As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
But that isn't "reversing Brexit".
I literally said “REVERSE BREXIT IN SOME FORM. NOT IMMEDIATELY REJOIN, NOT YET, BUT RE-ENTER THE SINGLE MARKET”
FFS, read the comments
Hold on. Mr Rees-Mogg has released his 2,000 Brexit benefits this very morn. Let's just wait. Could be a game changer. The freedom of not having to do certain electrical safety checks could put the Tories 20 points ahead.
Don't forget more powerful vacuum cleaners. This government sucks. Big time.
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Paradoxically I think a deal for reciprocal free movement (that any future government could amend) would be less politically toxic than regulatory alignment by stealth.
But we have full regulatory alignment. And as Rees-Mogg announced that to deviate would be "self-harm" that isn't going to change. Has anyone noticed? Does anyone care? Find me a normal who voted for Brexit because they wanted to end regulatory alignment. Or knew what that even was. They wanted an end to Brussels telling us we couldn't sell straight bananas. They know have that as no such ban existed anyway.
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Heaven forfend that Keir Starmer do something that would "solve a lot of problems".
It will lead to electoral DOOM, I tell you.
Even this would lead to reigniting the foulness of 2017 to 2019 but even more pronounced. There is no way Starmer would be able to sell it to all those that voted in droves to 'get Brexit done' nor contain their rage at what would be seen as an undoing (without even a referendum). Would be socially disastrous.
Nah, it won't.
It will be a thousand incremental little movements towards EEA/EFTA. Starmer is not going to stand up in the HoC and say "We are signing a new accord with the EU which restores our former status."
It will be two lines in a repeatedly-iterated treaty towards solving the Northern Ireland issues. It will be an MoU for (insert UK agency of some sort) to work more closely with (insert EU agency of some sort). And so on, a thousand times.
Occasionally a Tory backbencher or an unreconstructed DUP Paisleyite will stand up during the third reading of the Agricultural Concordance Bill (2025) and fulminate about where all this is going. Giles Fraser will write something self-righteous in Unherd. We will have a few in vino veritas moments with Leon and we love him for it.
But that will be it. Little by little, we will get back to something akin to our 1990s EU membership.
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Sounds ideal. I'd be happy with that. Probably inevitable so I would stop worrying about it.
I’m not “worrying”. I’m sitting on my ridiculously ramshackle new Tbilisi terrace staring across the old town at Shameba cathedral sipping cold white Georgian wine as I listen to the small children argue in Ossetian just below me
It’s brilliant.
I too would be OK with Freedom of Movement restored. But many won’t be. Yet that is the direction PM Starmer will want to go, emotionally
How do you know the children are speaking Ossetian? (Ossetian, or Ossetic, is fairly close to Pashto.)
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
But that isn't "reversing Brexit".
I literally said “REVERSE BREXIT IN SOME FORM. NOT IMMEDIATELY REJOIN, NOT YET, BUT RE-ENTER THE SINGLE MARKET”
FFS, read the comments
Hold on. Mr Rees-Mogg has released his 2,000 Brexit benefits this very morn. Let's just wait. Could be a game changer. The freedom of not having to do certain electrical safety checks could put the Tories 20 points ahead.
The right to be electrocuted by a Chinese British electrical appliance is definitely what I voted for.
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
IMO it isn't a policy thing; it is a leadership thing. Sorry to do a big "toldyaso" (well actually not that sorry), but anyone with the tiniest understanding of leadership understood that Boris Johnson's "style" would catch up with him , and that gradually the electorate, like a slow moving disinterested supertanker, would eventually realise they either have to drop the partying Captain over the side or crash on the rocks.
Disinterested Supertanker at the Hammersmith Apollo tonight 7pm, tickets £5/£3 NUS.
On rent-seeking, it is a unfortunately-termed broad economic phrase which is often mistakenly thought to relate to landlords/tenants because of its name:
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Sounds ideal. I'd be happy with that. Probably inevitable so I would stop worrying about it.
I’m not “worrying”. I’m sitting on my ridiculously ramshackle new Tbilisi terrace staring across the old town at Shameba cathedral sipping cold white Georgian wine as I listen to the small children argue in Ossetian just below me
It’s brilliant.
I too would be OK with Freedom of Movement restored. But many won’t be. Yet that is the direction PM Starmer will want to go, emotionally
I know this is going to shock you, but I agree with you FofM it is a step to far, because of the opposition to it. We are not rejoining so what we need to do is carry out hundreds of individual agreements that remove all the little obstacles. I have not a clue how you sort out NI. I think it is unsolvable other than NI joining Eire and that is another whole bucket of worms, but there is lots of little stuff and medium sized stuff we can do.
Sort out temporary exports so as to give bands, autosport and anyone taking demo equipment abroad a break. For me joining the pet passport scheme would be a huge win. Sort out the rolling 90 day entry issue. It has completely buggered two of my friends lives. There is so much small stuff we could do without rejoining. The red tape on imports and exports must be a priority. if both sides can draw a line under where we are, bury the hatchet and get working on making things work.
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Paradoxically I think a deal for reciprocal free movement (that any future government could amend) would be less politically toxic than regulatory alignment by stealth.
But we have full regulatory alignment. And as Rees-Mogg announced that to deviate would be "self-harm" that isn't going to change. Has anyone noticed? Does anyone care? Find me a normal who voted for Brexit because they wanted to end regulatory alignment. Or knew what that even was. They wanted an end to Brussels telling us we couldn't sell straight bananas. They know have that as no such ban existed anyway.
You're being deliberately obtuse. Rees-Mogg was talking about border checks, not regulatory alignment. Saying, "We trust EU regulations on food for the moment so border checks are a burden we don't need," is not the same as saying, "We want the EU to make our own laws in perpetuity."
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Heaven forfend that Keir Starmer do something that would "solve a lot of problems".
It will lead to electoral DOOM, I tell you.
Even this would lead to reigniting the foulness of 2017 to 2019 but even more pronounced. There is no way Starmer would be able to sell it to all those that voted in droves to 'get Brexit done' nor contain their rage at what would be seen as an undoing (without even a referendum). Would be socially disastrous.
Nah, it won't.
It will be a thousand incremental little movements towards EEA/EFTA. Starmer is not going to stand up in the HoC and say "We are signing a new accord with the EU which restores our former status."
It will be two lines in a repeatedly-iterated treaty towards solving the Northern Ireland issues. It will be an MoU for (insert UK agency of some sort) to work more closely with (insert EU agency of some sort). And so on, a thousand times.
Occasionally a Tory backbencher or an unreconstructed DUP Paisleyite will stand up during the third reading of the Agricultural Concordance Bill (2025) and fulminate about where all this is going. Giles Fraser will write something self-righteous in Unherd. We will have a few in vino veritas moments with Leon and we love him for it.
But that will be it. Little by little, we will get back to something akin to our 1990s EU membership.
But eventually he has to say hes sending Wes Streeting etc to negotiate our entry into 'whatever' Plus the Euro triumphalism over our renewed interest in the project wont be contained and will act as a horse spooker
Having eulogised about EVs earlier I appear still to have a semi about pick-up trucks. Wouldn't be practical for day to day, but I have no doubt I can find rural shit to do with one. And they are diesel which makes them doubly dirty.
Pretty damning @SavantaComRes poll shows Tory 80:20 election strategy to be cloud cuckoo land: 38% of 2019 Tory voters have unfavourable view of Boris Johnson, as do /4 of other main party voters. At least the choice for Tory MPs is clear.</i> https://twitter.com/PigsAndPolling/status/1531611229667590146
This seems like a development... Word among Conservative MPs is that Boris Johnson has begun calling his critics, hinting at the prospect of promotion and asking in return that they 'stay with me'. Clearly No 10 feel the threat of a confidence vote if those kind of approaches are being made. https://twitter.com/PaulBrandITV/status/1531615589105643520
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Paradoxically I think a deal for reciprocal free movement (that any future government could amend) would be less politically toxic than regulatory alignment by stealth.
But we have full regulatory alignment. And as Rees-Mogg announced that to deviate would be "self-harm" that isn't going to change. Has anyone noticed? Does anyone care? Find me a normal who voted for Brexit because they wanted to end regulatory alignment. Or knew what that even was. They wanted an end to Brussels telling us we couldn't sell straight bananas. They know have that as no such ban existed anyway.
You're being deliberately obtuse. Rees-Mogg was talking about border checks, not regulatory alignment. Saying, "We trust EU regulations on food for the moment so border checks are a burden we don't need," is not the same as saying, "We want the EU to make our own laws in perpetuity."
1. They decide on food standards etc 2. We're never going to check them 3. Our food industry keeps the same standards it has now - EU standards - and just updates as they improve 4. As we're never checking stuff coming in the EU standard remains the defacto UK one. Government can't impose a new standard it isn't willing to police.
So yes, that's quite literally what he just announced. Remember that the lifespan of these wazzocks in office is at most another 30 months, likely not even that in weeks.
This seems like a development... Word among Conservative MPs is that Boris Johnson has begun calling his critics, hinting at the prospect of promotion and asking in return that they 'stay with me'. Clearly No 10 feel the threat of a confidence vote if those kind of approaches are being made. https://twitter.com/PaulBrandITV/status/1531615589105643520
Leaving junior ministers who arent particularly strong allies to realise they are fodder for critic promotions Well done Digby
This seems like a development... Word among Conservative MPs is that Boris Johnson has begun calling his critics, hinting at the prospect of promotion and asking in return that they 'stay with me'. Clearly No 10 feel the threat of a confidence vote if those kind of approaches are being made. https://twitter.com/PaulBrandITV/status/1531615589105643520
Tory MP gets the call: "Back me and there's the prospect of promotion" [But that means firing others. Which means those promoted are dispensable. Which makes my promotion likely short-lived. And would be anyway if the polls and the deluge of angry emails I'm getting are correct.] "Thanks Prime Minister, you have my full support" [Opens Gmail] 'Dear Graham...'
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Paradoxically I think a deal for reciprocal free movement (that any future government could amend) would be less politically toxic than regulatory alignment by stealth.
But we have full regulatory alignment. And as Rees-Mogg announced that to deviate would be "self-harm" that isn't going to change. Has anyone noticed? Does anyone care? Find me a normal who voted for Brexit because they wanted to end regulatory alignment. Or knew what that even was. They wanted an end to Brussels telling us we couldn't sell straight bananas. They know have that as no such ban existed anyway.
You're being deliberately obtuse. Rees-Mogg was talking about border checks, not regulatory alignment. Saying, "We trust EU regulations on food for the moment so border checks are a burden we don't need," is not the same as saying, "We want the EU to make our own laws in perpetuity."
