23rd Apr 2019 https://nfind.uk/brexit_cliff_edge/index.php/newsletter=50 brexit_cliff_edge

Jobs at Risk

The Telegraph Hundreds of JP Morgan bankers have been given a six month breather after being told to sign new EU contracts and have their suitcases by the door if theres a nodeal Brexit. The delay of Brexit until Halloween means that around 300 investment bankers no longer have to sign the contracts and might not need to relocate to an EU hub such as Paris or Frankfurt after the UKs exit after all insiders said. All the people were ready to go with suitcases by the door as if they were about to go into labour one senior banker said. They dont need to go now. Its on ice. The Wall Street bank asked the bankers to sign the contracts confirming they would move at short notice last month https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2019/04/21/halloween-brexit-gives-jp-morgan-bankers-suitcases-door-extra/ 21st Apr 2019

Jobs at Risk

Reuters With Brexit on ice until as late as October 31 and the terms of the exit still to be agreed fears are building that this could be one of the leanest years for the City since the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. The London Stock Exchange has had only one corporate listing in excess of 75 million pounds 97.61 million so far this year. Trading turnover on the London Stock Exchange in February and March was down a third from a year ago and the lowest since August 2016. https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-city/brexit-inertia-means-londons-finance-workers-face-summer-slump-idUKKCN1RU2HZ 18th Apr 2019

Economic Impact

The Independent People in the UK are paying billions of pounds more for everyday goods because of Brexitrelated price hikes new research has found. The fall in the value of the pound after the 2016 Leave vote means money spent by individuals and businesses on imported items does not stretch as far as it used to. As a result consumers and businesses have had to pay at least 15bn more for the same items according to analysis by the Peoples Vote campaign. The group said the price of filter coffee has risen by 10 per cent the cost of bananas has increased by the same amount and a glass of wine bought in a pub or restaurant has gone up by 8 per cent. Combined with flatlining wage growth it suggests households are having to spend more for less. Divided between the UKs 27 million households it suggests the average household will have paid at least 550 more since 2016. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-food-prices-rise-uk-families-a8876946.html 21st Apr 2019

Economic Impact

The Telegraph JeanClaude Juncker the European Commission chief has warned that the UK would be 100 per cent responsible if its decision to leave the EU caused economic turmoil as he urged MPs to vote for Theresa Mays Brexit deal. In an interview with a German newspaper Mr Juncker urged the UK not to waste its six month extension to the Article 50 process and added that he did not have hopes of the UK eventually reversing Brexit. We need to be prepared for a soft and a hard Brexit. In any event the UKs withdrawal will have a negative impact more for the British than for the EU he told Funke. There will be no singlemarketbased solution. As far as I am concerned the British side bears 100 per cent responsibility https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/04/19/jean-claude-juncker-economic-turmoil-brexit-will-uks-fault/ 20th Apr 2019

Administrative Fall Out

The Independent I have 30 days to leave my home thanks to Brexit. our local prefecture which last week wrote to us to tell us that we had 30 days to leave the country. The reasons they gave is that there was no proof that James is selfsupporting we were not made aware of any missing information from our application if we had wed have provided it and that my business does not make enough. Between us we need to prove that we have 1175.00 per month to live on. The feeling of panic I got from the moment I opened those letters is still with me now. It sits in the pit of my stomach as a constant reminder of the nightmare we are now living. https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/brexit-immigration-settled-status-france-eu-citizens-a8874646.html 21st Apr 2019

Administrative Fall Out

The National UK immigration Minister Caroline Nokes has said that vulnerable EU migrant women living in Scotland and fleeing domestic abuse should just return to their own countries it has emerged. Nokes made the statement in a letter to Kirsty Blackman MP who is campaigning for a change in law to stop EU women who are judged not to be exercising their treaty rights because they are not working studying or able to support themselves having to choose between staying in a dangerous abusive relationship or facing destitution. Blackman said that she was shocked by Nokes letter and branded the Home Office heartless and wilfully ignorant. https://www.thenational.scot/news/17587773.tory-minister-says-eu-citizens-fleeing-domestic-abuse-should-just-go-home/?ref=twtrec 21st Apr 2019

Administrative Fall Out

The Independent A baby that was born in the UK to two Britishresident parents has been denied the right to live in the country. Human rights lawyers called the decision shameful and potentially unlawful. Dr Charles Kriel a US national and special adviser to a parliamentary select committee was returning to Britain from Florida with his fiancee Katharina Viken and their 15weekold daughter Viola Pearl VikenKriel when they were stopped by border officials. They said his child did not have the right to reside in the country. Instead they said she could enter the UK but only on a sixmonth tourist visa specifying that she must not work or use public services. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/baby-citizenship-uk-status-child-immigration-home-office-parents-america-a8878421.html 20th Apr 2019

Administrative Fall Out

BBC PachYa is a Polish singer who lived in the UK for 10 years but she no longer felt welcome in the country after Brexit. So she moved back to Poland with her daughter Amelia. Two years later she returns to Nottingham and thinks about what she has left behind. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/stories-47978474/brexit-i-felt-unwelcome-and-returned-to-poland 19th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

BBC The government will resume Brexit talks with the Labour Party as MPs return to Westminster following the Easter break. Cabinet ministers including the PMs defacto deputy David Lidington will meet senior opposition figures in an attempt to solve the Brexit impasse. But the resumption of talks has provoked anger among a number of Tory MPs with senior backbenchers meeting later to discuss their next move. Meanwhile Prime Minister Theresa May will chair a meeting of her cabinet. Tory MP Nigel Evans a Brexiteer and critic of Mrs May told the BBC the governments handling of Brexit had been frustrating and that fresh leadership was needed. Senior members of the Conservative backbench 1922 committee which Mr Evans is a member of will meet late this afternoon. He said Shes reaching out to the Labour Party and Jeremy Corbyn when she should have been reaching out to the people. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-48018540 23rd Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

