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?

FFS *should be predicated on need.

worth remembering this too

From Jan 16
Conservative MPs have voted against proposed new rules requiring private sector landlords to ensure their properties are fit for human habitation.
A Labour amendment to the government’s housing and planning bill, designed to ensure that all rented accommodation was safe for people to live in, was defeated by 312 votes to 219 on Tuesday, a majority of 93.

Not that I know whether grenfell really falls under that, but the Tories were just cutting services, they were failing to ensure basic dwelling standards.

Interesting piece here as to why the Irish dimension is central to any Brexit deal.

Fintan O’Toole: Theresa May faces Irish obstacle on the Brexit tracks
via The Irish Times
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/fintan-o-toole-theresa-may-faces-irish-obstacle-on-the-brexit-tracks-1.3117224

It reminds me of the
whole Parnell period, when a deal with Irish Constitutional nationalists ultimately led to crisis and the collapse of the Gladstone government .

red very briefly but FF
playing SF at their own game here .But think they could offer a credible alternative for voters to SF.
The point is often made by NI voters that they have no choice between DUP and SF and moderate voters are not represented.

This plan by FF has been a long time in the making.

Fianna Fáil would see themselves as a more left wing party than Fine Gael. They were the party of the small farmer and worker.In reality they are more left , by say , 1/2 cm or so and vote and reputation obviously have suffered in the last years as they became more associated with the big builder and banking scandals .Very little difference in terms of economics between both big parties in voters eyes.

FF are playing SF at their own long game. SF as you know run on both sides of the border. SF have targeted and won FF seats, presenting themselves as the party of the worker and poor and obviously the ultimate in nationalism
. They have stolen FF brand.

FF rebuilding party and see NI as an area of opportunity . It would also shore up their creditentals as a nationalist party which still apppeals to sections of the vote.

Will be interesting to see how SF start to react to these new threats - a triumphant DUP in U.K. government and FF playing them at their own game. They have been twisting to make themselves appealing to two different sets of voter groups over the last few years.

Although maybe the lessons of the benefits of pragmatism learned by parties in NI haven't been forgotten.

Hashi looking at the coverage, hard to see how it could have been much worse and some are questioning whether the refurbishments might have been the cause. £10m on 120 flats is a lot of money. In my part of the UK it would have built 120 new houses from scratch, including land cost.

*werent just cutting

I think another EU ref right now would be a bad idea. But maybe a ref on what's on offer at the end of negotiations might be a different prospect.

As long as "No Change" is an option, I'd be all in. And as long as it's binding.

This is (yet another) corner the Brexit camp have painted themselves into. Any suggestion that we get a vote on whatever dogs dinner they have cobbled together will bring in the implied option of "No thanks".

Otherwise we are drifting into "Do you still beat your wife ?" territory ....

Oh I don't know howabout. It could certainly have burned a lot quicker. It could have crumpled and taken down nearby buildings. It's pretty horrific on its own, but it could definitely have been a lot worse.

^Next time someone considers voting for cuts to services,
think how you'd feel if you had to throw your babies and your little kids out of high windows, to try to save them from burning to death^

Remind them of exactly this when the Tories go on about Labour being tax and spend.

then the lion's share of the blame may come down to cuts to local housing budgets.

And the Local Authority will be blamed - despite the funding cuts from Central Government. BTW what political flavour is the local council?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Lakanal_House_tower_block_fire
Mayor of London Boris Johnson described the fire as an "horrendous incident" and announced an investigation into the design of the building, which has a single central staircase.

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/grenfell-tower-fire-gavin-barwell_uk_59410ecbe4b09ad4fbe45929?
Theresa May’s New Advisor Failed To Review Tower Block Fire Regulations - Despite Four Years Of Warnings.
Gavin Barwell was Housing Minister until he lost his seat in the General Election

The review was called for after an inquest into a tower block fire in Camberwell, south-east London, which killed six people and injured 20 in 2009, ruled the regulations covering such buildings were not up to scratch.

and

Barwell was pressed on when the Government would carry out a “review of building regulations” in the Commons on October 24 2016.

He replied: “We have not set out any formal plans to review the building regulations as a whole, but we have publicly committed ourselves to reviewing part B following the Lakanal House fire.”

