The Westministenders Hunger Games continues. Hunting for the Opposition.

[RedToothBrush]

THE BREXIT FALLOUT OUT CONTINUES - THREAD EIGHT!

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Each of the parties seem to have a taken a very different style to their leadership contests.

The Tory party have been well documented as doing in the classic style of Hamlet. After the entire Conservative Party have spent two weeks stabbing each in the back and front, May steps forward to take the crown for herself.

But what about the others?

The UKIP leadership contest seems to be in comedy style of Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights. In a strange turn of events, that no one predicted and seem quite absurd, they seem to be changing their rules so their new leader must have been a member for 5 years. The punchline is this rules just about everyone out, apart from Neil Hamilton and Steven Woolfe. As BigChocFrenzy points out, we are expecting Arron Banks to hand out the brown envelopes. We are just waiting for the poorly thought out, and badly booked racist band to turn up and make everyone cringe in horror and distract everyone from UKIP's candidates and their manifestos in the process.

Meanwhile Labour Party decide to do what they thought was Star Wars Panto. After spending a week going “She’s Standing”, “Oh No She’s Not” Angela Eagle is declared the Empire Strikes Back candidate by Diane Abbot. Well if she’s the rebel leader, then who is Darth Vader and the Emperor?

Unfortunately, you’d be forgiven for thinking the performance is starting to look more and more like a re-enactment of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, by the minute:

A battle of wills between two forces locked together in a room with ultimately different and opposing self-interests. This is only resolved when the new leader to the dynamic who sought to upset the institution, and give the others their freedom, is lobotomised and subsequently killed in an act of mercy. His murderer manages to escape the prison to the cheers of those still stuck inside.

The Greens of course are a foreign language film, no one has heard of and no one is really that interested in watching.

The Lib Dems are merely sat in the audience. With Tim Farron heckling.

But where is Gandalf?

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At least some sanity has returned and we now have some leaders. May can now get stuck into the job of handing the nightmare that is Brexit whilst making herself at home at Number 10. Rumours are circulating that it’s been left a bit of a pigsty.

We will follow May, on her new adventures to foreign lands to persuade Merkel and Juncker to hand over a mythical unicorn to the UK. Meanwhile will we continue our own hunt for the opposition, whilst we all consult our dictionaries for the meaning of the word ‘Brexit’ in bafflement in the wake of ‘Brexit means Brexit’.

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Sense of humour compulsory. No experience necessary though

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/eu_referendum_2016_/2682358-The-Westministenders-Media-Baron-Hunger-Games-continues-Is-it-about-to-all-implode?pg=1 Previous thread 7

The wetherspoons comment is another example if a pro- leave business blaming the economic effects on a lack of positivity when it should now all be rainbows and unicorns because we've taken the country back. It will be interesting to see if Next or Dyson or JCB etc do the same.

I'm boycotting the pubs because of it... Not that it will make much difference, but, you know....

The problem with Angela Eagle is that although she was at least ready to stand up and do something, she is doing it in a half-hearted and ineffective way and thus is strengthening the incumbent.

This wouldn't be a problem if this was just a power play between two interchangeable politicians in suits but in the current circumstances queering the pitch for a more effective challenger is damaging.

Both far left and far right are trying to make the UK a fact-free country.
Anyone who states Inconvenient Truths will be hounded ruthlessly and purged

She clearly delayed her challenge to see if the "talks" with Corbyn brought any kind of solution.

I think that speaks well, rather than ill of her.

For many people there is pretty much nothing she could do that isn't wrong/stupid/proof of her poor judgement.

One person in the PLP has publicly and consistently stood up for the 9 million voters at the last GE, and that is Angela Eagle.

There's some principles right there.

But they come in a female body, so are worth nothing it seems.

Maybe it all won't matter in the long run. Looks like we're being beset by another type of alien anyway.

www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/nasa-shuts-down-live-international-8408011

I have no issue whether she is female or not. That's irrelevant.

If she was waiting to stand until after the talks, she should have waited to announce it. It made her look indecisive, which is not good. Her voting history is questionable. Her timing for this speech is appalling.

I would say the exact same thing if she were a man.

IMHO the reason Brexiters are gunning for Carney now is also that for the next few weeks they're forced to twiddle their thumbs while May beds in as PM and the Brexit mechanics start grinding into life. While they've got free time, why not use it to have a pop at someone powerful whom they've not been able to buy?

Both far left and far right are trying to make the UK a fact-free country.

I actually see this as one of the most serious threats we face. In my view (and I realise I do have it as a bee in my bonnet) a highly significant factor is social media and the ability of people to create their own realities. Inconvenient or challenging facts can be made to not exist within the bubble.

Any countries looking in at the UK in superior fascination should be thinking what they can do to make sure something similar doesn't happen to them.

Her voting history is questionable

Well Corbyn's is impeccable.

Let's keep him.

There is no way a man would be spoken about the way Eagle has been.

Everyone dying for Owen Smith to stand. Because he must obviously be preferable because...?

