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

[CumbrianLefty]

Regrettably, it does now appear that transphobia is totally mainstream. Based on past experience of such things, I am of course totally confident there will be no negative consequences as a result

[S019]

https://twitter.com/StephenNolan/status/1405539544150077443
Edwin Poots may face a no confidence following his appointment of Givan as First Minister, a move that evidently many in the DUP did not like. DUP party conference is happening right now. If he is in fact removed, that would be an incredibly short tenure as the party leader.

[Conservatopia]

As a Poots/DUP supporter I now know how Corbyn/Labour supporters felt from 2015-19.  It's such a shambles that the parties couldn't just move on from a result some may not have liked and would prefer to totally destroy itself rather than just unite around the leader whether they like him or not.

[Statilius the Epicurean]

He's resigned

https://twitter.com/tracey_utv/status/1405616796519088608?s=21

Worst party leader in British (and Irish) history?

[AndyHogan14]

He's resigned

https://twitter.com/tracey_utv/status/1405616796519088608?s=21

Worst party leader in British (and Irish) history?

Sinn Féin:

[CumbrianLefty]

At the start of this week, at least one bookie had the Tories 10 to 1 *on* to hold C&A.

[Geoffrey Howe]

A lot of talk in today's Telegraph about needing to return to Tory values or stop being Labour-lite. I count at least four articles.

It was interesting this week to see Lord Frost intervene. The hero of the Brexit negotiations, now a Cabinet minister, said something with which, you would have thought, no conservative would disagree. Yet in current circumstances, it sounded almost subversive: “for the last year or so we have not really lived in a free society.” He said he did not “want to accept [such] levels of state involvement in our lives and in our economy.” As we emerge from the plague, “we must not lose our conviction that individual not collective rights are paramount, that living with risk is inevitable.”

His is a timely warning. In extreme situations, the state can be the only force powerful enough to coordinate the nation. Victory in war is the classic example. But in normal times, the opposite is the case. People themselves build up national prosperity and freedom. The state gets in the way of both.

If that were not true, North Korea would be mightier than the United States of America. It is in the interests of statists to make emergency permanent, because that keeps them in control. When people voted to “take back control” in the 2016 referendum, five years ago next week, they did not mean control by the state. The Government’s baby language of funny money helps pave the way for such control. Post-Covid, that should not be “the new normal”: the old normal was better.

Lord Frost is warning, in effect, that success in taking Labour voters should not mean taking Labour policies. Just because someone lives in Middlesbrough, it does not follow that he/she cannot benefit from lower taxes and lower regulation. Labour always uses the word “equality” as a way of holding people down. The better word this Government should deploy as Britain opens up is “opportunity”. It’s a free country, after all – or is that expression outdated?

[CumbrianLefty]

Yes, but the electoral demand for such a Tory party is limited.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Yes, but the electoral demand for such a Tory party is limited.

Perhaps but... remember how the last time Labour were in government and took the general line that if the price to be paid for maintaining a broad-and-loose electoral coalition (as it is no longer possible to have a broad-and-tight one) was the alienation of the social circles that most of its membership lived in?* And that this, well, this turned out to have some pretty serious consequences for the party down the line? What sort of people comprise the membership of the Conservative Party and where do they live? If there's grumbling in the Torygraph then that's significant. Further wins over a demoralised Labour Party won't entirely abate that, much as the inability of the Tories back then to seriously get one over Labour didn't either. This is the sort of thing that's worth careful monitoring even if it appears to go nowhere at first.

_{*And the whole Iraq business aside (which, anyway, did not create the situation but inflamed it) this was, once again, a matter of not being pandered to even if, yes, objectively the government was pursuing policies that were beneficial to the sort of people in question. I don't mean this in a thoroughly dismissive way in either case: in a democracy we all wish to be pandered to. Why not? Aren't we supposed to be in charge?}

[Conservatopia]

Basically the C&A result shows that there will not be a 1000-year Tory Reich after all, merely a 700-year one.

[Geoffrey Howe]

Yes, but the electoral demand for such a Tory party is limited.

Perhaps but... remember how the last time Labour were in government and took the general line that if the price to be paid for maintaining a broad-and-loose electoral coalition (as it is no longer possible to have a broad-and-tight one) was the alienation of the social circles that most of its membership lived in?* And that this, well, this turned out to have some pretty much consequences for the party down the line? What sort of people comprise the membership of the Conservative Party and where do they live? If there's grumbling in the Torygraph then that's significant. Further wins over a demoralised Labour Party won't entirely abate that, much as the inability of the Tories back then to seriously get one over Labour didn't either. This is the sort of thing that's worth careful monitoring even if it appears to go nowhere at first.

_{*And the whole Iraq business aside (which, anyway, did not create the situation but inflamed it) this was, once again, a matter of not being pandered to even if, yes, objectively the government was pursuing policies that were beneficial to the sort of people in question. I don't mean this in a thoroughly dismissive way in either case: in a democracy we all wish to be pandered to. Why not? Aren't we supposed to be in charge?}

It's not just grumbling. On the fairly rare occasions that I have looked at the Torygraph they have opposed this or that government policy from the right. Today it's the entire thrust of the paper; as I said, at least four articles just at the top of the website.

