Having a drink at a bar after a day's hard work:

○ Exclusive: UK chief Brexit negotiator Olly Robbins warns MPs the choice is May's deal or extension

○ BREXIT - Corbyn: PM 'playing chicken with people's livelihoods & running down the clock'

Seeing this Sinn Féin lady quite often on teevee these days ...

○ 'Regardless of Brexit, there will be a unity referendum'- Mary Lou McDonald calls for a vote on Irish unity

"Regardless of" can be replaced by "..." Sinn Féin has been sitting outside the playing field and coming on with blinking eyes as a faction of casket bearers. Strange ways of the Irish. Theresa May still relying on the DUP Unionists?

Evidently the pressure is building in Brussels. A deliberately provocative & disrespectful statement about the 17.4m of us who voted to leave. This is a time for solutions & genuine diplomacy not insults. (_link)

— Arlene Foster (@DUPleader) February 6, 2019

Meanwhile Arlene Foster is quite busy retweeting news of a long gone era ... or is it??

#OnThisDay in 1980 the IRA murdered Joseph Rose, 21. 1 of 2 RUC murdered when bomb was detonated as they travelled along Roslea - Lisnaskea rd. They were in the 2nd of 2 Land Rovers & were caught by the full blast of an 800 lb landmine. Constable Rose was from Dundonald #OTD pic.twitter.com/lStHzsmFdr

— OnThisDayTheIRA (@OnThisDayPIRA) February 11, 2019

Mark Carney: Brexit is the first test of a new global order  | The Guardian |

Brexit is an acid test of whether it is possible to reshape globalisation in a way that offers the benefits of trade while allaying public fears about the erosion of democracy, the governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, has said.

Speaking in London, Carney said the ramifications of the UK's departure from the EU would be felt around the world and would determine whether it was possible to shrug off rising protectionism in favour of a new era of international cooperation.

The governor cited trade tensions and the result of the 2016 referendum as examples of fundamental pressures to reorder globalisation.

"It is possible that new rules of the road will be developed for a more inclusive and resilient global economy. At the same time, there is a risk that countries turn inwards, undercutting growth and prosperity for all."

Carney's recent comments about Brexit have highlighted the short-term risks to the economy of leaving the EU next month without an agreement in place, but he used his speech on the state of the global economy to provide a more upbeat assessment.

Andrew Lilico: What's really behind Mark Carney's about-turn on Brexit? (_link)

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) February 13, 2019

○ Mark Rutte: "Basta ya de quejarse de Trump, Europa tiene que trabajar con él" | El País |

All the UK has left are the Visegrád group of nations and perhaps a neighbor or two.

Central Europe: Taking up Where the U.K. Left off | Strafor - July 2016 |

Forecast Highlights

•     The Central European states of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary -- known as the Visegrad Group -- will become increasingly vocal and active in shaping the post-Brexit EU reform process.


•     The four countries will advocate the repatriation of powers from Brussels to national parliaments and will push for an "intergovernmental Europe" rather than a "supranational Europe."


•     Because of their relatively small size and peripheral location, the Visegrad Group countries will look for allies within the European Union to advance their goals, aided by the growing Euroskepticism in the region.

○ The Visegrád Group in the EU: 2016 as a turning-point?

Dutch PM on Brexit: UK is a waning country too small to stand alone | The Guardian |

Britain is a "waning country" and too small to stand alone on the world stage, the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, has claimed in a withering assessment of the UK's exit from the EU.

Rutte, who has emerged as a key player in the talks over the past two years, also warned in an interview that the UK looked to be sliding off the "precipice" towards a "devastating" no-deal Brexit.

"Who will be left weakened by Brexit is the United Kingdom," he said. "It is already weakening, it is a waning country compared to two or three years ago. It is going to become an economy of middling size in the Atlantic Ocean. It is neither the US nor the EU. It is too small to appear on the world stage on its own."

Rutte, who also claimed the Dutch would replace the UK in the bloc as the pre-eminent voice for free trade, has been regularly consulted by Theresa May on progress in the Brexit negotiations.