Express.co.uk Last night the threshold needed to demand an extraordinary general meeting of the partys national convention the most powerful body representing the rank and file was reached. Sources involved in the plot said the petition had been backed by at least 65 constituency association chairmen after the Prime Ministers spectacular failure to deliver Brexit. Its a farce they added. If shes not capable of doing the job then somebody come forward that is because this just cant go on. It will be at least a month before the meeting can be held and the results of the confidence vote will not be binding on the Prime Minister. But losing the support of the partys volunteers who give up their free time to knock on doors to rally support would heap pressure on her to go. It comes amid a slew of devastating polls for Mrs May as she prepares for local and European elections next month. https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1117126/brexit-news-latest-theresa-may-eu-negotiation-conservative-convention-meeting-replace 22nd Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Sun Theresa May has asked officials to look again at a rival plan by Tory MPs for the Irish border to escape the disastrous Brexit deadlock. Senior Tory Brexiteers are lobbying the PM to use the new six month delay to mount a fresh push on the EU to adopt their alternative arrangements model. The development comes as Theresa May will today come under renewed pressure to call time on stalled talks with Labour for a crossparty exit deal. But replacing the controversial Irish backstop to keep the border open with the Malthouse Compromise formula of stand off customs declarations and checks is still the only way she can win a Commons majority for one the group insist. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8916207/theresa-may-brexit-irish-backstop-rival-plan/ 22nd Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Telegraph Theresa May will be told by her own MPs to name the date of her departure or face being ousted in June after the Conservative Partys patience with her finally ran out. Sir Graham Brady the chairman of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers will tell the Prime Minister that the party is preparing to change its rules to make it easier to throw out unpopular leaders if they refuse to go. Backbenchers have already set June 12 as the date Mrs May will be forced out if she does not comply exactly six months on from the day she fought off the last attempt to depose her through a confidence vote in her leadership. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/04/22/mps-warn-theresa-may-will-forced-brexit-failure-fails-name-departure/ 22nd Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Independent I am a pluralist who thinks tribalism is overrated so I can see the attraction of a coalition. But no one has been able to explain to me how the practical hurdles can be overcome https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/brexit-european-elections-mep-change-uk-the-independent-group-remain-leave-alliance-a8881306.html 22nd Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Sun Theresa May could be booted out as PM by furious Tory MPs in midJune under radical plans to be considered by senior figures today. The Sun can reveal the Conservative 1922 committee is expected to vote on an extraordinary proposal to rewrite party rules to allow a new no confidence challenge just six months after the PM survived the last one in December. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8916261/theresa-may-could-be-booted-out-in-june-as-pm-after-furious-tory-mps-plot-to-change-party-rules/ 22nd Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

BBC Prime Minister Theresa May is to face an unprecedented noconfidence challenge from Conservative grassroots campaigners. More than 70 local association chiefs angry at her handling of Brexit have called for an extraordinary general meeting to discuss her leadership. A nonbinding vote will be held at that National Conservative Convention EGM. Dinah Glover chairwoman of the London East Area Conservatives said there was despair in the party. She told the BBC Im afraid the prime minister is conducting negotiations in such a way that the party does not approve. The Conservative Partys 800 highestranking officers including those chairing the local associations will take part in the vote https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48011201 22nd Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Sun Theresa May has been forced to abandoned plans for a major Cabinet reshuffle next month because of the Brexit delay. The new blow to the PMs survival hopes comes as it emerged that three out of five party members plan to refuse to vote Tory in the euro elections. Close allies had urged the PM to carry out a big clear of her ageing top team. The move would have helped fend off calls for her to resign immediately after an expected local election meltdown on May 2. Ushering in a younger generation of Tory MPs to the Governments top ranks could have kept the PM in No10 until December Cabinet allies argued. But the new sixmonth delay to Britains EU exit until October has plunged Mrs May into a fresh crisis and destabilised her yet further. A senior No10 source told The Sun A reshuffle is going to be impossible now. Things are just too precarious. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8910517/theresa-may-abandons-plan-cabinet-reshuffle-brexit-delay/ 21st Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Guardian For more than a year the Observer writer has been probing a darkness at the heart of Silicon Valley. Last week at a TED talk that became a global viral sensation she told the tech billionaires they had broken democracy. What happened next https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/apr/21/carole-cadwalladr-ted-tech-google-facebook-zuckerberg-silicon-valley 21st Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Telegraph Nigel Farage is the second most popular choice among Conservative Party councillors to be the next Tory leader a new poll has found. Only Boris Johnson is more popular than the leader of The Brexit Party with Mr Farage ahead of frontrunner candidates including Michael Gove Jeremy Hunt Sajid Javid and Dominic Raab. Mr Johnson the former foreign secretary and prominent Brexiteer was backed by 19 per cent of Tory councillors as the best option to take over from Theresa May when the field included Mr Farage. The former Ukip leader was supported by 15 per cent of the 781 Tory councillors polled by Survation between April 17 and 19. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/04/21/nigel-farage-second-popular-choice-among-conservative-party/ 21st Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

Evening Standard Lord Buckethead has revealed plans to stand against Nigel Farage in the European Parliament elections. The candidate who famously stood against Theresa May in the 2017 General Election revealed his plans on Friday night. He said so many people had begged him to run against the former Ukip leader who recently unveiled his new Brexit Party. Mr Farage is bidding to be reelected as the MEP for the South East England constituency. Writing on Twitter he said BREAKING NEWS Since so many have begged me to run against Nigel Farage in the EU Parliament election on May 23 a clever Earthling set up this link for you to fund the cost of the pricey deposit. Will I agree to run if the goal is met MY ANSWER YES https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/lord-buckethead-reveals-plans-to-stand-against-nigel-farage-in-the-euro-elections-a4122341.html 21st Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Guardian Like some sleightofhand artiste Farage has pulled the Brexit party out of his flat cap. One moment it wasnt there. The next it was leading the polls for the European Union elections. It was set up by Catherine Blaiklock in January but she had to resign when it emerged that like so many before her in her previous party Ukip shed written things that were not difficult to construe as racist. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/apr/20/farage-rees-mogg-nottingham-brexit-party-election 21st Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

City A.M. A second referendum would see the population resoundingly vote for the UK to remain in the EU a new poll has found. The latest Comres poll revealed that Remain would now win by 58 per cent to 42 per cent of the vote. The Comres poll had Remain as heavy favourites if a second referendum were to be held tomorrow. But a separate Yougov poll found that voters had largely become even more sure that they voted the right way first time around almost three years of Brexit uncertainty since. It said 64 per cent of Remain voters were now more sure they voted the right way compared to 57 per cent of Leave voters. http://www.cityam.com/276486/remain-would-win-second-brexit-referendum-poll-finds-leave 21st Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Independent The president of the European Council has warned opponents of Brexit not to give in to fatalism and accept Britains departure from the European Union. Speaking in the European parliament on Tuesday Donald Tusk said Europe and Britain needed dreams and dreamers to keep the idea of a united Europe alive and the UK in the EU. During the European Council one of the leaders warned us not to be dreamers and that we shouldnt think that Brexit can be reversed Mr Tusk told MEPs in Strasbourg. I didnt respond at the time. But today in front of you I would like to say at this rather difficult moment in our history that we need the dreamers and dreams. We cannot give in to fatalism. At least I will not stop dreaming about a better and united Europe. Mr Tusk said he accepts the result of the EU referendum and that the decision on whether to leave is for the British people but he has made no secret of the fact he would rather see the UK stay in the bloc. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-donald-tusk-eu-remain-second-referendum-theresa-may-deal-a8871921.html 21st Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

