Westminstenders: "I don't give a flying flamingo"

[RedToothBrush]

Amid scenes parliament was shut down.

In an unprecedented comment the Speaker, stated it was not an ordinary prorogation and it was blatantly an attempt to stop the executive being held to account.

And now it seems a Scottish Court agree with him:
"Lord Brodie cont: "the principal reasons for the prorogation were to prevent or impede parliament holding the executive to account and legislating with regard to Brexit, and to allow the executive to pursue a policy of a no deal Brexit without further parliamentary interference"

Thus parliament must reopen. Unless the decision is overturned in a higher court.

This is constitutionally a big deal. The Queen is highly unlikely to attend a reopening, especially in this manner, due to how political it now is.

General Election campaigning has already began with parties trying to take full advantage of the fact that there are currently no rules over spending.

Dominic Cummings actively and openly campaigning for the Conservatives whilst paid as a civil servant by the tax payer is a huge breech of the Civil service code but MPs are struggling to pin the government down on this as its being obstructive.

Cummings is keen to use data to target and personalise people based on their usage of the .gov portal for Brexit. This is OK as its in the national interest apparently. Its also incredibly sinister and concerning about how this could be used against the population.

Anyway if you thought parliament closing would result in a lull in events you were very much mistaken!!

What next?

You know those George Osborne budgets which looked really clever on the day

I think that my be subjective tbh BCF

DGR yes there has been a shift and I agree that when I see posters such as Prettybird being so passionate and knowledgeable about the Union as it stands, it makes me realise that actually the notion of holding onto power over these other kingdoms is really archaic.

I am glad it is happening under the Tories though; for the history books.

To bring something forward from the previous thread:

But I wonder if there was an ultimate aim to encourage everyone to ultimately find what unites us and not that which divides us?

Quite honestly no. Cameron wanted the Referendum to shut his right wing up. May was unimaginative and tried to appease the right wing too. Johnson is just dishonest and out for himself.

There would be much better ways of trying to reunite us. We could start with the NHS - most of us value it highly, but know that it does need reform. We could start by having citizens juries and other forums to get suggestions as to how it could be reformed.

Michael Rosen
@MichaelRosenYes
·
5h
In a principled stand, deputy leader Tom Watson is putting forward his policy of Whatever Is Not Labour’s Policy. He will give a speech later today, outlining why the things he says should, he hopes, distract and confuse people.

Michael Rosen
@MichaelRosenYes
·
5h
The Tom Watson approach of making speeches on subjects such as What Is Not Labour’s Policy, or: Labour’s Policy: Not For Me, is certainly paying off this morning as every media outlet is covering Watson’s speech today.

Crikey

"For all their hot air I don't believe Tories or Leavers really want to split up the union"

Cummings probably does
because it would help his nihilist aim of destroying everything

and currently he's the real PM

Joanna Cherry saying Government hasn’t put in an application to suspend the ruling so Parliament can reconvene

In fairness, they might not have heard the ruling yet over the sound of that shredder.
One crisis at a time is enough for any competent govt - for this shower... they can just be thankful they got rid of Grayling, who would have shredded the wrong documents and then got his tie stuck in the blades.

Place mimbling.

James O’Brien having an interesting with David Allen Green who says there was no government witness statement for the courts stating their reason for prorogation because whilst JMR et al can appear on radio/television or wherever talking about the reasons ‘perfectly normal’ etc they cannot put their name to a statement because there would be serious consequences for them

I understand why everyone's celebrating this as a big blow to the Tories, but isn't anyone worried that the Supreme Court will overturn this, giving Boris the last laugh, while also creating an extra reason for Scots to protest that they should be allowed another IndyRef?

it makes me realise that actually the notion of holding onto power over these other kingdoms is really archaic.

dare I suggest because it's predicated on an idea of "marriage" that was extant when women were possessions and had no agency ?

Thank you Red

Pretzels

"Boris Johnson will find himself in an untenable position in Parliament... every member that believes in our constitution would simply say, it's over"

Former Tory Dominic Grieve says the PM must resign if he misled the Queen about suspending Parliament

On BBC Politics twitter (yes I know, but it was nicely formatted!).

Tom Watson and the other Labour rebels should realise that trying to topple Corbyn belonged to "Normal times"

not when the whole centre and left should be trying to avoid several years under a hard right authoritarian govt that is veering towards Hungarian-style dictatorship

It may be that they see Corbyn has a genuine chance of becoming PM and find that worse than No Deal,
in which case they belong to the Tories or Faragists

I understand why everyone's celebrating this as a big blow to the Tories, but isn't anyone worried that the Supreme Court will overturn this, giving Boris the last laugh, while also creating an extra reason for Scots to protest that they should be allowed another IndyRef?

When your enemy seeks to sow confusion and disarray, you need to use their strength against them.

Sun Tsu.

Former Tory Dominic Grieve says the PM must resign if he misled the Queen about suspending Parliament

Which at least means he never has to ask for an extension.

isn't anyone worried that the Supreme Court will overturn this

Whether they do or not, there is potential for the HoC to sit for five days before the SC decision. Anything could happen between now and then.

Dear Mr Grieve

That was normal politics
Doesn't work with fascists in charge

Yours
BigChoc

David Allen Green
‘The Government can’t even abuse the constitution competently’

But it sounds possblie that the Govt can just say that they won't reconvene Parliament until the appeal has been heard at the SC.

I understand why everyone's celebrating this as a big blow to the Tories, but isn't anyone worried that the Supreme Court will overturn this, giving Boris the last laugh, while also creating an extra reason for Scots to protest that they should be allowed another IndyRef?

A win or loss on prorogation also affects the people vs elites (judiciary/parliament) narrative of the Tory GE campaign and the perception of BJ as strong-but-beset vs. weak. And the time issue too - prorogation could work both for or against the anti-no-dealers.

Telling Scottish voters that Scottish courts don't matter ....
Shortly before a GE .....
That'll go down well

...but as I've pointed out before, the Scottish vote doesn't count - Cameron won a unexpected victory with only one Scottish Conservative MP. So Cummings the Conservatives will have already wargamed factored in a total wipe out of the Conservative Party in Scotland (which has happened before ), so they really don't care

Pmk

they can just be thankful they got rid of Grayling, who would have shredded the wrong documents and then got his tie stuck in the blades.

Well thank you for that tea–>keyboard near miss.

This happy image shall sustain me through this turbulent day.