Boris outmaneovered. Et tu Gove & Corbyn? The Westministenders Hunger Games Continues

[RedToothBrush]

Following the Machiavellian Govian shambles? Utterly gobsmacked at the Labour clusterfuck?

Who will strike next?

Who will the shadowy hand of Osborne back?
Can Gove be launched back into space and back to the planet he came from?
Can May save the country from almost certain doom?
Will Leadsom patronise us all to death (whilst silently stabbing people in the back with a sweet smile)?
Can Johnson make a decision he can stick to, and can we persuade him to give up being a politician?
Will Steven Crabb get rid of that god awful beard?

Will Corbyn shoot himself in the other foot?
Will Angela Eagle get a spine and just stand?
Who the fuck is Owen Smith?
Will the Blairites be foiled and damned?
Are momentum a bunch of thugs or a force for a better, for the people?

Will Farage disappear back under his rock?
Will people wake up to Arron Banks?
What will Dominic Cummings destroy next?

Have we seen a coup d'état?
How do we improve democracy and representation?

All these questions and more.
Sense of humour compulsory. No experience necessary though

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/eu_referendum_2016_/2670552-Has-Boris-been-outmanoeuvred?pg=1 Previous thread 1

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/eu_referendum_2016_/2672388-Has-Boris-been-outmanoevered-Will-someone-please-tell-me-who-is-in-charge Previous thread 2

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/eu_referendum_2016_/a2673982-Have-Boris-and-Jeremy-been-stabbed-in-the-back-Please-can-we-have-some-leaders Previous thread 3

RedToothBrush Toby Jones has suggested on Twitter this morning that Gisela Stuart might defect to UKIP to lead them. Now that WOULD be news. I wouldn't rule anything out right now!

A left wing German as leader of UKIP?

Nuttall has previously said - the NHS should be privatised, the smoking ban should be reversed, he's anti-abortion, doesn't believe in man-made climate change and thinks we should not have any more wind farms, and he wants to reintroduce the death penalty.

Every bad thing that's ever been said about Ukip, is pretty much distilled in to this guy.

IDS: Andrea Leadsom is the real deal - I've never been so optimistic - policy is one thing, but she has the character

What do people make of this attempt by law firm Mishcon De Reya to stop Article 50 being triggered without a parliamentary vote?

Not necessarily helpful. Parliamentary vote on the subject causes more problems and more of this 'our mps are out of touch' sentiment.

I think MPs would struggle to oppose it, Labour are unlikely to oppose a50 now due to their own mess. The Torys will have the whip pulled on them because of theirs.

This leaves the NI lot (some of whom are Brexit ironically and some of whom don't recognise Westminster), Plaid, SNP, Greens and the Lib Dems (who with the exception of Norman Lamb, if you break the referendum vote result down into constituency areas would probably all be in pro-remain areas).

In short, you wouldn't get enough support on it.

The best option now, possibly would be a falling out on something else, springing a vote of no confidence and a rebellion by Tory MPs (so maybe a useless candidate like Loathsom leading us further up shit creek might have its uses, over a 'unity' candidate). That isn't happening.

I don't think the MCD tactic is to achieve anything in itself SugarPlumTree. It's just to make the government pause before automatically pressing the Article 50 trigger. They might do it if they felt they could get away with it, especially with popular support, but if it looks like they'd be operating contrary to the courts they might think twice.

In my view it's just to buy time in the hope of there being more options opening up as time passes.

David Allen Green on Twitter ,
Genuinely seems like the UK is now having the the debate over EU membership that it should have had before the referendum result

This.

so maybe a useless candidate like Loathsom leading us further up shit creek She is indeed loathsome.

MCD = MdR in my post above.

Steven Woolfe - private school on a scholarship, ex-city barrister and now a legal adviser to hedge funds, brother is a professional footballer. Only been an MEP since 2014, has stood for election to London council and lost, as a Police and Crime Commissioner and lost, and as an MP in 2015 and lost.
Believes we should be assisting Al-Assad to stay in power in Syria.

In the same room as Gove presented his vision, Liam Fox preaches to even more empty seats.

Liam Fox is launching his campaign to become the next Tory leader. This is no game, he says. On taking office, the winning candidate will immediately be briefed on the UK's nuclear weapons and receive a call from Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The former defence secretary says: "This is not the political equivalent of Britain's Got Talent."

touché Ms Loathsom.

Q: Who will you support if you get knocked out?
Fox says he does not intend to get knocked out. And he does not answer hypothetical questions.

Oh the power of belief....

Q: What is your reaction to what Philip Hammond said today about the need to compromise over single market acceess?
Fox says he would not compromise over restricting free movement in order to obtain single market access. But he thinks EU states would not want to restrict the UK’s access to the single market.