Business Insider An alliance of antiBrexit parties including Change UK will not ever be likely. Change UK The Independent Group will probably never form an electoral pact with other proEU parties the partys economics spokesperson Chris Leslie told Business Insider. This is despite polls suggesting that Change UK will suffer from the proEU vote being split across numerous parties at next months European Parliament elections and potentially beyond. Leslie said that Change UK was the clearest antiBrexit option and urged Lib Dems to quit their party. https://www.businessinsider.com/change-uk-chris-leslie-anti-brexit-alliance-will-not-ever-be-likely-2019-4 21st Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48000600 21st Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Guardian Labour will never defeat Nigel Farage if it continues to sit on the fence over Brexit and offers only mealymouthed support for a second referendum the partys deputy leader says today. In an extraordinary intervention that exposes the tensions at the top of the party over Brexit strategy Tom Watson warns that Labour will lose to Farages new far right Brexit party in Mays European elections if it continues to give the impression that we half agree with him. Writing in todays Observer Jeremy Corbyns deputy argues that Labour needs to give much clearer and more enthusiastic backing to another referendum and also spell out a positive radical vision of how a Labour government could advance socialist values by working with other centreleft parties inside the European Union.Labour will never defeat Nigel Farage if it continues to sit on the fence over Brexit and offers only mealymouthed support for a second referendum the partys deputy leader says today. In an extraordinary intervention that exposes the tensions at the top of the party over Brexit strategy Tom Watson warns that Labour will lose to Farages new far right Brexit party in Mays European elections if it continues to give the impression that we half agree with him. Writing in todays Observer Jeremy Corbyns deputy argues that Labour needs to give much clearer and more enthusiastic backing to another referendum and also spell out a positive radical vision of how a Labour government could advance socialist values by working with other centreleft parties inside the European Union. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/apr/20/second-eu-referendum-only-way-to-beat-farage-says-watson 20th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Times The Tories look certain to lose up to 500 seats in the English local elections on May 2 but it could be much worse if recent opinion polls turn out to be accurate. Some 8400 seats in 248 councils fall vacant in England. Five councils have inaugural elections following the abolition or merger of their predecessors and there will be contests for six directly elected mayors. These largely reprise those held on the same day as the 2015 general election when David Cameron formed his majority government. The Tories did well in the local contests too winning six in 10 of all seats. Labour fell back and the Liberal Democrats punished for their role in the coalition lost 40 of their councillors. Recent byelections show Labour and the Tories neck and neck in the battle for local votes. The Lib Dems are performing better in these contests than in the polls but are still a long way behind. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/drubbing-looms-as-tories-face-loss-of-500-council-seats-nvrbjs35h 21st Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Guardian The antiBrexit party Change UK will this week unveil its list of 70 candidates for next months European elections after receiving more than 1000 applications from former Labour Tory Liberal and Green party activists. The partys interim leader the former Tory MP Heidi Allen who yesterday challenged other leaders to a TV debate claimed that the exodus from established parties showed Change UK was now the natural home of the Remain Alliance and of people who wanted a second referendum. The party said that of 3700 people who had applied to stand under the Change UK banner in the 23 May poll 895 were former Labour activists 105 were exLiberal Democrats and 92 exGreens. Dozens of other applicants had been active in the Tory party including former MPs. Of the Labour defectors 32 were either former MPs or had previously been parliamentary or council candidates. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/apr/20/change-uk-independent-group-natural-home-remain-alliance 21st Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

Financial Times The biggest danger of the Brexit extension is a delusion over time. The UK does not really have more than five months to make a decision. In reality the effective timescale is just a few weeks. Once this drags beyond the scheduled elections of the European Parliament in late May we enter a world of uncertain scenarios. The divisions that emerged among EU member states during the meeting of the European Council on April 10 are serious. But it would be wrong to characterise the debate as one between France and the rest. Several leaders supported Emmanuel Macron. Come October the threat is not one of a veto by the French president but of a shifting consensus. Heiko Maas the German foreign minister said in an FT interview that he believed the October deadline was hard. This is becoming a wider consensus view in Germany. Mr Macron is not isolated. He is winning the argument. https://www.ft.com/content/f064d5fc-61b8-11e9-b285-3acd5d43599e 21st Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

Financial Times Theresa May will return from the Easter break on Tuesday seeking to breathe fresh life into talks with the opposition Labour party as both sides search for a Brexit breakthrough that can avert the need to hold unwanted European elections. With time fast running out to secure a deal before the European poll on May 23 the prime minister is also likely to come under growing pressure from her own MPs to stand down if she fails to find a way to break the stalemate. But nearly three weeks after the talks with Labour began there has been scant evidence of any progress. Labour which wants the UK to retain close alignment with the single market and a permanent customs union has been left frustrated over what it says is the Conservatives failure to offer any new concessions. https://www.ft.com/content/c4930ff0-6435-11e9-9adc-98bf1d35a056 21st Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Guardian Going into the European elections the serial splitting of the proEU vote has been a masterclass in political incompetence https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/19/remainers-defeat-european-elections-eu-vote 20th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The National Nicola Sturgeon has today set out her ambitious and credible proposals to win independence as she prepares to update Scotland in the coming days on her plans for a second referendum. In a major intervention the First Minister referred to the ongoing Brexit turmoil and more people being open to back the Yes case but she suggested such voters may not be won over with easy answers. https://www.thenational.scot/news/17586819.fm-sets-out-indy-plan-with-a-big-warning-to-critics/ 20th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Scotsman Any kind of Brexit will have negative consequences which will be worse for Britain than the EU and be entirely the UKs responsibility European Commission president JeanClaude Juncker said. Mr Juncker said the ball was in Britains court and urged the House of Commons to support the deal negotiated by Theresa May. A second extension to Brexit was granted to the UK following talks in Brussels earlier this month with the socalled flextension meaning the departure date will be October 31 this year or sooner if the Withdrawal Agreement is passed. In an interview with the German Funke Media Groupe Mr Juncker repeated the words of European Council president Donald Tusk and urged the UK not to waste time. https://www.scotsman.com/brexit-jean-claude-juncker-says-any-type-of-departure-will-be-negative-1-4912242 20th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

Sky News The UK cannot delay Brexit indefinitely and must stop wasting time the European commission chief has said. JeanClaude Juncker warned Britain that its departure from the EU must happen by the new 31 October deadline. I hope that the British will make use of this time and not waste it again. We cannot keep on putting off the withdrawal date indefinitely Mr Juncker said. https://news.sky.com/story/eu-commission-chief-jean-claude-juncker-the-uk-cannot-keep-delaying-brexit-11698676 20th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

