Brexit.

[imtommygunn]

I am not sure a few of those things would fly. They do look to be getting away with RHI mind you and would never budge on the language act courtesy of the loyalist paramilitaries.

The OO marches all getting through would cause major problems. Even the tories would know you can't move catholics towards having equal rights and then take them away. It really would be very problematic.

I don't think we'll be any mroe screwed than we ever were to be honest.

I am still waiting for things to blow up on the DUP. I think they have to at some point.

Seafoid we have known about the DUP for years. Swings tied up on sundays, GAA clubs fighting for basic funding from councils when marches get everything and the list goes on. It has never mattered to them before and is unlikely to know. It is just a bit more out in the public domain.

[Harold Disgracey]

I well remember the last time a weak Tory government was propped up by unionists and still have the scars. 1996, we got the shit kicked out of us to 'accommodate' an orange parade. The DUP would gladly love it to happen again.

[seafoid]

This whole sorry episode just reinforces what we already know about the British government. They do not care about the majority of people in the north and I suppose we don't really care for them. The problem is we still pay a portion of our hard earned money to them, and for what. I would love to be able to stop paying my taxes tomorrow as why should we pay for any of this.
The DUP must have been given some major assurances by the Tories as they really are acting the big time charlies, acting the way they are.
I would say they have got the following
- no border poll being called
- No DUP member's will face any further action over RHI
- No Language act
- Projects that they want money for will get priority
- All OO marches will be accommodated by the police

I do think us Nationalist are gona be royally screwed and there nothing we can do about it.

I don't think the DUP realise what they are doing
They are drunk on power and they are provincial gobshites mostly . Sammy Wilson knows nothing about the state of the UK economy
They are like FF in 2008 except even worse

Plus NI didn't vote Leave. It voted Remain
And Nationalists are half of the population
So it is a long way from 1996

[armaghniac]

They are drunk on power and they are provincial gobshites mostly . Sammy Wilson knows nothing about the state of the UK economy

Willson was a teacher of economics and on the A level economic examination board, he is pretty well aware of the basic principles of the UK economy, even if he chooses to lie about it.

[johnnycool]

Found this on the comments of Robert Pestons feed, thought it was good;

"Anyone still banging on about the benefits of a no deal is either very rich or very stupid. Check your wallet to find out which one you are."

[seafoid]

They are drunk on power and they are provincial gobshites mostly . Sammy Wilson knows nothing about the state of the UK economy

Willson was a teacher of economics and on the A level economic examination board, he is pretty well aware of the basic principles of the UK economy, even if he chooses to lie about it.

The UK economy is stagnant and basically fucked. It does not have the margins for No deal.

[Rossfan]

https://www.rte.ie/news/brexit/2019/0130/1026462-brexit-european-investment-bank/

[imtommygunn]

Found this on the comments of Robert Pestons feed, thought it was good;

"Anyone still banging on about the benefits of a no deal is either very rich or very stupid. Check your wallet to find out which one you are."

It really does beggar belief. What we have is a small selection of rich pricks who will be rich ,no matter what, in charge of the economic future of the population. The tories are what the tories are so you would expect it but Labour have been pathetic in this whole escapade and the whole "rule britannia" crap just shows you how stupid people can be. The people in charge of this can't lose - it's the suckers who vote for them that will be the losers. The people in Britain voting tories are the same as the people here voting DUP. They don't understand that not one shit could they give about them.

[playwiththewind1st]

They are drunk on power and they are provincial gobshites mostly . Sammy Wilson knows nothing about the state of the UK economy

Willson was a teacher of economics and on the A level economic examination board, he is pretty well aware of the basic principles of the UK economy, even if he chooses to lie about it.

It's doubtful that he'd be aware of the basic principles of anything too complicated, let alone an economy.

[armaghniac]

They are drunk on power and they are provincial gobshites mostly . Sammy Wilson knows nothing about the state of the UK economy

Willson was a teacher of economics and on the A level economic examination board, he is pretty well aware of the basic principles of the UK economy, even if he chooses to lie about it.

It's doubtful that he'd be aware of the basic principles of anything too complicated, let alone an economy.

You give  him too much credit. Like the Healy-Raes he puts on the gobdaw but he is spinning lies to his gullible electorate.

[RadioGAAGAA]

but Labour have been pathetic in this whole escapade and the whole "rule britannia" crap just shows you how stupid people can be.

To be fair - most of the dumb f**kers have voted Labour and have voted for Brexit.

So what do their representatives do? Represent their views or go against their wishes and do what is good for them?

[RedHand88]

but Labour have been pathetic in this whole escapade and the whole "rule britannia" crap just shows you how stupid people can be.

To be fair - most of the dumb f**kers have voted Labour and have voted for Brexit.

So what do their representatives do? Represent their views or go against their wishes and do what is good for them?

Sometimes you have to be a responsible parent and do what's best for your child, even if they don't want it.

[RadioGAAGAA]

Sometimes you have to be a responsible parent and do what's best for your child, even if they don't want it.

