Politics Today

[DB9]

When there is a GE this thing about remaining MP's doesn't run true, We are divided nearly down the middle on Brexit, Some remain MP's will lose in leave areas but it will work the other way too, Leave MP's will lose in remain areas as well, Look at the Local and EU elections, The Lib Dems and other remain parties did well, Tot up their votes in a GE and it will be a high percentage. Labour moving to remain will cost in the North but might gain in the South, Although people will turn to Brexit Party if we don't leave by 31st Oct it will still be a divided Nation and HOC

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

Tensions around Iran & Strait of Hormuz just went up
a few notches...The wisdom of stopping & detaining the Iranian tanker off Gibraltar is coming home to roost.

 

[Temporarily Exiled]

A reality check:

His long record of mendacity and an infantile habit of comparing the EU to Nazi Germany have not created a reservoir of trust among other European leaders. They are unimpressed by his “do-or-die” threat of a no-deal Brexit. Mr Johnson’s crude English exceptionalism is even less endearing. At the Foreign Office he was heard to muse as to whether Chancellor Angela Merkel had served in East Germany’s Stasi secret police. French president Emmanuel Macron was a “jumped-up Napoleon”. As for Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, “Why isn’t he called Murphy like all the rest of them”. Such jibes find a way back to foreign capitals.

[...]

A quick trade deal with Mr Trump, aides whisper, would give him credibility with the EU. There is something awful in their expectation. So low has the nation fallen since the 2016 Brexit vote that the best it can now hope for is a pat on the head from an unpredictable demagogue in the White House, who publicly scorns just about everything Britain cherishes. Mr Johnson has often been deliberately careless with his language about ethnicity. But ingratiating himself with a president whose ugly attacks on minorities tip over into white supremacism?

[...]

Mr Trump dislikes the EU as much as do the Brexiters. So he might well be inclined to offer Mr Johnson a “quick win”. The puzzle is that anyone thinks the president cannot wait to sign (or Congress to ratify) a generous trade deal. Mr Trump has a policy called America First. It means what it says. The US prioritises its national interests over everything else. There is no small print exception for Britain. In any event, the lopsided nature of the transatlantic relationship is not just about Mr Trump. As close as the ties often have been, Americans have never been sentimental about them. The dewy-eyed guff about eternal bonds of kith and kin and the rest has always come from the British side - a confection created by Winston Churchill to give emotional force to the idea of a “special relationship”. In Washington, Britain’s influence is measured by how useful an ally it can be. The irony is that Brexit leaves it with less to offer. It can no longer speak up for the US in the councils of Europe. The Tory prime minister Harold Macmillan invented the conceit that Britain could serve as wise Greeks to America’s Rome. Life will be simpler for Mr Johnson. Just think servant and master.

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/boris-johnson-on-varadkar-why-isn-t-he-called-murphy-like-all-the-rest-of-them-1.3960638

 

[RaeUK]

Cameron makes my blood boil. It all started with that cowardly, weak-kneed ****-head. ...

See, I'm still thanking him. At least he gave us a referendum on the matter. I've waited a damned long time for that.

 

[IndoMike]

See, I'm still thanking him. At least he gave us a referendum on the matter. I've waited a damned long time for that.

Yes, Rae, I know you're happy about it. I know we disagree. And I know the nation is divided almost 50-50, too.
To hold a referendum seems very democratic. But who chooses when to hold a referendum? Which policies should the public be asked to vote on? Should we have a referendum on taxes? Or on divorce? Or on privatisation? Or nationalisation? What about NATO ? Nuclear weapons? Catholicism? Gay marriage? Foxhunting? Grammar schools? National service? I mean, the list of topics is endless? The death penalty?

 

[tavyred]

But who chooses when to hold a referendum? Which policies should the public be asked to vote on? Should we have a referendum on taxes? Or on divorce? Or on privatisation? Or nationalisation? What about NATO ? Nuclear weapons? Catholicism? Gay marriage? Foxhunting? Grammar schools? National service? I mean, the list of topics is endless? The death penalty?

The rule of thumb on referendums in the U.K. seems to be that it involves something that would be a major constitutional change. A vote on our continued EU membership fits that criteria quite nicely.

 

[DB9]

See one of Mrs Mays "Parting shots" is to give Public Sector pay rises, Very laudable but when you see the money is coming from exsisting budgets, To fund those rises there will have to be cuts eleswhere, Even in her last death throws as PM she still shits on people.

 

[DB9]

Also reading that Chris Grayling had managed to waste in his time at various departments £2.7bn, East Coast mainline fiasco, Privatising the probation service and the so called "Brexit Ferries" and still May never sacked him!

 

[IndoMike]

The rule of thumb on referendums in the U.K. seems to be that it involves something that would be a major constitutional change. A vote on our continued EU membership fits that criteria quite nicely.

You seem to be right. But why should it stop there.

 

[Temporarily Exiled]

You seem to be right. But why should it stop there.

Adding to this, the Fixed Term Parliaments Act was hugely important constitutionally, no referendum there though. The introduction of secret courts and civil partnerships and gay marriage were significant, too.

Referendums on anything are generally a bad idea. A referendum on a complex issue with a badly-set question where even three years after the biggest supporters still don't understand the basics are an even worse idea. It's genuinely shocking how often people need to be corrected about very basic EU legal principles.