Westminstenders: Competitive Stupidity

[RedToothBrush]

A week of wondering which MP is going to be the most dumb.

There is stiff competition between parties and remain / leave.

Expect incredible bids of ignorance and incompetence to curl your toes, with a bit of constitutional craziness thrown in for good measure.

Valentine's Day beckons...

... And so does the No Deal Divorce.

At least those kitties know they are going to be safe from humans after Brexit.

I knew the more intelligent posters would pick up on my point.

There are a plethora of different democratic systems the world over. Applying Knopflers razor ( Two men say they're Jesus; one of them must be wrong ) suggests there are varying degrees of democracy between them.

The UK, for example, is supposedly "democratic". However you tell that to the voters whose vote achieves nothing because it wasn't for the winner.

There's also the very valid question about the point at which "democracy" becomes tyranny if the unrepresented find themselves victimised by the elected ?

Tony Benns questions for power are a good starting point ...

“The House will forgive me for quoting five democratic questions that I have developed during my life. If one meets a powerful personRupert Murdoch, perhaps, or Joe Stalin or Hitlerone can ask five questions: what power do you have; where did you get it; in whose interests do you exercise it; to whom are you accountable; and, how can we get rid of you? Anyone who cannot answer the last of those questions does not live in a democratic system.”

Meanwhile, the Brexit approach to space travel - people voted "To Go To Mars" with their wallets - has gone bust ....

www.theregister.co.uk/2019/02/11/mars_one_closes/

...

The problem was that, while Mars One had plenty of flashy demo videos and public soundbites, it was worryingly vague on the specifics of, you know, getting people to Mars safely and keeping them alive.

...

(sound familiar ?)

DGR. It's not intelligent. You don't have to be intelligent to understand democracy. Just informed as to what it is, and for whose benefit it exists.

This just requires a basic education or a desire to inform yourself.

Intelligence is something different.

If one were going to speak to a European journalist tomorrow...

What would one say??

what power do you have; where did you get it;
in whose interests do you exercise it;
to whom are you accountable;
and, how can we get rid of you?

'The where did you get it question' (at the moment) has to include deceit and sinister funding in the answer.

'In whose interests do you exercise it' has to have 'only ourselves' in the answer.

' To whom are you accountable' is more in jeopardy than it has been for 100 years with attempts to circumvent Parliamentary process, bring held in contempt etc.

Yet the Tories with the ERG on board have a lead in the polls that is increasing. It's off the scale of unbelievable.

It can only be a matter of time before 'how do we get rid of you' is called into question. Increasing the period of the FTP anyone?

*Destiel

Help?

We need to take drastic action unless we want to starve, but you try telling farmers they need to reduce field size and plant more hedgerows and natural barriers

Yes! Another hedgerow fan here.
In the link I posted yesterday, it claims our soil has 100 harvests left.

Be honest. I'm trying to get over to see a life long friend before Brexit, because I don't know when or if we'll be able to see her again.

And some of us fear what is beneath the surface of all this, which is still largely unspoken. And is growing.

Comedy gold.

*Destiel
*
I think the point that needs emphasising to the EU journalist is that there are millions of us who do not support the government.

Despite the Tory lead in the polls -there are millions of us who are very informed and are aghast at what is happening.

Yeah.

Got 2 very ill relatives atm. Think I might pop over this month.

some of us fear what is beneath the surface of all this, which is still largely unspoken. And is growing
Yes.

Body bags. We use them for every body in the NHS. I seem to remember they are made in the EU so that's why they will be stockpiling. We used to just wrap in sheets but about 10 years ago we had to put every one in a bag. Horrible black plastic things that upset us to have to use them. Made our patients look like rubbish awaiting collection.

@Prettybird ooh! Siamese - and you have three...

Long-term lurker here. I acknowledge the EUs shortcomings but would wish to remain. I wish the referendum had never happened. I wish my views were represented. I'm not convinced that a "people's vote" is a good idea. I have an MP in a safe seat whose views align with mine. So although the party no longer represents my views, in the event of a GE, I would likely vote for her. But my vote would change nothing and count for nothing. Is there anything else I can actually do?

A few days back, TM was adamant that a no deal Brexit would be ‘catastrophic’ (no argument with her on that one). Lately though, I don’t think I’ve seen her mention this. It might be that she’s been too busy flying around Europe to draw breath. It’s also quite possible that I’ve missed her making the reference. But if she’s no longer making the point that no deal is a terrible idea, then that has me worried. I mean more worried. Wouldn’t that point to a real shift in her thinking?

A few days back, TM was adamant that a no deal Brexit would be ‘catastrophic’ (no argument with her on that one).

She's lied before, so who knows what she thinks ?

Wouldn’t that point to a real shift in her thinking?

Does she think ? Of just let shit happen ?

As with the environment, we've passed the point of no return, and not realised it yet. It's no deal and that's the end of it. It's no deal simply because there is no alternative.

Welcome fakeplasticcheese

What can anyone do? Keep resisting it. I know there's little point but you have to keep resisting until the last gasp. Spend 5 minutes ,
10 minutes or one hour or more a day doing stuff.

Sign petitions -even if they're ignored it's a numbers game.

Participate in every poll going.

Put pressure on Labour.

Join a local anti Brexit group.

Sign up to 48% groups and other remain groups on Facebook so their numbers increase.

Comment on newspaper and on line articles.

Contradict propaganda with facts. Weaving some emotion in there too.

Recruit one friend to start doing more.

Donate to anti Brexit initiatives and crowd funders.

Email MPs even if they're not your own to thank them when they stand up to be counted.

Keep a gallows sense of humour

Government sued over no-deal ferry contracts.

When the Department for Transport announced the contractsin December, in documents outlining the agreements it stated that an "unforeseeable" situation of "extreme urgency" meant there was no time for the contracts to be put out to tender.

Unforseeable... I think they may need a thesaurus. Perhaps they meant "massive cockup".

I can't recall where I read it (although a biography of Michel de Notre Dame rings a bell) but there's a description of a person sewing themselves into their own funeral shroud, as they knew there would be no one to do it when they died.

Since body bags were mentioned ...

Here's some Brueghel, if you like your apocalypse medieval.

Unforseeable

Can't let that go without a reference to "In The Loop"

( "Climb the mountain of conflict"? You know what you sounded like? You sounded like a fucking Nazi Julie Andrews! )

Elin James Jones @ elinjjones
We're expecting the PM’s statement to begin around 12:40pm today and for the Gov to table a proposal that MPs can amend before voting.

Worth reminding tweeps that this is a political process rather than part of the formal role for Parliament set out in the EU Withdrawal Act.

"unforeseeable" situation of "extreme urgency" meant there was no time for the contracts to be put out to tender.

I'd love to see the word unforeseeable challenged in a court...