BREXIT - A Poll & Discussion

[FD2]

I hope so.

[barkingmad]

Some more interesting snippets on that wonderful place in Brussels or Strasbourg or wherever they are this week (at our expense).

[om15]

We are used to the strident and anti leave/Tory bias on Channel 4 and the BBC, their constant hectoring and shrill attitude to the Conservatives and the Brexit Party.
It was good to see that responsible and professional presentation standards are still in place at ITV, tonight they hosted the Tory Leader question time husting with Boris and Hunt, this was presented fairly and pleasantly by Julie Etchingham, the questions from the audience were well chosen, no trick put you down questions, but simple straightforward invitations to both candidates to put their positions clearly.

I must admit that I came away thinking that Boris Johnson would be the better of the two as Prime Minister because of the final phrase that he used, words to the effect of
"we have tried the managerial approach to Brexit, that has failed, now we must just get on and do it."

[Boac]

Yes, but they should have cut the microphones when the waffling went on. Boris in particular just would not stop waffling NOR answer any questions directly! A true journalist and politician. I was personally disappointed at the way the compere handled it. She should have just shut the speaker up when they over-ran or interrupted.

[Pontius Navigator]

Just watching it now. Concur about voice over. I experienced a superb conference room in 6ATAF Only one Mic live at a time.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

He has a commanding lead with the only people who can vote. He would be an idiot if he directly answered a question which might trip him up. Actually holding anything on TV was always going to be pointless; Lynton will have told Boris to STFU on the difficult stuff, and run out the clock on the rest. Politics 101.

[Pontius Navigator]

Strikes me that PM Boris would interrupt his cabinet ministers and over ride discussion. I had hoped he would act as a chairman with departments headed by experienced ministers who would get on with the job. Now I think he would be more dogmatic and brook no argument.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

I don't think he has a lot of choice. Most of his parliamentary party are Remainers, and he hasn't enough competence around to assemble a cufflink box let alone a Cabinet. Chuck in that he seems to be one of the very few who have realised that the Tory Party are dead if they don't deliver Brexit by Hallowe'en, and I think he has no option but to ride roughshod. I would in his shoes, and I've always run the Chairman approach to leadership in the civvy world.

[Woody]

I think that it’s a wind up

Michael Gove has sensationally admitted that it was wrong for the official Leave campaign to whip up fears about immigration, including his own ***** lies about Turkey joining the EU.

Gove, a horrendous little weasel whose face you’d never tire of punching, made the remarks to distance himself from the utter disaster that Brexit is becoming:

“I mean, yes, I did make up some stuff about Turkey joining the EU and it having a negative affect on security and the NHS. But that was then! We didn’t actually think we were going to win the referendum. I never intended for anyone to take my words seriously.”

The fact that Gove is a Tory does lend some weight to the argument that a reasonable person should have known he was lying, however despite this, it does seem that some people actually did think he was telling the truth.

[Sisemen]

I go on the fact that the snivelling turncoat of an MP for Grantham reckons that Boris is no good is good enough for me. Boris for PM !

[Slasher]

I've learnt through life the bloke who the Left/Liberal/Green/PC twits hate with hysterical vengeance, then that's the guy to vote for.

[Bob]

You are gullible, Boris is a lightweight, he won't deliver a real Brexit
Dominic Rab was the man for the Job, but the Tory Party is full of remainers so they eliminated him before the membership vote.

As I have repeated endlessly, Brexit will not be allowed, the Tory Party has too many fingers in the pie.

Ironicly had Comrade Corbyn been in power he would have negotiated a better deal than May as he actually wanted to leave.

[om15]

Well, we have a new Fuhrer elected (just) this evening, the Teutonic Valkyrie has laid out the new Reich Policy, a European Army (doesn't matter if it doesn't work and the tanks don't start), member states not having a veto on EU foreign policy, minimum wage across Europe, and wait for it, a Brexit Extension on a plate.
This Fierce Frau is intent on max federalisation, so we have a Kraut who is also a woman as the most powerful person in Europe, not a lot to go wrong there is there.

I agree with Bob, Boris can't string a sentence together coherently let alone destroy the forces of remain, Nigel is giving it some stick in the background in the EU Parliament and Channel 4 are in a flat spin because they don't know who to backstab next.

[barkingmad]

Nige reckons electing her makes UK even more happy to be jumping ship.
Time will tell.
Pity the Barclay man didn't go in there from the start with the same hard line-we might be in a totally different place?

[Woody]

Politicians should really keep off Twitter, Jacob neglecting the fact that the English captain is Irish

Jacob Rees-Mogg
@Jacob_Rees_Mogg
A d..n close run thing, we clearly don't need Europe to win... #CricketWorldCupFinal

[OFSO]

After examining the Fierce Frau's record as defence minister of Germany, I can't see Europe's enemies (who they ?) trembling at the thought of a Euro Army. Mind you, the EU taxpayers might (and should).

[Capetonian]

This Telegraph columnist doesn't appear to hold the woman in very high regard.