[Cassius]

The former Speaker who formerly had a sideline in MP’ing has defected to the Labour Party. Another ego to add the roster.

[Blair]

The circus dwarf who formerly had a sideline in MP’ing has defected to the Labour Party. Another ego to add the roster.

He was always actually expected to do so back in 2007; if he didn't have his sights on speaker I wouldn't have been shocked if he'd done so in exchange for some sort of junior ministerial job.

[Blair]

Gorgeous George Strikes Labour again

https://twitter.com/BritainElects/status/1406004486313844745?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoo...

[S019]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/jun/19/john-bercow-defects-to-labour-with-withering-attack-on-johnson

John Bercow has joined the Labour Party

[Geoffrey Howe]

It continues: in today's Torygraph:
Why would any true conservative vote for this soft-Left bunch of eco-extremist, Tory statists?

[Zinneke]

It continues: in today's Torygraph:
Why would any true conservative vote for this soft-Left bunch of eco-extremist, Tory statists?

Bit rich of Douglas Murray to criticise "Re-Alignement" tactics when he has basically made a career out of fiercely attacking left-liberal strawmen and promoting the Culture Wars so he can sell more books.

[Geoffrey Howe]

It continues: in today's Torygraph:
Why would any true conservative vote for this soft-Left bunch of eco-extremist, Tory statists?

Bit rich of Douglas Murray to criticise "Re-Alignement" tactics when he has basically made a career out of fiercely attacking left-liberal strawmen and promoting the Culture Wars so he can sell more books.

True. But he makes an important point: what is the purpose of voting Tory anymore? Conservatopia has been feeling this for a while I think. Now it's particularly acute for the "Cameroonians" that I know - the only areas where the Tories stayed on the right are anti-woke stuff, immigration and foreign aid (though with a lot of dissent for the last two). Most I know support immigration and foreign aid; they're against the woke stuff but they see it as irrelevant or, at best, a minor issue. (I do admit that those stances are probably quite popular.)


Oh, there's another similar article in the Torygraph:
Tory voters want return to fiscal discipline, says defeated Chesham candidate

[CumbrianLefty]

Oh, there's another similar article in the Torygraph:
Tory voters want return to fiscal discipline, says defeated Chesham candidate

As has been rather archly commented in response, one thing the LibDem leaflets there *didn't* do is bang on and on about "the deficit" (remember when that was THE "beltway" obsession??)

By all accounts he wasn't able to transfer his very successful career outside of politics to make a good fist of winning over voters (does this sound familiar in any way?) Interesting though that the choice of candidate clearly worked against the Tories here, whereas they were able to triumph with basically a cipher in Hartlepool (and may yet do the same in Batley and Spen)

[President Johnson]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/jun/19/john-bercow-defects-to-labour-with-withering-attack-on-johnson

John Bercow has joined the Labour Party

Ordeeer!

That actually caught me by surprise, even though he outed himself as Brexit opponent shortly after stepping down.

[parochial boy]

Oh, there's another similar article in the Torygraph:
Tory voters want return to fiscal discipline, says defeated Chesham candidate

As has been rather archly commented in response, one thing the LibDem leaflets there *didn't* do is bang on and on about "the deficit" (remember when that was THE "beltway" obsession??)

Because it was economically illiterate enough in 2010 already, let alone the act of complete self-mutilation it would be in 2021.

Far be it from me to say anything positive about the current administration, but it is lucky that Johnson's, er, ideological "flexibility" means he doesn't blindly sign up to the sort of plutocratic economic self-harm fantasised about by people who's main preoccupation is that they want to pay less tax.

[NewYorkExpress]

Apparently the Ministry of Defence is going to pay 200 million pounds for a national yacht to promote British trade.

A UK business-promoting "national yacht", reportedly costing up to £200m, is to be paid for by the Ministry of Defence, Downing Street has said.

A spokesman added that Boris Johnson wanted the vessel to be built in the UK if possible.

It will be the successor to the Royal Yacht Britannia, which was retired in 1997 after 44 years in service.

The yacht, whose name has yet to be announced, will sail the globe, hosting trade fairs and talks.

The prime minister's official spokesman said: "This is a national flagship which will drive investment into the economy and boost trade."

He added that it would be "funded through the Ministry of Defence (MoD)"

[Geoffrey Howe]

William Hague: Planning reform could be Johnson's poll tax:

It can be hard to spot the issue on which you have to give ground. But if dozens of your own MPs are very worried, millions of people could be affected and angered, and longstanding voters have just given you a good thumping, you’ve got some very big clues. It would be tempting to think that ministers can explain it all better. Be warned, though, that some of us have been there before. This by-election was no cause for Conservatives to panic. But it provides a very good moment to listen.

[Zinneke]

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jun/23/uk-education-secretary-mocked-for-one-britain-one-nation-day-song

How did we get to a point where the likes of Hancock and Williamson were allowed to be Ministers? Surely they are facing the sack in the next reshuffle?

[Geoffrey Howe]

Yes, that’s probably the most irritating thing about Boris. I do think that he could do very well if he let competent people do the real work and let him be more of a figurehead, but he’s too scared of his own position and values loyalty too much.

Oh and that song...anyway, surely when the Tories are in power we don’t need all this annoying “kindness, tolerance and respect” stuff.