Reuters A top member of Prime Minister Theresa Mays Conservative Party will tell her in the coming week that she must step down by the end of June or her lawmakers will try again to depose her the Sunday Times reported without citing sources. May survived a vote of no confidence in December and although party rules mean lawmakers cannot challenge her again until a year has passed lawmaker Graham Brady will tell her the rules will be changed unless she quits the newspaper said. Brady who chairs the Conservative Partys influential 1922 Committee of backbench lawmakers will tell her that 70 percent of her members of parliament want her to resign over her handling of Brexit the Sunday Times said. Britain was originally due to leave the European Union on March 29 but that deadline was pushed back to April 12 and then again to Oct. 31 as May failed to break an impasse in parliament on the terms of Brexit. https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-may/may-to-be-told-to-quit-by-top-conservative-sunday-times-idUKKCN1RW0NN 20th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Telegraph The EU will end up with 50 disruptive and resentful British MEPs if it forces the country to take part in elections to the European Parliament next month Liam Fox has warned. In an interview with The Telegraph the proBrexit International Trade Secretary pointed out that the parliament which is due to elect the next European Commission president later this year will have an effect on the formation of the next commission. The last thing our European partners want are 50 disruptive and resentful UK MEPs he added. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/04/20/eu-will-end-50-angry-disruptive-meps-forces-uk-hold-mep-elections/ 20th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Independent At a lavish party for Nigel Farage at Londons Ritz Hotel five months after the 2016 referendum the man himself predicted a big seismic shock in British politics like Donald Trumps total revolution in the US. Farage told the 100 guests friends politicians and journalists including me the UKs problem was still being run by the career professional political class. He feared it would block Brexit. With Ukip seen as a basket case in the margins of the event his allies discussed launching a new onlinebased movement based on Italys Five Star. The Brexit Party is now up and running the cleverest piece of political branding since New Labour. European parliament elections on 23 May offer the perfect opening coming almost three years after the referendum they validate Farages repeated claims that politicians would betray the public. Ukip a home for Islamophobes and misogynists who dismiss jokes about rape as satire makes Farage look respectable. Not surprisingly the opinion polls suggest his new party is on course for a famous victory. His big seismic shock is on the cards. https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/brexit-nigel-farage-european-elections-jeremy-corbyn-second-referendum-a8877611.html 20th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Guardian The inability of the leading opposition party to oppose extends beyond its sneaky fudges. Labour is no more challenging every halftruth and whole lie made by Nigel Farage than it is exposing the empty nationalism of the seeming limitless supply of Tory leadership candidates. Its almost as if Jeremy Corbyn and the upperclass Stalinists who surround him are so lost in the infantile leftist belief that the EU is a capitalist and militarist conspiracy they would rather let the right have its way than reverse Brexit. Without leaders Labour voters are meant to solve Labour politicians problems for them. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/20/paralysing-lack-leadership-remainers-nowhere-to-go 20th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The National The UK may have descended even deeper into Brexit crisis in recent weeks but that hasnt stopped the architects of the 2014 Project Fear campaign yes the same people who said Scotland would lose EU membership if we voted for independence springing back into action. In 2014 they told us there was no way Scotland could agree with the rest of the UK to continue to use the pound sterling this time with no hint of irony theyre throwing their hands up in horror at the suggestion that an independent Scotland might in future choose an alternative to sterling if that is in our best interests. Of course these politicians will always ridicule any suggestion that Scotland is capable of being a successful independent country because they want us to believe that whatever happens to the UK and no matter what chaos ensues the status quo is as good as it gets. But most people in Scotland dont take that view. In 2014 many who ultimately voted No were open to persuasion. https://www.thenational.scot/news/17586824.sturgeon-our-currency-position-is-ambitious-and-credible-it-can-win-us-indy/?ref=twtrec 20th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Telegraph onservative voters are angry and frustrated and the reason is obvious. In Aprils monthly ComRes poll for The Telegraph the only Brexit outcomes acceptable to Tory voters were to leave with no deal or less enthusiastically agree to Theresa Mays deal. All other options were unacceptable to at least 70 per cent of Tory voters. Until the Tory Party realise that Brexit is a visceral issue outside the flexible political norms of Burkean representative democracy they cannot recover because the Brexit Party is scratching where the Conservative electorate itch. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/04/19/theresa-may-boxed-voters-punish-tories-brexit-delay/ 19th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

Daily Mail Grassroots Tories are refusing to take part in next months European election campaign in protest at the delay to Brexit. In an extraordinary show of defiance the Conservative group on Derbyshire County Council has effectively voted to go on strike. They have refused to knock on doors or deliver leaflets in support of Tory MEPs saying they will not take part in the elections because they should not be happening. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6941165/Grassroots-Conservatives-refuse-European-election-campaign-protest-Brexit-delay.html 19th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

Herald Scotland Theresa May is now so unpopular with swathes of her own party that some Tory members wont mention her by name on the doorstep or have ruled out campaigning altogether it has emerged. The Prime Minister has become synonymous with betrayal over Brexit in voters minds leading some activists to try to focus on local issues rather the Governments main goal. Tory HQ has even registered a name variation with the Electoral Commission that allows the candidates to appear on ballot papers as Local Conservatives downplaying any link with the PM. https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/17586835.members-wont-mention-theresa-may-on-doorsteps-as-tories-prepares-for-election-drubbing/ 19th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Telegraph Theresa May could face a new confidence vote in the wake of the European elections under plans that will be considered by senior Tory MPs this week The Telegraph can disclose. On Tuesday the 1922 committee of backbench Tory MPs will meet to discuss whether the rules should be changed to allow a new bid to remove the Prime Minister. Alan Mabbutt a senior Conservative Party official has confirmed that the rules surrounding leadership challenges are not determined by the partys constitution but by backbench MPs themselves. It comes as a string of senior Tory called for Theresa May to name a date for her departure amid concerns that the European elections will be a disaster for the party. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/04/19/theresa-may-faces-threat-new-confidence-vote-european-elections/ 19th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

