Tag Archives: Britain

Labour’s flawed Brexit policy

Updated on

23/05/2024 by author

Labour’s flawed Brexit policy

This from Paul Cawthorne in Italy, an economist, international consultant and long-term member of R eboot Britain. Image by Patricia Paton, Editor Bylines Scotland, from the related article Hard Labour, which you shoud read in conjunction with this piece.

Labour’s current “Make Brexit Work” policy is seriously flawed and, at best, will have no positive or negative impacts on their immediate electoral prospects. Labour is going to win power because the Tories are imploding after 14 damaging years (including Brexit) and Labour are now more trusted on all the key bread-and-butter issues (the NHS, the economy etc). Labour will win the general election despite, not because of, its unnecessary “no rejoining” red lines. If Starmer left the door open to rejoining the single market and customs union he would still be winning the election by a large margin.

Key factors

1. Poor advice based on outdated (2019) focus groups and internal polling data.

2. Overestimation of the enduring support for a hard Tory Brexit in the so-called Red Wall. Confirmed by John Curtice.

3. Underestimation of the the impact of Brexit’s evident failure on public opinion. See also The Sun’s reaction to the £5 Billion wasted on border checks just yesterday.

4. Underestimation of the impact of demographic changes on the electorate.

5. Overblown fear of the reaction of Tory tabloids to any perceived watering down of Brexit. See The Sun yesterday and the Telegraph.

6. Misplaced belief that “Make Brexit Work” will be a convincing winning 3-word slogan in 2024.

7. Nostalgic belief that Labour is still essentially a “working class” party and needs to prioritise at all costs the views and prejudices of these traditional “core supporters”.

Things to do

The run up to an election is a critical time to influence politicians. Make sure you tell your Labour MP or candidate that your support is conditional on a change on policy.

Share relevant articles that accord with Paul’s analysis.

Expect better. Remainers are all too often on the back foot.

Postscript

I ambushed Keir Starmer this morning (23.05.24) at Gillingham Football ground with a message about Brexit and Rejoining the EU. It went down rather well with Labour activists. A few locals scowled as is normal in the area when Brexit is mentioned. My message was short as there are always just a few seconds to make your point in such circumstances : “Brexit is a game of two halves. Let’s make sure Mr Starmer is not on the losing side in the Euros”.

Hannibal Lecter Brexit T-Shirt — A warning from the future for Keir Starmer.

Posted in Brexit, Britain, Elections, Keir Starmer, Labour | Tagged Brexit, Britain, Labour, Rejoin EU | Leave a reply

On the buses

Updated on

23/05/2024 by author

Peter Cook

In a complete change, this article is NOT about Brexit. Instead, this is about the seemingly mundane issue of OAP bus passes!! Once a week I indulge myself and take a bus ride to Maidstone to play music in an open mic jam session. I used to travel by bicycle and train, but recently got an old git’s bus pass. I discovered that the journey is almost door to door, takes less time than the bicycle / train combo, I can get the last bus at 23.15 when the train leaves at 23.03 making it all a bit less rushed and the journey costs me nothing … or so I thought …

I have to give a bit of context for those that don’t live here first: The 101 bus runs from Gillingham in Kent to Maidstone in Kent. It is run by Arriva bus. Gillingham is part of the Medway unitary authority whereas Maidstone is part of Kent County Council. There is no border control when the bus passes from Medway to Kent and vice versa. Given what took place the other day, perhaps there should be (joke).

Medway Council’s OAP bus scheme tells me that I must not travel before 9.00 am but can travel freely all day from then on. This is the same as in London which is much busier. Kent County Council’s OAP bus scheme says that I can not travel free after 11.00 pm. You may be thinking “perhaps the buses are crowded?” NO – there were just 7 people on my bus and it is fairly empty most times that I have used it. You may also be thinking “perhaps they have a night bus scheme?” NO – as far as I can tell there are only buses after 11 pm in town centres. Only one runs to Gillingham and another to Tunbridge Wells.

On the evening in question I got on as usual and the young driver said that my pass was not valid after 11 pm. I explained that it was a Medway Bus Pass and the T&C’s indicated otherwise. I said I would find them and show him. A couple of stops later, I did so. He continued to argue, saying that the bus was in Kent and not Medway. I explained that the bus had come from Medway, is garaged in Medway and I am from Medway. I offered to get some money from a cashpoint on my return to the destination. He accepted that.

