For some context, Pimlico Plumbers is owned by a multi-millionaire named Charlie Mullins. Bit of a character is Charlie. Not my cup of tea at all, but to be fair, he can never be accused of sitting on the fence.
His HQ building displaying those signs sits right by the South Western Railway main lines about a mile from Waterloo, so hundreds of thousands of folks see his signs every day.
Brexit news latest: Majority of Brits now want to REMAIN in the EU, anaylsis of nearly 150 polls finds
A majority of Britons now want the country to stay in the European Union, according to analysis of nearly 150 polls for the Evening Standard. The study of four questions regularly asked in Brexit surveys showed a steady shift towards Remain.
How could Theresa May get a Brexit deal through Parliament?
So, with no majority and the opposition parties having pretty much pledged to vote against, how will the government get it through? Stand by for an X-rated version of Project Fear with extra parental warnings. The government's plan is to present the choice not just as deal v no deal, but to make it a decision between what will be described as pragmatic-if-not-perfect v chaotic-no-man's-land
Government whips hope therefore that most MPs will in the end be manoeuvred into voting with them - a cross-party scare strategy using every thumbscrew, every inducement, every loyalty, every political threat.
But there is a rather unfortunate echo for ministers here. When was the last time Theresa May asked people to make a choice between stability and chaos? Well, quite. That choice of slogan at the 2017 general election didn't exactly work out well for the PM.
And those pushing for another referendum hope they can put a third option on the table and make it possible for MPs to reject the deal without voting for some kind of Armageddon. Some of them may well vote against the deal in the hope of making it happen. There is no settled path towards that, but it doesn't mean they won't try Of course, what happens will also be shaped by the terms of what Theresa May actually brings back from Brussels next month. If there is a deal, the harder part will await her at home
It was of course always extremely likely that in the closing weeks of this negotiation the situation would be extremely febrile and it would all be "kicking off". The second last episode in any box set is almost always when the heroes teeter on the edge of disaster before miraculously coming back from the brink. In a couple of months this might seem like froth. But tonight the prime minister's vital backers are threatening to pull stumps; her cabinet is yet to be convinced; her backbenches certainly can't be relied on and the talks themselves are not sorted. It certainly is all kicking off, and the government may well get hurt
Theresa May took the opportunity to call for a snap election last year. This was not necessary, but she deludedly thought she could increase her majority. Not a good plan. She reduced the majority, and was forced to enlist the assistance of the DUP to form a Government, This cost taxpayers a billion quid. The DUP are now threatening to vote against The Budget, and kill off any possible Brexit deal. They say that they will be happy with no deal.
The strange thing is that the row is over the Irish border. What they don't seem to have realised is that there would have to be an Irish border if there is no deal.
Nobody is in favour of a border on the island of Ireland, so the only option, assuming we are leaving the Single Market and the Customs Union, is a border in the Irish Sea. They say they wont wear an Irish Sea border, because they wont allow checks on their exports to the UK. This is despite the fact that there are already checks, which are currently done on the ferries. So a sea border would just mean there would be more checks.
The DUP are saying that they will not wear being different from the UK. They are already different. They have different laws, most notably on abortion and gay marriage.
They are prepared to get in the way of a Brexit deal, which will cause havoc to the whole of the UK, despite the fact that a large majority of the Northern Irish electorate voted in favour of remaining in the EU.
Theresa May ruled out all three obvious solutions to the Irish border problem, on day one. She has failed to come up with an alternative solution in the two years that have followed.
The Brexiteers have maintained that there is a technological solution to this problem, but none of them can explain what it is. Some have even said that technology is the solution, but this technology doesn't exist yet.
The Tories are threatening to get shot of her, but what good would that do? We will still have to solve the same problems.
Leaked emails reveal DUP chief ‘ready for no-deal Brexit’
Theresa May has been told that the DUP leader, Arlene Foster, is now “ready” to trigger a no-deal Brexit and regards this as the “likeliest outcome” following a “hostile and difficult” exchange with the EU’s chief negotiator, an explosive set of leaked government emails reveal.
Nissan delays pay talks with UK workers until terms of Brexit made clearer
Nissan has delayed pay talks with its UK workers until the government makes the terms of Brexit clearer. The announcement comes after the latest delay in Brexit negotiations, as the EU demanded a second “backstop” arrangement to avoid a hard Irish border. Nissan built nearly a third of Britain’s 1.67 million new cars last year at its Sunderland plant, and has issued warnings about the impact of a no-deal Brexit on its operations.