[...]

Asked whether a Brexit deal was likely, Rutte said in an interview with European media outlets, including the Spanish newspaper El País: "My impression is that the ball is heading towards the precipice and everyone screams to stop, but nobody does anything to stop it, at least, from the British side."

○ Corporate Elitist Rutte Feels May's Pain
○ Goal for Next Decade: How to Harness Capitalism

Not unusual act on a day as Europe (Airbus) had to ditch the production line of the A380 ... outdated, so 20th century and its nephews are more lenient, versatile and fuel efficient.

A hard landing ... a no-deal Brexit just ahead.

Global Warming - distance between America and Europe is steadily increasing.

PM Theresa May wasn't there to witness her deepest defeat ...

UK's May handed another defeat in parliament | DW |

After two years of failing to get anything significant regarding Brexit through parliament, the government of Prime Minister Theresa May had launched a last desperate plea on Thursday.

The government's main motion:

•    May hoping to have parliamentarians approve a motion that acknowledges her progress in negotiations with the European Union, voicing support for her to go back to Brussels seeking more amendments to the divorce deal, most likely related to the Irish border backstop.


•   The motion was defeated, with 303 voting against and 258 voting in favor.

Now that the motion has failed, May will have almost zero credibility left to continue talks with the EU.

May lost support from both the hard-Leave and hard-Remain factions of her own party, leading to the motion failing.  

Defeated and withdrawn: the Brexit proposals MPs voted on | The Guardian |

A quick guide to Theresa May's failed motion and the other amendments MPs voted on this Thursday.

May's motion - DEFEATED

Theresa May's motion was defeated after ERG Tories refused to support her approach to leaving the EU. May's defeat, by 303 votes to 258, showed the prime minister once again losing control of her own party in the crucial final weeks before Brexit.

Labour's amendment to force another vote - DEFEATED

The Labour frontbench, including Jeremy Corbyn and Keir Starmer, tabled an amendment that would force the prime minister to bring her deal back to the Commons or table another amendable motion by 27 February, just over a month before the UK is due to leave the EU. It was defeated 322 to 306.

The SNP's amendment to extend article 50 - DEFEATED

The amendment by the Scottish National party calls on the government to extend article 50 by at least three months. The amendment was defeated 315 to 93.

An amendment to force the release of no-deal cabinet briefings - WITHDRAWN

Anna Soubry has withdrawn the amendment she tabled with Labour's Chuka Umunna, both leading remainers. It demanded the government publish "the most recent official briefing document", which has been given to cabinet ministers on the implications of a no-deal Brexit on business and trade.

May not there to hear the result - remember a few days ago she was telling the EU she'd be able to get a stable majority ....

— Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) February 14, 2019

○ Corbyn to hold Brexit talks with Barnier and Verhofstadt | The Guardian |

Global Warming - distance between America and Europe is steadily increasing.

○ Airbus A380: End of the superjumbo era | Gulf News |

The company, a European economic powerhouse, is also girding for serious disruption to its cross-continental manufacturing from a likely chaotic British exit from the EU next month.

...
British Airways Brexit Debacle: The Airline Will Be EU Owned After Brexit.

○ British Airways owner stops selling its shares to non-EU citizens | CNBC |

Global Warming - distance between America and Europe is steadily increasing.

Working with ⁦@MichelBarnier⁩ as ONE TEAM on #Brexit - nobody should doubt EU solidarity. 🇪🇺🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/77NTI6CYlS

— Simon Coveney (@simoncoveney) February 18, 2019

More EU-UK Brexit talks set after Cox sets out backstop changes | Reuters -  

HOPES of Brexit breakthrough rose last night as Ministers prepared to return to Brussels with new legal wording to fix the hated Irish 'backstop'. Sources said Attorney General Geoffrey Cox and Brexit secretary Steve Barclay will present Eurocrats with fresh proposals designed to reassure MPs in talks on Wednesday.

[..]

Speaking separately on Monday evening, the head of the EU's executive, Jean-Claude Juncker, said "no one in Europe would oppose it" if London asked for a Brexit delay beyond the current date of March 29 to get more negotiating time.

