I was pretty sure to start with that the 'Salzburg Surprise' was a manufactured confection to get the UK and EU populace to see that the concessions about to be agreed by both sides beyond respective red lines, were in fact pragmatic choices in the face of no deal disaster.
Yet, I wonder, perhaps that position was overly cynical and I have fallen at my own low hurdle.
Rule of Capitalists@Work NO.1 (Since 2006) - It is never conspiracy, instead everytime and always rank incompetence/idiocy is the cause - unless 100% proven to be conspiracy, which, by definition is excruciatingly rare (here's looking at you, Alistair Campbell) as it implies competence which in and of itself is highly unlikely in any given situation.
Exhibit 1 here is Prime Minster Theresa May, who has long form for incompetence and no record at all of competence. Aided and abetted by the senior civil service, who, from afar, certainly appear to have all the competence of a vat of sulphuric acid being appointed as guardian to a litter of puppies.
Which means, possibly, the meeting at Downing Street today with the cabinet is actually a real one, where they really are thinking 'WTF.'
As readers here know (see the excellent comments on the last post), there is no way to square the circle of the kind of soft brexit the remainers want with the square of the EU acquisition of Northern Ireland.
I think there is only one way of discovering if this is the case though, because if May has failed as badly as this then surely she will be resigning this week. Talk of an election is for the birds, a definite loss to Labour is not what the Tories will seek. A little bloodletting and someone more at ease with a Canada style deal is surely the only way.
However, incompetence is strong in the government, they may just cling on to May because they are too frit to act decisively. Of course there is the long-shot that this is indeed all negotiated posturing and Chequers will be the outcome.
8 comments:
This horror corpse that is Chequers has a few more frights left in it, I think.
Chequers is like The Thing.
Outwardly it looks like what we voted for. People think it’s what we voted for. No one can tell it isn’t really Brexit. It killed Brexit and transformed into into its cover.
But it isn’t Brexit. It’s “May’s Thing.”
First, it must trap a few more Remainers in the kennels.. Then it’s inside out arms must burst through the flimsy boards of the Brexiteers alternative plan recreation room. Then the half transformed Brexit betrayed corpse itself must reappear.
Shot. Stabbed. Burnt. It must still skitter onto the Tory Conference stage.
Emitting a hellish roar, as it attempts to change from BINO to BINO+. Just like the people changing in The Thing, it won’t quite manage in time.
And like in The Thing, even though the alien monster will soon be blown to pieces. The survivors cannot be sure it is really destroyed.
Cannot be sure that one of them isn’t a secretly a Remainer civil servant.
That looks like us. Sounds like us. Is identical in every respect.
Except it isn’t one of us.
It’s one of them.
:))
Modern UK is a bit like Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
I've long held the suspicion that everyone in the Tory party who could challenge for leadership want May to be the scapegoat. Whatever deal (or no deal) is made, it is guaranteed to annoy much of the electorate no matter what the deal is. So no point in a leadership battle until she has finished this forlorn hope negotiation.
It's not BRINO, it's Brexit at any cost.
The recent pronouncement on basing immigration on skills and not nationality has the virtue (signalling) of letting the EU know that there will be no recognition of their 4 principles. Any relationship will be on a business basis only.
But the effects of the signalling will be to stop any rush to the UK as new immigrants will still be subject to "right to remain", "right to work", "right to rent", and "habitual residence tests" for up to 5 years when (if the law allows) they can apply to live here permanently.
But this signalling has also all but ripped up the Good Friday Agreement where the illusion of a united Ireland could be maintained as there was little differentiation between the Irish Irish and the UK Irish. Each could go about their business without concern.
So no hard border but a hard administrative one instead.
I'm not worrying about the Irish border. The UK still has no residence registration requirement - the 'meldezettel' - and once you're over the border, you can be as anonymous as you like. Likewise, car registration is linked to the vehicle, not the owner. You can buy a car for £100 in the pub without proving your identity. NI numbers - all you need for a job - are free and easy to obtain.
Since the 18th century we've had a tradition of undocumented, unofficial back and forwards movement between the mainland and Ireland - this will continue unchanged. The Irish diaspora in the mainland allows petty renting restrictions and the like to be bypassed, and most Englishmen of my acquaintance will happily bend the law to assist an 'illegal' Irishperson in the future.
In fact, I'm going to re-read Somerville and Ross's splendid 'Irish RM' series this Autumn just to remind myself how inventive the English and Irish can be when working together to subvert official stupidity.
SubOptimal
+1
You can only fail at Brexit.
And that will be the biggest failure since Suez (*)
Your career will be over.
No-one from any party wants the job (yet) (apart from remainers who...)
(* a perception thing - a cold summer next year will be blamed on brexit - whether a real failure or not, your grandchildren might be able to judge)
So may will stay and see it through and then retire.
This last enormous burst of incompetence will serve to wash away all the small bits of incompetence that litter her career.
Teresa May has no intention of resigning.......she'll be forced out in the end a la Maggie. Meanwhile she hangs on to power by trying to be all things to all people and fudging everything she touches aided and abetted by the Civil Service who love nothing better.
Someone needs to seize the day.........but I don't know who. Could it even be Nigel Farage?
In fact, I'm going to re-read Somerville and Ross's splendid 'Irish RM' series this Autumn just to remind myself how inventive the English and Irish can be when working together to subvert official stupidity
I have to admit to a giggle or two with that one.
Then the reality of today's computer checks kicks in. You clearly don't deal with identity issues on a day to day basis.
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