‘Negotiating’

 

My God, we do live in extraordinary times! So – have we ‘got Brexit’ or haven’t we? If you only saw the headlines in one paper yesterday afternoon, you had to think that we were witnessing the collapse of Johnson and his Brexit team! It ain’t so and it wasn’t so!

One of those headlines is here. At that time though nobody really knew what was being negotiated, just that something was going on because suddenly ERG members and DUP members were ‘seen rushing’ to No 10. That was ‘it’!

Sadly for the waiting reporters nothing was leaked,. We now know why: the Leaker-in-Chief from the Cabinet had removed herself. How she and her recipients must now regret this! Instead she now accused her Tory colleagues as ‘sexists’ – no, she wasn’t groped – because that is the only reason they rejected Ms May’s Vassalage Treaty! Read it for yourselves here and ponder that this lady held some high posts in government … 

There’s one more item I simply have to share with you, with giggles: our dear HoC peacocks are now upset because they may have to come to Westminster for a session this Saturday but only if the EU has agreed to a deal which would make that session necessary. So they moaned …:

“MPs have been kept guessing over whether they will be called to the Commons on Saturday, with some complaining about having to be in Westminster for 9.30 on a weekend morning. […] Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the Commons, dismissed complaints from opposition MPs about the uncertainty, saying that “to meet twice or three times on a Saturday in 70 years is not too inconvenient even for those with the most pressing diary concerns”. (link, paywalled)

Oh dear – have these MPs never had to make conditional appointments? Even we peasants are able to tell our friends that we may or may not be able to attend depending on something happening! It’s just another sign of the deterioration in the mental caliber of MPs because, let’s face it, one doesn’t have to be too clever when one only needs to rubber-stamp EU directives.

So where are we now with Brexit? Nobody knows, everybody is speculating and some papers have felt the need to call EU leaders who are also not giving anything away. After all, while the negotiators are hammering out the details, they and the rest of the world will only know what’s what at the EU leaders’ summit today. This is what happened:

“Downing Street officials held a series of meetings yesterday with Eurosceptics, moderate MPs and some of the former Tory MPs who were stripped of the whip last month after rebelling over a no-deal Brexit. While not disclosing the details of the government’s proposed deal, No 10 was said to have set out broad “parameters” and “sounded out” MPs about their concerns.” (link, paywalled)

Keep in mind that RemainCentral, like us peasants, also doesn’t know what’s in ‘The Deal”. What we read this morning comes from those who, having been briefed, are tight-lipped, for example:

“After a 90-minute meeting between Mr Johnson, Arlene Foster and Nigel Dodds tonight, a DUP spokesman said: “We cannot give a detailed commentary, but it would be fair to indicate gaps remain and further work is required.” (paywalled link)

It doesn’t seem to have been plain sailing for Johnson then. At least he kept the ERG fully informed and involved:

“Sir Bill Cash, who also attended the briefing, said there had been “very serious, constructive discussions on fundamental questions… we are really making some progress on identifying the bottom line”. At a meeting of the ERG tonight, Mr Baker told members to “trust the Prime Minister”, with the caveat that support for a deal would not be given until the full legal text had been scrutinised. But a split emerged among Brexiteers as Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader who attended the Downing Street summit, was said to have “exploded” during the meeting and former Cabinet minister Owen Paterson said the proposed deal was “unacceptable”. (paywalled link)

That temper outbreak might have been caused by the EU where some ‘sources’ were apparently happy to muddy the waters with ‘details’ that are still unknown:

“Sources in Brussels said Mr Johnson had made key concessions on customs checks on goods crossing the Irish Sea, though the precise mechanism remained unclear. The deal, however, is expected to contain sufficient camouflage to enable the DUP to claim the Union has not been compromised.” (paywalled link)

That’s what happens when one listens to ‘sources’ who do have an agenda after all! Plain sailing for the EU is apparently also not on the cards:

“An EU official involved in the talks said the bloc was ‘very confident’ a deal would be struck overnight. But a senior French official urged ‘extreme prudence’ about predicting a deal would be done. The Prime Minister has been warned that even with a deal ironing out the details of his Northern Ireland plan could take months, forcing him to abandon his ‘do or die’ pledge to leave the European Union by October 31.” (link)

That link has a nice video clip showing in exemplary fashion how our MSM work! As Mark François emerges from No 10, reporters ask what he thinks. He keeps telling them over and over that he won’t say anything – so the ‘news item’ is: ‘Mr François doesn’t look happy’! We’ve all become a bunch of tea-leaves-readers now!

There are more ‘news’ from our EU “friends” who are not as tight-lipped as Mr François:

“A senior German government official told The Times that political agreement on a deal would not be sufficient ‘to resolve technical issues’ and therefore Brexit would need to be postponed for a third time until January 1. ‘Without a deal this week, Britain will need an extension. With a deal this week, Britain will need an extension,’ a senior EU diplomatic source said.” (link)

Good old sources! When is an extension not an extension … Here are more details:

“Boris Johnson is fighting attempts by the EU to delay Brexit until next year as negotiators worked through the night to secure a deal. […] However, the prospect of a deal came with a warning, echoed in Berlin and Paris, that the technical details might take until January 1 to finalise. Mr Johnson’s allies insisted that EU nations were split over the desirability of further delay. One said there was “strong desire among powerful forces to get this sorted”.” (link, paywalled)

For ‘allies’ read ‘sources’ … There’s more:

“Leo Varadkar added to speculation that Mr Johnson would be offered only an agreement in principle at the summit. The Irish prime minister suggested that his counterpart may be asked to prove he can get the deal through the Commons before it is signed in Brussels. The issue of a “technical extension” to allow the details of a Brexit agreement and its implementation to be ironed out was raised by President Macron of France during a phone call with Mr Johnson yesterday morning.” (link, paywalled)

Amazing, isn’t it, how “The EU” wants ‘proof’ that Johnson has the votes when no-one knows what the Remain Harlots will come up next. And M Macron, so fiercely against any extension, is now thinking about … an extension! There is however this twist to the deal-tale:

“Brussels is driven by protecting the integrity of its single market while preventing the return of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic. But should Mr Johnson have come up with a plan that the Irish government supports, it would be hard for the European Commission or member states to object.” (link, paywalled)

That’s supported by something which our Remain MSM haven’t been too keen to mention, namely that the Taoiseach’s government is in the same predicament as Johnsons:

“If the legal and technical obstacles to reaching an agreement can be overcome, then Dublin will push other member states to accept the deal. That’s largely because Ireland needs a general election and as long as Brexit remains unresolved, an election cannot take place. Fine Gael is heading a minority administration along with a handful of independents. The government is being propped up by its arch rivals Fianna Fail in a confidence and supply agreement.” (paywalled link)

Wouldn’t it be something if the ‘Dublin Tail’ which has so long been trying to wag the UK dog were now to wag the EU dog …

Johnson will be flying to Brussels today, to meet with the EU Leaders before tomorrow’s EU Summit. If that lot can agree on “That Deal”, a text will be published later this afternoon, probably after the Cabinet meeting now set for 4 pm.

Let’s not fall for breathless tweets from ‘prominent’ TV reporters: they  know as much as we do. Let’s keep our powder dry until we know what has been done – it won’t be long now! – and 

 

KBO!

 

 

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