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Saturday 8 December 2018

Well, what a week!

It's been quite a week, and I haven't yet caught up on all the comment and analysis out there - and even when I do, I doubt I'll know any more than this; that Mrs May will lose her vote on Tuesday. My own view is that she'll be obliged to resign, thus opening up a high speed Leadership contest, remaining in post whilst this takes place. After that? No-one knows.

We enter the weekend perhaps a little calmer than we started the week, with Brexit paradoxically occupying less of the front page the nearer we get to next week's crisis. Clearly 'Brexit fatigue' is already a thing, but I'm waiting for this to become a bona-fide medical diagnosis like Brexit Anxiety Disorder, for which middle class social workers, teachers and police workers can be signed-off sick. 

Meanwhile across the Channel, today looks like being a crunch day for the most destructive of the French rioters. I'll be tuning in live again this afternoon - the benison of live-streaming means that none of us is ever dependent on a TV news editor to see what's happening, the downside means you need to watch three or four streams to get a representative picture. 

As for Vienna, hardly anyone is aware there's a Brexit crisis but security is tight, as everywhere in Europe. I'm now sated with oysters (Naschmarkt), warmed with a decent British Indian curry (Taste of India - really!) and with my Chrimbo food shopping done. 

And we've some big hitters to look forward to in the Sundays and on the box, and more saturation Brexit ... so back soon. 

14 comments:

rapscallion said...

I really hope it kicks off in France today. When even the Police themselves and the ambulance crews are pretty much on the side of the the Yellow Vests then your are in very, very deep sh1t. Remember the General who was head of their Army, resigning in the last year at the actions of Micron? When most of your other ranks have families who are also protesters, you can't really expect them to fire on their kith and kin can you?

With protests planned in Belgium and the Netherlands over the weekend along with our own Brexit March on Sunday, what you are seeing is the white working class and the lower half of the middle class saying "We've had enough, we're not putting up with this anymore" This is a revolt by the very people Globalism has negatively affected.

John Brown said...

Parliament should be voting against Mrs. May’s treacherous Withdrawal Agreement by a very large majority although this can never be predicted with certainty when there are so many pro-EU MPs.

If it happens then there is a mandate to return to the EU requesting a re-negotiation. The problem is that our pro-EU Parliament keeps insisting that “no deal” (WTO terms) is unacceptable thus severely handicapping our negotiating capability.

Mrs. May does not look like she ever intends to resign and so many Conservative MPs are pro-EU elitists who have been pretending to be Eurosceptics to garner votes that one wonders how bad the situation needs to become before the 48 letters of no confidence in Mrs. May are sent in.

Eventually there will be another GE and this must be the opportunity for every leave voter to examine the voting and speech records of Parliamentary candidates and to not vote for those who did not support Brexit.

It is insanity for leavers to keep voting for pro-EU candidates and then expecting a different result in Parliament.

Scrobs. said...

Yes, I wondered where you'd got to, and my leader board was gradually pushing your site further down the list!

But never mind, we had the BBC to tell us everything, so that was alright!

Not...

DeeDee99 said...

Welcome back Raedwald ..... missed you.

Been quite a week though and I've spent rather longer than usual tuned into the Parliament channel watching many of our cowardly, treacherous, lying MPs try and justify finding a way to overturn the Referendum result whilst pretending to respect it. Oh, and for once there's been a fair few who have stood up to the Government and said "crap deal .... you must be joking - I'm not a Quisling."

All kicking off on the continent: I'm enjoying Le Petit Macron getting a kicking by the sans culottes .....sorry, gilet jaunes.

Bloke in North Dorset said...

I find the Speccie’s daily Coffee House Shots podcast the quickest and easiest way to keep up with the latest Brexit machinations.

I’m jealous of you in Vienna, I worked their for a year, great place, nice people and they know how to protest as well.

decnine said...

Departure Day is already baked into the withdrawal Act. Unless parliament approves the MayDeal, we will leave on 29 March on WTO terms - unless the Prime Minister uses the power under the withdrawal Act to change the date. For that reason, I suspect that Conservative leavers would prefer to keep a weakened Mrs May in 10 Downing St. The alternative would be to have a new PM whom the leavers would be more or less obliged to support, whatever they might do, for at least a few months.

Anonymous said...

treason the sharia maybot, she won't resign, if vote lost, Plan B; she declare a national emergency and go into coalition with the labia party, because for sure that's where here political sympathies have always lain - oh and of course 'I luv the EU Never will we leave!!' written through her core like a Maidenhead stick of tacky rock.

DiscoveredJoys said...

The Referendum directed the Government to Leave.
The A50 leaving process was initiated following a vote in Parliament.
The 2017 General Election included 'Leave' in the two main party manifestos.
The legislation passed by Parliament included a meaningful vote and a firm date of leaving the EU on 29 March 2019.

What our relationship with the rEU shall be is a different question and should not be sidetracked by any non-leave options. I can't help thinking that the political waters have been deliberately muddied.

I wish no-one any harm - but the Yellow Vests protests (and Brexit) show that ordinary people can only be ignored so far. Do we really wish to stay in an EU that persistently ignores the ordinary people in pursuit of a political ideology?

Leaving is not the question, we must go.

Jack the dog. said...

I think May will lose her stupid vote but won't resign.

There will then be a movement to extend art.50 which will most likely be accepted by the eu. How long? They are not mad keen on the british voting in the may europeans as they will get a good kicking. So it might just be 6 weeks or so not long enough to change much.

What I am most sure about though is that Treason May won't do the decent thing, and until she does we're in limbo even though she has quite obviously gone rabing mental.

It is an extraordinary situation.

Tony Harrison said...

Long time since I was in Wien, stayed at a friend's house in Kagran. I found the city less impressive than I'd expected, must say - visited e.g. the famous Café Demel and it was a bit disappointing. At other times I've stayed on the Donau upriver, and in the Salzkammergut - beautiful. I found the Austrians easy to get on with, perhaps more so than the Germans.

John Brown said...

On the subject of Austria, two years ago I was staying in a hotel in Krumpendorf near Klagenfurt on the Worthersee in southern Austria close to the border with Slovenia.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the wonderful welcome and generosity of the hotel owner, over and above what I would have expected as a hotel guest.

He explained to me that the British are very popular in the area as it was the British troops in 1945 who saved them from becoming part of Yugoslavia and they are still very grateful to this day.

Stephen J said...

Trouble is John Brown...

We are all part of Euroslavia now.

Anonymous said...

John Brown

I enjoyed the same thing as a BAOR soldier when visiting Holland.

Not these days, I fear, The Dutch have much shorter memories; preferring the company of their previous occupiers to that of their saviours.

Budgie said...

The EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 contains sub clause 4 which states unequivocally that the leaving date of 29 March 2019 can be amended by Ministerial regulation (section 20, sub clause 4). So 29 March is not set in stone. Sorry.

There were timelines floating around, I think in the aftermath of Chequers, to the effect that Parliamentary approval was expected in January 2019. Not December 2018. There is thus plenty of time to shunt in the pre-negotiated EU concessions to be used in emergency. Queue Mrs May the hero, and MPs falling over themselves to vote in "this sensible compromise".

If that subterfuge fails then there will be a second referendum with the rigged question: May's deal or Remain. That will be carried out in the Art50 extension (the deferment of the fake leaving date of 29 March). There will be no MEP elections for us - after all we're "leaving" aren't we? So we will Remain. Job done.