Brexit

[Let's all laugh at Rangers]

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing a new rebellion from his cabinet over concerns of a no-deal Brexit, with a group of cabinet ministers poised to resign, The Times newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan, British Minister for Northern Ireland Julian Smith, Justice Secretary Robert Buckland, Health Minister Matt Hancock and Attorney General Geoffrey Cox are all on a "resignation watch list", according to The Times report.

An unnamed cabinet minister cited by the newspaper said that a "very large number" of Conservative members of parliament would also quit if it came to a no-deal Brexit.

The Times said that ministers had warned Johnson in a cabinet meeting about the "grave" risk of the return of direct rule in Northern Ireland and raised concerns about Dominic Cummings, Johnson's most senior adviser.

Geoffrey Cox?! Wow!

[dimejinky99]

Meeting today with their teams. Apparently it’s to remain private and no press conference after.
Just watch til later and a ‘senior downing st source’ leak a very warped version of what takes place. Much like the Merkel call details yesterday saying thing she never actually said.

[E.H. Ruddock]

I wonder if any Brit has thought about doing that pig stunt to Boris from season one of Black Mirror?

[dimejinky99]

I wonder if any Brit has thought about doing that pig stunt to Boris from season one of Black Mirror?

You didn’t hear about david Cameron fuckin the pig head in college?

[dimejinky99]

Dogs in the street know Russian money is funding Farage and his brexit party and Leave.eu

Today, they aren’t even trying to hide it.

[McParadigm]

wat

[dimejinky99]

Very much looks like Johnson is going to make a phonecall to the DUP and give them some very bad news (for them)

[dimejinky99]

As always Tony is on point to break it down. Great thread

[dimejinky99]

I love being right but I said this ages ago and it’s looking like it’s about to become reality.

[dimejinky99]

And so it begins. The Tories mouthpiece newspaper the telegraph turns its eye to Northern Ireland.

[dimejinky99]

[dimejinky99]

Jaw is still on the floor. The telegraph published that.

Here’s the full piece

Northern Ireland is a burden on the rest of the UK. We can't let it get in the way of Brexit

The EU talks are still in danger of collapsing because of Northern Ireland at a time when the majority of people who live there think they will be part of a united Ireland within ten years, according to Lord Ashcroft’s September poll.

Northern Ireland has long been a millstone round the neck of the rest of the UK and to fail to take back our independence because of it would be an historic tragedy. It is not widely known that it costs the UK more to support Northern Ireland than it does to be in the EU.

In 2016-17, according to HM Treasury figures, total expenditure by the Government on Northern Ireland was £20.6 billion. HMRC reports that tax receipts from Northern Ireland in the same year came to £11.7 billion, a net payment of £8.8 billion.

There is more than one way of looking at the cost of the EU, but if we use the official figures published by the European Commission, which include payments by Brussels to the UK’s public and private sectors, the net average annual cost for the five years from 2014 to 2018 was £7.8 billion (after deducting the UK’s payment rebate).

In other words we pay a net £7.8 billion to gain access to a market of about 450 million people (after deducting our own population) and we pay £8.8 billion a year to 1.8 million people in Northern Ireland.

Moreover, we effectively bribe the people of Northern Ireland to stay in the UK by spending more on them than we spend on ourselves. Average "identifiable expenditure" per head, according to HM Treasury, was £9,159 in 2016-17. Of the four countries that make up the UK, Northern Ireland received the largest amount per head at £11,042. The people of England received £8,898 per head.

The time has come to test whether the people of Northern Ireland would vote to unite with the republic. Lord Ashcroft’s poll carried out last month found a small majority in favour of having a referendum on Irish unity. True, when asked to predict the outcome if a referendum were held tomorrow, 59 per cent said they thought that Northern Ireland would vote to stay in the UK. However, when asked what the outcome would be in ten years, 54 per cent said they thought it would go the other way.

It’s not surprising. Ireland has changed. As measured by GDP per head, Ireland is very prosperous. The latest statistics show GDP per head in Ireland of $72,600. The Northern Ireland equivalent is $29,300 and for the UK it is $42,400.

Twenty years ago Ireland was dominated by the Catholic Church, which ran most schools and hospitals and had an extensive role in politics generally. In recent times, however, the church has been permanently weakened by the child-abuse scandals and subsequent cover-ups. The protestants of Northern Ireland have very little to fear from the modern Catholic Church, and there must now be a real chance that the sectarianism that has so disfigured the island’s history can be overcome.

The north-south institutions for co-operation created by the Belfast Agreement have worked well and many elements of the all-island economy have proved successful. Ian Paisley famously remarked that island-wide animal-health regulations meant that the cattle were all Irish. And Ireland’s rugby union team, now playing in the World Cup, has long been drawn from both sides of the border. No doubt these examples can be dismissed as minor exceptions, but they reveal what’s possible with a bit of good will.

Accepting customs checks at the Irish Sea would allow the EU negotiations to be successfully concluded and remains the best solution, but if the DUP continues to block this obvious remedy, then a referendum on Irish unity will be the best way forward for everyone, in Northern Ireland, the republic and the rest of the UK.

David Green is director of Civitas

[dimejinky99]

Wow. It’s game on!!!

[dimejinky99]

So it’s looking like the Northern Ireland only backstop/border in the sea. And bizarrely really bizarrely the DUP aren’t objecting anything like as aggressively as expected.
I’m guessing the threat of a UI border poll was actually used.

[dimejinky99]

ERG also seem to be on board. Lads. This might actually be happening

[dimejinky99]

So yes, we’ll take the backstop. Basically.

[dimejinky99]

So the British courts have torn up a central tenet of the Good Friday agreement. People in NI have the right under the GFA to declare as British or Irish. This decision tears that up. This is going to have consequences Political and otherwise.

[Norah]

That's fucked up.

[dimejinky99]

They’re also reimplementing internment.

They’re either actively trying to reignite the troubles or ensuring enough of a growth in support to call a border poll. The timings are not coincidental.

But this decision is totally fucked up. EU and indeed US won’t be happy

[dimejinky99]

** to claim Irish nationality, NI citizens will have to pay to officially renounce British nationality and thus their right to vote in NI or in a border poll is nullified.