Wednesday, 6 August 2014

Salmond, Boris: Neither To Be Trusted

It will be gratifying indeed if our old friend Badger Darling sees off the ghastly Salmond, or is at least presiding when the caledonian charlatan self-destructs.  Gordon Brown aparently hates the idea of his ex-Chancellor getting the credit both for this and 'resolving the banking crisis' (sic) , which is even better.

It's an odd set of circumstances that sees me having any truck with George Galloway, but his 'just say naw' line captures the matter nicely.  A poond's a poond fer aw that also seems pretty apt, and I'm guessing (from 500 miles away) that most Scots see it the same way.  I expect you'll have had yur tea fits in somewhere, too, in that conservative land. 

Yes, Salmond is as untrustworthy as he looks.  And so, I'm sorry to say, is Boris Johnson, who is clearly on manoeuvres yet again, and with the most inappropriate timing.  On the eve of a Union debate, the outcome of which is pretty critical for Cameron, who wants to hear BoJo announcing that we'd better get our minds around leaving the EU?  There are of course easy answers to that question, but none of them very edifying.

If Boris had been a consistent EU-skeptic there might be a scintilla of excuse.  However, he hasn't.  Quite the reverse, he's been a consistently opportunistic sniper at whatever has been Cameron's position, and in the past hasn't scrupled to let us know that contemplation of leaving the EU is the very essence of madness, and that the City of London would thereby be destroyed.

Much as we love these larger-than-life political rogues, at the end of the day we can do nicely without them.

ND

16 comments:

Bill Quango MP said...

Boris is more than just on maneuvers. His tanks have already started rolling.

Today, Uxbridge!
Tomorrow, The Leader of the opposition!

dearieme said...

Cameron was the clot who attacked Libya and wanted to attack Syria. Blair-bloody-lite. Good riddance.

As for BoJo: New York born. He could be President.

Anonymous said...

they can have him

Sebastian Weetabix said...

In happier times Salmond would have been jailed for sedition. The mere sight of that loathsome chancer makes my stomach heave.

Elby the Beserk said...

I'm all for Scottish independence, as it is the only way the West Lothian question can be resolved. Until it happens, then the balance of power over England will be in the hands of however many Labour MPs in a country which has its own parliament and more and more power over its own affairs.

Blue Eyes said...

Boris is not an Out man, though. He is sound i.e. he wants the good bits of the EU and to ditch the bits which block the pipes. I caught a bit of his speech and the Q&A and he was very much "on message" with Cameron's strategy.

I think it's a real shame that Darling wasn't more prominent during the Labour government. He is a bit lefty for me but he's clearly bloody good, and he would have spurred the coalition on better than Milishambles has. If he saves the union and then challenges Miliband he could easily win for Labour in 2015.

MyThoughtfulName said...

Interesting point BE - could Darling rise like a badger from the ashes and challenge Millipede?

And Boris on Cameron?
Cameron is a sitting duck surely?
It is almost inevitable that Boris could be PM after the last decade or so of Brits voting for one wrong thing after another.

As for myself I just have this feeling that Scotland will go.
I have no preference either way, incidentally but I do notice the English speak in very disparaging terms about Scots. If I were Scottish and heard any of this, I think I'd vote just to spite the English.

All this whining about a 400 year old union is also stuff and nonsense - and very englsih too.
This amounts to little more than postcard politics. Why not appeal to Scotland and offer a new forward looking Union? Why hark to the past, I mean isnt that what Scotland is trying to escape?
Offering 'more of the same' is hardly an exciting prospect to what could be the worlds youngest country.

Offer a renogotiated Union - one suitable to the 21st century - to the Scots. Drop the whining and the Hyacinth Bucket misty-eyed nostalgia interspersed with fire-and-brimstone bullying.

In short, sort yourself out England, youre in a terrible state.

CityUnslicker said...

Hmmm...BoJ- not as clever as he thinks he is, but cleverer than most of his opponents.

Salmond, canny yet think, a real streetfighter politician.

Theya re not the same, but I agree with ND, snake-oil salesmen are two a penny and need more of them we do not!

As for Scottish independence, I hope they vot eto leave too. It will force a reckoning in England re politics and governance that will take a decade to shake out but will emerge with a fairer and more balanced modern system.

If they vote no, Scots get tax raising powers but no answer to the West Lothian question then I will be aghast - as such, no doubt it will come to pass to spite me all the same!

Nick Drew said...

BE - may want to have a look at this

James Higham said...

Darling challenge Beaker? Hardly. Personae non gratae [or however it's spelt], NuLab.

Electro-Kevin said...

In or out Scotland wins - thanks to DC's 'tough' negotiating.

Anonymous said...

"Today, Uxbridge!
Tomorrow, The Leader of the opposition!"

I get the feeling there are a number on maneuvers e.g. Gove. There is a whiff of desperation from No. 10 and the media friendly reshuffle seems not to have made it less so.

Perhaps UKIP are making far more grass roots effects than even the media believes. In my local district council just last month, UKIP came second from nowhere last time. And this is a solid SE rural district, home to members of Thatcher's cabinet and a few generous party benefactors. Not Thanet or Newark but core conservatives.

Elby the Beserk said...

Darling is odd for a Labour chappie, in that he seems to belong to the human race. Whereas Miliband(s), Balls, Harman ... well, not so.

Budgie said...

MyThoughtfulName said: "I do notice the English speak in very disparaging terms about Scots".

Have you heard what the Scots Nats say about the English?

The SNP slag off the UK, and slag off the English - see any of the Scots Nats commenters. The English have started to slag back - just as Salmond intended with his anti-English goading; and the dim English have fallen for it.

Jer said...

I strongly suspect that BoJo would prove to be a better PM than the evidence so far suggests. He'd be a disaster in any other government role though.

He would definitely be better than Cameron, though IMO a bucket of cold vomit would make a better PM than David Cameron.
I think the vomit edges it over Miliband too.

Jan said...

The Welsh also slag off the English or knife you in the back at the first opportunity (although to be fair I did meet one or two who were OK....sorry Taff I'm sure you're one of them). I know there's history there but I disliked being tarred with the "Mochyn Saes" (English pigs) brush when I didn't feel personally responsible for the ills of the past.

The true feelings were very much in evidence whenever there was a rugby match between Wales and England.

It was a nasty surprise to discover the strength of anti-English feeling in the air when I lived in Wales and you didn't have to scratch the surface very hard to find it.