Brexit seems to have been put on a bit of a hold until after the exact nature of the post local elections fall-out for the main parties is known.
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Prime Minister's Questions yesterday was a bit of a bland affair where Brexit was concerned, which was understandable as we went into a large number of local council elections today with neither Labour nor Tories expecting good results.
But behind the seeming Brexit calm, there are still ongoing talks between Labour and Tory negotiators trying to come to a consensus on the UK/EU political declaration – the future relationship bit.
But what the Labour and Conservative leaderships have done, is to form a Brexit bubble of their own, which is as disconnected from the Westminster bubble it inhabits, as the Westminster Bubble is from the rest of the UK.
That means that Corbyn and May are now twice removed from the voters.
Now, they could well cobble something together between them. But the chances of getting it past the rest of the Commons are extremely low.
So there'll be a bit of arm-twisting and cajoling by both leaders and their whips to try and get sufficient support behind them.
But I doubt that would work, so they might try the trick of going over the heads of the MPs and appealing directly to the country in a series of speeches, hoping that MPs constituents will force them to back the new deal.
But by doing this they might as well send their respective parties into total melt-down, by standing on the same podium and delivering a joint speech.
How much further removed can our political leaders get from us?
Doesn't the instant sacking of the Defence Secretary, or should I say former Defence Secretary, Gavin Williamson, just make you shake your head in disbelief.
Details on discussions within a National Security Council (NSC) meeting the over a plan to allow the Chinese tech firm Huawei to have limited access in building the UK's 5G network, was leaked to the press.
And after the ensuing inquiry Theresa May told Williamson that she had 'compelling evidence' that he was the culprit and sacked him.
And in a letter confirming his sacking, she wrote: "No other, credible version of events to explain this leak has been identified."
But the PM is not bringing in the police to finish off the investigation, with the PM's spokesman saying:
"Our position remains the same. The Cabinet Office has judged that it wasn’t something that requires reporting to the police." – So we have a national security breach that deserves an instant sacking, but no further investigation – make of that what you will.
But the police could still decide for themselves to investigate it anyway.
For his part Mr Williamson vehemently denies these accusations.
Apart from once again showing how shambolic and ill-disciplined this Tory outfit is, this episode raises a couple of questions.
The fact that Hauwei's potential involvement was raised surely shows there must be security concerns over it – so why are they even considering letting a Chinese controlled tech form lose on our 5G network?
Why did someone feel the need to leak this information from the normally leak-proof National Security Council? Does this tell us it will actually be going ahead?
And why no further inquiry? Or is there more to this than meets the eye?
Ministers have so far been able to leak and even openly defy the PM on just about every other issue, especially Brexit – but she gets all hard-line now?
Was it less about leaks but more about her plans for our integration into the EU army and Williamson was in the way perhaps? Or was it all about her leadership?
Whatever the reason, this one does not pass the sniff test at all, does it?
Gavin Williamson has been replaced in post by Penny Mourdant, the former Secretary of State for International Development.
As the UK voters line up at the polling booths to deliver a general boot up the backside for the main parties, there is another domestic test of the public mood to come, in the form of a by-election in Peterborough, now that the disgraced former Labour MP Fiona Onasanya has been booted out of her seat.
Onasanya was jailed in January for perverting the course of justice after lying to police over a speeding charge. And, as a result, a recall petition was started under the Recall of MPs Act 2015 where over 19,000 of her constituents – that's over 27% – voted for her to go, which is far more than the 7,000 or ten percent required.
The by-election will be held on the 6th of June, just two weeks after the EU Parliament elections on the 23rd of May.
Could be a very interesting day!
Now here's a great one. It transpires that during the squabbling over coming to a Brexit compromise, both the Tory and Labour negotiators did at least agree on one thing – and that is, it doesn't matter what a customs union is called.
So, what does that mean? That they're going to agree we will be in a customs union, but they'll call it something else?
Bloomberg reports that in one meeting Theresa May said:
"It’s all too often framed in terms of existing language. Often people will use the term ‘customs union’ but have in their mind different things. The important thing is to sit down and talk through, what is it we are trying to achieve here?"
And Bloomberg adds that "A Labour spokesman said what a customs union is called is not the most important thing."
That says to me that they are cooking up a plot between them to keep the UK inside a customs union with the EU and that if they change its title then the plebs can be fooled into thinking it must be different and therefore something good.
Well, they might be able to swing that past most of their morally challenged and democratically bankrupt fellow MPs, but it won't wash with the great unwashed.
If it's a customs union, it's a customs union! So call it by its real name – the people are wising up to our politicians' deceitfulness and will not be fooled!
Or maybe both Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn are content to watch their parties continue in their joint death spiral descent to destruction.
I've got a great idea, let's stop calling leaving the EU on WTO terms a 'no deal' scenario or 'crashing out' of the EU and re-brand it as 'The Great UK Opportunity'? Then everybody will be happy to leave immediately.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Peterborough_by-election
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48126974
The Speaker has announced that the Recall Petition in #Peterborough has been successful.
As more than 10% of the constituency's electorate signed the petition, Fiona Onasanya is no longer an MP and there will be a by-election in Peterborough. pic.twitter.com/DGkTtjY5uO
— UK House of Commons (@HouseofCommons) May 1, 2019
— Gavin Williamson MP (@GavinWilliamson) May 1, 2019
