Posts by John Palethorpe

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  • Speaker: A Disorderly Brexit,

    The thing is, they genuinely believe they're doing the right thing by Britain. Hence the tears and the fury. They think a new leader is needed, although they can't actually name who that person is - because that'd really trigger a leadership challenge.

    They believe that a united Parliamentary Labour Party can sort out a new, visionary, leader but ONLY if Corbyn is completely out of the picture and unable to stand again - because of the membership support he enjoys.

    Right there is the hypocrisy of it. They keep saying Corbyn's bad for the country, but it's not exactly hidden that the people who have the biggest problem with him are the Parliamentary Labour Party - and not even the whole of the PLP.

    Certainly, at a time when anti-establishment sentiment is running high, they're playing the role of the establishment - attempting to bully, cajole or exploit in order to establish their own power within the party. Corbyn, like I have said, isn't having a bar of it.

    Auckland • Since May 2015 • 83 posts Report

  • Speaker: A Disorderly Brexit,

    The 1922 Committee, the Tory backbench group, has brought forward the leadership election. Candidates will be able to be nominated from Tuesday UK time, meaning the eventual new leader/PM will be in by early September. Three months though, a loooooong time.

    Meanwhile Corbyn's going nowhere, despite the Parliamentary Labour Party going after him. He's reducing some of them to tears, others to fury, by simply refusing to stand down on the basis he was elected by an overwhelming majority of the membership. They know they can't make him resign, but it hasn't stopped them trying.

    The problem comes if they start a formal leadership challenge and Corbyn is left off the ballot. The membership will be utterly furious, deepening the split between them and the Parliamentary Labour Party. There'd be retribution, although nobody's sure exactly what that would look like - de-selections, mass disruption and certainly a disintegration of the membership. They'd be MPs without, really, a party to support them.

    Auckland • Since May 2015 • 83 posts Report

  • Speaker: A Disorderly Brexit, in reply to Tamsin6,

    That, right there, is the problem facing a lot of voters - 'who out there looks like they'll represent me?'

    So when a populist party comes along with easy solutions to complex problems, and the main parties are filled with disappointing failures from the last Labour Govt and disappointing failures from the Coalition/Tory - people just give up on them.

    Auckland • Since May 2015 • 83 posts Report

  • Speaker: A Disorderly Brexit,

    Attachment

    Although the unelected House of Lords Labour group deciding to boycott their elected Parliamentary Party leader is a beautiful touch of self harm from the upper house...

    Auckland • Since May 2015 • 83 posts Report

  • Speaker: A Disorderly Brexit,

    Osborne's hospital passed to his replacement, so the Autumn Budget is the one that will involve the huge readjustment to finances. Taken a leaf out of Cameron's book there.

    More Corbyn shadow cabinet ministers resigning this morning - but Corbyn's got replacement for yesterdays resignees. It took him 11 days to reshuffle because the Blairy lot played it difficult.

    It's taken him less than 24 hours to do it without being conciliatory to them. All those resignation letters, all that media time, and he's gone nowhere and shuffled them off to the backbench. G'wan the boy Corbs.

    Auckland • Since May 2015 • 83 posts Report

  • Speaker: A Disorderly Brexit, in reply to Rich of Observationz,

    Um, except UKIP came second in a LOT of seats in 2015, and that was to Labour in the North. They also became the second preference in a lot of South Eastern Tory seats as the Liberal Democrats folded.

    Looking at how areas like Hartlepool voted strongly for Leave and Labour's continuing woes at connecting with their former base, you can't just say everyone votes along class lines any more - because that hasn't been true for a while. UKIP are taking Tory votes, true, but they're also taking Labour votes as well.

    They're organised enough to get the third biggest number of votes in 2015 and come first in the European elections in 2014. Dismissing them out of hand is EXACTLY what Labour and the Tories did, to their own detriment.

    http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/ukip-came-second-in-120-constituencies-in-2015-will-this-be-a-springboard-for-the-party-in-2020/

    Auckland • Since May 2015 • 83 posts Report

  • Polity: Four cents on Brexit, Fonterra,…,

    The lawyer, David Allen Green, has pointed out that the longer Article 50 isn't invoked - the less likely it will be. Whoever succeeds Cameron will have to do it, and take the consequences of doing it. Boris and Gove hoped Cameron would do it, so they could defer responsibility - the porcine prowler didn't, so now it's on.

    The Stop Boris movement relies on Boris not making the final two - if he does, it's likely the Tory membership will elect him leader. Not entirely unlike the Stop Corbyn group (last years, not the current coup attempt), or the Stop Trump group - and we know how that ended up.

    Auckland • Since May 2015 • 83 posts Report

  • Speaker: A Disorderly Brexit, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    Lammy's agitating for something simple in a complex environment - it's the sort of straight line thinking that looks smart, but ends up causing more havoc. That percentage of voters who voted Leave and who vote Labour, in the North, would definitely fuck Labour off for UKIP if a London MP orchestrated some sort of overturning of the result. They might anyway, but it's a dangerous game to be playing.

    Nobody's thought about the legislation - Belfast particularly - because hardly anyone thought it would actually happen. It's a breathtaking gamble gone suffocatingly wrong.

    Auckland • Since May 2015 • 83 posts Report

  • Speaker: A Disorderly Brexit, in reply to Matthew Hooton,

    I've always stuck to the Jay & Lynn definition of UK Newspaper readerships...

    Auckland • Since May 2015 • 83 posts Report

  • Speaker: A Disorderly Brexit, in reply to Matthew Hooton,

    Or that we're still grouping people by the newspapers they read, perhaps.

    Auckland • Since May 2015 • 83 posts Report

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