POLITICS CORNER

[Stanley]

In Jeremy's defence.... is it any wonder Labour are wary about saying anything? Look at the ersatz 'row' yesterday over what he said to himself... By the way I think he did say 'people' I saw his lips used twice for the last word, you don't do that if you say 'woman', your lips only close once. (For he had studied linguistics at night school....)The pantomime is May whatever anyone says! Clever politics but bad governance.
By the way, I see they still keep arguing about whether talks with the EU are going on and May ignores the question. Personally I think they are right to question May's assertion that they are. Why not ask the EU?

[Stanley]

I've been listening to Brexit news all morning. All that comes to mind is 'collective madness'. That's my shock news for today!

[plaques]

Perhaps we should ask our MP what Corbyn actually said. He appears to have got it on his phone/

Stupid People.JPG

[PanBiker]

Does it actually matter what Jeremy Corbyn said when the country is in melt down? May was playing the pantomime dame at the time and obviously can't take as good as she gives. Bloody ridiculous that the entire Tory party can round on tittle tattle rather than stick to running the country.

[Tizer]

Storm in a teacup. Silly Parliamentary antics. As Diane Abbott said `Even Hackney primary school kids would be embarrassed by that behaviour'. Meanwhile MPs, even Tory ones, were going around at the weekend talking about `killing' Mrs May which is surely much worse than calling her a `stupid woman'? Since the EU referendum the language in politics has dropped to gutter level.

[Tripps]

Wonderful to see the reactions of various people to this incident. It's really tribal.

Good to see another demonstration of the modern expression 'post truth' . What acually happened doesn't really matter - just the spin applied later.

I heard yesterday someone said

"A stupid man calls a stupid woman stupid - meanwhile the stupid country is in chaos."

Afterthought -

Sajid Javed the Home Secretary was asked seven times yesterday by Mr Humphries or BBC R4, whether the target for immigration to be reduced to the 'tens of thousands' was still valid. He performed verbal gymnastics, and managed to use the word 'sustainable' more times than really necessary, and gallantly avoided answering the question.

Mrs May was asked the same question in the House yesterday, and said "Yes".

I think they are both members of the same cabinet.

[chinatyke]

Does it actually matter what Jeremy Corbyn said when the country is in melt down? May was playing the pantomime dame at the time and obviously can't take as good as she gives. Bloody ridiculous that the entire Tory party can round on tittle tattle rather than stick to running the country.

[Stanley]

I agree with all of you and yes, I noted his presence also P. He's an important man now, one of the Whips. No doubt he will be reporting back to us in today's BET.
China is right, Ian hit the nail on the head. What must the EU and the wider world think about us. The US has its problems with Trump and we are competing with May! I note that Putin stuck his oar in yesterday at his news conference. (LINK)

[Tizer]

I don't like being pessimistic as Christmas approaches but this is seriously bad news. US Defence Secretary James Mattis is resigning from Trump's administration as from the end of February. Resigning, not retiring as claimed by Trump. As from then `there will be no grown-ups in the room'. Senators, governors etc, both Democrat and Republican, have expressed grave concerns over his announcement and everyone knows Mattis is going because Trump's unilateral decision to pull troops out of Syria was the last straw. Advisers had warned Trump against the withdrawal but he went ahead and announced it. Trump is gradually surrounding himself with yes-men and yes-women. Who's going to keep Trump's finger off the button now?

`US Defence Secretary James Mattis announces resignation' LINK

[Stanley]

I agree. Add to that the fact that Trump has threatened to close down the economy if the Senate don't vote $5.7billion for his Mexico wall. See THIS Washington Post report.
I'll say it again, this man is a bull in a china shop. Some imagined he might be very clever and using disruption as a political tool. He's disruptive all right but it becomes more and more obvious that this is the product of a disordered mind which is in chaos and ruled by self interest. He has no viable well thought out long term objectives except for the simplistic view that he can make America great again by smashing through all the conventions. In effect acting like a spoiled child. (News at 05:00 that the WP was right, the us shut-down has started.)
Meanwhile, in another part of the forest our MPs go home for Xmas, government shuts down for a fortnight and the prospect of chaos in March looms ever greater. It is madness.

[Tizer]

Yet another factor to weigh into the Trump/US situation...
`US stocks suffer worst week in a decade' LINK
`US stocks suffered one of the worst weekly falls in a decade as trade tensions with China, interest rate rises and a possible government shutdown rattled markets. All three indexes closed lower, with the technology-focused Nasdaq down 20% since its peak, placing it in so-called "bear market" territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded its biggest weekly drop in percentage terms since 2008. The S&P 500 fell 7% for the week. It is the biggest weekly percentage drop since August 2011 while the Nasdaq's 8.36% decline is the sharpest since November 2008. The Dow Jones fell 6.8% during the week....Facebook and Twitter both tumbled more than 6%, Amazon dropped more than 5%, and Apple and Microsoft slipped more than 3%.'

George Osborne was interviewed on Today this morning and much of it is included in this article..
`George Osborne: Conservatives must adapt to stay in power' LINK

[plaques]

...and a possible government shutdown rattled markets.

How do you 'rattle' a computer algorithm? These programmes watch and recalculate the markets every two nano seconds. Where money is concerned the size 12 hats have written in all the possibilities and permutations into the programme and will consider every eventuality. They probably have a 'Trump' factor built in, a bit like a black swan event which goes contrary to all expectations. Some analysts have been predicting a crash for some time perhaps this is the start of it.

