Westminstenders: Drain The Swamp

[RedToothBrush]

Johnson lost his first vote by 27.

The Commons take control again, and Johnson is now, with his majority gone, is seeking an election.

Whilst the feeling might be one of victory there is a definite sting in the tail.

Johnson has purged the party of 'trouble makers', meaning any replacements after an election are hard liners. And they will be in safe seats. Possibly many of which will be careerists parachuted in.

The party has split. The civil war is over.

Parliament has just lost some of its very best minds in the process. That bodes ill for us all in the long term. The polarisation has just jacked up a level. The centre has fallen even more.

There are no more moderates.

Polling suggests that Johnson won't be blamed for any of this and that's significant.

Take note of this tweet

Douglas Carswell @Douglascarswell
Boris Vs the political Parasites. Guess who wins across suburban Britain?

The optics are not about what you or I are seeing. Nor about what any of the politicial pundits are seeing.

The Democrats and the Media failed to see Trump coming... And this is what now concerns me. His optics are not bad with his core and targets.

Will Johnson be able to have his election?

If yes, I fear the polls look good for Johnson. People want 'Brexit over with' and don't want another extension. They may or may not understand the ramifications of that.

If no, then what? Johnson can do anything with his numbers. Does that mean potentially two governments and the Queen stuck in the middle? Or does he limp on, with no intention of doing anything but take us over the cliff by counting down the clock?

Or something else?

The Brexit Party and Conservatives now seem to have formally united one way or another. They have aligned with current politics alike the divided Opposition parties.

Tonight the penny might have dropped with a few Labour MPs too. They want May's deal to return. Its the only deal there is, in the absence of a Johnson plan and a Labour / Opposition plan. Too little too late...

This isn't going away as an issue either. Stoking up anger against the rebel alliance is a long term project for the fascist right.

Is tonight’s result a victory? Yes, but my fear is its potential to be a Pyrrhic Victory.

The battle today may have been won, but Johnson still looks set to win...

Allington Your definition of fascism is a minority one
It applies more to the motivations of some fascist supporters, not the fascist regimes themselves

Most accept that Franco and the Greek generals were FASCISTS

They were rightwing nationalist dictators
They were not Nazis, no great hatred of Jews, no wish for expansionism
Those are the reasons why Franco didn't join Hitler in WW2

The Wiki definition of fascism is the one that I have known for the 50+ years I have been politically aware

The 2nd link specifically includes several Euuropean countries, including Greece & Spain, also South American countries

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism

Fascism (/ˈfæʃɪzəm/) is a form of far right-wing, authoritarian ultranationalism[1][2]

characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition, and strong regimentation of society and of the economy[3]
which came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe.[4]

The first fascist movements emerged in Italy during World War I, before spreading to other European countries.[4]^^

Opposed to liberalism, Marxism, and anarchism, fascism is placed on the far-right within the traditional left–right spectrum.[4][5][6]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascisminn_Europe

Sadjid is getting a real telling off from Bercow.

London is not just a mixture of immigrants, and liberal elites and not so elites cut off in a bubble. Of the people I was at school with in a northern city, more than half are in London. A similar proportion of the children of my parents’ neighbours in a rural village are also in London. Of my London neighbours (who tend to set off for marches pretty much en masse whatever the age) one couple are Australian, one from the West Country, two British born Asian, one Irish, one Chinese, one French husband /English wife, and four of us come from within a few miles of each other oop north. I am not sure of the rest but to suggest that our political views and activism is divorced from an understanding of what goes on in the rest of the country is simply not true. There are whole swathes of the Essex suburbs, some parts very affluent where the culture is as to leaver culture as it is to remain here, but then they are also less diverse. I think the difference is much more about experience of globalism and immigration, together with knowledge of what is happening in the rest of the country.

Prior to the referendum I did not appreciate the attitudes that were festering amongst friends and family up north, not least because we were in the orbit of cities with a long history of immigration going back to the nineteenth century and I had never seen those attitudes manifested before. Now they trot out all the cliches , the GP surgeries overrun, the prisons full of immigrants (suddenly they are all robbers as well as benefits claimants) As I say populism and alongside the hated EU / Remainers I should have added Londoners 🤔

The Chancellor is breaking procedure in not sticking to the spending round. Bercow intervening

Hazard 💐

If you could state which meds your DP needs - product name, mg per tablet or whatever, manufacturer -

then I - and maybe Misti in France and expats in other EU countries - Netherlands, anyone ? - could enquire if there are supplies in our host countries.

I have to say I haven't read reports about shortages of anything whatsoever in Germany and my gym friends of a certain age are unaware of HRT shortages

Good for Bercow!

