Westministenders: May's Turd Way covered in Donald's Glittery Tickertape from his Parade

[RedToothBrush]

Where next?

Auditions for chief turd polisher to Mrs May are in full action, whilst those who don't believe in the turd, wade about knee deep in their own shit, still searching for that illusive plan for Brexit which doesn't stink to high heaven of crap.

After the dual resignation of Davis and Johnson, amongst the stench there is an air of uncertainity and expectation of all hell breaking loose.

In the last 48 hours we have been told that

1. May is more secure having crushed the brexiteers,
2. May about to be ousted by a no confidence vote, triggering a leadership election,
3. The Tory Party are about to split,
4. Brexiteers are in disarray fighting amongst themselves,
5. We will remain in the EU,
6. We get an EEA deal,
7. We will get no deal,
8. A People's vote is inevitable and
9. There will be a General Election.

Which only serves to merely highlight just how little of a clue ANYONE has about what happens next.

What bothers me now, is that Johnson seems not to have surfaced yet and there are rumours that Gove has gone to ground, whilst Donald Trump is practically on the plane and is stirring the pot praising Johnson.

Instead we seem to have a series of junior ministers and Tory HQ figures quitting in a long drawn out coordinated toy throwing out of the pram exercise, to try and get what hard brexiteers want.

If I had to hazard a guess at the general silence from key figures, I might be tempted to say that someone is going to use Trump's visit to throw a political grenade and actively invite him to endorse them.

That might sound ridiculous given that the public hates Trump, but that loses sight of the fact that the people who will vote for the next leader of the Tory Party are overwhelming authoritarian leaning and likely to be those who like Trump and would be impressed by such a move.

I note this tweet today from the wise Sarah Kendzior:

Sarah Kendzior @sarahkendzior
"There are parallels to past authoritarianism, but what's happening with Trump, in the digital age, is new and transnational. The president's loyalty is not necessarily to a state but to foreign leaders and multinational criminal alliances. The state is just something to sell."

It is clear that others in the parliamentary party will be very alarmed at the prospect. There were Tory MPs who were openly tweeted how please that disgusting Johnson had gone and are no fans of Trump.

May still seems to think that she can get her plan through and approved by the EU in its current form. The White Paper is due on Thursday.

Much speculation is that it will be significant if she fails to produce this on time, as she will have capitulated to the Brexiteers. And this will lead to the EU just giving up on us anyway.

She also announced to the Cabinet today, that preparations for No Deal were to be stepped up significantly.

We still are left wondering who, she is stitching up; the Brexiteers whose heads are currently exploding or the friends she keeps closest to her (friends? or ideological enemies).

The problem is that there just no other viable way forward at the moment, as the country is divided, both Labour and the Conservatives are divided and are more interested in their own future than that of the party and there are far too many ambitious 'celebrity MPs' who want to make their mark. No one gives a shit about ordinary workers or business. Plus there is the divine observation that DGRossetti made at the end of the last thread: The biggest obstacle to Brexit has been Brexiteers

The grab for post-Brexit power shows the whole of Westminister up as the cess pit of self interest it is, with Boris Johnson merely its biggest figure head.

Wait until the GFA officially has its head put on the chopping block awaiting its fate. Perhaps we can flog NI to Donald and get a Brexit Dividend afterall.

I must admit to finding it hard to have a view that is altogether different to this:
James Patrick @J_amesp
There is no way back from all of this. The next seven days simply decide how badly - on a scale of fucked to smouldering crater - it is going to end.

One final predictation, which I am DAMN certain of: Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday are all going to be grim for political watching if you are into democratic values and principles. It will be a 4 day sales pitch for Brand Trump in all its All American Overblown Horror that Brits tend to find utterly distasteful. Expect the red carpet of full of turd glitter to be rolled out for Donald Trump Show. Expect May to embarass herself in her fawning all over him, as if she's star struck. Expect that hideously cringeworthy photo thats totally inevitable.

Politics is going to get worse. It may never get better.

(But yay football gets to cover it all up... Come on England!)

I mean more Brexit fantasy from Boris
not that any Westminstender fantasies about what that Bullingdon oaf would say

Boris's speech next week , I think he is going to say he was wrong and that he miscalculated exactly how much harm would occur to the UK if we left the EU.

Crossed my mind too. Following my "the point of Brexit is chaos" theory, it's exactly what should happen. It would completely blow any plans May puts forward out of the water., it would give remainers a rallying point too.

Boris' credentials would be unassailable too. He campaigned for Brexit. He talked it up to the max when he was Foreign secretary. No one could accuse him of being some sort of undercover Remainer.

He can also knife May in the back with a narrative along the lines of "Well obviously a properly done Brexit would have been wonderful for the UK. But this lot (looks at DD, and possibly Fox) have fucked it up beyond all belief, and quite frankly it's going to do more harm than good.". All of "well, if I had been in charge ..."

Would an anti-Brexit Boris be a viable leadership candidate for enough ?

Boris also has the illusion of being clever. The oft-mocked fact of his "two letters" would also stand him in stead with the repentant Leavers.

Who knows, in this topsy-turvy world we have made for ourselves ?

