Sunday, October 27, 2019

Will the SNP and Lib Dems bypass Labour opposition to bring about a December election after all?

Those of you with long memories will recall that, just after he became Prime Minister in the summer of 2007, Gordon Brown seriously toyed with the idea of holding a snap general election that the opinion polls suggested he couldn't lose.  Although legend has it that he took fright after David Cameron's well-received speech at the Tory party conference, it's likely that what actually played a bigger role in dissuading him was the publication of a poll showing that the Tories were faring significantly better in marginal seats that anyone had realised.

I wondered tonight if a similar turning-point had occurred with the publication of an Opinium poll showing a mammoth sixteen-point Tory lead, up three points on the equivalent poll last week.  Labour MPs were already highly resistant to the idea of allowing a December election due to their deficit in the polls, but if that deficit is growing even wider, it may be psychologically impossible for Jeremy Corbyn to lead his troops through the Aye lobby on Monday.

But just when you thought it was safe to forget all about an election until next year, tonight brings news of a joint SNP-Lib Dem initiative to circumvent the two-thirds majority requirement in the Fixed Term Parliaments Act and bring about a December election regardless of whether Labour vote for one or not.  I said in my previous post that the only way of breaking the deadlock might be for the three parties that appear to have something to gain from an immediate election - namely the SNP, the Tories and the Lib Dems - to reach an understanding between themselves, and it looks very much like that's what's been going on behind the scenes.  Obviously there'll be no mention of Tory involvement to maintain plausible deniability on all sides, but the bottom line is that everyone knows this plan can only work with Tory acquiescence, and if Boris Johnson is serious about wanting a December vote, that acquiescence will surely be forthcoming.

Apparently Plan A is for the Liberal Democrats to attempt to amend the Fixed Term Parliaments Act to make provision for a general election on 9th December.  That would only require a simple majority, so it should pass with Tory support.  If for some reason it doesn't, Plan B would be for the SNP to table a motion of no confidence in the government under the existing terms of the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, which would also only require a simple majority.  Presumably the Tories would abstain, and the vote would pass if Labour don't actively vote against it.  (It would surely be unthinkable for Labour to vote that they had confidence in a Tory government, even as a means of avoiding an election?)  That would trigger a 14-day deadline for a government to emerge that can win a confidence vote, and if that doesn't happen, parliament would automatically be dissolved and an election would be triggered.

Ian Blackford is a great guy and has really grown into his job as SNP group leader, but I must confess to a wry smile when I realised that his solution to the terrible problems he identified with the "barking mad" proposed election date of 12th December is to hold the election three days earlier.  Yes, it's true, folks, canvassers will no longer have to ponder with dread the prospect of pounding the dark streets of Inverness in the middle of winter, because they'll now have a whole five more minutes of daylight to play with on polling day than they would have had if Boris Johnson had got his way.  The sun rises in Inverness at 8.45am on 9th December, compared to 8.49am on the 12th.  The sun sets at 3.32pm on the 9th, compared to 3.31pm on the 12th.  A game-changer by any standards.

So will this bold plan succeed?  It's far from certain, but if it fails I suspect it'll be because either or both of the SNP and the Lib Dems get cold feet.  I can't see the Tories standing in the way.

100 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. How likely is it that Brexit will lead to either of these scenarios

    Unravelling of the peace process in Northern Ireland
    58% Likely
    42% Unlikely

    A second independence referendum in which a majority of Scots vote to leave the UK
    71% Likely
    29% Unlikely

    Unsurprisingly, the Scottish numbers are closely in line with the % of the population that in whole or part identifies mainly as Scottish.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yougov full Scotland survey (for Future of England).

      Do you think leaving the EU would lead to:

      The breakup of the United Kingdom:
      63% Likely
      38% Unlikely

      The UK gets substantially poorer:
      66% Likely
      34% Unlikely

      I get substantially poorer:
      62% Likely
      38% Unlikely

      The destruction of the UK farming industry:
      59% Likely
      42% Unlikely

      Delete
  3. Actually find it difficult to believe that (under Plan B) a GE would take place on the say-so of around 10% of MPs (mostly from Scotland. If the Tories, in particular, adopted a Rees-Supine position, might one effect of this be to give a boost to the Brexit Party, as the "real English nationalists" who mean business.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There was a girl in our Bible study group we used to call Slagheap or RMM.

      Delete
  4. As for the Westminster situation...