A few more stops on and he stopped the bus, got out and made a phone call (presumably to his boss). This took several minutes and I presume he hoped that this would irritate the other passengers and that they would apply social pressure to me. They did not. He got back in the bus and went through the same arguments and I in return repeated my offer to pay him at the end point. He carried on driving.

We arrived in Chatham bus station and I asked him to wait whilst I got some money. He refused to do so, so I got off and got a local bus home. The driver of the second bus thought the whole episode ridiculous given the fare lost (£2.00) and the fact that none of the buses have passengers at this time of night and so on.

Should Kent County Council operate a border post between Medway and Kent to collect the £2.00? OR

Should Kent County Council bring Esther McVey down, the so called Minister for Lanyards to declare the night time charges void? OR

Should I stay at home, drink Ovaltine, empty my bed pan and colostomy bag (joke) in the evenings instead of going out? Is this the end game?

Postscript

I called Arriva and they confirmed that my pass was valid until midnight in Kent and Medway. The driver was wrong as is the person who has commented on this article. See Arriva. The chap at Arriva was very nice and told me that they recently recruited a number of young drivers. He promised to make sure that the driver understood the policy.

None of the other bus drivers have charged me since I have been using the service of late.

I called Kent County Council and they are officially confused, despite my pointing out that they have virtually no buses after 23.00 and virtually no passengers !!! Arriva have a different rule for Kent / Medway compared with Kent / Surrey, not that one could get to Surrey from Kent at 23.00 !!

Some people on a bus forum think I simply don’t want to pay the £2.00 and think I’m lucky to have a bus service at all. I don’t care if it’s £2.00 or £200 – I expect things to be right. It’s utterly ridiculous – for 30 years I have heard the term ‘joined-up thinking’ in public services. We need joined up doing.

Postscript II

I was reminded to write this post about buses the other day by some chap on Facebook who thought that I ascribed everything bad in the world as being down to Brexit. I don’t. I had replied to a post by the Labour party that many of our problems had their roots partly or wholly in Brexit. Richard Carbyn had replied below suggesting that a lack of flowers, parking price rises, disappearing road sweepers and a bad bus service were all the products of Brexit. They are not and yet Brexit induced austerity and lack of people who wish to work will have contributed to England’s decline now I think about it! Back to Brexit tomorrow !!

I imagine Richard will enjoy this clip from On The Buses. Presumably he wants things moved back to the 1950’s? Watneys’ Red Barrel, Ricketts, Thalidomide, faggots, straight glasses, pints, pecks and stones … that sort of thing.

Posted in Britain, Education | Tagged Brexit, Britain | 6 Replies

London Calling

Updated on

06/05/2024 by author

Peter Cook

With your help, the Rejoin Party retained their deposit and came 6^th overall in the London Assembly elections. Support also fell away from UKIP and the far right with Britain First and The Heritage party losing their deposits This is a wonderful result and your votes and shares of the campaign undoubtedly contributed to this result. A big thank you !!!

See the note below from the leader of the Rejoin Party. Why not join Rejoin for the next battle aka the General Election?

Hey Peter,

Just wanted to say a big “thank you” for all your help and support during the election campaign.

You may have heard we managed to keep our deposit for the first time ever (🥳) – by just 611 votes!

What you may not have heard is that this forces the BBC to redesignate us a “party with significant support” in London (one of just 6 parties! Us and the “usual suspects”). This in turn means over the next 4 years we should be able to force the BBC to have “reverse Brexit” commentator on in London at least (in theory!)

Anyway, thanks once again for all your help and support – those 611 crucial votes only came out of our very low budget campaign!

Best regards,

Rich

Join us next Monday 13 May on ZOOM at 8 pm

p.s. Our leaflets are ready to order to finish the job on the Tory party btw.

