THE TELEGRAPH ARTICLE CRITICISING MAY

There is a rather interesting article from the Guido Fawkes website about a article that was supposed to be printed in The Telegraph in July last year but was apparently pulled after pressure from her supporters (HERE). It is in fact surprisingly critical of her and her time as Home Secretary.

She is described by David Laws as "secretive, rigid, controlling, even vengeful minister, so unpleasant to colleagues that a dread of meetings with her was something that cabinet members from both parties could bond over". It confirms what one of her constituents wrote in The New European some time ago - she is apparently not a very nice person at all.

TELEGRAPH - EU SAYS WE MUST STAY IN TILL 2022

The Telegraph is now claiming the EU say we will have to stay in until 2022. They have suggested a three year transition during which we will need to comply with all normal commitments - ECJ, customs, etc (HERE).

TELEGRAPH HAS PROBLEMS DECIDING WHAT'S HAPPENING

The Telegraph has some mixed messages today. Alastair Heath says Brexit hasn't even started yet and Britain is thriving (HERE) while at the same time the "failing" Eurozone has overtaken us (HERE) and in yet another piece it says the FTSE hit new heights while the pound fell on a resurgent dollar and "Brexit fears".

Meanwhile in the Brexit Podcast they say the British people took a leap in the dark and landed safely (HERE). It almost seems a shame to tell them we haven't actually left the cliff yet!

What can you say about that except, Oh dear, Oh dear, Oh dear.

CHARLES "MAD CHARLIE" MOORE

The tone of some brexiteers is beginning to wear a little thin. They have so little confidence that they have to continually press the case for leaving as if they were still campaigning.  Charles Moore in this Saturday's Telegraph has written a classic (HERE).  The headline says it all:

Only those who don't want to leave see Brexit as mind-blowingly complicated

Well of course this is true, as a five year old could tell you. And so is the opposite although he doesn't say so. Only those who don't want to remain see Brexit as very simple. In fact at the end of the article he says, "Surely brexit is in that category of things which are simple but not easy" as if it can be likened to chopping a tree down or clearing the guttering on your three storey town house.

The real question for Mr Moore is - will leaving be "mind blowingly complicated" or not? Most people, even David Davis, say it will be the most complex task undertaken by the British government since 1945. I look forward to the day Mr Moore admits he was wrong about brexit.

WE MAY BE ON THE CUSP OF A BOOM (NO, REALLY)

Matthew Lynn (who forecast our growth in 2017 will be far ahead of the EU - see sidebar) is at it again (HERE). He thinks brexit is blinding us to the real danger of an out of control boom!

Mr Lynn seems to be the only commentator actually forecasting this so it may be that he has better foresight than everyone else - or he's just plain wrong.

THE QUEEN BACKED BREXIT (SAY THE BBC)

The BBC are reporting that the Queen backed brexit although the palace is refusing to comment (HERE).  As you might expect the brexit newspapers have all seized on this as if the Queen, however much we might respect her, is some kind of super authoritative economist whose opinion trumps that of The Treasury and the 95% of economists that think we will be much worse off.

I am afraid her opinion is just that. An opinion, and just as wrong as all the other leavers.

Some papers I note are arguing that we will be better off by 2030 compared to where we are now. But this misses the point. If our competitors are becoming wealthier it is no comfort that we are also getting wealthier, but just not by so much.  We cannot afford the standard of living we have at the moment and any reduction is income is not going to improve matters.

SELF DELUSION IN THE PRESS

Both The Telegraph (HERE) and The Spectator (HERE) and probably others too, have run editorial pieces this week exhorting everyone to be optimistic about Britain’s future outside the EU. Like Mrs May they now expect remainers to do a volte face and become enthusiastic leavers. This is not going to happen.

In many ways the journalists who produce these pieces have little or no idea what they are talking about but have an infinite capacity for self-delusion, a bit like England football supporters. No matter what the evidence of past performance is they continue to have an unshakeable belief in the team. They both seem to forget what life was like in the late 60s and early 70s and why we joined the EU in the first place. 

At least then we had industries like steel, cars, tyres, motorbikes, cement, energy, chocolate and a host of others. They are now either gone or are foreign owned. If we were unable to succeed then how on earth do they think we'll do it now?

