UK General Discussion:The Rt. Hon Alex Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, Populist Hero

[beesley]

Whenever the Queen seems frail, I look at Charles and the constitutional and media chaos that will surround the succession. The fights over whether Camilla should be Queen, the gaffe-prone King, the squabbling over coronation costs and invitations. Parliament being summoned to swear fealty, etc. Another round of Diana discourse. It may be a disruptive and divisive period.

God Save The Queen indeed.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/mar/16/what-happens-when-queen-elizabeth-dies-london-bridge

If you or anyone else is interested in what might happen, whilst this article shouldn't be taken as Gospel (and is clearly a bit sensational) - it is an interesting and evocative summary of both official procedures and the atmosphere such an event might create.

[Conservatopia]

Whenever the Queen seems frail, I look at Charles and the constitutional and media chaos that will surround the succession. The fights over whether Camilla should be Queen, the gaffe-prone King, the squabbling over coronation costs and invitations. Parliament being summoned to swear fealty, etc. Another round of Diana discourse. It may be a disruptive and divisive period.

God Save The Queen indeed.

I'm no fan of monarchy but I think it will all go fairly smoothly. Within about a month it will be business as usual and headlines will be back to Tory sleaze, Labour infighting and Lib Dem irrelevance like the good old days.

[Blair]

At least Charles is interesting, some of us face the prospect of having to live with King William for 40 years.

[politicallefty]

I would say it's right to be concerned. This health issue might be nothing (and hopefully that is the case), but when health issues arise, they sometimes have a tendency to cascade. Hopefully, that is not the case either.

God Save the Queen.

[MABA 2020]

Obviously hope the Queen stays in good health and is with us for many more years... but at the same time I'm fascinated to see what happens when Charles becomes king.

[CumbrianLefty]

People married for a very long time often pass away fairly close together.

[ilikeverin]

People married for a very long time often pass away fairly close together.

This is an underrated, important, and well-documented risk factor.

[CumbrianLefty]

In other news, it seems Johnson has basically the alt-right reading of Rome's decline and fall.

[Zinneke]

In other news, it seems Johnson has basically the alt-right reading of Rome's decline and fall.

And he doesn't have the excuse of ignorance given he is a Classics degree holder. Zemmour was using the same talking point (only agreeing that it was Genghis Khan that caused the migration push).

I blame the advent of pop-historians like Niall Ferguson who taught a significant amount of conservatives about how to be revisionist without looking like a crank.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

It's more or less the view that you would expect someone who got a Second in Classics at Oxford in the 80s to hold.

[jaymichaud]

https://twitter.com/MXOFO/status/1455254299907432454

That is fxxxing hilarious.

[CumbrianLefty]

It's more or less the view that you would expect someone who got a Second in Classics at Oxford in the 80s to hold.

People of my generation were certainly sold, pretty unthinkingly, the "Rome was brought down by INVADING BARBAROUS HORDES" narrative at school. It was only later that some who had an interest in the subject looked deeper and realised that it was slightly more complicated than that.

[Flyersfan232]

If Charlie’s want to streamline the monarchy thing he also introduced the Dutch tradition of monarchs retiring after a certain time too?

[Blair]

Absolute madness as there are reports that Tory backbenchers will block Owen Paterson, a Tory MP, from being suspended for 30 days after the Parliamentary commissioner found him in breach of various rules around his actions on behalf of private companies.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-59049343

The procedures committee voted to uphold the 30 day suspension and the House of Commons usually votes these matters through with a nod. But not tomorrow! There appears to be some sort of stitch up planned involving a new committee to examine the standards commissioner!

Absolutely awful and pretty much sends the message that if you’re mates with influential backbenchers you get a pass.

Of course it will set an awful precedent where the sitting Government will veto every case that it wants. 

[Blair]

And comes during the week when Bob Boberts was let back in the Tory Party after being accused of sexually harassing his own staff. He doesn’t have the whip at Westminster at least…

[Blair]

This is very bad framing! Can the next political editor simply not tweet- this isn’t the first time either.

https://mobile.twitter.com/bbclaurak/status/1455863537394405379?ref_src=twsrc%5E...

[CumbrianLefty]

I know that "optics" is a horrific phrase, but still that is going to be awful if the report is voted down.

Is it just that they now think they can do whatever they want without ever fearing accountability?

That mindset has a habit of badly coming unstuck. And we aren't yet Orban's Hungary, however much some in the ruling party might wish that was so.

[YL]

Given that the Tories whipped the vote, it was surprisingly close: majority of only 18.

Anyway, it reinforces the impression that for a lot of these people rules are for other people.

[CumbrianLefty]

Its absolutely scandalous, and might actually (dread phrases, I know) "cut through" to the "average voter". The above take by Kuensservativeberg is of course typically facile and patronising, so if the above happens it will be no thanks to the likes of her.

[Geoffrey Howe]

Could someone explain the details of the Owen Paterson case? All I've read is Charles Moore's article in the Torygraph, which naturally makes Paterson look sympathetic and the whole affair absurd, but I imagine it's a little more nuanced than that.

[Alcibiades]

Even from an amoral, politically-motivated point of view, this really makes very little sense. The Tories are taking a potentially huge risk in wasting a lot of political capital and causing public perceptions to shift against them, all as a favour to one backbencher.

[MABA 2020]

I guess this is the kind of confidence you get from winning a landslide election victory after 9 years in power and then continuing to lead in the polls though a deadly pandemic and worker shortages

[Lord Halifax]

It's more or less the view that you would expect someone who got a Second in Classics at Oxford in the 80s to hold.

People of my generation were certainly sold, pretty unthinkingly, the "Rome was brought down by INVADING BARBAROUS HORDES" narrative at school. It was only later that some who had an interest in the subject looked deeper and realised that it was slightly more complicated than that.

How so?

[Blair]

What is the most interesting about this? Well it’s the fact that Patterson wasn’t exactly renown in Westminster for his intellect or his skill as a backbencher e.g. see his comment claiming ‘the badges have moved the goalposts’ after the failed badger cull, however he is friends with a large number of influential older Conservative MPs.

If it had been a labour MP or even a Conservative member of the 2019 intake there would not have been the campaign that there was, and they would not have been the change in the rules. It is an extremely strange argument and a row to start because frankly it serves very little purpose.

Could someone explain the details of the Owen Paterson case? All I've read is Charles Moore's article in the Torygraph, which naturally makes Paterson look sympathetic and the whole affair absurd, but I imagine it's a little more nuanced than that.

He was getting paid by two companies and then used his position as an MP to lobby on behalf of issues relating to them. I believe the current rules are that if you take a paid lobbying job you are not allowed to use your position as an MP e.g. sponsoring debates, asking parliamentary questions or writing letters on your headed notepaper if these actions relate to the affairs of the company that you were paid for.

The Report below gives a good summary and Chris Bryant who is the chair of the procedures committee gave a very good speech in the Commons this afternoon which counted some of the frankly rubbish and ridiculous claims that have been put forward to defend Paterson.

https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/290/committee-on-standards/news/158246/committee-on-standards-publish-report-on-the-conduct-of-rt-hon-owen-paterson-mp/

[Estrella]

I realize I'm someone from the Continent who just doesn't understand cricket and that the biggest cricket nations are non-white, but there's something (everything, really) about that sport that just screams 19th century. Which is why I'm not surprised it's now embroiled in a pretty serious racism scandal.