politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Alastair Meeks: How the Eurosceptics are destroying the Conservative party
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. By that definition, the Eurosceptic right of the Conservative party is insane.
The main difference between the 90's and now is that the Tories had their credibility destroyed by Black Wednesday, they were on course for defeat before the rebellion over Maastricht.
From what I recall it was harmless to most and was designed to look for specific hardware - i.e. Iranian nuclear centrifuges - and affect the rate of spin.
The Tory right in the parliamentary party baffle me in a lot of ways. Their obsessiveness, others would say principle, is unnerving, and I always feel their complaints go more toward reversing the appeal to the centre than the subject of the day. But on Europe they are correct, more or less.
From what I recall it was harmless to most and was designed to look for specific hardware - i.e. Iranian nuclear centrifuges - and affect the rate of spin.
The interesting bit I was highlighting was the breaking of the MD5 system. Some academics had some very basic work on potential vulnerabilities, but the US / Israeli government already had a fully functioning method out there in the wild working in a way that nobody had considered in the public academic material. I mean that isn't particularly surprising in itself.
My point was the comment that Apple iPhone system couldn't be broken by brute force alone. Neither could MD5 on the surface, or that was the original thinking and the US government had tech to do so years before anybody realised it was even really possible.
I really fear a Corbyn or McDonnell-led Government (or one led by a Labour leader who shares their views). If the Tories don't behave themselves that is what we might get.
Cameron may not have acquitted himself with glory over the EU deal etc but he is a formidable politician and the Tories will miss him when he goes. I am no fan of the EU but am even less of a fan of an ungovernable governing party or of handing the next election to a party as morally deficient and incompetent as Labour has proven to be under Corbyn and his allies.
From what I recall it was harmless to most and was designed to look for specific hardware - i.e. Iranian nuclear centrifuges - and affect the rate of spin.
Weapons always end up in the hands of undesirables sooner or later. You must always create an effective defence that counters the weapons that you create, just in case.
The Tory right in the parliamentary party baffle me in a lot of ways. Their obsessiveness, others would say principle, is unnerving, and I always feel their complaints go more toward reversing the appeal to the centre than the subject of the day. But on Europe they are correct, more or less.
I guess that Cameron would have gotten a lot of his policies through without major rebellions or UKIP getting votes, if he was a euroskeptic rather than a europhile.
The main difference between the 90's and now is that the Tories had their credibility destroyed by Black Wednesday, they were on course for defeat before the rebellion over Maastricht.
I think Black Wednesday was the reason they went insane over Mastricht. Having adopted a wholly unrealistic policy (remember Major's claim to make the pound so strong it would be like the D-mark) they then transferred all their fury and guilt at their stupidity (and guilt over Thatcher's deposition) onto the EU, where it has largely remained ever since - for some MPs, anyway.
The thoughtful case against the EU - and there is one - has been lost amongst the carpet-chewing........
YouGov Poll: Osborne's approval rating down to 17%.
A poll by YouGov has found that his ratings are the second lowest since he became chancellor. Only 17 per cent believe that he is doing a good job, down from 23 per cent the day after the budget. His popularity has halved since the election.
The only time his rating was lower was in the aftermath of the 2012 “omnishambles” budget.
Only 13 per cent of people think that it is likely that he will ever become prime minister, and only 8 per cent think that he would be up to the job anyway. Two thirds of people who voted Conservative in the general election last year do not think that Mr Osborne would be up to the job of prime minister.
The main difference between the 90's and now is that the Tories had their credibility destroyed by Black Wednesday, they were on course for defeat before the rebellion over Maastricht.
There is a parallel there too. They won in 2015 principally because they were seen as the party with a sound grip on economics - Labour was seen as nicer but the Tories would look after the economy. Whether that is still the case, and will continue to be the case, seems incresingly doubtful. And if they lose their reputation for sound management, they don't actually have much else in the eyes of the general public.
The main difference between the 90's and now is that the Tories had their credibility destroyed by Black Wednesday, they were on course for defeat before the rebellion over Maastricht.
I think Black Wednesday was the reason they went insane over Mastricht. Having adopted a wholly unrealistic policy (remember Major's claim to make the pound so strong it would be like the D-mark) they then transferred all their fury and guilt at their stupidity (and guilt over Thatcher's deposition) onto the EU, where it has largely remained ever since - for some MPs, anyway.
The thoughtful case against the EU - and there is one - has been lost amongst the carpet-chewing........
The ERM debacle demonstrated why Maastricht was the insanity. There is a direct line between Maastricht and the tragedy in Greece.
YouGov Poll: Osborne's approval rating down to 17%.
A poll by YouGov has found that his ratings are the second lowest since he became chancellor. Only 17 per cent believe that he is doing a good job, down from 23 per cent the day after the budget. His popularity has halved since the election.
The only time his rating was lower was in the aftermath of the 2012 “omnishambles” budget.
Only 13 per cent of people think that it is likely that he will ever become prime minister, and only 8 per cent think that he would be up to the job anyway. Two thirds of people who voted Conservative in the general election last year do not think that Mr Osborne would be up to the job of prime minister.
The main difference between the 90's and now is that the Tories had their credibility destroyed by Black Wednesday, they were on course for defeat before the rebellion over Maastricht.
There is a parallel there too. They won in 2015 principally because they were seen as the party with a sound grip on economics - Labour was seen as nicer but the Tories would look after the economy. Whether that is still the case, and will continue to be the case, seems incresingly doubtful. And if they lose their reputation for sound management, they don't actually have much else in the eyes of the general public.
They don't have Corbyn as leader - that is still very much to their benefit.
The Tory right in the parliamentary party baffle me in a lot of ways. Their obsessiveness, others would say principle, is unnerving, and I always feel their complaints go more toward reversing the appeal to the centre than the subject of the day. But on Europe they are correct, more or less.
I guess that Cameron would have gotten a lot of his policies through without major rebellions or UKIP getting votes, if he was a euroskeptic rather than a europhile.
I think you illustrate Alistair's point perfectly. Anyone who, however reluctantly, concludes that we are better off in than out of the EU is labelled a "Europhile". What total nonsense.
The Tory right in the parliamentary party baffle me in a lot of ways. Their obsessiveness, others would say principle, is unnerving, and I always feel their complaints go more toward reversing the appeal to the centre than the subject of the day. But on Europe they are correct, more or less.
I guess that Cameron would have gotten a lot of his policies through without major rebellions or UKIP getting votes, if he was a euroskeptic rather than a europhile.
I think you illustrate Alistair's point perfectly. Anyone who, however reluctantly, concludes that we are better off in than out of the EU is labelled a "Europhile". What total nonsense.
"Reluctantly concludes" my ass. Cameron was positively jumping around the stage in excitement when he got back from his "renegotiation", it was such a good deal we were told that he would have wanted us to join the EU even if we were not currently in it. He went all affected with his "you bet your ass I would hot diggety-damn" type of presentation, which is the sure sign of someone trying to sell something they don't believe in. He is either a charlatan and a liar or a serious europhile, take your pick.
Since this is another Meeks criticises the Tory right (shocker) to loud applause from the Cameroons (shocker) thread I will duck out and hope there is some more interesting being talked about later.
The Tory right in the parliamentary party baffle me in a lot of ways. Their obsessiveness, others would say principle, is unnerving, and I always feel their complaints go more toward reversing the appeal to the centre than the subject of the day. But on Europe they are correct, more or less.
I guess that Cameron would have gotten a lot of his policies through without major rebellions or UKIP getting votes, if he was a euroskeptic rather than a europhile.
I think you illustrate Alistair's point perfectly. Anyone who, however reluctantly, concludes that we are better off in than out of the EU is labelled a "Europhile". What total nonsense.
Anyone who, however reluctantly, concludes that we are better off OUT than in the EU is labelled a "Loon". What total nonsense.
The problem is that I think the formal division between Con and Lab doesn't reflect the actual political divide very well. There ought really to be three sizeable political parties. A Left Party, led by Corbyn, a Centre Party, ranging from Cameron to Liz Kendall, and a nationalist party, comprising Conservative eurosceptics and UKIP. But, First past the Post forces a binary choice.
From your lips to backbencher's ears......if only......I fear the Tory right enjoy inhabiting a parallel echo-chamber to the Nats - generally only ever hearing sentiments which chime with their own and reduced to splenetic incoherence when confronted with differing views......
