't be the false hope (and it is a false hope, unfortunately) that if this deal falls we'll stay in.

    Which makes me wonder who or what was leaning on them, bluntly. They came up with a recipe for total chaos based upon a twisted reading of non-existent words that no sane person would have thought appropriate (although that qualification probably lets out the advocate general and the CJEU, of course).
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,717

    May has made one tremendous tactical mistake which is why she will lose her deal.

    She should have from the start made it clear that any Irish solution needed an all-Irish approval. Not just the government of Ireland (and the EU) and the government of the UK agreeing, but the parties of Northern Ireland represented foremost by the DUP as the largest party (but Sinn Fein etc too). In other words give the DUP a veto on a deal.

    Barnier never took May seriously. Harder to do with Arlene Foster.

    Had it been a case from the start that any Irish solution needed the DUP on board then by now when we're voting by definition the DUP would be on board. But not just the DUP, without their concerns its hard to see many Tories being concerned with a backstop that the Irish parties unanimously have agreed to.

    I don't understand this argument that anyone could have made the EU back down if it was clear they were serious about rejecting the backstop. Isn't parliament making it clear right now that it's rejecting the backstop? And the EU aren't budging.
    Currently Parliament hasn't yet rejected the deal and the PM is still backing it. Plus I think once they agreed it with May they assumed Parliament would back it and by that point had put their eggs in this basket.

    Had the DUP had crystal clear veto rights from the beginning the negotiations would have gone differently. May by making it clear she would sign absolutely anything (combined with the assumption Parliament would back whatever she signed) left them with a blank cheque.
    They must not have been looking very carefully if they thought parliament would back whatever she brought back.
    I honestly thought it would. I thought Parliament would be too terrified of no deal not to do so. I was wrong.
    The ECJ decision may have had a big impact. While the ERG and other leavers would have seen the decision be much closer if the deal had been more to their liking, with many remainer MPs backing it as they do currently, the fear tactics took a big hit among remainers knowing that they had the ultimate out to fall back on.
  • Options
    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    ydoethur said:

    Charles said:

    ydoethur said:

    kle4 said:

    On initialisms, surely we need something in place of LGBTIQ+? It was not pronounceable back when it was only 4 letters, but much more than that and it is clunky to sound out each character.

    Playing with fire there son...you miss off any of that and somebody loses their shit and calls you transphobic etc.
    when we were at LGBTI I spotted that we only needed an E for them to be GIBLETs. not sure how Q got in there or what it means TBH.
    Queer.

    I'm surprised it's survived, given its rather homophobic overtones.
    I thought it was Questioning ie can’t make up your f****** mind
    So somebody else has said upthread, but when I was researching various forms of subculture I was told it was Queer.

    It puzzled me and it still does, but as I am not gay it didn't really seem either important or my problem.

    Incidentally, was that a deliberate pun?
    Naturally
  • Options
    solarflaresolarflare Posts: 3,623
    I'm still wondering if May is just going to do a Douglas Reynholm exit 30 seconds after the vote tomorrow.

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

    I mean, not literally, just out of the British political scene.
  • Options
    BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 31,636

    May has made one tremendous tactical mistake which is why she will lose her deal.

    She should have from the start made it clear that any Irish solution needed an all-Irish approval. Not just the government of Ireland (and the EU) and the government of the UK agreeing, but the parties of Northern Ireland represented foremost by the DUP as the largest party (but Sinn Fein etc too). In other words give the DUP a veto on a deal.

    Barnier never took May seriously. Harder to do with Arlene Foster.

    Had it been a case from the start that any Irish solution needed the DUP on board then by now when we're voting by definition the DUP would be on board. But not just the DUP, without their concerns its hard to see many Tories being concerned with a backstop that the Irish parties unanimously have agreed to.

    You lost me a bit after "May has made one tremendous tactical mistake..."

    Only one mistake??
  • Options
    kinabalukinabalu Posts: 39,162
    Nigel Dodds of the DUP on the television just now talking about the Deal. He is looking and sounding implacable in his opposition to it.