    It's a tough one for Lab + Lib. The polls show they'd lose and election, handing the Tories a majority for a hard brexit. So why give BJ what he wants? But if they just sit on the their hands leave him in office as a zombie administration, they may continue to lose support over that. At the same time, the EU gets ever more frustrated with the UK and UK remainers.

    Johson has boxed them into a corner.

    Polling for the SNP looks good, so a GE would not hurt them. However, a hard brexit Tory majority would be ruinous for Scotland, even if it would destroy the last bonds the hold it in the UK.

    I don't think they have much choice but to say they are ok with an election, but at a time of parliaments / the opposition's choosing.

    If it comes to a VoC in Johnson, they must say 'no' because to say yes would be to have confidence.

    I don't see any mileage in altering the FTPA to give Johnson what he wants though. Needs to be a VoC that takes him down.

    If the FTPA was changed by the Libs and that ushered in a hard brexit Tory government, it would finish the libs.

    As for the DUP.... A Tory majority is not good for them. It takes away any influence they have and the English Tories see them as non-English scum interfering with brexit. No matter what happens, N. Ireland is backstopping. It's that or England gets no deal with anyone ever. The northern Irish unionists can only do what they can now to force themselves on an unwilling England. So the DUP is likely to take a remain stance going forward. For them, no brexit is better than the backstop.

    If only we could have avoided this in 2014. It's why I sensibly voted Yes.

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  5. Can someone explain why the SNP are doing this?

    It looks like giving Johnson what he wants - for what?

    Surely there is no point in triggering an election if Labour are not ready, as the most likely way for indyref2 is a Labour led hung parliament?

    Even if the polls look good for SNP now, what is the point in gaining seats at Westminster if it hands Johnson a thumping victory, and no indyref for 5 years?

    Am I missing something??

    Surely SNP at most should only be seen to reluctantly agree to a GE if Labour take the plunge?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The counter-argument to that is the SNP appear to be on course to gain six of Labour's seven Scottish seats, and any Labour recovery could put that at risk.

      Delete
    2. They might well lose those seats if they engineered a way around the FTPA to set the Tories on course for a thumping hard brexit majority.

      The SNP hold a huge amount of power now that the DUP have jumped ship and the Tories are split. They could take loads of seats in a GE but end up with less power.

      The best vote winner for them is that they vote down the Tories in a VoC brought by the opposition. They will not lose public support for that.

      What happens in England is out of their hands as usual.

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    3. It's tough to see how those six or seven seats will do much good once we're strapped in for five years of majority rule by the Le Pen wing of the Conservative Party, unshackled from the minimal labour protections of the EU.

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    4. The reality is that the electorate is very volatile at the moment and we don't actually know what the result of this election would be.

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    5. We can say what's likely and what isn't. I'm perplexed as to how the SNP and Libs intend to explain this if the election ends up going as the evidence currently suggests it will.

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    6. "We can say what's likely and what isn't."

      I'm not sure I'd even go that far. The last two general elections defied pre-campaign expectations, and that was without throwing into the mix the likelihood of pro-Remain tactical voting on an industrial scale.

      Delete
    7. "Am I missing something??"

      What else are they supposed to do? Neither the Lib Dems nor the SNP wants Brexit. They don't want to debate the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, they don't want to vote for it, they don't want to amend it if they can help it for any other reason than potentially embarrassing the government or turning it into something the government could no longer support and therefore get it pulled anyway.

      There isn't the votes for a second referendum and everyone knows that because every time we all think "this is the moment for the big second referendum push"...it never materialises.

      The government is totally paralysed, and Labour seem equally paralysed with no consistent position on either Brexit or a GE on any day-to-day or person-to-person business. They really want it done and dusted one way or the other so they can campaign on purely domestic issues and their current polling is fairly abominable anyway.

      Another election is not a guaranteed way out of the quagmire the UK political system finds itself in, but it's one of the few realistically achievable things left to try.

      Most days now (but not every day) it looks like everyone wants a GE but because of the FTPA everyone now thinks there's a way for them to be the ones to initiate it, to look proactive about it and control it and not leave it to someone else, but since everyone's doing that then noone's actually agreeing on how to deliver it.

      Plus, if the Nicola Sturgeon strategy is to ask for a S30 order before the end of the year, as reported, presumably she wants to do it from a position of strength, i.e. get a good GE result, an increased number of seats and then pretty much straight away make the request.

