As the paper itself puts it: "Since the Mueller investigation began, the president's former campaign manager, former deputy campaign manager, former foreign policy aide, former national security adviser, and former lawyer have all either pleaded guilty or been found guilty of federal crimes. "
When you put it like that it's not a great record is it?
Only problem is Boston is a city where precisely zero voters support Trump, so it might be just a bit biased.
That doesn't make any of the indictments/convictions not true. His lawyer has now pleaded guilty to consipring with a candidate to breach electoral funding laws. I can see the impeach argument being a big issue in November and not just on the Democratic side. Mitt Romney was more than hinting as much yesterday.
I've got a modest bet on him being re-elected but things are getting difficult.
Now is probably a good time to back Trump for 2020.
Romney may be one, but who are the 15-20 other GOP senators who are going to vote for impeachment?
John McCain would although he may not live long enough. I don't think that there is a lot of love between Trump and the Republican establishment.
I am more worried about my bet than I have been to date.
It will likely come down to whether the GOP senators up for re-election in 2020 think they have a better chance of keeping their seats with Pence as president.
Good point; for those of a liberal persausion who want to see Trump out, be careful what you wish for!
An interesting snippet from the article: "One Labour MP recently updated his mailing list to be compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation. He discovered that while his local party membership was at a record high of 300, 200 members had left since Corbyn took over as leader"
That's quite a turnover, but I suspect not that representative and surely not all down to Corbyn. Striking though that this MP clearly has very little idea who his local membership are.
I recently received a letter from the local MP. From it I get the impression that she thinks I’m a Tory voter!
Perhaps if Brown hadn’t gone about his Coronation you’d have had a proper contest and would have better options than Corbyn & Abbott...
It had another effect too. Many senior figures in Labour blamed the lack of a leadership contest for their subsequent defeat, as it gave no opportunity for them to air their new ideas and get them adopted. They also felt it had stoked resentment among losers who developed a dolschstoss theory that they could have shown how popular they were else.
This logic led David Miliband to nominate Diane Abbott to 'broaden the debate.'
With that precedent set, Labour next artificially nominated some useless prat called Corbyn...
I was one of Diane's 11 first choice votes in Hertsmere CLP
As the paper itself puts it: "Since the Mueller investigation began, the president's former campaign manager, former deputy campaign manager, former foreign policy aide, former national security adviser, and former lawyer have all either pleaded guilty or been found guilty of federal crimes. "
When you put it like that it's not a great record is it?
Only problem is Boston is a city where precisely zero voters support Trump, so it might be just a bit biased.
That doesn't make any of the indictments/convictions not true. His lawyer has now pleaded guilty to consipring with a candidate to breach electoral funding laws. I can see the impeach argument being a big issue in November and not just on the Democratic side. Mitt Romney was more than hinting as much yesterday.
I've got a modest bet on him being re-elected but things are getting difficult.
Now is probably a good time to back Trump for 2020.
Romney may be one, but who are the 15-20 other GOP senators who are going to vote for impeachment?
John McCain would although he may not live long enough. I don't think that there is a lot of love between Trump and the Republican establishment.
I am more worried about my bet than I have been to date.
It will likely come down to whether the GOP senators up for re-election in 2020 think they have a better chance of keeping their seats with Pence as president.
Good point; for those of a liberal persausion who want to see Trump out, be careful what you wish for!
Indeed, Pence is basically a more competent version of Trump: same policies but with an adult temperament and communication skills, and a bit of religious nuttery thrown in.
Impeachment itself of course is unlikely to happen. If it looks like there are enough votes in the Senate to remove Trump then there will likely be a Nixon-type resignation rather than an actual vote.
Interesting piece, but I suspect the author's membership of the Conservatives means he's not party to the psychology of Labour members' motives in the event of (another) Corbyn-led Labour defeat at a General Election, at which he'll be older, tired and probably less popular.
1994 marked the point at which Labour started getting serious about winning again after three successive defeats and so members began to trust the idea of a more centrist, reforming leader. I don't doubt that 2022 could mark another shift back towards the centre because it's not as if there is a competent hard-left successor waiting conveniently in the wings. McDonnell and Abbott won't be interested and have tried before. It wouldn't be inconceivable that the leader is once again someone from the soft-left.
Good first post, and welcome aboard. Irrespective of my personal views I think it is a problem for the left that the Corbyn leadership is only really cemented by three people: McDonnell, Abbott and Corbyn himself. When Corbyn goes (for whatever reason) neither of the others will stand. So the next leader will be somebody else.