1. They decide on food standards etc 2. We're never going to check them 3. Our food industry keeps the same standards it has now - EU standards - and just updates as they improve 4. As we're never checking stuff coming in the EU standard remains the defacto UK one. Government can't impose a new standard it isn't willing to police.
So yes, that's quite literally what he just announced. Remember that the lifespan of these wazzocks in office is at most another 30 months, likely not even that in weeks.
Your argument could be turned around to say that the EU is completely unnecessary because European countries will just reciprocally adopt best practice. What value does Brussels add?
This seems like a development... Word among Conservative MPs is that Boris Johnson has begun calling his critics, hinting at the prospect of promotion and asking in return that they 'stay with me'. Clearly No 10 feel the threat of a confidence vote if those kind of approaches are being made. https://twitter.com/PaulBrandITV/status/1531615589105643520
Tory MP gets the call: "Back me and there's the prospect of promotion" [But that means firing others. Which means those promoted are dispensable. Which makes my promotion likely short-lived. And would be anyway if the polls and the deluge of angry emails I'm getting are correct.] "Thanks Prime Minister, you have my full support" [Opens Gmail] 'Dear Graham...'
Crocodile death roll is here. I'm calling it! Its over.
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Paradoxically I think a deal for reciprocal free movement (that any future government could amend) would be less politically toxic than regulatory alignment by stealth.
But we have full regulatory alignment. And as Rees-Mogg announced that to deviate would be "self-harm" that isn't going to change. Has anyone noticed? Does anyone care? Find me a normal who voted for Brexit because they wanted to end regulatory alignment. Or knew what that even was. They wanted an end to Brussels telling us we couldn't sell straight bananas. They know have that as no such ban existed anyway.
You're being deliberately obtuse. Rees-Mogg was talking about border checks, not regulatory alignment. Saying, "We trust EU regulations on food for the moment so border checks are a burden we don't need," is not the same as saying, "We want the EU to make our own laws in perpetuity."
1. They decide on food standards etc 2. We're never going to check them 3. Our food industry keeps the same standards it has now - EU standards - and just updates as they improve 4. As we're never checking stuff coming in the EU standard remains the defacto UK one. Government can't impose a new standard it isn't willing to police.
So yes, that's quite literally what he just announced. Remember that the lifespan of these wazzocks in office is at most another 30 months, likely not even that in weeks.
Your argument could be turned around to say that the EU is completely unnecessary because European countries will just reciprocally adopt best practice. What value does Brussels add?
You tell us. "You" argued in favour of it for years, and very eloquently I might add. This was before your account has nicked by a swivel-eyed Europhobe troll
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Paradoxically I think a deal for reciprocal free movement (that any future government could amend) would be less politically toxic than regulatory alignment by stealth.
But we have full regulatory alignment. And as Rees-Mogg announced that to deviate would be "self-harm" that isn't going to change. Has anyone noticed? Does anyone care? Find me a normal who voted for Brexit because they wanted to end regulatory alignment. Or knew what that even was. They wanted an end to Brussels telling us we couldn't sell straight bananas. They know have that as no such ban existed anyway.
You're being deliberately obtuse. Rees-Mogg was talking about border checks, not regulatory alignment. Saying, "We trust EU regulations on food for the moment so border checks are a burden we don't need," is not the same as saying, "We want the EU to make our own laws in perpetuity."
1. They decide on food standards etc 2. We're never going to check them 3. Our food industry keeps the same standards it has now - EU standards - and just updates as they improve 4. As we're never checking stuff coming in the EU standard remains the defacto UK one. Government can't impose a new standard it isn't willing to police.
So yes, that's quite literally what he just announced. Remember that the lifespan of these wazzocks in office is at most another 30 months, likely not even that in weeks.
Your argument could be turned around to say that the EU is completely unnecessary because European countries will just reciprocally adopt best practice. What value does Brussels add?
They set best practice. A universal standard which reduces costs for everyone. Which is why they have Brussels. That you think it adds no value is not exactly relevant to (plucking a country from the air) Romania's ongoing membership of it.
Having eulogised about EVs earlier I appear still to have a semi about pick-up trucks. Wouldn't be practical for day to day, but I have no doubt I can find rural shit to do with one. And they are diesel which makes them doubly dirty.
I am a deviant.
They are cool. And tax efficient if you put them through a company.
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Sounds ideal. I'd be happy with that. Probably inevitable so I would stop worrying about it.
I’m not “worrying”. I’m sitting on my ridiculously ramshackle new Tbilisi terrace staring across the old town at Shameba cathedral sipping cold white Georgian wine as I listen to the small children argue in Ossetian just below me
It’s brilliant.
I too would be OK with Freedom of Movement restored. But many won’t be. Yet that is the direction PM Starmer will want to go, emotionally
Have you tried the qvevri yet? What did you think?
What is qvevri? I’m trying a lot of wine, is that the amber coloured one? If so, yes. I have, and its delicious
Yes, the one they ferment on the leaves and twigs. I was impressed. There is red qvevri as well, but it's less unusual as you make red that way anyway.
This seems like a development... Word among Conservative MPs is that Boris Johnson has begun calling his critics, hinting at the prospect of promotion and asking in return that they 'stay with me'. Clearly No 10 feel the threat of a confidence vote if those kind of approaches are being made. https://twitter.com/PaulBrandITV/status/1531615589105643520
Tory MP gets the call: "Back me and there's the prospect of promotion" [But that means firing others. Which means those promoted are dispensable. Which makes my promotion likely short-lived. And would be anyway if the polls and the deluge of angry emails I'm getting are correct.] "Thanks Prime Minister, you have my full support" [Opens Gmail] 'Dear Graham...'
Crocodile death roll is here. I'm calling it! Its over.
What has been abundantly clear these last few days is that there has been a clear surge in momentum of MPs openly saying they are sending letters. We know from previous times that others will have sent and no announced. What's more we have multiple reports that Bonzo's "I am the man" demolition of his own contrition of the hour earlier followed by knee-jerk rightward twitches have absolutely spooked backbenchers.
They have seen into his soul. And realised he is a lady's moist place.
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Sounds ideal. I'd be happy with that. Probably inevitable so I would stop worrying about it.
I’m not “worrying”. I’m sitting on my ridiculously ramshackle new Tbilisi terrace staring across the old town at Shameba cathedral sipping cold white Georgian wine as I listen to the small children argue in Ossetian just below me
It’s brilliant.
I too would be OK with Freedom of Movement restored. But many won’t be. Yet that is the direction PM Starmer will want to go, emotionally
How do you know the children are speaking Ossetian? (Ossetian, or Ossetic, is fairly close to Pashto.)
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Sounds ideal. I'd be happy with that. Probably inevitable so I would stop worrying about it.
I’m not “worrying”. I’m sitting on my ridiculously ramshackle new Tbilisi terrace staring across the old town at Shameba cathedral sipping cold white Georgian wine as I listen to the small children argue in Ossetian just below me
It’s brilliant.
I too would be OK with Freedom of Movement restored. But many won’t be. Yet that is the direction PM Starmer will want to go, emotionally
How do you know the children are speaking Ossetian? (Ossetian, or Ossetic, is fairly close to Pashto.)
I was joking. i have no idea. It is all Ingushetian to me. Or Hattic. Or Lezgic. Khinalug?
And that too is brilliant. To be in a land where you absolutely have no idea what people are saying. Or what signs mean
I have enough vague French, Italian, Spanish, German to get a grasp of what people are saying where these tongues are spoken. Even Russian is not completely impenetrable - because I’ve travelled there enough to be able to work out the Cyrillic alphabet
Yet here the alphabet is WTAF and the words are OMG wut? So it’s more like being in Japan or China except it *looks* European, which makes for an intoxicating mix of sensations
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Paradoxically I think a deal for reciprocal free movement (that any future government could amend) would be less politically toxic than regulatory alignment by stealth.
But we have full regulatory alignment. And as Rees-Mogg announced that to deviate would be "self-harm" that isn't going to change. Has anyone noticed? Does anyone care? Find me a normal who voted for Brexit because they wanted to end regulatory alignment. Or knew what that even was. They wanted an end to Brussels telling us we couldn't sell straight bananas. They know have that as no such ban existed anyway.
You're being deliberately obtuse. Rees-Mogg was talking about border checks, not regulatory alignment. Saying, "We trust EU regulations on food for the moment so border checks are a burden we don't need," is not the same as saying, "We want the EU to make our own laws in perpetuity."
1. They decide on food standards etc 2. We're never going to check them 3. Our food industry keeps the same standards it has now - EU standards - and just updates as they improve 4. As we're never checking stuff coming in the EU standard remains the defacto UK one. Government can't impose a new standard it isn't willing to police.
So yes, that's quite literally what he just announced. Remember that the lifespan of these wazzocks in office is at most another 30 months, likely not even that in weeks.
Your argument could be turned around to say that the EU is completely unnecessary because European countries will just reciprocally adopt best practice. What value does Brussels add?
You tell us. "You" argued in favour of it for years, and very eloquently I might add. This was before your account has nicked by a swivel-eyed Europhobe troll
Who is the twat that hit the "off topic" button? Come on own up?
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Paradoxically I think a deal for reciprocal free movement (that any future government could amend) would be less politically toxic than regulatory alignment by stealth.
But we have full regulatory alignment. And as Rees-Mogg announced that to deviate would be "self-harm" that isn't going to change. Has anyone noticed? Does anyone care? Find me a normal who voted for Brexit because they wanted to end regulatory alignment. Or knew what that even was. They wanted an end to Brussels telling us we couldn't sell straight bananas. They know have that as no such ban existed anyway.
You're being deliberately obtuse. Rees-Mogg was talking about border checks, not regulatory alignment. Saying, "We trust EU regulations on food for the moment so border checks are a burden we don't need," is not the same as saying, "We want the EU to make our own laws in perpetuity."
1. They decide on food standards etc 2. We're never going to check them 3. Our food industry keeps the same standards it has now - EU standards - and just updates as they improve 4. As we're never checking stuff coming in the EU standard remains the defacto UK one. Government can't impose a new standard it isn't willing to police.
So yes, that's quite literally what he just announced. Remember that the lifespan of these wazzocks in office is at most another 30 months, likely not even that in weeks.
Your argument could be turned around to say that the EU is completely unnecessary because European countries will just reciprocally adopt best practice. What value does Brussels add?
You tell us. "You" argued in favour of it for years, and very eloquently I might add. This was before your account has nicked by a swivel-eyed Europhobe troll
Someone disagreeing with you does not make them a troll.
