Brexit: Ann Widdecombe explains what surrender, betrayal and a foreign power is

On fire — Ann Widdecombe lays out the situation.

The only kind of Brexit is a clean break.


October 18th 2019

“The Brexit party will take Leave and nothing else.”

“We gave Europe their freedom and in return they want to take ours.”

She’s 72, and has studied Latin, Philosophy at Oxford. She was a Minister in the John Major Government.  What a powerhouse.

Bring on an election!

h/t Jim Simpson.

9.6 out of 10 based on 83 ratings

97 comments to Brexit: Ann Widdecombe explains what surrender, betrayal and a foreign power is

  • #
    OriginalSteve

    Brexit = freedom

    EU = bondage

    Choose wisely….

    261

    • #
      Lionell Griffith

      It is either ballots or bullets with no middle ground except total submission to the tyrants.

      He who is free, never submits. He who submits, was never free. Stay free!

      240

  • #

    Bewdiful, A.W.

    A thing is what it is.
    and not some other thing-
    no matter what yr Hegelian
    lovers of contradiction might say,
    no way. Do not be deceived by
    the matador’s red cape!

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish-style_bullfighting#/media/File:Toros.jpg

    150

  • #
    Serge Wright

    The biggest mistake was signing up back in 1993. Of course signing up is the easy part, but removing yourself from the costly obligations is a completely different challenge and may not end up even being possible, resulting in an effetive loss of sovereignty. Climate change treaties are no different and we should make sure to avoid the same mistake ourselves on the climate front.

    300

    • #
      Graham Richards

      Signing up to climate agreements with the UN is afatal mistake.
      Ditto for refugee/migration agreements.

      The electorate must learn to look further than warm & fuzzy promises ( ‘this includes their wallets)
      Project implications of agreements for up to 5 years to ensure there are no traps or built in changes in direction.

      In other words never tru st a politician.

      90

    • #
      Robert Christopher

      ‘The biggest mistake was signing up back in 1993.’

      You mean the Maastricht Treaty, signed on 7 February 1992, by John Major, the PM and leader of the Conservative Party, who famously called the rebels Bast*rds for objecting to the support of the nowhere people building part of the globalist political infrastructure.

      He is still at, just like Tony Blair!

      40

  • #
    Crakar24

    Listening to senate question time re the big stick policy, di natale is in complete meltdown mode popping rivets left, right and centre.

    He claimed the libs did not belive in the tooth fairy or was it the easter bunny….nevermind the point is some politicians can never let go if the beliefs that define who they are.

    This is what we see with brexit, no matter what deal is struck, no matter what the people want brexit wont happen any time soon

    100

  • #
    Ross

    Wonderful speech. But I cannot see a real Brexit occuring. Boris seems to be hell bent on his date of Oct 31 no matter what deal is. The one he is pushing for now is not really that much different than the one Berlin delivered for May to present.

    I would love Boris to prove me wrong but he will have to have a very rabbit to pull out of the hat, very soon.

    This site gives good summary details of the agreement ( look at last Friday’s post)

    https://facts4eu.org/news

    110

    • #
      Dean

      I think its likely that Brexit will not happen.

      But what will happen is that the major parties will have effectively signed their own death warrant at the next general election. Those who vote to remain (and I mean remain governed by the EU) will be totally exposed as undemocratic snakes.

      221

    • #
      PeterPetrum

      After having listened to the entire speech (what a delivery – astounding) there is no doubt if, or if not, Boris gets this version of Brexit through then at the next election the Brexit Party will stand in every seat and could well wipe out the Tories and Labour in the North and west and may end up with sufficient seats to be a power broker, at least, in the next parliament, if not the major party. There is no doubt that the Tory traitors will be gone. That would put the cat amongst the pigeons.

      90

  • #
    ЯΞ√ΩLUT↑☼N

    Their own Parliament is acting against the people’s vote on this issue, generally known as tyranny.

    230

  • #
    Serp

    Excellent talk; thanks Jo.

    120

  • #
    gee aye

    OMG.. .if she hadn’t studied latin I’d have thought her commoner or poor person without access to such an education

    334

    • #
      AndyG55

      “commoner or poor person without access to such an education’

      You may have had access to education, GA, but you certainly didn’t take any advantage of it.

      351

    • #

      Uh Gee Aye – Ya didn’t have to be a toff to study Latin. You just had to do well enough at 11+ (primary school certificate) to go to a Grammar School. (Those were state schools. Free. Not private, fee paying colleges). You not only did Latin, you did philosophy. And logic. You were expected to learn how to think.