He also suggested Britain could go for a longer extension of the so-called Article 50 legal time limit on agreeing divorce terms if it decided to organize European Parliament elections on its soil in May.  

Has Juncker been drinking again so late in the game ??


Global Warming - distance between America and Europe is steadily increasing.

Brexit breakthrough is in God's hands, says Jean-Claude Juncker

Jean-Claude Juncker, the EU's most senior official, declared that Brexit was "in God's hands" on Monday, as he said Brussels would be open to delaying Brexit if it avoided a 'no deal' scenario.

In an interview with German newspaper Stuttgarter Zeitung, the eccentric European Commission president said that Brexit was now being dictated by higher forces.

"When it comes to Brexit, it is like being before the courts or on the high seas; we are in God's hands. And we can never quite be sure when God will take the matter in hand," Mr Juncker said.

Between 2021 and 2027, a proposed €30.6 billion could be available from the EU's major infrastructure fund -- the Connecting Europe Facility -- for such upgrades across the EU.

UK Portugal Freight Statistics - 2017 [pdf]

Global Warming - distance between America and Europe is steadily increasing.

Brexit 'must not, will not' be blocked  

Theresa May has vowed to Tory grassroots activists that she will not allow the referendum vote for Britain to leave the EU to be frustrated.

The Prime Minister is flying to Egypt for an EU-League of Arab States summit where she is expected to hold talks with key EU figures as she battles to break the deadlock in the Brexit talks.

[...]

Ahead of her departure, No 10 released details of her speech to a closed meeting of the National Conservative Convention (NCC) in Oxford on Saturday, when she told supporters the Government's focus on delivering Brexit must be "absolute".

Her comments came after three pro-EU Cabinet ministers signalled they could back moves in Parliament to delay Britain's withdrawal to prevent a "disastrous" no-deal break.

The intervention by Amber Rudd, Greg Clark and David Gauke led to calls for their resignations by furious Tory Brexiteers - comments said to have been echoed in private by some Cabinet ministers.

Northern Minister John Penrose warned taking no-deal off the table could undermine Mrs May's efforts to secure concessions on the backstop.

"It could torpedo Brexit completely, leaving us in a 'Hotel California' Brexit, where we'd checked out but could never leave," he said in an article for The Sunday Telegraph.

The Elephant Trap

"We'd have built an enormous elephant trap for ourselves, and there'd be no way to climb out."

EU27 consultations. Today in #Madrid for constructive meetings with President @sanchezcastejon MFA @JosepBorrellF & SoS @marcoaguiriano. Clear and strong unity of EU27 to preserve the withdrawal agreement in all its dimensions, including on Ireland. #Brexit pic.twitter.com/1WotxyZGQB

— Michel Barnier (@MichelBarnier) February 19, 2019

Theresa May is giving the final blow to the United Kingdom

... this was done by the government of David Cameron, who arrogantly, also because of his blatant re-election and the failure of the referendum in Scotland, underestimated the danger that those sly of the "Pro-Brexit" could get something.

And, immediately after the disaster the consequent Cameron resignation, and Theresa May's arrival at Downing Street, she chose the wrong policy, thinking that the only way to regain the trust of voters and stay in power was to practice the same thesis as the movement "Pro-Brexit", stubbornly insisting. with her head down, in applying the result (slightly over the half) of the referendum, without listening to those who suggested to check if the population still really agreed and was approving such a radical step.

After painting with reassuring public speeches the ideal world in which the United Kingdom was moving forward without the "chains" imposed by the "bad" European Union, negotiations with the latter to define the way out have started and the cold shower has arrived both onto the government and onto the population.

○ The Scottish Devolution Referendum: Failure in 1979 and Success in 1997 [large pdf]

Global Warming - distance between America and Europe is steadily increasing.

This decision to further delay the meaningful vote is the height of irresponsibility.

Theresa May is recklessly running down the clock in a desperate attempt to force MPs to choose between her deal and no deal.

Parliament cannot standby and allow this happen. (_link)

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) February 24, 2019