The game has changed. Here’s a quick piece of Brexit analysis on the day that the world turned in on Trump and Brexit populism.
Johnson’s Brexit strategy has relied on the ability to bully Europe. Johnson has used the bargaining chip that Britain will become a rogue state on the edge of Europe with an Anglo-American trade deal. The game has changed …
NO LONGER APPLIES
Joe Biden has a long memory regarding Johnson’s attacks on Obama, women and ethnic minorities. The game has changed and the so called special relationship …
NO LONGER APPLIES
Johnson had relied on breaching The Good Friday Agreement and breaking international law to “Get Brexit Done”. The game has changed …
NO LONGER APPLIES
Reporter: "Mr Biden, a word for the BBC?"#PresidentBiden2020: "BBC? I'm Irish…"
The EU has tried to accommodate Britain in Brexit negotiations, so as to maintain a sense of decency in world politics. This, despite the fact that Britain has not made any good faith attempts to negotiate. The game has changed …
NO LONGER APPLIES
Thank you so much for leading the world with humanity and grace.
— Reboot Britain – Rage Against The Brexit Machine (@BrexitRage) November 5, 2020
True leadership.
Trump favoured UK in terms of doing a trade deal, as a means of pivoting against the EU. Biden’s appointment means that the EU’s main focus will now turn to America, rather than a small country in economic and social ruin. The game has changed …
NO LONGER APPLIES
I warmly congratulate @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris for their victory in the U.S. Presidential elections.
The EU and the USA are friends and allies, our citizens share the deepest of links. I look forward to working with President-elect Biden.
We can no longer expect Trump to be focused on the UK and Brexit. His next two months will be fully occupied in fighting legal actions, making himself look even more foolish and gradually being ostracised by his allies. I imagine he will spend a lot of time on the golf course. Perhaps a slot on “I’m a failed celebrity, get me out of here”. The game has changed …
NO LONGER APPLIES
In conclusion, the game has changed and …
BREXIT NO LONGER APPLIES
Take Action
Write to your MP and demand that they oppose the toxic combination of Corona + Brexit – sample letters below.
Write to the press with the same ambition.
Write to EU leaders and encourage them to hold firm on Brexit negotiations now that Johnson is alone.
Sample Letters to MP’s – TY Rachel Ashley and Catherine Reynolds
Dear xxx,
Given the Biden victory, would you now agree that a two year extension to the transition period is probably wise, to allow Britain to cope with the COVID crisis?
Yours sincerely
Dear xxx
I see your government has done another u-turn on free school meals in the holidays for hungry children. Surely this is getting embarrassing for MP’s such as yourself, who support the government one week only for the Executive to do a u-turn the following week (or so). This looks like a failure of leadership to me.
I assume this was announced yesterday because most of the world of the world was watching Joe Biden defeat Donald Trump in the USA Presidential election. However President elect Biden’s stance on Brexit is well-known. He thinks the UK is following a foolish and divisive line which has the potential to severely damage Anglo-Irish relations and undermine the Good Friday Agreement. He has said more than once the USA will not trade with the UK if it breaks the Good Friday Agreement. It is telling that when asked by a BBC journalist if he had anything to say to the BBC he said ‘I am Irish’.
I ask you to reconsider your position. Brexit is going to add considerably more damage to the British economy at a time when it is massively struggling under the economic pressure caused by COVID. I am aware the PM Johnson was in talks with the President of the European Commission yesterday and I assume that is to try and cobble together some sort of deal for Mr Johnson to then sell to the British people as the best deal ever when we all know that at best it will give Britain a few crumbs from the EU table and will still cause, what could turn out be, irreparable damage to the British economy with no hope in the short or medium term of even the semblance of a deal with the USA to mitigate a small part of the damage.
I am therefore asking you to put Britain first and to put pressure on the Executive to go to the European Council and ask for Brexit to be suspended for 2 years with Britain still in transition mode. Your current leader should have no difficulty in doing another u-turn to achieve this as he is very used to doing them. A two year suspension of Brexit will give your Party time to sort out what is clearly a failure of leadership and the Government time to get control of how the country can begin to live with the COVID 19 virus without severely damaging either the economy or the health of the nation.
The aftermath of the Trump election shows us that we still have a long way to go in order to lead with truth, transparency and humility in a troubled world. In the UK, Boris Johnson is copying Trump’s design, by escalating his false promises, blame and lies to nuclear levels. “Operation Moonshot” has just failed to deliver. Christmas is almost certainly cancelled. Johnson continues to blame others for our Government’s continual “Cake and Eat it too” approach to Brexit negotiations. Changing Minds on Brexit on an industrial scale will be required if we are to return towards trust in politics and politicians. In this context I intend to serialise some chapters of my book “Let’s Talk About BREX..it“.
A successful Brexorcism takes skill, patience and time. Here is the preface to the book:
Why I wrote this book
I was in my late 50’s when Brexit began. I am now over 60 and although Brexit is “in the microwave, gas mark four”, it is still far from done, some would say overdone. Brexit will probably come undone in the coming year one way or another. Speaking personally, Brexit will not affect me positively or negatively. Outside my anti-Brexit life, I am an author, business consultant, speaker and knowledge worker who has always traded on a worldwide basis. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ll be in a shallow grave by the time that any of the supposed Brexit benefits materialise. Even 18th Century retro-Latin imperialist adventure capitalist Jacob Rees-Mogg said that we will get nothing back from Brexit for 50 years … I’m impatient in the age of Corona … not for myself, but for future generations.
