Thursday 9 May 2019

This is the business we've chosen






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 Someone put a bullet through his eye. No one knows who gave the order. When I heard it, I wasn't angry; I knew Moe, I knew he was head-strong, talking loud, saying stupid things. So when he turned up dead, I let it go. And I said to myself, this is the business we've chosen!
  I didn't ask who gave the order, because it had nothing to do with business!

Politicians like to imagine their plots and deals and arrangements are like the events in slick political thrillers. Or powerful dramas. Or even the twisted machinations of TV medieval-dragon super-blockbusters.

But, in reality, the business of politics is more akin to being in a gang. 

Unquestioning loyalty to the boss. 
Enforcement of discipline.
Make sure everyone shares in the spoils.
Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.
Reward obedience and punish the faithless.
And remember, that even when  everything is going really well, somebody will need to get whacked.


At the very beginning of her reign, Theresa May ditched George Osborne, for Spreadsheet Phil. 
This was something that had to be done. A new Prime Minister needs her own choice as the number two in the land. The office of Chancellor repays an awful lot of debts.

Osborne, rather oddly, seeing as he had a bit of history with Theresa May, did not resign himself. Something he should have done the instant his own Boss resigned. He was never going to hang on to being Chancellor under a new broom. 
 In the news at the time, 2016, it was reported that Osborne was 'shocked' to be sacked.
It later emerged that he was more 'shocked' about the manner of his sacking. She told him he was crap, and needed to go. 
 No arrangements were made for the former senior cabinet minister, now a lowly MP, and he ended up being found some space in one of the smallest offices in Westminster. Well and truly out of the loop.

Osborne was a very inconsistent Chancellor. Like Cameron, he paid far to little attention to the detail. Left underlings to sort out the nuts and bolts while he continued in the Brown tradition of making grand, sweeping statements and delivering tricks and flourishes to deceive and mislead the media. Something in which he was only ever partly successful. And not nearly as convincing at it as Brown was. 

Where May made a real miscalculation, one that can be seen now as the first of very many, was in making a mortal enemy of Boy George.
She had no need to do it. She was PM. And he was just an ex Hand-of-the-King.
She set out her stall, almost from day one, to rubbish the Cameroon years as being too right wing,
{Yes I know! But she did.} 

She must have known Osborne, realising his support and loyalists were now only a very small faction within the party, would quit party politics. He was destined to be Cameron's successor. His power stemmed from that. Reduced to the backbenches, he had no riches to offer anyone. So a threat neutralised.

But foolishly, and characteristically, she failed to look at the wider ramifications of her sticking the boot in.

She could not have known he would become the editor of London's Newspaper. Giving him significant local power and influence, and a huge opportunity to point out her numerous shortcomings.

But she knew he was going somewhere. 

He was a young, mostly successful, very ambitious, chancellor. Popular with the Bilde-a-bears. She must have thought he might end up at the IMF. The UN. Facebook. Airbus. HSBC. Probably all of them. And dozens of directorships more.
He was going to turn up again in some position of importance.
So she had no need to humiliate him to the point where he talked of chopping up her body and keeping dismembered remains in his freezer.

Yesterday, Mr O, took a measure of revenge by calmly and rationally explaining what a total failure Theresa has been. What an utter loser she is. And how she should be removed from office immediately.

Blair, with far more justification, was never so disloyal to Brown.
Theresa should have heeded the advice of all successful Mafia Dons.


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12 comments:

Timbo614 said...

In other words: don't step on people going up the ladder, you might need them on the way down.

Nick Drew said...

Regrettably for all concerned, May shat on everyone all the way up - talk to any of her junior ministers at the Home Office

by their slime trail shall ye know them

Thinking Pleb said...

by their slime trail shall ye know them

She's definitely certifiable. But what is the game those with the real power are playing?

She's cannon fodder no doubt. But to use another military analogy, she also appears to be (appears) an unguided missile. What is the actual strategy here.

Perhaps hundreds of Brexit Party MEP's will be the virus that destroys or weakens the EU.

As a thinking pleb, all very interesting but above my pay grade.

Raedwald said...

Whilst May's medicated face assumes new contortions of bloated puffyness and her facial nerves remain stretched in some ghastly rictus - look at footage of her two year ago to see the changes - her jerky, semi-controlled spasmodic movements are simply uncoordinated; all indicators of extreme stress and mental derangement. I'm just waiting for it all to crack. She must be on some powerful drugs. I imagine Hammond, Sedwill and her inner team - all dependent on her staying in No 10 for their own survival - egging her on and encouraging her to hang in there. It really can't go on much longer.