AstraZeneca will keep UK investment freeze if no Brexit clarity
PARIS (Reuters) - AstraZeneca will keep its freeze on manufacturing investments in Britain if the country's exit from the European Union fails to give enough clarity on future trading relations, the drugmaker's chairman was quoted as saying on Monday. The comments add to pressure on British Prime Minister Theresa May to rethink her plan for leaving the EU after Brexit talks reached a stand-off at the weekend over arrangements for the UK border with Ireland. "If a transition deal does not make clear what will happen in the future, we will maintain our decision not to invest," Leif Johansson told France's Le Monde newspaper.
With fewer than 200 days to Brexit in March 2019, one question is never far from the headlines - how do you solve a problem like the Irish border? The UK and the EU both want to avoid a "hard border" - physical checks or infrastructure between Northern Ireland and Ireland - but cannot agree how. A key part of the negotiation is the controversial border "backstop".
Go on then, what is the backstop?
The backstop is a position of last resort, to protect an open border on the island of Ireland in the event that the UK leaves the EU without securing an all-encompassing deal. At present goods and services are traded between the two jurisdictions with few restrictions. As the UK and Ireland are currently part of the EU single market and customs union, products do not need to be inspected for customs and standards, but after Brexit, all that could change The UK government has said it does not want a hard Irish border. The EU has said it does not want a hard border. But how to guarantee such a thing in the complex world of Brexit negotiations? Well, you could try to put up a safety net. The backstop solution is that safety net - an arrangement that will apply to the Irish border if a wider deal or technological solution cannot keep it as frictionless as it is today. The UK and the EU would prefer to solve the Irish border issue through an overarching economic and security deal. However the UK's current red lines, which include leaving the customs union and the single market, make that very difficult and could lead to no deal at all. In July, Parliament voted through several amendments to the Customs Bill that directly contradicts the EU's interpretation of the backstop. The reason why an agreement on the backstop is so important is that the EU won't agree to a transitional period and substantive trade talks until it is in place.
So, what has been agreed on the backstop so far?
The UK and the EU agree a backstop is needed - they both signed up to it in December 2017. There is also agreement on what it needs to achieve - maintaining cross-border cooperation, supporting the all-island economy and protecting the Good Friday peace agreement.
What is the EU's position on the backstop?
But beyond that here are major differences between the two sides. The EU has proposed a backstop that would mean Northern Ireland staying in the EU customs union, large parts of the single market and the EU VAT system. Its chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, has continually emphasised that this backstop can only apply to Northern Ireland.
And that is a problem in the UK?
That is an understatement. If the backstop only applies to Northern Ireland, then the customs and regulatory border is essentially drawn down the middle of the Irish Sea. Any separate status for Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK is seen as potentially damaging to the union as a whole. As such, Prime Minister Theresa May has continually rejected the EU's proposal saying it would threaten the constitutional integrity of the UK. She suggested a backstop that would see the UK as a whole remaining aligned with the EU customs union for a limited time after 2020. Her proposal, published in June, contains nothing about single market regulatory issues, which are probably more important than customs in terms of maintaining a soft border. With scepticism. Mr Barnier said it cannot even qualify as a backstop since the issue of regulatory alignment is not addressed. However, he did not entirely rule out some sort of long-term customs relationship with the UK. Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar said that the backstop cannot have a time limit.
How did the UK Parliament respond to the backstop row?
The Customs Bill amendments passed at Westminster gave the prime minister limited room to manoeuvre on the backstop. One of the amendments explicitly prevents Northern Ireland staying in the customs union, as per the EU's proposal. Mrs May has already rejected that suggestion so that may not be such a big deal - but the EU backstop also proposed that EU law on VAT should continue to apply to Northern Ireland. This was also explicitly prevented in one of the amendments and that could be a problem, as the UK outside the EU VAT system could mean VAT processes have to happen at the border. The UK's position in regard to ongoing participation in the EU VAT area has never been clear up until now.
What is the latest?
Over the last couple of months Mr Barnier appeared to soften his tone, saying the EU is "ready to improve" its offer on the backstop. The chief negotiator said he wanted to "de-dramatise" the issue and suggested that inspections of goods did not necessarily have to take place at Irish Sea ports or airports. "We are clarifying which goods arriving in Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK would need to be checked and where, when and by whom these checks could be performed," he said. "We can also clarify that most checks can take place away from the border at the company premises or in the markets." Some reports have suggested the only checks which would have to happen at the border would involve some food and agricultural products. Mr Barnier said the EU respects the "territorial integrity of the UK" and hopes both sides will be "able to find a position where this improved backstop is acceptable". Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, has kept up the pressure saying there must "maximum progress" at October's EU summit.
