Westministenders: The Only Election That Matters - The Tory One

[RedToothBrush]

Fallout from the Euro Elections makes for interesting reading for the leadership hopefuls.

Its not a clear cut as some make out. There is still a case for a deal. The trouble is passing it through parliament. And there is no time to do that. Nor no will.

Any new leader's priority isn't going to be a deal. Its going to be avoiding a General Election. And thats going to be hard.

We are also realistically facing the prospect of another extension which France is likely to block leading to no deal or no deal.

Or a 2nd Referendum.

A 2nd Referendum might be the only way to avoid a General Election. And that will still have no deal on the ballot. Of that you can be sure.

Peter Foster of the Telegraph remarked this morning that in fact the only way to a deal now, might well be via no deal, because of all the routes we have exhausted through incompetence. And that will come at a very high price.

JJ for BJ 🤔 ?

Family over policy - and over country ?

Or maybe he thinks Boris would blink at the last moment and call a PV

• he should know his own brother better than we do, but I still think that most unlikely

Or - cunning plot warning ! - maybe JJ has something to hold over brother BJ, to be used in an emergency ?

Bojo is busy getting a quickie divorce.

Maybe dad Stanley has threatened to disinherit JoJo if he doesn't back BoJo. I wouldn't just take his word for it that BoJo will blink and do the right thing. BoJo certainly has a track record for screwing things up and walking away scot free and as its worked so well for him in the past o guess he figures he might as well do the same thing with brexit...

I love all these cunning plans.

Press Association
@PA
#Breaking Boris Johnson will be summonsed to court to face accusations of misconduct in public office for comments made in the run-up to the EU referendum, District Judge Margot Coleman ruled

Gina Miller: Look at the queue to be Tory leader. No-deal Brexit is more likely than ever

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/29/tory-leader-no-deal-brexit-nigel-farage-britain

But the grim reality is that with so many unscrupulous politicians so close to taking the leadership of the Conservative party, and the office of prime minister, a no-deal Brexit seems more likely than ever before.

They say with addictions such as alcoholism that it’s necessary to hit rock bottom before recovery is possible, and maybe that will be true of Brexit too.
A Johnson premiership – with Farage at home and Donald Trump abroad as his allies – will represent rock bottom for all of us.

Let no one be in any doubt about how very long recovery would take, and how painful it would be.


Ok. Good start. When do Gove and Farage get their summons??

I'm so happy. I hope this teaches him and all the other liars, and there's a heck of a lot of them, that they will be held accountable.

LOL at that Gina Miller article. So apart from damning all the candidates (when it's quite possible not every one has even declared yet) what does she achieve writing that then? Nothing, she just has chance to peddle some dark conspiracy theories linked to Farage, who notably isn't standing at all.

addict is a new insult to add to the list though, so well done Gina for that one.

FWIW I think no deal probably is more likely under a successor than under TM, since she was invested in "her" deal. For that outcome having increased in likelihood, our Parliamentarians and civil society have none but themselves to blame.

The Boris Johnson case will set a very interesting precedent if it proceeds even further.

The CPS has traditionally been very loathe to prosecute politicians for misconduct / malfeasance / misfeasance in public office, but this case shows a concerned public a route to crowdfunded justice via private prosecutions, including how to word the allegations within the available legal framework.

Ok. Good start. When do Gove and Farage get their summons??

If we have faith that our criminal justice system is up to it (I don't, but that's another matter) and there are real teeth to the charges BoJo faces, then I look forward to an unseemly scramble amongst the guilty to distance themselves from each other.

Of course to the less critical thinkers out there, BoJo turning on Farage will just add to the "Farage as maverick" narrative he so needs to exist.

Wasn't there a USS Farragut in ST:TOS ?

I was just thinking of you, DGR, and then you appeared. Spooky

Actually where is Boris?

on the run?

www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/may/29/boris-johnson-appear-court-eu-referendum-misconduct-claims?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Page didn’t refresh properly so crossed posts with everyone!

I agree with Louise. Of course if Gina Miller had not brought the Art 50 case then TM and the EU could have stitched up BRINO with absolutely no scrutiny and they may even have tacked on a confirmatory vote with the option to Remain just to see if they could test DC's initial hypothesis to destruction.

I guess she has to do something to deflect from her spannering.

The CPS has traditionally been very loathe to prosecute politicians for misconduct / malfeasance / misfeasance in public office, but this case shows a concerned public a route to crowdfunded justice via private prosecutions, including how to word the allegations within the available legal framework.

There is an argument that politics and political discourse is synonymous with hyperbole and that was all Johnson was doing.

For myself, I'm a little more critical. It's one thing to say "We send a lot of money to the EU, let's spend it in the UK".

It's entirely another to state a specific figure.

It's entirely another thing in addition to do so when a Member of Parliament

It's entirely another thing to do so when - as a member of government - you have access to the mechanism for verifying such a claim.

Of course there is one easy way out for BoJo. All he needs to do is to repeat the claim in the House of Commons, where he would be protected by privilege. Of course that also requires it to be true, since an honourable member must not knowingly lie to the House.

Yes, hyperbole is a long established part of political discourse, as is lying. But an MP accused of the latter always has the touchstone of parliament to prove their point. If they choose not to take it, the public should be encouraged to question it too.

Glad the Boris case is going to court.

Will finally litigate all the claims and counter claims of "lies" versus "spin". As with the Art 50 case though I think it may be a case with unintended consequences.

Fair point DG

I doubt you do actually, howabout sarcasm notwithstanding. Gina Miller was in my view correct to take the Article 50 case to court and the correct decision was reached. Her motivations in doing so I would have reasons to question but to my mind there is no doubt the right outcome was arrived at.

Will finally litigate all the claims and counter claims of "lies" versus "spin"

The thought of BoJo squirming under oath is simply too good to happen, I'm afraid.

I'm not so immersed in English Law I can know the answer, but I'd be curious if he has yet been interviewed under caution and - more pertinently - if he's actually said anything ? If not, he can pay me 1/1000th of what he'll be paying his legal team for the suggestion that (for once) he keeps his big trap shut and refuses to take the stand in court.

Jo Johnson jumped before he was pushed due to his mishandling of the politics surrounding the unaffordability of the Osborne / Clegg University loan pyramid scheme. WA opposition was a good deflection and now gives Boris a route to the moderates. (Anyone got views on Amber's tacit support for having Boris driving her home after all?)

I reckon the Johnsons have always been working as a firm. Rachel as the high profile big reveal did far more harm than good for Change. Compare and contrast with Annunziata.

Iain Martin on prosecuting Boris:

"Madness. This gets Boris into the second round, is worth an extra 40% with the Tory membership and hoovers up Brexit party votes. Why not charge Brown on declaring the end of boom and bust? Blair on Iraq?"

Rachel as the high profile big reveal

In more ways than one ...

Louise agreement was vis a vis the liklihood of No Deal and Parliamentarians being the root cause.

I agree we disagree on whose fault it is that Parliament got itself in such a mess. The Art 50 case would also have been helpful if TM had got her 100+ majority and the Parliamentary process could have been used to silence the ERG. Not sure if JC running a storming campaign or TM running a diabolical one caused the hung Parliament though.

(on the substance of the Art 50 case I agreed with the dissenting judgement although the actual judgement was definitely lower risk and therefore more politically expedient as it meant the Supreme Court could not be said to have legislated in favour of Brexit. The Art 50 Unilateral Revoke case was settled by the ECJ on similar thinking)