This seems like a development... Word among Conservative MPs is that Boris Johnson has begun calling his critics, hinting at the prospect of promotion and asking in return that they 'stay with me'. Clearly No 10 feel the threat of a confidence vote if those kind of approaches are being made. https://twitter.com/PaulBrandITV/status/1531615589105643520
Tory MP gets the call: "Back me and there's the prospect of promotion" [But that means firing others. Which means those promoted are dispensable. Which makes my promotion likely short-lived. And would be anyway if the polls and the deluge of angry emails I'm getting are correct.] "Thanks Prime Minister, you have my full support" [Opens Gmail] 'Dear Graham...'
Crocodile death roll is here. I'm calling it! Its over.
What has been abundantly clear these last few days is that there has been a clear surge in momentum of MPs openly saying they are sending letters. We know from previous times that others will have sent and no announced. What's more we have multiple reports that Bonzo's "I am the man" demolition of his own contrition of the hour earlier followed by knee-jerk rightward twitches have absolutely spooked backbenchers.
They have seen into his soul. And realised he is a lady's moist place.
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Paradoxically I think a deal for reciprocal free movement (that any future government could amend) would be less politically toxic than regulatory alignment by stealth.
But we have full regulatory alignment. And as Rees-Mogg announced that to deviate would be "self-harm" that isn't going to change. Has anyone noticed? Does anyone care? Find me a normal who voted for Brexit because they wanted to end regulatory alignment. Or knew what that even was. They wanted an end to Brussels telling us we couldn't sell straight bananas. They know have that as no such ban existed anyway.
You're being deliberately obtuse. Rees-Mogg was talking about border checks, not regulatory alignment. Saying, "We trust EU regulations on food for the moment so border checks are a burden we don't need," is not the same as saying, "We want the EU to make our own laws in perpetuity."
1. They decide on food standards etc 2. We're never going to check them 3. Our food industry keeps the same standards it has now - EU standards - and just updates as they improve 4. As we're never checking stuff coming in the EU standard remains the defacto UK one. Government can't impose a new standard it isn't willing to police.
So yes, that's quite literally what he just announced. Remember that the lifespan of these wazzocks in office is at most another 30 months, likely not even that in weeks.
Your argument could be turned around to say that the EU is completely unnecessary because European countries will just reciprocally adopt best practice. What value does Brussels add?
You tell us. "You" argued in favour of it for years, and very eloquently I might add. This was before your account has nicked by a swivel-eyed Europhobe troll
Who is the twat that hit the "off topic" button? Come on own up?
Just tell @rcs1000 that your comment was a response to criticism of Radiohead and he'll sort them out.
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Paradoxically I think a deal for reciprocal free movement (that any future government could amend) would be less politically toxic than regulatory alignment by stealth.
But we have full regulatory alignment. And as Rees-Mogg announced that to deviate would be "self-harm" that isn't going to change. Has anyone noticed? Does anyone care? Find me a normal who voted for Brexit because they wanted to end regulatory alignment. Or knew what that even was. They wanted an end to Brussels telling us we couldn't sell straight bananas. They know have that as no such ban existed anyway.
You're being deliberately obtuse. Rees-Mogg was talking about border checks, not regulatory alignment. Saying, "We trust EU regulations on food for the moment so border checks are a burden we don't need," is not the same as saying, "We want the EU to make our own laws in perpetuity."
1. They decide on food standards etc 2. We're never going to check them 3. Our food industry keeps the same standards it has now - EU standards - and just updates as they improve 4. As we're never checking stuff coming in the EU standard remains the defacto UK one. Government can't impose a new standard it isn't willing to police.
So yes, that's quite literally what he just announced. Remember that the lifespan of these wazzocks in office is at most another 30 months, likely not even that in weeks.
Your argument could be turned around to say that the EU is completely unnecessary because European countries will just reciprocally adopt best practice. What value does Brussels add?
You tell us. "You" argued in favour of it for years, and very eloquently I might add. This was before your account has nicked by a swivel-eyed Europhobe troll
Someone disagreeing with you does not make them a troll.
People who are wrong regularly disagree with me. Nothing new in that. Someone who does a 180 degree flip from one extreme to the other deserves ridicule or questioning over whether they are who they claim to be. It was not "off topic"
This seems like a development... Word among Conservative MPs is that Boris Johnson has begun calling his critics, hinting at the prospect of promotion and asking in return that they 'stay with me'. Clearly No 10 feel the threat of a confidence vote if those kind of approaches are being made. https://twitter.com/PaulBrandITV/status/1531615589105643520
Tory MP gets the call: "Back me and there's the prospect of promotion" [But that means firing others. Which means those promoted are dispensable. Which makes my promotion likely short-lived. And would be anyway if the polls and the deluge of angry emails I'm getting are correct.] "Thanks Prime Minister, you have my full support" [Opens Gmail] 'Dear Graham...'
Crocodile death roll is here. I'm calling it! Its over.
Betting post: Smarkets "Confidence Vote Result" was 1.76 he loses, 2.04 he wins a couple of hours ago. Has been steady at that for three days or more.
Just flip-flopped 1.96 he loses, 1.91 he wins.
Very strange. I've gone in with another fifty notes at 1.96 he loses.
Now 1.91 both ways (book 104.7%)
Edit: just to remind you that this is the market which refunds your stake if there is no VOC in 2022.
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
But that isn't "reversing Brexit".
I literally said “REVERSE BREXIT IN SOME FORM. NOT IMMEDIATELY REJOIN, NOT YET, BUT RE-ENTER THE SINGLE MARKET”
FFS, read the comments
Hold on. Mr Rees-Mogg has released his 2,000 Brexit benefits this very morn. Let's just wait. Could be a game changer. The freedom of not having to do certain electrical safety checks could put the Tories 20 points ahead.
Don't forget more powerful vacuum cleaners. This government sucks. Big time.
TBF, they do need something for the dried vomit on the carpets.
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Paradoxically I think a deal for reciprocal free movement (that any future government could amend) would be less politically toxic than regulatory alignment by stealth.
But we have full regulatory alignment. And as Rees-Mogg announced that to deviate would be "self-harm" that isn't going to change. Has anyone noticed? Does anyone care? Find me a normal who voted for Brexit because they wanted to end regulatory alignment. Or knew what that even was. They wanted an end to Brussels telling us we couldn't sell straight bananas. They know have that as no such ban existed anyway.
You're being deliberately obtuse. Rees-Mogg was talking about border checks, not regulatory alignment. Saying, "We trust EU regulations on food for the moment so border checks are a burden we don't need," is not the same as saying, "We want the EU to make our own laws in perpetuity."
1. They decide on food standards etc 2. We're never going to check them 3. Our food industry keeps the same standards it has now - EU standards - and just updates as they improve 4. As we're never checking stuff coming in the EU standard remains the defacto UK one. Government can't impose a new standard it isn't willing to police.
So yes, that's quite literally what he just announced. Remember that the lifespan of these wazzocks in office is at most another 30 months, likely not even that in weeks.
Your argument could be turned around to say that the EU is completely unnecessary because European countries will just reciprocally adopt best practice. What value does Brussels add?
You tell us. "You" argued in favour of it for years, and very eloquently I might add. This was before your account has nicked by a swivel-eyed Europhobe troll
Someone disagreeing with you does not make them a troll.
People who are wrong regularly disagree with me. Nothing new in that. Someone who does a 180 degree flip from one extreme to the other deserves ridicule or questioning over whether they are who they claim to be. It was not "off topic"
People can change their minds and views as situations evolve. That doesn't make them a troll.
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Heaven forfend that Keir Starmer do something that would "solve a lot of problems".
It will lead to electoral DOOM, I tell you.
Even this would lead to reigniting the foulness of 2017 to 2019 but even more pronounced. There is no way Starmer would be able to sell it to all those that voted in droves to 'get Brexit done' nor contain their rage at what would be seen as an undoing (without even a referendum). Would be socially disastrous.
Nah, it won't.
It will be a thousand incremental little movements towards EEA/EFTA. Starmer is not going to stand up in the HoC and say "We are signing a new accord with the EU which restores our former status."
It will be two lines in a repeatedly-iterated treaty towards solving the Northern Ireland issues. It will be an MoU for (insert UK agency of some sort) to work more closely with (insert EU agency of some sort). And so on, a thousand times.
Occasionally a Tory backbencher or an unreconstructed DUP Paisleyite will stand up during the third reading of the Agricultural Concordance Bill (2025) and fulminate about where all this is going. Giles Fraser will write something self-righteous in Unherd. We will have a few in vino veritas moments with Leon and we love him for it.
But that will be it. Little by little, we will get back to something akin to our 1990s EU membership.
But eventually he has to say hes sending Wes Streeting etc to negotiate our entry into 'whatever' Plus the Euro triumphalism over our renewed interest in the project wont be contained and will act as a horse spooker
Yep. The Remoaners won’t be able to resist gloating and exulting
Which is why I say that this way lies trouble, politically. But Starmer will still do it. Because he is so emotionally devoted to the EU, and - more importantly - so is everyone around him. Peer group pressure is almost irresistible
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Heaven forfend that Keir Starmer do something that would "solve a lot of problems".
It will lead to electoral DOOM, I tell you.
Even this would lead to reigniting the foulness of 2017 to 2019 but even more pronounced. There is no way Starmer would be able to sell it to all those that voted in droves to 'get Brexit done' nor contain their rage at what would be seen as an undoing (without even a referendum). Would be socially disastrous.
Nah, it won't.
It will be a thousand incremental little movements towards EEA/EFTA. Starmer is not going to stand up in the HoC and say "We are signing a new accord with the EU which restores our former status."
It will be two lines in a repeatedly-iterated treaty towards solving the Northern Ireland issues. It will be an MoU for (insert UK agency of some sort) to work more closely with (insert EU agency of some sort). And so on, a thousand times.
Occasionally a Tory backbencher or an unreconstructed DUP Paisleyite will stand up during the third reading of the Agricultural Concordance Bill (2025) and fulminate about where all this is going. Giles Fraser will write something self-righteous in Unherd. We will have a few in vino veritas moments with Leon and we love him for it.
But that will be it. Little by little, we will get back to something akin to our 1990s EU membership.
... In about two decades' time ? Engineered by governments of all shades.
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Paradoxically I think a deal for reciprocal free movement (that any future government could amend) would be less politically toxic than regulatory alignment by stealth.
