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

[Pericles]

The British people aren't going to vote for electoral reform anyway so it's just a distraction for Labour.

[CumbrianLeftie]

I would be wary of reading a *massive* amount into an undertaking a decade ago which was putting forward far from the most popular option for electoral reform, and for a large number of people turned into a de facto plebiscite on one of the most despised politicians of modern times.

Though of course it *could* be passed without a referendum, especially if various parties committed to that in their manifestos.

[Geoffrey Howe]

I would be wary of reading a *massive* amount into an undertaking a decade ago which was putting forward far from the most popular option for electoral reform, and for a large number of people turned into a de facto plebiscite on one of the most despised politicians of modern times.

Though of course it *could* be passed without a referendum, especially if various parties committed to that in their manifestos.

Though it may have been a vote on Clegg, it did best where the Lib Dems lost support to Labour in 2015.

[Pericles]

I would be wary of reading a *massive* amount into an undertaking a decade ago which was putting forward far from the most popular option for electoral reform, and for a large number of people turned into a de facto plebiscite on one of the most despised politicians of modern times.

Though of course it *could* be passed without a referendum, especially if various parties committed to that in their manifestos.

It's not the AV referendum but people don't tend to vote for actual electoral reform unless there is a very obvious need for it. And sadly, the last two hung parliaments haven't shown a very obvious need for it.

[Estrella ✯]

I would be wary of reading a *massive* amount into an undertaking a decade ago which was putting forward far from the most popular option for electoral reform, and for a large number of people turned into a de facto plebiscite on one of the most despised politicians of modern times.

Though of course it *could* be passed without a referendum, especially if various parties committed to that in their manifestos.

It's not the AV referendum but people don't tend to vote for actual electoral reform unless there is a very obvious need for it. And sadly, the last two hung parliaments haven't shown a very obvious need for it.

I wouldn't be surprised if the message people took from the Cameron I government is that coalitions automatically lead to chaos, disasters, extremely unpopular measures etc etc.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

There's really no reason why electoral reform would have to be passed via a referendum: the introduction of STV to Scottish local elections was not. There was only a referendum on AV because Clegg was a very bad negotiator.

[CumbrianLeftie]

Indeed, the referendum was only *about* AV because of that.

[Blair]

Mike Gapes of all people is releasing a book about TIG....

[CumbrianLeftie]

Mike Gapes of all people is releasing a book about TIG....

Whose official demise was confirmed yesterday, just days after Gapes had written a piece claiming it was too soon to write then off

[Geoffrey Howe]

Mr Hancock is a shareholder of a possible NHS supplier. His sister is also a director.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-56768601

He has declared it in the register, and they haven't (I think) won any contracts yet with NHS England. But this may not end up looking too good.

[CumbrianLeftie]

People already saying "all this sleaze will make no difference, look at the polls".

But that's how it works; it doesn't make any difference - until, one day, it does.

[Geoffrey Howe]

People already saying "all this sleaze will make no difference, look at the polls".

But that's how it works; it doesn't make any difference - until, one day, it does.

Well indeed. But is this sleaze? They may well be perfectly qualified to do the job, we don't know; and anyway they haven't got a contract yet. Obviously if they do there will be serious questions.

[Silent Hunter]

We haven't had a proper sex scandal yet. Then again, sex scandals are much harder to achieve these days - people expect politicians to sleep with prostitutes. It's only when it is non-consensual when it's an issue.

[Conservatopia]

YouGov have a poll out giving the Tories a 14-point lead.  It's a massive outlier and was conducted before the lobbying scandal cut through but is noteworthy nonetheless.  More recently conducted polling suggests that the lobbying scandal is cutting through with the public so expect Tory vote share to drop a bit over the next week or until Labour give the Tories a free kick by making a gaffe of some description. 

[CumbrianLeftie]

Said poll managed to give the Tories a lead in London, nuff said.

[beesley]

https://twitter.com/BalancePowerUK/status/1384475502270836737?s=20

The (potential) resignation appears to be about the prosecution of British Army veterans in Northern Ireland, which Mercer opposes.

[CumbrianLeftie]

He is resigning because the bill in question is going to be made a bit less awful.

Bye.

[Papa Hemingway]

Funny story about Mercer, I ran into him at a Pret in Westminster, and once he left, the employees and I groaned about the damn Tories.

[Blair]

It seems Mercer intended to resign tomorrow after the bill passed but made sure to tell everyone so the Government sacked him.

It's easy to forget but he actually refused to support the May Government on confidence motions back in 2019 (something that even the 22 Tory rebels didn't do)

He'll no doubt join the ranks of ex-forces Tory backbenches who complain... so one more voted for them in their various battles.

[Blair]

I would also for the record not be shocked if he resigned & called a by-election... he comes across as one of those. (See David Miliband, Tristam Hunt)

[CumbrianLeftie]

Both of those had cushy sinecures waiting for them, though.

[Geoffrey Howe]

More 'lobbying scandals', this time with Brexiteer Mr Dyson.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-56819137

It seems wrong that he should be personally communicating with the PM, but his actual request seems perfectly acceptable when, in a time of crisis, the government was asking companies to take a risk of loss (which materialised) to help provide equipment for the NHS. (Maybe I've misunderstood this, but if it is what it took to get ventilators when it was thought they were urgently needed, I cannot blame Mr Johnson.)

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Except that he never had the ability or capacity to produce what he claimed he would be able to and this much was obvious at the time.

[Geoffrey Howe]

Umm, when one is in a time of crisis such as then, one isn't exactly inclined to be too discriminating or reject offers because they might fail or not produce as much as one would like. It's much the same principle with vaccines. Surely it's perfectly fair that if he/his employees were going to come to the UK to try and help - taking a risk, and they did end up with a loss - they shouldn't be taxed extra? It seems a fair compromise on the part of the government trying to get equipment when (it was thought) desperately needed.