PM Boris Thread

[olliebean]

You should be unable to hold any second job/earning stream while an MP. No consulting, no newspaper columns, no "sitting on the board of XYZ", nothing.

I don't know how you ban making money at the other end of it (ie after being booted from parliament) but that needs to be in there as well.

Presumably some variation of a non-compete clause would do the trick.

[Zetetic]

I thought you got this money if you spent less money in the past.

This is harder to convey via the lunch-paycheck metaphor, I feel.

[Cold Meat Platter]

Yes the Lunch-Buggery analogy suffers also.

[Blumf]

I don't know. A lunch at Pizza Hut could leave your anus with similar damage.

[Fambo Number Mive]

They're young, they're ambitious, and many are of a libertarian bent. A new cadre of special advisers has entered Downing Street and various ministries under the regime of Boris Johnson, suggesting radical rightwing thought and true believers in hard Brexit are in the ascendancy.

The biggest contingency in Downing Street is made up of alumni from the successful campaign to leave the EU. Dominic Cummings, the orchestrator of Vote Leave, leads eight of the group's former staffers in Downing Street, including Lee Cain, now director of communications; Rob Oxley, the prime minister's press secretary; and Oliver Lewis, a policy expert.

But one of the most radical appointments is Munira Mirza, who heads Johnson's policy unit after serving as his deputy mayor for arts for eight years. Her appointment to such a senior job in charge of all policy was unexpected given her lack of experience in Westminster politics.

Her background is unusual: she has links to a circle of former Revolutionary Communist Party supporters who wrote for Living Marxism, then morphed into libertarian provocateurs involved with Spiked online magazine.

Over the years, she has been a prominent critic of multiculturalism as a government policy, opposing Theresa May's racial disparities audit for public services by claiming the "scene was being set for another bout of political self-flagellation regarding the subject of race in Britain". She is also co-founder of the Manifesto Club, a pressure group challenging the "erosion of public freedoms".

Several Johnson appointees have a history at free marketeer thinktanks. Chloe Westley, a new digital adviser, worked for Vote Leave and the TaxPayers' Alliance, making a name for herself on Twitter as @LowTaxChloe. She appears in online videos attempting to mock Corbynite socialism, and was involved in Turning Point, a student pressure group dedicated to "free markets, limited government and personal responsibility". Within days of appointing Westley, Johnson was facing calls to reverse the decision after it emerged she had praised the work of a far-right, anti-Islam politician.

The appointment of Ross Kempsell, a journalist, as a No 10 policy special adviser focusing on public sector reform was also unexpected considering he has no background in that area. Kempsell made a big splash during Johnson's leadership campaign with an interview as TalkRadio political editor that got his new boss to say Brexit would be carried out "do or die" by 31 October. He is also a former chief reporter for the GuidoFawkes website...

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/aug/05/boris-johnson-ushers-in-radical-new-era-of-special-advisers

Interesting report on Johnson Boris' NHS money: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/05/boris-johnson-nhs-trusts

[olliebean]

Cummings now saying that Johnson will refuse to resign if he loses a no confidence vote, ffs.

[jobotic]

Rules don't apply. The coup is complete. We'll probably never have another GE.

[BlodwynPig]

Her background is unusual: she has links to a circle of former Revolutionary Communist Party supporters who wrote for Living Marxism, then morphed into libertarian provocateurs involved with Spiked online magazine.

Ha ha ha... fucking unearned gravitas there.

"We have seen very strong indications of a cabal of Westminster insiders with the skills, wisdom, and yes, wit, to undo Boris Johnson's fledgling government. This youthful cohort may be new to life on the inside of the political bubble, but they all have a deep and thorough grasp of all the Harry Potter books and have all bar a few seen every Harry Potter movie. The ickle muggles. Awwwww"

[BlodwynPig]

On the NHS funding, it was interesting to the see the disparity between the main BBC News (which at least reported that this cash injection was not new money, just the allowance for its release to the trusts) and the local BBC News (Look North), which had a talking head with a gushing NHS worker praising the government and although the question was raised about whether it was new money, flapped it away and repeated "new money". That's the electorate there.

[Twit 2]

As if any of the cunts mentioned will be doing any of the actual work...

[Fambo Number Mive]

Story about the new Health Secretary in Private Eye: https://twitter.com/SaveLewishamAE/status/1159219430053818370

[Blue Jam]

Oh aye...?

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/aug/09/no-10-cancels-staff-leave-raising-possibility-of-snap-election

[Cuellar]

Boris Johnson's chief of staff cancelled all leave for government advisers until 31 October in a missive on Thursday night, raising further speculation the government is planning for a forced snap election in the aftermath of the UK leaving the EU with no deal.

That doesn't make sense, chronologically, does it? If the election is in the aftermath of leaving with no deal, that means it would be AFTER the 31st, wouldn't it? Surely they'd be cancelling leave FROM the 31st, not UNTIL the 31st.

[Paul Calf]

Can you just 'cancel leave' like that? It's not fucking America.

