THE BRITISH THREAD II

A question.

I am a bit perplexed by the recent turn by Boris Johnson and the decision by Michael Gove to replace him as candidate for the leadership of the Conservative party in Parliament. Was the effusive and artful Johnson really surprised and unready for the victory he and his allies achieved in the recent BREXIT referendum, as it sometimes appears? Like Bill Clinton he appears to be an engaging and picaresque figure who gets close to the fire but often survives without serious burns. Michael Gove appears relatively lacking in a sense of irony, but beyond that I don't have any good insights, and would like to get some from posters here.

With respect to the larger issue I believe the UK will do well either in or out of the EU and that the issues behind the "leave" movement are real and probably widespread on the continent as well. That said I'm sure there are a lot of conccerns over the matter now. The EU has been wonderfully successful in its growth over the past 65 years, fully achieving its goals of peace, economic growth and relative harmony in Europe. However that success of late has involved a pragmatic evasion of basic issues of sovereignty and the creation of a largely bureaucratic state with ever increasing reach in Brussels. Economic saclerosis and growing public disquiet could become the result.

The USA and the UK have been friends and (sometimes disputatious) allies for a long time, and I don't think that many of us share the views of our self-absorbed President on the matter, We can deal with long term friends either in or out of the EU with the same priority and efficacy.

bump

bump

BUMP BUMP

Bump

I don't think that anyone really knows the motifs ... besides they themselves.

Johnson, Gove and Cameron have been buddies since Oxford university times.

I think that Johnson just wanted to become tthe new PM, without any plan what should or could happen after a Brexit - because he didn't believe it would happen.

Gove’s surprise move undermined Johnson’s chances of winning the internal party vote to be the new leader, but also seemed to make it unlikely that he could succeed either, given how many bitter accusations of betrayal it prompted from fellow and prominent Conservatives.

Johnson had made promises to people along the way, as to their roles in the next parliament, and Boris was a shoo-in for PM if the Brexit vote carried, which it did. Gove knew, or found out, that Johnson had no intention of keeping his promises, Gove knows he is a flake. Also Boris had a mysterious meeting with Paul Dacre, influential newspaper editor, in the week before the vote, and it apparently changed his mind. The press have got something on him apparently, some dark secret. It's not too much of a stretch to imagine Boris has a skeleton or two hidden in the cupboard.

There's a very good article in The Guardian this week (Tuesday ?) in the series The Long Read, on the Brexit campaign and vote.

He may appear to be so, but that is an illusion. He messes up his hair before any appearance in front of cameras. He is deeply sinister.

I think May has deliberately put the Brexiters on the foreign desk. She will focus on the domestic and when they screw up, and they will, she'll be able to marginalise them further. Boris is a bloody idiot, Davis and Fox absolutely loathe each other, and it's still not clear which one of the three will be in overall charge. We think it might be Boris, but it's still very vague.

Exactly.

What do people think of Froome's tour so far? He looks like a strong favorite after the time trial. If he wins it again will this year's gc victory be tainted? After the organizers gave him the same finishing time as the riders he collided with, on that stage where he crashed and had to run?

Don't really follow it or know enough about it sorry.

Leadsom has the real poisoned chalice, taking away the farmer's EU subsidy that she promised would be safe.

They are both twats. Davies has said that "most parents don't want gay children" and when called on it, defended himself by revealing he had once fought an amateur boxing match against a gay boxer called "the Pink Pounder", as if that proved he wasn't bigoted. Fox once told a joke where the punch line is "The Spice Girls." ("What do you call three dogs and a blackbird?"). May is being very clever. She can sit back and watch them screw up (promising complete support all the while) and none of the **** will stick to her. They will screw up. They are third-rate; dickheads; wankers; accidents waiting to happen. This is the biggest clue that I can see to May's intentions, now I think about it. If you are serious about what would be the most complex project of political and economic untangling that has ever been attempted, that if it goes ahead, will break up the UK, why appoint two tossers and a "massive Johnson"?

You did see Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson's joke? Ostensibly about Labour under Corbyn: “Thats the difference between our two parties: Labour is still fumbling with its flies while the Tories are enjoying their post-coital cigarette. After withdrawing our massive Johnson”. There is no love lost between Davidson and Boris.

It's not just him, it's the Sky-team.

Although the question everyone is asking is, is Boris Johnson a time travelling Tory transvestite?

Exactly 50 years ago, I was having a bottle of Harp Lager and watched tv in Dorset.



I was invited to Scotland afterwards

They're showing a "live" screening at the local cinema. Imagine if you did that. It would be a lot more than once every fifty years, that's for sure.