Those were the words of a Cabinet minister in the run-up to today's vote on May's deal, as reported on last night's BBC Newsnight by its Political Editor Nicholas Watt (note to hosts: I'll censor the title if you want, but Newsnight didn't.)

https://twitter.com/KeejayOV2/status/1111406283679133696


Watt's full quote:



No idea how the vote will go as the debate continues in the House. The DUP are reportedly out, some Labour MPs are in. We're no doubt screwed anyway:

https://twitter.com/Jim_Cornelius/status/1111592819372761089

Maybe nearly three years too late, but this confirms May's lame duckness.

She and her cabinet haven't been up to the job, in the EU or the UK. May's red lines on freedom of movement and the nonsensical "Brexit means Brexit" and The Will of The People™, along with the government's downright lies about how much research they'd carried out into the impact of the various Brexit options, have stifled proper explorations of the options that face the country, culminating in a deal that in the end only she and a few sycophants support, and even then only with reservations. Now, their plain shiftiness about how they'd run the order paper in the days to come finally overtaxed the majority of MPs' patience.

So some degree of control has finally been wrested back by Parliament. There will follow a series of debates and indicative votes on various options later this week - non-binding, just like the referendum. Whether the government will pay their results any attention, we'll have to wait and see.

Last night, Theresa May took to her podium at 10 Downing Street to lecture The People™ about what The People™ were thinking and feeling and to blame MPs in Parliament for the fact that she and her two governments have done fuck all to pursue a path to a relatively sane Brexit for over two years ("relatively" is doing a lot of heavy lifting there).

It's been pointed out elsewhere that it's a mystery how May would know what The People™ are thinking since she's too shy to actually meet any but a select few for fleeting periods in tightly regulated out-of-the-way venues. She's never shown any sign of empathy according to those who've ever had dealings with her, so when she talks about "the mood of the country", she's discussing the voices in her own head.

Last night, she chose to prolong her dangerous game by blaming MPs - a number of whom have already been receiving threats over Brexit - for the dire situation we're in and for not compromising by going along with whatever she wants.

Today, Speaker John Bercow was driven to address the House to clarify that MPs generally aren't "traitors" (there are a couple I'd quibble with him about that, but he's taking the high ground when I'm less and less inclined to do so):

https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1108699600016297985


The Leader of the House, the repulsive Angela Leadsom, took to her trotters a few minutes later to express her leadership by telling him that he hadn't "raised the level", whatever that means. He was having none of it:

https://twitter.com/Point_OfOrder/status/1108700701566349312


May's conduct - doubled down on by Leadsom - has infuriated the very people she needed to persuade to her point of view, the MPs in Parliament on both sides of the House. There's no point in her addressing The People™ if she's going to deny The People™ a voice in this argument, either through a second referendum or another general election, and rely instead on her warped interpretation of a dodgy jumped-up opinion poll from nearly three years ago.

If May's not careful, it won't be a case of her being ousted by a parliamentary coup or choosing to duck out once she's achieved her ambitions, there'll be staff in white coats chasing her round Downing Street with butterfly nets, and not before time.

Not least under Thatcher and her handbag regime.

See here: https://politicalscrapbook.net/2017/07/american-tells-bizarre-story-of-how-britain-went-from-leading-the-eu-to-leaving-it-in-one-epic-twitter-plea-to-rethink-brexit/

Maybe the objectors could point me to any political setup in the world that isn't flawed, more or less deeply.

Babies and bathwater come to mind.

Farage's army may be glad of the company. 2,000 were slated to take part - each expected to pay Farage £50 for the privilege - but only 100-200 actually turned up at the start in a muddy and rain-drenched field, almost outnumbered by the media and counter-protesters. They better not have blinked or they'd have missed Farage, who soon peeled off to find something better to do with his Saturday.

https://twitter.com/ByDonkeys/status/1106882125574402049


I didn't get past the first two comments on this article:



This seems to sum up their leader's attitude: Nigel Farage will not complete Brexit Betrayal march despite urging supporters to join him

https://twitter.com/ByDonkeys/status/1106843640352202757


Cheering the marchers on from the comfy sidelines while trying to keep a brave face, rabid Brexiteer and BBC Question Time regular Isabel Oakshott sprang into action:



Security might be needed, but more likely to protect the public from some of the marchers:

https://twitter.com/NE4EU/status/1106856031970357248


https://twitter.com/WombleFree/status/1106868223058866176


Not wishing to sound complacent, but if this is the scale of "civil unrest" we face if we don't pander to these arseholes, then so far I'm not very whelmed.

Meanwhile, ace campaigners Led by Donkeys haven't been idle:

https://twitter.com/ByDonkeys/status/1106859963987693568

These revelations are in the third part of a series on Banks run by Channel 4 News over the past week. Some other "highlights" here:

https://twitter.com/Channel4News/status/1102979091723157504


https://twitter.com/Channel4News/status/1103393315062497280


https://twitter.com/Channel4News/status/1104112139835506690

One of the deep suspicions among Remainers (me included) has been that May's rush to trigger Article 50 was at least partly an attempt to avoid having to comply with the EU's new anti-tax avoidance and money laundering directives, likewise the enthusiasm for a no-deal brexit among the more monied of the Tories.

The government did state last July that it would comply with the new legislation at least during the originally projected transition period up to December 2020. The UK's archipelago of affiliated tax havens won't be bound by the new rules unless they decide to apply them (which they probably will if they want to continue to have access to EU financial markets).

Unless there's a no-deal Brexit and complete breakdown in UK-EU relations, which some are evidently angling for, these issues are likely to be a continuing source of friction during the transition period and beyond.