But won't they be bound by the Corbyn agenda? Not really, because Corbyn's popularity in the party has so far been built on a popular social democratic manifesto (I don't know any centrist MPs who disliked it, and it had a pretty good reception in the public) plus a few trademark policies like nationalising the water industry. As others have observed, there really isn't a systematic left-wing programme on offer at the moment, so Corbyn's successor will have a fair amount of freedom of maneouvre, so long as they put their case in generally left-wing terms.
I think this is right. I see the previous Labour manifesto as a fairly logical extension of what Ed Miliband was trying to do. It's a shame he wasn't bolder. The only real policy differences I see with the moderates are on Europe, nuclear weapons and some of the nationalisations (I think the argument for rail is won anyway).
But there is work going on in leftish think tanks and among academics thinking about how to reinvent/revive/reform capitalism, and at least Corbyn + crew are open to some of that.
Brown's ministries were stuffed with potential successors, such as David Miliband, Andy Burnham, James Purnell and Jack Straw. Not to mention his actual successor, Ed Miliband. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_ministry
James Purnell resigned after less than 2 years, calling on Brown to go too.
Which rather proves my point. Brown's cabinet contained the plotters against Brown who used the staged resignation ploy which since then has also failed to be effective against Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May.
Purnell acted alone, nor did he see himself as a potential successor.
The key point is that there was no big figure with an independent base in the party in the cabinet. All the key figures held office at Brown's pleasure. That made them unable to stand up to him and was responsible for a great many policy cock-ups, starting with his flawed response to the expenses scandal.
There was nobody to be Brown to his Blair (sorry) or Heseltine to his Major. In that sense his government resembled the unipolar one of Neville Chamberlain, or perhaps Thatcher after Whitelaw's retirement.
I remember discussing it with Charles Clarke, who was trying to organise an open rebellion against Gordon. I had my doubts about Gordon but I told Charles I would only go public with them if there was something resembling a viable alternative - I couldn't see the point of just grumbling. His argument was that if there was enough grumbling then a contender would emerge. I wasn't persuaded.
Perhaps if Brown hadn’t gone about his Coronation you’d have had a proper contest and would have better options than Corbyn & Abbott...
It had another effect too. Many senior figures in Labour blamed the lack of a leadership contest for their subsequent defeat, as it gave no opportunity for them to air their new ideas and get them adopted. They also felt it had stoked resentment among losers who developed a dolschstoss theory that they could have shown how popular they were else.
This logic led David Miliband to nominate Diane Abbott to 'broaden the debate.'
With that precedent set, Labour next artificially nominated some useless prat called Corbyn...
I was one of Diane's 11 first choice votes in Hertsmere CLP
Interesting piece, but I suspect the author's membership of the Conservatives means he's not party to the psychology of Labour members' motives in the event of (another) Corbyn-led Labour defeat at a General Election, at which he'll be older, tired and probably less popular.
1994 marked the point at which Labour started getting serious about winning again after three successive defeats and so members began to trust the idea of a more centrist, reforming leader. I don't doubt that 2022 could mark another shift back towards the centre because it's not as if there is a competent hard-left successor waiting conveniently in the wings. McDonnell and Abbott won't be interested and have tried before. It wouldn't be inconceivable that the leader is once again someone from the soft-left.
Good first post, and welcome aboard. Irrespective of my personal views I think it is a problem for the left that the Corbyn leadership is only really cemented by three people: McDonnell, Abbott and Corbyn himself. When Corbyn goes (for whatever reason) neither of the others will stand. So the next leader will be somebody else.
But won't they be bound by the Corbyn agenda? Not really, because Corbyn's popularity in the party has so far been built on a popular social democratic manifesto (I don't know any centrist MPs who disliked it, and it had a pretty good reception in the public) plus a few trademark policies like nationalising the water industry. As others have observed, there really isn't a systematic left-wing programme on offer at the moment, so Corbyn's successor will have a fair amount of freedom of maneouvre, so long as they put their case in generally left-wing terms.
I think this is right. I see the previous Labour manifesto as a fairly logical extension of what Ed Miliband was trying to do. It's a shame he wasn't bolder. The only real policy differences I see with the moderates are on Europe, nuclear weapons and some of the nationalisations (I think the argument for rail is won anyway).
But there is work going on in leftish think tanks and among academics thinking about how to reinvent/revive/reform capitalism, and at least Corbyn + crew are open to some of that.
Nevertheless it would have to be someone very adept politically, to pursue such a moderate agenda with the PLP onside yet manage a party and organised grassroots that has swung dramatically to the left and has high expectations of their anticipated spell in office.
I begin to suspect Malcolm Turnbull "won" his latest leadership ballot in the same way Margaret Thatcher "won" the first leadership ballot in 1990.
While Dutton may help National in Queensland a little, he will lose the Coalition plenty of support in the more progressive states. The latest IPSOS poll puts Labour well ahead winning the two-party vote 55-45.