Setting Brexit and Corona aside for a moment, we are merely responsible landlords of planet earth. If we do well in our lives, our aim should be to leave the planet in a better state that when we arrived. If the nature of our life and work does not allow us to answer that call, we must at least be guided by the principle of “do no harm.” We owe it to our children, their kids and the planet to do our best and stand up to those who would do harm in pursuit of narrower and more destructive goals. Brexit is a narrow ambition that would continue England’s love affair with disaster capitalism, lower standards of environmental stewardship and increased carbon footprints from more global trading. This is all happening at a time when the drive to solve world problems requires greater levels of collaborative leadership and co-dependency. Complex world problems require joined up thinking instead of splendid isolation and “I’m alright Jack and Jill” behaviours.
This requires us to continue the conversation with leave voters and, of course, Remainers, some of whom now have terminal Brexit apathy. These difficult conversations are made even more difficult when we currently must conduct them using socially distanced means. This book equips you with strategies, skills and stories to help you have these difficult conversations. A mind shift requires skill, patience and time. Over thousands of hours of fieldwork, it becomes apparent that, sometimes you need several sittings with your chosen subject, client or victim. The book provides a compendium of support with skill and patience. It will also help you use your precious time to greater impact.
Grab a copy of Let’s Talk About Brex..it on Amazon – click the review
Human beings have achieved great things for the planet. Sadly the human condition also includes a few human faults. Greed, avarice, ego and so on. We have witnessed it most recently in the fanatical stockpiling of toilet rolls amidst the Corona crisis. It means we think short term, sometimes selfishly and nostalgically. Crucially we don’t always realise that we are in this together with our neighbours and others we share this fragile earth with. As far as I know, earthworms, hydrangeas and molluscs do not share the faults of the “human race.” It is perhaps time to stop racing and trying to Trump each other, to consider what we can learn from the rest of the animal and plant kingdom. After all, we are allegedly more intelligent than snails … We must learn to be responsible custodians of planet earth. Brexit threatens to isolate Britain in a world that desperately needs more collaboration and co-operation. Worse still, Brexit takes Scotland, Northern Ireland and some parts of Wales and England down with it. To what purpose? I am still waiting for answers.
You may be asking yourself “Surely it is too late to stop Brexit? A piece of paper was signed on 31 January 2020 so isn’t it all done now?” I will work through the arguments as to why Brexit can be stopped later in this book. However, some Remainers suffer from what psychologists call “Learned Helplessness”? This is the condition where people believe that there is nothing they can do to alter the course of Brexit or that they should not interfere, due to faux notions of “democracy” or “the will of the people”. In other words “we can’t do anything” and “we must not do anything”. My own brother who voted to Remain is part of what the Rt Hon Ken Clarke calls the “indifferent majority” and has quoted “the will of the people”. In truth he is fearful of the far right and it’s easier to comply rather than resist. Whilst I completely understand his position and that of others like him, such people are an absolute danger to the resolution of such problems. I am quite sure that the vast majority of the German people did not think that Mr Hitler would do anything awful in 1938. Some simply looked away. Simply stated, silence is assent.
Taking first the issue of feeling there is nothing that can be done to change things, this is fundamentally untrue. This book offers a wide palette of things we can do. At the highest levels of thinking, quite simply, Brexit is a political process and not a legal one. All that is needed at the basic level would be an e-mail to cancel it, followed by a lot of grovelling in private, probably the fall of the prevailing Government or certainly the key players. Eventually a lengthy public process would be created and some “ceremony” to allow us to rejoin the EU or simply not to leave. However, this “christening ceremony” would almost certainly be followed by “terms and conditions”, based on the fact that our Brexit belligerence has been largely informed by decades of the UK “having its cake and eat it too” aka getting its own way on things like Shengen, the Euro etc.
On the question of “should we interfere?” this again is a simple matter to debunk. Democracy informed by gross lies on the NHS, immigration etc. targeted Facebook ads, overspending on election campaigns are not the high-water marks of democracy. In any case, some four years on, the demographics of Brexit have altered considerably with approximately 1.5 million leave voters having spun off this mortal coil and 1.7 million young people becoming eligible to vote, creating a significant shift on the “will of the people”. As I write this update, it rather seems that these demographics are likely to be disproportionately affected by Boris Johnson’s Corona Cull of older voters. In any case, “Generation Greta”, above all else, understand our connectedness and co-dependency.
The other question that should be troubling you some four years later is the one that asks the Buzzcocks’ Brexit question “What do I get?”. Perhaps we don’t ask the question in a selfish way, but nonetheless it becomes relevant to ask what benefits are on offer to our fellow citizens if we are to endure some 50 years of pain to get there. It is a question I’ve asked tirelessly during thousands of hours of street encounters and one I still cannot get any sensible answers on from the common man or woman. The best I have had in recent times came from the man who wanted to leave the EU so that he could land a 5 lb bass from the Swale in Kent and the other man who was willing to throw all the benefits of EU membership away because he personally thought that garlic was used too much in the local cafes and restaurants.