And what is the UK government saying?
The Prime Minister is playing her cards very close to her chest, saying only that the UK will present a new backstop proposal "in due course". Speculation has centred on a "hybrid backstop" - an arrangement which would see the whole of the UK effectively staying in the customs arrangement with goods coming into Northern from elsewhere in the UK being subject to some minimal regulatory checks.
Could that work?
It seems possible that the EU could live with it, but the Prime Minister's partners in government, the DUP, are implacably opposed. The DUP, a Northern Ireland unionist party, have repeatedly said they would not accept any additional Northern Ireland-only checks no matter where or how they take place. The party's leader Arlene Foster said: "The United Kingdom single market must be protected with no new borders between Northern Ireland and Great Britain being created. From day one this has been the DUP's only red line."
And if a compromise cannot be reached?
If there is no backstop then there is no Withdrawal Agreement and no transition period. That means a hard, possibly chaotic, Brexit At that point the EU and the Irish government would have some difficult decisions to make about what happens at the border or to Irish goods going into the wider single market.
He said the UK seemed to find it hard to accept this but the EU could not allow Britain to enjoy the best of both worlds: EU club membership while being a free agent on the outside. He said this had nothing to do with wanting to punish the UK but why, he asked, would the EU want to offer the UK an advantage over its own member states?
Brexit: 'No optimism' for summit breakthrough, says Donald Tusk
Donald Tusk has poured cold water on hopes of a Brexit breakthrough at Wednesday's EU summit, saying the Irish border was still a sticking point. The European Council president said he had "no grounds for optimism" it would be solved at the summit. And he called on Theresa May to come up with "concrete proposals" to break the "impasse".
Brexit news latest: Theresa May met with laughter as she claims divorce talks are now in 'final stages'
Theresa May has said she still believes a Brexit deal is "achievable" and that talks are now entering the "final stages". Her comments, made in an address to the House of Commons on Monday afternoon, prompted laughter from some MPs.
The Chancellor has stated in an article out today, that in the case of no deal we would still have to pay the EU £36 billion. This makes all the Brexiteers who have come out and stated that leaving with no deal means we pay them nothing, bigger liars than they were before.
Comments
^^^^
For some context, Pimlico Plumbers is owned by a multi-millionaire named Charlie Mullins. Bit of a character is Charlie. Not my cup of tea at all, but to be fair, he can never be accused of sitting on the fence.
His HQ building displaying those signs sits right by the South Western Railway main lines about a mile from Waterloo, so hundreds of thousands of folks see his signs every day.
"You're Stark, Staring Mad" - Julia Grills Barry Gardiner Over Labour's Custom Union Plans
A majority of Britons now want the country to stay in the European Union, according to analysis of nearly 150 polls for the Evening Standard.
The study of four questions regularly asked in Brexit surveys showed a steady shift towards Remain.
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/brexit-news-latest-majority-brits-101600551.html
So, with no majority and the opposition parties having pretty much pledged to vote against, how will the government get it through?
Stand by for an X-rated version of Project Fear with extra parental warnings.
The government's plan is to present the choice not just as deal v no deal, but to make it a decision between what will be described as pragmatic-if-not-perfect v chaotic-no-man's-land
Government whips hope therefore that most MPs will in the end be manoeuvred into voting with them - a cross-party scare strategy using every thumbscrew, every inducement, every loyalty, every political threat.
But there is a rather unfortunate echo for ministers here. When was the last time Theresa May asked people to make a choice between stability and chaos?
Well, quite. That choice of slogan at the 2017 general election didn't exactly work out well for the PM.
And those pushing for another referendum hope they can put a third option on the table and make it possible for MPs to reject the deal without voting for some kind of Armageddon.
Some of them may well vote against the deal in the hope of making it happen. There is no settled path towards that, but it doesn't mean they won't try
Of course, what happens will also be shaped by the terms of what Theresa May actually brings back from Brussels next month. If there is a deal, the harder part will await her at home
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-45789411
It was of course always extremely likely that in the closing weeks of this negotiation the situation would be extremely febrile and it would all be "kicking off".
The second last episode in any box set is almost always when the heroes teeter on the edge of disaster before miraculously coming back from the brink.
In a couple of months this might seem like froth. But tonight the prime minister's vital backers are threatening to pull stumps; her cabinet is yet to be convinced; her backbenches certainly can't be relied on and the talks themselves are not sorted.
It certainly is all kicking off, and the government may well get hurt
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-45818773
She reduced the majority, and was forced to enlist the assistance of the DUP to form a Government, This cost taxpayers a billion quid.
