Westministenders: The bookends to a year of political chaos. Just how far have we come?

[RedToothBrush]

The 15th June 2016.

The Thames was filled with a flotilla of boats in a publicity stunt for the Leave campaign to draw attention to fisheries. Nigel Farage and Kate Hoey in their heads thought they were Leonardo and Kate, but the moment was rather more titanic in nature and could not have been more Alan Partridge if they had tried. Coming up behind was Bob Gedolf in a shameful and cringeworthy display of swearing and abuse that really didn’t help the Remain camp in anyway. Largely unnoticed was a small boat with a family following it all unfold…

The next day things went from fiasco to horror.

Farage unveiled the Dog Whistle Poster and Jo Cox was murdered. And the UK seemed set on its course for 7 days later when the world was turned upside down by the referendum itself.

14th June 2017.

Fast forward 365 days later and another tragedy unfolded. This time of a very different nature but with no less political significance.
Grenfell.

A moment of national shame. A symbol of so many things that had come to pass in the previous twelve months.

The election just the previous week had changed the direction of travel we seemed to be headed and left the Prime Minister exposed and looking wildly out of touch. The Maybot was given one more chance.

And the Maybot seems to be failing the test of her party who had the grace to grant her a second chance.

The Queen dressed in the same shade of blue, May delivered her ‘victory speech’ in, ignored the security threat and visited the ranks of the poor and the forgotten. A deliberate message to May not to forget who she serves? A Queen who feels aggrieved and angry by May’s behaviour? Who knows.

As for Brexit. The government looks lost. Adrift. The ‘Fight of the Summer’ over the EU’s plan for talks sounds out the window despite the denials from the Brexit Department. Hard Brexit is still on the cards. Apparently. But what does anyone believe now? May’s and the Brexiteers domination of the agenda is shattered, its power starting to be questioned.

What next?

This evening the anger is building.

Who knows, what will happen. Some of it might be predictable, but the future is far from certain and we have definitely entered a new era. We just don’t know who will lead it, or what its ambition or what the end goal now is.

What we do know, more acutely than ever is that we are all human and the wise words of Jo Cox about having ‘More in Common’ ring though ever more strongly.

Once again we feel ‘on the brink’.

Pretty much what every German / Swiss article has said.
Exasperation with the UK, but more in sorrow (and laughter) than anger.

Elsewhere in Der Bund, they are slightly hopeful that Hammond may bring some sense to the UK side

Very good article

We are fucked. Time to get out of dodge?

(paywall) Telegraph Exclusive: David Davis tipped to become the next Conservative leader by Boris Johnson’s allies as Theresa May’s ministers refuse to back her
< well, maybe >

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/18/exclusive-david-davis-tipped-become-next-conservative-leader/

David Davis has emerged as the unity candidate to lead the Conservative Party after he was tipped for the post by allies of Boris Johnson.
< Unity ? Not while he remains a Brexit Ultra >

Mr Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, is still widely seen as the most likely successor to Mrs May and the suggestion that Mr David is best placed to mount a challenge could be an attempt to smoke out his rival.

But one ally of Mr Johnson said Mr Davis would be a “serious contender” for the leadership if it was vacated and the “perfect tonic” against a resurgent Jeremy Corbyn after his unexpectedly strong performance in the general election.

senior Eurosceptic Tory source:
“Camp DD is very conscious that the mantle of history is moving towards slowly towards them and they are not stirring things up.

“I cannot see how he is not going to get it. It will have to be a Leaver this time. If it comes down to Boris v DD, Boris is not free of the toxic NHS stuff.”
< or of toxic fire service cuts, or of being offensive - "picaninnies" etc, playing the (rather nasty) fool >

Mr Davis is seen as better placed than Mr Johnson because he is not tainted by the promise from the Vote Leave campaign at last year’s EU referendum to spend £350million on the NHS after Britain leaves the EU.

I got the gist of the article . I posted the link to the original, as we probably all have our own preferred translation techniques ...

Many years ago, I was told the reasons computers started off using only uppercase, was because it made them multi-lingual (bit of a nerd joke there )

That article is a snapshot of the average view of the UK at the moment. We are - putting it kindly - a laughing stock and a country of derision. It's a shame that the UK has to finally discover other countries do have a sense of humour by making itself the butt of their jokes.

[Smile]

Guardian reports comments on the far right Britain First praising the Finsbury Park attack
US extremist monitoring group Site.says white supremacists have celebrated the attack, e.g.
declared it as “hope for the British,”
"this guy is a hero"
"I hope the rest of the free world will rise up and do the same"

May's speech is strong. Calling it terrorism. No mucking about. None of this 'hate crime stuff'.

But prattling on about the internet again. Amazing how the newspapers get off the hook.