Click on the image to view the follow up volume on Amazon.
Brexit is, at one level, a gross example of selfishness, greed and avarice by a few disaster capitalists. These people have successfully persuaded the masses that Brexit will be good for them, although the mounting body of evidence suggests otherwise. The Dunning Kruger effect and misplaced pride prevent some leave voters from admitting that Brexit will not deliver any of the supposed benefits we were mis-sold so slickly and compellingly. This plays out daily via snappy catchphrases such as “Take Back Control”, “Brexit Means Brexit”, “Pop Brexit in the microwave”, “Let’s get Brexit done” etc. Feelings overwhelm facts in the tsunami of data that arrives daily across our TV screens, computers and smartphones. In the words of XTC “Senses Working Overtime”.
The information age is also in part responsible for the Brexit vote. Aside from interference in the voting process by Cambridge Analytica and underground targeted Facebook ads, another effect is in play here. We receive some 34 GB of data daily. This more than the average person received in their entire life in 1800. Quite naturally the response to “drowning in data” in some cases is to shut down from information overload altogether. Nigel Farage understood this well, when he asked the nation to vote with their hearts and not their heads after we were numbed senseless by data.
I originally titled this book “The Brexit Monologues.” Why a monologue I hear you say? Surely a conversation is a dialogue? Well some of the conversations I’ve had with some hardcore leave voters have been monologues. In other words they simply wish to unload their “story” on me before there is any possibility of a dialogue. I have had literally thousands of conversations with Brexiteers in cafés, bars and on the street. Listening skills do not usually begin until I have invested sufficient time and energy in understanding their viewpoints, however much I may disagree with them. It is also essential to establish a platform of expertise and some basic trust if they are to listen to you in preference to their own trusted advisor, whether that is Nigel Farage or the bloke in the pub. Why exactly should they wish to listen to me anyway? Many of them simply want to download their concerns, issues and fantasies about Brexit and their feelings of being left behind. In listening to these people, I have found that these monologues are actually quite revealing. At the same time, some level of change can occur by simply allowing these people to vent their feelings of rage, disappointment, and regret about their lives. Occasionally and usually after a degree of patient listening, it is possible to separate their feelings from the causes of these feelings. In other words to separate their regrets from the fact that the EU is not the root cause of their regrets. Once we achieve this, we have the possibility for what I term a “Brexorcism”, in other words a shift in their beliefs about the world and about Brexit in particular.
Click the image to find the book.
Changing Minds on Brexit provides strategies, skills and stories to help you change minds, whilst helping you to look after yourselves in the process. I use the word Brexorcism not because I’m expecting you to throw holy water at your subjects! Nor do I expect you to have to deal with people whose heads and viewpoints rotate 360 degrees. We are generally dealing with quasi-religious beliefs or even identity level change, where Brexit is intimately linked with people’s sense of self, Queen, country and flag. When we engage with a leave voter, we are sometimes challenging people at the level of who they are or the very why of their being. This requires skill, time, patience and flexibility on our part.
The book also helps with healing the divides that Brexit has set up on our DIsUnited Kingdom, whether family, friend or community based.
This book is not just about Brexit ghostbusting. Where Brexit leads, Trump, Erdogan and others follow. Just as sure as ladies’ hemlines rise and fall for no particular reason with the whims of fashion every year, populism and the rise of the far right in difficult times are also fashion statements that others follow. So, you will find this book of immense value if you are trying to fight populism anywhere in the world.
On New Year’s Day 2017 I coined the catchphrase “Break Brexit Before Brexit Breaks Britain” in the shower. I note this has been adopted and adapted quite widely. I recently realised that it needed updating. On New Year’s Day 2019 I came up with a new mantra which remains relevant:
“We seek a Better Britain in a Better Europe for a Better World.”
I coined this phrase on New Year’s Day 2018. It’s still relevant.
We are all in this together and it is about time we woke up to the fact. We can no longer live in unsplendid isolation in the 4th industrial age. Yes, we need to reform our politics and the very notions of capitalism if we are to survive. But turning our backs on problems and opportunities that we face as a global village is not a sensible response.
I hope this gives some clues as to why you might want to read the book … read on …
Take Action
Write to your MP and demand that they oppose the toxic combination of Corona + Brexit
Here’s a sharp reflection on the week’s developments over the pond from our stalwart anti-Brexit anti-Trump campaigner Don Adamson, written on November 3rd and left as a contrast to the developing news. Johnson has no BATNA (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement) with the EU in the wake of Trump’s demise from power. Time to SuspEND Brexit now that Brexit is Trumped. Please write to your MP today on this matter.
November 03, 2020
Across the USA people begin to vote. Over 100 million have already voted and we await the long process that is election day. As millions prepare I reflect how very few will actually decide on anything than an emotion or even at worst insecurity. The political process in the USA is now simply that of identification.
The author formerly known as Don Adamson.