Posted in Brexit, Britain, Rejoin EU | Tagged Brexit, Britain, Rejoin EU | 2 Replies

London Assembly for Rejoin

Updated on

01/05/2024 by author

Peter Cook

The London Assembly elections take place soon. If you vote strategically, you will be able to send a strong message to the whole of the country that we wish to Rejoin the EU. This will not affect the election of Sadiq Khan as Mayor. Let me explain how:

Three votes

You have three votes : Tier 1 : Mayor, Tier 2 : constituency London Assembly Member, and Tier 3 : London-wide Assembly Members. Each election operates under different rules and therefore you don’t have to split the vote for Major in order to give your third vote to the Rejoin Party candidates. Tier 1 and 2 operate under the First Past the Post (FPTP) system, whereas Tier 3 operates under a D’Hondt based proportional system. This is where Rejoin candidates are standing. Thus a vote for Rejoin is NON-DESTRUCTIVE in terms of the vote for London Mayor. Read the rules at The Electoral Commission.

Vote to Rejoin EU on May 2

Show your support

Help The Rejoin Party at their campaign events:

Fri 12 April : Soho and Fitzrovia : 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM Soho Square Gardens W1D 4NR

Sat 13 April : Notting Hill and Portobello Road :11:00 AM – 2:00 PM Portobello Road Market, near Notting Hill Gate W11 1AN

Sun 14 April : Hackney: 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM: Hackney Central, Broadway Market E8 4PH

Mon 15 April : University College London (UCL) and Surrounding Area: 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM Malet Place, near UCL Main Quad WC1E 6BT

Wed 17 April : London School of Economics (LSE) and Surrounding Area: 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM Sheffield Street, outside LSE Old Building WC2A 2AE

Thur 18 April : Islington: 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM: Angel Central Shopping Centre N1 0PS

Sat 20 April : Shoreditch and Hoxton: 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM Shoreditch High Street, near Boxpark E1 6JE

Sun 21 April : South Bank and Waterloo: 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM Near the Southbank Centre Book Market SE1 8XX

Fri 26 April : King’s Cross and St Pancras International: 7:00 AM – 10:00 AM Near the entrance to the international departures N1C 4QP

Sat 27 April : Camden Market and Surrounds: 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM Camden Lock Place, near the food market NW1 8AF

Mon 29 April Kings College London (KCL) : 12.00 – 2.00 PM Surrey Street WC2R 2LS

Tues 30 April London School of Economics 12.00 – 2.00 PM Sheffield Street WC2A 2AE

Wed 1 May University College London (UCL) 12.00 – 2.00 PM Malet Street WC1E 6BT

Use your 3rd vote for Rejoin party candidates, without splitting an anti-Brexit vote for Sadiq Khan

Learn about the candidates

Posted in Brexit, Britain, Elections, Rejoin EU, Sadiq Khan | Tagged Brexit, Britain, London Assembly, Rejoin EU | 5 Replies

Vive La France

Updated on

01/05/2024 by author

Peter Cook

I took a rare holiday in Normandy last week. The stark differences between Brexit Britain and France were plain. The border crossing was uneventful until we returned to British customs on the way back, with an amount of petty bureaucracy. We had chosen to go by Le Shuttle to avoid potential delays on the M20 / M2 which forced the cost up, but it was more relaxed overall.

On the first evening, we went shopping to get some provisions. I was struck by the price of cheese (inexpensive) and bought a bottle of Malbec for €1.99 !!! It was surprisingly good and would retail from £9 upwards here, probably more after Brexit border checks are introduced which may add 60% to the price of imported goods. Oh well, it’s what they wanted.

But what really struck me was the sense of community and state of high streets in French towns and villages. More so because I watched a film of “English Patriots” saying that they had no identity, because we have no nursery rhymes, have to drink coffee and are no longer allowed to eat fish and chips or meat and two veg. Painfully funny reportage by Max Robespierre below:

By contrast, I noted that entire families dine out in the towns I visited, including children, who ate real food, not fast food. I hardly saw any children playing computer games in cafes with their parents. Instead they had family conversations. A common complaint of the English Patriots is that the high street has been taken away from them. It’s no wonder when many of them shop at Tesco etc. In the high streets of Normandy, it was not a constant stream of kebab joints, vaping huts and coffee outlets. Whilst the butcher, baker and candlestick maker are absent from most English towns, there was a rich diversity of shops in the French towns. Although there are supermarkets, they are not of the massive size that are allowed in Britain. I sense a very different approach to town planning and culture. The very culture that the English patriots crave is present … in France!! Perhaps Margaret Thatcher was right when she said that “there is no such thing as (English) society”.

