Westminstenders: Exit 2020 Vision

[RedToothBrush]

Yet it is a great mistake to suppose that the only writers who matter are those whom the educated in their saner moments can take seriously. There exists a subterranean world where pathological fantasies disguised as ideas are churned out by crooks and half-educated fanatics for the benefit of the ignorant and the superstitious. There are times when this underworld emerges from the depths and suddenly fascinates, capturers and dominates multitudes of usually sane and responsible people, who thereupon take leave of sanity and responsibility. And it occasionally happens that this underworld becomes a political power and changes the course of history.
Norm Cohn ‘Warrant for Genocide’ 1970

(As referenced by Nick Cohen).

We have a deal (or bits of a deal). Bino til Dec 2020. Then the cliff?

Still a long way to go. It sounds better than it could be. But worse than it initially seems.

I'm increasingly of the view that whilst the Tories are in thrall to the right wing ultras/ERG, labour are now in thrall to the 70s throwbacks in momentum
It's incredible really;
A few nutters and the whole house of cards come tumbling down...

James O'Brien @mrjamesob
If you even come close to defending naked anti-semitism while condoning the sacking of an Opposition frontbencher for opposing Brexit, you’re lost. There have been times when I’ve wondered whether the ‘cult’ tag was undeserved. Not any more.

Tory Fibs @ToryFibs
Jeremy Corbyn says he "sincerely regret[s]" commenting under a post about a mural that on closer examination was anti-semetic. His comment was lazy & added to hurt arising from the mural. There can be no excuse for anti-semetism, of any kind.

ICO @ICOnews
ICO granted warrant: We’re pleased with the decision of the judge and we plan to execute the warrant shortly. This is just one part of a larger investigation into the use of personal data for political purposes and we will now need time to collect and consider the evidence

Wes Streeting MP
@wesstreeting

'If only antisemites were dealt with as swiftly and severely as Remainers.'

Jo Maugham QC @JolyonMaugham
1. Electoral Commission says if it erroneously advised Vote Leave it could lawfully donate to Grimes it failed to run the Referendum properly.

2. VL have at last produced that advice.

3. So if the JR establishes that advice was wrong the Referendum must be improperly run.

Steve Peers @StevePeers
Is "improperly run" a term of art? Are there specific legal consequences set out if this is shown to be the case?

Jo Maugham QC @JolyonMaugham
It isn't. It's my summary of what we assert against the EC/what the EC says in its heading we assert. Consequences? It would just mean what it would mean.

Tim Shipman @ShippersUnbound
I'm told lawyers for Observer 'whistle blowers' applying to High Court to have Cummings blog removed by Wordpress...

Tom Newton Dunn @tnewtondunn (The Sun)
Your leader supports anti-semitic murals, is sympathetic to Putin, will never give you a 2nd EU referendum, and now has total control of the party. Labour moderates, what on earth are you waiting for?

Tim Shipman @ShippersUnbound
This is one of the most depressing days I can recall in recent political history

Owen Jones @OwenJones84
This statement from Corbyn on the anti-Semitic mural is a relief.

It now has to be accompanied with an all-out war - by all of us on the left - against the sickening, horrifying disease of anti-Semitism - and for us to stand in solidarity with our Jewish sisters and brothers.

Press Association @PA
#Breaking Eighteen enforcement officers working for the Information Commissioner have entered the premises of Cambridge Analytica in central London after a High Court judge granted a search warrant

Glad to see my MP strongly supporting Owen Smith in Twitter. She’s new, elected at the last election and a strong remainer even if she has toed the party line so far. I have great hopes for her (may have a bit of a crush).

steve hawkes @steve_hawkes
Diane Abbott says Owen Smith had to go for advancing a policy from the frontbench that wasn’t the Labour Party’s position. BBC remind her she called for the public to have a vote in her patch last year

The Calvary arrives.

Sam Coates Times @ samcoatestimes
Dom Cummings removed Stephen Parkinson statement, has posted this is its place:

In which Cummings says we need a referendum on the ECHR which they will win 65-35.

Was that an intended pun red ....with it nearly being Easter
😁

Meanwhile in America:

Sarah Kendzior @ sarahkendzior
The announced indictment of Iranian hackers arrived less than 24 hours after John Bolton's appointment.

Bolton may get his long-desired Iran war -- now with nukes, which the Pentagon says can be used to respond to major cyberattacks.

amp.fastcompany.com/40549085/will-the-indictment-of-iranian-hackers-prove-the-pretext-for-john-boltons-war?__twitter_impression=true&__twitter_impression=true
Will The Indictment Of Iranian Hackers Prove The Pretext For John Bolton’s War?

Less than 24 hours before the indictments were revealed, Trump appointed as his new national security advisor a man who has wanted to invade Iran for 15 years.

Be afraid.