"Both far left and far right are trying to make the UK a fact-free country."

This has perhaps been the biggest of me through the last few weeks - the general loathing of expertise, of opinions borne through facts.

It's terrifying that people would rather generally shrug and say "get rid of the fucking lot, we never needed experts in the old days did we?" Those good old days when we used leeches for every ailment, and had slavery and child-labour as normal, and a tiny narrow elite ruling everything with no one questioning them...

Apparently the vote of no-confidence in AE on 26th July has unstoppable momentum : www.facebook.com/NyeBevanNews/videos/1766304943583437/

Sorry I have no idea why that has come up in green!

medium.com/@stewartwood6887/the-last-day-at-number-10-ccb5195a49f2#.zb0dc0c3g

When the music stops: What happens on No.10 change over day. Spare a thought for the staff.

Its quite sad really.

The DM Reporter ‏@DMReporter · 32m32 minutes ago
MAY DAY: International observers unsure if Britain is acknowledging arrival of new Prime Minister, or simply calling for help.

Dirt on Owen Smith:
When he worked for Pfizer he lobbied for more private involvement in the NHS
news.crocels.com/news/8412/owen-smith-labour-nhs-private-sector-involvement/
Expect more of this.

What's 'Our Nige' up to now?

He's off to the Republican convention in Cleveland - and will tell them of lessons the US can learn from the Brexit vote and its popular uprising of 'the people'.

^“Having criticized President Obama for getting involved in British politics, I am not about to endorse anybody.. But I do know a lot of people in the Republican Party, and I’ll be interested to hear what Donald Trump has to say in his big speech.”

I take it you'll be off to speak to Hilary and listen to some Democrat speeches then too Nige, give your impartiality.

The two day debate on the Iraq war starts after PMQ (That was spectacular timing wasn't it?)

Actually I think both JC and AE have been spoken about in a negative manner. JC is a man.

I like Owen Smith's voting history better than AE's. It has nothing to do with male or female.

I have nothing personal against AE, but I'm simply not impressed with her performance thus far. If another female stood for leadership with a voting history that I liked, I'd happily consider her. But one hasn't.

I preferred TM over AL, they are both female. I preferred TM over Gove, Crabb, Boris.

I think chalking it up to sexism isn't realistic.

Angela Eagle is the designated official stalking horse, who the PLP hope will bring down JC and enable a white knight to ride in to rescue the party.
I'd give her credit: noone else had the guts to face the intimidation and almost certainly sacrifice their career and seat.
However, the really capable Labour politicians are those waiting in the wings for her to break down the door.

MrsT was also originally thought to be just the stalking horse to bring down Heath;
however the Iron Lady had a formidable will and an unexpectedly large support base - with great expertise in politics, i.e. the Force was with her.
AE has none of these assets:
Her problems are that few outside the PLP are keen on her voting record and she has almost no professional backroom support network.

A politician winging it on her own always looks amateurish, because we are used to seeing the results of an organised political machine with media advisers etc

Red Thanks for that info re OS. It's not something I've seen. Off to have a read.

"MAY DAY: International observers unsure if Britain is acknowledging arrival of new Prime Minister, or simply calling for help."

labourlist.org/2016/07/contest-by-conference-timetable-and-rules-for-leadership-election-revealed/
Conor Pope
‏@Conorpope
Some of the rules decided at NEC last night give Corbyn's opponents a chance

If Labour had the same type of voting set up for leader that the Tories have, this whole JC thing would have been done and dusted by now, would it not?

Yes, BigChoc, exactly.

She is the stalking horse and she has put herself out there, and unless you are a supporter of what JC and cronies are doing to the party, you should appreciate what she is doing here.

Yes, there are far better candidates.

But she has been brave and principled here and all she gets is bitching and sniping.

And a lot of it has been massively sexist.

Margaret Thatcher left her cat behind. I remember doing a writing exercise about it at primary school, from the perspective of the cat, about how it felt to have new owner after so many years.

order-order.com/2016/07/13/241581/
More on Owen Smith that is already being used to discredit him

Apparently pro-Iraq war, pro-PFI and pro-austerity. Or at least that's what he's being framed as.

I saw the other day someone said about Owen Smith he's being in every Labour faction: Blair, Brown, Miliband and Corbyn. It wasn't complimentary.

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/jeremy-corbyn-national-executive-committee-nec-how-he-triumphed_uk_57856207e4b08078d6e765d3?zm3fqcx77sojvpldi
Inside the NEC report.

next.ft.com/content/de769724-4837-11e6-b387-64ab0a67014c
Uk enquiries for citizenship in other EU countries dramatically increase. Up 10ten in Germany.

*Up ten fold in Germany

George Eaton ‏@georgeeaton Jul 11
Three major NEC decisions tomorrow: 1. Whether Corbyn's on the ballot. 2. Membership freeze date. 3. Registered supporter fee.

Red Thanks, will look at that info as well.

I'm beginning to wonder if there's anyone worth voting for.