The 2010 and 2015 intakes of MPs are possibly the most pathetic collection of witless dullards in the history of the House. I suspect that following the exposure of Parliamentary thievery, venality, fraud and crookedness with the Expenses Scandal under the second most corrupt Speaker this century, party managers paid more than cursory attention to the criminal inclinations of PPCs - and as a result we have benches of dreary mediocre imbeciles hardly capable of tying their own shoes but at least also lacking the nous to charge the cost of their crystal grapefruit bowls to the taxpayer. Perhaps if the parties allowed Constituency Associations to select their representatives ... but no, we're governed by a wunch of guileless morons.
Yesterday they gave up taxing their limited collective intelligences and handed Brexit over to the governments of the remaining 27 Federast members. Now these guys know the reality of the EU - that it's run by the unelected officials of the Commission, and as a consequence only two of its five unelected Presidents are worth a spit. They know the European Parliament is just for show, a fake democratic forum in which everything is decided before it hits the chamber and most MEPs are concerned more with maxing the capacity of their personal troughs than with democracy, so the Council don't care whether Nigel pitches up with 73 Brexit Party MEPs in July to create havoc - to them it's utterly irrelevant. Hof, of course, is incandescent with rage at the prospect that his personal theatrical stage set (his party has all of two MEPs but he heads the ALDE grouping of nonentities from elsewhere) may continue to be polluted by those with less than anilingual reverence for his camp caparisons.
May, beyond all reason, is going for MV3 prior to the meeting of the EC on the 21st, and MV4 after it. On the basis that the majority rejecting the Selmayr-Robbins Treaty is shrinking. It may be down to double figures for MV3 - what larks!
I just want a chance now to show my displeasure at the ballot box. I suspect tens of millions of fellow electors of whatever stripe do also. So a long Article 50 extension would be slightly cathartic at least - allowing us to vote in May, and give the tedious dolts in Parliament a taste of what's to come.
26 comments:
Vote in May to vote out May
The EU-UK Establishment - for they appear to be one and the same - will do everything they possibly can to prevent the UK from participating in the EU Parliament elections: for fear of a Farage landslide.
I fear that the CON Party will cobble together a stitch-up with the DUP and the ERG will (as is usual with Tory EU-sceptics) fall into line and put Party before country.
The Party Grandees must know that they are facing electoral Armageddon at the first opportunity the despised working-class electorate gets.
Jack Ketch wrote
"After a shower I shall head off out to the barbers to have my head shaved. If my barber starts to talk about brexit , he will get told to tell me all about that 'football thing' he is into instead Never mind the brexit, to whom did The Budgies, The Canaries, parrots or whatever they are called lose to this week?"
How are we to show our displeasure at the ballot box? There is no "none of the above" option and if a GE comes soon there is no time for an alternative party to gain impetus (and absorb its many rivals).
There is an election in May. It's for local government. I shall be voting against every Conservative candidate. My little message to Parliament.
Sackerson - if Art 50 is extended beyond a short period, we need to elect MEPs in May. However people will vote in a GE, this offers an opportunity for a protest vote.
You mean, vote for Farage's Brexit Party in the European elections? That's doable.
What do you predict the results will be in that election, in other countries?
The threat to this country is not and never has been that toytown Austria-Hungary across the channel.
It's falling apart but they are STILL frantically trying to surrender to it.
I understand the Geoffrey Cox has been given until Sunday to "revise" his advice so another vote on this accursed "deal" can be held next week, it not having changed by one full stop since being overwhelmingly rejected mere days ago.
There is talk of a second referendum: this "deal" (assuming it passes) or "remain" (i.e. rejoin). heads they win tails we lose. It's simply beyond parody.
If you don't like the thought of Tommy Robinson as an MP, how about 50 spread across a few fringe parties necessary for a working majority. This could well happen.
The Tories and Labour have forfeited any right to existence and many people are angry enough to vote for satan himself to punish them. I'm sure enough will cling to them to keep them the two largest parties but either getting a majority?
Fuck the EU, I loathe it with a passion. It has always cost us and freeing ourselves from it will cost us even more. So be it, but does this cost really need to be the legitimacy of the democratic process?
MP's have twice rejected Mays dWA and by considerable (albeit shrinking) margins.
Very little attention has been played upon the dWA other than the 'Backstop' - the meat of the betrayal isn't "all Backstop" - it goes much, much further than that.
If (when) we DO get betrayed by our MPs insisting "there was no other way" and the dWA is accepted, what then after the date of the Lisbon Treaty? Where does that put us? The dWA 'forces' us to accept EU Law during the so-called transition period and that period is Lisbon.....
The Backstop misdirection is working to plan or so it would seem.
In more important news, a 'team' (i believe is the correct term ?) called 'indta mee-lan' have apparently crashed out of something called the Champions league.
News came on the radio whilst I was in the chair and at the mention of 'brexit' there was a collective groan from the entire shop.
Sackerson 8.14 "how do we show our displeasure"
Write across the voting slip "none of these deserve my vote" or my preferred option "APAS" and then by every means possible get into the public realm that this stands for all politicians are s**t
I am starting my personal campaign to get the highest possible spoiled count in the greatest number of constituencies possible. It's the only mechanism I can think of for the voters to record their contempt. I'm open to suggestions!
Ah, England - where even the least educated can pronounce Borussia Mönchengladbach with perfection ..
