British government crisis is becoming severe

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ZoWie
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British government crisis is becoming severe

Post by ZoWie »

The most entertaining show on TV right now is the BBC and C-SPAN coverage of the chaos in Parliament. Their House of Commons is a great show on a normal day, and now it hasn't been normal for a few months. It becomes less normal by the day. Sentiment is growing for a new general election, though it's still far from critical mass.

I first got an inkling that things were coming off the rails when the scandal over Boris' parties at Number Ten during his covid lockdown everywhere else actually became a Watergate type of event that gathered momentum until his ultimate resignation. He was replaced by Liz Truss, a conservative woman with a funny name, an even funnier hair style, and a personality deficit disorder of the highest severity.

Things have not gone well for Liz. She proposed to fight inflation, which is out of control over there for the same reasons as here (covid and Putin's war) only worse, by cutting taxes on the rich and drastically cutting entitlements for everybody else. The uproar led to the sudden resignation of her Chancellor of the Exchequer last week. This is a very important position in the UK, like our Secretary of the Treasury and Fed chairman combined only even more powerful with a mandate straight from the Crown. It's big stuff. The replacement huddled with staff and pundits, and promptly undid all Liz's changes.

Today Liz's Home Secretary resigned. This is another big one. Real big. The reason given was that she had accidentally sent an official document from her personal e-mail account. Americans, who are all too familiar with the phrase, "But her e-mails," can relate. However, that could have been dealt with by an official reprimand, a wrist slap really, but it was her excuse to jump a sinking ship.

Liz has missed a number of Commons meetings recently, and won't say why. She came to the Prime Minister's Questions, which is a sort of cross between a presidential appearance in Congress and a Friars' Club roast. It's good TV on a normal day, but this one was a real nasty scene.

People in the street outside Westminster are waving signs. There is high sentiment for a no confidence vote and/or a new general election.
Last edited by ZoWie on Wed Oct 19, 2022 3:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"We must remember that we cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation." --Liz Cheney, Republican, 7/21/22
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ProfX
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Re: British government crisis is becoming severe

Post by ProfX »

Watching the House of Commons over in Britain ... at least here in America, we pretend to be polite and follow Robert's Rules of Order.

Man, watching Commons is sometimes a bit like Mad Max ... I think duels to the death are the only thing they don't permit in the chamber, but everything short of that ... watch out for flying objects, and fists ...

I think Liz has been in power for like, what, a day and a half? :lol: I mean, I know parliaments can lead to rapid transitions of power, but ... sheesh.

Of course, when the coffee boy is the only person still in staff on your government ... :lol:
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carmenjonze
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Re: British government crisis is becoming severe

Post by carmenjonze »

ProfX wrote: Wed Oct 19, 2022 2:31 pm Watching the House of Commons over in Britain ... at least here in America, we pretend to be polite and follow Robert's Rules of Order.

Man, watching Commons is sometimes a bit like Mad Max ... I think duels to the death are the only thing they don't permit in the chamber, but everything short of that ... watch out for flying objects, and fists ...

I think Liz has been in power for like, what, a day and a half? :lol: I mean, I know parliaments can lead to rapid transitions of power, but ... sheesh.

Of course, when the coffee boy is the only person still in staff on your government ... :lol:
Oh I used to love watching House of Commons, including Margaret Thatcher.

Crappy politics.

Also really knew how to shut down the misogynist creeps, be they Tories, Labor, etc.

I learned from her and will give her that.
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ZoWie
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Re: British government crisis is becoming severe

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Well, let's see. Boris, the British version of drumpf, finally resigned in disgrace, at which point the Tories spent a few weeks picking a new leader. They settled on our Truss woman a month or six weeks ago, somewhere in that time frame. She was officially declared PM by the Queen, who was already feeling poorly, and for the first time ever, didn't make the ceremonial trip to Buckingham Palace to do it.

The Queen died two days later. I hope having to anoint poor Liz isn't what killed Her Majesty. I don't know exactly when she started the duties of the office. There was a lot of mourning and parading going on, and it kind of got lost. It's one of THOSE periods over there.

