Forgive me for wild wishcasting. Rishi ditches Suella in the next six months saying he gave her a target and she failed. Suella failed, busted flush.
Boris and Nadine gone. jRM happy with being Lord Hatstand. Again Nadine gone.
Rishi starts pivoting to an 18 month plan for election, improvement in economy. Tories were hamstrung by Covid and Ukraine messaging, we are fixing things under sunny Sunak for a glorious tech future.
Don’t let those lefty loons back.
Rishi - a tech bro for a tech age, I have the energy of tigger, I’m not Sir Keir boring boring and my shirt collars fit.
My deputy has a bit too high pitched voice but he doesn’t sound like an extra from last of the summer wine like Angela does.
We’ve got rid of the assholes.
Positive positive positive.
Wishcasting but possible.
Why on Earth would you wishcast this execrable shower back in? "He can change" is the mantra of the abused. Genuine question.
Boris is pretty astute about avoiding fights he can’t win. Look at the withdrawal from the leadership election after Cameron resigned. He must have calculated that without the active support of Sunak he had no chance of overturning the committee’s recommendations. He was probably right.
Will he be back? Not while Sunak is there but that is only 15 months or so.
Why would he want to come back?
I've been saying for a long time he'd take the Chiltern Hundreds and coin it in from the lecture tour.
He'd have more dignity if he'd done so when he resigned as PM, like Blair and Cameron, instead of doing so now though.
His attitude today is just pathetic.
Don't you feel cheated? Someone you praised to the hilt just two years ago turns out to be the creep many suspected he was
All political careers end in failure.
I was calling for Boris to resign before he did, so no I don't.
He was good in what he did for the first couple of years, but his personal qualities meant he had to go in the end.
Britain's still a better place for him having been PM. Especially when the alternative was Jeremy Corbyn.
The advantage of our Parliamentary system is when people have worn out their welcome they can be ousted.
But he has worked out that if he leaves Uxbridge now he can pop up in 2024 in a nice safe seat without being accused of cutting and running away from his surefire loser of a current seat.
The only risk is that he enjoys all the ££££ he will make in the meantime and can’t be arsed to return to the hard work of being an MP.
Boris is pretty astute about avoiding fights he can’t win. Look at the withdrawal from the leadership election after Cameron resigned. He must have calculated that without the active support of Sunak he had no chance of overturning the committee’s recommendations. He was probably right.
Will he be back? Not while Sunak is there but that is only 15 months or so.
Why would he want to come back?
I've been saying for a long time he'd take the Chiltern Hundreds and coin it in from the lecture tour.
He'd have more dignity if he'd done so when he resigned as PM, like Blair and Cameron, instead of doing so now though.
His attitude today is just pathetic.
Don't you feel cheated? Someone you praised to the hilt just two years ago turns out to be the creep many suspected he was
All political careers end in failure.
*snip*
Not strictly true - untimely death happens occasionally.
Getting an air con unit is an absolute game changer, it makes these warm days somehow bearable indoors
Unfortunately while they may be good for your immediate environment they are pretty disastrous for the wider environment.
That attitude needs junking.
They use electricity. Electricity can be clean. If you have solar power and an air con for instance, then how bad is it for the environment, given that you'd only put the air con on in a day that's getting lots of solar power normally.
We need to move on from a failed attitude of "energy is bad" to thinking "energy is good, but it needs to be clean".
There has long been an unfulfilled desire among many to replace the Tories with a more populist centre-right party. The timing when they're at a cyclical weak point would be a good moment to strike if Boris is minded to do it.
Nigel Farage @Nigel_Farage · 1h Whatever the failures of Boris Johnson’s time as PM, I will always be thankful for him joining the Brexit campaign.
Nigel saying something nice about Boris? Nah!
Boris is going to stand at Mid-Beds for REFORM... If he fizzles out that's the end of him and REFORM.
If he wins he will become REFORM leader and might just split the Conservatives for the next 30 years at the next election.
Things have just got very serious for Con. We could be at an 1846 moment.
No chance - reform just doesn’t have the number of troops to get the votes out and who is going to vote for Bozo when he hasn’t got any real power
RefUK can't win enough votes to win more than a handful of seats. And probably the handful they win will be a hand that has just had a terrible accident with a mincing machine.
But they can take enough votes from the Conservatives to cause real trouble. Thirty percent gets 150 seats, twenty percent might not get 50.
Spiteful and self-harming, but what else is RefUK for?
Getting an air con unit is an absolute game changer, it makes these warm days somehow bearable indoors
Unfortunately while they may be good for your immediate environment they are pretty disastrous for the wider environment.
That attitude needs junking.
They use electricity. Electricity can be clean. If you have solar power and an air con for instance, then how bad is it for the environment, given that you'd only put the air con on in a day that's getting lots of solar power normally.
We need to move on from a failed attitude of "energy is bad" to thinking "energy is good, but it needs to be clean".
Absolutely: we shouldn't be afraid of human progress. Clean water, air conditioning, modern medicine, etc are all amazing things that increase the sum of human happiness.
We just need to make sure that we're managing and minimizing those externalities.
There has long been an unfulfilled desire among many to replace the Tories with a more populist centre-right party. The timing when they're at a cyclical weak point would be a good moment to strike if Boris is minded to do it.
How long can the two by-elections be postponed for?
Asking for a friend Sishi Runak
All the way until the next general election.
I thought it was only in the final six months of a Parliament they can be delayed until the next election?
So far as I remember, there's no actual requirement for when a writ is called. It's up to Parliament. It can theoretically be put off until a general election occurs.
It is traditional to call a by-election within 3 months, but that's just tradition.
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06576/ says, "There is nothing in statute law or in Standing Orders obliging the House to move a writ for a by-election. It could choose to leave the seat without representation until the next General Election (General Elections must be held every five years)."
The 2011 Belfast West by-election is the longest delay since 1975, I think, at nearly 4 months.
