Westministers: Happy New Year?

[RedToothBrush]

And so we enter a New Year full of hope that things might just be about to recover from our national nervous breakdown... or perhaps not.

As we have Damien Green ejected from his role as Deputy PM over allegations of inappropriate conduct towards woman and use of porn at the end of last year, 2018 sees a bright new progressive dawn with the appointment to the role of universities regulator of Toby Young. A man who has deleted 20,000 tweets including many which are inappropriate and offensive to women, is a fan of eugenics and hates the working class and disabled.

Meanwhile the NHS is facing a crisis which is totally unexpected to the government and couldn't possibly have been planned for by a man who has over seen it for over five years. Which naturally bodes really well for Brexit planning.

We are apparently planning to join the TPP. Never mind geopolitics we can move the UK to the Pacific region.

We still are not ready for trade talks because the Cabinet can not agree on anything. Not that it sounds like they have actually discussed anything along these lines yet.

Rumours are that the Cabinet - including arch leavers such as Gove - are leaning towards supporting May and a softer option, despite the disgust of Johnson, who once again is the subject of malicious chatter about his sacking in a forthcoming Cabinet Reshuffle.

There is talk of further Tory Party war with the revelation that membership of the party has dropped to a core of just 70,000 hardline authoritarian men, most of whom are over 60. Tory HQ now wants to (perhaps with some good reason to prevent the loons) rewrite the constitution and limit the power of local associations to select candidates. The Tory party is now lining up to be a power struggle between internal authoritarians, who don't like democracy voices or structure.

Meanwhile the Labour Party membership now apparently overwhelmingly looks upon staying in the customs union and single market favourably and is in favour of a second referendum. In opposition to the leadership who are utterly committed to Hard Brexit. Much to the annoyance of Lord Adonis who is pitching a fit about government corruption and incompetence and being accused of being elite because he going skiing. Unlike of prominent Leavers who are in touch with the working class.

And finally Nigel Farage has got a meeting with Barnier. Farage, unlike Clegg, Clarke and Adonis, will not be accused by the Right Wing Press of undermining the government's negotiating position because...

It appears that we are in for another year of Brexit nonsense then.

We've not even heard mention of Gibraltar yet.

These Boris Johnson articles about 'hot totty' and 'tank-topped bumboys' show why he defended Toby Young.

uk.businessinsider.com/boris-johnson-women-gay-people-sexism-bumboys-totty-toby-young-2018-1

Some of our 'leaders' are so dishonourable, unwise and uncaring. Views towards women intolerable and appalling.

We need rid of them. If petitions won't work, and TM won't see sense, the only option is the ballot box. BJ's majority is not huge. (Fnaar.) 5,000 in 2016 election.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/constituencies/E14001007

Petitions are well-supported but are they ignored? These two (both nearly 200,000) don't even mention their attitudes towards women. There's plenty else to disgust us, but women should be concerned that their gender attitudes aren't automatic disqualifiers.

www.change.org/p/boris-step-down-as-foreign-secretary

www.change.org/p/theresa-may-mp-sack-toby-young-from-university-watchdog-post

Is there any chance of change of any sort of change then ?. The EU to my mind is basically inertia. Most of Western Europe could be described as failing psychically sick society's. The Holy league countries must be wondering what the hell they joined.

I think people are assuming that no one ever changes as the get older or circumstances change. For example the Brexit voters in their 50's and 60's who voted to leave in 2016 would have been the young remain voters of 1975.

I don't know where I read it (probably these threads) but I was under the impression that the Tory victory of 1979 (Thatcher) was based quite largely on the under 35 vote. The under 35's of '79 are the over 65s of today.

The baby boomers have been fucking up this country for those who will come after them their entire adult lives (with respect to the intelligent, liberal and socially responsible baby boomers on this thread - who I do not include).

So why do you think the new young will be any different from the old young then. Now to be fair I work with quite a lot of young people and by and large in terms of upbringing and social attitudes most of them are not radically different to generation X. They have the same issues and concerns as previous generation's.

I don't know where I read it (probably these threads) but I was under the impression that the Tory victory of 1979 (Thatcher) was based quite largely on the under 35 vote. The under 35's of '79 are the over 65s of today.

All my family voted Tory in that election - 2 for their first ever vote. At the time, it was a "something must change vote" for many. Apart from one, all never voted Tory again. Another example of voting against something has consequences. God, we really need more parties and PR.

If we had PR how many people would vote for Alternative for Britain ?. We could go for months without any a government.

So if tories have membership of 70 000 and 58% of tories voted leave.
Does that mean that a population of a large village and their half dozen owners is running this shit show?

And will Royston Vasey be on the new patriotic stamps?