Politico.eu A 29yearold female journalist was killed during riots in Derry Northern Ireland on Thursday night in what police are treating as a terrorist incident. According to reports violence broke out following police searches in Derrys Creggan district with petrol bombs thrown at police Land Rovers. https://www.politico.eu/article/journalist-shot-dead-in-terrorist-incident-in-northern-ireland/ 19th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Independent Elections can be energising they can be bruising and over the past few years the public have been to the ballot box far more often than expected. Two years ago today Theresa May stood at the lectern outside of No 10 and announced a snap election. It had been less than a year since a divisive referendum and there wasnt much appetite from the public or from parliament for yet another campaign. Today European elections are looming a public vote on Brexit seems more and more likely and another snap election is a constant possibility. We are in a time of political crisis and no one knows what will happen next but trust in our elections is essential to rebuilding public faith in politics. Thats why the government must take urgent action to protect the integrity of our democracy. We do not have the laws we need to defend our democracy from online interference. https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/brexit-leave-eu-fake-videos-migrants-digital-advertising-facebook-a8874961.html 19th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Telegraph The Conservatives and Labour are both losing ground to smaller parties but the Conservatives are hurting more. We analysed recent opinion polls using the new regression techniques which give better accuracy than classic polling approaches. These show a Labour lead of four per cent with Labour predicted to win 290 seats if there were a new general election. Beneath these headline figures there are identifiable groups of voters who are changing their mind. Using a threedimensional political landscape we identified seven tribes many of whom dont correspond to the traditional leftright spectrum https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/04/19/tories-labour-jeopardy-new-voting-tribes-seek-alternatives-status/ 19th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Telegraph Jeremy Hunt a frontrunner for the Tory leadership has defended the Conservatives austerity programme during a clash with Jeremy Corbyn and said it is the Labour leaders Marxist regime that will put Britains economy at risk. The Foreign Secretary said in an interview this week that he admired the genius of David Cameron for convincing people to accept austerity. He said their success in delivering cuts without poll taxstyle riots had helped put the economy on its feet to the extent were now creating 1000 jobs every single day since weve been in office. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/04/19/jeremy-hunt-defends-tory-austerity-clash-jeremy-corbyn-attacks/ 19th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

Daily Mirror Nigel Farages Brexit Party poses a very serious threat to Labour in the European elections a top party peer has warned. Lord Maurice Glasman said the newlyfounded group was a risk to his party if voters felt Labour had ignored the result of the 2016 referendum and backed a second vote. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/nigel-farages-brexit-party-very-14433969 19th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

Daily Mirror A man who has yelled stop Brexit at Parliament every sitting day for the last 18 months is standing for the European Parliament. Steve Bray known locally as the Stop Brexit Guy began protesting in Westminster in September 2017 wearing a blue and yellow hat and draped in a Union Flag cape. He started as a lone voice shouting at the seat of democracy once a day. But as time has gone on and antiBrexit sentiment has swelled so has his group of screaming Remainers hurling an increasingly lengthy stream of invective at the Palace. Along with stop Brexit Steve and his group have gradually started adding Its not a done deal and its not going well is it https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/guy-who-shouts-stop-brexit-14431996 19th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Guardian Donald Tusk though devastated by a 2016 Brexit referendum result he had predicted counselled for calm. Brussels had no choice but to wait it out for the formal two years of withdrawal talks to start he argued. There would be no negotiation without Britains formal notification of the wish to leave. Even attempts by the governments senior Brexit adviser Olly Robbins to speak to the EUs most senior lawyers would be denied until the treaty exit mechanism known as article 50 was triggered. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/apr/19/brexit-theresa-may-failed-deal-eu-relations?utm_source=dlvr.it&amputm_medium=twitter 19th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

Financial Times Most other EU countries have experienced searing humiliations in their recent histories defeat in war the collapse of democracy or occupation by a foreign power. Compared with these Brexit is pretty mild stuff. If the UK can avoid succumbing to selfpity or a sense of victimhood Brexit might even serve as a valuable realitycheck one that eventually allows the country to rethink its place in the world in a calm unhysterical and unhumiliated fashion https://www.ft.com/content/0f4e3256-610f-11e9-a27a-fdd51850994c 19th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Sun Both senior Tories are now counting on the votes of more than 50 Conservatives MPs from a total of 313. But BoJos campaign team are convinced he will trounce his successor as Foreign Secretary in phase two of the campaign a headtohead run off between the two leading candidates in front of all 150000 party members. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/brexit/8894996/boris-johnson-topple-theresa-may-tory-leadership/ 18th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Guardian Nigel Farage has almost total control over the new Brexit Party with power to appoint its governing board and all but no membership to keep him in check it is understood. The party which polls suggest could win the European elections formed in January and registered last week. While more than 100000 people have signed up to be registered supporters it is not yet allowing them to become formal members with power to vote on the leadership. It is understood only a handful of people have actual membership of the Brexit party which is a skeleton operation as it gears up to fight its first election at the European polls. The partys constitution released under freedom of information laws also reveals Farages power over the project with the leader having the ability to appoint four to eight board members and the chairman. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/apr/18/nigel-farage-has-near-total-control-of-brexit-party-constitution-suggests 18th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

@SkyNews Brexit Party leader @NigelFarage says leaving the EU is about upholding a higher democratic principle and the UK must honour the referendum result regardless of any economic fallout. https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1118809430018146304 18th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Guardian Jeremy Corbyn is to be urged by a group of Labour MPs not to torpedo the prospect of a Brexit deal with Theresa May by insisting on a second referendum. The MPs including Stephen Kinnock and Gloria De Piero are set to send the Labour leader a letter early next week setting out their deepseated reservations about a second referendum which they believe would be divisive but not decisive. They also express a worry that insisting on a second referendum would cause talks with the government to collapse arguing that Conservative MPs would never back such an idea. Labour has committed to keeping a second referendum on the table as an option to stop a damaging Tory Brexit but there are conflicting views at the top of the party about whether to insist on one if Corbyn can secure a deal with the Conservatives. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/apr/18/labour-mps-urge-jeremy-corbyn-not-torpedo-brexit-deal-second-referendum 18th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

Financial Times AntiBrexit parties failure to agree a unified slate of candidates to fight the European elections next month could cost them half of the seats they would have won as a single group according to a Financial Times analysis. If the Liberal Democrats the newly formed Change UK and Green party combined into a single entity to contest the European Parliament elections on May 23 they would win 16 of the 60 seats up for grabs across England the research found. But with the parties having decided to field separate slates of candidates only seven seats would be secured the analysis concluded based on polling numbers from four organisations. https://www.ft.com/content/17c356d2-6128-11e9-a27a-fdd51850994c 18th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Guardian In just five weeks time Britain will have a referendum on Brexit. This will take the form of elections to the European parliament but in reality this will be a prereferendum or if you like your neologisms ugly a preferendum. So there is now one simple task to maximise the vote for parties that support a confirmatory referendum on Brexit giving the British people a democratic choice between accepting the negotiated Brexit deal and remaining in the EU. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/18/european-elections-second-brexit-referendum-vote-register 18th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Telegraph Electing a true believer Brexiteer as the next Tory leader would likely wreck any chance of agreeing a Brexit deal with Brussels the former UK ambassador to the EU has claimed. Sir Ivan Rogers said Eurosceptic leadership challengers like Dominic Raab and Boris Johnson could make promises to the Tory grassroots to get elected which the bloc would never agree to. Those promises could include reopening the Withdrawal Agreement to delete or change the Irish border backstop protocol something which the EU has repeatedly said it will not countenance. He said such a pledge would torpedo the talks and any prospect of the two sides agreeing to a new trading relationship. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/04/18/electing-true-believer-brexiteer-next-tory-leader-will-wreck/ 18th Apr 2019

