Westministenders: Oh No Not Another One. Thread that is.

[RedToothBrush]

In this edition of Westministers we play a game of ‘Where are they now?’

In June 2016 our screens were subjected to the sight of a number of particularly vocal MPs who participated in debates and stood on soap boxes to talk about the referendum.

The most noticeable of these for Leave were perhaps Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, Andrea Leadsom, Gisela Stuart, Nigel Farage, Priti Patel and Kate Hoey. For Remain it was David Cameron, George Osborne, Jeremy Corbyn, Ruth Davidson, Sadiq Khan, Nicola Sturgeon, Nick Clegg and Tim Farron.

It is starting to seem that anyone involved in campaigning either for or against Brexit in June 2016 has faced an epic battle for survival. Just how long can they last before being defeated or conceding defeat.

David Cameron’s scalp was the first to go, as he swanned off leaving everyone to clear up his mess.

Boris Johnson, who was keen to stamp his mark and pitch for the leadership by stitching up Cameron, got stitched up by Michael Gove who also lost his own bid for leadership as a result.

Johnson, of course, still lives to fight another day by getting a nice job as Theresa’s whipping boy. He’s occasionally let out by himself, but its Michael Fallon who does the ‘Grown Up Business’. He was said to be one of the last to support an early election. I can’t think why that might be.

Poor old Gove is now confined to a straight-jacket, the back benches where he’s been told to think about what he’s done like a naughty school child and a column in the Times

Andrea Leadsom was sent to a field of cows never to be seen again except to pop up for the odd cameo line shouting about ‘Jam’.

Queen Theresa also dealt with the other Conservative Leader Leave Candidate Mr Liam Fox, by shipping him off to every dodgy corner of the global to get pampered by state hostility.

Stephen Crabb simply crawled back under his rock.

The announcement of the General Election seems to be like the major soap incident episode where half the cast get killed off by a totally unrealistic disaster because their acting contracts weren’t being renewed.

The quitters and abdicators who now have legged it at the sight of a General Election are Gisela ‘Champion of the Brexit Bus’ Stuart and Nigel ‘Too chicken to be defeated for an eighth time and risk losing my nice EU pension’ Farage. George Osborne took the advice of his school teachers and had another career to fall back on when he didn’t become successful in his first choice.

Its rather starting to look like the curse of being a leading Brexiteer is to be made to disappear off the face of the earth or fuck off when the going gets tough. Have you seen Priti Patel lately? Does she even still exist? And Chris Grayling? He was convinced he was going to get chancellor when he supported May in her bid for the leadership.
Instead he got packed off transport and disappeared off the face of the earth much to the annoyance of everyone caught up in the rail strikes.

The only one who is remotely visible seems to be David Davis and is like May’s pet poodle who just tries to please his owner.

It’s almost like the only one still standing or hasn’t been banished is Kate Hoey. And the Lib Dems are trying to work on that one and make her sink beneath the waves, on board her Alan Partridge Titanic once and for all.

Conversely the visible Remainers seem to be – on the face of it - fairing rather better at the moment.

Sadiq Khan is hugely popular and actually does his job rather than fannying about on zip wires. Ruth Davidson is also well respected and apparently has saved Priti Patel’s job from abolition. If the rumours are to be believed bored with scrapping with Nicola, she might be lining herself up for ‘Big Things’ in Westminister. Cameron’s one time love interest, Nick Clegg hasn’t shaken the tarnish of the coalition but he is enjoying a new reputation as the Brexit Soothsayer and some people actually know who Tim Farron is now, which is progress. Nicola Sturgeon is of course riding high and seems to be a permanent thorn in Theresa’s side.

Jeremy ‘I’m a Remainer, honest comrades’ Corbyn is the one who seems to be something of a walking disaster area yet is also thriving with it like a zombie who just keeps going regardless of what you throw at him.

And then of course there is Queen Theresa. The Remainer. Who has crushed everyone in her party. Not just the saboteurs. Even her supposed ally Hammond and BBF Rudd have been thrown under the bus at her wimb when its suited May personally.

The General Election now sets a new scene and opportunity for new characters to emerge. Now the rats have left the ship or been put in their place.

Will May set course to the left or to the right or simply plow on like a bull in a china shop?

Anyway I’m now looking forward to the shocking soap opera moment where your favourite hero or villain gets killed off in a twist you didn’t see coming. Role on June 8th. If only to get pass the upcoming horror of the next six weeks.

I hope everyone who voted leave has really bloody good private insurance

The baby boom generation, of which I am one, will get a nasty shock. They will increasing find that health insurance is getting expensive or impossible to obtain. Simply because they are getting to an age where their health is beginning to decline. Just little things, you know, a little bit of stiffness in the knees or the hip, next thing you know, a joint replacement is required. Have a dizzy spell or what seems like a bad attack of heartburn, and then you find it was a small stroke or a heart attack. Yes, this is happening more and more often to friends in my age group - to people who have been fit as fiddles for 30-40 years.