Britain seems to have invested in the industrialisation of high streets / consumption and much of what these people feel they have lost is the product of this process. The faux nostalgia of the English Brexit patriots is painfully summed up by Billy Bragg in his epic song “Full English Brexit”.

Posted in Brexit, Britain, Britastrophe, Europe | Tagged Brexit, Britain, France | 2 Replies

The Chronicles of Brexit

Updated on

23/04/2024 by author

Peter Cook

This is the opening prelude to a new book on Brexit and Rejoining the EU. Aptly titled “The Chronicles of Brexit”, combining the notion of the fantasy world of Narnia together with the chronic condition of political paralysis.

Brexit didn’t happen

I still hear Remainers telling me that Brexit is done. They have fallen prey to the kool aid put forward by the Brexiteers, that Brexit was a project and not a process. A project has a finite end point such as building the Channel Tunnel whereas a process continues. As I write in 2024, Brexit continues to wreak a slow chronic infusion of damage socially, economically, politically, environmentally, technologically and legally. We hardly need to rehearse the impacts here, from the gradual departure of businesses, industries and brains from UK plc, the rating of Britain as a ‘problem child’ regarding inward investment, to the unsavoury sights and smells of shit in our rivers and the jubilation by a few residual racists at the joy of drowning migrants. This is Brexit Britain. It’s nothing to be proud of.

Many of the chronic impacts predicted in these chronicles have come to pass since I wrote the original articles collected in this book. Worst of all, we are still dogged by the parliamentary paralysis that made Brexit possible. Keir Starmer continues to spout the vacuous football chant ‘make Brexit work’ to charm people with feeble minds, when all the data suggests that he could carve out a leadership position and win an election comfortably by stating that ‘Brexit isn’t working’. The Lib Dems continue to suggest that we could rejoin the EU ‘when the time is right’. Of course, that time will never come … Only the Scottish National Party (SNP) are brave enough to lead on the need for independence from Brexit Albion.

Brexit’s Breaking Britain

A little while back, I designed a t-shirt with a picture of Hannibal Lecter and the slogan ‘Brexit consumes all its children’ with a list : Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss, Sunak, Starmer. I predict that Starmer will also be consumed by the offspring of Brexit, perhaps with some fava beans and a nice Chianti … the offspring of Brexit include the cost of living, ramped up concerns about immigration, a broken NHS, business failures and so on. Of course I was hammered by my left-wing colleagues on Twitter, who have gotten into such a stir with Tory fascism that they are now manically possessed by the idea that we must get Starmer in, then we can talk about Brexit. I hope they are right but fear they are not. See Scottish Bylines as to why I say this.

Even 18^th century retro-Latin imperialist adventure capitalist Jacob Rees-Mogg bragged that we will get nothing back from Brexit for 50 years … I am impatient as a ‘Brexit fundamentalist’ (The only good Brexit is a dead Brexit) not for myself at my advanced age, but for future generations. And the softly-softly approaches used by some of the central Remain organisations have largely assisted us in getting a ‘boiled frog Brexit’; so slow that we (the frogs) hardly notice the chronic decline (death by gradual boiling). This makes any approach to undoing Brexit especially difficult, as it requires a large majority of people to have their lived experiences changed by Brexit realities, which will only be visible in slow motion and in small doses.

My labour chums tell me “shh, we’ll consider rejoining in 2032”. This misses two important points. Nobody will remember what Brexit was by then and, in any case, much of the damage wreaked by Brexit will be complete and much of it irreversible by 2032. It is at best a dream, at worst a weapon of mass deception to get elected. But I cannot vote for a Brexit party in a General Election even if that means allowing a Tory back in. There is always hope and I hope you will want to read the book and act upon its advice and guidance.

To place a discount pre-order for The Brexit Chronicles in hard copy inc P&P, please PayPal £15.00 as a gift via Paypal using the link below.

We also have one remaining signed copy of our Brexit satire book Private Eyelines at a discount of £20.00 all inclusive compared with £34.99 plus P&P on Amazon.

