Boris Watch - Thread 1

[chomalungma]

Well, it's been done for Trump since he got elected.
No doubt some people will complain it's on AIBU - but it's a place with traffic.

So let's use this to keep an eye on the changes under Boris.

First Thing:

Boris introduces clause in the withdrawal agreement so the UK must leave with WTO rules if there is no trade agreement with the EU by the end of 2020

www.theguardian.com/business/2019/dec/17/pound-slides-to-pre-election-levels-in-wake-of-bid-to-outlaw-brexit-extension

Feel free to comment and add things that you notice changing. The Trump threads are at 97 now.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/dec/19/johnson-revises-eu-bill-to-limit-parliaments-role-in-brexit-talks

I have seen that is already posted but I am shocked at revoking the status of refugee children. Sickening😨

Here's something else to watch...

Britain First ( that's the ex BNP lot ) say their leader's become a fully paid up member of Bexley Heath and Crawford conservatives! It's that Paul Golding who has said " its to help solidify Boris Johnson's control ... to achieve Brexit and hopefully cut immigration and confront radical Islam."

Paul Golding's the one got 18 weeks prison for religiously-aggravated harassment and deputy Jayda Fransen got 36 weeks.

Since the election they've encouraged the Britain First lot to all join the Conservative party.

Lovely new company in local Tory party meetings. Must tell my daughter's 'in laws' who are very active local members.

Golding loves Boris Johnson - he says the PM is obviously a populist nationalist under the surface, like the type of patriotism as promoted by Britain First.

The thing to watch is if they kick him out- a Conservative Party spokesperson said: “Paul Golding’s application for membership of the Conservative Party has not been approved."

Will he and other BNP ers be rejected? How will they know?

Already going for refugee children? Of course he is! And his voters will be pleased with that decision.

Was just about to post that link @HelenaDove, shocking. This comment someone wrote underneath it on Facebook also chilling:

There's been a caveat added to the promise of increasing the minimum wage. A caveat that would be the perfect excuse for not increasing it. "If economic conditions allow" could mean anything.

From The Independent

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-living-wage-queens-speech-sajid-javid-manifesto-tory-a9253376.html

*The chancellor claimed the rise would make the UK the first major economy to "end low pay altogether", as he vowed to increase the hourly pay rate from £8.21 per hour to £10.50 per hour over the next five years.

However the fine print on the policy, contained in the Queen's Speech on Thursday, shows the ambitious promise will only take place "provided economic conditions allow".*

I see that the hostile environment is being doubled down on.

And there is no credible opposition so Johnson and team can do what they like at the moment.

A bit more on constutional reform

!Johnson’s primary focus for his speech was his “radical” domestic agenda, which, he insists, will change Britain. This will include a new Constitution, Democracy and Rights Commission, which will examine “how our democracy operates” in a move that has caused concern among opposition parties that he will try to change the UK’s constitutional arrangements in the Tories’ favour.

There has been speculation that he could give politicians the power to appoint judges, as in the US, following Johnson’s loss in the supreme court this autumn, but a No 10 source insisted that would not be one of the changes being examined.!

www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/dec/19/queens-speech-nhs-funding-and-terrorist-sentencing-at-centre-of-plans

Whatever Johnson insists won't happen, be sure it will, if it's to the detriment of ordinary folks.

He’s been at the despatch box this morning the moron, proclaiming they are going to “get Brexit done”.

Had to turn the TV off.

Had to turn the TV off.

Ironic for a thread entitled “BorisWatch”

The TV news has become watchable again for the first time in years, now that the Parliamentary gridlock has been broken and the cabal of gurning Marxists have had their dreams of power shattered...

Back to your usual form, I see Cendrillon. Isn’t winning enough?

This thread is focussing on the PM, his government and tracking the decision making that directly impacts on us, as is our right.