But we have full regulatory alignment. And as Rees-Mogg announced that to deviate would be "self-harm" that isn't going to change. Has anyone noticed? Does anyone care? Find me a normal who voted for Brexit because they wanted to end regulatory alignment. Or knew what that even was. They wanted an end to Brussels telling us we couldn't sell straight bananas. They know have that as no such ban existed anyway.
You're being deliberately obtuse. Rees-Mogg was talking about border checks, not regulatory alignment. Saying, "We trust EU regulations on food for the moment so border checks are a burden we don't need," is not the same as saying, "We want the EU to make our own laws in perpetuity."
1. They decide on food standards etc 2. We're never going to check them 3. Our food industry keeps the same standards it has now - EU standards - and just updates as they improve 4. As we're never checking stuff coming in the EU standard remains the defacto UK one. Government can't impose a new standard it isn't willing to police.
So yes, that's quite literally what he just announced. Remember that the lifespan of these wazzocks in office is at most another 30 months, likely not even that in weeks.
Your argument could be turned around to say that the EU is completely unnecessary because European countries will just reciprocally adopt best practice. What value does Brussels add?
You tell us. "You" argued in favour of it for years, and very eloquently I might add. This was before your account has nicked by a swivel-eyed Europhobe troll
Someone disagreeing with you does not make them a troll.
People who are wrong regularly disagree with me. Nothing new in that. Someone who does a 180 degree flip from one extreme to the other deserves ridicule or questioning over whether they are who they claim to be. It was not "off topic"
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Heaven forfend that Keir Starmer do something that would "solve a lot of problems".
It will lead to electoral DOOM, I tell you.
Even this would lead to reigniting the foulness of 2017 to 2019 but even more pronounced. There is no way Starmer would be able to sell it to all those that voted in droves to 'get Brexit done' nor contain their rage at what would be seen as an undoing (without even a referendum). Would be socially disastrous.
Nah, it won't.
It will be a thousand incremental little movements towards EEA/EFTA. Starmer is not going to stand up in the HoC and say "We are signing a new accord with the EU which restores our former status."
It will be two lines in a repeatedly-iterated treaty towards solving the Northern Ireland issues. It will be an MoU for (insert UK agency of some sort) to work more closely with (insert EU agency of some sort). And so on, a thousand times.
Occasionally a Tory backbencher or an unreconstructed DUP Paisleyite will stand up during the third reading of the Agricultural Concordance Bill (2025) and fulminate about where all this is going. Giles Fraser will write something self-righteous in Unherd. We will have a few in vino veritas moments with Leon and we love him for it.
But that will be it. Little by little, we will get back to something akin to our 1990s EU membership.
But eventually he has to say hes sending Wes Streeting etc to negotiate our entry into 'whatever' Plus the Euro triumphalism over our renewed interest in the project wont be contained and will act as a horse spooker
Would Starmer do that without explicitly stating it in the manifesto?
The queues we are seeing at the UK's airports currently tell you so much about how crap senior managements often are in the private sector. They took a short-term decision to save money during covid by laying off a shedload of staff and are now inflicting the inevitable long-term consequences of that on their customers. It's the British business malaise laid bear - we are incapable of seeing beyond the end of our noses. We lionise those who cut costs as people who take the hard decisions. But there is nothing tough about doing it. It's easy. Any fool can do it. But there is almost always a price to pay. As ever, the idea that the private sector knows best is revealed by real life to be a load of old pony.
Agree but what I can't understand is why they've allowed passengers to book flights when they must have known they didn't have enough staff. It's as if they were hoping for the best.
This seems like a development... Word among Conservative MPs is that Boris Johnson has begun calling his critics, hinting at the prospect of promotion and asking in return that they 'stay with me'. Clearly No 10 feel the threat of a confidence vote if those kind of approaches are being made. https://twitter.com/PaulBrandITV/status/1531615589105643520
Tory MP gets the call: "Back me and there's the prospect of promotion" [But that means firing others. Which means those promoted are dispensable. Which makes my promotion likely short-lived. And would be anyway if the polls and the deluge of angry emails I'm getting are correct.] "Thanks Prime Minister, you have my full support" [Opens Gmail] 'Dear Graham...'
Crocodile death roll is here. I'm calling it! Its over.
What has been abundantly clear these last few days is that there has been a clear surge in momentum of MPs openly saying they are sending letters. We know from previous times that others will have sent and no announced. What's more we have multiple reports that Bonzo's "I am the man" demolition of his own contrition of the hour earlier followed by knee-jerk rightward twitches have absolutely spooked backbenchers.
They have seen into his soul. And realised he is a lady's moist place.
The queues we are seeing at the UK's airports currently tell you so much about how crap senior managements often are in the private sector. They took a short-term decision to save money during covid by laying off a shedload of staff and are now inflicting the inevitable long-term consequences of that on their customers. It's the British business malaise laid bear - we are incapable of seeing beyond the end of our noses. We lionise those who cut costs as people who take the hard decisions. But there is nothing tough about doing it. It's easy. Any fool can do it. But there is almost always a price to pay. As ever, the idea that the private sector knows best is revealed by real life to be a load of old pony.
Agree but what I can't understand is why they've allowed passengers to book flights when they must have known they didn't have enough staff. It's as if they were hoping for the best.
This seems like a development... Word among Conservative MPs is that Boris Johnson has begun calling his critics, hinting at the prospect of promotion and asking in return that they 'stay with me'. Clearly No 10 feel the threat of a confidence vote if those kind of approaches are being made. https://twitter.com/PaulBrandITV/status/1531615589105643520
I am out here in Tbilisi with an expensive piece of big luggage which is close to collapsing. Simply because I travel so much. Zips are fraying. Wheels are loosening
Now a steel rod has sprung from the casing and making it almost unusable. See here
That’s nasty. The metal is also strong and rigid. It won’t just snap off. I’ve tried. What can I do? I’m not sure I can find high quality luggage in Tbilisi to replace it
If I could just get 1-2 more months of use out of this suitcase, I can replace it when I get back to london. Or should I give upon on this bag and scour the Caucasus for a replacement?
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Heaven forfend that Keir Starmer do something that would "solve a lot of problems".
It will lead to electoral DOOM, I tell you.
Even this would lead to reigniting the foulness of 2017 to 2019 but even more pronounced. There is no way Starmer would be able to sell it to all those that voted in droves to 'get Brexit done' nor contain their rage at what would be seen as an undoing (without even a referendum). Would be socially disastrous.
Nah, it won't.
It will be a thousand incremental little movements towards EEA/EFTA. Starmer is not going to stand up in the HoC and say "We are signing a new accord with the EU which restores our former status."
It will be two lines in a repeatedly-iterated treaty towards solving the Northern Ireland issues. It will be an MoU for (insert UK agency of some sort) to work more closely with (insert EU agency of some sort). And so on, a thousand times.
Occasionally a Tory backbencher or an unreconstructed DUP Paisleyite will stand up during the third reading of the Agricultural Concordance Bill (2025) and fulminate about where all this is going. Giles Fraser will write something self-righteous in Unherd. We will have a few in vino veritas moments with Leon and we love him for it.
But that will be it. Little by little, we will get back to something akin to our 1990s EU membership.
But eventually he has to say hes sending Wes Streeting etc to negotiate our entry into 'whatever' Plus the Euro triumphalism over our renewed interest in the project wont be contained and will act as a horse spooker
Yep. The Remoaners won’t be able to resist gloating and exulting
Which is why I say that this way lies trouble, politically. But Starmer will still do it. Because he is so emotionally devoted to the EU, and - more importantly - so is everyone around him. Peer group pressure is almost irresistible
Not even the most moaning of remoaners is anywhere close to your obsession and paranoia about Brexit.
Leon, get over it. It was pointless, but you "won". just rejoice in that news. The fact that we will inevitably move back closer to the evil empire of harmless woolly pacifists should not concern you. It really is inevitable, and no swivelly-eyed nationalist with closeted homoerotic fantasies about Mr Farage can stop it. The younger snowflakes will certainly vote it back when you are pissing yourself (not from laughter) in your state run home for incurable Brexit obsessives or pushing up the daisies. Chill out and relax and kick off your inner Col. Blimp.
This seems like a development... Word among Conservative MPs is that Boris Johnson has begun calling his critics, hinting at the prospect of promotion and asking in return that they 'stay with me'. Clearly No 10 feel the threat of a confidence vote if those kind of approaches are being made. https://twitter.com/PaulBrandITV/status/1531615589105643520
He's toast.
Ahem. I believe that is the third time you have posted those two words ...
I am out here in Tbilisi with an expensive piece of big luggage which is close to collapsing. Simply because I travel so much. Zips are fraying. Wheels are loosening
Now a steel rod has sprung from the casing and making it almost unusable. See here
That’s nasty. The metal is also strong and rigid. It won’t just snap off. I’ve tried. What can I do? I’m not sure I can find high quality luggage in Tbilisi to replace it
If I could just get 1-2 more months of use out of this suitcase, I can replace it when I get back to london. Or should I give upon on this bag and scour the Caucasus for a replacement?
Just buy a replacement there. It's good to support the local economy 👍
I'm not a fan of Jeremy Hunt as a politician but I think if he becomes leader the Tories probably aren't going to lose many of the so-called Blue Wall seats in Surrey, Hampshire, Sussex, etc.
I am out here in Tbilisi with an expensive piece of big luggage which is close to collapsing. Simply because I travel so much. Zips are fraying. Wheels are loosening
Now a steel rod has sprung from the casing and making it almost unusable. See here
That’s nasty. The metal is also strong and rigid. It won’t just snap off. I’ve tried. What can I do? I’m not sure I can find high quality luggage in Tbilisi to replace it
If I could just get 1-2 more months of use out of this suitcase, I can replace it when I get back to london. Or should I give upon on this bag and scour the Caucasus for a replacement?
Have you thought of borrowing a hacksaw? Or would the structure be terminally weakened?
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Heaven forfend that Keir Starmer do something that would "solve a lot of problems".
It will lead to electoral DOOM, I tell you.
Even this would lead to reigniting the foulness of 2017 to 2019 but even more pronounced. There is no way Starmer would be able to sell it to all those that voted in droves to 'get Brexit done' nor contain their rage at what would be seen as an undoing (without even a referendum). Would be socially disastrous.
Nah, it won't.
It will be a thousand incremental little movements towards EEA/EFTA. Starmer is not going to stand up in the HoC and say "We are signing a new accord with the EU which restores our former status."
It will be two lines in a repeatedly-iterated treaty towards solving the Northern Ireland issues. It will be an MoU for (insert UK agency of some sort) to work more closely with (insert EU agency of some sort). And so on, a thousand times.