Pre-order The Brexit Chronicles

Grab your copy of Private Eyelines

London Assembly Elections

Posted in Boris Johnson, Brexit, Britain, Britastrophe, Culture, Elections, Keir Starmer, Labour, Rejoin EU | Tagged Brexit, Britain, Rejoin EU | Leave a reply

Lecternology

Updated on

16/04/2024 by author

Peter Cook

Not only have we had five Prime Ministers since Brexit, we have also had five lecterns. Each of them have a different character, like each PM and each has cost the taxpayer more than Angela Rayner’s alleged tax scam. Liz Truss’ Jenga lectern cost an uncool £4175, seemingly appropriate, as, no doubt it could be rebuilt into something else 49 days later … In this article we look at the emerging “academic discipline” of lecternology inspired by Peter Hurst and Peter Stefanovic.

Cameron

Cameron’s lectern was designed by his head of operations to appear “statesmanlike”. Cameron was the youngest PM and, as such, the wood for his lectern was sourced from B&Q, using freshly cut pine with a curved, flared column, signifying agility and smoothness, and a glossy finish to signify superficiality. Read more on Cameron at Cameron.

May

The simple religious cross style of Theresa’s oak lectern symbolises her victimhood as the Prime Minister who felt a sense of duty to serve but who ultimately would be hoist by her own inner conflict. In the end, the ERG and Remainers placed her on a cross for sacrifice in favour of someone more malleable. That person would be the fatberg formerly known as Boris Johnson.

Johnson

Johnson’s lectern column and base are the thickest of the five, matching the intelligence and heft of the incumbent. “The Johnson” as it was referred to in No 10 was constructed of teak for strength, as it doubled as a shagging plinth for internal use. It is believed that Carrie’s children were conceived on “The Johnson” along with other random offspring from the Brexit staffers during Partygate.

Truss

The Truss lectern is perhaps the most interesting in so far that it is constructed using Jenga. This would enable quick breakdown and reassembly after her 49 days tenure. We have an authentic woodchip replica of The Truss ceremonial lectern available on e-bay for the bargain price of £30 000. This would enable us to stand a lettuce for election in her South West Norfolk constituency. Tony Hanlon commented on the spiral construction “Its a treasured memory of her death spiralling of the economy”.

Truss has since blamed the failure of her Brexonomics budget on the infiltration of left-wing Norwegian wood into her lectern at a cost of £70 billion to the taxpayer and the ruination of young people’s hopes of home ownership. John Lennon, Kate Bush, Chris Witty and Angela Rayner have been blamed by The Truss, along with left wing lawyers, left wing carpenters, carping judges, civil servants, punk rockers, classicists, MDF, lettuce, homosexuals, trannies, the blob, layabouts, drug users, climate protesters, smoking bans, Potter Heigham, Brundall, The A47, The Bank of England, The OBR, UN, The Queen, charities, do-gooders, poets, artists, piss artists, vegans, Christians, Moslems, London, wood carvers, carvery owners, wood workers, sex workers, sex swappers, The Lib Dems, brie, gorgonzola, camembert, left wing cheese, real ale drinkers, real world thinkers, Remoaners, men, women, children, animals, plants, left wing micro-organisms, algae, fungi, Liz’s parents and all members of the deep state who sought to bring her down. The Jenga lectern proved to be her downfall and it was nothing to do with her incompetence, social ineptitude and the triumph of confidence over competence. That is a disgrace. In Liz’s own words “Liz Truss is best ignored”.

Click on the description to buy The Truss on e-bay.

Sunakered

The Sunak lectern is paradoxical. It is bigger than the other lecterns although Sunak is possibly the shortest Prime Minister in history. The upright section is designed to obscure both of Rishi’s legs for reasons of modesty and as support in case he were to break one. Just like its user, the Sunak lectern has no integrity, professionalism or accountability, being made from offcuts from the “previous administration”.

All of the above are, of course, pathetic attempts to look in control by people who are easily persuaded by presentation over content.

Vote to Rejoin EU in the London Assembly Elections

Read The only good Brexit

Posted in Angela Rayner, Boris Johnson, Brexit, Brexorcism, Britain, Britastrophe, Economics, Elections, Europe, Leadership, Liz Truss, Partygate, Rejoin EU, Sovereignty, Sunak, Theresa May, Tories | Tagged Brexit, Britain, Conservatives, Lecterns, Rejoin EU | 4 Replies

Run to the hills

Updated on

26/03/2024 by author

Peter Cook

This list will probably be out of date by the time it is published. Thank you to my musical chum Dr Mike Alexander for sending me this list. Fear of losing one’s seat is a powerful motivator and the Tories have run to the hills to quote Iron Maiden. Order our leaflets to end Tory rule.