      290

    • #
      george1st:)

      Fas est ab hoste doceri.

      50

      • #
        Lucky

        Beware of the enemy even when they can be a good teacher.
        Ignore trolls.
        Listen to friends.
        Do not surrender sovereignty.

        100

    • #
      pattoh

      Kinda ironic that you use a green leaf as an icon G!

      You DEFINITELY need more fibre in your diet.

      20

    • #
      theRealUniverse

      GA leafy, the term ‘commoner’ is usually used by those of some royal lineage, to refer to the ‘masses’..and is quite derogatory.
      What has that got to do with her education?

      20

    • #
      Peter Fitzroy

      Could it be that as she is so old, Latin was the lingua franca for Oxford.

      14

    • #
      yarpos

      I can only think that was a failed attempt at humour

      40

  • #
    TdeF

    It would be great if Boris’ deal was accepted by Oct 31st by the British parliament and the |EU. Deals can always be altered. Otherwise there will be no BREXIT. What has taken 50 years to setup cannot end in a day without serious consequences and while Britain has dreams of a greater market, the EU is a huge market, perhaps the biggest in the world. They also are dependent on British spending power. And socially movement is very free.

    There are just so many issues and Theresa May had done nothing at all. She never intended a word of what she said, no deal is better than a bad deal. Boris’ deal concedes a lot but takes Britain half way down the path. Much has to be negotiated over the next few years, like fishing rights. That has to be done anyway, even with no deal. Disentangling the legal system too.

    Plus Europe is starting to realize unrestricted migration is a disaster, as Britain has been saying. Now Hungary, Italy, Sweden, Poland, Greece and more. Walls will go up.

    To pull together a deal acceptable to both parties in just three months is amazing and many of those voting for Boris now rejected his original deal. Except the DUP who are more worried about irrelevance than rights. Of course they have to have special conditions with a land border with the EU, but it can be simple and in the spirit of the Good Friday agreement, at least according to the author of it.

    So if Boris can get the legislation tabled and approved by parliament tonight, the EU can act and everyone wins. There is more to go but I suspect 80% of the Union is dismantled and the last 20% will take time. The Common Market was nothing like this political nonsense, with a Union army being built by France and Germany. And Britain still has its pound.

    Not sure about Tony Blair’s Supreme Court. It had one chance to shine and they took the road of infamy, not justice.

    150

    • #
      TdeF

      There was the Common Market, a recreation of the Hanseatic League which had 320 cities involved in free trade. It was a good thing.
      Then they had the European Community. Now the European Union, a single political union and now a total of three parliaments in three cities (Brussels, Luxemborg, Stragbourg). Each beholden to an army of public servants 10,000 of whom earn more than Boris Johnson.
      The money has flowed like a river. It was a massively expensive farce, a bureaucrats dream with token politicians.

      To solve all the problems in one document is impossible, but it starts the process. And if it fails, both sides fear a no deal BREXIT.
      What is appalling is Teresa May’s 130 promises to leave. If not entirely deceitful you would hope, her naivety and negotiating skills were worse than Neville Chamberlain. Then historical revisionists argue he was just being cagey, but he was fly fishing in Scotland when Germany invaded Poland, so that’s nonsense. Theresa May now has to take the blame for the disaster she left behind, along with her clone chancellor, Phillip Hammond.

      130

    • #
      Robert Christopher

      “Deals can always be altered.”

      Theresa May’s, and therefore probably Boris’s, ‘deal’ is in fact a treaty, without any appeal to international bodies, only the European bureaucracy!

      And they won’t cooperate.

      60

    • #
      beowulf

      First you get out, then you do a deal from a position of strength. Boris’s deal is a dangerous dud.

      40

  • #
    TdeF

    And the enemies of BREXIT will stop a no deal BREXIT.

    The only way they can be defeated is to exit on time, with a deal acceptable to both sides.

    Those who dream of a simple no deal exit are just dreaming. It will be put off indefinitely and it is now illegal anyway. If the opposition would, they will legislate before Oct 31st to prevent BREXIT at all, subject to a second referendum. Then with Bercow in the speaker’s chair, they can pass any laws they like but they cannot legislate against a deal if the parliament approves it.

    Otherwise October 31st will come and go with no change, no BREXIT and a second referendum and then a third, assuming BREXIT is not actually outlawed by this runaway parliament.

