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

[Blair]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/nov/16/boris-johnson-proposes-banning-mps-from-acting-as-paid-consultants?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

[TheTide]

Clarissa Eden, wife of Anthony, has just died. Yes, really. 101.

[EastAnglianLefty]

Another day where lobby brain means certain people think that Boris has played a master stroke.

I mean it was pretty obvious they’d do this to avoid labours trap tomorrow around second jobs.

Some journalists like Sam coates at at sky responded by quite smartly asking well what are the specifics of Johnson’s proposals what are the impacts who enforces it where as Laura K as per usual jumps on the usual rubbish.

And it turns out that the Conservative motion accepts the principle that consultancies should be banned, but wants to put off actually doing anything about it to some indeterminate time in the future. Which doesn't strike me as the most defensible line of argument you could come up with.

[Blair]

Oh so it was deliberate. 

https://twitter.com/bbcpolitics/status/1460675705876926468?s=21

[MaxQue]

Oh so it was deliberate. 

https://twitter.com/bbcpolitics/status/1460675705876926468?s=21

I thought I read that Laura Konservative was leaving BBC?

[CumbrianLefty]

Interesting that she is almost the only person buying this (so obviously spun by number 10) line.

Even many normally credulous lobby journalists found it a tough one to swallow - but not Laura!

[TheTide]

Oh so it was deliberate. 

https://twitter.com/bbcpolitics/status/1460675705876926468?s=21

I thought I read that Laura Konservative was leaving BBC?

She's supposedly being reshuffled, with Jon Sopel the favourite for political editor. Sopel has been covering US politics for some years.

[CumbrianLefty]

I know it doesn't really matter and all that, but by all accounts today's PMQs was an absolute horror for Johnson - including being ticked off by the normally "tolerant" Speaker.

Quite possibly his worst ever.

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

I know it doesn't really matter and all that, but by all accounts today's PMQs was an absolute horror for Johnson - including being ticked off by the normally "tolerant" Speaker.

Quite possibly his worst ever.

Video link ?

[The Dowager Mod]

I know it doesn't really matter and all that, but by all accounts today's PMQs was an absolute horror for Johnson - including being ticked off by the normally "tolerant" Speaker.

Quite possibly his worst ever.

Video link ?

https://twitter.com/BestForBritain/status/1460947133541007360

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

What are some good books to read about British politics ?

[Blair]

Tim Farron said the Government is starting to have the same smell that Brown had in 2009.

I don’t think it’s that bad yet but…

[Estrella]

What are some good books to read about British politics ?

Al will give you much better advice for sure, but I'd recommend Peter Hennessy's The Prime Minister: the office and its holders since 1945. It's a great book, going over both the politics of PMs' time in office and their personalities and private life. The only thing I'm not sure I like is that it's a little too heavy on details about organization and bureaucracy that were probably too boring even to contemporary political journalists, let alone some guy reading about it fifty years later. But those things can be interesting in their own way too.

_{(I discovered Hennessy when I had a strange phase of being a weird teeaboo who was also really into Cold War history, so I ended up reading his book The Secret State about Britain's preparations for a nuclear war. Related: the Protect and Survive booklets and PSAs are the best works of horror since Lovecraft. Fight me.)}

[Estrella]

Some of you may know Alex McPhee and his wonderful maps. I've found a map he made of the 2019 election and it's beautiful. I'm not posting it here because it's just YUGE, but you can see it for yourselves here.

Explanatory note: colour going around the outline of the square means the winning party got more than 50%, colour on the bottom of the square means it won with less than 50%.

[CumbrianLefty]

Tim Farron said the Government is starting to have the same smell that Brown had in 2009.

I don’t think it’s that bad yet but…

The year 2009 being cited presumably has the expenses scandal in mind.

Worth recalling that took in very serious offences (including ones that resulted in jail time) with more trivial but still sometimes symbolic stuff. In that respect at least, now many isn't so different.

[Cassius]

The Great Martyr to Banter has been found to have engaged in some banter himself.

[rc18]

The Great Martyr to Banter has been found to have engaged in some banter himself.

Yeah, that was about as predictable as night following day.

[Silent Hunter]

We haven't made that much progress in some areas, have we?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

The comments are very ugly, but he has apologised forcefully and hasn't tried to justify or excuse himself - the general reaction from the Jewish community has been to accept this.

Note that he had previously made a point - including at the committee hearings the other day - of praising Matthew Hoggard for contacting him (privately and unprompted) to give what was apparently a  sincere apology so there isn't actually a hypocrisy issue here. There's only really a great problem if you wished to make him some sort of saint.

[Cassius]

The comments are very ugly, but he has apologised forcefully and hasn't tried to justify or excuse himself - the general reaction from the Jewish community has been to accept this.

Note that he had previously made a point - including at the committee hearings the other day - of praising Matthew Hoggard for contacting him (privately and unprompted) to give what was apparently a  sincere apology so there isn't actually a hypocrisy issue here. There's only really a great problem if you wished to make him some sort of saint.

Quite, but the canonisation process was well underway for him, at least prior to these comments. Whilst I, personally, don’t have a lot of sympathy for him, I do at least appreciate the likes of Michael Vaughan being made to squirm after the way they put the boot into poor Ollie Robinson earlier this year. What goes around comes around.

[rc18]

The comments are very ugly, but he has apologised forcefully and hasn't tried to justify or excuse himself - the general reaction from the Jewish community has been to accept this.

Note that he had previously made a point - including at the committee hearings the other day - of praising Matthew Hoggard for contacting him (privately and unprompted) to give what was apparently a  sincere apology so there isn't actually a hypocrisy issue here. There's only really a great problem if you wished to make him some sort of saint.

Bullsh**t, the only reason he's apologised is because he was caught red handed and the evidence is irrefutable, not just lockeroom hearsay.

Sadly there's a long history of people playing down anti-semitism. You wouldn't be giving him the benefit of the doubt if it wasn't jew-hate.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Bullsh**t, the only reason he's apologised is because he was caught red handed and the evidence is irrefutable, not just lockeroom hearsay.

It is generally the case that people only apologise when what they have done is known to other people, one way or another. But here's the thing: even had he not said sorry, even had he not damned his younger self for 'saying' such awful things, it would not invalidate his complaints about Yorkshire County Cricket Club as an institution. Victims don't have to be perfect.

Sadly there's a long history of people playing down anti-semitism. You wouldn't be giving him the benefit of the doubt if it wasn't jew-hate.

I resigned my longstanding Labour Party membership because of the antisemitism scandal and posted my not exactly diplomatically worded resignation letter in public when I did so. I can be accused of a lot of things, but not of treating that issue lightly.

[Cassius]

‘Victims’ don’t have to be perfect, but if they have a record of saying exactly the same damned kind of thing about others it rather renders their protestations hollow. Azeri Rafiq is a man who thought he wouldn’t get found out, whilst smearing others with the sh**t. Thing is, if you’ve spread sh**t the sh**t will stick to you. Why on earth we should take the little ing c**nt’s protestations seriously after this is another question altogether.

[urutzizu]

Found this interesting, some in depth research into the political leanings of British Indians:
https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/11/18/britain-s-new-swing-voters-survey-of-british-indian-attitudes-pub-85784




Religious Breakdown interesting, would have expected Sikhs to lean conservative. But only Hindus and Christians.



Note: Colours swapped



UK-India relations not important for voting intentions, Modi not liked even among Hindus. Even among Conservative-leaning, it is mainly economic interest driving political leanings. So overall, Indians are actually quite similar to the white majority.

[Silent Hunter]

British Pakistanis and Bangladeshis have historically leaned Labour, I believe.