There has long been an unfulfilled desire among many to replace the Tories with a more populist centre-right party. The timing when they're at a cyclical weak point would be a good moment to strike if Boris is minded to do it.
You are spot on right. He may be minded. But it would involve some hard graft. Which is lucky for the rest of us.
There has long been an unfulfilled desire among many to replace the Tories with a more populist centre-right party. The timing when they're at a cyclical weak point would be a good moment to strike if Boris is minded to do it.
Didn't that already happen?
No, the current Tories are delivering something akin to Blairism on steroids.
Getting an air con unit is an absolute game changer, it makes these warm days somehow bearable indoors
Assuming you are in the UK it's hardly warm and certainly not humid. Just open the window ffs!
You are doing your bit to add to global warming needlessly running an A/C in the UK in this weather.
In the 40 degree heat last year opening the window made it worse, not better. I wish I had air con last year.
Well, use when the temperature gets to 40 and humidity is >80%, not when it's in the 20s and less than 70% - that's just pathetic, tbh.
I was doing a lot of driving today and had the air con on while doing so. At low speeds I'd open a window, but on the motorway the air con is much more pleasant. And all the glass of the car means you get quite hot without it even in this temperature.
Its up to everyone to enjoy their lives however they see fit. The solution to climate change is not living miserably, its managing and eliminating the externalities so we can enjoy what we want to enjoy without polluting the wider world.
Clean electricity is the answer to climate change. Telling people to do without, is not.
Getting an air con unit is an absolute game changer, it makes these warm days somehow bearable indoors
Unfortunately while they may be good for your immediate environment they are pretty disastrous for the wider environment.
Run them off solar power. If you have moderately decent insulation and decentish window glass, you can still run a profit (sell leccy) from the panels while cooling the room down during the day.
You can also use aircon in reverse (air source heating) to heat rooms in the winter.
Getting an air con unit is an absolute game changer, it makes these warm days somehow bearable indoors
Assuming you are in the UK it's hardly warm and certainly not humid. Just open the window ffs!
You are doing your bit to add to global warming needlessly running an A/C in the UK in this weather.
In the 40 degree heat last year opening the window made it worse, not better. I wish I had air con last year.
Well, use when the temperature gets to 40 and humidity is >80%, not when it's in the 20s and less than 70% - that's just pathetic, tbh.
I was doing a lot of driving today and had the air con on while doing so. At low speeds I'd open a window, but on the motorway the air con is much more pleasant. And all the glass of the car means you get quite hot without it even in this temperature.
Its up to everyone to enjoy their lives however they see fit. The solution to climate change is not living miserably, its managing and eliminating the externalities so we can enjoy what we want to enjoy without polluting the wider world.
Clean electricity is the answer to climate change. Telling people to do without, is not.
Now you've moved the goalposts. We were talking about residential A/C.
In cars of course they are a boon - driving with the A/C on is more efficient than driving with the windows open at most speeds.
How long can the two by-elections be postponed for?
Asking for a friend Sishi Runak
All the way until the next general election.
I thought it was only in the final six months of a Parliament they can be delayed until the next election?
So far as I remember, there's no actual requirement for when a writ is called. It's up to Parliament. It can theoretically be put off until a general election occurs.
It is traditional to call a by-election within 3 months, but that's just tradition.
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06576/ says, "There is nothing in statute law or in Standing Orders obliging the House to move a writ for a by-election. It could choose to leave the seat without representation until the next General Election (General Elections must be held every five years)."
The 2011 Belfast West by-election is the longest delay since 1975, I think, at nearly 4 months.
I refer the honourable member to my post at 10:40pm
Getting an air con unit is an absolute game changer, it makes these warm days somehow bearable indoors
Unfortunately while they may be good for your immediate environment they are pretty disastrous for the wider environment.
An air-con unit is just a form of heat pump. They're more efficient than gas boilers.
But quite unnecessary in UK homes.
Except for the couple of weeks a year when UK homes tend to overheat, and the rest of the time they can provide heating more efficiently than most other technologies.
Boris is pretty astute about avoiding fights he can’t win. Look at the withdrawal from the leadership election after Cameron resigned. He must have calculated that without the active support of Sunak he had no chance of overturning the committee’s recommendations. He was probably right.
Will he be back? Not while Sunak is there but that is only 15 months or so.
Why would he want to come back?
I've been saying for a long time he'd take the Chiltern Hundreds and coin it in from the lecture tour.
He'd have more dignity if he'd done so when he resigned as PM, like Blair and Cameron, instead of doing so now though.
His attitude today is just pathetic.
Don't you feel cheated? Someone you praised to the hilt just two years ago turns out to be the creep many suspected he was
All political careers end in failure.
*snip*
Not strictly true - untimely death happens occasionally.
I'm sure we've done this before, but who?
John Smith for Labour, Iain Macleod for the Conservatives?
There has long been an unfulfilled desire among many to replace the Tories with a more populist centre-right party. The timing when they're at a cyclical weak point would be a good moment to strike if Boris is minded to do it.
Didn't that already happen?
No, the current Tories are delivering something akin to Blairism on steroids.
You... you didn't see the populism at the heart of government over the last few years then? You missed all that?
There has long been an unfulfilled desire among many to replace the Tories with a more populist centre-right party. The timing when they're at a cyclical weak point would be a good moment to strike if Boris is minded to do it.
Didn't that already happen?
No, the current Tories are delivering something akin to Blairism on steroids.
There has long been an unfulfilled desire among many to replace the Tories with a more populist centre-right party. The timing when they're at a cyclical weak point would be a good moment to strike if Boris is minded to do it.
Didn't that already happen?
No, the current Tories are delivering something akin to Blairism on steroids.
You... you didn't see the populism at the heart of government over the last few years then? You missed all that?
There has long been an unfulfilled desire among many to replace the Tories with a more populist centre-right party. The timing when they're at a cyclical weak point would be a good moment to strike if Boris is minded to do it.
