I only listened to from about 1:46 but it was the usual de Pfeffel bollox - he can only give soundbites in front of an adoring, yet braying crowd. Now I love the BBC WS (it was my lifeline to sanity during my time in Lithuania), politically and diplomatically it's the greatest instrument for soft power projection ever (you see that by how many countries now have their own 'mini me' versions of it). The Tories tried to fully emasculate it (probably at the behest of Murdoch), and very nearly succeeded and it was rumoured that it was constant lobbying by the military that caused them to have a 'rethink' (although they stall haven't reinstated SW broadcasts to Russia). And de Pfeffel's doing his shtick at a conference on soft power... De Pfeffel live and unplugged in front the parliamentary standards committee will be a sight to behold.
Their, the Brexit looney faction, hypocrisy appears to be limitless: Invest in Northern Ireland to get single market access, says Andrea Leadsom
I have ceased to be amazed by the stupidity, no insanity, of Brexit loons. Project falsehood or what?
It sounds like the DUP are poised over their keyboard and about to give their response to the Windsor Framework:
Yes, and it's not a poll of people who are unhappy with, or regret voting for, Brexit. It is people that would actually vote to rejoin the EU. Even the opposition front bench are not in favour of that!
You'd have thought that Jacon Rees-Mogg's researchers would have warned him... https://twitter.com/PeterStefanovi2/status/1636145020980822020 A further thought - if we concede that Brexit helped us with our 'world beating' vaccine programme, allowing us to get out of lockdown earlier, then that would imply that the economic damage done by brexit is even worse...
Interestingly part of Hunt's spiel yesterday was that our MHRA will have the ability/freedom to authorise the use of any drug that has been passed by another foreign regulatory body (he mentioned the FDA - which has a very opaque system AND allows routine parallel testing which is very rare in the UK/EU). Dunno if this a bonfire of the regulations *thing* or a peace offering to the EU to get any drugs developed here to be accepted by the EMA.
Why anybody takes anything that entitled fool says seriously is really beyond. Not only is he an expert of the constitution, EU law and vaccine development - he's also pretty 'good' on concentration camps (which was a new clip for me): EDIT: This image is grossly unfair and not funny:
I see Truss and Johnson are going to vote against the Windsor Framework. Both were happy to vote for the original NI Protocol. Everyone believes that the Windsor Framework is better than that for the UK and NI. I have some respect for the Tory loons and the DUP who have always been against the protocol. They are fundamentally wrong but they are genuine in their beliefs. But the likes of Johnson and Truss are just playing politics. They are lining themselves up for returns if Sunak is the latest Tory PM to die on the altar of Brexit. They are despicable and without any honour.
They want to see it passed with Labour votes to humiliate Sunak. Tories doing what they do best, stabbing in other in the front.
So only 29 voted against the Windsor Framework in the Commons in the end (515 in favour). We really are down to the rump of extreme Brexiter ERG/DUP loons now. Plus political desperate chancers Johnson and Truss of course.
It's odd to see one of the biggest campaigners for Brexit are now realising that they're going to get royally farked over by post-Brexit trade deals: https://twitter.com/mikegalsworthy/status/1639566447583145984
My family still live in the Brecon Beacons slap bang in the middle of hill farming country; the close family of my aunt (via marriage to my uncle) farm a large number of livestock; the (subsistence level) farm my grandparents farmed is rented out to a local bloke who was the shepherd when my grandad was too ill to work anymore; despite the best efforts at warning them by my uncle and cousin, almost to a person they voted leave. Each and every one of them is now worrying about how long they will be able to keep afloat. It seems they are now learning exactly what benefits EU membership brought them. ‘Buyers’s regret’ barely starts to cover it.
Don't worry, we are a parliamentary democracy with strong progressive opposition parties, at the next general election we can vote to put a rapid end to this Brexit disaster..........
It is almost like complex international relationship issues should be left to experts to decide, rather than deferred to a largely ignorant public.
I think it will be a very long time before a new constitutional question is put to the British electorate.
You ungrateful b'stards: Britons have more confidence in EU than Westminster, poll finds Faith in bloc higher than that in UK parliament for first time in three decades of World Values Survey
The MAHUSIVE trade deal of Brexiteer dreams has landed!! https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65124741 Delivering a BOOST of 0.08% to GDP over the next decade apparently. £1.8bn worth of lovely lovely lucre flowing into the UK economy EACH YEAR according to government estimates. God knows what we'll do with the money... maybe we could put it towards offsetting the economic detriment caused by Brexit? TOP work by our negotiators! Long live Brexit!
I'm sure we can defy the gravity model and trade more with these nations far far away. Here is a map of our trade now:
Funny to read the comments of Brexiters, including Andrew Neil, crying "but we're a service economy so distance doesn't matter". Tell that to retailers, hauliers, cleaners, hospitality businesses, entertainers etc etc Joining the CPTPP now we are out of the EU is a good idea. But staying in the EU would have been much much better. This is a great thread from an actual trade expert explaining why.... https://twitter.com/DmitryOpines/status/1641336574032982016?t=9qzjzTugfQ5x32ra77TpHA&s=19…