In contrast, Dilettante Dave is enjoying himself hugely; care free holidays in Rock, a new wood-fired hot tub, a shepherd's hut to retreat to with a beer to watch the Rugger whilst pretending to pen his memoirs, kitchen suppers with his local chums, domestic harmony and watching the kids grow. I really don't begrudge him a moment of it - he's got his priorities right.

Her on the other hand - well, every day she remains in office at this stage must be shortening her life by a year. The sad thing is that she has few friends who will mourn her passing. She stabbed most of them in the back. She has a negative legacy and a place in history as our worst ever PM - and nothing now can salvage her reputation. Her life is draining away for nothing, nothing at all. No kids, no friends, no respect, no legacy. Sad.

BlokeInBrum said...

I imagine that in America, Trump has had a few sleepless nights worrying about whether he did the right thing running for President.
I don't think for a moment that he could have foreseen the troubles that he would face and continue to face.

Unlike our Theresa though, I think he relishes the challenge, has nothing to prove, and the barracking he gets from the left simply spurs him on. He sees a chance to make America great and of securing a place in the history books for himself.

History will not be so kind to our Prime Minister though. Whilst I thought Gordon Brown to be terrible in the role, absolutely the wrong kind of personality for the job, I never doubted that he meant well, even when he kept buggering everything up.
Theresa has ,in my opinion, exceeded even him in total fuckwittery, something I never thought possible.

The end times of Theresa May has definitely the same vibe as that of Gordon Brown though. The cracks are showing and we will see whether she goes out with a bang or a whimper.

Nick Drew said...

As with Eden and Macmillan (and many more besides, whom we know less about) the health aspect can become significant, and I agree there is obvious potental for it to be so now

that said, (a) looks to me as though she has looked after herself pretty well (Type 1 diabetes often has that effect) & has built up several decades of capital in that respect, however much it's being burned through right now;
(b) a certain type of person just doesn't lose sleep - doesn't have sufficient imagination!
(c) there were people at the very top who went through 6 years of WW2 and didn't remotely crack, even when it was touch and go for months on end

when I was on the staff at 1(BR) Corps, I first encountered a phenomenon I have subsequently seen a handful of times in civilian life: the "70-per-center"

whose routine performance could at best be graded 70%, solid-B if you prefer, which in some circumstances might be viewed as fairly OK; but in important positions seems disctinctly less than the A-grades you feel are required

then you get a sustained period of stress. After only a week or so of unremitting pressure, some of the A+ wallahs literally get taken away by men in white coats - they've imploded. But some of these 70%ers are still bimbling on, imperturbably delivering rock-steady B-grade stuff, which starts to be at a serious premium when the flake-jobs have flaked

you can win a protracted slug-fest with a solid B performance

PS, I hear that McDonnell's health is not of the best; and Corbyn (albeit a workshy bastard) sometimes really looks his age: these Old Men In A Hurry ..!

E-K said...

THAT'S ME !

I'm a B !!! Yay. I'm a B !!!

Always have been. I've often found myself in deep shit (sometimes caused by me) but have always just buggered on with it and got through. I'm pretty sure I've killed off some of the A+'s around me too. Does that count as victory even if it's my own boss ???

Raedwald said...

Likewise, I'm happy to be a B lister.

Whilst the fragile As are running around like headless chickens crying it's all 'sauve qui peut' and waving white flags, we B listers just don't have the imagination to surrender. We've got Bottom, as they used to say.

BlokeInBrum said...

I know someone like that from work. Pleasant enough, not the brightest necessarily, not particularly hard working. Doesn't have one iota of 'get up and go' and if you want him to do something you have to explain everything in minute detail thrice over since he hasn't got the wherewithal to deal with anything unexpected on his own.
If that's like Theresa May, who is it that has told her what she has to do and is keeping her on her obdurate path?

Nick Drew said...

who is it that has told her what she has to do

there will doubtless have been several *civil servants* but on the political front, I'm guessing it's Hammond (upon whom I have long layed a huge amount of blame)

from the start he seems to have been telling her; don't worry, it will be fine - no need for contingency planning or anything costly and wasteful like that

if, by contrast, his opening gambit as Chancellor had been to set in motion the hiring and training of 10,000 HMRC customs officials (not very expensive in the overall scheme of things), the attitude in Macron's team might have been a bit different

E-K said...

Nick - She's a cadaver being propped up with Dr Gunther van Haven's special mix.

One 'powerful' speech saw off the mighty Thatcher in a day.

May is in office because her deep state handlers want her there.

Raedwald - I AM Bottom.

Jan said...

When oh when is Teresa May going? I said months ago she wouldn't go without a fight and would have to be prised out of Downing Street. I'm beginning to think her true motivation was nothing to do with leaving the EU but was to destroy the Tory party.

I posted this yesterday on the Venezuela thread a day early it would seem!