The English Democrats have started legal proceedings on Article 50 and say that 29th March is enshrined in law as Independence Day and that the government cannot merely extend the notice on a whim by using prerogative powrers. (Assuming the EU states also agree.). They say it requires an Act of Parliament to change it. As the English Democrat party leader is a solicitor, this may very well. be a better-founded case than others which have been proposed by campaigners but never got as far as court.
@Plantman: I have some sympathy with your sentiments but that's like shouting underwater. The tellers will simply discard it as a spoiled vote and the message will not get through.
The WA should never be signed under any circumstances, whatever happens next.
Its transition period leaves us totally exposed as a vassal state forced to accept any damaging laws and taxes that the EU may want to impose upon us without our having any representation or veto. Even ones which do not apply to the EU27 countries themselves.
[It is worth watching Sir William Cash in the HoC yesterday from 14:26 to 14:41. https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/bcabdf69fc99-4c05-8159-684edaf18c9c?in=14:15:26]
This “transition period” would continue indefinitely until the EU released us, having extracted from us every piece if flesh demanded by all rEU27 nations.
It was of coursed designed to be far worse than remaining under existing EU terms and treaties and to be used in a subsequent leave/remain referendum as the leave option although of course remaining in the EU long-term is a very dangerous option as we would have no idea as to what is planned for the future and over which we have little if any influence or control.
So I believe it is better to refuse to sign the WA and therefore to extend the Article 50 leaving date as this means that in theory we should still be able to vote at Council of Minister meetings, vote for MEPs in the forthcoming elections and still retain a veto (where these still exist) over legislation damaging to the UK. I presume we could also block new treaties.
This is far better than the awful transition period and I would think the reason why the rEU27 will not want to grant us any (long) extension.
In the meantime negotiations can continue and if the Conservative Party came to its senses and removed Mrs. May and replaced her with a leader who actually wants to leave the EU, together with a new EU Parliament and top bureaucrats, a reason to re-start the negotiations from scratch.
Of course this has to balanced against the danger of Parliament voting for a second referendum and this referendum reversing the original result.
Plantman 09:52 :
I agree if there is no Brexit supporting candidate.
I am also not purchasing goods from unhelpful EU countries.
How many times can May put her WA to a vote, legally? I’ve seen elsewhere that she can’t have a 3rd vote on it. So what will they be voting on, on the 20th?
Sackerson
Sorry if I sound obsessive - but at every count I've been too (and that's quite a few) the returning officer - because I believe he/she is required to do so - announces the number of spoiled papers.
It might be a forlorn hope but I sense that there are millions "out there" who want to do something.
If this "something" could result in piles of spoiled votes in dozens of constituencies it would be up to others to turn that into a pressure point.
@Plantman: to that extent there's a point, but there can be many reasons to spoil a paper. Perhaps mass non-voting would worry the politicians, but not (I think) enough for them to resign en masse and start again.
Rossa,
Doesn't it have to be different in some way to get another vote? If Geoffrey Cox "changes his mind" (totally of his own volition of course) regarding his legal advice, is that enough (and doesn't he have professional standards to maintain) given that the "deal" will not have changed one iota from the last vote?
Edward Spalton,
It does indeed look like they would try prerogative powers in some way. I understand that the attempt to ram this "deal" through will occur on Monday or Tuesday and then they will ask (needing some justification) for an extension. Even if agreement is faster than light, that gives them about 9 days to have the formal request endorsed by a full act of parliament and the statutory instrument to get through both commons and lords.
On 29th we leave unless they can do all of the above via the correct parliamentary channels.
John Brown 10.59
Agree totally - BUT - my fear is the danger of a split Brexit vote.
My (probably over ambitious and naïve hope) is to pull in all the "Can't be bothered, because they're all the same" non voters, as well as the previously party faithful who can't bring themselves to carry on voting for Asses just because they wear the correct colour rosette. It's a way for somebody to do something.
Spread the word
Sad to say, I doubt our MPs are thick at all. I've met a few and cunning or evasive or flabby they are but thick, not. The situation is far worse, the mess we are in seems a function of their incentives. We might change the people, but parliament will remain a self serving muddle.
Then there is the environment, all that faux medieval stone and oak and opposition at a sword's length. Add in a little ermine and an unwarranted sense of importance is not surprising.
As for sticking it to them come voting time. Perhaps holding one's nose and voting for the next most popular candidate is most likely to unseat some. My enemy's enemy is my friend (for now). To quote Jacob, Dies irae, Dies illa.
Well, Raedwald, you treat us to yet another postmodernist narrative, which is striking, since there seems to me to be a general assertion by Leave writers that it is on the Remain side that this particular type of gamesmanship is most likely to be found.
That is a mistake. If you read the more serious commentaries, then you'll see that they are virtually all grounded firmly on the values of the Enlightenment.
From the Twitter stream of veteran Iranian journalist Amir Taheri:
"GREAT BRITAIN SNAPSHOT: Parliament has no majority in the country. Governing party has no majority in parliament. Cabinet has no majority in governing party. Prime Minister has no majority in Cabinet.
It's all great fun! Democracy at work!"
Sums it up quite well, I think.
Don Cox
John Brown, I couldn't get your link to work, also the timing you have in amongst a swathe of Remainer bollocks in the HoC.
Do you mean this excerpt from the ever worth-listening-to Bill Cash: https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/b10d267c-4d48-4c6a-bd27-8c15abcb9959 (at 15:27:53 if you go to the whole day)
IGNORE that! I was looking at 14th February!
Raedwald, delete if you like but still worth a listen! :-)
March one is this:
https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/bcabdf69-fc99-4c05-8159-684edaf18c9c
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