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    8. Another election is not a guaranteed way out of the quagmire the UK political system finds itself in, but it's one of the few realistically achievable things left to try.

      Why is a "paralysed" Johnson government such a terrible thing? Is it worse than an unparalysed one, which is what the polls indicate is the probable alternative?

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    9. If a Johnson government is so bad then take the opportunity to give people the chance to vote it out. And the longer the opposition dither the more the Conservative poll lead grows.

      The "remain alliance" has done all it can do with the numbers it has. All it can do is just about stop no deal.

      Meanwhile everything else just stagnates because nobody knows what to do. I can't see how this limbo is good for anyone.

      The longer and the more the oppositu on dither

      Delete
    10. I'd agree with Anon who started this thread, if it weren't for the upcoming Salmond trial. One reason the SNP want a December election is to get it out of the way before that trial.

      But the likely outcome IMO is five more years of Boris wrecking hundreds of thousands of lives and gleefully rejecting any consideration of an S30, to the euphoria of his fascism-curious backbenchers.

      Then everything boils down to how badly our movement wants independence and what measures we're prepared to take, or aren't, to secure it.

      Delete
    11. We are in such unpredictable times, it's hard to know what conventions will stick ("never vote with the Tories") and which don't matter ("mislead the Queen, act unlawfully, that's OK, keep going")

      But we may learn new things as we go along.

      1. It should surely be obvious to the populace how well Ireland is treated within the EU compared to how Scotland is treated within the UK. The difference between the two unions - once merely 'in principle' - we now see in action.

      2. The ease with which the UK could trigger article 50 at any point, and the lengths to which EU have been flexible to allow UK to stay or leave as it chooses.

      3. It's increasingly clear the Tory Govt's unionism is not as precious and implacable as it once appeared. They have thrown DUP under the bus, and arguably have thrown the Scots Tories under the bus too, except the Scots Tories are so contemptibly spineless that they have gone along with it without a whimper. At least the DUP stood up for themselves.

      Delete
  6. The neo Liberal cons doing a deal with the Tartan Tory cons. You couldnae make it up. Both dedicated to giving our sovereignty to the EU crooked cabal.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And the should join together and call themselves that Natlubcobs. Nat si EU stooges.

      Delete
    2. "What else are they supposed to do?"

      Sit tight and wait for a more opportune moment?

      I don't know, I am not a politician but commenting on how it looks.

      If Johnson deal goes through, it will be living proof of Scotland being 'shafted' while E, W & NI all get something.

      If Brexit is prevented, then the reason for indyref2 so soon disappears. The SNP seem to be fighting a little too hard to keep Scotland in EU by staying in UK, rather than keeping Scotland in EU by being independent.
      prevent Brexit.
      completely


      "Plus, if the Nicola Sturgeon strategy is to ask for a S30 order before the end of the year, as reported, presumably she wants to do it from a position of strength, i.e. get a good GE result, an increased number of seats and then pretty much straight away make the request."

      OK, that sounds like it could be a reason, but I can't see that necessarily working unless some new kind of mandate is actually in the manifesto (but they already have a mandate!)

      Delete
  7. The prospect of 5 more extreme Tory years will surely be the tipping point for Independence.

    The MP for the Western Isles is opposed. Given he has no strategic nous whatsoever and is a complete fanny it's likely a good plan.

    The choice before the Scottish people grows ever clearer.

    Plus a certain forthcoming trial would be de-fanged

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How can it be a tipping point when madmentalnicky is giving those same tory extremists total control over the staging of a referendum? Make sense man!

      It's not the SNP that is worried about the Salmond trial. It is herself, when her part in allowing her london appointed civil servants to frame her former leader, that is filling her knickers over it.

      Lest we forget. The evidence that the Crown Office deem sufficient to lead to a trial has already been proven to be fake when AS won his case against the supposed Scottish Government civil service.

      This trial is happening because a) the police and justice system is packed with Yoons and b) they were never going to allow themselves to be painted as stooges of the SNP government by dismissing the case outright.

      If this was Sandy Salmon from Blackness and not Alex Salmond from Linlithgow the case would have been binned 10 seconds after it landed on the PF's desk.

      Now kindly return to explaining how this is another strategic triumph for the woman who decided not to mention independence in 2017 and lost 21 seats.

      Delete
    2. Who the hell are you? Grade A grot.

