It has been at times a confused day of politics news, with many readers trying to make sense of the day beneath live coverage of a possible cabinet resignation. We’re also looking at some of the most interesting discussion around other areas of the site, including on the bike blog and at the pub.
To join in the conversation you can click on the links in the comments below to expand and add your thoughts.
May to publish Brexit backstop plan as prospect of Davis resignation fades - Politics live
Many readers shared Michel Barnier’s doubts on the government’s Brexit backstop plan.
‘In the real world, this has been another pointless waste of time’
So Davis can accept the wording and the prime minister can accept the wording because both can interpret it to mean what they want or can spin it to whoever they need to convince it means what they want. Except the EU who won’t accept a fudge.
In the real world, this has been another pointless waste of time. The whole charade has only taken place to once again stop the Tory party exploding. All it has done is given it a longer fuse because unless the ultimate aim of both sides of this debate within the Tory party is a hard Brexit and they are going to elaborate lengths to convince us it’s not, then the bomb will go off eventually.
Dune1959
‘The only reason there is a backstop is because there is no coherent Brexit plan’
This is utterly ludicrous. The only reason why there is a backstop is because there is no coherent Brexit plan. Putting a defined time limit on it won’t magic up a coherent plan. If it doesn’t exist it doesn’t exist. They should all resign a shambles of a government.
kristinezkochanski
‘Davis can’t even agree with May on the best way forward’
The Tories are so divided on Brexit that Davis can’t even agree with May on the best way forward. Labour aren’t any better, as admitted by Starmer. How is anything good going to come of Brexit when our two main parties are in such disarray and their leaders held in such disdain?
DreamingofTibet
‘He has produced nothing in two years’
So Davis is annoyed about a backstop proposal? If he hadn’t sat on his hands for two years and produced nothing, he wouldn’t have to worry about the backstop arrangements.
mavrik1
The new rules of pub etiquette: don’t flirt with bar staff or steal the glasses
Much of that political news will be discussed over a few drinks this evening – readers have been enjoying adding their own suggestions to this lighthearted list of things not to get up to in the pub.
Reserved tables? No thanks
This covers my two pet peeves in Cambridge pubs. 1. Pubs that reserve tables, even for people that are just having drinks. I see no positive to this. 2. People who get to the bar then spend ages choosing. They want the bar worker to offer an opinion on all ten taps, and then the ‘sampling’ starts... So, so wrong.
J_smudger
‘Too much emphasis on the customers in my view’
The first couple of points put too much emphasis on the customers in my view. As a barman I always knew who was next – being observant is part of the job and if you serve people in the right order it saves the patient guests the infuriation of the butters in getting their drinks first. Good bar staff should manage a queue effectively – it’s not just about serving drinks.
Agree with most of this though especially the bit about ordering the slower pouring drinks first – nothing more annoying than doing a ten drink round only to hear ‘Oh, and a pint of Guinness please’.
jimbo246
10 weird and wonderful derailleurs – and how they changed cycling
The “nerdiest” article published today? That may be, but readers have enjoyed this piece from the Guardian’s bike blog.
‘Fetishism is as much of a selling point as form and function’
I’m not a cyclist let alone a bike nerd (my problem is with synthesisers) but I now have a vague understanding that fetishism is as much of a selling point as form following function in gadget design. There’s no point designing something wonderful if it’s going to sit on a shelf in a bike shop and be outsold by a better looking, younger model. Hugely entertaining article, thank you.
GuardianOfTime
Comments have been edited for length. This article will be updated throughout the day with some of the most interesting ways readers have been participating across the site.
