The former Chancellor of the Exchequer and Arch Remainer Philip Hammond, a.k.a. ‘Spreadsheet Phil’, has put pen to paper and written an extraordinary article that was published today in RemainCentral (where else), i.e. The Times. Please sit down before reading and remove all cups and mugs with tea or coffee from your vicinity. Do not throw bricks at your PC screen.
Hammond is off to a blood pressure raising start with his headline “To say that people voted for hard Brexit simply isn’t true” (link, paywalled). One would of course like to know who is saying that. One would also like to mention that Mr Hammond ought to know what people voted for because he was there, in government, when the text and the legislation for the EU referendum was prepared and voted for in the Houses of Parliament.
Furthermore he ought to remember that people also didn’t vote for a ‘soft Brexit’ or a Brexit which would be BRINO, the WA May presented to the HoC on three occasions, losing that vote three times.
One wonders what else Mr Hammond has conveniently forgotten when he was Secretary of State for Defence, then for the Foreign Office and last for the Treasury as Chancellor … Now let’s look at the text:
“Since the new government took office three weeks ago I and many of my like-minded colleagues have chosen to keep quiet and give the prime minister the time and space to set out his plan to deliver a Brexit deal. But now it is time to reiterate our support for Boris Johnson to deliver on his public and private commitments towards a deal and his assurance that no-deal is a “million-to-one” chance.” (link, paywalled)
That’s how to be obsequious while sticking a knife in … These ‘private commitments’ he mentions are rather mysterious though. Are we back in the times of secretive government, presenting us peasants with done deals only which we have to swallow, like it or not? Next:
“The move from demanding changes to the backstop to demanding its total removal is a pivot from a tough negotiating stance to a wrecking one. The unelected people who pull the strings of this government know that this is a demand the EU cannot, and will not, accede to. Not just because they will be stubborn in their defence of the single market (although they will) but because the fragility of their own coalition of 27 means that any attempt on their side to reopen the package would see their unity collapse. They will not take that chance and the smart people in Whitehall know it.” (link, paywalled)
Notice how Hammond takes a swipe at ‘unelected people pulling strings’, meaning Dominic Cummings, while glossing over the existence of actual, unelected string-pullers in the EU. Moreover – we should have expected this – he’s full into “The EU won’t like it” mode. We know by now that this was and is the way Whitehall has thwarted every negotiating initiative. He continues:
“So those of us who desperately want to believe this Conservative prime minister is committed to negotiating a deal that will protect our future prosperity need to see evidence that it is happening soon. Because no-deal is not an acceptable outcome and after three weeks in which the government’s narrative has gone more or less unchallenged, it is time for us to explain why — by busting two great myths.” (link, paywalled)
The three weeks Johnson has been working on Brexit are obviously far too long already – weeks clearly being longer than years, in Hammond’s estimate. Again, obviously, nobody wants a no-deal Brexit, us plebeian Leave voters excepted. Now for those ‘myths’:
“The first is that to reject a no-deal exit is somehow to challenge the expressed will of the British people. It is not. In 2016 the British people were invited to vote for a Brexit with a deal, and by a small margin they did so. They were told that a deal to protect Britain’s trade with the EU — our largest export market by far — would be “easy” to do. To pretend now that 2016 Leave voters voted for a hard no-deal Brexit is a total travesty of the truth. As the BBC’s “reality check” had to remind Dominic Raab, now the foreign secretary, the possibility of no-deal was not “regularly raised” during the referendum campaign. Michael Gove put it best in March this year when he said: “We didn’t vote to leave without a deal. That wasn’t the message of the campaign I helped lead.” (link, paywalled)
And there’s the first lie: we were not ‘invited’ to vote for a Brexit with no deal – it was a simple, binary question. I remember that ballot paper, and so do you. What Hammond is doing here is to use arguments made during the campaign as if they were promises given. It’s strange how all remainers, from Hammond down, always forget to mention the dire warnings given by the then PM, a certain Mr Cameron. When Hammond writes next:
“So let’s be clear: as things stand today there is no popular mandate for a no-deal Brexit and no parliamentary mandate for one either. The hardliners may make the most noise but they are not the most numerous. Most people in this country want to see us leave in a smooth and orderly fashion that will not disrupt lives, cost jobs or diminish living standards, whether they voted Leave or Remain in 2016. Parliament faithfully reflects the view of that majority and it will make its voice heard. No-deal would be a betrayal of the 2016 referendum result. It must not happen.” (link, paywalled)
he clearly shows that he has a very selective memory. He continues:
“The second myth that needs busting is that a no-deal exit will be painless. Some key figures in the government have even absurdly suggested that it will make us better off fiscally and economically. It won’t. The central tenet of the hardliners’ position is that Britain will mitigate the economic effect of trade barriers with the EU through trade deals with third countries. But all credible economic analysis shows that the losses will far exceed the potential benefits. And when our American friends talk about doing a “great trade deal”, they mean a trade deal that is great for America — one that opens the UK’s food market to American agricultural produce, produced to American standards, in a move that will destroy British agriculture. Even then, the powerful Irish-American caucus has warned clearly that Congress will not allow a trade deal if a no-deal Brexit puts the open Irish border at risk.” (link, paywalled)
It’s a pity then that Mr Hammond apparently hasn’t heard what John Bolton, Advisor to President Trump, has said yesterday. It was only in all MSM …! And finally:
“It is equally the threat to our precious Union: the clear risk that a no-deal exit will collapse the fragile peace settlement in Northern Ireland and lead ultimately to a border poll, and the inevitability that a change in the status of Northern Ireland would lead to a further referendum in Scotland and the likely break-up of the UK. So, far from being a powerful independent United Kingdom making its voice heard on the world stage, the reality would be a diminished and inward-looking little England, inexorably squeezed between the emerging economic power blocs.
