Land of Hope & Glory? - UK Politics and other stuff

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Hereā€™s Independent Conservative MP Nick Bolesā€™ assessment of Boris Johnson:

https://twitter.com/NickBoles/status/1169508779546882048

Also, hereā€™s Conservative MP Nick Bolesā€™ other assessment of Boris Johnson:

ā€œI have worked closely with Johnson as his chief of staff when he was first elected Mayor of London. We have had well-advertised differences in the past. But he is a modern, liberal Tory, who won two elections in a city that is naturally Labour, who has grown immensely in stature and maturity in his eight years as Mayor, and who will lead the country with the same humanity and sense of fairness that he brought to the leadership of our capital city.ā€

Nick Boles: Iā€™m a moderniser. I backed Remain. And hereā€™s why I believe Johnson should be the next Conservative leader

Heh, Johnsonā€™s own brother just quit as a minister and MP citing an unresolvable tension between family loyalty and the national interest:

https://twitter.com/JoJohnsonUK/status/1169555292918571008

Great first reply:

https://twitter.com/misterscoop/status/1169557982490894337

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I agree. That one Little Lord Fauntleroy guy lounging around like he was on a hammock while people yelled at him was hysterical.

From a negotiating perspective, though, I can see where the Brexiteers are coming from. ā€œMake the best deal you can, but absolutely under no circumstances are you permitted to NOT make a dealā€ is an impossible position (and one I have been in many times).

That would only apply if you were genuinely attempting to broker a deal in the first place. One of the primary reasons this bill was brought to the floor was the growing suspicion that unless forced to do so the government had no intention of making any genuine efforts at all in this regard.

That makes sense. I am not an expert on this particular situation but itā€™s also possible that whatever leverage the no-deal threat carries wonā€™t change much at all. The EU seems to be pretty OK with the possibility of no deal, or at least are pretty good at looking like it, and definitely have some good reasons to not make this easy on the UK. Sometimes you just have to eat the shit sandwich.

Seems no-deal is much worse for GB than it is for the EU so the EU is automatically in a pretty powerful bargaining position assuming GB isnā€™t just going to tell the EU to fuck off out of spiteā€¦

Another vote for an early GE now scheduled for Monday.

Tories are up to something ā€¦ I donā€™t believe that the passing of the Kinnock amendment by accident (no tellers) was an accident - they knew the bill would pass and wanted that amendment on there and didnā€™t want to risk it to a vote.

Not sure what their next play will be but no doubt it will not be completely above board.

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Youā€™re probably quite right but I have so little faith in this shitshow that until things (whatever they are) are set in stone Iā€™m just a bit suspicious.

While another GE is inevitable on itā€™s own itā€™s not really helping. We donā€™t need another Brexit proxy vote - we need a second referendum (imo) - the current deal on offer or remain.

Would be SO good if Lab and LD had made a secret electoral pact and lured Johnson and his band of fuckwits into calling for an early election.

Very unlikely to happen with the two current leaders, unfortunately. Swansong seems as close to the Tories as Clegg was.

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https://mobile.twitter.com/aljwhite/status/1169650526826508288

https://mobile.twitter.com/SadiqKhan/status/1169641813491236865

https://mobile.twitter.com/dionfanning/status/1169309541902770182

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https://mobile.twitter.com/lizziedearden/status/1169533538653351939

https://mobile.twitter.com/DannyShawBBC/status/1169655415191330823

https://mobile.twitter.com/chunkymark/status/1169676333028466688

At least, in these fractious and divided times we can all agree that weā€™d rather see Boris dead in a ditch.

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