ANDREW MARR - AN OPTIMIST FOR BREXIT

Andrew Marr has written a piece for The New Statesman (HERE) titled An Optimists Guide to Brexit which demonstrates perfectly why journalists should stick to talking about things they know. 

He says we should be optimistic about our future prospects and thinks the government should have a more "direct influence on business and industry generally" something he says "politicians have been talking about since the 1970s, from Harold Wilson to George Osborne, to relatively little effect".

He talks about the "lack of German-style support for industrial manufacturing" and "Some of the measures the left would like to take to support and protect the steel industry, or engineering, or to enhance our growing advantage in robotics, are made impossible not by British Conservatives, but by EU regulations on competitiveness and state funding".

One can only shake one's head at the sheer wrongheadedness of it all. If he thinks Germany's success is all down to government support and that we have a growing advantage in robotics he is truly living on a different planet to the rest of us.  Either he has made it all up which would be bad enough or he's been talking to industrialists who think like that, which would be even worse.  As for the government influencing things - God help us!

PRO BREXIT NEWSPAPERS PANICKING

Richard Corbett, the labour MEP, thinks pro brexit newpapers are beginning to panic (HERE). He has criticised the right-wing press about his amendments to an “obscure report” about Brexit as “silly and contrived” and said they're concerted attack on him shows they are panicking over the likelihood of a second EU referendum. Richard Corbett, deputy leader of Labour’s MEPs, was accused of “plotting to sabotage Brexit” by amending European Parliament legislation. He also drew criticism for suggesting Leave voters may want a second referendum in order to change their mind.

This chimes a little with Nick Cohen's piece (HERE) questioning why the right wing press is so angry. Nick thinks it's because they fear "the demagogic rage and charlatan tricks they have used against others will one day be used against them". One day the lies used by the leave campaign and the press will be exposed for what they are.

HANNAN ALWAYS THE OPTIMIST

Hannan says we will get a good deal from the EU (HERE) in his usual blindly optimistic way. It occurred to me that whatever deal we do get from the EU Mr Hannan will tell us it is a good one, the absolute bees kness. No matter that we will be significantly poorer, that unemployment will rise and the UK will shatter. No, they will be as nothing compared to the deal Theresa May signs up to.

The New Statesman has a take down of Hannan's piece on Conservative Home (HERE) which is always worth reading.  Nationalists like Hannan are, as Orwell noted, capable of stunning self deception in their cause.

THE HIGH COURT'S DECISION

The High Court's ruling last week is continuing to cause waves. 

The PM writing in The Telegraph , has said,”Parliament voted to put the decision about our membership of the EU in the hands of the British people”. But this is wrong. The referendum was advisory only as was made perfectly clear beforehand but more importantly, as the government has already conceded in court! 

Compare Mrs May's words with these taken from the court transcripts - 

“His counsel [David Davis, Secretary of State] made clear that (the SO’s) does not contend that the referendum Act 2015 supplies a statutory authority for the crown to give notice under Article 50”

But members of the government have continued to claim the decision has been made. Meanwhile Tory MPs were demanding the PM takes action against the newspapers (HERE) but when finally Liz Truss (Lord Chancellor) and then Theresa May spoke out (HERE) it was a bland statement offering no condemnation of the papers and actually supporting a free press!  The Bar Council are outraged (HERE).

Others say the judges are absolutely correct (HERE) and some people think the press has lost touch with reality (HERE) and I think they are right.  Nigel Farage is reported to be arranging a march of 100,000 people on the Supreme Court when it hears the appeal in December. We are entering dangerous times for our democracy.

Incidentally, Sky News are reporting the government is already drafting up a bill - presumably as an insurance policy in case their appeal to the supreme court fails (as I am sure it will) - see HERE

THE BREXIT NEWSPAPERS

There is a lot of vitriol and xxxxx reserved to those who won the High Court case, especially from the right wing press and the fervent Brexiteers.  Jacob Rees Mogg has finally flipped and says even if it takes a new election, a "purge" of Europhiles and a thousand new peers (HERE) brexit will be achieved!

The Telegraph says it is judges against the people (HERE). The Daily Mail talks about the "fury" over "out of touch" judges (HERE). The Sun says Mrs May must not let down 17m voters (HERE) - apparently the other 16m and the 14m or so who didn't vote can go to hell.  UKIP were warning about riots and a revolution (HERE) while Nigel Farage talks of betrayal (HERE).  Other talk of remoaners "last throw of the dice" (HERE).  Suzanne Evans and Douglas Carswell think the judges should be locked up or dismissed - like they do in Turkey or Zimbabwe and North Korea.

