I think Philip Hammond is safe-ish. Surprisngly so. Those interested in modern Chinese history will see the Conservative Party is in full Maoist Cultural Revolution mode. Hammond is the Zhou Enlai figure who ensured the trains kept running through the chaos.
Hammond is not what we need now. He has a view of Brexit, quite possibly the right one, which means he will never have the freedom he needs to do the job he wants to do. Remain lost the referendum and should get out of the way. Johnson and Gove should be left to deliver the sunlit Brexit uplands with no downsides they promised, Fox should be lining up all the fantastic FTAs we were promised would be ready for the day of EU departure; and they should be held to account if they fail.
I disagree. You have to deal with the world you live in, which surely is the Remainer philosophy? Zhou Enlai was China's most popular politician because he kept the show on the road, although he was a very slippery personality.
OK so he threatens world peace. But have to admit that the Trump Presidency has been hugely entertaining. I assumed that he would at least try to grow into the role (nope) or appoint sensible advisors (nope)
Whoever was President now would have to deal with the legacy of the hugely unentertaining Barack Obama: a nuclear armed North Korea.
"Another shit sandwich, Mister/Madam President?"
As it happens, I doubt Presdient Clinton would have said much different to Trump. She was always quite hawkish. But obviously had little sway for the previous eight years.
As a matter of interest, what should President Obama have done to prevent North Korea from getting nuclear weapons?
The simple truth is that Obama was early on seen as a toothless lightweight, a President who could be relied on to never get truly tough. Trump may be crazy, but he is crazy in a way you can't ignore. He has alluded to using his own nukes. And now China has started applying economic sanctions on North Korea. Coincidence?
Do you think Osama Bin Laden was of that view before his body was dumped in the ocean having been seized in a military operation done in a "friendly" country without the local government's knowledge and consent?
It seems the UKIP element of the Conservative Party have now entered their McCarthyist phase We got the first hint from Iain Dale yesterday but now it's been taken up by the Mail and the the right wing faction within the Tory Party.
Philip Hammond is likely to be the first to go but after him expect those who aren't idealogically pure to fall like skittles. The UK brand is being trashed at an astonishing rate and ignoring the politics it's very sad to see..
Punishing the innocent is fairly normal at this stage in a project.
The revolution will eat itself. The country has to wake up in a pool of vomit in piss stained trousers before it can sober up to the realities of Brexit. It has to hit rock bottom for reality to bite.
The Brexit revolution won't be complete until remainers have been stripped of their civil rights and reduced to a helot style servile underclass
Just a couple of Mail headlines away from rocks thrown through the windows of Aldi & Lidl, Anna Soubry & Gina Miller paraded through the streets, heads shaven, Parris & Cleggy strung up. What larks.
Well, when there is no more GOT until 2019 what are the alternatives?
I always liked that Cameron and Osborne seemed in lockstep. Even if didn't like what they were doing, they seemed like a genuine team.
It was so refreshing not having to worry about or second guess or try to read the tealeaves about what was happening behind the closed doors of No. 10. That counted for a lot, nationally, I'd warrant.
Now? Well at least with Blair/Brown it was only Blair/Brown. Now it is everyone.
The problem is a small number of MPs and a larger group of the media who are in Stop-Brexit-At-Any-Cost mode. They’re showing little sign of giving up - even if their crusade ultimately ends in a no-deal crash out of the EU.
Their legacy will not be to prevent Brexit, but ultimatley only to inflict a weaker financial settlement for the UK. Trying to tie our negtiators' hands may leave them with a smug self-satisfaction, but it is a dumb thing to do.
They really need to think "WTF are they doing....?"
It seems the UKIP element of the Conservative Party have now entered their McCarthyist phase We got the first hint from Iain Dale yesterday but now it's been taken up by the Mail and the the right wing faction within the Tory Party.
Philip Hammond is likely to be the first to go but after him expect those who aren't idealogically pure to fall like skittles. The UK brand is being trashed at an astonishing rate and ignoring the politics it's very sad to see..
Punishing the innocent is fairly normal at this stage in a project.
The revolution will eat itself. The country has to wake up in a pool of vomit in piss stained trousers before it can sober up to the realities of Brexit. It has to hit rock bottom for reality to bite.
The Brexit revolution won't be complete until remainers have been stripped of their civil rights and reduced to a helot style servile underclass
I think Philip Hammond is safe-ish. Surprisngly so. Those interested in modern Chinese history will see the Conservative Party is in full Maoist Cultural Revolution mode. Hammond is the Zhou Enlai figure who ensured the trains kept running through the chaos.
Hammond is not what we need now. He has a view of Brexit, quite possibly the right one, which means he will never have the freedom he needs to do the job he wants to do. Remain lost the referendum and should get out of the way. Johnson and Gove should be left to deliver the sunlit Brexit uplands with no downsides they promised, Fox should be lining up all the fantastic FTAs we were promised would be ready for the day of EU departure; and they should be held to account if they fail.
I disagree. You have to deal with the world you live in, which surely is the Remainer philosophy? Zhou Enlai was China's most popular politician because he kept the show on the road, although he was a very slippery personality.
The Maoists have won. Their theories must be tested to destruction. It is the will of the people.
How long can we continue with the cabinet in open warfare via the press?
Either a challenge is made to may soon after someone is fired, or she manages to defeat them and the endless briefings stop after a reshuffle. Hard to see the latter happening, everyone is mouthing off.
Increasingly it looks like either Hammond or Boris will have to be fired and with the latter the more popular of the two with Tory members and voters it looks like it will have to be the Chancellor, Michael Fallon would be a good replacement and a reshuffle could also promote some promising younger MPs.
Sacking Hammond will be the cue for open revolt by Tory remainers. May won't last 5 minutes.
80% of Tory voters and members are now Leavers, as are a clear majority of Tory MPs now too if Tory Remainer MPs try and launch a vote of no confidence in May and she loses it she would be replaced by a Leaver like Davis or Boris and they would lose a Remainer PM
A leadership election with Hammond v Any Leaver in the final ballot, and the Leaver ought to win easily. But if it was Loathsome again, perhaps not...
Leadsom won't get anywhere near the final 2 this time although if she did even she would beat Hammond amongst the membership
I think Philip Hammond is safe-ish. Surprisngly so. Those interested in modern Chinese history will see the Conservative Party is in full Maoist Cultural Revolution mode. Hammond is the Zhou Enlai figure who ensured the trains kept running through the chaos.
Hammond is not what we need now. He has a view of Brexit, quite possibly the right one, which means he will never have the freedom he needs to do the job he wants to do. Remain lost the referendum and should get out of the way. Johnson and Gove should be left to deliver the sunlit Brexit uplands with no downsides they promised, Fox should be lining up all the fantastic FTAs we were promised would be ready for the day of EU departure; and they should be held to account if they fail.
I disagree. You have to deal with the world you live in, which surely is the Remainer philosophy? Zhou Enlai was China's most popular politician because he kept the show on the road, although he was a very slippery personality.
The Maoists have won. Their theories must be tested to destruction. It is the will of the people.
Yes, because Brexit is just like the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution.
Just listen to yourself! Some perspective is required.
I always liked that Cameron and Osborne seemed in lockstep. Even if didn't like what they were doing, they seemed like a genuine team.
It was so refreshing not having to worry about or second guess or try to read the tealeaves about what was happening behind the closed doors of No. 10. That counted for a lot, nationally, I'd warrant.
Now? Well at least with Blair/Brown it was only Blair/Brown. Now it is everyone.
Yes - I think it's wise for leaders to pick a chancellor who is personally very loyal. That's why I think choosing McDonnell was a wise decision for Corbyn... even though someone like Angela Eagle was better qualified.
Angela Eagle? Really? That's like suggesting you get somebody from Norfolk as Chancellor, becuase they have more fingers to count on...