Didn't that already happen?
No, the current Tories are delivering something akin to Blairism on steroids.
You... you didn't see the populism at the heart of government over the last few years then? You missed all that?
Nigel Farage @Nigel_Farage · 1h Whatever the failures of Boris Johnson’s time as PM, I will always be thankful for him joining the Brexit campaign.
Nigel saying something nice about Boris? Nah!
Boris is going to stand at Mid-Beds for REFORM... If he fizzles out that's the end of him and REFORM.
If he wins he will become REFORM leader and might just split the Conservatives for the next 30 years at the next election.
Things have just got very serious for Con. We could be at an 1846 moment.
Gosh, I do hope you're right!
Brexit = Corn Laws
Con might spend most of this Century out of power as they did in the 1800s
A bit of an exaggeration, after Peel repealed the Corn Laws and left the Conservatives in 1846 to form his own free trade Peelite party (which ultimately merged with the Whigs and Radicals to form the Liberal Party in 1859) the Conservatives were in government several more times that century. Under the Earl of Aberdeen from 1852-1855, under the Earl of Derby from 1858-9 and 1866-68 and Disraeli in 1868 and from 1874 to 1880.
Most notably of all though under Salisbury from 1885-86, 1886-92 and 1895-1902.
There has long been an unfulfilled desire among many to replace the Tories with a more populist centre-right party. The timing when they're at a cyclical weak point would be a good moment to strike if Boris is minded to do it.
Didn't that already happen?
No, the current Tories are delivering something akin to Blairism on steroids.
You... you didn't see the populism at the heart of government over the last few years then? You missed all that?
Blairism was populism.
Was it though? Didn't feel like it to me.
Because populism to you is things that other people like that are popular.
Blairism was populism on steroids. He did almost everything on opinion polls etc - about the only possible exception was the Iraq War.
There has long been an unfulfilled desire among many to replace the Tories with a more populist centre-right party. The timing when they're at a cyclical weak point would be a good moment to strike if Boris is minded to do it.
Didn't that already happen?
No, the current Tories are delivering something akin to Blairism on steroids.
You... you didn't see the populism at the heart of government over the last few years then? You missed all that?
Blairism was populism.
Was it though? Didn't feel like it to me.
Well I assume you agred with most of it so it wouldn't feel like populism.
Getting an air con unit is an absolute game changer, it makes these warm days somehow bearable indoors
Unfortunately while they may be good for your immediate environment they are pretty disastrous for the wider environment.
An air-con unit is just a form of heat pump. They're more efficient than gas boilers.
But quite unnecessary in UK homes.
Sky TV is quite unnecessary.
Beer is quite unnecessary.
Fibre broadband is quite unnecessary.
Playstations are quite unnecessary.
Life is about more than necessities. Why deny someone a pleasure, just because it uses electricity, which should be generated cleanly anyway?
Oh, come down off your high-horse, I'm in no position to stop anybody wasting their money on home aircon.
I'm just pointing out was a waste of money and energy it is in the UK. And until we are using no renewables in the summer every home aircon will be adding to global warming.
There has long been an unfulfilled desire among many to replace the Tories with a more populist centre-right party. The timing when they're at a cyclical weak point would be a good moment to strike if Boris is minded to do it.
Didn't that already happen?
No, the current Tories are delivering something akin to Blairism on steroids.
You... you didn't see the populism at the heart of government over the last few years then? You missed all that?
There has long been an unfulfilled desire among many to replace the Tories with a more populist centre-right party. The timing when they're at a cyclical weak point would be a good moment to strike if Boris is minded to do it.
Didn't that already happen?
No, the current Tories are delivering something akin to Blairism on steroids.
You... you didn't see the populism at the heart of government over the last few years then? You missed all that?
Blairism was populism.
Was it though? Didn't feel like it to me.
That's because it aligned with what you felt at the time, but I promise you that you would feel uneasy re-reading some of the language Blair used in his speeches. He even spoke about making Britain "a great country again".
Genuine legal and procedural question. Does the recommendation of punishment of Johnson not go ahead now he has resigned as an MP? Surely it must still hang over him, because resigning Uxbridge winning Mid Staffs shouldn’t by pass the procedure and punishment completely?
Boris is pretty astute about avoiding fights he can’t win. Look at the withdrawal from the leadership election after Cameron resigned. He must have calculated that without the active support of Sunak he had no chance of overturning the committee’s recommendations. He was probably right.
Will he be back? Not while Sunak is there but that is only 15 months or so.
Why would he want to come back?
I've been saying for a long time he'd take the Chiltern Hundreds and coin it in from the lecture tour.
He'd have more dignity if he'd done so when he resigned as PM, like Blair and Cameron, instead of doing so now though.
His attitude today is just pathetic.
Don't you feel cheated? Someone you praised to the hilt just two years ago turns out to be the creep many suspected he was
All political careers end in failure.
*snip*
Not strictly true - untimely death happens occasionally.
I'm sure we've done this before, but who?
John Smith for Labour, Iain Macleod for the Conservatives?
Actually Charles Kennedy too. He could have had decades
Getting an air con unit is an absolute game changer, it makes these warm days somehow bearable indoors
Unfortunately while they may be good for your immediate environment they are pretty disastrous for the wider environment.
I'm not sure what they're selling in the UK nowadays but over here a typical aircon unit can be run in reverse to generate heat when you're cold, and being a heat pump it will typically be quite a bit more efficient than whatever you were using for that purpose before. Since the UK isn't hot for very long, and when you do run an aircon it only has to change the temperature by a few degrees, I wouldn't be surprised if installing units like this ended up saving more power than it uses.
Big Emms Thornberry putting collaboration with LDs to the sword.
‘No chance of working with the Libdems in Mid Beds or Uxbridge?’
‘Certainly not!’
