I have already said I will be voting tactically in any forthcoming general election.
I have indicated that I would be willing to vote for one of at least five parties in that election, dependent on where I was.
My hope is that those parties can agree on some fairly basic policy principles even if the details will differ:
- An end to No Deal
- Genuine negotiation with the EU
- A deal or remain second referendum
- An end to austerity
- A Green New Deal
- Electoral and constitutional reform
- Support for the UK's constituent nations
Is that too much to ask for?
I really hope not.
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Spot on actually.
But also I want a public enquiry about the conduct of the BREXIT referendumb that will ensure that this debacle will never happen again and also end in the indictment of certain individuals whom I want to see severely punished for what they have done.
And ‘severe’ means punitive fines and prison sentences if necessary – I want these people rooted out and their capacity to undermine democracy destroyed.
Consider – Revoke Article 50 – Investigate and charge all those criminally responsible, plus those who, despite knowing that the referendum was fraudulently procured, facilitated the enactment of Article 50. Then, against the backdrop of the brexiters being prosecuted, maybe consider another referendum (but only if there is a proper plan) and an election. There are millions of people who have been radicalised by lies, the abuse of data protection laws, & unattributable targeted propaganda who will need to be convinced of the illegality, without due process, they will not believe that they have been deceived.
No, it’s not too much to ask for but it is too much to expect.
The establishment, the elite, the MSM and the BBC all backed up with dirty money will make certain of it.
I was trying to figure out what it was that was so curiously and characteristically homogeneous about the ‘performances’ of Johnson, Gove and Mogg at the Despatch Box yesterday; and then I realised that they all shared the same identifiable, swaggering schoolboy braggadocio. Performances so transparently cheap, narcissistic, vain, vulgar and ostentatiously crass it even managed to transform the atmosphere in the Chamber, raising the temperature and temper; and obviously failed horribly to persuade any of the critical or necessary votes vital to the Government – on either of the benches. A spectacular 20+ government defeat was the inevitable consequence of their common hubris. In short this was a veritable set-piece jewel – Brexit writ small and contemptible. I have never seen Dominic Grieve so angry, or Ken Clarke so gloriously and contemptuously dismissive of Mogg minor: now that was how hutzpah is done, by someone who, of course doesn’t need to buy his style from Saville Row.
I found myself musing whether this was all actually just another calculated Cummings ploy; to force a decisive defeat in order to ‘clear the decks’ for a general election; where Cummings is confident he is Master and Commander of the British electorate. I dismissed that thought, I confess because I doubted even Cummings could herd his collection of deficient cats to execute such a plan: then, before the Commons lights were even dimmed the Tory rebels were publicly and swiftly erased from the Party (in the fast and impersonal age in which we live – by text) as if this was a dystopian Party Putsch in the old style: and I wondered again….?
It all appears to be part of the plan
Jenni Russell — Twitter
â€I can’t emphasise this enough. Losing tonight is Johnson’s plan. 5 wks ago Tory strategists told me he’d go to country in Oct after being blocked by EU, Parly. ‘Being frustrated by both sides is essential to the election Johnson plans to fight.’
https://twitter.com/jennirsl/status/1169008405295652865
You can read her full article (published in July) here
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/boris-johnson-is-fighting-an-undeclared-election-hj6nj8m8h
I think that this has been a clear and present danger from the outset.
But my angle has been the weakness in the lack of unity within all the opposition parties. The weakness is that they still seem to want to win in FPTP fashion.
The Lib Dems (whom I have nothing but contempt for) will see their Tory defections as good for them – not the country.
And Labour……………well, do we really need to start talking about tribalism again?
This is what Johnson & Farage have in mind I’m sure.
The problem comes when each of those five parties you may vote for offer only a selection of those things. Provided they have an equal chance of beating the Tories or Brexit Party in your constituency, how do you vote based on the different things you require? You could simply score it, one point each, and the one with the most points wins the prize of getting your vote! That’s too simplistic though, and I suspect that some things are more important than others.
I work in IT and when we are evaluating a system based on a set of requirements that the people we work for have written, what we make our people do is score their requirements as either Mandatory (got to have), Desirable (want to have) and Optional (nice to have). I’m going to go out on a limb here and try and score for you:
M – An end to No Deal
D – Genuine negotiation with the EU
M – A deal or remain second referendum
M – An end to austerity
D – A Green New Deal
O – Electoral and constitutional reform
O – Support for the UK’s constituent nations
It is worth keeping in mind that all the rebel tories voted for austerity, including Clarke (& the Lib-Dems). Austerity led directly to the bexit vote. Directly. In terms of the policies for a win, I agree with them all. Having said that the issue is how to turn them into a narrative that resonates with citizens. Today’s PMQs and the non-statement by Javid shows what the rump-tories will do – shout about surrender documents (as if the Eu was somehow “the enemy”) coupled to some history re-writing. It was interesting to watch mini-trump @ PMQs today – all out of the Trump play book – lies, mis-direction, lies, lies etc. Javid was no better – his statement had no content and +/- an attack on Labour.