I would have thought there were worse implications than someone living permanently in Spain having to open a Spanish bank account at some point in the next seven months.
Impeachment itself of course is unlikely to happen. If it looks like there are enough votes in the Senate to remove Trump then there will likely be a Nixon-type resignation rather than an actual vote.
That would be the response a more or less rational person still at least able to understand the concept of shame (if not actually feel it); Nixon qualified, Trump not so much. Also as Armando Ianucci points out:
President Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen in 2016 paid $50,000 to an unidentified tech company “in connection with” the Trump campaign, according to court documents.
Cohen made the payment, first reported Wednesday by CNBC, for “tech services” that he “had solicited from a technology company during and in connection with the campaign,” according to court documents released Tuesday.
What chance this “tech company” is based in Moscow?
An Aussie PM hasn't lasted more than 3 years in office since John Howard. Latest news is that Julie Bishop may be running.
Am I right in thinking that only one of them was chucked out by voters (Rudd II) rather than internal party politics?
They do seem alarmingly quick to give it a try and not show any spine when hitting some poll trouble, and the ousted often come back for another go. Why they don't at least have a rule about how much time between challenges they can have I don't know.
Also, the documents are coming out in tranches, so the first set should be today but there's more to come.
Was out to lunch yesterday. Took about 4 hours, door to door. One of the advantages of being an OAP, although, as I was the driver, it wasn’t as boozy for me as it might have been.
I would have thought there were worse implications than someone living permanently in Spain having to open a Spanish bank account at some point in the next seven months.
That's not the issue. The issue is for people who have worked in other EU countries and have a pension there. Apparently the rule is that a pension saved in the EU has to be paid out in the EU.
I would have thought there were worse implications than someone living permanently in Spain having to open a Spanish bank account at some point in the next seven months.
Isn't the point that a former expat pensioner, who has a pension from an EU employer currently paid into a UK account will no longer be able to in the event of a no-deal Brexit as the UK becomes a 'Third Country'?
It might not be straightforward opening an account in an EU country where you are not resident, though I suspect Malta or Cyprus will be happy to help....
It's a bit silly what Corbyn is asking for. By definition, the social class of the people working at the BBC will be A, B and C1s.
What they really need to know is, what was the social grade of the parents of the people who work at the BBC? Of course, such information is not readily available.
There was, many moons ago, a great post that would periodically do the rounds on CiF whenever there was some man of the people editorial which detailed the education of the main Graun journalists. Of course they were 99.99% Oxbridge and ISTR a high proportion public school also.
Andrew Bolt, the late night Sky News commentator and keen promoter of the Anyone-But-Turnbull camp, had just had a hernia live on air.
He’s furious Turnbull is Bolt then reminded viewers that he wasn’t a member of the Liberal party.
Most of this is a rant, although it is not unfair to say that Turnbull is all about Turnbull. He can hardly complain when he backstabbed Abbott. Turnbull is the classic elitist - thinks he should be PM because he is smart and rich and liberal, but had no idea what he wanted to do once he was in office. Seems unable to understand that looking good on TV is not actually enough once you are in charge.
All I can say is that this is as exciting and relevant as Australian politics gets. What is depressing is that neither party has any alternative leaders anywhere who will do any better. There are simply not enough MPs in Australia to allow either party to choose anyone except sycophants as candidates. So no new ideas and approaches ever come up. Coupled with three year parliaments and compulsory voting and AV there is no chance that the centre-right will ever be able to enact a reformist agenda. So they just behave like the pre-Thatcher Tories and follow Labour policies but dress it up slightly differently. It doesn't really matter who the Liberals choose as leader. Australia is all about 'entitlement'. People want more, so they will vote Labour.
You are lucky in the UK - real debate, real divisions between the parties and big life changing issues (Brexit) to discuss. No wonder I hang around here....
Though to be fair Abbott toppled Turnbull in opposition. Julie Bishop could end up a Major if Turnbull resigns to Dutton's Heseltine
There was, many moons ago, a great post that would periodically do the rounds on CiF whenever there was some man of the people editorial which detailed the education of the main Graun journalists. Of course they were 99.99% Oxbridge and ISTR a high proportion public school also.
There was, many moons ago, a great post that would periodically do the rounds on CiF whenever there was some man of the people editorial which detailed the education of the main Graun journalists. Of course they were 99.99% Oxbridge and ISTR a high proportion public school also.
And they would block you if you pointed this out!
How will they cope with Jeremy's new regime?
A mixture of public ecstasy and private horror, I would imagine.
Impeachment itself of course is unlikely to happen. If it looks like there are enough votes in the Senate to remove Trump then there will likely be a Nixon-type resignation rather than an actual vote.