Peregrina
Yep
Lots of smug baby boomer Tory leavers in for a hell of a shock
Although I'm sure it will be someone else's fault....
Dh has family members who are very wealthy who are now at the stage where they are needing lots of NHS input and hospital appts
They are desperate not to spend any of their money - to the point that even free NHS carer visits are refused
They have just given their son tens of thousands of £££ - if either die in the next 7 years it will (rightly) be classed as deprivation of assets. They are in deep denial about this.
It's not uncommon ime

I priced up basic health insurance for my family
We have 2 asthmatics and I have a couple of chronic health issues (not serious)
It would be about £500 per month to insure us and that wouldn't cover pre existing conditions..
This is the future
This is what they wanted

I haven't priced up insurance - I ought to get in quick before anything serious develops.

This is the future
This is what they wanted

Ah but they say not. They say why should the Tories do this? It would be a vote loser. Yes, it would, but cuts and privatisations done by stealth have been happening under the radar. Witness the person whose details were posted a couple of days back - hospital Paediatric services were now the responsibility of Virgin Health Care (although badged as NHS). Were they asked to vote about this? No.

I keep saying the same to dh but he seems to think I'm being hysterical pessimistic

Le pen is "doing a farage" and stepping down from the national front party
🤔
God
Do you think it's as simple as panic?
Hey never expected to get so far and now have no idea what to do?*

*apply theory to brexit as you wish

Ah
She is concentrating on the presidential bid apparently - and the views expressed are hers and not those of the NF...

*Esther McVey shortlisted for Tatton.

Dear god, no shock*

Seconded.

Two reasons being suggested Badders. One is an exercise in de-toxification. The other is money. Though I confess I don't understand how the latter works or would make a difference.

Tbh, lots of British political commentators saying they haven't got a clue what it means too.

I suspect it is Not. A. Good. Thing.

I suspect that too

On C4 News they were speculating that she's seen as old and tired. This result will be seen as failure.

Sod this for tonight

I'm off to google pics of aiden turner

Laters x

Their core vote share hasn't increased. And if they can't increase it immediately after a terror attack, when can they?

Good plan.

The other is money.
www.politico.eu/article/marine-le-pen-asked-to-repay-e9-million-bank-loan-reports-czech-russian/
www.france24.com/en/20170105-france-national-front-marine-le-pen-russia-finance-election-campaign

Expensive business, fascism. ?

This Le Pen story is weird. All over the Anglophone media, total non-story in France.

She appears to have temporarily relinquished her role as party president to concentrate on campaigning, she hasn't left the party. It's not even as if Le Pen stepping down would detoxify the name (either the Le Pen name or the FN) because presumably her niece, who is a younger and more (openly) extreme version of Marine, would take over.

The FN is their family business, it's a money spinner, she's not giving it up.

The Times: Ukip calls for annual medical checks on girls at risk of FGM

reports Nuttall's statements and the reactions.

"Paul Nuttall, the Ukip leader, said that a clampdown on FGM, Sharia and the burka would promote social cohesion"

"Paul Nuttall’s party also renewed demands today for a ban on Sharia and the burka, as it launched a series of policies that focus primarily on Islam as part of a so-called integration agenda.

Nimco Ali, co-founder of Daughters of Eve, an anti-FGM organisation, said that Ukip’s “knicker checking” policy was “not just wrong but offensive as well”.

"Baroness Featherstone, a former Lib Dem home office minister, said that the policy was “insensitive and frankly outrageous”:

“Ukip’s approach is horrifically heavy-handed and will alienate the very communities we are trying to reach out to.
We should be training our teachers and other providers such as community experts to identify those at risk and teaching children themselves that FGM is wrong and to come forward if they fear for themselves or a friend,”
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/ukip-calls-for-annual-medical-checks-on-girls-at-risk-of-fgm-qjbwgts38
< imo, UKIP is just desperate to find its niche, now that the Tories have adopted BlueKIP.
Maybe the Tories will copy these policies too ?
Any comment on them by the Tory party ? >

On the subject of UK coverage of French news, here is Le Monde:

Les médias britanniques ...ont surcouvert la campagne de Marine Le Pen, « vendant » à leurs lecteurs le scénario d’une France prête à son tour à choisir le « Frexit », comme pour justifier a posteriori le choix britannique du Brexit. "La déception des commentaires de l’anglosphère est palpable, commentait dimanche soir Denis MacShane, ancien ministre travailliste europhile et francophile. Ils auraient voulu que la France suive l’exemple du Brexit et de Trump et place Marine Le Pen en premier."

The British media covered the Le Pen campaign disproportionately, selling their readers a scenario in which France would vote for Frexit, as if to justify Brexit. "It's clear from Anglophone media commentary that they are disappointed," said Denis MacShane, a europhile and francophile former Labour government minister. "They wanted Britain to follow the example of brexit and Trump and put Le Pen in first place."

www.lemonde.fr/election-presidentielle-2017/article/2017/04/24/les-britanniques-incredules-devant-le-succes-du-pro-europeen-macron_5116344_4854003.html

Torygraph having fun behind its paywall:

It isn’t often that a party leader invites journalists to a press conference, and then runs away as soon as they ask him questions

Still, as we know from long experience, Ukip are determined to do politics differently.