Aside from leaving them to get voted out at the next election - a representative democracy that doesn't represent the people's wishes sits uncomfortably with me.


If we are going to go down the line of having suitably qualified and experienced professionals/intellectuals run things (ignoring the desires of the - subject matter ignorant - masses) - that is fine - but 90%+ of the current MPs I would not consider suitably qualified, or experienced, or intelligent enough for the role.

Representative democracy that represents - or a proper Meritocracy. Not some bastardized version.

[Walter Cronc]

I think that goes for politicians as a whole.

From my experience the vast majority are so arrogant and more worryingly under-qualified!

[seafoid]

https://www.ft.com/content/4ddadd04-24a0-11e9-8ce6-5db4543da632

   The EU cannot rescue Britain from Brexit chaos
      
      
               May's government has shown it can no longer be counted as a trusted partner
      
         Philip Stephens

I had intended to address a slightly sheepish plea to Britain's European partners. Even at this late hour, the EU27 should show forbearance with the Brexit shenanigans at Westminster. The prize of an amicable parting of the ways — or, in the best case, a change of heart in a second referendum — was worth it. My shaky resolve collapsed after Theresa May's latest swerve. The EU could now be forgiven for simply throwing Britain overboard.

The prime minister's embrace of her party's hardline Brexiters was breathtaking in its cynicism. Only weeks ago she was immovable about the arrangements in the EU withdrawal agreement for the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. Now she promises to try to rewrite them to suit the prejudices of her party. What of the Belfast Agreement, the treaty underpinning peace on the island of Ireland? It ranks second, it seems, to appeasement of Brexiters such as Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg.


The mandate the prime minister claims to have secured to rewrite the Irish "backstop" is worthless and incredible. Worthless because all the other options for the Irish border have been exhaustively explored, and discarded, during the Article 50 negotiations. Incredible because the hardliners who backed her this week do not want an agreement. Supporting Mrs May now was a diversion. The real strategy is to run down the clock all the way to a no-deal Brexit.From the moment she replaced David Cameron in Downing Street, Mrs May faced a choice about Britain's departure from the EU. She could prioritise the unity of Conservatives by bowing to the theological fundamentalism of the party's English nationalist wing. Or she could try to build a wider, cross-party coalition around a softer version of Brexit.From the setting of her first "red lines" she preferred the former course. The latest Faustian pact was a logical destination. Party counts before country. Whatever the consequences for the nation, Mrs May is set on leaving the EU by March 29. "My duty", she calls this. The messianic tone has led some senior cabinet members to conclude she would rather let Britain fall out in a disorderly Brexit than have history say she split the Tories.

Britain's European partners are neither blind nor stupid. Watching the antics in the House of Commons, they know well that winning a single vote with a slender majority of 16 has not given the prime minister anything resembling a sustainable negotiating mandate. The support of the hardliners will be withdrawn as and when it suits them. In the meantime, Berlin, Paris, Brussels and the rest are being asked to abandon the Irish government and to gamble with peace — all in the cause of guaranteeing for Mrs May the votes in parliament of the Democratic Unionist party and preserving Tory unity. The prime minister bridles at the charge that she is careless of peace. But her stance bears no other interpretation. For its part, the DUP was the only big political grouping in Northern Ireland to oppose the Belfast Agreement.What must be doubly maddening for the EU negotiators is the assumption among so many Tory MPs that the Irish arrangements were designed permanently to lock Britain into a close trading relationship. Nothing could be more removed from the truth. Governments across the EU fear the backstop, were it ever to be implemented, would give Britain an unfair advantage — unique access to the European market without any responsibilities. The EU27 would be as eager as any Brexiter to ensure such a regime was short-lived. Doubtless, even now, there are adjustments that could be made to make it easier for a trusted political partner in London to win parliamentary support for the withdrawal agreement. Brussels officials are looking at ways to emphasise the EU's intention, if it can, to avoid the backstop. Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator, should do what he can.

The British government, though, can no longer be counted as a trusted partner. If the latest mix of deception and delusion has shown anything, it is that there really is nothing that its European partners can do to save Britain from the crash-out course set by Mrs May. The brakes can be applied only by the nation's own politicians.The House of Commons has voted against a disorderly Brexit. But it is has refused thus far to arm itself with the means to enforce its decision. Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, has been as capricious in his manoeuvrings as Mrs May. He boasts that Brexit is an irrelevance. His political destiny is to "build socialism". This leaves a swath of pro-European MPs running across the Tory/Labour divide — between them a basis for majority but one detached from the party leaders. The Tory MP Dominic Grieve and Labour's Yvette Cooper have been brave in defying the party line. They have equally courageous allies, but so far not enough of them.The dynamic could change. This could start with a binding motion calling for a delay to the timetable. The second step could be a series of votes to explore options for a softer Brexit. My hunch is that the faster the clock ticks the more likely it is that Britain will tumble into an unintended election. A second referendum could follow. But Mrs May must first be stopped.