That would be the natural course of events but I don't think that's how Trump would play it. He would be more likely to try to force the issue and put pressure from his base on GOP senators. That may or may not work but when the alternative is some form of ruin, he'd be more likely to roll the dice than meekly implicitly accept his guilt.
Corbyn 's speech on the media today is likely to be eclipsed by Dominic Rabbs speech at 11.00 outlining the no deal issues.
I do think we are approaching a moment that may see the mood of the Nation turn against the EU and in some part support a no deal.
All we hear from the media is 'it's all our fault' and yet Barnier's attitude to a punishment deal makes a fair compromise almost impossible but if and when Barnier is faced with a collapsed deal the attitude to those in Europe are likely to erupt in fury as trade across Europe stops and tens of thousands of European jobs go up in smoke.
Talking of smoke can you imagine French farmers attitude as their HGV's are trapped in limbo in Calais and their produce rots away. Similarly Irish farmers are going to be incandescent
The no deal scene is the end for Barniers ambitions and an EU crisis of unprecendented seriousness.
Lets hope grown ups come together and stop this utter stupidity
There was, many moons ago, a great post that would periodically do the rounds on CiF whenever there was some man of the people editorial which detailed the education of the main Graun journalists. Of course they were 99.99% Oxbridge and ISTR a high proportion public school also.
And they would block you if you pointed this out!
How will they cope with Jeremy's new regime?
A mixture of public ecstasy and private horror, I would imagine.
They will probably be exempt.
If I were ever asked such a stupid question I would reply “working class”. I have worked - and continue to do so - all my life.
I think this is right. I see the previous Labour manifesto as a fairly logical extension of what Ed Miliband was trying to do. It's a shame he wasn't bolder. The only real policy differences I see with the moderates are on Europe, nuclear weapons and some of the nationalisations (I think the argument for rail is won anyway).
But there is work going on in leftish think tanks and among academics thinking about how to reinvent/revive/reform capitalism, and at least Corbyn + crew are open to some of that.
Nevertheless it would have to be someone very adept politically, to pursue such a moderate agenda with the PLP onside yet manage a party and organised grassroots that has swung dramatically to the left and has high expectations of their anticipated spell in office.
Or all hell breaks loose, of course...
Wilson used to say that Labour was best led "from the left", but he wasn't seen as particularly left-wing. I'm a member of Momentum and in touch with lots on the left, and I'm not coming across a particular policy agenda, apart from the points rkrkrk mentions (and Corbyn himself has dropped the nuclear disarmament issue). Frankly I'd like to see more, but I try to be reasonably objective here.
The thing is that members are culturally left-wing in the way I suggested a couple of days back, and trust Corbyn to be reasonably left-wing in practice (and I don't think he'd suffer from disappointed expectations from them for a while). A successor would need to be trusted, a precondition of which is not to be one of the publicly hostile group. Emily Thornberry is an obvious option - generally seen to be left-wing, for no very obvious reason.
There was, many moons ago, a great post that would periodically do the rounds on CiF whenever there was some man of the people editorial which detailed the education of the main Graun journalists. Of course they were 99.99% Oxbridge and ISTR a high proportion public school also.
And they would block you if you pointed this out!
How will they cope with Jeremy's new regime?
A mixture of public ecstasy and private horror, I would imagine.
They will probably be exempt.
If I were ever asked such a stupid question I would reply “working class”. I have worked - and continue to do so - all my life.
There was, many moons ago, a great post that would periodically do the rounds on CiF whenever there was some man of the people editorial which detailed the education of the main Graun journalists. Of course they were 99.99% Oxbridge and ISTR a high proportion public school also.
Not to mention how many of them were related to existing Graun journalists. They always blocked my posts on this, the poor snowflakes!
Brown's ministries were stuffed with potential successors, such as David Miliband, Andy Burnham, James Purnell and Jack Straw. Not to mention his actual successor, Ed Miliband. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_ministry
James Purnell resigned after less than 2 years, calling on Brown to go too.
Which rather proves my point. Brown's cabinet contained the plotters against Brown who used the staged resignation ploy which since then has also failed to be effective against Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May.
Purnell acted alone, nor did he see himself as a potential successor.
The key point is that there was no big figure with an independent base in the party in the cabinet. All the key figures held office at Brown's pleasure. That made them unable to stand up to him and was responsible for a great many policy cock-ups, starting with his flawed response to the expenses scandal.
There was nobody to be Brown to his Blair (sorry) or Heseltine to his Major. In that sense his government resembled the unipolar one of Neville Chamberlain, or perhaps Thatcher after Whitelaw's retirement.