    50

    • #
      TdeF

      The biggest problem is that once again the Anti BREXIT MPs will tag another amendment onto the bill, making it useless. Like staying in the customs Union permanently. The strategists though think this will not get through but you can trust Bercow to allow as many Brexit crippling amendments are they can dream up while ignoring the Prime Minister. He has trashed the office of speaker as impartial and fair.

      100

      • #
        Ross

        One side issue TdeF, on which I cannot find all the details, is the Court case bought by a group arguing that the UK actually left on March 29. They lost their argument in the UK courts but they are now taking it to an EU court. I read a few days ago that the Boris’s government ( or maybe the UK bureaucracy) are putting up “road blocks” to stop this case going any further. If true it makes you wonder what the real intent is for this whole debacle.

        90

        • #
          beowulf

          You’re referring to the Tillbrook case. There is also the Cash case in progress and I think one other that was going to be launched. They are an irrelevance now. Things are moving way too quickly for glacial court cases to have an impact. In any case we have already seen what the UK Supreme Court thinks of justice. The Tillbrook case is on appeal to the European Court of Human Rights whose jurisdiction supersedes that of all UK courts (but unfortunately at least two of those Supreme Court judges also sit on the ECHR). As Tillbrook pointed out, judges are now appointed by:
          “a Blairite Judicial Appointments Commission which will only appoint Judges who can “demonstrate a life time’s commitment to Equality and Diversity” and are therefore ideologically only of the multi-culturalist Left and therefore almost all Remainers”

          The judge who dismissed Tillbrook’s appeal case was later shown to be a rabid Remainer by his Twitter and Facebook history.

          The case was the first Boris stuff-up too. The government had the opportunity to tell the court that it would cease contesting the case, meaning that Tillbrook would win by default, but of course that was too quick and simple for Boris. He had his master plan. There would have been gnashing of teeth from all the usual suspects and attempted appeals, but Brexit would have been in the bag to a fair extent. There was overwhelming legal opinion that Tillbrook was correct and Brexit did take place by default on Feb 29th.

          30

          • #
            Ross

            beowolf

            Thanks for that. Yes it is the Tillbrook case I was referring. Your last paragraph is very telling , but that is what I do not understand –why did Boris not grab the opportunity and become the hero? All I can think is Boris is just like May and does not want a real Brexit. His hero Churchill would be mortified.

            Here is the latest from Tillbrook and it clearly explains in a short video what it is all about for the benefit of those who are not as up to date as you.

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhSZ35XKcEY

            30

            • #
              Ross

              beowolf

              If by some major miracle Tillbrook was proved correct in the EU Court does mean everything that happened after March automatically becomes null and void(or whatever the correct legal term is) ?

              20

              • #
                beowulf

                I’m not a lawyer Ross, and I can be taken to task for this, but technically all subsequent machinations to stop or constrain Brexit should, I would think, be void ab initio. The leaving date was set by statute and could only be varied by statute (voted on by parliament), not by a statutory instrument scribbled on by one minister. That principle was established in the first Gina Miller case which sought to stop the referendum result being enacted into law without full consent of parliament.

                Even subsequent Acts of parliament which purport to block or modify Brexit should be void, but it would take a court to say so, similar to the Supreme Court judgement with Boris’s first prorogation, where it was declared never to have happened and the parliamentary session continued. If Brexit has already happened then such Acts and extensions are extraneous, unless you reverse the whole Article 50 leaving process, but with the Remainer judges who knows how they would contort the law to foil Brexit and undo what had already happened. The possibilities are limited by the judges’ imaginations. If the iron had been struck by Boris whilst still hot, it might have been a different story.

                I also meant 29th March above. The 29th of Feb in 2019 would be a long time coming.

                10

              • #
                Ross

                Thanks for the reply beowulf (apologies for the misspelling above). I am not a lawyer either but what you have said would be my understanding as well.
                For the sake of the UK I hope Boris has that large rabbit to pull out of the hat. Maybe it will take a decisive GE win
                (almost certainly needing Brexit Party coalition support) and then they maybe able to revisit the case in some way, which would a break much cleaner.

                20

  • #
    George4

    I was starting to lose hope of any Brexit,
    but Labour has now slumped badly in the polls and they probably realise they would get smashed in an election, so some them have broken ranks and just want Brexit over and done with.
    So maybe, just maybe Boris will have the numbers.
    Anyway its getting beyond a joke and most are sick and tired of the indecision.