John Band‏*@johnb78*
A few people have said that Tommy Robinson is a direct equivalent to Anjem Choudary. This is doubly true, as both were created by the media. The UK Muslim community repeatedly begged the media not to give Choudary a platform, but a raging fanatic makes better copy/better TV.

The UK moderate white community has been far less responsible when it comes to hate preachers like Robinson and Hopkins. But in both cases the media bears a great deal of the blame. The Sun and the Mail spread poison directly, like copies of Dabiq.

But it's also fuelled by every generally-decent-human editor at BBC/Sky who airs Choudary & Robinson, who furthers the extremist narrative. This shit needs to stop. Listen to Muslims on who's in a position to speak for them. We all know which white people shouldn't be platformed.

To be clear, when I say "this shit needs to stop", I mean "western media needs to stop spreading this shit". The Sun and the Mail may be irredemable, but let's never see Robinson on TV or a serious paper ever again, unless he's actually on trial.

The same for whichever fuckhead appoints himself to replace Choudary.

Britain takes back control ?

I want to be absolutely clear about my comments earlier that I think the attack is Finsbury Park is every bit as abhorrent as the other recent attacks. I am no apologist for violence against non-white citizens of this country and I am as saddened for the victims in this attack as I have been with the other recent attacks. What concerns me about the leap to label everything abhorrent terrorism is that May was very quick to put the army on our streets after the Manchester bombing, which made me feel deeply uneasy. We have a PM and government who seems eager to curtail human rights and increase state surveillance of citizens' communication "because terrorism". Under those conditions, language matters - labelling everything terrorism builds the case for overweening, intrusive measures by the state.

www.openreason.uk/publications/
3 steps to a soft Brexit

Nick Clegg

Under those conditions, language matters - labelling everything terrorism builds the case for overweening, intrusive measures by the state.

Very much agree.

But how can you label these acts as anything different?

But prattling on about the internet again. Amazing how the newspapers get off the hook.

But hasn't one of the developing themes since the election been the decline of the power of the newspapers ?

How about compulsory classics education to combat extremism?

Only in some groups.

In others it very much still controls them. That's why they don't like the internet.

It's the greatest pity that they can't think about the good of the country and realise that saying no to austerity was the real reason for the vote, and ditch their hard brexit stance.

Still, maybe lorries backed up from the Kent ports to London will shape some of the hard Brexiters thinking. Or maybe not - they are all wealthy, the will leave the country to find somewhere else if the worst comes to the worst.

How about compulsory classics education to combat extremism?

Carthego delenda est !

Maybe the start of extremism ?

illegitimate - apologies, I have been out and about and not posting. I think we may have listened to different parts of the interview. Here is the quote from Humphreys (I was paraphrasing in my earlier post but stupidly forgot to mention that): "Is there a danger that we might over-react to something like this if it turns out, and of course we hope it does turn out like this, that it was a lone individual acting out of some crazed impulse. There are and always have been lone individuals doing insane things."

I wouldn't for a moment accuse you of downplaying the fact that the driver was white rather than, for example, South Asian. But I do think Humphreys showed jaw-dropping insensitivity.

Literally the only Latin phrase I remember from school is "Metella in atrio sedet". I think some guy called Clematis did some stuff in a garden as well. Not sure how effective this profound knowledge will be in combatting extremism.

The only bits I remember, where when we had to stand up and the teacher entered the room.

Salvete puellae
Salvay magistra
Sedete.

I suppose the sit down bit might come in useful, but won't take you far.

There is only one phrase in Latin I ever learned.

Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori

In the context of Wilfred Owen's poem.

Was thinking more of the classical Greek and Roman stories, about populists, fools and fascists, which might ring a few bells.

My little latin is legal; mens rea actus reus etc. Although I can do:
servus, servum, servi, servo ahh can't remember any more.

Like that poem though, red

The Roman histories are annoying the alt right, for example:
:
US Shakespeare theaters report abuse amid uproar over Trump-like Caesar

Multiple theaters say they have received hateful messages following rightwing protests over a controversial New York City production of Julius Caesar

www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/jun/18/donald-trump-julius-caesar-shakespeare-theater-abuse

The only problem is Plato and Aristotle didn't really like women or the poor or slaves actually most of society

Maybe a certain amount of how not to do things. Wasn't there one year when the Romans went through 4 emporers?

Indeed there was: The Year of Four Emperors

Meanwhile, there's this: twitter.com/RedLeftAndy/status/876092102916132866
@RedLeftAndy
"If you are looking for the most Tory thing you will see today, this is it."

Referring to a tweet from someone called @screwlabour saying they'd "rather have homeless people than a complete erosion of property rights".

One of my favourite latin phrases is:
ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.

It is strangely timeless. I even noticed it quoted on Dr Who the other night!