ABHI Brexit Update: The Solutions on our Table
It could be worse. You could be a committed England cricket supporter. Bad enough at the best of times, but right now? In case you have yet to be captivated by the increasingly enthralling Men’s World Cup currently taking place on our shores, let me explain. For the first time since 1992, England has pitched up as very warm favourites, not least as we are playing at home and have a team seemingly capable of beating everyone else with ease. I remember the 1992 tournament vividly. It was the relatively early days of Sky TV. Early enough for those better off friends of mine who had made the investment, to be prepared to show it off to the extent that they allowed me access to their homes in the wee small hours, the competition being held in Australia. It was a free loader’s paradise. Not only did I get to watch the game in far nicer accommodation than my own without having to fork out for Sky, but the hour dictated that my hosts felt obliged to provide me with a full English between innings. Back then, England made the final but were undone by a resurgent Pakistan team. This time, England look set to not even make the knockout stages. At the expense of a resurgent Pakistan team. It will be a slow death, there is still hope and if we can start winning again and Pakistan starts losing again, we will be ok. But we are losing and Pakistan is winning. It is the hope that kills you, it really is.
I mention it because England’s demise is the only thing going on at the moment that is almost as protracted as the Conservative Party leadership contest. English cricket’s suffering will probably end this time next week when we have finished losing and Pakistan has finished winning. We will have to wait another two weeks after that to find out which one of the wacky racers will enter No. 10.
I suppose it is interesting if all your root canal work is up to date and you have had the spare room decorated recently. And it is not as if the garden needs watering. There are seemingly endless hustings with the 101-year-olds that make up the Conservative Party’s activists, although Team Boris is avoiding fielding their man for anything that looks vaguely like a head-to-head with his opponent. That has not stopped the Blond Buffoon getting himself into trouble.
I am not sure neighbourly concerns over domestic violence are a laughing matter, in fact I know they are not. But laughing it off is what seems to be the plan, and the 101-year-olds do not seem bothered. The parallels with the Trump grow ever more sinister.
We do need to consider the position of the two racers on Brexit, because that is of interest and concern in equal measure. Both men want to renegotiate the deal on the table, essentially to remove the Irish backstop. The problem they will face, of course, is that Brussels is not for opening-up the Withdrawal Agreement and even if it did, the solutions on our table have already been rejected. Differences in the stances of the two men start to appear when it comes to the October 31st deadline. Both are talking tough about threatening to walk away with no-deal, but Hunt does not believe it. He believes that Parliament will block a no-deal and is peddling the line that that will force a General Election which Labour will win, although both are outside bets in my opinion.
Boris has said that we will leave on 31st October “do or die” except he did not. He was led, rather too easily for one who wants to negotiate our children’s future, to the phrase by Ross Kempsell on Talk Radio. Mind you, you never know with Boris, the next day he talked about the odds of leaving the EU without a deal being about a million to one. The two positions are not compatible, but the 101-year-olds do not seem bothered.
Perhaps Boris recognises that the storm clouds are gathering around his gung-ho approach. Veteran Tory bruiser Ken Clarke has said he would vote to bring down the Government rather than subject the UK to a no-deal exit. The topic came up as Defence Minister, Tobias Ellwood, said that there was a string of Tory MPs who would support a vote of no confidence in the Government. That opens up the prospect of Boris being crowned PM next month by the 101-year-olds, turning up at Westminster in September only to be immediately removed and losing a subsequent election. Who knows, we remain in an environment when nothing surprises and anything might happen.
Maybe he was thinking aloud but at one of those interminable hustings, this time in Bournemouth, he suggested that proroguing (suspending) Parliament to force Brexit through was still on the table. The plan, you will recall, was originally suggested by Dominic Raab in the early rounds of the wacky race. It was mad then. But MPs have hit back with their own cunning plan and have threatened to shut down the Government if the next PM tries the old proroguing wheeze. Under parliamentary rules, MPs must back all Government expenditure twice a year, but an amendment put forward by Tory MP Dominic Grieve and Labour’s Dame Margaret Beckett could cut off Government spending in areas such as schools, welfare benefits and international aid, effectively shutting up shop. Pay attention on Tuesday when Labour is expected to back the move when it is put to a vote in the Commons.
Their Lordships are at it too. Next week the Upper House plans to establish a joint committee of Peers and MPs to review the impact of a no-deal exit and issue a report in September. The cross-party motion will be tabled on Wednesday and is expected to pass should it come to a vote.
Jeremy Corbyn’s masterclass in how not to lead continues. I was expecting to report this week that Labour was firmly behind a second referendum, but Jezza continues to kick the can, desperately hoping that the Tories will implode and save him from having to do something. FLL, meanwhile, has been mentioned in dispatches in the other Party leadership race. You had forgotten about the Lib Dems, had you not? But hopeful, Sir Ed Davey has proposed that FLL and Labour MP Hilary Benn should lead a Government of national unity to stop Brexit. Sir Ed said they would be able to command the support of the majority of MPs if Boris Johnson tried to take the UK out of the EU without a deal. If only it had not been the Lib Dems you might have seen the idea on the news. Ho hum.
All this hullabaloo has the Press talking up the prospects of no-deal, and our colleagues in the DHSC continue to work hard on contingency plans. We alerted you yesterday to the latest communication from, Steve Oldfield, the man charged with keeping the NHS shelves stocked. The communication highlights the need for a continued multi-layered approach to manage any potential cross-border supply issues. It details the steps the Government is taking to mitigate such disruptions, which includes securing additional freight capacity, clarifications on regulatory requirements and details of its National Supply and Disruption Response (NSDR) unit. The big concern is for goods moving across the short channel crossings. Do take a look and let us know if you need any clarification.
If light relief is your preference, come and join me in Victoria Square, Birmingham on Sunday in the World Cup Fanzone. I will buy you a pint and we can drown our sorrows as we watch England’s woes continue at the hands of the mighty Indians.