As we prepare for the great God Demos I think of how much the founding fathers of the USA feared Demos, the demagogue and indeed ancient Athens. I have finished listening to Gore Vidal’s book ‘1876’. It’s about the election of that year where a corrupt Republican party stole the election by corruption, manipulation and intimidation. Then I think on the events of 2020, as armed Trump supporters surround a Biden bus in Texas and Trumpian SA like militia stand outside polling stations intimidating African American voters. Fascism has come to the USA wrapped in the flag and carrying the bible. Whoever wins, it is clear that the USA is broken and the culture wars that are waged will soon to turn to that of civil war. America will break as the declining white males lose influence and power. Fear and loathing grows. Trump devalues knowledge, learning, respect and tolerance. The battle inside the large ego of a 74 year old toddler with a thin skin spills out to possess the electorate.
A boarded-up Washington prepares
Our 2016 composition on Trump – depressed jazz.
In 1876, the result was not known for days. I suspect it will be the same this week. I shall watch the results tonight and speculate. Biden’s lead is far more substantial than Clinton’s and of the 8 states that Trump won last time six show substantial leads for the Democrats. Biden should win but it remains a totemic prize. A corporate Democratic victory will enable the USA to take a few steps back from the abyss of WASP Fascism. It will give brief breathing space to allow a socialist grouping to emerge for the first time since since the days of Eugene Debs and Upton Sinclair. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will be part of a socialist bridge head in the American state. If Bernie Sanders becomes Secretary of State of Labour, radical policies not seen since FDR will become possible.
Dump Trump.
We stand at a crossroads. A Trump victory will embolden the far right across the world. It will empower Farage here with a Libertatarian COVID denying, conspiracy laced party to burst onto the political scene in time for election to the Welsh Senedd and create a block of them within it. The street gangs of the DFLA and the EDL will soon be on our streets intimidating and silencing opposition.
Nigel’s new party – Licensed to Kill.
And so today, my thoughts are with the young people of the USA the radicals, the left, the feminists, those of Black Lives Matter standing up against the red necks with their AK 47s, their prejudice and hatred. The USA stands at the crossroads, but we also stand with them. As in the USA so it will be here soon. This is the moment as the Moon wanes and the days shorten.
The world is changing but to what direction and purpose? America will break. That is certain. A new nadir like 1876 is here. The next century will see a new period of history. Post Modern Fascism is here and the moment of choice will be made. Chlorinated chicken after Brexit awaits us with a Trump victory. The dice are rolling and knives are out … what will be will be … and the scales hang in the balance.. the only thing certain is that America is in terminal decline and much that was will soon be swept away for good or ill. If Trump loses, he faces prosecution and conviction. If he wins, the whole world faces the same, but our judge and jury will be the generations who come after. Gilead will be born in the USA and fused with a new American Third Reich.
Let us stand in the eye of the Hegelian storm between thesis and antithesis. A brutal synthesis will follow. Whomever wins, things will never be the same again. A COVID post modernism beyond perception awaits to be born as a slouching beast lurks with its ginger hair and crawls towards the swamp. All things threaten to fall apart …
Take Action
Write to your MP and demand that they oppose the toxic combination of Corona + Brexit
Write to the press with the same ambition
Write to EU leaders and encourage them to hold firm on Brexit negotiations now that Johnson is alone
Please do not give in to Bullingdon Bullies – we have been betrayed by our own Government. Do not encourage more bad behaviour https://t.co/jxmdYdcin8
— Reboot Britain – Rage Against The Brexit Machine (@BrexitRage) November 7, 2020
Daily Maul. Click on the image for our satire book on Brexit.
Can all our previous Prime Ministers be wrong about Brexit? Please watch as leaders unite against Brexit. Learn and then share with MPs to wake them up. Sir John Major’s speech is well worth 30 minutes of your time to start with:
Click on the image to watch John Major’s groundbreaking speech.
John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and even Theresa May … Almost nothing unites these five people, apart from the fact each were once the UK’s head of government. Three Tories and Two Labour. Many of them stood against each other in General Elections. But all of them have now spoken out against Brexit. Even if it’s to save their own face. But if Brexit is so bad that every single living British Prime Minister speaks out against it … Then it’s obvious that Brexit is a bad idea. And that the UK’s current government is being run by the very worst of politicians.
Regrets, I have a few …
Listen without prejudice.
Theresa May speaks truth to idiots.
Whatever you think of Nick Clegg, he speaks the truth on Brexit.
True Leadership – Click on the picture to watch Von der Leyen’s speech.
For comparison this is our PM demonstrating his skills of oratory and principled leadership:
Britastrophe.
Take Action
Write to your MP and demand that they oppose the toxic combination of Corona + Brexit
Write to the press with the same ambition
Write to EU leaders and encourage them to hold firm on Brexit negotiations now that Johnson is alone
In this roundup of Jacob’s Crackers, we chart the unprecedenteddevelopments in our Government’s idiotic approach to Brexit, COVID and Trump. I am finding it very difficult to distinguish satire from reality, as Boris Johnson lurches from the COVID car crash to our Britastrophe in waiting …
Ask that Brexit be suspended in the wake of Corona
Thank The Lords
The House of Lords firmly rejected the idea of breaking international law in order to “Get Brexit Done”. Johnson’s response? “Carry On Breaking The Law”. The likely outcome? Britain will be twinned with North Korea as a rogue state. The EU and US will treat Britain accordingly.
