Westminstenders: The Rule of Law

[RedToothBrush]

We enter week 2 of what might be considered 'the end game'.

The Conservative Party has made it clear that liberals are not welcome in their ranks. It has become the Brexit Party.

Farage is talking of a pact, though Javid has said no. What would Javid know though, he's only in the Cabinet.

Amber Rudd has resigned. She will run as an independent in an unnamed constituency at the next election. The assumption must therefore be she has been talking to a few people this week about this, though whether that means she is a 'One Nation Tory' independent candidate or simply an independent isn't clear.

Some think that her departure will deal Johnson yet another blow at the polls. Others think as the cabinet members with the worst satisfaction rating amongst tory party members this will be viewed positively by leavers and give Johnson a bounce in the polls.

It been reported that Cummings has overruled Johnson on at least key decisions this week which raises the question of who is in charge and running the show.

Cummings has promised to make us all melt in the coming weeks as he takes a sledge hammer to constitutional convention. He's advised no 10 staff to be 'cool like Fonzies'. A reference to pulp fiction and to happy days. As some have commented if you think about Cummings as some one who has watched too much Tarantino it does make him make a lot more sense.

There are suggestions that Johnson will break the rule of law in refusing to ask for an extension and the No10 have a trick up their sleeve over loopholes. The most obvious thing here being to offer the EU a deal they can't possibly refuse agree too to smear them and to then make it impossible for the EU to agree to an extension which noises out of France seem to suggest anyway.

Tomorrow is going to be interesting...

Leo also pointed out that 31st of October or 31st Jan is not the end of Brexit, just the beginning.

Hope he’s got a file marked Brexit for Dummies with him.

Could be a long day for Leo.

JRM was also what Nick Boles described as his work buddy. They used to sit together on the benches. Seems a long time ago now.

Boles was also BJ first chief of staff when he became mayor and said BJ would be a total car crash as PM as he hasn’t got the right temperament for the job.

Thanks to all the 'ginger up the arse' experts on here for the explanations.

I'm watching Johnson claim he has secret plans for the Irish border. He's a fool. Now lying about what Merkel said. Varadkar looks and sounds fed up. Ends.

Boris just got asked if he'll be held to ransom by the DUP like Theresa May was, given that he's lost his majority anyway. Also when was the last time he visited NI. He's avoiding answering. He is saying that they'll be no checks at the border, and there's a way forward. He ignored the part of the question that asked if dead in a ditch is a bit insensitive considering Ireland.

ITV asking when we'll see new proposals, Boris saying it wouldn't be reasonable to share them with ITV journalist. ITV asked Leo which is worse, no deal or no backstop, and Leo said they are the same thing.

like the snobbery of the 'moderately cut suit'

I really liked that too

Thanks Red.

The Hamilton Dashboard is up and running again, in version 2.0.

It tracks the messages being spread by the Russian government on social media and state-sponsored news websites, and includes non-Russian accounts amplifying those messages (many with no nefarious intent, but they're boosting the message nonetheless).

Right now, the top hashtag is #Brexit, and the top Twitter handle by a long way is BorisJohnson.

the psychology of personality (ie if TM, BoJo, Cameron, Blair, Major etc all presented the same 'deal' to Parliament / the public they would get very different responses.

My DFs main income stream (in fact the whole reason he ran a motor repair shop) was from selling cars. Which he could do like falling off a log.

In 15 years, his DB (my uncle - they worked together) didn't sell one, despite DF encouraging him all that time.

Thanks mojo

Also SHIT two more of dp's meds are listed.

singing if your about don't panic but check the list as PD meds are listed...it's not official. I repeat its not official.

Hope he’s got a file marked Brexit for Dummies with him.

Now that would make a great "accidental slip" picture for a headline. Walking into the meeting with that casually tucked under the arm.

Personally I would have done it - although I am sure someone will be along to tell me how I "don't get it".

Uk also has fewer doctors per 1,000 pop than other countries,
as BMA chair posted last year

Chaand Nagpaul@CNagpaul

Pretty obvious why the medical profession in UK is under such pressure

< see chart >

========
"Hospital beds per 100,000 people"

Germany: 823
.....
UK: 273

Well, that also helps explains why the German health service is not under such stress as the nhS
Much better service for patients when sufficient resources are there

btw, women who give birth here typically spend 5-7 days in hospital, so they can concentrate on recovering and also establishing bf in peace, with nothing else to do

Visions of Leo sat at the table “ now if you imagine this stapler is the milk tanker and this ruler is the border and this mouse at is Ireland..... “

www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/sep/09/boris-johnson-sabotage-letter-to-eu-would-break-law

A former supreme court justice has said Boris Johnson would be in contempt of court if he applied for article 50 extension while simultaneously trying to get the EU to reject it.

