Remain is alive and kicking …
While the days get shorter – it’s only a month to the Winter solstice – there are ‘news’ which show that Remain still hasn’t given up, that they still aim to overthrow Brexit. As we suspected, Remainers are not just sitting on the back benches but also reside in the ‘corridors’ of power. More on that below.
There are also ‘news’, or rather: not ‘news’, from yon COP27 which has ended, fizzled out, without fulfilling the aim of all those ‘climate emergency’ people who like to glue themselves onto road surfaces or picture frames in museums. That convocation ended in tears, literally, according to the FT:
“COP27 ends in tears and frustration: ‘The world will not thank us’ – Despite agreement to fund poorer nations, failure to phase out fossil fuels angers negotiators” (link, paywalled)
Sad, innit … perhaps all those poorer nations ought to ponder that without fossil fuels their main industry, tourism, will crash. As for the road-gluers: it’s not so nice to do this when it’s cold and there’s lots and lots of rain, is it!
The other interesting news ‘item’ today is akin to the ‘Hound of the Baskervilles’. Thanks to the footie World Cup, the customary ‘war news’ from the Ukraine have practically vanished from the online front pages. The print editions (link) also have either the footie or ‘Tory Brexit Anger’ as their main headlines.
It’s the first day in months that there’s no piccie of yon Ukrainian PM. Did Sunak at his visit to Kiev yesterday tell Mr ‘e that the £50m he ‘pledged’ at that visit (link) will have to do, that official ‘support’ like that by the previous PMs will no longer be forthcoming? Who knows!
Perhaps the busy leakers in ‘government’ are keeping their feet under the table, having noticed that they might have over-reached with their Remain leaks? Yesterday, Remain Central published the following (my emphasis):
“Senior government figures are planning to put Britain on the path towards a Swiss-style relationship with the European Union. The move, intended to forge closer economic ties, is likely to infuriate hardline Conservative Brexiteers.” (link, paywalled)
Crikey – now we also have ‘figures’, senior and not so senior, instead of just ‘sources’. However, The Times hinted at who one of those ‘figures’ might be:
“Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, last week signalled that Rishi Sunak’s administration intends to break from the approach adopted by Boris Johnson and remove the vast majority of trade barriers with the bloc.” (link, paywalled)
Now isn’t that interesting: the Chancellor, having imposed a tax regime which will worsen the recession of which economists are warning, is not only trying to ‘speak’ for the Sunak government, he’s also trying to nudge us into abandoning Brexit. There’s more:
“In private, senior government sources have suggested that pursuing frictionless trade requires moving towards a Swiss-style relationship over the next decade. […] “the reason I think we will get it is because it is overwhelmingly in the businesses interests on both sides,” one said.” (link, paywalled)
And so poor Rishi, back from his meeting with yon President in Kiev, has to try and extinguish the ire of his back benchers:
“Rishi Sunak has insisted that a Swiss-style Brexit deal with the EU is off the table, as he moved to quell a backlash among Tory MPs. Number 10 sources rejected as “categorically untrue” a suggestion by senior government figures that bespoke Swiss-style trade deals with the EU could be sought, potentially forcing Britain to align with the bloc’s rules and regulations.” (paywalled link)
I note that the DT now also mentions ‘senior government figures’ – as if to hide who that ‘figure’ is, namely the Chancellor. In their report published on the 18th November 2022, the DT had however named him, alleging that Hunt (my emphasis):
“[…] pledged to remove the “vast majority of trade barriers” with the European Union to boost growth, as he appeared to call for closer economic ties. The Chancellor rejected the prospect of rejoining the Single Market but backed work in the coming years to strengthen Britain’s relationship with Brussels. His comments indicated that the Government may want to change aspects of the deal struck by Boris Johnson, the former prime minister, at the end of 2020.” (paywalled link)
Did Hunt’s SpAds become fearful of their own ‘Remain courage’; and tell their MSM mouthpieces to keep Hunt out of this? Were they and Hunt perhaps shocked to see the reaction by Tory Brexiteers? Perhaps his Remain mandarins told him to let them do the proper leaking!
And so we see that Remain Central has this morning a report which deliciously demonstrates that ‘government figures’ have driven ‘the government’ into disarray (my emphasis):
“Rishi Sunak has ruled out a Swiss-style relationship with the EU in which Britain would obey rules made in Brussels. Government figures have been talking privately about closer economic ties with the EU, citing Switzerland as an example, The Sunday Times reported. […] Government sources insisted it was “categorically untrue” that Britain would sign up to these conditions.” (link, paywalled)
Naughty MSM: reporting on ‘private’ talks! The question however remains: who is correct? The ‘privately talking government figures’ or ‘government sources’? Who actually is this ‘government’? Ministers or mandarins?
Isn’t it time that the MSM refrain from quoting all those anonymous ‘senior sources’ and ‘figures’ and give us names? Why should we believe those ‘figures’ who hide behind ‘anonymity’ and ‘privacy’ in order to protect themselves from ‘leak inquiries’?
Perhaps the whole government propaganda and nudge machinery would become useless and would no longer function if we peasants can see how insignificant those ‘sources’ really are, that they are faceless bureaucrats who believe they have the right to decide government policies by ‘nudging’ not just us but other ‘government figures’!
