POLITICS CORNER

[Tizer]

As we began the third year of pre-Brexit trauma the Brexiteers cunningly shifted the discussions towards a binary deal v. no-deal situation. Any thoughts of a second referendum or no-Brexit were drowned out by the constant demands to decide whether it should be a deal or no-deal exit. I'm glad to see that this has been reversed somewhat by Johnson's failures so that we hear more about a second referendum again. Mind you, the Brexiteers are still trying to brainwash people - one of them was still insisting this morning that if we don't get a deal it means we have no option other than to crash out without one. Rubbish!

We had a LibDem leaflet through the letterbox yesterday with Jo Swinson simply stating that we must stop Brexit. Good for her.

[plaques]

There's an interesting letter that Johnson has sent to Corbyn proposing a general election. Letter. Carrying comments as ... It is our duty to end this nightmare and provide the country with a solution as soon as we reasonably can. and ...therefore you will support an election next week so the voters can replace this broken Parliament... We cannot risk further paralysis.
Not a word about who caused this 'nightmare' and who 'broke' parliament resulting in paralysis.
Lots of IFs and half truths, eg, Johnson has not negotiated a leaving date with the EU nor have they yet offered one. To suggest that he would have offered an earlier date but was prevented from doing so is a complete lie, he said himself he wasn't going to negotiate.
Then we come to the election date that he proposes 12th December. This means that parliament would close down on the 6th November with no chance of any meaningful discussions on the deal he has negotiated. I think most Tories know this deal is worse than Mrs May's and any discussions on it should be avoided at all costs. Johnson is hoping that his 'likable rogue' image holds out until the 12 December before the 'likable' bit disappears.

[Stanley]

P, that's the aspect of this situation that angers me most, I hear Tory mouthpieces banging on and on about Labour obstruction. I noted during the interview of Dianne Abbot yesterday that the interviewer didn't seem to be listening to the responses but blindly pursuing the dead horse of refusing to allow an election. How come I understand perfectly how we got here and what is wrong with the way politics is being conducted and yet seem to be wrong on all counts? Has the Paul Joseph Goebbels principle of The Big Lie proved to be correct yet again?
Why will Johnson not admit the fact that no deal will be a disaster?
One thing we can learn from Johnson and his mentor Trump is that the worst thing is the patronising smile. I hate it! They have both erected façades, the sooner they crumble the better.

[Tizer]

Now we really are in meltdown!
`Commemorative Brexit coins bearing 31 October date 'put on hold'' LINK
Note the paragraph near the end of that article: `The Royal Mint, which is owned by the government, said it would not comment on how many coins had been made and what would happen to them now, saying this was "commercially sensitive". Of course, they don't want to admit how much money and time they've wasted making useless coins. The original inscription of `Peace, Prosperity and Friendship with All Nations' might have to be changed once we've lost our EU friends together with Scotland and Northern Ireland!

[plaques]

Things are never what they seem to be, Boris Johnson is pushing for a general election claiming that the deal he has drawn up covers workers rights similar to those of the EU. That being so he has 'paused' any further debate / examination by threatening to close parliament down ref: Sajid Javid, the chancellor, claimed the government would simply lay motions “again and again” until other parties agree to go to the polls. Stand off. The last thing Johnson wants to do is open up the debate since this would give the opposition opportunity to examine it in detail and raise qualifying amendments or God forbid, the possibility of a second referendum.
A second article Workers Rights exposes the fact that the safeguards of workers rights are not as safe as suggested. Ref: ... the official paper, drafted by the Brexit department and shared with ministers, makes clear the commitment in the agreement “leaves room for interpretation”, A nice little loophole that will be exploited to the full once we leave the EU. This leaves people with the option of trusting without question Johnson and his elitist group or to look towards the 'plotters' who are trying to find out what he is up to. As time moves on the plotters are gradually exposing some of the undercover nasties that are buried in the small print.

[Stanley]

The Brexit coin.... who sanctions these things? Whoever it is is an idiot!
P, so Jeremy has been right all along. How come we understand this and so many believe the opposite?
It's a mad house.

[plaques]

Johnson is pushing his 'lets get it over with' mantra, ie; Its going to be nasty for most of you but that's your lot and you had better get used to it. Its not often that one can read an editorial that lays out the situation without trying to muddy the waters.
The Observer view on Boris Johnson undermining British politics
Observer editorial The prime minister’s behaviour is doing a grave disservice to democracy. Link.
Johnson is gradually eroding trust in Parliament to a point where nobody knows where it is going to end. The sad thing in all this episode is that he is using his position as Prime Minister to make it look like he is the victim of the breakdown of trust rather than the perpetrator. Initially Johnson promised a deal which would be supported by parliament but now is refusing to let parliament debate it. Each chapter from the referendum promises through to today's 'no deal threats' is littered with lies and half truths that would never be condoned in a normal society.

