‘Bozo’ will try to frighten poorer EU states from approving extension he is legally required to request
The UK government has passed into naked lawlessness this evening, with a leaked text exposing Boris Johnson’s – in reality his sinister chief adviser’s – plan to force a no-deal Brexit in spite of the law passed by MPs forcing him to request an extension if no withdrawal deal has been reached by 19 October.
The known thuggishness of Johnson and his cohort is clear in the plan, which was leaked to the pro-Conservative Spectator in a text message from a Number 10 source:
Johnson will attempt to bully smaller, poorer EU states into vetoing any extension. The text also makes clear the absolute sense of entitlement characterising Johnson’s hard-right clique: any state supporting a request required by UK law ‘will be seen by this government as hostile interference in domestic politics’.
Respecting the UK law is now ‘hostile interference’ in Boris Johnson’s plans.
The SKWAWKBOX needs your support. This blog is provided free of charge but depends on the generosity of its readers to be viable. If you can afford to, please click here to arrange a one-off or modest monthly donation via PayPal or here for a monthly donation via GoCardless. Thanks for your solidarity so this blog can keep bringing you information the Establishment would prefer you not to know about.
If you wish to reblog this post for non-commercial use, you are welcome to do so – see here for more.
Ridiculous to pretend brexit is domestic politics.
Even more ridiculous to attempt to bully other EU members, however small.
EU will defend them and tell Johnson to fuck off, like they’d defend us against Trump.
Only if we were members of course.
EU will defend them and tell Johnson to fuck off, like they’d defend us against Trump.
In or out if the eu, this country under anything other than a Corbyn led Labour Govt. would still be up america’s arse.
If you’re talking trade terms there’s no reason a labour Govt couldn’t ‘defend’ itself from agressive US stratagem. This idea we’re ‘vulnerable’ to trump is bollocks. We/’re as ‘vulnerable’ as the gobshite de piffle allows us to be. The orange one can be told to GTF just like the eu can.
The economic power of the US means Trunt can sanction nations that break his sanctions against other nations.
A Corbyn government was a given.
The U.K. Law only requires that he write the letter using the specified words. Today’s high court judgement has BoJo’s team saying that he understands that it would be illegal to hinder the purpose of the law, but also says the purpose of the law is to send the letter, which was to the satisfaction of the judge.
I think we are going to look back in that law and think it was rubbish. The purpose of the law clearly needed to be the obtaining of the extension and not the writing of a letter.
E B….Thats what you get from a rogue mp like Bomber Benn grandstanding and cock ups trying to edge out the leader of the Labour party….The Treacherous scum couldn’t draft a pint of Bitter
For some reason I have been unable to post the link to the ‘mainly macro blogspot’
“This is the most dangerous UK government we have seen in our lifetimes “
SteveH
First rule of politics and economics is to be able to count,
In GE worst case scenario is another hung parliament with Cummings glove puppet in charge left to clean up shitstorm of a No Deal
With any luck No Deal will also precipitate global crash and end neo liberal casino economics for several generations,
There is a debt and democracy mountain to overcome, only progressive socialists can deal with it
Steve H….More dangerous than Thatcher?.The shock for me is that so many would support the likes of Thatcher and Johnson.Thatcher used taxpayers money to bribe the electrote,and of course a bit of drum beating Falklands and the old enemy within Ireland.What has Johnson used?…maybe this is the most dangerous public we have encountered in our lifetime?
I suggest you read the article, it’s not hard to find simply Google “This is the most dangerous UK government we have seen in our lifetimes” and it comes up as the first item.
The language straight out of the Trump play book; do as we say or we’ll obliterate your economy, as he told Turkey today. The problem is that the Uk isn’t the US and it isn’t a World Super Power (and hasn’t been for almost exactly 100 years). The threats are empty threats, pathetic blustering from an already punctured wind bag who nobody in the World takes seriously. If there is a No Deal then N Ireland won’t be able to cope. In 1974 combinations of groups and Unions brought the Province to its knees, a General Strike that worked! They could do it again, what would they have to lose but 25% tariffs on their agriculture?
