What a day, yesterday! And what a feast for Leavers, to get their teeth into the hypocrisy of the Remain Cabal in the HoC! I’m loving it!

First the ‘events’, starting at the day’s end: Parliament was prorogued yesterday evening – a report with video clips is here. That followed the statement and debate on the preparedness of the UK for Brexit, presented by Michael Gove, see e.g. here. I second that report: Mr Starmer MP was stuttering and spluttering and Michael Gove wiped the floor with him. Moreover, there was only one (!) SNP MP present so watchers were spared the usual ‘Braveheart’ performance of the SNP leader. 

The Opposition, so incensed about the first prorogation because they ‘needed’ to ‘scrutinise’ the Government on Brexit was absent. Mr Fabricant’s remark about their blatant hypocrisy is correct. See for yourselves the photos of the empty chamber (link)!

Before that last session in the HoC the MSM and social media were bursting at their seams because No 10 reported on a crucial telephone talk between Johnson and Merkel which had taken place that morning. More on that below.

The Merkel talks were overshadowed by a briefing from No 10 on Monday evening, given anonymously to James Forsyth of the Spectator. Read the whole thing here – the whole briefing text, unadulterated, is printed. In summary, it’s about No 10’s estimate of the current situation and what they might be doing next. There was one insertion which had the usual suspects both in the HoC and the MSM in a tizzy:

“[This source also made clear that defence and security cooperation will inevitably be affected if the EU tries to keep Britain in against the will of its government]” (link)

Remainers interpreted this as the government going to cut all cooperation with the EU in the case of a ‘hard Brexit’, see e.g. here or paywalled here and here. No, it obviously doesn’t –  reading properly helps!

Interestingly, in that text No 10 had already named the one culprit for the sorry state of affairs: Mr Leo Varadkar. We’ll get to that – first the Merkel phone call:

“An extraordinary day of recriminations began with an early morning call during which the German chancellor rebuffed Mr Johnson’s appeal for help to rescue negotiations over his new backstop proposals. Downing Street sources claimed that Mrs Merkel’s response was a “clarifying moment” which suggested that a deal was “essentially impossible, not just now but ever”. (link, paywalled)

Making that call public set the proverbial feline firmly amongst the pigeons, with Mr Tusk immediately wading in with a ‘helpful’ tweet and Mr Juncker immediately declaring (here) that all blame belongs to the UK. Here is an excellent video clip of Sir John Redwood explaining that Germany did not deny the substance of the call. You ought to read his Diary entry for today where he goes into scathing detail.

Meanwhile ‘the EU’, that is: Germany –  finally and obviously one and the same! – was trying to downplay the substance:

“Mrs Merkel, the source said, pointed out that if Germany wanted to leave the EU it could do so with no problems, but the UK could not leave without Northern Ireland remaining behind in a customs union and full alignment forever. […] “It also made clear that they are willing to torpedo the Good Friday Agreement.” Germany rejected No 10’s interpretation. An EU source said the call was “cordial and businesslike” and did not state any new position.” (paywalled link)

Let that sink in! Tom Harwood in the paywalled DT goes to the core of the issue, not just in regard to the EU but also by pointing out how much our Remain Harlots are to blame:

“Merkel has effectively made it clear that she believes the EU has a veto on whether the UK can leave the customs union. […] It would be madness for any UK government to let a foreign power set tax rates and control trade policy in the way that the EU demands. […] They [the EU] believe powerful Remain-backing forces within the UK will always have their back, and that Brexit can be defeated. But they are sorely mistaken. Far from guaranteeing a lopsided deal in the EU’s interests, continental intransigence will only make no deal more likely. The British public can see how reasonable the Government has tried to be with its new Brexit proposals, and how stubborn and political the EU remains.” (paywalled link)

We can say now, can we not, that Merkel never had any intention to even engage with Johnson’s proposals, in spite of making jolly noises that he had 30 days to present them, especially on the Backstop. 

I wish our Remain Harlots would grasp this simple fact! Once you understand this, the ‘Varadkar Betrayal’ makes sense. See for example this report, and here’s a report from RemainCentral whom nobody can accuse of being on the side of Brexit:

“Leo Varadkar reneged on a secret deal with Boris Johnson to open the way to a Brexit compromise, a senior Downing Street source claimed yesterday. […] The Times understands that the potential compromise was discussed at a meeting on the fringes of the United Nations general assembly in New York before Mr Johnson unveiled his formal proposals last week. […] At the same time Mr Johnson was told by Donald Tusk, the European Council president, that Brussels would be prepared to compromise if the British proposals were acceptable to Dublin.” (link, paywalled)

Also in RemainCentral is this intriguing analysis with some more information on what went on:

“When Boris Johnson unveiled his Brexit plan last week it was far from a punt in the dark. The week before, on the fringes of the United Nations in New York, the prime minister met with his Irish counterpart Leo Varadkar and discussed the potential for a compromise. Downing Street believed they came away with an understanding: If London moved on aligning Northern Ireland with the EU single market then Dublin would move on customs regulations. The level of trust was such that Mr Johnson dispatched his chief of staff, Eddie Lister, to Dublin the day before his announcement to brief Mr Varadkar on the plan before it was even shared with Brussels.” (link, paywalled)

So Johnson and his advisers negotiated in good faith, even informing Dublin before going public with the proposal. They must have assumed this proposal was acceptable to Dublin. How wrong they were! More:

“As soon as it was made public the private understandings fell apart. Mr Varadkar deliberately enraged the DUP by raising the prospect of a united Ireland as one way to break the Brexit impasse. […] Behind the scenes things were even worse. Dublin shut off back-channel discussions with London and insisted that all talks go through Brussels and Michel Barnier. Mr Barnier then ruled out the British plan as the basis for any agreement.” (link, paywalled)

I do not believe for one cotton-picking minute that Dublin did this on their own! They obviously were in cahoots with the EU. Declining to talk directly with London on this issue while demanding that Barnier is the only one Johnson can talk to – words fail me! Our Remain Harlots better take this next paragraph to heart:

“The whole episode has left Downing Street feeling bruised and angry. Government figures believe that they are being deliberately played. They think Mr Varadkar and other EU leaders are making a calculation that if they play hardball then the Benn act will force Mr Johnson to ask for an extension. They don’t believe that he has a secret plan to take Britain out without a deal on October 31 and even if he tried parliament would stop him.” (link, paywalled)

While we can only speculate about who or what changed the Taoiseach’s mind – perhaps some little phone calls from some of our Remain Harlots? – it’s quite clear that other EU bigwigs must have been involved. They – Barnier, Juncker, Tusk, Merkel – have indeed negotiated in bad faith all along, according to Iain Duncan Smith (paywalled, here). His article will receive the “FROM BEHIND THE PAYWALL” treatment later this morning. 

It should be abundantly clear now that only one player in this Brexit Game deserves all the blame: the EU, from the top down. Remain Harlots screeching that it’s all Johnson’s fault better stop barking up that particular tree!

Regardless of what happens in the next few weeks, regardless of the Remainers’ attempts to force us to Remain – the British Public increasingly wants ‘Out’, deal or no deal.

Meanwhile, we will

KBO!