British PM May survives party confidence vote but Brexit deal still teetering

I should think that Mrs May will be delighted to drop her nightmare position. All the little rats in the Tory backbenches, having utterly failed to get a better deal on Brexit, are now seeing if they can find a good position for themselves post May. It is an embarrassing, shameful display by the Brexiteers, and I hope and pray that the end result will be to remain in the EU, at which point all the little Goves, Johnsons, Davies etc etc should be seen for the backbiting little vermin that they are.

Insane. The Tories rebels have shown they care more for their own future careers than the country. An utter disgrace.

And where is posh-boy Cameron, the one who started all this?

https://twitter.com/david_cameron/status/595112367358406656?lang=en

Like her or hate her, May is one resilient cookie. Everyone keeps predicting her political demise, but she just keeps coming back for more punishment. You have to respect her for her tenacity.

Fair point. I just wish she had as much competence as she has tenacity.

Why do you saying keep saying British people are stupid?

Not all of them, (I'm British myself). Just the ones who were dumb enough/xenophobic enough/paranoid enough to listen to the likes of Farage, Gove and Johnson.

Just because the majority of people didn't vote the way you wanted them to, it doesn't make them idiots.

Not voting the way I want doesn't make anyone stupid. Being a turkey voting for Christmas is what makes people stupid.

The words "Remain / Leave the EU" were written on the ballot paper during the referendum. You're trying to change the definition of what leave means to suit your argument.

There was no 'definition of what leave means' on the ballot paper.

The people who voted Leave voted for a pig in a poke.

Folk who do that are not the brightest stars in the firmament.

Even after Cameron reiterated again and again, as per your YouTube link: trashing our economy by pulling out of the single market....coming out of the single market is so damaging....leaving the single market would be an act of economic self-harm.

He couldn't have said it plainer, yet the fools ignored that and instead believed '£350 million a week for the NHS'.

That is what a WTO Brexit is.

Again, no one voted for a 'WTO Brexit'. It wasn't on the ballot.

"It is a terrible result for the prime minister," Jacob Rees-Mogg, leader of a hard Brexit faction, told BBC Television."The prime minister must realise that, under all constitutional norms, she ought to go and see the queen urgently and resign."

The nutters are still not satisfied. Despite winning 63% of the vote, a significantly larger percentage that the number who voted for Brexit, the likes of Rees-Mogg still say May should resign. If Mogg considers 63% of the vote to be insufficient then a 52% vote share must also be inadequate. Rees-Mogg should accept the will of conservative MPs and accept the result. That's democracy. If he doesn't like it he is free to leave the party.

ironically her exit might have lead to an actual full Brexit rather than the mess this continues to be

Like her or hate her, May is one resilient cookie. Everyone keeps predicting her political demise, but she just keeps coming back for more punishment. You have to respect her for her tenacity.

The UK must be the biggest laughing stock of the world right now, what a blinking mess were in, its really hurting investment into the country, this effects jobs, stability, growth, etc, if we remain in were screwed, if and when we got out were screwed, I feel that the prime minister has been handed a poisoned chalice. the economic growth of the UK was something like .8%, as to the rest of Europe its around 5% with southern Ireland coming out at 8% growth.

Most of the people I know who voted leave are on the left, not stupid, not xenophobic and far from ignorant about politics.

I don’t doubt stupid, xenophobic and politically uninformed people voted Brexit, but certainly not all.

@jcapan

I just find that people are prepared to distort the result of the Brexit vote in ridiculous ways to support their own beliefs.

It put me in mind of the Mencken quote:

“For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong”

A unmitigated fascial display. Truly absurd. What could possibly be gained by replacing Theresa May at this crucial stage in the negotiations with Brussels?

It seems not to have occurred to the plotters that a leadership contest could not be concluded by the 21st January legal deadline. It is truly baffling. What on earth has this shower got between there ears? Because it is not acumen or a brain cell of sound judgment.

The people voted to leave the EU. Just leave. On WTO terms

There was no mention in the referendum question of 'on WTO terms'.

No mention of the WTO, no mention of what to do about the Ireland/Northern Ireland border and the peace agreement, no mention of any of the other 1001 problems that leaving entails.

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2017/05/17/the-brexit-referendum-question-was-flawed-in-its-design/

PM May's mission has been to make such a dog's breakfast of it all as to force a do-over and reverse the vote of the people.