[Tizer]

This is a more specific look at the workers' rights issue: `Brexit negotiators removed 'adequate' from worker rights plan' LINK

In the meantime, Archbish Welby has warned Boris Johnson and other MPs to avoid using inflammatory language, especially as the UK prepares for a general election. Justin Welby said it was "extraordinarily dangerous for politicians to use careless comments" in a "polarised and volatile" society. He told the Sunday Times that use of words like "traitor" and "fascist" had left MPs fearing for their lives. The PM had a special responsibility to moderate his language, he added.

Anybody want to buy a newspaper? The Telegraph is going up for sale - it's not making enough dosh for the Barclay Bros.

[Stanley]

Dead right and very timely P. 'The Big Lie' in action, Goebbels would have been proud of him! Question, can he possibly get away with it? The sad thing is that in the present ferment nobody can be sure. That's a measure of how bad the situation is. I note Blair is backing the Corbyn stance 100%.
The Torygraph... PE will give us the full SP. They hate the two weird brothers!
I watch Trump doing a Dubya and proclaiming victory over ISIS in lurid terms and wonder what the consequences will be. He admits that the Kurds played an important part and this after throwing them overboard a few weeks ago. It all seems a bit overblown to me. One thing that struck me was that he referred to his own special forces as 'Dogs'. Is that really how he regards them?

[plaques]

Just started a new book, Fall Out A Year of Political Mayhem, by Tim Shipman, ( I notice some of his comments are already being quoted in the news media). Just pulling a few points out of the first pages, Mrs May was the first to use the 'walk away' threat to bolster her negotiating position. We now know it didn't work. Johnson on the other hand at this time as Foreign Minister was saying don't bother to negotiate just walk away and leave. With this in mind fast forward to today as Prime Minister and you realize that all the supposed deal making was/is just a smokescreen to cover the fact that a crash out has always been his intention. Corbyn obviously understands this and is doing his best to stop it. Meanwhile Johnson is saying 'you are weakening my negotiating position' which is absolute rubbish since the intention is to crash out.

[Stanley]

I suspect you are right P. It's the only explanation I can think of for the track that the Cummings/Johnson axis have consistently pursued which in essence is to antagonise everyone and in the ensuing confusion get their way by devious means. I have always said that if the opposition parties had got together earlier they could have stopped this terrible unelected government in its tracks.

[Tizer]

‘Toxic’ tweets aimed at MPs soar after Johnson outburst:
FT analysis shows abusive messages increased following rancorous parliamentary debate' LINK
The FT analysed 2 million tweets surrounding the debate when Bojo said death threats against politicians were `humbug'.

[Whyperion]

Dogs, both Trump and ISIS / most Islamic followers, have a different view of dogs compared to our english one man and his dog team working thinkings.
The psyche of Hollywood's "Dogs of War" type movies and books is designed to appeal to Trump voters and potential voters, it also annoys, either by design or complete lack of understanding, where middle-east hounds generally were ill-regarded ( bibical ones too in the Old Testament and the Phonician Dogs got refered to as eating the crumbs from the Master's Table ), I suspect the animals were more generally like Wolves, not trusted, could be violent depending on genetic make up, or otherwise considered dirty, (and of course they would raid the hard to work sheep flocks and similar).

[Stanley]

Tiz, unfortunately this escalation of hate threats has become common currency. Look at Trump's language describing the ISIS leader's end. Even the Pentagon is questioning it. If it's all right for POTUS to use this rhetoric what message does this send to the public?
Johnson's ill considered and inflammatory language is just the same. His comments about Jo Cox were a disgrace and should have been actionable. All part of the devaluation of political debate that we see today.
As for what's happening now... Search me! I am watching with horrified fascination a sequence of unpredictable events unfolding and haven't got a clue where it is all going to end.
Someone needs to stand up and give us a blast of common sense. Surely it's obvious by now that the whole concept of Brexit was a mistake? Perhaps we need to take a deep breath and admit it and stop banging on about spurious notions of 'democracy'.
Later. I see that Operation Yellowhammer has been stopped as the threat of no deal recedes. How much is this going to cost us?