Political Shenanigans

The Washington Post Last week leaders of farright parties from several European Union countries assembled in Milan to announce the creation of a nationalist alliance for the upcoming parliamentary elections. The group known as the European Alliance for People and Nations aims to win the largest bloc of seats in the European Parliament and already includes members from Germany Italy Finland Denmark Austria and France. We share the same objectives the same ideals and values Matteo Salvini Italys deputy prime minister and the host of the meeting told journalists ahead of the announcement. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/04/17/putins-far-right-allies-gear-up-european-elections/ 17th Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

Evening Standard https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/mps-to-investigate-huge-cost-of-brexit-planning-a4121226.html 19th Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

The New European The government spent more than 13 million in just two months in their desperate attempts to convince MPs to vote for Theresa Mays Brexit deal. According to the Sun 12 4 million was spent by the cabinet office on external consultant fees which involved drawing up alternative plans to the Irish border and preparing for a nodeal Brexit. It is a whopping 221 increase on the total spend on consultancy services in the same three month period a year earlier. Best for Britain found that the department spent 300000 in December on communicating the plan to the public and then a further 400000 in January which would have involved using Google and social media networks. The spending spree was a flop as Theresa May failed to gain the support of the House of Commons and the government appeared to uturn on plans for a nodeal Brexit. https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/government-spend-on-brexit-consultants-1-6006137 21st Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/apr/19/tory-councillors-refuse-to-campaign-for-next-months-eu-elections 19th Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

Sky News Conservative councillors in Derbyshire have voted to go on strike and not help candidates campaign in the upcoming European elections in an extraordinary show of local defiance to the national party. It comes as a survey of 781 Conservative councillors for the Mail on Sunday shows that 40 of them are prepared to vote for Nigel Farages Brexit Party at the elections on 23 May. Every one of the 37 Tory councillors at Derbyshire County Council are in support of the boycott meaning that hundreds of activists will not deliver leaflets or canvass for the partys candidates in the run up to the elections. Council leader Barry Lewis I suppose it is described in one way as going on strike to not take part in a campaign for an election like this. It is with a heavy heart we are an activist group at Derbyshire County Council we want to support our candidates but we simply cannot go against the wishes of the people. https://news.sky.com/story/derbyshire-tories-boycott-eu-elections-over-brexit-chaos-11699287 21st Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

The New European https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/gloria-de-piero-on-settled-status-for-eu-citizens-1-6007353 20th Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

The New European A Labour MP who now supports the UK leaving the European Union caused Twitter to implode when she messaged the home secretary complaining about the application for settled status for her parents. Twitter users did not fail to see the irony when Ashfield MP Gloria De Piero tweeted Savid Javid to claim that the process to register EU citizens living in the UK was not good enough. She said Dear @ukhomeoffice @sajidjavid trying to sort my parents application for settled status. They are in their 70s and 80s. They dont have smart phones but Im happy to sort it for them but Its such a complicated process I cant figure out how to do it. This is not good enough. Her tweet provoked more than 1000 responses with the majority pointing out that she should be speaking up for the three million EU citizens not just her parents. The respondents also claimed her uturn on Brexit since the referendum had added to the hostile environment facing those now living in the UK. https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/gloria-de-piero-on-settled-status-for-eu-citizens-1-6007353?utm_source=Twitter&amputm_medium=Social_Icon&amputm_campaign=in_article_social_icons 20th Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

Byline Times I have no better way of putting it Carl Benjamin is the DunningKruger candidate. He is the walking talking embodiment of an overestimated overinflated belief in ones intelligence and critical faculties. Anyone who saw his performance at the recent launch of UKIPs MEP campa understood immediately that he was manifestly illequipped for the business of politics.Adopting the poses of a Poundland Mussolini yet looking like IT middlemanagement he railed against the assembled press and pouted as his tweet to Labour MP Jess Phillips I wouldnt even rape you was brought up. When pressed for an explanation he responded If a woman is being a giant bitch and laughing about male suicide Im going to be a giant dick back to her. He was much like a petulant teenager caught out. https://bylinetimes.com/2019/04/20/rape-race-and-ukips-mep-candidate/ 20th Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

Sky News https://news.sky.com/video/ukip-candidate-its-okay-to-joke-about-rape-11697486 18th Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-47974036 18th Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

The Telegraph Ukip has unveiled a man who sent a rape tweet to a Labour MP and a comedian who trained his dog to do a Nazi salute as its star candidates for the European elections. Gerard Batten the Ukip leader launched the partys European election campaign by inviting Carl Benjamin a Youtube personality to appear on the stage alongside him along with Mark Meechan a Scottish comedian. Mr Benjamin prompted controversy after it emerged he tweeted I wouldnt even rape you at Jess Phillips a Labour MP. The Ukip candidate yesterday used a press conference to defend his comments. I think we should treat women the same as men he said. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/04/18/ukip-unveils-man-sent-rape-tweet-labour-mp-star-candidate-european/ 18th Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

Daily Mirror https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/brexit-speaker-told-condescending-mark-14392890 18th Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

The Times Nancy Pelosi the US Speaker rebuked the hardline Brexiteer Mark Francois for being condescending during a private lunch this week. Ms Pelosi the third most powerful figure in the US challenged the redfaced former junior defence minister after an exchange about the nature of the Irish border. The Speaker of the House of Representatives has been leading a delegation of senior American politicians on a visit to London and Dublin focused on Brexit. She will conclude her visit today with a trip to Belfast. The programme included a lunchtime meeting with four members of the European Research Group faction of Conservative MPs at a Westminster restaurant on Monday. In addition to Mr Francois the group included Jacob ReesMogg Sir Bernard Jenkin and Steve Baker. The US delegation included Brendan Boyle a Democrat representing Pennsylvania who has taken a hard line on the potential damage to US relations after a hard Brexit and other Irish Americans. Woody Johnson the US ambassador to the UK was also present. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/94fea254-615b-11e9-9842-63958b78574e 18th Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

The Independent https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/brexit-jailed-mps-abuse-death-threats-lammy-traitors-a8877016.html 19th Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

