FlyTheNest

Good morfternoon.

Jeremy Corbyn is going to make a statement in the next hour on the "Brexit" talks, according to Sky TV news.

And?

Sorry that sounded a bit rude!

The talks are off mainly on the grounds that positions discussed in the room are then openly contradicted by senior cabinet ministers in public.

Sorry that sounded a bit rude!

Theresa May is currently addressing Conservative activists in Bristol. Very strange affair.

Lord Heseltine, the pro-European former Conservative deputy prime minister, was also on the programme and he said Dorries’ claim was ridiculous. He said:

Boris was foreign secretary for a year at the head, at the front, of the European inter-relationship. Are you seriously telling me that these ideas he has were not tried, tested and rejected? It’s ridiculous.

Theresa May has her critics, but what you cannot deny is that when she became prime minister, she put in charge of the negotiations three leading Brexiteers. And they cocked it up. And the only way she could make progress was to do what traditionally prime ministers do, hand it over to the civil servants to try and bring professionalism to our activity.

It hasn’t got her anywhere because there is no majority for Brexit in parliament or, in my view, in the county. So the only solution now is to go back to the country and confront them with the reality of the delusions with which they were confronted at the time of the first referendum.

Apparently May's deal will have "some new features".

Groan award for this dreadful piece

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... -candidate

A "feature fireplace"? After all, Gavin Williamson might be feeling the pinch these days.

Speaking of matters monetary, is there something to be had by hanging on as PM until July (three years in office)? I don't know how these things work. I realise that the Mays are loaded, but they strike me as, well, tight.

That was dreadful. Really tacky.

Sex strike? Not sure I’m pro that choice
Alyssa Milano’s initiative is laudable but no substitute for real political action

https://www.ft.com/content/4b1cc60e-76a3-11e9-be7d-6d846537acab?segmentId=5b3cb929-a23e-88ae-662f-4cae036b0dee



Interesting how a male journalist's reaction to Alyssa Milano's not so serious suggestion differs rather considerably from mine. He reads it as a withholding of sexual favours in order to try to persuade men to back abortion rights. Yet I read it more as, in the absence of a right to an abortion, pretty much the only way a fertile woman of child bearing age can be certain to avoid an unwanted pregnancy given how no form of contraception is 100% safe. I may be wrong, but rather than some strange form of political protest, Milano's suggestion to me seemed to be the perfect way to draw attention to how abolishing abortion could have consequences not just for women but also for men. Far from an extreme form of feminism, a policy of better safe than sorry seems like the natural and pragmatic response to strict abortion laws. I'm sure all those who vote for it will be delighted with the Brave New World they've created where the only time anyone ever has sex is when they are actively trying to become parents! I mean, I know that's not ever going to happen but in a world where people get what they deserve it certainly should and that, for me, is the point this article appears to be rather spectacularly missing!