    If the word implacable did not exist we would have to invent it in order to describe the way that Nigel Dodds of the DUP is looking and sounding.
  • Options
    GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,078
    I must say I find Nigel Dodds's voice very relaxing.
  • Options
    EndillionEndillion Posts: 4,976
    Charles said:

    ydoethur said:

    Charles said:

    ydoethur said:

    kle4 said:

    On initialisms, surely we need something in place of LGBTIQ+? It was not pronounceable back when it was only 4 letters, but much more than that and it is clunky to sound out each character.

    Playing with fire there son...you miss off any of that and somebody loses their shit and calls you transphobic etc.
    when we were at LGBTI I spotted that we only needed an E for them to be GIBLETs. not sure how Q got in there or what it means TBH.
    Queer.

    I'm surprised it's survived, given its rather homophobic overtones.
    I thought it was Questioning ie can’t make up your f****** mind
    So somebody else has said upthread, but when I was researching various forms of subculture I was told it was Queer.

    It puzzled me and it still does, but as I am not gay it didn't really seem either important or my problem.

    Incidentally, was that a deliberate pun?
    Naturally
    There are occasionally two Qs, in which case both Queer and Questioning are represented. If there's only one I believe it's for Queer, by convention.
  • Options
    MTimTMTimT Posts: 7,034
    Charles said:

    ydoethur said:

    Charles said:

    ydoethur said:

    kle4 said:

    On initialisms, surely we need something in place of LGBTIQ+? It was not pronounceable back when it was only 4 letters, but much more than that and it is clunky to sound out each character.

    Playing with fire there son...you miss off any of that and somebody loses their shit and calls you transphobic etc.
    when we were at LGBTI I spotted that we only needed an E for them to be GIBLETs. not sure how Q got in there or what it means TBH.
    Queer.

    I'm surprised it's survived, given its rather homophobic overtones.
    I thought it was Questioning ie can’t make up your f****** mind
    So somebody else has said upthread, but when I was researching various forms of subculture I was told it was Queer.

    It puzzled me and it still does, but as I am not gay it didn't really seem either important or my problem.

    Incidentally, was that a deliberate pun?
    Naturally
    ydoethur said:

    kle4 said:

    Charles said:

    ydoethur said:

    kle4 said:

    On initialisms, surely we need something in place of LGBTIQ+? It was not pronounceable back when it was only 4 letters, but much more than that and it is clunky to sound out each character.

    Playing with fire there son...you miss off any of that and somebody loses their shit and calls you transphobic etc.
    when we were at LGBTI I spotted that we only needed an E for them to be GIBLETs. not sure how Q got in there or what it means TBH.
    Queer.

    I'm surprised it's survived, given its rather homophobic overtones.
    I thought it was Questioning ie can’t make up your f****** mind
    I've seen it both ways.

    Edit: Not a joke by the way, though it sounds like one
    Too much information...
    In the US, the list of abbreviations includes both Qs - queer and questioning. I have not done the course, so please don't ask me to define either
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,717

    May has made one tremendous tactical mistake which is why she will lose her deal.

    She should have from the start made it clear that any Irish solution needed an all-Irish approval. Not just the government of Ireland (and the EU) and the government of the UK agreeing, but the parties of Northern Ireland represented foremost by the DUP as the largest party (but Sinn Fein etc too). In other words give the DUP a veto on a deal.

    Barnier never took May seriously. Harder to do with Arlene Foster.

    Had it been a case from the start that any Irish solution needed the DUP on board then by now when we're voting by definition the DUP would be on board. But not just the DUP, without their concerns its hard to see many Tories being concerned with a backstop that the Irish parties unanimously have agreed to.

    You lost me a bit after "May has made one tremendous tactical mistake..."

    Only one mistake??
    He didn't say it was the only mistake, just that there was one tremendous one. The others have been incredible, outstanding, gut wrenching, and so on and so forth.
  • Options
    Sean_FSean_F Posts: 35,800

    May has made one tremendous tactical mistake which is why she will lose her deal.

