Brexit – we Don’t Need This Fascist Groove Thing 23rd August: ‘Remain remains divided’

 

For anyone who’s confused by some of the names used in this column, like any good film the cast list is at the end.

 

‘Well the stale chips are up and the hope stakes are down, It’s all these ignorant faces that bring this town down..’ ¹

 

Let us begin by looking back on this week’s absurdities and tragedies

Without the doubt the absurdity of the week goes to former QPR manager, Ian Holloway and his comments on Tuesday regarding the new handball rules; ‘I think that’s people telling us what we should do with our game. Now, they should stop doing that. I hope we get out of Brexit, because that’s what we all voted for, and sort that out, because you cannot have someone telling us how to do our own game.’

However, speaking to the Mirror on Wednesday, Holloway said: ‘People don’t listen. What I’ve said, and I can say it very clearly, is I’m sick and fed up of being told what to do by people who aren’t running our country. Fifa and Uefa have brought these rules in, they told us we’ve got to use VAR. That I’ve got no problem with, but that handball rule that they’ve made up, I don’t want to listen to them. That’s nonsensical.

‘It’s just in the same way that I’m sick and fed up of us in the UK being told what to do by the EU. Brexit is nothing to do with the football rules, is it? I’m not that stupid, so I suggest people wash their ears out and listen.’

 

Editorial comment: Correct, Ian, Brexit and football aren’t linked, however, nationalism, racism and football are linked. In the last week 3 black footballers have been victims of racist abuse on Twitter, Brexit provides a rallying call for these people.

 

Leading off the tragedies is the Wicked Witch who intends to impose new border restrictions overnight on 31 October should Britain have left the EU without a deal. This is contra to a reported internal government discussion paper warning that doing so could present ‘legitimate concerns of another Windrush’.

This could impact up to3-million people, the majority of which have not yet successfully applied through the settlement scheme, meaning that millions of lawful citizens will have their legal status removed overnight. Leaving employers, landlords, banks and the NHS with no way of distinguishing between those EU citizens with the right to live and work in the UK and those without.

 

‘I see your autosuggestion psychology, Elimination policy, A military industrial, Illusion of democracy…’² 

 

But, by far the biggest tragedy this week are reports of 210,000 children being housed in cheaply converted shipping containers, cramped rooms in former office blocks, and bed and breakfasts or forced to ‘sofa-surf’ with friends, often for long periods. However, this isn’t all:

•  An estimated further 375,000 children live in households that have fallen behind on rent or mortgage payments, putting them at risk of becoming homeless.
• 2,420 families were living in B&Bs in December 2018, a third of whom had been kept there for longer than six weeks, in breach of the law. These figures do not count at least 1,641 families in council-owned B&Bs, which are not included in official data.

 

Editorial Comment: Tsar Boris will no doubt tut-tut and promise a few billions, but this situation is the result of 10-yrs of failed Tory economic policies and the waste of money that Brexit has become. Only a few weeks Tsar Boris’s government announced a further £2.1bn for no-deal planning, taking the total to £6.3bn on contingency planning for the self-imposed economic disaster his government seems determined to lead us into.

 

‘It’s so hard not to feel ashamed, Of the loving living games we play..’³

 

But, despite the absurdities and tragedies that this political farce delivers Tsar Boris marches on, this week he invaded Germany, France, and then a G7 meeting.

The German Chancellor listened politely to Tsar Boris’s diatribe about the backstop and how it must be dispensed with, and then presented him a challenge; come back in 30-days with an alternative, if not is Auf Wiedersehen.

‘despite the absurdities and tragedies that this political farce delivers Tsar Boris marches on’

This deadline was endorsed in Paris by Pas d’entente, who described the Irish backstop as ‘indispensable’. Pas d’entente said, any new proposals to deal with the issue of the Northern Ireland border should fit into the existing framework withdrawal agreement already negotiated.

Paris isnt the city of love for Tsar Boris, prior to the meeting Pas d’entente made it clear that even in the event of a No Deal Brexit we are still expected to pay the £39bn divorce fee.

As if £39bn was enough Pas d’entente went on repeat his accused that the leave campaign, led by Tsar Boris, lied to the British public, he went on add two very unpalatable messages for his British counterpart:

 

• Renegotiating the EU withdrawal agreement was ‘not an option’.
• Brexit would stop the UK being a great power and it would leave the UK dependent on the US. He said:

 

‘The British are attached to being a great power, a member of the security council. The point can’t be to exit Europe and say, ‘we’ll be stronger’, before in the end, becoming the junior partner of the United States, which are acting more and more hegemonically.’

 

Most amusingly he then twisted the oft used language of Brexiters suggesting that outside the EU, instead of being released from European vassalage, Britain would end up a vassal state of the US.

‘Can the cost for Britain of a hard Brexit – because Britain will be the main victim – be offset by the United States of America? No.’