Of course if Gove & Stuart could impose some discipline on the rabble.........but I fear too many 'Men of Destiny' (sic) in their ranks......
This is all correct, and raises some questions: 1) Will the Tories be able to sort themselves out after the referendum? Assuming not: 2) With Con and Lab both shitting the bed simultaneously, maybe the time is right to do the SDP again? 3) Or maybe UKIP can clean up?
This is all correct, and raises some questions: 1) Will the Tories be able to sort themselves out after the referendum? Assuming not: 2) With Con and Lab both shitting the bed simultaneously, maybe the time is right to do the SDP again? 3) Or maybe UKIP can clean up?
One hopes the party will sort itself out. Voters are simply not going to elect them without leadership of the quality they've had under Cameron. There is a lot of talent but it is exclusively outside the 'Leave' wing of the party. Ironically the bulk of those on the Leave side actually get this. Otherwise there'd have been much more vocal support for IDS from the likes of Gove and Grayling.
The problem is that I think the formal division between Con and Lab doesn't reflect the actual political divide very well. There ought really to be three sizeable political parties. A Left Party, led by Corbyn, a Centre Party, ranging from Cameron to Liz Kendall, and a nationalist party, comprising Conservative eurosceptics and UKIP. But, First past the Post forces a binary choice.
What we need is electoral reform, in the form of Proportional Representation then there would be no need for these coalitions within the two big parties. It's a complete joke that Ken Clarke and the likes of Peter Bone are in the same party, just like it is a nonsense that Dianne Abbott is in the same party as Tony Blair. FPTP has had it's day.
The problem is that I think the formal division between Con and Lab doesn't reflect the actual political divide very well. There ought really to be three sizeable political parties. A Left Party, led by Corbyn, a Centre Party, ranging from Cameron to Liz Kendall, and a nationalist party, comprising Conservative eurosceptics and UKIP. But, First past the Post forces a binary choice.
FPTP has had it's day.
The last time they were asked....the British Electorate disagreed.....it's not the electorate's job to make politician's lives easier......
"The British debate about Brexit, at the moment, reminds me of the discussions I heard in the US, late last year, about Donald Trump. Back then the opinion polls said that Mr Trump was well ahead in the race. But the conventional wisdom in Washington was that he would never win the Republican presidential nomination. Everybody told me that, once voters focused on the race, Mr Trump’s lead would crumble. In Britain today, there is a similar unwillingness among mainstream political analysts to believe the warning signs from the opinion polls. Several recent polls have shown small majorities in favour of the UK leaving Europe when the country holds its referendum on June 23. But most political pundits I speak to still think it is pretty unlikely that Britain will really vote to leave. When it comes to both Mr Trump and Brexit, the political establishments in Washington and London find it hard to believe the public will ultimately make a choice that the establishment regards as self-evidently stupid."
The problem is that I think the formal division between Con and Lab doesn't reflect the actual political divide very well. There ought really to be three sizeable political parties. A Left Party, led by Corbyn, a Centre Party, ranging from Cameron to Liz Kendall, and a nationalist party, comprising Conservative eurosceptics and UKIP. But, First past the Post forces a binary choice.
FPTP has had it's day.
The last time they were asked....the British Electorate disagreed.....it's not the electorate's job to make politician's lives easier......
Quite - all PR would achieve would be to postpone the infighting until after a GE with potential p political paralysis for months while common sense struggles to prevail. Politics is about compromise -and a good thing too unless you want to be governed by the lunacy of a Corbyn or IDS.
This is all correct, and raises some questions: 1) Will the Tories be able to sort themselves out after the referendum? Assuming not: 2) With Con and Lab both shitting the bed simultaneously, maybe the time is right to do the SDP again? 3) Or maybe UKIP can clean up?
If the choice is Any Tory v Corbyn in 2020, Any Tory wins. This is the luxury Tory Leavers enjoy. Everything changes if Labour members awaken from their self-indulgent slumber. But that looks very unlikely.
The main difference between the 90's and now is that the Tories had their credibility destroyed by Black Wednesday, they were on course for defeat before the rebellion over Maastricht.
There is a parallel there too. They won in 2015 principally because they were seen as the party with a sound grip on economics - Labour was seen as nicer but the Tories would look after the economy. Whether that is still the case, and will continue to be the case, seems incresingly doubtful. And if they lose their reputation for sound management, they don't actually have much else in the eyes of the general public.
The main difference between the 90's and now is that the Tories had their credibility destroyed by Black Wednesday, they were on course for defeat before the rebellion over Maastricht.
I think Black Wednesday was the reason they went insane over Mastricht. Having adopted a wholly unrealistic policy (remember Major's claim to make the pound so strong it would be like the D-mark) they then transferred all their fury and guilt at their stupidity (and guilt over Thatcher's deposition) onto the EU, where it has largely remained ever since - for some MPs, anyway.
The thoughtful case against the EU - and there is one - has been lost amongst the carpet-chewing........
The ERM debacle demonstrated why Maastricht was the insanity. There is a direct line between Maastricht and the tragedy in Greece.
Although that is also to absolve Greece of all blame. Which is tempting, but untrue. No other European country lied about their debt levels. No other European country saw its government debt balloon during the early years of the Eurozone boom. (It's worth remembering that the other PIIGS countries all reduced their government debt significantly between 1999 and 2007 - Greece, undergoing a similar boom, saw its government debt rise.)
Greece should never have joined the Euro. Greece should have left the Euro in 2010. They should again have left the Euro early in 2015 when SYRIZA was first elected. And they should finally have left the Euro in late 2015 when the last bail-out was agreed.
There is this idea that the Germans - or the EU - forced them to stay in. This is untrue.
In particular, in early 2015, the Greek government was offered the support of the IMF for Grexit. (In particular, the IMF offered a package for recapitalising the Greek banks.) Both the ECB and the German government agreed that Greece would find it easier to restructure its debts outside the Eurozone. But Tsipiras bottled it. He feared that his government would not survive exit from the Eurozone. (Which is probably true). But in bottling it, he did his countrymen an enormous disservice.
The problem is that I think the formal division between Con and Lab doesn't reflect the actual political divide very well. There ought really to be three sizeable political parties. A Left Party, led by Corbyn, a Centre Party, ranging from Cameron to Liz Kendall, and a nationalist party, comprising Conservative eurosceptics and UKIP. But, First past the Post forces a binary choice.
FPTP has had it's day.
The last time they were asked....the British Electorate disagreed.....it's not the electorate's job to make politician's lives easier......
Quite - all PR would achieve would be to postpone the infighting until after a GE with potential p political paralysis for months while common sense struggles to prevail. Politics is about compromise -and a good thing too unless you want to be governed by the lunacy of a Corbyn or IDS.
One of the advantageous of PR, though, is it increases the chance that you'll not have a government. There's a clear correlation in Italy between absence of government and economic growth, and existence of government and economic stagnation. Perhaps the problem is having a government rather than the opposite. (Masterful inaction, I suspect, is better for economic development than the alternative.)
The problem is that I think the formal division between Con and Lab doesn't reflect the actual political divide very well. There ought really to be three sizeable political parties. A Left Party, led by Corbyn, a Centre Party, ranging from Cameron to Liz Kendall, and a nationalist party, comprising Conservative eurosceptics and UKIP. But, First past the Post forces a binary choice.
FPTP has had it's day.
The last time they were asked....the British Electorate disagreed.....it's not the electorate's job to make politician's lives easier......
Quite - all PR would achieve would be to postpone the infighting until after a GE with potential p political paralysis for months while common sense struggles to prevail. Politics is about compromise -and a good thing too unless you want to be governed by the lunacy of a Corbyn or IDS.
One of the advantageous of PR, though, is it increases the chance that you'll not have a government. There's a clear correlation in Italy between absence of government and economic growth, and existence of government and economic stagnation. Perhaps the problem is having a government rather than the opposite. (Masterful inaction, I suspect, is better for economic development than the alternative.)
LOL. Point taken but Italy is not a model to copy right now. Three months and counting here in Spain with no sign of a government and the party which won most votes frozen out by the rest. Not only in the UK ars the lunatics seeking control of the asylum. Given the fragile nature of the recovery this is not needed. Add in the referendum and I suspect property here is in for another pounding.