She'd been a Minister at the Treasury before, been Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, member of Treasury Select Committee, worked at the CBI as well as some trade unions, studied PPE... she is very qualified.
So no practical experience of working for an organisation that has to survive in a competitive market. Great.
The CBI is an organization that has to survive in a competitive market. There are other groups claiming to represent British business such as the FSB, IOD, British Chambers of Commerce and probably many others I don't know...
I think Philip Hammond is safe-ish. Surprisngly so. Those interested in modern Chinese history will see the Conservative Party is in full Maoist Cultural Revolution mode. Hammond is the Zhou Enlai figure who ensured the trains kept running through the chaos.
Hammond is not what we need now. He has a view of Brexit, quite possibly the right one, which means he will never have the freedom he needs to do the job he wants to do. Remain lost the referendum and should get out of the way. Johnson and Gove should be left to deliver the sunlit Brexit uplands with no downsides they promised, Fox should be lining up all the fantastic FTAs we were promised would be ready for the day of EU departure; and they should be held to account if they fail.
I disagree. You have to deal with the world you live in, which surely is the Remainer philosophy? Zhou Enlai was China's most popular politician because he kept the show on the road, although he was a very slippery personality.
The Maoists have won. Their theories must be tested to destruction. It is the will of the people.
Fox should be lining up all the fantastic FTAs we were promised would be ready for the day of EU departure; and they should be held to account if they fail.
I always liked that Cameron and Osborne seemed in lockstep. Even if didn't like what they were doing, they seemed like a genuine team.
It was so refreshing not having to worry about or second guess or try to read the tealeaves about what was happening behind the closed doors of No. 10. That counted for a lot, nationally, I'd warrant.
Now? Well at least with Blair/Brown it was only Blair/Brown. Now it is everyone.
Yes - I think it's wise for leaders to pick a chancellor who is personally very loyal. That's why I think choosing McDonnell was a wise decision for Corbyn... even though someone like Angela Eagle was better qualified.
Angela Eagle? Really? That's like suggesting you get somebody from Norfolk as Chancellor, becuase they have more fingers to count on...
She'd been a Minister at the Treasury before, been Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, member of Treasury Select Committee, worked at the CBI as well as some trade unions, studied PPE... she is very qualified.
Everyone just needs to shut up and let the negotiation teams do their job without a minute-by-minute commentary. It’s going to be difficult enough for them to get through everything in the timescale anyway.
It's impossible for them to get through everything, and it is not unpatriotic to say so
It seems the UKIP element of the Conservative Party have now entered their McCarthyist phase We got the first hint from Iain Dale yesterday but now it's been taken up by the Mail and the the right wing faction within the Tory Party.
Philip Hammond is likely to be the first to go but after him expect those who aren't idealogically pure to fall like skittles. The UK brand is being trashed at an astonishing rate and ignoring the politics it's very sad to see..
Punishing the innocent is fairly normal at this stage in a project.
The revolution will eat itself. The country has to wake up in a pool of vomit in piss stained trousers before it can sober up to the realities of Brexit. It has to hit rock bottom for reality to bite.
The Brexit revolution won't be complete until remainers have been stripped of their civil rights and reduced to a helot style servile underclass
My ticket out is on standby ....
You are not hoping to fly out of the country on Liberation Day are you? No planes. Coracles will be the way to cross the Irish Sea, just like St Columba.
I always liked that Cameron and Osborne seemed in lockstep. Even if didn't like what they were doing, they seemed like a genuine team.
It was so refreshing not having to worry about or second guess or try to read the tealeaves about what was happening behind the closed doors of No. 10. That counted for a lot, nationally, I'd warrant.
Now? Well at least with Blair/Brown it was only Blair/Brown. Now it is everyone.
Yes - I think it's wise for leaders to pick a chancellor who is personally very loyal. That's why I think choosing McDonnell was a wise decision for Corbyn... even though someone like Angela Eagle was better qualified.
Angela Eagle? Really? That's like suggesting you get somebody from Norfolk as Chancellor, becuase they have more fingers to count on...
She'd been a Minister at the Treasury before, been Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, member of Treasury Select Committee, worked at the CBI as well as some trade unions, studied PPE... she is very qualified.
So no practical experience of working for an organisation that has to survive in a competitive market. Great.
And the Labour party doesn't fit that description because...? Lab hold Wallasey may not be a seat of the pants, down to the wire result, but standing against Corbyn took guts.
Also, could some "never had a real job" theorist please put up a list of real jobs, or failing that some kind of flowchart thingy so that we can identify them ourselves?
I always liked that Cameron and Osborne seemed in lockstep. Even if didn't like what they were doing, they seemed like a genuine team.
It was so refreshing not having to worry about or second guess or try to read the tealeaves about what was happening behind the closed doors of No. 10. That counted for a lot, nationally, I'd warrant.
Now? Well at least with Blair/Brown it was only Blair/Brown. Now it is everyone.
The problem is a small number of MPs and a larger group of the media who are in Stop-Brexit-At-Any-Cost mode. They’re showing little sign of giving up - even if their crusade ultimately ends in a no-deal crash out of the EU.
Their legacy will not be to prevent Brexit, but ultimatley only to inflict a weaker financial settlement for the UK. Trying to tie our negtiators' hands may leave them with a smug self-satisfaction, but it is a dumb thing to do.
They really need to think "WTF are they doing....?"
Indeed. It’s an extraordinary situation that, as Britain goes through the most difficult negotiation in decades, so many Britons in the media give the impression of trying to actively sabotage the proceedings or to play for the other team.
Everyone just needs to shut up and let the negotiation teams do their job without a minute-by-minute commentary. It’s going to be difficult enough for them to get through everything in the timescale anyway.
I think Philip Hammond is safe-ish. Surprisngly so. Those interested in modern Chinese history will see the Conservative Party is in full Maoist Cultural Revolution mode. Hammond is the Zhou Enlai figure who ensured the trains kept running through the chaos.
Hammond is not what we need now. He has a view of Brexit, quite possibly the right one, which means he will never have the freedom he needs to do the job he wants to do. Remain lost the referendum and should get out of the way. Johnson and Gove should be left to deliver the sunlit Brexit uplands with no downsides they promised, Fox should be lining up all the fantastic FTAs we were promised would be ready for the day of EU departure; and they should be held to account if they fail.
I disagree. You have to deal with the world you live in, which surely is the Remainer philosophy? Zhou Enlai was China's most popular politician because he kept the show on the road, although he was a very slippery personality.
The Maoists have won. Their theories must be tested to destruction. It is the will of the people.
You have to laugh at May. She's berated for not having the strength to bin off Boris and the nutter wing. Now she's berated for not binning off Hammond and the realist wing. meanwhile as one maniac and the other claws at the steering wheel whilst the driver coughs her way through another "I am in charge of steering" statement the UK Titanic continues to plow on towards the Iceberg without even an attempt to steer around it.
I think Philip Hammond is safe-ish. Surprisngly so. Those interested in modern Chinese history will see the Conservative Party is in full Maoist Cultural Revolution mode. Hammond is the Zhou Enlai figure who ensured the trains kept running through the chaos.
Hammond is not what we need now. He has a view of Brexit, quite possibly the right one, which means he will never have the freedom he needs to do the job he wants to do. Remain lost the referendum and should get out of the way. Johnson and Gove should be left to deliver the sunlit Brexit uplands with no downsides they promised, Fox should be lining up all the fantastic FTAs we were promised would be ready for the day of EU departure; and they should be held to account if they fail.
I disagree. You have to deal with the world you live in, which surely is the Remainer philosophy? Zhou Enlai was China's most popular politician because he kept the show on the road, although he was a very slippery personality.
The Maoists have won. Their theories must be tested to destruction. It is the will of the people.
So who is our Deng?