There will be no formal collaboration. It will be easy for Labour to focus their efforts on Uxbridge while the LibDems focus on Mid-Beds, with a bit of a wink wink.
Getting an air con unit is an absolute game changer, it makes these warm days somehow bearable indoors
Unfortunately while they may be good for your immediate environment they are pretty disastrous for the wider environment.
An air-con unit is just a form of heat pump. They're more efficient than gas boilers.
But quite unnecessary in UK homes.
Sky TV is quite unnecessary.
Beer is quite unnecessary.
Fibre broadband is quite unnecessary.
Playstations are quite unnecessary.
Life is about more than necessities. Why deny someone a pleasure, just because it uses electricity, which should be generated cleanly anyway?
Oh, come down off your high-horse, I'm in no position to stop anybody wasting their money on home aircon.
I'm just pointing out was a waste of money and energy it is in the UK. And until we are using no renewables in the summer every home aircon will be adding to global warming.
If you have the lights on in your home, or a Playstation running, or anything else then you are 'adding to global warming'. Indeed virtually anything you ever do will, unless we make electricity clean, which is why we need to eliminate the notion of reducing things, and make things clean instead.
I don't have an Air Con, and I don't want one either. But a house with Solar Panels and an Air Con is far better for the environment than a house with neither.
It’s very, very scant consolation that the series of events began by Cameron’s foolish referendum, the most glaring, egregious example of putting party before country, is now tearing the Tories apart.
It might have been partygate that’s pulled the trigger, but Johnson wouldn’t have been PM without Brexit, and all the countless lies he’s told before and since, the relentless boosterish bullshit he’s spewed since 2016, backing a Brexit he never really believed in, never bothered to properly understand the consequences of. It’s all culminated in today.
It’s all a game to Johnson, we are merely the pawns. He and the Conservative Party deserve each other for the chaos, division and terrible, terrible government they have inflicted on us. The Covid dithering, the parties and piss ups whilst we were locked down, the corrupt PPE contracts, bunging millions to three-week-old companies owned by their mates, the Patels and Bravermans, Cummings, Raab sunning himself whilst Afghanistan fell apart. The ‘oven ready deal’. The whole sorry, rotten, stinking mess.
I hope they go soon. They have allowed their foolish, blinkered, frothing ideologues to take control. They have globally diminished and materially impoverished this amazing country. The damage will take decades to undo.
I take no pleasure from today. None at all.
This, all of this. So much damage done to our great country. So much damage done to democracy. All for one malevolent, self indulgent, arrogant man’s ego.
Getting an air con unit is an absolute game changer, it makes these warm days somehow bearable indoors
Unfortunately while they may be good for your immediate environment they are pretty disastrous for the wider environment.
An air-con unit is just a form of heat pump. They're more efficient than gas boilers.
But quite unnecessary in UK homes.
Except for the couple of weeks a year when UK homes tend to overheat, and the rest of the time they can provide heating more efficiently than most other technologies.
If you get a heat pump to replace a boiler, it can then work as an aircon when it's hot.
Some of the classified material Trump took out is about Macron. Trump has bragged about having information about Macron's sex life that Macron would rather not be released.
Presumably all American presidents have the inside information about the private lives of the heads of allied governments, but it's crass to talk about it. In Macron's case I doubt it's even that secret, at least from what I've heard.
There has long been an unfulfilled desire among many to replace the Tories with a more populist centre-right party. The timing when they're at a cyclical weak point would be a good moment to strike if Boris is minded to do it.
Didn't that already happen?
No, the current Tories are delivering something akin to Blairism on steroids.
You... you didn't see the populism at the heart of government over the last few years then? You missed all that?
Blairism was populism.
It was not. That isn't to say it was good or bad, but it definitely wasn't populism.
People fundamentally misunderstand this term. Populism is NOT about seeking to be popular, being good at spin or whatever. That is simply politics. Populism is setting it up as them (elites) versus us (the people - hence populism). It is draining the swamp, taking back control and so on.
Again, that's not a judgment (albeit I personally do have a view). Populists could be right. But it's a very specific thing, and Blair just isn't an example.
There has long been an unfulfilled desire among many to replace the Tories with a more populist centre-right party. The timing when they're at a cyclical weak point would be a good moment to strike if Boris is minded to do it.
Didn't that already happen?
No, the current Tories are delivering something akin to Blairism on steroids.
You... you didn't see the populism at the heart of government over the last few years then? You missed all that?
Blairism was populism.
Was it though? Didn't feel like it to me.
That's because it aligned with what you felt at the time, but I promise you that you would feel uneasy re-reading some of the language Blair used in his speeches.
You've got me wrong. I have never voted for Labour. I found them tolerable for the first few years then unforgivable from 2003. But that was about Iraq. Where was the populism?
There has long been an unfulfilled desire among many to replace the Tories with a more populist centre-right party. The timing when they're at a cyclical weak point would be a good moment to strike if Boris is minded to do it.
Didn't that already happen?
No, the current Tories are delivering something akin to Blairism on steroids.
Wrong. Blairism was popular.
Not really. Blair in his heyday was "popular" but he didn't chase the vote like for example Johnson did with Brexit (even though he didn't believe in Brexit) or Suella who comes up with any old nasty hangin' n floggin' rubbish because she believes it will propel her popularity.
There has long been an unfulfilled desire among many to replace the Tories with a more populist centre-right party. The timing when they're at a cyclical weak point would be a good moment to strike if Boris is minded to do it.
Didn't that already happen?
No, the current Tories are delivering something akin to Blairism on steroids.
You... you didn't see the populism at the heart of government over the last few years then? You missed all that?
Blairism was populism.
It was not. That isn't to say it was good or bad, but it definitely wasn't populism.
People fundamentally misunderstand this term. Populism is NOT about seeking to be popular, being good at spin or whatever. That is simply politics. Populism is setting it up as them (elites) versus us (the people - hence populism). It is draining the swamp, taking back control and so on.