    90

    • #
      TdeF

      Yes, many are worried that if BREXIT fails, they will be kicked out in a general election. On both sides. 9 Labor party MPs are voting for Boris’ deal. That might be enough to offset the DUP. Labor voters are probably more BREXIT than the Tories, so Corbyn is trashing the name. Many Labor MPs might change sides or lose their jobs. Corbyn has not withdrawn the whip yet.

      80

      • #
        Ross

        Corbyn has to agree to a GE first –a stupid situation as a result of the Cameron/Clegg agreement and the subsequent Bill.

        40

  • #
    Graeme No.3

    A powerful speech showing that the Brexit Party has more than one who can rally the troops.

    There is a possibility, I suggest, is that Boris guessed what would happen and has been manipulating the Remainers into a corner. Possibly he might have some other country willing to veto any extension by the EU, thus forcing an exit whatever the Remainers try. He has always seemed more concerned about the Brexit Party than about the Opposition. Should there be a general election without any agreement then he will face the loss of votes in the South, where the Conservatives are strongest, and under the UK system of “first past the post” that would cost them many seats. That the Brexit party could take 80 to 100 seats from Labour in the Midlands and North doesn’t worry him at all, rather the thought that he would be forced into a coalition with them, possibly as a junior (and ex-PM).
    His aim is to appear as the champion of Leave and to win that election. What happens after he comes back as PM is speculation. What we can be certain about is that a lot of those trying to stay in the EU will not be back in the new parliament.

    110

    • #
      Serp

      Plainly the Republic of Ireland is the country which should veto an extension but I’m dreaming again…

      60

      • #
        TdeF

        If Boris cannot get his agreement through parliament, the extension will be granted. No one wants a no deal BREXIT except Nigel Farage. And in many ways it might be simpler to start with nothing and build up, but there are so many issues, so many people affected immediately. However decisions by the executive should be enough to solve each and every problem without passing laws. Each problem should be properly handled with time. The waste of three years is costing every one.

        Then the fact that a majority of MPs did not want BREXIT in the first place regardless of what the people want. Bercow said the B*llocks to Brexit sticker was on his wife’s car, a technicality. In the US 98.4% of Washington DC voted for Hillary, which shows how the elite utterly disagree with the people.

        111

        • #
          TdeF

          And in the US, the State department has signalled its approval of EU expansion into Albania and Macedonia. The complete opposite of Trump’s opposition to the absorption of sovereign states into the EU.

          80

          • #
            David Wojick

            State has ignored Trump with diligence. The U.S. Delegates to the climate COPs are mostly Obama era retreads. They still support the Paris Accord, hoping Trump loses on 2020.

            90

            • #
              Ozwitch

              He won’t lose if he gets to the election. The Dems know this. They’re desperately hoping they can make this illegitimate impeachment hysteria stick and get him off the ballot sheet. That’s why they are having secret meetings in the basement and refusing to let the Republicans take part. It’s illegal and has no authority and they know it, it’s just pure desperation from them.

              50

        • #
          Lionell Griffith

          Freedom is never free. There will always be many voices from those who have power because of the lack of freedom to oppose an increase in freedom. That it is complicated is no excuse. Living is complicated and made more so by lack of freedom than any other factor.

          If you are unwilling to pay the price for freedom, you will lose what freedom you have.

          70

          • #
            TdeF

            There are an endless set of parties affected by BREXIT. In the time there are payments, kick backs, grants, refugees, migrants, guest workers, transients. Britain is now 70 million people and 75% of the growth is migration, which means endless complications from changing the rules. Health, fishing, pensions, freedom of travel, passports, visas, banking, foreign loans, holiday homes in other countries, changing citizen status. Endless.

            So there are endless reasons to stall until everyone is happy, which will never happen. Also it seems that Scotland and Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic have benefited directly from the EU cash, which is why they are fighting change. And of course everyone acts from extreme self interest.

            Still you would have to think that cleaning the slate would be the best way to start, except the Britain has a responsibility for hundreds of thousands of shared public servants and they want their superannuation and wages and jobs. Still, it’s not as if they had no warning.

            Then all the subsidized industries, the famous wine lake, butter mountain, people being paid not to work, not to grow crops. Vested interests everywhere. And you wonder how much say the UK government has had in the bureaucrats paradise? Or the endless legal obligations and laws. However once the UK is contributing to the new EU Army, you have to draw the line. The EU wants to be one country and an economic and military superpower in between enemies Russia and America. Again.

