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

ALEC also has links to MEPs Daniel Hannan(C) and Roger Helmer(Ukip) but can't find any donations/contributions linked to them.

According to the Electoral Commission, one of Labour's biggest donors in my area has not funded the party in over 4 years. Has previously given large (50k+) amounts fairly regularly. Said donor is donating directly to local MP's campaign, who is anti-Corbyn. Also massively funded (100k+) In campaign.

Was it on one of these threads that someone suggested Gisela Stuart might defect to UKIP and stand as leader? Did I dream that?

Best I don't remember that specifically, but it wouldn't be the most batshit things that's happened since the referendum.

You're right there Sink.

Isn't there a precedent for a loose temporary coalition between centrist parties, to see us through these very difficult times? (negotiating EU deal). I know it's not exactly wartime, but parties agreed to work together then for the greater good of the country. And the EU question wasn't divided on party lines. The Green Party's 'Progressive Alliance' petition for an alliance between the Labour Party, the Green Party, SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats has nearly 40,000 signatures.
Sorry I don't know how to post a link.

Best that was a suggestion by a poster as a joke - to draw Godwin parallels.

Stuart I believe has said she is alarmed by the Far Right tones that have broken out across the country.

Also Shirley Williams in the Guardian suggesting a cross party coalition if AL and JC end up being party leaders.

To get a majority, any kind of coalition would need the support of some of the conservatives.

To form a strong centre you would need to have a permanent reorganisation of labour and conservative, leaving the left and right wings on their own. It may come to that, but I don't think the conservatives are there yet, and the risk is that you just have a weak centre with even stronger left and right extremes.

so, Farage and Banks have both said they expect a May victory to lead to a strengthened UKIP/far right party becoming an actual electoral force

I'm wondering how accurate that is, though. Now that they won the referendum, they don't have a simple clear-cut platform to run on. To carve out a political identity to the right of May (!!) they'll have to be more explicit about the nastiness (immigrants out, etc), and surely this will turn off most of the "soft" Leave voters?

Stuart I believe has said she is alarmed by the Far Right tones that have broken out across the country

Oh, come on, surely she knew this would happen? Everyone else did.

Exasperation is directed to GS, to be clear.

surely this will turn off most of the "soft" Leave voters?

Ever seen much of the Working Men's club comedy circuit? Don't be too sure of that.

From Twitter - Suzanne Evans: "UKIP can sit right in the centre of British politics"

Er, not exactly sure how they plan that. But assume they'll promise lots of "British jobs for British workers kind of vagueness.

Meanwhile, Momentum believe winning is for political elites - sigh

blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/07/momentum-chief/

Those comments from mr Momentum demonstrate why JC shouldn't be leading a major party which aspires to governing. If you have a legislative agenda that is anything other than blocking the other side's plans, you need to be aiming for government, which means winning either a majority or a sizeable minority where you can form a stable coalition, and you have to wonder who Labour under JC would be able to form a working coalition with, given the fact that he doesn't do compromise.
Otherwise you end up with a US style logjam where one part of government seems to exist only to stop the other part achieving what it wants and you end up with nothing happening.

Oh. My. God. Loathsome has published her tax return, finally, although only for one year. It is exactly as bland as expected, so quite why it's taken so long is anyone's guess.

Theresa May Verified account @TheresaMay2016
’There must be no attempts to remain inside the EU, no attempts to rejoin it by the back door and no 2nd referendum’

Mrs May declares: “Under my leadership, there will never be any doubt about whose side the Conservative party is on. We are going to put ourselves at the service of ordinary, working people.”
The Sun!
www.thesun.co.uk/news/1418948/conservative-party-leadership-front-runner-and-prime-minister-in-waiting-theresa-may-says-i-can-be-a-bloody-difficult-woman-as-eu-chiefs-are-about-to-find-out/

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3682742/May-s-aide-hints-second-referendum-Former-Attorney-General-says-People-change-mind-not-writ-stone.html
Whilst Former Attorney General - a May supporter - says we should have a 2nd Referendum

The BBC's Andrew Neil gets pissed off and says this:
Andrew Neil @afneil
Andrew Neil Retweeted Lynne Williams
This sort of gibberish is becoming too common.

Lynne Williams @lynne132637
Just watching @afneil how much more biased are BBC going to get , sick of hearing were Establishment we want out easy , get it ?

In the red corner
www.buzzfeed.com/emilyashton/jeremy-corbyn-backs-motion-to-find-tony-blair-guilty-of-cont?utm_term=.yqKl9L7og#.fyk8Nlz9m
Corbyn backs motion to find Blair guilty of contempt over Iraq war. Rumour has it A Eagle refuses to back it.

More rumours are that Corbyn won't be on the ballot. This might mean this could drag out in court (and who knows what might happen if a GE ended up being on the cards in the process)

Lawyer David Allen Green says this about it though
David Allen Green @DavidAllenGreen

If NEC go to court and say they are merely seeking to treat all candidates equally, court unlikely to intervene, without clear provision.

Annoyed as I am with Corbyn, I think he's right about Iraq. Poor show from Eagle, if true.

But didn't AE vote for the war, as well as voting against the investigation into it? I'm sure I read that somewhere. Of course she's not going to back it. I really am not thrilled with her voting history at all.

Sky have got a copy of the legal advice to Labour back in April saying JC automatically on the ballot.

AE did vote for Iraq.

I wonder why only one year worth of taxes from AL ? I'm just a bit evil, I suppose, as I kind of hope for a massive tax blunder or scandal for her that requires her to withdraw.

Bathroom Sounds like the MPs are trying to pull a fast one on JC re the ballot then. I don't agree with how either side are dealing with this now, but surely they can all follow basic rules, right?

She said in an interview today that she regretted that vote.

Did someone ask when Nadine Dorries was going to pipe up? Here you go!

"Nadine Dories accused journalists of following instruction to “get Andrea”.

She added that Leadsom had “talked about being a mum”, adding: “It gives her a holistic perspective. She should talk about it more.”

It's from this article: www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/andrea-leadsom-chastised-by-conservative-colleagues-for-times-motherhood-interview_uk_5781f7e2e4b07a99eadca35f?gp0hpvi

I know Eagle voted for Iraq and against investigation. But I had kind of hoped the Chilcot report might have persuaded her that a little reflection and humility was now in order.

And annoyed as I am with Corbyn, I think he should be on the ballot. The membership chose him and I think they have to un-choose him.