Ely Standard Jarod Kirkman of Torquay Drive in Luton was jailed for a total of 42 weeks for seven counts of sending malicious communications having pleaded guilty to the offence at Westminster Magistrates Court on Monday April 8. Threatening communications were sent to MPs Heidi Allen Nick Boles Yvette Cooper Nicky Morgan Sarah Wollaston Jenny Chapman and David Lammy and all were sent using fictitious email details via contact pages on the respective MPs websites. Kirkman was traced and identified by his IP address and when interviewed freely admitted he had sent the abusive messages but couldnt recall all the details and said I was just being a stupid idiot over Brexit. https://www.elystandard.co.uk/news/luton-man-jailed-over-abusive-messages-to-mp-heidi-allen-1-6005529?utm_source=Twitter&amputm_medium=Social_Icon&amputm_campaign=in_article_social_icons 18th Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/apr/18/facebook-bans-far-right-groups-including-bnp-edl-and-britain-first 18th Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

The Times https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/facebook-bans-rightwing-extremists-8g6kgg3x5 19th Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

BBC Facebook has imposed a ban on a dozen farright individuals and organisations that it says spread hate. The ban includes the British National Party and Nick Griffin the English Defence League and the National Front. The list also includes Britain First which was already banned but this latest action will prohibit support for it on any of the US firms services. It said it had taken the action because those involved had proclaimed a violent or hateful mission. Individuals and organisations who spread hate or attack or call for the exclusion of others on the basis of who they are have no place on Facebook the social network added in a statement. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-47974579 18th Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

BBC The New IRA has admitted responsibility for the killing of 29yearold journalist Lyra McKee according to a Northern Irish newspaper. In a statement given to The Irish News using a recognised code word the group offered full and sincere apologies to her family and friends. Ms McKee was shot in the head while she observed rioting in Londonderrys Creggan estate on Thursday night. The New IRA said she was killed while standing beside enemy forces. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48018615 23rd Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

Financial Times Conservative activists are to hold an emergency summit to debate a vote of no confidence in Theresa May adding fresh pressure on her to resign as party leader and prime minister. The grassroots challenge to Mrs Mays already precarious authority comes from the National Conservative Convention which said on Monday that it would hold an extraordinary general meeting within weeks. The unprecedented move to discuss a vote of no confidence in Mrs May was triggered after more than 70 chairs of local constituency associations handed in a petition to the party. https://www.ft.com/content/52c55168-651a-11e9-a79d-04f350474d62 22nd Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

Politics Home Conservative donors are giving money directly to Tory MPs instead of the partys central office because of their anger about Theresa Mays handling of Brexit it has been claimed. Alexander Temerko who has donated more than 1 million to the Conservatives told The Times that the Prime Minister had alienated voters on both sides of the Brexit divide. And he revealed that he had now resorted to giving thousands of pounds in donations straight to associations and MPs instead of Conservative Campaign Headquarters CCHQ. https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/political-parties/conservative-party/theresa-may/news/103363/furious-donors-giving-money 22nd Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

Herald Scotland Herald Scotland savages Theresa Mays performance at the helm of the nation and says the prevasive failure on Brexit stretches across a number of areas of society https://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/17588954.andrew-mckie-mays-failure-in-office-reaches-far-beyond-brexit/ 22nd Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

The Guardian A network of secretive proBrexit Facebook campaigns overseen by Sir Lynton Crosbys company CTF Partners was part of a wider campaign to undermine ... https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/apr/22/facebook-ads-by-lynton-crosbys-firm-part-of-push-for-hard-brexit 22nd Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

Sky News Friends of murdered journalist Lyra McKee have painted red hand prints across the office of a dissident republican group in Derry. Ms McKee 29 was murdered on Thursday night while covering disturbances in Creggan. The gunman was aiming at police when he hit the journalist and author in the head. Her friends used red paint to cover their hands before planting prints across the Junior McDaid House in Derry where Saoradhs headquarters are based. A group of about six men understood to be members of the republican group stood outside during the protest. Saoradh is associated with the New IRA. https://news.sky.com/story/lyra-mckees-friends-stage-protest-at-dissident-republican-office-11700770 22nd Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

iNews More than 60 per cent of Conservative activists are planning to switch sides and vote for Nigel Farages new Brexit Party in next months European elections a dramatic survey has revealed. Mr Farage predicted that his party would sweep the board in the contests expected on 23 May claiming it was attracting large numbers of Tory and Labour voters alike. Amid growing predictions of a Conservative meltdown at the ballot box the senior MP Sir Graham Brady will reportedly warn Theresa May that 70 per cent of her MPs want her to step down by the end of June. https://inews.co.uk/news/brexit/tory-election-meltdown-as-activists-switch-allegiance-to-nigel-farages-brexit-party/ 21st Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

The Telegraph Tory councillors are refusing to mention Theresa Mays name on doorsteps ahead of next months local elections because voters associate it with betrayal. Conservative Associations across the country are finding that Mrs Mays name is so toxic with voters that the mere mention of the Prime Minister gets in the way of campaigning. Tory councillors fear that voter backlash against Mrs Mays handling of Brexit will cost them their seats and are desperately trying to keep conversations focused on local issues to avoid being tainted by events in Westminster. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/04/18/toxic-theresa-tory-election-candidates-refusing-mention-mays/ 21st Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

Politics Home Brexit talks between Labour and the Government are at risk because Conserative MPs want to do a deal with US President Donald Trump Jeremy Corbyn has claimed. The Labour leader said ministers had given little ground in talks between the two parties so far as he accused the Government of dithering over its Brexit strategy. Ministers and Labour frontbenchers have been holding talks for the past two weeks aimed at finding a compromise Brexit agreement that can get through the House of Commons which has rejected Theresa Mays own deal three times. https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/foreign-affairs/brexit/news/103306/jeremy-corbyn-says-government-brexit-talks-risk-because 21st Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

@TheSun Jeremy Corbyn blasted after video of him mocking captured SAS troopers and branding British forces in Iraq lawless emerges https://twitter.com/SunPolitics/status/1119732475763331072 21st Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

Daily Mail I think it is ridiculous to claim she would have voted Remain just because like me she voted to confirm our membership of the Common Market in 1975. Sir Bernard Ingham instead argued that developments within the EU since Mrs Thatcher left office may have prompted her to threaten to leave. He pointed to the adoption of the Euro single currency which he argued has devastated southern Europe and the moves towards a single foreign policy and Euroarmy as factors which might have changed Mrs Thatchers mind. All this ran against the grain of Mrs Ts convictions and anyone Ken Clarke or others who suggests she would have sat unmoved by this nonsense is incredible he said. It is true she regarded referenda as the tool of dictators and that she never said to me either before or after 1990 that we should leave the EC. My best guess and this is only a guess is that she would have eventually challenged and harried the EU to drop its damaging federalism and go for a loose wider freely cooperating group of nation states. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6942569/Margaret-Thatchers-former-press-secretary-savages-Ken-Clarkes-claim-vote-stay-EU.html 20th Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