      Delete
  8. Opinium UK

    Scots sample:
    45% SNP
    29% Con
    13% Lab
    8% Lib
    2% Brx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Only thing I'm picking up in averages is a slight move from brexit to con. Same as things UK-wide, but much more muted in Scotland.

      Delete
    2. My average pretty constant at:
      43% SNP
      22% Con
      15% Lab
      11% Lib
      6% Brx
      2% Grn

      Delete
  9. Well, I guess that's that then?

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-50199682

    Brexit election: Government rejects Lib Dem-SNP poll bid
    Conservative Party chairman James Cleverly has dismissed as a "gimmick" an attempt from the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party to trigger a 9 December election.

    He said the government - which wants a poll three days later on 12 December - had put forward its plan first.

    But Lib Dem Jo Swinson said their plan removes the threat of no-deal through a Brexit extension to 31 January.

    She said the bill would enshrine their proposed election date into law.

    The Lib Dems and SNP have said they reject the government's election date, which they believe would include time for the PM to "ram through" his Brexit Bill.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That makes a lot more sense. I'm still a wee bit concerned that, although they're slagging the idea, the govt don't actually say they'll vote against it.

      Delete
    2. I would imagine that's exactly the plan - make a show of opposing it, but then facilitate it. (Or facilitate something very similar.)

      Delete
  10. Well the Tories have just stood in the way!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think it would be a tad naive to regard Cleverly's comment as the final word on the matter. Of course the Tories can't be seen to openly support a SNP-Lib Dem initiative - as I said in the blogpost, plausible deniability has to be maintained. It's what they do, not what they say, that matters, and we'll only find out what the Tories propose to do once tomorrow's motion fails.

      Delete
  11. Gifts are exchanged and deals are done that we never know about
    We know that Boris Johnson has begun his plan to dump Northern Ireland and allow them to reunify because they're too much bother in the new Tory England plan and a financial burden anyway so is he prepared to give up the cash cow that is Scotland too in his England prime Minister domination plan, could it be the deal's done and we see an Indyref announcement coming soon to a Glasgow George Square near you

    It's not all about the telly, secrety stuff happens on the phone
    and let's face it if it annoys Wingsy Stuart Campbell it must be a good thing

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BJ is a wildcard.

      He isn't a brexiter nor a unionist, but is entirely motivated by personal financial gain.

      He will take the easiest route to personal wealth + shags and wine. The future of England / the UK matter very little to him.

      Delete
    2. 95% of this is true about GWC.

      Delete
  12. The thing is, brexit is like Scottish indy but the other way around.

    The demographics (and the end of the empire age) have been eating away at the UK since the post war generation. Indy is inevitable; something the majority of Scots concur on.

    For brexit, it's the other way around. The demographics are eating away at brexit support and if it goes ahead, so breaking up the UK, England will likely re-join again within 10 years. Makes the whole think a bit pointless.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Big Eater From PerthOctober 27, 2019 at 12:38 PM

    I believe that this board should consider my aphorisms:

    Political speculation should be like a good detective story. It has to be rooted in the possible. If the course of speculation comes to rely on magical interventions then it has gone seriously astray at some point. For political speculation to be valid and illuminating there must always be a logical next step. Or, on occasion, no next step. As with fictional criminal investigations, dead-ends are allowable. Magic solutions are not.

    (I thoroughly despise fantasy fiction in which absolutely anything can happen because the writer can always call on magic to work things out.)

    ReplyDelete
  14. The ERG cabal have no interest in the so called UK, only England counts for them and it's just a question of what they're prepared to sacrifice to get what they want
    If they're prepared to sacrifice Scotland's money they'll do it
    if they think they can create a new Singapore England awash with massive money for the rich, which is them, and massive poverty for the rest, who they don't care about anyway
    Scotland will become a Skandi type country with democracy and England will become mini America the smugglers paradise, so everybody happy

    Except for the folk who thought when they were voting for Brexit it actually meant what they were told
    It won't surprise me at all if this happens because the SNP can't keep holding back Englands destiny King Canute style forever, sooner or later the Tories would win but they'd win on their terms and get to keep everything, this way England goes down the drain where the Tories want it and Scotland gets what it wants, reunification makes it better for Ireland and we all look forward to thousands of English folk looking for jobs and homes in Scotland

    Providing they meet the immigration requirements that is

    Oh and political speculation doesn't have to be rooted in anything, politics is the art of illusion creation, it's all about how you can sell your fiction once you've conjured it up

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But is Nicola Borgen starring in the film of her own book?