            I doubt anyone wants that.

            70

            • #
              Lionell Griffith

              Still, if you don’t fight for freedom, you can’t win it.

              It is the classical between a rock and a hard place. Isn’t that the way it has always been?

              60

              • #
                PeterS

                Yes it’s always been that way. Also, the quote “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing” rings perfectly true here. At the moment there are too many such “good” people in both sides of parliament (also applies here in Australia for other issues). I can sense more and more people becoming frustrated with the rise of contempt in our politicians. It won’t end well that’s for sure.

                30

              • #
                Serp

                PeterS:

                Private Eye 1506 has the John Stuart Mill quote “Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing” (2 January 1867) in the lead position at Pedantry Corner with a lament that it is always misquoted and attributed to Edmund Burke.

                30

        • #
          Robert Christopher

          #12.1.1 ‘No one wants a no deal BREXIT except Nigel Farage. And in many ways it might be simpler to start with nothing and build up …’

          It is NOT a deal: it is a TREATY, so CANNOT be changed without the approval of the EU. So it won’t be made more balanced.

          And (outside the BBC 🙂 ) many DO want to leave on WTO terms – which would not be traumatic if the UK government had prepared for it.

          20

  • #
    Bodge it an scarpa

    I got the feeling that I just watched and heard a speech from Britain’s next Prime Minister ! Nigel Farage wants Brexit but doesn’t necessarily want the PM’s job. Anne Widdecome would be a worthy successor.

    150

  • #
    Speedy

    The last time Britain voted to remain separate to the European Empire, they used Spitfires…

    200

    • #
      Just Thinkin'

      They might have to do that again….

      AND SOON…

      30

    • #
      Another Ian

      Speedy

      Have a read of Len Dighton’s “Fighter”
      and you’ll find out that was the result of a muddle even bigger than we thought we knew about – including how they even came to have Spitfires

      20

  • #
    Richard Ilfeld

    At the present time, about 10% of the Brits live and work abroad…about 600,000 of them in the US.
    There are similar numbers for many of the other EU members.
    The US GDP per capita is between 1.5 and 2 times that of the EU.
    This gap is increasing.

    The values among the 28 EU members are highly variable. It could become a tyranny of the lowest common
    denominator, or a tyranny of one dominant state and a bunch of vassals.

    OF the UK as a country cannot exit, one would expect ts best and brightest to continue to do so.

    70

  • #
    PeterS

    Looking forward to UK’s next election to see if the people have had enough of the rising intolerance of the anti-BREXIT anti-democratic mob.

    80

  • #
    graham dunton

    Being a neutralised pommy,I think Ann Widdecombe is brilliant

    120

  • #
    TdeF

    Now the deal has been approved by parliament, but they reject the timetable! On a very positive note, that’s the second win for Boris and it means that he has the British Parliament and the EU agreeing to a deal. The challenge now is just timing. On this basis the EU will likely offer a conditional short extension and perhaps formal approval of the deal. Yes, it is like herding cats.

    At the same time there are people hoping for no deal which wipes the slate but leaves all the negotiation to start again on every issue and negotiation is absolutely necessary. That at least is clean but very disruptive to many people and businesses. It can take a decade and a vast number of individual agreements which might end up at the same place.

    40

    • #
      beowulf

      Boris’s deal. BRINO. Brexit in name only.
      No wonder Theresa May was so supportive of Boris’s “new” deal the other day.
      Think pig and lipstick. I’m referring there to the deal, not to Theresa, although some might . . .

      Not happy Boris. Here are some of the details that have emerged to the public thus far:
      • During the implementation (transition) period, the UK has, on paper, left the EU, but normal arrangements between the UK and EU will continue during that period
      • The transition period is expected to last until December 2020 but can go on for as far as December 2022 if mutually agreed upon
      • In that time the UK is expected to abide by all EU regulations, including any new regulations the EU imposes on its members (among other things, this would seem to mean that the EU Common Fisheries Policy will still be in effect and UK waters will continue to be plundered by foreign trawlers, at least for a few more years)
      • While the UK can negotiate, sign, and ratify free trade agreements with third countries like the United States, FTAs cannot come into force until after the transition period has ended
      • What all this means is that up to three years after Brexit day (Oct 31st maybe) technically the UK still will not have left all Brussels institutions
      • The country will continue to be subject to decisions made by judges at the European Court of In-Justice (ECJ) until the end of the transition period
      • The £39 billion divorce bill is still payable to the EU
      • Continued free movement will remain during the transition period
      This deal doesn’t include or exclude any UK military involvement in the EU army which various high profile EU types have called for to combat the “threat” from the US, and which was done through a separate sneaky treaty by May before she was deposed. See
      http://veteransforbritain.uk/whitehallbriefing/

