Octopus Overlords

hepcat wrote: ↑Tue May 28, 2019 1:18 pm The birth of a red headed child on a Thursday is proof that Trump will win in 2020 for some. Me, I'm going to wait until the U.K. goes into an economic and social tailspin after they bomb out of the EU without a plan, and the subsequent attempt by Trump to backpedal and tell his supporters he was always against Brexit, before making a decision.

Although you could just show the average Trump supporter a tape of Trump saying repeatedly that Brexit was a great idea, then show that same person a new tape with Trump claiming he never said that...and they'd still fall for it. Idiocy is Trump's lifeblood.

Jaymann wrote: ↑Tue May 28, 2019 4:27 pm I'm interested to hear why Rip Jr. thinks Brexit is a good idea.

Jaymann wrote: ↑Tue May 28, 2019 4:27 pm I'm interested to hear why Rip Jr. thinks Brexit is a good idea.

Jaymann wrote: ↑Tue May 28, 2019 4:27 pm I'm interested to hear why Rip Jr. thinks Brexit is a good idea.

Boris Johnson is to go on trial for allegedly “lying and misleading the British public” about the consequences of Brexit.

A judge summonsed the Conservative MP to appear in court after a member of the public launched a private prosecution over claims EU membership was costing the UK £350m a week.

District Judge Margot Coleman threw out arguments by Mr Johnson’s lawyers that the case was a “vexatious” attempt to undermine the result of the 2016 referendum.

A written judgment handed down on Wednesday said: “Having considered all the relevant factors, I am satisfied that this is a proper case to issue the summons as requested for the three offences [of misconduct in a public office].

“The charges are indictable only. This means the proposed defendant will be required to attend this court for a preliminary hearing, and the case will then be sent to the crown court for trial.”

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Wed May 29, 2019 12:24 pm Independent

Boris Johnson is to go on trial for allegedly “lying and misleading the British public” about the consequences of Brexit.

A judge summonsed the Conservative MP to appear in court after a member of the public launched a private prosecution over claims EU membership was costing the UK £350m a week.

District Judge Margot Coleman threw out arguments by Mr Johnson’s lawyers that the case was a “vexatious” attempt to undermine the result of the 2016 referendum.

A written judgment handed down on Wednesday said: “Having considered all the relevant factors, I am satisfied that this is a proper case to issue the summons as requested for the three offences [of misconduct in a public office].

“The charges are indictable only. This means the proposed defendant will be required to attend this court for a preliminary hearing, and the case will then be sent to the crown court for trial.”

GreenGoo wrote: ↑Wed May 29, 2019 12:36 pm Only with regard to statements of fact, I would think. Maybe politicians would be a little less loose with the truth, maybe. I'm not a fan of the whole thing for reasons mentioned (abuse) but the idea is intriguing in this age of fake news. 10 years ago I would have been appalled at the idea. Now? I can't stand living in a world where heads of state deny the reality staring them in the face without consequence, political or otherwise.

President Donald Trump inserted himself into the UK’s fraught politics ahead of his official state visit to the nation Sunday, suggesting the government should “walk away” from a Brexit deal with the European Union if British demands are not met.

“I would walk away,” Trump said in an interview with The Sunday Times. “If you don’t get the deal you want, if you don’t get a fair deal, then you walk away.”

Trump also criticized the sum the UK must pay the EU as part of its exit, roughly $50 billion.

“If I were them, I wouldn’t pay $50 billion,” the president said. “That is a tremendous number.”
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Trump suggested the UK sue the EU to give the nation “ammunition” in its fight to leave, and also said the kingdom’s people would be wise to send Nigel Farage, leader of Brexit Party, to Brussels to renegotiate the separation deal.

Boris Johnson, the favorite to succeed Theresa May as Britain’s prime minister, said on Sunday he would withhold payment of the country’s European Union exit bill to try and get a better deal - a move that drew an immediate rebuke from France.

Johnson is one of 11 lawmakers vying to run the world’s fifth largest economy after May resigned as leader of the governing Conservatives on Friday, having failed to unite parliament or the country behind her Brexit plan.

Britain is mired in its deepest political crisis in decades over how, when and whether it should leave the EU - a decision that will fall to May’s successor and affect both its future role on the world stage and prosperity for generations to come.