The problem is that I think the formal division between Con and Lab doesn't reflect the actual political divide very well. There ought really to be three sizeable political parties. A Left Party, led by Corbyn, a Centre Party, ranging from Cameron to Liz Kendall, and a nationalist party, comprising Conservative eurosceptics and UKIP. But, First past the Post forces a binary choice.
FPTP has had it's day.
The last time they were asked....the British Electorate disagreed.....it's not the electorate's job to make politician's lives easier......
Quite - all PR would achieve would be to postpone the infighting until after a GE with potential p political paralysis for months while common sense struggles to prevail. Politics is about compromise -and a good thing too unless you want to be governed by the lunacy of a Corbyn or IDS.
One of the advantageous of PR, though, is it increases the chance that you'll not have a government. There's a clear correlation in Italy between absence of government and economic growth, and existence of government and economic stagnation. Perhaps the problem is having a government rather than the opposite. (Masterful inaction, I suspect, is better for economic development than the alternative.)
Welcome back! Glad your self-imposed exile is over. I enjoy your input to PB,
The main difference between the 90's and now is that the Tories had their credibility destroyed by Black Wednesday, they were on course for defeat before the rebellion over Maastricht.
There is a parallel there too. They won in 2015 principally because they were seen as the party with a sound grip on economics - Labour was seen as nicer but the Tories would look after the economy. Whether that is still the case, and will continue to be the case, seems incresingly doubtful. And if they lose their reputation for sound management, they don't actually have much else in the eyes of the general public.
They don't have Jeremy Corbyn. Thus, they win.
In addition the idea that Labour is capable of losing after the economy just because the Tories have some moments of madness requires a flight of fancy beyond the ken of anyone with a brain cell to spare.
Mr rcs1000, did not a major financial firm certify that the Greek economy was fi to enter the Euro. Much, IIRC, to the amazement of several reputable commentators!
The problem is that I think the formal division between Con and Lab doesn't reflect the actual political divide very well. There ought really to be three sizeable political parties. A Left Party, led by Corbyn, a Centre Party, ranging from Cameron to Liz Kendall, and a nationalist party, comprising Conservative eurosceptics and UKIP. But, First past the Post forces a binary choice.
FPTP has had it's day.
The last time they were asked....the British Electorate disagreed.....it's not the electorate's job to make politician's lives easier......
Quite - all PR would achieve would be to postpone the infighting until after a GE with potential p political paralysis for months while common sense struggles to prevail. Politics is about compromise -and a good thing too unless you want to be governed by the lunacy of a Corbyn or IDS.
One of the advantageous of PR, though, is it increases the chance that you'll not have a government. There's a clear correlation in Italy between absence of government and economic growth, and existence of government and economic stagnation. Perhaps the problem is having a government rather than the opposite. (Masterful inaction, I suspect, is better for economic development than the alternative.)
Welcome back! Glad your self-imposed exile is over. I enjoy your input to PB,
Shhhh... I'm still not here. I just woke up early this morning. Exile starts again from about 8am...
Although that is also to absolve Greece of all blame. Which is tempting, but untrue. No other European country lied about their debt levels. No other European country saw its government debt balloon during the early years of the Eurozone boom. (It's worth remembering that the other PIIGS countries all reduced their government debt significantly between 1999 and 2007 - Greece, undergoing a similar boom, saw its government debt rise.)
Greece should never have joined the Euro. Greece should have left the Euro in 2010. They should again have left the Euro early in 2015 when SYRIZA was first elected. And they should finally have left the Euro in late 2015 when the last bail-out was agreed.
There is this idea that the Germans - or the EU - forced them to stay in. This is untrue.
There is some evidence to suggest the Germans lied about their debt levels. Starting with their decision to put a much higher value on their 3,500 tons of gold reserves than the Bundesbank were willing to sign off on, so their net debt would be low enough to join the Euro.
In fact, in 1999 only Luxembourg met the official entry criteria without extensive fiddling of the figures. Which of course goes a long way towards explaining the Euro's current existential crisis.
Mr rcs1000, did not a major financial firm certify that the Greek economy was fi to enter the Euro. Much, IIRC, to the amazement of several reputable commentators!
I believe something of that kind may have happened.
The problem is that I think the formal division between Con and Lab doesn't reflect the actual political divide very well. There ought really to be three sizeable political parties. A Left Party, led by Corbyn, a Centre Party, ranging from Cameron to Liz Kendall, and a nationalist party, comprising Conservative eurosceptics and UKIP. But, First past the Post forces a binary choice.
The problem is that I think the formal division between Con and Lab doesn't reflect the actual political divide very well. There ought really to be three sizeable political parties. A Left Party, led by Corbyn, a Centre Party, ranging from Cameron to Liz Kendall, and a nationalist party, comprising Conservative eurosceptics and UKIP. But, First past the Post forces a binary choice.
FPTP has had it's day.
The last time they were asked....the British Electorate disagreed.....it's not the electorate's job to make politician's lives easier......
Quite - all PR would achieve would be to postpone the infighting until after a GE with potential p political paralysis for months while common sense struggles to prevail. Politics is about compromise -and a good thing too unless you want to be governed by the lunacy of a Corbyn or IDS.
As was pointed out during the AV Referendum, AV is not PR. Alastair makes some very good points, the Eurosceptics are playing with fire and even Jeremy Corbyn may not save the Tories.
The problem is that I think the formal division between Con and Lab doesn't reflect the actual political divide very well. There ought really to be three sizeable political parties. A Left Party, led by Corbyn, a Centre Party, ranging from Cameron to Liz Kendall, and a nationalist party, comprising Conservative eurosceptics and UKIP. But, First past the Post forces a binary choice.
FPTP has had it's day.
The last time they were asked....the British Electorate disagreed.....it's not the electorate's job to make politician's lives easier......
Quite - all PR would achieve would be to postpone the infighting until after a GE with potential p political paralysis for months while common sense struggles to prevail. Politics is about compromise -and a good thing too unless you want to be governed by the lunacy of a Corbyn or IDS.
One of the advantageous of PR, though, is it increases the chance that you'll not have a government. There's a clear correlation in Italy between absence of government and economic growth, and existence of government and economic stagnation. Perhaps the problem is having a government rather than the opposite. (Masterful inaction, I suspect, is better for economic development than the alternative.)
The main difference between the 90's and now is that the Tories had their credibility destroyed by Black Wednesday, they were on course for defeat before the rebellion over Maastricht.
There is a parallel there too. They won in 2015 principally because they were seen as the party with a sound grip on economics - Labour was seen as nicer but the Tories would look after the economy. Whether that is still the case, and will continue to be the case, seems incresingly doubtful. And if they lose their reputation for sound management, they don't actually have much else in the eyes of the general public.
Labour were seen as well-intentioned, rather than nice. Not the same thing. Moreover, as they were led by people who appeared to be just as wealthy as their Conservative counterparts but were in total denial about their status, most people also saw them as rather dim. Not what we wanted in government.
To correct this problem, Labour have elected the 67-year old son of a millionaire trade unionist who got two Es at A-level and failed.a polytechnic course, and whose political beliefs have led him to make common cause with fascists and murderers, and to cover up for paedophiles.
This has undoubtedly led to a change in people's perceptions. Now they see Labour, who are still incompetent, stupid and out of touch, as very ill intentioned as well.
This isn't progress, and short of a major purge of Corbyn and all his crazy acolytes (Milne, Macdonnell, Abbott, Thornberry, etc.) it's difficult to see how Labour comes back from it in the next 10 years.
The problem is that I think the formal division between Con and Lab doesn't reflect the actual political divide very well. There ought really to be three sizeable political parties. A Left Party, led by Corbyn, a Centre Party, ranging from Cameron to Liz Kendall, and a nationalist party, comprising Conservative eurosceptics and UKIP. But, First past the Post forces a binary choice.
FPTP has had it's day.
The last time they were asked....the British Electorate disagreed.....it's not the electorate's job to make politician's lives easier......
Quite - all PR would achieve would be to postpone the infighting until after a GE with potential p political paralysis for months while common sense struggles to prevail. Politics is about compromise -and a good thing too unless you want to be governed by the lunacy of a Corbyn or IDS.