      For a humourous take on the Brexit farce which was done during the May PMship but is equally applicable to Boris see this vid.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edGFTEbZCHQ

      Boris’s deal/deadline look like being effectively rejected by parliament — unless the whole package is agreed to then it is dead in the water. This is mainly because the Remainers are still pushing for a loaded 2nd referendum with No Deal missing from the ballot paper, or even better a total revocation of the Article 50 process to reverse Brexit altogether, both of which require a considerable extension to take place (apparently 6 months to organise a referendum). Rumour has it that Poland is being pressured to veto any further extension. Macron has also ruled out a further extension, but he changes his stance about every 30 seconds.

      Boris is talking of pulling his “deal” Bill altogether and pushing for an election instead. Thanks to Tony Blair, he can’t just call one like our PM could do here — he has to try and wangle one somehow, which he should have done long since by manipulating a vote of no confidence in himself (which I was pilloried for suggesting about 3 months ago). Parliament has already voted down an election twice, so good luck with that Boris. The Tories are riding very high in the polls by the way.

      It is now that we see Bumbling Boris’s Unbeatable Magical Secret Master Plan for delivering Brexit never existed. Boris the master tactician: one fumbling step after another; Brexit defeats handed to the Remainers on a platter; total defeat a very real possibility. So much for Cummings his super-strategist too.

      The situation changes by the minute. Anyone without a good crystal ball will have no grasp of the situation. Parliamentary anarchy rules.

      70

      • #
        TdeF

        Yes, the Tories are in ascendant thanks to Boris. The only reason the EU have agreed and Ireland is that they are all getting what they want for a politicians amount of time, 3-4 years. It’s taken 50 years to get to this point and 5 years to undo it all.

        It’s not only the courts which are glacial.

        Consider the State of Victoria’s North South Pipeline rammed though private property for $800million, without the slightest concern for the tiny green hump backed winking frog. The pipeline was used once to dump the dam into the swollen Goulburn river when it was in full flood when the drought broke. When asked why they opened the gates at that absurd time, the operator said the water was booked six months before. At least it was used once. The desalination plants not at all.

        So while ideally a sharp break would be great, the Sir Humphrey Applebees of the world cannot move so quickly. Many have to retire and many jobs will go. Many agreements will have to be revised and rates reset and books printed and web sites changed and they have to be compatible both with Android and iPhone. Road signs have to be changed. And the French still drive on the wrong side of the road.

        Boris’ exit is at least an exit plan over time with a lot of negotiation to come. Teresa May’s BREXIT had no trace of leaving anything.

        And as the days pass, a no deal BREXIT gets more likely and more acceptable to the people. The public service administrators will be the ones moving so slowly. Remember the Cod Wars. It will be on again. The cheese conflict. The avocado angst. The City Elders will flee to Lisbon.

        30

        • #
          beowulf

          Yes, the cod wars. The French fishermen have already stated that they will not respect any restrictions on their ability to fish UK waters in the event of No Deal or any other constraining agreement, and even the French Agriculture (?) Minister backed them up. The UK’s fish stocks are fast dwindling to the point of local extinction. Cod are already a rarity.

          I was looking at some old Yes Minister episodes from 35 years ago and couldn’t help but notice how incisive and prescient they were. It’s like watching Enoch Powell’s prophetic warning about the Common Market/EEC/EU.

          60

    • #
      beowulf

      TdeF take a look at this following the link given by Ross at #5. It’s worse than you could imagine. I was wrong above about the military. This is just national suicide. I hope the deal fails miserably.
      https://facts4eu.org/news/2019_oct_eu_treaty_for_uk_colonisation

      50

  • #
    Ross

    But Tusk has apparently just agreed to a 3 month extension. If the remainers push for the “use” of that extension then politically Boris is personally back in a tight corner –he basically staked his Prime Ministership on on Oct 31.

    20

  • #
    robert rosicka

    OT , now I understand where all the CAGW research money goes and how cutting edge and relevant it is (not).