Fanatical Von der Leyen is the final nail in the coffin for shambolic EU 'democracy'

Matthew Patten


German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen speaks during her visit to EUTM military training mission in Koulikoro, Mali,
The mood in Brussels is sombre Credit: REUTERS

Ursula Von der Leyen, the controversial Defence Minister of the Bundeswehr, got the approval of the EU Parliament to become President of the EU Commission by just nine votes. She was the only candidate, selected by the EU Council, and will have a central role in Brexit negotiations with the the British government.

Here in the EU Parliament, where most deals are stitched up way before any vote, that’s as close as it gets and certainly not the ringing endorsement that Donald Tusk asked Parliament for two weeks ago.

It comes after a days of intense wheeler-dealing, with Mrs Von der Leyen walking the corridors of Strasbourg and Brussels to lobby for the Presidency. MEPs from all political parties had expressed serious concerns about the abandonment of their precious Spitzenkandidaten process, which in theory ties the choice of President to the results of the European election.

In selecting her, the European Council turned their backs on Parliament’s candidates. There were also serious questions about her competency. Dubbed ‘the Chris Grayling of German politics’, concerns were raised about allegations of mismanagement and overspending at the German Defence Ministry under her leadership.

Yesterday saw the climax of the process here in the Strasbourg session of the European Parliament. Mrs Von der Leyen started the day with a speech to MEPs in the Hemicycle, the Parliament’s space-age debating chamber, setting out her vision for Europe.

Listening from the Brexit Party’s seats at the back to Chamber, it was clear that it was going to a naked bid to the pro-federalists, underlining her previous support for a United States of Europe.

Starting with ‘we have to do it the European way’ and ‘the world needs more Europe’ her proposals included an EU minimum wage, a capital markets union, a European unemployment insurance scheme, and most controversially, the abandonment of the national veto on foreign policy, another step towards a European army and handing over the decision to go to war to the EU.

She also promised the deepening of Europe’s economic and monetary union, a common consolidated corporate tax base, to be sympathetic towards an approach from Britain for further delay of Brexit.

Von der Leyen concluded saying ‘we need to move towards full co-decision power for the European Parliament and away from unanimity for climate, energy, social and taxation policies. She finished with a rallying cry ‘Long Live Europe, Vive la Europe!’ underlining her support for a United States of Europe.

The pro-Federalists in the room lapped it up, rising to their feet to applaud Mrs Von der Leyen’s speech. But elsewhere, the response wasn’t so happy. German MEP, Mr Meuthen from the Eurosceptic ID Group, commented that ‘nobody will rue your departure in Germany to become European President.’

Our own Nigel Farage raised the temperature stating that her candidacy ‘is an attempt from the EU to control every single aspect of our lives,’ adding ‘she wants to build a centralised, undemocratic, updated form of communism where nation state parliaments will cease to have any relevance at all.’

As ever at the EU, the session closed for lunch. The vote was scheduled for later in the evening and Ursula Von der Leyen took the opportunity to tour the committee rooms meeting with key groups. The buzz in the Parliament’s busy bars was that the deal had been done, but few were happy and it might be a close run thing.

So to the vote itself. A secret ballot done in the old-fashioned way ticking a box on a scrap of paper. There was real tension in the room when it came to announcing the result, with the candidate a solitary figure in the pit of the Chamber facing a phalanx of photographers waiting to catch her reaction. She needed 374 votes for a majority. She scraped in with 383, a majority of just 9, much closer than anyone expected.

Cue rapturous applause from the Federalists on dodging a bullet. And a delighted and much relieved Von der Leyen embraced her supporters on the news. The Chair of the Parliament halted the proceedings to ‘call President Tusk and let him know the good news.’

But back in the bars, the mood was sombre. Parliament’s bluff had been called, MEPs had rolled over, the democratic can had been kicked another five years down the road. Many contradictory promises had been given to secure the vote, how could they be delivered? The closeness of the vote meant that the bitter battle between Federalists and Eurosceptics remained unresolved.

Britain now knows the name of the new Commission President, the most powerful position in the EU. Ursula Von der Leyen, the only candidate, scraped in on the back of a federalist dream and manifesto. The European Parliament is not a happy place. It’s definitely time to leave.

[barkingmad]

And so the wheel turns full circle.
Where have we heard such German aspirations before?

The Führer gave expression to his unshakable conviction that the Reich will be the master of all Europe. We shall yet have to engage in many fights, but these will undoubtedly lead to most wonderful victories. From there on the way to world domination is practically certain. Whoever dominates Europe will thereby assume the leadership of the world.
— Joseph Goebbels, Reich Minister of Propaganda, 8 May 1943[5]

And this from Cecile von Renthe-Fink, Nazi diplomat in 1943 issued with von Ribbentrop:

He succeeded in keeping Petain under control but Renthe-Fink's real claim to fame lies in a memorandum he drafted in August 1943 for Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop on the idea of a united Europe.

"It was to be a confederacy under German leadership "based on free cooperation among independent nations." He proposed a customs-free economic union with a single central bank and eventually a common currency. There was to be a common transport plan to build an integrated system of railroads, river and air transport and autobahns, and a special plan for agriculture".

[Woody]

Boris kippered

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-49030873

[llondel]

If they'd done that instead of invading Czechoslovakia and Poland then it might have turned out better.