“Mr Nuttall!” shouted journalists from the corridor, into the room in which Paul Nuttall had barricaded himself.
“Will you be standing in the election, Mr Nuttall?”

“Mr Nuttall! Can we come in, Mr Nuttall?”

“Mr Nuttall! Why won’t you talk to us, Mr Nuttall?”

The press had been summoned to County Hall in London, where Paul Nuttall was to announce Ukip’s new policy on Muslim integration.
Mr Nuttall arrived, said a few words of introduction… and then handed over to three little-known underlings:
Ukip’s spokesmen for Education, Culture, and Women & Equalities.

So it was they, rather than Mr Nuttall, who presented Ukip’s pledges (ban the veil; make Muslim schoolgirls undergo an annual physical check, to see whether they’ve suffered Female Genital Mutilation).
And it was they, rather than Mr Nuttall, who took questions, while he sat silent in a corner.

“You say you’ll ‘pass a law against the wearing of face coverings in public places’,” said a journalist.
“Does this apply to beekeepers?”

The spokespeople tutted and snorted. Really, though, it was Mr Nuttall the press wanted to question.
In particular, they wanted to know why the leader of Britain’s fourth biggest party was refusing to say whether he’d stand in the general election.

After his defeat in Stoke, was he scared?

At the end, they swarmed towards him.
“Mr Nuttall! Aren’t you going to stand in the election, Mr Nuttall?”

“Mr Nuttall! Tim Farron says you’re ‘chicken’, Mr Nuttall. Are you chicken, Mr Nuttall?”

Smiling tensely, Mr Nuttall hastened out of the room.
But the press did not let up.
They followed him down the corridor, continuing in vain to ask questions – until their quarry swerved left, ducked into a room, and shut the door behind him.

To the modern reporter, this is not a completely new experience
– it’s almost exactly a year to the day since Ken Livingstone hid in a disabled lavatory to escape from journalists asking him about Hitler
– and so the press waited at the door for Mr Nuttall to emerge, as he would eventually have to do.

Unless he planned to climb out of the window.

The siege lasted 10 minutes.
Abruptly, the door swung open, and Mr Nuttall strode out.
The journalists scampered after him.

“Mr Nuttall! Can you stay as leader if you don’t stand, Mr Nuttall?”
Mr Nuttall decided to answer that one.

“Some Ukip leaders,” he said, as casually as he could manage while walking at 13 miles an hour, “have done quite well not being in Parliament.”

He scurried down the hall steps and into a waiting taxi.
A journalist attempted to join him, but was hauled promptly out by a Ukip official.

Poor Mr Nuttall.
Unless he confirms he’s standing, he’ll be plagued like this wherever he goes.
He won’t be able to leave the house.

Perhaps he should consider wearing a disguise.
A face covering of some kind.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/24/chicken-ukips-paul-nuttall-ran-away-press-conference/

Any comment on them by the Tory party
Well the minister for feminism may have thoughts on this one:
@vicderbyshire
"Yes I'm a feminist", @PhilipDaviesMP tells us #VictoriaLIVE

Nuttalls is plain nasty too.

The British media covered the Le Pen campaign disproportionately
Rabidly, even.

Hi, long term lurker on these threads and thank you so much for them. I've been passing off your knowledge as my own all year.

(Sorry for taking over ) I live in one of the UKs safest seats (Richmondshire) and there's no hope for any other party, is there realistically anything I can do that'll make any difference?

I was just going to post that le Monde link. I had a look at the Dutch papers today (and yesterday) and they didn't have a much coverage of the French elections and if they did with less focus on MLP. It seems a British, or should i say English, obsession.

""They wanted Britain to follow the example of brexit and Trump and put Le Pen in first place.""

So true, They're getting nervous that we really are, alone, the real insular idiots of Europe.

I was just going to post that le Monde link. I had a look at the Dutch papers today (and yesterday) and they didn't have a much coverage of the French elections and if they did with less focus on MLP. It seems a British, or should i say English, obsession.

Did you read the comments on that Le Monde article? Ought to be required reading for the "but they want to sell us their cars" brand of brexit fuckwits.

HeggartyTotterington
is there realistically anything I can do that'll make any difference?
I'm reposting some RTB's post, ,mainly research and local knowledge seems to be the way to go:
"the main problem with tactical voting is not everyone else is going to be doing it. Unless there is a really big push behind it (Basically unless Gina Miller does something properly organised) I'm dubious of it.

You either need a lot of people to be doing it to make it work, or to amplify the direction of the tide that is happening naturally.

Is the area more middle class or working class? Is it in the north, London, South west?

Is there a historical vote that has a long term pattern that differs from 2015? Think about where those votes you might need are going to come from and how likely that is going to be.

Don't just go with a spreadsheet. Also employ some local knowledge and check what has happened in the past".