48 letters are in.

[Suff]

In the meantime the contingency fund has been freed up to prepare for No Deal.

I had another really amusing thought. Because Gina Miller won her court case and forced the triggering of A50 ONLY after a bill had been passed by the HOP to submit the notification, the ONLY way that it can be unilaterally revoked is via another bill raised in the HOP and that bill passing both the HOP and the HOL.

Of course if the government doesn't raise said bill, then it can't be voted on. If a private members bill should be raised, it could be filibustered out of time.

Isn't that a pleasant thought. Simple just unilaterally revoke A50. It could have been done by May, on her own before Miller's case. Everyone probably thought they were being very clever when they force this on the government. I wonder how clever they are feeling now???

Labour with it's "6 tests of idiocy" are also creating mayhem and driving the UK to No Deal. I was reading the New Statesman article today which quite clearly states that the Labour tests are designed to fail. After all if you subjected the tests to a rigid logical analysis the end result would be "The UK must leave the EU without leaving the EU". Let's see Corbyn deliver on that one!

I see what you mean about the votes. She doesn't want votes on amendments for her bill, she wants people to offer alternatives and vote on them. After all, so far, all they have been doing is heckling from the sidelines. Now they are firmly in the headlights. Time to put up or shut up.

It is quite likely that every single alternative will be voted down. Leaving May's deal.

It is also interesting because, if an alternative was voted in, it would empower May to ask for more time to make it happen. At which point I would expect the EU to say NO and to demand that the UK accepts the "only possible deal". If the timing were right, we could crash out with No Deal.

So the story becomes more interesting. The EU are clueless about the UK so they'll do the wrong thing every time. I'm banking on that.

[victor]

Why should Leavers have to accepted the result? Remainers didn't/haven't accepted this vote


If the remainers had won Vic there would be no kerfuffle. There would only be the status quo, so no changes to argue about.

I would like to think that those who voted to leave would have accepted the result of the referendum, albeit it with great disappointment.

[Suff]

I would like to think that those who voted to leave would have accepted the result of the referendum, albeit it with great disappointment.

Well it wouldn't be the first time they had lost would it?

Most people, by nature, are followers no leaders. Vote remain, nothing has to change. With Brexit, for a very short time, that changed upsetting the followers mightily.

With a Remain vote nothing had to change. The followers could just keep on following, no issue, no matter how good or how lame the existence. But with Brexit Leaders actually had to Lead.

It is interesting to note just how 4 decades in the EEC and EU has destroyed the capacity of our politicians to lead.... That, alone, should be warning enough that the EU is not good for the UK as a nation.

It is so easy not to see it. Just close your eyes and repeat Remain, Remain, forever. Nothing need change, nothing can go wrong....

But what if it is already wrong? No problem, just close your eyes and keep repeating Remain and it will be OK because nothing has to change.

Leavers might have been disgruntled if they lost. But it is the remainers who have had their nice comfortable, smothering, EU blanket removed. The noise would put a ward of new born babies to shame.

[Workingman]

I can't be bothered in replying to the above myths, but here are a few facts.

On Tuesday a group of Tory MPs threatened to quit the Whip if a no deal option is left open.

Then a Scottish MP, Angus McNiel, tabled a vote of no confidence in HM opposition, Labour.

Then a cross-party group from SNP, LibDems, Greens and Plaid did Labour's work and tabled a motion of no confidence kin the government.

Separately the SNP made an amendment to Labour's no confidence vote on the PM to upgrade it to being of no confidence in the government.

The pantomime continues.

[cromwell]

Well, it is the pantomime season. This year's does seem to have been going on for a while though, that's for sure.

Labour's position on all of this does continue to baffle me. The six tests weren't ever going to be met. They can't be. Saying that Labour wouldn't accept any deal that is worse that what we currently have with the EU is ridiculous; the EU aren't going to let that happen. Why should they? We're the ones that are leaving; there is no duty on them to bend over backwards for us, at all.

They are led by Jeremy Corbyn, who has been a leaver for most of his political career, now in charge of a wildly Remain party. Ditto for his 2iC, John McDonnell. So the party is mad keen for a second referendum but Corbyn is not.

The Tories are also mainly pro-Remain although they do have more leavers. Nick Boles and Anna Soubry, who are the ones chucking their teddies out of the pram, both represent Leave constituencies; Boles' constituents voted 61% to Leave.

I wonder if some genius, two years ago, could have planned to arrange such a mess? I doubt it.

Hopefully Parliament will all go on their holidays soon and we can all have a short break from the hysteria.