One of the advantageous of PR, though, is it increases the chance that you'll not have a government. There's a clear correlation in Italy between absence of government and economic growth, and existence of government and economic stagnation. Perhaps the problem is having a government rather than the opposite. (Masterful inaction, I suspect, is better for economic development than the alternative.)
Welcome back! Glad your self-imposed exile is over. I enjoy your input to PB,
Shhhh... I'm still not here. I just woke up early this morning. Exile starts again from about 8am...
I'm also going to (largely) give this thread a miss.
The main difference between the 90's and now is that the Tories had their credibility destroyed by Black Wednesday, they were on course for defeat before the rebellion over Maastricht.
I think Black Wednesday was the reason they went insane over Mastricht. Having adopted a wholly unrealistic policy (remember Major's claim to make the pound so strong it would be like the D-mark) they then transferred all their fury and guilt at their stupidity (and guilt over Thatcher's deposition) onto the EU, where it has largely remained ever since - for some MPs, anyway.
The thoughtful case against the EU - and there is one - has been lost amongst the carpet-chewing........
The ERM debacle demonstrated why Maastricht was the insanity. There is a direct line between Maastricht and the tragedy in Greece.
Although that is also to absolve Greece of all blame. Which is tempting, but untrue. No other European country lied about their debt levels. No other European country saw its government debt balloon during the early years of the Eurozone boom. (It's worth remembering that the other PIIGS countries all reduced their government debt significantly between 1999 and 2007 - Greece, undergoing a similar boom, saw its government debt rise.)
Greece should never have joined the Euro. Greece should have left the Euro in 2010. They should again have left the Euro early in 2015 when SYRIZA was first elected. And they should finally have left the Euro in late 2015 when the last bail-out was agreed.
There is this idea that the Germans - or the EU - forced them to stay in. This is untrue.
In particular, in early 2015, the Greek government was offered the support of the IMF for Grexit. (In particular, the IMF offered a package for recapitalising the Greek banks.) Both the ECB and the German government agreed that Greece would find it easier to restructure its debts outside the Eurozone. But Tsipiras bottled it. He feared that his government would not survive exit from the Eurozone. (Which is probably true). But in bottling it, he did his countrymen an enormous disservice.
Shouldawouldacoulda, the truth is the Greeks like the euro because they see it as a solid currency that they can bank upon in their pockets, unlike the Drachma which was weak, unreliable and constantly being devalued.
If the Greeks had wanted to leave, they would have done so. In reality, they were desperate to do anything but.
This is all correct, and raises some questions: 1) Will the Tories be able to sort themselves out after the referendum? Assuming not: 2) With Con and Lab both shitting the bed simultaneously, maybe the time is right to do the SDP again? 3) Or maybe UKIP can clean up?
If the choice is Any Tory v Corbyn in 2020, Any Tory wins. This is the luxury Tory Leavers enjoy. Everything changes if Labour members awaken from their self-indulgent slumber. But that looks very unlikely.
As someone who has occasionally expressed mild doubts about Corbyn's prospects for electoral success, do you feel that there is actually an overlap in the Venn diagram between "policies noticeably to the left of the Tories" and "have a chance of beating Any Tory in 2020"?
Regardless of whether or not I agree with the views, I can see that obsessing about Trident, as many refugees as possible, and remembering good times past with assorted Terrorist Haters Of Britain™ is not a good look. It's going to be hard to win an election, certainly one fought Crosby-style, with Jezza's particularly history on these things.
But a candidate without his particular priorities who otherwise shares the broadly social democratic (in some EU countries centrist) views on the role of the state, industrial policy, public services, opportunity and social justice would also be very acceptable to the membership. Probably more than Corbyn, who has shown he's a bit crap at the day to day job. Unfortunately the leadership election didn't offer any other such candidates.
Would you feel more comfortable going into 2020 with some such candidate or would you still see that as indulging in unelectable ideological purity?
The problem is that I think the formal division between Con and Lab doesn't reflect the actual political divide very well. There ought really to be three sizeable political parties. A Left Party, led by Corbyn, a Centre Party, ranging from Cameron to Liz Kendall, and a nationalist party, comprising Conservative eurosceptics and UKIP. But, First past the Post forces a binary choice.
What we need is electoral reform, in the form of Proportional Representation then there would be no need for these coalitions within the two big parties. It's a complete joke that Ken Clarke and the likes of Peter Bone are in the same party, just like it is a nonsense that Dianne Abbott is in the same party as Tony Blair. FPTP has had it's day.
No FPTP is serving it's very purpose. The public knows and understands what these coalitions are before the election and voters accordingly.
PR gives a rather naive and fake purity but then after the election a coalition is cobbled together that the public never voted for at election time.
The problem is that I think the formal division between Con and Lab doesn't reflect the actual political divide very well. There ought really to be three sizeable political parties. A Left Party, led by Corbyn, a Centre Party, ranging from Cameron to Liz Kendall, and a nationalist party, comprising Conservative eurosceptics and UKIP. But, First past the Post forces a binary choice.
FPTP has had it's day.
The last time they were asked....the British Electorate disagreed.....it's not the electorate's job to make politician's lives easier......
Quite - all PR would achieve would be to postpone the infighting until after a GE with potential p political paralysis for months while common sense struggles to prevail. Politics is about compromise -and a good thing too unless you want to be governed by the lunacy of a Corbyn or IDS.
One of the advantageous of PR, though, is it increases the chance that you'll not have a government. There's a clear correlation in Italy between absence of government and economic growth, and existence of government and economic stagnation. Perhaps the problem is having a government rather than the opposite. (Masterful inaction, I suspect, is better for economic development than the alternative.)
Welcome back! Glad your self-imposed exile is over. I enjoy your input to PB,
Shhhh... I'm still not here. I just woke up early this morning. Exile starts again from about 8am...
I'm also going to (largely) give this thread a miss.
Millions of homeowners are to receive a personal letter from a leading British businessman "beseeching" them to vote for the UK to leave the European Union at the June 23 referendum.
Peter Hargreaves, co-founder of stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown, has sent the letter to two in three households in the UK – around 15 million homes.
The mailshot, which has cost millions of pounds, is thought to be the biggest such mailshot organised by anti-EU supporters for 20 years.
The problem is that I think the formal division between Con and Lab doesn't reflect the actual political divide very well. There ought really to be three sizeable political parties. A Left Party, led by Corbyn, a Centre Party, ranging from Cameron to Liz Kendall, and a nationalist party, comprising Conservative eurosceptics and UKIP. But, First past the Post forces a binary choice.
FPTP has had it's day.
The last time they were asked....the British Electorate disagreed.....it's not the electorate's job to make politician's lives easier......
Quite - all PR would achieve would be to postpone the infighting until after a GE with potential p political paralysis for months while common sense struggles to prevail. Politics is about compromise -and a good thing too unless you want to be governed by the lunacy of a Corbyn or IDS.
One of the advantageous of PR, though, is it increases the chance that you'll not have a government. There's a clear correlation in Italy between absence of government and economic growth, and existence of government and economic stagnation. Perhaps the problem is having a government rather than the opposite. (Masterful inaction, I suspect, is better for economic development than the alternative.)
Welcome back! Glad your self-imposed exile is over. I enjoy your input to PB,
Shhhh... I'm still not here. I just woke up early this morning. Exile starts again from about 8am...
I'm also going to (largely) give this thread a miss.
Was this article from Mr Meeks another one in the series of putting a positive case for REMAIN?
Off topic, what is it with this plague of feedback?
I can't use any website, bank, bookie, store or online booking service now without being asked via email for "feedback".
Invariably, it's tedious and geared towards given them some nice % KPIs to throw about in their marketing literature. So I ignore.
On the rare occasion where I offer unsolicited feedback (e.g. to my bank, over the telephone, about being transferred/put on hold too much) it's made perfectly clear to me in the dismissive response by the operator that it's not their job, and not particularly welcome either.
Interesting fact - Teresa Gorman was a Kipper before she sadly passed away last year.
When I was 17, I saw her speak. My dominant memory of the occasion was her bizarre claim that you could only catch AIDS through unprotected anal sex.
Not an uncommon view in the mid-80s. I think The Sun propagated something similar.
Very dedicated lady, St Theresa of the Menopause. Went to a birthday party once, where she was also a guest. We all sat at tables of eight or so and she went to all of them, intoducing herself and effectively canvassing. It wasn’t her birthday.