Same position as Loathsom then.

Q: Would you guarantee that EU nationals already living her can stay?
Fox says he wants them to stay. That would be sensible. He accuses remain supporters of scaremongering on this point.

More Leave and Remain sentiment. The Tories sound very united don't they.

Makes sense Nauticant. On the subject of shit creek, I found this amusing.

A left wing German as leader of UKIP?
NotDavidTennant, what ARE you suggesting?

Nuttall and Woolfe are my MEPs. I'm a lucky bunny.
The occasionally have appeared on my tv on the local news.
I can't say, I'm a fan.... to put it mildly.

Diane James - Grammar school, Thames Valley university. Ran a healthcare consultancy prior to politics. Admires Putin as "a nationalist who puts Russia first". Been an MEP since 2014, was previously an independent councillor who joined Ukip and then lost her seat. Fell out with Suzanne Evans. Seems largely anonymous.

'Very little chance' of legal challenge preventing Brexit

BBC News Channel
Posted at
11:52
A law firm is taking action to insist the formal process for the UK leaving the EU is not started without an act of Parliament.

Clive Coleman, the BBC's legal correspondent, wonders whether MPs would be prepared to "do the unthinkable" and vote to prevent a Brexit. He thinks it's unlikely because the "democratic juggernaut" of the referendum has already been "let loose".

He concludes that despite some heavyweight opinion on the lawyers' side, there is "very little chance that they will halt us leaving the EU".

I suspect Nuttall could just be shortened to Nut then?

Peter Whittle was Ukip's candidate for mayor of London, he used to be a journalist and worked in LA for a while. He runs something called the 'New Culture Forum' which seems to be aimed at getting more public comment from right-wing thinkers and writers. Guess who'e on the board with him? Michael Gove !! And also Matthew Elliott from the Taxpayers' Alliance. Whittle has written some books about being British, and British identity. It is also noted a lot on his various websites that he has appeared across various media on a regular basis, although I have no recollection of him at all!

Nigel Farage today announced he is stepping down as leader of Ukip - but refused to rule out making another comeback.

So Leave doesn't mean Leave then????

But despite initially ruling out another stint as leader, the MEP opened the door to a possible return in the future, saying: “Let’s see where we are in two and a half years’ time”.

Clearly not.

Thing is though, if UKIP do get a nice shiny face, who isn't as divisive as Nige, we might be in real trouble.

The good news does seem to be that this respectable UKIP candidate seems to be a rare breed at least

I suspect Nuttall could just be shortened to Nut then?

I think if the shoe fits...

Guess who'e on the board with him? Michael Gove !!

Is Gove a closet UKIPper?

An interesting thought though. Much as people may detest him (and I'm certainly no UKIP fan - I've had many an argument with my ex over it), he is self aware enough to recognise that he is divisive and off-putting to many people, and is willing to step back and allow someone else to take over. You could say that he is trying to dump it on others, but he's still an MEP, so will still be in there dealing with things, and let's face it - Farrage has never been one to hide (like Cameron has been lately), so he'll still be out there in public.

Watch: Liam Fox sets out timing for Brexit
Conservative leadership contender is a former defence secretary
Posted at
12:56

Follow
BBC Breaking News ✔ @BBCBreaking
.@LiamFoxMP calls for UK to leave EU by 1 January 2019 at his #ToryLeadership launch bbc.in/264XBZu #Brexit

I'm sorry, is Liam Fox saying we shouldn't trigger A50 until 1 January 2019? What kind of alternative universe is he living in? There's no way the EU will sit back and wait that long without serious repercussions.

Do we think a peerage is in Farage's future?

Oh wait. Does he mean trigger A50 on 1st January 2017?? haha That's it. I need coffee, when I can't remember the year. For some reason, my brain was telling me we're in 2017 today.

Suzanne Evans - state school, Lancaster Uni, was a journalist for the BBC for 12 years, including on the Today show and local radio, now a PR and marketing consultant. Has been a councillor for 5 years, some of it for the Conservatives. Unlike Farage, gets on with Carswell, which I suppose is a bonus as he's their only MP. Was suspended most recently for objecting to the party's candidate for the London Assembly because he was a proponent of 'cures' for gay people, and had written a blog comparing gay people to Nazis. Lost a legal challenge against the suspension.
Farage has suspected she was after his job for a while, although he did recommend her for it last time he retired, although when it looked like she might get it, he unretired.

I'm not entirely sure why she's still part of Ukip, I would really have expected her to have gone back to the Conservatives by now, as she seems to be more moderate than a lot of her fellow party members. I also don't think Ukip will elect a female leader, or if they do, I don't expect she will last. I'm not sure the party as a whole is ready for that just yet!