ForenSix Opposition - Politics in the Soon To Be Former UK in Autumn 2020

This isn’t going to happen unless they leave the ECHR, which contravenes some of the key requirements of the Brexit deal. I’d be surprised more than half of the parliamentary Conservatives were in favour, either.

Patel presumably senses weakness at the top and wants to position herself if there’s a leadership challenge.

By executing them?

Look, let's hear her out

"Brussels won't let us kill you, vote Leave!" - was that one of the arguments?

on twitter solomon hughes is a useful uncynical filter for the investigation element (he also works for the morning star, which is possibly even terfier ffs, but it's a trade-off some radical journalists feel they have to continue to make for the sake of being published at all in outlets that other journalists pay attention to, and also being paid)

it's one of the rare twitter journo accounts that is reliably good, because he is a very consistent Starmer hating voice that seems quite distinct from most of the the other Starmer hating posters I read, that usually tend to be all trying to do a who can shout the loudest about the same link every day competition. And he's also good on the long term rot within the PLP.

lol deems

Reposted from my Guardian threadfail, which I will ask mods to nuke momentarily:

Forgive me going on a rant on this dull St Stephen’s Day, but I was unlucky enough to see this dogshit take float across the tl, and after unfollowing the fool who put it there, I have thoughts on this!

Is it possibly true to say, as @KeohaneDan does, that had Irish government managed politics of the backstop better, the DUP would have accepted it? Maybe. The mystery of the backstop is it is broadly everything people in DUP would say they wanted in September 2016.
— Stephen Bush (@stephenkb) December 26, 2020

So, firstly, typically English (ignorant) view of this issue. Brexit is and was something forced upon us by GB, much like the plantations and the border itself. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So we come back to Ireland being expected to manage the politics of the event, like GB is an unruly customer at the bar and GB is some roaring drunk who can’t be trusted to drive home and it’s our fault if we give them the keys. Meanwhile we are expected to tolerate any amount of vomiting, shouting and pissing on the floor. Ok.

When you speak of something being acceptable to the DUP, you have to remember that you are speaking of a group who view the tricolour (a flag where one third of it is Orange to recognise unionists in the country) as provocative, who view any attempt from Irish in the North to have language rights or their views taken seriously as seditious at best and subversive at a median. This is not a serious view and Bush shouldn’t pretend it is one.

The political emphasis on the NI-only aspects of the backstop were plainly a disaster by both Irish and British governments: it meant that in the UK, Labour MPs didn't realise how close to what they wanted it was, DUP MPs saw it as erosion of the union, etc. etc.
— Stephen Bush (@stephenkb) December 26, 2020

Like... Ireland was trying to protect the porous border, that the hard right Tories didn’t want the same laws applied to GB are a problem for ye, not for us. Again, this is the hand ye dealt yourselves and refuse to deal with reality, and that applies to citizens who keep voting for jingoistic, sabre-rattling blowhards who’ll annoy the right people while their own children starve.

And it’s all “the DUP, the DUP” here, as though unionists are the only people whose views matter to the outcome. Border communities are mostly Irish, they are and were always the people most likely to be fucked by the return of a hard border, and their views weren’t being represented by the fucking DUP now or ever. But NS gonna NS I guess!

But the only way to avoid that would have been to emphasise and enhance the UK-wide nature o f the backstop, which would have aggravated the problem of the backstop within the Conservative Party. So....¯\_(ツ)_/¯
— Stephen Bush (@stephenkb) December 26, 2020

So close and yet not to the actual answer here. Anyway, as ever, fuck Brexit and fuck Stephen Bush. Happy New Year.

aren’t those tweets more about how interested parties manoeuvre to get the best outcome from the dogshit that is brexit? i think it came off an observation that the border in the irish sea will be a lot more potentially damaging than many people for example the tories seem to think and that the backstop would have been a better outcome for many including the DUP. hence looking at the quoted thread and working through whether there were any other outcomes if things had played out differently in the balance between Ireland, UK Parliamentaru mathematics and the DUP.

in ireland people often say that england sees the entire world as an extension of the palace of westminster its feuds squabbles and desires. this is p *irksome* in and of itself, but it also as gyac pointed out, means that many lobby types like stephen bush cant understand that there are actually many more centres of gravity around a border with such a complex and fraught history.

