Westminstenders: The Tory Party Spectacular

[RedToothBrush]

A row over parliamentary language and conduct and how MPs are afraid of extremists has over shadowed talk of Brexit.

Cummings has said if you don't want to leave without a deal, vote for a deal.

Yet there isn't a Johnson approved one in front of the Commons and the EU are utterly despairing of Johnson's blank non papers and his full on Trump bullshit.

Then there's the threats to the rule of law.

Apparently there are five known suggestions to bypass the Benn Act and refuse to ask for an extension.
See Twitter Thread Here

This weekend sees the start of the Tory Party Conference. With a parliamentary vote to block a recess, its rather scuppered plans for the rest of the conference. Johnson's planned speech at the conference clashes with PMQ so he may well not attend the Commons.

Expect the conference to be.... Er... Inflammatory...

And I'm off to bed.

Remember the story is about corruption and abuse of power.

Everything else is side show.

Slogan to get in your heads to remind you of this
But his abuse of power

Don't get distracted journalists.

One of the qualities associated with the UK used to be tolerance ( and political moderation).

I disagree with that. I think there have always been tensions - whether out and out sectarian viciousness in certain cities and regions, or football tribalism and hooliganism, or latter day Islamophobia, the tendency to 'other' has been robust.

The history of the Lewes Bonfire up to the last 50 years is not a history of tolerance.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewes_Bonfire

The opportunistic Conservative Party itself welcomed and encouraged Orange bigotry as a means of gaining political advantage back at the turn of the twentieth century and it has never questioned its links to organised protestant fundamentalism and all it stands for. It is still known as The Conservative and Unionist Party.

Not to mention all the anti Irish and anti black sentiment of the 50s, 60s, 70s..

Labour’s platform is now much more extreme following the conference
CendrillonSings

You mean the scrapping of the hated Universal Credit that has made hundreds of thousands of lives so miserable?

Yes, that will be unpopular. They must have a death wish.

Anyone else want to play Bingo with me?
Red
Scary
Very Scary
Extreme
More extreme
Much more extreme
Boris
The Observer

Just looking at the sky news app headlines which is currently going with PM overshadowed by scandal arriving at conference. Whereas BBC goes for Government pledges £13 billion for 40 new hospitals. And picture of Johnson standing at the bedside of some poor bastard who looks distinctly unimpressed.

Finally ... The Guardian has picked up on the £700,000 Directors Loan made by Arcuri to Hacker House in the 2018 accounts.

amp.theguardian.com/politics/2019/sep/28/boris-johnson-jennifer-arcuri-loan-hacker-house-grant?CMP=share_btn_tw&__twitter_impression=true

Helen Mountfield QC and the Good Law Project have put together an analysis of why the CCA can’t be used to get round the Benn Bill.

@mathanxiety
You're right - as I was posting that I did think about sectarianism & I should have been clearer. I was referring to a longer period of English history - eg no French Revolution/ path to universal suffrage/ failure of extremist parties/ postwar consensus - & also how the rest of the world viewed the English political system & discourse.

That's now over.

I am really frightened by the culture wars. I think the 'will of the people' can be dangerous ( eg 2 German referenda 1933/4) which is why representative democracy is required.

I find it extraordinary that people don't want 'experts' in charge, can't articulate any actual benefits of Brexit, just 'feel' life will be better & are so easily manipulated in this great con trick.

Interesting that the under 50s ( who are probably statistically better educated) don't fall for it in the same numbers.

It also occurs to me that current politics might have something in common with French politics of the 1930s - increasingly extreme & prone to far right violence, with various coalitions of liberals & left. Anyone left of centre branded a Marxist & unpatriotic.
I'd expect something like Petainisme to be the goal - authoritarian/paternalistic/saving the country from itself.

www.expressandstar.com/news/health/2019/07/05/midland-metropolitan-hospital-build-hit-by-government-delay/

We also have one of those ‘unfinished’ hospitals in Dudley.

Government were holding off on signing off on new contractor (no worries it’s only three years late).

Are they going to attempt to count this in with the new ones ??

Like the other NHS money was announced as new that wasn’t?

The defence money that was new but wasn’t ?

The towns regeneration money that turns out it’s just two existing funds cobbled together again more new money that wasn’t?

So now we have new hospitals that aren’t new just unfinished.

twitter.com/hilarybennmp/status/1177611076650885120?s=21

Hilary Benn sensibly going with the ‘safeguard’ act.

