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...

Mark Di Stefano @markdistef
This is quite a scoop from The i — The Queen for the first time asked advice on how to remove a prime minister — which comes from columnist @ianbirrell who cites one anonymous source:

inews.co.uk/news/uk/queen-sought-advice-sacking-prime-minister-638320
Queen 'sought advice' on sacking Prime Minister, source claims
The monarch reportedly asked aides for first time in her reign just how and when she could dismiss a PM

The Queen sought advice on the circumstances in which she could sack a prime minister ahead of Tuesday’s incendiary Supreme Court ruling, i has been told.

A source claims that the monarch asked her aides for the first time for clarification on just when and how she could dismiss a prime minister who refuses to step aside.

The alleged consultations reinforce suggestions that the monarch and her most senior aides had deep concerns about Boris Johnson’s decision to prorogue Parliament, even before the country’s most senior court was asked to declare the move unlawful.

Smacks of brenda covering her own arse tbh.

Hooo but she is showing the potential to do what all Leavers' fear the most - an unelected interference in "the will of the people". I'm firmly of the opinion she wouldn't point this out willingly.

I simply don't believe the Symonds relationship is real. I mean, it may look real, he may think it's real but...well, I'm watching for the inevitable break-up.

Although I agree taking legal advice was savvy - she's no fool. It's just the leaking...

That would be my top guess too, Hoo.

I wonder if Lyndon Crosby is also telegraphing this is not one of his campaigns?

I hope he stays away. 🤞

Missed this from a couple of days ago. It's fascinating

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-party-meps-salary-eu-labour-latest-a9121601.html
Brexit Party MEPs earn four times more money on top of their EU salaries than any other party
Brexit Party MEPs were the highest earners in the parliament by some way

The findings, compiled by the NGO Transparency International, shows total side earnings from the party's 29-strong delegation is somewhere between €2,064,468 and €4,683,916 a year pre-tax.

The second biggest earning group is from the far-right Italian party League, which takes between €369,192 and €1,067,952 pre-tax.

perkingfaintly - don't you realise: it's an irregular verb ?:

I am principled
You are a collaborator
He colludes with foreign powers
We meet with allies work with Trump/Russia
They are enemies of the people

Mathanxiety - I know it's not a definitive list, but it misses out the Battle of George Square (in Glasgow) in 1919, where the Government used an early form of the CCA and the threat of the army (with tanks moved into position) to quell a potential uprising of the common people https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BattleofGeorge_Square?wprov=sfti1

There's a high risk that all of this work will, at best, lead to a 3 month adjournment and the frenzy of a Brexit election, and the Tories will win a susbstantial majority and then go straight for a no deal (by choice) and start/continue dismantling the country.
Once again, the message going out on the BBC tonight was that a no deal will do Brexit, and the country will then move on to deal with improving the NHS, etc.

Re Tom Newton Dunn story in Sun about Johnson, Cummings and Symonds

Pippa Crerar@pippacrerar
Totally true. One old pal tells me: “It’s like Stockholm syndrome”.🤷🏻‍♀️

Thats a mirror journalist agreeing

Krishnan Guru-Murthy
@krishgm
“I know Charlotte well and I entirely trust what she has to say” Matt Hancock on #C4news tonight

I'm not sure Matt Hancock backing you is a good thing but Peston has been getting a lot of criticism for his seeming obsequiousness towards Johnson. Interesting.

BJ will remain MP. He's ruled out allowing a Scottish referendum. We will all go down together. In the unlikely event that he allows a Scottish referendum, wouldn't Westminster just tell Scotland to do one, and refuse to spend time and money on the enormous amount of work needed to split Scotland from the UK?

So who is Carrie Symonds? What's her background?
This is getting like the court of the Tudors.

Scills Matthews @ scillsygirl
This story and the Independent’s Michael Gove “Different PM story” suggest that there’s some new briefing going on from Tory party #CPC19

This is the Gove story

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/michael-gove-boris-johnson-brexit-latest-conservative-party-conference-a9125786.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1569788793
Michael Gove suggests there could be 'a new prime minister' if Boris Johnson fails to get Brexit deal
'I can’t believe that the EU would want a situation where we are continually negotiating a deal, with a new Labour or other prime minister'

I also see that since the Big Reveal in the Sunday Press that Johnson will build 40 new hospitals, that has shrunk to only 6 having been budgeted according to Matt Hancock.

What a difference a day makes.

Obviously the backtracking on numbers doesn't make the front pages tonight like it did yesterday.

Well I'm sure Scotland could follow Johnson's inspirational lead and say they don't agree with him and still have a referendum. It won't matter if it's not legal.

@mathanxiety I'm going to refresh my memory too. Such an interesting period. Marianne in Chains by Robert Gildea is also v good on Vichy, occupation & resistance if you are interested.

I do take your point that there is a history of riots & civil disobedience plus terrible violence perpetrated elsewhere which is rarely touched upon - the prevailing narrative is of a peaceful nation since the Civil War in which extremists do not succeed. I do think that's broadly true of 19th & 20th C England ( compared with the rest of Europe).

These threads (I lurked from the beginning) are like the antidote to Twitter - proper information, intelligent & constructive debate, persuasive & careful argument.

Unfortunately, the SNP (leadership at least) is desperate to follow the process legally, which means getting the Section 30 notice to hold Indyref2, to keep the EU (especially Spain) on-side.

Given how dreadful the English WM has been, the E26 [sic] would probably look favourably on a Scottish UDI/unofficial referendum - except for Spain, which is resisting calls for Catalonian, which it claims is not allowed because of its constitution (unlike Scotland, which does have a constitutional right to exist).

And I see Gove is back positioning himself as the adult in the room for when Johnson finally goes too far.

As I am bored I had a quick check on the polling data of that Voting intention YouGov pole. And blow me down with a feather if the Don’t Knows (16%) won’t vote (11%) and refused to say 3% are 30% of the poll.

It means the gap between Con and Lab is actually 8%. Cons 23% Lab 15% Lib15% Brexit 10% Green4%.

Most of the don’t knows were female, Labour or Lib Dem voters.

So the don’t know, don’t care mind your own bloody business party has the clear majority atm.

That was a very interesting headline from Scotland:

no sooner has the door slammed on Davidson's bum than the Scottish Tories U-turn and now want No Deal

How will that go down in Scotland, pretty, mother and anyone else there ?

Most of the don’t knows were female, Labour or Lib Dem voters.

I’m not sure I follow... How can someone be a “don’t know” and simultaneously a “Labour or LD voter”?

Again, the detail of "for the first time in her reign" seems to me gilding the lily.

The Queen's been on the throne since 1952. The only person who would have to hand the information of everything the Queen has ever discussed in the last 67 years is... the Queen.

Her Maj might have commented to someone that she's never done X or Y before... but who would that person be, who then runs straight to the media?

All smells a bit odd.

More papers.
I see the compulsory vaccination story makes the headlines too

If it’s that they tend towards those two parties, that would seemingly makes things look poor for the Tories, as come the election.

Oaken previously voted in 2017.