Trust is essential for all trade and business – The UK is not trustworthy
Write to members of the House of Lords – Point out that the internal markets bill was NOT a manifesto promise and therefore it is perfectly reasonable for the House of Lords to continue to oppose it.
World Beating COVID deaths
Once again, we lead Europe with COVID deaths, due to our “too little, too late’ approach”. This Twitter thread sums up the problems:
UK : "World beating deaths"
We lead Europe with 50 000 reported #COVID19 deaths
— Peter Cook – Leadership for a Better World (@academyofrock) November 12, 2020
Please Retweet this and related tweets. Tweet your MP with a personal message about #suspendbrexit. Hold their feet to the fire.
Rats deserting the sinking ship
If the COVID deaths were not bad enough, it seems that Downing Street is more concerned with petty power squabbles between Dominic Cummings, his cronies and Boris’ girlfriends. Whitehall is now occupied by a large number of Vote Leave cronies and we await the departure of Dominic Cummings and our idiot negotiator David Frost, following Lee Kane’s departure last night. Watch Channel 4 News last night to find out more:
Since this time cronyism has gone from bad to worse under Johnson. It has continued under Truss and Sunak.
To learn more about cronyism in Whitehall check out My Little Crony by Sophie Hill
Old Durham Town remade in our studio.
IBS – Irritable Brexit Syndrome
If all of the above were not enough to make you think that we have lost control of our senses, swivel eyed loons John Redwood and, not IBS, but IDS (Iain Duncan Smith) have pointed out that Britain is bigger than the US. They have also told Joe Biden had better watch his step if he wants to get a trade deal with Britain. Texas and California are bigger than the US geographically, never mind the economy. The US economy is 20 x larger than the UK economy. For the avoidance of doubt:
Size is important – we are 40 x smaller than the US.
John Redwood “Mine’s bigger than yours” Retweet and share to your MP
Smith took time out from snacking on his bogies to have a go at Joe Biden, presumably because he’s a decent man. Smith can’t even qualify as a man, a monstrous freeloader and charlatan who relished his persecution of the vulnerable. https://t.co/cuGUjD4uQy
Boris Johnson and Priti Patel scraped the bottom of the barrel by claiming that ending our freedom of movement was somehow a great triumph, whilst trying to pretend that the matter does not apply to British people. Johnson seems to have forgotten that he said exactly the opposite when he was seeking people’s votes for Brexit. In the words of Johnny Rotten:
Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?
We are all Citizens of Nowhere. Download In Limbo from our Bandcamp site.
If Jacob’s crackers, all the while, Johnson continues to self isolate from the truth about COVID and Brexit, Trump is also bunkering down, whilst he makes a new series of “Borat” with Rudy Giuliani. Sadly his tweet was deleted …
In today’s spoof edition of the Sun, it’s hard to tell satire from reality as Johnson retreats from criticism of his handling of Carrie, Cummings, Corona and the ongoing Britastrophe from the toxic cocktail of Brexit + Corona. This Brexit self isolation is not really good enough, especially as it seems he broke lockdown rules to meet one of his MPs.
Nut Nuts – Read all the editions by clicking on “The Sun”
In case you are not sure which is the fake news and which is real, here is a guide:
Belgium did win the football match 2 – Nil. The playing field was level, unlike our approach to Brexit negotiations, where we want want to kick the ball into the goal whilst the other side are off the pitch.
Johnson did meet with an MP last week, breaking lockdown and causing his Brexit Self Isolation. There was no reason why he could not have done this remotely. It seems very convenient, as it means he gets to avoid questions about Cummings going, Christmas, COVID and the tragic state of Brexit negotiations which climax this Friday. Remember a Brexit deal is WORSE than no deal in terms of the long term future for our children. See Brexit Choices.
Carrie Symonds texts Johnson 20 times a day whilst he is trying to run the country. We now have reached the Eva Braun / Linda Mc Cartney / Yoko Ono / Princess Nut Nut moment of English democracy, where the will of the people has been replaced by the whim of the blonde bimbo Boris.
There is no medical virus called Brexitosis. However, it becomes clear that Brexit has now occupied the minds of a few swivel eyed loons in the ERG, whilst the vast majority of the British public are bored rigid by Brexit and want Brexit flushed down the pan.
Johnson did say F..ck Business. This is the new Tory party. Can you really approve of someone who does this?
Mark Francois is still missing in action. What can be wrong? Write to Mark and wish him a speedy recovery.
We do believe that Larry the cat’s box was stolen by Cummings. Sources close to No 10 suggest that Larry was the only “person” who was not taken in by Cummings’ lies. Tweet Larry on the matter:
@Number10cat We are worried that #Cummings took your box Larry. Can we provide another for you?
Michael Gove is a slippery customer. Here is one of his latest lies about progress, or lack of it, in GOVErnment negotiations with the EU for a trade deal:
“The terms on which Canada and the EU waive tariffs on each other’s goods is all we seek. That’s what the EU said it would offer us but at the eleventh hour it seems the bloc won’t take yes for an answer.”