I believe some difficult questions are about to arise.

The EU will not invest time and valuable manpower in negotiating a deal that a referendum can reject.

There is no time anyway to negotiate a deal and then have a referendum on it
In fact, probably negotiations will need the 2 year period to be extended - which the E27 wouldn't agree to, if the deal can be rejected

So, imo the only possible referendum would be if the govt realises they can't possibly negotiate a deal in time and so set a straight question:
"Remain or crash out of the EU without a deal"

BUT
Several EU officials have expressed concern that the Tory party / tabloids could keep invoking and then revoking A50.
Any of the 27 could veto a revoke, i.e. Remain

So they would probably require guarantees in advance that this won't happen
BUT a Parliament cannot bind its successors.
So, at least both Labour and Tory parties would have to sign up that this is permanent for say 20 years minimum. The Ultras would go mad.

imo, it should be up to Parliament to make an informed decision
Not to try to cover their chicken arses with Ref2

HuffPost UK‏*@HuffPostUK*
#Breaking Theresa May is 'deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life' in the #GrenfellTower fire

norman smith‏*@BBCNormanS*
Govt's Civil Contingencies secretariat to meet this afternoon to co-ordinate response #grenfelltower

A Labour amendment to the government’s housing and planning bill, designed to ensure that all rented accommodation was safe for people to live in, was defeated by 312 votes to 219 on Tuesday, a majority of 93.

I just heard a fire fighter describe the building as a chimney.
Horrendous.

SixInTheBed thank you, that's really interesting. Up side of DUP is it's a crash course in NI politics for some of us.

Gavin Barwell was Housing Minister until he lost his seat in the General Election
He is now her right hand man, isn't he? Replacing the ghastly pair that used to be there.

Statement issued from number 10 saying TM 'deeply saddened' about Grenfell tower . Why couldn't she do it in person ?

#stillwaitingforagrownup

If there was sufficient belief that another referendum would go the other way, it would would be worth holding just in terms of UK reputation damage...

Gavin Barwell was Housing Minister until he lost his seat in the General Election He is now her right hand man, isn't he? Replacing the ghastly pair that used to be there.
Hope he is held to account.

^Several EU officials have expressed concern that the Tory party / tabloids could keep invoking and then revoking A50.
Any of the 27 could veto a revoke, i.e. Remain^

It's the loss of inter and intra national trust, than May has instigated, which could take generations to heal. I think that's one of the most dangerous and sad things about this brexit nonsense. Ages ago red wrote about it so well.

Gavin Barwell Housing Minister....Wonder if his 2016 book, How to Win a Marginal Seat: My Year Fighting for my Political Life, is going to be followed up with A Month working for May, How Hubris destroyed the UK.

Theresa May’s new chief of staff faced questions on Wednesday over his role in a delayed fire safety review, after a deadly blaze tore through the Grenfell Tower in London.

Gavin Barwell failed to give the review the green light during his tenure as housing minister, despite it already having waited for years.

The fire expert behind a report calling for the desperately needed safety appraisal, said he had spoken to Mr Barwell earlier this year and the then-minister told him no decision on the review had been taken

.www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-s-new-chief-of-staff-faced-questions-on-wednesday-over-his-role-in-a-delayed-fire-safety-a7789266.html

Would love the EU27 to simply vote on restarting the negotiating clock (2 years) once the UK has finally made its mind up what exactly it is they want and who will be negotiating it. Which might not rule out a GE or referendum re-run in the interim.

^NHS-funded abortion ban upheld by UK Supreme Court due to government’s 'respect' for Northern Ireland Assembly
Judges reject appeal from mother and daughter in narrow ruling with a three to two majority^

Women from Northern Ireland are not entitled to receive free abortions on the NHS in England, the Supreme Court has ruled.

Judges at the UK's highest court announced their decision to narrowly reject the appeal by a mother and daughter with a three to two majority.

The three judges who dismissed the appeal argued for the need to “afford respect to the democratic decision of the people of Northern Ireland”.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/nhs-funded-abortion-ban-uk-supreme-court-northern-ireland-assembly-tory-dup-deal-democratic-a7789251.html

Did some one mention up thread, revisiting Greenham strategies to counter Orange Lodge marches?

This ^ is a bit annoying too.