Why are the ‘Eurosceptic Tory Backbenchers’ also playing this game of staying anonymous? Are they afraid of losing constituency votes? Still, I hope this scared both Sunak and Hunt:
“But a procession of Eurosceptic Tories warned yesterday against accepting EU rules as the price of freer trade. One backbencher said the past few months of turmoil would be a “walk in the park” compared with rebellions provoked by any attempt to soften Boris Johnson’s Brexit agreement.” (link, paywalled)
We’ll see how much backbone those backbenchers have when they debate the Hunt Budget today and tomorrow. Perhaps those ‘Eurosceptic’ backbenchers might remind yon ‘government figures’ that it’s not impossible to topple them by demanding a No Confidence Vote, get a GE and let Labour deal with the whole mess.
Meanwhile, the nation will be extremely relaxed: there’s yon footie World Cup to be ‘WFH’, i.e. ‘watched from home’. The MSM will happily divert our attention while ‘government’ and ‘government figures’ sell us out from behind those closed but leaky Whitehall doors.
Why not go completely “Swiss style” ?
Let’s. Have regular referenda
I am sure that I was not the only one to see the obvious omission to the repeat of the swingeing 1970s budgets. We study history, so as not to make . . . 97.5 pct top tax rate, here we come.
Much of the financial shortfall could be sustantially reduced by cancelling the common market HS2 project – remember the project to shift the youropeeing army around Britain quickly to suppress any British rebellion to laws inflicted by unelected foreign punters.
On that subject, vat (formally luxury tax) on heating fuel ** was a Brussels directive by the youropeeins hence untouchable – don’t want to jeopardise re-entry now do we?
Similar omission – luxury living treatment and financial treatment of illegal invaders better conditions than British citizens – charity begins at home. Then there is the ‘drunken sailor’ technique of chucking taxpayers money around with both hands to countries such as: China, Ukrainium, and India is not what we want from a chancellor . . . World beating nhs waste will continue. There are plenty of other ‘big ticket’ items.
But then the Oligark prime minister ‘parachuted in’ from who knows where, the unwanted second choice – even by conservatives, and his remainer running mate are both great reset + remainers – super.
At the risk of upsetting the Farage fan club, Big Nige – now some elections ago, did claim that he would stand a candidate in any constituency against any sitting mp who was a remainer. At the very last minute, he stood down all his candidates up against cons mps. OK so we got a conservative government. But, with scores of remainers.
It may have been better to take the pain there and then, rather than the ongoing pain of the remainer mps – ever since and ongoing. Either way we would have endured a left wing govmt then, rather than ongoing, now.
Wonder what Spooksey thinks?
** fuel vat introduced by conservative mp with the coldest place in Britain in his constituency. G Kynock did well to get to cabinet minister within his single one term before being booted out (for some reason?).
[Parachuted in – Cabinet in his first term. Ring a bell anyone?].
What I think. The majority of mps are very nervous. Very nervous. They guess wrong and they could be out of a job . They really did not understand how their party seniors could get it so wrong by playing fast and loose. with so many careless. promises to those who put them there.. And they need to be. The public liked Liz Truss and believed her and still do.. And they want more than a few newspaper headlines about THE MARKETS. Traditionally unreliable, and some self interested ernest unreliable barefaced politicians coming out of the woodwork.
If a Swiss style relationship is 1) mirroring EU regulations and 2) allowing the ECJ sway over them, then we are pretty much there anyway. EU regulations incorporated into UK law have yet to be repealed and the ECJ oversees part of the UK (NI).
May was terrified by Brexit, capitulating to an asymmetric deal, and the Benn Act handed the EU complete power in the final negotiations. Remain is re-creating the seventies when the UK was the ‘sick man of Europe’ joining the then EEC as a life raft. Hunt’s anti-growth budget will see the UK economy fall further behind the EU. Public opinion is being manipulated into seeing Brexit as a mistake and as the new sick man of Europe the UK will once again apply to the EU (probably about 12 to 18 months into Starmers’ new government, rebellious back benchers having lost their seats). So, hang on to those holiday euros. They are cheaper now than when the euro replaces the pound.
The leaks were just testing the water to answer the question: can we push ahead now or wait for Starmer?
That settles it then! No lingering doubts about the direction of travel of the establishment parties. Mind you, there never was any doubt on the matter for some of us. All the more reason to join a centre Right challenger party and become an activist.
SY- I posted before I saw your comments above.
All the signs are / were there. E.g. initially amalgamating part of our army – or what’s left of it, with a Belgian outfit a few months ago. Now the rest of the army (that fits into Wembley Stadium) is to be under foreign control.
When I was young, there was always talk of the ‘yellow peril’. They may have had the wrong colour as I look at the worldwide feeble response to Russia. As there is a football fest going on, Russia, China et al have not taken their ‘eye off the ball’.
Rainbow police cars, celebration of mohammed the pedo, and kneeling to black knives matter – a Marxist organisation, spontaneous combustion of the planet, and on and on. Good investment of time and energy – I don’t think.
It all makes my blood run cold. Thankfully, I speak some Russian.
All prepared for by Blair’s trashing our Treason and Sedition Law together with the ongoing reduction in numbers and woking of our armed forces. If only we had those forces loyal to us and numbering enough to mount a coup; in my experience elsewhere the only way to get rid of a corrupt government.
What member of the armed forces worth his salt would risk their career and all for those who claim to be on the centre Right, hate wokism, multiculturism, EU, globalisation and gender bendering cannot even be bothered to join centre Right parties and demonstrate some activism? I certainly wouldn’t – they ain’t worth it – let ’em stew.