No, Michael you have have forgotten important details!
In the Political Declaration accompanying the Withdrawal Agreement, the PM agreed that a level playing field should form part of any new trade agreement. At that point, the EU were willing to offer a Canada style agreement. After the 2019 General Election, Johnson went back on his undertaking. It was then, as a direct reaction to that broken promise, that the offer of a Canada style agreement was withdrawn.
This did not come out of the blue at the 11th hour, as Gove dishonestly suggests.
Theresa May acts as a lie detector for GOVErnment.
Why is a level playing field important? Because it guarantees fair competition between companies, free from distortion created by national barriers and unfair advantages. This is shown clearly in the key issue of disagreement in the negotiations – state subsidies to industry, where propping up failing firms or attracting foreign investment is at stake. In the latter case, there is great temptation for governments to bribe international companies to establish themselves in their countries, particularly where access to a market of big as the EU is involved. That is why such bribes are forbidden under EU law, except for regional development in poorer areas, under common rules.
The UK position is to refuse to abide by the same rules as the EU, arguing that this is a breach of sovereignty. But in reality we are demanding the freedom to offer unlimited investment subsidies, a huge advantage over the EU members which we did not possess before we left. Obviously, the 27 EU states would be out of their mind to allow this !
The UK side often complains that the EU’s level playing field is stricter than the terms in the EU/Canada Agreement. There is some truth in this. It is justified because the UK is a much larger industrial power than Canada and, even more importantly, it is on the EU’s doorstep. Where foreign investment is involved, for example, an Indian company is unlikely to invest in Canada in order to take advantage of free trade under the EU/Canada agreement. The situation is very different with an EU/UK deal, as our success in attracting foreign investment as a result of EU membership proved over the last 40 years.
A Canada deal cannot be “cut and pasted” over to Britain. The levels of trade are different. Our proximity to Europe, with intention to undermine standards, means that the comparison is simply invalid.
Unless our country reverts to negotiating honestly and reasonably with our neighbours, we can expect little more than No Deal, with all the misery which it will bring.
Medway council made a complete cock up when they commissioned an art installation by Glastonbury artist Cold War Steve, but one which I have enjoyed immensely. It seems that the Tory controlled Council thought that it would be a nice idea to cheer their residents up by commissioning an art installation in Medway Country Park, a place for families to walk and cycle, freed from the troubles of the day. Imagine their surprise when they realised that Cold War Steve does surrealistic and satirical art on Brexit? Within hours complaints started to arrive. I heard that the Councillors then started fighting about “who dunnit”.
Brexit Blind Date – Click image to find Cold War Steve’s work.
I was alerted about the installation by someone last Sunday. On Tuesday I had a “Ron Weasley moment” from Harry Potter, having a sudden and compelling need to go down to the installation. I told my wife and we set off. We almost immediately came upon one of the artworks which had been ripped off the stand and thrown into the River Medway. A crowd had assembled around the stand. I decided to shimmy down the bank, realising that I might find it hard to get back up, went out onto the mud and retrieved “Tim Wetherspoon”. I have dubbed Medway Country Park as “Borassic Park” as a result of Steve’s marvellous work.
Gammon in aspic.
I called the Council to retrieve the artwork in case of theft and then called the media. The result was a piece in the Kent Messenger. The comments are hilarious and well worth reading.
An incensed caller to the newsroom said his granddaughter had been left shaken by the image of “a near naked Boris Johnson next to a mass grave”. He said: “What the hell are they playing at having such ‘art’ on display?
Truly offensive – Brexit – Find Cold War Steve’s work by clicking the image.
Some of my fellow residents seem to think that I crave publicity and actually organised the attack. How very sad.
I could not resist a little careful augmentation of a couple of the exhibits with some of The EU Flag Mafia’s Britastrophe Stickers whilst I was down there … placing the stickers carefully for pictures and then removing from the artworks.
Priti Patel welcomes migrants on the Essex coast.
Matt Hancock oversees herd immunity for Old Age Brexiteers at the White Cliffs of Dover.
We have asked Cold War Steve if he would like to work with us on a project at the Gulbenkian Theatre in Canterbury soon. Details to follow.
Fix my bike Dom.
Read up on why Brexit can be suspended at Suspended Animation. Read up on why Rejoining may be a unicorn in the long term at Fool Britannia. Check out the implications of Brexit for Kent and Medway at Not In My Back Yard.
Write to your MP to demand that Brexit be suspended in the wake of Corona.
Snitch on MPs for voting to break international law.
On Monday 5th October, the House of Commons are due to debate the petition to Halt Brexit for a Public Inquiry. It would be very useful if you would write to your MP on the subject. Here are some sample letters to use. To write to your MP, please go to Write to Them.
Dear xxx,
I write to ask you to support the motion to Halt Brexit for a Public Enquiry on Monday 5th October. It must have become obvious to you that Corona crisis + Brexit disaster = a Britastrophe. If you are not convinced, I’d ask you to read the report by LSE, summarised at https://brexitrage.com/brexonomics
Of course, it’s not all about economics. We seem to be headed towards no deal Brexit again, having been deemed illegal by the House of Commons in the last Parliament. It is widely predicted that Brexit will lead to extremely bad social outcomes in the winter of 2021, alongside flu, flooding and the 2nd COVID wave. with medicine and food shortages. Are the deaths of children and vulnerable people to be your epitaph as an MP?
