Awol

“The whole process is a complete disaster” Patently false.

If the EU wants to cut itself from the sources of capital that keep the banking system and debt markets afloat then they won’t do a deal on financial services. If they want to maintain the Eurozone, they will. Been back about 9 months, but thanks. Bigly.

No mate, every day is a celebration of our approaching independence. All on track so far as I can tell.

The foresight of Remainers regarding negotiations that haven’t happened yet is equally baffling - though impressive.

Ex ex-pat. North of the wall with the wildlings at the moment.

What he wanted (and got) was attention. Once everyone was talking about him he rowed back within 12 hours, ludicrously denying his own words. He’s irrelevant as Chindie said the timing alone makes a second referendum pretty much impossible. It simply ain’t happening, however much a minority of political scumbags (Blair, Mandelson, Campbell, et al) might want it.

Let them eat quinoa.

Very considerate old bean, thanks!

Attempts to force a second referendum failing, the EU progressing with their plans for further integration, Remain luminaries still in total meltdown.. Not long left to push and we're finally out. Excellent.

Sure, it's not like it took long to find his Dad - global hide and seek champion, 2001-2011.

A disturbing pattern that suggests we might be approaching another spike in activity - particularly with Raqqa likely to fall shortly. 'Avenge the Caliphate' could well be the next slogan of choice as IS move to an online 'virtual Caliphate' model. Lots of speculation in the counter terrorism community that Hamza Bin Laden is the coming man who might reunite the warring tribes of AQ & IS. Not a promising development given how many of the latter are now back in Europe.

Alert state raised to critical, IS have claimed it but who knows at this stage. Timers are much sensible than self detonating anyway if only so you can do it again.

Whoever made the bomb will be at large so expect threat level to go up to critical. Likely they'll fancy another go in some shape or form before the police get to them.

Was Trump's failure to properly condemn domestic terrorism his biggest gaff last week, or is that still threatening nuclear war with North Korea? (I'm assuming his proposal to invade Venezuela was a mere musing... During a live press conference.)

It's a fait accompli. The US isn't going to war with N Korea because you just can't have a proper dust up with a nuclear power, that's why countries want the things in the first place. The question now is how we learn to live with it, not how to remove it. That ship sailed under GWB.

They've missed the window now. The latest launch (missile capable of hitting CONUS as far as Chicago definitely, and probably NYC) came from a launch site that was previously unknown to western intelligence. The gig is up, NK is now a defacto nuclear weapon state and there's nothing the US can do about it without risking catastrophe. That's a lesson that won't be lost on Washington's Iran hawks. Strongly recommend a guy called Arms Control Wonk on Twitter, he's very good on this subject and does excellent podcasts.

If Putin has given up on any great change of Russia/US relations under Trump it's probably worth keeping an eye on Wikileaks..

Highlight was him barging his way through world leaders to stand next to Trump for the photo op. If a British PM gave a speech remotely like that one above they'd be politically lynched and gone in 48hrs max. If he's not it speaks volumes about standards (and racism more generally) in France.

Well, it seems Europe's new favourite son has some interesting views on culture and ethnicity... While the UK does national face palms at a Tory MP's casual use of racist epitaphs, President Macron announces it is pointless giving money to Africa until they address their failing civilisations, high birth rates & general poor effort at life. No BS, he really did!

True, but the same Ambo stated that the U.K. had played a key role in driving this particular negotiation forward and that a bilateral deal on similar terms shouldn't be a problem. The advantage of a bilateral deal is that when it comes to the detail (still to be negotiated in the EU-Japan deal) the UK wouldn't have to account for the wishes of 27 other member states.

Jap Ambo to UK on Radio 4 suggested all they have agreed (in 4 years and 3 months) with the EU is a framework for more detailed discussions that will take years of negotiation to complete. Also said a post Brexit bilateral FTA between UK & Japan may even happen first given how long the EU takes over such deals. /amused.

Hence "first" but USMC likely to operate from QE class platforms frequently into the future even after our own carrier air is stood up. Nothing wrong with that and RN assets may operate from their properties platforms too, it's all about interoperability.

Trump's Anglophile acolytes have pointed out that an FTA with the UK is highly attractive to them for a number of reasons: The volume / value of current trade is roughly equal so a deal doesn't unduly benefit one party over another; Convergence in terms of skills and wages means US manufacturing jobs won't flee to the UK a la Mexico or China; It serves as a showcase domestically for Trump Admin to demonstrate they are not anti-trade if the US gets a 'fair' deal in the process; US & UK are already the biggest investors in each other's countries, so lots to build on. Geopolitically it cements a newly liberated (for want of a better word) UK back into the US orbit, a process already taking place in the defence arena - first carrier air group on HMS QE likely to be from the USMC for a deployment to the Pacific. Unless Corbyn suddenly becomes PM or the Democrats somehow take the White House then no reason to think this won't happen. The battle now is between May and Hammond, with the latter pushing for a never ending transition deal that keeps the UK in the EU in all but name.

Former Irish diplomat seems to think Ireland may also end up leaving the EU. Any wide ranging and equitable agreement between the US & UK (which Ireland could expect to join in a post EU future) may see the idea becoming more mainstream.