My favorite fake British journalist Jonathan Pie says that after being given an extension by the EU until October 31 and advised not to waste that time but to come up with a workable plan because there would be no more extensions, the country has done nothing really about what to do next on Brexit. Instead they have been spending much of their time choosing between whether foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt or former foreign secretary Boris Johnson will replace Theresa May as Conservative party leader and hence become the next prime minister. (Language advisory because it is after all Jonathan Pie.)
Pie wasn’t kidding about Johnson’s name. It really is Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson.
While Johnson has groveled before Donald Trump during the Kim Darroch fiasco while Hunt has supported the British ambassador, it has been suggested that Hunt was seeming to stand on some principle merely to give his flagging campaign a boost. While I was aware that Johnson was an odious Trump toady, I did not know much about Hunt until I heard Pie’s description of him as utterly awful too. So although technically there are two candidates in the race, it appears that they are pretty much the same: two wealthy, privately educated, entitled, and obnoxious upper class twits who do not give a damn about ordinary people but wave their hands and claim that they will come into office and magically find a way to solve the Brexit crisis.
The fact that even most Conservative party members of parliament seem outraged by Johnson’s abandonment of his country’s ambassador and civil service will not affect Johnson’s chances of winning the leadership. This is because the selection is now in the hands of all the card carrying members of the Conservative party and, according to Pie, they seem to be the equivalent of the American Tea Party cult in their rabid right wing views. They probably like it that Johnson is a Trump toady.
The UK is in a mess.
No more a mess than the US with Donald Trump. Is this the start of the decline of liberal democracy?
This prime minister competition is PR gold for the Conservative party. It’s looks just like an election, but one which only they can take part in! Even left wing papers are fixated on who will make the “best” PM. Personally, I’ve been convinced from day one that it would be Johnson, which has helped me maintain my utter disregard for it. But that clip from Pie hits the nail on the head.
Meanwhile, while they fiddle away the chance of a no-deal Brexit looks higher than ever. There will be no pretence of pursuing another possibility until after a “leader” is chosen, and the strategy of both contenders appears to be one of claiming they can persuade the EU to change their minds. Which they won’t, and certainly not by Halloween. May’s resignation may have been the final push towards the cliff.
Meanwhile, while they fiddle away the chance of a no-deal Brexit looks higher than ever. There will be no pretence of pursuing another possibility until after a “leader” is chosen, and the strategy of both contenders appears to be one of claiming they can persuade the EU to change their minds.
If you watched that video you heard a brief, concise explanation that there is no other option except the negotiated deal May couldn’t get accepted after repeated efforts.
There is only possible No Deal or No Brexit.
The time they’ve been given is not for negotiation it’s for preparing for whichever option they choose -- and the UK just isn’t and the public has no say because even if they had an election (no time for that) Labour is no better -- and is lead by a Brexit supporter.
The public don’t want No Deal, the government doesn’t want the Deal on offer and refuses to give the public the choice -- it’s a massive cock up created by David Cameron and maintained by the worst parliament in British history.
if you wanted boorish, you got it with the way the crowd booed Steve Smith
There is nothing boorish about booing a cheat.
@fentex
If you watched that video you heard a brief, concise explanation that there is no other option except the negotiated deal May couldn’t get accepted after repeated efforts.
Er, no? Do you mean some other video than Pie’s one above?
No, that was ages ago. This is the decline of liberal democracy rapidly gathering pace.
@File Thirteen
Do you mean some other video than Pie’s one above?
I rewatched it -- and I may have read more into his opening point about the EU begging the UK not to waste it’s final extension because I know the greater context (no more extensions, you have only the one offer with no more negotiating -- do not waste this time believing anything else) so perhaps after watching it I was mistaken about all being spelt out there.
As a Canadian also living under a parliamentary system of government…
If the person who became prime minister when their party wins an election resigns, as soon as the new party leader is voted on by their party a new general election should be triggered.
Is it not fair that the new party leader doesn’t have more than a few weeks to get themselves known the public? No. But it’s also not fair to everyone else to have a prime minister that didn’t lead the party into the previous election.
Tabby Lavalamp we know both of these wankers already, far better than we want to as both have had prominent ministerial positions and Johnson was always seeking publicity as Mayor of London. The really chilling thing about all of this is that Johnson has not ruled out proroguing parliament, ie shutting it down and sending the MP’s home to their constituencies, to get what he wants -- No Deal rather than the existing deal or remaining. The veneer of democracy is thin enough as it is, proroguing Parliament would rip it to shreds.