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.

[tobee]

Best looking at that first photo I was thinking "where? Where? Where?" And "did I misread Canadian elm?"

[tobee]

My ds has a great talent for falling in bodies of water Best. Less so now he's 20.

[BestIsWest]

tobee I’m not quite sure how the pond picture attached itself.

[BestIsWest]

Mine is 21, he was about 10 when he fell in that one. We were highly amused.

[JoannaCuppa]

PMK. Thanks Red

This has probably already been said, but does anyone else think Boris's kippers are yet another way to change Google search results? So he is not associated with UKippers?

Whilst also allowing Facebook to nicely identify interest in what he is saying, and enabling the algorithms to target those who type in Kippers as well as UKIP?

I have wondered whether both Johnson and Hunt have been leant on to present themselves as hard no dealers. Purely so that their backers can make money from the plunging pound before 31st October? Perhaps as an agreement that we can't ACTUALLY no deal, as it would send the UK into freefall, so the backers would like to make as much money as possible from shorting Sterling in the interim?. So Johnson and Hunt would be maintaining the no deal fiction, purely to enable the markets to drop?

I am probably talking rubbish but it did occur to me that these are two crafty buggers whose strings are being pulled elsewhere.

[GeistohneGrenzen]

Flooopers - that's brilliant. He has such sensitive fingers

For more raccoon action I suggest you visit

and go along the timeline to night and watch the way they feel for their food whilst gazing off into the distance. Also features random skunk, oppossum, chipmunks and other beasties and their social/unsocial interactions. Beats watching the planes at Prague any time!

I do have a life - but I share some of this kind of thing most days for twenty minutes or so online with a housebound friend... it's a good displacement activity for Brexit worries.

[LonelyTiredandLow]

Oh well, if we are onto YouTube... I give you (because the ayes have it today) . Dd and I randomly tap each other on the head with a finger if we feel silly, pretending we are tapping for grubs , strangely no one else 'gets' it.

[Whisky2014]

What does "slipped" mean?

[Flooopers]

@GeistohneGrenzen, that makes such soothing viewing! just the antidote to political batshittery. Wherever there is food there is a fat pigeon and a well upholstered grey squirrel!

My Twitter feed reads:

Brexit madness
Brexit madness
Trump racism
GOP madness
abandoned dog is re-homed
Brexit madness
blind dog is best friends with tortoise
Trump racism
fat raccoon does cute things

[Iambuffy]

A fucking horrified pmk

[Flooopers]

@LonelyTiredandLow, I first heard of aye-ayes on an Attenborough doc, and their terrifying eyes and creepy little tappy finger has haunted my nightmares ever since!

[tobee]

I wouldn't be at all surprised Joanna

[JoannaCuppa]

He is a bloody sneaky guy. But I suspect that the people pulling the strings are sneakier.

[GeistohneGrenzen]

LonelyTiredandLow Aye Aye'll pass that one on to my friend! Thanks. And tapping to show whether you're feeling silly or just hungry must beat Simon's cat any day. Ha!

[GeistohneGrenzen]

Flooopers I just went back to the beginning of the timeline and there was also a deer and a fox making a rare appearance. Yes, it is a good antidote, as you say

[JoannaCuppa]

Waving around kippers is also such a subconscious dog whistle to....well, Kippers!

[Lonelycrab]

Subconscious dog whistles seem to be quite successful these days

[1tisILeClerc]

I suppose someone with a mathematical bent could 'invest a hypothetical 10K say 2 years ago and bounce it back and forward between Euro and Sterling, or Dollars and Sterling at the major announcements and see how much it could have made.
The Pound dropped over 1% just for Theresa's speech in Salzburg last year.

[NoWordForFluffy]

@flouncyfanny, there's nothing to forgive. I was meant to be making a lighthearted comment.

And then I vanished as I've been baking on my return from work as I give the teacher / TAs an 'afternoon tea in a bag' as an end of term gift (homemade scones and lemon drizzle cake, homemade strawberry jam and clotted cream). I'm done now (in all senses of the word) and sitting on the sofa.

[GaspodeWonderCat]

Whisky2014: Slipped - no definite answer on google - but found this.

A three-line Whip is essential and an MP frankly has no choice but to attend unless he or she has cleared their absence with their whip in advance by handing in an absence request slip with a full explanation and a pleading manner.

Hence, I presume that Jeremy Hunt believed that he was excused from attending said particular vote having completed an absence request slip (or having had one of his staff complete the slip for him).

For non-UK readers, a "Whip" is an MP (Member of Parliament) charged with ensuring that fellow MPs from the same political party attend certain votes. The most important votes will be underlined three times on the weekly sheets distributed to MPs, and are hence called "three-line whips". The term originates in hunting, where a "whipper-in" is "a huntsman's assistant who keeps the hounds from straying by driving them back with the whip into the main body of the pack" (from OED).

english.stackexchange.com/questions/505443/what-did-jeremy-hunt-mean-by-slipped-to-miss-a-vote

[MmeBufo]

Fluffy - it's a frog

I see potential plans afoot for "a humble address to the Queen". Desperate times and all that. Still.
www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49040128

[BigChocFrenzy]

No thanks, flouncy 😂 No need for extra bog rolls
It was a one-off

Besides, I live in Germany, so I don't have to stockpile anything except imported Marmite crisps
that stockpile keeps vanishing < innocent face >