Brexit slowly becoming a Farce.

[DA Baracus]

Horrendous

[Granny Danger]

Clerk to the HoC saying that May could ignore amendments to the Commons statement on the final Brexit deal.  So much for a meaningful vote.

The Tory pro Europeans would not have the guts to support a no confidence motion if she did take that position.

 

[SweeperDee]

“Britain has nothing to lose except its shackles”.

Outstanding.

[Wee-Bey]

Abbott is a forelock tugging, sycophantic, bootlicker.

[renton]

EU preparing for no deal, and Davis warning no Chequers based arrangement will pass parliament. We are well past farcical now.

[O'Kelly Isley III]

2 hours ago, RedRob72 said:

Interesting collection of thoughts from former Australian PM,Tony Abbott.

It’s pretty hard for Britain’s friends, here in Australia, to make sense of the mess that’s being made of Brexit. The referendum result was perhaps the biggest-ever vote of confidence in the United Kingdom, its past and its future. But the British establishment doesn’t seem to share that confidence and instead looks desperate to cut a deal, even if that means staying under the rule of Brussels. Looking at this from abroad, it’s baffling: the country that did the most to bring democracy into the modern world might yet throw away the chance to take charge of its own destiny.
Let’s get one thing straight: a negotiation that you’re not prepared to walk away from is not a negotiation — it’s surrender. It’s all give and no get. When David Cameron tried to renegotiate Britain’s EU membership, he was sent packing because Brussels judged (rightly) that he’d never actually back leaving. And since then, Brussels has made no real concessions to Theresa May because it judges (rightly, it seems) that she’s desperate for whatever deal she can get.
The EU’s palpable desire to punish Britain for leaving vindicates the Brexit project. Its position, now, is that there’s only one ‘deal’ on offer, whereby the UK retains all of the burdens of EU membership but with no say in setting the rules. The EU seems to think that Britain will go along with this because it’s terrified of no deal. Or, to put it another way, terrified of the prospect of its own independence.

But even after two years of fearmongering and vacillation, it’s not too late for robust leadership to deliver the Brexit that people voted for. It’s time for Britain to announce what it will do if the EU can’t make an acceptable offer by March 29 next year — and how it would handle no deal. Freed from EU rules, Britain would automatically revert to world trade, using rules agreed by the World Trade Organization. It works pretty well for Australia. So why on earth would it not work just as well for the world’s fifth-largest economy?
A world trade Brexit lets Britain set its own rules. It can say, right now, that it will not impose any tariff or quota on European produce and would recognise all EU product standards. That means no border controls for goods coming from Europe to Britain. You don’t need to negotiate this: just do it. If Europe knows what’s in its own best interests, it would fully reciprocate in order to maintain entirely free trade and full mutual recognition of standards right across Europe.

Next, the UK should declare that Europeans already living here should have the right to remain permanently — and, of course, become British citizens if they wish. This should be a unilateral offer. Again, you don’t need a deal. You don’t need Michel Barnier’s permission. If Europe knows what’s best for itself, it would likewise allow Britons to stay where they are.

Third, there should continue to be free movement of people from Europe into Britain — but with a few conditions. Only for work, not welfare. And with a foreign worker’s tax on the employer, to make sure anyone coming in would not be displacing British workers.
Fourth, no ‘divorce bill’ whatsoever should be paid to Brussels. The UK government would assume the EU’s property and liabilities in Britain, and the EU would assume Britain’s share of these in Europe. If Britain was getting its fair share, these would balance out; and if Britain wasn’t getting its fair share, it’s the EU that should be paying Britain.

Finally, there’s no need on Britain’s part for a hard border with Ireland. Britain wouldn’t be imposing tariffs on European goods, so there’s no money to collect. The UK has exactly the same product standards as the Republic, so let’s not pretend you need to check for problems we all know don’t exist. Some changes may be needed but technology allows for smart borders: there was never any need for a Cold War-style Checkpoint Charlie. Irish citizens, of course, have the right to live and work in the UK in an agreement that long predates EU membership.

Of course, the EU might not like this British leap for independence. It might hit out with tariffs and impose burdens on Britain as it does on the US — but WTO rules put a cap on any retaliatory action. The worst it can get? We’re talking levies of an average 4 or 5 per cent. Which would be more than offset by a post-Brexit devaluation of the pound (which would have the added bonus of making British goods more competitive everywhere).
UK officialdom assumes that a deal is vital, which is why so little thought has been put into how Britain might just walk away. Instead, officials have concocted lurid scenarios featuring runs on the pound, gridlock at ports, grounded aircraft, hoarding of medicines and flights of investment. It’s been the pre-referendum Project Fear campaign on steroids. And let’s not forget how employment, investment and economic growth ticked up after the referendum.