As the contest to replace May gathered pace on Sunday, Johnson made his first major intervention, targeting the large pro-Brexit wing of his Conservative Party with a promise to take a hard line with Brussels over the terms of Britain’s exit.

“I think our friends and partners need to understand that the money is going to be retained until such time as we have greater clarity about the way forward,” Johnson told the Sunday Times. “In getting a good deal, money is a great solvent and a great lubricant.”

A source close to French President Emmanuel Macron said failure to pay the 39 billion pound ($50 billion) Brexit bill would be equivalent to a sovereign debt default.

“Not honoring your payment obligations is a failure of international commitments equivalent to a sovereign debt default, whose consequences are well known,” the source told Reuters.

The UK economy shrank 0.4 per cent in April as Brexit paralysis took hold following the proposed deadline for departure from the EU.

The latest monthly fall was four times larger than analysts had forecast and marked the second consecutive month of contraction for the UK’s economy after a 0.1 per cent drop in March.

El Guapo wrote: ↑Mon Jun 10, 2019 9:54 am I do appreciate Britain's ongoing effort to console America by showing that we are not the only ones beholden to conservative nutjobs.

Max Peck wrote: ↑Sun Jun 09, 2019 3:11 pm

Boris “In getting a good deal, money is a great solvent and a great lubricant.”

Hiccup wrote: ↑Mon Jun 10, 2019 10:04 am Just think; Boris, Trump, and Putin can be the backbone of a new alliance reminiscent of World War II. Leaders coming together to have the worlds focus turn on their machinations. If there was only a concise word or phrase to call them. Maybe, the "New Axis"?

On Tuesday, new Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) took their seats for the first time since a dramatic set of elections in May shook up the status quo.

As the new-look parliament stood for the iconic melody from Beethoven's ninth symphony, commonly known as Ode to Joy and the unofficial anthem of Europe, MEPs from the UK's Brexit Party turned their backs in protest.

Europhiles called the protest disrespectful. "What's disrespectful is to take the ancient nations states of Europe and, without asking anyone, turn them into a country," said Nigel Farage, the Brexit Party's leader.
...
As populists and anti-establishment parties dig their heels in over the next five years, things are not about to get any easier for the European institutions that embody everything so many on the continent despise.

The front-runner to be the next British prime minister, Boris Johnson, is barnstorming across the countryside, campaigning on his Latin-quoting, rumple-suited, Oxford-educated, optimistic, populist Englishness.

But most of all, Johnson is running on Brexit. Yet again.
...
To secure support from the 160,000 voting members of the Conservative Party who will choose the next prime minister — and who are very miffed, by the way, after three years of dithering — Johnson has promised that “do or die” Britain will leave the European Union in October.
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Johnson boasts that he will deliver, “come what may.”
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Johnson has committed to a leap into the unknown with his vow to leave without a withdrawal deal if one has not been sorted by Oct. 31 — the latest deadline granted by the Europeans. A no-deal departure would achieve maximum sovereignty, but it could very well leave Britain poorer, at least in the short run, according to a stack of gloomy reports from economists and the government itself.
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He said he will name only Tories who are “reconciled” to a no-deal exit to his cabinet, which could leave few chairs for moderates to help him govern — or pass his future Brexit deal, whatever that might be.

MPs have backed a bid to stop a new prime minister suspending Parliament to force through a no-deal Brexit.

A majority of 41 approved an amendment that blocks suspension between 9 October and 18 December unless a Northern Ireland executive is formed.

Four cabinet ministers, including Philip Hammond, abstained and 17 Tory MPs rebelled, including minister Margot James, who has resigned.

Leadership contender Boris Johnson has not ruled out suspending Parliament.

His rival Jeremy Hunt has ruled out this move.

In a taste of what and whom the still hypothetical Boris Johnson premiership is likely to face, the new rebel alliance in Parliament has shown its strength

LordMortis wrote: ↑Thu Jul 18, 2019 1:32 pm

In a taste of what and whom the still hypothetical Boris Johnson premiership is likely to face, the new rebel alliance in Parliament has shown its strength

I had not idea Johnson was Palpatine. I had my money on Putin.