Comment
Dominic Raab has dealt Theresa May a devastating blow ahead of her Brexit statement to the Commons by resigning this morning – in spite of the PM reportedly humiliating herself by begging him to stay on. Raab specified the Brexit deal’s provisions for Northern Ireland and the EU’s veto over the UK leaving the interim arrangement as key reasons for his departure:
In doing so, Raab has exercised almost the only influence of his short career as Brexit Secretary, opening the door for a queue of Tories to come out and call for her resignation, claiming enough letters to that effect are with the Tories’ ‘1942 Committee’. Raab was sidelined in many of the discussions with the EU and had so little to do with the ‘deal’ eventually proposed that he only appears to have found out about the details this week with the rest of the Cabinet.
Junior minister Shailesh Vara has also resigned, saying the people of the UK ‘deserve better’.
Opportunistically or by design, the Tories are now attempting to use this farce to call for a ‘no-deal’ Brexit, which has been the end-game all along for the hard Brexiters.
It’s time for the Tories to genuinely ‘put the country first’ and dissolve the government so we can have a general election and let Labour do the job and achieve the solid deal based on Labour’s long-held position of a customs union and access to the single market.
The regard of Barnier, Juncker and co for Jeremy Corbyn’s seriousness and sense is more than high enough to get it done.
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YES! LOVE IT!
Have these two resignations set the pattern for the rest of the day. Can we expect a resignation every hour?
Oh McVay has gone now, who’s next at 11:00hrs. Has McVay resigned on principal or is this a handy escape route from inhumane fiasco she’s created within the DWP.
Could it be they’re rushing in the hope of being seen as leaders not followers?
Deluded fuckers that they are they probably think that’ll be what they’re remembered for rather than cosmic incompetence.
That too. They’re stampeding to distance themselves for the clusterf..k. No4 has just been announced.
SteveH
The latter, probably…
I totally agree that the only option is ‘General Election’ than anything else. The country need a new negotiator and negotiators.
Suella Braverman – tick.
I usually boil just a mug’s worth of water for coffee – I’m filling the kettle this time.
Wouldn’t want to miss the surrender 🙂
Well – Raab disagreeing with something is always a recommendation, of course. The man who struggles with basic geography and knowledge of the country that he so vociferously waves the flag for.
Of course, in this case, the recommendation is for about choosing between being the excrement up to the eyeballs or up to the nose : so not great grounds for cheering.
Yes – a general election is much needed. But then what (given a decisive Labour victory – far from nailed on)?
The notion of a socialist ‘Brexit’ doesn’t stand up – the past two years have amply expanded on the fact that all forms of Brexit represent some impoverishment. The notion of a buccaneering socialist UK is as flawed as the extreme neoliberal version. Currently, the world is dominated by neoliberal corporatism, and any revision of that is going to require *international* cooperation. The EU may not be in that place now, but, as sure as eggs is eggs, the mid-Atlantic, weak UK will be subject to the extremes of trade wars – and the dominance of the even more extreme US.
So … what’s the cunning plan?
Corbyn’s? Dunno.
Mine would be for a Corbyn-led Labour government to remain in the EU and break only those of its laws that subvert our democracy, while being in every other respect an exemplary member.
There is precedent:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/angela-merkel-germany-breaks-more-eu-rules-worst-bottom-class-a8198271.html
As the evidence of neoliberalism’s failure continues to grow the landscape will change in our favour and ‘the many’ of the EU will thank us for leading the way.
Precisely. That should have been obvious at the start, and would have given a much better starting point for policy.
Interesting stats.
Those who voted for Brexit because of issues over freedom of movement (the result of Blair not giving a toss about the strain on accompanying resources) were perhaps not aware of how much control others within the 27 have exercised and continue to exercise over that so called freedom, compared with the total laissez-faire of the UK. In this regard, the leave vote was perhaps a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Yet, It’s probably all that TM can claim (without dissent) to have achieved.
In most other respects, of course, e.g. industrial policy, rebalancing the economy, implementing the LP manifesto, state intervention etc. self evidently, we need much more than a sledge hammer to break through.
Mine would be for a Corbyn-led Labour government to remain in the EU and break only those of its laws that subvert our democracy, while being in every other respect an exemplary member.
And we can start by nationalising everything in sight!
Too right. The industries which we wish to re-nationalise – railways, water, electricity, communications, NHS etc. need never be in competition with those of other EU members – therefore there is not and never was the slightest justification for the EU to enforce privatisation.
Preventing members from using subsidy to attack each others’ essential industries is necessary despite the shortcomings of the CAP, CFP etc. – but there is no justification whatever for insisting that EU members be obliged to sell their family jewels to the highest bidder.
No justification either for Tories to crow about their ‘success’ in attracting ‘inward investment’ when that ‘investment’ consists of crooked, tax-evading foreign oligarchs hiding their ill-gotten gains in British tax havens, London property, football clubs or whatever this week’s clever scam might be.
Only a deeply flawed society allows the scions of financial markets to produce nothing but profits for themselves, pensions for the middle classes and austerity for the poor while honouring those wealthy criminals as saviours of the universe.
Since Thatcher’s big bang our so-called ‘economy’ has consisted of dodgy financial ‘products’, house price inflation and shopping.
That’s 32 years too long and we need to explain to the 99% that pyramid schemes enrich only those at the top.
Everyone else loses their shirt.
Ho Ho ho!
“…in spite of the PM reportedly humiliating herself by begging him to stay on.”
I find the fact of somebody inside Number 10 reporting her humiliation more interesting and curiosity-arousing than the humiliation itself – enjoyable as that is.
Who is this Pinkish Pimpernel?
(It’s OK, I didn’t expect an answer 🙂 )
Apparently Gove has turned down the job.