So it’s time for our government to demonstrate its commitment to a genuine negotiation with the EU to achieve a deal that will maintain Britain’s trade with its nearest neighbours, protect British jobs and ensure our future prosperity. The clock is ticking.” (link, paywalled)
Hammond rolls out the ultimate Project Fear item – the break-up of the Union, garnished with the old smear of Leavers being ‘Little Englanders’. This says more about Mr Hammond than about Brexit. He is so full of fear, so frightened of losing the cosy nannying from Brussels that he’d rather trample on the will of the people. He has projected that fear onto every single anti-Brexit pronounciation and prediction. He is cloaking this fear with an overweening sense of privilege which allows him to be wilfully blind to the alternative, the proper Brexit.
Had he and his Remain colleagues not blocked Brexit at every opportunity, had they spend their time on working for a smooth and proper Brexit, we would have overcome the difficulties already. But he doesn’t trust us the people and he doesn’t believe in this, our country.
Why should we believe a man who clearly struggles with his memory and who is so fearful that he probably asks an EU diplomat every morning what tie he should wear to please Brussels!
from PMB SHOOT HIM. I always hated his smug face sat there next to HER (who fortunately we don’t hear from now). Thanks for bringing it to our attention. Presumably no one with an iota of sense, or a memory reads the Times now.
This guy Hammond used to be looking after our money, and the Government’s tax income ! – This is worrying because he now seems to be peddling all the negative fears that he is capable of thinking up ! – How does this guy sleep at night if he believes half of what he is saying ?
Lets get one thing established. – The referendum of 2016 asked for a vote of IN or OUT. – By over a million majority, OUT was the decision, and over three years later the people are still waiting for it to be implemented by leaving the EU ! ….. Parliament has failed us, and therefore deserves to be prorogued on this issue. – I am not happy about doing this, but it is now inevitable so long as the EU refuse to make acceptable terms !
May was a waste of time and space. – Johnson must get a little Cromwell iron in his spine. If he fails, Democracy is dead along with our Parliament. – The Conservative Party won’t do well either, and there will probably be enough fools to vote Labour, in which case, will the last MPs left please switch off all the lights ! JOHNSON, YOUR TIME IS NOW !
“The EU won’t like it”:
A sure sign that “it” is exactly what we need.
I`ve got a bit of spare time, the Test Match has just been rained off and I was thinking about Viv`s sartorial allusions.
Wasn`t it John Major who was once described as “the sort of man who tucked his shorts in his underpants”; not sure what that political characteristic was supposed to high light, but I can quite see Viv`s allusion to old spreadsheets propensity to consult his masters in Brussels about which tie he would be permitted to don daily.
It`s an indicator of the total subservience that befogs and belittles all our elite who have any pecuniary connection with their paymasters in Brussels. Nigel first exposed it thoroughly for me in his demolitions of “Cleggy”, he pointed out “They” and Cleggy thought we were “just not good enough”, he didn`t explain this was the mob who abjured that we were a World third rate outfit after we ceded the rest of our Empire.. Habitual deference to the EU was the order of the day, I think i9t was really thought and promoted that we don`t deserve to be a full nation any longer and that our 1/28th seat at the EU table was our punishment for all the past evils such as aggrandisment and slavery we had inflicted on the globe.
