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The UK political drama that’s topping the Netflix ratings – politicalbetting.com
The UK political drama that’s topping the Netflix ratings – politicalbetting.com
As I reported a couple of days ago I am self-isolating because I have contracted COVID. As a result I am watching a lot of TV and the one fortunate thing about this has been the timing which coincides with the launch of the Netflix series “Anatomy of a Scandal” based on Sarah Vaughan’s novel.
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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/stop-attacking-bullingdon-club/ (£££)
Boris Johnson is the most corrupt politician ever to be prime minister of Britain. Starmer nailed him yesterday. I have this experience on impeccable authority. A friend of mine dared to criticise something Johnson proposed and she and her organisation were then vilified and slandered by him in an act of disgraceful, dishonest, revenge.
The man is a shit.
The one saving grace is that if his MPs continue not to do the honourable thing (he most certainly won't) then the voters will. The tories are increasing the chances of an outright Labour win at the next General Election.
It is strongly in the interest of the entire world that the invasion be rapidly defeated.
(BBC)
… The combination of massive pandemic debts with rising interest rates and rising prices is truly toxic.
The talk on the sidelines here at the IMF and World Bank meetings is that the rich countries told emerging economies not to worry about borrowing in order to spend to help suppress the pandemic.
Now those countries are wondering if these record debts will be written off.
Campaigning groups are preparing mobilisations over a pandemic debt jubilee. But there is silence from the rich country lenders, so far.
And there is a very new dynamic these days. The bankers to whom these sums are owed are no longer just in the West.
China is now, very broadly, owed as much as the entire collection of Western creditors known as the Paris Club.
How will it respond to calls for leniency on the repayment of loans?
World Bank President David Malpass says of China: "They have different rules, for example, contracts that have non-disclosure clauses, meaning you can't share the terms with other people that makes it very hard to restructure those debts."
China has also secured its lending against ports and natural resources. Sri Lanka is a case in point right now.
The unwinding of all of this might not be orderly, and could have significant geopolitical consequences...
His line of attack, with evidence she could not deny, is something Johnson will find himself. Johnson can try to lie his way out of this but the tories are very weak when it comes to dirty Russian money in their coffers. As we see again this morning in breaking news from the BBC:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-61080537
I wonder if the Tory fan boys will continue to say it is racist for links between Putin and Tory funding to be highlighted.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-61080537
https://lawliberty.org/which-came-first-twitter-or-the-troll/
"Which Came First: Twitter or the Troll?
Does the immense quantity of bile and hatred expressed on social media predate the platforms? Or have these means of expression conjured a new reality?"
The ridicule is directed at the idea that the Tory party has been bought or influenced by Russian oligarchs when the UK has led the charge in both supporting and training Ukrainian forces. Yesterday the UK was being specifically named as having caused the default on Russian state backed loans by its sanctions regime. Not only is there no evidence of influence but such evidence as there is points in the opposite direction.
I wonder, Mr L, if you are crediting the Russians as a whole with too much 'coherence'.
Putin is playing, overall, a long game; the oligarchs, or many of them, a short one.
Although IMV it's probably much more complex than that. I do not think all Russian donors who gave money in any western country were doing so under Putin's orders. It's just the way things are done in Russia, and the amounts were trivial to many of them. Some would also be feeling (with good reason) uncertain about their status.
Boris Johnson is condemning Britain to French-style declinism and despair
The PM and Emmanuel Macron have much in common, as increasingly do our two countries
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2022/04/20/boris-johnson-condemning-britain-french-style-declinism-despair/
Maybe he feared it would be a free hit for them to seize it while doing nothing actually useful.
I think that is wrong, irrespective of any purported link to Putin.
I think that was the argument that the anti-Tories were advancing yesterday….
And the defence is that oligarchs were trying to buy influence but that is all right because it is separate from the Russian state trying to buy influence? Some neutral observers might think influence-peddling is morally suspect from the off. Notwithstanding that some might be less independent from the Kremlin than advertised.
Brexit occurred because the people voted for it; and remain lost the vote (sadly, IMO) because they could not make a good enough case for remaining. If they had made a better case, they would have won.
(runs for cover)
As often in modern times the existence of Twitter has helped to further reinforce and radicalise those with these delusions.
I am not a fan of Boris, but the attempts of some to make him into the devil incarnate are ridiculous. He is a deeply flawed man, and he should not be PM, but even deeply flawed people can make the right decisions for the right reasons.
It's especially rich from those who supported Corbyn's Labour party...
I am not quite up to speed with the fiction that Boris Johnson has led the Western charge against Putin.
The evidence surrounding Ukrainian refugees certainly suggests no such thing.
Since the war started it would seem we have done our bit, but this painting of Johnson as Churchill is an utter fabrication.
Johnson regaling stories in the HoC of
his bravery at being the "first" G7 Leader to walk the wartorn streets of Kyiv (technically true, but later than several non-G7 including UVDL) which The Mail, Telegraph, Express and loyalist MPs are trying to manufacture into Churchillian war hero Johnson, is vomit inducing in the light of the horrors of the invasion.
I'm not buying it, but it's a pup they've clearly sold to DavidL and JosiasJessop.
However there are definite elements of sour grapes within some people who voted for Brexit:
1: There is a perpetually-sour element of society (stereotypical "grumpy old man") that Brexit appealed to. These people are never happier than when complaining, so they're never going to be happy.
2: An element of society ( @RochdalePioneers may fall in this category) that voted for it because it was contrarian to the Tory government policy and they could give the government a kicking. Now the Tory government is doing Brexit, they're appalled at what the Tory government is doing (as they always are) so are unhappy.