It is too soon to say.
The story about that comment being about the student riots in the late 60s rather than the French revolution itself was one of the most disappointing ones I have read on here. Some things you just want to be true.
Fox should be lining up all the fantastic FTAs we were promised would be ready for the day of EU departure; and they should be held to account if they fail.
Fox should be lining up all the fantastic FTAs we were promised would be ready for the day of EU departure; and they should be held to account if they fail.
It seems the UKIP element of the Conservative Party have now entered their McCarthyist phase We got the first hint from Iain Dale yesterday but now it's been taken up by the Mail and the the right wing faction within the Tory Party.
Philip Hammond is likely to be the first to go but after him expect those who aren't idealogically pure to fall like skittles. The UK brand is being trashed at an astonishing rate and ignoring the politics it's very sad to see..
Punishing the innocent is fairly normal at this stage in a project.
The revolution will eat itself. The country has to wake up in a pool of vomit in piss stained trousers before it can sober up to the realities of Brexit. It has to hit rock bottom for reality to bite.
The Brexit revolution won't be complete until remainers have been stripped of their civil rights and reduced to a helot style servile underclass
My ticket out is on standby ....
You are not hoping to fly out of the country on Liberation Day are you? No planes. Coracles will be the way to cross the Irish Sea, just like St Columba.
And the custom check delays on those coracles will be fearsome indeed. Apparently.
I think Philip Hammond is safe-ish. Surprisngly so. Those interested in modern Chinese history will see the Conservative Party is in full Maoist Cultural Revolution mode. Hammond is the Zhou Enlai figure who ensured the trains kept running through the chaos.
Hammond is not what we need now. He has a view of Brexit, quite possibly the right one, which means he will never have the freedom he needs to do the job he wants to do. Remain lost the referendum and should get out of the way. Johnson and Gove should be left to deliver the sunlit Brexit uplands with no downsides they promised, Fox should be lining up all the fantastic FTAs we were promised would be ready for the day of EU departure; and they should be held to account if they fail.
I disagree. You have to deal with the world you live in, which surely is the Remainer philosophy? Zhou Enlai was China's most popular politician because he kept the show on the road, although he was a very slippery personality.
The Maoists have won. Their theories must be tested to destruction. It is the will of the people.
I always liked that Cameron and Osborne seemed in lockstep. Even if didn't like what they were doing, they seemed like a genuine team.
It was so refreshing not having to worry about or second guess or try to read the tealeaves about what was happening behind the closed doors of No. 10. That counted for a lot, nationally, I'd warrant.
Now? Well at least with Blair/Brown it was only Blair/Brown. Now it is everyone.
Yes - I think it's wise for leaders to pick a chancellor who is personally very loyal. That's why I think choosing McDonnell was a wise decision for Corbyn... even though someone like Angela Eagle was better qualified.
Angela Eagle? Really? That's like suggesting you get somebody from Norfolk as Chancellor, becuase they have more fingers to count on...
She'd been a Minister at the Treasury before, been Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, member of Treasury Select Committee, worked at the CBI as well as some trade unions, studied PPE... she is very qualified.
qualified =/= predicting the financial crisis =/= having a clue.
Sneering at the idea there might be a housing crisis and a recession immediately before they happened, as a housing minister, doesn't suggest she'd make a success of being shadow chancellor. She had to be imposed on her local party because they didn't want her as their parliamentary candidate. She's a perfect example of New Labour myopia, and always slavishly followed Brown. A perfect example of how the Blair-Brown conflict boosted factionalists rather than talent.
It seems the UKIP element of the Conservative Party have now entered their McCarthyist phase We got the first hint from Iain Dale yesterday but now it's been taken up by the Mail and the the right wing faction within the Tory Party.
Philip Hammond is likely to be the first to go but after him expect those who aren't idealogically pure to fall like skittles. The UK brand is being trashed at an astonishing rate and ignoring the politics it's very sad to see..
Punishing the innocent is fairly normal at this stage in a project.
The revolution will eat itself. The country has to wake up in a pool of vomit in piss stained trousers before it can sober up to the realities of Brexit. It has to hit rock bottom for reality to bite.
The Brexit revolution won't be complete until remainers have been stripped of their civil rights and reduced to a helot style servile underclass
My ticket out is on standby ....
You are not hoping to fly out of the country on Liberation Day are you? No planes. Coracles will be the way to cross the Irish Sea, just like St Columba.
How disappointing. I was looking forward to manning the trebuchet at Dover with Casino and Sean Fear to send Remainers to the continent as quickly as possible!
The story about that comment being about the student riots in the late 60s rather than the French revolution itself was one of the most disappointing ones I have read on here. Some things you just want to be true.
"Too soon to say" is a remark that is totally in character for Zhou Enlai. He famously didn't have an opinion on anything, which is how he survived.
Worth a nibble at 100/1 next PM and 66/1 next leader (Boyles; 50/1 generally) imo because Hunt can inherit the safe pair of hands monicker from Hammond or Fallon, with less baggage.
I think Philip Hammond is safe-ish. Surprisngly so. Those interested in modern Chinese history will see the Conservative Party is in full Maoist Cultural Revolution mode. Hammond is the Zhou Enlai figure who ensured the trains kept running through the chaos.
Hammond is not what we need now. He has a view of Brexit, quite possibly the right one, which means he will never have the freedom he needs to do the job he wants to do. Remain lost the referendum and should get out of the way. Johnson and Gove should be left to deliver the sunlit Brexit uplands with no downsides they promised, Fox should be lining up all the fantastic FTAs we were promised would be ready for the day of EU departure; and they should be held to account if they fail.
I disagree. You have to deal with the world you live in, which surely is the Remainer philosophy? Zhou Enlai was China's most popular politician because he kept the show on the road, although he was a very slippery personality.
The Maoists have won. Their theories must be tested to destruction. It is the will of the people.
So who is our Deng?
It is too soon to say.
The story about that comment being about the student riots in the late 60s rather than the French revolution itself was one of the most disappointing ones I have read on here. Some things you just want to be true.
Yes my world altered irreversibly following that revelation (not revolution).
I always liked that Cameron and Osborne seemed in lockstep. Even if didn't like what they were doing, they seemed like a genuine team.
It was so refreshing not having to worry about or second guess or try to read the tealeaves about what was happening behind the closed doors of No. 10. That counted for a lot, nationally, I'd warrant.
Now? Well at least with Blair/Brown it was only Blair/Brown. Now it is everyone.
The problem is a small number of MPs and a larger group of the media who are in Stop-Brexit-At-Any-Cost mode. They’re showing little sign of giving up - even if their crusade ultimately ends in a no-deal crash out of the EU.
Their legacy will not be to prevent Brexit, but ultimatley only to inflict a weaker financial settlement for the UK. Trying to tie our negtiators' hands may leave them with a smug self-satisfaction, but it is a dumb thing to do.
They really need to think "WTF are they doing....?"
Indeed. It’s an extraordinary situation that, as Britain goes through the most difficult negotiation in decades, so many Britons in the media give the impression of trying to actively sabotage the proceedings or to play for the other team.
Everyone just needs to shut up and let the negotiation teams do their job without a minute-by-minute commentary. It’s going to be difficult enough for them to get through everything in the timescale anyway.
Totally agree. How dare anyone point out, for example, that less than a year ago in the House of Commons David Davis promised a final deal with "the exact same benefits" of EU membership as we have now. It is outrageous that he should be reminded that in 2016 he stated: "Within two years, before the negotiation with the EU is likely to be complete, and therefore before anything material has changed, we can negotiate a free trade area massively larger than the EU."
Anyone who points out that the man responsible for negotiating Brexit has a track record of being totally wrong about Brexit is a traitor. It's as simple as that.
The story about that comment being about the student riots in the late 60s rather than the French revolution itself was one of the most disappointing ones I have read on here. Some things you just want to be true.