The referendum itself was a dog's breakfast, Cameron went ahead secure in the knowledge (he thought) that the British people would not be stupid enough to actually vote for an unconditional Leave.

The markets in the UK like it!

The pound is 2 yen up today!!!

I don’t doubt stupid, xenophobic and politically uninformed people voted Brexit, but certainly not all.

And politics being the art of persuasion, I've never understood the wisdom of insulting entire voting blocs, who it rarely turns out are as uniform in their motivations as we'd like to think. That particular moron tossing word salad all over your screen, sure, call him what you like. But I imagine there will be future elections and I suspect that if you treat your perceived opponents as persuadable or worthy of your respect, as a group at least, you'd be surprised at how many are willing to hear you out.

Ditto those who insult 60 million Trump voters just b/c the most vocal and enthusiastic seem like garish pod people.

With no concensus in the Conservative Party, no consensus in parliament and no consensus in the country, can people really be surprised at the chaos? And those that want a WTO rules split from the EU are naive if they think they can get all they want and ignore the 48% (if not more now) of voters who are dead set against this ill thought out nonsense. It’s like a long drawn out attempted coup by the Tory eurosceptics.

The Tories threw Britain into deadlock by going to the people. As far as I see it, the only way to break the deadlock is to go to the people again and ask if they want no deal, the deal negotiated, or to stay in the EU.

Resilient is one way to describe her. However, she is deeply unqualified, lacks any leadership qualities and is out of her depth on every level. I understand she has had a very difficult job to do, but she's intractable. She's like a person in control of an aircraft instead of a real pilot. She is flying it dangerously and losing altitude, other people are trying to convince her to relinquish control but she's gone into some sort of trance and refuses to let go. They are going to have to pry her fingers from the controls. I'd say she's dangerous.

I didn’t say I agree with her. I just said she was resilient. Let’s not lock horns

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Well. The Tories have just doomed themselves. The DUP will likely withdraw support from the Government and an election now looks certain. Voters who always vote Tory aren't going to forgive them for keeping May. It's crazy that May promised to step down before the next election in 2022, but when asked if she'd step down in the event of a snap election, she gave her usual formless answer.

 Otherwise, the sacrifices of all of those soldiers in WW2 will be for naught. The UK will have surrendered to the Germans with nary a fight and forever renounced sovereignty over their own affairs.

Hmm. One could read that as jingoistic nonsense. Let's not forget, the British were happy to avail of the EU when it worked in their favor and now that it's all gone sour, let's raise the corpse of WW2 and the Dunkirk/Blitz spirit once more.

I'm not engaging in schadenfreude here. I'm genuinely saddened its come to this and worry about people back in the UK but this wasn't going to be a case of voting to leave and everything would be fine and dandy.

All the advice and warnings were in place, long before the result of the referendum. And the irony is, the actual Brexit is in sight but the tories are set to scuttle it because of internal strife and career politics. They care not for the people of the UK.

Jacob Rees-Mogg today. https://www.thedailymash.co.uk/politics/politics-headlines/nanny-screams-rees-mogg-20181212180498

I'm not intending to lock horns, mate. I didn't assume you agreed with her either. I understand that some could see an admirable quality in May. I was just stating what I myself think. Your comments are always balanced and nuanced btw.

cheers mate.

@Aly

Resilient is one way to describe her. However, she is deeply unqualified, lacks any leadership qualities and is out of her depth on every level. I understand she has had a very difficult job to do, but she's intractable. She's like a person in control of an aircraft instead of a real pilot. She is flying it dangerously and losing altitude, other people are trying to convince her to relinquish control but she's gone into some sort of trance and refuses to let go. They are going to have to pry her fingers from the controls. I'd say she's dangerous.

Not nonsense. It is a statement of fact, that if May's deal with the EU were approved, the UK could only get out of the EU with Brussel's approval. Which would make it a vassal state of Brussels.

It's not a fact, I'm afraid. It's an opinion. There are no vassal states of Brussels - now, that's a fact.

Maggie Thatcher warned everyone of the dangers.

Ugh, Thatcher. But she wasn't the anti-Europhile that the right likes to champion her as. Not exactly.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/jul/21/margaret-thatcher-backed-single-market-in-draft-bruges-speech

What a load of tosh. Anyone that has read the proposed agreement understands that it contains no real Brexit, just the illusion of Brexit. And it is those that support May and this agreement that care not for the people of the UK and the voters that voted for Brexit.