      Delete
    2. Funny you should say that because you're almost right

      Delete
  15. "The sun rises in Inverness at 8.45am on 9th December, compared to 8.49am on the 12th. The sun sets at 3.32pm on the 9th, compared to 3.31pm on the 12th. A game-changer by any standards."

    OK, I'll play Devil's Advocate. What about the student vote? It's a fearfully clever ploy by Blackford to embarrass the Tories.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Patriotic News -

    We can confirm that notorious troller al-Glesgawi (also has name GWC or Albert McGimp) is 'taken out' by our Special Forces.

    Viva President Jamez!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Look at the moon. Look at the moon. Look at the moon. OK, Mary, but I'll just scrub out my cupboards first.
      Typical!

      Delete
  17. Scotland should enact planB and ask for a shedule 30 vote. If, note If it is refused planA will be put into action, that is repeal the international Treaty of the Union of Parliaments.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Are you sure the Union of Parliaments was an international treaty? Who outside Scotland and England signed this treaty?

      Delete
    2. The Teaty of Union:
      “”That it was a treaty in international law is amply evidenced by the terms of preceding legislation (e.g. Treaty with England Act, APS XI, 295, c 50), by the fact that Queen Anne twice visited the negotiations and enquired for progress with “the Treaty” (D Defoe, History of the Union (1709), Part 2, pp 47, 88), the fact that the Articles themselves (e.g. articles XIV, XV, XVIII, XXII) refer repeatedly to “this Treaty”, and that it is so referred to in other related legislation. The word “article” is the proper technical term for a part of a Treaty, whereas “section” is proper for a part of an Act in domestic law. The agreement conformed to all requisites for a treaty in international law (Lord McNair, Law of Treaties (1961), 40; also T B Smith, “The Union of 1707 as Fundamental Law” [1957] Public Law 99, reprinted in his Studies Critical and Comparative, 1; Walker Trs v Lord Advocate 1912 SC (HL) 12). Neither parliament had participated in discussing the terms and conditions of the agreement. It was not given Royal Assent.””

      Quote from: http://www.journalonline.co.uk/Magazine/52-6/1004238.aspx#.XbYcnOyny9d

      Delete
    3. The Teaty of Perth. That was getting sucked on by the Big Bedwetter from Perth the same day our King William beat the bog trotters.

      Delete
    4. Big Eater From PerthOctober 28, 2019 at 8:32 AM

      What would you know about Bertha?

      You are like the Hapsburgs - you have learned nothing and forgotten nothing. And the stench of your multi-national thinking would floor a Lipizzaner.

      Delete
    5. Big Eater is quite wrong with her misattributed quote about the Habsburgs (sic). It was said by Moira Anderson the illustrious singer who enjoyed nothing more after coffee and cake at Demel's than visiting the Spanish Riding School in Vienna and watching the horses in all the imperial magnificence. La Anderson was, of course, referring to actress Jean Cadell, best remembered in her role of Mrs Campbell in the Ealing comedy Whisky Galore.

      Delete
    6. Constantine! You appear to be supporting a grubby little man from Glasgow without a spare gilet to his name.

      Is there some special reason for that? I really can;t think what you expect from him.

      Delete
    7. Petronella, my frolic! How too too divine to see you, albeit in these somewhat déclassé environs. May I suggest a dry sherry in the New Club at 10.15? Fino or Manzanilla?

      Delete
  18. He's talking a lot of pith -


    Wings Over Scotland
    ‏Verified account @WingsScotland
    2h2 hours ago

    Man, I could seriously neck a four-pint jug of fresh-squeezed orange juice in about three minutes if they sold them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I doubt it very much. And I hear your house is hoaching because your bit of stuff spends her days in a dressing gown playing bingo. When she's not entertaining the window cleaner. Or so I hear

      Delete
  19. Oh, stop it, James. You know as well as I do that the SNP are bottling it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm genuinely baffled by that comment. The biggest criticism of the SNP today has been that they're being recklessly bold. But we'll see how it all pans out. This will be the most crucial week in politics since...well, since last week.

      Delete
  20. Big Eater From Perth October 27, 2019 at 12:38 PM

    I believe that this board should consider my aphorisms:
    Right Pete, your fun oot.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Now go and change your mattress. The strang off it would floor a horse.