However, as a result of that I was able to get her to open a training session for nurses on HRT, which got me quite a lot of brownie points.
The problem is that I think the formal division between Con and Lab doesn't reflect the actual political divide very well. There ought really to be three sizeable political parties. A Left Party, led by Corbyn, a Centre Party, ranging from Cameron to Liz Kendall, and a nationalist party, comprising Conservative eurosceptics and UKIP. But, First past the Post forces a binary choice.
FPTP has had it's day.
The last time they were asked....the British Electorate disagreed.....it's not the electorate's job to make politician's lives easier......
Quite - all PR would achieve would be to postpone the infighting until after a GE with potential p political paralysis for months while common sense struggles to prevail. Politics is about compromise -and a good thing too unless you want to be governed by the lunacy of a Corbyn or IDS.
One of the advantageous of PR, though, is it increases the chance that you'll not have a government. There's a clear correlation in Italy between absence of government and economic growth, and existence of government and economic stagnation. Perhaps the problem is having a government rather than the opposite. (Masterful inaction, I suspect, is better for economic development than the alternative.)
Welcome back! Glad your self-imposed exile is over. I enjoy your input to PB,
Shhhh... I'm still not here. I just woke up early this morning. Exile starts again from about 8am...
I'm also going to (largely) give this thread a miss.
Yes the 2 in 3 of the members that want to LEAVE the EU and are cIearly in the wrong party according to Mr Meeks. Mrs Thatcher wouId also have been in the wrong party according to Mr Meeks, the self appointed expert on the Conservatives.
Interesting fact - Teresa Gorman was a Kipper before she sadly passed away last year.
When I was 17, I saw her speak. My dominant memory of the occasion was her bizarre claim that you could only catch AIDS through unprotected anal sex.
Not an uncommon view in the mid-80s. I think The Sun propagated something similar.
Very dedicated lady, St Theresa of the Menopause. Went to a birthday party once, where she was also a guest. We all sat at tables of eight or so and she went to all of them, intoducing herself and effectively canvassing. It wasn’t her birthday.
However, as a result of that I was able to get her to open a training session for nurses on HRT, which got me quite a lot of brownie points.
The problem is that I think the formal division between Con and Lab doesn't reflect the actual political divide very well. There ought really to be three sizeable political parties. A Left Party, led by Corbyn, a Centre Party, ranging from Cameron to Liz Kendall, and a nationalist party, comprising Conservative eurosceptics and UKIP. But, First past the Post forces a binary choice.
FPTP has had it's day.
The last time they were asked....the British Electorate disagreed.....it's not the electorate's job to make politician's lives easier......
Quite - all PR would achieve would be to postpone the infighting until after a GE with potential p political paralysis for months while common sense struggles to prevail. Politics is about compromise -and a good thing too unless you want to be governed by the lunacy of a Corbyn or IDS.
As was pointed out during the AV Referendum, AV is not PR. Alastair makes some very good points, the Eurosceptics are playing with fire and even Jeremy Corbyn may not save the Tories.
2 things would be absolute game-changers.
1) Corbyn goes and someone competent takes over. He could go voluntarily, be run over by a bus, or replaced by election. The probability of one of these is actually fairly high.
2) Tories lose their reputation for economic competence. This would be via a world downturn (not seen the end of the China Crisis yet), or simply the recession that comes round every now and again in the economic cycle. Most damaging would be if the recession was seen as self inflicted - such as being caused by a Brexit vote. The probability of this is also quite high.
There are other events possible too of course, but if both of these happened we could easily see Labour back in for a generation. It was the combination of Tory economic mismanagement of the ERM, a moderate reformist Labour Leadership and Tories fatally split over Europe that caused the 97 landslide.
At the moment we are at about '90 with the LibDems on the floor and Labour still divided. Next comes defenestration of an electorally successful Tory leader.
Off topic, what is it with this plague of feedback?
I can't use any website, bank, bookie, store or online booking service now without being asked via email for "feedback".
Invariably, it's tedious and geared towards given them some nice % KPIs to throw about in their marketing literature. So I ignore.
On the rare occasion where I offer unsolicited feedback (e.g. to my bank, over the telephone, about being transferred/put on hold too much) it's made perfectly clear to me in the dismissive response by the operator that it's not their job, and not particularly welcome either.
And that illustrates why the polling companies have problems getting responses. On feedback in particular, the dilemma is that some poor sod on minimum wage might actually depend for their bonus or even job on getting good numbers, so I normally give everyone a 10.
Just yesterday @TSE was telling us that CCHQ had asked him to write threads to remind the Tory right what happened in the 1990s.
Today, we have this piece (and Mr. Meeks, although well written as usual - if 50% too long (also as usual) - you don't really have much of a grasp of the inner workings of the Tory Party, do you.
There are a bunch of irreconcilables. There always will be. They have more power right now because of a small majority and have latched on to the EU referendum as a means to attack Cameron.
But the vast majority of the Tory party - in parliament and outside - is minded towards unity. They will disagree - vehemently - on this issue. I have no doubt that some individual relationships will be shattered. But overall the party wants to remain in power, and believes that Corbyn would be a disaster for the country. Many of the positive-Leavers on this board (e.g. @PhilipThompson@MarqueeMark) have said they would vote for Cameron if he was to stand for re-election after the referendum.
It won't be BoJo. It probably won't be Gove. It won't be Javid (or Morgan). It won't be Osborne. May has a good chance as a safe-ish pair of hands if there is a choice in the next 6 months. Otherwise I think it will be a mid-ranking member of the Cabinet (a Truss, Rudd, Crabbe or somesuch).
The problem is that I think the formal division between Con and Lab doesn't reflect the actual political divide very well. There ought really to be three sizeable political parties. A Left Party, led by Corbyn, a Centre Party, ranging from Cameron to Liz Kendall, and a nationalist party, comprising Conservative eurosceptics and UKIP. But, First past the Post forces a binary choice.
FPTP has had it's day.
The last time they were asked....the British Electorate disagreed.....it's not the electorate's job to make politician's lives easier......
Quite - all PR would achieve would be to postpone the infighting until after a GE with potential p political paralysis for months while common sense struggles to prevail. Politics is about compromise -and a good thing too unless you want to be governed by the lunacy of a Corbyn or IDS.
As was pointed out during the AV Referendum, AV is not PR. Alastair makes some very good points, the Eurosceptics are playing with fire and even Jeremy Corbyn may not save the Tories.
2 things would be absolute game-changers.
1) Corbyn goes and someone competent takes over. He could go voluntarily, be run over by a bus, or replaced by election. The probability of one of these is actually fairly high.
2) Tories lose their reputation for economic competence. This would be via a world downturn (not seen the end of the China Crisis yet), or simply the recession that comes round every now and again in the economic cycle. Most damaging would be if the recession was seen as self inflicted - such as being caused by a Brexit vote. The probability of this is also quite high.
There are other events possible too of course, but if both of these happened we could easily see Labour back in for a generation. It was the combination of Tory economic mismanagement of the ERM, a moderate reformist Labour Leadership and Tories fatally split over Europe that caused the 97 landslide.
It probably requires both to happen for Labour to win, though.
One advantage for the Tories of rushing the referendum through is that it gives them longer before the election to pull themselves back together. If they want to, of course.
The Maastricht rebels were right - the European Union project has been a disaster. The Euro I'd a basket case that has impoverished half of southern Europe whilst leaving the northern countries paying the bill. Free movement of Labour - a disaster both for the eastern nations who had their hardest worming and most industrious people leave, and for the western nations whose native workforce have had pay and conditions squashed by the vast pool of Labour competing for too few jobs.
They might have looked bonkers but what they rebelled against was bonkers. And it's not just here. If our referendum is out, or even a narrow in, the pressure on other states for the own referenda will become deafening. The people didn't sign onto a juggernaut of bankers and bureaucrats doing what is right for their narrow interests regardless of cost. The politicians claim a mandate but what mandate when your choices of government are all saying the same thing?
Interesting fact - Teresa Gorman was a Kipper before she sadly passed away last year.
When I was 17, I saw her speak. My dominant memory of the occasion was her bizarre claim that you could only catch AIDS through unprotected anal sex.
Not an uncommon view in the mid-80s. I think The Sun propagated something similar.
