British politics

[nevele neves]

OK, so your queen is dragged into this, and she gives her consent - what? That's basically saying you're OK with political maneuvers to bypass normal democratic ways. Or, bluntly, two figures that were not elected by the public deciding matters that hugely impact that same public. And you were concerned with the undemocratic EU? What a joke.

If the Queen goes against it then it will be unprecedented.
The system has worked so far. Not a joke.

 

[macbindle]

What a total mess.

 

[Jagartrott]

As far as I'm aware she has no choice but to consent.

Boris was elected, that's how our system works.

Boris was elected by a fraction of the public (100.000 people I read somewhere?), he was never elected by the public at large as a spokesman for the British people. And if the queen has no choice, why is she even asked? She must still have some power (e.g. if the nation's unity is in danger, as it is quite clearly now)?

'Taking back control', wasn't that one of Brexit's slogans? These days, reality surpasses parody by light years.

 

[macbindle]

She does have the power, but in the absence of a written constitution, UK relies on precedent. Johnson's move to suspend parliament for such a lengthy period is unprecedented in almost 400 years. That he is lying about why is not unprecedented.

 

[King Boonen]

Boris was elected by a fraction of the public (100.000 people I read somewhere?), he was never elected by the public at large as a spokesman for the British people. And if the queen has no choice, why is she even asked? She must still have some power (e.g. if the nation's unity is in danger, as it is quite clearly now)?

'Taking back control', wasn't that one of Brexit's slogans? These days, reality surpasses parody by light years.

I’m talking about Boris being elected as an MP. This is how’s our system works. I know most people probably vote based on party and leader at the general election but that’s not really what they are voting for.

 

[Brullnux]

OK, so your queen is dragged into this, and she gives her consent - what? That's basically saying you're OK with political maneuvers to bypass normal democratic ways. Or, bluntly, two figures that were not elected by the public deciding matters that hugely impact that same public. And you were concerned with the undemocratic EU? What a joke.

The queen is there for ceremonial matters, she can’t actually say no (especially with the Prince Andrew scandal - the less royal attention the better).

 

[macbindle]

I think she can...

 

[Brullnux]

She can legally but it's like when someone goes to the queen for assent to form a government, she's not going to say no unless if there's a clear threat to British democracy.

 

[nevele neves]

She can either consent or deny. Nothing stopping the Queen from saying no.

It is a bit comedic watching people post as if this is a shocking event. Boris trying to get his way is not shocking to anyone that was paying any attention to him prior to and during brexit.

 

[macbindle]

Prior to Brexit? What does that even mean? Brexit hasn't happened.

Prior to the referendum Johnson was trying to decide on which side he stood. He is a total political opportunist, so to that extent what he is doing is unsurprisingly.

The only comedic thing here is watching you opine on something you dont understand.

 

[nevele neves]

Prior to Brexit? What does that even mean? Brexit hasn't happened.

Prior to the referendum Johnson was trying to decide on which side he stood. He is a total political opportunist, so to that extent what he is doing is unsurprisingly.

The only comedic thing here is watching you opine on something you dont understand.

the vote. prior to and during the brexit vote.

Never ever been to a message board where someone can post direct conflict so easily. You curse and accuse people of things that are made up in your own mind.

 

[macbindle]

It is a bit comedic watching people post as if this is a shocking event.

Parodying your own words. That is all.

This might all be just a little fun for you to try and get a reaction from people on internet forums, but for some of us we have to live with real consequences.

 

[Brullnux]

Some good news has come out of today at least:
#AbolishTheMonarchy is the top trend in the uk. Boris has done more for The Republic of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (well, maybe not the last bit, and maybe take out Scotland too) than any republican campaigning could have ever achieved.

 

[macbindle]

In the latest Times poll 75% of people say they think remaining is better than a no-deal Brexit.

No-deal was never up for discussion during the referendum. The referendum was about voting for a deal to leave the EU or to remain.

This is hard for some foreigners here to grasp.

 

[nevele neves]

Davidson quit. Scotland Tory could not take the stress.

 

[Archibald]

She can either consent or deny. Nothing stopping the Queen from saying no.

