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’.

I think Davis is going to be next PM. He will make a pig's ear of it and then we will be back to square one.

However, those Catholic victims where the security forces collided, e.g. Finucane, have not received the punitive damages that would normally be awarded when the state has been caught committing particularly egregious acts

My thoughts exactly. Does the British government really want to open that can of worms - the extent of state collusion in NI?

I hope they'd have the sense not to agree to something so manifestly unfair and incendiary. If they do, anyone with any evidence of collusion could come out of the woodwork. I'd like to see it out in the open, but it would be very destabilising. If Finucane wasn't the tip of the iceberg, I'm Margaret Thatcher.

Thank God they have capitulated on that one. Felt like a total waste of time.

Feel even more miserable about it now it's started, while being relieved it has.

I thought that being SoS Brexit would kill off DD's chance of ever being PM but maybe not.

I thought so too but I've decided that the options are so shit and the Tories so stupid that it will happen anyway.

I used to think the fact that the EU thought he was thick would be enough to put the Tories off, but I fear not.

One comment I read said the way the negotiations are going we will be in the Euro in a week!

The Leavers I know aren't interested in the detail at all.
They're convinced it's all going bloody marvelously and David Davis is the new Churchill.
Sigh.

Labour, Lib Dems, SNP and others preparing to wreck the QS through tabling amendments, according to the Telegraph (not read full story as it's behind the paywall) www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/19/exclusive-labour-liberal-democrats-scottish-national-party-mps/?WT.mc_id=tmgoff_fb_tmg

Being a newly elected PM with a slender majority

She has no slender majority - she threw that away with the snap election.

Labour, Lib Dems, SNP and others preparing to wreck the QS through tabling amendments,

Perfectly valid - Oppositions are there to challenge. You would hope that this way they would reach a compromise which is satisfactory for the majority. Theresa May must be ruing the day she called the snap election and lost her majority and a docile Opposition.

Labour, Lib Dems, SNP and others preparing to wreck the QS through tabling amendments,
It's beginning to look a lot like an opposition
Though we have been here before

Though we have been here before

One difference is that UKIP is not the threat it was, so they needn't look over their shoulders to appease them.

Here's hoping everyone
Another petition, posted on another thread, reposting here.
we call on you to commit to rescinding Article 50 if we fail to reach a deal with Europe

.secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/no_deal_no_brexit_loc/?rc=fb&pv=86

secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/no_deal_no_brexit_loc/?aMZnOjb

reposted link^

One difference is that UKIP is not the threat it was, so they needn't look over their shoulders to appease them.
True, but they are ukip now.

Thinking on the lines of UKIP falling away and Jeremy Corbyn being supported by young people rather than old, what is to say that the Labour party's position on Brexit won't change now? I am quite sure that it was written with an eye to voters in 'traditional' Labour heartlands who they thought would have defected to the Tories. (Which they may have done, with another category of voter switching to Labour, we will need to see the analysis.)

I completely agree that we need a strong Opposition more than ever (my principle objection to Jeremy Corbyn is that he hasn't lived up to the expectations of the role of Leader of the Opposition until the last couple of weeks). It will be interesting to see what politicking goes on over the next couple of days to try to smooth the QS through

Ah, that makes sense peregrina
My mind went onto a possible never gonna happen self moderating of Tories.

Well done to that neighbour

Similarly, although much serious, the sons of that man who killed his wife and daughter before killing himself have been speaking out recently. At the time he was described (as usual) as a wonderful family man etc and they said this was out of character. His sons have come out recently to talk about his bullying and how their mum had been finally getting away from him before she was murdered.

Just suppose that the opposition parties do manage to vote down the QS what would happen? Will that mean another election? What about Brexit? I know I'm not that intelligent but the QS has really confused me.

I wish I learnt Latin. Although as law on the Continent is based on Roman law, big masses are in Latin and history is full of Latin phrases, it rubs off on people.
Will the Handmaid's Tale make Latin the rebels' choice?

Sostenueto If QS is voted down, the Opposition gets the chance to form a government. If they fail, new election.

OK thanks Elena, so Brexit negotiations would have to stop again?

I'll be so glad when Brexit is a thing of the past so we can get on with other important issues.

I have a little thought that they might be setting out with really extreme positions on everything so as to shift the middle ground. Then they can get what they actually want, but everyone else gets capitulation from them so think they have won.

If QS is voted down, there will be another election as the DUP won't support Corbyn. Inconceivable that Corbyn would let someone else be PM when Labour think they might well crack the next election alone.

Those boundary changes that are in the manifesto (and will disappear from the QS are interesting). Projections are if they did go ahead based on current trends in London, Johnson and IDS would be Ballsed.

Oh yes the new boundaries! I don't think Brussels cares a damn about hard, soft, just right Brexit. They just want it over and done with, (bit like me) and the Tories don't recognise the terms soft, hard etc as they keep saying at every opportunity. I always said there would be a lot of negotiations in Brussels the Government, whoever that may be, will come back with bad deal, parliament will vote it down and that will be the end of Brexit. (There could be another referendum,). All this larking about is just a smokescreen for chucking out result of first referendum. The Tories certainly didn't want it, well only a few wanted it. Labour can't make it's mind up and there you go.