Again, that's not a judgment (albeit I personally do have a view). Populists could be right. But it's a very specific thing, and Blair just isn't an example.
That was exactly New Labour's modus operandi in the 1990s. "The political wing of the British people" against the "forces of conservatism".
There has long been an unfulfilled desire among many to replace the Tories with a more populist centre-right party. The timing when they're at a cyclical weak point would be a good moment to strike if Boris is minded to do it.
Didn't that already happen?
No, the current Tories are delivering something akin to Blairism on steroids.
You... you didn't see the populism at the heart of government over the last few years then? You missed all that?
Blairism was populism.
It was not. That isn't to say it was good or bad, but it definitely wasn't populism.
People fundamentally misunderstand this term. Populism is NOT about seeking to be popular, being good at spin or whatever. That is simply politics. Populism is setting it up as them (elites) versus us (the people - hence populism). It is draining the swamp, taking back control and so on.
Again, that's not a judgment (albeit I personally do have a view). Populists could be right. But it's a very specific thing, and Blair just isn't an example.
I agree with this, although I'm not certain about the Blair wasn't populist view. It didn't feel that way to me but I wasn't hugely engaged with politics at the time. Yes about what populism means. Populism is good when there really are elites harming the lives of ordinary people, and bad when that's just a story used to leverage emotion. Populism is not a dirty word, but it is one that gets misused.
There has long been an unfulfilled desire among many to replace the Tories with a more populist centre-right party. The timing when they're at a cyclical weak point would be a good moment to strike if Boris is minded to do it.
If Dabby Finkelsten is right, Boris could be best placed to fill the gap in the market for a leader who is protectionist or even left wing on occasion in economic rhetoric but right-wing and socially conservative in the culture wars. Something he was starting to do as PM before his removal https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/theres-a-gap-in-the-market-for-a-tory-populist-n8s8t890p
Re; Roger's comment on Campbell-Bannerman on Newsnight, I particularly liked the about 12 pictures of Spitfires displayed prominently, and pointing in various directions behind him.
Clearly, the man is a Patriot, in case anyone was doubting that.
There has long been an unfulfilled desire among many to replace the Tories with a more populist centre-right party. The timing when they're at a cyclical weak point would be a good moment to strike if Boris is minded to do it.
Didn't that already happen?
No, the current Tories are delivering something akin to Blairism on steroids.
You... you didn't see the populism at the heart of government over the last few years then? You missed all that?
Blairism was populism.
It was not. That isn't to say it was good or bad, but it definitely wasn't populism.
People fundamentally misunderstand this term. Populism is NOT about seeking to be popular, being good at spin or whatever. That is simply politics. Populism is setting it up as them (elites) versus us (the people - hence populism). It is draining the swamp, taking back control and so on.
Again, that's not a judgment (albeit I personally do have a view). Populists could be right. But it's a very specific thing, and Blair just isn't an example.
Which Blair did. Hence things like Lords Reform, Fox Hunting, railing against the "forces of conservativism" etc
There has long been an unfulfilled desire among many to replace the Tories with a more populist centre-right party. The timing when they're at a cyclical weak point would be a good moment to strike if Boris is minded to do it.
If Dabby Finkelsten is right, Boris could be best placed to fill the gap in the market for a leader who is protectionist or even left wing on occasion in economic rhetoric but right-wing and socially conservative in the culture wars. Something he was starting to do as PM before his removal https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/theres-a-gap-in-the-market-for-a-tory-populist-n8s8t890p
Genuine legal and procedural question. Does the recommendation of punishment of Johnson not go ahead now he has resigned as an MP? Surely it must still hang over him, because resigning Uxbridge winning Mid Staffs shouldn’t by pass the procedure and punishment completely?
I was looking at some of the previous cases and it appears that all the references are to the MP under their actual name rather than 'The Member for [constituency]' Obviously I am not a lawyer but that wuldindicate it is a personal sanction rather than being aplied to the seat so he would not be able to avid punishment in that way.
That said, by resigning he will have removed himself from Parliament for more that the number of ays specified so I suppose could claim he had served his punishment. He will also have been through a recall process in a way. I think this is one of those rare occurances where (if it were actually to happen) something is unique (so far) and so the law would have to be interpreted from scratch.
There has long been an unfulfilled desire among many to replace the Tories with a more populist centre-right party. The timing when they're at a cyclical weak point would be a good moment to strike if Boris is minded to do it.
Didn't that already happen?
No, the current Tories are delivering something akin to Blairism on steroids.
You... you didn't see the populism at the heart of government over the last few years then? You missed all that?
Blairism was populism.
It was not. That isn't to say it was good or bad, but it definitely wasn't populism.
People fundamentally misunderstand this term. Populism is NOT about seeking to be popular, being good at spin or whatever. That is simply politics. Populism is setting it up as them (elites) versus us (the people - hence populism). It is draining the swamp, taking back control and so on.
Again, that's not a judgment (albeit I personally do have a view). Populists could be right. But it's a very specific thing, and Blair just isn't an example.
Which Blair did. Hence things like Lords Reform, Fox Hunting, railing against the "forces of conservativism" etc
And Big G is utterly wrong imo there is no reason Nadine should have been blocked by Rishi.
She wasn't
The HOL appointment committee changed Johnson list and sent it back to Sunak and precluded Dorries and others from the original one
On what grounds?
At least the decent genuine sort Sharma got one for his COP work quite rightly, so there’s an awkward by election there too. Sharma will be an asset to the House of Lords, especially with environmentalism his specialism he can speak with insight on.
And Big G is utterly wrong imo there is no reason Nadine should have been blocked by Rishi.
She wasn't
The HOL appointment committee changed Johnson list and sent it back to Sunak and precluded Dorries and others from the original one
On what grounds?
At least the decent genuine sort Sharma got one for his COP work quite rightly, so there’s an awkward by election there too. Sharma will be an asset to the House of Lords, especially with environmentalism his specialism he can speak with insight on.