"Too soon to say" is a remark that is totally in character for Zhou Enlai. He famously didn't have an opinion on anything, which is how he survived.
God, you're making it worse. We want some Confucian wisdom in these troubled times.
I think Philip Hammond is safe-ish. Surprisngly so. Those interested in modern Chinese history will see the Conservative Party is in full Maoist Cultural Revolution mode. Hammond is the Zhou Enlai figure who ensured the trains kept running through the chaos.
Hammond is not what we need now. He has a view of Brexit, quite possibly the right one, which means he will never have the freedom he needs to do the job he wants to do. Remain lost the referendum and should get out of the way. Johnson and Gove should be left to deliver the sunlit Brexit uplands with no downsides they promised, Fox should be lining up all the fantastic FTAs we were promised would be ready for the day of EU departure; and they should be held to account if they fail.
I disagree. You have to deal with the world you live in, which surely is the Remainer philosophy? Zhou Enlai was China's most popular politician because he kept the show on the road, although he was a very slippery personality.
The Maoists have won. Their theories must be tested to destruction. It is the will of the people.
So who is our Deng?
It is too soon to say.
The story about that comment being about the student riots in the late 60s rather than the French revolution itself was one of the most disappointing ones I have read on here. Some things you just want to be true.
Agreed, from Confucian sage to cautious, humdrum pol in one fell swoop.
They would be sacking Hammond to rid themselves of the last vestiges of their reputation for economic competence.
Rather depends who they replace him with I'd have thought. For my money though I don't expect any of the major offices of state to change hands just yet because doing nothing looks like the least worst option for May.
I always liked that Cameron and Osborne seemed in lockstep. Even if didn't like what they were doing, they seemed like a genuine team.
It was so refreshing not having to worry about or second guess or try to read the tealeaves about what was happening behind the closed doors of No. 10. That counted for a lot, nationally, I'd warrant.
Now? Well at least with Blair/Brown it was only Blair/Brown. Now it is everyone.
Yes - I think it's wise for leaders to pick a chancellor who is personally very loyal. That's why I think choosing McDonnell was a wise decision for Corbyn... even though someone like Angela Eagle was better qualified.
Angela Eagle? Really? That's like suggesting you get somebody from Norfolk as Chancellor, becuase they have more fingers to count on...
She'd been a Minister at the Treasury before, been Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, member of Treasury Select Committee, worked at the CBI as well as some trade unions, studied PPE... she is very qualified.
So no practical experience of working for an organisation that has to survive in a competitive market. Great.
And the Labour party doesn't fit that description because...? Lab hold Wallasey may not be a seat of the pants, down to the wire result, but standing against Corbyn took guts.
Also, could some "never had a real job" theorist please put up a list of real jobs, or failing that some kind of flowchart thingy so that we can identify them ourselves?
Standing against Corbyn took guts! They tried to bully him out without an election and changed a number of election rules on the fly to try and stitch it up. Her CLP voted against having her as PPC in the first place and the central party imposed her on the poor sods.
You have to laugh at May. She's berated for not having the strength to bin off Boris and the nutter wing. Now she's berated for not binning off Hammond and the realist wing. meanwhile as one maniac and the other claws at the steering wheel whilst the driver coughs her way through another "I am in charge of steering" statement the UK Titanic continues to plow on towards the Iceberg without even an attempt to steer around it.
Hammonds major faults seem to be presentation and communication - he is awful and abjectly negative. I can't recall when he last said anything positive about anything.
Everyone just needs to shut up and let the negotiation teams do their job without a minute-by-minute commentary. It’s going to be difficult enough for them to get through everything in the timescale anyway.
It's impossible for them to get through everything, and it is not unpatriotic to say so
It’s the EU’s timescale, to which the PM indicated some willingness to be flexible. But the EU side don’t do flexibility, which is a large part of what led to the vote to leave in the first place.
Worth a nibble at 100/1 next PM and 66/1 next leader (Boyles; 50/1 generally) imo because Hunt can inherit the safe pair of hands monicker from Hammond or Fallon, with less baggage.
He cannot inherit the "safe pair of hands" from anyone. There is no such leader in the wings.
How long can we continue with the cabinet in open warfare via the press?
Either a challenge is made to may soon after someone is fired, or she manages to defeat them and the endless briefings stop after a reshuffle. Hard to see the latter happening, everyone is mouthing off.
Increasingly it looks like either Hammond or Boris will have to be fired and with the latter the more popular of the two with Tory members and voters it looks like it will have to be the Chancellor, Michael Fallon would be a good replacement and a reshuffle could also promote some promising younger MPs.
Sacking Hammond will be the cue for open revolt by Tory remainers. May won't last 5 minutes.
80% of Tory voters and members are now Leavers, as are a clear majority of Tory MPs now too if Tory Remainer MPs try and launch a vote of no confidence in May and she loses it she would be replaced by a Leaver like Davis or Boris and they would lose a Remainer PM
A leadership election with Hammond v Any Leaver in the final ballot, and the Leaver ought to win easily. But if it was Loathsome again, perhaps not...
Leadsom won't get anywhere near the final 2 this time although if she did even she would beat Hammond amongst the membership
Don't knock Leadsom - she's a mother remember
To be fair to Leadsom I doubt she would have approved the dementia tax, raising the assets kept threshold to £100k maybe but not including the family home in personal care cost liability
I think Philip Hammond is safe-ish. Surprisngly so. Those interested in modern Chinese history will see the Conservative Party is in full Maoist Cultural Revolution mode. Hammond is the Zhou Enlai figure who ensured the trains kept running through the chaos.
Hammond is not what we need now. He has a view of Brexit, quite possibly the right one, which means he will never have the freedom he needs to do the job he wants to do. Remain lost the referendum and should get out of the way. Johnson and Gove should be left to deliver the sunlit Brexit uplands with no downsides they promised, Fox should be lining up all the fantastic FTAs we were promised would be ready for the day of EU departure; and they should be held to account if they fail.
I disagree. You have to deal with the world you live in, which surely is the Remainer philosophy? Zhou Enlai was China's most popular politician because he kept the show on the road, although he was a very slippery personality.
The Maoists have won. Their theories must be tested to destruction. It is the will of the people.
Yes, because Brexit is just like the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution.
Just listen to yourself! Some perspective is required.
Brexit is indeed a big, buccaneering leap into the unknown - backed by many as a way to deliver a hammer blow to the establishment elite. It is the Cultural Revolution without the killing. No-one knows how it will end. But it must be owned completely by those who claim that it will make the UK a fairer, more prosperous and happier land.
The story about that comment being about the student riots in the late 60s rather than the French revolution itself was one of the most disappointing ones I have read on here. Some things you just want to be true.
"Too soon to say" is a remark that is totally in character for Zhou Enlai. He famously didn't have an opinion on anything, which is how he survived.
Clearly I am the Zhou Enlai of these Brexit days. I pride myself on how close I am with my opinions.
They would be sacking Hammond to rid themselves of the last vestiges of their reputation for economic competence.
Rather depends who they replace him with I'd have thought. For my money though I don't expect any of the major offices of state to change hands just yet because doing nothing looks like the least worst option for May.
I agree. This government seems to be made up of a series of armed camps. May moving against any of them risks the others combining to remove the PM herself. And each of them probably has enough members to bring down the government in the Commons anyway. Paralysis beckons.
It seems the UKIP element of the Conservative Party have now entered their McCarthyist phase We got the first hint from Iain Dale yesterday but now it's been taken up by the Mail and the the right wing faction within the Tory Party.
Philip Hammond is likely to be the first to go but after him expect those who aren't idealogically pure to fall like skittles. The UK brand is being trashed at an astonishing rate and ignoring the politics it's very sad to see..
Punishing the innocent is fairly normal at this stage in a project.