It is time to show that you are able to take principled decisions when the good of the nation is at stake. You will be aware that the Supreme Court stated that Brexit would have been deemed illegal had the referendum been binding, but deferred the judgement because of the non-binding nature of the Brexit vote. We also know that the desire to leave the European Union has now declined to just 35% versus 57% wishing to remain. We are at present in a situation where international law may be breached if we pursue the provisions of the Internal Market Act. I’d hazard a guess that the only trade deals we’ll be pursuing will be with North Korea and Venezuela in such circumstances.
I await your answer.
Yours sincerely
YOUR NAME
Dear xxx
I see that petitions about Brexit are to be debated in Parliament on 5 October. One of them is “Halt Brexit for a Public Enquiry” because the Electoral Commission decided that illegal overspending occurred during the Referendum campaign. Another is about extending the transition period.
At the time of the Brexit referendum, nobody could have foreseen Covid. I have always been a Remainer but I do appreciate that many who voted for Brexit were making the best decision that they could with the knowledge they had at the time. Many, of course, are now changing their minds and I appreciate that it takes a lot of courage for people to say that they think the decision to leave the EU was wrong. I hate all the personal attacks and insults and division in the country.
Times have changed tremendously since the Brexit vote. As you will be well aware, the number of Covid-19 cases is rising nationally. We should be concentrating on defeating Covid and rebuilding Britain.. Brexit on top of Covid will do untold damage that will last for generations.
I believe that you are a hard-working and honest MP. Dominic Cummings’ trip to Durham was a big trigger for those disobeying the Government rules now. I really don’t like the current dishonesty in Government, and am shocked by the idea of breaking international law. At school years ago we were taught that the use of “Conservative” in the party came from the idea of “conserving what is good.” But that is not what’s happening at the moment – many of the elements I have always loved about Britain – the sense of fairness, the honesty, the belief in the rule of law, even the quality of our food, the feeling of “safety”, the availability of medicines – are being jettisoned because of the 2016 vote and determination to stick to the result no matter what the damage to the country.
I hope that debating these petitions will help the Government to reconsider its policy and change its approach.
Very best wishes
YOUR NAME
Dear xxx
Petitions about Brexit are, I understand, to be debated in Parliament on 5 October. One covers extending the Transition period. The other is “Halt Brexit for a Public Enquiry” because the Electoral Commission decided that illegal overspending occurred during the Referendum campaign.
I am aware that H.M. Government were fully aware of the implications of the Withdrawal Agreement via DExEU and that it was fully aware of preparations that needed to be made, and would have a plan to achieve them all in time.
It has become clear that this is not the case. The arrangements (Deal or No Deal) would have needed to be settled at least, say, 6 months at least before the implementation date, and yet we now have only 3 months to go, the possibility of a Deal sabotaged by the Internal Market Bill, and no evident plan that has any measure of bilateral agreement. The evidence for 31st December 2020 being an appropriate date was thin from the beginning. The evidence that it is now the appropriate date does not exist.
Importantly, the proposal now from the Tory Party is unambiguously a proposal for No Deal, because the EU will make no treaties with an organisation that breaks the agreements already made. So we therefore need to discard the suggestion that the “Will of the People” is being carried out, since “No Deal” was never proposed in the referendum. It would be sensible however to investigate the process by which votes were obtained in that referendum, because that will be helpful in any decision to set that result aside and investigate what is truly wanted or wise in 2020 / 2021
I hope that debating these petitions will help the Government to reconsider these points and change its approach.
With best wishes
YOUR NAME
I write to ask you to support the motion to Halt Brexit for a Public Enquiry on Monday 5th October. It must have become obvious to you that Corona crisis + Brexit disaster = a Britastrophe.
A Free-Trade Agreement (FTA) envisaged by Theresa May’s government would have provided 2 years for an orderly transition of business, and government long-term economic analyses are based on this. Since then we have approached a No-Deal precipice three times with another fast approaching, and businesses have not had the time to prepare. The current government, influenced by the coronavirus crisis, has given itself carte blanche to spend whatever it wants on anything at all and is flailing, indecisively wasting huge quantities of money on hypothetical eventualities. There is still no certainty about what comes next and this is going to cause permanent heavy damages to British businesses, far worse than the original long-term analysis predicted.
Please stand up for your country and our children’s futures and support the motion to Halt Brexit for a Public Enquiry.
With best wishes
YOUR NAME
Dear xxx,
I have adopted a ‘wait and see approach’ about the Internal Markets Bill, despite my concerns. With the Bill now having passed through the House of Commons, those concerns were clearly justified.
Surely Conservative backbenchers should have learned by now that reassurances or undertakings from Johnson are worthless? Haven’t the last nine months proved beyond doubt that Johnson agreed the Withdrawal Bill and the Political Declaration merely to persuade critics in his own and other parties to agree to a general election? Having got his majority, he swiftly reneged on the fundamental issue for the EU, the level playing field. Then he selected Mr Frost, a known enemy of the EU and non-believer in regulatory alignment, to ensure a drawn-out unproductive negotiation. Now he is playing the same trick. Unless you and others support the petitions due to be discussed next week in the Commons, he will surely proceed to No Deal and use the illegal measures in the Bill, once it has become law.
