"oh you don't get me I'm the end of the union": lol brexit is how we're all gonna die

wouldn't an SNP coalition (of chaos) be their only way into no. 10 if Scotland is as fucked as it is looking for Labour rn?

or the slim hope the SNP wipe out the tories as well.

I’m still not convinced we really know what would happen in scotland. all the polls before the 2017 GE portrayed a similar picture - the eventual result was a lot better than expected with many SNP supermajorities reduced significantly. the labour machine would be able to fight a lot more attacking a targeted campaign - ie they wouldn’t just focus all resources on edinburgh south.

it must be hard to model the interplay of the three currents at play: vocal remain Vs respect the ref; unionism Vs independence; anti-austerity Vs being a right cunt.

remember labour’s 2017 manifesto (though it wasn’t a central focus) actually had a commitment to investigate most popular position w/r/t the constitutional question in scotland: increased UK federalism (or devo max)

scottish labour need to get a fkn grip tho

it might sound a bit facile, but in the current febrile atmosphere I think they need a scottish leader.

A narrow victory is still a defeat for May, just as it was for Cameron, impossible to see her continuing in that scenario. And whoever her successor is may struggle to keep the DUP onside and will otherwise struggle for legitimacy. I'd say it's a reasonable route to a GE. Of course her successor would be very likely to be a fervent Brexiter which would cause it's own problems, it certainly wouldn't be over and done with.

looking at scottish twitter and it seems nobody - I mean nobody has a good word to say about Richard Leonard. And a lot of the abuse seems to be of the "sassenach fud should go back sooth" variety.

Cameron resigned for one because he backed the wrong horse but also because he doesn't like to work. May could say the vote wasn't very conclusive either way and didn't we have another one because people kept screaming 52/48 till they were blue in the face? idk..I guess this is all taking the hypotheticals quite far for today.

yes I too am looking askance at "May will of course then resign" -- I mean yes she's said she will but this is a terrible metric for her actual behaviour. #banterheuristic says she ends up leader of a TIG-centred "government of national emergency"

government for creating national emergency

not entirely sure that many Leave voters eking out a living selling dogmeat in their post-apocalypse communities will ever come to the conclusion that Leave was a bad idea

well, they might tell you it is dogmeat ...

An independent Scottish Labour is what is needed, and also what won’t happen. As it is, I’m a party member who will vote SNP because lol NE Fife.

outside of the EU we will be free to create strong regulatory bodies of our own that will guarantee the highest possible standards for British dogmeat

Absolutely gone at lAbOUr heAVyWeiGht Alan Johnson's take on precarious employment in the post-industrial age pic.twitter.com/KXZnn45Z9m

— Dan Hancox (@danhancox) February 25, 2019

Anyway, in rare good news, Lewisham seems to have designated itself a ‘sanctuary borough’ and has told the Home Office people embedded in their offices to clear out.

Can’t believe he couldn’t convince people to vote Remain with those sorts of solid arguments.

brb gonna get a job for life on the news at 10

ok but how is this not the same sour joke that johnson is making here

check out my special report on tonight's programme to find out

Cameron stepped down because it was important to him what some people thought of him, so he was susceptible to (possibly mistaken) expectations. This does not sound like the Defective Roomba* - on the same event that she said "Why is it that people are always trying to look for the next thing after the next thing after the next thing?" she also said that she has no plans to resign after Brexit. "There is still a domestic agenda that I want to get on with", which is obviously great news for everyone.

My impression is definitely that the ERG consider any plan with the existing backstop as considerably worse than remaining - they can always attempt to Leave again if they Remain - as regards boycotting, the line I've heard is that the original referendum needs to be implemented first before a second one can be countenanced.

There's news today that Donald Tusk might still reopen the WA: "EU leaders may revisit the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement if May can narrow her demands to a single concrete proposal, backed by parliament" - this might of course just be proposed because he knows it's the moon on a stick.

