Who loves John Bercow?

Well, that’s buggered that then. Today in the House of Commons the Speaker John Bercow blindsided Theresa May by telling her in no uncertain terms that her government can’t just keep bringing the same deal back to a vote in parliament in the hope that it will eventually get a different result to the two rejections it has already received. His decision has blown what passed for Theresa May’s strategy out of the water. That strategy was one of taking all the options off the table, until eventually MPs were left with just her deal. The Speaker has now taken her deal off the table. Her tactic involved running down the ticking clock until enough MPs were alarmed into voting for her deal. John Bercow just silenced the clock.

A meaningful vote that has no effect other than to make the Prime Minister bring her deal back for yet another attempt is not a meaningful vote at all. John Bercow’s decision means that the meaningful vote held last week was a whole lot more meaningful than the Prime Minister had intended. She thought that she could keep returning for another go as often as she wanted. That was obvious from the language that she used when addressing the House in the immediate aftermath of her second defeat. She showed not the slightest awareness that her deal had been rejected and displayed every intention that, since she had just received the wrong answer, she was going to keep asking the question until she got the answer she wanted. And then she prattled on about respecting democracy. Self-awareness is not Theresa May’s strong suit.

There is a long standing parliamentary convention that a motion can’t be brought back for the consideration of the Commons if it has already been rejected earlier in the same parliamentary session. Like all the conventions which underpin what passes for a constitution in the UK, it’s not a law, but rather a tradition of practice which relies upon the willingness of governments and opposition to respect gentlemanly fair play. Or at least to respect fair play as far as other members of the British establishment are concerned. The rest of us have never enjoyed the same considerations. But that’s always been the British way.

This government hasn’t shown much interest in respecting those traditions. Might is right with Theresa May, and she’d have gotten away with it had she enjoyed a parliamentary majority. The British system allows, indeed encourages, the government of the day to act with the untrammelled powers of a dictator. If Theresa May had a majority, she would never have needed to keep bringing back her deal to parliament, because she’d have had the power to ram it through the first time. Theresa’s problem is that she persists in acting as though she has a majority and as though she has unlimited power, when she is in fact the head of a minority government which is riven with infighting and factionalism.

The effect of John Bercow’s ruling is, unless there are major and substantive changes to the deal, that it cannot be brought back for parliamentary consideration. Since the EU has already announced in no uncertain terms that it is done negotiating and the withdrawal agreement is not up for renegotiation, Theresa May has no room left for movement. There is no new deal or substantially different deal that the government can bring before the Commons.
If Theresa May is still hell bent on bringing her deal back for another go, she has only two options left. She can call a general election, and hope to return with a majority in a new parliament. But that means she’ll have to ask for a lengthy extension to Article 50 from the EU, and the chances are that her exasperated party will seek to replace her with a different leader. Any general election will most certainly be fought over Brexit and would be an effective referendum on whether the electorate wants Brexit at all. The Conservatives might be facing a weak and ineffective Labour party, but that’s not who worries them. They’re far more worried by a resurgence of UKIP and Nigel Farage’s new Brexit party.

The other option is to prorogue Parliament for a few days and then to recall it in a new session in which the clock has been reset and the Speaker can’t block a vote on the deal on the grounds that it has already been voted upon during the same parliamentary session. But that means that the government will have to request permission to prorogue Parliament from the Queen, who acts in such matters on the advice of the Speaker as well as the advice of the government of the day. Politicising the monarchy is a very high risk strategy.

Brexit was all about English nationalists wanting to restore full power to the UK. They kept banging on about the sovereignty of parliament while practising the untrammelled power of the executive. The great irony is that Brexit has now surrendered the fate of the UK to the 27 other members of the EU. They’re the ones who will decide what happens next. They’re the ones who will decide whether to grant an extension to Article 50 which is long enough for the UK to try and sort itself out, or whether to kick the UK out of Europe on Friday of next week with no deal at all.

The EU doesn’t want no deal any more than anyone in the UK with a modicum of common sense, which clearly doesn’t include sections of the right wing press, a large part of the Conservative party, and the swivel eyed spittle flecked Brextremists. That means that the chances are that we are now facing a lengthy extension to Article 50.

