POLITICS CORNER

[Stanley]

I don't think it is far off the truth David. We live in an age of smoke and mirrors.

[Stanley]

I note the election of Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen to the post of President of the EU following Junker. I'm glad she has been elected, not because I know much about her but simply because the last thing that was needed in these troubled times was indecision. A clear appointment has to be good.

[Tizer]

Tripps, that video was good - I wonder if a similar one has been done based on Trump?

[Tripps]

Tripps, that video was good -

Good? I'd say better than good. Andrew Neal is still laughing so he says.

I checked out his use of the word 'confide'. Can't find anything that suits the usage. Very disappointing from a future P.M. who unhesitatingly used the word 'fungible' last week.

There's another head to head hustings tonight - so scope for more Boris blunders. I've had enough, and surely all the votes are in by now. - In the words of the lady in the St Agur cheese advert " get on with it"

[Whyperion]

Or better still, demonstrate continually with evidence how incompetent they are!
For instance... In another part of the forest Trump accuses for women of colour of undermining government initiatives on immigration (Actually his.). He tells them to go back where they came from and address the problems in their own crime-ridden governments. Problem is that three out of the four were born in the US. Oh dear!

I was waiting for someone to suggest Trump returns to Ireland, or Scotland - neither place I doubt would want him. Aside from correlation of Colour, Poverty and Crime Against The Person or Their Property I am not certain what is actually meant by American Values.

[Stanley]

Big mistake in the House of Representatives attempting to impeach Trump. It failed of course and was an open goal for the Donald, he is making the most of it. They walked straight into the trap he laid for them. You have to admit he is a wily opponent but if I was him I would hold back on the crowing too soon. As Harold said "Events Dear Boy!"
I'll bet Nancy opposed doing it......
Jacques Barnier reiterates that there will be no renegotiation with the EU. Both the contestants for the Leadership have said they will attempt this. Barnier (and Tillerman tonight on Panorama) say that we will have to bear the consequences of our failure to have a plan when negotiations first started even with Cameron before the ill fated referendum. They were not impressed by the way hae went grandstanding all over Europe instead of going to the centre. Tillerman says that his first thought was "My God, they haven't got a plan". That sounds about right. It becomes even more likely that we will end up with 'no deal'.
See THIS BBC report on the sacking of Baroness Hayter by Corbyn. Could be a big mistake, she has been one of his biggest critics on the Party's handling of anti-Semitism. Predictions are that this is simply going to make the whole situation worse. I'm afraid my impression is that Labour have completely lost the plot and it's very sad.

[plaques]

See THIS BBC report on the sacking of Baroness Hayter by Corbyn

What else could he do? She should be ashamed of herself. A direct comparison of Corbyn with the actions of Hitler is too much for anyone to swallow. Clearly she has it in for Corbyn and nothing he says or does will appease her. Perhaps this is the start of the 'long knives' which will either bring his closeted opponents out into the open or teach them to toe the line. There are long established procedures within the Labour party for making your feelings known but this is not one of them.

[PanBiker]

What else could he do? She should be ashamed of herself. A direct comparison of Corbyn with the actions of Hitler is too much for anyone to swallow. Clearly she has it in for Corbyn and nothing he says or does will appease her.

There are long established procedures within the Labour party for making your feelings known but this is not one of them.

Indeed Plaques, you have hit the nail on the head there.

[Tizer]

Hayter didn't compare Corbyn and his office to `the Nazi regime' as was claimed by a Labour spokesman who briefed the press. She compared their behaviour to the scene in `..the film The Bunker, about the last days of ­Hitler, of how you stop receiving into the inner group any information which suggests that things are not going the way you want' ( Guardian ). Corbyn's office might not like the criticism of their behaviour but they shouldn't be accusing her of antisemitism, especially when she's one of those trying to put an end to antisemitism in the Labour Party that has been ignored by Corbyn et al for so long. It's zany, really!