One of her first official acts was the new proposed tax system, which would have done to the already strapped British middle class what Ronzo's "deficit reduction" (cut taxes on the rich, drastically cut any social programs you can get to, keep funding the stuff your buddies like) did here. Her tax system died too.

FLASH

Hot off the wires, now they're saying Liz ordered the Home Secretary to resign.
"We must remember that we cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation." --Liz Cheney, Republican, 7/21/22
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ZoWie
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Re: British government crisis is becoming severe

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You know those online play-by-plays they do in the US for ball games?

BBC is doing one for the House of Commons. It's been quite the day. Apparently there was something of a meltdown over fracking. Nominally about fracking, anyway. Actually about confidence in the PM. First officially so, then not, then ?????????? . Reports of physical manhandling to force some tories to vote, while others abstained. Everyone they ask about it has a different answer, some more politically correct than others.

Sounds like the first fracking earthquake was in the Commons.

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/uk-politics-63309400
"We must remember that we cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation." --Liz Cheney, Republican, 7/21/22
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Re: British government crisis is becoming severe

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Report that the canned Home Secretary, despite being a woman of color, wanted to send refugees seeking asylum in the UK to a camp in Rwanda.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-62807062
She supported plans to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda

When the first flight was grounded by the European court of human rights she said the decision was "unacceptable".
"We must remember that we cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation." --Liz Cheney, Republican, 7/21/22
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Re: British government crisis is becoming severe

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ZoWie wrote: Wed Oct 19, 2022 3:29 pm You know those online play-by-plays they do in the US for ball games?

BBC is doing one for the House of Commons. It's been quite the day. Apparently there was something of a meltdown over fracking. Nominally about fracking, anyway. Actually about confidence in the PM. First officially so, then not, then ?????????? . Reports of physical manhandling to force some tories to vote, while others abstained. Everyone they ask about it has a different answer, some more politically correct than others.

Sounds like the first fracking earthquake was in the Commons.

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/uk-politics-63309400
? The link starts out with a Czech(?) representative and then goes on with the weather. Does the fracking come later or am on the wrong page here?
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ZoWie
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Re: British government crisis is becoming severe

Post by ZoWie »

The link goes to the right page here. It has headlines and photos of the various tory partners in crime, and some good reporting on it all.
"We must remember that we cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation." --Liz Cheney, Republican, 7/21/22
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Re: British government crisis is becoming severe

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ZoWie
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Re: British government crisis is becoming severe

Post by ZoWie »

Liz has resigned.

She lasted 44 days. Previous record for a short term in office was 119 days, and that ended when the PM died suddenly.

Keep in mind that she was picked to replace a PM who also had to resign in disgrace.

There's something to be said, however, for a system where a failed leader gets shown the door by their own party. I don't know if it's any more of a solution than our executive vs legislature setup, with midterm elections that almost guarantee a house divided, but it has its advantages.
"We must remember that we cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation." --Liz Cheney, Republican, 7/21/22
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Re: British government crisis is becoming severe

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Things could get messier still if Johnson stands

Ione Wells
Political correspondent

I'm told by senior Conservatives that there are MPs talking about triggering by-elections if Boris Johnson is serious about standing to be leader again.

I've heard from MPs tempted to themselves [sic -Z], and gathering evidence of defections and resignations in the event of his return.

It looks like things could get messy very quickly for the party if he does decide to stand, as some of his allies want him to.
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/uk-politics-63309400
"We must remember that we cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation." --Liz Cheney, Republican, 7/21/22
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Re: British government crisis is becoming severe

Post by ZoWie »

Johnson was not running, then he was running, then he was not running. The former chancellor, a dude named Rishi Sunak, was the last person standing, and so he will be the next PM. He inherits an economic crisis, for which he offers nothing beyond the usual Tory rhetoric as a "solution." He's a major Brexiteer, and yes, he supports sending refugees to Rwanda, despite being a person of color himself, and despite that "solution" being illegal under international law.

What could go wrong?
"We must remember that we cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation." --Liz Cheney, Republican, 7/21/22
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