A laughing stock – a pratfall of clowns – a collection of imbecile peacocks (apologies to peacocks everywhere): that’s into what our elected representatives, the Remain MPs, have turned the august Chamber, the House of Commons.
Yesterday’s spectacle was a farce which even the worst enemy of our country couldn’t have devised better. MPs were finally given their hearts’ desire, to have ‘indicative’ votes on Brexit, by voting on a slew of amendments – and what happened? Pratfalls of peacocking clowns!
Here’s how events unfolded: first, the HoC had to vote for that SI, notwithstanding Sir Bill Cash’s letter and insistence that it was unconstitutional – watch him here. Regardless – they had to vote, and the Ayes had it by a huge majority. Some inveterate observers joked that this was when the HoC voted itself permission to vote, to have the ‘indicative’ votes later that afternoon.
As there were so many amendments which were ‘indicative’, the Speaker changed the usual proceedings. MPs were now given a ballot paper where they had to vote simultaneously for all amendments, the ballots to be handed in to the tellers. The session was suspended for the count and us watchers were shown a nice clock face, ticking down from 7pm to 7.30pm. Well, this was the result:
No-No-No-No-No-No-No-No.
Yes, that’s correct: all amendments were voted down. You can find a report here, in a Remain paper. Just look at the numbers. How laughable is that! Jonathan Isaby of BrexitCentral has just posted his excellent analysis here.
MPs, who had voted to ‘take control’ and to force the Government to do as they wish showed themselves up for the empty-headed numpties they are. How is voting for ‘none of the above’ = ‘taking control’?
And now what? Now it’s all down to the Speaker, Mr John Bercow, who insisted that he would not allow Ms May to present her WA unchanged for a third time, watch him here.
So more finagling from Ms May is to be expected – and more voting spectacles. The next conflict is already rearing its ugly head because, after this ‘event’, the Speaker said that he’ll allow a second vote on Monday – April’s Fool Day! – on the ‘most popular amendments, see this report, contravening his own ruling based on ancient precedents.
I’m afraid I was unable to watch that exchange live as I had already folded, caved in like a JRM, giving way to the demands of my weak and feeble body …
Earlier came a bit of ‘good news’: in a meeting with the 1922 Committee yesterday afternoon, Ms May agreed that she would resign and not ‘lead the second phase of the negotiations’, provided her WA is accepted by the HoC. Of course, if the WA is rejected, she’d stay …They’ve even formulated a sort of timetable:
“Mrs May would be expected to formally announce the timetable for her resignation either after her deal was approved or on May 23, the day after Britain would leave the EU. A formal leadership contest would be likely to start on May 28, the day after the second May bank holiday, with a new leader in place before the end of July. Mrs May would leave Downing Street once the new leader had been chosen. Downing Street sources said that if Mrs May’s deal is not approved by Parliament, she will carry on as Prime Minister to seek an alternative solution.” (paywalled link)
Immediately, the ‘hardcore’ Brexiteer MPs melted and said they’d now vote for that WA which they had rejected until then. This is horsetrading at a most advanced level: give me what I want and I’ll leave … yes, thank you, Ms May!
We knew that JRM was going to support her if the DUP would do so. The next prominent Brexiteers to come out for May were Boris Johnson and Ian Duncan Smith. A stunned online audience was cheered when Steve Baker told the ERG that under no circumstances would he vote for the WA. He got a standing ovation for that.
The DUP however – at the time of writing, nowadays one can’t be sure of anything! – have not changed their stance:
“The DUP said it would not support the agreement because it posed ‘an unacceptable risk to the integrity of the UK’. The party’s deputy leader Nigel Dodds indicated it would vote against the plan, saying: ‘We don’t abstain when it comes to the Union.’ The DUP’s support is seen as critical to unlocking the backing of dozens of Eurosceptic MPs.” (link)
This was useful because so many of the staunch EU sceptics, the so-called hardcore Brexiteers, dropped their mask and showed that they are as venal, as mercenary, as those who gave up their opposition to Ms May’s WA for money – Government spending on pet projects in the constituency – or for a title.
I hasten to point out that this did not work for the unsurpassed Sir John Redwood, who has this to say about those votes:
“It was no surprise that there was no majority for any of the proposals put to the vote. That was highly likely and reminds us why Parliament works best when government proposes and Parliament approves or modifies.” (link)
And here is his scathing verdict of the event:
“It was another opportunity for Parliament to vote down the bad idea of a second referendum and to vote down yet again the idea of staying in the customs union. It is true Parliament also voted against No deal, but as the Prime Minister often reminds us the only way to leave avoiding no deal is to name a deal we want that the EU will grant. Once again Parliament failed that test. It is a pity Parliament was not allowed to highlight leaving with a range of deals without having to sign the Withdrawal Agreement, which could unite many voters if not MPs.” (same link)
The MSM today are full of pundits explaining to us what it all means and what will happen next. Unfortunately, none of them know more than we do, and most of their ‘sources’ have been shown up for the self-serving knaves they are. Don’t forget that these are either Remainers or turncoats who, like JRM, are desperate to explain why abandoning their principled stand was unavoidable.
I leave you with this video clip of Mr Mark Francois MP – a hardcore Brexiteer who has not abandoned his stance. His summing-up can not be bettered – do watch it!
Today there will be more votes, more shenanigans, more manipulations by the Speaker. Will there be a revolt by MPs? Will there be a judicial injunction? I’ve run out of tea leaves and my crystal ball has exploded …
Brexit on the 12th of April?
Or on the 22nd of May?
Who knows!
We will KOB!
