Brexit and the waning days of the United Kingdom

[Admiral Yi]

*rimshot*

[Sheilbh]

Is there a non-political cabinet? 

Yeah. Political cabinets are where they talk about party politics - ie election strategy, manifesto policies etc. No civil servants attend.

Normal cabinet meetings have the civil services present. They can veer into party politics, but I think the cabinet secretary puts down their pen because the civil service is neutral and there to support the government of any party.

I don't know if there were ever any political cabinets when we had a coalition

[Sheilbh]

Jeremy Corbyn coming in 4th, behind Don't Know" in preferred Prime Minister poll by Survation: Johnson 41%, Swinson 21%, Corbyn 18%

Meanwhile in the Opinium poll, Johnson has matched May's achievement of being a sitting PM who comes behind "Don't Know" in preferred Prime Minister: Johnson 29%, Swinson 14%, Corbyn 13%, Farage 9%.

[Josquius]

Just read something disturbing which rings potentially true.
That Johnsons use of the term surrender bill et al is something that has been focus grouped. He's aiming to use the term as a slogan in a dirty trumpy election.

[Sheilbh]

SNP apparently willing to back Corbyn as caretaker Prime Minister to get an extension and call an election.

I think that means he's now at least 15-20 votes away.

[Zanza]

Brexit is naturally discussed mainly from a domestic British perspective. However, the EU Council members also have to take their domestic situation into account. That's often ignored in Leave arguments that portray the EU as a rational economic actor without politics.

Here is a spot light from Germany:

Who is to blame for a no deal Brexit more: 81% UK, 10% EU, rest dk


Should the EU make more concessions to get a deal? Yes 15%, No 77%, 8% dk

[The Brain]

How is that phone call from German car manufacturer bigwigs going?

[Tamas]

How is that phone call from German car manufacturer bigwigs going?

Expected any moment now.

[Razgovory]

Sometimes I have this urge to somehow get UK citizenship just so I could vote for the Liberal Democrats. The Tories and Labour are just so infuriating.

I'd vote for them, and I don't even like that ideology.  I simply can't vote for a party that let's antisemitism or Islamophobia run wild through their ranks.  Support for Brexit is all deal breaker for me.

[Sheilbh]

Brexit is naturally discussed mainly from a domestic British perspective. However, the EU Council members also have to take their domestic situation into account. That's often ignored in Leave arguments that portray the EU as a rational economic actor without politics.

Natrually-ish. I actually think the press especially have really fucked up by reporting Brexit primarily from the perspective of UK politics: what's the splits within the UK parties, what are voters thinking. Which was a choice by the UK press.

It's important and it's reporting they know how to do/have the contacts for, but it is misleading. There always should have been far more reporting happening in the member states and in Brussels. But I think that was something none of them were really equipped to do - and is difficult. I can't work out what that looks like.

Honestly I think the sort of reporting we got from the Eurozone crisis may have worked better, because there were economic issues those correspondents were reporting on in the UK. We had a double-dip recession, we had austerity etc. I wonder if part of it is just that economics reporters or foreign and diplomatic correspondents are able to report anywhere and have different skills, whereas being a political reporter ultimately means being connected in Westminster, DC, Berlin, wherever you're based so it's difficult to report a political story that is in large part international?

[Sheilbh]

Meanwhile in Britain:

PM referred to police watchdog over Jennifer Arcuri allegations
Case involves possible conflict of interest when Boris Johnson was mayor of London

Fri 27 Sep 2019 21.07 BST
Last modified on Fri 27 Sep 2019 22.16 BST


Boris Johnson is alleged to have failed to declare close personal links with Jennifer Arcuri when he was mayor of London. Photograph: Innotech Network/YouTube

Boris Johnson has been formally referred for potential investigation into whether he committed the criminal offence of misconduct in public office, over allegations about a conflict of interest with a US businesswoman while he was mayor of London.

An official from the Greater London Authority, the city's devolved government, has written to the prime minister noting claims he had "on more than one occasion" used his position as mayor to "benefit and reward" Jennifer Arcuri, a tech entrepreneur.

