“Silly Season”
The silly season continues with silly proposals from our politicians. Take the one from Caroline Lucas MP (Greens). She proposed that the fabled ‘Government of National Unity’ to replace Johnson after a VoNC, should be made up exclusively of women … ! The reaction of other MPs was short and brutal: “Caroline Lucas is ridiculed for proposing an all-female national unity government to stop No Deal Brexit” – the report is not paywalled so you can enjoy reading the reactions here.
Mind you, the silliness is not restricted to MPs. While Labour is now also preparing for a possible GE by telling their members to cancel their travel plans for September (more on that below), a Labour group has come up with a paper proposing to make grouse shooting illegal:
“Labour will promise today to open a review into whether grouse shooting should be illegal, arguing that the country sport is destroying plant life and killing many animals. In a provocative move to mark the Glorious Twelfth, the start of the four-month season, Labour says that “driven” grouse shooting is being subsidised by the taxpayer and causing untold ecological damage. It has called for a review, suggesting that killing grouse could be replaced by “simulated shooting and wildlife tourism”. (link, paywalled)
Grouse shooting is truly a most pressing political concern! It’s certainly far more important than Brexit or Remain. Ah well, it’s the silly season … Meanwhile, Labour MPs are told to stay at home in September:
“Labour MPs have been told to cancel all travel in early September in anticipation of Jeremy Corbyn tabling a motion of no confidence in the Government. […] The move appears to confirm that Labour will attempt to bring down the Government within days of MPs returning from their summer holidays, in order to provide enough time to try and block a no-deal Brexit.” (paywalled link)
Some reports out just now may have influenced Corbyn to get ready for an early GE. One is that time is running out for Remain MPs to stop No Deal Brexit in the HoC:
“The Institute for Government has claimed that “time is running out” for the Remainers who are attempting to delay Brexit, and that “simply voting against” no-deal cannot stop Boris Johnson. In a new paper, the think tank concludes that many of the previous avenues to stopping no-deal are no longer available to MPs, with Downing Street simply able to “ignore” their opposition in Parliament. Whilst a group of cross-party rebels have previously frustrated the Government’s plans by amending key Brexit Bills, the paper points out that there is “very little” additional legislation required to deliver Brexit by Hallowe’en. The IfG added that even if MPs succeeded in “amending or voting down” new laws, “it would only limit the government’s powers” rather than achieving their aim of preventing “no-deal itself”.”(paywalled link).
A short, non-paywalled report is here. Something else which might have influenced Corbyn is a new ‘plan’ by Remain MPs, drawn up by Remain plotters in the HoC who have not been idle.
Their latest concoction has been signed off, allegedly, by Mr Grieve and Ms Beckett and was handed around to about 300 Remain MPs, Labour included:
“MPs are drawing up plans to compel Boris Johnson to break his “do or die” pledge and force him to request an 11th-hour Brexit extension from the European Union. […] Under the proposals set out in the document, which has been circulated to Labour and Tory rebels, MPs plan to:
- Block any attempt by Mr Johnson to call an election before October 31 unless the prime minister agrees to a Brexit extension for the poll to take place.
- Use a vote of confidence in the days leading up to Brexit to take control of the parliamentary timetable and change the law to compel Mr Johnson to request an Article 50 extension from European leaders.” (link, paywalled)
The hoary old ploy of getting another extension is being dusted down again. Well, they did manage that in March this year, so why not have another go:
“The document suggests that rather than try to form a new government MPs could use this period to change the law, compelling the prime minister to extend Article 50 to allow either an election or a referendum to take place. […] One source said […] that it would be much easier to use the 14-day period to change the law to force Mr Johnson to ask for a Brexit extension, probably at the last European summit before Article 50 runs out, on October 17.’ (link, paywalled)
It is unclear at the moment if Corbyn would support this and then go for a post-extension GE or if he plans to force a September GE on the country in the hope of winning. A Labour government would demand a ‘Labour extension’, a ‘Labour Brexit’, or worse …
RemainCentral, a.k.a The Times, has been told by obliging Remain MPs how they believe their plan will work in practice. It is very entertaining:
“They plan, at first, to lie in wait. A parliamentary majority will only coalesce around a move to stop no deal, they reason, once it becomes unambiguously clear that the government’s renegotiation is doomed, and MPs who oppose no-deal are forced to stare straight into the abyss. At that point, Remain supporters intend to throw their weight behind a motion of no confidence in Boris Johnson’s government, hoping to win it with the help of Remain-minded Tories such as the former chancellor Philip Hammond, former justice secretary David Gauke and Dominic Grieve, the former attorney-general.” (link, paywalled)
To me this reads like a rather puerile attempt of cocking a snook at ‘authority’. There’s more:
“If they did succeed, the country would enter waters that have been uncharted since the passage of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act in 2011. This provides for a fortnight of parliamentary chaos in which different political factions would try to secure the confidence of a majority of the Commons, and so prove themselves able to form a government. Boris Johnson would be expected to remain prime minister as a caretaker for those two weeks, in office but not in power until he could demonstrate that he had the support of MPs.” (link, paywalled)
During these two weeks of chaos they hope to achieve their fond desire in this way:
“During that fortnight, Remainers hope to apply to John Bercow, the Speaker, for an emergency debate on Brexit. They are counting on Mr Bercow — thought to have sympathies with the Remain side — to find a creative interpretation of parliamentary rules, allowing them to use the debate to wrest control of parliament’s time from the government. They would then use that time to pass legislation which compelled the prime minister to seek an extension of the Article 50 negotiation period from the EU, delaying Brexit and averting a no-deal exit on October 31.” (link, paywalled)
And voila – there it is: alleviate the ‘turmoil’ by another extension! It strikes me as odd that these Remainers have overlooked the current Leader of the House who will have a say in how Mr Bercow can ‘interpret creatively’ the rules in the HoC. Next they bring a lovely, highfalutin political argument:
“When October comes, Remainers want to put forward their own argument from democratic principle: that the 2016 referendum provided no mandate for no-deal, and that Mr Johnson must secure the public’s support for that course if he wants to pursue it.” (link, paywalled)
They again disregard that they themselves voted for the relevant Law, having been given the mandate in the 2017 GE. Since a GE before Brexit would see the rise and rise of the LibDems for Remain and TBP for Leave, the HoC Remainers hope that their latest plot would make Johnson think twice about a GE:
“Some Remainers therefore quietly hope that Mr Johnson, not wanting his premiership to be written off as the shortest in history, might ultimately plump for a second referendum instead, attempting to postpone his reckoning at the ballot box. That would, of course, threaten the unity of the Conservative Party.” (link, paywalled)
I think one needs to be a Remain MP to believe that this is a brilliant plan! Our alleged ‘betters’, the Remain MPs who hold us Leave voters in such contempt, assume that it’ll be business as usual, with us voters falling back into tribal groups, should they get their plan through the HoC. Neither the rise in LibDem Remain votes nor the existence of TBP seem to enter into their calculations.