I do not know the grounds the House of Lords appointments committee made to exclude several on the list from peerages
There has long been an unfulfilled desire among many to replace the Tories with a more populist centre-right party. The timing when they're at a cyclical weak point would be a good moment to strike if Boris is minded to do it.
If Dabby Finkelsten is right, Boris could be best placed to fill the gap in the market for a leader who is protectionist or even left wing on occasion in economic rhetoric but right-wing and socially conservative in the culture wars. Something he was starting to do as PM before his removal https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/theres-a-gap-in-the-market-for-a-tory-populist-n8s8t890p
You are really clinging on in defiance of reality
Johnson political career ended today
If it hasn't ended Johnson's ambitions the Conservatives are the ones who are finished. I suspect HYUFD hasn't realised that yet.
Boris has zero chance of winning Mid Beds for Reform.
It's going to be hard enough for Con to retain Mid Beds even without a split vote.
If Boris stands for Reform then the Con vote will split down the middle guaranteeing that neither Con nor Reform have any chance whatsoever of winning.
Is it just a coincidence that Lord Ashcroft conducted a constituency poll in Uxbridge a few days ago?
No. It was in response to the possibility that Boris would face a recall election and there might be a by-election. It's that prospect that Boris is running from. He's not running towards some mighty principle despite what he'd have us think.
And Big G is utterly wrong imo there is no reason Nadine should have been blocked by Rishi.
She wasn't
The HOL appointment committee changed Johnson list and sent it back to Sunak and precluded Dorries and others from the original one
On what grounds?
At least the decent genuine sort Sharma got one for his COP work quite rightly, so there’s an awkward by election there too. Sharma will be an asset to the House of Lords, especially with environmentalism his specialism he can speak with insight on.
I would expect Sharma and Jack to be elevated in Sunak's list
There has long been an unfulfilled desire among many to replace the Tories with a more populist centre-right party. The timing when they're at a cyclical weak point would be a good moment to strike if Boris is minded to do it.
Didn't that already happen?
No, the current Tories are delivering something akin to Blairism on steroids.
You... you didn't see the populism at the heart of government over the last few years then? You missed all that?
Blairism was populism.
It was not. That isn't to say it was good or bad, but it definitely wasn't populism.
People fundamentally misunderstand this term. Populism is NOT about seeking to be popular, being good at spin or whatever. That is simply politics. Populism is setting it up as them (elites) versus us (the people - hence populism). It is draining the swamp, taking back control and so on.
Again, that's not a judgment (albeit I personally do have a view). Populists could be right. But it's a very specific thing, and Blair just isn't an example.
Which Blair did. Hence things like Lords Reform, Fox Hunting, railing against the "forces of conservativism" etc
He did that aplenty.
No, and maybe I expressed myself poorly. It's not just disagreeing with a set of opponents (again, that's politics). There's a very specific view about a conspiracy against the many - a constant war against a deep state out to thwart US.
I REALLY don't think Boris Johnson is the answer to Britain's growing list of problems. But it would also be the biggest f-you to his critics and much of the establishment if he declared Westminster is completely broken, the system is utterly rotten, the Tories are totally lost, Labour want to reverse Brexit and then sets up a new party and wins the pro-Leave Mid Beds by-election. Lolz."
If you get a heat pump to replace a boiler, it can then work as an aircon when it's hot.
...but only if it's an air-to-air heat pump, not an air-to-water heat pump. And the former are explicitly not elegible for the government subsidies for replacing your boiler with a heat pump...
Boris has zero chance of winning Mid Beds for Reform.
It's going to be hard enough for Con to retain Mid Beds even without a split vote.
If Boris stands for Reform then the Con vote will split down the middle guaranteeing that neither Con nor Reform have any chance whatsoever of winning.
He could win it for the Conservatives. His problem is there are too many blackballing Conservative grandees to allow him to stand.
There has long been an unfulfilled desire among many to replace the Tories with a more populist centre-right party. The timing when they're at a cyclical weak point would be a good moment to strike if Boris is minded to do it.
If Dabby Finkelsten is right, Boris could be best placed to fill the gap in the market for a leader who is protectionist or even left wing on occasion in economic rhetoric but right-wing and socially conservative in the culture wars. Something he was starting to do as PM before his removal https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/theres-a-gap-in-the-market-for-a-tory-populist-n8s8t890p
You are really clinging on in defiance of reality
Johnson political career ended today
If it hasn't ended Johnson's ambitions the Conservatives are the ones who are finished. I suspect HYUFD hasn't realised that yet.
The fact is Johnson is a proven coward running away from a by election he knows he would lose
It’s very, very scant consolation that the series of events began by Cameron’s foolish referendum, the most glaring, egregious example of putting party before country, is now tearing the Tories apart.
It might have been partygate that’s pulled the trigger, but Johnson wouldn’t have been PM without Brexit, and all the countless lies he’s told before and since, the relentless boosterish bullshit he’s spewed since 2016, backing a Brexit he never really believed in, never bothered to properly understand the consequences of. It’s all culminated in today.
It’s all a game to Johnson, we are merely the pawns. He and the Conservative Party deserve each other for the chaos, division and terrible, terrible government they have inflicted on us. The Covid dithering, the parties and piss ups whilst we were locked down, the corrupt PPE contracts, bunging millions to three-week-old companies owned by their mates, the Patels and Bravermans, Cummings, Raab sunning himself whilst Afghanistan fell apart. The ‘oven ready deal’. The whole sorry, rotten, stinking mess.
I hope they go soon. They have allowed their foolish, blinkered, frothing ideologues to take control. They have globally diminished and materially impoverished this amazing country. The damage will take decades to undo.
I take no pleasure from today. None at all.
