24 October 2019
Diary of a Corbynista
EU still stuck with Farage
by Don Urquhart
17 October
Cummings and Johnson seem to have covered the angles. Johnson has agreed a deal with the EU. Although very few people have seen the detail, the Commons is due to vote on it in 2 days’ time. If it is rejected by the Commons, the Benn Act will kick in, but reports suggest that the EU might not grant an extension, which would mean no deal.
So then the only option would be to revoke Article 50.
18 October
Dominic Grieve today talking to Kay Burley of Sky News:
The idea of presenting a deal to Parliament, on Saturday, is rushed, as we won’t have had a chance to look at the legal text.. the Govt is simply trying to bamboozle MPs into accepting something that may not bear scrutiny..
He makes a compelling case for rejecting Johnson’s deal on CNBC:
Despite the respect in which he is held it seems that you have to look on Sky and foreign news stations to find out what he thinks.
Meanwhile serendipity takes the BBC’s Afternoon Live to Barnsley where everyone interviewed in a random vox pop urges backing Johnson’s deal.
19 October
Today’s debate on the EU Withdrawal Agreement was notable for the robotic manner with which Conservative MPs churned out their mantras and in particular the assertion that the British people demanded resolution of Brexit by October 31st. It reminded me of the banal manner adopted by senior SS officers as they planned the Final Solution of the Jewish Problem which in their minds the German people were crying out for.
Read the Wannsee Protocol for an object lesson in how to depict an appalling proposition as necessary, desirable and legal.
20 October
I can imagine that Himmler was on the phone to Heydrich saying just get it done. Today on Sophy Ridge and Marr we were treated to Michael Gove, Mervyn King, Sarah Vine and Dominic Raab telling us the British people want Parliament to just get it done. And it seems like it doesn’t much matter what it is.
21 October
Careful study of the Holocaust reveals that one of the Nazis’ prime motivations was lack of food. They could tell themselves they were protecting the well-being of the Volk by eliminating undesirables who would otherwise need feeding – so a desirable objective was to be achieved by evil means.
Enlarging on the theme of desirable objectives and evil means, I have lost count of the Johnson apologists telling us that the Labour Party is opposing his withdrawal bill despite committing to Brexit in its 2017 manifesto.
Here are some of the manifesto words:
Labour accepts the referendum result and a Labour government will put the national interest first. We will prioritise jobs and living standards, build a close new relationship with the EU, protect workers’ rights and environmental standards, provide certainty to EU nationals and give a meaningful role to Parliament throughout negotiations.
Johnson’s methods and objectives are light years from Labour’s manifesto commitment.
22 October
Huffington Post journalist Ramesh Patel has published an exposé of the techniques used by the BBC to influence the public against Jeremy Corbyn.
One of my favourite TV programmes is Have I Got News for You which is amusingly critical of all flavours of politician. But I feel that last Friday the moderator Victoria Coren-Mitchell crossed a line when parroting an anti-Semitism smear against Corbyn.
I don’t know whether she is co-opted to the BBC campaign but it seems possible.
23 October
Had to sympathise with Guy Verhofstadt, who tweeted:
You’re all thinking: another extension. I am thinking: another three weeks listening to Farage.