[Tizer]

At last we are getting to know more about Jeremy Corbyn's own view on Brexit...and it's not what I wanted to hear. People have been warning all along that he's anti-EU and would prefer us to leave the Union.
`Brexit: Remainers criticise Corbyn's pledge to pursue leaving the EU' LINK

[Stanley]

I have reached the stage where I note what is being done, not what is being said either direct or in comments.
There is only one sensible course of action, admit it was all a big mistake, stop spinning (lying) and rescind the application to leave. Then form a National Government and manage the country on a war footing for five years at least the aim being to get the UK into a condition where taking power in a general election isn't a poisoned chalice. Being politicians this is exactly what they will not do.

[plaques]

At last we are getting to know more about Jeremy Corbyn's own view on Brexit.

This was Corbyn's answer in 2016..Corbyn: I'm 'seven out of 10' on EU
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn says his passion for remaining in the EU rates at about "seven, or seven and a half" out of 10.

He has always said there are some elements he likes and some he dislikes. Time has moved on and the referendum came out in favor of leaving. ie: The will of the people. In this respect he is in the same position as Mrs May, another remainer. The main difference is that Mrs May has control of the government and Corbyn in opposition has no influence on the negotiations. Mrs May's foot dragging on negotiations has virtually left the options as 'My deal, or No deal. It looks like there isn't enough time left for a second referendum so that she can escape with the backing of the People. In effect the Rubicon has been crossed for both of them. Corbyn can only plead that his negotiations may have given a different result, which I doubt, but since he is not in charge it doesn't mean a thing with respect to what is going on.

[Stanley]

"He has always said there are some elements he likes and some he dislikes."
That's always been my position as well but I think that was Corbyn being absolutely truthful. I don't see it as a statement that he thinks it would be a mistake to remain.

[Stanley]

Politics is cancelled due to Xmas. T May has issued a diktat that there will be a Cabinet Meeting on January 2nd to give the impression of urgency when in fact she is dragging time out to ensure that there is no alternative to her deal. Hopefully there is some plotting going on which might frustrate her at the last moment. I certainly hope so.

[Sue]

Sorry Stanley I think he said Woman. People or woman it is not a term to use in a public place to describe someone you politically oppose, even if it was a private comment. What damage could he do on the world stage with such throw away private comments said in a public domain.


As for Brexit well, as for Brexit!

[plaques]

In the lull of activity on Brexit here's a quick resume on how it all started.
2010 saw the Conservative and Liberal Democrats form a coalition government.
In spite of Gordon Brown handing the banks £500 Billion. Cameron and Osborne said the real problem was government debt and went for cuts or austerity as we now know it. Clegg committed political suicide by increasing tuition fees and stopping a lone to Sheffield Steel Masters. The austerity cuts helped to stoke up the London riots and Cameron's rating was going down fast. Over 100 Conservative MP's joined Labour on an EU bill marking the first of the anti-EU schism. At this point Cameron thought he was about to be voted out as his rating was that bad.
January 2013 Cameron made his fateful Bloomberg speech, Bloomberg Speech in which he committed the party to a referendum.
Quote.."That is why I am in favour of a referendum. I believe in confronting this issue - shaping it, leading the debate. Not simply hoping a difficult situation will go away. Some argue that the solution is therefore to hold a straight in-out referendum now."
The coalition agreement would not allow an immediate referendum so this was pushed back to after 2015 when the Conservatives gained a total majority in parliament.
As they say.. The rest is history.

[Stanley]

A useful précis P. Thanks for that, it reminded me of aspects of the genesis of The Catastrophe I had forgotten.

[plaques]

Sorry Stanley I think he said Woman.

Being more than partially deaf I rely a lot on lip reading to help me out. Very useful locally but falls down with 'foreign' accents. Corbyn being one of them. What he said is debatable and has the Speaker said we have to turn to the honorable member for clarification. I'm always reminded of a lady of similar age to myself taking an exam in sign language. Due to circumstances the exam was held in Bradford. She failed because as the examiner explained she was signing with a Lancashire accent in Yorkshire. I must admit the explanation made me smile but who am I to judge.

[Stanley]

I have bigger fish to fry than worrying about what he might or might not have muttered under his breath. As for it's being sexist, was Captain Mainwaring being sexist when he called Pike "Stupid Boy!"?
A storm in a teacup used for political purposes when tempers were understandably running high.
How come nobody attacked Dennis Skinner when he told her she was 'frit'?
May is acting badly and stupidity could be one of her faults.

[Sue]

My concern is not so much whether it was sexist but that he used that phrase or similar in a political domain muttered or otherwise. I would have thought the same of any other politician whatever there political inclination. I would have been in serious trouble if I had used such a comment like that in a classroom where others may have seen it, note I say SEEN not heard. What was said in the privacy of the staffroom was different. He should have kept his comment for a private domain, muttered or otherwise. As for Captain Mainwaring it represented a different world with different standards. Many better than ours but many worse. I rarely makeany political comment publically, being one of my list of no no subjects, but this is not about politics but normal decency. The word STUPID to describe a anyone is not an acceptable descriptor in public. I will say no more.

[PanBiker]

May was playing the pantomime dame at the time and obviously can't take as good as she gives.

[Tizer]

Behaviour in both politics and in public has shown a steep decline since the EU Referendum and the Coronation of Trump. Offensive `trumps' polite behaviour and language. Politics has been hollowed out, centrist and moderate have almost disappeared leaving us with extremist at best and ultra-extremist at worst. Ah well, at least it provides good material for Dead Ringers and for comedians.