Westministenders: The Zombie PM

[RedToothBrush]

Back from the dead, May carries on whilst the vultures circle.

She had tried to out smart her rivals by running of to the palace to tell the queen she could form a government before they could act.

Definitely she stood and pretended nothing had changed. Except everything had. The wrath of her party was unleashed and there was open revolt. She has been summoned to appear before men in grey suits tomorrow at 5pm to hear their verdict.

How do she decide to make amends and reach out to moderate Tories? By sleeping with the DUP. And appointing Gove to her Cabinet.

How long will this last? How long can it last?

Don't forget more money for the NHS on the bus, which was proved a lie.

Is "somewhat strained" a polite euphemism for completely fucked?
Now I wouldn't like to speculate too much but...

John Ashmore‏*@smashmorePH*

Senior Tory on 1922 meetings: "A sort of obscene spectacle of ambitious colleagues trying to outdo each other in fanatical loyalty."

I'm not sure I even want to imagine that gross spectacle. I shall not speculate on which two Cabinet Ministers were undoubtedly right in the midst of that either.

One other big and widespread misreading of Brexit was that it was simply about immigration
This had to be the stance the Tories took though, because otherwise they'd have to admit it was their policies causing issues. And they may have gotten away with it if it weren't for those pesky kids

'I got us into this mess'

Although I don't think May thought she was saying this, she is referring to the election result as 'a mess'.

Just shows that she believes the country is in a mess unless there is a Conservative government and nil significant opposition. Just like there was six months ago. You're going to be chasing that hit all your life, Treeza.

Still catching up, but I have sent my MP a supportive but forthright email letting them know it was them, not the Labour party, that I voted for and not to fuck up this opportunity (but in slightly more polite language).

If the Queen can't do the Speech, the Lord Chancellor reads it out instead (I think Brenda has missed two QS, when she was pregnant). She can't miss it because she's at the races, though, she needs a proper reason to be absent from one of the things that still constitutes her role.

I'm still not convinced that there was a genuine appetite for Brexit - I know many people who voted Leave as a protest vote, never imagining that there would be enough of them to actually win.

If we do ever have another referendum, we should take a leaf out of how places like Massachussetts manage them. Around the same time as the Brexit vote they held a referendum on lots of things like legalising marijuana and ending battery farming. Every household received a well written booklet that set out the arguments for and against the proposal with details on where to get further information, along with the actual proposed text of the legislation and a summary of what would need to change to accommodate the new legislation and exactly what the question was asking of voters. It was so clear and simple: I was crying out for something similar for Brexit, rather than bloody buses and made up numbers

I wonder what Brenda makes of Thatcher now, given Tom's recent performance?

Just to lighten things a wee bit, I thought it would be amusing to pick some GE 2017 theme songs.

Jeremy Corbyn:

Theresa May:

I'll post more as/when/if I think of them and if folk like the idea.

www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/exclusive-cabinet-sensibles-plot-soft-brexit-a3563036.html
EXCLUSIVE: Theresa May sidelined as Tory cabinet 'sensibles' plot soft Brexit

'The Sensibles' v 'The Creationists'

Cabinet ministers opposing a hard Brexit sidelined Theresa May today by reaching out to Labour MPs and European leaders who share their fears over jobs and stability.

“This is no longer a question just for Government,” a senior minister told the Standard. “It is clear to me that Parliament will want to assert its role in a way it did not before.”

and

Earlier, Brexit Secretary David Davis had signalled that discussions about the UK’s exit from the EU might not start on June 19 due to the clash with the Queen’s Speech.

He hinted that there could be compromises over the Great Repeal Bill and human rights, but said leaving the single market and customs union were “fundamentals”.

Compromises? You think David?

Channel 4 did a good graphic earlier on how the parties and MPs now break down in terms of remainy/sensibly/ MPs and the others. The former is a much larger group.

Jessica Elgot‏*@jessicaelgot*
MP says PM pledged that the party would help colleagues who lost their seats - some of whom are in financial difficulties

Oh boy is this tweet getting a lot of comments, most along the lines of this:

Jess Phillips‏*@jessphillips*

There are many reasons why people go to foodbanks

The tories are desperate, though. It is quite fun.