This is why we Leavers must stand firm. Should there be a GE we must shed our customary Party affiliations where necessary. We must be ready to show Remain once and for all that, having voted for Brexit in 2016, we will vote for it now, Party rosettes be damned.
We cannot afford to squabble amongst ourselves. If we lose Brexit because we let ourselves be herded back into the old, Establishment Party ‘reservations’, then we have only ourselves to blame if Remain wins. Heed this warning, and
KBO!
Photo by Duchess Flux 
Grieve feted and fawned over again on BBC Breakfast, R4, this morning. BBC”s blatant bias continues.
Re Lucas’ Government of National Feminism
This worm’s not for turning even if they lock me up in Barbara Castle.
Why are the Remaineers not asked to explain why national independence spells disaster ……… when so many countries around the world are fighting against foreign domination?
I agree Edward we did very well before joining the ‘common market’ but of course we were lied to as the politicians, especially Heath, knew it was a political project all along. When we leave we will have the Commonwealth and other large economies such as the US and Japan who want to do trade deals with us. I want to be governed by elected people in this country not an unelected politburo in Brussels.
Ask yourselves, if you had a ‘grievous Baldrick cunning plan’, would you publicise it so that the opposition knew exactly what you were up to and could therefore be ready to counteract it? No, the saboteurs have either given up or have a really dirty trick up their sleeves.
I think the first is the most likely, however we must ‘remain’ vigilant, I would put nothing passed Grieve (unfortunately, my MP).
That’s horrible, having Grieve as MP when one’s a Brexiteer.
I now think that the Grieves are scrabbling about to come up with something in order to get into the MSM – it’s the silly season after all, and look how well Ms Lucas has done on the MSM this morning! More like 3 hours of fame than just 15 minutes.
However, should some Arch Remain Tories indeed cross the floor in September, thus depriving Johnson of a majority (even if it’s just one of one at the moment) then we’re in new territory. So these fabulous ‘plans’ may just be finger exercises to keep us all occupied while the real stuff is going on en coulisse …
Viv Crossing the floor goes both ways. If the Government can continue to get the public onside and keep up the current Brexit strategy of countering Project Fear propaganda then there may be more MPs following the likes of Amanda Rudd’s U-turn. Fear of rejection at the ballot box will focus minds. Hammond, Grieve and a few others are rich enough to stick to their ideology but panic may set in with some of the others.
Some Remainers may now argue that because real positive preparations are being put in place for a no-deal Brexit there will be no ‘crashing out of the EU’. Buckland, the Justice Secretary argued this way on Radio 4 this AM.
why are we not hitting back , with we only get 2 pence i every pound they take plus the add and keep all tarrifs on our exports to on eu countries, then we have VAT which they force us to add to almost every thing, we get 6% handling fee which does not cover the cost and if we were out most things would be 20% cheaper and if we were to get friut and veg from morocco that would be up tp 38% cheaper aand on the same boats as most spanish fruit and veg come on. Then we have our grand children on the russian front no missig out the brits would be front line cannon fodder but we never hear of any of this, just remoaners lies and more bloody lies
The Great Political Realignment gathers pace. The old LibLabCon parties are dead. It’s just Remain with the LibDems or Leave with The Brexit Party or UKIP now. We must all be strong and hold to our principles.
Odd isn’t it? I thought we had a ‘Government of National Unity’ for over 20 years – the very LibLabCon of which you speak. Whatever the colour, and whatever that said, their actions and ever leftward slide were all the same. Now, at long last, we have something different (or potentially different – the jury is still out), and the losers want their ball back.
I do not see that ” now…..we have something different”. Because the Tory Party has been scared about its survival by a strong showing from the Brexit Party, does not mean we have anything different. Even if Boris does manage to squeeze a no deal exit against a Remainiac Parliament and a Remainiac Tory parliamentary party, we shall still be faced with a government that is at war with itself, fundamentally globalist, fundamentally social liberal, fundamentally against controlling immigration, fundamentally inclined to appease Islam, fundamentally unrelianle on questions of individual freedom, free speech and Defence of the realm, fundamentally corporatist in economics.
Nothing will change as long as voters go on voting for their tribal party for fear of even worse alternatives. We must get rid of them and vote for someone who will not sell out the people’s freedom, democracy and independence. Even if by then we are out, can we afford to let them control the Brexit clearup when they have caused the mess in the first place?