Paul 08/10/2019 at 12:43 am
How long before Boris embarrasses himself and us by p by Tweeting his own version of
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1181232249821388801
It’s seems very unlikely any of the 27 will block an extension. Apart from attracting censor and no doubt some sort of retribution from the EU any country that did it would be bringing about a No Deal, not the EU’s ideal solution because of the loss of trade and money. One can only imagine the resentment building up against the gangster tactics of Cummins and Co. It would make life after Brexit a snake pit of continuous conflict with Europe and a damaging move towards America, our only ‘friend’ left which is no doubt exactly what is intended, they want acrimony that will take years to heal. I well remember Thatcher rejoicing when we joined the Single Market – ‘the largest free trade area in the World of over 400 million people’. For once you could believe her. . Prosperity was assured and indeed the UK has benefitted vastly since then. So we chuck it away so Johnson can become a proper PM by winning an election?
For the same reason that I’m glad I don’t like football, I’m glad I don’t support the UK withdrawing from the EU.
Murdoch and Johnson – Murdoch destroyed football. Johnson, Brexit.
Reminds me of my Marx. “What the Bourgeoisie therefore produces, above all, are its own grave diggers”.
Tories created Brexit. Tories will bury Brexit – and share the grave.
Jeremy has a plan to fix the football problem
https://labourlist.org/2019/10/corbyn-calls-for-football-reforms-to-empower-fans/
He’s a star! Thanks, SteveH.
In one of his Diaries Tony Benn was talking about when he was 13 he noticed how much Hitler feared democracy, and, as a fascist, socialism. He realised, the young Benn worked out, that democracy and socialism are indivisible. When one exists the other results. Jeremy Corbyn is naturally Tony Benn’s successor: empower the fans with democracy and the accumulators of capital (the capital-ists) can’t use our football clubs as their personal subbuteo(?) speculation bets.
Sky and Murdoch commodified football (well, all sport) and made it unaffordable for many working people. (I can fly to Dusseldorf (from Leeds) and watch a match there, cheaper than getting a ticket for (say) Man Utd or Arsenal).
Well said, qwertboi.
The Tories did not create Brexit, the Labour Party conference did in 1975. And it was thereafter promoted by Tony Benn, Eric Heffer, Judith Hart, Michael Foot, Barbara Castle, Peter Shore etc. Democracy and socialism are indeed indivisible and the Labour Left realised that the EEC could not be allowed sovereignty over trade policy and state aids. These issues could not be hived off from the rough and tumble of everyday democracy if we were to make socialist advance.
The irony is that from a socialist perspective the arguments against the EU are so much stronger then than now. In 1975 state aids law was rudimentary and the EEC seemed to have no control over the degree of public ownership in its Member States. All this has now changed. State aids law is a mature area of law which restricts governments from upsetting the EU “level playing field” by too much state intervention. Most utilities cannot be nationalised since this conflicts with the liberalisation directives. Most other sectors are highly unlikely to be able to be nationalised since this breaches firms’ corporate freedom of establishment. Free movement of capital, not existent in the 1970s, now cripples any serious programme of anti-austerity.
The neoliberal EEC/EU has merely become more neoliberal. One is compelled to the conclusion that it is the Left that’s really changed, dumping democratic socialism in favour of left-liberalism.
Sounds like WE need a new EU… good idea, let’s do that.
I agree with much of what you write but to quote Marx:
‘Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past. ‘
Corbyn et al do not have the luxury of following your logic. They are beset with opposition from every quarter, including the far left. I voted leave for the reasons you outline but I recognise that even if it were possible to ignore the pro-EU sentiments amongst LP membership, we are now faced with an Ayn Rand govt. who line up with Trump, Bolsonara, Orban and other disaster capitalists. This government is qualitatively different from May and Hammond and is dangerous. Not being legally part of the EU is the really important first step, even if we remain part of the customs union. After that who knows what will be possible.
