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[Corto]

Thank goodness for small mercies, Boris just announced he won't run for PM.

Fuck could you imagine what would happen under his leadership, it would be a trainwreck.

Don't open the champagne yet. He knows the next PM will be handed a time bomb. He'll try to escape the explosion radius and then jump in.

 

[Ushojax]

So he's the key figure in the Conservatives leave campaign, gets what he wanted, and realises that it's too much of a shitstorm to deal with. He'd be the one forced to trigger article 50 as it's obvious that Cameron is going to leave that "legacy" to whoever's next, and it's his party that would get delegated the task from parliament of rewriting 40 years of UK law, and negotiating bilateral trade deals for the next decade (if the single market isn't viable).

He realised the situation he had created for himself, hence his subdued interviews ever since leave won. Under the circumstances though, he's pretty much forfeiting his right to ever run again surely? "In view of the circumstances in parliament". What a non statement. If he isn't up to taking this opportunity when everything was set up on a plate for him then I'm not sure he can ever be trusted to lead that party in the future. This opens a big door for Gove though, and that genuinely worries me. Some will see him as the only realistic and electable person from the tories that represents the leave side and willing to fulfill that mandate. Not sure how Theresa May is going to play this one. I have to be honest, I don't really want any of the potential candidates as conservative leader.

I don't think Boris ever really wanted to leave the EU nor did he believe the guff he spat out during the campaign. The idea was to lose in a close race and demonstrate his statesmanlike qualities on an international stage. Winning the referendum and having to deal with the shit was never his intention, just 4 months ago he was saying he didn't want to leave the EU. Heading the Leave campaign was just a quick and easy way to boost his profile.

He will be a leadership candidate again in the future, once the really nasty Tories have had their way with us for the next 5 years and we are crying out for someone to stop the beatings. Boris is just locking himself in the fridge and waiting for the nuke he set to go off.

 

[Meadows]

At least it's better spirited and well meaning than the arguments usually flown by most Leavers.

'kin immigrants m8

 

[Oriel]

Ha

British folk eh. Good luck Britain, you're going to need it when the second coming of Thatcher enters Number 10.

 

[Hasney]

Even his close people talk nonsense!

 

[Corto]

Even his close people talk nonsense!

He's very tired. Give him some slack.

 

[Meadows]

Boris Johnson has gone from:

8am: 1/1
9am: 2/1
10am: 5/1
Noon: 158/1

It's been a fucking day.

 

[Zaph]

British folk eh. Good luck Britain, you're going to need it when the second coming of Thatcher enters Number 10.

Look, we're special. You guys will get a points-based assessment, while our gilded passport means we can go and shit where we please

 

[Lightning Count]

Find out in 4-9 years what would happen!

I'm in Scotland, we'll be independent by then and back in the EU clear of this shit by that time.

 

[Antiwhippy]

Even his close people talk nonsense!

What does this even mean?

 

[Hasney]

I'm in Scotland, we'll be independent by then and back in the EU clear of this shit by that time.

Ah, fair play then. You'll be able to laugh at us by that point.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

Not from me.

So, let me get this straight... the leader of the opposition campaigned to stay but secretly wanted to leave, so his party held a non-binding vote to shame him into resigning so someone else could lead the campaign to ignore the result of the non-binding referendum which many people now think was just angry people trying to shame politicians into seeing they'd all done nothing to help them.

Meanwhile, the man who campaigned to leave because he hoped losing would help him win the leadership of his party, accidentally won and ruined any chance of leading because the man who thought he couldn't lose, did - but resigned before actually doing the thing the vote had been about. The man who'd always thought he'd lead next, campaigned so badly that everyone thought he was lying when he said the economy would crash - and he was, but it did, but he's not resigned, but, like the man who lost and the man who won, also now can't become leader. Which means the woman who quietly campaigned to stay but always said she wanted to leave is likely to become leader instead.

Which means she holds the same view as the leader of the opposition but for opposite reasons, but her party's view of this view is the opposite of the opposition's. And the opposition aren't yet opposing anything because the leader isn't listening to his party, who aren't listening to the country, who aren't listening to experts or possibly paying that much attention at all. However, none of their opponents actually want to be the one to do the thing that the vote was about, so there's not yet anything actually on the table to oppose anyway. And if no one ever does do the thing that most people asked them to do, it will be undemocratic and if any one ever does do it, it will be awful.

Clear?

This post needs to be continually updated

 

[accel]

Thank goodness for small mercies, Boris just announced he won't run for PM.

Fuck could you imagine what would happen under his leadership, it would be a trainwreck.

It's about taking responsibility.

 

[nOoblet16]

I kind of knew the reason May was staying from the shit and being silent because she knew being involved would taint her profile, she was just waiting for a moments like this. Except for Gove, who is still not that big of a threat for her, nothing stands in her way.

 

[Wereroku]

I'm in Scotland, we'll be independent by then and back in the EU clear of this shit by that time.

You'll have to switch to the euro if that happens right?

 

[Souldestroyer Reborn]

Heh, as a Scot I'm rooting for May. She has shown that she is more than capable of doing what needs to be done, as shown by her no nonsense attitude as HC.

