Westminstenders: It's like a bloody aviary

[RedToothBrush]

From Flamingos to Yellowhammer and Black Swans.

The Tory Remainer is now a Dodo. Instead the party in inhabited by disaster capitalist Vultures. Jeremy Corbyn, meanwhile, has been labelled by the right wing press as a Chicken. The SNP would very much like Boris Johnson to be a Jailbird. The LDs are keen to sing like Canaries about the contents of BlackSwan. The Br

And the Tower of London is starting to get very jumpy about the whereabouts and location of its Ravens.

I would not, however, advise eating urban wild pigeons if things get desperate, from what I know of their health.

DGR - that reminds me of the old story that my dad likes to tell....

In the beginning, The Lord God Almighty, sitting on His throne on high, turned to His mate, the Archangel Gabriel and said "Gabby, today I'm going to create Scotland. I will make it a country of dark beautiful mountains, purple glens and rich green forests. I will give it clear swift flowing rivers and I will fill them with salmon. The land shall be lush and fertile, on which the people shall grow barley to brew into an amber nectar that will be much sought after the world over. Underneath the land I shall lay rich seams of coal.In the waters around the shores there will be an abundance of fish and beneath the sea bed there will be vast deposits of oil and gas".

"Excuse me Sire", interrupted the Archangel Gabriel, "Don't you think you are being a bit too generous to these Scots"?"Not really", replied the Lord, "wait 'til you see the neighbours I'm giving them".

@flouncyfanny, I think that Wetherspoons has suffered the 'Gerald Ratner effect' somewhat. Shame.

All my ds student friends tend to go to Spoons as it's cheap 😡 They're all remainers though as far as I know. Difficult to win an argument with them about it though.

Spoons avoider here too.

The Border Reivers were neighbours from hell whichever side of it you were on.

I do believe that thicko Tim has damaged his brand with his very vocal stance on Brexit.

I try not to live life in an echo chamber, but when Tims travails were announced earlier in the week, I noticed a few varied comments across non-Brexit groups making the same point (Gerald Ratner being remembered too). In a way, it's hard to disagree. The problem increasingly-Tiny-Tim is now facing is people are going to wonder if he put 1% the effort into his business as he did promoting Brexit, then maybe he'd have a better business. Does Wetherspoons have shareholders ? Certainly if I were a shareholder I'd be mighty pissed off at Tims business acumen.

Just looked at the 'spoons wiki page, and I notice that carpets for each pub are produced by ...

Axminster

... which takes us into a whole new layer of irony .

I don't wish this sort of thing often because it means people lose their jobs but I soooo hope Spoons goes bump.

Not strictly brexit related but here's a scathing assessment of Mr Brexit USA (Clearly on a downward spiral). The next 14 months will decide the US's fate, our fate, and also the rest of the world's probably.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/15/donald-trump-nuts-impeachment-25th-amendment-2020-election

I'm really struggling at the moment (4am wake ups) because there is nothing in the news it seems except uncontested Tory electioneering

I know all the sensible reasons why the opposition parties delayed an election but it's hard, with parliament shut, and Johnson just doing whatever he pleases, and the media all behind him. I know Labour are campaigning too but it is never reported.

I know the polls are likely to narrow in an election but I find the polls hard to read too. I don't entirely believe them, certainly the ones done by the papers have alterior motives, but it's still hard.

Apparently the flu season is supposed to be particularly bad this year. I'm not sure I can continue to work in A&E much longer if each year is going to be worse than the last. My colleagues agree and are leaving en masse.

I've never been a fervent Remainer, I did vote Remain, I would accept a soft brexit in the hopes of unifying the country (I've held this view for ages, long before other remainers, and part of why I've supported Corbyn for longer than some) but I don't understand what it would take to get the tories out. The damage done has been so catastrophic and no one seems to care, or want it to change. It just feels so impossible.

Is there any hope?

Yes, the media have a lot to answer for.
Really rabid extreme views get aired and supported under the guise of healthy patriotism and love of 'democracy'.
Heard a caller on Andrew Castle' s phone in say she's 'disgusted' with how the French and the Germans are 'stealth colonizing us'. He didn't challenge that. Said it's 'hard to argue with such passion'.
So wrong on so many levels!

I think there is a large proportion of the population who neither understands nor wants representative democracy. The concept of checks and balances eludes them completely.
Until that's addressed there won't be a way out of the quagmire.

I don't wish this sort of thing often because it means people lose their jobs but I soooo hope Spoons goes bump.

Or bought out ?

After seeing Tim Martin on panorama I too hope he lands hard on his arse.
@Squids, I think there is still hope. Pinning mine on a cross party rescue.
Media is still printing too much about Johnson and not enough about Corbyn, but recently imo there is more positive info about labour policy.

All over...for two and a half years...2all.

Black should have won really. Take Smiths runs away and Jimmy getting injured at Edgbaston.

I think there is a large proportion of the population who neither understands nor wants representative democracy. The concept of checks and balances eludes them completely.

Interesting point. I think you're right, there is a sizeable chunk that wants rule by the principle of "might is right": the authoritarian wave that red has frequently referred to. They were not always there though, and they have not appeared out of nowhere as some seem to think. I believe they're the product of media influence, led by men from the top acting out that principle. I also believe - or at least hope desperately - that it could be undone.

I've been thinking about no deal today (I've been weeding and then jet washing, so have been ruminating on stuff!). The problem Johnson now has is that a GE now can't be until mid-late Nov at the earliest. And we've already been told that there will be almost-immediate effects of no deal at Dover and on the surrounding motorways due to the extra paperwork. A few weeks into no deal, it will be very noticeable that things are going wrong. What are his chances of winning if people are already clicking that 'Project Fear' / Yellowhammer are actually the reality?

On this basis, I'm really not sure he'll be happy about a no deal Brexit once it's all going tits up.

No deal Brexit GE...missing a vital bit!

Dark I made the mistake of reading some of the comments underneath a KH tweet about Ireland taking in immigrants. Really wish I hadn’t.

I’ve been listening to another podcast (me not weeding, but still preserving allotment produce. I’ve got TONs of tomatoes still!)
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p07nbyfk
squids I concluded that at least that particular audience was very reassuring! Nobody was buying the Tory’s litany...

Oh yeah and some of the comments about the RNLI using part of its donations on foreign shores you know helping people not drown. I despair of some folks basic lack of humanity.

Loving the podcast recommendations Cherin.

I want my 15yo to listen to the philosopher one. He choose geography over history for GCSE and has an ignorance of history that’s sooooo solid you could slice and fry it. At least, I’ll try exposing him to some critical thinking on civic duties....(his school is very good at this type of stuff, but this year they’re just on a mission. Exam preparation uber alles)

Those of you who reckon we are not a "flaggy nation" need to have a word with the unionists/loyalists over here.

Getting back to this possible double prorogation... can he do it?? Can he do it before parliament reconvenes? Can the queen tell him to eff off?

It's certainly out there. A large proportion of the total population, maybe a majority, though never a majority of the electorate since many don't vote and are pround of this, as if they are showing the politicians what for, would support a 'benevolent' dictator on the Duterte model who sent out death squad to shoot the criminals, because 'we know who they are,' and ruled by similar arbitrary proclamations, abolsihing the politicians who are 'only in it for themselves,' etc.

So long as the people's tribunes don't come for them or their families, plenty of folk would be fine with that.

Regards policy, see the French Gilet Jaunes: Cut taxes, raise spending, cancel the debt and borrow more money. Easy.