UK General Discussion: 2017 and onwards, Mayhem

[Angel of Death]

I dare say the United Kingdom is in a worse condition right now than it was during the Suez Crisis and it hasn't even left the EU yet.

[Angel of Death]

OJ Simpson has been more sincere in finding "the real killers" than the Israeli Labor Party has been "working to advance the cause of peace, reconciliation and a two-state solution" with, you know, all the settlement building they did, even after Oslo. And that was when they were still nominally a "left" party before Gabbay.

[Angel of Death]

The Daily Express makes the Daily Mail look like The Sun.

[Angel of Death]

That's easy: As long as they're not in government.

[Angel of Death]

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I see they're early with laying the groundwork for the inevitable "stab-in-the-back" myth after Brexit devastates the British economy. And then, the very resentment that led people to vote for it in the first place will only be multiplied many times over and be, ironically, aimed at exactly those who were trying to minimize the damage, to say nothing of the EU and foreigners in general (hence also the imminent UKIP comeback, or whatever replaces it).

Funny enough, next year is also the 100th anniversary of the Treaty of Versailles.

[Angel of Death]

And at the risk of being pedantic, May does not command a majority in the house. She leads a minority government that has a confidence and supply arrangement with the DUP that supplies a slim and quite obviously conditional majority of the House for the time being.

And there is no majority against her as the DUP are not going to risk put Corbyn in Number 10 and the SNP don't want to risk losing more seats.

Do you really think the SNP want to get the reputation as a party that saves the hated Tory government?

Never mind that. How about a reputation of not having done everything in their power to soften Brexit as much as possible, if not outright stop it, for which a Labour government is one's best bet?

[Angel of Death]

At the risk of repeating myself, I still don't understand why Theresa May triggered Article 50 before calling a general election purely from a politically strategically point of view. Leave might have won with only a slim majority, but, at the time, many Remainers were also in favor of at least respecting the referendum result. The Tories could have campaigned against Labour's unclear position, conveying the idea they might possibly not follow through with Brexit themselves.

[Angel of Death]

That didn't force May to push the button. She still could have just taken the time to get to a comprehensive withdrawal strategy beforehand, possibly using a general election to try and help her get rid of any obstacles.

I think it's because of the fact that she actually knows she's Brexit's sacrificial lamb, that she's been phoning it in, not harboring any ambition beyond having become Prime Minister. She's supposed to be like the portrait of Dorian Gray, but for the Tories. The result is this omnishambles.

As for Corbyn, he's not Labour, especially since, as it turns out, triggering Article 50 required parliamentary approval.

[Angel of Death]

I don't see how another referendum is feasible at this point, because the question will be what options are going to be on the ballot and if there are more than two, then you open the whole can of worms of what electoral system to use for it. Using a non-Condorcet system like AV/IRV could easily squeeze out a compromise option (e.g. a deal versus no-deal versus remain). It's a recipe for disaster.

[Angel of Death]

Audrey, if you're going to post so much in any thread, don't have such a large signature image.

[Angel of Death]

That's obviously not the point; it makes for an unpleasant experience going through the thread.

[Angel of Death]

This is too good not to post here:

[Angel of Death]

Is there a (tentative?) date set yet for the vote?

December 11.

I believe Article 50 cannot be revoked except possibly with unanimous support with my reasoning being that it explicitly spells out that (merely) extending the period till leaving already requires such, which would otherwise be a moot point. It's a bit like the legal principle that the exception proves the rule.

[Angel of Death]

How stupid is the DUP? Don't they realize that there is an obvious positive correlation between the hardness of Brexit and the likelihood of a united Ireland?

[Angel of Death]

From what I understand from this latest round of voting, no deal has just become much more likely.

[Angel of Death]

FWIW, those who voted for both the Spelman and Brady amendments were:

Conservative:
Nick Boles
Jeremy Lefroy
Oliver Letwin
Mark Pawsey
Caroline Spelman
Edward Vaizey
Labour:
Ian Austin
Kevin Barron
Jim Fitzpatrick
Roger Godsiff
John Mann
Independent:
Stephen Lloyd

[Angel of Death]

I have this theory that Theresa May thinks that Brexit is some kind of singularity and that time will slow down asymptotically as it approaches it (doesn't it actually feel a bit that way?).

Or maybe she just secretly knows she's dying and only cares about maximizing her score. Après moi le déluge.