Barnier speaks much more sense than either Johnson or Hunt. The Brexiteers never seem to be able to grasp the fact that we have to satisfy a union of 27 other countries when that union only has to cope with us. It's amazing they have been so tolerant for three years instead of just saying, `OK you want to leave, there's the door but don't forget your obligations if you want any country in the world to ever trust you again, let alone agree a trade deal with you'.

[Stanley]

Ian and P, I have an idea that if you had heard her explaining the context of the remark (which she admitted was clumsy) it wasn't anything to do with Corbyn but was taken out of context by a report which didn't give a full account of what she said. Perfectly reasonable I reckon. Further, she has had nothing from Corbyn's office, not even to say she is sacked or to ask for an explanation. The reality is just as Tiz says, she used the film 'Downfall' as an example of bunker mentality and I reckon she is close to the truth.
I believe her account and I suspect you also would have less certainty if you listened to her explanation which is that she has always supported Corbyn, her beef is with his choice of advisers and the plain fact that anti-Semitism does exist within the Party. As another peer said also, Corbyn is sincere and a wonderful campaigner but in matters of leadership he hasn't grown into the job.
I think he relies too much on process and inclusivity when actually decisive action needs to be taken. Brutality is sometimes a necessity, you can't be the reasonable nice guy when your enemies are playing dirty. I said right from the start of his leadership that this was his big mistake, he should have had a night of the long knives.....
I was wrong yesterday wasn't I, it's Michelle Barnier not Jacques! There again he comes across as perfectly accurate and honest. The bottom line is that May and her advisers never had a plan, only preconceived ideas.
I heard a man on Thought for the Day recounting how he was once in a car crash when driven by a bad driver. He could see the collision happening but was helpless as he was a passenger. I think he described our current position exactly.

[Tizer]

I heard a man on Thought for the Day recounting how he was once in a car crash when driven by a bad driver. He could see the collision happening but was helpless as he was a passenger. I think he described our current position exactly.

Yes, I appreciated that too. It could have been `Thought for Three Years'!

Boris really got his knickers in a twist over the kipper regulation, didn't he! Spouted all about the Brussels bureaucrats damaging our trade in smoked fish - and then having to be told that it was our very own UK regulation and nowt to do with the EU. What a lark! (but hang on, this is the man who will probably be our new PM...aaargh!!)

Have you noticed that the Tories have suddenly got their own Magic Money Tree, after all the criticism of Labour for their spending plans? Now it's a fight over who's got the biggest money tree...mine's bigger than yours etc. Suddenly we've got both major parties promising to end austerity. Half the population will believe anything their favourite party tells them and the other half don't believe a word that's being said by the politicians any more.

[PanBiker]

Yes it's give away time for the public sector, best offer wins syndrome. As to austerity, Theresa sorted all that last year didn't she? She said so anyway so it must be right.

Meanwhile the Judicial Review into the 50's women's pension robbery concluded in June still has not reached a ruling. Magic money tree that one first, these women all vote.

[plaques]

I have an idea that if you had heard her explaining the context of the remark (which she admitted was clumsy) it wasn't anything to do with Corbyn but was taken out of context by a report which didn't give a full account of what she said.

. From Tizer's Guardian reference....
'Those around Corbyn had a “bunker mentality”, she said, accusing them of refusing to give key information to the party’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) as well as the Equality and Human Rights Commission.'
also I may add quoted by the BBC Huf Post and probably others.

Whatever Baroness Hayter actually meant when she dragged Hitler's bunker into the context wasn't just clumsy it was stupid beyond words. Hitler will forever be associated with the murder of millions of Jews so any comment that includes Hitler always carries with it the stigma by implication that those linked in this context are similarly minded.
The second part of her reported statement reads as though she had direct evidence of some facts that are being held from the NEC and the EHRC. Is this another case of bad reporting.

Until Baroness Hayter give a full account of what she actually said then we shall never know the truth.

