The Westministenders / Media Baron Hunger Games continues. Who is trying to outmanoeuvre who?

[RedToothBrush]

Don't worry we've all lost track.

In the Blue Corner
It started out with Cameron and Osborne trying to win the battle of the Tories, but they got stung in a UK wide vote. Some of us thought it was about the 'EU'. Instead it has turned out it was an internal Tory Bitch fight between some old Oxford and Eton mates, whilst for others a protest vote at being disenfranchised.
Gove and Johnson stabbed Cameron & Osborne in the back to run for Team Leave. Then they won when they didn't expect to. And there was no Plan. Uh Oh. Then it all started to go really wrong.
Cameron quit in disgust. Johnson went all President Churchill, before he also got stabbed by Gove (possibly with the assistance of the dark influence of Osborne).
We now have a Tory Smackdown with the shadowy influence of the Media Barons in the background.

#Team Gove has been doing their best with the knives. This is a mission to stab as many Tory MPs in the back as possible in order to become PM. Sponsored and supported by Murdoch

#Team Leadsom has been selling more unicorns and trying to pretend her CV and tax return are completely transparent. Think positive and the economy will be just fine. She is the homeopathy of politics. Sponsored and supported by Arron Banks, Leave.eu, UKIP and Britain First.

#Team May has been threatening to deport everyone if the EU don't play nice. Sponsored and supported by The Daily Mail's Dacre

In The Purple Corner
Tragically, it appears that not only do UKIP have a Plan A, they also have outwitted everyone by having Plan B. Yes that’s right TWO plans.
Farage has swanned off –sacked—for a life on CBB so they are looking for a new leader.
The potential candidates are all equally loathsome. They include Arron Banks himself, a suspended member of the party and several other people with an uncanny ability to put their foot in their mouths.
If this wasn't horrible enough, Team Leadsom is increasingly starting to look like a UKIP take over bid of the Conservative Party, which might be a neat way of avoiding a leadership battle of their own considering the quality of the candidates on offer.

In short, its a bit like a Bad Dystopian Movie that invokes Godwin, set in 2016 Westminster. Except its real.
In the Red Corner
Meanwhile the WMD has finally gone off in the Labour Camp, as Chilcot has been published. However the Chicken Coup rattles on regardless.

Corbyn is STILL clinging on, putting in a good claim for the Westminster 'Charlie off Casualty' Award. He has however had his Big Moment in the Commons. Which was a bit of a let down really. ...

The Unions have been trying to talk some sense into everyone. Meanwhile everyone else is has given up and are now just praying for a ruddy miracle to end this torture and give the country an opposition party.

Angela Eagle is still outside for the 5th day in a row, going "I will stand. Soon. If he doesn't quit" The BBC now qualify for a discount deal at the local Travel Lodge.

We FINALLY know who the fuck Owen Smith is! He's a Welsh MP and sounds like he's not completely away with the political fairies.

George Galloway appears to be trying to make a late bid to be included on the ballot paper for any leadership election.
Bliar's cried. We didn't. Chilcot took over 2 million words to tell us everything we already knew. As well as the fact that Mi6 like Nicholas Cage a lot.

The Cult of Momentum are still worshiping their Dear Leader by sending death threats to PR companies they suspect of disloyalty. Somehow they still manage not to get the title of the most vile pressure group in the UK.

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

All these questions and more.
Tin foil hats now available upon request

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

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/eu_referendum_2016_/2678198-The-Westministenders-Hunger-Games-continues-Boris-still-trying-not-to-be-outmanoeuvred Previous thread 5

I feel sure that Loathsome is at the moment busy trying to massage her tax return.

To irreversibly change our constitution when 2 out of 4 of the nations of the UK voted against that, without a general election is not justifiable.

To borrow from Tom Tugendhat last night, this is very much democracy being inflicted on people.

It invalidates the GFA. But nobody even seems to give a shit about that.

Our tiny electorate in NI gets no say at all in any of this. Even if there is a GE, the Labour party still won't fielr candidates.

Or maybe in the teeth of our destruction they might actually let us have a say on the matter.

The BathroomSink and the FPTP system also hugely problematic in delivering this too. I DO think there needs to be a general election but my would prefer a 2nd referendum that had BREXIT strategies providing a democratic mandate. Still IN or OUT but enable factions from all parties to group.