Bogus accusations of bad faith by the EU will be the excuse. This process has already begun. I have a seen a reply from another MP. This refers to a nebulous EU threat to block the sale of British agricultural products within the EU. This, it is claimed, ‘would prevent the transfer of animal products from Great Britain to Northern Ireland under the Northern Ireland Protocol.’ No information is given as to who made this threat, whether it has formal status and the forum in which it was made. This may be the party line, but without such details, one may doubt whether it was ever made, given the Government’s record of dishonest propaganda. There is also a list of scenarios in which the Bill’s illegal provisions would be used. These assume bad faith or unreasonable actions by the EU in the future , and are highly provocative. As the record clearly shows , it is the British side, not the EU, which has acted in bad faith throughout the negotiations and continues to do so, notably by the mere act of passing an illegal Bill through Parliament.”
In this matter, as in much else, one can seen the hand of Dominic Cummings behind the scenes. This over-powerful adviser has no respect for our Institutions, Parliament, the Constitution or the law itself. He has built a power base at the heart of Government which is already beyond accountability. His activities are not confined to ‘getting Brexit done’. Our planning system, our local democracy and the BBC are under threat. There is a stench of corruption and cronyism emanating from No 10. Irrespective of the outcome of Brexit, it is time for Conservative MPs to act as they did following the 2017 general election. Then they told the Prime Minister that unless she dispensed with her advisors, Nicholas Timothy and Fiona Hill, she would face a leadership challenge. In the name of Britain’s democracy the same needs to be done now in the case of Dominic Cummings and his tribe of aides. If Johnson is unable to do without him, it is time for him to be replaced.
Apologies for the length of this e-mail and all best wishes as ever
YOUR NAME
LETTERS WORK – See this reply – this MP is clearly conflicted but can say no more publicly.
Written by a former Conservative Councillor from Tunbridge Wells.
“I didn’t leave the party. The party left me”
In last week’s article on negotiations with the EU we showed that it was Johnson’s regime which had acted in bad faith up to now. One aspect of the level playing field, state aid, needs to be looked at further. Here, negotiator Frost enlarges on his usual mantra about Britain being an independent country by insisting that it is therefore entitled to spend its own money as it wishes. But there are limits to this seemingly reasonable argument.
As individuals, we all have the right to spend our money as we wish. However, if we do so in a way that gives us unfair advantages over our neighbours and damages them, we should not expect favours from them in return and may face retaliation.
In the case of state aid, Frost is actually demanding a more favourable position for Britain than we had as an EU member.
This is not reasonable.
It does not represent the spirit of Britain in terms of fair play. It is more like Trump’s spoilt child approach.
Click on the image to view last week’s post.
As a member of the EU, we had freedom from tariffs and quotas and had access to the single market. In kind we were expected to comply with EU state aid rules. These ban state aid to attract investment (except in development areas). Now we are demanding these advantages plus the right to offer state aid without limit. This is a benefit which even member states are not allowed to grant to their firms.
It is hardly surprising that this unreasonable demand is a sticking-point for the EU.
Report MP’s for breaking international law using the letters and contact links at Stop Boris’ Junta.
Particularly, since the UK was the top recipient in the EU of overseas investment until very recently. This is no longer so, thanks to Brexit. It could be retrieved if negotiations were not blocked by the inept negotiation skills and the hubris of Frost and the rest of Johnson’s regime.
Instead, however, the Government proceeds with the Internal Market Bill. This contains clauses contrary to the EU Withdrawal Agreement, Johnson’s General Election promises on Brexit. The bill also breaks international law.
Well worth your time.
Tory MPs have deflected the issue by referring to a vague EU threat to block the sale of British agricultural products within the EU. They claim:
“This would prevent the transfer of animal products from Great Britain to Northern Ireland under the Northern Ireland Protocol.”
However, no information has been given as to who made this threat, whether it has formal status and the forum in which it was made. Without such details, it is doubtful if this threat was ever made at all, given this government’s record of lies.
The lies, falsehoods and misrepresentations of Boris Johnson and his government https://t.co/VRLlGjnTKt
The Johnson regime also lists scenarios in which the Bill’s illegal provisions would be used. These assume bad faith or unreasonable actions by the EU, and are highly provocative and self-defeating. This game of chicken has provoked the expected reaction from any organisation who is threatened by criminals. In other words, the initiation of legal action against the UK for breaking international law.
Ursula von der Leyen speaks the truth
It is Britain, not the EU, which has acted in bad faith. We continue to do so, notably by the mere act of passing an illegal Bill through Parliament.
Write to your MP. Ask them to suspend Brexit on Monday 5th October via Halt Brexit.
Adrian Ekins-Daukes plans to lead Re-Boot Britain in order to boot Tories out of Local Government in the 2021 elections.
Please support our ongoing journalism and other activism.
In case of doubt, Boris Johnson’s statement about bananas was a big fat LIE.
