Rolling Brexit Links/UK politics in the neo-Weimar era

But 12 of them looked 200!

How did we go from an Immigration minister called Brokenshire to one called Goodwill...

That Surrey leak ought to be doing some damage, but it will be mainly dead celeb getting all the clicks.

Will have to find a way to prolong the story beyond the week of national mourning for Tara Palmer-Tomkinson.

c.lew resigns

if there is another leadership election, could Lewis get the requisite number of nominations from Lab MPs to be on the ballot? I guess there could be some MPs who might nominate him on the basis that, even though he wouldn't have been their first choice, they know any candidate from the right or lol soft-left would likely lose to Corbyn?

(xp) There goes the Surrey County Council story.

It was probably already going to get buried by the Ketchup debate, which is already two places above it on BBC's most popular stories.

re: Surrey, it won't be the last story of its kind.

Labour should've pressed for its amendments - but for Lewis to resign is a shit show. If he does get his hands in the leadership I think the right-wing could easily push him out. There are Umunna-levels of idiocy to exploit.

clive lewis must think we have short memories

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/nov/15/clive-lewis-labour-eu-free-movement-corbyn

the fact that just him resigning has caused a flurry of speculation about corbyn's leadership shows how dire labour's situation is right now

There is always speculation (rumours he would set a date for departure earlier in the day, which sounds unforunded). I expect more speculation if he loses either or both by-elections. Obviosuly hoping he'll stay but any movement should not be depedant on any one person.

honestly looking at labour's situation and not to be a sad sack defeatist but there is absolutely no chance that any course of action from here on out doesn't end in total disaster

This is nice, on the march to communism folks: https://twitter.com/EdmundGriffiths/status/829437871480328193

If I was a Blairite pound shop Machiavelli I'd probably want Lewis in the race to split the left vote.

Obviously six identikit Blairites would all run at once ruining my brilliant plan at a stroke but hey.

Don't you keep eliminating the candidates with the least votes one by one until someone has got a majority? So it wouldn't matter if the vote was split?

I don't think Lewis's resignation has anything to do with the leadership. Pundits say that kind of thing because it's their genre.

He did not think it was right to vote for Brexit, without the amendments. Also, his constituency is anti-Brexit so he may have been pragmatic in voting for what would be popular there. In any case he had already promised that he would not vote for Brexit without the amendments. He has stood by his word and refused to vote for it. His resignation from shadow cabinet is presumably a direct result of that.

When I saw him spouting pro-Brexit stuff a week or two ago I was doubtful but I now think it may have been tactical.

I like him. I think he is one of the best MPs.

"one of the best MPs" is faint praise indeed

faint praise being exactly what Lewis deserves I guess

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/feb/09/real-fight-starts-now-jeremy-corbyn-brexit-tweet

so good to see "what is the point of Jeremy Corbyn" developing separately but in parallel to "what is the point of the Labour Party"

The Guardian clearly building for a 3rd leadership challenge. Owen Jones and Clive Lewis really are two dumb dipshits

What have they said to give you that impression?

Oh good, no amendments (not even the one about the rights of EU citizens in the UK, or the one saying "maybe we shouldn't fuck up the Good Friday Agreement"). Thanks guys.

Thanks both Oxford MPs voting it through too. Guess Andrew Smith's seat is safe enough that it doesn't matter to him that 70% of his constituents voted Remain. Guess Nicola Blackwood didn't notice during her time as Chair of the Science & Technology Committee (despite being a home-schooled Christian music grad) and also representing a constituency where a significant % of voters work in research & higher education that science, research & higher ed are really dependent on EU funding, collaboration, students & workers.

Grr.

There seems to be a lot of naivety about what replacing Corbyn would mean. As much as journalists on the soft left would like to believe that his problems are his presentation, 'baggage', ways of working, etc, the tone of the coverage and framing of debate will remain more or less the same unless Lewis, Nandy, Starmer, etc, explicitly disavow any broadly leftist platform. The question is probably whether they would be any better placed to lead a mass movement capable of driving a socialist (or socialist lite) agenda in the face of that opposition.