Very dedicated lady, St Theresa of the Menopause. Went to a birthday party once, where she was also a guest. We all sat at tables of eight or so and she went to all of them, intoducing herself and effectively canvassing. It wasn’t her birthday.
However, as a result of that I was able to get her to open a training session for nurses on HRT, which got me quite a lot of brownie points.
Teresa (sp mistake earlier) was, in the late 80’s early 90, s a very vocal supporter of HRT for menopausal ladies, Claimed, IIRC, that it gave her her (very considerable) energy. Hence the title.
Mr rcs1000, did not a major financial firm certify that the Greek economy was fi to enter the Euro. Much, IIRC, to the amazement of several reputable commentators!
I believe something of that kind may have happened.
IIRC the advisory fee was well north of $100m!
I will give it to the folks at Peterborough Court: they know how to gouge their clients to the max.
The main difference between the 90's and now is that the Tories had their credibility destroyed by Black Wednesday, they were on course for defeat before the rebellion over Maastricht.
There is a parallel there too. They won in 2015 principally because they were seen as the party with a sound grip on economics - Labour was seen as nicer but the Tories would look after the economy. Whether that is still the case, and will continue to be the case, seems incresingly doubtful. And if they lose their reputation for sound management, they don't actually have much else in the eyes of the general public.
Labour were seen as well-intentioned, rather than nice. Not the same thing. Moreover, as they were led by people who appeared to be just as wealthy as their Conservative counterparts but were in total denial about their status, most people also saw them as rather dim. Not what we wanted in government.
To correct this problem, Labour have elected the 67-year old son of a millionaire trade unionist who got two Es at A-level and failed.a polytechnic course, and whose political beliefs have led him to make common cause with fascists and murderers, and to cover up for paedophiles.
This has undoubtedly led to a change in people's perceptions. Now they see Labour, who are still incompetent, stupid and out of touch, as very ill intentioned as well.
This isn't progress, and short of a major purge of Corbyn and all his crazy acolytes (Milne, Macdonnell, Abbott, Thornberry, etc.) it's difficult to see how Labour comes back from it in the next 10 years.
Is JC the son of a millionaire? Has he covered up for paedos (more than any other politician?) Is there a correlation between political competence and academic success? You all know I am no fan of his, I've been too close to him for that - but let's stick to the facts.
Labour's problem isn't JC, it's the oppositionist thinking of his fan club. That includes Nick Palmer (and indeed my daughter) both of whom I had thought had far more sense.
The Maastricht rebels were right - the European Union project has been a disaster. The Euro I'd a basket case that has impoverished half of southern Europe whilst leaving the northern countries paying the bill. Free movement of Labour - a disaster both for the eastern nations who had their hardest worming and most industrious people leave, and for the western nations whose native workforce have had pay and conditions squashed by the vast pool of Labour competing for too few jobs.
They might have looked bonkers but what they rebelled against was bonkers. And it's not just here. If our referendum is out, or even a narrow in, the pressure on other states for the own referenda will become deafening. The people didn't sign onto a juggernaut of bankers and bureaucrats doing what is right for their narrow interests regardless of cost. The politicians claim a mandate but what mandate when your choices of government are all saying the same thing?
The problem is that I think the formal division between Con and Lab doesn't reflect the actual political divide very well. There ought really to be three sizeable political parties. A Left Party, led by Corbyn, a Centre Party, ranging from Cameron to Liz Kendall, and a nationalist party, comprising Conservative eurosceptics and UKIP. But, First past the Post forces a binary choice.
FPTP has had it's day.
The last time they were asked....the British Electorate disagreed.....it's not the electorate's job to make politician's lives easier......
Quite - all PR would achieve would be to postpone the infighting until after a GE with potential p political paralysis for months while common sense struggles to prevail. Politics is about compromise -and a good thing too unless you want to be governed by the lunacy of a Corbyn or IDS.
One of the advantageous of PR, though, is it increases the chance that you'll not have a government. There's a clear correlation in Italy between absence of government and economic growth, and existence of government and economic stagnation. Perhaps the problem is having a government rather than the opposite. (Masterful inaction, I suspect, is better for economic development than the alternative.)
David Smith made the point in his piece in the ST that Osborne's budget had 77 separately costed measures in it which he believed to be a record. It is certainly not good governance. We desperately need to get back to Lawsonian simplification and letting the economy get on with it.
Osborne is his own worst enemy in this. If his budget had simply set the fiscal framework for the year ahead without all the spin it would have been much better received.
Interesting fact - Teresa Gorman was a Kipper before she sadly passed away last year.
When I was 17, I saw her speak. My dominant memory of the occasion was her bizarre claim that you could only catch AIDS through unprotected anal sex.
Not an uncommon view in the mid-80s. I think The Sun propagated something similar.
Very dedicated lady, St Theresa of the Menopause. Went to a birthday party once, where she was also a guest. We all sat at tables of eight or so and she went to all of them, intoducing herself and effectively canvassing. It wasn’t her birthday.
However, as a result of that I was able to get her to open a training session for nurses on HRT, which got me quite a lot of brownie points.
Teresa (sp mistake earlier) was, in the late 80’s early 90, s a very vocal supporter of HRT for menopausal ladies, Claimed, IIRC, that it gave her her (very considerable) energy. Hence the title.
Off topic, what is it with this plague of feedback?
I can't use any website, bank, bookie, store or online booking service now without being asked via email for "feedback".
Invariably, it's tedious and geared towards given them some nice % KPIs to throw about in their marketing literature. So I ignore.
On the rare occasion where I offer unsolicited feedback (e.g. to my bank, over the telephone, about being transferred/put on hold too much) it's made perfectly clear to me in the dismissive response by the operator that it's not their job, and not particularly welcome either.
Just yesterday @TSE was telling us that CCHQ had asked him to write threads to remind the Tory right what happened in the 1990s.
Today, we have this piece (and Mr. Meeks, although well written as usual - if 50% too long (also as usual) - you don't really have much of a grasp of the inner workings of the Tory Party, do you.
There are a bunch of irreconcilables. There always will be. They have more power right now because of a small majority and have latched on to the EU referendum as a means to attack Cameron.
But the vast majority of the Tory party - in parliament and outside - is minded towards unity. They will disagree - vehemently - on this issue. I have no doubt that some individual relationships will be shattered. But overall the party wants to remain in power, and believes that Corbyn would be a disaster for the country. Many of the positive-Leavers on this board (e.g. @PhilipThompson@MarqueeMark) have said they would vote for Cameron if he was to stand for re-election after the referendum.
It won't be BoJo. It probably won't be Gove. It won't be Javid (or Morgan). It won't be Osborne. May has a good chance as a safe-ish pair of hands if there is a choice in the next 6 months. Otherwise I think it will be a mid-ranking member of the Cabinet (a Truss, Rudd, Crabbe or somesuch).
Your fourth paragraph ignores the point of your third paragraph. Sometimes a determined minority, even a small minority, can frustrate the will of the great majority. Such a minority did so in the 1990s. A similar minority is shaping up to do so again now. That, in essence, is the point of the thread header.
As in the 1990s, the small minority will be allowed to wreck the government because of the connivance of a larger minority sympathetic to their cause. Once that happens, the identity of the next Conservative leader is more or less irrelevant: we will have non-government.
Off topic, what is it with this plague of feedback?
I can't use any website, bank, bookie, store or online booking service now without being asked via email for "feedback".
Invariably, it's tedious and geared towards given them some nice % KPIs to throw about in their marketing literature. So I ignore.
On the rare occasion where I offer unsolicited feedback (e.g. to my bank, over the telephone, about being transferred/put on hold too much) it's made perfectly clear to me in the dismissive response by the operator that it's not their job, and not particularly welcome either.
And that illustrates why the polling companies have problems getting responses. On feedback in particular, the dilemma is that some poor sod on minimum wage might actually depend for their bonus or even job on getting good numbers, so I normally give everyone a 10.
If I'm irritated or hacked off, I give feedback, and also tell others. If the service has been anything from just about OK to not too bad, even if, frankly, it could be better, I do nothing. If it's been absolutely fantastic, I occasionally make the effort to tell them so, and I might also tell others.
I expect I am not unusual. My priorities are not their priorities.
