The Westministenders Hunger Games continues. Boris still trying not to be outmanoevered.

[RedToothBrush]

Clearly Boris didn't get the memo, on when to quit the power games, even after Gove schooled him in the dark arts of the Tory Leadership....

So the Tory Smackdown rolls on whilst Corbyn STILL clings on. UKIP has now entered the race to make a challenge for who can make the biggest leadership contest shambles.

In The Blue Corner
May strikes fear into the hearts of EU citizens as she counts her bargaining chips.
Gove strikes fear into the hearts of humans, with his Martian twitch.
Loathsom strikes fear in the hearts of Britains by talking about babies brains.
Crabb strikes fear into the hearts of Torys by suggesting a plan that Corbyn might like. (and that beard doesn't help).
And Fox.
Well he just turned up.

Johnson is still waiting in the wings to stab Gove. He'd quite fancy a seat at the cabinet table too.
Osborne has gone quite again and we wait with baited breathe to see if he is the 'Charlie off Casualty' of the Tory Party (y'know whatever happens he somehow survives like a cockroach).

In The Red Corner
Corbyn apologies. So we know he's getting a bit desperate.
Will the Unions figure out something else to do other than sit with their head in hands.
Angela Eagle is still doing jellyfish impressions and hasn't found that backbone.
We STILL don't know who the fuck Owen Smith is?
Will Bliar's chicken's finally come home to roost?
The Cult of Momentum, rumbles on. We aren't quite sure who they actually vote for, but they seem to like their Dear Leader.
When will this country next have an opposition party?

Its kinda getting boring guys, we need some action now. End the Chicken Coup! The Tories are definitely out doing in the high drama stakes.

In the Purple Corner
Farage has gone! Hurrah. We hope only that he stays under that rock.
(Don't count on it. They'll wheel him out when they need publicity)
Will Leadsom be elected leader? Oh sorry, wrong party. I was getting confused for a second there.
Will they throw the cuckoo Carswell out? [:)]
Will they be able to find a less offensive leader than Farage who can unite them in their common goal of errrr..... yeah. That.
How long before one of their candidates has to apologise for something?

And I suppose I should ask, when will a50 be triggered....? And by whom?

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

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/eu_referendum_2016_/2675432-Boris-outmaneovered-Et-tu-Gove-Corbyn-The-Westministenders-Hunger-Games-Continues? Previous thread 4

Loving the Gove tweets. Some really creative insults there, too.

Dear God! Lock the doors and do not let those few working Labour peeps out! They're all we got!

Just want to thank Red for starting the thread, and everyone who has contributed; I like to think I am well-informed politically, but I am learning a lot from you all

Perhaps this is the only challenger for Jeremy Corbyn that Labour could come up with......

An unlikely Lords guest?

Esther Webber
BBC News, London
Posted at
14:52
Harry Styles
BBC
We're told One Direction singer Harry Styles is in the Lords today.

He's a guest of Labour's Lord Winston, whose son has directed several of the band's videos, and was also introduced to shadow Lords leader Baroness Smith of Basildon.

No word yet on whether he intends to stick around for eight more hours of the Lords debate on Brexit...

The entire Clarke/Rifkind exchange is just amazing!
Was Ken Clarke drunk?

Possibly derxa. He did say this:

Mr Clarke - who has a reputation for saying what he thinks - also gave his two pence-worth on Andrea Leadsom, saying:

She is not one of the tiny band of lunatics who think we can have a sort of glorious economic future outside the single market. So long as she understands that she's not to deliver on some of the extremely stupid things she's been saying."

Was Ken Clarke drunk?

I don't think so, he's quite often outspoken isn't he? Rifkind too, on the grounds that they've been around so long, they know where all the bodies are buried, so they are fairly immune. It's a bit like your granddad at Christmas, sitting in his chair, getting away with totally outrageous comments!

If you want an easy way to stop Tristram pretending to do his job, someone wave something that looks like a publishing contract in his direction.

It's interesting that Clarke thinks Leadsom is not a genuine Brexiter - he said she was just playing the part for the benefit of the Tory membership, in so many words.

I too appreciate this thread.

Reports that Jeremy Corbyn meeting Unite leader Len McCluskey
Channel 4 News political correspondent tweets...
Posted at
15:09
Follow
Michael Crick ✔ @MichaelLCrick
It seems Corbyn is having meeting with McCluskey right now
2:32 PM - 5 Jul 2016

Well I agree with him Ginger He's always wheeled out as a Tory 'Big Beast'
I' am full of nostalgia for all these old politicians. Harold Wilson Gordon Brown Donald Dewar even Margaret Thatcher . What a bunch of twats we have now.

derxa I'm not saying he's wrong. lol I think he's one of the few that actually does speak plainly.

