Westministenders: High Drama at The Ok Coral

[RedToothBrush]

3:00 p.m. Wednesday, October 26, 1881, Tombstone, Arizona.

After months of death threats from the Cowboy Billys, their long simmering feud with the law thing came to a head. The Earp Brothers and Doc Holliday faced the criminals down in a shootout.

Tomorrow's 'sleepover' is starting to feel like the Gunfight at the OK Coral.

The outcome of the real story was three of the outlaws were killed. Another two claimed they were unarmed and ran from the fight. Virgil, Morgan, and Doc Holliday were wounded, but Wyatt Earp was unharmed.

How many Brexiteers can we expect to roll over and resign from the Cabinet and how many will surrender to May and the Pro-Business lobby? ONly time will tell.

Please place your bets for the number of resignations and the number of 'I support the PM' comments.

But don't get too excited. The showdown wasn't the end of the matter.

One of the outlaws who legged it, filed murder charges against the Earps and Doc Holliday. It took them some time for them to be acquitted.

Then Virgil Earp was ambushed and disabled in the arm later that year in December and Morgan Earp was assassinated in March 1882. Wyatt Earp, then thinking he had no other option, went on a personal vendetta to kill the outlaws and then fled the state.

Given the Tory Cabinet and the perchant for stabbing each other in the back and settling personal scores, a repeat of a wild west gun fight, really doesn't sound too wildly off the cards now does it?

Buckle up. Its time to play at Chequers.

Why Boris resigned in one tweet:

Nick Cohen @NickCohen4
If you think that he puts career before country,* then Johnson has to resign. He can't allow Davis to outflank him on the Brexit right, and be left in the middle, neither a leaver nor a remainer, mistrusted by all.

*And I do.

So did Dd resign last night thinking that BJ would have to go to the Western Balkans event and couldn't go quickly enough to look anything but a follower?

From a Brexiteer pov, wouldn't all going together have looked better? As it is, they just look like a bunch of idiots for resigning as soon as someone comes up with a plan that actually bears some relationship to a feasible future.

Act of principle my aunt fanny. Load of posturing wankers.

{Load of posturing wankers.}
Sorry you are incorrect, they are massively overpaid posturing wankers.

I wonder whether Gove is reconsidering his support for May, or if he wants a slice of the action too?

If a threat was made of staged resignations, it seems to be in play.

It's the nuclear option, but the one tool May does have is a General Election...

@bbclaurak
Whispers Tory MP s have reached the magic number of the 48 letters required to force a confidence vote - no way of knowing yet if true - meeting at 5.30

Hopefully this will trigger a leadership election and we can clear out the remainers with a Brexiteer pm - even the risk of the communist party getting in is worth it to get rid of the current remainer heavy shower...

My theory:

Gove knew Davis was going. He either guessed or was told during the middle of last week. Why he went to both the remain and leave pre chequers meeting is the big tell.

Johnson had no clue about it all. Johnson was perfectly prepared to just go along with May buying his time and letting her take the fall. He didn't know or expect Davis to go right now. He's kinda pissed and caught off guard by it all. Even more so, because May denied him his shock photo opp speech on the 6 O'Clock News.

Gove also would have worked out that Johnson would feel compelled to go if Davis went. But he wouldn't have shared that with Davis. Nor Johnson.

Gove possibly thinks the whole house of cards will fall and wants well out of the drama this time round. He know that the MP stage of a leadership contest will be most difficult to him; he'll do well on the membership vote. He also knows the numbers are stacked towards a softer Brexit. Both across parliament and within the Parliamentary Tory Party. The plan being that whilst both Brexiteers and Remainers slog it out trying to block the others candidates, he'd do exactly what May did when she won the leadership.

Gove like Remain Tories does not want the government to collapse completely, whereas arch brexiteers don't care. This is also relevant and important as to whether May survives a confidence vote.

Davis resigned today, because he couldn't on Saturday or Sunday because of the football, and he couldn't do it after Thursday as the white paper is due on Thursday. He also couldn't do it on Wednesday cos of the football. Which left today or tomorrow. He could not let the White Paper be published in his name.

Until there was an official policy on Brexit he could waffle and splutter and talk his way out of it. Once a policy was published that was it. Game over. Threats have no further effect from him. He'd be locked in.

Its ALWAYS been the case that once May put her cards on the table formally that SOMEONE would be likely to resign. Hence why whatever happened at Chequers there was always going to be fall out of some kind.

It was just a question of which way that would fall as to which way it would go.

I don't think it that difficult to predict.

What happens next is less predictable.

Who has the dirt and how low will people go?

Can May offer the likes of Fox and Leadsom more than a potential candidate for example?

Thats where the popcorn comes in.

How many letters has Graham Brady got. I think he's probably got enough. We'll find out shortly...

Hey dug, why do you hate your country so much? There is nothing good in brexit for ordinary Brits.

Good to see you back Hey, lovely day ain't it?Do you think the Tories will have time to deal with the latest Salisbury poisoning episode whilst waging a civil war?

I wonder whether Gove is reconsidering his support for May, or if he wants a slice of the action too?

Gove will through his hat in, at the last possible moment. He always intended to. He's waiting for others to be the stalking horses.

I presume @Heyduggees you have been away and digested the LEGAL implications of any form of Brexit, be it hard, medium, soft, sprayed pink or sugar coated and can now tell us WHY it might be a good idea.
Just a couple of things from Mrs May's list of 12 items that are actually achievable will do.

From my memory of Thatcher going ... we ended up with the least known and least expected candidate ....

Ghost of - do me a favour and do one

No, I'm having far too much fun watching the Tories and Brexit implode.

Even the shills and bots are in their death throes....

Or alternatively Heyduggees the Remainers might rally round May, as being the best of a bad job and aiming for Brexit lite, which will be as good as they can get. And then the extreme right will have been shafted. Will it shut them up? Probably not, but they will have had their chance and blown it.

I must admit, when the Tories go on a blood letting spree, they do it properly unlike the crowd who tried to depose Corbyn and botched it.

Don’t worry ghost of - your messiah Jeremy (blessed be his name) may yet get a shot before all this is over.

they do it properly HOC was bloody this afternoon; real time tory hunger games as they bit chunks out of each other. What a mess.
Thatcher's end was fun, I have to admit.

Hey

Almost sounds like you've woken up to the ineptitude of the Tories. Better late than never.

your messiah Jeremy (blessed be his name)

Yeah I'm Jeremey's biggest fan. We all are.

@Heydug
In some ways it is sad that lawyers are involved but the countries that have 'more relaxed' approaches rather than a legal basis are the likes of territories controlled by the very extreme far right and ISIS.
I am not aware I have deceived anyone, as most of what I have put up on MN is easily verifiable IF you put the Daily Mail down and read either a proper newspaper or other peer reviewed sources.

Oh goody - a troll. Because brexiteer cages are rattled as hell. Not only are your arguments beneath your intelligence Hey because they are not arguments but your presence here only tells us you are worried. Remember - nothing makes the remainers happier than a leaver running scared. So maintain some dignity - and stop exposing your desperation to us.

Christopher Hope@christopherhope
BREAKING Theresa May tells MPs Brexit White Paper will be published "next week". Not this Thursday, as had been planned.

This is not good news.