All of this is utterly disgraceful but horribly predictable. But there are voices of reason out there. Someone (HERE) says the supremacy of parliament is the whole idea of brexit! Elsewhere another writer says if you think the courts are interfering in democracy you don't understand how Britain works (HERE).  Will Gore in The Independent says the pro-brexit media has finally lost touch with reality (HERE).

Liz Truss the Lord Chancellor has finally come out in support of the judges after two days of silence and Mrs May is urged to do the same although she has said nothing yet (HERE).

And finally if brexiteers think this is the last throw of the dice I am afraid they are very much mistaken - it is only the first!

LEGAL MISUNDERSTANDINGS

There is a lot of misunderstanding of yesterday's legal decision and a lot of vitriol towards the judges in the Mail (they are described as enemies of the people - very dangerous stuff).  David Davis and IDS were both on TV decrying the High Court and saying the people had made a decision.

But this is fundamentally wrong. The people were asked in an advisory referendum. No decision has been made yet and the whole purpose of the case was to decide who gets to make the decision. Is it parliament or is it the executive?  The court decided, quite rightly it must be parliament.

It would be a surprise if the Supreme Court were to disagree with the judgement.  Only parliament can take away rights give to us by parliament. If it were otherwise parliament itself would be irrelevant.

AL JAZEERA AND A HARD BREXIT

It sometimes takes a complete outsider to put things into perspective. Al Jazeera, the Islamic broadcaster has a website where a British journalist has written an article which might make sobering reading for passionate Brexiteers (HERE).

Alastair Sloan says we should be aware of the political power of the European People's Party, the EPP and it's capacity for spite. Merkel and Tusk are members of the group and the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier is the EPP's vice president. The EPP is passionate about the political aims of the EU and were upset when Cameron flounced out of the centre right grouping in 2009. Trade is much less important to them than it is to brexiteers and Mr Sloan thinks we should forget about the forthcoming negotiations being about trade, it will be political and they will decide what to do with the UK without us having any real influence at all.

HANNAN AGAIN

Daniel Hannan has an article in The Telegraph (HERE) extolling the virtues of free trade and warning that we shouldn't lock ourselves away behind protectionist barriers.  He argues that the EU should offer us access to the single market "as we become more competitive".  Quite how we are going to do this he (like most of the Brexiteers) doesn't explain.

I wonder how he is going to sell this to steelworkers in Port Talbot or farmers facing competition from Africa or India is going to be interesting.  In fact anyone in manufacturing (which as Patrick Minford has already said will be eliminated) should be a bit apprehensive.

If journalists and politicians jobs were at risk you can bet Mr Hannan would be banging the drum for as many protectionist barriers as possible.

GROWING INTOLERANCE

For years we have been fed a diet of poison about the EU by The Daily Mail, Daily Express and The Sun with very little in reply. We accepted their right to be critical of the EU and we accept a free press should hold the powerful to account.

But now we are told that any criticism or wish to reverse the decision to leave the EU is tantamount to treason. In fact a conservative councillor has even started a petition calling for support for the EU to be added to acts which constitute treason.

The Independent carries an article (HERE) about the tabloid press raging against those who want to "subvert the will of the people".  This is the people who they have spent thirty years brainwashing with nonsense stories about bent bananas and non recyclable teabags.  Apparently, they think because 52% have spoken the other 48% must shut up.  Democracy does not work like that. After an election the opposition continue to oppose and that is how it should be.

Moreover, it is the vacuum of policy which is causing the rising panic among the tabloids and this is no one's fault but their own. They had no idea what the 52% were being urged to vote for.

MATTHEW PARRIS

Matthew Parris has written a piece for his Times blog (HERE) and it's well worth reading. He, like many of us, is concerned at the vitriol used against those of us who want to remain in the EU and points out that many of the articles attacking remoaners are a smoke screen for a lack of progress towards the Brexit they assured us would be quick and easy.  He writes:

For my friend, Times colleague and Leave campaigner, Michael Gove, to spend every paragraph — yes, every paragraph — of his column yesterday railing against the side that lost the European referendum campaign attests more eloquently to suppressed panic than anything we the vanquished could write. Edvard Munch’s The Scream hovered over his words.