* I apologise for this delightfully Morbsian nickname, but on the other hand one of the events I was looking at recently had a DJ called Grim Beeper, and if we did need a delightfully Morbsian name for May to distract from the taste of Long Dog..

You brought the Roomba into this thread yourself, no apologies needed.

good to see we’ve reached the left infighting part of the labour AS row

hope that flat-footed merseybeat loving thicko didn't think his ghastly double act with portillo was a job for life.

Guys that's obviously a joke.

I think it's a case of 'If Andrew Neil thinks he's funny then maybe I am'.

maybe AJ is trying to expose how bad comedy is in some kind of cryptic fashion?

Fishing industry gone? Citation needed.

BREAKING: Labour backbenchers campaigning for a People’s Vote are being told to expect a big announcement from the leadership before 6... 👀

— Paul Brand (@PaulBrandITV) February 25, 2019

kyle amendment been sufficiently finessed ?

what do we make of tom watson getting personally involved in dealing with AS ?

NEW - Corbyn to tell PLP that Labour will support an amendment on a referendum: “in line with our conference policy, we are committed to also putting forward or supporting an amendment in favour of a public vote to prevent a damaging Tory Brexit being forced on the country.”

— Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) February 25, 2019

In delaying the vote I think May's made this inevitable, regardless of internal Labour dynamics.

Yes "we're at the mercy of an increasingly reckless May" is sellable you'd think a decentish chunk of the Labour leave base. Not that the FBPEs are helping on that front, though

countdown to polly toynbee op-ed that argues leave means leave

"To prevent a Tory Brexit being forced on the country" is the money line and also where the get-out clause might be.

how is this different to the amendment call me jez already tabled

RIGHT SO - there is some overexcitement going on with the Labour announcement. Understand party does NOT mean they are going to back all efforts for 2nd referendum. ie probably not this week. the frontbench effort is into their own amendment on their own Brexit deal

— Jessica Elgot (@jessicaelgot) February 25, 2019

Thank you @TheIndGroup , this is down to your bravery !

— Thomas Fone (@FoneThomas) February 25, 2019

Hahaha no it fucking isn’t.

thomas f*ne has gone down in my estimation after this - if someone could show his three followers the light that'd be ideal

if it hadn't been for the Indie Group, Kepa would never have had the courage to stay on the pitch yesterday

the inspiration group.

Idly wondering if the prospect of a second referendum would spook enough Tories to get a Labour Brexit amendment over the line, but I haven't thought about that for more than ten seconds.

It does feel like the leadership have been backing away from the conference motion in the last month or two and the events of the last week might have focused things and tilted the balance in a few shadow cabinet battles. But it's May's determination to remove all other options that has brought us here.

Waiting for FBPE-ers to thank Corbyn for finally committing to a 2nd ref - but they'll probably complain its done as the last option.

yeah they really fail to see beyond the end of their own noses

They are institutionally anti-Corbyn.

how often do any of us give our political opponents credit?

There's no majority in the Commons for a second referendum. There *might* be one for the Cooper amendment now but even that looks shaky.

So a second referendum probably isn't going to happen *as has been the case all along* but it's now harder for Corbyn's opponents to pin the blame for Brexit on him - and they were definitely planning on trying to Ramsay McDonald him. I don't think it would have succeeded but the younger Labour supporters I know have definitely been losing patience with him.

The question now is what happen if all the amendments fail, in which case it's back to May's brinkshmanship again.

BREAKING : Shadow Foreign Secretary @EmilyThornberry confirms Labour will back a Deal or Remain referendum and will campaign to Remain in the EU if it’s alternative Brexit plan is rejected.

— Krishnan Guru-Murthy (@krishgm) February 25, 2019

It is an obvious attempt to sabotage the most successful campaign in British history with Corbyn's toxic brand. We must have been just hours away from stopping brexit. Devastated.

— Simon Hedges (@Orwell_Fan) February 25, 2019

lol