The revolution will eat itself. The country has to wake up in a pool of vomit in piss stained trousers before it can sober up to the realities of Brexit. It has to hit rock bottom for reality to bite.
The Brexit revolution won't be complete until remainers have been stripped of their civil rights and reduced to a helot style servile underclass
My ticket out is on standby ....
You are not hoping to fly out of the country on Liberation Day are you? No planes. Coracles will be the way to cross the Irish Sea, just like St Columba.
I will be out before L-day, but if the worst comes to the worst I only have to steal a light aircraft. My licence may be lapsed, but needs must....
I think Philip Hammond is safe-ish. Surprisngly so. Those interested in modern Chinese history will see the Conservative Party is in full Maoist Cultural Revolution mode. Hammond is the Zhou Enlai figure who ensured the trains kept running through the chaos.
Hammond is not what we need now. He has a view of Brexit, quite possibly the right one, which means he will never have the freedom he needs to do the job he wants to do. Remain lost the referendum and should get out of the way. Johnson and Gove should be left to deliver the sunlit Brexit uplands with no downsides they promised, Fox should be lining up all the fantastic FTAs we were promised would be ready for the day of EU departure; and they should be held to account if they fail.
I disagree. You have to deal with the world you live in, which surely is the Remainer philosophy? Zhou Enlai was China's most popular politician because he kept the show on the road, although he was a very slippery personality.
The Maoists have won. Their theories must be tested to destruction. It is the will of the people.
So who is our Deng?
TSE Would probably say Osborne. Sent for a spell of healthy labour on the ES collective farm.
Everyone just needs to shut up and let the negotiation teams do their job without a minute-by-minute commentary. It’s going to be difficult enough for them to get through everything in the timescale anyway.
It's impossible for them to get through everything, and it is not unpatriotic to say so
It’s the EU’s timescale, to which the PM indicated some willingness to be flexible. But the EU side don’t do flexibility, which is a large part of what led to the vote to leave in the first place.
I think the question right now is actually 'Who are we negotiating with'? Potentially, we might be in the position that there is one one or maybe two holdout states in terms of the ability to move on in the negotiation.
I'd suspect that this would be based on states contributions, because support for the leading party would not necessarily survive if there were a major uplift in 2022 in terms of budgetary contribution. It's domestic politics of the big players outweighing the general good of the EU bloc.
So the holdout is 'Financial contribution' -for which this is a one sided agreement. Not up until 2022, which is a fairly easy calculation and generally accepted by all, but beyond - for which there must be some quid pro quo in terms of the future relationship.
The EU its rules and principles are the Iceberg. The UK is the Titanic, with the loons tearing at the tiller as Captain ZombieMay insists she is in charge. You don't need to worry about the Iceberg they say, it needs to move more than we need to steer around.
Then after the crunch tears a hole below the waterline, watertight doors? Well we can't make them here any more after we "rationalised" industry in favour of more coffee shops. And thanks to the drop in FX and the massive delays and costs getting anything imported from the Iceberg I'm afraid we'll have to sink.
But be assured! We took back control! We no longer have to pay any attention to the Iceberg's "steer around" signs as we triumphantly sink to the bottom.
Fox should be lining up all the fantastic FTAs we were promised would be ready for the day of EU departure; and they should be held to account if they fail.
Everyone just needs to shut up and let the negotiation teams do their job without a minute-by-minute commentary. It’s going to be difficult enough for them to get through everything in the timescale anyway.
It's impossible for them to get through everything, and it is not unpatriotic to say so
It’s the EU’s timescale, to which the PM indicated some willingness to be flexible. But the EU side don’t do flexibility, which is a large part of what led to the vote to leave in the first place.
We triggered Article 50. We set the whole thing in motion and threw away the only real advantage we had.
I think Philip Hammond is safe-ish. Surprisngly so. Those interested in modern Chinese history will see the Conservative Party is in full Maoist Cultural Revolution mode. Hammond is the Zhou Enlai figure who ensured the trains kept running through the chaos.
Hammond is not what we need now. He has a view of Brexit, quite possibly the right one, which means he will never have the freedom he needs to do the job he wants to do. Remain lost the referendum and should get out of the way. Johnson and Gove should be left to deliver the sunlit Brexit uplands with no downsides they promised, Fox should be lining up all the fantastic FTAs we were promised would be ready for the day of EU departure; and they should be held to account if they fail.
I disagree. You have to deal with the world you live in, which surely is the Remainer philosophy? Zhou Enlai was China's most popular politician because he kept the show on the road, although he was a very slippery personality.
The Maoists have won. Their theories must be tested to destruction. It is the will of the people.
Yes, because Brexit is just like the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution.
Just listen to yourself! Some perspective is required.
Brexit is indeed a big, buccaneering leap into the unknown - backed by many as a way to deliver a hammer blow to the establishment elite. It is the Cultural Revolution without the killing. No-one knows how it will end. But it must be owned completely by those who claim that it will make the UK a fairer, more prosperous and happier land.
Personally I think the lack of killing of tens of millions makes it a somewhat ridiculous comparison, but I am a Brexiteer after all.
You have to laugh at May. She's berated for not having the strength to bin off Boris and the nutter wing. Now she's berated for not binning off Hammond and the realist wing. meanwhile as one maniac and the other claws at the steering wheel whilst the driver coughs her way through another "I am in charge of steering" statement the UK Titanic continues to plow on towards the Iceberg without even an attempt to steer around it.
Hammonds major faults seem to be presentation and communication - he is awful and abjectly negative. I can't recall when he last said anything positive about anything.
He needs to go.
Everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds.
I always liked that Cameron and Osborne seemed in lockstep. Even if didn't like what they were doing, they seemed like a genuine team.
It was so refreshing not having to worry about or second guess or try to read the tealeaves about what was happening behind the closed doors of No. 10. That counted for a lot, nationally, I'd warrant.
Now? Well at least with Blair/Brown it was only Blair/Brown. Now it is everyone.
The problem is a small number of MPs and a larger group of the media who are in Stop-Brexit-At-Any-Cost mode. They’re showing little sign of giving up - even if their crusade ultimately ends in a no-deal crash out of the EU.
Their legacy will not be to prevent Brexit, but ultimatley only to inflict a weaker financial settlement for the UK. Trying to tie our negtiators' hands may leave them with a smug self-satisfaction, but it is a dumb thing to do.
They really need to think "WTF are they doing....?"
Indeed. It’s an extraordinary situation that, as Britain goes through the most difficult negotiation in decades, so many Britons in the media give the impression of trying to actively sabotage the proceedings or to play for the other team.
Everyone just needs to shut up and let the negotiation teams do their job without a minute-by-minute commentary. It’s going to be difficult enough for them to get through everything in the timescale anyway.
Totally agree. How dare anyone point out, for example, that less than a year ago in the House of Commons David Davis promised a final deal with "the exact same benefits" of EU membership as we have now. It is outrageous that he should be reminded that in 2016 he stated: "Within two years, before the negotiation with the EU is likely to be complete, and therefore before anything material has changed, we can negotiate a free trade area massively larger than the EU."
Anyone who points out that the man responsible for negotiating Brexit has a track record of being totally wrong about Brexit is a traitor. It's as simple as that.
The Secretary of State for Leaving the EU will of course be accountable for the final deal that he comes back with. A deal which is still very much under negotiation and will be for the next several months.
My point is that if we are to get anything approaching a good deal, then everyone on both sides needs to calm down the hyperbolic rhetoric and channel their efforts into making the negotiations a success.
The EU its rules and principles are the Iceberg. The UK is the Titanic, with the loons tearing at the tiller as Captain ZombieMay insists she is in charge. You don't need to worry about the Iceberg they say, it needs to move more than we need to steer around.