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-23/why-native-rats-are-being-put-through-nasa-style-training-regime/11622360

    30

  • #
    OriginalSteve

    O/T but relevent

    The new insurance gold rush……rent seekers…..get yer rent seekers here……

    Will we see a blanket “climate change” levy applied by all insurers to all suburbs regardless…..to offset “climate risk”? Who knows…..

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-23/the-suburbs-facing-rising-insurance-costs-from-climate-risk/11624108

    “”Dramatic hikes in insurance premiums combined with tighter lending in response to climate risk could trigger a wider property market correction, according to leading climate risk analyst Karl Mallon.

    “The warning comes as new analysis from his firm Climate Risk shows the number of “uninsurable” addresses in Australia is projected to double by the turn of the century to nearly 720,000 — or one in 20 — if nothing is done to address escalating risk from extreme weather and climate change.

    “Thousands more will see their insurance premiums double or even triple within decades, the data reveals.
    Climate Risk’s clients include governments, banks, mortgage lenders and other key players in the insurance and finance industry.

    “The analysis, supplied exclusively to ABC News, calculates how changing climate risks (such as bushfire, flood, subsidence, inundation and extreme wind) would impact the cost and availability of insurance up to the year 2100 if all such risks were insured.

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      pat

      OriginalSteve – and taxpayer-funded ABC facilitates every CAGW money grab with articles like this one. note it’s glossy format – same as the WaPo Qatar novel-length piece I posted on jo’s AusExit thread.

      note the ABC story’s notes:
      Notes about this story
      The data does not cover cyclones, flash flooding (pluvial), coastal erosion, landslip or heat impacts

      The data does not adjust for population growth, so uses a fixed number of addresses each year from 2019 to 2100.

      A more detailed description of the methodology is available on the Climate Risk Engines website. LINK etc…

      credits for the ABC piece:

      Digital Story Innovation Team
      Data and reporting: Inga Ting
      Development: Nathanael Scott
      Design: Alex Palmer
      Additional reporting: Michael Slezak

      MEANWHILE_- BEHIND PAYWALL

      Miranda Devine: Daycares the new training ground for culture warriors
      by Miranda Devine
      Daily Telegraph – 22 Oct 2019
      Most parents expect their children to be finger painting at day care, but some centres are using the time to indoctrinate the next generation to wayward leftie causes… It’s bad enough that greenies have frightened the wits out of teenage girls, a la Greta Thunberg, with tales of climate Armageddon. But now unscrupulous progressives are reaching even further into childhood, turning day care centres into propaganda machines…

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      • #
        pat

        Bolt/Sky tonite had what was apparently this Miranda Devine story; however, the children were not being taught to be climate activists, but rather activists for an indigenous matter.
        what brief bit I heard on Sky’s “Front Page” last nite gave the impression they were being indoctrinated in CAGW. of course, maybe they are…and that’s a separate story!

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      yarpos

      Its OK, they modeled it. They really know what the climate will be in 80 years and what insurance premiums will be with great accuracy. They probably know how many councils will build in flood areas as well and how mant will poorly manage dams and drainage. The earnest certainty in this piece was quite ridiculous.

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  • #
    Peter Fitzroy

    Finally an Old White Woman (OWW), I’m sure all you OWM can get signed centerfolds from Dodderer’s Weekly. Also whe epitomises the main demographic of the leave campaign.

    Gin and Tonics all round, I say Smithers, get cracking

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  • #
    Ruairi

    Member states who will not submit,
    To the E.U. and just want to quit,
    Will be stymied for years,
    Like U.K. Brexiteers,
    May now opt for a ‘no deal’ and split.

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  • #
    Robert Christopher

    “We gave Europe their freedom and in return they want to take ours.”

    I think you have mistaken their identity: they lost twice (maybe three times, 1870-1?) and now think they have won.

    But reality has broken out and the genie won’t go back in the bottle. 🙂

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    Greg in NZ

    OT yet “on fire” –

    11.06 am: “Flames and billows of black smoke are still coming out from the roof of the SkyCity International Convention centre in Auckland”.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/401586/skycity-fire-still-burning-pm-to-visit-today

    Precisely at the very moment unelected bureaucrazies gathered to announce their Agenda Transport/Tyranny (30 km/h) a fire erupted on the roof of the city’s new ca$ino bringing inner Auckland to a (literal) stand-still. Accidents will happen… just a coincidence… imagine that… who would’ve thought… eco-friendly building design.