The only deal which has any chance of getting through the Commons is for May’s deal to be accepted conditionally on confirmation in a public vote, which requires an extension of Article 50 long enough for the vote to take place. The vote would have to be between no-deal, May’s deal or remaining. It’s the only sensible way out of this mess. But there’s no guarantee that a government which is in thrall to those lacking in sense will embark upon the sensible course of action.

This is an unprecedented constitutional crisis. No one knows what’s going to happen. Our jobs, our security, our futures are all at stake. At the last General Election Mrs May told us that a vote for here was a vote for strength and stability. How’s that working out for us all?

A meander along the North Coast of Cornwall

It's always a joy to show off our part of the world to friends. And this is what we did recently. Here are a few photographs as evidence.

The area of our jaunt was the North Cornwall coast between Trebarwith Strand to the west and Crackington Haven to the east, with Boscastle and Tintagel in between. Stunning scenery and crashing seas. And, at this time of the year, no tourists to get in the way!

There's not a lot in Crackington Haven but it has a stony/rocky foreshore and a reasonably sized sandy beach at low tide. That's Gull Rock in the distance and this is view is sometimes seen in various TV series - Doc Martin and Poldark are just two.

If you want a spot to view the waves without walking too far, Trebarwith Strand is as good a place as any - as long as it's out of season. In season, forget it. Too many people for such a small place with limited parking and narrow single lane access.

More waves. We do like the sea and would hate not to be within easy travelling distance. It takes us about 45 minutes to get here from home.

It also takes about the same length of time to get to Boscastle, famous because of the flood of August 2004, which caused extensive damage to the village. It took many years to repair it all and, notwithstanding the enormous trauma caused by the flood, Boscastle now has an enhanced tourist profile, which probably benefits local businesses. No gain without pain?



 Boscastle is on a natural inlet protected by two stone harbour walls built in 1584 by Sir Richard Grenville. It's the only significant harbour for some 20 miles of coast. 

Fishing nowadays from Boscastle is restricted to catching crabs and lobsters, most of the latter going out of county and even out of country to the end-consumer.



A load of old bollards at the harbour. I liked the textures and their sea-worn look.

What a load of old rope.

More waves off Boscastle harbour. You can imagine the difficulties in navigating into the safe haven in conditions such as these.

Not a sign you see often, particularly at a beach as stony as the one in Crackington Haven. But it was a big enough problem for the local Parish Council to take steps to threaten errant holiday-makers with large fines. Apparently one such miscreant drove several hundred miles to return their ill-gotten stones. The rationale behind it all was "the stones are part of the essential sea-defences of the low-lying hamlet and, if we allowed people to pinch stones willy-nilly, then all the stones would soon be gone and the houses and cafes inundated". It's a view not shared by every parishioner or, for that matter, by many sane people.

As you can plainly see, Crackington Beach is almost devoid of stones.

It may not have many stones but the beach does have lots of very interesting geological features, including these folds.

And these are not stones, they are boulders. Lots of them. Pinch them if you are strong enough - and if you don't mind risking the wrath of the Parish Council.

The beach here doesn't look much at present but it's appearance, and the amount of sand, varies with the storms. Sometimes there's lots of sand at low tide and, at other times, very little. It's a good beach for surfing, apparently.

A bonus for the small but select band of trig point baggers who read my blog. S5504 at Tresparrett Down on the way to Crackington Haven. A serendipitous find as I'm not that sad that I'd drive out of my way to find one (well, not often. But it has been known). If you are interested, it's a secondary pillar and was first erected in 1949.

Another day in the La La Land of Brexit

Another day, another nail in the coffin of democracy in the House of Commons. What’s the point of parliamentary votes when the government, a minority government at that, feels free to ignore them? But that’s where we are now. Remember, all this mess was created by people who claimed that they wanted to restore the sovereignty of the British Parliament, yet we have a government and Prime Minister which ignore parliament and press on with what passes for their plan. That would be a plan to make us all poorer, a plan to restrict our civil rights, a plan to strip us of our European citizenship. There’s no agreement on anything in the House of Commons, except that this is absolute chaos, that what remains of the UK’s international reputation as a stable democracy has been resoundingly trashed by the UK itself. It's a complete COCK-UP.