Occasionally a Tory backbencher or an unreconstructed DUP Paisleyite will stand up during the third reading of the Agricultural Concordance Bill (2025) and fulminate about where all this is going. Giles Fraser will write something self-righteous in Unherd. We will have a few in vino veritas moments with Leon and we love him for it.
But that will be it. Little by little, we will get back to something akin to our 1990s EU membership.
But eventually he has to say hes sending Wes Streeting etc to negotiate our entry into 'whatever' Plus the Euro triumphalism over our renewed interest in the project wont be contained and will act as a horse spooker
Yep. The Remoaners won’t be able to resist gloating and exulting
Which is why I say that this way lies trouble, politically. But Starmer will still do it. Because he is so emotionally devoted to the EU, and - more importantly - so is everyone around him. Peer group pressure is almost irresistible
I'm looking forward to a nice bit of gloating. If I want to really dish out what we've been given, I might add a bit of gaslighting into the mix. And an insistent teacherly tone that any reverses you suffered are entirely due to your own moral failings. One or two of you might even get called beta cucks along the way, who knows? And deep down you'll know you deserve it.
I am out here in Tbilisi with an expensive piece of big luggage which is close to collapsing. Simply because I travel so much. Zips are fraying. Wheels are loosening
Now a steel rod has sprung from the casing and making it almost unusable. See here
That’s nasty. The metal is also strong and rigid. It won’t just snap off. I’ve tried. What can I do? I’m not sure I can find high quality luggage in Tbilisi to replace it
If I could just get 1-2 more months of use out of this suitcase, I can replace it when I get back to london. Or should I give upon on this bag and scour the Caucasus for a replacement?
I notice the wheels. Don't real men carry their own cases? Just sayin'.
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Paradoxically I think a deal for reciprocal free movement (that any future government could amend) would be less politically toxic than regulatory alignment by stealth.
Would there be a fee involved for the UK? That would be a sticking point.
Also does free movement include the right to work abroad freely?
Who runs the airports ? Seem to be thick as mince.
The airports are run for the benefit of
1) the owners 2) the airlines 3) the security people 4) the various retailers. . . 187) the passengers
I've never heard an aircraft manufacturer, airline boss, or airport owner that didn't sound like some kind of spiv. The whole lot of them seem to rely on rooking customers, getting handouts and bailouts, and generally getting away with murder.
I'm not a fan of Jeremy Hunt as a politician but I think if he becomes leader the Tories probably aren't going to lose many of the so-called Blue Wall seats in Surrey, Hampshire, Sussex, etc.
Agreed. I'm not personally that much of a fan but he seems well liked in these quarters (Surrey).
One little tidbit that might help PBers. Conservative associations needs to have their AGMs by the end of June according to party rules.
A recent one I attend was very illuminating. MP stood up and said he'd struggle to provide support to PM (he announced similarly to the press this weekend) if there was a confidence vote. Hear hears/clapping to tutting ratio was 5:1.
The party faithful have turned against Boris. MPs are noticing.
I'm thinking we're into the final weeks, if not days, of this premiership....
I am out here in Tbilisi with an expensive piece of big luggage which is close to collapsing. Simply because I travel so much. Zips are fraying. Wheels are loosening
Now a steel rod has sprung from the casing and making it almost unusable. See here
That’s nasty. The metal is also strong and rigid. It won’t just snap off. I’ve tried. What can I do? I’m not sure I can find high quality luggage in Tbilisi to replace it
If I could just get 1-2 more months of use out of this suitcase, I can replace it when I get back to london. Or should I give upon on this bag and scour the Caucasus for a replacement?
Have you thought of borrowing a hacksaw? Or would the structure be terminally weakened?
A hacksaw might just chew it off. And the structure is still good (I think)
but 1. Where the F do I get a hacksaw and 2. Maybe this is a hint from the Gods of Entropy - this bag is nearly dead. If a zip and a wheel goes when I’m out in the wilds again, I’m screwed. So i need to bite the bullet and see if the capital of Georgia can cough up something that will suffice as a replacement
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Heaven forfend that Keir Starmer do something that would "solve a lot of problems".
It will lead to electoral DOOM, I tell you.
Even this would lead to reigniting the foulness of 2017 to 2019 but even more pronounced. There is no way Starmer would be able to sell it to all those that voted in droves to 'get Brexit done' nor contain their rage at what would be seen as an undoing (without even a referendum). Would be socially disastrous.
Nah, it won't.
It will be a thousand incremental little movements towards EEA/EFTA. Starmer is not going to stand up in the HoC and say "We are signing a new accord with the EU which restores our former status."
It will be two lines in a repeatedly-iterated treaty towards solving the Northern Ireland issues. It will be an MoU for (insert UK agency of some sort) to work more closely with (insert EU agency of some sort). And so on, a thousand times.
Occasionally a Tory backbencher or an unreconstructed DUP Paisleyite will stand up during the third reading of the Agricultural Concordance Bill (2025) and fulminate about where all this is going. Giles Fraser will write something self-righteous in Unherd. We will have a few in vino veritas moments with Leon and we love him for it.
But that will be it. Little by little, we will get back to something akin to our 1990s EU membership.
But eventually he has to say hes sending Wes Streeting etc to negotiate our entry into 'whatever' Plus the Euro triumphalism over our renewed interest in the project wont be contained and will act as a horse spooker
Yep. The Remoaners won’t be able to resist gloating and exulting
Which is why I say that this way lies trouble, politically. But Starmer will still do it. Because he is so emotionally devoted to the EU, and - more importantly - so is everyone around him. Peer group pressure is almost irresistible
I'm looking forward to a nice bit of gloating. If I want to really dish out what we've been given, I might add a bit of gaslighting into the mix. And an insistent teacherly tone that any reverses you suffered are entirely due to your own moral failings. One or two of you might even get called beta cucks along the way, who knows? And deep down you'll know you deserve it.
The sad thing (for them) is they know it is coming. Full fat, full on, ever closer union with the Euro and Schengen for hors d'oeuvres. "Hors d'oeuvres must be obeyed at all times without question", as Basil Fawlty once said.
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Heaven forfend that Keir Starmer do something that would "solve a lot of problems".
It will lead to electoral DOOM, I tell you.
Even this would lead to reigniting the foulness of 2017 to 2019 but even more pronounced. There is no way Starmer would be able to sell it to all those that voted in droves to 'get Brexit done' nor contain their rage at what would be seen as an undoing (without even a referendum). Would be socially disastrous.
Nah, it won't.
It will be a thousand incremental little movements towards EEA/EFTA. Starmer is not going to stand up in the HoC and say "We are signing a new accord with the EU which restores our former status."
It will be two lines in a repeatedly-iterated treaty towards solving the Northern Ireland issues. It will be an MoU for (insert UK agency of some sort) to work more closely with (insert EU agency of some sort). And so on, a thousand times.
Occasionally a Tory backbencher or an unreconstructed DUP Paisleyite will stand up during the third reading of the Agricultural Concordance Bill (2025) and fulminate about where all this is going. Giles Fraser will write something self-righteous in Unherd. We will have a few in vino veritas moments with Leon and we love him for it.
But that will be it. Little by little, we will get back to something akin to our 1990s EU membership.
But eventually he has to say hes sending Wes Streeting etc to negotiate our entry into 'whatever' Plus the Euro triumphalism over our renewed interest in the project wont be contained and will act as a horse spooker
Yep. The Remoaners won’t be able to resist gloating and exulting
Which is why I say that this way lies trouble, politically. But Starmer will still do it. Because he is so emotionally devoted to the EU, and - more importantly - so is everyone around him. Peer group pressure is almost irresistible
Of course! The whole point of any Brexit vote is to be able to exalt in the misery of the defeated side. Surely if the last six years have taught us anything it is that.
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Paradoxically I think a deal for reciprocal free movement (that any future government could amend) would be less politically toxic than regulatory alignment by stealth.
But we have full regulatory alignment. And as Rees-Mogg announced that to deviate would be "self-harm" that isn't going to change. Has anyone noticed? Does anyone care? Find me a normal who voted for Brexit because they wanted to end regulatory alignment. Or knew what that even was. They wanted an end to Brussels telling us we couldn't sell straight bananas. They know have that as no such ban existed anyway.
You're being deliberately obtuse. Rees-Mogg was talking about border checks, not regulatory alignment. Saying, "We trust EU regulations on food for the moment so border checks are a burden we don't need," is not the same as saying, "We want the EU to make our own laws in perpetuity."
1. They decide on food standards etc 2. We're never going to check them 3. Our food industry keeps the same standards it has now - EU standards - and just updates as they improve 4. As we're never checking stuff coming in the EU standard remains the defacto UK one. Government can't impose a new standard it isn't willing to police.
So yes, that's quite literally what he just announced. Remember that the lifespan of these wazzocks in office is at most another 30 months, likely not even that in weeks.
Your argument could be turned around to say that the EU is completely unnecessary because European countries will just reciprocally adopt best practice. What value does Brussels add?
You tell us. "You" argued in favour of it for years, and very eloquently I might add. This was before your account has nicked by a swivel-eyed Europhobe troll
Someone disagreeing with you does not make them a troll.
People who are wrong regularly disagree with me. Nothing new in that. Someone who does a 180 degree flip from one extreme to the other deserves ridicule or questioning over whether they are who they claim to be. It was not "off topic"
People can change their minds and views as situations evolve. .
I am out here in Tbilisi with an expensive piece of big luggage which is close to collapsing. Simply because I travel so much. Zips are fraying. Wheels are loosening
Now a steel rod has sprung from the casing and making it almost unusable. See here
That’s nasty. The metal is also strong and rigid. It won’t just snap off. I’ve tried. What can I do? I’m not sure I can find high quality luggage in Tbilisi to replace it
If I could just get 1-2 more months of use out of this suitcase, I can replace it when I get back to london. Or should I give upon on this bag and scour the Caucasus for a replacement?
I notice the wheels. Don't real men carry their own cases? Just sayin'.
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Paradoxically I think a deal for reciprocal free movement (that any future government could amend) would be less politically toxic than regulatory alignment by stealth.
But we have full regulatory alignment. And as Rees-Mogg announced that to deviate would be "self-harm" that isn't going to change. Has anyone noticed? Does anyone care? Find me a normal who voted for Brexit because they wanted to end regulatory alignment. Or knew what that even was. They wanted an end to Brussels telling us we couldn't sell straight bananas. They know have that as no such ban existed anyway.
You're being deliberately obtuse. Rees-Mogg was talking about border checks, not regulatory alignment. Saying, "We trust EU regulations on food for the moment so border checks are a burden we don't need," is not the same as saying, "We want the EU to make our own laws in perpetuity."