Surly you can take some comfort from the fact that in future the voters might take the trouble to think about what's in front of them and do at least a tiny bit of due diligence. I also think we are tonight closer to rejoinimg the EU than we have been anytime in the last three years
Genuine legal and procedural question. Does the recommendation of punishment of Johnson not go ahead now he has resigned as an MP? Surely it must still hang over him, because resigning Uxbridge winning Mid Staffs shouldn’t by pass the procedure and punishment completely?
I was looking at some of the previous cases and it appears that all the references are to the MP under their actual name rather than 'The Member for [constituency]' Obviously I am not a lawyer but that wuldindicate it is a personal sanction rather than being aplied to the seat so he would not be able to avid punishment in that way.
That said, by resigning he will have removed himself from Parliament for more that the number of ays specified so I suppose could claim he had served his punishment. He will also have been through a recall process in a way. I think this is one of those rare occurances where (if it were actually to happen) something is unique (so far) and so the law would have to be interpreted from scratch.
Thank you.
To ensure there isn’t loophole of avoiding sanction it would be better like in sport, if footballer banned for Xx number of matches, there is no hiding from it if they quit one club and pop up in another. What’s different here is if the committee don’t report and recommend, parliament don’t vote, he’s dodged the slipper on the ass and the record kept of how many slippers and reason why?
Rather than Boris whining it’s so unfair, if he now avoids the pain of slipper and record of his crimes, THAT would be so unfair!
Genuine legal and procedural question. Does the recommendation of punishment of Johnson not go ahead now he has resigned as an MP? Surely it must still hang over him, because resigning Uxbridge winning Mid Staffs shouldn’t by pass the procedure and punishment completely?
I was looking at some of the previous cases and it appears that all the references are to the MP under their actual name rather than 'The Member for [constituency]' Obviously I am not a lawyer but that wuldindicate it is a personal sanction rather than being aplied to the seat so he would not be able to avid punishment in that way.
That said, by resigning he will have removed himself from Parliament for more that the number of ays specified so I suppose could claim he had served his punishment. He will also have been through a recall process in a way. I think this is one of those rare occurances where (if it were actually to happen) something is unique (so far) and so the law would have to be interpreted from scratch.
Thank you.
To ensure there isn’t loophole of avoiding sanction it would be better like in sport, if footballer banned for Xx number of matches, there is no hiding from it if they quit one club and pop up in another. What’s different here is if the committee don’t report and recommend, parliament don’t vote, he’s dodged the slipper on the ass and the record kept of how many slippers and reason why?
Rather than Boris whining it’s so unfair, if he now avoids the pain of slipper and record of his crimes, THAT would be so unfair!
I REALLY don't think Boris Johnson is the answer to Britain's growing list of problems. But it would also be the biggest f-you to his critics and much of the establishment if he declared Westminster is completely broken, the system is utterly rotten, the Tories are totally lost, Labour want to reverse Brexit and then sets up a new party and wins the pro-Leave Mid Beds by-election. Lolz."
Getting an air con unit is an absolute game changer, it makes these warm days somehow bearable indoors
Unfortunately while they may be good for your immediate environment they are pretty disastrous for the wider environment.
An air-con unit is just a form of heat pump. They're more efficient than gas boilers.
But quite unnecessary in UK homes.
Sky TV is quite unnecessary.
Beer is quite unnecessary.
Fibre broadband is quite unnecessary.
Playstations are quite unnecessary.
Life is about more than necessities. Why deny someone a pleasure, just because it uses electricity, which should be generated cleanly anyway?
Oh, come down off your high-horse, I'm in no position to stop anybody wasting their money on home aircon.
I'm just pointing out was a waste of money and energy it is in the UK. And until we are using no renewables in the summer every home aircon will be adding to global warming.
If you have the lights on in your home, or a Playstation running, or anything else then you are 'adding to global warming'. Indeed virtually anything you ever do will, unless we make electricity clean, which is why we need to eliminate the notion of reducing things, and make things clean instead.
I don't have an Air Con, and I don't want one either. But a house with Solar Panels and an Air Con is far better for the environment than a house with neither.
We've got a hot tub warming up overnight. What does that do for our carbon footprint?
There has long been an unfulfilled desire among many to replace the Tories with a more populist centre-right party. The timing when they're at a cyclical weak point would be a good moment to strike if Boris is minded to do it.
Didn't that already happen?
No, the current Tories are delivering something akin to Blairism on steroids.
You... you didn't see the populism at the heart of government over the last few years then? You missed all that?
Blairism was populism.
It was not. That isn't to say it was good or bad, but it definitely wasn't populism.
People fundamentally misunderstand this term. Populism is NOT about seeking to be popular, being good at spin or whatever. That is simply politics. Populism is setting it up as them (elites) versus us (the people - hence populism). It is draining the swamp, taking back control and so on.
Again, that's not a judgment (albeit I personally do have a view). Populists could be right. But it's a very specific thing, and Blair just isn't an example.
Which Blair did. Hence things like Lords Reform, Fox Hunting, railing against the "forces of conservativism" etc
He did that aplenty.
No, and maybe I expressed myself poorly. It's not just disagreeing with a set of opponents (again, that's politics). There's a very specific view about a conspiracy against the many - a constant war against a deep state out to thwart US.
It doesn't have to be "deep state". Other "elites", real or imaginary, will do. You see populist sentiments on here and elsewhere when people complain about North London liberals, Soros, Davos, Jews, lefty lawyers, out of touch academics, The EU, bankers, and so on.
Sometimes, they have a point. Usually, they do not. Only sometimes are they talking about people with real hard political power.
Comments
"He can change" is the mantra of the abused.
Genuine question.
I was calling for Boris to resign before he did, so no I don't.
He was good in what he did for the first couple of years, but his personal qualities meant he had to go in the end.
Britain's still a better place for him having been PM. Especially when the alternative was Jeremy Corbyn.
The advantage of our Parliamentary system is when people have worn out their welcome they can be ousted.