The first amendment to be voted on yesterday instructed the government to ask for an extension to Article 50 in order for there to be another referendum on the EU. Labour decided that it was not going to support this amendment, following on from Corbyn forgetting to mention his party’s support for another referendum after the government was defeated the other day. So if you were looking to the Labour party to rescue us all from this Brexit mess, think again. All Labour is fit for is abstention. As the amendment was voted upon in the Commons, the vast majority of Labour’s MPs sat firmly on their benches – because that’s the only way that they can cover their arses.

As expected due to the failure of Labour to back it, the amendment was defeated. This doesn’t mean that there can’t be another EU referendum, but the magnitude of the defeat gives a boost to the Brexists. Jacob Rees Mogg took to social media to self-congratulate himself on the death of a second referendum, but Jacob’s gloating is premature. You’d think he would recognise when something is undead, but apparently not. The chances of another EU referendum are less than they were, but they’re not entirely gone yet.
Then the House voted on whether to take over control of business from the government. That amendment was defeated by the narrowest of margins, allowing Theresa May the slimmest of lifelines. That just left Labour’s amendment, and the government’s own amendment. Labour wanted the House to agree to ask for an extension of Article 50 beyond the 29th of March in order for Parliament to try and find something it could agree on. Labour’s amendment didn’t specify a time limit. It was defeated by 16 votes.

That only left the government’s own amendment, which sought to ask the EU for an extension of Article 50 until 30th June for the purposes of passing the necessary legislation – assuming that Theresa May’s deal has passed. This amendment passed by a large majority.

So that’s where we are now. The government has pledged to ask the EU for an extension to Article 50 even though it’s been swearing blind for the past two years that it wasn’t going to do so. It’s entirely within the gift of the EU to decide whether to grant an extension, and they may very well decide that there’s no point in extending the Article 50 process until 30th June when it’s obvious that there is more squabbling within the UK than there is at a serial adulterer’s will reading. Some figures within the EU have noted that it’s pointless to grant another extension unless there is some credible justification from the UK for what the extension can achieve. The EU doesn’t see much point in granting extra time to the UK just so that the UK can continue to disgree with itself. On the other hand there is talk in some EU circles of granting an extension, but only a much longer one. Despite the text of the government’s amendment that a longer extension would require the UK to participate in May’s EU elections, this is not necessarily the case. Thank god we’ve got a strong and stable British government eh. Just imagine the chaos and confusion if we didn’t.

We’re now just two weeks away from Brexit day, and the UK has been reduced to begging the EU for extra time so that it can try to sort itself out, but still without any clear idea of how it’s going to achieve that. All we hear is the “will of the people” from politicians who are determined to ensure that the people never get to express what their will is, because apparently the referendum of June 2016 was the final word in democratic expression which trumps everything else for all time. As I said earlier, it's a complete COCK-UP. But, not just any old COCK-UP. It's a Tory COCK-UP. Almost matched by the Labour COCK-UP in not offering a credible alternative.

A walk in foreign parts.....

Passport? Tick! Visa? Tick! Injections? Tick! Travel insurance? Tick! Pith helmet? Tick! Then it's off across the border to have a walk in Devon.

This walk started and ended at the station in Bere Ferrers, one of the two villages on the Bere Peninsular, 'twixt the Tavy and Tamar Rivers. Between 1972 and 1974, we lived in the other village, Bere Alston. The 5 mile route we followed was taken from a leaflet entitled 'Heralds of Spring - Discovering Daffodils'. This part of the world was, for many years, a centre of the daffodil growing industry. This has now declined significantly but reminders of it can be seen everywhere in the hedgerows and the margins of fields. The leaflet described the walk as 'moderate with some steep uphill sections and long climbs but well worth it'. And so it proved.

Bere Ferrers station, a stop on the Tamar Line which runs from Plymouth to Gunnislake. It's a very picturesque route and well worth taking. Two things to notice in the image. Firstly the way the track curves sharply just past the bridge. Secondly, the sign on the right hand side of the post about the New Zealanders 1917 Memorial.