1. They decide on food standards etc 2. We're never going to check them 3. Our food industry keeps the same standards it has now - EU standards - and just updates as they improve 4. As we're never checking stuff coming in the EU standard remains the defacto UK one. Government can't impose a new standard it isn't willing to police.
So yes, that's quite literally what he just announced. Remember that the lifespan of these wazzocks in office is at most another 30 months, likely not even that in weeks.
Your argument could be turned around to say that the EU is completely unnecessary because European countries will just reciprocally adopt best practice. What value does Brussels add?
You tell us. "You" argued in favour of it for years, and very eloquently I might add. This was before your account has nicked by a swivel-eyed Europhobe troll
Who is the twat that hit the "off topic" button? Come on own up?
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Paradoxically I think a deal for reciprocal free movement (that any future government could amend) would be less politically toxic than regulatory alignment by stealth.
But we have full regulatory alignment. And as Rees-Mogg announced that to deviate would be "self-harm" that isn't going to change. Has anyone noticed? Does anyone care? Find me a normal who voted for Brexit because they wanted to end regulatory alignment. Or knew what that even was. They wanted an end to Brussels telling us we couldn't sell straight bananas. They know have that as no such ban existed anyway.
You're being deliberately obtuse. Rees-Mogg was talking about border checks, not regulatory alignment. Saying, "We trust EU regulations on food for the moment so border checks are a burden we don't need," is not the same as saying, "We want the EU to make our own laws in perpetuity."
1. They decide on food standards etc 2. We're never going to check them 3. Our food industry keeps the same standards it has now - EU standards - and just updates as they improve 4. As we're never checking stuff coming in the EU standard remains the defacto UK one. Government can't impose a new standard it isn't willing to police.
So yes, that's quite literally what he just announced. Remember that the lifespan of these wazzocks in office is at most another 30 months, likely not even that in weeks.
Your argument could be turned around to say that the EU is completely unnecessary because European countries will just reciprocally adopt best practice. What value does Brussels add?
You tell us. "You" argued in favour of it for years, and very eloquently I might add. This was before your account has nicked by a swivel-eyed Europhobe troll
Someone disagreeing with you does not make them a troll.
People who are wrong regularly disagree with me. Nothing new in that. Someone who does a 180 degree flip from one extreme to the other deserves ridicule or questioning over whether they are who they claim to be. It was not "off topic"
Quit your bitching you silly old woman
Ah, I see psychological projection is not cured by a plastic bag on the head then?
I am out here in Tbilisi with an expensive piece of big luggage which is close to collapsing. Simply because I travel so much. Zips are fraying. Wheels are loosening
Now a steel rod has sprung from the casing and making it almost unusable. See here
That’s nasty. The metal is also strong and rigid. It won’t just snap off. I’ve tried. What can I do? I’m not sure I can find high quality luggage in Tbilisi to replace it
If I could just get 1-2 more months of use out of this suitcase, I can replace it when I get back to london. Or should I give upon on this bag and scour the Caucasus for a replacement?
I notice the wheels. Don't real men carry their own cases? Just sayin'.
I am out here in Tbilisi with an expensive piece of big luggage which is close to collapsing. Simply because I travel so much. Zips are fraying. Wheels are loosening
Now a steel rod has sprung from the casing and making it almost unusable. See here
That’s nasty. The metal is also strong and rigid. It won’t just snap off. I’ve tried. What can I do? I’m not sure I can find high quality luggage in Tbilisi to replace it
If I could just get 1-2 more months of use out of this suitcase, I can replace it when I get back to london. Or should I give upon on this bag and scour the Caucasus for a replacement?
I notice the wheels. Don't real men carry their own cases? Just sayin'.
Can you even get suitcases without wheels any more?
I am out here in Tbilisi with an expensive piece of big luggage which is close to collapsing. Simply because I travel so much. Zips are fraying. Wheels are loosening
Now a steel rod has sprung from the casing and making it almost unusable. See here
That’s nasty. The metal is also strong and rigid. It won’t just snap off. I’ve tried. What can I do? I’m not sure I can find high quality luggage in Tbilisi to replace it
If I could just get 1-2 more months of use out of this suitcase, I can replace it when I get back to london. Or should I give upon on this bag and scour the Caucasus for a replacement?
I notice the wheels. Don't real men carry their own cases? Just sayin'.
Believe it or not, this is the precise reason it took the luggage-making industry about 50 years to introduce wheeled luggage, even when it was obvious to all that wheeled bags would be superior
It was felt men would not buy them - because “effete” - and apparently it is men that buy most serious luggage, and etc
There was a brief moment in the 1990s when British airports seemed to work like clockwork about 95% of the time, even in peak times like school holidays. It shows how easy it is to go backwards.
I am out here in Tbilisi with an expensive piece of big luggage which is close to collapsing. Simply because I travel so much. Zips are fraying. Wheels are loosening
Now a steel rod has sprung from the casing and making it almost unusable. See here
That’s nasty. The metal is also strong and rigid. It won’t just snap off. I’ve tried. What can I do? I’m not sure I can find high quality luggage in Tbilisi to replace it
If I could just get 1-2 more months of use out of this suitcase, I can replace it when I get back to london. Or should I give upon on this bag and scour the Caucasus for a replacement?
Have you thought of borrowing a hacksaw? Or would the structure be terminally weakened?
A hacksaw might just chew it off. And the structure is still good (I think)
but 1. Where the F do I get a hacksaw and 2. Maybe this is a hint from the Gods of Entropy - this bag is nearly dead. If a zip and a wheel goes when I’m out in the wilds again, I’m screwed. So i need to bite the bullet and see if the capital of Georgia can cough up something that will suffice as a replacement
Get a hacksaw or a pair of pliers with a cutter, from any local hardware store or large supermarket. Or do your bit for the local economy as you say, and buy yourself a new one in Tibilsi.
I'm not a fan of Jeremy Hunt as a politician but I think if he becomes leader the Tories probably aren't going to lose many of the so-called Blue Wall seats in Surrey, Hampshire, Sussex, etc.
I strongly agree. He seems ok to me. As I have said before his only real blackmark for me was his dalliance with homeopathy. He claimed it was naivety but he shouldn't have touched that with a barge pole.
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Paradoxically I think a deal for reciprocal free movement (that any future government could amend) would be less politically toxic than regulatory alignment by stealth.
But we have full regulatory alignment. And as Rees-Mogg announced that to deviate would be "self-harm" that isn't going to change. Has anyone noticed? Does anyone care? Find me a normal who voted for Brexit because they wanted to end regulatory alignment. Or knew what that even was. They wanted an end to Brussels telling us we couldn't sell straight bananas. They know have that as no such ban existed anyway.
You're being deliberately obtuse. Rees-Mogg was talking about border checks, not regulatory alignment. Saying, "We trust EU regulations on food for the moment so border checks are a burden we don't need," is not the same as saying, "We want the EU to make our own laws in perpetuity."
1. They decide on food standards etc 2. We're never going to check them 3. Our food industry keeps the same standards it has now - EU standards - and just updates as they improve 4. As we're never checking stuff coming in the EU standard remains the defacto UK one. Government can't impose a new standard it isn't willing to police.
So yes, that's quite literally what he just announced. Remember that the lifespan of these wazzocks in office is at most another 30 months, likely not even that in weeks.
Your argument could be turned around to say that the EU is completely unnecessary because European countries will just reciprocally adopt best practice. What value does Brussels add?
You tell us. "You" argued in favour of it for years, and very eloquently I might add. This was before your account has nicked by a swivel-eyed Europhobe troll
Who is the twat that hit the "off topic" button? Come on own up?
Leon keeps doing it. It's his latest fad.
You shouldn't automatically think "Leon" just because I said "twat"
I am out here in Tbilisi with an expensive piece of big luggage which is close to collapsing. Simply because I travel so much. Zips are fraying. Wheels are loosening
Now a steel rod has sprung from the casing and making it almost unusable. See here
That’s nasty. The metal is also strong and rigid. It won’t just snap off. I’ve tried. What can I do? I’m not sure I can find high quality luggage in Tbilisi to replace it
If I could just get 1-2 more months of use out of this suitcase, I can replace it when I get back to london. Or should I give upon on this bag and scour the Caucasus for a replacement?
Have you thought of borrowing a hacksaw? Or would the structure be terminally weakened?
A hacksaw might just chew it off. And the structure is still good (I think)
but 1. Where the F do I get a hacksaw and 2. Maybe this is a hint from the Gods of Entropy - this bag is nearly dead. If a zip and a wheel goes when I’m out in the wilds again, I’m screwed. So i need to bite the bullet and see if the capital of Georgia can cough up something that will suffice as a replacement
Get a hacksaw or a pair of pliers with a cutter, from any local hardware store or large supermarket. Or do your bit for the local economy as you say, and buy yourself a new one in Tibilsi.
Agree, a pair of pliers with a cutting edge will sort that easily provided you are not too wimpy.
I'm not a fan of Jeremy Hunt as a politician but I think if he becomes leader the Tories probably aren't going to lose many of the so-called Blue Wall seats in Surrey, Hampshire, Sussex, etc.
I strongly agree. He seems ok to me. As I have said before his only real blackmark for me was his dalliance with homeopathy. He claimed it was naivety but he shouldn't have touched that with a barge pole.
Misread that as Hunt's dalliance with homosexuality.
I'm not a fan of Jeremy Hunt as a politician but I think if he becomes leader the Tories probably aren't going to lose many of the so-called Blue Wall seats in Surrey, Hampshire, Sussex, etc.
Quite. Fingers crossed he's rejected by the Party membership.
As the Labour lead has increased since Rishi Sunak gave everyone £9,000, a bag of second hand salt, and a tiny inflatable plastic wildebeest, one has to wonder what would have happened if he had NOT been so generous. Would the Labour lead be 20 points plus? Or have the voters just banked the money and decided, Well, the Tories are mad spaffing socialists, I might as well support Labour - ie, would the Tories be doing better if they were meaner and more Tory?
It is certainly possible
When in power, labour can be relied on to be labour.
The tories, by their actions over the last two and half years, cannot be relied to on be anything. From the moment they adopted the Chinese Communist Party policy of lockdown, on top of the Maoist arbitrary hard target of Net Zero by 2050 At All Costs, they were finished.
And I think they are finished. Not just now, and not just for a generation. For ever.
How could they ever sell themselves to the electorate as anything again? It would be like Hal the computer in A Space Odyssey telling Dave he was alright now.