The Freudians call it displacement activity, and it tells us so much. To our intense disquiet we find the victors, hollow-cheeked, still stalking the battlefield, kicking irritably at corpses, months after their war was won.  

Bayonet the wounded all you like, Leavers, but the nation waits to hear your plans. You have the baton. Where are you going to run?

The initiative is yours. We await your proposals and we accept your right — even (as I have written) your duty — to proceed with them. But we want to know what they are. How do you plan to make this thing work? Michael Gove began his column with three short sentences: “Take. Back. Control.” I can reply with one: “How?” Or perhaps in the same vein: “What. Are. You. Going. To. Do?”

We ask because the suspicion grows that none of you has the foggiest. And if that’s true then you have betrayed the trust of 17 million people who thought you knew. Before the referendum you assumed the mantle of “us” in a revolt against “them” and profited mightily from that assumption. But now you’re in charge. You’re not Us any more: you’re Them, the new Establishment, the powers that be. You are the experts we were enjoined to scorn. So scream — because the people’s anger will be terrible.

HAMMOND IS BRIEFED AGAINST - AGAIN!

Phillip Hammond is once again being briefed against with cabinet "colleagues" saying he is undermining Brexit and thinking like an accountant with only the risks being considered and not the potential benefits (HERE).

I have spent a lot of time in meetings with people like Fox, Davis and Johnson (for it is one or other of these doing the briefing I am sure) who are the opposite, seeing only the potential benefits and not the risks. Really we shouldn't even be in the position we are in with the nation's future being gambled on the roll of a dice. Either the leavers should have been certain and the case unarguable so that remainers had nothing to worry about or we should never have voted to leave in the first place.

I have to say when people who are not experts exhibit nothing more than faith and a gung-ho attitude I worry a lot because disaster is usually just around the corner.  This cabinet row is going to end in tears for someone.  If Hammond resigns the pound will end up worth less than a dollar!

EUROPE TURNING ITS BACK ON UK

The Telegraph (of all newspapers) says there are growing signs that Europe has “given up” hope of concluding a mixed trade deal with Britain and will instead concentrate on completing a rapid divorce with the UK (HERE). 

Senior EU diplomatic sources have told The Sunday Telegraph that Mrs May’s Tory conference speech was widely seen as slamming the door on the UK staying inside the EU single market.

“The speech was very clear. Mrs May excluded the UK from jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) which is necessary for any kind Free Trade Agreement,” said a senior EU diplomat with knowledge of Europe’s negotiating position. This is in addition to taking back control of immigration.  So, rather than giving a running commentary the government has set out its position from the outset - we don't want any kind of deal beyond WTO rules!

This is playing into the hands of the EU who want Brexit to hurt to deter others according to the CER (HERE). And a former Polish finance minister (HERE) says:

"If British voters recognized their country’s weak negotiating position, the Brexiteers, who won the referendum on their promise to “take back control,” would face a political disaster. Walking away from substantive negotiations is the simplest way to avoid such an embarrassing unmasking.

Thus, politically, a hard Brexit is actually the soft option for the government. Economically, however, hard Brexit will come at a high price, which the UK will have to pay for years to come".

NOW THE TELEGRAPH ATTACKS REMAINERS

After the bile from The Daily Mail this week (HERE) today it's the turn of The Telegraph to let loose against remainers or bitter losers as it calls us (HERE).

They attack Unilever for wanting to put up prices - either because the selling price has been cut by 20% or the production costs have risen - and seems to think they should just absorb it all. All this while elsewhere in the same paper it warns that dozens of household name brands will have to raise prices by 10% in the coming weeks because of Brexit.  You couldn't make it up.

They say: [Unilever spoke out against Brexit] - So, of course, did a lot of MPs – and now they insist that Parliament must be in the driving seat for Brexit. The hypocrisy of some of them is breathtaking. For years they sat by as the EU undermined Parliament’s sovereignty. Now they want to assert it

This is hypocrisy - but on the part of The Telegraph who wanted sovereignty to return to parliament but now want to bypass it!  This is the way The Independent saw it (HERE) saying it was the Brexiteers that wanted parliament to be sovereign!  So much for that.