Boris Johnson's major U-turn sets up 48 hours to clinch Brexit deal

I hope BOO-ris has an epic flame out and mid-air political explosion.

I want him to fail in a major way.

A loathsome man.

Deal needs to happen by end of today or it's extension / no deal. Crunch time, bitches.

did it?

r3 No, they're still negotiating. Tonight is the last possible day to clinch it.

[bold]Boris Johnson 'on brink of Brexit deal' after border concessions[/bold]

[quote]A draft text of the agreement could now be published on Wednesday if Downing Street gives the final green light, according to senior EU and British sources. It is understood that the negotiating teams have agreed in principle that there will be a customs border down the Irish Sea. A similar arrangement was rejected by Theresa May as a deal that no British prime minister could accept.

[quote]Johnson will still have to win over parliament – including the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) and the hardline Tory Brexiters in the European Research Group – on the basis that, under the deal, Northern Ireland will still legally be within the UK’s customs territory. “Northern Ireland would [italic]de jure[/italic] be in the UK’s customs territory but [italic]de facto[/italic] in the European Union’s,” one diplomatic source said of the tentative agreement.

This just might happen...

The saga continues...

[quote]Tusk said it would be clear by the end of Wednesday whether Johnson had the political backing to go ahead with the revised withdrawal agreement and political declaration on the future relationship with the bloc. He told the Polish broadcaster TVN24: “The basic foundations of an agreement are ready and theoretically tomorrow we could accept this deal with Great Britain.

[quote]“Theoretically in seven to eight hours everything should be clear. Yesterday evening I was ready to bet that it’s all set and agreed, today there are certain doubts on the British side.”

Many Brexiteers now seem to be claiming that leaving with a deal is "ignoring the result of the referendum". What the fuck? The question was "Do you want to leave or remain in the EU?" I'm so sick of Brexiteers continually moving the goalposts.

Yeah, they're trying to revive May's lame "No deal is better than a bad deal" slogan.

From the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg:

[quote] Just as Barnier arrives to see ambassadors, government source has just told me there will not be a deal tonight

[quote] Simply not clear if that means there's no way forward yet or just a case of extending talks into tomorrow cos they need a bit more time - will clarify as soon as have more

[quote] @adamfleming reports the technical talks are continuing, and the excellent @AlbertoNardelli says Barnier has told ambassadors everything is resolved apart from VAT - so sounds like there is still a possible way forward

They'll probably vote on the deal on Saturday.

Deal has been negotiated and the text published. It's basically May's deal but with more concessions to the EU. We'll see what the Parliament does now.

Meanwhile, Boris keeps playing his little games. Hope the court in Edinburgh smacks him down.

[quote]NEW: Am told by govt source that Johnson will tell EU leaders that it’s this deal or no deal - but no delays. He will not ask for a extension and will not accept one if offered.

Looks like somebody surrendered, and it wasn't the EU.

[quote] We'll see what the Parliament does now.

I mean he has to get the DUP to accept something that's absolute poison to them in 2 weeks. That's ignoring the no-deal diehards, and the remainers who he also somehow has to get onside while not having any majority. I wouldn't hold my breath.

If that's a veiled criticism about me, I won't hear and I won't respond to it.

I can't picture this deal going through. God knows what's going to happen now.

Again, Theresa May must be laughing her ass off.

DUP have just come out against it, so it's not looking great.

[quote]DUP says it won't vote for deal because it 'drives coach and horses' through Good Friday agreement

[quote]Again, Theresa May must be laughing her ass off.

r18 Is The Right Honorable Lady for Maidenhead climaxing, or what exactly is happening in that gif? Possession? It's not mere laughter, I can tell you that much.

Never going to happen.

This just in...

[quote]EU will not grant any further extension, says Juncker, implying MPs must choose between this deal and no deal

Uh-oh, shit just got super real in the last ten minutes. 😬

And Boris Johnson's failure is abject and complete.

r21 He can't talk down the deal, and it's i the EU's interests that the UK leave soon under this deal. But practically when this deal fails in Parliament, and the UK government are forced under the Benn Act to request an extension I doubt the EU state leaders would prefer no deal to granting an extension.

r23 Yeah, I know, that's the view of the analysts on Twitter as well. Saturday should be interesting, to say the least.