Douglas Ross – Moray (announced 14/10/21)
Charles Walker – Broxbourne (announced 2/2/22)
Crispin Blunt – Reigate (announced 1/5/2022)
Mike Penning – Hemel Hempstead (announced 17/5/2022)
Adam Afriyie – Windsor (announced 22/7/2022)

Andrew Percy – Brigg and Goole (announced 8/11/2022)
Chloe Smith – Norwich North (announced 22/11/2022)
William Wragg – Hazel Grove (announced 22/11/2022)
Gary Streeter – South West Devon (announced 25/11/2022)
Dehenna Davison – Bishop Auckland (announced 25/11/2022)

Chris Skidmore – Kingswood (announced 26/11/2022)
Sajid Javid – Bromsgrove (announced 2/12/2022)
Mark Pawsey – Rugby (announced 5/12/2022)
Matt Hancock* – West Suffolk (announced 7/12/2022)
George Eustice – Camborne and Redruth (announced 18/1/2023)

Edward Timpson – Eddisbury (announced 1/2/2023)
Jo Gideon – Stoke-on-Trent Central (announced 9/2/2023)
Paul Beresford – Mole Valley (announced 12/2/2023)
Stephen McPartland – Stevenage (announced 13/2/2023)
Robin Walker – Worcester (announced 3/3/2023)

Gordon Henderson – Sittingbourne and Sheppey (announced 17/3/2023)
Graham Brady – Altrincham and Sale West (announced 17/3/2023)
Pauline Latham – Mid Derbyshire (announced 19/3/2023)
Craig Whittaker – Calder Valley (announced 21/3/2023)
Stuart Anderson – Wolverhampton South West (announced 27/3/2023)

Nicola Richards – West Bromwich East (announced 27/3/2023)
Henry Smith – Crawley (announced 31/3/2023)
John Howell – Henley (announced 12/4/2023)
Robert Goodwill – Scarborough (announced 13/4/2023)
Julian Knight – Solihull (announced 21/4/2023)

Jonathan Djanogly – Huntingdon (announced 21/4/2023)
Christopher Pincher – Tamworth (announced 26/4/2023)
Matthew Offord – Hendon (announced 2/5/2023)
Alister Jack – Dumfries and Galloway (announced 17/5/2023)
Richard Bacon – South Norfolk (announced 20/5/2023)

Philip Dunne – Ludlow (announced 22/5/2023)
Dominic Raab – Esher and Walton (announced 22/5/2023)
Andy Carter – Warrington South (announced 30/5/2023)
Will Quince – Colchester (announced 9/6/2023)
Royston Smith – Southampton Itchen (announced 9/6/2023)

Bill Cash – Stone (announced 10/6/2023)
Lucy Allan – Telford (announced 15/6/2023)
Steve Brine – Winchester (announced 23/6/2023)
Chris Clarkson – Heywood and Middleton (announced 28/6/2023)
Ben Wallace – Wyre and Preston North (announced 15/7/2023)

Trudy Harrison – Copeland (announced 24/07/2023)
Stephen Hammond – Wimbledon (announced 14/9/2023)
David Jones – Clwyd West (announced 20/9/2023)
Alok Sharma – Reading West (announced 26/9/23)
Chris Grayling – Epsom and Ewell (announced 06/10/23)

John Baron – Basildon and Billericay (announced 26/10/23)
Nick Gibb – Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (announced 13/11/2023)
Bob Stewart – Beckenham (announced 20/11/2023)
James Duddridge – Rochford and Southend East (announced 20/11/2023)
Oliver Heald – North East Hertfordshire (announced 23/01/2024)

Mike Freer – Finchley and Golders Green (announced 31/01/2024)
Bob Neill – Bromley and Chislehurst (announced 2/02/2024)
Kwasi Kwarteng – Spelthorne (announced 6/02/2024)
Nickie Aiken – Cities of London and Westminster (announced 7/02/2024)
Tracey Crouch – Chatham and Aylesford (announced 12/02/2024)

Kieran Mullan – Crewe and Nantwich (announced 13/02/2024)
Paul Scully – Sutton and Cheam (announced 4/03/2024)
Theresa May – Maidenhead (announced 8/03/2024)
Brandon Lewis – Great Yarmouth (announced 14/03/2024)

Bubbling under : Rehman Chishti (Gillingham and Rainham) and Kelly (Chav) Tolhurst (Rochester and Strood). Sunak next?