    It can’t be caused by ‘global’ heating as Antarctica’s summit is -56˚C and Greenland’s summit is -46˚C with a -60˚C wind chill today. Maybe these sustainability experts should throw away their computers & models and go back to good old chalk & blackboard or pen & paper…

    http://www.summitcamp.org/status/weather/

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    • #
      Kalm Keith

      Thank heavens the bitumen and straw in the roof don’t burn or it could have been a lot worse.

      Where exactly was government oversight when approval was given to build this.

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      • #
        Graeme No.3

        Straw, plywood and bitumen?????? What a combination for a public building. comment deleted

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        • #
          Greg in NZ

          An expert said:
          “the roof system comprised panels with compressed straw insulation and acoustic insulation, which were embedded between cold formed steel purlins, like that seen in most large single storey buildings.

          “But in this case, the purlins were within the panels and surrounded by the straw insulation and acoustic insulation. They had a fire resisting bottom layer to suppress fire getting into the roof from underneath.

          “Over the top was a plywood layer, and all of this formed a sandwich panel that was put into place and then covered with the bitumen membrane outer layer”.

          https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12279002

          Simply add ‘blow torch’ and wonder why this style of construction went out of fashion decades centuries millennia ago. Oh dear, it was worth a gamble, but as many punters discover the hard way…

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          • #
            yarpos

            sounds like shingle roofs so popular in North America. Not very durable and quite flammable. Think I will stick with Colorbond.

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    • #
      theRealUniverse

      OH Dear, Look like poor NZ has had a ‘Notre Dame’ moment. Just watched the Phill Goff interview with TVNZ.
      I hadnt realized they were planning APEC there in 2021, ouch! Fletchers will have to do some head scratching.

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  • #
    Peter Fitzroy

    Freedom, and fight for it, can take many forms. As Gandhi proved, nonviolent noncompliance works just as well.

    But OWM always turn to violence, as it’s not them on the front line, and it has been that way since antiquity.

    I for one will be glad when this transient phase of having states and countries devolve back to villages and communities. After all we only need a state to defend ourselves from other states.

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    • #
      el gordo

      This can only come about under the new world order.

      ‘ … devolve back to villages and communities.’

      The government is going to buy back small land holdings, farmers going broke, but decentralisation is still very much on the radar.

      In a world of robotics, your dream will be realised.

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      • #
        OriginalSteve

        Funny how Pol Pot of the Killing Fields infamy, also advocated returning to a rural village lifestyle……

        Leftists – clueless one day, clueless the next….

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    • #
      AndyG55

      Another load of moronic hard-left jibber-jabber from PF

      NONSENSE in his every post.

      10

  • #
    el gordo

    Aunty presents a weather story without any mention of climate change, the tide has turned. A strong positive IOD has an effect on monsoons.

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-23/late-monsoon-withdrawal-will-likely-delay-onset-of-wet-season/11624550

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  • #
    stephen Robinson

    I and everybody I know did not vote for a deal or partial Brexit 3.5 years ago!!! We are being destroyed by a tyrannical bureaucracy that we have no way of voting out. We have very little say in what decisions are made, 70+ times we have tried to have a say and have been ignored each time, so much for changing it from the inside.
    Boris deal is 95% of Mays deal which he voted against twice. We will still have to pay 36 billion “divorce settlement” and be tied to their rules with no input for at least 3 years. During that time they can and will make an example of UK to stop others from leaving.
    A deal is not necessary it is still part of project fear. WTO rules are already in place and can be used exactly as for the rest of the world.
    A runaway parliament full of extreme self seeking globalists who profit from the EU has destroyed any semblance of democracy . It needs to be demolished.

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    • #
      Kalm Keith

      Like it. We are in a desperate place and are on borrowed time.

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    • #
      theRealUniverse

      The Modern Eu was a brainchild of the Bilderburg group. Although even Adolf had thought about it, of course thats not the methods that panned out.
      It is un-elected and bureaucratic. Diktat rules and stupid insane regulations, like banning lead based solder (thats another story), of course theres much more than that one and worse, but thats the picture.
      Me thinks when and IF Brit exits then it will soon collapse. Other countries will want to trade with an EU free Britain.

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    European

    It never stops to amaze how people who are able to see the cult of climate change for what it is, are so blind to the fact that Brexit is every bit as much of a cult with complete loss of reality.

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