shurlock

Bingo.

Evidently not on this subject

Yep and the emphasis on “ever closer union of peoples” is critical. Nowhere in that sentence is the idea of a political union or union of governments -much less a big U union, pointing to some kind of institutionalised superstate. It’s one of the most misunderstood phrases in circulation but then again Brexiters misunderstand most things.

Not enough width.

Spurs very jammy. Leicester could easily be winning.

Bertrand over Targett every single day of the week. Yes he’s lacking match fitness but that will (and can only) come with game time. He was arguably our most dangerous player in the first half yesterday.

Good lad.

Don’t say that to Adrian.

How should we have done that with the players at our disposal?

Do you think that’s what Liam Neeson said pal?

Availability record Back on planet earth, is there any news on Ings and Lemina likelihood of returning after the break?

Someone probably had a word in Murphy’s ear about the Beeb’s impartiality rules after his showing in the Derby game.

Time for Goa to step up.

Agree Charlie.

According to the ITKers schmoozing local councillors and loads of preferential land deals.

He got forward at the end but even then he didn't look smooth or controlled in possession. Always seems to be digging the ball from under his feet or taking an extra touch.

We actually started brightly and got in their faces. But its hard to press a side (into mistakes and create chances) when its happy to sit back and clear its lines at every opportunity.

Les is struggling if he's having to challenge me on whether I've read and recollect every article in the FT. Especially when he’s citing articles that pretty undermine everything he’s claiming. Still he can fill his boots as far as I’m concerned The point is that last May (when Les killer article was published) Liam Fox could (reasonably) claim that time was on his side - that he still had a nearly year to roll over the EU's FTAs and iron out differences. Now with less than 50 day to go, that excuse no longer holds water as Japan and other prospective trade partners dig their heels in and demand better terms. So not only is the UK failing to replicate the deals it already has in the event of a no deal but a good number of those deals are likely to be on inferior terms.

You can read the hundreds of thousands of pages detailing the UK's rights and obligations as an EU member and the EU's competences - all of which explain what it means to remain. That's your plan. When you can point to something similar for leave, perhaps come back and we can have a chat. In the meantime, I think you need to work on your argument a bit pal

Calm down snowflake. You can give it but you can't take it, right pal The Europeans have been saints when you consider the decades of ignorant bile and vitriol that have gone their way. Nazis, concentration camps, devils, mafias, gulags you name it. Tusk, who suffered first-hand under communism, alone deserves a medal for putting up with Jeremy Hunt, the cretinous airhead cavorting as Foreign Secretary who described the EU as a soviet prison camp.

It was alright Les - had to bang off a few emails. I have no idea about the legality of the backstop - I don't typically express a view on things I know little about. Suffice to say that every line of every policy proposal I worked on when I did a stint in government was thoroughly vetted by the government's lawyers. Its hard to believe that the European Council and Commission lawyers or the Attorney General would not have done the same for something significantly more important and controversial.

As I said in another post, it goes without saying that nobody knows what the future looks like. However we know as a matter of fact the extent of our rights and obligations as an EU member and the rules of the game that fix the scope of the EU’s competences and the processes for reaching collective decisions. Thus, we would not be forced to join an EU army or participate in any of the swivels bête noires because of our veto while any new treaty or amendment of a treaty that attempted to rewrite the rules of the game would need to be approved by an Act of Parliament and the electorate in a referendum. All that places significant constraints on how our relationship with the EU might have evolved if we had decided to remain, reducing the degree of uncertainty associated with EU membership. There really is no comparison. Remain literally is remain.

No doubt you would have dismissed that type of news as project fear. Now its coming to pass. Still not like you to miss the woods for trees Les. We need an independent trade policy so we can negotiate better deals than inside the EU has morphed into we can copy and paste all our EU FTAs (a lot of grunt work just to stand still) has now morphed into an acceptance that we're likely to negotiate inferior deals outside the EU because we're a smaller party. #sovirintee

It seems that the Japanese aren't just prepared to roll over or copy and paste its FTA with the EU. Now its dealing with a smaller partner, its confident it can secure better terms from the UK than it did from the EU. Living the dream https://www.ft.com/content/5ce60af2-2b90-11e9-a5ab-ff8ef2b976c7

Les - its highly like that Article 50 will be extended. All signs is that May will bottle and postpone next week's meaningful vote.