Then after the crunch tears a hole below the waterline, watertight doors? Well we can't make them here any more after we "rationalised" industry in favour of more coffee shops. And thanks to the drop in FX and the massive delays and costs getting anything imported from the Iceberg I'm afraid we'll have to sink.
But be assured! We took back control! We no longer have to pay any attention to the Iceberg's "steer around" signs as we triumphantly sink to the bottom.
That famous interchange between the lighthouse and some US Navy ship also probably apocryphal.
You have to laugh at May. She's berated for not having the strength to bin off Boris and the nutter wing. Now she's berated for not binning off Hammond and the realist wing. meanwhile as one maniac and the other claws at the steering wheel whilst the driver coughs her way through another "I am in charge of steering" statement the UK Titanic continues to plow on towards the Iceberg without even an attempt to steer around it.
Hammonds major faults seem to be presentation and communication - he is awful and abjectly negative. I can't recall when he last said anything positive about anything.
He needs to go.
Everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds.
And this is after the revolution...
I'd like to see more Brest-Litovsk analogies. Peace with Germany or revolutionary war tovarishchi?
I think Philip Hammond is safe-ish. Surprisngly so. Those interested in modern Chinese history will see the Conservative Party is in full Maoist Cultural Revolution mode. Hammond is the Zhou Enlai figure who ensured the trains kept running through the chaos.
Hammond is not what we need now. He has a view of Brexit, quite possibly the right one, which means he will never have the freedom he needs to do the job he wants to do. Remain lost the referendum and should get out of the way. Johnson and Gove should be left to deliver the sunlit Brexit uplands with no downsides they promised, Fox should be lining up all the fantastic FTAs we were promised would be ready for the day of EU departure; and they should be held to account if they fail.
I disagree. You have to deal with the world you live in, which surely is the Remainer philosophy? Zhou Enlai was China's most popular politician because he kept the show on the road, although he was a very slippery personality.
The Maoists have won. Their theories must be tested to destruction. It is the will of the people.
Yes, because Brexit is just like the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution.
Just listen to yourself! Some perspective is required.
Brexit is indeed a big, buccaneering leap into the unknown - backed by many as a way to deliver a hammer blow to the establishment elite. It is the Cultural Revolution without the killing. No-one knows how it will end. But it must be owned completely by those who claim that it will make the UK a fairer, more prosperous and happier land.
Personally I think the lack of killing of tens of millions makes it a somewhat ridiculous comparison, but I am a Brexiteer after all.
The comparison is probably more acute than you think (within the context of course of it being wholly incomparable).
The deaths came because collective owners lied to the government about their production output. So everyone starved because there was no food as the government thought that all was well in the country.
Of course there was the parallel anti-intellectual movement but the deaths came because no one dared to tell Mao that they were starving to death.
Asking a 91-year old woman to walk backwards in heels down a stepped monument is not on. She very nearly caught a heel doing so last year.
I don't recall her mother laying a wreath - it was always done by an equerry.
Seems perfectly sensible to me for Queen to let Charles do it. She has already said she is cutting back on official stuff and Charles and William will take on more.
The EU its rules and principles are the Iceberg. The UK is the Titanic, with the loons tearing at the tiller as Captain ZombieMay insists she is in charge. You don't need to worry about the Iceberg they say, it needs to move more than we need to steer around.
Then after the crunch tears a hole below the waterline, watertight doors? Well we can't make them here any more after we "rationalised" industry in favour of more coffee shops. And thanks to the drop in FX and the massive delays and costs getting anything imported from the Iceberg I'm afraid we'll have to sink.
But be assured! We took back control! We no longer have to pay any attention to the Iceberg's "steer around" signs as we triumphantly sink to the bottom.
That famous interchange between the lighthouse and some US Navy ship also probably apocryphal.
Just to point out that the stumbling block in that excellent video was the Irish lighthouse keeper. Bl**dy paddys
The EU its rules and principles are the Iceberg. The UK is the Titanic, with the loons tearing at the tiller as Captain ZombieMay insists she is in charge. You don't need to worry about the Iceberg they say, it needs to move more than we need to steer around.
Then after the crunch tears a hole below the waterline, watertight doors? Well we can't make them here any more after we "rationalised" industry in favour of more coffee shops. And thanks to the drop in FX and the massive delays and costs getting anything imported from the Iceberg I'm afraid we'll have to sink.
But be assured! We took back control! We no longer have to pay any attention to the Iceberg's "steer around" signs as we triumphantly sink to the bottom.
That famous interchange between the lighthouse and some US Navy ship also probably apocryphal.
Indeed. "BMW will tell the German government to do a deal" insist the same experts who keep telling me that all my food industry colleagues are wrong about the catastrophic shock to the supply chain that WTO Brexit means.
And yet ze Germans are preparing for how they keep functioning when MINI and the BMW engine plant are caught on the wrong side of the channel and the food industry is wargaming worst case scenarios about how to keep functioning when the 1/3 of food and ingredients that we import gets stuck.
They tell me its no problem. We declare a tariff free zone and open our borders without checks (truly taking back control from the current situation of open borders without checks...). But its not traffic inbound to the UK thats the problem, its outbound. Because WTO means the EU enforces its external border as it does now elsewhere. Which means massively lengthy and expensive customs checks on the EU side of the border. Which massively back up vehicles on our side which means a lack of vehicles coming back through the other way.
All of this is clear to see. Its what the EU already does. Yet the dipshit brigade keep insisting it can't happen here and that no preparation is needed. Its a level of stupidity that is malfeasance in public office...
I always liked that Cameron and Osborne seemed in lockstep. Even if didn't like what they were doing, they seemed like a genuine team.
It was so refreshing not having to worry about or second guess or try to read the tealeaves about what was happening behind the closed doors of No. 10. That counted for a lot, nationally, I'd warrant.
Now? Well at least with Blair/Brown it was only Blair/Brown. Now it is everyone.
The problem is a small number of MPs and a larger group of the media who are in Stop-Brexit-At-Any-Cost mode. They’re showing little sign of giving up - even if their crusade ultimately ends in a no-deal crash out of the EU.
Their legacy will not be to prevent Brexit, but ultimatley only to inflict a weaker financial settlement for the UK. Trying to tie our negtiators' hands may leave them with a smug self-satisfaction, but it is a dumb thing to do.
They really need to think "WTF are they doing....?"
Indeed. It’s an extraordinary situation that, as Britain goes through the most difficult negotiation in decades, so many Britons in the media give the impression of trying to actively sabotage the proceedings or to play for the other team.
Everyone just needs to shut up and let the negotiation teams do their job without a minute-by-minute commentary. It’s going to be difficult enough for them to get through everything in the timescale anyway.
Totally agree. How dare anyone point out, for example, that less than a year ago in the House of Commons David Davis promised a final deal with "the exact same benefits" of EU membership as we have now. It is outrageous that he should be reminded that in 2016 he stated: "Within two years, before the negotiation with the EU is likely to be complete, and therefore before anything material has changed, we can negotiate a free trade area massively larger than the EU."
Anyone who points out that the man responsible for negotiating Brexit has a track record of being totally wrong about Brexit is a traitor. It's as simple as that.
The Secretary of State for Leaving the EU will of course be accountable for the final deal that he comes back with. A deal which is still very much under negotiation and will be for the next several months.
My point is that if we are to get anything approaching a good deal, then everyone on both sides needs to calm down the hyperbolic rhetoric and channel their efforts into making the negotiations a success.
So, you are not worried that the Secretary of State in whose hands our prosperity lies has, to date, talked total tripe that is demonstrably wrong?
I always liked that Cameron and Osborne seemed in lockstep. Even if didn't like what they were doing, they seemed like a genuine team.
It was so refreshing not having to worry about or second guess or try to read the tealeaves about what was happening behind the closed doors of No. 10. That counted for a lot, nationally, I'd warrant.