To help get the rest out, order some of our ABC leaflets. See below:

Run for your life …..

And finally, thanks to Helga Perry for these Iron Maiden quotes which describe the malaise of the Tory party perfectly ….

The number of the beast is 10 Downing Street.

No prayer for the dying Tories

No piece of mind for Johnson

Posted in Boris Johnson, Brexit, Brexorcism, Britain, Britastrophe, Politics, Rejoin EU, Sunak, Tories | Tagged Brexit, Britain, Conservatives, Politics, Rejoin EU, Rishi Sunak | Leave a reply

Theresa May RIP

Updated on

17/03/2024 by author

Peter Cook

The popular view of Theresa May in the wake of her decision to stand down as an MP is ‘good riddance’. As always, I wish to put forward a more nuanced view. My title does not wish her dead by the way, just that she now has some peace from the swivel-headed loons on both sides of the Brexit debate. Here’s a few inconvenient facts for Remoaners and Brexiteers alike:

Sure, yes, May’s record at the Home Office was pretty terrible. The hostile environment and so on. Not as terrible as Patel, Braverman et al, but terrible. Then there was Windrush …

However, May appointed a 52:48 cabinet to respect the Brexit vote, whereas Johnson reduced the gene pool to far right nutters and sycophants. See my interview on the BBC for more on this point.

I spoke with Michel Barnier a little while back. He pointed out that May had two battles to fight. The one on Brexit and the bigger one of her own party fighting like cats in a sack. Eventually they killed her. Paul Witts nails the leadership difficulty in one pithy paragraph:

“The second most difficult thing in the world is to admit to someone that you made a mistake … that you were wrong. The most difficult thing in the world is to admit that to yourself. But as time and pandemics pass, an ever-growing number of people who voted for Brexit after being duped by dopes with red buses, are running out of other things to blame. They were promised the Nirvana of a “global Britain”. Slowly the reality is dawning, and that Nirvana is beginning to look like a scene from a gritty 1970s inner-city gangster movie … complete with outside toilets, spam fritters, rickets, and pints of warm brown ale with suspicious-looking white floaters, served in pubs with sticky carpets.” Paul Witts.

Although the only good Brexit remains (sic) a dead Brexit, Theresa May’s deal was the ‘high water mark’ of Brexit deals. Crucially it covered the economic relationship, security co-operation, cross-cutting issues and institutional arrangements that would preserve the future relationship. if you cannot now remember the details, see Institute for Government. Johnson systematically degraded May’s deal to get it through Parliament. He allowed no scrutiny of the deal using Christmas and COVID as a distraction and not even reading the contract himself. Rishi Sunak has quietly tried to restore elements of Theresa May’s deal through what I called a Pay as EU go rejoin strategy. However, ‘Logical incrementalism’ has many faults, as I pointed out in conversation with the BBC’s Jonty Bloom.

May fought her own party, saying that they would end up with no Brexit deal at all if they did not unite on more than one occasion. Mr Bullion is always on point (and pints) with points about strategy:

“My view was always that May was a fundamentally strategic establishment appointment in case Cameron lost the referendum. Hence her nickname the Submarine. My conclusion was that she was genuine and understood what was happening both to politics in general and her own party, but both Remain and Brexit ultras over played their hands, and the Brexit ultras played the Trump card.” Alan Bullion.

The illusion of control Johnson style – a fancy slogan but totally vacuous.

May did not indulge in public backstabbing of her own party. I’m pretty sure she was a tough opponent in the back rooms though.

May was socially inept. Yet, did you prefer Johnson, Truss or Sunak? What exactly is so wrong about being good at the strategy and details but rather less good at the presentation? Please write to me when you have found the perfect leader.

She was however rubbish at Grenfell and I’m not saying in any way that she was perfect before the attacks on my analysis begin.

I was shot down in flames when I suggested that Remainers should support Theresa in her last months as PM. I pointed out that we’d end up with Boris and a hard Brexit. Look what happened … ? !! The European Movement and other large Remoan groups were consumed by the visceral reactions of the mob. May stayed in the party when others fled. Can anyone imagine how hard that might be?