The Bere Ferrers Rail Accident occurred at this station on 24th September 1917 when ten soldiers from New Zealand alighted from their troop train on the wrong side of the train, having assumed they should leave by the same side they had entered, and were struck and killed by an oncoming express.
Two troopships of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, the Ulimaroa and the Norman, had just arrived at Plymouth Sound from New Zealand, and the soldiers were en route to Sling Camp on Salisbury Plain. Their train left Plymouth Friary railway station at 15:00, the soldiers had not eaten since 06:00 that morning and had been told that at the train's first stop, Exeter, two men from each carriage could collect provisions from the brake van.
In response to a signal the train made an unscheduled stop at Bere Ferrers station at 15:52. The length of the train meant that the end carriages were outside the station and those aboard assumed that this must be Exeter station. Eager to break their ten-hour fast and ignoring the 'two from each carriage' rule, many jumped down, some onto the down-line track.
The London Waterloo to Plymouth express train had left Exeter on time at 14:12 and had made its previous stop at Tavistock. As it approached Bere Ferrers the driver noticed the stationary train and gave a prolonged blast on his whistle, but there is a sharp turn on the approach to the station and the driver was unable to see the soldiers on the track ahead until it was too late.
The express was travelling at 40 mph and nine soldiers were killed instantly before the express managed to come to a halt a quarter of a mile beyond the station. A tenth died later in Tavistock Hospital. One of the survivors said "We never thought of an express travelling at 40 miles per hour. They don't travel at that rate in New Zealand. It was a wonder more of us were not killed." The inquest revealed that the men instinctively exited the train from the same side they had entered, placing them on the railway's other track.

 

On the banks of the Tavy looking down the estuary to its confluence with the Tamar. Mud, glorious mud.

The small creek at Gnatham Quay. At one time this would have been used to load produce destined for the markets in Devonport and Plymouth. Nowadays, a pleasant place to stop for a drink.

A view down the Tavy from a higher elevation than the previous one.

A little higher still and the Tamar is clearly visible coming in from the right. There are three bridges in this image.

And here they are. The railway bridge over the Tavy in the foreground and the two bridges spanning the Tamar at Saltash in the midground. The zoom lens I used compresses the perspective somewhat, making the bridges appear closer together than they actually are.

Looking back to the Tavy from near Collytown Manor through a natural arch formed by the hedgerows.

A footbridge in Holes Wood. A place to return to when the bluebells are out.

And these are trees in nearby Rapes Wood.

A gate at Colleytown Forge. The meaning behind the figures is open to interpretation. An innocent depiction of the owner's hobbies? Or, perhaps, showing some antagonism between the two sports? 

Just a few of the various types of daffodil we saw as we walked around.

A fairly typical bank of mixed types that we encountered as we walked around. This one was at Hole Farm.. Many of the displays such as these originate from daffodil farmers discarding bulbs when fields were put to other uses or, perhaps, when older varieties were replaced by newer ones. Whatever the reason, they really make for spectacular walking at this time of year.

We came across just a few clumps of the native daffodil (Narcissus pseudonarcissus). So small and delicate compared to the much larger variants and hybrids we saw more often.

The male flowers (catkins) on hazel trees are blindingly obvious - and this year seems to be a good year for them. But where are the girls? Without female flowers there will be no nuts…. The catkins are opening out to release their pollen and the much smaller female flowers are appearing. You have to look closely to spot them as they’re just a wisp of red or cream peeking out from the tip of a bud. What you see is just a part of the flower, the styles, that will receive the pollen. The rest of the flower is inside the bud. The more female flowers there are, the more chance there is of a good crop of nuts at the end of the summer. And it looks as if that will be the case for 2019. Here's a botanical fact for you: In hazel, the male and female flowers grow on the same tree: so-called monoecious, from the Greek for one house. Guess what 'dioecious' means?

One of the earliest flowering tree is the Blackthorn (Prunus spinose), commonly known as the sloe. Blackthorn blossom comes out before its leaves and Hawthorn is the other way around, leaves appear first then the flowers. I love the way Blackthorn blossom cheers up the most dismal grey wet days of March.

Odd things by the wayside: Part XXV. I've no idea what it is.

 

Just some topical cartoons

 A few political cartoons taken from a site that compiles those that are published around the world. It's always interesting to get another perspective on current affairs.

NY Times, USA.

Po.litico

Caglecartoons, Netherlands.

De Volkskrant, Netherlands.

Politicalcartoons.com, Croatia.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, U.S.

The Augusta Chronicle, U.S.

The Columbus Dispatch, U.S.