The general view at the time was that if David Miliband went too, then that would tip the balance and leave Brown's position untenable. I think that may well have been true. However, would it have done DM any favours? To be perceived as so openly disloyal and ambitious (whether true or not) would have damaged his chances in any leadership election, either in 2009 or 2010, so he could easily have wielded the knife only for someone else to pick up the crown (of course, someone else picked up the crown anyway but that was in no small part down to DM's poor campaign).
And even if Miliband had resigned, forced Brown out and won the premiership, could he have saved Labour's bacon for 2010 or would he just have been another fag-end prime minister presiding over scandal and decay before then going down to defeat? I can well see why he waited. But that isn't to say he wasn't seen as a potential credible immediate successor. He was (and there'll be threads on that very topic from PBC's archives, down the side).
Brown's ministries were stuffed with potential successors, such as David Miliband, Andy Burnham, James Purnell and Jack Straw. Not to mention his actual successor, Ed Miliband. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_ministry
James Purnell resigned after less than 2 years, calling on Brown to go too.
Which rather proves my point. Brown's cabinet contained the plotters against Brown who used the staged resignation ploy which since then has also failed to be effective against Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May.
Purnell acted alone, nor did he see himself as a potential successor.
The key point is that there was no big figure with an independent base in the party in the cabinet. All the key figures held office at Brown's pleasure. That made them unable to stand up to him and was responsible for a great many policy cock-ups, starting with his flawed response to the expenses scandal.
There was nobody to be Brown to his Blair (sorry) or Heseltine to his Major. In that sense his government resembled the unipolar one of Neville Chamberlain, or perhaps Thatcher after Whitelaw's retirement.
The general view at the time was that if David Miliband went too, then that would tip the balance and leave Brown's position untenable. I think that may well have been true. However, would it have done DM any favours? To be perceived as so openly disloyal and ambitious (whether true or not) would have damaged his chances in any leadership election, either in 2009 or 2010, so he could easily have wielded the knife only for someone else to pick up the crown (of course, someone else picked up the crown anyway but that was in no small part down to DM's poor campaign).
And even if Miliband had resigned, forced Brown out and won the premiership, could he have saved Labour's bacon for 2010 or would he just have been another fag-end prime minister presiding over scandal and decay before then going down to defeat? I can well see why he waited. But that isn't to say he wasn't seen as a potential credible immediate successor. He was (and there'll be threads on that very topic from PBC's archives, down the side).
Could David Miliband have saved Labour's bacon?
Ed Miliband "Now you're just taking the piss aren't you?"
There was, many moons ago, a great post that would periodically do the rounds on CiF whenever there was some man of the people editorial which detailed the education of the main Graun journalists. Of course they were 99.99% Oxbridge and ISTR a high proportion public school also.
And they would block you if you pointed this out!
How will they cope with Jeremy's new regime?
A mixture of public ecstasy and private horror, I would imagine.
They will probably be exempt.
If I were ever asked such a stupid question I would reply “working class”. I have worked - and continue to do so - all my life.
The British class system has very little to do with how you fill your day.
I am well aware of that. It is a nonsense and my answer (in the spirit of fashionable self-identification) is intended to be subversive of a pointless question, containing silly assumptions and to be misused to achieve some sort of stupid social engineering.
There was, many moons ago, a great post that would periodically do the rounds on CiF whenever there was some man of the people editorial which detailed the education of the main Graun journalists. Of course they were 99.99% Oxbridge and ISTR a high proportion public school also.
And they would block you if you pointed this out!
How will they cope with Jeremy's new regime?
A mixture of public ecstasy and private horror, I would imagine.
They will probably be exempt.
If I were ever asked such a stupid question I would reply “working class”. I have worked - and continue to do so - all my life.
There was, many moons ago, a great post that would periodically do the rounds on CiF whenever there was some man of the people editorial which detailed the education of the main Graun journalists. Of course they were 99.99% Oxbridge and ISTR a high proportion public school also.
And they would block you if you pointed this out!
How will they cope with Jeremy's new regime?
As John Major once said: New Labour, old school tie!
The new book Bluffocracy (which I suspect is the one trailed at the top of the New European tweet posted earlier about the degree in cheating) covers the problems resulting from the public school and PPE generalists (or bluffers) who run the government, civil service and media as continual essay crises (a term only generally known thanks to David Cameron). And this by design, not accident. It is (so far) an entertaining read, despite the occasional feel of a magazine article padded to book length.
Corbyn 's speech on the media today is likely to be eclipsed by Dominic Rabbs speech at 11.00 outlining the no deal issues.
I do think we are approaching a moment that may see the mood of the Nation turn against the EU and in some part support a no deal.
