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PM up for her speech news.sky.com/watch-live
She keeps on looking up in a way that looks very weird on camera. Is she pleading with God?
She said 'success of Brexit' and I got a shiver of traumatic memory.
Repeats the dreary nonsense that over 80% of voters backed parties which promised to deliver a deal. Technically true. False in objective reality.
It's been a couple of minutes and I am fading fast.
Quite passive aggressive element to her speech, especially when she says if only 30 more MPs had backed her, it would have happened. Can't hide the anger.
This, apparently, is a 'new Brexit deal'.
Brady promise: Alternative arrangements will need to be in place by Dec 2020 (hah).
Here is the wriggle room which makes it meaningless
Also a promise on Northern Ireland having a say on changes in backstop.
Signs up to Nandy amendment on parliament voting for future trade agreement objectives and then voting on the final outcome of them.
New workers rights rules, to make sure UK workers get same rights as EU. I guess this is her way of saying workers rights dynamics, on condition of Commons vote.
Customs. Here comes the fun.
She admits a tension between independence and protecting trade. Sounds like something is coming here.
She says Govt proposal already put forward idea of independent trade and customs union advantages. Labour, she says, has a different unicorn.
She outlines the bizarre model she put forward, including a 'customs union for goods only', whatever that means.
Basically says parliament will be able to chose between her proposal and a 'compromise option'.
Uuuuuuuhhhhhh
Saying something on second referendum that doesn't sound entirely negative.
OK she just made a major appeal to second referendum MPs which sounds very positive, but let's not get carried away.
This is exactly what she said:
"The govt will include in the withdrawal agreement bill at introduction requirement to vote on whether to hold a second referendum. This must take place before the withdrawal agreement can be ratified."
If the House of COmmons wereto vote for a referendum, it would be requiring the government to make provisions for such a referendum"
I think whichever way you look at it that is a massive moment.
She has basically just stuffed this thing full of toys for everyone - alternative arrangements, second referendum, workers right, DUP guarantees. Toys for everyone. Except many of those toys are built to destroy the other toys.
May's reply to Peston suggests she will let Commons decide on what was in referendum - ie Remain option - presumably by amendments.
So what exactly is she putting forward? A referendum pledge intended to be shaped by MPs, not govt. And which the govt will presumably oppose.
This is the weirdest thing. The government is proposing a concept, but not how it would be enacted.
Actually it's much worse than that. The bill would include "a requirement to vote on whether to hold a second referendum". So passing the bill wouldn't guarantee a second referendum. It would just guarantee a vote on whether to have one.
So basically he offer to People's Vote MPs is: vote for my deal and I'll let you vote on whether to hold a referendum later.
Quite a lot of problems with this. Firstly: Trust. No-one trusts her. No-on should trust her. The whole act of having to do logical archaeology on any promise she makes to work out what it means shows how untrustworthy she really is.
Second: There is no content to the promise. Is it her deal vs Malthouse? Her deal vs no-deal? Her Deal vs Remain? Fuck knows. We just know govt will vote against it.
That makes it no better than an amendment. And MPs can put amendments themselves when they like.
So yeah, not much there really. As a piece of strategy, it is probably foolhardy in the traditional Theresa May way: Offering too little to bring opponents over, but enough to lose some of those who might have supported her from her side.
That's especially a shame as you might - just about, probably, maybe - have gotten her deal through with a detailed commitment to a confirmatory ballot on it.
Would've been fun too. Everyone would have seriously lost their shit.
Still a major moment though. Despite the desperation and the deception and the fact she probably is going down - the prime minister just validated the idea of a second referendum.
She actively put forward a proposal for a vote on a referendum. Each time a decision like that is taken by No10/the leader of the opposition, it pushes the line of acceptability a little further.