The DUP are now threatening to vote against The Budget, and kill off any possible Brexit deal. They say that they will be happy with no deal.
The strange thing is that the row is over the Irish border. What they don't seem to have realised is that there would have to be an Irish border if there is no deal.
Nobody is in favour of a border on the island of Ireland, so the only option, assuming we are leaving the Single Market and the Customs Union, is a border in the Irish Sea.
They say they wont wear an Irish Sea border, because they wont allow checks on their exports to the UK. This is despite the fact that there are already checks, which are currently done on the ferries. So a sea border would just mean there would be more checks.
The DUP are saying that they will not wear being different from the UK. They are already different. They have different laws, most notably on abortion and gay marriage.
They are prepared to get in the way of a Brexit deal, which will cause havoc to the whole of the UK, despite the fact that a large majority of the Northern Irish electorate voted in favour of remaining in the EU.
Theresa May ruled out all three obvious solutions to the Irish border problem, on day one. She has failed to come up with an alternative solution in the two years that have followed.
The Brexiteers have maintained that there is a technological solution to this problem, but none of them can explain what it is.
Some have even said that technology is the solution, but this technology doesn't exist yet.
The Tories are threatening to get shot of her, but what good would that do?
We will still have to solve the same problems.
It is all just about to kick off.
Leaked emails reveal DUP chief ‘ready for no-deal Brexit’
Theresa May has been told that the DUP leader, Arlene Foster, is now “ready” to trigger a no-deal Brexit and regards this as the “likeliest outcome” following a “hostile and difficult” exchange with the EU’s chief negotiator, an explosive set of leaked government emails reveal.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/brexit/leaked-emails-reveal-dup-chief-‘ready-for-no-deal-brexit’/ar-BBOkLTP?ocid=spartandhp
Nissan has delayed pay talks with its UK workers until the government makes the terms of Brexit clearer.
The announcement comes after the latest delay in Brexit negotiations, as the EU demanded a second “backstop” arrangement to avoid a hard Irish border.
Nissan built nearly a third of Britain’s 1.67 million new cars last year at its Sunderland plant, and has issued warnings about the impact of a no-deal Brexit on its operations.
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/nissan-delays-pay-talks-uk-134500716.html
PARIS (Reuters) - AstraZeneca will keep its freeze on manufacturing investments in Britain if the country's exit from the European Union fails to give enough clarity on future trading relations, the drugmaker's chairman was quoted as saying on Monday.
The comments add to pressure on British Prime Minister Theresa May to rethink her plan for leaving the EU after Brexit talks reached a stand-off at the weekend over arrangements for the UK border with Ireland.
"If a transition deal does not make clear what will happen in the future, we will maintain our decision not to invest," Leif Johansson told France's Le Monde newspaper.
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/astrazeneca-halts-uk-investments-due-brexit-uncertainties-le-135652245--finance.html
With fewer than 200 days to Brexit in March 2019, one question is never far from the headlines - how do you solve a problem like the Irish border?
The UK and the EU both want to avoid a "hard border" - physical checks or infrastructure between Northern Ireland and Ireland - but cannot agree how.
A key part of the negotiation is the controversial border "backstop".
Go on then, what is the backstop?
The backstop is a position of last resort, to protect an open border on the island of Ireland in the event that the UK leaves the EU without securing an all-encompassing deal.
At present goods and services are traded between the two jurisdictions with few restrictions.
As the UK and Ireland are currently part of the EU single market and customs union, products do not need to be inspected for customs and standards, but after Brexit, all that could change
The UK government has said it does not want a hard Irish border. The EU has said it does not want a hard border. But how to guarantee such a thing in the complex world of Brexit negotiations?
Well, you could try to put up a safety net.
The backstop solution is that safety net - an arrangement that will apply to the Irish border if a wider deal or technological solution cannot keep it as frictionless as it is today.
The UK and the EU would prefer to solve the Irish border issue through an overarching economic and security deal.
However the UK's current red lines, which include leaving the customs union and the single market, make that very difficult and could lead to no deal at all.
In July, Parliament voted through several amendments to the Customs Bill that directly contradicts the EU's interpretation of the backstop.
The reason why an agreement on the backstop is so important is that the EU won't agree to a transitional period and substantive trade talks until it is in place.
So, what has been agreed on the backstop so far?
The UK and the EU agree a backstop is needed - they both signed up to it in December 2017.
There is also agreement on what it needs to achieve - maintaining cross-border cooperation, supporting the all-island economy and protecting the Good Friday peace agreement.
What is the EU's position on the backstop?
