So it seems Priti Patel is about to be sacked..........Mrs May getting rid of yet another Brexit supporter, I guess.
Interesting article. During the fall of the wall and break up of the old Soviet Union, I attended a series of briefings at the RUSI on the consequences of the fall and the forecast outcome and expected changes that would follow in the old East (I worked at the MOD in London at the time...). Their forecasts were pretty well spot on and reflected much of what has come to pass in the last 25 odd years. I'm sure they are running the same analysis and modelling now.
To be fair, if Priti Patel is sacked she only has herself to blame. But it does make you wonder about the bigger picture and who is pulling the strings.
Paul Mason is definitely one of the more original thinkers in the media today, although I am baffled by his enthusiastic support for Corbyn. Whilst Russia is on the border with Europe it's economy is the size of Spain and spends a quarter of it's GDP on defence, China is a much more formidable opponent with vast reserves of cash to invest and buy influence around the globe. Meanwhile the young people in China are rejecting the notion of democracy in that it leads to chaos compared to the ordered society that is China and they seem willing to sacrifice some freedoms for that stability. Both Russia and China seem ready, willing and able to exploit the power of the internet and social media to destabilise the west and we seem unable to counter that, our democratic strengths have become our weaknesses.
If the Foreign Office is so powerful that it can threaten the job of a Government Minister,it demonstrates that those we elect are powerless against the senior Civil,"service". If it's B.Johnson kicking up a fuss,then his ego is too big for democracy and his fragile character should be removed from office tout-suit. Personally,I don't believe any of this nonsense,whether it's to do with Priti Patel,Damian Green or whoever. Occasionally one hears about the odd MP or two up to no good,but not in the numbers currently featuring in the media. I firmly believe these are nothing but hysterical fantasies dreamed up by an irritated anti-democratic establishment,the sole purpose of which is to discredit some MPs and re-stamp the authority of the powerful on the proletarii. That is,the proles that have had the temerity to vote for something that doesn't benefit those used to ruling over us. Those that have pulled the strings for centuries are baring their fangs.They want to keep what they have always had,and they will use any method possible to quell the rumblings of discontent from those they look down on. The establishment have their supporters amongst the lower orders,but even the few Labour supporters that I know personally are aghast at the way democracy is being trampled on by their party,by the media,and by vested interests
I think it was Paul Mason, again, who said that the story portrayed in the mainstream media was never the real story but merely what the lazy hacks had been fed.
http://brexitcentral.com/meeting-mi...stadt-ive-concluded-no-deal-will-better-deal/ "Earlier this week, I and a group of cross-party colleagues from the Exiting the European Select Committee visited Brussels for a series of meetings. We met Michel Barnier, the EU’s Chief Brexit Negotiator; Guy Verhofstadt MEP, Chair of the European Parliament’s Brexit Steering Group; and several other senior MEPs. Having heard what they had to say, I’m afraid I’ve come to the conclusion that the only Brexit deal being offered to us from Brussels would be far worse for the UK than leaving without a deal in March 2019. Indeed, the only withdrawal deal on offer from the EU would require the UK to agree to the EU’s demands without any guarantee of being able to secure a reasonable future trade deal on terms better than the WTO. The EU wants to require the UK to agree to its financial demands, to accept that every EU citizen resident in the UK has the right to live in the UK forever and for that right to be extended to parents and children. The EU would also make remaining in the Single Market and Customs Union a pre-requisite to having a frictionless border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. To add insult to injury, the EU’s negotiators are insisting that any future trade relationship should be made conditional upon a whole raft of protectionist and anti-competitive requirements which would severely handicap the UK’s freedom to negotiate genuine free trade deals with the rest of the world. Furthermore, it was confirmed that no free trade deal can be agreed in parallel with the Article 50 withdrawal agreement because each of the 27 EU countries would have a veto on that deal – and would exercise it if they would otherwise face competition from the UK on tax, employment conditions, safety regulations and relaxation of restrictions on GM crops. It also became clear to me during our visit that the EU would require that any transitional deal would have to be signed as part of a withdrawal agreement before any agreement was in place on the UK’s future relationship with the EU: during the transitional period, the status quo would prevail with the Single Market, Customs Union and European Court of Justice etc. having the same roles as at present; the UK would have no ability to control EU immigration during that period and would not even have the right to enter into trade deals with other countries. While the EU negotiators sought to emphasise that they did not want to punish the UK, I find their negotiating stance to be inconsistent with such an assurance".
I think a lot of people are starting to wake up to this. A few of us have said the eu is up shit creek. If they give us a good deal then others will leave and if they give us a bad deal then it is likely to effect the european's more than us. Their only out was to say if you leave the eu then it goes straight to wto but instead of being honest they have played games whilst raising the anger about this that was always avoidable. wto rules, no leaving fee, if you live in the U.K. then you abide by U.K. rules and if you live in the e.u. then you abide by e.u. rules. I hope at the next meeting in December we have some honesty from the e.u. and say we cannot agree but wish to remain friends so both sides are now agreeing wto is the way to go. This will remove the uncertainty business want's removed and people can genuinely plan forward knowing where the goalposts are.