[Stanley]

"
Until Baroness Hayter give a full account of what she actually said then we shall never know the truth."
She did that as far as I was concerned in her R4 interview P.
I watched the programme on Brexit last night that was broadcast the night before. Everything confirmed what has always been my opinion, that the EU took a reasonable point of view all the way through. Their main point is that UK didn't have an agreed position before putting in the Article 50 letter and I think that is certainly the case. In addition, our team went in on the defensive as once we had put that letter in the EU held all the cards, I do believe I pointed this out before the letter. In contrast, at an early stage, the EU agreed a position with all 27 members and published everything.
The bottom line is that the political management of Brexit has been, and still is, chaotic. I can't think of a mistake they haven't made. If as expected Johnson gets to be PM we are in even worse shape, he has no grasp of the problem and commits gaff after gaff. Then there is the small matter of his simplistic belief in the cure-all of a 'friendship' with Trump and the 'Special Relationship'. In addition, the seizure of the taker in the Straits of Hormuz injects another level of hazard. "Events Dear Boy". The ship of state is sailing in perilous waters.
Later, after listening to James Brokenshire spending almost four minutes saying bugger all that we didn't all know, in other words avoiding answering as he knew nothing about the questions he was asked, it struck me that in his book that was a successful interview. This is par for the course today.....

[Tizer]

I agree with all of that. From the very start of the Brexit `negotiations' the UK government has treated the EU leaders as an opponent who must be defeated rather than as an ally with whom we must work to achieve a satisfactory outcome. All the time, the attitude on our side has been that they are going to make it difficult for us and we must use threats to press for a better deal. To begin with the EU were astonished by our attitude and then they resigned themselves to it. They are doing their best to help us within the legal and practical constraints of a union of 28 countries and I'm amazed that they have so much patience when they know we went into this with no plan and little understanding among our politicians of the workings of the EU. The attitude over there is `Pity poor little Britain, once a great nation and look at them now.' I wonder where Bruff is these days? Living it up in Italy perhaps? I hope so!

[Tripps]

No - he said Portugal. We had a nice conversation about custard tarts.

[Stanley]

In addition there's the major problem that from the start the Tories always treated Brexit as an internal party matter and ignored everyone else including Parliament. Some of us argued right from the beginning that we needed an all party approach as this was a situation comparable to the outbreak of WW2. It never happened and the scars run deep, that is the reason why there was no agreement on how we exited.
I've often wondered about Richard as well. He was such a steadying influence and I particularly remember him raising the point about the Irish Border before anyone else identified it. My God! Was he right!
Read this list.... Brexit. Johnson. Trump. Hormuz. Then assess how optimistic you are. My reaction is unprintable.

[plaques]

Read this list.... Brexit. Johnson. Trump. Hormuz. Then assess how optimistic you are.

Someone had blundered.
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

[PanBiker]

Came across this, quite a realistic and fair assessment of the situation regarding the media assassination of Jeremy Corbyn and his fitnesses to govern. Blog written by Jonathan Cook:

" Jonathan Cook is a Nazareth- based journalist and winner of the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. No one pays him to write these blog posts"

The Plot to Keep Jeremy Corbyn Out of Power

[Stanley]

Jonathan's assessment is lucid, well informed and at least as valid as any others I have read. However, he has the same problem that the rest of us have, the subject is so convoluted and complicated that nobody can strike the killer blow. Just as much a problem for the anti-Corbyn brigade as the rest of us.
I admit to being frustrated by the constant attacks but always remind myself that I do not know the whole truth and am not expert enough in the actual mechanisms of politics. All I know is that it has become too complicated and we are in a very dangerous place that is governed by chance and the 'unknowns'.
Watching the news and noting the actions of Hammond and Gauk I can only see a vote of confidence and a subsequent general election and that in itself is another lottery.
None of this gives me any grounds for optimism, whoever gets power eventually is on a hiding to nothing. Well done Cameron. You certainly left a legacy!
Later, listening to discussions about how ships can be protected in the Straits of Hormuz, apart from a general admission that we haven't enough ships to protect merchant shipping, it was stated that we have 13 ships that would be suitable. I have a supplementary question, how many of that 13 are fit for sea duty and could be fully manned. I suspect we will not hear that asked or answered.