I don't think it's fair calling her Thatcher 2.0, whats the connection? She's a female conservative?

 

[War Peaceman]

At least it's better spirited and meant than the arguments usually flown by most Leavers.

I can respect that.

Yes, definitely. There's nothing disrespectful or amoral about his perspective.

However, the idea of resolving our issues by triggering an economic meltdown demonstrates an extraordinary level of historical naivety.

 

[Lightning Count]

You'll have to switch to the euro if that happens right?

Probably.

 

[StayDead]

May said this morning Brexit means Brexit.

So much for being the best out of the bunch. She's willingly going to invoke article 50, destroy the economy of the country all for the sake of a glorified opinion poll. Screw everything.

 

[Hasney]

What does this even mean?

You'll have to switch to the euro if that happens right?

Hell, I'd take the Euro right now if it meant getting out of this.

 

[kmag]

It's probably worth explaining something to our American and European friends who are reading this and getting a taste of UK politics (by the way, welcome! Great to see so many getting involved ).

The position of Home Secretary is the hardest position in UK politics. You have a very wide range of responsibilities to take care of, from domestic security, to immigration, to liaising with emergency service unions.

The Home Secretary basically takes responsibility, in a way, for everything that isn't related to the economy or foreign policy. Sounds good?

Not really. Basically if there is a terror attack, mass strikes, power cuts, too much immigration, deaths in custody, police corruption, the Home Secretary gets blamed, takes the fall and resigns.

The position of Home Secretary has an average lifespan of about 22 minutes. It is incredibly difficult.

At a time of economic uncertainty, with ISIS growing in stature across Europe and with the world changing very quickly, she has remained in her post for 6 years, the longest term in the job for over 100 years.

She is also not as propped up by vested interests as other candidates.

In politics, she is well known as not really being a schmoozer, more a getting on with it type of thing, and she has taken on some very powerful organisations and won, for example the US government on the McKinnon case and the police unions on racism/Hillsborough.

Here is a speech she gave to the police federation. Please note, this is a room full of police officers (institutionally racist) that she is saying it to. This takes some fucking cajones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmPNwf03qV0

She is the right woman for the job.

She wasn't any better than anyone else who done the job, she and her boss just ignored the fuck ups, very few cabinet ministers got the bullet under Dave

 

[Baleoce]

I don't think Boris ever really wanted to leave the EU nor did he believe the guff he spat out during the campaign. The idea was to lose in a close race and demonstrate his statesmanlike qualities on an international stage. Winning the referendum and having to deal with the shit was never his intention, just 4 months ago he was saying he didn't want to leave the EU. Heading the Leave campaign was just a quick and easy way to boost his profile.

He will be a leadership candidate again in the future, once the really nasty Tories have had their way with us for the next 5 years and we are crying out for someone to stop the beatings. Boris is just locking himself in the fridge and waiting for the nuke he set to go off.

Firstly, I agree with you completely, especially the opening. And that's exactly why he's played himself. Ultimately, he still decided to lead that campaign. But I think people won't forget the fact he decided he wasn't up for the task when push came to shove. It shows a distinct weakness on his behalf.

 

[Meadows]

Heh, as a Scot I'm rooting for May. She has shown that she is more than capable of doing what needs to be done, as shown by her no nonsense attitude as HC.

I don't think it's fair calling her Thatcher 2.0, whats the connection? She's a female conservative?

Yes, that doesn't seem fair at all to be honest - indeed it's actually quite sexist because nobody is saying that Gove is going to be Thatcher 2.0 considering he's way more Thatcherite than May.

 

[Morat]

May said this morning Brexit means Brexit.

So much for being the best out of the bunch. She's willingly going to invoke article 50, destroy the economy of the country all for the sake of a glorified opinion poll. Screw everything.

Also no election until 2020. Plenty of time for her to go full Norsefire

 

[Wereroku]

May said this morning Brexit means Brexit.

So much for being the best out of the bunch. She's willingly going to invoke article 50, destroy the economy of the country all for the sake of a glorified opinion poll. Screw everything.

Well I mean the EU relationship is now toxic so I am not sure what it would be like if they didn't leave.

 

[StayDead]

Well I mean the EU relationship is now toxic so I am not sure what it would be like if they didn't leave.

It'd be better than completely tanking the economy and pretty much ruining most of the young people in the UK's chances of ever achieving anything.

 

[mehrmantrout]

May said this morning Brexit means Brexit.

So much for being the best out of the bunch. She's willingly going to invoke article 50, destroy the economy of the country all for the sake of a glorified opinion poll. Screw everything.

Its paying lip service to the (current) majority, we still have a way to go

 

[AHA-Lambda]

Heh, as a Scot I'm rooting for May. She has shown that she is more than capable of doing what needs to be done, as shown by her no nonsense attitude as HC.

I don't think it's fair calling her Thatcher 2.0, whats the connection? She's a female conservative?

yeah I think it's more the appearance of hard authoritarianism along with her being a woman

 

[accel]

May said this morning Brexit means Brexit.