15:22
As some teachers in schools across England took part in a 24-hour strike on Tuesday, the Daily Politics heard from Kevin Courtney, the acting general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, and Toby Young, who set up a free school in west London.The panel looked at education policy, funding, and class sizes in England. Presenter Jo Coburn explained that the programme asked the Department for Education for an interview with a minister, but none was available.

< returns, wiping birthday cake crumbs from chin >
Thanks for the great OP, red
These are clearly the most civilised and informative politics / Brexit threads on Mumsnet

I suspected from the start that TM is playing to the prejudices of Tory members by appearing hardline on EU immigration.
She has to compensate for not having been a Brexiter.

Alarming that Leadsom seems the candidate of both the vulture capitalists, who brought us the Trump snake video about immigrants - and of the far right BNP:

http://order-order.com/2016/07/01/arron-banks-offering-bankroll-leadsom-campaign/
http://polibite.com/nick-griffin-endorses-andrea-leadsom-conservative-party-leadership/

I hope noone is stupid enough to believe Leadsom's crocodile tears about EU immigrants insecurity when she doesn't reject support from Griffin, who calls the Holocaust the Holohoax and who has a criminal conviction for distributing material likely to incite racial hatred.

It is grim that T May is the last best hope, but Leadsom represents interests & groups that we assumed would never again be mainstream after WW2.

This is only really for anyone with time on their hands and a real interest in how the media reported the referendum. www.aljazeera.com/programmes/listeningpost/2016/07/uk-media-brexit-reality-160702074324774.html

Its a 25minute programme from Aljazeera - though only the first 10 minutes is dedicated to Brexit.

It is rather interesting to see from outside the UK bubble though it does use UK academics to make the point.

The main arguement is that the BBC and television media have been very guilty of letting the right wing news media set the agenda and then just reporting on that, rather than being more critical and finding their own angles.

A lot of this is in part down to cuts to the number of journalists the BBC have (which the Conservative Party and Murdoch's influence have had a large hand in over the last ten years) and it reflects on how the lessons from the phone hacking scandal and the subsequent rejection of press regulation, have not really been learnt from.

No surprise Boris has popped up again supporting Leadsom
Cockroaches can survive a nuclear holocaust

MrsLupo late to the party, but thank you for the clarification. i was REALLY puzzled why his name was cropping up and clearly I heard Jones for Smith. lol

Ginger And let's face it, it would be great if Owen Jones was leader of the labour party - he is probably more left wing than Corbyn and a good deal more forceful about shoving his opinion in people's faces. I think he's fantastic, actually.

I read somewhere this morning that Angela Eagle will not now bid for the leadership, but that someone else will instead (over and above the shadowy Owen Smith). Just can't dredge up who, or remember where I read it. Might be bollocks anyway. I will keep looking though.

Last I saw was that Smith and Eagle were fighting over who was going to be the challenger, as "there can only be one"

And here (finally) is some info on Owen Smith. Hopefully this one is correct.

owensmithmp.com/

MrsLupo Yes, reading Owen Jones info, I was thinking that he was quite interesting but never in a million years would I have thought they'd nab him to take out Corbyn. LOL

Ken Clarke! Malcolm Rifkind!

This is AMAZING. And oddly comforting. Interesting Ken thinks AL isn't fussed about Brexit.

Wise political people, what does he mean by AL's Pauline conversion? Has she changed her tune dramatically in 3 years? From:www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ken-clarke-video-full-transcript-what-he-said-sky-news-theresa-may-michael-gove-andrea-leadsom-tory-a7120776.html

Yet another Brexit casualty is apparently the great new trade relationship Osbourne was trying to build with China: they were only interested in us as a better gateway to the EU, so they are holding off to see what happens.

Export Boris to China !
We have one of their pandas; they can have one of our weasels

Watch: Former Tory chancellor on Brexit
Posted at
15:30

Follow
Sean Clare @Sean__Clare
Nigel Lawson says Brexit means government can now "finish the job which Margaret Thatcher started"
12:37 PM - 5 Jul 2016

Sorry, but I'm not sure I like the sound of that. Thatcher?

Save us from Labour leader Owen Jones .

That would be the end of it altogether.

Yay for Andy Burnham, being a proper shadow Home Sec!

Clarke may be making the error that the next PM will be logical and go for the onviously least damaging option - EEA, in which case things don't change much at all, in fact an a Europhile he would probably prefer this:

The EU have the benefit of trade and contributions from the UK, but no more pissing inside the tent and holding up the entire EU all the time.

However, we have learn that voters ignore facts and atm politicians don't dare ignore voters.