[plaques]

Getting repetitive isn't it. Johnson to push for a another general election bid, hoping for the sympathy vote while avoiding any debate on the Withdrawal bill. Spread Sheet Philip Hammond tweeting that if Johnson had started the debate on the WAB instead of focusing on elections it would have been all sorted by now. Does Johnson suffer from narcissism? I'm beginning to think so.
Dominic Cummings professing that the electorate have very short memories and don't understand what's going on, now it seems to apply to MPs. I still come across people who think the result of the referendum is mandatory and not advisory. They are totally ignorant of the fact that it took Jina Miller and a High Court action to show that Mrs May alone couldn't trigger Article 50 but had to get Parliament's permission. The Judges were then branded 'Traitors'. Cameron handed Mrs May a poisoned chalice who having sipped from it, handed it to Johnson who in turn is trying to pass it to the general public. Meanwhile the EU sniffed at it. peed on it and walked away. Time for people to wake up to what is going on.

[Stanley]

A succinct and accurate précis of what is going on P.

[Tizer]

`Labour to back early general election' LINK
`Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn says his party will support an early general election as the government makes its pitch for a poll on 12 December. Mr Corbyn said his condition of taking a no-deal Brexit off the table had "now been met" after the EU agreed to extend the deadline to 31 January 2020. But he did not explicitly say if he would back the government's bill in Parliament later. The SNP and Liberal Democrats are calling for an election on 9 December. The two parties say it would prevent Boris Johnson from pushing his Brexit plan through Parliament ahead of a poll. The government bill published ahead of the Commons debate on an early election still states 12 December - but No 10 sources have told the BBC they would accept an election on 11 December to get opposition parties on-board.'

[Tripps]

My local MP Heidi Allen has announced she will not be standing in the forthcoming election.

Heidi Letter

Something of a surprise - especially the LIb Dems who sent me an election type brochure recently, and the existing prospective candidate who stood aside for her. I've told you all several times of speaking to her on my doorstep in 2015, and how impressed I was with her - I was looking forward to doing so again to explain this - It won't happen now.

heidi allen.jpg

Sorry wrong pic, but I like it so I'll leave it. Try again. . .

.

Heidi 29x407.jpg

I think she is just too honest and decent for the devious business that is politics. I wish her well.

[Tizer]

What a shame, this is the effect of the nasty state of politics in the UK now. We're going to lose the best people and be left with the worst. I wish her well.

In this BBC article about how the student vote might be affected by the choice of date for an election, and the result because they tend to vote Labour, I noted this bit...
`Boris Johnson has a majority of about 5,000 in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat - but the nearby Brunel University has about 10,000 students and staff. Brunel breaks up at the end of the week beginning 9 December. So an election date of 12 December would be in the middle of end-of-term departures and the student vote in his Uxbridge seat would be much diminished.'

No wonder Johnson wants a 12th December date.

Judging by this, things are looking up for the Tories...
`Poll tracker: How popular are the Westminster political parties?' LINK

[Tripps]

At the moment I'm switching between Parliament on TV, and the World Fischer Random Chess Championship, on the Interweb.

Fischer random Chess

I'm unsure which is the more difficult to understand.

PS I just heard the Eleanor Laing - Deputy Speaker, and candididate for the full job say "I don't know what to do" and get Bercow to take over. I think her chance may be gone.

[Whyperion]

What a shame, this is the effect of the nasty state of politics in the UK now. We're going to lose the best people and be left with the worst. I wish her well.

In this BBC article about how the student vote might be affected by the choice of date for an election, and the result because they tend to vote Labour, I noted this bit...
`Boris Johnson has a majority of about 5,000 in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat - but the nearby Brunel University has about 10,000 students and staff. Brunel breaks up at the end of the week beginning 9 December. So an election date of 12 December would be in the middle of end-of-term departures and the student vote in his Uxbridge seat would be much diminished.'

No wonder Johnson wants a 12th December date.

Judging by this, things are looking up for the Tories...
`Poll tracker: How popular are the Westminster political parties?' LINK

Postal Votes?

[Tripps]

From the above link. . .

"Analysis by BBC senior political analyst Peter Barnes
28 October 2019"


Spooky - he seems to get everywhere.

[Stanley]

I'll bet you didn't know he also used to be a footballer and wrote plays.
The election... I shall just close my eyes and vote Labour.
Aren't the media having it easy at the moment....

[plaques]

Like it or not, the Brexit problem has now been foisted onto the electorate. The only thing that is different to the Battle Bus days is that the Tories will be going for a 'NO Deal' and Corbyn will be trying for a deal, failing, and then go for a second referendum, then we could enter the merry-go-round again.
Johnson will be pushing his 'what we have promised' programme ignoring the years of austerity and cutbacks. Corbyn concentrating on what has gone on promising a more level playing field. Any analysis of Brexit itself will be kept under close raps either being labeled 'project fear, from the Tories or a best guess from Labour.
Overall, the Tories will move to the right and Labour will move to the left the Lib-Dems will become more central Conservative and the UK Union will probably break up. Thank you Mr Cameron.

[Stanley]

Again, succinct and accurate P.
The big news is that Heidi Allen is on Today as I write!