Westministenders: A New Approach? No chance.

[RedToothBrush]

Next week we will have a new PM. He will be called Boris Johnson unless something very odd has happened.

His first 72 hours will be 'interesting' especially if today's events are anything to go by.

His Cabinet is sure to be a horror show. It was noticable who abstained today - they don't think they will be in a Johnson Cabinet and clearly don't want to be.

To move forward Johnson must be able to survive a rebellion and a Queen's speech before now and 31st October.

And be able to unit his party in order to find a way forward.

And whilst parliament has voted to block proroguing parliament, it could still be dissolved if there is a vote of no confidence.

And what happens if Johnson loses a vote? Will he manage to become PM? Will there be a GE.

All the signs are that next week is going to be a hell of a ride.

Enjoy your weekend.

That spinning bow tie politician was so creepy lonely I instantly thought of BJ when he came on.

At least I’m on holiday next week, so it’s socially acceptable for me to have a bit more to drink than usual. I think I’m going to need it.

@LonelyTiredandLow , my thoughts exactly.

Years and Years was so close the bone and prophetic that you wonder if Russell T Davies really does have access to a functioning Blue Box!

While it might be entertaining to see the ERG fall out with Boris Johnson, my worry is for the people who get caught in the crossfire.

Senior Tory Eurosceptics are pushing Boris Johnson to make Iain Duncan-Smith his deputy PM

It's weird. I don't get the IDS thing. Wasn't he singled out as one of the chosen for Trump to have a secret meeting with. Also when May was trying to get the WA through IDS was one of the chosen to be invited for secret Chequers meetings.He was pictured driving himself to Chequers in a open topped car.
Why on Earth is he seen as a power behind the throne and taken so seriously here and by the US? He's an idiot.

If given a chance the people of Chingford and Woodford Green need to ditch him. His majority was only 2,440 votes last time if I googled correctly.

In some ways a cabinet dominated by Bozo, DD and IDS is a good thing, because (a) it will be a short-lived government and (b) it won't actually manage to do anything.

On the downside, the U.K. will piss what is left of its reputation away, along with a lot of taxpayers money.

Ooh - I'd love to watch a Michael Portillo moment at the next GE

...I'll give IDS the credit that he would be as gracious as Portillo was

Part of me would love to see them all crash and burn together.

The thing is, they wont crash and burn. Sure, they might lose their seat, but they are all well connected enough to find nice little sinecures somewhere else so they'll survive any short term reputational or financial fall out.

Unlike the rest of us plebs.

And of course they'll have their gold-plated pensions to cushion the crash and douse the fire let alone any money that they've made from speculating on the clusterfuck

At the march and bumped into borntobequiet

At the March, but I forgot my red toothbrush!

I didn't make it to the march in the end. It will be the first one I have missed. How many are there? No doubt Clavinova will be along to divide the number by 5 though.

Have a great time on the march!

Wish I could be with you x

The march makes the Guardian news but not the BBC. Why am I not surprised? Yet Leavers categorically assure us that the BBC is pro-Remain.

That's great, Westministenders meeting up on the march 😍

I hope you have good weather and a good turnout, even if people are now resigned to rule by a clique of rightwing idiots & spivs (same old)

A friend is waving an EU flag on my behalf this time.

BBC says 100s march against Boris and Brexit www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-49058433

Guardian says people from across the country (no number estimates) www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jul/20/march-for-change-anti-brexit-protesters-take-to-london-streets

DGR What are your thoughts on advance voting? And how would you resolve the issue of people who cannot get to a polling station during the open period?

Advance voting ? No strong feelings either way. Doesn't seem contentious. Quite happy to have a trial or whatever and see what the details are ...

In terms of "getting to the polling station", quite fascinating that you pretty much define the problem in terms of the "solution" rather than having a solution to solve the problem. We use to have mobile everythings - from libraries to blood banks. It's not a great comment on technological and cultural progress if we can't view voting in the same light ?

I'm much less uptight about using technology to identify and indicate who has the right to vote and who has voted than I am about the actual recording of those votes (which I would like to be kept to a physical marked slip).

However I have very little confidence in the UK being able to address the issue without managing to create the mother of all fuck ups. As with our laughable attempts to automate the administration of road traffic regulations. Giving us an ANPR system which can happily let an "insured" car flash past and yet immediately be involved in a crash where it's suddenly discovered it's not insured. Because despite a Byzantine series of legal fictions, we don't insure cars. We insure drivers. And ANPR doesn't check drivers ...

(Of course we could insure cars not drivers. But then insurers couldn't make any money from us .....)

{(Of course we could insure cars not drivers. But then insurers couldn't make any money from us .....)}

And the occupants of 'driverless cars of the (supposedly near) future?
No, I don't want a reply, it's alcohol time and I don't care!

2 driverless cars having a bump and an AI 'Lawyer' sorting it out?

It's telling that we'll probably solve the technical challenges of autonomous vehicles long before we solve the ways to make money of insuring them regulatory issues.

It is possible to argue that capitalism has driven great advances in science and technology - in the main for the greater good. However it's also easy to lose sight of the fact that simple changes - which may not be monetisable - often get overlooked. It's one reason why we tend towards the million-dollar-pen rather than the pencil (and I say that in the knowledge it's a misreported story .....).

It's surprisingly easy to live your life by adages and soundbites (as Leavers have repeatedly shown). But one which has rarely let me down is the observation that when the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. If you define capitalism as a tool (rather than it's cheerleaders ) then we end up trying to solve all problems by turning them into marketing opportunities. And before that gets a cheer from the "other side", the same could be said of socialism. It's a tool, but not the only one.

One day, I might interview myself on YouTube (and obviously upload it alongside Me1 vs. Me2 snooker with Richard Herring ...)

Autonomous vehicles are no problem if you eliminate people.
This can be taken from the general observation of people getting in the way through to the almost philosophical 'is the fridge light on when you shut the door' level.

Good demo today in London, not massively huge, but it's not great timing for a demo and it didn't really have the advertising of the People's vote marches. It was still good to connect with others who feel similarly to me.