the point (or A point) is his analysis of how this might have been better framed in westminster by the irish gov misses that there are multiple fora that this is being addressed in. and ireland is a lot more outward looking than the uk, people in the street tend to be much more politically informed and average people are attentive to uk media. there have been many outcries in ireland throughout this about the appalling and ignorant discussion of NI politics in uk media. irish politicians are elected by irish citizens. the question of brexit, despite having been foisted on ireland by the uk is hugely consequential for ireland. i think its striking to look at the irish media that there is a far less accusatory tone taken in general than the implicit 'uppityness' ascribed to varadkar repeatedly. (it was also quite striking the difference in tone used by say marr talking to irish politicians rather than uk counterparts). irish politicians can not simply address everything to the whims of uk politicians/newspapers.

I think this stuff tends to feel even more galling when its somebody like stephen bush who has a *veneer* or being more analytic than the average westminster lobby numbskull. its this weird arrogance of missing like most of the picture as it faces irish politicians and then offering these high-toned recommendations that have not even managed to benefit from hindsight. there is a strange criticism that comes up from uk journalists from time to time, complaining that the irish response hasn't correctly gauged and addressed the shape of westminster's general ignorance. its so rude and old fashionedly colonial in the way that it can only legitimate the knowledge and information that already exists within its own narrow purview. that same familiar lack of curiosity dressed up as analysis.

My sources tell me that @Keir_Starmer is considering backing the death penalty for people who call him "Kieth/Keith" and "wet wipe" online, and say he should be 20 points ahead. He is a pro-life human rights lawyer and takes no pleasure in making sure this happens.

— Simon Hedges (@Orwell_Fan) December 26, 2020

It's OK, he'll probably abstain

:p

hence looking at the quoted thread and working through whether there were any other outcomes if things had played out differently in the balance between Ireland, UK Parliamentaru mathematics and the DUP.

many lobby types like stephen bush cant understand that there are actually many more centres of gravity around a border with such a complex and fraught history.

the point (or A point) is his analysis of how this might have been better framed in westminster by the irish gov misses that there are multiple fora that this is being addressed in. and ireland is a lot more outward looking than the uk, people in the street tend to be much more politically informed and average people are attentive to uk media. there have been many outcries in ireland throughout this about the appalling and ignorant discussion of NI politics in uk media. irish politicians are elected by irish citizens. the question of brexit, despite having been foisted on ireland by the uk is hugely consequential for ireland. i think its striking to look at the irish media that there is a far less accusatory tone taken in general than the implicit 'uppityness' ascribed to varadkar repeatedly. (it was also quite striking the difference in tone used by say marr talking to irish politicians rather than uk counterparts). irish politicians can not simply address everything to the whims of uk politicians/newspapers.

its so rude and old fashionedly colonial in the way that it can only legitimate the knowledge and information that already exists within its own narrow purview. that same familiar lack of curiosity dressed up as analysis.

It was the freaky Cameron fandom that first started me turning against Bush. I don't often use up my free NS pieces on him anymore, he's basically a wanker is my very nuanced take!

Yeah he always had that creepy "politics is a game you dispassionately observe" thing going on even when he wasn't being as much of an overt dick as he has been this year

well yeah, and i think a hueg problem with people who truly believe they are dispassionate observers is that they are easily sold their own claptrap

What kind of shag do you reckon keir starmer would be. Get detailed, I'm bored.

— cock piss partridge in a pear tree (@sheikyerbouti_) December 26, 2020

anyone serious about politics should read this very important thread

Calz, no

You've gone too far now.

A terrible fingering, five minutes licking tops, 10 mins missionary pumping with his full body weight on top of you and his sweat dripping onto your face imo

— cock piss partridge in a pear tree (@sheikyerbouti_) December 26, 2020

pic.twitter.com/MIytf7gum1

— Thrown in Jail, for saying you are England 😉 (@FasterFizzier) December 26, 2020

it's funny sometimes such a short post can light up so much horror in your mind!

Thought this was interesting, if depressing.