This is all correct, and raises some questions: 1) Will the Tories be able to sort themselves out after the referendum? Assuming not: 2) With Con and Lab both shitting the bed simultaneously, maybe the time is right to do the SDP again? 3) Or maybe UKIP can clean up?
If the choice is Any Tory v Corbyn in 2020, Any Tory wins. This is the luxury Tory Leavers enjoy. Everything changes if Labour members awaken from their self-indulgent slumber. But that looks very unlikely.
As someone who has occasionally expressed mild doubts about Corbyn's prospects for electoral success, do you feel that there is actually an overlap in the Venn diagram between "policies noticeably to the left of the Tories" and "have a chance of beating Any Tory in 2020"?
Regardless of whether or not I agree with the views, I can see that obsessing about Trident, as many refugees as possible, and remembering good times past with assorted Terrorist Haters Of Britain™ is not a good look. It's going to be hard to win an election, certainly one fought Crosby-style, with Jezza's particularly history on these things.
But a candidate without his particular priorities who otherwise shares the broadly social democratic (in some EU countries centrist) views on the role of the state, industrial policy, public services, opportunity and social justice would also be very acceptable to the membership. Probably more than Corbyn, who has shown he's a bit crap at the day to day job. Unfortunately the leadership election didn't offer any other such candidates.
Would you feel more comfortable going into 2020 with some such candidate or would you still see that as indulging in unelectable ideological purity?
I would happily vote for a broadly social democratic Labour party. I would put myself to the left of Blair, for example; though he was the Labour leader that I have felt most comfortable backing. My problem is with Corbyn, McDonnell and their various far left travellers. They are electoral poison and they hold views that are absolute anathema to me.
Just yesterday @TSE was telling us that CCHQ had asked him to write threads to remind the Tory right what happened in the 1990s.
Today, we have this piece (and Mr. Meeks, although well written as usual - if 50% too long (also as usual) - you don't really have much of a grasp of the inner workings of the Tory Party, do you.
There are a bunch of irreconcilables. There always will be. They have more power right now because of a small majority and have latched on to the EU referendum as a means to attack Cameron.
But the vast majority of the Tory party - in parliament and outside - is minded towards unity. They will disagree - vehemently - on this issue. I have no doubt that some individual relationships will be shattered. But overall the party wants to remain in power, and believes that Corbyn would be a disaster for the country. Many of the positive-Leavers on this board (e.g. @PhilipThompson@MarqueeMark) have said they would vote for Cameron if he was to stand for re-election after the referendum.
It won't be BoJo. It probably won't be Gove. It won't be Javid (or Morgan). It won't be Osborne. May has a good chance as a safe-ish pair of hands if there is a choice in the next 6 months. Otherwise I think it will be a mid-ranking member of the Cabinet (a Truss, Rudd, Crabbe or somesuch).
Your fourth paragraph ignores the point of your third paragraph. Sometimes a determined minority, even a small minority, can frustrate the will of the great majority. Such a minority did so in the 1990s. A similar minority is shaping up to do so again now. That, in essence, is the point of the thread header.
As in the 1990s, the small minority will be allowed to wreck the government because of the connivance of a larger minority sympathetic to their cause. Once that happens, the identity of the next Conservative leader is more or less irrelevant: we will have non-government.
Nah, what happened in the 1990s was that the party was in turmoil - Major had a much larger group of rebels with running series of votes in Parliament.
Here there is a single referendum which will largely deal with the issue (Except for the anti-Cameroon individuals who would be anti-Cameron anyway and are largely ignored)
There is a bigger issue with the fact that there are a bunch of Tory MPs who are swayed by social media and lack a spine.
The main difference between the 90's and now is that the Tories had their credibility destroyed by Black Wednesday, they were on course for defeat before the rebellion over Maastricht.
There is a parallel there too. They won in 2015 principally because they were seen as the party with a sound grip on economics - Labour was seen as nicer but the Tories would look after the economy. Whether that is still the case, and will continue to be the case, seems incresingly doubtful. And if they lose their reputation for sound management, they don't actually have much else in the eyes of the general public.
Yes, because the public will leap at the chance to have a PM who looks like a homeless supply teacher.
Off topic, what is it with this plague of feedback?
I can't use any website, bank, bookie, store or online booking service now without being asked via email for "feedback".
Invariably, it's tedious and geared towards given them some nice % KPIs to throw about in their marketing literature. So I ignore.
On the rare occasion where I offer unsolicited feedback (e.g. to my bank, over the telephone, about being transferred/put on hold too much) it's made perfectly clear to me in the dismissive response by the operator that it's not their job, and not particularly welcome either.
I absolutely loathe it. I refuse to give it now and they'll just have to live without my insight and acuity. It is hugely irritating. As you say you can't move without being asked to rate your experience.
All very puzzling, yesterday TSE told us that CCHQ was begging him for positive threads, the very next day Meeks pulls one of his many pro Remain threads from the drawer.
I'm interested to hear what TSE and Meeks hope to gain from such toadying, obsequious behaviour. A job, an audience with Dave, recognition - what is the motive? In thread header after thread header Meeks calls Leavers insane, infantile and mad, there has to be a bigger picture.
Interestingly the header says that Cameron is the politician the public respects, hogwash. Ask labour voters, ukip voters, SNP voters, a growing number of conservatives if they respect Cameron, of course they don't. This site is increasingly representative of this peculiar, self appointed bubble that seeks to frame but is actually massively out of touch with public opinion.
If, and its still a reasonable sized if, Leave wins, this site will be like a day old battlefield after the referendum.
Off topic, what is it with this plague of feedback?
I can't use any website, bank, bookie, store or online booking service now without being asked via email for "feedback".
Invariably, it's tedious and geared towards given them some nice % KPIs to throw about in their marketing literature. So I ignore.
On the rare occasion where I offer unsolicited feedback (e.g. to my bank, over the telephone, about being transferred/put on hold too much) it's made perfectly clear to me in the dismissive response by the operator that it's not their job, and not particularly welcome either.
And that illustrates why the polling companies have problems getting responses. On feedback in particular, the dilemma is that some poor sod on minimum wage might actually depend for their bonus or even job on getting good numbers, so I normally give everyone a 10.
If I'm irritated or hacked off, I give feedback, and also tell others. If the service has been anything from just about OK to not too bad, even if, frankly, it could be better, I do nothing. If it's been absolutely fantastic, I occasionally make the effort to tell them so, and I might also tell others.
I expect I am not unusual. My priorities are not their priorities.
Comments
Stuxnet?...Yes.
"We have confirmed that Flame uses a yet unknown MD5 chosen-prefix collision attack,"
http://arstechnica.com/security/2012/06/flame-crypto-breakthrough/
Ed Miliband to warn against EU exit
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-35868007
My point was the comment that Apple iPhone system couldn't be broken by brute force alone. Neither could MD5 on the surface, or that was the original thinking and the US government had tech to do so years before anybody realised it was even really possible.
Excellent post, Mr Meeks.
I really fear a Corbyn or McDonnell-led Government (or one led by a Labour leader who shares their views). If the Tories don't behave themselves that is what we might get.
Cameron may not have acquitted himself with glory over the EU deal etc but he is a formidable politician and the Tories will miss him when he goes. I am no fan of the EU but am even less of a fan of an ungovernable governing party or of handing the next election to a party as morally deficient and incompetent as Labour has proven to be under Corbyn and his allies.
You must always create an effective defence that counters the weapons that you create, just in case.
Goodnight.
The thoughtful case against the EU - and there is one - has been lost amongst the carpet-chewing........
I chose the picture as a reminder of past Tory insanity.
Trump 47 -2
Cruz 31 +16
Kasich 17 +11
Basically the same as the CBS/NYT one, but with different movements.
Hillary 53 +1
Trump 41 -3
Is the Republican party united: Yes 8%
Republican voters upset if Trump is the nominee: 21%
Democratic voters upset if Hillary is the nominee: 11%
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2773296-rel5a-2016.html
How about the IDS [IN DEPTH SHIT] budget...
Since this is another Meeks criticises the Tory right (shocker) to loud applause from the Cameroons (shocker) thread I will duck out and hope there is some more interesting being talked about later.
Believe in BRITAIN!
Be LEAVE!
(disclaimer - I am not, and have never been, a member of the Tory party!)
Of course if Gove & Stuart could impose some discipline on the rabble.........but I fear too many 'Men of Destiny' (sic) in their ranks......