[gilbertharding]

The 31st is a Thursday - and so could also be a General Election day.

[Blumf]

Wouldn't it make sense to have everybody around as the Brexit date comes up.

Still, just got the usual election registration letter from the council they always send out before a vote.

[Mobbd]

That doesn't make sense, chronologically, does it? If the election is in the aftermath of leaving with no deal, that means it would be AFTER the 31st, wouldn't it? Surely they'd be cancelling leave FROM the 31st, not UNTIL the 31st.

I thought the same thing. The Guardian (or whoever)'s speculation that this hints at election prep strikes me as a bit hopeful (or fearful, depending on your take).

If an election were called for after Oct 31st -- even if scheduled weeks in advance -- it presumably couldn't be used to secure an extension either, which for a lot of us, is a good reason to hope for a soonish election, right?

[pancreas]

I think the EU might come up with some sort of holding arrangement.

[BlodwynPig]

Wouldn't it make sense to have everybody around as the Brexit date comes up.

Still, just got the usual election registration letter from the council they always send out before a vote.

Got one last week, voted Boris

[H-O-W-L]

Who's gonna join me in getting absolutely fucking muntered on Erection Night? Been a while since I've gone into an alcoholic depression (or had an alcoholic BROAGGH WAUAAEEY).

EDIT:

Bottle of Bulleit in a fire axe box. "IN CASE OF ELECTION BREAK GLASS (BUT NOT THAT GLASS)"

[pancreas]

Certainly I will join you. I sense it will be a Burgundy evening.

[Kelvin]

Weren't lots of people here confident we'd win an election if one was called? There was a real, "Bring it on" tone to discussion of an election, even in the lead up to Boris taking over.

What's changed? Is it just the polling?

Edit: maybe 'lots of people' is an exaggeration, but there certainly seemed to be some optimism and enthusiasm for the prospect of an election.

[Ferris]

Weren't lots of people here confident we'd win an election if one was called? There was a real, "Bring it on" tone to discussion of an election, even in the lead up to Boris taking over.

What's changed? Is it just the polling?

Edit: maybe 'lots of people' is an exaggeration, but there certainly seemed to be some optimism and enthusiasm for the prospect of an election.

Labour still haven't outlined a clear "yes or no" position on Brexit* so the GE (which would be a proxy vote on Brexit) would probably pass them by. I think that's the concern.

If the election turns into a de facto referendum, the sensible person in the middle tends to lose out. If it's about Tory incompetence (and Theresa May was great for this) then Labour would win. New PM Boris (blergggg) has stifled those headlines for now.

It depends how the election is framed, I reckon.

_{*yeah yeah I know "confirmatory referendum" but in a referendum-type election on A or B where one party says "we're A" and one party says "we're B", those are the parties that will attract all the votes. If you are a fan of A, you will pick the party that says they are strong proponents of A and likewise for fans of B. Why would you not? Only undecided voters who like the rest of your policies (or people who have other non-A-or-B priorities which I think won't be a huge number) will vote for the party that isn't strongly A or strongly B in an "A or B" election. Lib dem surge will split the vote and Tory/Brexit Party hegemony will be sealed. That's only my opinion of course so take it for what it is worth.}

[pancreas]

They still have the issue that they could be attacked by the Brexit party in certain constituencies. So those MPs (Nandy, Lavery, Flint ...) are pushing hard against Remain.

It's not at all clear what the political landscape will be in a new GE. Last time everyone instantly forgot about Brexit and retreated to traditional concerns. Will they do the same again?

[Paul Calf]

We don't just need to beat the Tories any more. We need to Tories + Brexit Party + (possibly) Lib Dems.

[Suki Bapswent]

We don't just need to beat the Tories any more. We need to Tories + Brexit Party + (possibly) Lib Dems.

Yeah I think that's the size of it. With some kind of inevitable backroom deal between the Tories and The Brexit Party that allows Boris to run unchallenged, it looks like an uphill struggle as long as you've got Labour making a total pig's ear of Brexit, Swinson running around saying she'll not join Labour in a coalition and Caroline Lucas contributing bizarre fantasies of all-women unity governments. McDonnell's comments about IndyRef2 seemed designed to reach out to the SNP which is hopeful, but I fear such a policy would be political suicide anywhere but Scotland.

It's just one big fucking mess.

[bgmnts]

Can you just 'cancel leave' like that? It's not fucking America.

Get used to us getting fucked over to shit in all aspects of our lives post-Brexit.

We'll all be being waterboarded for giggles by plum cheeked toff oligarchs on our version of Guantanamo, probably in Jersey or the Isle of Man.

Watch this space.

[Fambo Number Mive]

Less freedom, Mr Johnson: https://mobile.twitter.com/ukonward/status/1159329640458129408

[bgmnts]

Freedom is for gay liberal cucktards.

Wait no freedom is for the mega libertarian right wing cunt bubbles.

Who wants freedom??

[BlodwynPig]

Those people should be incarcerated in very secure prisons.