Monday 11 July 2016

UK: Clarity of Power

23rd June - Power Vacuum


23rd June - Netherlands Prime Minister - Britain is basically an economic and politically failed state




...18 days later, new Prime Minister announced, Brexiteer leaders defenestrated but then will be picked to lead Brexit in a more pliable way.


It is pretty good going and demonstrates how quickly the UK can move on large challenges. Spain is about to go for its 3rd General Election of the year to try and resolve its issues.


This is a key reason why the UK will remain the pre-eminent destination for capital and investment in times of stress - because the world sees a determined Country that deals with some (if not all..) of its problems when compared to everywhere else. And does it without resorting to authoritarianism but within the confines of representative democracy.

22 comments:

Nick Drew said...

Isn't it just so-o satisfying to see the serious, serious politics of the Power-Party in action?

meanwhile, back at the chimps' tea-party ... little Jeremy and little Angie ...

the gifts that keep giving

david morris said...

"Brexiteer leaders defenestrated but then will be picked to lead Brexit in a more pliable way."

S'rsly ???

Bill Quango MP said...

Eagle has had a nightmare today.
And the new idiot's coup is proceeding with all the irresolution and inaction of the three failed previous coups to topple Brown.
Its embarrassing to watch. Its embarrassing when someone as inept as Corbyn can outsmart his assassins.

Meanwhile .. I'm OK with May.

There has been a lot of frothing on the right wing blogs about her Remainer credentials. But they seemed to be confusing the leadership election of UKIP with the election of a serving Prime Minister.
May has a lot of the right stuff for PM material.
AND, as importantly, has made a lot of the right noises about the inevitability of Brexit.

we shall see what happens.

Nick Drew said...

oh - and May owes Osborne precisely ... zippo!

Blue Eyes said...

It seems as though the Tories have regained their composure as the natural party of government; the greatest election-winning machine in history, as someone once said.

Eagle's conference was straight outta The Thick of It.

What our continental (and LibDem) friends haven't yet worked out is that we may lack the rigidity of a strict written constitution, but we don't need one because in the end the sensible outcome prevails. Nobody wanted a prolonged leadership election. There hasn't been one. No recourse to a fixed rulebook required.

Makes you proud to be British.

Now, forward!

Blue Eyes said...

Ps agree with BQ. Kippers may not be happy that May back Remain, but it must have been a borderlike thing because she was well-known as being a Eurosceptic before the referendum. It suggests that she is a pragmatist and this is exactly what we need now, not some ideologue a la Corbyn.

CityUnslicker said...

David Morris - I see Boris or one of the lackeys being given the Brexit task. It makes them responsible for their campaign and shoots the Brexiteer fox and UKIP too at the next election.

Thud said...

I was in Dentist chair when the news came through,I'd have smiled if able.

Nick Drew said...

@ The Thick of It / BE, on the subject of Leadsom ...

Look, people really like it when you go just a bit early! You know; steely jawed, faraway look in your eyes! Before you get to the point when they're sitting round in the pub saying "Oh, that fucker's got to go!", you surprise them! "Blimey, she's gone! I didn't expect that! Resigned? You don't see that much anymore! Old school! Respect! I rather liked the woman! She was hounded out by the fucking press!" How about that, eh? What a way to go!

Malcolm Tucker, encouraging someone to resign

Blue Eyes said...

Ha!

andrew said...


Better yet, May has been banging on about one nation and looking after the little man.

This is parking the Cons tanks on Labs lawn, starting to do the right things to win in '20 and I hope the rest of the Cons appreciate that.

Making BJ and Gove responsible for the negotiations would be a masterstroke - and how can they refuse?

Doing these two simple things helps remove some of the more serious threat to democracy in the UK (BJ and Corbyn - demagogues)

ovid said...

Jury still out on Theresa "Snooper" May and where she is taking us - watch who she puts where. Always talks a good fight, but oleaginous in practice.

Suff said...

My God what a couple of weeks. It's just one shock after another and all positive. Brexit win, Cameron gone, BJ gone, Farage gone, Labour in death rolls and now, now I find there is still a dentist in the UK. Utterly shocked

Electro-Kevin said...