I believe there was a definite turning point (catalyst) in the referendum campaign when the flow moved to the LEAVE side of the fence. It was when Obama came over here at obviously Cameroron`s invitation and in a press conference, pointed out that not only would we be at the end of the queue/line for a trade deal, but we were in effect “ordered” to get back in our place – the EU, the place I regard as the Care home for retired failed nations” These weren`t just my thoughts but those of an ex-big Tory party beast Michael Ancram who wrote in the DT that he had been lied to for 40 years and wasn`t taking any more.i
You will probably still be able to find my comments in the UD Archives under “Some thoughts on a Presidential visit and an EU Divorce”.
For the benefit of all I will quote the final paragraph.
“Thank you Mr.Obama you have succeeded in energizing the whole population to take this debate personally. Apathy is no longer a default position and the LEAVE campaign has been “weaponized”. What a wonderful tool you have handed us to soundly belabor the Remainians who so clearly do not have the positive interests of this once and soon to become a gain a GREAT nation at heart”
Mr Hammond needs sectioning.
Boris, you have the power to do the right thing. Get us out on WTO. And be damned with the rest of the betrayers of this country. Do it right and you will have all our respect. Betray like May did and you too will go down in history as a deceiver.
Sorry Viv for entering the comment on Hammond which I had just put in “Brexit Daily Betrayal”, but I think you have been a little too kind in your verdict on Mr Hammond`s conduct, I believe he is the arch Remainer and all his words and actions have had evil and malicious intent and perhaps he has been the epicenter of the remain conspiracy involving all parties all along.
or am I missing your irony “a man who clearly struggles with his memory”;
Anyway here goes – apologies again for butting in – herewith my little bit in support of you on Mrd Hammond.
“In advance of Viv`s “From behind the paywall expose”, may I have a few words on the subject of that devious, malevolent ,traitorous rat Hammond.?
I heard him on radio this morning on the theme which he writes in his article “there is neither a public or parliamentary mandate for No Deal”, he didn`t quite say that again in those terms of a “mandate” this morning, I believe he said the public “did not vote for a “No Deal”.
I believe he is far too intelligent to be able to believe that simplistic argument will stick or even have any legs at all.
No indeed the public did not vote for “No Deal”, nor did they vote for any kind of deal at all . I voted for a simple question that asked me if I wished to Leave or Remain in the EU, nothing was said or inferred about short or long term implications or negotiations.
By voting leave in my own mind I had implied that I wanted my COMPLETE SOVEREIGNTY back, which had been filched bit by bit and with the aid of the British parliamentary enemy from within by an undemocratic, autocratic, colonially minded empire building evil authority the EU.
That COMPLETE return of sovereignty encompassed the return of our ability to control our own laws, our own borders, our own territorial waters and the fish therein and particularly any subjugation to the ECJ would cease. I understand in the Government`s timely leaflet presented to the electorate before the referendum that to vote LEAVE would mean we would be no longer members of the Single Market, with the implication that also meant cross border immigration from EU countries could be controlled by us.(I cannot remember if they also stated we would be obliged to leave the Custom`s Union).
Regarding subsequent May Government attitude to negotiations ( of which devious Hammond was a constant member ( he was meant to be sacked, but escaped because she made a mess of the GE she had so unwisely called)
If I remember correctly she said “NO DEAL WAS BETTER THAN A BAD DEAL” and when her WA was massively voted down by parliament for the second time she did say she “detected a flaw in the WA which was the Backstop” and went off to renegotiate its alteration after the leader of the 1922 committee got a motion through parliament authorizing this amendment. Most were led to believe at the time that meant the complete removal of the backstop not just a bit of fiddling with the wording of the subsequent trade agreement stage.
Finally, but not acknowledged, we know the whole WA is a surrender and permanent subjugation document already signed we are told traitorously again by Mrs May and it is the very model of a BAD DEAL, despite “No Mandate” That is the view of Mrs May probably expressed in parliament and certainly believed by 17.4 million voters “NO DEAL IS STILL BETTER THAN A BAD DEAL” and her version of the WA —STINKS – that to me is a Mandate and a promise from the government and parliament (in whose name she speaks) and to the people who matter; us – the peasants
One last observation on the word “devious” wasn`t it that nice Mr.Juncker who observed that it “wasn`t wrong to Lie”, I believe the whole damned lot of them are arrant terminological inexactitude practitioners!”
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You squashed him like the bug he is. :).
I am hoping when Boris trots out that million to one chance of a no deal he is meaning that no deal actually means a WTO deal plus lots of mini deals on various aspects such as import of medicines. Kidding myself maybe.