1) Will the Tories be able to sort themselves out after the referendum? Assuming not:
2) With Con and Lab both shitting the bed simultaneously, maybe the time is right to do the SDP again?
3) Or maybe UKIP can clean up?
What we need is electoral reform, in the form of Proportional Representation then there would be no need for these coalitions within the two big parties. It's a complete joke that Ken Clarke and the likes of Peter Bone are in the same party, just like it is a nonsense that Dianne Abbott is in the same party as Tony Blair. FPTP has had it's day.
"The British debate about Brexit, at the moment, reminds me of the discussions I heard in the US, late last year, about Donald Trump. Back then the opinion polls said that Mr Trump was well ahead in the race. But the conventional wisdom in Washington was that he would never win the Republican presidential nomination. Everybody told me that, once voters focused on the race, Mr Trump’s lead would crumble.
In Britain today, there is a similar unwillingness among mainstream political analysts to believe the warning signs from the opinion polls. Several recent polls have shown small majorities in favour of the UK leaving Europe when the country holds its referendum on June 23. But most political pundits I speak to still think it is pretty unlikely that Britain will really vote to leave. When it comes to both Mr Trump and Brexit, the political establishments in Washington and London find it hard to believe the public will ultimately make a choice that the establishment regards as self-evidently stupid."
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/35bef41c-ecfe-11e5-bb79-2303682345c8.html#axzz43bhO9Zmq
Greece should never have joined the Euro. Greece should have left the Euro in 2010. They should again have left the Euro early in 2015 when SYRIZA was first elected. And they should finally have left the Euro in late 2015 when the last bail-out was agreed.
There is this idea that the Germans - or the EU - forced them to stay in. This is untrue.
In particular, in early 2015, the Greek government was offered the support of the IMF for Grexit. (In particular, the IMF offered a package for recapitalising the Greek banks.) Both the ECB and the German government agreed that Greece would find it easier to restructure its debts outside the Eurozone. But Tsipiras bottled it. He feared that his government would not survive exit from the Eurozone. (Which is probably true). But in bottling it, he did his countrymen an enormous disservice.
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In fact, in 1999 only Luxembourg met the official entry criteria without extensive fiddling of the figures. Which of course goes a long way towards explaining the Euro's current existential crisis.
Agree with the rest.
Alastair makes some very good points, the Eurosceptics are playing with fire and even Jeremy Corbyn may not save the Tories.
To correct this problem, Labour have elected the 67-year old son of a millionaire trade unionist who got two Es at A-level and failed.a polytechnic course, and whose political beliefs have led him to make common cause with fascists and murderers, and to cover up for paedophiles.
This has undoubtedly led to a change in people's perceptions. Now they see Labour, who are still incompetent, stupid and out of touch, as very ill intentioned as well.
This isn't progress, and short of a major purge of Corbyn and all his crazy acolytes (Milne, Macdonnell, Abbott, Thornberry, etc.) it's difficult to see how Labour comes back from it in the next 10 years.
Osborne to praise IDS and defend ‘compassionate’ budget http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article4718670.ece
If the Greeks had wanted to leave, they would have done so. In reality, they were desperate to do anything but.
Regardless of whether or not I agree with the views, I can see that obsessing about Trident, as many refugees as possible, and remembering good times past with assorted Terrorist Haters Of Britain™ is not a good look. It's going to be hard to win an election, certainly one fought Crosby-style, with Jezza's particularly history on these things.
But a candidate without his particular priorities who otherwise shares the broadly social democratic (in some EU countries centrist) views on the role of the state, industrial policy, public services, opportunity and social justice would also be very acceptable to the membership. Probably more than Corbyn, who has shown he's a bit crap at the day to day job. Unfortunately the leadership election didn't offer any other such candidates.
Would you feel more comfortable going into 2020 with some such candidate or would you still see that as indulging in unelectable ideological purity?
PR gives a rather naive and fake purity but then after the election a coalition is cobbled together that the public never voted for at election time.
Next!
I can't use any website, bank, bookie, store or online booking service now without being asked via email for "feedback".
Invariably, it's tedious and geared towards given them some nice % KPIs to throw about in their marketing literature. So I ignore.
On the rare occasion where I offer unsolicited feedback (e.g. to my bank, over the telephone, about being transferred/put on hold too much) it's made perfectly clear to me in the dismissive response by the operator that it's not their job, and not particularly welcome either.
However, as a result of that I was able to get her to open a training session for nurses on HRT, which got me quite a lot of brownie points.
1) Corbyn goes and someone competent takes over. He could go voluntarily, be run over by a bus, or replaced by election. The probability of one of these is actually fairly high.
2) Tories lose their reputation for economic competence. This would be via a world downturn (not seen the end of the China Crisis yet), or simply the recession that comes round every now and again in the economic cycle. Most damaging would be if the recession was seen as self inflicted - such as being caused by a Brexit vote. The probability of this is also quite high.
There are other events possible too of course, but if both of these happened we could easily see Labour back in for a generation. It was the combination of Tory economic mismanagement of the ERM, a moderate reformist Labour Leadership and Tories fatally split over Europe that caused the 97 landslide.
At the moment we are at about '90 with the LibDems on the floor and Labour still divided. Next comes defenestration of an electorally successful Tory leader.
Today, we have this piece (and Mr. Meeks, although well written as usual - if 50% too long (also as usual) - you don't really have much of a grasp of the inner workings of the Tory Party, do you.
There are a bunch of irreconcilables. There always will be. They have more power right now because of a small majority and have latched on to the EU referendum as a means to attack Cameron.
But the vast majority of the Tory party - in parliament and outside - is minded towards unity. They will disagree - vehemently - on this issue. I have no doubt that some individual relationships will be shattered. But overall the party wants to remain in power, and believes that Corbyn would be a disaster for the country. Many of the positive-Leavers on this board (e.g. @PhilipThompson @MarqueeMark) have said they would vote for Cameron if he was to stand for re-election after the referendum.
It won't be BoJo. It probably won't be Gove. It won't be Javid (or Morgan). It won't be Osborne. May has a good chance as a safe-ish pair of hands if there is a choice in the next 6 months. Otherwise I think it will be a mid-ranking member of the Cabinet (a Truss, Rudd, Crabbe or somesuch).
One advantage for the Tories of rushing the referendum through is that it gives them longer before the election to pull themselves back together. If they want to, of course.
How many get out clauses in that?
They might have looked bonkers but what they rebelled against was bonkers. And it's not just here. If our referendum is out, or even a narrow in, the pressure on other states for the own referenda will become deafening. The people didn't sign onto a juggernaut of bankers and bureaucrats doing what is right for their narrow interests regardless of cost. The politicians claim a mandate but what mandate when your choices of government are all saying the same thing?
Hence the title.
I will give it to the folks at Peterborough Court: they know how to gouge their clients to the max.
Labour's problem isn't JC, it's the oppositionist thinking of his fan club. That includes Nick Palmer (and indeed my daughter) both of whom I had thought had far more sense.
Osborne is his own worst enemy in this. If his budget had simply set the fiscal framework for the year ahead without all the spin it would have been much better received.
As in the 1990s, the small minority will be allowed to wreck the government because of the connivance of a larger minority sympathetic to their cause. Once that happens, the identity of the next Conservative leader is more or less irrelevant: we will have non-government.
I expect I am not unusual. My priorities are not their priorities.
Here there is a single referendum which will largely deal with the issue (Except for the anti-Cameroon individuals who would be anti-Cameron anyway and are largely ignored)
There is a bigger issue with the fact that there are a bunch of Tory MPs who are swayed by social media and lack a spine.
Dream on.
I'm interested to hear what TSE and Meeks hope to gain from such toadying, obsequious behaviour. A job, an audience with Dave, recognition - what is the motive? In thread header after thread header Meeks calls Leavers insane, infantile and mad, there has to be a bigger picture.
Interestingly the header says that Cameron is the politician the public respects, hogwash. Ask labour voters, ukip voters, SNP voters, a growing number of conservatives if they respect Cameron, of course they don't. This site is increasingly representative of this peculiar, self appointed bubble that seeks to frame but is actually massively out of touch with public opinion.
If, and its still a reasonable sized if, Leave wins, this site will be like a day old battlefield after the referendum.