"Subject to any explanation provided by you, these matters give rise to a suggestion that there has been a failure to safeguard the public purse and if so that amounts to a significant breach of public trust," said the letter, from the office of the authority's monitoring officer.

"These are the ingredients of the offence of misconduct in a public office."

Johnson has been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which investigates complaints of misconduct connected to police in England and Wales.

The matter has been sent to the IOPC because, as mayor, Johnson was also the head of the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime, a role equivalent to police and crime commissioner for the capital.

A senior government source said Johnson was given no warning of the announcement: "This is a politically motivated attack. Due process has not been followed and the timing is overtly political."

The legislation that created the role decrees that the mayor of London, a job Johnson held from 2008 to 2016, is subject to a special standards framework, and that claims of alleged wrongdoing are thus passed to the IOPC.

The referral follows allegations first reported by the Sunday Times that when he was mayor he failed to declare close personal links to Arcuri when she received thousands of pounds in public business funding and places on official trade trips.

Johnson has declined to comment in detail on the claims, including that a company run by Arcuri received access to money to assist her business, as well as places on trade trips, at times following the intervention of mayoral officials. The prime minister has said only that he rejects any wrongdoing.

The Sunday Times also reported that Johnson was, at the time, a regular visitor to Arcuri's east London apartment, and that she described him at the time as "one of my best friends".

Separately, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is investigating how Arcuri's most recent company won a £100,000 government cyber skills grant intended to assist UK firms, even though she has now returned to live in the US.

The letter informed Johnson that Michael Lockwood, director-general of the IOPC, would assess "whether or not it is necessary for the matter to be investigated in accordance with the relevant regulations".

It went on: "The conduct matter relates to your time as mayor of London between 2008 and 2016. During this time it has been brought to my attention that you maintained a friendship with Ms Jennifer Arcuri and as a result of that friendship allowed Ms Arcuri to participate in trade missions and receive sponsorship monies in circumstances when she and her companies could not have expected otherwise to receive those benefits."

The letter details the allegations, saying there was an obligation to examine any indications "that a relevant office holder may have committed a criminal offence".

The referral does not mean a full investigation, or a prosecution, will take place, and misconduct in public office is known as a complex area to prosecute. A criminal offence under common law, it penalises official wrongdoing that can be deliberate, deceitful or simply amount to excessive neglect of duty.

The government source said no evidence had been provided by the monitoring officer, "nor was the PM given any opportunity to respond to the monitoring officer prior to the publishing of a press release late on a Friday night".

They added: "The public and media will rightly see through such a nakedly political put-up job."

A Downing Street spokesman said: "The prime minister as mayor of London did a huge amount of work when selling our capital city around the world, beating the drum for London and the UK. Everything was done with propriety and in the normal way."

Following this story starting to come out in the Sunday Times, the Downing Street line was that he did regularly visit Miss Arcuri's flat in the afternoon for "technology lessons"

[Malthus]

Following this story starting to come out in the Sunday Times, the Downing Street line was that he did regularly visit Miss Arcuri's flat in the afternoon for "technology lessons"

Lessons in applied biotechnology. 

[Sheilbh]

Honestly, after the last few years of European negotiations, Supreme Court hearings and Theresa May, I cannot describe the glee with which the British press is greeting a sex and sleaze scandal.

[Sheilbh]

Delighted to hear that there's now a filing in Scotland called a nobile officium order, or as it's called in short hand a "nob off" order against Boris Johnson

Apparently it's an equitable jurisdiction in Scots law for the Court to step in so in this case if Johnson doesn't send the letter as required by an Act of Parliament, then the Court of Session steps in and sends it "on behalf of the Prime Minister".

[Richard Hakluyt]

Delighted to hear that there's now a filing in Scotland called a nobile officium order, or as it's called in short hand a "nob off" order against Boris Johnson

Apparently it's an equitable jurisdiction in Scots law for the Court to step in so in this case if Johnson doesn't send the letter as required by an Act of Parliament, then the Court of Session steps in and sends it "on behalf of the Prime Minister".

The assumption being, presumably, that the PM would always obey the law and it must have slipped his mind to write the letter; possibly because of drinking too much red wine with blonde company