But he has worked out that if he leaves Uxbridge now he can pop up in 2024 in a nice safe seat without being accused of cutting and running away from his surefire loser of a current seat.
The only risk is that he enjoys all the ££££ he will make in the meantime and can’t be arsed to return to the hard work of being an MP.
They use electricity. Electricity can be clean. If you have solar power and an air con for instance, then how bad is it for the environment, given that you'd only put the air con on in a day that's getting lots of solar power normally.
We need to move on from a failed attitude of "energy is bad" to thinking "energy is good, but it needs to be clean".
Con might spend most of this Century out of power as they did in the 1800s
But they can take enough votes from the Conservatives to cause real trouble. Thirty percent gets 150 seats, twenty percent might not get 50.
Spiteful and self-harming, but what else is RefUK for?
We just need to make sure that we're managing and minimizing those externalities.
You don't think it all looks totally orchestrated?
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06576/ says, "There is nothing in statute law or in Standing Orders obliging the House to move a writ for a by-election. It could choose to leave the seat without representation until the next General Election (General Elections must be held every five years)."
The 2011 Belfast West by-election is the longest delay since 1975, I think, at nearly 4 months.
He may be minded.
But it would involve some hard graft.
Which is lucky for the rest of us.
In unrelated news, Putin is on his last legs.
Its up to everyone to enjoy their lives however they see fit. The solution to climate change is not living miserably, its managing and eliminating the externalities so we can enjoy what we want to enjoy without polluting the wider world.
Clean electricity is the answer to climate change. Telling people to do without, is not.
You can also use aircon in reverse (air source heating) to heat rooms in the winter.
‘No chance of working with the Libdems in Mid Beds or Uxbridge?’
‘Certainly not!’
In cars of course they are a boon - driving with the A/C on is more efficient than driving with the windows open at most speeds.
Beer is quite unnecessary.
Fibre broadband is quite unnecessary.
Playstations are quite unnecessary.
Life is about more than necessities. Why deny someone a pleasure, just because it uses electricity, which should be generated cleanly anyway?
John Smith for Labour, Iain Macleod for the Conservatives?
Regretted wearing no vest or coat to school.
13° tops.
But yes the effect might well be the same.
And Big G is utterly wrong imo there is no reason Nadine should have been blocked by Rishi.
Blairism was popular.
Most notably of all though under Salisbury from 1885-86, 1886-92 and 1895-1902.
Blairism was populism on steroids. He did almost everything on opinion polls etc - about the only possible exception was the Iraq War.
I'm just pointing out was a waste of money and energy it is in the UK. And until we are using no renewables in the summer every home aircon will be adding to global warming.
The HOL appointment committee changed Johnson list and sent it back to Sunak and precluded Dorries and others from the original one
I don't have an Air Con, and I don't want one either. But a house with Solar Panels and an Air Con is far better for the environment than a house with neither.
Just go Johnson, and don’t ever come back.
People fundamentally misunderstand this term. Populism is NOT about seeking to be popular, being good at spin or whatever. That is simply politics. Populism is setting it up as them (elites) versus us (the people - hence populism). It is draining the swamp, taking back control and so on.
Again, that's not a judgment (albeit I personally do have a view). Populists could be right. But it's a very specific thing, and Blair just isn't an example.
Yes about what populism means. Populism is good when there really are elites harming the lives of ordinary people, and bad when that's just a story used to leverage emotion. Populism is not a dirty word, but it is one that gets misused.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/theres-a-gap-in-the-market-for-a-tory-populist-n8s8t890p
Clearly, the man is a Patriot, in case anyone was doubting that.
He did that aplenty.
Johnson political career ended today
That said, by resigning he will have removed himself from Parliament for more that the number of ays specified so I suppose could claim he had served his punishment. He will also have been through a recall process in a way. I think this is one of those rare occurances where (if it were actually to happen) something is unique (so far) and so the law would have to be interpreted from scratch.
At least the decent genuine sort Sharma got one for his COP work quite rightly, so there’s an awkward by election there too. Sharma will be an asset to the House of Lords, especially with environmentalism his specialism he can speak with insight on.
But there clearly aren't enough of his type of the ultra-loyal to make a difference.
It's going to be hard enough for Con to retain Mid Beds even without a split vote.
If Boris stands for Reform then the Con vote will split down the middle guaranteeing that neither Con nor Reform have any chance whatsoever of winning.
@GoodwinMJ
I REALLY don't think Boris Johnson is the answer to Britain's growing list of problems. But it would also be the biggest f-you to his critics and much of the establishment if he declared Westminster is completely broken, the system is utterly rotten, the Tories are totally lost, Labour want to reverse Brexit and then sets up a new party and wins the pro-Leave Mid Beds by-election. Lolz."
https://twitter.com/GoodwinMJ/status/1667268039019044865
To ensure there isn’t loophole of avoiding sanction it would be better like in sport, if footballer banned for Xx number of matches, there is no hiding from it if they quit one club and pop up in another. What’s different here is if the committee don’t report and recommend, parliament don’t vote, he’s dodged the slipper on the ass and the record kept of how many slippers and reason why?
Rather than Boris whining it’s so unfair, if he now avoids the pain of slipper and record of his crimes, THAT would be so unfair!
To ensure there isn’t loophole of avoiding sanction it would be better like in sport, if footballer banned for Xx number of matches, there is no hiding from it if they quit one club and pop up in another. What’s different here is if the committee don’t report and recommend, parliament don’t vote, he’s dodged the slipper on the ass and the record kept of how many slippers and reason why?
Rather than Boris whining it’s so unfair, if he now avoids the pain of slipper and record of his crimes, THAT would be so unfair!
You see populist sentiments on here and elsewhere when people complain about North London liberals, Soros, Davos, Jews, lefty lawyers, out of touch academics, The EU, bankers, and so on.
Sometimes, they have a point. Usually, they do not. Only sometimes are they talking about people with real hard political power.