(contd)

@PerkingFaintly, YY
And Ive always wondered why this isnt more publicised. Extrenal influenced are at play there and im baffled why everyone is just sitting there looking at it and not doing a thing about it.

There is a question as to what we can do and the fine line between stopping bots and extrenal influences and protecting the freedom of expression. BUT its time that for western countries to do something. It brought Trump to the US, Brexit and BJ to the uk. What next? Are we going to wait until Putin has destroyed democracy and stability in the west to do something about it? :(

Since we've got onto psychology... Came across a paper today about the psychology of political rumourmongering. Haven't read it all, but seems interesting on the use of fake news to reinforce in-groups and out-groups (bolding is mine).

A “Need for Chaos” and the Sharing of Hostile Political Rumors in Advanced Democracies
psyarxiv.com/6m4ts/

Abstract
The circulation of hostile political rumors (including but not limited to false news and conspiracy theories) has gained prominence in public debates across advanced democracies. Here, we provide the first comprehensive assessment of the psychological syndrome that elicits motivations to share hostile political rumors among citizens of democratic societies. Against the notion that sharing occurs to help one mainstream political actor in the increasingly polarized electoral competition against other mainstream actors, we demonstrate that sharing motivations are associated with ‘chaotic’ motivations to “burn down” the entire established democratic ‘cosmos’. We show that this extreme discontent is associated with motivations to share hostile political rumors, not because such rumors are viewed to be true but because they are believed to mobilize the audience against disliked elites. We introduce an individual difference measure, the “Need for Chaos”, to measure these motivations and illuminate their social causes, linked to frustrated status-seeking. Finally, we show that chaotic motivations are surprisingly widespread within advanced democracies, having some hold in up to 40 percent of the American national population.

Maybe they deserve one another

www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/09/israeli-pm-wrongly-refers-to-boris-johnson-as-boris-yeltsin

The office of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has released a video that clumsily tries to edit out a gaffe where he calls the British prime minister by the wrong name.

Netanyahu misspoke at Sunday’s weekly cabinet meeting, referring to his UK counterpart Boris Johnson as Boris Yeltsin, the former Russian president who died in 2007.

(contd)

"86-year-old told to leave hospital bed if she wants to stay in UK"

Utter scum who brought in such a hostile environment

and scum who actually carry it out - the govt couldn't do this without the 100,000s of people like that
It's not just the people at the top; it's the ordinary bastards putting the boot in

"Just obeying orders"
Evil fuckers

Varadkar's charm, politeness and patience being tested to the full in that press conference.
Tbe bumbling jolly hockey sticks schtick that Johnson peddles really doesn't cut it with him.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gingering

@PerkingFaintly there was a thread on Twitter somewhere about how many Twitter accounts had Trump and Johnson retweet’s in common it was something ridiculous will try and dig it out.

wheresmymojo, Thanks for that article!
Its fucking scary. Bt at the same time, its finally SOME information on what could be an issue.More than what the government has ever given to the public. It should be widely distributed.

Visions of Leo sat at the table “ now if you imagine this stapler is the milk tanker and this ruler is the border and this mouse at is Ireland..... “

It's a bit like explaining the offside rule! Poor Leo. He really has my sympathy.

From mojo's link

This list was compiled from our most up to date information from our UK suppliers and is not exhaustive. These are the same pharmaceutical suppliers that supply all NHS hospitals and GP surgeries. e-Surgery is an online Doctor service serving the whole UK. Our mission is to make seeing a private doctor affordable for everyone.

They're selling a service....

This is the problem with the gov asking private companies to plan for brexit they can profiteer from panic and at the same time be providing the only information that doesn't flat at deny that everything is fine when we know it isn't.

Boris Yeltsin stood in front of Parliament with loyal troops to protect it from a military / secret state takeover

The Tory Boris is wrecking Parliamen, not protecting it

@BigChocFrenzy , and Yeltsin turned the troups on Parliament a few years later. I was in a flat around the corner.
'fraud the two Boris contrast doesn't work.

Boris Yeltsin

Of course we are now at the point where it has to be wondered (aloud) if such a slip was really "accidental" or some uber-clever way to skew Google and chums for the next few hours ? Because (and partly thanks to us ) you can bet any "news" about "Boris Johnson" will not be about what's happening in Ireland, but a more comforting "let's laugh at foreigners" sort of story.

"the problem with the gov asking private companies to plan for brexit"

Private practices are in business to provide a service to paying customers

So what happens to those who can't pay ?