Mood #CPC18
Grassroots members who heard PM not convinced by Chequers, but want to stay loyal to PM and not impressed by Operation Boris and “deranged”, want to give her a chance after she said EU had to respond to her plans... one said “till October” - which is tomorrow.
Mood 2:
Two Tory MPs in Birmingham have now volunteered their fears about the effectiveness of that slick Labour ad/video on towns “Our Town” - being discussed on the Whatsapp group
Mood 3:
Surprised by presence of more than a few Tories at nearby “People’s Vote” march - thought it would be mainly Libdems... adamant what appears self evident - theyve entirely lost their party - can be overturned... Number of their MPs backing is creeping up, tho still small.
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NEW: First Minister of Scotland @NicolaSturgeon tells me at SNP conference “it would be my position “that Northern Ireland backstop on single market being negotiated right now should also apply to Scotland
The First Minister tells me she is “not going to stand in the way of NI having a solution to its issues” but that a NIO-only backstop raises “profound concerns on my part” for the competitiveness of Scotland and losing investment to Northern Ireland
I suggested to FM that surely that would imply checks on the England-Scotland border...
She said “I don’t want checks ... lets wait and see how this all plays out”
The border checks acknowledged by @simoncoveney to @SophyRidgeSky are east-west GB->N Ireland ones on food/farm produce, not North-South ones. not sure how much further that gets us, when senior DUP sources have said they would not accept any increase in what is checked...
salient fact here: offer indicated by PM amid her demand for “respect” after Salzburg was such extra NI checks/ regulatory alignment with Ireland could only be contemplated if approved for NI by Stormont - as of last week had been rejected by EU/IE, & DUP said wd veto there
nothing on paper yet though, and there is of course, no NI Assembly to reject anything...
There is some potential wriggle room, however, for example, if any further east-West checks required, could be one way ie not west-east, enabling NI produce free access to U.K. AND EU
Ministers are well aware of this case, I’ve been told that its significance may be being underplayed, I had been told that the Government would seek to appeal the Court of Session’s reference to the ECJ, but apparently didn’t, or haven’t at the most appropriate opp this week...
This is the actual reference from Scotland’s highest court directly to the European Court of Justice asking for a clarification on whether EU Law (ie Article 50) allows for unilateral revocation dropbox.com/s/3sq5dvjh8ruc… via one of the petitioners @JolyonMaugham
It could have got rather interesting constitutionally if the UK Gov had asked the Supreme Court to overrule Scotland’s highest court asking the EU Court whether a UK Govt had theoretical option to revoke A50 without negotiation, options it says it does not want.
Johnson calls the PM’s Chequers proposals
“Not pragmatic not a compromise.. this is not democracy, not what we voted for... it is a constitutional outrage” to cheers...
Says to fudge it now and fix it later “is a total fantasy”
“Chequers will only embolden those calling for a second referendum” says Johnson...