How a PM is chosen by the majority party has nothing to do with the democracy of the system. The PM is not in charge. Parliament is. The system is democratic because the PM is the person, however chosen, who has the confidence of Parliament. Parliament is elected democratically (ignoring, as one should, the House of Lords). If Parliament places its confidence in the winner of an underground MMA tournament in Prague, then that person is the PM, even though that would violate several extremely entrenched conventions. Because the democratically chosen representatives of the people vote in support of that leader. If the electorate is unhappy with who their Members of Parliament support, they are free to vote in new MPs in the next election. And, in my admittedly preposterous example, should have voted more wisely in the last one.
Boris Johnson was pretty much the main one who had argued that it was simple. And yet was proven wrong on that count. Why in gods name they then decided to the back the one who clearly lied about being simple to solve it, completely baffles me about the stupidity of this electorate.
He also did not “Get Brexit Done”. He signed a bad faith agreement which has led them to break international law, as a starting point to Brexit. They’ve threatened to completely tear up the starting point of Brexit (Northern Ireland Protocol) about 50 times since 2020
So Brexit is not just ongoing, but has nearly caused a trade war three times at least in the last year. Every so often a member of the US government has to phone up whatever idiot is in charge this time (I think it Truss last time) and tell them that breaking the NIP and this the Good Friday Agreement would not end well (I’m guessing with sanctions from the US).
Rees-Mogg is pretty much the head troll in the trolling strategy of the UK government. Patel, Dorries, Fabricant (if you think thats a joke name, you should see his hair), as well as Johnson, would make some outrageously stupid statement, often insulting a group in the UK (last time I think it was one I belonged to, cyclists, one of who Johnson claims to be), or just plain stupid. It’s the throwing of the dead cat onto the table to divert from their latest failure. It seemed to work for the idiotsphere which votes tories though, fueled by hatred of everyone but themselves.
The classic example of this tactic is the huge publicity of putting Rees-Mogg in charge of Brexit benefits. To find benefits of Brexit. I think he was there six months. He still has not published any Brexit Benefits.
I am not sure it is working or is effective now. It seemed to burn out when Johnson was the way out, and Braverman was trying it the other day and that’s that for her. I think it doesn’t seem to be working any more without a pliant press to publish their trolling unquestioned.
It doesn’t matter, it’s a “3 word slogan”. Britain needs 3 words slogans. They work. It’s what got these muppets* into power. It’s something for their fans to chant while they’re trying to think.
*Arsehole scumbags.
Had they checked the fridge?
That was likely Dominic Cummings’ idea. You may remember him as the unelected bureaucrat who was running the country after we left the EU to keep unelected bureaucrats from running the country.
Better to just leave it in a hospital…
The key takeaway from the fracking vote is not the vote count but that absolute shitshow around the imposition of a three-line whip, which really pissed off the members (because fracking is not a very popular thing at the moment and most MPs don’t want to be associated with it) and at one point involved the departure/removal of the Chief Whip and her deputy, although they may be back now - who fucking knows at this point?
The Government tried to look strong and immediately began falling to pieces. Again.
You are forgetting the fact that we can now have signs showing the nearest
exits in tunnels in yards instead of meters.
Yeah, we were at a gig last night, but just reading about this now. This is my understanding.
-
Apparently, they decided to make the fracking vote last night a confidence in the government motion, thus could have brought down the government if it failed.
-
This meant they needed the whips to make sure the MPs voted with the government, and they’d lose the whip (in effect be thrown out of the party, and not represent the tories in the next election) if they didn’t.
-
A number of Tory MPs are in the areas which will be fracked, lovely rural areas full of posh people. They are opposed to fracking.
-
Some of these MPs have stated they will vote for fracking, because they can’t bring the government down from the outside. Thus wanting to bring down the government.
-
Due to the threats of whips being withdrawn, two senior whips resigned.
-
The government then made it not about confidence, or not remove the whip (not quite sure of the details here)
-
The whips unresigned.
-
There was a mob on the floor surrounding other MPs shouting at them to vote with the government, like some government from Moldova or something where they throw chairs at each other during debates.
-
The prime minister might well have forgotten to vote with the government, apparently.
For those not up to date, Truss wanted to break the promise they made in the last election, and to push ahead with fracking AND to make it a “confidence issue”, i.e., Tory MPs not voting to support the government would no longer be considered party members (and therefore support at the next election). Those opposed were naturally riled; and barely 10 minutes before the voting was due to begin, the minister winding up the debate let slip that it wasn’t after all a confidence issue, which didn’t seem to have been communicated to the whips. Hence confusion in the lobbies as they tried to work out what they were supposed to be doing and what their options were; and at one point, it is alleged a senior minister and a whip were physically trying to drag MPs into the government’s lobby. Hence too the confusion about whether the Chief Whip and her deputy had resigned, been sacked or were still in post.
All in all:
@Gorsnak’s suggestion of MMA in Prague is looking closer to the mark with each passing hour.
I’m not clear - I don’t think anyone’s clear - but I thought that the whips resigned after the announcement that it wasn’t a confidence vote after all. (I.e. in a fit of absolute rage that they’d spent all day trying to make people vote against their own manifesto to win a confidence vote, and after all that Downing St panic and call it off. If my boss stitched me up like that I’d quit too.) The unresignation (I think) happened after 11.30, when Downing St sent a WhatsApp to the effect that it was a confidence vote after all.
Any which way up, shit show at the fuck factory.
Prague is note for its defenestrations. Somehow I got a feeling that’s going to be significant…
Is that not how the prime minister is chosen? I thought “members of the party” was shorthand for “members of the party elected to a seat in the House of Commons.”
No, it’s confusing but they’re 2 different things …
“members of the party elected to a seat in the House of Commons.” are MPs,
“members of the party" is anyone who signs up/registers/pays a subscription
or whatever. They are joe public and are not elected to anything.
(afaik, MPs don’t necessarily have to be the latter, but probably are)
…and also, the aforementioned joe public may be Labour supporters up to mischief !
No, anyone can become a member of a political party. In this case it was simply the membership that voted. It’s just fascists and people looking to short the pound that’s left, that’s how Truss won over Sunak. It was a contest of who can say the most egregious things, rather than saying things that would get you elected by the general population.
My grandmother tore up her membership of the Conservative party in front of me, after Boris Johnson became PM. She tore up a membership card or something that came in the post, and declared: “Shan’t be voting for them ever again.” She used to throw luncheons and garden parties for the party, but became disgusted with what they have become.
I’m so proud of her for seeing through it all. I painstakingly explained what happened with Cambridge Analytica during the referendum - not easy for her to understand as she’s nearly 90 - and she said she had nobody else to talk to about these things.
The recent goings on in Parliament sound downright funkadelic.
Head of the 1922 committee has entered number 10 for an unscheduled meeting.
That was already an hour ago. Latest news is that there will be an announcement from Downing Street in ten minutes.
…and she’s gone !
One-week long leadership election with only the Parliamentary party getting a vote.
So is that a new record for shortest term in office?