The Independent Theresa May wore a hivisibility jacket to help marshal a Good Friday race in her constituency after returning from her Easter holiday in Wales. A smiling prime minister handing out water to thirsty runners at the Easter 10 contest in Maidenhead and walked the route with her husband Philip. She also shared selfies with spectators before directing the runners who unlike so many Conservative MPs followed her instructions slapping the hands of some of them with the odd highfive as they passed by. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-yellow-vest-easter-holiday-maidenhead-run-a8877781.html 20th Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

The Telegraph The rapid rise of the Brexit Party in the polls just days after we launched formally has sent a shiver down the spine of the Conservative Party. This sense of apprehension is well deserved as far as I am concerned. The omens for Theresa May do not look good. Take Councillor Barry Lewis the Conservative leader of Derbyshire county council. On Friday he confirmed that his group recently supported a motion not to take part in the European elections on May 23. Just think about that. The faithful servants of one of the oldest political parties in the world are on strike. They refuse to go out and canvass such is their anger and no doubt sheer embarrassment at the appalling mess created https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/04/20/britons-no-longer-just-want-leave-eu-want-change-politics/ 20th Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

BuzzFeed News Former Britain First deputy leader Jayda Fransen launched the new venture earlier this year. BuzzFeed News has found 28 articles that have been reproduced in part or in full from a variety of mainstream publications. https://www.buzzfeed.com/markdistefano/mail-online-far-right-jayda-fransen 20th Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

Express.co.uk The Conservative Partys influential 1922 committee is set to meet on Tuesday to discuss whether the rule allowing a no confidence vote against the same person only once a year should be changed. Mrs May survived a no confidence vote in December 2018 and according to the current regulations her position is secured until the end of 2019. But backbenchers in the committee can vote to change the rules as they are not determined by the partys constitution but by MPs themselves according to Alan Mabbutt a senior Conservative Party official. And the cosecretary of the committee Nigel Evans said he is leaning towards the idea of changing the rules. He said I certainly will be leaning towards us changing the rules if another solution to this situation cannot be found. We cannot leave it for 12 months. If we fight the European elections there is only one person that is responsible her. https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1116680/brexit-news-theresa-may-quit-no-confidence-vote-leadership-bid-european-elections 20th Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

The Independent The writer opines that the online FBPE crowd are losing site of what they hope to achieve by being overly attack minded https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/brexit-remain-brexiteers-racism-far-right-islamophobia-xenophobia-a8875971.html 19th Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

The Guardian Donald Tusk sent a lines to take memo to the EUs capitals setting out the legal reality and the blocs strategic advantage under article 50. We expect the UK to formulate its wishes when it comes to our future relationship he said. Any agreement which will be concluded with the UK as a third country will have to reflect the interests of both sides and be balanced in terms of rights and obligations. First we need to agree the arrangements for the withdrawal of the UK. At 11.23am BST staff in Brussels received an email from the secretary general of the EU council Jeppe TranholmMikkelsen seeking to assuage fears. I know that many colleagues in particular those who are British nationals are very concerned today the Danish official wrote. I would like you to know that for me all colleagues are European Union officials independently of the nationality. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/apr/19/brexit-theresa-may-failed-deal-eu-relations 19th Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

Reuters The chances that Brexit will be cancelled are now greater than the chances Britain will leave the European Union without a deal according to economists in a Reuters poll who again pushed back their expectations for when the Bank of England will raise interest rates. In the latest monthly Reuters survey taken April 1217 the median probability Britain and the EU will part ways in a disorderly fashion where no deal is agreed held steady at the 15 percent given in March the lowest since Reuters began asking in July 2017. Only one of 51 respondents gave a value over 50 percent. Apart from the fact that nodeal Brexit is now less likely the path ahead is as unclear as ever. A deal and likely a softer Brexit still seems more likely than not BNP Paribas economists said. But we are sceptical that this will happen any time soon. https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-poll/no-brexit-more-likely-than-a-disorderly-one-say-economists-idUSKCN1RU01J 18th Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

Politico In a political standoff between European lawmakers and Facebook the social networking giant has blinked first. After vocal complaints from the EUs three main institutions that the companys new political advertising rules will hamper regionwide campaigning Facebook is expected to allow the European Parliament and EU political groups to buy social media ads across the 28country bloc. https://www.politico.eu/article/facebook-european-elections-advertising-political-social-media-europe/amp/ 18th Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

The Telegraph Following my declaration that I will stand as an MEP candidate for the Brexit Party I have been asked more than once why the Brexit Party Longworth is seeking to follow through on the 2016 referendum vote and hold the two main political parties to account https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/04/18/forget-ukip-way-rattle-pro-eu-establishment-back-brexit-party/ 18th Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

Financial Times Why so many crises have befallen the country at the same time and how they all relate to one another are really important questions. Poor economic outcomes in terms of real income growth are surely related to the rise of national identity as a salient issue though there are other factors notably immigration. What matters however is not what caused all this but that it is going to take a long time to sort all this out. The UK will alas remain sick for a while. https://www.ft.com/content/5a629584-610a-11e9-a27a-fdd51850994c 18th Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

Sky News The overwhelming majority of those I met this week on a sunny afternoon in town were that way inclined. In summary I got an earful of the Fword and the Cword. They are frustrated that the UK is still in the EU and confused as to how they are going to cast their votes. If they cast their vote that is. At least one lady said she planned to abstain in protest. Many people said they would vote for whichever party looked stronger on polling day. https://news.sky.com/story/ramsgate-the-small-seaside-town-with-a-role-in-the-brexit-saga-11696750 18th Apr 2019

Political Setbacks

Irish Independent No minutes were recorded of meetings the DUP arranged for a Brexit campaign donor to discuss investment opportunities with public bodies in Northern Ireland. Campaigners raised concerns yesterday after The Irish News revealed businessman Richard Cooks meetings with Invest NI Belfast City Council and a Stormont department in the months following the EU referendum. Mr Cook a former vicechairman of the Scottish Conservatives chairs the Constitutional Research Council CRC a prounion business group that donated 435000 to the DUP during its Brexit campaign. Questions have persisted over the DUPs Brexit campaign money of which 282000 was spent on a frontpage ad in the British newspaper Metro a publication not circulated in Northern Ireland. Last week it emerged the DUP received a further 13000 from CRC after the 2016 referendum. The party said it used donations to further the cause of unionism. https://www.irishnews.com/news/brexit/2019/04/17/news/-no-minutes-of-dup-brexit-donor-s-meetings-with-stormont-bodies-1599567/ 17th Apr 2019