Boris's Brain is missing

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thirdcrank
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by thirdcrank »

Jdsk wrote: 14 Jun 2021, 5:17pm And the Speaker today:

"I find it totally unacceptable that, once again, we see Downing Street running roughshod over members of parliament. We’re not accepting it, and I’m at the stage where I’m beginning to look for other avenues, if they’re not going to treat this house seriously."

Any suggestions for "other measures"?

Jonathan
A week on and what did Mr Speaker do? He can only protect the rights of Honourable Members if they want them protecting
Jdsk
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Jdsk »

thirdcrank wrote: 19 Jun 2021, 8:48am
Jdsk wrote: 14 Jun 2021, 5:17pm And the Speaker today:

"I find it totally unacceptable that, once again, we see Downing Street running roughshod over members of parliament. We’re not accepting it, and I’m at the stage where I’m beginning to look for other avenues, if they’re not going to treat this house seriously."

Any suggestions for "other measures"?
A week on and what did Mr Speaker do?
He had a conversation with the Prime Minister.
thirdcrank wrote: 19 Jun 2021, 8:48amHe can only protect the rights of Honourable Members if they want them protecting
Agreed. But leadership wouldn't come amiss.

Jonathan
Oldjohnw
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Oldjohnw »

A bit of comfort in the bi-election. Who would have thought that even Tory voters would decide they have had enough of Johnson riding roughshod over planning laws, neutralising local democracy and handing power to the property developing Tory donors!
John
Jdsk
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Jdsk »

Planning does seem to have legs on this one.

I live in South Oxfordshire. Some governmental plans describe a doubling of the population of Oxfordshire. In the recent local elections this was clearly a major issue, and there was a formal electoral pact. The result of this by-election was consistent with the results in those local elections.

Jonathan
thirdcrank
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by thirdcrank »

Oldjohnw wrote: 19 Jun 2021, 9:37am A bit of comfort in the bi-election. Who would have thought that even Tory voters would decide they have had enough of Johnson riding roughshod over planning laws, neutralising local democracy and handing power to the property developing Tory donors!
The planning thing is just an example of the age-old Tory splits. The interests of big land owners involve selling-off their land very gradually for development since it's worth a lot more with residential planning permission than any version of green-and-pleasant. The NIMBY bourgeoisie just don't get this.

Until this byelection I thought Boris Johnson was riding along on the crest of the vaccination wave and I was predicting he would cash in on that with an early general election before everything went septic. I fancy that his latest dithering and eventual extension of lockdown has changed that quite sharply.
====================================================================

I've just noticed he's 57 today.
Oldjohnw
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Oldjohnw »

Anyone else noticed how those who were loudest in demanding Brexit are the most surprised when the EU treats the UK as if it had left the EU?
John
Ben@Forest
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Ben@Forest »

thirdcrank wrote: 19 Jun 2021, 9:56am Until this byelection I thought Boris Johnson was riding along on the crest of the vaccination wave and I was predicting he would cash in on that with an early general election before everything went septic. I fancy that his latest dithering and eventual extension of lockdown has changed that quite sharply.
It'd be amazingly early to have a General Election as the last one was in Dec 2019. I don't really see the Amersham & Chesham result predicting anything, ever since the 1950s every time the Liberals or Lib Dems win a by-election it's heralded as the start of a Lib-Dem resurgence and other than the elections in the 2000s this hasn't materialised.

It seems to be more a case of if the Lib Dem can be absolutely associate themselves with the constituency - as Simon Hughes did - he became 'Mr Bermondsey' and held it for 30-odd years, but since he lost it Labour have held it easily.
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al_yrpal
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by al_yrpal »

It seems to me having spent 44 years in S Oxon that the big issues for Amersham voters was the hated HS2 and the unbridled permission to cover the pleasant parts of SE England with thousands of unwanted houses. Unless the latter is addressed we will see more election results like this. Labour must be weeping in their beer. What a dreadful verdict on Starmer.

Al
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Psamathe
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Psamathe »

al_yrpal wrote: 20 Jun 2021, 11:17am .... Labour must be weeping in their beer. What a dreadful verdict on Starmer.
I'm unsure about this being any signal to Labour. True their vote was horrendously bad but it was a by-election in what was seen as absolutely "no chance" for Labour. So if you were a Labour only voter the one thing you could be 110% sure of is spending your time bothering to go to polling station, queue, etc. is it would be a complete waste of time.

I wonder (without any evidence) how many Labour voters recognised that a strategic vote might give the LDs a chance. After all, Labour's vote share was down 11% against the Conservatives down by 20%.

There certainly are some big signals e.g. Johnson's narcissistic insistence he is right and the electorate is wrong (which is probably good for the country in the long term as if he ignores the message then we will get more of the same election results).

Ian
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al_yrpal
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by al_yrpal »

Ian, what you are missing is that Labour got thousands of votes in the GE and thats been reduced to a truly pitiful number. Thats a reflection on Starmer without a doubt. He wont last long....

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
Psamathe
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Psamathe »

al_yrpal wrote: 20 Jun 2021, 11:53am Ian, what you are missing is that Labour got thousands of votes in the GE and thats been reduced to a truly pitiful number. Thats a reflection on Starmer without a doubt. He wont last long....

Al
Labour actual vote down by 6500'ish (11%) vs Conservatives down by 17300'ish (20%); if how bad the results are for a party determines leader stepping down then Johnson should be stepping down before Starmer (though I wont hold my breath on Johnson even accepting "the message").

Ian
Oldjohnw
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Oldjohnw »

Big question: where should the houses be built if Not in My Backyard?
John
thirdcrank
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by thirdcrank »

Oldjohnw wrote: 20 Jun 2021, 1:04pm Big question: where should the houses be built if Not in My Backyard?
Part of the ideology is that if you prevent immigration, you don't need more houses.
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661-Pete
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by 661-Pete »

al_yrpal wrote: 20 Jun 2021, 11:17am Labour must be weeping in their beer. What a dreadful verdict on Starmer.
I shan't counter that remark with the words "Tories must be weeping in their [whatever Tories drink???] - what a dreadful verdict on Boris". Why not? Because (a) it's easy to dismiss by-elections, with their rampant tactical voting to get around our misbegotten FPTP system, and (b) the Tories are expected to bounce back at Bat&Spen in two weeks' time. Unless of course all the pundits have got it totally wrong...

But you're right about one thing. The right-wing tabloids will be sure to deliver their "dreadful verdict on Starmer". Any excuse....

I note that the Greens kept a decent presence (surpassing Labour by over 2:1 is no mean feat) - albeit probably squeezed by the LibDem surge. With a LibDem/Green pact, it's conceivable we could now be seeing a second Green in Parliament - probably fuelled more by Boris's 'planning' disaster, rather than HS2. After all, in our local Town Council elections, Mrs P overtook the Tory candidate by four votes. But there's a long way to go, and I won't live to see it.... :(
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by [XAP]Bob »

thirdcrank wrote: 20 Jun 2021, 1:07pm
Oldjohnw wrote: 20 Jun 2021, 1:04pm Big question: where should the houses be built if Not in My Backyard?
Part of the ideology is that if you prevent immigration, you don't need more houses.
Problem with that is all the British immigrants being sent back home...
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
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