The Westminster Hunger Games Contines. May Day! May Day!

[RedToothBrush]

THE BREXIT FALLOUT CONTINUES - THREAD NINE

The Tories have settled their scores and May is now PM.
Is it May's Day or May Day for the people?

After careful consideration I thought the best way to sum up the Labour Contest was in one simple picture. May Day, might also be appropriate here too.

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Things are moving fast, so hold on tight for the Brexit Ride

Sense of humour compulsory. No experience necessary though

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/eu_referendum_2016_/2683852-The-Westministenders-Hunger-Games-continues-Hunting-for-the-Opposition?pg=1 Previous Thread Eight.

Hunt had to go, if breaking from the past.

Lucy Fisher Verified account @LOS_Fisher

NEW: Labour NEC procedures cmte has ruled 6-month freeze date applies to affiliates in leadership contest. Stops £2 sign ups by Unite et al

French foreign minister on Boris Johnson, this morning:

I am not at all worried about Boris Johnson, but during the campaign he lied a lot to the British people and now it is he who has his back against the wall ...

Always good when your counterparts call you a liar on the day of your appointment.

Oh the horrors will probably be worse. But enjoy the guillotine moment whilst it lasts.

Jean-Marc Ayrault, the French foreign minister, has described Boris Johnson, Britain’s new foreign secretary, as a liar. According to Reuters he told Europe 1 radio this morning:

I am not at all worried about Boris Johnson, but during the campaign he lied a lot to the British people and now it is he who has his back against the wall ...

[He has] his back against the wall to defend his country but also with his back against the wall the relationship with Europe should be clear. I need a partner with whom I can negotiate and who is clear, credible and reliable.

OUCH

Although the reshuffle is baffling, I have convinced (fooled) myself I can see logic in it.

There are three main possibilities, a hard Brexit, a moderate Brexit, or no Brexit. Only the nutcases or the wealthy on a power grab want a hard Brexit. It would be lovely to think wily May is going to snatch Remain out of the jaws of Leave but I think that's magical thinking and if she did she'd be out and replaced by tha hard Brexiteer. A moderate Brexit is a sensible thing to hope for and so I hope that's her plan.

One really big problem is the majority in the House. May can expect the SNP to vote against anything on the road to any kind of Brexit, Labour are all over the place and could do all kinds of random, and if the mood of the Tories went against May on a tricky vote she'd lose. A good way to moderate this risk is to put relatively sane Brexiteers in charge of the most Brexit-determining posts and hope the realities of what's actually possible dawn on them as they try to make things happen. They would then be best placed to sell a moderate Brexit to the hard liners and to the more Remain-minded MPs.

Johnson has been neutralised in a job he can mess up without causing too much damage.

Gove is just poison and no amount of him having found his natural role could solve that. If he's out I'll definitely see some good in this.

From Chris Grayling....

Labour is "not fit to be in opposition", he adds.

Unfortunately he has a point.

OMG shes sacked Jeremy Hunt!!!

Truss and Greening on way to no.10.

Hunt definitely sacked.

I've never voted Tory and up to a few weeks ago couldn't imagine the circumstances in which I would but now, if I somehow had the casting vote to decide whether the UK had a Labour or a Tory government, I'd vote Tory without hesitation.

Please not Truss for health!

What major positions are left to fill? I can only think of:

Health
Education

Wollaston for Health I think. Former doctor.

Me too, nauticant.

I never tbought I would see that day.

Hunt getting a different job according to Laura Kuenssberg.

I totally agree with you on Boris, Misti.

It is not at all the case that he can't do any harm in one of the big 4 offices of state.

You can tell from the comments greeting his appointment that damage has already been done.

To a very fragile position.

Last night I laughed.

This morning the fear has returned.

Hunt, still has something... not back bench

I want Greening for transport

Oliver Letwin gone.

What if Hunt is given Education?

With Hunt, Whittingdale, and Gove out that means that Murdoch will have lost some of his biggest cheerleaders in the government. He's going to be very annoyed about this.

It's going to be really interesting to see what response comes out of News Corp and its stable. I'm thinking over the next year rather than the next week because them having a strop would be just a little bit too transparent.

Yeah Letwin out!

Oh TM has had this planned for a while I think....all those pursed lipped meetings - I bet she has a black book

BBCs are saying out of cabinet for hunt

I'm not quite sure what to think about all of this, because May is giving a very different direction to the government, and her democratic legitimacy to do so is very questionable imo

On the other hand, a GE is the last thing the UK needs right now, and like others I really can't see Labour in government right now. So what alternative is there?

Oh, Hunt might survive. That's a disappointment. Fingers crossed it's as far as possible from him being able to harm the BBC.

If there's one lesson May could learn from the past few months it should be that having an independent broadcaster with the means to conduct proper journalism and hold up the powerful to scrutiny is probably a good thing. (We can argue the toss about whether the BBC did this but if you look at some of the other media outlets the BBC's contribution was worth having.)