The Brexit disaster

[rats19]

Like Rand and Flake... just had to go

[Per]

Everything will be just fine...

Kind of like the care free life at Malibu Beach?

[Topper]

Everything will be just fine.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-46188790

[Per]

Everything will be just fine.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-46188790

Well, there's a deal outlined, but it is not the deal that those wanting a hard brexit wants, nor is it what the remainers want.
It's basically a Norwegian option, ie remain part of the open market, still be bound by EU law, but have no say in deciding those laws. Boris Johnson is rejecting it as nonsense.

And even though May has now convinced her cabinet to agree to the deal, she still needs to get parliament onboard, and if they reject it, she may have to call for either new elections, a new referendum, or both.

Also, the deal must be accepted by all 27 other EU member states, with each having the right to veto it.
The Irish have threatened to do just that to any deal that does not resolve the border issue.

And then, once the deal is in place (if that happens) the British have to solve all the issues that follow from this. Rebuilding all airports and harbours, issuing new passports as the current ones, stating EU membership, will become invalid. Negotiate trade deals with nearly 200 nations (assuming they do not stay in the customs union), addressing the situations of stufents abroad. In eg Sweden students from other EU nations can study at universities free of charge, but students from elsewhere pay full tuition.
A British student in Sweden will thus face severe changes in their situation. Then there are all the EU institutions currently located in the UK that must relocate. These are just random stuff offthe top of my head. There are thousands of problems that must be solved. The costs of this must be staggering.

I can only shake my head in disbelief and agree with this verdict from the Irish Times:

When future historians try to understand how Britain ended up with a choice between chaos and becoming a satellite of the European Union, one question will stump them. Were these people telling deliberate lies or were they merely staggeringly ignorant?

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/fint ... -1.3695347

[Per]

Boris Johnson's smarter brother, who recently resigned over Brexit, comments on the deal on the table :

[ukcanuck]

Seems like the wheels are falling off the brexit little red wagon.

Would love another referendum on this deal if only to see where the public’s mood really lies.

The problem with populism is that people are involved.

[ukcanuck]

A similar video could be made for conservatives in Canada and trumpite republicans down south I’m sure...

[Per]

Mmm... Stephen Fry!

[ukcanuck]

Mmm... Stephen Fry!

Yeah he’s everything the average conservative would hate And he was a Blair supporter which would be a blight on a stellar snowflake career but that’s all part of the fun of posting his video.

However,
He’s right about a lot of things in this video and much of it is translatable to the way right wing populists do business.

[Per]

It looks very questionable whether May can push her deal through parliament, as neither brexiteers nor remainers approve of it.

What then?

If the deal does not pass, there is really no time to negotiate a new one, so the only Brexit option will be leaving with no deal, which should prove disastrous to the British economy, impose a hard border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland and could be the start of a breakup of the United Kingdom.

It would also almost certainly force May out of office. I can't see how she can cling on to power if the deal is not accepted.

So what are the alternatives?

A new parliamentary election? A new referendum? Or both?

Here's a good article on the matter from the Economist:
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2018/ ... rexit-mess

[Per]

https://twitter.com/spink_jonathan/stat ... 0487233537

EU legislation* 1 - Brexiteer 0





*Yes, there is a EU standard for flags, and it states they must be fire retardant...

[Cousin Strawberry]

The best is Andy Serkis playing a Theresa May gollum



https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-ente ... 661.html

[Per]

The best is Andy Serkis playing a Theresa May gollum



https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-ente ... 661.html

Hilarious!
Very well done.

[Per]

Fantastic Brexit analogy on twitter (and don't forget to read the comments...):

Hugo Rifkind
‏@hugorifkind

The thing is, the best way to understand Theresa May’s predicament is to imagine that 52 percent of Britain had voted that the government should build a submarine out of cheese.

Now, Theresa May was initially against building a submarine out of cheese, obviously. Because it’s a completely insane thing to do.
25 svar 233 retweets 2 011 gillanden
Svara 25 Retweeta 233 Gilla 2,0 tn

However, in order to become PM, she had to pretend that she thought building a submarine out of cheese was fine and could totally work.

"Cheese means cheese," she told us all, madly.

Then she actually built one.

It’s shit. Of course it is. For God’s sake, are you stupid? It’s a submarine built out of cheese.

So now, having built a shit cheese submarine, she has to put up with both Labour and Tory Brexiters insisting that a less shit cheese submarine could have been built.

They’re all lying, and they know it. So does everybody else. We've covered this already, I know, but it’s cheese and it’s a submarine. How good could it possibly be?

Only she can’t call them out on this. Because she has spent the past two years also lying, by pretending she really could build a decent submarine out of cheese.

So that’s where we are.

https://twitter.com/hugorifkind/status/ ... 0791229440

[Per]

John Oliver explaining in 40 seconds why Theresa May cannot get her deal accepted by parliament.