So much for being the best out of the bunch. She's willingly going to invoke article 50, destroy the economy of the country all for the sake of a glorified opinion poll. Screw everything.

She can't ignore the will of the people. No sarcasm.

 

[Funky Papa]

I fully expect the campaign for an united/independent Scotland to be incredibly vitriolic.

On that account, I'm glad the UE hasn't talked too much about Northern Ireland. One quagmire at a time.

 

[Ravensmash]

It'd be better than completely tanking the economy and pretty much ruining most of the young people in the UK's chances of ever achieving anything.

I don't think ignoring the referendum will be in any way positive either.

It'd destroy the already fragile relationship between the public and politics to an unsalvagable degree.

There'd be riots.

 

[kmag]

Especially given the context - ie, the alternatives - all the hate Gove gets really baffles me. Yeah, we all have friends on Facebook who are teachers, but he was basically executing the Tory education policy as per their manifesto.



Given that he's Scottish, we could just kick Gove back to Scotland if they became independent...

He compared pro-remain economists to nazi collaborators.

And he's said about fifty times he's not cut out to be prime minister.

 

[SomTervo]

I'm gutted we lost Tak3n just before the main event.

Shit, did Tak3n get banned? He seemed to have cooled his beans a lot post-Leave win

 

[SlipperyFishes]

Wonder what will happen the day Murdoch dies and the papers don't know how to spin this as Best for Britain

 

[StayDead]

I don't think ignoring the referendum will be in any way positive either.

It'd destroy the already fragile relationship between the public and politics to an unsalvagable degree.

There'd be riots.

There should be riots now. They're basing a majority on 1 million people. They should rerun the referendum.

 

[Billy Big Bollocks]

I wonder who leaked the email because the timing of it couldn't be coincidence.

“Very important that we focus now on individual obstacles and thoroughly overcome them. I really think Michael should have a Henry or a Beth with him for this morning’s crucial meetings. One simple message. You MUST have SPECIFIC assurances from Boris, OTHERWISE you cannot guarantee your support. The details can be worked out later on, but without that you have no leverage.

“Crucially, the membership will not have the necessary reassurance to back Boris, neither will [Daily Mail editor Paul] Dacre/[Rupert] Murdoch, who instinctively dislike Boris but trust your ability enough to support a Boris Gove ticket. Do not concede any ground. Be your stubborn best. GOOD LUCK.”

I would love to have been a fly on the wall in that meeting

 

[Corto]

This post needs to be continually updated

We need Lionel Madrake here!

 

[Meadows]

I fully expect the campaign for an united/independent Scotland to be incredibly vitriolic.

On that account, I'm glad the UE hasn't talked too much about Northern Ireland. One quagmire at a time.

The problem is that people like Juncker can stir up Scotland fine and it's a political issue more than anything else.

If people start pissing around with Northern Ireland they will have blood on their hands.

 

[Morat]

Wonder what will happen the day Murdoch dies and the papers don't know how to spin this as Best for Britain

We are in post-reality politics mode. There will always be someone to blame. As is always the case when right wing extremists gain power.

 

[Stuart444]

I find myself hoping for indyref 2 even more now.

Even if we stay in the EU, I'm not sure I want anything to do with those in office now down in Westminister considering who the choice is between.

:/

 

[daviyoung]

cooled his beans

Oh I say!

 

[nOoblet16]

I don't think ignoring the referendum will be in any way positive either.

It'd destroy the already fragile relationship between the public and politics to an unsalvagable degree.

There'd be riots.

We have police, and a lot of leave voters are old.
A short unrest would still be preferable to a long lasting negative effect imo.

 

[Joni]

Wonder what will happen the day Murdoch dies and the papers don't know how to spin this as Best for Britain

"James Murdoch will use father's spiritual connection to grow FOX"

 

[accel]

There should be riots now. They're basing a majority on 1 million people. They should rerun the referendum.

That's been discussed at length - this is not an option, it goes against the democratic principle, etc, etc. It's dangerous talk.

We have police, and a lot of leave voters are old.
A short unrest would still be preferable to a long lasting negative effect imo.

I hope that's a joke.

 

[Elaugaufein]

Wonder what will happen the day Murdoch dies and the papers don't know how to spin this as Best for Britain

I've heard Murdoch is actually pretty hands off. His head editors know his opinions and implement them themselves. So his passing is unlikely to change much unless his successor has very different ideas and does a purge.

 

[johancruijff]

Apparently I missed this yesterday

ukip-lord-calls-for-eu-nationals-to-be-used-as-hostages-in-brussels-discussions

The fuck is that?

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

I wonder who leaked the email because the timing of it couldn't be coincidence.



I would love to have been a fly on the wall in that meeting

it's been an amazing bit of drama

 

[oti]

Vs.



Oh dear.

...

Do I need to post that German courses in London link again or are we cool?

 

[Hasney]

Apparently I missed this yesterday



The fuck is that?

It's exactly what it says it is. YAY UKIP!

 

[Always-honest]

What does this even mean?

It means Cameron pulled a Kill from the grave on Boris.
Nobody wants to burn his fingers on the article 50.