Btw Kendzior has always said the closer Mueller gets to Trump the closer he will get to starting a war with nukes as he's got an obsession with them.

Be afraid
Funny old world when one hopes that Mattis will prevail.
www.vox.com/2018/3/23/17156898/john-bolton-jim-mattis-trump-hr-mcmaster

I see Trump as the type who would have been a "family annihilator" if his business failures had left him broke, or humiliated.

Unfortunately, due to an outbreak of nastiness in the US, he was put in charge of the world's most powerful nuclear arsenal and military forces.
If he feels he is about to be brought down, he might wish to annihilate the world

Apparently, cabinet officers & military chiefs had agreed about "managing" him wrt using the military recklessly, on a whim.
However, Trump has since purged his cabinet and brought in those who will blindly follow him,
in particular Bolton who has long wanted to exterminate America's enemies in pre-emptive strikes, but was kept within (some) bounds when he served under President George W Bush.

Another take on CA:

twitter.com/ClaraJeffery/status/977280916035809280
and
www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/03/cloak-and-data-cambridge-analytica-robert-mercer/
Cloak and Data: The Real Story Behind Cambridge Analytica’s Rise and Fall
The secretive data firm said it could move the minds of American voters. That wasn't its real victory.

Benjamin Kentish @ benkentish
Labour sources say several shadow ministers considering resigning over Owen Smith sacking and anger at Corbyn antisemitism controversy.

Yeah and? They never actually do.

red that Mother Jones is a good read. Nix is a posh Del boy.

Obama, Trump and Farage, won victories through more of the old fashioned foot work, rallies and campaigning(albeit under the belt in the latter's case) than we like to believe. Bank said the AI won it for Leave. It probably swung it but the 'traditional' ground work had been done.

It is shocking to see how a Labour leader has to be repeatedly pressured over tolerating anti-semitism

Back in the 1960s and 1970s, Labour had such a high regard for Israeli politicians like Golda Meir and politician / generals like Dayan
Working on an Israeli kibbutz over summer was the cool thing to do as part of a uni gap year.

How did Labour switch from such a friendly attitude to its current hostile state ?

Maybe to grab some of those fascist votes that are up for grabs after UKIP's demise,
maybe to whip up anger and get votes from those who want scapegoats for their problems - and "Jewish bankers" have been convenient scapegoats many times in modern history.

Yes, the Israeli govt is totally different to then and very nasty, after being taken over by their batshit rightwing.
So criticise the Israeli government and its policies - it's important that free discussion be allowed, including for emotive topics
BUT
that is no excuse for the hostile climate in the Labour party, towards Jewish party members & officials and towards Jewish or Israeli people in general.

There is never an excuse for anti-semitism, or for slyly winking at it,
for covering up intimidation & harassment, especially of Jewish women, within the party
for tolerating cartoons, murals or statements that recall ugly prejudiced stereotypes of Jews,
for Livingstone's anti-semitic comments about people who have offended him, rather than criticising their actions.

Woman looking at it, I don't think it can be that far off. It actually would match Cummings statement AND c4/cc AND what Lord Ashcroft said AND what DH said. Same point just from a different angle. That then leaves CA as a front for blackmail and money laundering and hacking as well as ripping off people. The spectator disclosed the undeclared meaning with Johnson too where he 'didn't think much of them'. That doesn't mean data from Facebook wasn't stolen either. Nor does it mean electoral law wasn't broken either. It is very plausible.

Paul Waugh @ paulwaugh
Lawyers for Shahmir Sanni (who says he is a whistleblower in the Cambridge Analytica affair) have accused No.10 of outing their client as gay.

Chilling to think of Corbyn coming in after the Tories have removed many of the safeguards against a government abusing its power

and don't forget McDonnell, lurking quietly in the wings.
He's far more clever than JC and far more capable politician, just not as likeable fluffy to the young

I suspect Corbyn is more of a foolish puppet, intellectually & morally lazy, with others pulling his strings, rather than wicked.

Advertising, including that for politicians, has always tried to target the most receptive audience
Media campaigns are effective, or firms wouldn't invest billions in them, to sell their goods.

However, using information obtained illegitimately to do so is not Ok, especially combined with repeated lies
This illicit combination probably swung those 40,000 voters in key US states for Trump - and also swung 2% for Brexit.

In his campaigns to become an MP, Farage used traditional populist rhetoric, however unpleasant, not CA tricks
Also UKIP in those days had a lot of activists to pile in and help him.

In contrast, for Brexit, Farage's posters and Leave videos - the hissing snake - were reported by Banks to have been supplied by high-tech election specialists, which sounds like it might have been CA,
also targeting only those voters who would respond in the way they wanted, not those who would have been repelled by such messages.

It is shocking to see how a Labour leader has to be repeatedly pressured over tolerating anti-semitism
Bad isn't it, BigChoc. Easter is not good time for this sort of thing.