We've found someone to replace the EU commissioner who quit. He's currently the Ambassador to France, Sir Julian King. He's going to be interviewed by Juncker on Monday.

Jim Waterson ‏@jimwaterson · 6m6 minutes ago
All we need is a Hilary Armstrong coup and the 2020 general election can be a re-run of North West Durham in 1992.

Just when you think it can't get ANNNNNYYYYY weirder.

Our commissioner won't have a portfolio, will they?

So what is the point?

Hill quit because he had already effectively lost his job.

Tom Baldwin (ex Labour advisor) was just unbelievably ageist about the Conservative party membership on the Daily Politics, which seems somewhat at odds with Labour's principles.

Miranda Green from the FT doesn't think Labour can carry on being two parties within one.

We have Sir King to represent the Uk at the EU after Brexit?

Well I suppose that fits The Crazy.

Hill did the honourable thing. Farage has resigned as UKIP leader but still happy to take the EU cash, thanks.

DoinIt - the agreement is that he will still do the job up to the point we actually leave.

We are still in the EU, so we should still have a Commissioner, I would have thought. Hill was honourable and got a standing ovation. I can't see Farage getting a standing ovation.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-jeremy-corbyn-clive-lewis-existential-crisis-policies-democracy-proportional-representation-a7126501.html

Very good article about the Labour Party

Oh, I don't know, Peregrina, I think I'd stand up and clap at the thought of never having to see his smug git face again!

Ah we're not really in the EU any more.

We're being excluded from Council meetings.

The day after the vote they were already marginalising us.

It seems so pointless to send a Commissioner off who will have no influence at all. Just wasting everyone's time.

Why should the UKIP MPs collectively pocket over EUR 2 million a year (and that's just salary never mind costs for travel, staff etc) from now on, particularly as we've voted out? The founder of UKIP said MPs should not take the salary on a point of principle. That all changed when Nigel Farage came along. Exploiting voter apathy and saying Europe doesn't matter enabled valuable funding for his party and gave him the credibility he doesn't deserve. Having a commissioner, yes - we are not out yet. But if UKIP members don't even turn up to vote very often, let's take control and get our money back.

The informal summits are where most of the real work is done.

Then you come back for the formal summit, have a big posh dinner and rubber stamp what was already agreed.

Being excluded from all informal council of ministers summits pretty much means we are already out as far as any ongoing influence goes.

In an ideal world we would have taken much more notice of our MEPs, and so we would have known that Farage was taking the p*ss. The fact we haven't done is no doubt due to our half-hearted commitment to the EU.

UKIP MEPs were elected by UK voters to relresent them.

They have an electoral mandate.

Of course they can't be made to leave until that expires and it wad profoundly undemocratic of Juncker to suggest otherwise.

EU commissioners, on the other hand, are political appointments. They are meant to work on EU policy.

We are on our way out, so have no need of input into developing policies. In fact there is a clear conflict of interest. That's why no more finance.

The fact we haven't done is no doubt due to our half-hearted commitment to the EU.

Well, and the EU's half-hearted commitment to the EP.

Decades of anti-EU bashing from media as well, manipulated by Murdoch and Dacre et al.

I suppose our (the political class's) indifference goes back to its founding history. We could have been in at the beginning, but still had our Empire, (which was rapidly gaining independence), so were pulled in two ways. We hadn't been invaded or occupied, so didn't feel quite the same need or have the same idealism.

France had an empire though, and didn't seem to feel the same split. I assume that their empire just wasn't as powerful.

Did Juncker suggest that? I've only seen him saying he was surprised to see Nigel … whose only purpose in turning up seemed to be to hector and insult our allies and trading partners. UKIP's only mandate is leaving the EU. Fair enough, it's Britain's biggest party in Europe. You don't think MEPs have a mandate to represent ALL constituents including the 65% of people who didn't vote for them? Promote British interests rather than just take the money and spend it on UKIP campaigns?

I don't think our political class has been indifferent.

They have been cynical.

Successive governments have proposed and/or supported EU legislation that they then pretended was being forced upon us.

Crikey, hundreds on posts and the ink not yet dry on this new thread ! (many thanks red )

So, the next PM for a country of over 60 million people will be elected by 150,000 members of the Tory party, less than 0.003% of the electorate.
Meantime, Labour Party membership has increased by more than the total Tory membership to be now 600,000
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/staggers/2016/07/labour-membership-hit-6000000_