Yes, I agree, the same vile media will attack almost any Labour leader, in a similar way -- it would be daft to think it would stop because JC stops. They would be attacking Yvette Cooper if she were Labour leader now.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38917436

'I made it up yesterday.com'

Did he actually say it was "fake news"? Fucking hell, JC.

That's a legitimately contemptible move

The BBC interviewer introduced the phrase - JC was just going along with his terms.

More Aditya goodies
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/feb/09/the-econocracy-review-joe-earle-cahal-moran-zach-ward-perkins

What got me about May's risposte was not the "labour u need a new leader lol" bit (Cameron did that, too), but trying to ride the zeitgeist via "alternative facts", which only became A Thing because the US administration she's so confident we should all be pals with introduced it with a straight face. Much more egregious than JC's fake news imo.

yeah that was a lame retort considering what had just been revealed, it must have been a toe curling moment even for the Tories.

this seems a little worrying

In unprecedented move, the Conservatives will grant a half-day debate to the Democratic Unionist Party just a week before elections to the devolved assembly in Stormont on 2 March, the New Statesman has learnt. No equivalent to the half-day debate, which will take up the entirety of the Thursday afternoon session, is being given to the other Irish parties, who will also be competitors in the elections.

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/devolution/2017/02/conservatives-criticised-unprecedented-intervention-northern-irish

There's clearly some sort of horrible deal afoot here in return for their support last night.

this has being going on for some time as well: http://www.irishnews.com/news/2016/10/14/news/ni-conservatives-disquiet-over-dup-love-in-to-be-raised-with-party-hq-736030/

"I fully understand the pragmatic political realities but I'm genuinely concerned that the nature of the DUP's political aspirations, and its views on social issues in particular, are not fully understood within Conservative Party headquarters."

lmao

Poor naive Tories, not understanding what the up stand for.

Obviously six identikit Blairites would all run at once ruining my brilliant plan at a stroke but hey.

They are 6 for a pound last time I checked on Bury market

Here's the "fake news" interview in full. Starts at about 5 mins in if you want to judge for yourself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElVNHaDmrLo

I don't like Corbyn but that's a very mild use of the term. He's pretty much just repeating what the interviewer said back to him.

Torygraph: Now Corbyn is copying Trump *chortle*

His media skills remain very low. It might have been an unassuming use of 'fake news' but in the context of him throwing the comment back at the beeb like a weak fish slap it just comes across as Tory-chortle fodder now. Like watching oliver hardy step into a seemingly shallow puddle only to disappear up to his neck.

Meanwhile you can always count on a Tory MP to fight for 'impartiality' over the need to condemn an actively criminal abusive President.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38923451

You're thinking of Dawn French xpost

To the qn from above Lewis' actions on this do nothing and to frame it as a concious act is pathetic. The numbers were not there to overturn anything, the Tories were disciplined in the end. That includes Anna Soubry - interviewed by OJ, who seemed to be the new Kenneth Clarke, the latest in the 'nice Tory' bollocks people indulge in now and then except that she voted to trigger A50. Its just embarrassing.

Corbyn has found it increasingly difficult to articulate his positions more widely although I read his tweet as a bigger fight than whether we are in the fucking EU. Anyone who knows what the EU is also knows they won't safeguard rights and conditions or anything. Freedom of movement is an economic need; thousands died last year at Europe's borders. The referendum result is sad, as is Corbyn inability to mount a position. Don't see why he should go because he isn't much of a Westminster operator, especially with the scum he has attempted to work with. Needless to say Labour couldn't afford to indulge in a 2nd leadership, and a 3rd? Well it won't end its woes. Although its hard to see what will.

I suspect he'll go voluntarily if Nuttall wins Stoke - not right away but not long after.

idk, the candidate Labour chose is a cunt. Not sure he should finally go because of that.

It's a John Barnes post Inverness Caley v. Celtic situation, like, OK, this is the end.

Lol! Barnesy seemed to think Celtic were a good little stepping stone for his meteoric rise to Real Madrid. I think Corbyn always knew he had hell on with this job!

I don't think Nuttall has a prayer tbh, I feel like he is a rank outsider whose chances are getting way too talked up.