I prefer the ‘#protecting us from a totally fucking useless Government who I wouldn’t trust to water my plants whilst on holiday who are beholden to disaster capitalist puppeteers and have zero interest into needs of its residents or the rule of law and lie to us on an almost daily basis.

But I get that yours is easier to type Hilary.

driedlimes sums it up perfectly for me when they write:

"I am really frightened by the culture wars. I think the 'will of the people' can be dangerous ( eg 2 German referenda 1933/4) which is why representative democracy is required.

I find it extraordinary that people don't want 'experts' in charge, can't articulate any actual benefits of Brexit, just 'feel' life will be better & are so easily manipulated in this great con trick."

Yes. I have faint hope that the UK will get out of this mess whole in my 24 year-old-child's lifetime, let alone my own. I am lucky as my own life has turned out such that I am able to retire to another European country on second passport, but this doesn't mean I don't weep (and rant, and rave, and rage) for what is going on in my native country.

Sorry for mistakes - Driedlimes; a second passport.

twitter.com/mrmichaelspicer/status/1177619193878994946?s=21

So aside from the lies, the philandering ways, lack of statesmanship, use of racist language, his speeches are terrible.

He does give comedians plenty of material though

So the BBC headline news is the promised new hospitals followed by deselection of Margret Hodge.

What the fuck is going on at the BBC?

Is it better to fight or appease?

By appeasement I mean passing WAB plus EEA in the hope that there are sufficient numbers of moderate leavers who are now satisfied & some form of normality can return. The risks are that the Brexit Overton window has shifted & that you have merely fed the extreme right.

Or you fight ( using political means) on the basis that the threats of violence & mob rule are the empty words of bullies. The risks are that you have misjudged & real violence ensues. Those manipulating the mob do not play by conventional rules so the level of unpredictability is high.

I wish I knew the answer. I find the first more persuasive right now.

The BBC are scared shitless of the Tories who threatened to take their licence fees away so are singing their tune and have been for a while now. Today's headline is even more blatantly biased than usual, though.

Gary Kasparov... "The point of modern propaganda isn't only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth."
The purpose of the never ending bullshit stream is to grind you into disengaging. I know you know this Red, thank you for resisting.

Ahead of our puppy visit, I thought you may like to see an article about cats and how they show love [ Our tortoiseshell definitely comes and sits on you if you cry, has mastered "Herrooo?" as her morning wake-up call and even mimicked dd's baby cry in order to get attention!

Boris is showing off - I've seen at least 2 links to The Spectator and we all know who works there and who the usual Source @ No10 is. Trump tactics. 'This guy doesn't give a f^&%' projections

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/pm-sorry-for-claiming-child-sex-inquiry-spaffed-60m-up-wall-df306kdgl

So now he’s apologising for something he said he didn’t say ?

Boris Johnson apologised for saying the independent child sex abuse inquiry “spaffed” £60m “up the wall” when he met former prep schoolmates in private this year.

www.rotherhamadvertiser.co.uk/news/view,pm-boris-johnson-lies-over-spaffing-cse-money-up-the-wall-comment_33439.htm

Mr Johnson said: "Well, that’s actually not what I said, but what I certainly can say is all such investigations, certainly here, are extremely important.

He lies as easily as he breathes.

twitter.com/andrewfalloon/status/1117303245829885952?s=21

@JeSuisPoulet

You might enjoy this thread then. New Zealand MP and a volunteer community cat.

^My Dad is recovering from an operation. Mum went out and left a door slightly ajar.

My parents do not have a cat.^

@Driedlimes, I can’t say that Petain has come out well though. I would say he certainly is one of the most despised president

I still like the idea of a GNU passing the WA with a technical extension to get all the legislation in place, then dissolving for a GE to be fought on the future relationship. They could release all the no deal risk documentation too. I know it's probably fantasy land, the Lib Dems wouldn't support a GNU with that objective unless maybe it was attached to a PV, but stranger things have happened.

Helen Mountfield QC and the Good Law Project have put together an analysis of why the CCA can’t be used to get round the Benn Bill.

Just because it should not be used (because its power does not extend that far in law) does not mean that Johnson won't try to use it.

Remembering of course its politically useful to Johnson to build anger up against parliament and the court who will try and stop Johnson working outside the limits of the law and beyond his power.