More good news is the cross country protests agains Putin, wide scale and youthful.

Could be very good news for us and the majority of Americans.

"compromises" my arse

Ian Dunt‏*@IanDunt*

Ok so that's a lovely email.

If only we'd had a proper debate... :(

I am thinking about the chances of u-turning on brexit. I am an ardent remainer, but I can't see a politically likely situation were labour could come straight out now and say they want to stay in the EU. As much as I would love them to and for parliament to suddenly get sensible and stop this whole silly mess it just isn't going to happen like that.

However, I can see a more realistic process of brexit negotiations that clearly reveal the issues and costs of brexit to the public with a lean to soft brexit. As this progresses there seems a real chance of a serious and vocal change of public opinion occuring. In this case parliament could then vote for a 2nd ref on the proposed brexit plan with an option for remaining as is.

This situation means that parliament can legitimately claim to be responding to overwhelming public opinion and the results of a second referendum rather than u-turning themselves and going against a referendum result.

The problems with this are that firstly we must demonstrate that change in public opinion loudly and clearly, secondly (and more worryingly) we have to hope that the EU will let us change our minds up to the last minute.

As much as I would like this over quick I think the best chance we have is for labour to be seen to give brexit a go, but with clear priorities that then can't be met. Brexit is demonstrated to not be able to achieve what is needed and is pragmatically stopped by the will of the great British public. Everyone breaths a sigh of relief, pat's themselves on the back, and tries to forget it ever happened.

Quite, Bigly, as per Blair's speech earlier this year - sentiment changes and sensible politicians respond. I can also see a situation where some in parliament try to nudge sentiment along a bit by making sure that people who might not be that interested in the negotiations, get interested and worked up about how badly they are going.

Labour's position on Brexit may be muddy/muddled but it is also ambiguous enough, I hope, that they can extract themselves from an extreme Brexit with relative ease at least until McDonnell went on TV telling everyone that hard Brexit was still on.

order-order.com/2017/06/12/spin-wars-boris-and-davis-trying-to-stitch-each-other-up/
Spin Wars: Boris and Davis 'trying to stitch each other up'

Arh... the sheer beauty of a Tory Leader Election that will go on for weeks, if not months. You can almost imagine the 1922 love in over who is more loyal to May. This is all a good thing for the country. Brexit? A mere side show to the main event.

Tom King‏*@tomilo*

I hope that David Davis 2017 leadership campaign is as tasteful as his 2005 one was

www.buzzfeed.com/heidiblake/poison-in-the-system?utm_term=.qoDGvq79X#.svevQMYZj
Poison in the System: A Buzzfeed investigation.

Make up your own minds on this one. Russia.

Indeed lala. There is plenty that can be done to move public opinion along in that direction without actually saying they want to halt brexit. I would like to see labour put our clear goals to be met around jobs, immigration, grant funding, crime, educational links, borders etc. Things that all seem perfectly reasonable and most people will not object to, but we all know will not work out under brexit. They can then just made sad faces about how these things are not going to be able to be achieved as negotiations progress.

If labour says their focus is to have a brexit that ensures the NHS can recruit nurses and that farmers can trade and get the funding they need, and it happens to become clear to the public that the best for these things is no brexit at all. Well, that isn't labour sabotaging the public will, it is the public making a choice that can't be ignored by their democratically elected representatives.

Robert Peston‏*@Peston*

Senior Tory referred to hard brexiteers in his party by word I cannot even nod to here - and says he will "have them", with help of Labour

That unlikely Labour / Tory alliance...

That unlikely Labour / Tory alliance...

It is indeed a strange and wonderful world we live in all of a sudden.

Got to be Ken Clarke surely!?

Agree with what you just said on labour and brexit, Bigly at 20.57. It's a pickle. There's got to be a narrative that most will understand, and then a solution most will understand. Meanwhile, I presume there are many senior Labour MPs on work trips to France, Germany and Belgium right now.

This is so not what seemed on the cards a few days ago. Although JC at a rally said something to Crick to the effect of, "we have got a plan", "it's sorted", and everyone thought he was talking rubbish.

Still a travesty the country has been put through such turmoil, and Cox's sad loss, but what a turnaround.

Clarke's a bit of a muso he could get into grime too Badders.