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...

@NoWordForFluffy, and what I am saying is that is that it is MUCH MORE prevalent than you think.

If it wasn’t you wouldn’t have had a few threads recently around that issue on IABU.

And you need to remember that you are unlikely to notice, unless it’s VERY obvious, because you won’t be in the firing line. My MIL is the same, telling me that my experiences are just one off and that no, things haven’t changed and no one has any problem with EU citizens. But she isn’t the one that people are staring at because they’ve heard a couple of words in a foreign language. She isn’t the one who has been told to get back home. And she isn’t the one who is wondering what sort of reaction she is going to get when people are clocking her accent isn’t ‘british’.

The times when being in Britain meant living in an open and respectful country are gone. As seen with what is happening in the HoC, BJ, the way Pitri Patel thinks she can treat EU citizens etc....

Jim Pickard@pickardje
striking hostile briefing against Johnson/Cummings from someone inside Number 10 - via the Politico @JackBlanchard morning email

Gah!

This is how it looks to people who care about politics.

It looks different to people who don't give a shit how politics work and just do celebs.

This is a repeat of the media in the US pre-trump election.

They. Do. Not. Get. What. He. Is. Trying. To. Do.

What a day.
I have two kids with ASD both in inappropriate educational provision and both likely to refuse the first day of term
If I can get them out of bed, in and speak to authorities about the mess then I could sort Westminster single-handed

But, sadly, I predict both will be a stramash :(

I agree with RTB.

What I am really sad about is that there is nowhere else for those moderates to go. They are just leaving Politics altogether. Lost of very good minds that are lost.
But more importantly, it also means that there is no moderate right in the U.K. anymore.

THAT btw is what is called a coup.

PMK with thanks

@ARoomWithoutADoor, good luck with today

Maybe it is more prevalent than I think. But I will still say that not all people on each side are the same. THAT is my point. Which appears to be lost in translation. Or deliberately ignored.

I'll be told I'm condoning it next.

Behind the scenes at No. 10.

You live in a city. Out here in the sticks you can live life and rarely see such homelessness. It's invisible to those in the leafy shires.

I live in a leafy cathedral city - it’s a very wealthy area on the whole, lots of second homes (lots of famous faces if you know where to look too). There has been a huge surge in homelessness here in the last year, and most noticeably people with mental health issues. You can’t miss it. Even the little market town where DS goes to school has homeless people on the Main Street.

The Tory MP took 60% of the vote here in 2017.

1975. Back then, of course the result was implemented and we lived In an EEC/EC/EU Member State for 40 years.

Back then, nothing happened, because we were already in the EEC and the vote was yes to keeping the status quo.

I have been saying all along that the Tories are an extreme right Fascist party, but that the local party activitist don't realise this. I hope that those people in Constituencies like Ed Vaizey's, Rory Stewart's now begin to wake up to this.

I'd say that the majority of each 'side' just keeps their head down and gets in with their day. As is always, it's the ones who shout loudest who get noticed. But that doesn't mean everybody on each 'side' is the same by any stretch of the imagination.

No but the problem is that if the moderate centre keep their head down come an election they have to choose between increasingly polarised views. So those moderates end up supporting the extremes purely through keeping their head down as there is no third alternative.

It suits Johnson to drive polarisation for this reason.

It also demoralises and demotivates the centre too, so if they don't vote they are still part of the same dynamic.

The absence and silence (either by choice or by force) is a dangerous dynamic in politics.

It can lead to civil unrest or worse.

FWIW Rory Stewart is one of the best one to watch on vocalising this.

Whats the parliamentary schedule for today?

But more importantly, it also means that there is no moderate right in the U.K. anymore.

In retrospect, the first sign of impending chaos was when Cameron thought he could win a referendum to silence the ‘swivel eyed loons’ in the Tory Party using the Labour Party as foot soldiers.

Eton has a lot to answer for.

10am Cherry Court Case

3pm Debate starts

I think we are expecting action from then until around 10pm again tonight.

I just hope and pray that the judge rules in the 'right' way in the Cherry court case. It will, of course, make him a traitor to the people in Mail and Express land, although not in Scotland.

I'm not out tonight so will watch with ds1.

Technically Greening, Jo Johnson and Rudd are moderates to name a few. Just because they have not yet done or said anything it does now mean that they...and others are not looking at their feet shuffling around wondering what to do

Greening was kicked out.

Jo is a spineless twerp who believes in nepotism.

Rudd is a careerist who has been described in recent days (along with Morgan) as being rather quieter than usual and looking uncomfortable as if she's now a hostage.

Any other names to throw about?

Peregina the trouble with court victories now, is it loads the deck for calls to reform the justice system and bring in elected judges.

I'm super cautious on this but I'm aware of noises about the courts, the lords and the media and how they are affected in authoritarian take overs.

Who controls the pass situation at Westminster? Surely there is some security department and it's not the gift of the party? Stewart, Soames, Clarke, Vaizey etc. are still MPs until an election is called, whatever the Fascist Tory party leaders think.

Stewart I think said that he wouldn't stand again, not that he's resigning now.

Kwazi Kwarteng tells BBC Breafast, with, as the BBC describes it sarcastically , a straight face , that the Conservative Party is not divided

I suppose if you kick out everyone who disagrees with you, technically that's true

But if that is the case, then the Conservative Party is truly now the Turquoise Party, as the ERG has said it won't accept any deal with the EU, and presumably a "not-divided" Conservative agrees with everything the ERG wants

On homelessness - I live near a very wealthy city where there is a lot of homelessness - opinion is divided (often by age) into 'how can we help' and 'fucking beggars coming down from Newcastle/over from Romania to prey on us, tell them to go back where they belong'.

I suspect homelessness ( and mental health problems, addiction and family breakdown) are seen by many on the right as examples of personal failing which should be clamped down on, not the fault of austerity.

Now that Johnson has completely lost his majority by kicking out the Tory MPs, he could do as I suggested and ditch the DUP - they are no longer necessary. Perhaps he will bring back the WA with the NI only backstop? I assume that Bercow would allow this to be voted on, because it's not been tested yet.