Interesting piece by Rory Carroll, the Guardians Irish correspondent entitled Betrayal?..Ridiculous!
Basically similar to the piece I posted last night from another Guardian columnist ie most Labour voters have had enough, both Remainers and Brexiteers, and just want this over.......the same in NI.....apart from the hard-line loyalists, most will just shrug their shoulders and get on with their improving lives, grateful that there is no physical border between North and South......excerpt “A number of unionists and loyalists are angry, but the political process needs to take their fears away. It’s not the time to ratchet all this up,” said Billy Hutchinson, a Belfast city councillor with the Progressive Unionist party (PUP), which is aligned with the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) paramilitary group. “We can’t afford to go back to the bad old days. We won’t.”
Peter Shirlow, a director at the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Irish Studies and an authority on unionism, said there was little appetite for disruption. “A lorry sitting in Larne having its contents checked won’t drive them back to violence. The narrative is changing. Northern Ireland is not as dysfunctional as you think.”
"A business consultant who declined to be named said a small minority could cause ructions but that others would accept a deal. “They’ll have a bottle of shiraz and a nice meal. Betrayal? It’s ridiculous, inflammatory language. Let’s just get on with life.”
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...on-from-brexit
The numbers are mounting now that Labour rebels are declaring their support for the Boris deal.....FT now believe Boris has a majority, without the DUP.......it´s tight though.....need another 4 or 5 to cross over to be on the safe side.
Has anyone noticed we haven't heard from drunk Steve today?.........Rumour has it he's lent his gear to someone else.
It certainly looks to be on a knife edge. Earlier in the day the bookies had accepting the deal as marginal favourite, now the odds slightly favour rejecting it. I've seen the deal that has been negotiated by Boris described as a "great deal", an "awful deal", "poor, but as good as we can hope for" and "Theresa May's deal with a blonde wig". If it does get passed I suspect it will be because MPs are getting as sick as the rest of us rather than the deal actually being a good one.
https://www.oddschecker.com/politics...ectionName=yes
And now the odds have flipped again, with accepting the deal currently slight favourite. I think that mainly down to self-interest, parliament will very narrowly approve the deal*. If so, we just have to sit back and wait for the golden era that Boris has promised us!
* subject to legal challenges of course. Brexit wouldn't be Brexit without legal challenges.