I'm feeling much better now voters. I favour low taxation. I favour personal responsibility. I want a small state and fiscal discipline. I want law and order. Mr sThatcher is my heroine. All as the voters shut the whole thing down.
A new party/brand on the right will have to replace them.
The Tories are indeed in deep shit, but both sides have tremendous problems
Here is just one for Labour. Brexit
If the polls continue fair for Starmer, and the Tories keep smashing themselves in the face with a shovel, he could actually win a majority. What would he do with that majority? Suddenly he has all the reins of power, he doesn’t have to rely on the Nats or the Libs.
In that case I think he would come under intense pressure to reverse Brexit in some form. Not immediately rejoin, not yet, but re-enter the Single Market, accept Freedom of Movement again. Everyone around him is a Remainer, he is a Remainer, his friends and allies: they are all Remainers. They won’t be able to resist moving closer to the EU. They might be able to sell it as making life easier for traders and exporters, etc etc
And that way lies much trouble
Brexit was a manifesto of madness. A policy designed for gullible fools. The only thing worse would now be to try and reverse it. It isn't going to happen. If that is the only straw that The Clown has to cling to then Labour will win a majority.
I’m not talking about Rejoin. I’m talking about an EFTA/EEA arrangement, solving a lot of the ongoing Brexit problems
And, by the by, regaining Freedom of Movement
This will be intensely seductive for Keir “2nd vote” Starmer, and 95% of his allies and supporters
Heaven forfend that Keir Starmer do something that would "solve a lot of problems".
It will lead to electoral DOOM, I tell you.
Even this would lead to reigniting the foulness of 2017 to 2019 but even more pronounced. There is no way Starmer would be able to sell it to all those that voted in droves to 'get Brexit done' nor contain their rage at what would be seen as an undoing (without even a referendum). Would be socially disastrous.
Nah, it won't.
It will be a thousand incremental little movements towards EEA/EFTA. Starmer is not going to stand up in the HoC and say "We are signing a new accord with the EU which restores our former status."
It will be two lines in a repeatedly-iterated treaty towards solving the Northern Ireland issues. It will be an MoU for (insert UK agency of some sort) to work more closely with (insert EU agency of some sort). And so on, a thousand times.
Occasionally a Tory backbencher or an unreconstructed DUP Paisleyite will stand up during the third reading of the Agricultural Concordance Bill (2025) and fulminate about where all this is going. Giles Fraser will write something self-righteous in Unherd. We will have a few in vino veritas moments with Leon and we love him for it.
But that will be it. Little by little, we will get back to something akin to our 1990s EU membership.
But eventually he has to say hes sending Wes Streeting etc to negotiate our entry into 'whatever' Plus the Euro triumphalism over our renewed interest in the project wont be contained and will act as a horse spooker
Yep. The Remoaners won’t be able to resist gloating and exulting
Which is why I say that this way lies trouble, politically. But Starmer will still do it. Because he is so emotionally devoted to the EU, and - more importantly - so is everyone around him. Peer group pressure is almost irresistible
Of course! The whole point of any Brexit vote is to be able to exalt in the misery of the defeated side. Surely if the last six years have taught us anything it is that.
That’s fair
And, let it be said, I’m quite content with Free Movement returning. It never bothered me in the beginning. But it really will bother others, and this will be an issue for Labour (who will surely head towards the Single Market). But personally I’d quite like the right to live and work in the EU restored to me. I can do without all the other crap
My guess is we will end up somewhere close to Switzerland. We will never rejoin but we will be begrudging members of the SM etc and we will tolerate some version of FoM
However, to get there it probably needs all the big players in Brexit, on both sides, to depart the scene, so emotions are lowered. That definitely means Boris, possibly Starmer. And many others. Also Macron?
Macron will be history by 2027, and after that is when we will rejoin the SM. That’s my wild prediction
I'm not a fan of Jeremy Hunt as a politician but I think if he becomes leader the Tories probably aren't going to lose many of the so-called Blue Wall seats in Surrey, Hampshire, Sussex, etc.
I strongly agree. He seems ok to me. As I have said before his only real blackmark for me was his dalliance with homeopathy. He claimed it was naivety but he shouldn't have touched that with a barge pole.
I'm not a fan of Jeremy Hunt as a politician but I think if he becomes leader the Tories probably aren't going to lose many of the so-called Blue Wall seats in Surrey, Hampshire, Sussex, etc.
I strongly agree. He seems ok to me. As I have said before his only real blackmark for me was his dalliance with homeopathy. He claimed it was naivety but he shouldn't have touched that with a barge pole.
Misread that as Hunt's dalliance with homosexuality.
Hello!!!!!
Wasn't that Michael Portillo? Not with Hunt I might add.
There was a brief moment in the 1990s when British airports seemed to work like clockwork about 95% of the time, even in peak times like school holidays. It shows how easy it is to go backwards.
I strongly suspect the explanation for the situation we are now in is that it’s the consequence of low cost flights. The airlines and the airports have cut every possible bit of slack and reduced wages to unappealing levels. When it works, it’s great for the consumer, but there’s no redundancy any more.
Business logic across all sorts of sectors over the past 30 years has created brittle industries.
I'm not a fan of Jeremy Hunt as a politician but I think if he becomes leader the Tories probably aren't going to lose many of the so-called Blue Wall seats in Surrey, Hampshire, Sussex, etc.
I strongly agree. He seems ok to me. As I have said before his only real blackmark for me was his dalliance with homeopathy. He claimed it was naivety but he shouldn't have touched that with a barge pole.
Single data points like that should be borne in mind, but not overreacted to. Has he shown any other anti-science tendencies? Climate change denial, antivaxxing, being a Piers Corbyn weather weirdo, that sort of thing? If not, chalk it down as a misguided moment he's learned from. If so, the Tories shouldn't touch him with a bargepole. I like Hunt, I think he should be next PM, but if there's more along those homeopathy lines he can get all the way in the bin right away.
I'm not a fan of Jeremy Hunt as a politician but I think if he becomes leader the Tories probably aren't going to lose many of the so-called Blue Wall seats in Surrey, Hampshire, Sussex, etc.
I strongly agree. He seems ok to me. As I have said before his only real blackmark for me was his dalliance with homeopathy. He claimed it was naivety but he shouldn't have touched that with a barge pole.
Misread that as Hunt's dalliance with homosexuality.
Hello!!!!!
Wasn't that Michael Portillo? Not with Hunt I might add.
Also not Portillo: 'A misbooking meant I had to share a bed with my aide. For warmth'
I am out here in Tbilisi with an expensive piece of big luggage which is close to collapsing. Simply because I travel so much. Zips are fraying. Wheels are loosening
Now a steel rod has sprung from the casing and making it almost unusable. See here
That’s nasty. The metal is also strong and rigid. It won’t just snap off. I’ve tried. What can I do? I’m not sure I can find high quality luggage in Tbilisi to replace it
If I could just get 1-2 more months of use out of this suitcase, I can replace it when I get back to london. Or should I give upon on this bag and scour the Caucasus for a replacement?
Doesn't an International man of mystery such as your self carry a Gerber/Leatherman (alongside your other flint knapping tools) for such an emergency?
Any why the effete zipped bag? Get your self a Samsonite hardshell (with wheels)
I believe we need a Lab/LD government precisely to deliver the amelioration (not reversal) of Boris’s Brexit; to create a growth economy; and to better protect the very worst off.
Since autumn last year I have been confident that a Boris-led Tory party would lose in ‘24, and that any likely Boris replacement would also do so, if perhaps more narrowly.
But by likely, I assumed the candidates had to be Brexiters.
I can now absolutely see Jeremy Hunt scoring a ‘92 Major-style cling-on. Bloody hell!
I'm not a fan of Jeremy Hunt as a politician but I think if he becomes leader the Tories probably aren't going to lose many of the so-called Blue Wall seats in Surrey, Hampshire, Sussex, etc.
I strongly agree. He seems ok to me. As I have said before his only real blackmark for me was his dalliance with homeopathy. He claimed it was naivety but he shouldn't have touched that with a barge pole.
Single data points like that should be borne in mind, but not overreacted to. Has he shown any other anti-science tendencies? Climate change denial, antivaxxing, being a Piers Corbyn weather weirdo, that sort of thing? If not, chalk it down as a misguided moment he's learned from. If so, the Tories shouldn't touch him with a bargepole. I like Hunt, I think he should be next PM, but if there's more along those homeopathy lines he can get all the way in the bin right away.
I'm not aware of anything else and generally I agree with you he seems like a good choice and as a LD one I would fear. And you are right there for the grace of god and all that. But homeopathy?
I am out here in Tbilisi with an expensive piece of big luggage which is close to collapsing. Simply because I travel so much. Zips are fraying. Wheels are loosening
Now a steel rod has sprung from the casing and making it almost unusable. See here
That’s nasty. The metal is also strong and rigid. It won’t just snap off. I’ve tried. What can I do? I’m not sure I can find high quality luggage in Tbilisi to replace it
If I could just get 1-2 more months of use out of this suitcase, I can replace it when I get back to london. Or should I give upon on this bag and scour the Caucasus for a replacement?
Doesn't an International man of mystery such as your self carry a Gerber/Leatherman (alongside your other flint knapping tools) for such an emergency?
Any why the effete zipped bag? Get your self a Samsonite hardshell (with wheels)
I’ve actually got a wire cutter. But this is super strong steel. it scoffs at my attempts to sever it. Needs a metal saw, or enormous wire cutters that you use to steal bikes, as others have said
One little tidbit that might help PBers. Conservative associations needs to have their AGMs by the end of June according to party rules.
A recent one I attend was very illuminating. MP stood up and said he'd struggle to provide support to PM (he announced similarly to the press this weekend) if there was a confidence vote. Hear hears/clapping to tutting ratio was 5:1.
The party faithful have turned against Boris. MPs are noticing.
I'm thinking we're into the final weeks, if not days, of this premiership....
They know he's just not marketable any longer.
"Time to move on" is what you hear.
Not that this PM could exactly claim he was hard done by, if the Party chose to use him as long as he was useful - and then dumped him and moved on to the next. It has been Boris' modus operandi for long enough.
I'm not a fan of Jeremy Hunt as a politician but I think if he becomes leader the Tories probably aren't going to lose many of the so-called Blue Wall seats in Surrey, Hampshire, Sussex, etc.
I strongly agree. He seems ok to me. As I have said before his only real blackmark for me was his dalliance with homeopathy. He claimed it was naivety but he shouldn't have touched that with a barge pole.
Misread that as Hunt's dalliance with homosexuality.
Hello!!!!!