All we hear from the media is 'it's all our fault' and yet Barnier's attitude to a punishment deal makes a fair compromise almost impossible but if and when Barnier is faced with a collapsed deal the attitude to those in Europe are likely to erupt in fury as trade across Europe stops and tens of thousands of European jobs go up in smoke.
Talking of smoke can you imagine French farmers attitude as their HGV's are trapped in limbo in Calais and their produce rots away. Similarly Irish farmers are going to be incandescent
The no deal scene is the end for Barniers ambitions and an EU crisis of unprecendented seriousness.
Lets hope grown ups come together and stop this utter stupidity
We can already see the Conservative position (and let's not forget, it's not about the economic welfare of the country or its citizens any more but the self-preservation of the Conservative Party in office) and it's going to be the tried and trusted "blame the Europeans".
It's clear the pro-Conservative Press are getting ready to lambast Barnier, Merkel and any one else they can find because, and you can be sure of it, it will never be the fault of the Prime Minister or the Conservative Government.
May will wrap herself in the Union Jack and had she not failed disastrously at it once, she would doubtless go to the country and proclaim the fatuous nonsense that only the Conservatives stand for Britain.
I'm sure in time the truth will out and the catastrophic mismanagement of the A50 negotiations by this Government will be there for all the world to see but of course that won't happen any time soon as the Government runs away and hides under the Official Secrets Act to dodge any kind of responsibility or accountability.
Corbyn 's speech on the media today is likely to be eclipsed by Dominic Rabbs speech at 11.00 outlining the no deal issues.
I do think we are approaching a moment that may see the mood of the Nation turn against the EU and in some part support a no deal.
All we hear from the media is 'it's all our fault' and yet Barnier's attitude to a punishment deal makes a fair compromise almost impossible but if and when Barnier is faced with a collapsed deal the attitude to those in Europe are likely to erupt in fury as trade across Europe stops and tens of thousands of European jobs go up in smoke.
Talking of smoke can you imagine French farmers attitude as their HGV's are trapped in limbo in Calais and their produce rots away. Similarly Irish farmers are going to be incandescent
The no deal scene is the end for Barniers ambitions and an EU crisis of unprecendented seriousness.
Lets hope grown ups come together and stop this utter stupidity
We can already see the Conservative position (and let's not forget, it's not about the economic welfare of the country or its citizens any more but the self-preservation of the Conservative Party in office) and it's going to be the tried and trusted "blame the Europeans".
It's clear the pro-Conservative Press are getting ready to lambast Barnier, Merkel and any one else they can find because, and you can be sure of it, it will never be the fault of the Prime Minister or the Conservative Government.
May will wrap herself in the Union Jack and had she not failed disastrously at it once, she would doubtless go to the country and proclaim the fatuous nonsense that only the Conservatives stand for Britain.
I'm sure in time the truth will out and the catastrophic mismanagement of the A50 negotiations by this Government will be there for all the world to see but of course that won't happen any time soon as the Government runs away and hides under the Official Secrets Act to dodge any kind of responsibility or accountability.
I think that maybe has an element of anti conservative bias rather than accepting the reality that Barnier has not wanted to do anything but punish the UK and that his bluff may be called out to a disaster for both sides.
Corbyn 's speech on the media today is likely to be eclipsed by Dominic Rabbs speech at 11.00 outlining the no deal issues.
I do think we are approaching a moment that may see the mood of the Nation turn against the EU and in some part support a no deal.
All we hear from the media is 'it's all our fault' and yet Barnier's attitude to a punishment deal makes a fair compromise almost impossible but if and when Barnier is faced with a collapsed deal the attitude to those in Europe are likely to erupt in fury as trade across Europe stops and tens of thousands of European jobs go up in smoke.
Talking of smoke can you imagine French farmers attitude as their HGV's are trapped in limbo in Calais and their produce rots away. Similarly Irish farmers are going to be incandescent
The no deal scene is the end for Barniers ambitions and an EU crisis of unprecendented seriousness.
Lets hope grown ups come together and stop this utter stupidity
What would this fair compromise be? Would it happen to involve the EU throwing out some of their red lines, and us not doing the same in return?
Corbyn 's speech on the media today is likely to be eclipsed by Dominic Rabbs speech at 11.00 outlining the no deal issues.
I do think we are approaching a moment that may see the mood of the Nation turn against the EU and in some part support a no deal.
All we hear from the media is 'it's all our fault' and yet Barnier's attitude to a punishment deal makes a fair compromise almost impossible but if and when Barnier is faced with a collapsed deal the attitude to those in Europe are likely to erupt in fury as trade across Europe stops and tens of thousands of European jobs go up in smoke.
Talking of smoke can you imagine French farmers attitude as their HGV's are trapped in limbo in Calais and their produce rots away. Similarly Irish farmers are going to be incandescent
The no deal scene is the end for Barniers ambitions and an EU crisis of unprecendented seriousness.
