Brexit

[soulfinger]

"Boris Johnson says he won't run for Prime Minister."

What the hell? YOUR head-buffoon is NOT running for head of state?

Yes indeed. Make a big fucking mess and then leave someone else to sort it out. He didn't have much choice though; once the loathsome Gove had done his Brutus routine. I'm not sure not sure if, post Brexit, we're still allowed to do schadenfreude, but it's joyful to watch the buffoons turn on each other.

[Low D]

"Boris Johnson says he won't run for Prime Minister."

What the hell? YOUR head-buffoon is NOT running for head of state?

Yes indeed. Make a big fucking mess and then leave someone else to sort it out. He didn't have much choice though; once the loathsome Gove had done his Brutus routine. I'm not sure not sure if, post Brexit, we're still allowed to do schadenfreude, but it's joyful to watch the buffoons turn on each other.

Yes, a good moment to repeat this:

John Oliver referred to it on Sunday night as "like catching an ice cream cone that went flying through the air after leaving the hand of a small child who was hit by a car. You're still going to eat it, but it won't taste quite as good...."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEALC1z3QG8

[firehazard]

"Boris Johnson says he won't run for Prime Minister."

What the hell? YOUR head-buffoon is NOT running for head of state?

Yes indeed. Make a big fucking mess and then leave someone else to sort it out. He didn't have much choice though; once the loathsome Gove had done his Brutus routine. I'm not sure not sure if, post Brexit, we're still allowed to do schadenfreude, but it's joyful to watch the buffoons turn on each other.

Indeed so. Boris Johnson's press conference yesterday has provided the only moment of mirth in this poor benighted country in the last week. Oh, that and the England team being knocked out of the European football championship by Iceland.

So I think it goes like this. Boris Johnson didn't really ever want Brexit, but decided that backing that campaign was a better career move for him, with the aim of undermining Cameron, who had the job he ultimately wanted. Johnson didn't expect the leave side to actually win the vote, so when it happened he had no plan for what to do next. Johnson (a regular columnist in the Tory-supporting Daily Telegraph) wrote a column after the vote indicating that there might be a case for a second referendum at a later date, after negotiations with Europe about the exit terms. There are rumours that Gove advised him on the content of this Torygraph column.

Meanwhile Rupert Murdoch decided that he didn't much like Johnson, and more particularly that he didn't trust him to put Brexit into operation. Paul Dacre, editor of the right-wing Daily Mail, had come to the same conclusion. Gove's wife, Lady MacGove, works for Dacre and wrote a column critical of Johnson; there was also the "leak" of an email from her to her husband (for they communicate mostly electronically, obviously) basically stating that Murdoch/Dacre didn't trust Johnson and wouldn't support him.

And so Gove, having disposed of the political career of his former best friend Cameron, did the same to his colleague Johnson. For whom politics had always been a secondary career to his media interests and a bit of a game anyway.

Anyway, it's all gone very House of Cards. But more like the original British version from the early 90s (which, strangely, we rewatched on DVD last month). In other words cheaper and less glossy, mostly featuring posh people, with less believable characters and with everyone overacting. In which context it might be worth noting that Gove, having been demoted from his job as Education Secretary before the 2015 election because every teacher, student and parent in the country hated him, became Cameron's Chief Whip. Like the song goes, Gove will tear us apart.

Though I don't think Gove will get the job this time, anyway. Murdoch/Dacre only really wanted him to get rid of Johnson. They will now back right-wing Home Secretary Theresa May as Tory leader, and most of the Tory faithful will imagine they've got a new Thatcher at last. So, they'll think, yay! - we've got rid of those unelected foreign elites telling us what to do. And yay! - now we'll do what Rupert Murdoch tells us to do.

Constitutional note for non-UK readers: The UK Prime Minister is not actually head of state. That's the monarch's sort of job.

[Fr. McGreer]

Very informative post FH.

Talking of constitutional points, I heard today that any referendum held in the UK is not legally binding (as it is over here) and the Govt. could choose to ignore it if they want. It's that true?

[DzM]

Constitutional note for non-UK readers: The UK Prime Minister is not actually head of state. That's the monarch's sort of job.

D'oh! My flub there. Sorry. And i even knew that!

[Low D]

From "On this date':

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is 60 today, apparently. Outdated perhaps, but preferable to pointless and absurdly bloody battles.

http://life.time.com/icons/marilyn-monr ... blondes/#1

This has made me think about the news that a Boris Johnson speech has been uploaded to the porn site porn hub under the title Dumb British blond fucks 15 million people at once." True story.

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/ne ... ub-brexit/

[firehazard]

...
Talking of constitutional points, I heard today that any referendum held in the UK is not legally binding (as it is over here) and the Govt. could choose to ignore it if they want. It's that true?

Yes, I understand that is in fact the case. In UK law, I think, referendums are advisory rather than legally binding, so it would in theory be possible for Parliament to ignore the result. Previous national referendums in the UK (there have been two before this latest one) have been "post-legislative", in other words to approve or disapprove of an act that's already been passed, deciding whether or not the new law should be put into effect, so in those cases the situation was rather different.