Danny, your Lexit utopia will never exist. It is madness to think we can kick away the foundations of our economy i.e. being a member of the EU and then build a Lexit Britain whilst trying to regain our lost trade under the thumb of the USA. Far better to retain a stable base and then build upon it with a Corbyn Socialist government, incorporating all the public ownership plans which you are mistaken in believing we cannot implement as a member of the EU.
It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?
But we constantly have this sort of fantasy football that imagines that an isolated UK that has fallen through the hierarchy of the league will emerge as a super-state negotiating with all the others on superior terms.
As often said, this isn’t about the perfection – or even perfectibility – of the EU. It’s just about recognising the best of the available options.
My understanding of Cummings and his glove puppet ,
Their cunning plan is simply to refuse whatever extension is granted by EU,
Methinks qwertboi and Marx comment have it right, capatalism disappeared up its own backside in 2007, all we are waiting for is for it to be respectfully buried
Neoliberalism is running on fumes – when a UK PM apes a US president who apes Hitler’s populism playbook and smart people stay silent – anything could happen.
Rabblerousing only gets you into power – after that managing the mob you created demands ever wilder gesture politics.
Look out though, mobs are fickle mistresses.
J
K
As usual, the BBC is complicit in giving credibility to the obvious fairy-tales of the Tories, who have negotiated an agreement and now want to change it – and blame the EU . Whilst I was in the car, the balance between Tories and Labour narratives (of various sorts) was overwhelming in its tilt towards the former.
… and as for any dreamy souls here who are keen to drum Keir Starmer out of the Party – the Party needs more, not less of the sort of coherence that he brings. He was about the only one to boot the fantasy of a ‘no deal’ Brexit into touch – pointing out that there’s actually no such thing – just the alternative of a complete dog’s dinner.
The most interesting bit of broadcasting, however, came from 5 Live, with (for once) adequate time given to an importer to implicitly outline the absolute fiction of ‘benefits’ from Brexit. It was impressive, because the guy didn’t express any personal view – just focused on the hard facts and implications.
But I doubt many Sun/Mail Leave voters would have managed to grasp those implications. By definition.
So will the 28 EC states allow the Right Wing UK Tory Barbarians to bully its poorer states?
Perhaps not the best strategy to win friends and influence people.
How low in the gutter will Johnson, Cummings and co-Tory political morons sink?
Bazza, the EU will force a non-member (the UK) to take the possibly crippling, though admittedly self-inflicted, full hit of a no deal rather than take any risk of what would likely be a relatively minor hit to a member’s (Ireland’s) economy.
The real risk being to NI obviously, not Ireland.
I think BloJob’s deservedly going to get the kicking of his stupid, over-privileged life.
Remain MPs (including Theresa May) never had any intention of honouring the result of the Referendum. Parliament will never allow GB to leave the Hotel California as demonstrated by the Benn Act, His father must be spinning in his grave, but never forget the traitors who sneer.
Jeremy Corbyn will give a speech today (Thu 10/10) in Northampton in which he will say
“So it’s simple [Boris]: obey the law, take no deal off the table and then let’s have the election. We’re ready and champing at the bit. There’s only one reason it hasn’t happened yet: we can’t trust you.”
Sending an optimistic message about both Labour’s electoral chances and next policy programme, Corbyn is going to argue that his party will deliver real change – unlike the Prime Minister.
https://labourlist.org/2019/10/labour-will-offer-real-change-not-johnsons-pale-imitation-says-corbyn/
You can read a full transcript of Jeremy’s keynote speech here
https://labourlist.org/2019/10/together-we-can-build-a-country-fit-for-the-next-generation-corbyns-full-speech/
Video (<2mins) Martin Wolf of the FT compares Boris Johnson to Goebbels
https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2019/10/10/johnson-and-goebbels/ (no paywall)