Don't worry chaps, Javid is here with his magic money tree.

Except that he's now being royally burned by Bercow.

Christ how he can spout this stuff, such barefaced lies.

I did not mean to suggest that London is all elite. Not in the city which experienced Grenfell. However Emily you say yourself you did not know the opinion in the regions and life is very different there. If that's the case for you with regional connections how much more so than those who live in the regions with none there, or for the

GP surgeries are overrun and prisons are teeming with people. The tabloid media has had free rein to find scapegoats and has never been called out - too many people found them useful.

...or for the people for whom regional connections means a stately home in Oxfordshire or Hampshire. (don't know what happened there) Even Oxfordshire has complained about the London bubble!

Ken Clarke and Theresa May still sitting together?

Javid seems to be talking about another planet.

@Emilyontmoor thanks for the explaination.

Reality is that a huge number of people don't care and their voting is based on what they view is best for them and them only and doesn't involve thought for others. I would say most people do this. It's human nature. Those whose voting 'involves thought for others' can afford to do so.

Journalist twitter is saying that Johnson's performance at PMQ was dreadful.

They are missing the point.

He wasn't trying to impress the house or anyone watching live.

All that matters is he gets his slogans and catchphrases in for his Facebook campaign.

That's his audience.

He is now the plucky underdog fighting the snobby smug elite who look down their noses at ordinary people with their intellectual nonsense.

The elite who are trying to frustrate the will of the people

I have to say that I think he will try and withhold Royal Assent to any defeat tonight on No Deal. He knows it probably will only be something he can do temporarily (to prorogue anything outstanding bills which haven't had royal Assent must be completed as part of the closing procedures of parliament anyway).

The point isn't to stop the bill. The point is to look as if he is doing everything he can to fight for the people against the elite who use their power against the people. The people should trust him. He should destroy the power of these elites who don't respect democracy in whatever way he can.

He is starting a new narrative. We've done the one about the EU. The next one is against the elite (Inc the Royals) - the lords and MPs, redressing injustice - that's elected judges and harsher punishments, education - against the intellectuals as education is the enemy, and the media - he'll restrict access to liberal media who don't tow the line (sky and c4 news are going to have issues and the BBC are going to get everything) and there will be a clamp down on certain things. And Human rights, they are top of the list.

This is how authoritarians work.

It's coming as he has control enough to do this. A lack of majority is irrelevant to this. A lack of finesse in parliament is an asset not a disadvantage. He's not 'one of them'.

And none of the media are seeing it coming.

It's Trump all over again...

imo, some of the most selfless people are those who can least afford it

e.g. donations to foodbanks

I remember reading studies about things as diverse as selfish behaviour in London traffic

There does seem to be natural selection that those ruthless towards others are more successful financially,
especially those who made their own money, but didn't inherit it.

I agree DarkAtEndOfUK, where I am the GP surgeries ARE overrun (3 weeks wait for an urgent appointment anyone?).

The level of deprivation is very different too.

As is the difficulty to find a job, get a good education etc. Basically the outlook is bleak and hope for a better future is gone with the total lack of support these areas have received.

I've always been amazed at some comments on here. I've posted before for example about the atmosphere at my dc's school and the lack of ambition etc... It was all dismissed as impossible as 'you mst be reading the DM too much'. Few people seem to actually understand how disconnected and let down these people are feeling from the 'rest of the uk' (read london and the more affluent areas).

Does "level up" make anyone else's teeth itch? It's not a fucking video game.

Sucking up to Scotland is he?

red The Tory hard right do seem to be copying Trump
also probably with help again from Aussie Lynton Crosby

However, Orban in Hungary also borrows from the US hard right
and has developed a "popular dictatorship" which has e.g. replaced the judiciary, bought up the opposition press and driven out the main Central European Uni

As usual, the UK may copy a mix of US, white Commonwealth & European ideas & strategies
Unfortunately, the absolute worst ones from each

I find it staggering to hear the spending commitments that Javid is announcing. I find it hard to believe that he has really found the magic money forest so we will believe it when we see it but if Labour had proposed a quarter of this, the Tories would have been screaming their heads off about Profilgacy.

I did enjoy seeing Bercow telling him off.

Levelling up
End of austerity

Keeping control

I recommend the three part documentary on Jade Goody on c4 at the moment to see the two sides of class and media stereotypingband exploitation.

It's uncomfortable watching at times.

The striking thing about it, and it's commented on explicitly in the documentary, is you can see Brexit and Johnson coming with it.

And you can see this concept of 'liberal elite' journalists looking down their noses.

Thank you Cwenthryth

Withholding royal assent is both likely and absolutely extraordinary.

Yes, Red, this is a truly terrifying path.