3: People who had a specific vision in mind for Brexit and its not "this" Brexit. I personally fell under this category when Theresa May was in charge and was trying to force through the Backstop, I think but am not certain that @Richard_Tyndall may fall in this category now.
https://isc.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/CCS207_CCS0221966010-001_Russia-Report-v02-Web_Accessible.pdf
The UK's support for Ukraine is admirable, better than some, not as good as others. But this fantasy notion that Johnson is leading the charge and making the running is a fiction, disrespectful to those suffering in and those now out of Ukraine.
A healthy breakfast at LHR Terminal 5.
The wine is Davenport Hosmornden Dry, from Sussex, England, and quite delicious
My suggestion that he could try and move policy gradually in a direction, trying to bring the voters with him, is apparently heresy.
I voted Remain and all. But I just can't get my head to work that way - especially the demand for not vote - in parliament or otherwise!
Boris, as PM, deserves credit for that but (a) it was the path of least resistance for him; (b) it plays to his self image and strengths; (c) it is very much a team sport
Frum might be right after the second term of chaos and destruction.
Seriously. Madness. And I'm a Remainer.
If ever we were to rejoin the EU it would have to be following a referendum and there's absolutely NO guarantee that the EU would have us back. We would lose all of the opt-out privileges we previously wangled.
Total madness.
1) Everything that BJ does is wrong and evil
2) Ukraine is in the right
3) Therefor BJ can't be supporting Ukraine.
The fact that some of the "Good" Big European countries - France, Germany, Italy - were not of this mind makes it worse.
It's almost as if human beings have multiple facets - they can do good and bad things. At the same time.
Also I’ve got a long flight in Treblinka Class, so I want to sleep. A carafe of white and 2 Clonazapam should do it, I reckon
I am not critical of much of the effort, just how it is being sold, and by whom.
"The UK's support for Ukraine is admirable, better than some, not as good as others."
We've done much more than France (and earlier), and massively more than Germany. Germany in particular seems to be in rather a muddle. https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-scholz-tries-to-dodge-criticism-over-ukraine-heavy-weapons-deliveries/a-61516713
And you might want to remember what Zelenskyy says about Johnson and the UK's support.
It's sad that so many people on the left have to belittle the UK, just because they do not like what the country has done under the Conservative Party and Johnson. There's plenty to fairly criticise, but criticising us when we've done well is a little sad.
Not that I'd post pics of it on pb.com. Kind of show-offy which is not very classy Leon. Nonetheless have a good flight.
My schedule for the next week:
Dublin, Stockholm, London, New York, Austin, Wamego (WTAF? You’d think that people with choices would move…), Trenton, Indianapolis, NYC and then back to Europe.
To me, the failure in British politics is the absence of connection to the people. We need more democracy, not less. I want a Swiss style vote-of-everything. Everything is on the table.
Some then say, what if the Head Count demand a referendum on the death penalty?
To the terror of many, I say "Let it happen".
To me, JA Froude was right. "Constitutions are made for men, not men for constitutions".
A "living constitution" (and similar laws) is the *current* settled will of the people. They are not there to bar the people from actions.
If you can't get the majority to ban the death penalty, then you have a choice between the death penalty and democracy.
Boris Johnson and the tories have been Russia's greatest allies.
The links between the Conservatives and Putin's dirty money go back years. The last few months of fluff and bluster won't undo the truth I'm afraid.
You tories are riddled with dirty Putin money.
In fact there's a test for you. You happy for a democratically mandated holocaust?
Boris is supporting Ukraine because (a) he’s a lazy shit and anything else would be hard work to change settled government policy; (b) he thinks he’s Churchill and he is good at running around making enthusiastic speeches but not doing much that is practical; and (c) all the real work was done by other people.
Which bit is the “unadulterated Johnsonian propaganda”?
Not working out quite as you hoped, is it?
Have a nice day everyone else
xx
Not "I am protecting democracy from democracy".
I'd also note that the number of genocides in modern Switzerland seems on the low side. A country where the Germans, French and Italians live to together in harmony. With a common vision of the future.
The protection against genocide is not in the laws. It is in the culture and customs of the people as a group. See the reaction of the Dutch to the Hunger Winter.
I can confirm that I am not the member of the public who made the complaint...
He would have sold out Ukraine in a heartbeat if he didn't fear a grass roots rebellion, too.
It is not 'my' Conservative Party. I have never been a member, and often do not vote for them. I therefore find it hard to see how you can call it 'my' Conservative Party.
If 'Russia's greatest allies' do things like Operation Orbital, then I'd hate to think what their enemies do.
And you are also really, really inaccurate. Look at Germany for a country supposedly against Russia that is doing everything it can to help them.
As for Brexit going well, clearly. M20 car park, best in the world.
If you are referring to me, then you obviously missed where I repeatedly say Boris is not a good PM. Indeed, below I wrote; "He is a deeply flawed man, and he should not be PM."
Since 2014 (and before), the UK government consistently opposed NordStream 2.
The German government participated in it, and even tried to get neighbouring countries such as Poland to not extend their LNG facilities.
The Athenian assembly explicitly voted for the genocide of Mitylene, so if you are suggesting that highly educated democracies don't do that kind of shit, you are wrong
I think Keir is doing a good job and in any case Boris should not be PM, but you do know people reacting to deliberately provocative comments doesnt prove they are rattled? Not least since you're presuming anyone who disagrees is a tory loyalist, which is probably nonsense.
Times are hard at the Knappers’ Gazette*. As everywhere in the world
No biz class, no lounges, hence the alcoholic anaesthetic
*I mean, I could have paid for my own biz class ticket, I suppose, but $4000 for a somewhat wider seat and some weird cheese and crackers in a lounge, or a curry you don’t want. Hmm. I have accepted my humble status and a free ticket in the cattle section