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

Yeah, Banbury's a whole other world, proper dividing line...

It's definitely time for a PM from the other side of Banbury.

I've thought so for ages.

Tony Blair says world is better as a result of Iraq War

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36733979

And the back pedalling begins.... did we ever really expect anything else?

Loathsome says she'd have a vote on repealing the hunting ban and would review HS2 (ITV news)

Has Leadsom published her tax return yet?

Putting fox hunting back onto the political agenda a time of crisis.

That's the kind of thinking you get on the far side of Banbury.

Just brilliant.

Alis - no, she says she'll do it tomorrow if she gets through

#unicorns

IF she gets through?

That sounds a bit like pessimism, Andrea...

I want to know why she is waiting. Last minute doctoring?? If she's got nothing to hide, just publish the thing IMO>

She "didn't like" the marriage equality law.

Would have preferred to offer "equality" by letting straight couples have civil partnerships.

I think she is probably thinking of her constituency popularity rating with the foxhunting thing. Big farming community vote.

Saying you'll repeal the fox hunting ban is more appealing to certain Tories than the promise of a free blowjob.

Would have preferred to offer "equality" by letting straight couples have civil partnerships.

Really? I didn't know that. Suddenly she seems (very slightly) less loathsome to me.

3 really scary trends in the Uk:

1. Backing by the far-right UKIP and all the UK bloody fascist parties is now regarded as a Good Thing - or surely Loathsome would repudiate them.
   They have websites saying how to buy guns and build bombs, ffs
   I expect this from some tinpot dictatorship in S America - is that what the UK is now ?

2. Calls to sack a public servant for doing his job and not telling the lies they want.
   Carney saved the pound & the economy from crashing through the floor. He did his duty while the politicians fiddled - and are still fiddling with each other.

One great strength of any country is to have competent, honest, non-political public servants and civil service. Those countries who don't - tinpot dictatorships again.

If we want public servants / civil service / defence chiefs etc to warn against future illegal wars and other terrible decisions, we must ensure that speaking the truth doesn't mean the sack.
Some senior civil servants are not as financially independent and employable as Carney.

3. Appeals to national and patriotism to silence rational discussion and requests for answers. If the unicorn doesn't show up and rightwing politicans have to eat their words - will they do that, or instead will they start a war, or provoke terrorist attacks ? Civil servants not daring to speak out and be accused of lacking patriotism

What the FUCK happened to the UK in the last couple of weeks !!

Was this much paranoia and nationalist crap always under the surface ?
Time, for those who can, to join the brain drain and dump the UK.

Have I just heard right - some are questioning May's suitability because of her diabetes? Surely I didn't hear that right. ..

Time, for those who can, to join the brain drain and dump the UK.

And for the rest of us?

What the FUCK happened to the UK in the last couple of weeks !!

I don't know.

It's weird and horrible.

Has it been happening for ages and we just didn't notice?

Sugar - how is that even possible? What possible impact could it have? Does it mean they have to offer low sugar biscuits with her tea at Number 10 and it will totally throw the rest off their game?

We have seen at MN, after all, how very important the choice of biscuit can be.

I think we've been papering over the cracks for far too long, and the wall just finally came down.

Greenleave: many times I wonder if who would be Red in real life with such a sharp writing and vast political knowledge

Haha I'm genuinely 'just' a SAHM with a toddler. I did a media degree and managed to not do as well as I should have at it boys and never did anything with it. I just drifted. More because of a lack of confidence and problems with anxiety than anything. I've always still had the bug for it and interest in it though. I wanted to do media for cliché and rather overly dreamy notions of 'making the world better'. More fool me. I guess still believe in the power of the individual despite it all though. I'm probably a mug for this, but then all ideas start with a single thought. Whilst life has taught me there is a very, very dark side to humanity but there is also real enduring good in it too.

All these years later, I'm simply disgruntled and frustrated by it all, and am rather cynical of the whole façade of politics. MN just gives me the chance to rant about it! Perhaps I should take it more seriously again at some point. Or some sort of proper activism.

Right now though, if I can help to hold a mirror up to the current events and help people ask what is going on to draw their own conclusions a bit more as best they can then that's great. Simply because its important to all our futures.

I am very much of the centre ground but beyond that, I've genuinely no real 'agenda' as such. I feel utterly powerless to it all and I'm desperately trying to find my own way through the uncertainty at the same time. This is helping me.

(And no I wouldn't trust me if I wasn't me either! But then that's good and healthy in its own right, so I have no problem with it. You shouldn't take what an anonymous voice says on the internet at face value. You should always question and make up your own mind from that. Simply because that's the very essence of what freedom is).

btw, I'm out !
Some very polite and helpful civil servants in Germany explained I have the right to stay - just a UK or other EU passport was all I needed, no forms to fill in.
Gorgeous waiting room and offices in a large beautifully landscaped park - no grotty lino here. Great impression.

Germany has the welcome mat out
Regarding employment: Scientists seem especially welcome, but I think anyone with a profession or skill in short supply will do very well here.

Was this much paranoia and nationalist crap always under the surface ?

I don't think so, no. There's always been some, but it used to be a small minority. The problem has been the people in power (locally, as well as nationally) ignoring the opinions and feelings of those parts of the population who didn't agree with them about the direction of the country, and the overwhelming pull of London and the financial services industry. Unfortunately, these concerns have been jumped on by some very unsavoury people, who have used this as a platform to gain legitimacy for some truly hideous ideas.

They are taking advantage of disengagement by mainstream politicians - it's easy to get your message heard if you go to where these people are, and speak in language they understand, and if you look like you sympathise with them. Mainstream politicians, notably with the exception of BJ, have not done this. They have relied on soundbites and news conferences, but these don't get through. They have left a massive space wide open for charismatic chancers who can hold on to a benign facade for a few hours at a time to get themselves heard.

I think the UK has streamlined into a one trick pony. All we hear about is London business - nothing about business interests in the rest of the country. No country should rely solely on one business to survive financially. There's a reason "putting all your eggs in one basket" is an expression.

Good for you BigChoc!
Its sad, that out country is at this point.

But congrats. I hope it works out for the best in a strange old way.

Loathsome on World At One:
Q: When would you trigger article 50 if you were prime minister?
Leadsom says they would need to get on with it. It would have to be “as soon as possible”.

Q: You said in your speech this morning you want tariff-free trade with the EU. That means being in the single market, doesn’t it?
No, says Leadsom. She does not accept that.