holystove

I very much disagree with this. Even Leave.EU, Farage's outfit, stated in their official plan (sadly now deleted from their website but still available elsewhere on the internet) the UK would leave the political institutions after 2 years, and the economic partnership only after 10. There is noone, literally noone, that talked about no-deal during the campaign. Raab tried to claim he did, but all factcheckers showed he didn't and even Gove called him out on it. No-deal is the legal default, but based on the referendum result it cannot be the political (or economic) default. Britain's economy is far more exposed to Brexit risks than the rest of Europe. Maybe the Irish are shitting themselves but even they will not experience as much disruption as the UK; when you go east of Germany, Brexit barely registers. The FT put it very clearly two days ago: "Brexiter's suggestions that the EU will capitulate because they dare not risk a no-deal rupture misunderstands the fundamental weakness of threats made with a gun pointed at your feet".

When the EU adopts more democratic practices and becomes more State-like, eurosceptics balk and say they only want a Common Market. When the EU is run like an international organisation, and everything gets decided by the Member States, eurosceptics say it is not democratic enough. The debate has become silly as noone will convince anyone of anything anymore; choose your facts, twist them and make your case. However, to his credit, Johnson has finally ended the debate which is more democratic, the EU or the UK. It's not the one where a party-appointed leader can suspend Parliament to prevent it having a say on his interpretation of the "will of the people". Ironically, behaviour like that is grounds for getting your voting rights suspended in the EU council.

Well. This blew up a bit in a way not intended; in essence I was only stating the official UK policy regarding goods (see also why Canada is refusing to roll-over its EU trade agreement for the UK (clue: because the UK will allow its market to be flooded with goods)). My post might have been a little over-aggressive, although the Marmite thing was meant as a joke (see the smiley). To be clear: - I like the UK - I like the EU - no-deal Brexit is a disaster for both. As Mike (who is correct about my past) indicated I used to back Leave because I was disgusted by the Cameron deal. I also believed there to be political gain in it for the EU as the UK was a very negative member, while logically the UK would stay in the economic partnership. As Brexit apparently now means no-deal, I am totally against it and I hope the UK stays.

I think when, over your all-Marmite Christmas dinner, you finally understand the difference between the disruption of leaving a unified market and the marginal benefit of an FTA, you'll find that, in fact, irony is dead. What the hell are you talking about Palfy? I point out that it is in the economic intrest of the UK to keep its borders open to goods which it doesn't produce (as Johnson has said), in the same way the EU will keep its market accessible to UK services that the EU can't provide itself, and you set off on this rant about UK Blitzkrieg spirit stating 'facts' that don't make any sense whatsover. It's a true mark of British exceptionalism that being treated as any other third country by the EU is interpreted as an act of war.

This is great

UK needs EU goods, so can't afford to stop them at border. EU products will pass unchecked so delays should be minimal. Goods coming the other way, into the EU, however will be stopped at the border. On services it's the other way around. EU needs the UK services industry (banking). Even in the event of no-deal, UK service providers can keep servicing the EU until Frankfurt/Paris/Dublin/.. are ready to take over the London-role of being the financial centre of the EU. We've come a long way from 'we hold all the cards' , 'sunlit uplands', ... Is this what you voted for? Is this what anybody voted for?

Varoufakis, the sequel.

Well, no. Alaphilippe is much younger than Thomas. He has been very good in the classics (especially the ones with steep climbs). He doesn't dominate the TdF (see yesterday's stage) in the same way Thomas did last year, even though competition seems to be weaker. I'm not stating as fact Thomas did anything wrong last year, I'm just saying it was very surprising and met with scepticism from a lot of journalists and cycling insiders. What Alaphilippe is doing this year is much more within the range of the possible.

Mistakingly citing a UK rule as your crowning example of EU red-tape and then literally waving a dead fish in the air to rally braying supporters into a patriotic frenzy of outrage is a great early look into what a Boris Johnson premiership will look like. .. Were there no bendy bananas available?

1/ Leaders of government of all EU member states propose the new Commission president. Why would you call them unelected? 2/ The EU Parliament has to approve the entire Commission. This is not a given. I understand Matt not wanting to argue, because it is sometimes about point of view if you want to describe something as democratic or not. But to call leaders of government (including your own PM) 'unelected elite' is baffling.

Swiss banking secrecy was lifted in 2018 under pressure from EU and the OECD. Current discussion is about something else (streamlining the EU - Switzerland relationship from some 120 agreements into one treaty).

this is insane

Survey of Tory members: The one-nation-tory is dead. It is now the destroy-the-union-for-a-unicorn party.

He's not saying this to win a general election though. He's trying to convince the 124,000 conservative party members who will decide the future of the UK in choosing the next PM.

Not something you can take to the European Court of Justice.

Greece has compulsory voting. 58.7% shows the respect the Greeks have for the law

"LePen won in 2014 with 24.4%. She’s now on 23.3. In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders - an absolutely key figure in the Euro alt-right - was annihilated, losing all 4 of his MEPs. In Greece, Golden Dawn have dropped from 9.4% to 4.9%. In Austria the FPO from 20% to 17%, in turmoil over financial scandal, and out of gov’t. In Germany the AfD barely moved the dial, adding 1 MEP, while the Greens came second. In Spain far-right VOX dropped more than 4% since the GE *only a month ago*. In Denmark the DPL has gone from winning in 2014 with 25%, down to 10%. We must be realistic, but also optimistic and positive. Despair is de-energising and, in this case, utterly misplaced. The truth is people are politically engaged and pro-European parties are rallying brilliantly, from a very desperate base."

Thousands of votes.. Hopefully just incompetence and not intentional, but really bad either way.

If you want to leave the EU with a deal as soon as possible : vote conservative If you want to leave the EU but stay in all the economic partnerships (without a say) : vote labour If you want to stop brexit : vote LibDem, Green, PC, SNP or CHUK If you think your country needs a very hard reset with years of (economic, political, ..) turmoil : vote brexit party If you are a white supremacist : vote UKIP (I am not saying 2014 UKIP was this extreme, but 2019 UKIP definitely is) That's how I see it at least.

Some speculation he's off to become the new Night's King. After all he's already 'undead'

I am sorry for spreading it; never expected it to be true. Though I'm glad I was prepared for that shit ending.

Predictions for final episode? I'd go with Dani dead, Jon dead and King Gendry. Tyrion survives. (!!!! Spoiler !!! Apparently there's a thread on reddit where people who worked on the show say Jon kills Dani, gives himself up to the Unsullied, ends up at the wall again - Tyrion gets tried for treason but survives - Bran becomes King with Bronn, Davos, and Tyrion as hand - Drogon flies off with dead Dani never to be seen again - Samwell wants democratic elections but gets laughed at ) some of that seems really implausible to me.. the wall is breached, there is no night king, so why would there be a night's watch? .. why would the three eyed raven be interested in being king?

This is a great account for some behind the scenes stuff and interesting insights. Run by actor who plays NK it seems. https://twitter.com/Vladimir_furdik Vladimir Furdik‏ @Vladimir_furdik 3 mei Meer Episode 4: One hour and 18 minutes Episode 5: One hour and 20 minutes Episode 6: One hour and 20 minutes Added them up and you'll have 4 more hours of Game of Thrones! Still thinking that all that’s left is just fighting #Cersei for the throne? #foodforthought #GameOfThrones

I just said I can see the sense in Macrons position. Now the UK gets another six months to decide whether to ratify the deal or revoke..