    She should have from the start made it clear that any Irish solution needed an all-Irish approval. Not just the government of Ireland (and the EU) and the government of the UK agreeing, but the parties of Northern Ireland represented foremost by the DUP as the largest party (but Sinn Fein etc too). In other words give the DUP a veto on a deal.

    Barnier never took May seriously. Harder to do with Arlene Foster.

    Had it been a case from the start that any Irish solution needed the DUP on board then by now when we're voting by definition the DUP would be on board. But not just the DUP, without their concerns its hard to see many Tories being concerned with a backstop that the Irish parties unanimously have agreed to.

    I don't understand this argument that anyone could have made the EU back down if it was clear they were serious about rejecting the backstop. Isn't parliament making it clear right now that it's rejecting the backstop? And the EU aren't budging.
    Currently Parliament hasn't yet rejected the deal and the PM is still backing it. Plus I think once they agreed it with May they assumed Parliament would back it and by that point had put their eggs in this basket.

    Had the DUP had crystal clear veto rights from the beginning the negotiations would have gone differently. May by making it clear she would sign absolutely anything (combined with the assumption Parliament would back whatever she signed) left them with a blank cheque.
    I'd have made Nigel Dodds and Arlene Foster part of the negotiating team from day 1.

    Though we 'd still be stuck with twats like Guto Bebb and Andrew Bridgen.
  • Options
    BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 31,636
    kle4 said:

    May has made one tremendous tactical mistake which is why she will lose her deal.

    She should have from the start made it clear that any Irish solution needed an all-Irish approval. Not just the government of Ireland (and the EU) and the government of the UK agreeing, but the parties of Northern Ireland represented foremost by the DUP as the largest party (but Sinn Fein etc too). In other words give the DUP a veto on a deal.

    Barnier never took May seriously. Harder to do with Arlene Foster.

    Had it been a case from the start that any Irish solution needed the DUP on board then by now when we're voting by definition the DUP would be on board. But not just the DUP, without their concerns its hard to see many Tories being concerned with a backstop that the Irish parties unanimously have agreed to.

    You lost me a bit after "May has made one tremendous tactical mistake..."

    Only one mistake??
    He didn't say it was the only mistake, just that there was one tremendous one. The others have been incredible, outstanding, gut wrenching, and so on and so forth.
    Fair point
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,181
    Sean_F said:

    May has made one tremendous tactical mistake which is why she will lose her deal.

    She should have from the start made it clear that any Irish solution needed an all-Irish approval. Not just the government of Ireland (and the EU) and the government of the UK agreeing, but the parties of Northern Ireland represented foremost by the DUP as the largest party (but Sinn Fein etc too). In other words give the DUP a veto on a deal.

    Barnier never took May seriously. Harder to do with Arlene Foster.

    Had it been a case from the start that any Irish solution needed the DUP on board then by now when we're voting by definition the DUP would be on board. But not just the DUP, without their concerns its hard to see many Tories being concerned with a backstop that the Irish parties unanimously have agreed to.

    I don't understand this argument that anyone could have made the EU back down if it was clear they were serious about rejecting the backstop. Isn't parliament making it clear right now that it's rejecting the backstop? And the EU aren't budging.
    Currently Parliament hasn't yet rejected the deal and the PM is still backing it. Plus I think once they agreed it with May they assumed Parliament would back it and by that point had put their eggs in this basket.

    Had the DUP had crystal clear veto rights from the beginning the negotiations would have gone differently. May by making it clear she would sign absolutely anything (combined with the assumption Parliament would back whatever she signed) left them with a blank cheque.
    I'd have made Nigel Dodds and Arlene Foster part of the negotiating team from day 1.

    Though we 'd still be stuck with twats like Guto Bebb and Andrew Bridgen.
    The weird thing is this deal seems to be very popular in Northern Ireland and especially among the DUP's own supporters.
  • Options
    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,578
    edited January 2019
    https://twitter.com/GuidoFawkes/status/1084900458219610113

    It looks like even the whips are revolting...
This discussion has been closed.