Lets hope grown ups come together and stop this utter stupidity
What would this fair compromise be? Would it happen to involve the EU throwing out some of their red lines, and us not doing the same in return?
I think this is right. I see the previous Labour manifesto as a fairly logical extension of what Ed Miliband was trying to do. It's a shame he wasn't bolder. The only real policy differences I see with the moderates are on Europe, nuclear weapons and some of the nationalisations (I think the argument for rail is won anyway).
But there is work going on in leftish think tanks and among academics thinking about how to reinvent/revive/reform capitalism, and at least Corbyn + crew are open to some of that.
Nevertheless it would have to be someone very adept politically, to pursue such a moderate agenda with the PLP onside yet manage a party and organised grassroots that has swung dramatically to the left and has high expectations of their anticipated spell in office.
Or all hell breaks loose, of course...
Having someone adept politically would be helpful no doubt. But what are the policies moderates want that the party membership will oppose? The last Labour manifesto seemed pretty popular with the PLP, the membership and indeed the country.
Corbyn 's speech on the media today is likely to be eclipsed by Dominic Rabbs speech at 11.00 outlining the no deal issues.
I do think we are approaching a moment that may see the mood of the Nation turn against the EU and in some part support a no deal.
All we hear from the media is 'it's all our fault' and yet Barnier's attitude to a punishment deal makes a fair compromise almost impossible but if and when Barnier is faced with a collapsed deal the attitude to those in Europe are likely to erupt in fury as trade across Europe stops and tens of thousands of European jobs go up in smoke.
Talking of smoke can you imagine French farmers attitude as their HGV's are trapped in limbo in Calais and their produce rots away. Similarly Irish farmers are going to be incandescent
The no deal scene is the end for Barniers ambitions and an EU crisis of unprecendented seriousness.
Lets hope grown ups come together and stop this utter stupidity
Grown ups think No Deal is a dumb option. It's only there to maintain Leavers' fiction that there is a better outcome than a close arrangement with the EU on its terms, which gives us less than before and maintain the fiction that there is a Leave arrangement that is as good as membership of the EU.
Corbyn 's speech on the media today is likely to be eclipsed by Dominic Rabbs speech at 11.00 outlining the no deal issues.
I do think we are approaching a moment that may see the mood of the Nation turn against the EU and in some part support a no deal.
All we hear from the media is 'it's all our fault' and yet Barnier's attitude to a punishment deal makes a fair compromise almost impossible but if and when Barnier is faced with a collapsed deal the attitude to those in Europe are likely to erupt in fury as trade across Europe stops and tens of thousands of European jobs go up in smoke.
Talking of smoke can you imagine French farmers attitude as their HGV's are trapped in limbo in Calais and their produce rots away. Similarly Irish farmers are going to be incandescent
The no deal scene is the end for Barniers ambitions and an EU crisis of unprecendented seriousness.
Lets hope grown ups come together and stop this utter stupidity
Grown ups think No Deal is a dumb option. It's only there to maintain Leavers' fiction that there is a better outcome than a close arrangement with the EU on its terms, which gives us less than before and maintain the fiction that there is a Leave arrangement that is as good as membership of the EU.
Which completely fails to understand why people voted for Brexit in the first place.
No Deal is a bad option; it is not the worst option.
Corbyn 's speech on the media today is likely to be eclipsed by Dominic Rabbs speech at 11.00 outlining the no deal issues.
I do think we are approaching a moment that may see the mood of the Nation turn against the EU and in some part support a no deal.
All we hear from the media is 'it's all our fault' and yet Barnier's attitude to a punishment deal makes a fair compromise almost impossible but if and when Barnier is faced with a collapsed deal the attitude to those in Europe are likely to erupt in fury as trade across Europe stops and tens of thousands of European jobs go up in smoke.
Talking of smoke can you imagine French farmers attitude as their HGV's are trapped in limbo in Calais and their produce rots away. Similarly Irish farmers are going to be incandescent
The no deal scene is the end for Barniers ambitions and an EU crisis of unprecendented seriousness.
Lets hope grown ups come together and stop this utter stupidity
Grown ups think No Deal is a dumb option. It's only there to maintain Leavers' fiction that there is a better outcome than a close arrangement with the EU on its terms, which gives us less than before and maintain the fiction that there is a Leave arrangement that is as good as membership of the EU.
Which completely fails to understand why people voted for Brexit in the first place.
No Deal is a bad option; it is not the worst option.
Comments
Campbell forcing Cook to bin his Mrs at Heathrow Terminal 2 was the highlight of Blair's first term for me.