Demographics inevitably mean that this is a brief and unpleasant interruption.

Normal service will be resumed.

The EU to my mind is basically inertia.

Why do you think this? The EU has changed and brought change in many ways, in wider politics, trade and changes that directly benefit individuals such as minimum wage and health and safety legislation. Britain did have influence to make changes in the EU well beyond its size and we did at times take advantage of that to press for changes we wanted. We could certainly have done more in that respect. Also the EU in no way stopped us building apprenticeships as other EU countries do or training our own people better. This was a UK policy decision.

No one would argue the EU is fast and it can certainly be overly bureaucratic. There are many things to criticize the EU over, but I can't see that inertness is one of them really, and none of them can't be better solved by using our influence to effect the change we want. Setting the house on fire to force your landlord to buy new carpets is a little over kill don't you think?

bigly it is a 'visitor'. They're all over the place today. Ignore.

Woman11017 I would point out that the Tories won more votes in the last election than Labour in 1997.

I know I should woman. That particular point just interested me as it is one I hear a lot. It is notable how people complain because the EU is an unchanging bureaucratic monster, while also claiming it is enacting a devastating plan to take over the world and enslave us all under its elitist dictatorship. Two things that always seemed a little at odds to me

There are more questions than answers at the moment, bigly

Little bit of 12th Night fun, when servants and 'masters' swapped roles.

Wouldn't it be good if Jeremy Hunt did a bit of fluid mopping and toilet cleaning in an A and E for a night shift?

Or Tony Blair could get his pal Lord Adonis a job as a cleaner in A and E. It would make a change from a career in think tanks and Quango's.

Sadly, he’s more likely to be promoted

The Telegraph
@Telegraph
Theresa May torn over timing of Jeremy Hunt's promotion because of worsening NHS crisis

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/05/theresa-may-torn-timing-jeremy-hunts-promotion-worsening-nhs/amp/?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter&__twitter_impression=true

quangos.
You're welcome.

It is the UK that needs to change its domestic policies, which harm ordinary people

The things that most harm ordinary people - public services, ZHC, education, uni fees, NHs, renters rights - come under natuonal govt, not the EU

The UK has chosen to make the rich richer, instead of investing in public services
To protect landlords instead of renters

To be the US poodle and waste billions of pounds and thousands of British lives on futile wars

• which led to the rise of ISIS and the refugees fleeing the ME

Countries like Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Germany made different choices and have a much higher standard of living, wth secure housing for renters

The EU will change, after the UK leaves and takes its Thatcherite neoliberalism with it

• the #3 power in the EU turned it in a more neoliberal direction. That experiment has now ended and the EU will change towards the traditional Western European social contract without all the Uk optouts from workers rights etc

Sadly, he’s more likely to be promoted
Promoted or bought? Hunt's been the common thread throughout this shower' 'tenure'.

Hunt's book openly proclaimed his goal: to completely privatise the NHS, so US healthcare firms can loot it

• many leading Brexiters have interests in US healthcare firms, or are cosy with oligarchs who do

Timing and tactics.

If Remainers want to stop Brexit, they should make the transition period last as long as possible

It might be easier for the ABC campaign to argue for rejoining the EU from the waiting room of transition than from the cold of being right out. Johnson and May will be watching these arguments like hawks, knowing that this could be a way to drop a missile into the heart of Brexit. But it might be possible to muster a majority in the House of Commons for an extendable transition. Labour MPs could say they want an end to free movement but that we must be flexible about it

www.independent.co.uk/voices/brexit-remainers-transition-period-boris-johnson-vince-cable-jeremy-corbyn-a8145401.html

(Adonis, Blair, Cable=ABC)

Bit more 12th Night fun:
Best Stop Brexit moment of 2017: votes so far.

bigly that's joined up thinking. You need to stop that and brelieve

bigly that's joined up thinking.
I keep forgetting to trust in brexism too. Duh.

Big question is: how long the govt allows, to allow UK trade and businesses to adapt.
Of course, they may decide on 31 Dec 2020, ready or not.

OR they may chicken out if the edonomic fallout and the transition may be renewed for another 2 years, then another ...
Different governments ...
until key leading Brexit politicians have retired and the demographics have shifted enough so that the UK is happy to make this state of BINO permanent.

Who knows, after several years of transition and gradual decline, there might even be public support to apply to rejoin
All the claims that would mean joining the Euro and giving up all optouts - well, that's where the UK's "clout" comes in:
not enough to make the E27 dismantle the Single Market, but maybe enough to negotiate retaining current privileges.

Donald J Trump @ realdonaldtrump 21 Mar 2013
“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.” - Albert Einstein

Currently doing the rounds being retweeted.