‘And even if it were a strategic choice it would be at the cost of a historic vassalisation of Britain. I don’t think this is what Boris Johnson wants. I don’t think it is what the British people want. I don’t think it’s the will of the British people … to become the junior partner of the US.’

‘Junior partner? How dare he, we will be the 53rd state’

Junior partner? How dare he, we will be the 53^rd state. US National Security Adviser, Mini Me, continued stoking the fires of No Deal saying that the UK would be at the ‘front of the trade queue’ for a deal.

Taking Pas d’entente’s line, why would the US ignore the EU, the world’s second largest economy, trade between the two was C.$1.3tn in 2018, to support the UK who, after Brexit, will be a minnow?

Dr Evil and Tsar Boris are just two dysfunctional leaders cuddling up to each other, the promised trade deal is very unlikely to happen. Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives said, ‘If Brexit undermines the Good Friday accord, there will be no chance of a US-UK trade agreement passing the Congress.’

And, finally we turn to Remain which, via parliament, can block a no-deal Brexit if it acts as one. The problem is that Remain cannot seem to agree on anything other than No Deal being a disaster best avoided. They have a strategy; winning a no-confidence vote is Tsar Boris, installing a ‘Unity’ government to avoid No Deal, but that’s where it stops.

Leading Tory rebels such as the Judge ‘…believe a no-deal Brexit would be catastrophic, not just economically but also threatening the future of the United Kingdom, I’m working with like-minded parliamentarians to prevent it happening,’ he said.

‘In that context, I’m prepared to speak to any parliamentarian who shares that view, including the leader of the opposition. If he is against no deal, I’m happy to talk. That is very different to thinking he is an appropriate figure to lead a government. ‘

‘the Judge won’t support Sleepy’ s apparent grab for power, seeing him as unsuited to the role of forming a unity government’

In short, the Judge won’t support Sleepy’ s apparent grab for power, seeing him as unsuited to the role of forming a unity government, but he will meet and discuss the possible mechanisms to stop no deal.

Unsurprisingly, Sleepy is still insisting that he should be installed as a caretaker prime minister, accusing the government of failing in its efforts. Speaking on a visit to Bolton on Saturday, he said: ‘What we need is a government that is prepared to negotiate with the EU, so we don’t have a crash-out on the 31st [of October].’

‘I am the leader of the Labour party; Labour is the largest opposition party by far. That is the process that must be followed.’

Or is it? Hush Puppy claimed it was wrong ‘factually and constitutionally’ for Sleepy to portray himself as the only viable figure to lead a unity government. And he didn’t stop there, suggesting that a ‘unity government’ could seek to negotiate a new Brexit deal, rather than being restricted to negotiating an extension to article 50 and then calling either an election, Sleepy’ s preference, or a referendum, which some MPs would prefer.

‘Hush Puppy sees himself leading a ‘single-issue, short-term government’

Hush Puppy sees himself leading a ‘single-issue, short-term government’ with a policy to ‘sort out Brexit’ – a far cry from the preferred Lib Dem route of a second referendum.

‘I think it would seek an extension, actually put together a mandate for discussions that the majority of the House of Commons approved of, and a mandate that the Europeans would not resist – like staying in the customs union, staying in regulatory alignment, keeping our free flows of trade and investment, protecting our jobs and our key sectors of business and agriculture in this country,’ he said.

‘Then, once it had got that under way and set, it would call an election probably or resign and let’s see if parliament could form a party government of any kind that took it all forward and started resuming other politics.’

So, other than sharing a common cause, Remainers can’t agree on who should lead, and how to execute their strategy should they win a vote of no-confidence.

 

Editorial comment: Am I alone in having no-confidence in their ability to unify and save us from a disastrous No Deal and the embrace of Dr Evil?

 

There is however, a simply numeric reality; out of a total of 650 MPs Sleepy can, in theory, command the support of 247, 76% of the 326 required to defeat Tsar Boris. Sleepy isn’t my choice to lead any government, he likely isn’t most people’s choice, but when needs must he has numbers on his side.

 

 

Well lyric spotters, a triple treat, and a real test of the old grey matte – I can’t help wondering if Philip is having a bit of fun at our expense. Not for the first time I’m afraid I failed to trouble the scorer.

Before you gloat too much, see how you did: ¹ first off the rank is that naughty boy Pete Doherty and his Libertines and ‘Time for Heroes’ – he got that right.

² is a belter that had not been on my radar before, Primal Scream with ‘Swastika Eyes’ and then the return of a favourite in the Jesus and Mary Chain with ‘The Hardest Walk’.

Three toughies this week, to be rewarded with double points – to be redeemed in the usual way – enjoy!

 

 

Philip Gilbert is a city-based corporate financier, and former investment banker.

Philip is a great believer in meritocracy, and in the belief that if you want something enough you can make it happen. These beliefs were formed in his formative years, of the late 1970s and 80s

 

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