But there is work going on in leftish think tanks and among academics thinking about how to reinvent/revive/reform capitalism, and at least Corbyn + crew are open to some of that.
https://twitter.com/DavidWilletts3/status/1032514936801566720
When ?At the same time as Raab’s speech?
Also, the documents are coming out in tranches, so the first set should be today but there's more to come.
Or all hell breaks loose, of course...
I begin to suspect Malcolm Turnbull "won" his latest leadership ballot in the same way Margaret Thatcher "won" the first leadership ballot in 1990.
While Dutton may help National in Queensland a little, he will lose the Coalition plenty of support in the more progressive states. The latest IPSOS poll puts Labour well ahead winning the two-party vote 55-45.
https://twitter.com/Aiannucci/status/1032249646008225792
Coke-heavy?
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/22/michael-cohen-paid-a-mysterious-tech-company-50000-in-connection-with-trumps-campaign.html
President Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen in 2016 paid $50,000 to an unidentified tech company “in connection with” the Trump campaign, according to court documents.
Cohen made the payment, first reported Wednesday by CNBC, for “tech services” that he “had solicited from a technology company during and in connection with the campaign,” according to court documents released Tuesday.
What chance this “tech company” is based in Moscow?
It might not be straightforward opening an account in an EU country where you are not resident, though I suspect Malta or Cyprus will be happy to help....
What will happen if Turnbull is turfed?
Bedlam?
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/aug/23/liberal-leadership-crisis-what-happens-next?CMP=share_btn_tw
What they really need to know is, what was the social grade of the parents of the people who work at the BBC? Of course, such information is not readily available.
So an election next month or at the latest October looks pretty well certain.
How will they cope with Jeremy's new regime?
https://www.theguardian.com/global/video/2018/aug/23/the-government-is-killing-itself-katharine-murphy-sums-up-spill-video
I do think we are approaching a moment that may see the mood of the Nation turn against the EU and in some part support a no deal.
All we hear from the media is 'it's all our fault' and yet Barnier's attitude to a punishment deal makes a fair compromise almost impossible but if and when Barnier is faced with a collapsed deal the attitude to those in Europe are likely to erupt in fury as trade across Europe stops and tens of thousands of European jobs go up in smoke.
Talking of smoke can you imagine French farmers attitude as their HGV's are trapped in limbo in Calais and their produce rots away. Similarly Irish farmers are going to be incandescent
The no deal scene is the end for Barniers ambitions and an EU crisis of unprecendented seriousness.
Lets hope grown ups come together and stop this utter stupidity
If I were ever asked such a stupid question I would reply “working class”. I have worked - and continue to do so - all my life.
Anyway an amusing take here on Trump - http://phillipprideaux.blogspot.com/2018/07/so-it-has-come-to-this.html?m=1
The thing is that members are culturally left-wing in the way I suggested a couple of days back, and trust Corbyn to be reasonably left-wing in practice (and I don't think he'd suffer from disappointed expectations from them for a while). A successor would need to be trusted, a precondition of which is not to be one of the publicly hostile group. Emily Thornberry is an obvious option - generally seen to be left-wing, for no very obvious reason.
And even if Miliband had resigned, forced Brown out and won the premiership, could he have saved Labour's bacon for 2010 or would he just have been another fag-end prime minister presiding over scandal and decay before then going down to defeat? I can well see why he waited. But that isn't to say he wasn't seen as a potential credible immediate successor. He was (and there'll be threads on that very topic from PBC's archives, down the side).
Ed Miliband "Now you're just taking the piss aren't you?"
The new book Bluffocracy (which I suspect is the one trailed at the top of the New European tweet posted earlier about the degree in cheating) covers the problems resulting from the public school and PPE generalists (or bluffers) who run the government, civil service and media as continual essay crises (a term only generally known thanks to David Cameron). And this by design, not accident. It is (so far) an entertaining read, despite the occasional feel of a magazine article padded to book length.
It's clear the pro-Conservative Press are getting ready to lambast Barnier, Merkel and any one else they can find because, and you can be sure of it, it will never be the fault of the Prime Minister or the Conservative Government.
May will wrap herself in the Union Jack and had she not failed disastrously at it once, she would doubtless go to the country and proclaim the fatuous nonsense that only the Conservatives stand for Britain.
I'm sure in time the truth will out and the catastrophic mismanagement of the A50 negotiations by this Government will be there for all the world to see but of course that won't happen any time soon as the Government runs away and hides under the Official Secrets Act to dodge any kind of responsibility or accountability.
I doubt TM is going to the Country anytime soon
But what are the policies moderates want that the party membership will oppose?
The last Labour manifesto seemed pretty popular with the PLP, the membership and indeed the country.
No Deal is a bad option; it is not the worst option.