As a former prime minister of Australia and a lifelong friend of your country, I would say this: Britain has nothing to lose except the shackles that the EU imposes on it. After the courage shown by its citizens in the referendum, it would be a tragedy if political leaders go wobbly now. Britain’s future has always been global, rather than just with Europe. Like so many of Britain’s admirers, I want to see this great country seize this chance and make the most of it.




Article taken from Spectator magazine 27 October 2018.

Interesting in the sense that presumably you concur with it ?   Australian politics has long been characterised as a backstabbing, punch first and ask questions later environment, conducted in a thinly-veiled racist tone so I don't think we need listen too much to a Grade-A exponent like Abbott for inspiration.  In any case, we have enough right-wing zoomers of our own currently engaged in that.

Thanks though to crypto-Scot Fraser Nelson, Editor of The Spectator, for exposing us to it.

Edited October 31, 2018 by O'Kelly Isley III

[ICTJohnboy]

17 minutes ago, O'Kelly Isley III said:

Interesting in the sense that presumably you concur with it ?   Australian politics has long been characterised as a backstabbing, punch first and ask questions later environment, conducted in a thinly-veiled racist tone so I don't think we need listen too much to a Grade-A exponent like Abbott for inspiration.  In any case, we have enough right-wing zoomers of our own currently engaged in that.

Thanks though to crypto-Scot Fraser Nelson, Editor of The Spectator, for exposing us to it.

 

Surprised BoJo and Mogglodyte aren't running around quoting that article to all and sundry.

Maybe early days yet, of course.

[Cerberus]

The Australian immigration system is a dream for all fascists tbf.

“Turn away everyone that isn’t white.”

[DA Baracus]

Imagine actually caring about someone's nationality when deciding if they can live in a country and who can work where.

In fact imagine caring about someone's nationality at all.

Sad that so many do.

[Detournement]

That will be why precisely zero countries operate open borders.

[Londonwell]

1 hour ago, Cerberus said:

The Australian immigration system is a dream for all fascists tbf.

“Turn away everyone that isn’t white.”

I used to work in Australia and I remember my boss at the time literally rejoicing that a ship chock full of young migrant families had sunk trying to cross from Christmas Island. God he was such a c**t and i met so many more like him. 

[DeeTillEhDeh]

Tony Abbott is a clueless fuckwit.

[RedRob72]

Interesting in the sense that presumably you concur with it ?

Voted to remain on the basis that it makes no sense to me whatsoever to leave our biggest trading partner, but that doesn’t stop me trying to understand an opposing view.

[Carl Cort's Hamstring]

Brexiters: We will police the 500km long Irish border, with its 300 crossing points, entirely through technology.

Also Brexiters: We are incapable of producing a functioning iPhone app.

Quote

Ms Nokes also revealed the system for EU citizens to register for settled status still didn't work on Apple phones.

The US tech giant "won't release the upgrade we need in order for it to function", she told MPs.

 

[Granny Danger]

Panic over folks.  Raab says there will be a Brexit deal by November 21st.

Has he got Halloween and April Fools Day mixed up?

 

[welshbairn]

8 minutes ago, Carl Cort's Hamstring said:

Ms Nokes also revealed the system for EU citizens to register for settled status still didn't work on Apple phones.

The US tech giant "won't release the upgrade we need in order for it to function", she told MPs.

If they want to stay in Britain they should buy an Acorn Computer, like everyone else.

[Cerberus]

The US tech giant "won't release the upgrade we need in order for it to function", she told MPs.

 

I like how they word it so that it sounds like their app is so advanced that Apple need to catch up.

In reality they are utter clowns who are massively in over their heads.

[Colkitto]

14 hours ago, Granny Danger said:

Panic over folks.  Raab says there will be a Brexit deal by November 21st.

Has he got Halloween and April Fools Day mixed up?

 

Unsurprisingly it would appear that this is a load of shite. His own department has rubbished that date already.

[philyerboots]

[new kyd in town]

14 minutes ago, philyerboots said:

Dead ringer for Mrs Murrell's offspring.