Brexit

[vandermolen]

Operation Dynamo in reverse?

The received wisdom is that the Suez crisis in 1956 marked the end of Britian as a country with real influence in the international scene. Suez, I'm afraid, was a walk in the park compared to the Brexit shambles.

The Telegraph on yesterday's vote in Parliament  :

That is true about Suez - a good example of learning the wrong lesson from history. Love the Matt cartoon - he is brilliant.

[vandermolen]

Crickets here.

I picture our UK members in an ad hoc flotilla headed for the continent...

Here are the British members headed for the continent:

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

Here are the British members headed for the continent:

I was imagining something much more stylish.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

...and yet May survives the confidence vote. What is she supposed to do now? Two years of negotiations with the EU scrapped, and now she is supposed to patch something together in 10 weeks?

[André]

I was imagining something much more stylish.

For a moment I wasn't sure if the flotilla was going upriver (wrong direction) or downriver - Brexiters: you never know  . But that's ok, they're heading toward the Channel.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

For a moment I wasn't sure if the flotilla was going upriver (wrong direction) or downriver - Brexiters: you never know  . But that's ok, they're heading toward the Channel.

Yes, I checked. If they paddle hard they can be in the channel by nightfall, then braving the open seas for Dunkirk. 

[André]

Yes, I checked. If they paddle hard they can be in the channel by nightfall, then braving the open seas for Dunkirk. 

I wonder if they thought of bringing their passport ? 

[ritter]

I wonder if they thought of bringing their passport ? 

...and some provisions of marmite, single malt whisky, and other such items that will soon become scarce on the continent. 

[vandermolen]

Perhaps there is a Brexit metaphor here. The Prime-Minister goes one way and the aircraft go the other way. I've always been amused by this:

[ritter]

Perhaps there is a Brexit metaphor here. The Prime-Minister goes one way and the aircraft go the other way. I've always been amused by this:

...and the tanks yet another way! Brilliant!

[vandermolen]

...and the tanks yet another way! Brilliant!

That's quite true! Clearly prophetic of Brexit.


Actually something else which comes to mind in connection with our current predicament is the end of 'Waiting for Godot' by Samuel Beckett:

One character says 'Shall we go?'

The other replies: 'Yes, let's go.'

And the stage direction indicates 'nobody moves'.

[Mandryka]

https://www.youtube.com/v/i97FkO3d_lU

[André]

That's quite true! Clearly prophetic of Brexit.


Actually something else which comes to mind in connection with our current predicament is the end of 'Waiting for Godot' by Samuel Beckett:

One character says 'Shall we go?'

The other replies: 'Yes, let's go.'

And the stage direction indicates 'nobody moves'.

Godot was the first play I ever watched - it was a school outing. I was so puzzled. Very apt quote, Jeffrey !

[Mr. Minnow]

I caught a bit of tonight's Question Time, and if the audience is any guide, it seems some leavers are not just prepared to see a no deal Brexit happen, some of them are almost gung-ho about it. "Turkeys voting for Christmas" hardly seems an adequate expression.

If they get their way, perhaps we should just go the whole hog and rename the country Royston Vasey. Hilary Briss can draw up our new food safety standards, animal welfare can safely be left in the capable hands of Mr. Chinnery, and Edward and Tubbs can negotiate exciting new trade deals for Precious Things to sell in the Local Shop - they may be a pair of murderous inbreds, but better that than Liam bloody Fox. Papa Lazarou's blackface makes him the only serious candidate for prime minister of this glorious new nation, given the Brexiters' desire to lead us marching proudly into the 1950s and their famously enlightened attitudes on immigration.  The day after we fall off the cliff and go splat at the bottom free ourselves from the hated yoke of Brussels, a magnificent new production celebrating our national liberation will be presented by Legz Akimbo.   

[Que]

There is a new word in town... Brextinction.....

It was never about Europe. Brexit is Britain's reckoning with itself..


A brief observation: Corbyn hasn't moved an inch towards a 2nd referendum....yet... 

My guess: he still wants Brexit, and he still wants "his" (imaginairy) Brexit deal.... that the EU is not going to agree to, at least on Corbyn's terms....

No matter how many times Westminster goes around in circles, currently there are only three options:

1. May's negotiated deal
2. Exit without a deal
3. Remaining in the EU.

And no flying unicorns in sight....

Q

[Iota]

I caught a bit of tonight's Question Time, and if the audience is any guide, it seems some leavers are not just prepared to see a no deal Brexit happen, some of them are almost gung-ho about it. "Turkeys voting for Christmas" hardly seems an adequate expression.

I thought Anand Menon's clarity about what a no deal Brexit would mean, was excellent (about 17.00 in youtube vid below), particularly set against the partisan waffle and gung ho-ism in the prog. I wish he and others like him were more in the public eye.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cif44qEYXU

If they get their way, perhaps we should just go the whole hog and rename the country Royston Vasey. Hilary Briss can draw up our new food safety standards, animal welfare can safely be left in the capable hands of Mr. Chinnery, and Edward and Tubbs can negotiate exciting new trade deals for Precious Things to sell in the Local Shop - they may be a pair of murderous inbreds, but better that than Liam bloody Fox. Papa Lazarou's blackface makes him the only serious candidate for prime minister of this glorious new nation, given the Brexiters' desire to lead us marching proudly into the 1950s and their famously enlightened attitudes on immigration.  The day after we fall off the cliff and go splat at the bottom free ourselves from the hated yoke of Brussels, a magnificent new production celebrating our national liberation will be presented by Legz Akimbo.

I think you may have just won the Satirical Bullseye of the Month award.

[Mr. Minnow]

I thought Anand Menon's clarity about what a no deal Brexit would mean, was excellent (about 17.00 in youtube vid below), particularly set against the partisan waffle and gung ho-ism in the prog. I wish he and others like him were more in the public eye.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cif44qEYXU

Oakeshott shook her head when Menon spelt out some of the consequences of no deal. Either she really does believe that what Menon said isn't true, in which case she's simply pig-ignorant, or she knows it's true but is denying it anyway, in which case she's a liar. Both are entirely plausible.

I think you may have just won the Satirical Bullseye of the Month award.

Thanks

If only it didn't feel more like reality than satire

[vandermolen]

Godot was the first play I ever watched - it was a school outing. I was so puzzled. Very apt quote, Jeffrey !

Thanks Andre!

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

I'm afraid this isn't very flattering to the British

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/opinion/sunday/brexit-ireland-empire.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

The Malign Incompetence of the British Ruling Class

With Brexit, the chumocrats who drew borders from India to Ireland are getting a taste of their own medicine.

By Pankaj Mishra

The basic idea seems to be that the combination of arrogance and incompetence that was inflicted on British Colonies is now being applied at home....

[Que]

Food for thought:

In a bizarre turn of events, Theresa May could get her Brexit deal through after all – the key lies with Yvette Cooper

For the moment I'm sticking with my prediction that the UK will leave the EU on May's deal....
I agree with the analysis in the article that a move to close off the possibility of an (accidental) No Deal, reinforces the negotiated deal as the only viable option.

Unless..... Labour would support a 2nd referendum.... And the signs on that happening are at present not very strong, to put it mildly.


Andrew Rawnsley evokes the image of The Flying Dutchman as a metaphor for the process of Brexit: a ghost ship damned to sail the seas for eternity with no hope of ever reaching port.

Well, Brexit has certainly turned out to be a curse for Britain, present & future.....

Q