The Westminster Arms

Morning, Walking!

I think that meme is a stunning piece of art, Dusty. It's one of those visual things that can say so many things to so many different people .

Rather like today's Matt cartoon.

Morning all. Hope things are nice and calm. Less than a week to go, just the formality of the EP to sign off on the WAB. The chicken is almost cooked, oven timer ready to ping, Brexit is almost done. Their will be a feast on Friday night.

I was down the allotment talking to my friend Jeremy this morning & bumped into Becky and Burden, apparently theirs a lot of newbies joining the party to vote against them. So theyre feeling bit glum & needed cheering up. I directed them to the Westminster Arms for a good laugh.

Morning all and thank you yet again to Singing for the lovely brecky.

If KS gets in then I don't think he will regain those northern and midland votes.

Boris is rich and posh but he is personable, funny and can easily relate to people. And he comes across as passionate and human. And he is a leaver and is a flawed character just like everyone else.
I love his acceptance of the Spectator award.

KS is like a rich stuffed shirt. No personality. Millionaire London remainer.
I think he will be good for the Tories but that is not the point.

Singing thanks for the reminder about Tim Shipmans book. Think I might give it a reread!

Poached eggs on sourdough, that will hit the spot.

Dusty I think that meme might give me nightmares!

Genuine, down to earth & not trapped in a bubble

That rules him out then.

Please stop repeating "Barry G for Shadow Chancellor obvs". It's not making my headache any better.

In the meantime, here are Michael Deacon's words to cheer you up, from the Telegraph.

"Soon enough, Jeremy Corbyn will be Labour leader no more. But this doesn’t automatically mean the party’s prospects will improve. Because, for all his many faults, Labour’s biggest problem isn’t Mr Corbyn.

It’s his supporters.

The supporters who put him there, and kept him there, and will choose his replacement. They’re the problem. In Tim Shipman’s book All Out War, published in 2016, there’s a quote from a despairing Labour MP who wisely requested to remain anonymous. “There are always going to be 500,000 people in this country who are off-the-page nuts,” the MP sighed. “The problem we’ve got is that they have all joined the Labour party to vote for Jeremy Corbyn.”

Thanks to that mass pro-Corbyn influx in the summer of 2015, Labour has a bigger membership than any other party in Europe. But that isn’t a strength. It’s a weakness. Because those pro-Corbyn members have so little in common with the wider electorate. Which means it’s become near-impossible for Labour to appeal to both. Try to win over the one, and immediately alienate the other."

Morning, Dusty and Howabout.

It's hard to know whether RLB feels cheered by that kind of support or not. Fancy spending all your time worrying what your potential Dep will say next to boost your credibility

In times like this, I cannot improve on the sage advice offered by a political heavyweight respected on both sides of the House in his time, and since.

"The sillier end of the Labour Party has always been the best ally of the Conservatives. All my time in politics has shown me that when a party moves away from the concerns of ordinary people it fails.”

David Blunkett.

Stray thought...has anyone heard from @Hollycatberry or @Twattage13 lately? I always enjoyed their posts.

You know it makes sense Dusty
(Barry G for Shadow Chancellor obvs)

Morning Lily
Been so busy irl having trouble keeping up. Feel like the dirty stop out who just surfaces for breakfast and to fill up the laundry basket.

Gonna go with my gut and say Becky and Burgon might well be a winning combination. Sir Keir and Angela would just be cross with everyone all the time. Whoever wins the Leadership needs to find a Cabinet post for Ian Murray imo and I'm coming round to the view that he would be too much in the shadows as Deputy.

Morning, all, morning Saucery.

It has been a momentous week and there are now just six days to go until we leave under the Lisbon Treaty and begin the next phase under the new transition treaty, the original of which is now stored in the archives in Brussels while the UK has a certified copy.

Still plenty more going on in Westminster though as Mr Bercow manages to pick up a consolation title ( Copper) and Unite not only swings its considerable might behind RLB but has formally endorsed their preferred candidate for Deputy Leader.

Richard Burgon.

No, your eyes do not deceive you. Len McCluskey and the gang have sidelined RLB's flatmate Angela Rayner in favour of the multi-talented Mr Burden. From the Spectator:

"In a statement, the union boss took a swipe at former deputy leader Tom Watson as he backed Burgon, saying: 'Unite is also confident that Richard will make a superb deputy to Becky, displaying the qualities that have long been absent from that post - pride in our values, a passion for our party to succeed and, above all, loyalty to their leader.' "

Becky and Burden. As my Scouse granny would say in a different context, well they wouldn't spoil another couple, would they?

Breakfast this morning consists of those lovely fresh Dungannon eggs, cooked any way you like. Please help yourselves.

Kettle's on ☕️☕️☕️

I am honoured to have inspired a Dusty Meme!

I like Lisa Nandy, but any leader in this period is going to be chewed up and spat out, so it would be a shame for her political career to be wasted. RL-B and ET are expendable and unpleasant, so let it be them.

Did you see that Bercow is now a professor at royal Holloway ?

Just popping in to tidy up behind the bar and to say that's an Epic Meme, Dusty!

Lisa Nandy's whole strategy is apparently built on picking up the second preference votes so she could well come through the middle and win. However, closing date for confirmed nominations isn't till 12 February so there's still everything to play for. ET looks as though she's lost a tenner and found a pound.

Scary, I've lost track of where you are now but hope you have reached home safely. I saw Sir David Leakey's cracking interview in which he says with scorching clarity that Mr Bercow "brutalised" staff and that he had never seen anyone treat others so badly in his life. It was a very powerful interview. I got the distinct impression he was giving covering fire to others to give them the courage to come forward. Apparently, further serious allegations from another two people are about to emerge.

I do hope Mr Bercow hasn't gone to the trouble of booking a preliminary appointment at Ede & Ravenscroft to be measured up...

I poured one too many non-alcoholic mojitos so there's one spare on the bar if anyone is in need of refreshment.

Brilliant Dusty. Thanks

I think it's only a matter of time before ET pulls out

Dusty You are excelling yourself

Hmm - not too bothered really who is next Labour Leader, whoever they be they will be a 'caretaker' and not the next PM.

Pretty much as I left the Tories to elect their Leader too and got BJ as PM - I'm not party orientated so my thoughts are worth naught, except during an Election or the odd Referendum where my little individual vote did count (eventually).

Just looked on the Labour Party website
The requirement is
33 CLPs , or 3 affiliates of which 2 have to be trade unions
And overall has to be 5% of membership

So, 33 small CLPs won't do it, nor will one big union

I think this next leader will want to take them into the next election. The idea of caretaker will probably not appeal.
If it wrong daily then I think it will be a disaster.

I am torn. This govt could do so much good if it got 10 years and I think WDaily would guarantee that.

But we do need a strong opposition.

Sir K would give a strong opposition but would ensure the rest of the wall went blue.

I hope Lisa nandy wins.
I actually think she sounds normal

On second thoughts, Unite is so big, RLB probably does meet the 5% criteria, so you are right, Dusty.

ET is still struggling though.

It's an AV type ballot now.