One interesting revelation in @OwenJones84’s book that I hadn’t seen shared elsewhere, was that Corbyn and the rest of LOTO grew to loathe Chris Williamson. Which shows the latter’s entire gimmick of being JC’s only true defender in politics to be totally wrong pic.twitter.com/atyY06Y7N4

— doug (@heardougtweet) December 27, 2020

Lol

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/26/why-would-the-lib-dems-hook-up-with-5g-cranks-it-can-only-be-cowardice?CMP=share_btn_fb

I always wondered why he didn't publicly call out Williamson and take him to task for his reprehensible social media activities, especially as it seems now he couldn't stand the fucker!

CW was just as much a political opportunist as Starmer, albeit one without a winning endgame or even a point beyond his own pathetic ego-trip.

" a lifelong ant-racist and socialist " lol his political history pre-Corbynism and before he became a full-time baiter of the Jewish community was as a typical Blairite detritus councilor iirc

we've almost got the full set

A 1970 National Front poster. All policies now followed by the 2020 Conservatives. Except one: restoring the death penalty.

Wait for it… pic.twitter.com/ojd5zsEj7k

— Samuel West (@exitthelemming) December 26, 2020

Why are they not happy, though? We should go further right.

I mean, this is Corbyn from the end of January last year (though it would've been June when that resuspension happened) https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/local-news/jeremy-corbyn-2492585

Yeah, not understanding your point there tbh

xps interesting how familiar that NF symbolism & the mythology it stands for feels, most obviously from the relentless straightforward tory/brexit use of it but also from a whole load of ostensibly countercultural vaguely ironic post-punk/post-britpop appropriations that have more or less been subsumed into the mainstream version. as have endless attempts by left & centre to tap into the power of this stuff while downplaying or denying where it comes from & what it's really about

tldr cool britannia was fascist

All those involved with the editorial/design decisions to publish that Select cover with the union jack on it and hype up all those awful brit-bands were the proto-Remainiac wankers of the 90's.

One of the things I'm sick to the teeth of right now is politicians of all parties who have never give a flying fuck about child poverty (beyond the usual bland lip service) and have frequently voted to ensure child poverty and a substandard existence is guaranteed to millions of children. And then they come out with this concern trolling flam that closing schools is driving these poor children to an even more unfavourable inequality gap than they previously faced - which is probably correct - but fuck off hypocrites.

well its also that, its probably true but it needn't be? if these same people care all of a sudden about inequality well lets just fix it now

It's a very Blairite fantasy, that education leads you out of poverty and one day everybody will magically be middle class and only well paid bourgie jobs will exist

Like right now child poverty and homelessness are two ills that have exponentially shot up in the last decade. There used to be a Labour Party committed to ending these ills - there isn't anymore because apparently they were evil!

I find the cant about "child poverty" rather than just "poverty" pretty suspicious tbh

If I won the lottery I wouldn't give a penny to charities. I'd just go out distribute a few grand here and there to homeless people or people in need. If they spent it all on crack then fair play, better than pissing it away in toothless charities that have signed gagging orders to never criticise Tories.

xp well yeah one is the chief cause of the other

the misery of adult working poverty and the experiences of their children is all part of the same disease

Aye and somehow I think if you gave every kid in the country an education all the way to degree level there'd still be Amazon and Sports Direct and the care sector and the gig economy exploiting people into poverty

When Kieth started his Jobs, Jobs, Jobs campaign I thought he might have found a new billionaire Labour donor from the darknet end of the Recruitment Agency sector, someone who helps coerce vulnerable women into sex work with a sideline for human trafficking. Because that would be his level tbf!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EqRG36JXMAEjl4m?format=jpg&name=medium

I just got this image off Kieth's ebay, he's selling his old mattress "infused with genuine LOTO sex sweat that still hasn't been washed off it" OMG that is a new low!

sorry - gone too far here!

Not an image I wanna contemplate tho it's hard to imagine Kieth working up a sweat

He does like to play a bit of energetic 5-a-side football with teams made up of human rights barristers I've heard

Kicking around the head of a Brexiter

often taking on metropolitan police sides and blatantly letting them win 18-0 every game and telling them what a good job they did afterwards

Should have won by 20