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.

Tories have always been ruthless at dumping leaders who have become a liability
They don't expect them to do the decent thing themselves

Labour do rely on their leaders doing the decent thing - maybe too much faith in human nature
so when they get a limpet like Corbyn, they're stumped.

They don't have an ejector seat !

The Tories have the 1922 Committee as their injection mechanism, which can work very rapidly

Labour MPs just after the 2016 ref passed an overwhelming motion of no confidence in Corbyn by 172-40 votes
It's non-binding, but any leader who cared about the party would have quit after that.
Corbyn of course refused.

So the only way is another leadership challenge, which means organising nominations and then all the 6-700,000 members voting.
A long tortuous process, which would take up too much time & effort that Labour needs to counter the Tory Brexiters

Does Gove go jogging when there isn't a leadership race on?

Clare Short is apparently having a car crash live on Newsnight.

Twitter is having a meltdown.

Lest we forget

Clare Short is a perepetual car crash

Pmk

George Parker @GeorgeWParker
Breaking: ⁦*@MattHancock⁩ sets FT record for use of f-word in one sentence as he lambasts ⁦*@BorisJohnson⁩ over anti-business comments, rejects no deal Brexit. ⁦*@SebastianEPayne*⁩ and I interview the youngish pretender

www.ft.com/content/b18dd0c8-8151-11e9-9935-ad75bb96c849?sharetype=blocked
Matt Hancock makes pro-business pitch for Tory leadership
Health secretary launches broadside at Johnson’s infamous remark

Acknowledging that the Tories had put too much distance between themselves and wealth creators, he referred to an infamous remark by Mr Johnson: “To the people who say ‘fuck business’, I say ‘fuck, fuck business’.”

and

Although the EU has said it is willing to rework the non-binding political declaration, it has refused to reopen the withdrawal agreement — particularly the controversial Irish backstop, which proposes a temporary UK-EU customs union to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland. Mr Hancock said he would not try to scrap the measure, but would put extra effort into proposals for avoiding a hard border in Ireland.

So
Javid: The Law and Order Candidate
Hancock: The Business Candidate
Hunt: The Flip Flop No Deal Candidate
Stewart: The Sane Candidate who has Ruffled Feathers
Raab: The Details Man with Utter Bollocks Policy Candidate
Johnson: The Personality and Journalician Candidate
Gove: The Centrist Candidate
McVey: The Screw Poor Foriegners in Need of Aid Candidate

Rhubarb If the reason you were worried about the cables is because of the E27 prepping for Ireland that it signifies .....

I don't know if you were on here in early 2018, when we were disussing the introduction of the world's largest ro-ro ferry from Ireland to the EU mainland,
more ferries planned too

The EU is part-funding the road infrastructure etc in Ireland to handle all this new traffic

Prepping has been extensive across the affected E27 countries for quite some time,
e.g. the comprehensive EU No Deal notices to stakeholderes online
an all those hundreds of new Customs officers being taken on and trained in France, the Netherlands ....

‘Brexit-busting’ ferry launched from Dublin Port

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/brexit-busting-ferry-launched-from-dublin-port-1.3468760

news.sky.com/story/european-council-president-donald-tusk-brexit-a-vaccine-against-fake-news-11730540
European Council President Donald Tusk: Brexit a 'vaccine' against 'fake news'
The top Brussels official believes EU citizens "voted for a pro-European majority" last week after viewing the UK's divorce.

Ever wonder is someone is listening into you conversations? We were having random discussions on Sunday about how else to get around the parliamentary block on Brexit without another referendum but involving something that would involve bringing people together again if possible. Rory Stewart's ideas aren't too far off things that were coming out of that. With the caveat that the government had to buy into whatever the hell came out of it and bloody sell it properly, not wishy washy like Cameron did with remain.

Great summary of the Tory candidates there, red

The other 20 or so candidates will probably drop out after the first round

Great summary of the Tory candidates there, red

The other 20 or so candidates will probably drop out after the first round

Big a kind person linked a BBC piece about that attempt in 2016. So the only method of removal is to wait for some brave Labour MP to ‘take one for the team’ with no real guarantee of success, then if it all goes belly up be prepared to get the blame for creating a fuss.

Red Clare Short obviously not keen on Alistair and attempting to defend anti semitism by arguing the definition had changed. Not great

Tim Shipman @ShippersUnbound
If I was facing an investigation into antisemitism and an internal row about Brexit policy, I too would expel a well known party member. Somewhere in his cold, dark spindoctor’s heart Alastair Campbell will be appreciating this professionalism from Labour

EEEWW, EU ! 🤮🤮

Andrew Byrnee@aqbyrne*

Some real love-bombing of Theresa May from other leaders at this, one of her last summits.
Hugs, kisses, laughs all round.
#EUCO

< Is this why she is staying on as PM after 8 June, so she can be lovebombed by all the word's leaders ?
If she really expects / wants this from Trump .... >

Ever wonder is someone is listening into you conversations?

Oh look. Yes!