How ironic! Theresa May cannot even ‘leave’ her role as Conservative party leader and Prime Minister, without having to come up with some kind of ‘withdrawal agreement’… 😀
she might have said she would leave officce but all she’s done is tell lie after lie so don’t hold your breath
Will someone tell me why this Lisbon Treaty is not getting any publicity. Is it true that we have to join the Euro? do we lose our veto.? has anyone read it? etc.
I recently asked the same question of a knowledgeable colleague who said : as we know, “were May’s WA to be implemented, we would leave and then immediately substantively re-enter under the new treaty and backstop – a fake Brexit.The strategy of the EU/May is to appease the rebellious British peasantry for a while and then at a suitable point in time our Quislings would drag us back in , under a new ECA 1972. However…if and when that happened we would without doubt be required to go FULLY in and join the Euro. because whatever protections we had under Maastricht (sic) would no longer apply” . Hope this helps.
Best of luck reading the Lisbon Treaty, it blows your mind (intentionally). I understand many/mosr of our eminent MPs with honourable exceptions like Bill Cash did not even bother reading it before voting for it.
The worrying issue for BREXITEERS is the fact that the 2 proposals receiving the most votes, i,e the Customs Union and Confirmatory Referendum (Peoples Vote) will now be carried forward.
It is clear that Margaret Beckett is working on behalf of Tony Blair and his band of Remoaners, Blair is directing this from outside of Wasteminster.
The plan is now, with Bercow’s connivance, to squeeze Ken Clarke’s ‘Customs Union’ deal through next week, a deal that is favoured by Brussels, and as of yesterday David Cameron.
This will then be put to a Confirmatory Vote against Remain with Remoaners campaigning against the CU deal, The Remoaner brigade know a CU deal is disastrous for the UK.
A deal that will levae the UK hamstrung and unable to reap the rewards of a true BREXIT with an independent trade policy.
https://infacts.org/briefings/turkish-option/
Resulting in win-win for Brussels and the UK 5th columnists in overturning BREXIT..
JRM indicates that he will continue to oppose TMay’s WAB, for as long as the DUP does.
So if the backstop is removed then we might expect the DUP and other ERG MPs to support her WAB.
But without a unilateral escape clause, the WAB would remain a trap – with or without the Backstop – which is a diversion.
So expect the EU remove the Backstop at the last minute, leaving us enslaved to the E.U. rulebook. Any magician would be so proud of such a trick.
I understand that the only thing that might save us is getting the WAB published. To explain this see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i7PrI0nVDs. Leaving it till the last minute is probably to prevent this happening.
Bottom line, what a MASSIVE opportunity for UKIP…if it could get it’s messaging, National image output right.
Seriousl, where ukip fields no candidate . I suggest UKIP should recommend to voters voting for “The Monster Raving Looney Party”. Thismight bring the usual MP down a bit.. That is what the public thinks, It is an attractive alternative for the usual 18 to 25 year olds, to get them away from boring lefties.
I know.. Politically dangerous. Dear me.
I had already come to the same conclusion.
The other thing is that the MRLooney Party candidate may not then lose his deposit, thereby allowing him to fight another day.
Wish there was someone like that where I live – it’s tainted remainer constipated mp, er sorry conservative mp or a whole raft of lefties to vote for.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/03/26/disappointing-mps-like-jacob-rees-mogg-lack-nerve-see-brexit/
-This article by the very clear-thinking Andrew Lilico hits the nail on the head. What the gutless ERGers – not all of them thankfully – are really afraid of is not No Brexit but the electoral oblivion which will follow if they do not back May’s Fake Brexit.
In any event, as Lilico points out, there is in his view no way that the WA can pass in the Commons. He seems to know what he is talking about.
A long delay in Brexit until 2020 will not be the end of the World, as the 2016 vote would remain in place and unfulfilled . It would just be another delay which will wreak electoral havoc with the support for the Traitor parties, as Lilico points out. But the only alternative would be what we voted for – a clean Brexit. Parliament simply will not allow that. Devil and Deep Blue Sea? Rock and Hard Place?
Passing the WA would be a fake “fulfilment” of the 2016 result. We would NEVER be given another chance to vote out of our continuing fake membership of the EU by the quislings.
There is also the legal challenge to yesterday’s alleged extension of the exit date for HMG to worry about . It really isn’t that easy legally. We may well find out in due course that we DID in fact leave with No Deal tomorrow.
I do have a suitable proposal to advocate. March 29th should be come a national holiday. It could be known as the “Traitors Day” or how about” The Conservative Party’s day of shame”. You could even have a parade of MPs through Traitors Gate. Sadly, we will not need a day’s holiday to be reminded that we are now led by an appalling set of traitors. The next election will be interesting. Paul Chambers
I’ll second that proposal Paul.
Ken I would too but I’m afraid I would have also to propose several amendments and then a clear meaningful vote on that! I’m reminds during all this of the schools for the last twenty years who have competition and exams that no body fails in case somebody is upset. Just wait until that generations get into business or even parliament, Oh wait! 🙂
Maybe we could have meaningless unindicative votes on several of your amendments Norman. But we’d have to ask permission from the EU first.
Great idea Paul
Thank you Viv and take care. No-one will begrudge if you take a break from watching that nonsense we used to call the House of Parliament, now the Pit of the Pratfall of Peacocking Clowns. I cannot stand to watch any of it, which is why your efforts are much appreciated.
“The Pit of the Pratfall of Peacocking Clowns” – I love it! I shall soo steal it – watch out for it in the next instalment of “Your daily Brexit Betrayal”!
Another video clip from the irrepressible Mark Francois MP:
https://tinyurl.com/y4q3h24p
Do watch!
Priceless!
Sweet FA from the empty headed dumbskulls. Priceless comedy. And these people get elected?
Another interesting post from FreeNations:
http://freenations.net/how-the-fascist-eu-persecuted-whistleblowers