Theresa. You are not Mother Theresa. Nadine Dorries even pointed out that you are not a mother. However I feel you are owed some thanks for trying to hold back the tide of the swivel-headed Brexiteers.

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Posted in Boris Johnson, Brexit, Brexorcism, European Movement, Rejoin EU, Sunak, Theresa May, Tories | Tagged Boris Johnson, Brexit, Britain, Conservatives, Rejoin EU, Theresa May | 2 Replies

Snippets

Updated on

17/03/2024 by author

Peter Cook

As we continue our sleepwalk into fascism via Michael Gove’s weaponisation of protest, I was extremely saddened by the news that Tim Evans died at the age of 63 a few days ago. Tim was a great pro-EU / anti-Brexit campaigner who never missed an opportunity to influence someone. For some reason unknown to me, I decided to go for a train and bicycle road trip to Teynham (Brexit central) to reflect on his life. Thinking about Tim’s example to never miss a moment, I also decided to renew the signage on my bike. I know that such things are conversation starters, much in the way that Tim would confront even the most difficult people at Parliament. I was not dissappointed. The ticket collector on the train immediately commented on the sign:

HE “There’s no point. The French won’t let us back.”

ME “Really?

HE “My wife is French and she says it’s all over the French media.”

I could have simply said “all?” or “what’s all over the French media / which media?” but was about to leave the train so I went with a direct challenge to establish some hierarchy (Not that clever in the scheme of things but tempus fugit etc. and it stopped him in his tracks)

ME “I’ve written three books on the topic and spoken with Michel Barnier. It does not matter what the right wing media say here (or in France), I’m afraid that you are talking twaddle”

HE “It’s just that my wife is French” (he thought he could get a cheap shot in and realises that he has come up against a brick wall)

I muttered a few things more and repeated the word twaddle. He wandered off up the carriage. A few minutes later I decided to give him a card as I left the train, saying in front of several other people: “Look, have a look at the website. There’s 400 films, several thousand articles and three books there. get an education”.

On reflection I suspected that this man was a slightly desperate leaver trying to use his French wife as a human shield for his views. He was also slightly trapped by his need for courtesy as a ticket collector. I admit that my intervention was little crude, but time was short and I was in no mood for appeasement, having thought ‘what would Tim have done?’. Every conversation counts.

Rage Against The Brexit Machine — Bicycle signage that opens difficult conversations.

Imagine my surprise when I got off the train. A man with a can of JD and Coke approached me on the platform and got in the lift with me. I felt another unpromising conversation coming on ….

HE (looking at the bike sign) “One sign isn’t going to change anything.”

ME “I have more.”

HE “I’m just saying that one sign’s not enough”. (At this point I had thought that this chap may be another Brexiteer – how wrong I was).

I explained a little of my work and that the sign was just a very small part of the whole). He then said:

“We should have never have left”.

We then had a conversation on the platform and I offered him my card which he was very grateful for. What a great surprise and a justification of my decision to celebrate Tim’s life by upping my game a bit on a cold day in Spring.

I cycled on to The Chequers in Lewson Street without meeting anyone or discussing Brexit, giving myself a moment of peace to reflect on Tim’s passing. We were about to meet for coffee at Charlotte and Ginger in Leatherhead after Tim refused to meet Gina Miller with me, saying that he’d been badly let down by her a while back. We had agreed to restrict ourselves to looking back over performing songs together at Downing Street, driving people crazy with the Bollocks to Brexit Mini and more mayhem. Tim was a one off, much better than some of the London elites who attempt to tell us how we must behave, many of whom have never met a Brexiteer, let alone interacted with them. Tim was real force of nature who had a great sense of musical theatre and a real understanding of the use of the absurd as a way into the inner sanctums of Brexiteers. I recall that he also used to upset some of the snowflakes at Parliament with his ‘Benny Hill’ styled lyrical rewrites of popular songs. I recall people used to report Tim to me hoping I would censor him. I never did. Now we have laws against extremism as a result of appeasement!! Will the pc middle classes of middle England ever get a little bit angry or learn how to use satire to reach past people’s heads to their hearts, souls and arse souls?