Fullerene

Why would anyone enter any negotiations looking for anything other than "the best deal possible"? This is pointed out on page 1 of chapter 1 of "Idiot's Guide to Negotiating."

With a resounding success for Marie Le Pen in France as well as Geert Wilders in the Netherlands and with a massive majority in the House of Commons, Theresa May can now be assured of exactly the Brexit deal that she wants. How is that plan working out?

.. bit of a lengthy explanation but apparently if the EU had not had an issue with bendy bananas this tragedy would never have happened!

So ICT have a new manager. In light of the disastrous consequences last year, I hope that somewhere in his contract there is a clause that says he is not allowed to grow a beard.

So Tim Farron has resigned because he felt his religious beliefs and attitudes to some things might interfere with his ability to be an effective party leader. I imagine a lot of puzzled faces in the DUP.

I agree with what you are saying but I don't think it is laziness. I think there are a quite a few MPs who are being dishonest about their real attitude to Brexit.

I remember reading about when John Hume and Ian Paisley were both MEPs. John Hume could not be bothered with Paisley's rants (i.e. whenever he spoke) but fortunately he understood French so he put on his headphones and listened to the French translation instead.

"I have in my hand a note from Ian which reads as follows. Sorry, I am unable to attend the debate as I have already made commitments elsewhere. I have no idea what the debate is about but have no fear. That is of little importance. My response is simply No, Never. Good luck with your debate. God bless you all and God bless Ulster. Ian" That note got used a lot.

For the SNP, there are those that believe that Scottish independence is the solution to everything For Labour, there are those that believe that socialism is the solution to everything Similarly for some Tories, Brexit is the answer to everything. If it gets cancelled or watered down then be prepared for lots of google searchs by Tories on Hari Kari. Don't worry. It will be more like "Hari Kari for greasy slimeballs who don't actually want to die."

.. and that any talk of things being worse after Brexit is just talking Britain down.

I have had that opinion for ages. Nobody needs to campaign against it and we don't need a second EU referendum just now. Let it run its course. I think the negotiations will result in something unappealing that nobody will want it - or it will incredible close to what we have already got. The UK voting to leave the EU was supposed to be followed by the Netherlands and France but those stupid continentals didn't vote correctly in their elections. I think the DUP are asking for something impossible (to the EU at least). No hard border in Ireland - i.e. no customs checks and no customs checks between Northern Ireland and here. You could transport whatever you like to Dublin and on to Larne and on to Scotland and there would be no checks at all. Yeah - that will work.

Excluding Finland, Portugal and Spain, all the countries doing better than average are from Central Europe. I accept they might all be starting from a low point but in would be interesting to see if this trend continues. One of the objections that some people had to the EU is that it now includes a number of poorer countries. Ironically we encouraged them to join.

Apparently the EU did not care much for Ian Paisley and his megaphone diplomacy. A good ally to have in the Brexit negotiations. Only one small problem.

I can see your point. I don't think Corbyn and others were so much apologists as simply being contrary. In fact, Jeremy Corbyn has spent his whole career being contrary - challenging whatever is regarded as "accepted wisdom". It is important to have people like this - but there are doubts that somebody like that can change tack, be less contrary, accept the role of party leader and become a future prime minister. I suspect that is a big part of the hostility towards him - that he was quite happy to stay the same and never be prime minister. I think his campaign has indicated that he actually does want to win - and hopes to do so without changing tack either and that has surprised a lot of people.

You know I just this vision of the EU negotiators sitting at a table twiddling their thumbs - saying "Right - that's almost 3 months now - who do you think is going to show up and talk to us?"

Maybe. The peace process in Northern Ireland meant talking to the IRA. John Major and Tony Blair both knew that - as did the unionists, I suspect. The question was how to do that tactfully without causing offence to a lot of people - especially those that have suffered. Corbyn, McDonnell and others are guilty of clumsiness but I hardly think that means they should be locked up.

By the same token, I imagine there were several UK politicians who supported the US effort to fund Al-Qaeda when they were trying to get the Soviets out of Afghanistan,

Ah. I got it. The Good Friday Agreement! I was wondering why anyone thought the Gaelic Football Association had a lot of say in Northern Ireland!

John Major and Tony Blair both realized that talking to the IRA was necessary to achieve peace in Northern Ireland. I suspect the unionists did too. When Corbyn and McDonnell suggested much the same, they were more clumsy about (such as describing the IRA as brave) and this caused offence.

.. and not much keen on it from Monday through to Saturday either.

"Only fools and horses" the movie is currently in development. It will be directed Ridley Scott and involve Del Roy, Rodney, Trigger and maybe others on board an intergalactic space craft being awoken from their hyper sleep to answer a mysterious distress signal from an uninhabited planet. Still at a very preliminary stage.

Oh dear - the Arabs being blamed for acts of terrorism even way back then.

Okay, Okay. Drama out. Comedy in.

Basically it keeps the fanatical Brexiter quiet. If, for example, we reached a deal on teabags - there would be howls of protest. "What - this is outrageous. We voted out, and that means out - and that includes teabags. How dare they impose rules and regulations on us drinking tea. We have been drinking tea for centuries and don't need them to tell us what for about teabags. This is the thin edge of the wedge and before you know it we will be right back where we started. It's time the UK government stood up for the British people and told those interfering EU people to f*** off." Similarly for everything else.

Theresa May will accuse the EU of anything if it will get her more votes. However, that is a long way from the secret police taking you away in the middle of the night because you have the wrong opinion on Brexit or Scottish independence or anything else. Nor are you likely to lose your job, or miss out on promotion because you laughed at her attempt to eat chips. That would be commonplace in communist countries. In North Korea, the secret police would take your entire family because of guilt through association. People are even born in prison camps and must remain there because their grandfather or grandmother did something wrong. North Korea is threatened by the mere existence of South Korea, a country that speaks the same language - and seems to be a nicer place (even if that was not always so). In any case, a South Korean can travel to other parts of the world whereas a North Korean cannot. 200,000 people have defected from North Korea. You should really ask the question "Why is North Korea developing nuclear weapons?" Would China ever sit back if North Korea was attacked?