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Brexit

Westminstenders: A fully functioning government?

960 replies

RedToothBrush · 10/05/2019 23:50

It's been a month since parliament voting on anything.

The staggering reality of May's premiership is that government has ceased to function. We are stuck not just on Brexit but every other issue, such is the weakness of May's authority.

It begs the question of how long this is tolerable by all sides of the Conservative Civil War?

May being unable to bring anything forward means no deal is probably as inevitable as if a hardliner was PM.

There was talk of May / Corbyn reaching a fudge to get a deal via the backdoor WAB (Withdrawal Agreement Implimentation Bill) as it was politically impossible for them to be seen doing a deal any other way. However news today is that despite pressure from the 1922 Committee to bring it forward, May has slapped just a one line whip on it, meaning it will go precisely no where.

The polling for the European elections is perhaps more favourable to Labour than they might have feared after last weeks local election disaster so the mutual interest for Corbyn to move forward in anyway has already gone. Seeing the Tories be humiliated at the ballot box is too much of a temptation.

The phrase about Shit Creek only gets more apt.

All that is happening is every member of the Tory Party is lining up to take part in a leadership contest. It's harder to think of a Tory who isn't considering standing. It's not just the likes of Johnson, Gove, Rudd and Hunt. It's also the likes of Johnny Mercer and Graham Brady queuing not so patiently.

And its getting harder to argue that May is better as PM than the possibility of a right right candidate, because of the paralysis. Though as Rudd rightly points out, such a PM who wanted to actively have no deal as a policy, would struggle to win a majority in the HoC for that all important Queens Speech vote - every bit as much as May. Unless they were to somehow decide they could abuse the power of the executive and ignore parliament - a feat May has repeatedly attempted but ultimately failed at.

All everything feels, is a massive sense of merely delaying the inevitable.

Remain? Hard to see how under any Tory. A Deal? Hard to see what it might be and how there will be a Parliamentary majority. A PV? Well that still has to get through parliament and needs to be arranged smartish. And might not resolve the Irish border issue if the vote goes 'the wrong way' A General Election? That still seems to be a distinct possibility. But with the seeming resurrection of the LDs that's one the Tories will be desperate to avoid. Not that Corbyn is likely to succeed either. And of course there is now the Spectre of the Turquoise Arrows lurking. The crushing of the purple pound notes feels a hollow and distinct success.

It feels like we are waiting for the political sky to fall in in some sort of never ending Brexit Purgotory.

The cataclysmic event will occur at some point. It has to. But for now, it feels that there is nothing but waiting and waiting to be done.

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RedToothBrush · 14/05/2019 15:38

Tom Peck @ tompeck
Has a politician inviting the media into their kitchen ever, and I do mean ever, ended well?

Off the top of my head:

Ed Miliband has to issue urgent statement saying his drab kitchen is in fact his second kitchen. Possibly costs him election.

Brokenshire has four ovens

Raab has demented self-help word cloud

Cameron accidentally starts leadership race to succeed him.

There is definitely also some mad footage out there of Thatcher doing the washing up in the Number 10 flat.

It has to be said that the kitchen shot is one which is revealing. They are always masshooosive affairs with an island and stylist. Never pokey little kitchens, which are in need of modernisation and too small to fit a family of four round a table in.

It's incredibly glaring in terms of affluence and this idea of being elite, privileged and out of touch.

And I note here that Donald Trump ordering a banquet of Maccas hits on something which people who aren't affluent can connect with, even if it's in a gold banqueting Hall.

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EggAndButter · 14/05/2019 15:44

DG you're not the only one to gently smile at the idea of a bike.
On a good day I am probably walk about 1km wo being overtired. Not enough to go from home to work cycling.
On a bad day, Im struggling to up the stairs....

So whilst I agree that bikes are a good idea, I'd rather see public transport being developed. Even more so because the overall population is still getting older so less likely to be able to just cycle. My 75ish yo Parents won't do that either.

DGRossetti · 14/05/2019 15:47

InterchangeableEmma

DGRossetti I'm sorry, it was not my intention to upset or offend in any way. I apologise.

Not needed, and you didn't offend or upset ... I'll apologise for being snippy Grin

I know it's inevitable that 99% of peoples main concern will be 99% of people. But rather than finding it comforting, it's even more annoying.

For DW, anything has to start with a car journey. That car has to be big enough to take a wheelchair, and whatever the destination, there has to be parking on a level to allow access.

Last year was quite good, we only had to return from 3 days out not being able to park anywhere Smile

Probably better not to talk about trains ....

DGRossetti · 14/05/2019 15:53

You cannae change the laws of physics. The less time to charge, the more current 9 (or voltage) you will need. The more current you need, the thicker the wire. (Luckily metals are so abundant and rare they'd not be a target for lowlife scum thieves).

There's also resistance. The more current you force down a wire, the hotter it gets.