OT but……
They re calling you out on MMT again….this time our wonderful Argentina as an example.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-09-04/modern-monetary-theory-mmt-proponents-have-big-argentina-problem
Argentina has a dollar problem
If zero hedge doesn’t understand that the problem is all its won
‘Argentina has a dollar problem’
But which currency did they default in Richard ? I’ll give you a clue, it wasn’t Dollars.
One of the basic tenets of MMT is that a government can’t default in its own base currency. You really should know this
Wow
It takes some stupidity to come up with that
Have you ever read any MMT?
Don’t both to answer: it’s obvious the answer is you haven’t
I think that’s a very brave reply to Mr Ruddock, as a cursory glance at many of your MMT posts could be quoted back to you where you make exactly that point.
Argentina defaulted in its base currency, and chose to do so as an alternative to devaluation and an inflationary spiral. This should be the death knell for all those daft enough to be suckered into a belief in the supposed free lunch offered by MMT.
Argentina owed dollars
But it can’t default in them
Please use some basic economic common sense
Is the most basic logic of MMT – which is only owe in your own currency – beyond you?
Ron Mael ( or rather; for anyone daft enough to be suckered in by Ron Mael’s FUD),
MMT promises no free lunch, only that a sovereign nation can and should make the best use of all the resources available to it in order to provide the maximum socially and ecologically sustainable prosperity to the whole nation.
The only real limits are real resources.
Sovereign free floating fiat currency issuing nations cannot run out of money or go bankrupt in their own currency. They can however misuse their currency in all manner of stupid ways. MMT merely makes clear precisely how such currencies work in practice and what the common gross macroeconomic errors are.
At the moment in the vast majority of developed nations governments are being stupid by running excessively small deficits considering the savings desires of the private sector.
They thereby leave real resources unemployed or underemployed. It’s inefficient, it damages people’s lives and it tends to reinforce the status quo which tends to be highly polluting and is leaving us and the next generation with a serious climate change problem.
Thanks
Good morning all. I looked at your list Richard and appart from anything definite about electoral reform I believe the only party that fits the bill is Labour. Also for me Corbyn is the only leader who has been totally honest from the beginning of the referendum when he campaigned to Remain with an honesty that although the EU was not perfect the only way to change it was to stay united and change within. You can challenge that but as I was personally on a Rally when he said that and it got my Remain vote, I know it’s true. He then respected the result of the referendum but gave 6 clear points that any agreement had to meet. May didn’t consult with other parties and ignored her own also her agreement didn’t suit the hard line Brexiteers. The Tories have torn themselves apart and without a majority Corbyn has played a blinder. He has been a true Statesman throughout this, ignoring the biased MSM which has lied as usual throughout this very sorry embarrassing time. He was the first to meet Helga when she came to the EU . I have seen the 2017 mandate and for a change believe that for once if Labour got into power they would actually do what a government says because they care about the people not like the current election winning promises made by the Tories. Can we please ask ourselves as intelligent people why so much money hate and lies has been aimed at a man who is a proven peace maker with integrity who has never been offensive in the House? Because the elite are scared of him . I put my heart and soul behind David to crush the Goliaths of the Brexit and Tory Party. If the people wake up and realize he has been campaigning against austerity since before 2015 which is why so many of the thinking people are behind him then we can have a better country with your conditions Richard!! Sorry rant over. Xx
I think we need blinkers off
There are a lot of things to like about Jeremy
But let’s not pretend he’s a good political leader
He isn’t
And that does not help I am afraid
I’m not sure you’re correct Richard. I believe Argentina has defaulted on US dollar loans a number of times. Perhaps you could check this ?
Of course it’s not paying dollars
Because it should not have borrowed in them
The default arises because of the failure in its own currency for that reason though
Is it really necessary to spell out everything? It’s really not hard for those who want to see
Please be patient with me, I’m still learning.
You said that Argentina can’t default in US Dollars, but then subsequently said it’s not repaying Dollars.
So is it defaulting in Dollars or not ?
I’m sure you can see the source of my confusion ?
What confuses me is just how many identities you have here
I suggest you stop trolling
You’re now blocked
What makes your ‘good political leader’? What makes Corbyn not one? Honest, Sticks to policies, Doesn’t fake it.
Which good boxes have not been ticked? Is there a bad leader box set?
Sorry – but I suggest you look to a wider horizon to answer your questions
‘Is there a bad leader box set?’
Yes there is – and we all have one.