Now? Well at least with Blair/Brown it was only Blair/Brown. Now it is everyone.
The problem is a small number of MPs and a larger group of the media who are in Stop-Brexit-At-Any-Cost mode. They’re showing little sign of giving up - even if their crusade ultimately ends in a no-deal crash out of the EU.
Their to do.
They really need to think "WTF are they doing....?"
Indeed. team.
Everyone just needs to shut up and let the negotiation teams do their job without a minute-by-minute commentary. It’s going to be difficult enough for them to get through everything in the timescale anyway.
Totally agree. How dare anyone point out, for example, that less than a year ago in the House of Commons David Davis promised a final deal with "the exact same benefits" of EU membership as we have now. It is outrageous that he should be reminded that in 2016 he stated: "Within two years, before the negotiation with the EU is likely to be complete, and therefore before anything material has changed, we can negotiate a free trade area massively larger than the EU."
Anyone who points out that the man responsible for negotiating Brexit has a track record of being totally wrong about Brexit is a traitor. It's as simple as that.
The Secretary of State for Leaving the EU will of course be accountable for the final deal that he comes back with. A deal which is still very much under negotiation and will be for the next several months.
My point is that if we are to get anything approaching a good deal, then everyone on both sides needs to calm down the hyperbolic rhetoric and channel their efforts into making the negotiations a success.
In a democracy, it's not the job of journalists or individual citizens to be on a side. If the government wants to shut critics up the best way of doing it is to deliver on the promises about Brexit that have been made. "They need us more than we need them", "They will be desperate for a deal" and "Sunlit uplands with no downsides" were surely not contingent on everyone in the UK getting behind David Davis.
Asking a 91-year old woman to walk backwards in heels down a stepped monument is not on. She very nearly caught a heel doing so last year.
I don't recall her mother laying a wreath - it was always done by an equerry.
Seems perfectly sensible to me for Queen to let Charles do it. She has already said she is cutting back on official stuff and Charles and William will take on more.
She’s 91, has said she’ll attend the event but probably doesn’t fancy standing outside for more than an hour on a cold November day.
After a lifetime of gracious service, she deserves to be cut some slack in her nineties.
Asking a 91-year old woman to walk backwards in heels down a stepped monument is not on. She very nearly caught a heel doing so last year.
I don't recall her mother laying a wreath - it was always done by an equerry.
Seems perfectly sensible to me for Queen to let Charles do it. She has already said she is cutting back on official stuff and Charles and William will take on more.
She’s 91, has said she’ll attend the event but probably doesn’t fancy standing outside for more than an hour on a cold November day.
After a lifetime of gracious service, she deserves to be cut some slack in her nineties.
She deserves a retirement.
If she's not able to fulfill her duties anymore she can abdicate and retire.
All of this is clear to see. Its what the EU already does. Yet the dipshit brigade keep insisting it can't happen here and that no preparation is needed. Its a level of stupidity that is malfeasance in public office...
We are becoming Michael Moorcock's "Granbretan". We have plenty of deranged policies, now all we need are the animal masks....
There is little point in worrying about Corbyn bringing a revolution that will destroy the UK. The revolutionaries are already in charge and they are busy destroying the UK.
Asking a 91-year old woman to walk backwards in heels down a stepped monument is not on. She very nearly caught a heel doing so last year.
I don't recall her mother laying a wreath - it was always done by an equerry.
Seems perfectly sensible to me for Queen to let Charles do it. She has already said she is cutting back on official stuff and Charles and William will take on more.
She’s 91, has said she’ll attend the event but probably doesn’t fancy standing outside for more than an hour on a cold November day.
After a lifetime of gracious service, she deserves to be cut some slack in her nineties.
Trainers? Or perhaps some nice flats or ballet pumps?
The comparison is probably more acute than you think (within the context of course of it being wholly incomparable).
The deaths came because collective owners lied to the government about their production output. So everyone starved because there was no food as the government thought that all was well in the country.
Of course there was the parallel anti-intellectual movement but the deaths came because no one dared to tell Mao that they were starving to death.
It depends whether you see the Great Leap Forward (1958-1962) and the Cultural Revolution (active phase 1966 - 1969) as part of the same movement. There was a reaction in the years between. It's the Cultural Revolution that might be compared with the current situation because it was an elite-led anti-establishment political and cultural revolution (which unlike the current situation involved the murder of several hundred thousand people). The country still functioned after a fashion. The mass starvation resulting in the deaths of tens of millions of people and a halving of the live birth rate was in the Great Leap Forward.
The political consequence of the Cultural Revolution was ultimately reactionary. The key concern of Chinese leaders to this day is that nothing like that should ever happen again. That's the takeaway for us, and even more for the Republican Party post-Trump, I think. They will look for leaders that are as unlike Trump as possible: dull, managerial, ideologically sound.
I always liked that Cameron and Osborne seemed in lockstep. Even if didn't like what they were doing, they seemed like a genuine team.
Their to do.
They really need to think "WTF are they doing....?"
Indeed. team.
Everyone just needs to shut up and let the negotiation teams do their job without a minute-by-minute commentary. It’s going to be difficult enough for them to get through everything in the timescale anyway.
Totally agree. How dare anyone point out, for example, that less than a year ago in the House of Commons David Davis promised a final deal with "the exact same benefits" of EU membership as we have now. It is outrageous that he should be reminded that in 2016 he stated: "Within two years, before the negotiation with the EU is likely to be complete, and therefore before anything material has changed, we can negotiate a free trade area massively larger than the EU."
Anyone who points out that the man responsible for negotiating Brexit has a track record of being totally wrong about Brexit is a traitor. It's as simple as that.
The Secretary of State for Leaving the EU will of course be accountable for the final deal that he comes back with. A deal which is still very much under negotiation and will be for the next several months.
My point is that if we are to get anything approaching a good deal, then everyone on both sides needs to calm down the hyperbolic rhetoric and channel their efforts into making the negotiations a success.
In a democracy, it's not the job of journalists or individual citizens to be on a side. If the government wants to shut critics up the best way of doing it is to deliver on the promises about Brexit that have been made. "They need us more than we need them", "They will be desperate for a deal" and "Sunlit uplands with no downsides" were surely not contingent on everyone in the UK getting behind David Davis.
Indeed. They’re trying to deliver on their promises and I think they should be allowed to do what they were instructed to via a referendum, without the majority of the Establishment trying to prevent it. (See Clegg, N and Bercow, J for examples downthread).
Maybe we should look to rejoin the EU in the future, I don’t know. But to try and stop us leaving is overriding the expressed will of the people.
The political consequence of the Cultural Revolution was ultimately reactionary. The key concern of Chinese leaders to this day is that nothing like that should ever happen again. That's the takeaway for us, and even more for the Republican Party post-Trump, I think. They will look for leaders that are as unlike Trump as possible: dull, managerial, ideologically sound.
What an ridiculous and offensive thing to say. Quite apart from the fact that the Queen has dedicated herself to a lifetime of public service with a work ethic that would put Stakhanov to shame, actually took part in a small way in a war effort and has, I suspect, met more veterans than Tom Newton-Dunn has had hot dinners, I don't see any merit in forcing very old ladies to perform like trained monkeys to satisfy the whims of tabloid journalists.
All of this is clear to see. Its what the EU already does. Yet the dipshit brigade keep insisting it can't happen here and that no preparation is needed. Its a level of stupidity that is malfeasance in public office...
There is little point in worrying about Corbyn bringing a revolution that will destroy the UK. The revolutionaries are already in charge and they are busy destroying the UK.
Exactly so. The prospect of a Corbyn government might be unnerving but it is nowhere near as frightening as jumping off the cliff with Boris and Theresa.
Very well put. It's not the dogma. It's the implementation. One advantage for such people is that they are never wrong ! It is always someone else's fault!