All of that is before you even dream of a battery that can accept hundreds of amp-hours. And in my dream that battery becomes a nightmare called "a bomb".

Room-temperature semiconductors might help solve some problems. But like nuclear fusion, remote working, and electronic mail, that's been "about 10 years away" since the 80s.

Interchangeable batteries are a fix. But require state-level intervention (once again, over to you, government(s) ).

RedToothBrush · 14/05/2019 15:56

Oh look. Here's some more about various Brexit Party candidates and their views on child porn. Featuring the wonderful Claire Fox.

blogs.spectator.co.uk/2019/05/the-twisted-truth-about-nigel-farages-brexit-party/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
The twisted truth about Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party

Like Boris Johnson, Owen Jones, Seumas Milne and Michael Gove they are ‘journalicians’, to coin a phrase, who make a career by breaking down the barriers between the media and politics. In the case of the artists formerly known as the RCP, they know that editors will always commission ‘contrarians’ who provide extreme opinions to order, and eventually a politician will find those opinions to be of service.

I rather like the word . Oh look. Here's some more about various Brexit Party candidates and their views on child porn. Featuring the wonderful Claire Fox.

blogs.spectator.co.uk/2019/05/the-twisted-truth-about-nigel-farages-brexit-party/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
The twisted truth about Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party

Like Boris Johnson, Owen Jones, Seumas Milne and Michael Gove they are ‘journalicians’, to coin a phrase, who make a career by breaking down the barriers between the media and politics. In the case of the artists formerly known as the RCP, they know that editors will always commission ‘contrarians’ who provide extreme opinions to order, and eventually a politician will find those opinions to be of service.

I rather like the word journalicians.

I also note:

People say the RCP has changed since the 1990s, which is why former revolutionary communists can ally with Farage’s British nationalists. But the RCP, whether it reinvented itself as Living Marxism, the Institute of Ideas or Spiked, remained an organisation whose cadres work for each other and walk the party line. They may get their money from the Koch Brothers these days, but the conformist outlook and hectoring tone remain the same.

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DGRossetti · 14/05/2019 15:58

Ironically, a horse would be a much better mode of transport for DW than a bike.

Before the MS really took over, DW and I climbed Worcester Beacon one sunny day. Only to be overtaken by some riders who had come up the hill, not the path. Kinda hit me then that horses (ponies) could be a great boon to the less able.

There's actually a horse riding centre a mile down the road from us (we often have to stop for horses on the road). But there's the cost ...

My DF rode horses in Italy. Until he started fixing cars ....

InterchangeableEmma · 14/05/2019 16:00

Thanks DGR I really wasn't meaning to be a cow. The local family who have a wheelchair loading bike (similar to the ones I linked) for their profoundly disabled adult DD say it's great but that's here, on the flat. She has no use of her limbs but really enjoys a ride out. I dread to think what it cost.

Westminstenders: A fully functioning government?
DGRossetti · 14/05/2019 16:07

I've seen bikes like that, and would happily power one alone for DW.

However:

  • UK roads are shite, so you'd have to go on the footpaths which are:
  • shite. Moreover you won't go far before you come to some dickwad parked over the pavement so you have to go back and around (if you can).
  • as you say, the cost. Being disabled in the UK is quite an expensive hobby to have. Not sure if there a Netherlands equivalent, but the UK has "CAT" or Cripple Added Tax where anything intended for disabled use attracts a 20% premium (returning to the scarcity I guess).
  • like rats, you're never more than 10 metres from a hill in the UK ...
  • It's bad enough getting DWs wheelchair in the boot. God alone knows how a bike like that could be managed .....
HoneysuckIejasmine · 14/05/2019 16:13

DGR sorry to butt in, but if you're nearish Worcester - do you know about Riding For The Disabled based at Cheltenham racecourse? www.cotswoldrda.org.uk/

RedToothBrush · 14/05/2019 16:20

Guido Fawkes @ guidofawkes
* STAY TUNED
SIX OVENS
PHOTOS COMING *
You won't believe who...

I'm coming to the conclusion that a bored politician journalist is a dangerous thing.

Meanwhile it's also being reported that there will be a vote in the HoC tonight. Its an opposition motion, and no one cares what it's about. The political journalists are just going loopy that there IS a vote.

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DGRossetti · 14/05/2019 16:20

DGR sorry to butt in, but if you're nearish Worcester - do you know about Riding For The Disabled based at Cheltenham racecourse?

I did my caravan towing course at Cheltenham - we were camped nearby.

Personally I'd love to ride (especially having gone from 100 to 70Kgs). But DW is much less keen. Disability has a mental toll too, part of which is isolation and all that palaver. I keep suggesting ... it's a question of timing Grin. And weather.

I'll pass the link on though with thanks Smile.

