Eh? I thought it was rather good!

(Did I repeat what Mali said? Soz if that's the case, Mali. Too subtle for me )

I think it's a band Curio likes.

Are people holding parties to watch the Prime Minister's big speech tomorrow? I'm really struggling to concentrate today what with all the anticipation in the air. It's like Christmas Eve.

Sitting at her desk, Theresa May is drafting her Florence speech for Friday. The time has come, she finally decides, to put country before party; to abandon the vain attempt to bind together her party’s utterly incompatible factions. What’s the point? There’s no possible EU deal that would induce John Redwood and Liam Fox to agree with Anna Soubry and Ken Clarke, no fence left to sit on. She must become the prime minister no one thinks she is.

“The time has come,” she writes, “to face the truth about Brexit. Our people have voted to leave, and so we shall. But no one asked how, on what terms or at what national or personal sacrifice. Nothing on that small ballot paper gave me any clue as to what each of 17,410,742 voters had in mind. So it falls to me to interpret the people’s will. And, as my chancellor says, no one voted to become poorer.

“In the 15 months since that vote, I have studied every option. I have listened to experts – yes, I believe in expertise. Businesses small and large almost with one voice warn that leaving the single market and the customs union risks devastating manufacturing, finance and services. Already we see banks and companies setting up new headquarters across the Channel. I see talented Europeans ready to depart, not least from the NHS: they need reassurance now.” The words begin to flow.

“To stay within the single market and the customs union, we must pay our dues: we will strike a fair price, fair for the gain that buys our economy. We will leave the EU’s councils and its parliament, as the vote requires. But we are not leaving our closest neighbours and old allies. Instead we shall seek to stay in the EEA, alongside Switzerland and Norway, who are thriving. And so shall we. There is no other solution to the problem of the Northern Irish border: the EU cannot leave open a back door; and it is my duty not to jeopardise the hard-won peace agreement. Nor will we put at risk the great good brought by all our fellow European citizens who have chosen to live with us, interwoven in the rich fabric of our cultural life.

“The time has come to refute the delirious fantasies of those who have led us out of the EU. My colleague Boris has just given another firework display of his own imagined glorious future. Words are his milieu, but mine is the real world in which ordinary people earn their living and hope to flourish. I have yet to see from him, or any of those who would plunge us over the cliff edge, any details as to how cutting off half our trade will do us anything but harm. I am shocked any minister of mine would wilfully ignore the chair of the UK Statistics Authority on a matter of fact.

“Some will still follow these pied pipers spinning airy dreams. No doubt some will challenge me. But I will stand and fight for the interests of my country against the whims of elements in my own party. I am prime minister of the country first, leader of my party second. Protecting the people is my prime duty, and I will condone no damage to all who have already suffered a hard decade since the start of this global recession.

“Judge me not as a party politician, but as a prime minister delivering my people’s wish to take Britain out of the European Union while seeing our country thrive and prosper. Out of the EU, yes, but we will stay close to our good neighbours after 70 years of mutual prosperity and peace. Here in Italy, as in France, Germany and all the EU nations, we rely on one another’s strengths and our common civilisation in a dangerous world. In Brexit, Britain will neither harm itself nor its good friends.”

Her peroration complete, she sits back to consider the words she has written, sighs, crumples the paper and throws it into the bin. She dare not, after all.

But it'll still be good, right?

Grayling on R4 this morning spoke absolute twatwaffle about May's speech and how Britain will change. It was incredibly nebulous, and he sounded like he was just reading it ans didn't believe it himself. I was amused.

I just made the mistake of listening to that. It was awful. Almost nothing of substantive content was said. What a waste of time.

He's as dumb as a box of hair.

I spent a couple of hours with him in his Parliament office when he was shadow transport sec'. He's as dumb as a box of hair whose entire career seems to be thanks to the fact that he willingly plays the role of lightning rod for the leader.

Also, she really can't do rousing speeches, and shouldn't try. That part was painful.

May just basically said that she wants a two year transition where basically nothing will change. Brexit can just firmly kicked two more years down the road

Do you think the EU will say "No deal, or stay" come 2019 and push away any transition stuff?

If they don't agree to the transition, we fall out of the EU in March 2019 automatically.

I'm pretty sure that if we came begging back, the EU would find a way. But I'm not sure we'd get the rebate back.

'Let's think creatively'.

Ugh.

"Ceci n'est pas une Brexit"

We look forward to the United Kingdom's negotiators explaining the concrete implications of Prime Minister Theresa May's speech.

Low effort Photoshop after reading that the cost of Brexit per household is about £4.2K compared to £317 for staying in.

Low effort Photoshop after reading that the cost of Brexit per household is about £4.2K compared to £317 for staying in.

I increasingly picture Brexit as one of those criminally underwhelming Christmas theme parks in which the UK specialises

Doubt has been cast over one of the longest-standing economic claims in the Brexit debate after a Sky investigation revealed that Britain's real exports to outside the EU are actually far lower than official figures suggest.

The Government's trade statistics show that, over the past five years, the share of UK goods being exported to the European Union was only 46% - a fact frequently referred to by those who campaigned for Brexit.

However, this number is severely distorted by the flow of gold bullion in and out of London - the world's major centre for the trade of this precious metal.

When gold is excluded from the trade figures, the numbers are transformed - with half of UK physical exports over the past five years going to the EU.
...
Since the vast majority of this gold is shipped to non-EU countries such as China, Switzerland and India, the upshot of these gold figures is to swell the total amount of goods reported as being shipped outside Europe.
...
In the fourth quarter of last year, a sharp outflow of gold showed up as a sudden spike in exports, causing some economists to conclude that Britain's manufacturers were starting to benefit from a post-Brexit jump in confidence.

In fact, the spike was primarily a sign of investors pulling gold out of vaults in London.

Ah, the joys of our constitution! That's made me realise that I've always interpreted 'session' as 'year' when thinking about the Parliament Acts.

The downside is that if the bill doesn't pass and the EU don't agree to extra time we'll be even more fucked in 2019 than we currently will be.

it appears that so many otherwise intelligent people seem hell-bent on advocating something ridiculously stupid.