The comparison is probably more acute than you think (within the context of course of it being wholly incomparable).
The deaths came because collective owners lied to the government about their production output. So everyone starved because there was no food as the government thought that all was well in the country.
Of course there was the parallel anti-intellectual movement but the deaths came because no one dared to tell Mao that they were starving to death.
It depends whether you see the Great Leap Forward (1958-1962) and the Cultural Revolution (active phase 1966 - 1969) as part of the same movement. There was a reaction in the years between. It's the Cultural Revolution that might be compared with the current situation because it was an elite-led anti-establishment political and cultural revolution (which unlike the current situation involved the murder of several hundred thousand people). The country still functioned after a fashion. The mass starvation resulting in the deaths of tens of millions of people and a halving of the live birth rate was in the Great Leap Forward.
The political consequence of the Cultural Revolution was ultimately reactionary. The key concern of Chinese leaders to this day is that nothing like that should ever happen again. That's the takeaway for us, and even more for the Republican Party post-Trump, I think. They will look for leaders that are as unlike Trump as possible: dull, managerial, ideologically sound.
I would see the two as the same elements of that overall, purification movement (and in fact it continued in lesser forms for at least a decade afterwards - witness the campaigns against spiritual pollution and then bourgeois liberalisation).
But yes, the actual starvations came in the GLF. And yes also, today's Chinese leaders are pragmatists, something the West often misunderstands and yes also x2 the last thing they want is a Trump-like ideologue (if indeed you can categorise Trump is such); even Jezza would be too far out there for them.
Wow. Unless Tom Clacy got it wrong or things have changed I believe there is a basic rule that a President cannot authorise a nuclear strike without confirmation from a suitable senior official. You'd hope no-one is as crazy as the President...
Asking a 91-year old woman to walk backwards in heels down a stepped monument is not on. She very nearly caught a heel doing so last year.
I don't recall her mother laying a wreath - it was always done by an equerry.
Seems perfectly sensible to me for Queen to let Charles do it. She has already said she is cutting back on official stuff and Charles and William will take on more.
She’s 91, has said she’ll attend the event but probably doesn’t fancy standing outside for more than an hour on a cold November day.
After a lifetime of gracious service, she deserves to be cut some slack in her nineties.
Trainers? Or perhaps some nice flats or ballet pumps?
I’ll take a guess that she’s probably not 100% sure of how she’ll be feeling on the day, and given the amount of planning that goes into the service doesn’t want to change anything or generate headlines at the last minute.
She’d rather be happily watching from the balcony than needing a stick or a chair on the street. I imagine this will be first of many engagements which will be planned differently to accommodate HM in her advancing years.
The old 'unintended offence' weasel worded reverse ferret.
I'm guessing old Tom has never actually served his country so presumably needs to be seen to be more patriotic than those who have and who are very happy indeed with HMQ not being on parade.
cf. PB Leavers desperate to show their patriotic fervour by calling everyone who disagrees with them "traitors".
Comments
Be nice.
Just listen to yourself! Some perspective is required.
There are other groups claiming to represent British business such as the FSB, IOD, British Chambers of Commerce and probably many others I don't know...
Also, could some "never had a real job" theorist please put up a list of real jobs, or failing that some kind of flowchart thingy so that we can identify them ourselves?
She had to be imposed on her local party because they didn't want her as their parliamentary candidate. She's a perfect example of New Labour myopia, and always slavishly followed Brown. A perfect example of how the Blair-Brown conflict boosted factionalists rather than talent.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-41590429
Worth a nibble at 100/1 next PM and 66/1 next leader (Boyles; 50/1 generally) imo because Hunt can inherit the safe pair of hands monicker from Hammond or Fallon, with less baggage.
Anyone who points out that the man responsible for negotiating Brexit has a track record of being totally wrong about Brexit is a traitor. It's as simple as that.
Edit: https://medium.com/@pitt_bob/how-angela-eagle-got-to-be-mp-for-wallasey-e30d4ad9483
He needs to go.
I'd suspect that this would be based on states contributions, because support for the leading party would not necessarily survive if there were a major uplift in 2022 in terms of budgetary contribution. It's domestic politics of the big players outweighing the general good of the EU bloc.
So the holdout is 'Financial contribution' -for which this is a one sided agreement. Not up until 2022, which is a fairly easy calculation and generally accepted by all, but beyond - for which there must be some quid pro quo in terms of the future relationship.
Then after the crunch tears a hole below the waterline, watertight doors? Well we can't make them here any more after we "rationalised" industry in favour of more coffee shops. And thanks to the drop in FX and the massive delays and costs getting anything imported from the Iceberg I'm afraid we'll have to sink.
But be assured! We took back control! We no longer have to pay any attention to the Iceberg's "steer around" signs as we triumphantly sink to the bottom.
https://twitter.com/tnewtondunn/status/918393800623558656
And this is after the revolution...
My point is that if we are to get anything approaching a good deal, then everyone on both sides needs to calm down the hyperbolic rhetoric and channel their efforts into making the negotiations a success.
I don't recall her mother laying a wreath - it was always done by an equerry.
Edit: beaten to it I see!
https://twitter.com/tnewtondunn/status/918393800623558656
The deaths came because collective owners lied to the government about their production output. So everyone starved because there was no food as the government thought that all was well in the country.
Of course there was the parallel anti-intellectual movement but the deaths came because no one dared to tell Mao that they were starving to death.
https://twitter.com/robert___harris/status/918199784896389124
And yet ze Germans are preparing for how they keep functioning when MINI and the BMW engine plant are caught on the wrong side of the channel and the food industry is wargaming worst case scenarios about how to keep functioning when the 1/3 of food and ingredients that we import gets stuck.
They tell me its no problem. We declare a tariff free zone and open our borders without checks (truly taking back control from the current situation of open borders without checks...). But its not traffic inbound to the UK thats the problem, its outbound. Because WTO means the EU enforces its external border as it does now elsewhere. Which means massively lengthy and expensive customs checks on the EU side of the border. Which massively back up vehicles on our side which means a lack of vehicles coming back through the other way.
All of this is clear to see. Its what the EU already does. Yet the dipshit brigade keep insisting it can't happen here and that no preparation is needed. Its a level of stupidity that is malfeasance in public office...
After a lifetime of gracious service, she deserves to be cut some slack in her nineties.
If she's not able to fulfill her duties anymore she can abdicate and retire.
There is little point in worrying about Corbyn bringing a revolution that will destroy the UK. The revolutionaries are already in charge and they are busy destroying the UK.
https://twitter.com/leahmcelrath/status/918282269630091266
The political consequence of the Cultural Revolution was ultimately reactionary. The key concern of Chinese leaders to this day is that nothing like that should ever happen again. That's the takeaway for us, and even more for the Republican Party post-Trump, I think. They will look for leaders that are as unlike Trump as possible: dull, managerial, ideologically sound.
Maybe we should look to rejoin the EU in the future, I don’t know. But to try and stop us leaving is overriding the expressed will of the people.
Hard brexit costing us £12k per worker by 2030.
What's that in hospitals?
https://twitter.com/tnewtondunn/status/918405928466165760
https://twitter.com/tnewtondunn/status/918405928466165760
But yes, the actual starvations came in the GLF. And yes also, today's Chinese leaders are pragmatists, something the West often misunderstands and yes also x2 the last thing they want is a Trump-like ideologue (if indeed you can categorise Trump is such); even Jezza would be too far out there for them.
That's enough mustelidae, otter know better. Ed
Anyone back under my bridge.
She’d rather be happily watching from the balcony than needing a stick or a chair on the street. I imagine this will be first of many engagements which will be planned differently to accommodate HM in her advancing years.
cf. PB Leavers desperate to show their patriotic fervour by calling everyone who disagrees with them "traitors".