But in this case, there was no legislation in place, so the result of the referendum appears to have been to ask the Government to do something, but with no clarity as to what it is that people really want them to do. Which is part of what's technically known as the enormous feckup that is Cameron's legacy.

And there's some dispute about what, legally, the next move should be anyway. Britain can't begin the process of actually leaving the EU until Article 50 of the EU treaty is invoked. This has not been done yet. There seems to be some disagreement among experts (you know, those people that Gove hates) about whether Article 50 can be invoked as an executive action - i.e. by the Prime Minister him/herself - or whether it needs parliamentary approval. Cameron won't do it (although before the result he said he would do it immediately if the result went the way it did). So it almost certainly won't now happen until the Tory faithful have inflicted their new leader on us.

After Article 50 has been invoked, there would then be a period of up to two years (which can be extended if agreed by both sides) in which the terms of Brexit would be negotiated. Those terms, I think, would then need to get the approval of parliament, who could even then in theory throw the whole thing out. And could even decide to have another referendum to approve or disapprove the results of that negotiation.

So it's all a bloody mess, and will take years yet to sort out. And although many jobs may be lost as a result of Brexit, there's unlikely to be a shortage of jobs for constitutional lawyers over the next few years. Huzzah.

[DzM]

At least this won't have an impact n the global economy. One thing we've learned about the global economy over the last 9+ years is that it's extremely tolerant of uncertainty and unpredictability.

[Clash Cadillac]

At least this won't have an impact n the global economy. One thing we've learned about the global economy over the last 9+ years is that it's extremely tolerant of uncertainty and unpredictability.

Thank God there is no uncertainty or unpredictability in OUR country.

[Tal]

Online poll on Irish Unity - get on & vote! Let the people have their day - #BorderPollAnois http://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/no ... 28241.html …


https://t.co/Y9sPASVAyV

[DzM]

So the trigger gets pulled today.

Good luck to all our friends in Britain. Here's hoping that despite all the dire predictions this is a smooth process that ultimately ends up being a positive thing. Nothing would make me happier than to be wrong about what the effects of this will be.

[Low D]

So the trigger gets pulled today.

Good luck to all our friends in Britain. Here's hoping that despite all the dire predictions this is a smooth process that ultimately ends up being a positive thing. Nothing would make me happier than to be wrong about what the effects of this will be.

Will be interesting to see the results of the Scottish referendum, and also if there's any move towards Irish unification. I realize i'm getting way ahead of events here, but I wonder if they would still call 'emselves the United Kingdom if all that's left is England & Wales? Wouldn't even be able to go by "Great Britain" as that encompasses Scotland.

[soulfinger]

So the trigger gets pulled today.

Good luck to all our friends in Britain. Here's hoping that despite all the dire predictions this is a smooth process that ultimately ends up being a positive thing. Nothing would make me happier than to be wrong about what the effects of this will be.

Not a remote chance of this turning out well. Our buffoons don't have any kind of a plan. They are just winging it and telling us not to worry. Apparently, we need to trust them. If we get the politicians the electorate deserves, we must, collectively, have been very naughty boys and girls.

[firehazard]

...Will be interesting to see the results of the Scottish referendum, and also if there's any move towards Irish unification. I realize i'm getting way ahead of events here, but I wonder if they would still call 'emselves the United Kingdom if all that's left is England & Wales? Wouldn't even be able to go by "Great Britain" as that encompasses Scotland.

We will presumably be the Former United Kingdom. So we'll be FUK-ed.

Not a remote chance of this turning out well. Our buffoons don't have any kind of a plan. They are just winging it and telling us not to worry. Apparently, we need to trust them. If we get the politicians the electorate deserves, we must, collectively, have been very naughty boys and girls.

That's just about the sum of it. Though of course the electorate never actually voted for our current PM.

Trouble with any demands for another Scottish referendum, or for one on Irish reunification, both of which could be justified, is that either would require the permission of the UK government before a referendum could be held. And the Tories ain't going to give it.

And meanwhile we have turned ourselves into a meaner, more divided society, for no good reason. I don't think I can ever remember quite so much general ill-will and mistrust at large in this country. And I remember Thatcher.

Oh, and the Tory government's hubristically entitled "Great Repeal Bill", details of which have just been announced and which will transfer all EU legislation affecting the UK into UK law, at the same time grants to the executive the power to amend and change such legislation without having to get full parliamentary scrutiny and approval. Parliamentary sovereignty, who needs it, eh?

[left]

...Will be interesting to see the results of the Scottish referendum, and also if there's any move towards Irish unification. I realize i'm getting way ahead of events here, but I wonder if they would still call 'emselves the United Kingdom if all that's left is England & Wales? Wouldn't even be able to go by "Great Britain" as that encompasses Scotland.

We will presumably be the Former United Kingdom. So we'll be FUK-ed.

And meanwhile we have turned ourselves into a meaner, more divided society, for no good reason. I don't think I can ever remember quite so much general ill-will and mistrust at large in this country. And I remember Thatcher.

Having the people divided in two giant uncompromising parties may be the first step to being annexed by the USA?