It's quite difficult to find the right words for your first appearance at Prime Minister's Questions. But when your debut coincides with the departure of the Prime Minister, it's even tougher. You don't want to be too attacking given that the person you are questioning has just been forced out of office, even if she has been responsible for the hostile environment. What Jo managed with this question was to land blows Boris, who she's said consistently is not fit to be PM and to give May the opportunity to attack Labour for being the only party not to have ...
Responding to the appointment of Priti Patel as the new Home Secretary, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Ed Davey said: "The job of the Home Secretary is to keep our country safe and ensure that everyone's rights are respected. "But now we have a Conservative Home Secretary who voted against allowing same sex couples to marry, has argued that it is wrong for citizens to hold the Government to account through the courts, and is one of the most enthusiastic advocates of Brexit - which would rob British police of the European Arrest Warrant and other crucial crime-fighting tools. "The ...
Commenting on the appointment of Sajid Javid as the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Liberal Democrats Treasury & Business spokesperson Chuka Umunna said: "By handing Sajid Javid the reigns of the economy, it is clear that Boris Johnson is choosing a Chancellor for the top 1%. "In the Tory leadership race - where he called his new PM 'yesterday's news' - Sajid Javid campaigned to give more money to the rich by scrapping the top band of income tax and to give large firms a big tax cut which business groups haven't even been asking for. Meanwhile, middle and ...
News is coming through of Johnson's Cabinet appointments. The one that catches my eye the most is that of Priti Patel as Home Secretary. This is enough to make me shudder. This one-time backer of capital punishment has an illiberal record on LGBT issues. She opposed same sex marriage, an issue for which she is now responsible at the Home Office. We previously had the "hostile" environment
In the unlikely event that any EU leader might possibly have harboured any generous illusions about the character of the man on the eve of his investiture as leader of the Conservative Party and P.M. of the UK, Boris Johnson delivered a timely reminder of his lazy lack of preparation, his cheap populism and incontinent ... Continue reading Johnson, A. B. de Pfeffel, delivers a timely reminder to EU leaders
Second paragraph of third chapter:At seven, at Lilycroft Primary, I was chosen to sing a solo verse in the carol In The Deep Midwinter. As I innocently started the verse, I was astonished to see the heads of the watching parents jerk up suddenly from their programmes, and listen in rapt attention. It was my first taste of power over an audience, and I loved It. Nor have I forgotten my earliest night of stage triumph in Karel Čapek's Insect Play, performed at Bradford Girls' Grammar, circa 1966, in which I was playing the lead role of the Tramp. I ...
Summer provides the perfect time to piece together your campaign team in advance of your next set of elections. In a single ward election, your team doesn't need to be huge to win. Just sharing the load between a few committed people will make victory achievable and the process a lot more fun. You'll want to engage as many people as possible for your team of volunteers. But this is not the case with your core team which should be kept small. Larger teams mean big meetings which will slow you down; campaigns require speed and decisiveness. The team should ...
Dear Jo Swinson, Congratulations on winning the leadership of our party by a majority of two to one (or nearly). The press acknowledge your enthusiasm and communication skills, and I hope they will be effective, especially in attracting young and idealistic campaigners. There are one or two things in your opening remarks as leader on which I'd like to offer some notes of caution. First, you invite existing Labour and Conservative MPs to come and join us. Fine if they immediately resign tier seats and fight as Liberal Democrats to regain them. If they don't then their present constituents, and ...
[IMG: Image result for o'mara clegg] Last night the chief of staff for the Sheffield Hallam MP resigned in what I'll diplomatically call a rather dramatic fashion. Gareth Arnold used Jared O'Mara's own twitter feed to make a very public statement, describing the MP as "the most disgustingly morally bankrupt person I have ever had the displeasure of working with", "a selfish, degenerate prick" and "a vile, inexcusable contempt for the people who voted you in". To say there was a huge reaction to this on social media is something of an understatement. Some demanded O'Mara resigns and allows for ...