It is a bit comedic watching people post as if this is a shocking event. Boris trying to get his way is not shocking to anyone that was paying any attention to him prior to and during brexit.

you might want to check first with this brief summary...
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-49511731

 

[macbindle]

This looks like desperation from Johnson. He may have won the leadership election which gave him the premiership, but he got the premiership befitting of such a turd...no majority in the Commons and the exact same Brexit dilemma as Theresa May. He has to try something or he will go the way of May in short order and this is his gambit.

It looks like he is trying to shore up public support for a near-future general election. He has calculated that anything that looks like leadership will stand him in good stead against useless Corbyn, plus he is mining the ill-feeling towards Parliament amongst the stupid faction of Leave voters (ie. most of them...durr)

He is trying to make it look like he is playing chicken with the EU and has just thrown the steering wheel out of his car.

What he isnt admitting is that he is driving a Trabant made of papier-maché and the EU is driving a Volvo.

The bumber of the Volvo will get scratches and maybe a dent, but the Trabant will be totalled.

It looks like game theory going on here. If the resistance to his parliament squashing fails he will leap from the vehicle at the last moment and blame the EU for driving at him. Promises about leaving on the 31st "come what may" will evaporate as easily as all the other lies from this sham of a government.

If he doesn't, I predict a riot.

 

[macbindle]

Is Britain Becoming a Failed State? | by Chris Patten - Project Syndicate

Chris Patten fears that a government bent on Brexit is undermining the country's longstanding parliamentary democracy.

www.project-syndicate.org

 

[nevele neves]

you might want to check first with this brief summary...
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-49511731

Thanks for posting. I am glad you are reading these types of summaries.

 

[Brullnux]

Dominic Cummings appears to have watched the thick of it and decided that this is how he should do his job. Problem is, Tucker/the *** are only caricatures of real life people. You actually act like them and you're liable to end up on the front pages of, er, four national newspapers - and Malcolm told us about the dangers of an unelected policy adviser stealing the limelight

 

[aphronesis]

Daniel Finn, Crosscurrents, NLR 118, July–August 2019

After decades of hawkish neoliberalism, the British Labour Party has become the stage for an unprecedented experiment. To what extent has Corbyn’s leadership been able to transform Blair’s party into a vehicle for egalitarian renewal? Can his project survive the maelstrom of the UK’s Brexit crisis?

newleftreview.org

 

[macbindle]

Without reading the article, my answer would be no on both counts. The right wing is too well-resourced and organised, and within that I count most of the national media, let alone the willing co-opting of certain social media platforms.

 

[aphronesis]

Yeah well, class , cultural, historical and governmental differences aside, I’d say all of those and the vestiges of a social project have kept the UK (and specifically England) from only now hitting a point of fracture that the US has been in for some time. I doubt there’s a quick out.

 

[macbindle]

For the masses it's a question of a failure of education leaving them vulnerable to the lure of nationalistic mythology and post-imperial bitterness. They see their standard of living drop, but they are proposing an action that will impoverish them. They are being encouraged to misidentify the causes of their decline, and are receptive to this, especially if it is delivered in a plummy voice.

For the wealthy elite it's just another way of ensuring their wealth is not redistributed and that the levers are in place for them to make even more. There is also a faction who desire a very right wing survivalist economy, with little state infrastructure. To them, the EU is the antithesis.

The opposition have had an open goal for several years, but cannot capitalise on this because of the cross-party nature of the Brexit issue. Besides, they are offering something which is unappealing to large swathes of the electorate, and far too easy for the right to smear in both the compliant state media and the print and screen media of their billionaire backers.

As the cherry on top of the icing, we now have a dishonest and incompetent chancer as our PM. He just made a speech readying the ground for a snap election which he will pitch as 'people vs parliament'.

I fear a large section of the electorate will fall for this.

 

[aphronesis]

As I said, it only looks like the beginning to me. I suspect that also, like the US, neither of the two standing parties is being wholly direct about representing issues that matter.

And having worked inside the standardizing and cumbersome guidelines of UK education, I can only imagine what trickles out to the lower classes.

Some saw it coming; some cyberpunk from the 90s

"Alienation used to diagnose the condition of a population becoming foreign to itself, offering a prognosis that still promised recovery’, wrote Plant and Land in 1995. ‘All that is over. We are all foreigners now, no longer alienated but alien, merely duped into crumbling allegiance with entropic traditions"