The On-going Never-ending Brexit Story Part Four

The sad news was read out during the recording of BBC Radio 4 'Any Questions' and several members of the audience were inconsolable. Listen, as their grief becomes too much to bear...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-65860705

 

Robertson dead, Johnson out, Trump indicted, Messi signed…like wtf, how can this week get any better? My wife brings over Margot Robbie and offers a three way?

 

But I keep seeing his supporters claim that he's an electoral asset. Unless they mean an asset for the other parties.

 

I thought his shtick would get old very quickly when things started turning to shit and, as a guy I saw being interviewed recently pointed out, the things that you'd think the public would dislike intensely aren't the ones they necessarily DO dislike.



As he says, the fact that people couldn't visit their mum or dad or even go to their funerals, (which was probably necessary in terms of the pandemic anyway), make a LOT more difference to them than the billions the tories wasted on PPE or cuts to the NHS or other public services. The reason for that, of course, is because the tories weren't doing what they told us to do. IOW it's the perception of an insult that makes more difference than the reality of the policies they carried out.

I think there's a lesson for the left there as well in that HRC's comments about 'deplorables' made a LOT more difference than they should have done. Whether it makes any sense is neither here nor there. It's how people feel that matters as much as what's in their own interests which half the time they don't even know.

 

All of those names need to stick, especially Micky Sniffs.
The bit on Cameron is done perfectly, even down to timing of Danny Dyer saying "Tw@ts".

 

Would be hilarious now if Sunak rescinded the resignation honours. He won't have the balls to do it though.

 

Even in his resignation statement he can't stop lying.
Claims to have been an MP since 2001, despite being out of parliament from 2008-2015.
Claims the Elizabeth line was down to him, when it was started under Blair & Livingstone.

 

The honours list was put out in return for the resignation on a Friday after the trade deal got 24hrs. This is the "controlled" version. Imagine Boris resigning Wednesday morning this week.

 

Of course, but what's Sunak got to lose?
Letting it go through just ties him further to the stench. Johnson's going to have his allies undermining him anyway, so it might actually give him a bit of credibility.
I imagine Johnson's plan is to lie low for a year, let the press and his mates attack Sunak, then blag a safe sate for a heavy 2024 election defeat, and the King Over The Water returns to the top in the Tory's hour of need.

I wonder if Sunak's best play might be an early election? They're going to lose whenever it's called, but the longer it's dragged out the worse the losses will become and the lower his chances of retaining the leadership.
A snap election this summer likely takes Johnson out of the equation, and in the aftermath he can blame him, Truss and Kwarteng, saying he's had less than a year to sort things out and deserves more time. If he's been in charge for two years ahead of a massive loss, then he's toast, especially if Johnson is back in the picture.

 

Nigel Adams standing down. Now it's four by-elections coming up (SNP's Farrier plus the misfit tories).

As Tim Curry might say, "This is starting to get serious."

 

It's hard to see any way back for Sunak anyway. He hasn't got the bon ami that Johnson had, (if you listen to some people), and he's presided over the biggest fall in living standards for ordinary people in... well, I dunno... but I'm guessing it's a long time.

Johnson's just another problem for him on top of all the others.

Obviously he should block the honours list but I think he's in too weak a position to do it.

 

What THE Nigel Adams???

As The National said...

Who is Nigel Adams? Tory MP resigns and triggers another by-election

This is the thing with many of these sycophants and hangers on. Although we know a few like mad nad and fash mogg, most of them we wouldn't know if we fell over them.

 

Johnson allies causing problems for Sunak. Although they won't lose in Selby.

 

What's worse is the Nigel Caucus keeps shrinking. Pour one out.

 

Hmm... I'm not sure there is a wholly 'safe' tory seat any more, certainly not in these circumstances.

He had a 20k majority in 2019 but it was only 13k the time before that. Owen Patterson, (who likewise had a rather 'troubled' recent history with the tories), had a similar electoral history but with even bigger majorities of 23k in 2019 and 17k in 2017.

If the local parties sort themselves out regarding tactical voting they can oust ANY of these clowns.

I mean, obviously, they won't and some tories will get elected but idiots like this who resign despite not having to and causing by elections is another matter.

I suspect voters will punish them for having to 'do politics' when they don't want to.

 

Popcorn at the ready

Spoken to a key Johnson backer who tells me it’s likely there will be more resignations > dripping them out to cause maximum damage to No 10. And those who know him tell me ”never write him off”, his resignation letter a declaration of war in this defeat. Will post analysis soon

— Beth Rigby (@BethRigby) June 10, 2023

 

Spare a thought today for poor Lord Cruddas, who, after blowing 3.4M in donations to his boy Boris, woke up this morning to find he has absolutely no skin left in the game.

— Ina (@thatcymraes) June 10, 2023

 

On the issue of the timing of a GE, this makes me wonder if it might be sooner rather than later...

Furious Tories turn against Boris Johnson after ‘bias’ outburst
MPs tell Rishi Sunak that the former PM must not be allowed to stand again, while Johnson ally Nigel Adams quits and triggers third byelection

Rishi Sunak is under growing pressure to bar Boris Johnson from standing as a Conservative candidate at the next election, as senior Tories accused the former prime minister and his allies of a coordinated attempt to derail the government.

Amid anger at Johnson within the party over his explosive departure, in which he said he was only leaving Westminster “for now” and accused a cross-party committee of “egregious bias”, there is now a concerted push among senior Tories to ensure Johnson has no route back to the Commons for the foreseeable future.​

So maybe Sunak might think it would be better for his own political future to go early, blaming the disruption caused by Johnson and his allies for the subsequent loss, than to wait a year or so and THEN lose when the trouble caused by Johnson will be in the rear view mirror to a considerable extent?

I dunno... but I think it's thrown something of a spanner in the works for Sunak's attempt to 'steady the ship', if I'm not mixing my metaphors which, obviously, I am.

 

Sturgeon has been arrested.

 

So, since the 2019 election, the Tory leader has been fined for breaking the law and resigned before he was kicked out, the Labour leader resigned and suspended from his party, the SNP leader resigned and arrested, the Plaid leader resigned for failing to deal with bullying in the party. The Lib Dems lost their leader at that election. It's been an eventful few years.

 

1667911252172062723 is not a valid tweet id

 

Don't forget the former UKIP leader relegated to hawking gold on Youtube.

 

Regarding a wider view of British politics and where it's heading I've seen a couple of YT's recently that were interesting about the public's view of science, in general, and two areas in particular...





In some ways I found the second more interesting and it also relates to the subject of this thread.

What I mean is that we all heard the predictions by 'experts' prior to the referendum that leaving the EU would be damaging and, for whatever reason, a lot of people didn't believe them.

IMO that lack of belief was largely based on the fact that economists had told people that everything was going well prior to the GFC and, also, that we'd 'saved the economy' by our actions, (including austerity and cuts in public spending), since. Bluntly, many people didn't believe that due to rising inequality and the harm that created.

IOW it isn't that the experts said things that were untrue... it's more that they said things that were true for some people but not those who were the most adversely impacted.

In those circumstances people can maybe be excused for NOT believing 'experts'.

 

I saw a poll where almost 50% of respondents thought halving inflation meant prices would come down.
No doubt many will blame the experts when they see prices still going up