With both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats now with new leaders, the two parties are also in first and second in the latest opinion poll: NEW @YouGov poll for @thetimes carried out *after* Johnson win Con 25% (-) Lab 19% (-2) Lib Dem 23% (+3) Brexit 17% (-2) Green 9% (+1) Breakdown shows Tories losing support to Lib Dems but picking up Brexit Party vote. Look at the trendhttps://t.co/XCEmK5O0Tk pic.twitter.com/0xI4I15Wbp — Matt Chorley (@MattChorley) July 24, 2019
Yes, a second blog post in a week. I am spoiling you! Or not, as this is in fact something that should be very worrying to you all. I have been working for a while on a big review of ... Continue reading →
Boris 'Kipper' Johnson appears to believe that technological solutions can quickly be found for the Irish border problem. Everyone in the computer industry knows that is fantasy, which would lead to an orgy of criminality. Right now, clever people are thinking about juicy ways to make money from a new land frontier, or just to cause trouble. My own taste runs more to throwing grit in bureaucracy than throwing mud at surveillance cameras, but readers can probably think of far worse things to do. We should be thinking about another side to this issue. The day is not far off ...
Responding to the Industrial Trends Survey published today by the CBI, showing that UK manufacturing output fell at the fastest pace since the financial crisis, Liberal Democrat Treasury and Business spokesperson Chuka Umunna said:"Boris Johnson talks about the need for a 'can do' attitude but by pursuing a 'no deal' Brexit he is asking British businesses to run up a down escalator - which makes it all the more difficult to do business. "These are not forecasts, these are facts. Uncertainty caused by the Brexit Boris Johnson campaigned for is already negatively impacting on the economy. As a minimum, he ...
Last Saturday, I caught up with our wonderful Brecon and Radnorshire candidate Jane Dodds. We talked about her campaign, her message to Plaid Cymru and Green voters and what she wanted to achieve for the area. Enjoy. If you can help Jane's campaign, all the information you need is here. * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
Decisions about Liverpool issues should be decided by a committee system in which councillors debate issues in a representative system and in such a way that residents can understand the issues There will be an Extraordinary Meeting of Liverpool City ... Continue reading →
Boris Johnson becoming Prime Minister is a sign we’re no longer interested in interacting with the world as it is.
As the dust begins to settle after the Leadership Election (and many congratulations to Jo and commiserations to Ed) there will, as usual, be time for some self-evaluation and reflection for the party, even if the other leadership election that's happened means there might be a bit less of it than normal! With that in mind I only have one thing to add to everything else that will be going on in the coming days and that's a note of thanks to Jo and Ed for their unwavering support for trans people during the Leadership election. You both stood by ...
Wed 24th
09:29
The Tories are engaged in a form of thinking that belongs in the hunter-gatherer epoch
Many people in Britain are appalled by the idea that Boris Johnson is now prime minister. These same people look at the Conservative party and wonder how they could have inflicted this on both themselves and the rest of us. They want to understand the thinking behind this move. I think I've found a way to explain it: Johnson becoming PM represents the collective thinking of the Tories having descended to what can only be described as a Palaeolithic level. Many Conservatives have escaped from this mode of thought, but not nearly enough of them. The Tories that have been ...
I could ramble on for ages on the negative aspects of Prime Minister Johnson. There are, however, two glimmers of positivity: 1. The Brexiteer-in-chief will now have to (and apologies for using this rude expression but it seems the only one which properly sums it up) "own his shit". He will now have to try to deliver on his several years of conflicting and self-defeating promises. As Robert Peston has observed: ...having achieved his lifelong dream of becoming PM, and by the most tortuous and painful route, it is a matter of honour for him that he doesn't totally mess ...
The day before yesterday, we had Boris Johnson's Brexit. Yesterday, we had the strengthening of American protectionism by Donald Trump, on behalf of the America First program. Today, we have Shinzo Abe taking economic reprisals against South Korea, after the Seoul Supreme Court confirmed the decision to impose on Japanese companies compensation payments to the [...] The post The world's economic fragmentation continues appeared first on Radix.
I am not one of those who thinks that Boris Johnson will come unstuck quickly, ending up as the shortest serving Prime Minister, but I do think that he will be facing an uphill struggle to deliver any of his promises on Brexit. As the Guardian reports, Johnson has been put on notice by rebel Conservatives that he will not survive long as prime minister unless he drops his no-deal Brexit agenda. Rory Stewart, a former leadership rival, has joined Philip Hammond and David Gauke in telling Johnson he would quit the cabinet before the new prime minister takes office ...