[Tripps]

It'll be Boris tomorrow, and Chancellor Philip Hammond says he will resign before he is fired.

I found this in the 'comments' somewhere.

"Did Hammond reveal that Theresa May WAS committed to remain?
In respect of his upcoming resignation if Boris becomes PM, he said:

“"It's very important that the prime minister is able to have a chancellor who is closely aligned with him in terms of policy.”

And if that applies to Boris, then surely it applied to May as well?"
[/i0

What to make of it - does it show Mrs May was always a 'remainer' or is it 'fake news and populist nonsense - or maybe even a perceptive truth?
. .

[Stanley]

Who knows David. We are not party to what is being decided for us. It is an mystery enfolded in an enigma.
After all, what the hell do we know about high matters of state.....
(Tugs forelock and carries on cleaning the cess pit out.....)
Later, listening to the news coming in, it's obvious that we are already feeling the results of Brexit in terms of business and the economy. Basically, everyone is stood still waiting to see what happens and no major decisions are being taken. The commentators voice another factor, they have accepted that Boris is going to win the leadership but have no confidence of his ability to do anything he has promised or even stay in post. They see a general election as inevitable. There is also the uncomfortable fact that the US has reduced interest rates, an indication of the fragility of the global economy. The BofE is having to do some very careful thinking.
There is another factor, the election of Jo Swinson as Leader of the Liberals increases the likelihood that many Tories could defect to the Liberals as they have promised their main policy at the moment is to avoid Brexit.
Meanwhile, in Scotland, it is widely accepted that Johnson as PM will increase calls for independence. For different reasons, connected with the border, the odds are that we are going to see a swing in favour of the reunification of Ireland. Wales is our biggest exporter to the EU and they can see a big hit if there is any disturbance to present tariffs. (And of course there is the pending Brecon and Radnorshire by-election on August 1st. This could give some pointers and at the moment the Liberals are leading the polls.)

[Stanley]

Just heard Jo Swinson on Today and she refused to be bullied into submission which I am afraid is the current interviewing style. She insisted on having her say. Good lass!
Later. Listening to Michael Fallon on Today being optimistic about Boris. He keeps saying that he has a 'mandate' but doesn't say that this is of course a tiny proportion of the electorate voted him in. This is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a mandate as I understand it.

[plaques]

Our intrepid foreign minister Jeremy Hunt having potentially started a confrontation with Iran over the pirating of one of their oil tankers in Gibraltar has now come up with a cunning plan. He proposes a joint force with the European nations to police the Straits of Hormuz against Iranian interference. The simple solution would be to release the Iranian oil tanker with a 'we are watching you' warning. Humiliating because we are GREAT Britain, but problem solved. Whether an international force will want to get involved with our cock up is debatable and if it does it will take some time to organize. Then there is the cost which Hunt is fastidiously avoiding you can bet it won't come cheap. The Panama flagged shipping look very vulnerable to interception and with only about 11 patrol boats as a naval force you can bet it will be the Americans who will take their place. And so it escalates to a point of no return. Better to eat humble pie than get embroiled with our 'special relationship' with Trump's America.

[Tizer]

BBC' Laura K on Twitter: `Last thought for now....in big picture, today is likely to be the day Brexiteers take control of govt, losing the 'if only' defence of their project.. Johnson's backers believe this is why he, and only he can get this done - he'll inherit a pretty toxic political landscape.' But she also tells us not to forget `..there was a lot of anecdotal evidence during the campaign of undecideds moving to Jeremy Hunt - never these days rule out a huge upset!'.