But beyond that here are major differences between the two sides.
The EU has proposed a backstop that would mean Northern Ireland staying in the EU customs union, large parts of the single market and the EU VAT system.
Its chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, has continually emphasised that this backstop can only apply to Northern Ireland.
And that is a problem in the UK?
That is an understatement.
If the backstop only applies to Northern Ireland, then the customs and regulatory border is essentially drawn down the middle of the Irish Sea.
Any separate status for Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK is seen as potentially damaging to the union as a whole.
As such, Prime Minister Theresa May has continually rejected the EU's proposal saying it would threaten the constitutional integrity of the UK.
She suggested a backstop that would see the UK as a whole remaining aligned with the EU customs union for a limited time after 2020.
Her proposal, published in June, contains nothing about single market regulatory issues, which are probably more important than customs in terms of maintaining a soft border.
With scepticism. Mr Barnier said it cannot even qualify as a backstop since the issue of regulatory alignment is not addressed.
However, he did not entirely rule out some sort of long-term customs relationship with the UK.
Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar said that the backstop cannot have a time limit.
How did the UK Parliament respond to the backstop row?
The Customs Bill amendments passed at Westminster gave the prime minister limited room to manoeuvre on the backstop.
One of the amendments explicitly prevents Northern Ireland staying in the customs union, as per the EU's proposal.
Mrs May has already rejected that suggestion so that may not be such a big deal - but the EU backstop also proposed that EU law on VAT should continue to apply to Northern Ireland.
This was also explicitly prevented in one of the amendments and that could be a problem, as the UK outside the EU VAT system could mean VAT processes have to happen at the border.
The UK's position in regard to ongoing participation in the EU VAT area has never been clear up until now.
What is the latest?
Over the last couple of months Mr Barnier appeared to soften his tone, saying the EU is "ready to improve" its offer on the backstop.
The chief negotiator said he wanted to "de-dramatise" the issue and suggested that inspections of goods did not necessarily have to take place at Irish Sea ports or airports.
"We are clarifying which goods arriving in Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK would need to be checked and where, when and by whom these checks could be performed," he said.
"We can also clarify that most checks can take place away from the border at the company premises or in the markets."
Some reports have suggested the only checks which would have to happen at the border would involve some food and agricultural products.
Mr Barnier said the EU respects the "territorial integrity of the UK" and hopes both sides will be "able to find a position where this improved backstop is acceptable".
Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, has kept up the pressure saying there must "maximum progress" at October's EU summit.
And what is the UK government saying?
The Prime Minister is playing her cards very close to her chest, saying only that the UK will present a new backstop proposal "in due course".
Speculation has centred on a "hybrid backstop" - an arrangement which would see the whole of the UK effectively staying in the customs arrangement with goods coming into Northern from elsewhere in the UK being subject to some minimal regulatory checks.
Could that work?
It seems possible that the EU could live with it, but the Prime Minister's partners in government, the DUP, are implacably opposed.
The DUP, a Northern Ireland unionist party, have repeatedly said they would not accept any additional Northern Ireland-only checks no matter where or how they take place.
The party's leader Arlene Foster said: "The United Kingdom single market must be protected with no new borders between Northern Ireland and Great Britain being created. From day one this has been the DUP's only red line."
And if a compromise cannot be reached?
If there is no backstop then there is no Withdrawal Agreement and no transition period. That means a hard, possibly chaotic, Brexit
At that point the EU and the Irish government would have some difficult decisions to make about what happens at the border or to Irish goods going into the wider single market.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-politics-44615404
He said the UK seemed to find it hard to accept this but the EU could not allow Britain to enjoy the best of both worlds: EU club membership while being a free agent on the outside. He said this had nothing to do with wanting to punish the UK but why, he asked, would the EU want to offer the UK an advantage over its own member states?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-45872239
Donald Tusk has poured cold water on hopes of a Brexit breakthrough at Wednesday's EU summit, saying the Irish border was still a sticking point.
The European Council president said he had "no grounds for optimism" it would be solved at the summit.
And he called on Theresa May to come up with "concrete proposals" to break the "impasse".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-45871254
Theresa May has said she still believes a Brexit deal is "achievable" and that talks are now entering the "final stages".
Her comments, made in an address to the House of Commons on Monday afternoon, prompted laughter from some MPs.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/brexit/brexit-news-latest-theresa-may-met-with-laughter-as-she-claims-divorce-talks-are-now-in-final-stages/ar-BBOpXHv?ocid=spartanntp
This makes all the Brexiteers who have come out and stated that leaving with no deal means we pay them nothing, bigger liars than they were before.