I never imagined it, but the last few years the FT have been a beacon of liberalism and sanity in a world gone mad.
We need to start talks apparently, according to the Secretary for Exiting The EU
The Brexiters are so incompetent I’m surprised they aren’t forced to wear nappies because they can’t manage their bowel movements.
The flow doesn’t need to continue, because the car companies leave. Problem solved.
wavey
5761
Here are a couple of interesting links. First, some speculation on what strategy Johnson’s chief-of-staff / resident Machiavelli Dominic Cummings is going for, based on what he has previously written about:
https://unherd.com/2019/08/dominic-cummings-is-no-chicken/
Dominic Cummings and I share some interests, to my slight chagrin. Both he and I are big fans of the nerdy, abstruse bit of the internet filled with people who are sometimes called “Rationalists”.
[…]
[The prorogation of parliament] reminded me of something, and I was trying to work out what it was. And I realised: it was the classic application of game theory to the game of chicken. Imagine you’re playing chicken – that is, driving your car head-on towards another car. Whoever swerves first loses. What’s your best strategy?
One game-theoretic answer is: you ostentatiously unscrew your steering wheel and throw it out of the window.
And someone has heroically tried to map out what happens next in the whole Brexit process (there are speculative probabilities against each outcome - some of them look a little off to me, but the general flow seems correct). Original blog post here.
spiffy
5763
It’s basically what May was doing, not ruling out no-deal, as leverage to get a deal, he’s just going the whole nine yards. I still don’t think a narcissist egomaniac like Johnson is willing to have his name go down as presiding architect of the biggest economic disaster in recent British history. Somehow retiring with a few millions on a deserted island doesn’t sound like a Boris endgame to me, unlike a few others.
Not a surprise. Also it’s only a denial of interim relief, the full trial will still go ahead a few days later (though I don’t expect it will succeed).
Genius plan.
but the real geniuses are the ones in the EU car, who just built a roll cage, a crumple zone, an extra bumper, removed all flammable items, put on a safety harness, fireproof suit, helmet and gloves.
We dont even have our seatbelt on, and we’ve removed the bulb in the warning sign as it was annoying us.
I submit that we now call these Project Fear signs
edit: Actually no, Speed Up signs
wavey
5767
Also, the EU car is a 10-tonne lorry.
But what if the opponents in the game of chicken aren’t the EU, but parliament? If everything goes to plan, there will likely be a vote on a “new” deal with only days to go before Oct 31 - will resistance to the deal survive? Like @spiffy said, it’s May’s strategy except with a more convincing madman driving towards us, quicker.
The thing is, the more sincere the madman act is, the less likely there is to be a “new” deal, as Boris will have to give ground on the backstop for that to happen.
Synth
5769
Its a multi-stage game. Round 1 is the conservative party, round 2 is the EU and round 3 is parliament.
Banjax
5770
Well I think we’ve now got the Tory Party going for the full set. Brexit has pushed us closer to the break up of the union, a united Ireland and now I think with the prorogation we’ve been pushed closer to a republic.
They must be very proud.
It’s my sincere hope that both Northern Ireland and Scotland will secede from the UK if a no-deal happens.
And then the brexiteers will tell themselves that they didn’t need filthy Scots/Irish anyway. Because sovereignty is easier with a nation half the size!
And condemn the rest of us to rule by English nationalists forever.
jpinard
5773
Who would have thought after fighting the fascists in WWII that England itself would become a fascist nation.
Emigrate to the Celtic Union before the pogroms and purges start I guess. There isn’t a chance an ultranationalist, isolationist government isnt going to lead to barbed wire and blood.
Much like the British government, he forgot.
I thought about including Wales, but could it even function as a separate state?