Wasn't that Michael Portillo? Not with Hunt I might add.
Also not Portillo: 'A misbooking meant I had to share a bed with my aide. For warmth'
Ah, very like , oh, someone else I seem to remember who was prominent in the Conservative Party. What else would you like me to do Minister? Can you please ensure I don't get cold.
I imagine Tbilisi not only has one or two decent luggage shops, but also lots of random little businesses who could repair that suitcase, ie tailors, dry-cleaners, upholsterers etc.
I thought Leon would have learned some self-sufficient by the age of 70.
Top tip. Professional landlords. Solve your financial problems by simply getting a proper job.
Why is providing high quality housing services not a proper job?
Houses don't maintain or invest in themselves. Traditionally 15-20% or so of the income goes on maintenance and investment, often done in advance during a full refurbishment with a 10 year+ return period.
So they’re doing 15-20% of a proper job?
What?
You think that businesses are only entitled to one element of their business expenses, and no income?
So a butcher is only entitled to the money paid for meat supplies, and not the revenue that pays for the shop, the staff expenses, the tax and the maintenance of the finance which allowed investment in the business?
I think a butcher makes a small % on top of their costs whereas a landlord makes a very large %. There is a reason why economics has the term “rent seeking”.
Your evidence of that? And that whatever the % is is universally unreasonable?
Bearing in mind the 30-100k investment that may have been made upfront in a refurbishment.
If rents consistently increase more slowly than inflation (which is true), and the quality of accommodation consistently increases (which it does), that actually suggests that it is working quite well.
My evidence for economics having a term “rent seeking”? Look in an economics textbook.
AFAICS They don't engage with the fact that, then and now, the UK has one of the smaller Private Rental Sectors in Europe.
Is there any more recent work by these two Profs?
I'd recommend the work of, for example, Dr Julie Rugg (York Uni when I last heard).
Yes, I'm familiar with the term "rent-seeking", and I'm familiar with it as a generalised boo-word. I have yet to see much evidence that "the fact or practice of manipulating public policy or economic conditions as a strategy for increasing profits" exists much in the PRS. Policy changes I have seen seem to run in the other direction.
Comments
This government sucks.
Big time.
It will be a thousand incremental little movements towards EEA/EFTA. Starmer is not going to stand up in the HoC and say "We are signing a new accord with the EU which restores our former status."
It will be two lines in a repeatedly-iterated treaty towards solving the Northern Ireland issues. It will be an MoU for (insert UK agency of some sort) to work more closely with (insert EU agency of some sort). And so on, a thousand times.
Occasionally a Tory backbencher or an unreconstructed DUP Paisleyite will stand up during the third reading of the Agricultural Concordance Bill (2025) and fulminate about where all this is going. Giles Fraser will write something self-righteous in Unherd. We will have a few in vino veritas moments with Leon and we love him for it.
But that will be it. Little by little, we will get back to something akin to our 1990s EU membership.
ChineseBritish electrical appliance is definitely what I voted for.https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/RentSeeking.html
Sort out temporary exports so as to give bands, autosport and anyone taking demo equipment abroad a break. For me joining the pet passport scheme would be a huge win. Sort out the rolling 90 day entry issue. It has completely buggered two of my friends lives. There is so much small stuff we could do without rejoining. The red tape on imports and exports must be a priority. if both sides can draw a line under where we are, bury the hatchet and get working on making things work.
And an utterly bewildered look on his face. Half confusion. Half terror.
Plus the Euro triumphalism over our renewed interest in the project wont be contained and will act as a horse spooker
I am a deviant.
https://twitter.com/PigsAndPolling/status/1531611229667590146
Word among Conservative MPs is that Boris Johnson has begun calling his critics, hinting at the prospect of promotion and asking in return that they 'stay with me'. Clearly No 10 feel the threat of a confidence vote if those kind of approaches are being made.
https://twitter.com/PaulBrandITV/status/1531615589105643520
2. We're never going to check them
3. Our food industry keeps the same standards it has now - EU standards - and just updates as they improve
4. As we're never checking stuff coming in the EU standard remains the defacto UK one. Government can't impose a new standard it isn't willing to police.
So yes, that's quite literally what he just announced. Remember that the lifespan of these wazzocks in office is at most another 30 months, likely not even that in weeks.
Well done Digby
"Back me and there's the prospect of promotion"
[But that means firing others.
Which means those promoted are dispensable.
Which makes my promotion likely short-lived.
And would be anyway if the polls and the deluge of angry emails I'm getting are correct.]
"Thanks Prime Minister, you have my full support"
[Opens Gmail]
'Dear Graham...'
I'm calling it! Its over.
They have seen into his soul. And realised he is a lady's moist place.
And that too is brilliant. To be in a land where you absolutely have no idea what people are saying. Or what signs mean
I have enough vague French, Italian, Spanish, German to get a grasp of what people are saying where these tongues are spoken. Even Russian is not completely impenetrable - because I’ve travelled there enough to be able to work out the Cyrillic alphabet
Yet here the alphabet is WTAF and the words are OMG wut? So it’s more like being in Japan or China except it *looks* European, which makes for an intoxicating mix of sensations
This is Bonzo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bonham
This is Mr. Johnson : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bozo_the_Clown
Just flip-flopped 1.96 he loses, 1.91 he wins.
Very strange. I've gone in with another fifty notes at 1.96 he loses.
Now 1.91 both ways (book 104.7%)
Edit: just to remind you that this is the market which refunds your stake if there is no VOC in 2022.
Which is why I say that this way lies trouble, politically. But Starmer will still do it. Because he is so emotionally devoted to the EU, and - more importantly - so is everyone around him. Peer group pressure is almost irresistible
Engineered by governments of all shades.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_United_Express_passenger_removal
I am out here in Tbilisi with an expensive piece of big luggage which is close to collapsing. Simply because I travel so much. Zips are fraying. Wheels are loosening
Now a steel rod has sprung from the casing and making it almost unusable. See here
That’s nasty. The metal is also strong and rigid. It won’t just snap off. I’ve tried. What can I do? I’m not sure I can find high quality luggage in Tbilisi to replace it
If I could just get 1-2 more months of use out of this suitcase, I can replace it when I get back to london. Or should I give upon on this bag and scour the Caucasus for a replacement?
Leon, get over it. It was pointless, but you "won". just rejoice in that news. The fact that we will inevitably move back closer to the evil empire of harmless woolly pacifists should not concern you. It really is inevitable, and no swivelly-eyed nationalist with closeted homoerotic fantasies about Mr Farage can stop it. The younger snowflakes will certainly vote it back when you are pissing yourself (not from laughter) in your state run home for incurable Brexit obsessives or pushing up the daisies. Chill out and relax and kick off your inner Col. Blimp.
If I want to really dish out what we've been given, I might add a bit of gaslighting into the mix. And an insistent teacherly tone that any reverses you suffered are entirely due to your own moral failings. One or two of you might even get called beta cucks along the way, who knows? And deep down you'll know you deserve it.
Also does free movement include the right to work abroad freely?
There's a lot there.
A recent one I attend was very illuminating. MP stood up and said he'd struggle to provide support to PM (he announced similarly to the press this weekend) if there was a confidence vote. Hear hears/clapping to tutting ratio was 5:1.
The party faithful have turned against Boris. MPs are noticing.
I'm thinking we're into the final weeks, if not days, of this premiership....
but 1. Where the F do I get a hacksaw and 2. Maybe this is a hint from the Gods of Entropy - this bag is nearly dead. If a zip and a wheel goes when I’m out in the wilds again, I’m screwed. So i need to bite the bullet and see if the capital of Georgia can cough up something that will suffice as a replacement
Believe it or not, this is the precise reason it took the luggage-making industry about 50 years to introduce wheeled luggage, even when it was obvious to all that wheeled bags would be superior
It was felt men would not buy them - because “effete” - and apparently it is men that buy most serious luggage, and etc
Insane, but true
Hello!!!!!
And, let it be said, I’m quite content with Free Movement returning. It never bothered me in the beginning. But it really will bother others, and this will be an issue for Labour (who will surely head towards the Single Market). But personally I’d quite like the right to live and work in the EU restored to me. I can do without all the other crap
My guess is we will end up somewhere close to Switzerland. We will never rejoin but we will be begrudging members of the SM etc and we will tolerate some version of FoM
However, to get there it probably needs all the big players in Brexit, on both sides, to depart the scene, so emotions are lowered. That definitely means Boris, possibly Starmer. And many others. Also Macron?
Macron will be history by 2027, and after that is when we will rejoin the SM. That’s my wild prediction
Business logic across all sorts of sectors over the past 30 years has created brittle industries.
I like Hunt, I think he should be next PM, but if there's more along those homeopathy lines he can get all the way in the bin right away.
'A misbooking meant I had to share a bed with my aide. For warmth'
Any why the effete zipped bag? Get your self a Samsonite hardshell (with wheels)
I believe we need a Lab/LD government precisely to deliver the amelioration (not reversal) of Boris’s Brexit; to create a growth economy; and to better protect the very worst off.
Since autumn last year I have been confident that a Boris-led Tory party would lose in ‘24, and that any likely Boris replacement would also do so, if perhaps more narrowly.
But by likely, I assumed the candidates had to be Brexiters.
I can now absolutely see Jeremy Hunt scoring a ‘92 Major-style cling-on. Bloody hell!
https://twitter.com/charlotteahenry/status/1531631687490318337
"Time to move on" is what you hear.
Not that this PM could exactly claim he was hard done by, if the Party chose to use him as long as he was useful - and then dumped him and moved on to the next. It has been Boris' modus operandi for long enough.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8702434/
Second place is available on the New Thread
I thought Leon would have learned some self-sufficient by the age of 70.
The article is interesting, but rather hyperbolic and seriously out of date.
It was published in 2017, and the latest data they deal with is from 2012. This is now 2022.
Their basic concept is "Britain’s Post-Homeownership Society". Which is not true - between publication and 2021 home ownership in the UK increased from 63% to 65%.
https://tradingeconomics.com/united-kingdom/home-ownership-rate
AFAICS They don't engage with the fact that, then and now, the UK has one of the smaller Private Rental Sectors in Europe.
Is there any more recent work by these two Profs?
I'd recommend the work of, for example, Dr Julie Rugg (York Uni when I last heard).
Yes, I'm familiar with the term "rent-seeking", and I'm familiar with it as a generalised boo-word. I have yet to see much evidence that "the fact or practice of manipulating public policy or economic conditions as a strategy for increasing profits" exists much in the PRS. Policy changes I have seen seem to run in the other direction.