Before I disappear, a few key reminders of the staggering route to summer which Britain's political life has taken this year.
Warning. You might get dizzy, & feel slightly sick.
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Memories can be short, so remember Britain agreed to pay a financial settlement in recognition of its obligations & liabilities.
ec.europa.eu/commission/sit…
"In the absence of agreed solutions, the UK will maintain full alignment with those rules of the Internal Market/Customs Union which, now or in the future, support N-S cooperation, the all island economy & the...1998 Agreement."
Brexiters have had some 2-43 years to stake out their wish-list for a post-EU future, but, oddly, the EU seem rather more adept at publishing their wishlists (or negotiating guidelines) first.
So it was for the transition period. consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press…
Govt barely blinked.
Henry VIII was back in fashion. Powers & all.
Oh, wait. That was Oct 2017.
No, the Mansion House speech next. A spectacularly inappropriately named place, given the economic impact of Brexit...
Well, not the govt, or @jeremycorbyn, who both continue to feed the Brexit benefit myth.
You could just see Mark Carney, today, or @faisalislam news.sky.com/story/councils…), or @SadiqKhan london.gov.uk/city-hall-blog….
independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…
Or how about John Redwood, advising investors to pull out their money from the UK since, y'know, not going so well...
theguardian.com/politics/2017/…
Remember, though, the govt was insisting it was vital that 'exit day' be defined in #WithdrawalBill as 29 March 2019. 11pm
But as @MichelBarnier pointed out, cheekily, "backstop means backstop".
The PM's proposal "raised more questions than answers."
Which could be said about Brexit as a whole. A giant question mark.
Had anyone seen a big red bus emblazoned with 'fun facts' for a long while?
Turned out by June that @theresa_may had boarded that bus with NHS slogans too.
theguardian.com/society/2018/j…
Even that ardent supporter of Brexit, Priti Patel, was no longer sure what the benefits actually were:
We were back to Brexit means Brexit.
The Lords steamed in, & argued their corner.
The rebels felt their way forwards & were branded traitors.
As blithely as Plmnt had agreed to voting for a barely thought-through referendum..
As blindly as Parliament had agreed to voting to trigger Article 50, because it was the 'will of the people', without a clue.
Including that 'exit day' be defined as 29 March 2019.
And that EU law effectively be frozen from that point.
But it's a heatwave. De-freeze.
The British Prime Minister put into action an inspired Cabinet Cluedo away-day at Chequers.
David Davis, who’d been role playing Col Mustard, finally put into action his much promised resignation, & left the parlour.
Suddenly, those outright lies worth of Turkey posters, and that dog-whistling “feels” inconvenient.
Ever the knight in shining armour, he reached for May’s hand again as he shoved her plan and leadership rather rudely off the yellow brick road.
He didn’t even wait for the Queen (not #fakenews btw).
Meanwhile, a new #WhitePaper was out. I do love a good #WhitePaper but this one had me in stitches. I renamed it #RepealTheRepeal.
Guess what? The Withdrawal Act suddenly didn’t make sense any more. Who knew?
Karma for our Kipling fan.
But, to Theresa May, the will of the people was frozen in time.
Even if we all emptied the shelves of Tesco or Asda.
But, as this thread shows, memory is short when it comes to Brexit.
Too much happens. Too much fogs brains & leaves is glazed over.
Too many Brexiter promises are forgotten.
Something is very wrong when a country sees the disaster ahead & refuses, not even to say stop, but even just to press pause.
Rolling news makes a rolling sensation. We can still say stop.
I’m skipping off to enjoy sunshine & sea, family & friends.
Return rested, reinvigorated and ready to make a difference.
Until September, Twitter.