RedToothBrush · 14/05/2019 16:27

A good friend of DH has MS. He currently seems to be helping it with cycling. On a good day he does really well. On others not so well. DH is already trying to think of ways to keep him able to go out in the future as mentally not being able to will hit him really hard. That wheelchair loading bike looks like something DH will view as a 'challenge' to try and get a stupid top speed off and set strava personal records with to keep his mate going out with them.

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RedToothBrush · 14/05/2019 16:28

DH would happily try and go up snake pass with that contraption...

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HoneysuckIejasmine · 14/05/2019 16:34

My brother is a C4 tetraplegic. His latest trick is skiing in a sort of single ski cart, with two ski stabilisers. Looks pretty cool and certainly picks up speed easily enough. Requires a second person to make sure it doesn't get out of hand though. I think he does it in Tamworth?

But yeah, wheelchair needs are hugely misunderstood. My in-laws proudly told me all about their future proofed house (has a lift, easy to add hand rails etc etc.) Driveway is deep gravel. 🤦

DGRossetti · 14/05/2019 16:38

A good friend of DH has MS

The thing is MS is horribly unique and even more horribly varied. No two peoples experiences are alike, or indeed comparable. That's before you need to be so careful of any positive stories about disability in the UK. After all they're all workshy scroungers putting it on aren't they ?

DWs MS has fucked her eyes (permanent optic neuritis) so she is legally blind. Her legs were in permanent spasm (which is more painful than it sounds - and made them unusable) until the ITB pump which has thankfully eased them. But that's at the cost of function. They just don't work now.

There's also the mental fog associated with MS making it hard to concentrate. Plus the fatigue (already mentioned). In fact DW has just popped her head in and said she's going to recharge batteries with a lie down.

DGRossetti · 14/05/2019 16:43

But yeah, wheelchair needs are hugely misunderstood. My in-laws proudly told me all about their future proofed house (has a lift, easy to add hand rails etc etc.) Driveway is deep gravel.

Like all the showhomes DW and I looked at in 2014. It would have been a wasted summer, but I did discover that the housing crisis had been solved, so some upside I guess.

Bless my DBs cotton socks, he's rebuilding his place in the US (Tennessee) to be fully accessible for when we visit. He thinks parts of the US have a completely different attitude to accessibility (not necessarily disability) as a result of the Vietnam experience.

RedToothBrush · 14/05/2019 16:46

Seb Dance MEP @ sebdance
Reject, resist. But for goodness’ sake don’t think you can feed this beast and not expect it to rip off your arm.
t.co/k6PQ7q35Pc
NI-GEL!’ Brexit party event offers terrifying glimpse of our possible future

Arron Banks @ arron_banks
For Christ sake Seb, @Nigel_Farage is the bloke your granny would love to have a cup of tea with. Saying he’s the new Oswald Mosley makes you look stupid. Err , ok!

Seb Dance MEP @ sebdance
My granny worked as a typist to the German Ambassador to the Soviet Union, Graf von Schulenberg.

He was executed in 1944 for plotting against Hitler. Half her family were wiped out.

She saw what nationalism did and led to. So no, she wouldn’t want a f**ing cup of tea with him.

I love Seb Dance and I do hope he retains his seat even if he's Labour.

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BigChocFrenzy · 14/05/2019 17:07

From that link, John Crace's last 2 sentences:

"It was one of the most genuinely disturbing political events I’ve ever attended.
And Westminster ought to be shit-scared."

lisalocketlostherpocket · 14/05/2019 17:27

Moreover you won't go far before you come to some dickwad parked over the pavement so you have to go back and around (if you can)

I have to say if someone promised to end the scourge of pavement parking with capital punishment* I might vote for them even if they were pro-Brexit...

Ok maybe not capital punishment. I'd settle for the car being impounded and a hefty fine.

Peregrina · 14/05/2019 17:55

I love Seb Dance and I do hope he retains his seat even if he's Labour.

Yes there are still some decent Labour and Tory people about, who have been completed ignored by their respective parties.

Littlespaces · 14/05/2019 18:12

Cheery graph.

Westminstenders: A fully functioning government?
dreichuplands · 14/05/2019 18:12

My gran worked in London through the Blitz helping keep a newspaper going, seeing colleagues actually die at their desks, there is no way on this planet she would have wanted to have tea with Nigel.
This tells us more about Mr Bank's grandmother than she may want publicly shared.

DGRossetti · 14/05/2019 18:50

Cheery graph

No one voted to be poorer.

NoWordForFluffy · 14/05/2019 19:12

Postal votes received and cast. Just need to post them which I'll do on my way to the allotment shortly.

Lib Dems got it!

Peregrina · 14/05/2019 19:23

Lib Dems got it!

I really hope that a similar process is going on as at the last GE - where it was all "Can't vote Labour, can't vote for Corbyn." and yet he pulled of a good increase in seats. Similar because I want it to apply to the Lib Dems not Labour.