I don't think Juncker's serious. But to be frank, I wouldn't blame him if he was.

I'm not a fan of Theresa May, but I do think she's been vindicated somewhat by the fact that BoJo's proposed deal is essentially a worse version of hers. Remember when he criticised her negotiating skills?

r26 Typical sexist pig bravado. "Hold my beer..." and then proceeds to fuck it up even more.

So when's he out?What would be the timeline for his departure from Number 10?

When general election happens. So between the end of October and the end of January.

You'll be done with your corrupt buffoon sooner than the US will be rid of their criminal buffoon--if at all.

This is going to be developing with lighting speed from now until Saturday...

[quote]EU leaves door open to Brexit extension, in blow to Boris Johnson

[quote]Member states decline to follow Jean-Claude Juncker, who ‘ruled out’ further delay

Some good news...

[quote]Angela Merkel has told EU leaders a Brexit extension will be unavoidable if MPs vote down the deal agreed with Boris Johnson

... and some bizarre news.

[quote]MPs will not see any official economic analysis of the impact of Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal before they vote on it on Saturday, Downing Street has confirmed, with such documents only being produced subsequently.

So they're basically going in blind, voting on something without knowing how it'll affect their economy.

Incomes will be reduced 2.5% vs. 3.3% with no deal or something.

r33 That's under no deal scenario. They won't say how much they'll be reduced under this deal until after the vote.

r32 Oh that's not bizarre. Obscuring the facts are pretty par the course at this point.

Voting tomorrow on a "deal" whipped up yesterday that will affect them for decades. Smart move Boris.

Anything to get them to leave.

Alles was sie weg macht gehen.

Tout ce qui les fait partir.

Alles om ze te laten vertrekken.

Cualquier cosa que finalmente los haga salir.

Just go.

Karkoli, samo da odidejo. As Melania would say.

r37 Such beautiful linguistic variation, it makes me cringe whenever Americans complain when bits of Spanish are spoken at the debates. Why on earth would you NOT want to spice things up linguistically?

Because, r38, American politicians whip out their Spanish pretentiously, and cynically, as a way of saying, "See? I'm a white person who can relate to you." It's chasing after the Mexican or Hispanic vote. In other words, it's a political ploy, and an obvious one at this point.

Please mps vote it down!

Letwin amendment to close the loophole in the Benn Act (long story) passes, government will probably schedule the vote on a deal for Tuesday. Meanwhile, Boris just got himself a showdown with the Scottish court on Monday by saying this after today's vote:

[quote]"I will not negotiate a delay with the EU and neither does the law compel me to do so"

What happens if Boris refuses to ask the EU for another extension?

R29 The Labour Party won't vote for a general election whilst they are 15 points behind in the polls.

Boris could resign, but as elections are subject to the Fixed Term Parliament Act the Tories would just have to elect a new leader until a vote to hold an election could be passed, or wait until the next scheduled election in late 2022.

Oh dear he lost the Letwin vote, he'll have to ask for an extension now. Or the Scottish courts will do it for him.

I hope there's a second referendum, but I wish people would stop referring to as the "People's Vote". It's patronising. Who voted in the last referendum - squirrels?

Boris must be tired of winning (snort!).

Is Meghan Markle okay with this?

R45 Over 1.5million UK voters have died since the 2016 referendum.

It's another reason why referenda are a fucking terrible idea.

Works fine in Switzerland, R48.

The British are way more stupid than the Swiss and inclined to vote in perverse ways without any thought to the consequences.

They kept Anne Widdecombe on Strictly Come Dancing (Dancing with The Stars) for 8 weeks because she was so terrible.

[quote] Govt is sending three documents to the EU tonight - the 1st, the Benn Act extension letter, exactly as set out in law, but that PM has not personally signed; 2nd, a cover note from Sir Tim Barrow and the 3rd, a letter signed by the PM arguing that further delay is a mistake

Yet another trait Boris shares with Trump: being a twelve-year-old trapped in an adult's body.

Yikes! The first time I looked at OP's pic I thought Boris was talking with Tom Hanks.....