But I think ideas that are good, get talked about by lots of people who are politically minded and spread quickly or are sparked simulataineously in different people by a certain curve in conversation which they all hear about.

I've come across it with a few times. Its phenomenan where an idea seems to sprout from nowhere and everywhere at the same time.

I also liked this from Donald Tusk: 😂

“Doing Brexit is like trying to take the red bits out of Raspberry Ripple ice cream”

The Sane Candidate who has Ruffled Feathers
And chatting to a voter in Dari/Afghani language.

twitter.com/RoryStewartUK/status/1133035773123604488

When was the last time tory leadership was won by the favourite?

He was interviewed by Jon Snow who asked what would happen if Citizens' Assemblies decided on remain. He agreed that would happen then........

I disagreed with most of what Short was saying, but thought she conducted herself ok in that dicussion?

She led a very brave parliamentary campaign to ban pornography in the Sun, in the 1980s? Perhaps the pile on is a throw back to the sustained abuse (from rupert's press and tories) she endured during that campaign?

She was just saying what Corbyn etc has been saying for years, and no one seemed to care much about challenging him on it.

but she's been saying that sort of thing for years too,
so she is part of the problem
nowhere near as much as the leader / allotment player, of course

at the thought of Trump love-bombing May

Many have been saying that sort of thing for years, BigChoc
At least it's being acknowledged now.

@DPJHodges
Got to be honest. Not impressed with people deciding Alastair Campbell being forced out of Labour over his Brexit stance is unacceptable, when they accepted Luciana Berger being forced out because she’s Jewish.

@tnewtondunn
Had the Tory leadership No Dealers forgotten Bercow facilitated a legal block on it, and will again? Or knowing it’s going to be very hard to deliver with Bercow in the chair, has that given them a free hit to offer it to the base knowing they won’t have to deliver?

Trump love-bombing May
And that Gove picture, I feel a bit not envy too.

I have just watched Newsnight and the how Farage has used Social Media. He's quite blatantly used racist groups to promote his message, although now he says they weren't authorised and will be closed down - yes, right, when they have done your work for you.

Then we saw a shopkeeper - we want to leave the EU. Not appropriate perhaps for this report for the interviewer to sidetrack him into why, but I thought - engage your brain man. You will be one of the first to whinge when your business goes down the pan if we have no deal, and Farage won't be around then.

I really don't think a citizens assembly is a good idea. Not for something as massive and complicated as brexit. Not when we know that a substantial proportion of the population (and therefore statistically likely to be represented in the assembly) refuse to accept that it is complicated and will keep on expecting unicorns.

I don't see why - if 600 odd mps can't find a majority for anything - 500 random strangers will be able to.

And the idea that parliament would then sign off on their idea without giving the rest of the population a say is ... well I don't have the words for how shocking, disgusting and undemocratic that is.

I also don't see why parliament, having rejected a carefully negotiated and signed -off- with- the- EU W.A would feel in any way beholden to pass the brainchild of 500 randos into British law.

It's seems like an extreme experiment in time wasting - coupled with the possibility of it being really dangerous, when it turns out 500 ordinary people can't solve this crisis - come up with a stupid idea and parliament than pass it because ... citizens assembly.

I no longer rate Rory as the sane and sensible candidate. He's an idiot that is running for the leadership whilst trying to wriggle out of having to do the actual job that comes with being tory leader at the moment- solve brexit.

You cannot pass a decision this big and momentous to 500 unelected people, with no expertise - out of 65 million - and expect the rest of the 65 million to be OK with it.
And if the idea is to put the findings of the citizens assembly to a public vote ... why not just save time and money and give us a second referendum on the already agreed W.A vs remain?

Maybe it would have been something worth doing either before the referendum was held or before article 50 was triggered - when any findings could have been put back to the public before we were locked into a countdown. They could have defined leave before anyone asked us if we wanted to or not. They could revoke article 50 and then do it. But now - with the clock ticking down - it is too late. We don't have time and it will do no good. And if they can't find a way forward (why the hell would they be able to?) then it is a dangerous waste of time and if they do find a way they can agree amongst the 500 of them and parliament pass it without checking with the rest of us then it is a dangerous failure of democracy.

_ EU president Juncker tells Tory leadership candidates there will be no Brexit renegotiation: '_
I was crystal clear'

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/eu-president-tory-leadership-no-deal-brexit-jean-claue-juncker-talks-negotiations-a8933616.html

The EU has once again ruled out renegotiating Theresa Mayay^’s Brexitit^ deal,
in a major blow to several Conservative leadership candidates who have insisted that they would re-open talks if elected.

Arriving at a summit in Brussels on Tuesday an exasperated Jean-Claude Juncker told reporters:
“I was crystal clear. There will be no renegotiation.”

I heard Laura Pidcock being interviewed on the radio Monday. The interviewer pointed out that Corbyn has now lost two elections, three if you count the locals where labour didn't do as well as it should have done, so perhaps he should go. She was not impressed. Possibly because most of the front bench are hopeless and know they will be on the back benches if a competent leader is elected.