It's the best you're going to get, old bean. But if you're happy to scupper it, go ahead. Your country can do what it likes, within reason. But please remember that other countries are affected by the recklessness of uber-Brexiteers.

As far as I see it, the only way to break the deadlock is to go to the people again and ask if they want no deal, the deal negotiated, or to stay in the EU.

I generally agree, but I'm not sure the "no deal" option should be on the ballot paper. If the government that calls a referendum is not able or willing to carry out the result, it can lead to chaos as we've already seen. The appropriate options in a referendum should surely be between the government's plan and no change. However, I imagine there would be bitter protests if it were left out of the options.

@Aly

I'm not intending to lock horns, mate. I didn't assume you agreed with her either. I understand that some could see an admirable quality in May. I was just stating what I myself think. Your comments are always balanced and nuanced btw.

DDefinitely time for a second referendum so that the British people can confirm their decision to leave (our not).

May is a disaster.

She needs to go. The best thing for the UK now would be a "no deal" Brexit.

Hmm. One could read that as jingoistic nonsense. Let's not forget, the British were happy to avail of the EU when it worked in their favor and now that it's all gone sour, let's raise the corpse of WW2 and the Dunkirk/Blitz spirit once more.

Not nonsense. It is a statement of fact, that if May's deal with the EU were approved, the UK could only get out of the EU with Brussel's approval. Which would make it a vassal state of Brussels.

Which means complete loss of sovereignty.

And it was never the British people that wanted to be in the EU. It was the politicians. Maggie Thatcher warned everyone of the dangers.

And the irony is, the actual Brexit is in sight but the tories are set to scuttle it because of internal strife and career politics. They care not for the people of the UK.

What a load of tosh. Anyone that has read the proposed agreement understands that it contains no real Brexit, just the illusion of Brexit. And it is those that support May and this agreement that care not for the people of the UK and the voters that voted for Brexit.

It's something to live in an age where you can witness a major historical event. In this case, the final end of the British Empire.

It's the most magical time of our lives. I have no problem with the UK leaving the EU. It's kind of weird, though, considering how hard they fought to be part of it but the electorate (those who bothered to vote) have had their say and their wishes should be respected. That said, nobody claimed it was going to be easy. And an alliance with the medieval DUP was not going to turn out well.

So, if the UK leaves the EU, it's only fair that the unification of Ireland is seriously considered and ditto for an independent Scotland etc.

There is lot of ill informed comment on here. If there was a GE tomorrow the Tories would win,Labour and Corbyn are both behind in the polls, yes, they are that woeful.

Ms may, how yo gunna deal with da yellow jackets love? Dem coming at you real time love. Innit

@cleo

Why do you saying keep saying British people are stupid?

Just because the majority of people didn't vote the way you wanted them to, it doesn't make them idiots.

The words "Remain / Leave the EU" were written on the ballot paper during the referendum. You're trying to change the definition of what leave means to suit your argument.

If you can't remember, here's a useful video. It's of all the MPs who campaigned to Remain and what they defined leaving the EU to be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fDn0MvcHQ4

I know you don't like it, but leaving means leaving the Single Market, Customs Union and ECJ. That is what a WTO Brexit is.

@cleo

"dumb, xenophobic, paranoid, stupid(again), not the brightest, fools"

I'm sorry you see so many people in that way. I don't agree with remaining, but I have tried to understand the reasons why some people voted to. If you really feel this way about leavers, then I don't think you can be open minded enough to understand them. But, I know it is easier to use perjorative labels to simplify things or people you don't agree with.

A staunch Remainer chosen to be in charge of Brexit. What could possibly go wrong?!

PM May does not believe in Brexit, does not want Brexit and would be happier if there were no Brexit. The 17.4 million people who voted for Brexit be dammed!

She is not negotiating Brexit on behalf of the UK with the EU. She is negotiating Brexit on behalf of the EU with the UK. Effectively, she is willing to sacrifice the vote of the people to please the EU.

The UK is a sovereign nation. The people voted to leave the EU. Just leave. On WTO terms. The UK is a sovereign nation. What is the EU going to do?? Invade the UK??

Honestly, it is clear that PM May's mission has been to make such a dog's breakfast of it all as to force a do-over and reverse the vote of the people.

I have utter contempt for her and any Remainer that refuses to abide by the vote of the people.

Just leave. Otherwise, the sacrifices of all of those soldiers in WW2 will be for naught. The UK will have surrendered to the Germans with nary a fight and forever renounced sovereignty over their own affairs.