It's as bad as, or perhaps even worse, than expected. Brandon Lewis was not exaggerating.
That means Tory MPs are going to have to nail their colours to the mast. A dozen or so have expressed opposition already - the question then is how many do, and are there enough to gut the bill of the nasty bits.
There's also the House of Lords to account for. It's more likely to have problems than the Commons does.
With both the Government will concede a little, but generally try to stick to its position. But the bill will not survive in *exactly* this form.
Probably more likely it's amended to water it down than being rejected completely.
But there is a timetable problem. It's going to be a good few weeks until this is all clear - and because the Brexit clock is ticking, the EU side cannot afford to just wait to see what comes out of the UK parliamentary process.
What does EU do?
Argue this is the UK not respecting the commitments it has previously made, and push back? Possibly by suspending negotiations until Number 10 gives some clarity?
Or keep the notion open that negotiations continue - albeit slowly, and at administrator level?
The EU would rather avoid being manoeuvred into the position of it being the one that caused a breakdown (that would be how the UK press would play it).
But likewise the EU is also answerable to publics in the EU Member States, and a strong reaction towards rogue neighbour UK might go down well in Paris or Berlin.
I think we can now be pretty certain no one will be dousing the 🔥 UK side.
And all of this surely brings No Deal somewhat closer. Maybe those columnists in The Guardian saying Johnson wants a Deal earlier this week were a bit off?
/ends
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This morning I’m one of the first new regional trains Maubeuge 🇫🇷 - Charleroi Central 🇧🇪 #CrossBorderRail
It was a bit of a #fail at the station. I needed a ticket to Erquelinnes, the first station in Belgium. But prior to today trains from Maubeuge didn’t stop there!
Ticket machine ⛔️
Ask at the ticket office. “Le train ne s’arrête pas à Erquelinnes!” I politely told the SNCF employee that yes, it did stop at Erquelinnes. I explained the situation to the SNCB train manager and he laughed, confirmed it did stop there, and I bought the ticket online!
Delays in my favour. Maybe? S-Bahn to FFM Flughafen. Get a late running ICE to Köln Messe/Deutz there. Then try to blag my way onto a Thalys Köln Hbf to Bruxelles? It’s a long shot but it might work…
ICE 612 Frankfurt Flughafen to Köln Messe/Deutz.
This is why accurate live running data in apps matters. Were this not running 10 min late I’d not have caught it… but live data allowed me to plan a connection that’d otherwise not work
Already on the 2nd train of the day: TGV Montbard - Paris. All being well I’ll be in Denmark tonight… but that feels a long way off just now! #EGPCongress#crossborderrail
Across Paris RER Gare de Lyon to Gare du Nord, walk to Gare de l’Est (faster than changing into a Métro to Est) and it’s onto the TGV to Mannheim. So far so good, but I banked on this bit working 🙂 #EGPCongress#CrossBorderRail
Franco-German train service. Very French prices! And no, it’s too early (and expensive) for #beerontrains 😉
Jeez. It could take until 2025 until TGVs are approved for the line.
And the whole effing point of Stuttgart21 - of which this line is a part - was to create a Paris-München high speed corridor!
Really, how can everyone mess up *so badly*?
And to those going “yeah but there are few TGVs anyway” true, but so it goes on and on. International services are the lowest priority - even when *they were the stated rationale for building the line*