Ann Widdecome says not a bit of it is like In the Thick of It.

It's still Sir Humphrey in charge.

I'd like to think we're on the way Out but doubt it very much now. Mathew Parris says another referendum in 2-3 years after much soft pedalling and foot dragging.

hovis said...

E-K I would agree I don't think we're on the way out, in name only, this is the Hotel California.
I do however cling to the hope that the result itself was such a shock to the system that the house of cards wobbles and falls no matter.

Let us hope the slow burning Italian Banking crisis starts the rip apart the next piece of 'consensus'.

Anonymous said...

While the Labour shenanigans are entertaining (and don't think it wouldn't happen to a Tory leader who showed partiality or even neutrality to the Palestinians) we face an interesting future as the consequences of our low-wage surplus-of-labour policies over the last 20 years (or more) play out.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/jul/07/london-top-taxpaying-city-uk-report

"London has cemented its position as Britain’s number one taxpayer since the financial crash, leaving the government more dependent on the capital for its tax income. A study by the thinktank the Centre for Cities found that London generated almost as much tax as the next 37 largest cities combined and increased its share of “economy taxes” underpinning the Treasury’s finances to 30%, up five percentage points since 2004/5."

When there was no minimum wage but the EU only had relatively high-wage economies, it was normal for low paid people still to pay tax. Since Gordon's tax credit genius, Blair's "globalisation in one country" approach and Osborne's tax cuts, we've got ourselves in a fine old mess where the welfare state is predicated on the existence of the Square Mile.

Sebastian Weetabix said...

If we wake up in a month's time and Osborne is still sitting in the treasury & Philip Hammond is in the foreign office you can be sure we're not leaving. If on the other hand Gideon is consigned to the back benches by this time next week then there is hope.

Anonymous is right about wages. Tax credits and the minimum wage have done more to drag in immigrants than anything else government has done.

Anonymous said...

Paranoid much?

Nick Drew said...

@ slow burning Italian Banking crisis: Hovis - I think that's one of the key aspects: although the continentals tend to piss off on hols July-Aug, and they've been trying to bottle up the 'events' as best they can, Bad Stuff will soon start happening that makes things worse at their end of the mucky stick, and will reinforce the UK's position in absolute terms (although by the same token it might make the EC federasts less inclined to be reasonable)

either way, it makes it easier for May's new team to have some proper resolve in negotiations

DtP said...

I've always liked May. I do think she's been on borrowed time a bit at the Home Office but as per The Thick of It - I think we accidently found a new normal because of Blair's and New Labour's speed in sacking and resigning people - if it came on the grid, they were out. Whereas May's been allowed at least 5 howlers that would have sacked a New Labour droid.

This may not be fashionable but I like boring politicians, I'm a blinking Tory not a bloody U2 fan - I don't need shiny flashing things - I want dull, incremental progress based on learned debate and consensus.

Raedwald said...

I'm happy with May - safe hand on the tiller, not liable to play the giddy goat. And I'm still not a member of any party, so I have to be brutal and say that while we need UKIP now to ensure there no resiling from Brexit, 2020 is another deal. The political landscape is changing rapidly. The LibDems are broke - really broke - and can't afford a full national campaign. Official Labour are awash in membership fees but Union money is less tangible (will the Blairites form a new Party called Provisional Labour?) and it's now the Tories with fewest members and more dependent than ever on cash from the pre-EU big corporates that need to sort themselves.

With Tax funding of the parties as unacceptable as ever, and populist reaction against all the big firms that funded 'Project Fear', May faces a challenge as party leader as daunting as those as PM. The 2020 election may be fought on grounds we just can't anticipate now.

Party funding is going to be critical.

Blue Eyes said...

Totally agree DtP, although I do like her clothes usually. One of the advantages and disadvantages for women is that they do not have to wear the uniform dark business suit.

Some of the commenters on here would probably gain a few years of life expectancy by taking a breath and giving our new PM a bloody chance. The puritans seem to have already written her off. How sad and predictable.