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

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has agreed to work with oppositions leaders to prioritise opposing a no-deal Brexit using legislation, with a no-confidence vote in the government reserved as a last resort.
The leaders of the Labour Party, the SNP, the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru, the Green Party and the Independent Group for Change have all agreed to meet again to discuss how to stop the UK crashing out of the European Union on October 31.
Boris Johnson and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker will speak on the phone on Tuesday afternoon to touch base after the G7. The call follows a conversation between the Dutch leader Mark Rutte and the prime minister in which he said the EU27 remained open to new proposals from the UK government.
Nigel Farage has said the Brexit party may be prepared to work with the Conservatives through a “non-aggression pact” if the only way of achieving a “clean-break” Brexit was a general election at a pre-election rally.

A detectorist spokesman said: “People could have died. It was lucky that no children or people on medication with serious health problems ate the cake.”
…
A large fleet of medical staff were called to the scene, including eight ambulances, a rapid response vehicle, two doctors, two clinical supervisors and a Hazardous Area Response Team.

serious business…

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Edibles :sweat_smile: do it again :man_facepalming:

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https://twitter.com/shahmiruk/status/1166434723901693952

Is this the 1st 2 casualtys of Brexit…

Bury FC fans’ optimism turns to despair as club sale deadline is missed
Local MP pleads with league to grant extra time, while talks to save Bolton continue.

Hopefully Bury survives. :cry:

Seems pretty clear what’s going to happen now. Parliament will get a delay to Brexit, either by taking control of the schedule and voting to compel Boris to request an extension, or by a successful vote of no confidence that enables Corbyn (or possibly even a compromise candidate, though that’s really unlikely) to become interim PM and request an extension.

Either way, we won’t leave on Oct 31st, and there will then be a GE. Unfortunately the tories will team up with the Brexit Party and absolutely waffle crush it because our country is full of fucking idiots. And then we’re really screwed.

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https://twitter.com/JoshHalliday/status/1166486338457223169

Grew up in the town next to Bury, went to my first game and many others at Gigg Lane. Awful stuff.

That is exactly Johnson’s plan. He wants to go to the country saying that his government has been blocked from providing brexit. This is why Corbyn is trying to focus on stopping no deal.

Imagine living in a modern, first-world country where a royal figure can suspend your government. Obviously Trump is fucking horrible, but this is a million times worse.

Incredible.

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It’s a disgrace, certainly, but it isn’t the Queen suspending the government, it’s the government suspending the parliament. The Queen does it but it’s done at the request of the government, and if she ever tried to exercise that right independently then the jig would be up for the royal family - at least in terms of their constitutional role.

It’s a bit like a drastic version of Mitch McConnell not letting something get to the Senate, which I think he does from time to time.

What? She alone has the power to suspend government. Trying to hand wave that away by saying if she actually did it she’d be removed is silly. She still has the power that no one else has and she only has it because she was born into royalty.

https://twitter.com/carolecadwalla/status/1166683112757243905?s=19

https://mobile.twitter.com/BBCandrewkerr/status/1166675540713099264

https://mobile.twitter.com/adamfleming/status/1166660943314608130
https://mobile.twitter.com/BBCJayneMcC/status/1166650542967447552
https://mobile.twitter.com/BBCJayneMcC/status/1166664185616457728
https://mobile.twitter.com/BBCJayneMcC/status/1166646595896643584

Jeremy Corbyn has now written to the Queen expressing concern about the move by Boris Johnson, reports our colleague Heather Stewart.

Heather Stewart
(@GuardianHeather)
NEW - understand Jeremy Corbyn has written to the Queen, expressing concern about Boris Johnson’s announcement that he’s proroguing parliament, and requesting a meeting with her.

August 28, 2019

The Labour MP Clive Lewis has said the police will have to remove him and other MPs from the chamber of the House of Commons if parliament is shut down.

Clive Lewis MP
(@labourlewis)
If Boris shuts down Parliament to carry out his No-Deal Brexit, I and other MPs will defend democracy.

The police will have to remove us from the chamber. We will call on people to take to the streets.

We will call an extraordinary session of Parliament. #PeoplesParliament

August 28, 2019
Charlie Falconer, the Labour peer and former lord chancellor, has also been tweeting:

Charlie Falconer
(@LordCFalconer)
Prorog to reduce Parl scrutiny is unconstitutional. Ok to have short prorog to mark end of one parl session and beginning of next, or immediately prior to GE. 2010, 3 days, 2012, 7 days, 2013, 12 days, 2014 , 20 days, 2015, 3 days, 2016, 5 days, 2016, 6 days. This is 5 weeks.

August 28, 2019

Britain is now heading towards an “unprecedented constitutional shock” in which the Queen will be involuntarily involved, adds the Spanish daily, which is considered a national newspaper of record in a country that is itself no stranger to constitutional crises and worse.

Political commentator Paul mason has called on people to gather in central London tonight to protest against the government’s planned suspension of parliament.

Paul Mason
(@paulmasonnews)
Tonight I’m going to stand outside Parliament with this message: democracy is beautiful but easily broken. To defend Parliament against the @BorisJohnson coup we need a peaceful but determined protest movement. King George V statue, 17:30 tonight. pic.twitter.com/prMV9CnQ9A

August 28, 2019

https://mobile.twitter.com/BBCJayneMcC/status/1166634628599472128

https://mobile.twitter.com/jimmyohail/status/1166657538462507008

https://mobile.twitter.com/PBAMcShane/status/1166652773229895680

Mick Whelan, the general secretary of the train drivers’ trade union Aslef, has warned that Boris Johnson’s decision to “try to sideline Parliament in the run up to Brexit” could cause civil unrest.

Whatever your views on Brexit, the democratic process must underpin what is done in all our names – or civil unrest will be the result.

It is disturbing that a Prime Minister, who only has a mandate from the Conservative Party, and not from the electorate, is trying to undermine the foundations of our democracy.

And while people did vote, three years ago, to leave the European Union, no one voted to leave without a deal.

The best way forward is to call a general election and let the people decide.

https://mobile.twitter.com/OwenJones84/status/1166685716132323328?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^tweet

Corbyn: Labour will prevent a ‘smash and grab’ operation
Jeremy Corbyn has said that Labour will do everything it can to prevent what he described as a “smash and grab” operation on the part of the government.

“I have protested in the strongest possible terms on behalf of my party and all the other opposition parties that are going to join in with this in saying that suspending parliament is not acceptable, It’s not on,” the Labour leader said in a clip pooled to broadcasters.

“What the prime minister is doing is a sort of smash and grab on our democracy in order to force through a no deal exit from the European Union. What his he so afraid that that he has to suspend parliament in order to prevent parliament discussing these matters?

Corbyn said that first thing Labour would be doing would be to put forward legislation to prevent the suspension and than there would be a challenge in the form of a vote of no confidence.

The Labour leader was asked about plans by a cross party grouping of MPs to hold an alternative MP, and calls by some Labour MPs for people to take to the streets, he replied: “We will do everything that we can. We will join everybody else in doing that.”


That petition is now at 175,000 signatures. It only had 14,000 just over 2 hours ago. Once a petition gets over 100,000 signatures it is considered for a debate in parliament.

You can see where in the country the signatories come from by looking at this heat map. It’s interesting to see the dark red patches in places like London, Brighton, Oxford and Cambridge, as well as the more affluent parts of big northern cities like Manchester and Sheffield.