Robert Courts MP @ robertcourts
I have taken very difficult decision to resign position as PPS to express discontent with #Chequers in votes tomorrow. I had to think who I wanted to see in the mirror for the rest of my life. I cannot tell the people of WOxon that I support the proposals in their current form.

it would give remainers a rallying point too.

No remainer with more than two brain cells to rub together would rally behind Boris. The whole idea is utterly ludicrous.

And Trump has just called the EU a foe.

Trump and Putin want to carve up the EU between them. Go back to the cold war when Europeans did as they were told.

Robert Courts MP @ robertcourts

could always have stood down as an MP ...

Did anyone catch Mock The Week this week.

When asked what the White Paper meant, Angela Barnes said:

It means a Brexit so soft you're going to have to thumb it in ...

Boris also loves attention. His star is being eclipsed by Rees-Mogg who is now the brexiter's brexiteer. His voice for hard brexit is just one of many and not even the loudest or most popular. People are actually laughing at him.

I could see him coming out against brexit in that way as a) he has nothing really to lose now, b) he would like being a lone voice calling for brexit to be cancelled and c) he would love the media attention it would bring. It would also allow him to be (in his mind) the great statesman who was big enough to change his mind for the sake of the country.

I think Gove is seeing the writing on the wall and hoping that he can distance himself enough to push the blame onto Rees-Mogg and the other vocal brexiteers.

An anti-Brexit BoJo vs. a pro-Brexit DD

Donald Tusk @ eucopresident
America and the EU are best friends. Whoever says we are foes is spreading fake news.

@J_amesp
The brilliant thing about the Kremlin’s successful operations in EU member states beyond the UK?

It means they can still throw Britain to the grizzly death of a no deal exit, even if the national stance softens.

A dead empire, outgunned and outplayed. Checkmate.

and:
Bannon Calls for Brexit Supporters to Take Up Arms and Fight to Take Back the U.K

www.haaretz.com/world-news/europe/bannon-calls-for-brexit-supporters-to-take-up-arms-and-fight-1.6272404?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Remember you said something was going to drop this w/e? I think yesterday in london and these statements are it. Johnson is in too deep, he couldn't get out if he wanted to. ( a lot of them and so, us, are)

I deleted my earlier post as it showed a picture of the brave woman bus driver, whose bus was attacked, I realised it might not be safe for her, to share.

The end of a David Allen Green thread on Trump & suing the EU etc:

"For Trump "sue them" does not mean to bring a law suit.

It may not even mean threaten a law suit.

It is just a grunt, a mere noise.

It is the equivalent of a yell of a toddler.

There is no real meaning to it.

He has no idea what UK should do with the EU over Brexit. So he make the defiant noise "sue them" for want of anything else to say which would him sound what he wants to sound like.

It is the same about trade deals.

He says he wants one with UK, the next moment he says he says he does not want one.

This is not someone who says different things to different people, but someone for whom these phrases have no meaning.

He could say them the other way round, and just shrug.

13. Trump says whatever words he thinks will serve his purpose at any time, regardless of the meaning of those words to other people.

Not so much dishonesty, but what the philosopher Harry Frankfurt called in a technical phrase, "bullshit", see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Bullshit …

The best starting point for Trump is not to seek out the meaning of his words, but just to presume they are meaningless, unless there is firm evidence to the contrary.

14/ends."

Lee Rowley @Lee4NED
Having read the white paper, I am even more convinced that the Chequers offer is not the right one for North East Derbyshire or the country. Quite simply: we can do better than this. With much regret, I will oppose Chequers. The Government must think again.

Another Tory MP.

Another Tory MP.What's the score then? (for the white paper)
The 'no dealers' don't want to peak to early.

I think Boris has enough bluster to shift position with ease , from 'retro-nationalist' to 'patriot' , seeing the error in his ways to come out and speak frankly and do it for the good of the country. I will vomit a bit in my mouth when he does it though.

Those 50 MP's mentioned up thread who's seats are in peril, are they all Leave voting areas ?

Those 50 seats will be where Tories would lose to another party, if UKIP increase their vote from the GE by 6%
(nationally UKIP had 1.8%, but latest poll shows 8% )

Those seat may not necessarily have voted Leave overall, but they will be marginals where Tories won by 6% or less.

For those who haven't the foggiest idea who Robert Courts MP is, he is David Cameron's successor, and a Leaver in a Remain constituency.

Although the Lib Dems did well in the by election caused by Cameron's resignation it is basically a constituency where a pig in a blue rosette would win.

However, if UKIP split the vote in Witney/W Oxon and the LibDems put up a good showing then the Tories could just be beaten.

Although a few Tory constituency parties have started / threatened proceedings to deselect Remainer MPs who rebelled or speak out,
there is no reported move anywhere to deselect Tory Leave MPs

Those 50 MP's mentioned up thread who's seats are in peril, are they all Leave voting areas ?

No. Some are very Remain.

So that is obviously another factor restraining Remainer MPs from sticking their heads above the parapet

I meant the risk of deselection, but also maybe losing their seats to another party

What I haven't seen discussed yet is the fact that if the Conservatives split based on support or opposition to the Chequers plan, then Labour may end up with the deciding votes in Parliament.