      Delete
  21. Can we claim our billions back from the wealthy remainers who have defied the will of the people.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Name 1 rule or law that the EU used to *control* the UK that the UK didn't have consultation and a veto over

      They lied to you, it's time to stop being tribal, it's no sin to have been conned, but you don't have to defend making a mistake, it doesn't mean you were stupid it just means you were conned, don't let them keep doing it to you

      Delete
    2. Scots and Northern Irish have no interest in the brexit project.

      Delete
    3. You deviate.

      Delete
    4. The people of England and Wales voted to leave the EU in a referendum neither country wanted and that's the problem isn't it, because how is the UK a union of countries when no country but England has a veto or the power to decide the situation of the other countries within that Union

      This is not and never has been democracy, it's dictatorship by one country over the rest
      This doesn't happen in the EU because every individual country has the power of veto if they believe a decision affects them adversly, that's democracy

      When England talks about *the country* they don't mean England they mean the four countries of the British Isles, it's the English who don't consider the rest of us in their arrogance to be countries

      Again, that's dictatorship and only able to be applied because of weight of numbers and power

      300 years ago we would have killed them for trying this, 200 years ago they would have negotiated a settlement, 100 years ago they became all powerful so think they can do what they like

      That's dictatorship using the threat of power

      Delete
    5. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    6. EU: One country one vote
      UK: England = 8 votes, Scotland+Wales+NI = 2 votes

      Delete
  22. UK just isn't an attractive place to work. Lower wages. Racist abuse...

    Centrepiece of the UK's brexit plan was the line 'We don't want you stinky furriners coming freely to our amazing country - the best country in the world far superior to all other countries'.

    Well, that's exactly what's happening.

    At all levels. From PhD research scientists to sausage wrappers; Britain is no longer the place to live for skilled global workers.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50205951

    Pigs in blankets and other festive meal treats might be in short supply this Christmas, the British Meat Processors Association has warned.

    It says 60% of the labour force in UK meat plants comes from other countries and the industry is not attracting enough seasonal EU workers.

    Its chief executive, Nick Allen, told the BBC that wrapping cocktail sausages in bacon was done by hand.

    He said the job was "fiddly and hard to mechanise".

    The plants themselves tended to be in rural areas where there was low unemployment, he added.

    "Ever since Brexit happened, it's become hard to hold on to European labour," he said.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. GWC will wrap Nick Allen's sausage in bacon for only 6 Babycham and 20 Mayfair Lights.

      Delete
  23. Kevin Schofield

    @PolhomeEditor

    People's Vote staff have just staged a walkout after new chief executive Patrick Heneghan told them Roland Rudd would not address them.

    ---------------------

    Sir James Cleverly is looking for a creative way to provoke GWC into staging a walkout.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He could withhold her Babycham. That'll bring the sparky vixen to heel.

      Delete
  24. Thanks for another 3 billion quid you lovely Brits. Hic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aye, a'll be able tae afford 1/2 a pint mair a month!

      Or I would be able to, except it will cost me the price of a pint to pay for the multiple new trade deals that are required.

      Delete
  25. DUP winnae be votin fir Blow Job's election.

    DUP really are the enemy of England now. They'll do anything to scupper England's brexit / the will of the English people.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1188886809691844608

      "We will not be supporting this motion tonight" - DUP's Sammy Wilson says the unionist electorate in NI is "angry" and "bewildered" at Boris Johnson's broken promises

      Latest: http://bbc.in/2NwM5R1

      'Angry and bewildered'. I don't understand where this is coming from. Sinn Fein have been saying for years that the English government cannae be trusted and would shit all over the NI unionists if it suited England. DUP were just f'n idiots to not believe them.

      Hell, I've been saying it for years on here. It was obvious. Did they really think England would put them before it's economy?

      Delete
    2. His promise was voted down by the EU leaches. He accepts democracy. Unfortunately the EU crawlers do not but many will pay in the next general election.

      Delete
    3. I think I could be the next leader of the Labour Party.

      Delete
    4. "His promise was voted down by the EU leaches. He accepts democracy. Unfortunately the EU crawlers do not but many will pay in the next general election."

      No one voted on his plan to separate NI from the UK, "EU leaches" or otherwise. He did that all by himself. And he knows you'll applaud him for it. ;)

      Delete
    5. The EU leaches are those who do not accept the democratic vote of the British people but accept their own election. They are now afraid to face the electorate because they face the dustbin. LABOUR ARE SHITTING THEMSELVES.