I am curious about why there is an insistent need to deflect that lens onto the opposition and what they are doing? As BJ supporters consistently say, the opposition has very little power, so why the need to consistently refer back to them? Especially on a thread where focus is on the people who have that power? I wonder if this might stem from the anxiety that actually 'getting Brexit done' is such an embarrassingly flimsy thing to subscribe to, that your justification and argument has to be about whataboutery and and and at least they are not communist/marxists/socialists. Backed with stupid grinning face.

I wonder if the Boris fans have any comment about the status of refugee children? Probably not as it would be "yay" which won't play well.

I am still waiting for any 'Boris' supporters to give a clear reason why they are so happy he won, without any hashtags, slogans or Corbyn mentions. I'm genuinely waiting.

MaxNormal and ssd I was looking forward to the influx of positive, 'look we were right, they are a people's government' links that will flood this thread throughout the first 100 days of power. I wonder why it hasn't happened yet but it has only been a week. I will wait.

I actively want it. I don't feel at all positive about it, I admit. I'm very anxious given my last 5 years experiences and as a FT children's safeguarding social worker with two chronic conditions but I am praying that things will work out well, with Brexit and this government. I'm looking forward to being soothed and reassured by this good news government.

Alsohuman

Come on, would you honestly ask that question if Labour were sitting on an 80-seat majority? The side that wins an election has every right to be happy that it’s in government and able to enact its programme and block things it doesn’t like.

and at least they are not communist/marxists/socialists

That’s not a little thing. Forget Brexit or anything else the government might do, the fact that they definitely won’t enact a far-left revolution in this country is everything. Being happy that things won’t change too much is the essence of conservatism.

@longtimelurkerhelen Thank you! I knew I knew, if you see what I mean, it was just explaining it :D

Voting for the same thing that has been happening for the past 9 years may be comfortable to you and I'm glad you feel okay with it cendrillon but other people who have been at the sharp end of centre right administration will not agree. The thought of moving further right gives people anxiety.

A far left revolution may have caused much damage too, we can't dismiss that. But being happy with the status quo is not something to be proud of. The damage to the fabric of northern cities, increasing poverty and the divisiveness we have in the country is everything. Holding the Conservatives to account for what they have promised is part of trying to mitigate against this damage. This thread is useful. You trying to shift the lens onto a much reduced opposition is weird. You are lucky you don't want things to change too much but it isn't the feeling lots of us have and denigrating that makes you no better than the members of momentum you ridicule.

ssd
I am still waiting for any 'Boris' supporters to give a clear reason why they are so happy he won, without any hashtags, slogans or Corbyn mentions. I'm genuinely waiting

It's not necessarily just "Boris" supporters you know. Lots of people voted for the manifesto which was the most plausible and sustainable. I am so tired of the Boris v. Corbyn, or Leave V. Remain. For me and many others the election was more than those options.

Have we mentioned ID cards yet for voting?

Come on, would you honestly ask that question if Labour were sitting on an 80-seat majority?

No, I wouldn’t ask that question because it wouldn’t occur to me to gloat or go out of my way to rub people’s noses in it. I get you’re pleased it went your way. Cast your mind back to how you felt two weeks ago, that’s how a lot of people are feeling now. Just show a bit of decency.

Thanks for starting this thread, I also think it's good to have a forum for keeping record of what our government is doing and holding them to account where necessary.

I was not happy with the result by any stretch of the imagination, but there's nothing I can do about it and I have accepted this is what we have now.

Using language such as 'you won', 'we won' etc. is detrimental as it segregates us even further. As a nation who are already deeply divided in our opinions, it would be nice for this thread to just be based on facts and not tearing each other apart any more.

The damage to the fabric of northern cities, increasing poverty and the divisiveness we have in the country is everything.

The north is the backbone of the government’s new majority, so it seems quite keen actually.

makes you no better than the members of momentum you ridicule.

What makes me better than them is that they lost the election in a landslide, while the Tories won in one. It’s called democracy.

I also believe in free speech, so you have every right in the world to catastrophise about the new government, just as others have the right to push back against that tide of interminable miserabilism.