      Delete
    6. The border down the Irish sea is England's / Boris's idea.

      Ask the DUP.

      Delete
  26. Every Irishman and woman in the world knows the Brits are liars, only the DUP and Scottish Unionists somehow keep hoping they're not

    How many times do you need a poker shoved up yer bahooki before you realise they're not checking your prostate

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    1. The Irish are famous for their priests sticking it up their erses. No wonder the Irish want to forget they are Irish and blend into the EU. You can hide in a wider organisation.

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    2. England has sold out the N. Irish for it's own financial gain.

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    3. What is the financial gain for England?

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    4. Sixpence a week, with 7/6 on leap years. Enough to keep you in Babycham, my lovely.

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    5. Babysham what a memory. The little drink with a big kick.

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    6. Why did England sell out Northern Ireland if not for that reason (English economy / finacial gain)?

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  27. So I got the weirdest of political leaflets in the post from the Tories today. Usual standard stuff, "only we can beat the SNP here", "don't give Nicola the excuse for a second indy ref" etc. What is unusual though is who the message is from... Ruth Davidson. Gordon Westminster constituency leaflet but not one mention of the local tory MP Gordon Clark, never mind being in his name. Its not even from the Scottish Tory party leader, em whatshisname, either, nor, unsurprisingly thier UK party leader, Boris. No, the leaflet is a message from a Holyrood backbench list MP, one who resigned as leader and is on record as not likely to seek re-election. Bizarre.

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    1. You started your statement with "So" which suggests you are a girl in her early teens. Hello, my little nymphette. Would you like a Babycham?

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    2. If I took you up on that offer you'd be in for a really big shock.

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    3. Where's my corkscrew, you little tease?

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  28. The Tories seem to have lost it with the Letter from Colonel Windbag wheeze. Someone in Tory HQ seems unaware that the Colonel did her usual chicken run weeks ago and the local branch manager is Mr Carwash. Also someone seems to think that Colonel W is/was an electoral asset rather than credit Deputy Dugdale with persuading Labourists to vote Blue Tory to keep the SNP out. And some at Nut Central seems to imagine normal people don't burst out laughing when we see pictures of the Colonel. They're a wacky lot.

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  29. Johnson buckles under the pressure, Scotland and Northern Ireland (not the DUP) get what they want in behind closed doors deal in No 10, England to go it alone with Wales

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    1. Do you have inside information on that? Or were you told it when a piece of bread came out of the toaster with the face of Winston Churchill on it who blurted out the whole story? If that's the case I don't blame you staying Anonymous

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    2. He's half right so far; he's sold out N. Ireland.

      That goes ahead and the the union is over. Ask the DUP what I mean.

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    3. Unlike Wingsy and his hatred of all things SNP I do know what I'm talking about and none of this is an accident or luck by the SNP this has been coming for a while and all of it planned
      and it's happening right now and some of us knew last night

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  30. Unionism in N. Ireland is now facing an existential crisis.

    Republicans have watched Ireland stand firm for the GFA, open borders, reunification etc. They've seen Eire is willing to take a big economic hit to stand up for the people of the north. It has refused to be bullied and stayed a loyal friend.

    By contrast, from the outset, unionists have watched England try to get around them from the beginning. They've had to force themselves on England with the threat of withdrawing votes. Now finally, when the pressure was applied, England sold them out quickly for it's own economic / financial gain. England didn't hesitate to throw them under a bus.

    The damage that has caused to unionism in both Scotland and N. Ireland should not be underestimated. If brexit goes ahead, particularly with a backstop (which there's no way out of save becoming N. Korea), then the UK will be over very quickly.

    I've said England will break the union in the end, and so far, that's exactly what's happening.

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    1. That's the sort of thing we need to know but I'll wager a pound to a penny that not one person in the Scottish Nationalist so called Party has had the decency or manners to let Charlene Tilton know. Not one. This makes me livid and ashamed.

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    2. When you say Charlene Tilton you must mean Stuart Wingsy who tells everybody he knows everything except when he's wrong then claims it was all luck and who could predict that
      It's not luck, Wingsy's just an Arse

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    3. Dont you tjink Charlenes early lide wad dad enougn eitj the catty oncwith Fary and thar drunjen nithear ifbhrrz? No wondrt shebhad ri fo and sta eitj Jock and Ellie.

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  31. In wonder how pleased Scottish Labour are with English Labour's decision to back a GE.

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